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23rd April 2008 Archive

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  • eBay sues Craigslist as family squabble goes public

    eBay's 28.4% stake diluted

    eBay has taken a family squabble with eBay public and it could get messy. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, the online auction house sued Craigslist, the online provider of classified ads for hookers, used toasters and room-mates that is 28.4 per cent owned by eBay. eBay claims that …

    Financial News 23 Apr 2008, 01:07

  • Modern 'primitive' could ease the pain of encrypting massive amounts of data

    Multiple criteria for identity-based encryption

    Researchers have devised an encryption scheme that could simplify the protection of sensitive information by allowing banks, hospitals and other organizations to lock files using keys that are based on specific attributes, such as an employee's position or geographic location. The method, which was unveiled last week, adds to …

    Enterprise Security 23 Apr 2008, 06:02

  • IT bankrolls all-India ambulance service

    Don't tip the driver mummy

    An IT industry backed non-profit is rolling out an ambulance service across India, giving the vast continent a single emergency number for the first time. The Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), which has been bankrolled by the family of Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju since 2005, has been building up the …

    Government 23 Apr 2008, 08:08

  • Sun backs Java-on-iPhone 'quick fix'

    Go BREW team!

    Tiny Innaworks has emerged as the temporary savior of a red-faced Sun Microsystems and thousands of developers itching to get their applications running to Apple's iPhone and Touch. Sun will use next month's JavaOne conference to demonstrate technology from mobile tools specialist Innaworks that converts Java Micro Edition …

    Developer 23 Apr 2008, 08:14

  • Facebook Troll sends mob against Cluley

    'Joe Job' social networking attack

    Security personality Graham Cluley has become the target of a hate campaign after a "troll" criticising the British army posted a picture of the anti-virus expert in his Facebook profile. Graham Cassell started a Facebook group condoning recent attacks on British Army cadets wearing uniform in public. This stance predictably …

    Malware 23 Apr 2008, 08:16

  • FCC tells Comcast to unblock P2P

    Ignores delay tactics

    US Federal Communications Committee chairman Kevin Martin realises that Comcast has its very own definition for the word "delay." America's second largest ISP continues to say that it's delaying peer-to-peer traffic on its network, not blocking it. But Martin isn't that gullible. Speaking before the Senate Commerce Committee …

    Telecoms 23 Apr 2008, 08:22

  • Google tips hat to St George - finally

    By the Lord Harry

    We're delighted to announce that Google has, after several years of nagging, finally got its act together and acknowledged the patron saint of hoodies, speed cameras, overvalued property, and binge drinking. Yes indeed, it's beers all round at the Googleplex for restoring English pride in cyberspace and avoiding the terrible …

    Bootnotes 23 Apr 2008, 09:04

  • Samsung shares Soul shipment secret

    Carphone Warehouse bound

    If you want to get down and boogie, then you’ll need plenty of soul. Luckily, this week Carphone Warehouse will be dolling out bucket loads of it - Samsung's Soul, that is. Soul is the manufacturer’s latest handset, which it unveiled back in February - but without providing any shipping or pricing information. Samsung's …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 09:09

  • Tira Wireless shares device database

    Comprehensive, but expensive

    Want to develop a mobile app, but unsure which devices support the APIs you want to use? Tira Wireless has the answer, with Tira Modd its database of detailed device specifications that show which Java API is available on which device, and on what network. Tira is asking for $10,000 for the desktop (Standard) version of its …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2008, 09:31

  • Google starts Street View in Europe

    But privacy could be an issue

    Google has started recording the streets of its first non-US city for its Street View service. Google vans with mounted cameras have been spotted on the streets of Rome and Milan. Street View is the project which allows Google users to see photographs of any street in a surveyed area and even travel through the city, frame by …

    Law 23 Apr 2008, 09:50

  • Apple buys chip maker

    PowerPC CPU designer acquired

    Apple is to buy a microprocessor design company founded by one of the key minds behind the ARM chip design that went on to become Intel's erstwhile XScale family. The firm in question is PA Semi, which currently develops low-power processors based on the PowerPC architecture. Apple's dealt with PA before, as a possible …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 09:51

  • Sony Ericsson punts HSDPA handsets for web browsing

    Surf, walk, talk and text

    Web, web and more web is the latest message from Sony Ericsson. The handset manufacturer has launched two HSDPA 3G handsets with the simple aim of getting more customers hooked on compulsive on-the-fly email checking. Sony Ericsson's G502: 'super 3G' enabled The G502 handset operates over tri-band GSM/GPRS/Edge, whilst the …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 09:54

  • Smut blocking? We're more bothered about Bebo

    Censorware fights social networking

    Travel, webmail, and social networking sites are more commonly blocked by businesses than gambling and adult content sites. A survey of 300 security pros by security firm Webroot found that workers frequently visit travel, webmail, and social networking websites while attempts to surf smut or gambling sites are less common. …

    Security 23 Apr 2008, 10:05

  • AMD market share down in Q4 '07

    Up on the previous quarter, though

    AMD may have regained some lost market share between Q3 and Q4 2007, but it was down year on year, the latest figures from market watcher iSuppli reveal. Over the last two quarters of 2007, AMD's share of the world PC chip market grew a tiny third of a percentage point to 14.2 per cent. Market leader Intel saw its share rise …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 10:25

  • BBC should not pay for fibre, Ofcom tells MPs

    Never really an option

    The dog and pony show over whether the BBC should contribute to distribution costs for iPlayer rolled into Westminster yesterday, with Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards telling MPs he doesn't believe forcing Auntie to cough up for a fibre network is the best plan. Appearing before a joint session of the Commons culture and …

    Data Networking 23 Apr 2008, 10:40

  • HD DVD sales still solid despite format's failure

    Decent US sales showing

    Toshiba may have canned production of HD DVD hardware, but that didn't stop US consumers buying into the format last month, new market stats reveal. According to US market watcher Redhill, 81 per cent of the next-generation optical disc players bought by Americans were Blu-ray Disc machines. That means 19 per cent of them used …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 10:46

  • Acer Q1 profits down, revs revved up

    Expansion-happy PC maker buoyed by strong ops

    Acer Inc today reported a drop in first quarter net profit after one-off investment gains this time last year. The Taiwan-based firm, which now holds the number three spot behind rivals HP and Dell in global shipments, has reason to be cheerful, however, with its recent aggressive expansion showing stable core growth in the …

    Channel Register 23 Apr 2008, 10:51

  • UK Reaper drone wrecked in Afghanistan

    New ones cost £10m: MoD hopes to spend £17m

    A Reaper unmanned combat aircraft has crashed in Afghanistan. According to reports, restricted technology aboard the wrecked roboplane was salvaged by British special forces and the remains were then destroyed by a bomb from a manned jet. The Sun reported yesterday that "a £50m British spy plane" had been "blown to bits" after …

    Government 23 Apr 2008, 10:57

  • EU plans to boost organ donor numbers

    With region-wide card and 24/7 hotline

    The European Parliament is calling for a Europe-wide donor card in order to reduce the shortage of organs available for transplant. The region-wide card would supplement existing national systems. There will also be a 24-hour telephone hotline, which sounds good, but it will need to be multi-lingual, and thus expensive, and it …

    Biology 23 Apr 2008, 11:03

  • Samsung M110 Solid rugged phone

    Review Well 'ard handset for the rough 'n' ready

    Take a look at the specifications of the new Samsung M110 and you could be forgiven for thinking that you were looking at the details for a handset made a decade ago rather than something fresh off the drawing board. For all concerned, playing tunes and taking great snaps is absolutely not what the M110 is about. The clue is …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 11:04

  • ASA raps Paddy Power over gambling dwarf ad

    'Irresponsible', declares watchdog

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered online gambling outfit Paddy Power "not to repeat" the approach it adopted in a newspaper ad which showed a "short man" in the back of stretch limo flanked by women under the title "Who says you can't make money being short?" The offending advertisement, which appeared in …

    Law 23 Apr 2008, 11:07

  • Google sued for ad fraud

    What does a blank box mean?

    Google has been hit with a class action suit in California over its AdSense system. Private detective David Almeida accuses the search giant of confusing users of its ad system. The online registration process for AdWords (adverts placed on Google's search engine) also registers advertisers for AdSense (adverts on third party …

    Law 23 Apr 2008, 11:09

  • Sun plans JavaFX RIA tease for JavaOne

    Microsoft and Adobe breathe easy

    Sun Microsystems is planning demonstrations but little by way of final code for its JavaFX rich-internet application challenge to Microsoft and Adobe Systems at next month’s JavaOne. A year after announcing JavaFX, Sun said it will demonstrate three API “profiles” for development and deployment of JavaFX RIAs on millions of …

    Developer 23 Apr 2008, 11:12

  • Congo lynch mobs attack penis-snatching sorcerers

    Todger-loss panic sweeps Kinshasa

    Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this week cuffed for their own protection 13 "suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men's penises", Reuters reports. The arrests come after a "wave of panic" swept the capital Kinshasa last week, provoked by rumours that the unwary might be …

    Bootnotes 23 Apr 2008, 11:30

  • A requiem for the mobile web

    Farewell then, Mowser

    VCs have spunked $1.5bn on useless Web 2.0 companies in recent years. And millions more in capital will be wasted in deals at Tim 2.0'Reilly's webfest over the next few days. So why can't one of the most promising start-ups, that potentially brings the web to over a billion new surfers, get funding? Mowser is an ad-supported …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2008, 11:54

  • Honda harness to take the strain out of strolling

    'Walk this way'

    Honda has developed a wacky walking gadget designed to making walking much less of an effort. Honda's walking assistance gadget: self-explanatory Honda said the "walking assistance device" is for “people who are still capable of walking on their own”, but it may also appeal to the elderly, the weak of limb and, yes, the …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 12:36

  • Wake me up when Global Warming's over

    Pollution, conservation bigger worries than climate

    It looks like Al Gore is going to need every cent of the $300m war chest he's amassed for climate persuasion. Americans polled by Gallup for 'Earth Day' value "traditional", bottom-up environmental issues such as pollution and conservation as being more worrying than Global Warming. Remarkably, the level of concern about …

    Environment 23 Apr 2008, 13:02

  • Microsoft rolls out Live Mesh preview

    Yet more clouds forecast

    Microsoft has officially unveiled a preview of Live Mesh, the web services platform seen as a key plank of the company's aggressive software plus services strategy. Chief software architect Ray Ozzie, who has been evangelising the project for some time, lifted the skirt on Microsoft’s Live Mesh last night. The service will …

    Software 23 Apr 2008, 13:06

  • Judge issues arrest warrant for Darth Vader

    'I hope the force will soon be with him'

    A judge has demanded a Darth Vader impersonator be dragged before him after he succumbed to the Dark Side, attacked two Jedi with a metal crutch, and failed to show up for the resulting court appearance on an assault rap. According to the Telegraph, Arwel Wynne Jones interrupted an outdoors TV interview* with brothers Barney …

    Bootnotes 23 Apr 2008, 13:07

  • Hidden card fraud taxes UK.biz

    Chargeback

    Headline losses from credit card fraud are only part of the problem facing UK ecommerce firms. Chargeback costs from failed transactions are also costing them dear. Credit card fraud protection specialist The 3rd Man reckons "card not present" crime in the UK is far higher than official statistics suggest and is getting worse …

    Crime 23 Apr 2008, 13:09

  • Girl-only fish species survives by cloning

    No men or bicycles required

    Researchers are pondering how an exclusively-female fish species has survived without genetically self-destructing itself into extinction, the BBC reports. The Amazon Molly, found in Mexico and Texas, reproduces by cloning, and while it does "interact" with chaps from other species to "trigger its reproduction process", doesn' …

    Biology 23 Apr 2008, 13:11

  • West Yorks rolls out cop cams, ignoring plod nod probs

    But gimbals not needed in West Yorkshire

    West Yorkshire police are to spend £160,000 equipping their coppers with head-mounted video cameras, despite Dorset police finding that nodding police officers make shoulder-mounting more effective. The West Yorkshire project follows trials in Leeds, using cameras capable of 12 hours of continuous recording. The money will …

    Policing 23 Apr 2008, 13:15

  • Verizon calls itself 'innovative'

    SOFCON 2008 'Hell has frozen over'

    Verizon continues to insist that its wireless network will soon be open. Yesterday at Sofcon, a Silicon Valley conference dedicated to "The Mobile Future", everyone from New York Times columnist David Pogue to Nokia CTO Bob Iannucci took a swipe at the big-name wireless carriers, accusing these closed-minded giants of …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2008, 13:19

  • US Navy hands out $1bn robo-plane contract

    Opts out of 'optionally manned' option

    The US Navy has made a long-awaited decision and awarded a billion-dollar development contract for the autonomous spyplane which it will use for ocean surveillance in future. The so-called BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) craft will be developed by Northrop Grumman using its existing, small-airliner-sized Global Hawk …

    Government 23 Apr 2008, 13:29

  • Archos takes TV+ box up against Slingbox

    Rolls out PMP GPS add-on too

    Archos has unveiled a suction cup cradle to turn its 605 Wi-Fi PMP into a satnav. It's also launched an add-on for its TV+ to turn the media centre unit into a Slingbox-style TV streamer. The GPS in-car holder is simply a suction cup with an integrated GPS pick-up that holds the 605 PMP and allows it to receive GPS signals. …

    Reg Hardware 23 Apr 2008, 13:39

  • Standalone security industry dying, says guru

    Schneier sounds death knell for Infosec

    Security guru Bruce Schneier has renewed his attack on the IT security industry. A record number of attendees is visiting this week's Infosecurity trade show in London but nobody is buying anything, according to Schneier. "Buyers don't understand what is being sold. That's why the security industry as a standalone entity is …

    Security 23 Apr 2008, 13:50

  • Satyam's mood-detecting motor to run in-car disco

    Wanna social network on the backseat? I'm not in the mood

    Satyam has promised to settle arguments over what radio station to listen to in the car when it launches its dot auto platform next year. The IT services company is using its background providing outsourced services for auto makers to develop its own software and hardware platforms which it will sell to auto suppliers and …

    Applications 23 Apr 2008, 14:17

  • EMC squares up to charges, sees profit fall

    That's gotta hurt

    Storage vendor EMC Corp today reported a 14 per cent first quarter profit drop and blamed acquisition-related expenses for the fall. The Massachusetts-based firm said it coughed a $79.2m non-cash charge for in-process research and development that came from company buy-outs during the quarter. The costly charges pushed net …

    Storage 23 Apr 2008, 14:39

  • IBM shakes up the server game with lean, cool iDataPlex

    Freaking rivals 10,000 units at a time

    It is with some measure of awe that we introduce you to IBM's iDataPlex server. The system itself is quite remarkable. IBM has reworked its approach to rack servers allowing it to place twice as many systems in a single cabinet. This attack centers on delivering the most horsepower possible in a given area while also reducing …

    Servers 23 Apr 2008, 15:08

  • Sysadmins get Quake tools

    Fragging system processes

    Managing a network just got a whole lot more fun - Aussie boffins have created a version of Quake which finally lets you deal with network problems with a shotgun. Researchers at Swinburne University, Melbourne, have mapped network services and events onto a Quake Arena, allowing budding BOFHs to utilise skills honed over hours …

    Data Networking 23 Apr 2008, 15:24

  • HP's hazy Upline data cloud defines SaaG model

    Storage as a Glitch

    HP's Upline cloud storage offering, introduced on April 7th, has crashed - badly. On April 17th HP wrote to subscribers, saying: "On Thursday, April 17th, HP suspended operation of the HP Upline Service. We fully anticipate that suspension of the Upline Service will be temporary and short in duration, and will notify you when …

    Storage 23 Apr 2008, 15:26

  • Motorola unplugs Cambridge TTPCom unit

    TTPCom to close

    Less than 2 years after paying more than £100 million for Cambridge-based TTPCom Motorola is shutting down the offices and consulting with employees about their futures, the company confirmed in a statement. Half the staff were laid off in January, so the rest will hardly have had time to catch their breath before receiving …

    Mobile 23 Apr 2008, 15:55

  • Only insanity would lead Apple to make a mobile chip play

    Comment Forget the iPhone. PA Semi's an embedded affair

    So, here's the deal. If Steve Jobs can actually turn the acquisition of chip start-up PA Semi into a fruitful mobile endeavor, then he's an even more fantastic genius than the world has guessed to date. Because this deal seems to make almost no sense at first blush if you swallow the souped-up iPhone line. The conventional …

    PCs & Chips 23 Apr 2008, 17:36

  • Man discovers his net wasn't neutered

    Analysis When the Hive Mob attacks...

    We have very little idea of how a hysteria can grip sensible, rational people - until it strikes. After Orson Welles's War Of The Worlds radio broadcast, the public reported sightings of Martians. According to urban legend, a farmer's water tower was peppered with small arms fire, in the belief that it was a Martian spaceship. …

    Telecoms 23 Apr 2008, 18:02

  • Novell strips SLES down to its undies

    Red Hat revs Fedora 9

    Stripped-down operating systems made specifically for virtual machine appliances have tickled the fancy of the Linux collective, and these types of systems are keeping commercial distributors busy pushing out their versions of the concept. Last September at VMworld, Canonical unveiled Ubuntu JeOS — pronounced juice and short …

    Servers 23 Apr 2008, 18:08

  • Brain-plug weapons could provide war crime immunity

    Comment Lawyer spots future brainhat-slaughter atrocity loophole

    An American law student has published an analysis of international law regarding war crimes that might be committed using future brain-interface-controlled weapon systems. Stephen White, studying at Cornell Law School, had his paper Brave New World: Neurowarfare and the Limits of International Humanitarian Law published (pdf) …

    Government 23 Apr 2008, 18:42

  • Dell waves goodbye to 1100 Canadians

    You've been Canucked

    Dell is shutting down a call centre in Ottawa, with the loss of 1,100 jobs. The company told CBC news today that it has already issued 500 lay-off notices, and the rest of the jobs are to go in June. It is keeping on 100 sales support employees at the Ottawa site. Dell said the closure will enhance efficiencies, and pointed to …

    Channel Register 23 Apr 2008, 19:00

  • Seagate ships 1 billionth drive

    Orders party platter for platter party

    Seagate is celebrating the shipment of its one billionth disk drive after 29 years in biz. The storage giant reckons it will reach its second billion in less than five-years' time. Seagate said it's shipped the equivalent of 79 million terabytes of storage since the company made its first hard drive in 1979. The ST506 hard …

    Storage 23 Apr 2008, 20:06

  • Google and Yahoo fling earns Justice Department's evil eye

    Schmidt's life raft also probed

    Yahoo's recent dalliance with Google's search advertising business may be getting a little adult supervision from US trust busters, who are concerned it could violate antitrust law. According to Reuters, Justice Department chaperons are investigating Yahoo's test of Google's ad engine. Recently, the two companies signaled …

    Financial News 23 Apr 2008, 22:59