18th March 2008 Archive

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HP wants to get physical with virtual servers

We'll touch you in one, special place

HP refuses to let its software partners enjoy all of the virtualization glory. The company today announced a broad virtualization management package that will see HP tread on the toes of partners such as VMware and start-ups such as Scalent. Witness the power of HP Insight Dynamics - VSE. This management code combines a number …

Virtualization 18 Mar 2008, 00:04
IBM dreams of optical chips with tiny light pulse device

Your server will be all 'bew bew bew bzzzap'

White coats at IBM today said they have built the world's teeniest optical switch, measuring 100 times smaller than the cross section of a human hair. Big Blue said its new nanophotonic switch device brings the company another step closer to creating computer chips that use light pulses instead of electrical signals on copper …

Servers 18 Mar 2008, 00:21
Handango shakes on Carphone Warehouse deal

You can't do everything on the internet

Smartphone software distributor Handango has signed a deal with Carphone Warehouse to have its service promoted with sales of the pink edition BlackBerry Pearl. However, the internet company has its sights set on a more comprehensive relationship, and a corporeal future. The initial deal involves Handango creating a special …

Mobile 18 Mar 2008, 06:02
Sweet, sweet smell of comments in code?

Extreme Programming breeds overreaction

Arguments rage over the importance of adding comments to your code versus the importance of writing clear code that speaks for itself, thereby potentially eliminating the need for comments. The dichotomy boils down to this: writing comments versus writing self-commenting code, as if comments and clear code are somehow mutually …

Software 18 Mar 2008, 06:02
DVB-H is the official mobile-TV standard

Business model still AWOL though

Brussels has now officially endorsed DVB-H as the mobile TV technology of choice in Europe. This means that member states are now required to "encourage" use of the technology, though the commission has no advice as to how to encourage punters to tune in. The ruling is no surprise - as it was proposed in July last year and got …

Mobile 18 Mar 2008, 07:02
ISPAs 2008: Music can save broadband

Feargal applies a Positive Touch

These are relatively dark days for the ISP business. With the market saturated, fewer and fewer new broadband customers are scrapped over by fewer and fewer players. All the while, bandwidth costs are on the increase, fired by the success of the BBC's streaming iPlayer, and the price consumers are willing to pay for internet …

Telecoms 18 Mar 2008, 07:02
Captain Cyborg plans to milk you, human scum

'You'll be a subspecies, like cows are now'

Reg chiefs have been holding daily crisis meetings for several months over what has become of Professor Kevin "Captain Cyborg" Warwick. "He's been quiet... too quiet," one old-timer told this reporter only last week. Imagine the cheer yesterday then, when Reg reader Chris reported a sighting of the good Cap'n in Scientific …

Biology 18 Mar 2008, 09:51
Sage settles on US head

Telecoms player gets the nod

Sage, the finance and small business software provider, has appointed a new boss for its US business. Sue Swenson has 20 years telecoms experience, including time with Pacific Bell and T-Mobile. She was chief executive of Cellular One - the mobile joint venture set up by Vodafone Airtouch and AT&T Wireless. Sage's board of …

Channel Register 18 Mar 2008, 10:39
Children should get keys to their data when they come of age

Data protection working party weighs in

Companies processing children's data may need explicit consent directly from a child to continue using it once that child reaches maturity, Europe's privacy officials have said. The child may also revoke consent given earlier by a parent or guardian. The Article 29 Working Party, a committee of European countries' data …

Law 18 Mar 2008, 10:42
Space robot goes operational at ISS

Canadian droid puts astro-vet out of work

Dextre, the mighty tonne-and-a-half space robot intended for repair and servicing tasks at the International Space Station (ISS), is now fully operational, according to reports. The 12-foot-tall mechanical maintenance man, a product of cutting-edge Canadian space robotics tech, has been fully assembled and is ready for work. …

Space 18 Mar 2008, 10:44
Intel tweaks SSE 4 to speed text processing

String theory

Intel's 45nm 'Nehalem' processor design will incorporate the second generation of the chip maker's SSE 4 technology. For now, the company is calling the post-'Penryn' Streaming SIMD Extensions instruction set SSE 4.2. Nehalem's implementation of SSE 4 essentially matches that of Penryn. The key additions centre on the …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 10:52
~~Red~~ Green Ken v Porsche in battle of the polls

It's as though you could buy the results you wanted

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone last night called on German prestige car builder Porsche to drop its lawsuit against the new CO2-based "Congestion Charge" bands planned for the capital. Both Porsche and the Mayor claim to have conducted surveys proving that the public is on their side. The Guardian reports that Mr Livingstone …

Government 18 Mar 2008, 11:04
Panasonic punts submarine camcorder

Rambo's camcorder?

Filming during a beach party or on board a boat means placing your camcorder at risk of an nasty H2O overdose. Thankfully, Panasonic has realised that water-resistant cases aren’t always suitable and has created a fully waterproof rugged recorder. Panasonic's SDR-SW20EB-R: water-, drop- and dust-proof The SDR-SW20EB-R is …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 11:08
Retro-style phone mixes VoIP, Dect

Manufacturer Thomson has designed a stylish wireless home phone supporting VoIP and Dect. However, the Symbio has enough additional features to leave you wondering how everything fits into its skeleton-like look. Thomson's Symbio: VoIP, Dect and SMS in one The Symbio uses a stylised traditional phone design, but enables …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 11:08
Why would someone toss $1.35m at Wikipedia?

Updated Jimbo Wales catches VC from Bono on Mexico City rooftop

There's little doubt that anyone with the time and the inclination can overhaul at least a few Wikipedia entries to suit their personal ambitions. All they need is the right friends. Or a little pillow talk. The question is, could someone overhaul the entire encyclopedia? Over the past two years, one man has donated or "lined …

Financial News 18 Mar 2008, 11:21
Vodafone axes 450 at Newbury HQ

Never mind, have some Hard Candy

Vodafone is laying off 450 staff at its Newbury headquarters and employing more staff in shops to show customers how mobile phones work. The operator said the HQ cuts had nothing to do with current economic conditions, and that it would not be closing any of the buildings on the Newbury campus. Rather, it is all about " …

Mobile 18 Mar 2008, 11:37
Ex-MS staffer to demo Vista smart card hack

Hot Fuzz

A former Microsoft worker has identified security vulnerabilities in smart card plug-in software for Windows Vista that might allow hackers to take over vulnerable PCs. Dan Griffin used a fuzzing tool he developed, dubbed SCardFuzz, to find bugs in software from an unnamed smart card vendor. Griffin, who left Redmond's smart …

Enterprise Security 18 Mar 2008, 11:38
Facebook says occupied territories are Israel

Or Palestine...

A week ago Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg told us how his website is bringing peace to the Middle East by giving young people in Lebanon a wider view of the world. But now it's caught up in a row with Israeli settlers on the West Bank. Jewish settlers reacted angrily when the auto-complete function on Facebook finished their …

Applications 18 Mar 2008, 11:47
Cambridge brain touts wind-n-server combo farms

Thin-client spinoff bizprof spins skinny as green

The head of Cambridge University's Computer Lab has advocated a restructuring of today's computer architecture, in which processing power would move away from desktop systems and scattered data centres and be centralised close to mighty wind farms. Professor Andy Hopper's green thin-client plans were reported in today's …

Servers 18 Mar 2008, 11:54
Adobe pulls bug-riddled Photoshop update

Lightroom users plunged into darkness

Adobe has withdrawn a Photoshop product update because it was too buggy and has told customers to uninstall it. The latest version of Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe's toolbox which helps photographers manage large volumes of digital photos, contains three "frankly unacceptable" bugs, Adobe said. The software company has removed …

Applications 18 Mar 2008, 12:35
Teachers cower in face of cyberbullies

Bring back proper beatings, say corduroys

A teachers' union is complaining that schools are not doing enough to combat cyberbullying - students sending offensive text messages or emails, or posting videos to sites like YouTube. A survey from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) found 16 per cent of teachers had been the victims of cyberbullying. Of that 16 …

Law 18 Mar 2008, 12:43
Nintendo scores zero on e-waste responsibility

Philips, Panasonic still in the red on green issues

Nintendo has scored the bottom place slot in Greenpeace's latest guide to green electronics with a measly 0.3. The games console maker was behind the competition in the environmental pressure group’s latest guide to greener electronics. Greenpeace, which rates performance based on tech companies’ policies and practices on …

Environment 18 Mar 2008, 13:19
First supersonic swingwing synthi-fuel flight tomorrow

A foretaste of scumjet or mushroom zoom-boom to come?

The US Air Force has announced that it will carry out the first supersonic flight powered by Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) synthetic fuel tomorrow. A 1980s-vintage B-1 "Lancer" swing-wing bomber will take off from Dyess air force base in Texas, filled up with a 50/50 mix of ordinary petroleum jet juice and synthetic, and go supersonic …

Environment 18 Mar 2008, 13:28
AMD 780G integrated DirectX10.1 chipset

Review Leaves Nvidia and Intel standing?

AMD’s 700-series chipsets covers all the motherboard options that a gamer could require for the quad-core Phenom processor. There’s the 790FX with support for CrossFireX to handle three or four graphics cards, the 790X that does CrossFire with two cards, and the 770 that combines Phenom with a single PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 slot …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 13:29
Wacky Apple patent application shows dual-screen 'iPhone 2.0'?

No.

Now and then a wacky patent application comes to light that combines futuristic technology with a cutting-edge gadget. An number of such applications have been revealed online, all from Apple and including one that's World+Dog is claiming could be a twin-touchscreen clamshell iPhone. Apple's dual touchscreen clamshell handset …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 13:35
Microsoft signs assemblers to boost Xbox 360 output

Tight supply blamed for PS3 sales surge

Microsoft is rumoured to have signed deals with two additional manufacturers to make Xbox 360s. The claim follows reports that sales of the console have dropped in the US. Recently published figures from market watcher NPD show that Microsoft only sold 254,600 consoles through retail outlets in the US during February. Major …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 13:52
Online banking payment system aims to reduce fraud

Cunning Aussie fix for online payments

Online shoppers in the UK will be able to pay direct from their online bank account rather than via a credit or debit card, thanks to a new service. The POLi online bank payment platform aims to increase payment choice while reducing card-not-present fraud, a category of fraud covering ecommerce transactions which is on the …

Small Biz 18 Mar 2008, 13:58
Nvidia rolls out 'world's fastest' graphics card

GeForce 9800 GX2 takes fight to AMD's 3870 X2

Nvidia has rolled out what it claims is the "fastest graphics card on the planet", the GeForce 9800 GX2, as expected. The GX2 contains two 'G92' GPUs, each with 128 unified shader processors running at 1.5GHz - the chip as a whole is clocked at 600MHz. The two GPUs connect to 512MB of GDDR 3 video memory running at 1GHz. The …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 15:02
Supermarket loses 4.2 million credit card details

Supermarket identity sweep

A New England-based supermarket chain has warned of an information security breach that exposed an estimated 4.2 million credit card records. Hannaford said hackers might have accessed customer credit and debit card numbers - but not the corresponding names or addresses - after hacking into systems involving card authorisation …

ID 18 Mar 2008, 15:11
Tom Cruise does splits in birthday boogie vid

'It's a blast, it's a blast'

Just as the world had begun to recover from January's now-infamous insight into the workings of the mind of Tom Cruise, another succulent morsel of old footage has emerged showing the Top Gun star acting mad. The latest YouTube snippet bridges the gap perfectly between the four-year-old interview and the even more …

Bootnotes 18 Mar 2008, 15:16
Brainchipped flesh-cloak cyborg bug-bug passes milestone

Early hosts successfully cored, control snags remain

DARPA (the Pentagon asylum for usefully-insane scientists) is apparently making progress with its plan to build cyborg infiltrator machines wearing living creatures like fleshy cloaks. Lest anyone think that this is a story about California politics, however, one should note that thus far DARPA and its associated groups are …

Biology 18 Mar 2008, 16:00
HP to ship SuSE on India PCs

No plans for EMEA... yet

HP has agreed to pre-install Novell's Linux distribution on some of its notebook and desktop range in India. However, the computer maker said it currently has no plans to extend that deal to EMEA. SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10-loaded HP computers will begin shipping to India in the second quarter of this year. The deal …

Channel Register 18 Mar 2008, 16:02
Ofcom to hold operators responsible for dodgy dealers

Voluntary code of practice not working

Ofcom wants to make mobile network operators responsible for their resellers, reporting that a voluntary code of practice for the industry has failed to reduce complaints. The voluntary code was introduced in July last year but enforcement was up to the network operators, who have been inconsistent in their approach. Ofcom won …

Mobile 18 Mar 2008, 16:36
eBay scripting trick used to boost seller ratings

Shockwave redirection ploy in mystery auction attack

Hackers have been caught using a malicious scripting scam in an apparent attempt to boost their rating on eBay. An auction for a 4WD car on eBay.co.uk featuring the ruse was brought to our attention by Reg reader John early on Monday. eBay pulled the auction on Monday afternoon but The Reg has this screenshot. The auction …

Enterprise Security 18 Mar 2008, 17:04
Pentax compact pulls out all the stops

Megapixels? Check! LCD display? Check!

Pentax today unveiled its latest compact camera, combining many of the features found on rivals’ snappers into one sleek point-and-click snapper. Pentax's Optio V20: all the latest features The Optio V20 is an eight-megapixel machine with a 5x optical zoom. Images are stored on an SD memory card. Pictures can also be viewed …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 17:15
Nokia's N82 comes back in black

Now there are two shades to pick from

Nokia has gone back to black with its N82 geo-tagging handset and launched the phone in a sultry midnight shade. Nokia's N82: allows picture locations to be plotted The N82 first popped onto our radar back in November, but only in silver. Nokia’s jet-black reincarnation of the phone doesn’t add in any additional features …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 17:18
Microsoft rolls out Vista SP1

You win some. You break some

Microsoft has released the long-awaited first Windows Vista Service Pack, a wrap-up of incremental updates that apparently cripples certain vendors' software. SP1 tackles reliability and performance, adds support for new hardware and wraps in earlier updates for compatibility with third party software. Microsoft claims more …

Channel Register 18 Mar 2008, 18:21
Intel and Microsoft dump $20m on researchers to avert software crisis

To your Ivory Towers!

Microsoft and Intel have put their money where their fear is. The two companies have shelled out $10m each to the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois to fund research around advanced software programming techniques for PCs and mobile devices. The grants mark a significant effort on the part of …

PCs & Chips 18 Mar 2008, 18:42
Google's riches rely on ads, algorithms, and worldwide confusion

Special Feature 'Please ignore the cash machine behind the curtain'

Why did millions of money-making post-holiday clicks suddenly disappear from the world's largest search engine? It depends on who you ask. Some people blame a soft economy, insisting that Google is well on its way to piddling quarterly revenues. But Google disagrees. CEO Eric Schmidt and company claim that they planned the whole …

Small Biz 18 Mar 2008, 18:44
P2P highwayman gets four years for ID theft

Dodgy downloader sent down

A Seattle man who admitted using file-sharing programs to pinch personal information on 50 people as part of an ID theft scam has been jailed for four years. Gregory Kopiloff, 35, pleaded guilty to mail fraud, computer hacking and aggravated identity theft offences at a hearing before the US District Court in Seattle in …

Crime 18 Mar 2008, 18:54
Vyatta blows out Cisco routers with study

The OPEC of networking

Vyatta isn't the biggest dog in networking gear — but it's a wee terrier with a distinct mean streak. The firm got its teeth planted firmly into Cisco's hindquarters from the get-go, and isn't about to release any time soon. The company claims its open source router/firewall/VPN code put into x86 systems beats out Cisco on …

Data Networking 18 Mar 2008, 19:03
Google warns third parties on GData mashups

We can fiddle if we want

When Google introduced the Google data APIs two years ago, it did not exactly rock the firmament like, say, other Google offerings. GData hit the news this month when Google ported YouTube's APIs to the format and released those APIs to the world by putting them with the rest of the GData portfolio. A range of Google …

Software 18 Mar 2008, 19:52
Dell quads up single-socket rockets

SMB sampler

Dell today is selling two new single-socket servers with speedy quad-core chips and copious memory capacity for small businesses. Round Rock claims it's created the "industry's highest performing one-socket quad-core servers," by plunking the Intel Xeon 5000 series chip into smaller server boxes. Reflective black: the new …

Servers 18 Mar 2008, 20:06
US court protects Craigslist from housing suit

Don't call it immunity, though

Chalk up another win for websites hosting user-generated content, but be sure to add an asterisk. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed with Craigslist.com last week that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protected it from a lawsuit over discriminatory housing postings appearing on the site, but in …

Small Biz 18 Mar 2008, 20:34
NASDAQ delists Bell Micro for late filing

Shares sink like a stone

Bell Microproducts lost its NASDAQ listing today because it can't get its act together on financial filings. Surprise, surprise, shares in the computer distributor sank 31 per cent to $1.94 on the news. Expect another plunge tomorrow when Bell Micro stock starts trading on the Pink Sheets. The delisting and lack of audited …

Channel Register 18 Mar 2008, 22:04
Nike readies alternative to own iPod workout kit

Nike+ SportsBand to challenge... er... Nike+ iPod

Nike’s love of all things iPod may have hit a rut - the sportswear company is rumoured to be going it alone by launching a non-Apple wireless workout dongle. Nike's SportsBand: doesn't allow musical workouts The latest exercise product, dubbed Nike SportsBand, hasn’t been officially announced by the company. However, online …

Reg Hardware 18 Mar 2008, 22:21
Brocade puts file virtualization in a pricey box

StorageX gets metallic coating

Brocade is shoving its Windows file virtualization portfolio into a separate appliance and adding automated data migration and file-level controls to the metal. The Brocade File Management Engine (FME) is a 2U rack mounted appliance with ten 1Gb/E ports. The system manages SMB/CIFS data for the Windows Server 2003 and XP …

Storage 18 Mar 2008, 23:07
Ohio voting machines confiscated in criminal investigation

'Candidate withdrawn'

Ohio investigators are treating a warehouse where 15 electronic voting machines have been quarantined as a crime scene following a report someone may have illegally tampered with them to remove a candidate's name from the ballot. Officials from Ohio's Franklin County Board of Elections asked for a forensic analysis of the …

Government 18 Mar 2008, 23:31