30th April 2008 Archive

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Watchdog demands MSN Music mea culpa

Run some Google ads, Steve

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is demanding that Steve Ballmer make a public apology to all people silly enough to purchase tunes from MSN Music, Microsoft's long-defunct iTunes wannabe. This morning, the San Francisco-based tech watchdog floated an open letter (PDF) to the hulking Microsoft CEO, criticizing the company's …

Music and Media 30 Apr 2008, 00:35
SpringSource claims first 'proper' application server

Test and maintenance relief

SpringSource has picked up on the trend for modular servers with the planned beta release today of the SpringSource Application Platform, its Java application server. SpringSource chief executive Rod Johnson told Reg Dev the Spring Application Framework is the “first proper” Java application server product to appear for the …

Applications 30 Apr 2008, 04:02
Blue Coat vows to fund the heck out of PacketShaper

Interop 2008 Jewel of WAN acceleration firm's $268m purchase

We'll admit that the WAN acceleration joint Blue Coat has largely been cruising under our radar, so when the company bought its rival Packeteer for $268m last week, we did a double-take. Being El Reg, of course, each individual take was filled with erudite contemplation. Here's a play-by-play recreation: First take: Holy …

Data Networking 30 Apr 2008, 07:14
MS pulls plugs on XP SP3 mass launch

'Compatibility issues' delay Windows update

Microsoft has pulled the general release of Windows XP service pack three (SP3) at the eleventh hour, blaming a “compatibility issue” for the cock-up. The software giant said late yesterday it was suspending mass download of the long-awaited service pack while it investigates the problem between its point-of-sale app – Dynamics …

Applications 30 Apr 2008, 09:04
Radiohead diss freetards

No repetition of In Rainbows 'honesty' experiment

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has said the band will not be repeating its In Rainbows experiment which allowed fans to download the album at a price of their choice - allegedly nothing, in most cases. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Yorke said: "I think it was a one-off response to a particular situation. Yes. It was a one …

Music and Media 30 Apr 2008, 09:12
Discoverer of LSD dead at 102

Albert Hofmann takes his final trip

Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, who in 1943 accidentally discovered the hallucinogenic effects of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), has died at the age of 102, Reuters reports. Hoffman passed away at his home in Basel on 29 April as a result of a heart attack, according to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic …

Biology 30 Apr 2008, 09:14
Welsh blogger fined over 'menacing' plod blog

Said he was just letting off steam

A Welsh blogger has been fined £150 by magistrates in Mold, Clywd, for posting an apparently menacing message about a policeman on his blog. Gavin Brent, 24, from Holywell, Flintshire, was found guilty under the Telecommunications Act and must pay the fine and £364 in costs. He said his post was not meant to be offensive and …

Law 30 Apr 2008, 09:21
Anti-Israel hackers deface central bank site

Security doesn't roll on Shabbat

The Bank of Israel website has been restored after it was knocked off the internet last weekend in an attack blamed on anti-Israel hackers. The hackers defaced the bank's website on Thursday with anti-Israeli graffiti, written in Arabic. Normally the site of Israel's central bank carries currency exchange and interest rate …

Enterprise Security 30 Apr 2008, 09:21
Graphics biz shows first Q1 growth for six years

Market share shuffle continues

More graphics chips were sold in the first quarter of 2008 than in the final three months of 2007 - the first time the business has seen sequential grow between the quarters spanning the New Year since 2002. So said market watcher Jon Peddie Research (JPR) today - before highlighting how AMD managed to lose the much of the …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 09:42
UK physics chief next for the chop in funding bloodbath?

Select committee evidence 'inaccurate, unconvincing and unacceptable'

Professor Keith Mason, the man in charge of scything £80m from the UK's physics research budget, has been sharply criticised by MPs investigating cutbacks which have forced job losses in labs and threaten to shut down many projects. The Commons select committee on innovation, universities, science and skills said in its report …

Government 30 Apr 2008, 09:45
Grand Theft Auto 4 queue man stabbed in head

Revenge assault attempted

A hooded male stabbed another man in the head and neck yesterday as they both queued to buy copies of Grand Theft Auto IV from a Croydon Gamestation store. Onlookers witnessed the Niko-style stabbing, which some bystanders have said they initially thought was a stunt pulled to whip-up yet more excitement for the eagerly …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 09:52
Hafta Man and the threat to agile design

Pragmatism, not grand plans

This bloke once walked into a meeting I was attending and introduced a new word to my vocabulary: "Hafta", as in: "We hafta do it this way because..." I've been trying to shake it off ever since. Hafta is really a design mindset - albeit an especially poor one. Broadly speaking there are three attitudes to design: 1. We …

Software 30 Apr 2008, 10:02
Mao to run 3Com from China

Can new boss deliver great leap forward?

Networking equipment firm 3Com has ousted chief exec Edgar Masri in the wake of an abandoned buyout by Bain Capital Partners and Huawei, the Chinese networking firm. Masri was replaced by Robert Mao, 64, a fluent Mandarin speaker who will be based in Beijing, which the US-based firm views as its biggest potential market. New …

Data Networking 30 Apr 2008, 10:04
AT&T to slash 3G iPhone price to beat unlockers?

Making it cheaper to stick with the official network

AT&T is to follow the example of O2 in the UK and Germany's T-Mobile and chop the price of the iPhone. But not the current model - it's going to subsidise the anticipated 3G version to the tune of $200. So claims a Fortune magazine report citing a single source. The $200 discount will take the price of an 8GB 3G iPhone to $ …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 10:23
MP launches ten minute rule bill on in-UK roaming

How much per minute?!?

Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark yesterday used the ten-minute rule to present the UK parliament with his ideas on intra-country roaming for mobile phones. The ten-minute rule gives backbench MPs the opportunity to introduce a bill beyond those normally scheduled: the MP has ten minutes to present their case, and an opponent may …

Mobile 30 Apr 2008, 10:25
Police nick 460 a day for using mobiles while driving

'Hi honey, I'm wrapped round a tree'

More than 168,000 people were fined for using a mobile phone when driving in 2006, a rise of 30 per cent on the previous year. The figures were released today by the UK Justice Department, according to The Telegraph, and show that despite the fact it's been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving without a hands-free kit …

Mobile 30 Apr 2008, 10:54
How scanners and PCs will choose London's mayor

Can e-counting technology get it right this time?

Very few politicians are recognisable by their first names only, but next week, two such larger than life characters will face each other in the closest battle for the office of London Mayor since it was re-established in 2000. The polls have the Labour incumbent Ken Livingstone running neck and neck with the Tory contender, …

Government 30 Apr 2008, 11:02
LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray HD DVD combo drive

Review Ready to run any HD disc on your PC

While it's clear that Blu-ray Disc is going to rule the HD roost, unfortunately for Sony, the rival HD DVD format will take some time to wither away. Which leaves the buying public in a tricky position. The smart money is on combo drives such as the LG GGC-H20L, which can read both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats for a price just …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 11:07
Microhoo! what's! going! on?

Possible announcement likely maybe today

Microsoft is laying aside $1.5bn to keep Yahoo! staff happy and at their desks should the takeover go through. The cash was revealed in court documents from last month. The figure comes from a transcript of a hearing held on 24 March (available here). But lawyers noted that the figure for staff retention could also include the …

Financial News 30 Apr 2008, 11:14
Lesbians turn on lesbians in battle of Lesbos

We want our name back, demand irate islanders

Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos have declared that they alone have the right to call themselves lesbians, and yesterday launched a legal action against the Greek Gay and Lesbian Union (Olke) designed to wrest back control of the word from aficionados of Sapphic luuurv. Local activist Dimitris Lambrou states in his …

Bootnotes 30 Apr 2008, 11:15
Wristwatch packs Wi-Fi sniffer, also tells time

No wind-up

Watches may have been created to tell the time, but these days it's much more cutting-edge to use your timepiece to tell you when you're in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi hotspot. The Wi-Fi Detecting Watch: find web access whilst walking the streets The Wi-Fi Detecting Watch doesn’t let you actually surf the web, but the timepiece …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 11:16
Is there a router I can connect a USB 3G modem to?

Q&A

Does anybody make a modem/router (gateway) with a USB connection so that I don't have to use an ADSL (telephone line) for broadband? In other words, can I connect a mobile 3G dongle and still have my home network?

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 11:47
US beak pecks at RIAA's 'making available' filesharing attack

Rrreeeeewiiiiiiind!

A US federal judge has shot down one of the Recording Industry Ass. of America's key arguments in its brave pursuit of students, idiots and grandmothers it accuses of sharing music over peer-to-peer networks. In an order in the case of the Atlantic vs Howell in Arizona yesterday, Judge Neil Wake said that the RIAA's claim that …

Music and Media 30 Apr 2008, 11:56
Samsung digital TV phone en route to Blighty

Turn on, tune in, slob out

A Samsung broadcast has announced what it claims is the world’s first slider handset capable of receiving DVB-H mobile digital TV signals. Samsung's P690: picks up DVB-H broadcasts DVB-H is largely accepted as the standard format for mobile TV broadcasts in Europe, following a decision in Brussels last month that …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 11:56
Slashdot website down

Updated: Suffering from the self-Slashdot effect?

Linux lovers' favourite website Slashdot.org has been unavailable all morning. Sister sites SourceForge and Freshmeat are also down. Attempts to visit the site are met with a "taking too long to respond" message. Slashdot was formerly famous for the "Slashdot effect" or slashdotting - when links from the site to smaller …

Bootnotes 30 Apr 2008, 11:59
MS supplies cops with DIY forensics tool

Cybercrims? They'll never get their hands on one...

Microsoft has reportedly developed a USB key that allows investigators to extract forensic data from PCs. COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) comes in a USB key form factor, and was distributed to a small number of law-enforcement agencies last June, the Seattle Times reports. The device includes 150 tools that …

Crime 30 Apr 2008, 12:19
Vultures crash out of the Indian skyscape

Could be extinct in a decade

A catastrophic decline in the number of Asian vultures due to the continued use of drugs in livestock means the noble, if picky, birds could be extinct within a decade. A research project by the Bombay Natural History Society across India, Pakistan, and Nepal, showed that overall numbers of Asian vultures are declining by 50 …

Biology 30 Apr 2008, 12:50
Ian McKellen to reprise Gandalf

Back for The Hobbit

Veteran Brit thesp Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed he'll be reprising his role of Gandalf in the forthcoming adaptation of The Hobbit, according to Empire magazine. He said: "Yes, it's true. It's not a part that you turn down. I loved playing Gandalf. I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part …

Entertainment 30 Apr 2008, 12:56
BBC iPlayer continues platform sluttiness with Virgin Media launch

Satellite of ~~love~~ resentment

The BBC's streaming iPlayer is now available to three and a half million Virgin Media cable TV customers via their set top box. The plans have been known for several weeks, and the implementation has been delivered on time by the pair. iPlayer is delivered over VM's cable TV platform rather than broadband, and is accessible …

Telecoms 30 Apr 2008, 13:08
LG telly launch gulls Tinseltown stars

New TV series - or a new series of TVs?

LG has taken the wraps off what it claims is the world’s slimmest LCD TV, dubbed Scarlet, following a launch party that made fools of many Hollywood A-List celebrities. LG's Scarlet: four HDMI ports and a sexy red back Confusingly, Scarlet sets will be sold as LG60 models in the US and under the LG6000 name in the UK. The …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 13:40
Telco spending will flatline in 2008

Alcatel-Lucent dials down forecast

The global telecoms market is facing a chilly 2008 if Alcatel-Lucent’s latest financial forecast proves to be on the mark. Alcatel-Lucent forecast the telecoms and related services market this year will be "flat versus the company’s previous forecast of flat to slightly up". Alcatel-Lucent's own full year revenues, at constant …

Financial News 30 Apr 2008, 13:46
SAP reports profits drop, delays ByDesign rollout

Software-as-a-service-eventually

SAP has increased revenues for the first quarter of this year, but net income has fallen and it is delaying the rollout of its webhosted business management product. Results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2008 show revenues up 14 per cent to €2.46bn, but net income is down 22 per cent to €242m, compared to €310m for the …

Channel Register 30 Apr 2008, 13:53
Time Warner to amputate cable tentacle

'Anyone want AOL too?'

Time Warner has today confirmed widely-expected plans to pacify its long-suffering investors with a cash windfall from the sale of its US cable tentacle. Chief executive Jeff Bewkes said during the conglomerate's Q1 earnings call: "We've decided that a complete structural separation of Time Warner Cable, under the right …

Music and Media 30 Apr 2008, 14:35
Plasma TV components applied to password cracking

Bluetooth crypto blown in eight seconds

Forget networked PCs or even PlayStation 3s, components commonly found in plasma TVs are the latest thing in password cracking tools. High performance FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chips are the Chuck Norris of number crunching, equally suited to image processing and (with a bit of modification) password cracking. …

Enterprise Security 30 Apr 2008, 14:39
School crossing guards join CCTV panlollycon

Lollicams for all

School crossing guards, known as lollipop ladies (or men) in the UK because of the signs they carry, are getting digital video cameras to provide evidence against the increasing numbers of drivers who ignore or abuse them. The Local Government Association said there were 1,400 incidents of lollipop rage reported to local …

Policing 30 Apr 2008, 14:43
Brits vote for useless gadgets

Manufacturers run scared

Obviously Register Hardware’s writers love their gadgets, but some inventions leave us a little perplexed as to their point. And we’re not alone, because a list of punters' most useless gadgets has been compiled. The inventory was made after Reevoo.com questioned 4500 British shoppers about which gadgets they thought were the …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 14:47
Sony Ericsson puts a Flash into Java

Why have only one development platform?

Sony Ericsson is planning to offer developers the opportunity to embed Flash Lite applications inside J2ME midlets, in the hope that two mobile phone application platforms will prove better than one. Flash Lite has proved popular for highly-graphical mobile phone applications, and is supported on quite a range of handsets. …

Mobile 30 Apr 2008, 15:42
Game rating to confound censor, trade body chief claims

ELSPA and BBFC tough it out

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rubbished reiterated claims from a games industry trade body that it won’t be able to cope with online videogame classification. Paul Jackson, director general of the European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), yesterday told MPs on the Culture Select Committee …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 15:54
Toffs' phone maker goes loco over Rococo

A monetary masterpiece?

Vertu has used an 18th Century French art movement as the inspiration for its latest range of exclusive, overpriced handsets. Vertu's Rococo handset in noir The Rococo series, which is just one handset available in lots of different bodies, has been designed to celebrate Vertu’s tenth anniversary. The series expands Vertu’s …

Reg Hardware 30 Apr 2008, 16:18
Why have Radiohead broken freetards' hearts?

Analysis One or two things you didn't know about In Rainbows...

As you may have heard earlier today, Radiohead's Thom Yorke says the band won't be repeating the band's digital deal which allowed users to download a version of its most recent album for free. "I don’t think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again," he said, describing it as a …

Music and Media 30 Apr 2008, 18:22
Nigerian duped gullible NASA employee

Looking for love in all the wrong places

A Nigerian man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after tricking a NASA employee into clicking on an email attachment that installed malware on her government-issued computer. According to a Justice Department press release, the unnamed Washington-based employee received the email from an individual she had had met on an …

Crime 30 Apr 2008, 18:54
KVM funder takes a swing at desktop virtualization

Qumranet wants you hooked on SolidICE

Qumranet, a rather small software company, wants to make a very large play in the virtualization market with a new product. It's looking for Solid ICE to go up against the desktop virtulization wares from VMware, Citrix, Microsoft and a host of start-ups. Those of you in the open source kingdom will know Qumranet best as the …

Virtualization 30 Apr 2008, 20:03
Citrix boss wants data center 'dinosaurs' to evolve

Interop 2008 Service-oriented mammalians to survive IT recession

Day two of Interop Las Vegas 2008 opened with a modest IT proposal from Mark Templeton, President and CEO of Citrix. Speaking at his morning keynote, Templeton said it's time for businesses to restructure their entire enterprise computing agenda to suit the needs of today's fashionable service-oriented model. "We've been in …

IT Director 30 Apr 2008, 20:08
Dubya archives White House email by hand

When a system is not a system

How does the George W. Bush administration archive its email? It asks someone to manually copy the contents of an Exchange folder. In a Congressional Report (PDF) turned up by Ars Technica, White House Chief Information Officer Teresa Payton admits that W and crew haven't used automated backup since 2002, when they tossed out …

Storage 30 Apr 2008, 20:27
Zango's adware fox desperate to guard net henhouse

Comment 'Kaspersky's got nothin' on us'

Zango, creator of Hotbar, Seekmo Search Assistant and other adware programs of dubious value to end users, just can't seem to come to grips with reality. It's coughed up a $3m fine to the FTC and abandoned two lawsuits claiming anti-malware providers illegally interfered with its business after being laughed out of just about …

Malware 30 Apr 2008, 21:55
Stanford grabs $6m to shape the future of software

Virtual worlds, robots and huge databases covered

Stanford University has mounted some gun turrets to its Ivory Towers. Just a few weeks after rival UC Berkeley revealed a mega-funding engagement with Microsoft and Intel around multi-threaded software, Stanford has returned fire by grabbing money from just about every other vendor on the planet with interest in improving code …

Servers 30 Apr 2008, 23:47