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23rd May 2008 Archive

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  • Transport Dept wastes millions on shared services deal

    Whitehall computer says 'Nein'

    Shared services - where several government departments share resources in order to save money - might seem like an easy way to reduce costs within the government. But the Department of Transport's complete failure to link human resources, payroll and finance functions for six departments might sound the death knell for the …

    Government 23 May 2008, 00:02

  • Garage sale genius juices software-hawking eBayers

    Judge ignores Autodesk

    The world's greatest CAD dowser has successfully defended your right to sell second-hand software. Last fall, Timothy "Happy Hour" Vernor sued Autodesk for $10m, after the software maker barred him from selling second-hand copies of its rather expensive AutoCAD app via eBay. At the time, Vernor was flying without a lawyer. But …

    Channel Register 23 May 2008, 04:49

  • Facebook battles Google over access to user data

    Friend Connect privacy kerfuffle

    Facebook has suspended the use of a Google service which allowed people to export their Facebook friends list to other websites, claiming that the Google service violates users' privacy. Google recently released Friend Connect, a system which allows a user of social networking sites to export details from within those services …

    Applications 23 May 2008, 08:55

  • Government announces shortlist for ID card contracts

    Updated Five stooges sniff the pork barrel

    The government released the shortlist of five possible suppliers for its delayed ID card project this morning. The five remaining bidders are IBM, Fujitsu, CSC, Thales and EDS. Originally eight companies - the above along with Accenture, BAE Systems and Steria - were listed. But Accenture, BAE Systems and Steria have all …

    Government 23 May 2008, 08:57

  • Illinois gal gives Street View an eyeful

    NSFW Privacy these, big guy

    It appears that while some people are increasingly concerned that Google's entertaining Street View might visually rape their swimming pool or lay bare their military secrets to black turbans and other jihadist riff-raff, the residents of Illinois have a rather more relaxed attitude to privacy. The proof comes in the twin …

    Bootnotes 23 May 2008, 08:58

  • Intel to use Centrino 2 to promote solid-state drives

    Steering SSDs into the mainstream?

    Intel will offer to bundle its promised solid-state drives with its upcoming Centrino 2 platform, it has been claimed. The plan is being portrayed as a bid to push SSDs into the mainstream. Today, SSDs generally command a significant premium over the price of equivalent notebooks fitted with a hard drive. Quite how far Intel …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 09:39

  • MPs demand US spooks' guarantees on census data

    Patriot Act could expose British Jedis

    An influential group of MPs has urged the government to seek assurances from Washington that the Patriot Act would not be used to access personal data contained in the UK census, if it is outsourced to US defence contractor Lockheed Martin. The cross-party Treasury Select Committee is making the call today as part of the …

    Government 23 May 2008, 09:42

  • Brit glitterati offered high-flying handset

    Aeroplane-grade frame

    Jet-setting professionals often seek out the most exclusive gadgets and what’s more elite than a handset made from materials used to make aeroplanes and sapphire? Mobiado's 105 ZAF: made from aircraft-grade aluminium The latest mobile phone from manufacturer Mobiado is called the Professional 105 ZAF. Whilst the frame is …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 10:22

  • NASA's Phoenix braces for Sunday touch-down

    So far, so good for Martian gig

    NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is looking good for a Sunday touch-down on the Red Planet, with all systems "nominal and stable", according to the agency. Phoenix is, however, currently "closing in on the scariest seven minutes of the mission" when it must decelerate from 13,000mph (21,000km/h) to just 5mph (8km/h) using a …

    Space 23 May 2008, 10:23

  • AMD to launch 'Puma' laptop platform next month

    Challenging Centrino 2

    Intel may be gearing up to release Centrino 2, but let's not forget its arch-rival, AMD, is to release a notebook platform of its own, codenamed 'Puma'. The cat will be let out of the bag at Computex, in Taipei on 3 June. So what's AMD going to announce? Puma comprises a new (ish) processor, 'Griffin', and AMD's 780M chipset. …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 10:23

  • Trillian blighted by security bug trio

    Parse the sick bag

    The discovery of a trio of security bugs means that users of the popular Trillian instant messaging client need to update their software. All three of the newly discovered bugs create a means for hackers to inject malware onto the PCs of surfers running vulnerable versions of the multi-protocol chat application from Cerulean …

    Security 23 May 2008, 10:42

  • Revenue admits another IT cock-up

    More magnificence from Keystone Kops

    Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the government top provider of IT-related disasters, has blamed programming errors for its failure to make payments to about 100,000 low-income families. The £250 grants should have gone into child trust fund accounts, to top up the £250 payment made to all children. Kitty Ussher, economic …

    Government 23 May 2008, 10:54

  • BOFH: The Batcave

    Episode 19 We've got to win it first

    "You know," I say to the PFY as I pore over some building plans. "I don't think the beancounters are as big a set of idiots as we've given them credit for." "How's that then?" the PFY asks. "This building they've bought - I've done some admittedly rough sums based around the floor space and previous sales in the area, and I …

    BOFH 23 May 2008, 11:02

  • LG designs double-sided TV display

    One side for him, one side for her

    So the missus wants some quality time together, but she wants to watch Emmerdale and you want to watch Battlestar Galactica. What do you do? You get yourself a double-sided telly, of course. LG's plans for double-sided displays Image courtesy Tech On LG recently showed off designs for two prototype double-sided LCD screens …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 11:10

  • Climate profs 'can't recommend' enormo-space-parasol

    Global-warming brains lukewarm on 'Sunshade World' ploy

    Bristol-based researchers have said that they "can't recommend" the idea of solving global warming by putting a giant sunshade in space so as to cool the earth down. In their report Sunshade World, Professor Paul Valdes and Dr Dan Lunt of Bristol Uni's School of Geographical Sciences - with colleagues - examine the likely …

    Environment 23 May 2008, 11:16

  • Chinese supplier offers 'cheapest' Linux laptop

    Got £111 to spare for an Eee PC clone?

    Linux-based sub-notebook for $219 (£111/€139), anyone? That's what Hong Kong-based Bestlink is currently offering - if you're prepared to buy in bulk. Dubbed the Alpha 400, the Eee PC-like machine sports a 7in, 800 x 480 display but is based not on an x86 processor but a 400MHz, 32-bit XBurst chip. It's got 128MB of memory and …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 11:19

  • HP retains server revs and shipments crown

    Ahead of IBM and Dell in Q1

    The boom in demand for big, fat data centres built to churn out web-based apps helped plump up worldwide server revenue to more than $13bn in the first quarter of 2008. Companies have been throwing plenty of cash at x86-based server beasts to help flesh out their web data centres, according to a report yesterday from IT …

    Servers 23 May 2008, 11:44

  • City anti-Scientology protestor avoids court summons

    Prosecutors define 'threatening, abusive or insulting'

    A teenage anti-Scientology protestor who was issued with notice of a court summons by City of London police will not be prosecuted, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided. The boy was slapped with the notice at a demonstration by the Anonymous movement outside Scientology's UK HQ in the heart of London's financial …

    Policing 23 May 2008, 12:04

  • Dell XPS M1730 17in gaming laptop

    Review The machine Dell calls 'The Beast'...

    Dell’s acquisition of Alienware, followed by the introduction of 13.3in and 15.4in laptops to its XPS range, signalled a shift from gaming machines, with the brand targeting the regular consumer instead. Despite rumours circulating that the company may even stop making XPS–branded machines altogether, the XPS M1730 represents …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 12:24

  • RC car puts you in the driving seat

    That's how you spell RC

    If you haven’t passed your driving test yet or live in London then driving a car is probably a pretty alien experience to you. Now a radio-controlled car puts you in the driving seat - virtually - thanks to its integrated video camera. Watch the RC car's movements from street level The Vision Tracking System (VTS) Camera …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 12:30

  • Incredible folding laptop untucked on eBay

    Origami computing

    Laptops are designed to be portable, so a 19.5in machine is really defeating the object. Unless, that is you buy one that folds up. Now, thanks to one eBayer, you can. Hinges allow the laptop to fold and for its screen(s) to be rotated An intrepid eBay seller has posted a Xentex-brand prototype laptop that that has a hinge …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 12:40

  • Naomi Campbell could face Heathrow charges

    WSA Lost bag, lost rag, jet lag?

    Battling Streatham clotheshorse Naomi Campbell could face charges over the incident at Heathrow early last month which saw her forcibly removed from an LA-bound British Airways flight and subsequently held "on suspicion of assaulting a police officer". That's according to the Evening Standard, which says that "details of the …

    Entertainment 23 May 2008, 12:56

  • Reg readers split on Vista readiness

    Reg Tech Panel Initial poll results in

    The first of our three polls on desktop operating systems is now complete. The poll looked at Reg reader opinions on the readiness of Windows Vista for business use. We’ll be putting together a complete analysis once the other two polls - on desktop Linux and OS X - are done. In the meantime, here are some headline findings from …

    Applications 23 May 2008, 13:02

  • National Grid computers locked-down in outage cock-up

    'Country was safe' during 24 hour lie-down

    National Grid suffered a major computer system outage last week, leaving many of its staff twiddling their fingers while services supplier Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) scurried to provide a fix. The electricity and gas operator, which supplies energy to homes and businesses throughout England and Wales, confirmed the …

    Servers 23 May 2008, 13:09

  • US firms use own staff to snoop on co-workers

    (Office)spy versus spy

    The UK may have more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in the world but US workers are kept under even closer tabs over internet use at work, according to a new survey. Two in five (41 per cent) of large US firms pay staff to either read or analyse the contents of outbound emails. One in four (26 per cent) of the 300 US firms …

    IT Director 23 May 2008, 13:42

  • Asus to release desktop Eee PC as Ebox

    First pics published

    Asus will finally launch the desktop version of its elfin Eee PC early next month. Once dubbed the E-DT, the unit is set to retail as the Ebox, we understand. The rather Wii-style Eee will incorporate a 2GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive, we hear, but for now Asus is keeping the full spec to itself. Asus' Ebox: Wii-like …

    Reg Hardware 23 May 2008, 13:53

  • Yahoo! vs Icahn, Yahoo! blinks first

    Another proxy emerges and director quits

    Yahoo! has delayed its general meeting scheduled for 3 July and is facing another attack on its board. No new date has been set, but the meeting is expected to be held towards the end of July. Carl Icahn has already proposed ten directors to replace the current board. Now another rebel is proposing a slate of nine directors to …

    Financial News 23 May 2008, 14:16

  • Electrosticky droid boffin in spider-gecko tech bitchslap

    Robo-thopter spy bat 'gargoyle mode' cracked?

    A California-based researcher says he has developed "electro-adhesion" tech which will allow robots to crawl up walls and perhaps hang from ceilings with ease. Nonprofit R&D group SRI reckons its switchable stickiness kit would be handy for military and disaster-relief applications - and ultimately, for special forces operators …

    Science 23 May 2008, 14:17

  • Bittorrent tosses Orb into Apple's walled garden

    Apple - a monopoly in the making?

    Bittorrent Inc. announced a deal with Orb yesterday to bundle the streaming media centre software with its own P2P client, and both parties used the opportunities to goad Apple over its "walled garden" approach to media. "We're breaking down the barriers of the 'siloed' environments, where hardware companies tie media to a …

    Music and Media 23 May 2008, 15:21

  • BT industrial action is off - for now

    See, it really is good to talk

    Union Connect has suspended industrial action at BT which was due to start Tuesday 27 May. The union has 14,000 members within BT. It was in talks to change the distribution of pay awards not the total amount. It believes the gap between men and women's pay is too large and some managers are being underpaid. The action would …

    Telecoms 23 May 2008, 15:38

  • Mobile money - a helping hand for the poor?

    Opinion Ring around the Western Union

    Browsing the NARS counter at Selfridges, I was quite taken by some eye shadow and was just picturing myself as Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra when my friend Rod called from Cairo. I’m a bit psychic like that. He was at the GSMA mobile payments conference investigating the future of NFC. Apparently there are loads of trials …

    Mobile 23 May 2008, 15:39

  • Microsoft needs Windows Home Server test dummies

    'Help us root out corruption'

    Microsoft is looking for Windows Home Server guinea pigs to test a public beta of a patch to a major corruption bug that has blighted the product since late last year. The bug, which corrupts data on a number of well-known Microsoft and third-party apps when the programs are used to edit or transfer files in the firm’s latest …

    Channel Register 23 May 2008, 16:08

  • American auto dealer offers free handguns

    Obama sparks US economy

    Max Motors is aware of America's crime problem. And it wants to be part of the solution. With this in mind, the Butler, Missouri auto dealership is offering a free handgun to anyone in the market for a new car or truck. As reported by the BBC, Max Motors recently launched a "Guns and Gas" promotion. If you purchase any vehicle …

    Bootnotes 23 May 2008, 18:37

  • Facebook poked by XSS flaw

    Updated Social spamming

    Facebook has fixed a cross site scripting flaw that left its users at risk from scripting attacks. Security blog xssed.com has posted a harmless proof of concept demo of a flaw on the social networking website that could leave surfers vulnerable to malware. Attacks that trick users into handing over their credentials through …

    ID 23 May 2008, 18:40

  • Nvidia to acquire ray tracing startup

    Render bender

    Nvidia in the past has jeered Intel's heavy investments in ray tracing as a successor of rasterization for graphics rendering — but it's always stopped short of dismissing the technology completely. That logically led many to assume Nvidia was developing its own ray tracing technology on the side. As it turns out, those bets …

    PCs & Chips 23 May 2008, 18:48

  • Windows XP bests OS X in RIA test on Intel

    'Kinda like Acid3 on speed'

    A benchmark test for rich internet application (RIA) frameworks claims Apple's OS X lags Microsoft's Windows XP on Intel when rendering HTML, being just over half as fast. Sean Christmann, an experience architect at user interface specialist EffectiveUI, released the GUIMark benchmark following concerns over the lack of a …

    Applications 23 May 2008, 19:45

  • TJX employee fired for exposing shoddy security practices

    Blank passwords for the company that lost 94m credit cards

    TJX Companies, the mammoth US retailer whose substandard security led to the world's biggest credit card heist, has fired an employee after he left posts in an online forum that made disturbing claims about security practices at the store where he worked. Security was so lax at the TJ Maxx outlet located in Lawrence, Kansas, …

    Security 23 May 2008, 22:54