17th March 2008 Archive

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No Borg-like release train for Ruby on .NET

What does "done" mean, anyway?

Microsoft hopes to deliver the .NET-tuned implementation of the phenomenally popular Ruby, IronRuby 1.0, by the end of this year. There's a ton of work left between then and now, though, and project manager John Lam isn't falling for that old Redmond trick of committing to a date and then watching the software slide out of view …

Applications 17 Mar 06:02
Your business communications are a mess

But is Unified Communications the answer?

How often do you get frustrated when you can't reach someone? You try their desk phone, then their mobile and perhaps their home office number, then give up and either leave them a voicemail or send them an email or text message. Then when they don’t get back to you as quickly as you would like, you get annoyed at them for not …

Networks 17 Mar 07:02
BT admits misleading customers over Phorm experiments

We know what you pimped last summer

BT has admitted that it secretly used customer data to test Phorm's advertising targeting technology last summer, and that it covered it up when customers and The Register raised questions over the suspicious redirects. The national telecoms provider now faces legal action from customers who are angry their web traffic was …

Telecoms 17 Mar 09:52
China blocks YouTube

Tibet protests prompt ban

The Chinese government blocked access to YouTube on Sunday after videos of the protests in Tibet were posted on the video sharing site. The whole website was blocked, not just specific videos as happened recently in Pakistan. The site today, from London, has almost as many videos opposing the Tibetan demonstrators as it does …

Government 17 Mar 09:53
Desktop Eee PC spied on web

Brand-less slimline box runs 'Eee PC Linux OS'

Is this the face of Asus' diminutive desktop Eee PC? The machine, snapped at the CeBIT show earlier this month, was certainly tagged with the Eee's own slogan, "Easy to Play. Easy to Learn. Easy to Work". Asus' desktop Eee PC Image courtesy Matbe.com The desktop wasn't listed as an Eee but as the "Digital Home System EP20 …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 10:50
Futurists predict a world of IT fairy tales

Easier to manage? And the three bears...

Here's a nightmare vision of a technology-driven future: Terrorists may attack the internet and the Windows environment, bringing work to a halt globally. A virus placed by terrorists blocks the internet and operating systems worldwide or diffuses through firewalls and systematically deletes huge quantities of business and …

IT Director 17 Mar 11:15
Spooks want to go fishing in Oyster database

Pearl-diving in London's smartcard beds

The UK's spooks have sought full automated access to Transport for London (TfL)'s "Oyster" smartcard network, further extending the amount of travel data available to the government. The Observer said this weekend that the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has confirmed that the clandestine services have requested full …

Policing 17 Mar 11:40
HTC applies for multi-keypad sliderphone patent

Thumbs at the ready

HTC has filed a patent application for a handheld electronic device that combines a multi-directional slider design with a keypad stretched beyond the dimensions of the gadget’s display. HTC's patent sketch: the large keypad slides in many directions The application, which was filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 11:44
Scotland Yard criminologist: DNA-print troublemaker kids

Give me the child, I'll lock-up the man

A top UK police forensics official has suggested that DNA signatures be taken from children as young as five, if the kids in question were thought likely to become criminals in future. Scotland Yard forensics and criminology chief Gary Pugh landed the police service in hot water at the weekend by suggesting that it's easy to …

Policing 17 Mar 12:06
Notorious spammer pleads guilty to tax evasion and fraud

Al Capone of junk mail heading for the big house

Notorious spammer Robert Soloway faces an extended spell behind bars after pleading guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges last Friday. Soloway, 28, from Seattle, has previously been found guilty of sending spam in several civil cases, most notably when Microsoft won a $7.8m judgement against him back in 2005. But he's always …

Spam 17 Mar 12:07
US Congress members push Gates's line on visas

Bills urge more H-1Bs for foreign tech workers

Bill Gates's call for US Congress to up the H-1B visa quota sparked two proposed bills by the close of last week. Two members of the House of Representatives have introduced bills to address the tech workers shortfall that the Microsoft chairman again bemoaned on his trip to Washington last Wednesday. Late last week a …

Government 17 Mar 12:26
Japanese ISPs agree three strikes-style anti-piracy regime

Ippon Ippon Mate

Japanese ISPs have agreed to disconnect filesharers who persistently use popular peer to peer program WinNY to pirate music, films, and software. WinNY is based on WinMX, and has been reckoned to be the most widely-used filesharing application in Japan. Now under pressure from government and rights holders, the country's four …

Telecoms 17 Mar 12:27
Boozed Belarusian dodges birthday train squish

90mph express fails to interrupt 40 winks

A Belarus woman snoozed her way through a near-death experience in Brest after she ended her birthday with a kip on a railway track. Svetlana Yurkova had been celebrating her 32nd birthday in the time-honoured fashion when she was overcome with fatigue, and found herself a comfortable place to bed down. "I just lay down on …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 13:15
Exploding turnip threat menaces Indiana town

UK's 'Baldrick' bomb-squad tool may be rushed in

Terror came to Fort Wayne, Indiana, late last week as a suspicious package arrived at the offices of a local law firm in a move that seemed to presage a deadly bomb outrage slaughter campaign. After a tense operation by robot and human bomb-disposal operatives, however, it was discovered that the infernal device was in fact - …

Bootnotes 17 Mar 13:31
Brain training game aids kids' learning skills, study claims

DS Lite sales to soar

A daily 20-minute ‘brain training’ session on the DS Lite appears to help improve kids' learning and behaviour skills, according to research conducted by government educational body Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). The organisation recently ran a ten-week trial at Dundee school St Columba's Primary. Children aged between …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 13:35
Japan turns its back on 2G

3G takes over

Japanese customers didn’t buy a single 2G handset during January, which could be why Japanese network operator NTT DoCoMo has decided to stop providing sub-3G connectivity by 2012. Although just over 4m mobile phones were shipped to Japanese stores during the first month of the year, the Japan Electronics and Information …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 14:36
EC tries to get on top of carousel fraud

Wants more timely reports from missing traders

The European Commission is proposing speeding up how VAT regulations work in order to reduce carousel fraud. Carousel fraud, or missing trader fraud, involves importing high value but VAT-free goods from another Community country. The goods are then sold on with VAT added, before the company disappears without paying HMRC the …

Channel Register 17 Mar 14:54
California Highway Patrol rounds up queens, workers

Accident leaves beehives strewn across highway

The California Highway Patrol drafted in apiarists and Romanians this weekend after a truckload of beehives toppled on Highway 99, leaving 440 colonies strewn across the freeway. The commuting workers, and their queens, were set loose when the truck flipped over on the on-ramp to the highway heading north, toppling the …

Biology 17 Mar 15:02
Vista SP1 on track for mid-March release?

Microsoft shows ever expanding middle

Microsoft is running out of time to make its mid-March deadline for pumping out Vista service pack one (SP1) for general release as a manual download. Meanwhile, it looks like the software giant has failed to fix a key pre-requisite update in time, meaning that if SP1 does indeed arrive this week, an unspecified number of …

Operating Systems 17 Mar 15:08
Microsoft Mobile presses Flash

What no silver(light) lining?

Microsoft has signed a deal with Adobe allowing it to bundle both Flash Lite and Adobe Reader LE with Windows Mobile devices, if the manufacturers want to do so. Flash Lite is a cut-down version of Flash suited to mobile devices and already comes pre-installed on a range of handsets, though notably not those using the various …

Mobile 17 Mar 15:16
UK's Reaper wardroid imports slashed in budget pinch

Pricey domestic buy strangely unaffected

Treasury financial difficulties would seem likely to severely restrict the size of Britain's fleet of "Reaper" aerial wardroid-assassins in the near future, according to reports. US clearance was obtained last year for export sales of a further ten Reaper/Predator-B robot spyplane-bombers to the UK, in addition to the three …

Government 17 Mar 15:31
Defacement archive Zone-h mulls closure

Vote marred by suspected botnet interference

Defacement archive Zone-h has put its very existence to the vote. The security site picked up the baton after previous defacement archive Alldas packed up shop. It currently hosts about 2.6 million defacements after six years chronicling the activities of hackers. According to Zone-h, its work has allowed it to understand …

Crime 17 Mar 15:34
Free voice and video firm plans April 1 UK launch

Red letter day for ad-funded Voixio

New UK service Voixio is to offer free national or international phone and video calls to internet users. The catch? For every call you first have to watch an ad or commercial. Voixio was set up by London-based Requestec, which specialises in web 2.0 communication applications, including high definition video calling from …

VoIP 17 Mar 16:02
LG KF600 dual-display sliderphone

Review Two screens are better than one

LG has dreamed up a novel twist on the touchscreen concept that adds a dash of Viewty and a splash of Chocolate to create an original look that combines two front-panel displays: a touchscreen and a standard display. KF600: are two screens better than one? The lower, touch-sensitive screen - LG calls it the "InteractPad" - …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 16:05
BMC spends $800m on server admin firm BladeLogic

BLOG writes itself out of history

BMC Software intends to scoop up BladeLogic for $28 per share, or about $800m net of cash acquired. BMC said in a statement today it plans to fold Massachusetts-based BladeLogic software into its existing product portfolio. Data centre player BladeLogic, which hit the stock market last year in a $45.4m initial public offering …

Servers 17 Mar 16:20
Apple speeds AirPort Express with 802.11n

Apple today upgraded its AirPort Express mobile base-station to support faster wireless transfers using 802.11n Wi-Fi. The new Express is the smallest unit of its kind, the company claimed. Apple's AirPort Express: now with 802.11n Until today, the gadget only supported 802.11b/g. However, re-releasing the AirPort Express …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 16:24
Supremes reject Microsoft's Novell request

Ancient anti-trust claim gets go-ahead

The Supreme Court rejected an attempt today to throw out a claim by Novell that Microsoft tried to undermine the market for Novell's WordPerfect in the mid-90s. The Supremes said Novell can go ahead and sue Microsoft under Federal anti-trust laws. Novell claims Microsoft "specifically targeted WordPerfect and other office …

Channel Register 17 Mar 16:28
Net think thank: Phorm is illegal

FIPR shells embattled ad targeting firm

The Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), a leading advisory group on internet issues, has written to the Information Commissioner arguing that Phorm's ad targeting system is illegal. In an open letter posted to the think tank's website today, the group echoes concerns voiced by London School of Economics …

Telecoms 17 Mar 17:00
Juniper routers get firewall service in Junos upgrade

J-series boxes take on security duty

Juniper Networks says it's going to be adding new services into its routers via operating system updates. The networking gear vendor today is pushing new security services for Junos 9.0, in an update available now for the company's J-series routers (J2320, J2350, J4350, and J6350). The branch-office class boxes will be the …

Data Networking 17 Mar 17:09
Eclipse rounds up runtime project

One framework, so many platforms

It's official: Eclipse is moving into runtimes. The Foundation is elevating an OSGi-based project, moving even further outside its original tools remit. The open source group has announced its eleventh top-level project - the Eclipse Runtime project, or Eclipse RT. Based on the existing Equinox project, it wraps in five other …

Applications 17 Mar 17:42
Iomega wooed by new EMC offer

Unzips superior proposal

Iomega has changed its tune over EMC Corporation’s approach to buy the company after its suitor upped the offer to $205.5m. The storage vendor, which last week rejected an unsolicited EMC offer worth about $178m, today said it considered the revised to be superior to a proposed all-stock transaction with a stockholder. …

Channel Register 17 Mar 18:08
eBay dumps ValueClick

ValueClick pays FTC $2.9m over misleading ads

eBay is dropping ValueClick's Commission Junction as the manager of the affiliate programs for eBay's auctions and Half.com sites. Monday's announcement came as the Federal Trade Commission announced ValueClick would pay a record $2.9m to settle charges it engaged deceptive advertising and failed to secure sensitive customer …

Small Biz 17 Mar 18:25
Your iPhone Wish-List

Andrew's mailbag Making the most of MultiTouch

With over 100,000 downloads of the iPhone SDK, and a $100m pot of money available for developers, there's no doubt Apple's MultiTouch UI has a lot of potential. But, er... what for? Here are a few of your suggestions: The Good Web radio player that (yeah, I know) runs in background while using browser Will Cooper An SSH …

Networks 17 Mar 18:26
Scientologists fight back against Anonymous

But fails to get injunction

Protests by internet group Anonymous against the Church of Scientology went ahead as planned last weekend, after the church failed in two attempts to get an injunction. On Thursday Circuit Judge Douglas Baird turned down the second of two requests to prevent protesters approaching within 500ft (150m) of church buildings on …

Security 17 Mar 18:50
Intel 'Nehalem' CPU 'borrows' AMD Phenom cache plan

L3 promoted, L2 demoted

Intel's 45nm 'Nehalem' processor architecture, due for release later this year, will see the chip maker adopt AMD's approach to cache structure: small per-core Level 1 and Level 2 caches connected to a big, shared Level 3 cache. Nehalem, which will form the basis for two-, four- and eight-core processors, will contain 64KB of …

Reg Hardware 17 Mar 19:02
HP out and proud with 8-socket server beast

Reenters the bigosphere

HP has jumped back into the beefy 8-socket x86 server game with the new ProLiant DL785 G5. The system will initially run on quad-core Opteron chips from AMD. HP pitches the server as a database and virtualization darling, since it offers a ton of horsepower along with vast amounts of memory. HP's willingness to produce an 8- …

Servers 17 Mar 19:34
Sun lends qualified support to Eclipse

Sharp poke with NetBeans

Sun Microsystems is endorsing a Java project from the Eclipse Foundation, but don't think the battle for figurehead status in the Java community is over. The EclipseLink project has been selected by Sun as the reference implementation for the Java Persistence 2.0 API, which is working its way through the Java Community Process …

Applications 17 Mar 20:03
Uncovered: the lost humor of flowcharts

Luke, feel the flow

It's not easy to make software amusing, as a recent contest to crack jokes using Universal Modeling Language (UML) demonstrated. But flowcharting George Lucas' plan to kill off the Star Wars franchise? Now that's not just funny, it might also be true. A Cracked.com competition has invited geeks and practitioners to map out …

Software 17 Mar 20:37