10th April 2008 Archive

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Yahoo! Flickr video play sparks online revolt

Unrest in Web 2.0 land

Yahoo! tries ever so hard to be like Google. But it's always a struggle. Late yesterday, in an apparent attempt to battle the Google-owned YouTube, Yahoo! added video to Flickr, its ultra-popular share-your-photos-with-world+dog site, and more than 4000 Flickr-ites promptly revolted. Flickr now houses a thriving group called " …

Music and Media 10 Apr 00:50
Symantec gobbles AppStream

Two year flirtation comes to an end

Symatec said today it intends to buy AppStream, a Palo Alto, California-based developer of application streaming software. AppStream has worked with Symantec since 2006, and the two officially coupled the ability to stream virtualized applications with Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS) in Symantec's first update …

Virtualization 10 Apr 00:52
RM to push new HP sub-laptop to schools

Good things come in small packages

RM has been signed up as HP’s only UK distie for its 2133 Mini-Note laptop intended for the education market. The firm said that it has tied up an “exclusive partnership” to supply schools and colleges across Blighty with HP's dinky new sub-notebook. The computer giant launched the machine, which rivals the Asus Eee PC, …

Hardware 10 Apr 06:02
Nokia promotes N-Gage innovation with €70,000 bait

Only existing games developers need apply

Nokia is looking for new concepts in mobile phone gaming, and has launched a competition with €70,000 in prizes for the best games concept. However, it is limiting entry to those already in the games business. The Mobile Games Innovation Challenge is open to companies involved in designing or developing games, and comes with a …

Mobile 10 Apr 06:02
Old people can sabotage software too

RSA Games insiders play

Software teams must act to protect systems and development projects from revenge attacks by disgruntled current and former employees. So says Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute's CERT, which is advising organizations take basic steps including code encryption, enforcement of code-change and access controls, reading …

Enterprise Security 10 Apr 06:02
UK.biz flunks app security tests

Risky business

Weak encryption or cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities remain a big problem for UK firms. Tests on web application security by UK penetration testing firm NTA Monitor on its clients uncovered problems in three out of five cases. Furthermore, more than three quarters (78 per cent) of websites tested contained one or more …

Enterprise Security 10 Apr 06:02
Spam filtering services throttle Gmail to fight spammers

Junk mailers set up CAPTCHA-busting sweatshops in India

The growing abuse of webmail services to send spam has led anti-spam services to throttle messages from Gmail and Yahoo! Over recent months security firms have reported that the Windows Live CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) used by Hotmail, and the equivalent system at Gmail …

Spam 10 Apr 08:32
Designer condenses 3D mouse for laptop users

Navigate your PC with style

The SpaceNavigator may look like something that fell off from the Starship Enterprise, but it’s actually a high-end notebook mouse. Manufactured by Logitech-owned 3Dconnexion, the futuristic wired mouse is the smaller cousin of an earlier model designed for desktop-computer users. The latest model weighs 250g, around half the …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 09:20
Guitar maker Gibson thrashes out more robo-axes

Self-tuning to replace roadies?

'Leccy guitar pioneer Gibson has unveiled two additional automated strummers in its self-tuning Robot line. Gibson's Robot Les Paul Studio The Gibson Robot Les Paul Studio and Gibson Robot SG Special build on the success of the Limited Edition Gibson Robot Guitar, which was released late last year. The manufacturer claims …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 09:28
Microhoo! deal roadmap goes round in circles

First Google, now AOL and News Corp again

Microsoft's hostile takeover bid for Yahoo! is starting to resemble a corporate speed-dating night, as rival suitors jump back in the running. Last night the company revealed an advertising trial using Google's AdWords which Microsoft - no stranger to competition courts around the world - described as anti-competitive. And …

Financial News 10 Apr 09:28
Biologists track down elusive lungless frog

Backwards evolution in Borneo

Scientists from the National University of Singapore have described a rare lungless frog which appears to absorb oxygen through its skin. The university's team, led by evolutionary biologist David Bickford, spent two weeks scouring the remote Kalimantan region of Indonesian Borneo to find examples of Barbourula kalimantanensis …

Biology 10 Apr 09:31
Civil liberties groups challenge Data Retention Directive in ECJ

'Illegal on human rights grounds'

European civil liberties groups have lodged an objection to the EU's Data Retention Directive with the European Court of Justice, claiming that the Directive breaches a fundamental right to privacy guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights. UK groups the Open Rights Group (ORG), Statewatch and Privacy International …

Law 10 Apr 09:33
Minister: Waste wood is 'huge potential resource'

Burning it could generate 0.7% of UK's 'leccy!

UK Minister for Climate Change and Waste Joan Ruddock reckons that the government has cracked - or anyway, largely cracked - the tricky problems of keeping the lights on, saving carbon emissions and minimising landfill. The answer is to burn wood - specifically waste wood which is normally thrown away. "It has been estimated …

Environment 10 Apr 09:50
Sales slide at PC World, Currys

DSGi CEO issues second profit warning

DSG International (DSGi) shares fell nine per cent this morning following the retail giant’s second profit warning in under four months. The firm’s CEO John Browett issued a statement today in which he admitted that customer demand in the UK and Ireland has been “lower than expected, with a negative impact on margins”. He …

Channel Register 10 Apr 09:56
VIA and Nvidia partner to bomb Intel's Atom

Fusion of interests

Under pressure from Intel's Atom, chip makers VIA and Nvidia have apparently agreed that their interests should undergo fusion, and have agreed to brings their respective processors and integrated chipsets into orbit around each other. Dodgy particle physics metaphors aside, the deal - motherboard makers moles allege - is …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 09:59
NASA gets intimate with Phobos

New HiRISE snaps of Martian moon

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned some rather nice snaps of Martian moon Phobos, captured by the vehicle's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE): NASA explains that the above image (bigger version here) was taken "at a distance of about 6,800 kilometers (about 4,200 miles)", and is "presented in …

Space 10 Apr 10:00
ID and the triple-A challenge of mashup security

Sources unknown

The loose coupling of data drawn from different systems is one of the enduring appeals of mashups. However, what if some of that data needs to be handled securely, or it is necessary to log in to some or all of the data feeds? What if the mashup as a whole represents some form of sensitive system - now security is an issue. …

Applications 10 Apr 10:02
Horror bestseller condemns videogame sales limit law

Proposed statute 'undemocratic', claims Stephen King

Horror writer Stephen King has dennounced moves to introduce a law that would ban the sale of violent videogames to kids. House Bill 1423, which is currently being considered in Massachusetts, states that any games depicting “violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community” should carry a …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 10:09
WD pitches 'rainbow' selection of coloured hard drives

Hue know you want one

Western Digital has re-released its My Passport Essential 320GB external hard drive line in a range of ten new colours. Following the emerging trend of personalisation, WD's choice of colours span the spectrum in the hope of ensuring no potential Passport purchasers need feel left out. WD's My Passport Essential: now in …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 10:39
Lieberman's campaign to blame for website crash

404 Error: Hackers not Found

Technical mistakes by Senator Joe Lieberman's re-election campaign team - not an attack by opponents - were responsible for the crash of his website on the eve of the August 2006 Connecticut primary election, federal investigators discovered. Lieberman's team implied supporters of Democrat challenger Ned Lamont might be …

Enterprise Security 10 Apr 10:48
London store brews £50-a-poop cat-crap coffee

Charity to benefit from the Caffé Raro experience

London's Peter Jones department store is offering discerning customers the chance to stump £50 a pop to taste Caffé Raro - an exotic blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and Kupi Luwak beans, the latter having passed through the digestive tract of jungle cats. According to the Telegraph, Kupi Luwak beans are eaten by Indonesian …

Bootnotes 10 Apr 10:57
Phone insurance firm reveals Sharia rules policy

Still worth reading the small print though

Been searching for ethical mobile phone insurance, based on Sharia rules? Well stop, because FoneShield UK has launched just such a product, though you may find yourself splitting hairs over what "ethical" actually means. Sharia rules don't allow money to be made from interest, as well as forbidding investment in specific …

Mobile 10 Apr 11:08
Aussies to get 3G iPhone in June... and unlocked?

No carrier tie-ins for roll-out Down Under, dealers told

Australians may not only be among the first folk to get their mitts on the upcoming 3G iPhone, but they may also be offered the handset without ties to networks. So claims a poster on Down Under website MacTalk. The site's correspondent alleges the info comes via local resellers who were briefed on the launch by Apple this …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 11:53
FCC builds giant text spam engine for terror warnings

jst 2 let u knw, there's an @ak pl& on d USA l8r 2day

The Federal Communications Commission is set to announce the launch of a national alert system, using text messaging and other mobile technologies to tell Americans when to panic. The system will be announced on Wednesday, according to both CNN and USA Today. Carriers will be asked to opt in, while customers can opt out if …

Government 10 Apr 11:57
American ISPs already sharing data with outside ad firms

To Phorm or Not to Phorm

Multiple American ISPs are sharing customer data with outside firms that deal in so-called behavioral ad targeting, and according to one of these firms, the Silicon Valley-based NebuAd, roughly 10 per cent of all US web surfers are affected. These ad companies, which also include the Sonora, California-based Front Porch, won't …

Telecoms 10 Apr 12:02
Sanyo satnav offers anti-theft advice

I wouldn't park there, mate

If you don’t already know that dark alleyways and tower-block estates are dangerous places to park your Porsche, then Sanyo’s latest satnav system will warn you before you pull up into a joy-riding hotspot. Two new Gorilla-brand satnavs incorporate data gathered from police pinpointing car-crime hotspots. These areas are …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 12:02
NHS IT loses its interim head

Third major exec to walk this year

Mathew Swindells, the interim chief information officer for the NHS technology programme, has left the organisation to join a private sector consultancy. Swindells replaced Richard Granger, the UK's highest paid civil servant, who was running the project. He left in January. Granger said at the time he was leaving because the …

Government 10 Apr 12:08
Nikon downloads Wi-Fi compact camera

Wireless snapping

Nikon clearly wants a piece of Panasonic’s Wi-Fi compact camera action and has unveiled its own wireless rival to Panasonic’s recently released WLAN-linked capable Lumix TZ50. Nikon's S52c: integrates Wi-Fi connectivity The Nikon S52 and S52c are both nine-megapixel cameras, but only the S52c allows images to be transferred …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 12:11
Courts slam Blair's 'abject surrender' to Saudi prince

Updated Gov: We will change the law

The UK High Court has ruled that a controversial government decision to stop investigating allegations of arms industry bribery in Saudi Arabia violated both British and international law. Despite the judgement, it remains unclear whether the investigation will restart. The judicial review took place as a result of legal …

Government 10 Apr 12:22
IBM backs the truth up out there with FilesX

Yet another storage buy

Big Blue today beefed up its storage software offerings by agreeing to buy privately-held FilesX – which protects data on Microsoft's operating systems – for an undisclosed sum. IBM said it plans to fold the Newton, Massachusetts, and Haifa, Israel-based company's technology into its Tivoli Storage Manager range. FilesX, …

Storage 10 Apr 12:38
Boffins build safer, more capacious lithium-ion battery

Holy Grail of laptop power packs found?

Scientists in the States have come up with a new take on the design of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. They claim their version makes the power packs not only less prone to combustion but also able to hold up to 50 per cent more energy. Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Argonne, Illinois discovered …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 12:42
eBay forces Aussies to use Paypal

It's that or pay in person, mate

eBay is forcing all its Australian users to use its Paypal service from the middle of this year sparking outrage over the percentrage of their sales that will now flow back to the auctions giant. The auction giant's customers will have only two methods of payment available for transactions over the site from June 17: paying in …

Small Biz 10 Apr 12:54
US student planned to ice Chuck Norris

Hit list names man who 'can slam a revolving door'

A New Jersey high school student has been suspended for allegedly drawing up a hit list which included the names of "three students and a school administrator" and, rather ill-advisedly, roundhouse-kicking death machine Chuck Norris. According to the Philadephia Inquirer, the unnamed Pennsauken High School 16-year-old was …

Bootnotes 10 Apr 12:56
Phishers offer credit card discounts to prospective marks

In-SecureCode

Phishing fraudsters are using promises of financial discounts to trick unwary users into handing over their credit card details. Scam emails that form the basis of the fraud claim to be part of MasterCard's SecureCode scheme. Con men are attempting to exploit a lack of familiarity with the recently introduced programme, which …

Crime 10 Apr 13:20
Sony Ericsson Walkman W380i budget music phone

Review Less iPhone killer, more Shuffle worrier

Having revamped its high-end Walkman line-up with the W890i and the W960i, now it’s budget music mobile buyers' turn to get a fresh deal, with the W380i clamshell. But are its smart design and novel features enough to give it pocket pulling power? On the scale of music phones, the W380i may be less ‘iPhone killer’ more ‘ …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 13:55
3D TV debuts in Japan

Another excuse to stay in

Chuck out your HD TV because 3D TV is fast becoming a reality - provided you live in Japan that is. Still requires special specs A Japanese retailer has unveiled a 46in 3D LCD TV, though it's actually manufactured by Hyundai. The set has a 1920 x 1080 resolution and generates a 3D image using stereoscopics. It creates the …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 14:07
A380 passengers to enjoy 'military-style' urinals

Customer orders four space-saving bogs

Airbus A380 cabin component manufacturer Dasell Cabin Interiors has announced it will supply "space-saving military-style" urinals to an unnamed A380 customer, as it unveiled its "concept urinal" (pictured) at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2008 in Hamburg. According to Flight International, Dasell is remaining tight-lipped on …

Bootnotes 10 Apr 14:46
US will sky spy-sat to eye spy-sats

Watch out for the watcher-watcher

Announcements from the Pentagon have put a price and an initial schedule on a new American military satellite which will be used to keep track of other countries' spy satellites. According to a report in Aviation Daily & Defence Report, the new Space Based Surveillance System (SBSS) Block 10 spacecraft is slated for launch in …

Space 10 Apr 14:48
Opera tunes itself for Android

No fat ladies involved

Opera Software has ported the mini version of its eponymous browser onto Google's Android platform. Opera Mini is a Java ME (Micro Edition) application, so Opera Labs ported an open source application called MicroEmulator to Android, which allowed it to run its existing code without modification. MicroEmulator is designed to …

Applications 10 Apr 14:50
Ofcom questions BBC licence fee for worthy TV

Launches review, annoys everyone

Ofcom has launched its long awaited consultation into Public Service Broadcasting - with something to annoy everyone. The regulator predicts a tough time for commercial broadcasters, which justifies the main policy proposal: forcing the state broadcaster to share its income with private sector rivals. Even before publication …

Government 10 Apr 14:56
Boffins chomp noggin-nobbling narcotics

Jekyll and super-intelligent Hyde

Shocking research by Nature has revealed that many of the world's boffins are routinely taking psychoactive drugs to boost their brain power. An "informal survey" by the leading research rag has uncovered an epidemic of drug use in scientific circles. One in five respondents to the survey reported they had used cognition- …

Biology 10 Apr 15:08
Soyuz capsule docks with ISS

Expedition 17 runs on rails

The Soyuz TMA-12 capsule of Expedition 17 to the ISS today docked successfully with the station at 08:57 EDT (12:57 GMT). The vehicle delivered commander Sergei Alexandrovich Volkov, cosmonaut Oleg Dmitrievich Kononenko and South Korean So-yeon Yi. The latter is the first Korean in space who will, after conducting scientific …

Space 10 Apr 15:23
Intel builds software engine to shrink laptops and mobiles

Less becomes more

Intel has given a glimpse of the software its building so mobile computers can detect and communicate with a variety of devices, reducing the size of machine you need to lug about. Lester Memmott, a senior architect in Intel's software pathfinding and innovation group, has revealed the existence of an experimental context- …

Reg Hardware 10 Apr 17:28
IBM hopes to patent 'dealing with chaos'

Exclusive rights to pandemics

IBM wants to patent a means of responding to hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, solar flares, flooding, terrorism, war, pandemics, and other situations where you would hope companies aren't worried about patents. With a US patent application just released to the public and turned up by Techdirt, Big Blue seeks exclusive …

IT Director 10 Apr 17:50
HP goes bundle mad with quicker HP-UX

11i v3 Update 2, a name that's practically poetry

Hewlett-Packard's Unix team has rolled out a fresh release of the HP-UX operating system, and has yet again fiddled with the various flavors of the software that customers can acquire. HP-UX 11i v3 Update 2 (no, seriously) features some tweaks to the kernel and elsewhere, providing what HP claims is a 20 per cent performance …

Servers 10 Apr 20:15
Al Gore dodges inconvenient green-tech questions

RSA RSA recycled into lecture gig

Want to know environmental crusader and Nobel laureate Al Gore's views on green technology? Tough. The former US vice president has barred press from attending his RSA keynote presentation on green technology, citing "contractual reasons". But is it a ruse to head off awkward questions about whose candidacy he's backing for …

Public Sector 10 Apr 21:10
Google and Yahoo! skewer anti-DoubleClick law

Band of Big Brothers

Yahoo! and Google have teamed up again - this time to oppose a New York State bill that would regulate web-based targeted advertising. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the two online ad behemoths are part of an industry coalition that just fired a letter to Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, opposing a bill he recently …

Financial News 10 Apr 21:11
Can the Atom help Intel's CEO meet otherworldly demands?

Interview Exclusive Otellini bullish on MIDs, bearish on Affymetrics

Strolling towards Intel's headquarters, I hoped my meeting with Paul Otellini would not be as awkward as the last encounter with an acting Intel CEO. Back in 2001, Craig Barrett delivered a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which required him to emerge from a huge tub of Jello. Intel had hired its …

Servers 10 Apr 23:22