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13th June 2008 Archive

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  • IBM's SVC gets thin provisioning

    Pillar patted

    One of the top block storage virtualization products, IBM's SVC, just got better. It is getting thin provisioning, confirming a virtual pre-announcement in April. SVC - SAN Volume Controller - virtualizes multiple IBM and non-IBM drive arrays in a storage area network (SAN) into a single logical pool of storage for use by …

    Storage 13 Jun 2008, 00:12

  • EU security agency gets three more years

    Extra time for ENISA

    An EU agency that promotes information security best practices has been given an extended spell of life, telecoms ministers decided on Thursday. ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Agency, has been given a new three-year mandate, extending its operations until 2012. The agency was set up in 2004 with a five- …

    Government 13 Jun 2008, 00:41

  • IBM traps Captain Planet in a container

    Shrink wrapped data centers all the rage

    IBM wants to save the world one modularized data center at a time. Some folks talk about helping Mother Earth by planting trees and performing deep soil massages on their front lawns. But not server makers. They talk about greening up the world by packing as many pieces of hardware, power supplies and air conditioning units as …

    Servers 13 Jun 2008, 07:02

  • PayPal ambushes users with mystery Skype charges

    Glitch or breach?

    Vulture Central is keeping its eyes peeled for some sort of PayPal glitch or security breach, following reader reports their accounts were debited overnight to pay for Skype services they never ordered. Both readers are UK residents and longtime PayPal users. Both logged in yesterday to find their accounts had been charged to …

    Security 13 Jun 2008, 07:02

  • DARPA pilot-ware unflappable in wing-fling damage test

    Don't shoot the robots, you'll just make them mad

    Robot aeroplanes are rapidly learning how to do pretty much anything that a human pilot can. The droid flyboys can take off, land, follow people about and even do in-flight refuelling. Plans are afoot to teach them how to do a catapult launch and arrested deck landings on aircraft carriers, too, and to fly entire strike missions …

    Government 13 Jun 2008, 08:52

  • UK prisoners offered data cabling training

    Cat Burglar 5 specialists?

    UK lags will be offered training in networking skills in a bid to bridge the skills shortage in IT. The scheme to establish a vocational learning academy at Wandsworth prison, London will be delivered by Cisco and the HM Prisons Service. Cisco reckons one in five jobs in data and network cabling go unfilled, a shortfall …

    Data Networking 13 Jun 2008, 09:32

  • Irish mobile numbers just too portable

    Easily stolen, quickly recovered

    The number portability system used by Ireland's mobile operators has been shown to allow someone buying a new SIM online to port any number to it, even if they neither own nor have access to the number. The issue became evident when one Reg reader became frustrated with the process of porting his old number to his new Vodafone …

    Mobile 13 Jun 2008, 09:33

  • Nintendo Wii US sales 3x PS3, Xbox 360

    Grand Theft Auto IV not shifting hardware

    Nintendo's Wii has once again outsold the combined total of PlayStation 3s and the Xbox 360s purchased in the US last month. So show the latest figures from local market watcher NPD. Its numbers reveal that some 675,000 Wiis were bought in May, compared to just 208,700 PS3s and 186,600 Xbox 360s. US Console Sales 2008 Source …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 09:45

  • Intel preps low-cost two-, four-core challenge to AMD's Phenom X3

    New entry-level CPUs near release

    Intel will release new entry-level Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processor series next quarter, it has been claimed. The Core 2 Quad Q8000 line will be born in the form of the 2.33GHz Q8200, which will contain 4MB of L2 cache - 2MB shared by each pair of cores - and sit on a 1333MHz frontside bus (FSB). A number of Asian websites …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 10:06

  • Scripting bugs blight security giants' websites

    McAfee, Symantec and VeriSign plagued by XSS flaws

    Security researchers have identified cross-site scripting (XSS) issues on the websites of three IT security heavyweights. Coding flaws on the websites of McAfee, Symantec and VeriSign create a possible mechanism for hackers to launch phishing or malware attacks, according to security watchdog XSSed. Cross-site scripting …

    Enterprise Security 13 Jun 2008, 10:20

  • UK appeal court dismisses mod chip conviction

    Devices not responsible for copyright infringement

    The UK court of appeal this week ruled that games console mod chips do not bypass copy protection systems and are, therefore, effectively legal here. The ruling comes more than six months after Neil Stanley Higgs of Speedwell Road, Speedwell, Bristol was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of 26 offences under a 2003 amendment …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 10:26

  • Discovery crew preps for Saturday landing

    Final checks made

    The crew of space shuttle Discovery are today making final preparations for a scheduled landing tomorrow at Kennedy Space Center, following a successful mission STS-124 which saw delivery, attachment and activation of the Pressurized Module of the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory. The crew (pictured) will test the …

    Space 13 Jun 2008, 10:36

  • Bloke finds illegal immigrants living in loft

    Kosovan squatter shocker

    We dread to think what the Twat-O-Tron will make of it, but a chap in West Bromwich who'd just moved into a rented terrace house was somewhat surprised to find illegal immigrants living in the loft. Shaken father of four Lee Bradley, 33, recounted to the Sun: "I decided to look in the loft space and popped my head through the …

    Bootnotes 13 Jun 2008, 10:37

  • Eccentric brain-chip admiral expelled by toff schools

    Flashmob goth Nostradamus war hero goes overboard

    A controversial ex-admiral, who warned last year of Western civilisation's possible 2035 destruction by revolting brainchipped middle-class flashmob Goths, has been ousted from his position as a public-schools chief*. Rear Admiral Chris Parry seems to have been asked to resign by nervous headteachers in the toff-grooming …

    Bootnotes 13 Jun 2008, 10:50

  • BOFH: Shafting the consultants over the new layout

    Episode 22 Marking territory

    So we've got some external consultants here blundering through the requirements for the new building as a QA thing.. "It's not that we don't trust you," the Boss explains. "Far from it. It's just that senior management would like some assurance that everything you've asked for is a requirement and not just a nice-to-have …

    BOFH 13 Jun 2008, 10:55

  • Sharp pitches 'world's largest' LCD screen

    Monster

    Not happy with the size of your 32in LCD TV? If money's no object, get on phone to Sharp, which is now taking orders for a monster 108in screen ready for connection to your HD kit. Sharp's not saying how much the beast will set you back because it's offering the display entirely on a built-to-order basis. It's really aimed at …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 10:55

  • Google preps net neut dowser

    Innovation 08 'If Comcast won’t tell you, find out yourself'

    In an effort to identify traffic discrimination by American ISPs, Google is prepping a suite of network analysis tools for everyday broadband users. "We're trying to develop tools, software tools...that allow people to detect what's happening with their broadband connections, so they can let [ISPs] know that they're not happy …

    Telecoms 13 Jun 2008, 11:02

  • Copan's bid for greatness

    Analysis Ward's way for relief from data obesity

    Copan has an infrastructure suited to thousands of customers when it has just over sixty. What is going on? Building for the long haul and a future as a billion dollar revenue company seems to be the end result of the script being used to drive the company. The company, led by CEO Mark Ward, has had a driven year. It's …

    Storage 13 Jun 2008, 11:02

  • Ex-Sun chief to fight Davis in '42 days' by-election

    Gordon Brown ate my civil liberties

    Errant Tory MP David Davis’ campaign to force a debate on civil liberties in the UK looked in danger of descending into a tabloid farce this morning as it emerged that his only serious opposition was the former editor of The Sun. The LibDems have already said they will not fight the by election in Haltemprice and Howden, while …

    Government 13 Jun 2008, 11:15

  • Aussies deploy bovine facial recognition

    Sorting the cows from the goats

    Aussie scientists have launched an ingenious "cowcam" facial recognition system designed to identify animal species and keep unwanted riff-raff out of cattle watering points, the Guardian reports. Cowcam features a camera mounted in a laneway through which thirsty creatures must pass to gain access to the water. If the system …

    Applications 13 Jun 2008, 11:20

  • Shuttle lands one-of-a-kind Alone in the Dark PC

    Small form-factor PC specialist Shuttle is cashing in on the imminent arrival of the next episode in horror game saga Alone in the Dark by punting a one-off - literally - machine kitted out in AITD imagery. Shuttle's Alone in the Dark SFF PC: gimme the prize Describing the SFF PC as "unique", Shuttle said it's making only …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 11:21

  • Becta schools deal stuns British open-istas

    UK tech quango's 'posturings...a sham'

    The open source community is up in arms today following Becta’s decision to award its open source schools project to a little-known consultancy firm. Becta, the UK's education technology agency, yesterday stunned UK open source fanciers when it handed a £270,000 contract to AlphaPlus Consultancy to set up and run an open …

    Government 13 Jun 2008, 11:42

  • Pentax K20D digital SLR

    Review A serious DSLR for the serious snapper

    The arrival of the Pentax K20D on our doorstep last week marked the end of an era - that of the venerable, battle-scarred Pentax LXs and MXs, which have over the last 20 years or so provided faithful service. The world has moved on, though, and once the switch had been made to digital, the K20D offered one crucial incentive: …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 11:50

  • FTC wants to hit the spyware guys where it hurts

    Calls on Senate for civil penalties

    The Federal Trade Commission told a US Senate committee it could bring new vigor to the fight against spyware by making spyware purveyors pay civil penalties. Under current statutes, the federal watchdog agency can file lawsuits in spyware cases that seek court orders and monetary fines for ill-gotten gains, but not for …

    Malware 13 Jun 2008, 12:02

  • LG premieres world's first phone with built-in Bluetooth headset

    LG has launched a sliderphone handset with an integrated Bluetooth earpiece - a world first, the company claimed. LG's Decoy and friends: 'ear', 'ear' what's all this then? The handset's dubbed the 'Decoy' - or, more formally, the LG-VX8610. As you can see from the pics, the headset slips into a bay on the back, where it's …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 12:14

  • UK's first caller ID-spoofing service shuttered after five days

    Spookcall spooked

    Spookcall, the UK's first caller ID-spoofing service available to the general public, has decided to close less than one week after launch. We reported the launch of the controversial service on Monday. It allowed anyone to impersonate any other phone number on a call recipient's caller ID display. Spookcall also offered …

    Telecoms 13 Jun 2008, 12:23

  • Yahoo! Messenger! Trojan! false alarm!

    ZoneAlarm in Brown Alert drama

    Check Point's personal firewall software falsely identified a component of Yahoo! Messenger as a Trojan this week. ZoneAlarm Pro mistakenly pegged an audio conferencing ActiveX control within Yahoo Messenger as the Yspy Trojan. As a result users of the software were prompted to delete yacscom.dll, a critical component of the …

    Channel Register 13 Jun 2008, 12:25

  • Biggles battles Yanks for right to sport tash

    Handlebars at dawn for RAF flyboy

    An RAF pilot has won the right to sport his traditional handlebar whiskers while on a posting with a US squadron by citing Queen's regs at a tash-hostile American general, the Telegraph reports. Flt Lt Chris Ball (pictured), who normally flies Tornado GR4s from RAF Lossiemouth, was seconded in February to fly F-15s with the …

    Bootnotes 13 Jun 2008, 12:26

  • Boffins: Roadrunner hypercomputer could drive a car

    A bloody big car. Also, human obsolescence imminent

    American nuke boffins who have just fired up the world's first petaflop hypercomputer* are extremely excited, and contend that the machine may enable them to accurately simulate important segments of the human brain. Conceivably, the mighty "Roadrunner" - as the computer is known - may exhibit capabilities verging on human …

    Servers 13 Jun 2008, 12:43

  • IBM 'advises' staff to opt for a Microsoft Office-free world

    Somewhere over the rainbow...

    Big Blue’s 20,000-strong techies have been advised to ditch Microsoft Office and use open standards software such as Lotus Symphony instead. IBM chief information officer Mark Hennessey and veep Gina Poole issued a memo yesterday urging the firm’s staff to take “a new, more integrated approach to desktop productivity software …

    Applications 13 Jun 2008, 13:10

  • UK culture sec wants a public service web

    One where it's always just before 9pm

    The UK government is cracking its knuckles for a more hands-on attitude to ensuring the quality of internet content, which could put it somewhat at odds with its own regulator. Culture secretary Andy Burnham at a meeting of the Convergence Think Tank this week trumpeted the importance of “standards”, saying he wanted to “ …

    Government 13 Jun 2008, 13:36

  • Ransomware Trojan code break 'impractical'

    Updated Crackers says Schneier

    A cryptographic expert has questioned the practicality of a code breaking initiative geared to cracking the key used in the dangerous Gpcode-AK ransomware virus. Gpcode-AK encrypts content on compromised PCs using a 1024-bit RSA key. In response, Russian net security firm Kaspersky Labs launched an international code-breaking …

    Crime 13 Jun 2008, 14:57

  • Reding threatens to cap data roaming in July

    And wants half of digital dividend

    EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding put the frighteners on operators and national regulators today, by reiterating her July 1 deadline to cut data roaming rates and making a grab for the digital dividend. The GSMA reckons that the cost of data roaming in Europe has already dropped 25 per cent in the last six months, but …

    Mobile 13 Jun 2008, 15:46

  • Blackswift hyperplane hits trouble in Washington

    DARPA Mach 6 porkbarrel logroll dash cash slashed

    The most ambitious hypersonic aircraft project known to exist - the Mach-6-barrelroll "Blackswift" proposal - has run into stiff opposition from politicoes in control of Washington purse-strings, according to reports. A fast blast from the past - the original Blackbird. Wired magazine noted last night that the powerful …

    Space 13 Jun 2008, 15:50

  • OpenSolaris still has some Linux copying to do

    Review Keep baking, boys

    Sun has made good on its promise to deliver OpenSolaris, the company's Unix-based answer to Linux, with a company-supported, commercial update arriving in mid-May. Although far from a complete product, the latest OpenSolaris is impressive and in the long run could prove a viable alternative to Linux. Part of OpenSolaris' …

    Operating Systems 13 Jun 2008, 15:54

  • MySpace hides in bathroom ahead of make-over

    News Corp still poking around for revs

    MySpace will be given a Facebooklift next week – a move seen by many as News Corps’ latest attempt to force the social networking website to earn its keep. Tons of changes will be made to the site in the coming months in what Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has described as the largest scale re-launch of a website of its size. …

    Music and Media 13 Jun 2008, 15:55

  • Nokia, Verizon ready Dark Knight batphone

    Holy CDMA

    Verizon will begin selling a Batman-themed version of Nokia's 6205 clamshell this coming Sunday to "celebrate" the release of The Dark Knight movie a month or so down the line. Nokia's 6205 Dark Knight Edition: Batty As per all other theme-phones, the Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition will come pre-loaded with suitably Batty …

    Reg Hardware 13 Jun 2008, 15:58

  • Metro suspends Euro fantasy football game

    England can't even win in virtual reality

    UK freesheet newspaper Metro has temporarily suspended its Euro 2008 fantasy football competition. Technical problems that earlier forced Metro's game provider SilentManager to drop the mini-league feature and restricted competitors to emailing in team changes have now brought proceedings to a temporary halt. The site has been …

    Servers 13 Jun 2008, 16:01

  • Next year critical for Sun's 'Project Copy Linux'

    Packages, packages, packages

    The next year will be a critical time for OpenSolaris, according to Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian brought in by Sun Microsystems last year to lead its OS operation. Success will be measured by the creation of complementary software packages that extend the usefulness of OpenSolaris, and the ability to tempt developers …

    Operating Systems 13 Jun 2008, 16:03

  • AVG scanner blasts internet with fake traffic

    Exclusive You're not that popular after all

    Early last month, webmasters here at The Reg noticed an unexpected spike in our site traffic. Suddenly, we had far more readers than ever before, and they were reading at a record clip. Visits actually doubled on certain landing pages, and more than a few ho-hum stories attracted an audience worthy of a Pulitzer Prize winner. Or …

    Security 13 Jun 2008, 20:05

  • Disgruntled admin gets 63 months for massive data deletion

    Brought down by computer named 'kuku'

    An IT manager who sought revenge for an unfavorable job evaluation was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison after being convicted of intentionally triggering a massive data collapse on his former employer's computer network. Jon Paul Oson, 38, of Chula Vista, California, was sentenced to 63 months behind bars …

    Law 13 Jun 2008, 21:35

  • Bill Gates cried to make the world a better place

    Radio Reg Meanwhile, Google pays for Linus Torvalds' breakfast

    Is there a connection between an alleged coke-addicted CEO with a prostitute lair and open source? You bet there is - on Open Season. Episode 18 of our fine show kicked off with a look at ex-Broadcom chief Henry Nicholas and his current travails with the legal system. If you've yet to hear about this story, you're in for a …

    Open Season 13 Jun 2008, 22:31

  • US Senate to probe Goo-Hoo!

    Fear not. Escape hatch in place

    The US Senate's Antitrust Subcommittee will investigate Yahoo!'s Ballmer-battling search tie-up with Google. Yesterday, as Jerry Yang and company announced the death of talks with Microsoft, Google officially told the world it plans on serving ads to Yahoo!'s search engine in the US and Canada. And this sparked a a few words …

    Law 13 Jun 2008, 22:35

  • NASA previews future astronaut threads

    White after Labor Day is OK if you've got a rocket

    NASA is banking on a new lead contractor to design the next generation of space suits worn by astronauts on future moon missions. Oceaneering International of Houston has been awarded a government contract worth up to $745m to design, develop, test, and produce two new designs of space suits by September 2014. Astronauts will …

    Space 13 Jun 2008, 23:07

  • Microsoft: 'We will save America from foreign domination'

    Innovation 08 The Great White Space Hope

    Microsoft has a plan for sending high-speed net traffic over America's television white spaces. And it's sure the country will eat some serious foreign dust if this plan gets snuffed. "Across the nation, there are vast swathes of unoccupied TV spectrum, and we - along with other tech companies - are asking that this spectrum …

    Wireless 13 Jun 2008, 23:59