12th June 2008 Archive

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France gets closer to 'three strikes' downloader web ban

International war on pirates part deux

The globalisation of internet law continues apace, as French legislators press ahead next week with the "loi Hadopi". The purpose of this proposed law is twofold: to clamp down on internet piracy, and to shift the responsibility for this clampdown firmly on to the shoulders of ISPs. Any similarities between this proposal, and …

Broadband 12 Jun 2008, 06:02
Edinburgh Fringe ticket site dead as a parrot

Whoops, there go my ~~trousers~~ customers

Edinburgh Fringe festival organisers admitted yesterday that their box office system is still out of action more than 48 hours after tickets went on sale. In the meantime the company has been telling customers: “All website, telephone and counter sales will remain suspended until we reopen the box office tomorrow [12 June].” …

Management 12 Jun 2008, 07:01
Opera unleashes Kestrel

What's the new browser like?

After months of public inactivity, Opera has been racing to release the latest version of its desktop browser. No guesses why. For the first time since 2003, Mozilla's FireFox looks like a modern browser, and not a skinnable memory heap testing tool. Opera 9.50 is out today, and we've been on the case of Kestrel since the …

Applications 12 Jun 2008, 07:02
Microsoft: keep your sticky mitts off our language runtime

DLR stays closed, IronPython to accept donations

It's official: Microsoft will not accept any external code contributions to its planned Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), which will run Microsoft's new scripting languages for the web and Silverlight content on .NET Microsoft will, though, continue to accept source-code contributions to its slowly emerging implementation of …

Developer 12 Jun 2008, 08:02
Intelligence documents left on a train

Updated: Laptop ban no barrier to government's data giveaway

A senior civil servant has been suspended for leaving top secret intelligence documents on a Waterloo to Surrey train. The commuting spook left an orange envelope on a seat when he got off the train. It contained two documents prepared for the Joint Intelligence Committee - one on the capabilities of Iraqi security forces and …

Government 12 Jun 2008, 08:19
Sergey Brin books joyride on Russian rocket

Space merchant heads offplanet

Google kingpin Sergey Brin has put down $5m to book a ride into space aboard a Russian rocket, according to reports. American orbital-joyride travel agency Space Adventures revealed the move yesterday. "I am a big believer in the exploration and commercial development of the space frontier and am looking forward to the …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 08:21
Phoenix eats dirt

TEGA oven finally full

The Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars lander finally has an ovenful of dirt for anlaysis, following various attempts to shake the "clumpy" Martian soil into the instrument. The "high-temperature furnace and mass spectrometer" TEGA packs eight miniature ovens, each protected by a filter screen …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 08:46
AMD pooh-poohs dual-core 'Kuma' cancellation claim

Allegation is bollocks, company states

AMD will release dual-core chips based on its tenth-generation, K10 core design - despite rumours to the contrary. Earlier this week, Chinese-language site HKPEC said that motherboard-maker moles had claimed that the part, codenamed 'Kuma', had been cancelled. Instead of releasing the 65nm chip later this quarter, AMD would …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 09:33
GLAST sets its sights on gamma-ray bursts

Successful launch for universe-probing 'scope

NASA's Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) yesterday lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 16:05 GMT atop a Delta II rocket. The 'scope is now in a circular orbit around 560km (350 miles) above Earth, with its solar panels deployed and ready to get on with its task of "monitoring the universe", the agency reports. NASA …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 09:37
Property slump hits Carphone Warehouse

Broadband deployments drag down figures

Carphone Warehouse hasn't been connecting as many ADSL customers as it had hoped, though apparently it's all the fault of the housing slowdown and booming sales of mobile broadband. Overall revenue is up by 12 per cent over the last 12 months to £4.5bn. "Headline profit" jumped 75 per cent to £216m, while "statutory profit …

Broadband 12 Jun 2008, 09:49
Pluto awarded celestial consolation prize

Dwarf planets to be known as 'Plutoids'

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has awarded poor old Pluto a consolation prize following its controversial demotion from the league of planets - other similar dwarf planets will henceforth be called "plutoids". Pluto was given its marching orders back in 2006 in an IAU resolution which clarified: (1) A "planet" [1 …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 09:52
Intel pledges free USB 3.0 chip spec 'early H2'

Tells grumbling chip makers to pipe down

Intel has denied keeping USB 3.0 - aka SuperSpeed USB - to itself, refuting rumours circulating around the halls at Computex last week. As Register Hardware said at the time, Intel can't stop other companies getting their hands on the USB 3.0 specification - and the final standard, once it's ratified - because it's not the …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 10:02
AMD to pair CPUs, GPUs with Intel's physics tech

Cry Havok

AMD is partnering with Intel to improve the way its graphics chips can handle physics and other scientific calculations. Well, sort of. AMD's actually working with Intel subsidiary Havok, which the chip giant acquired last year. Havok operates separately from Intel to develop its Havok FX physics processing API, which allows …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 10:24
Pope gives blessing to anti-~~christ~~ terrorist squad

Gendarmes get Interpol link, Swiss Guards get guns

The Vatican’s security service will be tapping into Interpol’s computers after setting up an in-house anti-terrorism unit. According to reports, the Vatican’s Gendarmerie has put together a "rapid intervention group" and an "anti-sabotage department" as sub-units of its gendarmerie corps. The Vatican will also work more …

Bootnotes 12 Jun 2008, 10:46
Dodgy drug sales underpin Storm worm

The bitterest pill

Illegal pharmaceutical supply chain outfits have become the main customers of botnet farmers. Spam-pushing botnets, such as that established by the Storm worm, are raking it in advertising dodgy drug websites, according to a study by security appliance firm IronPort. Four out of five junk emails distributed through the Storm …

Security 12 Jun 2008, 10:56
Global semiconductor sales forecast slashed

A wee DRAM problem

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) yesterday cut its forecast for growth in global sales of semiconductors in 2008, blaming price pressure in the memory sector. It said chip sales were now expected to grow 4.3 per cent, to $266.6bn, significantly down from the trade group’s November forecast of 7.7 per cent. The SIA …

The Channel 12 Jun 2008, 11:00
Pentax Optio S12 compact camera

Review Compelling upgrade?

Thankfully, digital camera manufacturers have stopped stuffing ever more megapixels into their compact cameras. That's good because performance suffers and, for most folk, eight megapixels are fine. Manufacturers have instead focused on introducing useful features like face detection and image stabilisation. So why has Pentax …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 11:02
God makes you stupid, researchers claim

Intelligence begot atheism

A psychology researcher has controversially claimed that stupidity is causally linked to how likely people are to believe in God. University of Ulster professor Richard Lynn will draw the conclusion in new research due to be published in the journal Intelligence, the Times Higher Education Supplement reports. Lynn and his two …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 11:06
China's spacewalk mission go for October

Third manned jaunt confirmed

China's postponed Shenzhou VII manned space mission will now launch in October, Reuters reports. The mission was knocked back while scientists tackled "the key problem of the spacesuit" - pretty critical since Shenzhou VII will feature China's first spacewalk. It follows the country's two successful manned jaunts - 2003's …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 11:20
Bubbles mean O2, but anyone can use them

UK carrier takes an early bath

O2 has lost its appeal to the European Court to prevent a competitor using bubbles to represent the company when comparing prices, in a ruling that will have implications beyond the mobile-phone industry. The dispute goes back to 2004, when a TV advertisement from 3UK compared prices between the two operators, which is fine, …

Mobile 12 Jun 2008, 11:23
eBay told to stop forcing Aussies to use PayPal

Temporary suspension on competition grounds

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has told eBay to stop plans to force Aussie buyers to use PayPal. The move, which would do wonders for eBay's margins, was deeply unpopular with some eBay regulars but was expected go worldwide if successful. The move to PayPal-only transactions was due to come into force …

Financial News 12 Jun 2008, 11:26
RAF strafes Next in pirated duvet copyright rumpus

Flyboys target bedspreads to protect brand revenue

The Royal Air Force is suing a high-street shopping chain for violating its intellectual property rights. A range of duvets and other bedroom stuff marketed at young boys feature red-white-and-blue roundels, and this has Her Majesty's flyboys up in arms (as it were). Various UK media report that the Ministry of Defence has …

Bootnotes 12 Jun 2008, 11:29
Kremlin pushes Cyrillic alphabet net

Nationalism online

Recently-installed Russian president Dmitry "Vladimir Putin" Medvedev has pressed for internet authorities to change the web's naming system to allow domain names in the Cyrillic alphabet. "We must do everything we can to make sure that we achieve in the future a Cyrillic Internet domain name," Medvedev told journalists in …

Government 12 Jun 2008, 12:02
US dominates tech R&D

Propped up nicely by foreign scientists, engineers

The US remains ahead of the pack in science and technology, contributing 40 per cent of the world’s total research and development spend in the sector, according to a new study. Rand Corporation, a non-profit research group based in Santa Monica, California published the report today in which it claims that the US is not …

Government 12 Jun 2008, 12:27
Top Tory resigns on principle over 42 days bill

On what?

Shadow home secretary David Davis has resigned from Parliament in protest at the Commons' passing of government measures to allow police to detain suspects for 42 days without charge. Davis will fight a by-election in his constituency of Haltemprice and Howden on the issue of detention. He will stand without the full support …

Government 12 Jun 2008, 12:56
Gamers not social misfits, after all

Old stereotype no longer true

It's official - gamers are not socially inept, even those who arguably spend far too much time with in front of the screen, joypad in hand. That's the key finding of a research programme into so-called problem gaming conducted by Victoria University psychology Honours graduate Dan Loton. Loton wanted to investigate gaming …

Games 12 Jun 2008, 13:10
BBC deploys the Tw*t-O-Tron

Unholy turdspurt feedback loop

The BBC is evidently impressed with the Tw*t-O-Tron - the automated vitriol generator based on real comments from the corporation's "Have Your Say" rantfest - since it has now deployed the service to save enraged Middle Englanders the bother of forming a coherent sentence while venting steam from both ears. The proof? Try the …

Bootnotes 12 Jun 2008, 13:21
Linksys revamps WRT54G wireless router

Not everyone wants 802.11n Wi-Fi, it would seem. Linksys has revamped its venerable WRT54G Wi-Fi router, despite being 'limited' to the old 802.11g standard. Dubbed the WRT54G2, the new box brings the antennae inside a new, slimline case, a move that Linksys claimed would not "compromise the signal coverage". Linksys' …

Broadband 12 Jun 2008, 13:27
British pilot makes first supersonic stealth ~~jump~~jet flight

Harrier successor's engine bother hover hold-up

The world's first supersonic stealth jump-jet has made its debut flight, with a British test pilot at the controls. However, the F-35B "Lightning II" - intended to replace the famous Harrier in various armed forces including the RAF, Royal Navy and US Marines - isn't expected to show off its vertical-thrust abilities until next …

Government 12 Jun 2008, 13:27
EU to 'guide' local regulators on digital dividend

Mme Reding readies big stick for Ofcom

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding will produce a set of guidelines for countries planning to sell off their analogue TV spectrum, in the interests of ensuring a reasonable return on investment. The latest salvo in the ideological war between the EU and local regulators saw Ms Reding assuring ministers that she'll be …

Mobile 12 Jun 2008, 13:37
LG launches world's least power-hungry display

According to LG, its newly launched Flatron W2252TE is the world's most energy efficient monitor. What makes it so is a power consumption of just 22W - 45 per cent less than the 40W other 22in displays gobble up, LG claimed. LG's W2252TE: easy being green The screen has a wide native resolution of 1680 x 1050, a 170° …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 13:47
Asus Eee PC 901 to hit Blighty on 1 July

Availability no problem, maker claims

Asus' Atom-powered Eee PC 901 will go on sale across the UK on 1 July for an Eee PC 900-beating £319, Register Hardware has learned. The 900, which went on sale back in April, was priced at £329. The new model not only sports a more advanced processor, but also includes Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi, a two pick-up microphone array …

Hardware 12 Jun 2008, 14:07
Data breaches easily prevented - report

And often undetected for months

The vast majority of information security breaches might have easily been prevented, a study has concluded. An analysis of 500 forensic investigations, collectively involving 230 million compromised customer records, by Verizon Business also found that three in four (73 per cent) of the breaches stemmed from external attacks, …

The Channel 12 Jun 2008, 14:08
Oz mobe vid flasher caught red-handed

Cracks one off for appreciative police audience

A 27-year-old Oz man who repeatedly called a woman's mobile and tried, with varying degrees of success, to expose her to live video action of him masturbating was ultimately nailed after getting through while she was in the police station complaining about his mobe-based onanism. Benjamin Baker, of Corio, Victoria, launched …

Bootnotes 12 Jun 2008, 14:47
US PC sales sputter amidst economic gloom

But laptop shipments boost worldwide growth

Worldwide PC shipments will outshine previous growth forecasts for 2008 according to IDC, which attributed the rise to robust sales of portable computers. The research firm said yesterday that it now expects to see worldwide computer shipments rise 15.2 per cent over last year’s figures. That’s an increase of 2.5 points on IDC …

The Channel 12 Jun 2008, 15:10
Free Wi-Fi still a goer in San Fran'

Free love, free Wi-Fi

While municipal Wi-Fi systems are being switched off from Philadelphia to Cupertino, San Francisco is planning to have the whole city connected wirelessly by the end of the year. Haight-Ashbury and the Mission District are already covered by the "Free The Net" project, a mesh network run by Meraki and paid for as a research …

Broadband 12 Jun 2008, 15:15
Firefox record breaker sets the date

See you next Tuesday

Mozilla has finally set a date for the official launch of Firefox 3 - which open sourcers hope will set a world record for most ever downloads in a day. Firefox 3.0 will be ready for download from next Tuesday - 17 June. But the big day, dubbed Download Day, could be delayed if a serious bug is uncovered at the last minute. …

Applications 12 Jun 2008, 15:24
Apple partially rehabilitates Sun's DTrace

Sitting up, but not walking about

Apple has decided that developers can use Sun Microsystems' DTrace tool to monitor applications under its Mac OS/X operating system after all. Well, sort of. Sun engineer and co-author of DTrace Adam Leventhal has revealed that a limitation built into the earlier version of Mac OS/X 10.5 that disabled DTrace for certain …

Developer 12 Jun 2008, 16:50
Sun to lose lunch money on JavaFX

JavaFX, part 1 Opens wallet to tough kids

The Rich Internet Application (RIA) fight is hotting up. And, while Adobe Systems and Microsoft are squaring up in the schoolyard with all the kids cheering and screaming them on, it looks as if Sun Microsystems is in danger of getting its lunch money stolen again. Sun's offering in the RIA space is JavaFX. Supposedly it will …

Developer 12 Jun 2008, 17:19
SCADA security bug exposes world's critical infrastructure

Oil, food and plane industries at risk

Gasoline refineries, manufacturing plants and other industrial facilities that rely on computerized control systems could be vulnerable to a security flaw in a popular piece of software that in some cases allows attackers to remotely take control of critical operations and equipment. The vulnerability resides in CitectSCADA, a …

Security 12 Jun 2008, 18:12
Canada moots tough sanctions for DRM flouters

Proposes fines cap for 'mere' infringement

The Canadian government today unveiled a controversial proposal to update the country's copyright laws. Bill C-61 seeks to fight piracy over the internet by giving companies even more power over where digital content can be moved. While it reduces the maximum fines for criminals actually caught violating intellectual property …

Media 12 Jun 2008, 20:38
Yahoo! and Microsoft terminate talks, this time for good

Microhoo! Yahoo! falls into Google's arms, as shares swoon

Yahoo! has terminated all acquisition talks with Microsoft, today saying Microsoft was only interested in the internet provider's search business. Yahoo! shares fell 10 per cent today to $23.52, from yesterday's closing price of $26.52. The beleaguered company is hitching its fortunes to the Google juggernaut with a search, …

Financial News 12 Jun 2008, 21:13
Scalent strokes physical to virtual to whatever you like play

V/OE 2.5 - a real-time swapper

Start-ups in the systems management arena tend to scare us. They promise the world and usually deliver a rundown village mired in a drought. But every now and then, a company like Scalent Systems pops up that actually seems capable of performing a practical task. Scalent this week released Version 2.5 of its V/OE (Virtual …

Virtualization 12 Jun 2008, 21:59
Foldable sports plane gives Everyman a chance at crashing

Turning jet-setters into jet-getters?

If what's keeping you from buying your own personal ultralight aircraft is lack of garage space and a USB plug on the plane's dash for your iPod — you are certainly in luck. Los Angeles startup ICON Aircraft this week unveiled its A5 ultralight "sport plane," which the company hopes will open a new market made up of amateur …

Science 12 Jun 2008, 23:43