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4th July 2008 Archive

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  • Would a data notification law improve UK data security?

    How to prevent more government data disasters

    A panel of experts in data protection was beaten yesterday by a simple question from the floor: "Can you give us an example of good data security practice by the British Government?" The meeting, a Westminster eForum event, was to discuss what needs to be done to sort out the UK's woeful record of failing to care for its …

    Government 4 Jul 2008, 08:00

  • Apple takes axe to MacBook Air SSD price

    Overnight, £300 cheaper

    Apple's MacBook Air - still the world's slimmest laptop; VoodooPC's Envy isn't shipping yet - just got cheaper. Well, sort of. Apple's knocked £300/$500 off the price of the solid-state drive model. Launched at £2028/$3098, the Air with the 64GB SSD now costs £1719/$2598, undoubtedly thanks to tumbling Flash memory prices. The …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 09:26

  • Driver-updated satnavs to beat traffic jams

    Pile-up on the M25, says TK08 PGZ

    The next time you’re stuck in traffic with no idea what the hold-up is, a driver way out in-front could be the one to let you know. That’s if a driver-fed satnav information service makes it out of the starting grid. The Congestion Avoidance Dynamic Routing Engine (Cadre) will allow drivers to upload traffic information in …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 09:39

  • Solar-curtain "soft house" plan proposed by MIT prof

    Architect Watch Soft buildings: require no foundation of hard facts

    Heavens be praised* - the energy security/climate/fuel-price crisis has been solved by an MIT professor. Remarkably, not a professor of engineering or science either - but an architecture prof. Sheila Kennedy and her partner Frano Violich - assisted by other architects - have designed a "soft house" powered by "energy harvesting …

    Environment 4 Jul 2008, 09:42

  • Oracle risks loss of influential BEA users

    Free from Applications Unlimited

    During its trumpeted webcast on plans for BEA Systems, Oracle's top brass stressed their commitment to middleware to keep the new flock happy. So it purchased BEA to expand Oracle's presence in Asia and Japan - that wasn't the point. President Charles Phillips and senior vice president of Oracle server technologies Thomas …

    Applications 4 Jul 2008, 09:46

  • Government waves cutlass at IT budget

    Offshoring ahoy!

    Treasury minister Yvette Cooper yesterday announced a plan to look for wide-ranging cost cuts in government budgets. Martin Read, the government's Chief Information Officer, will look for savings in back office and IT spending. Other strands include collaborative procurement, asset management, sales and property. Read, ex-CEO …

    Government 4 Jul 2008, 09:49

  • MS readies Vista code injection risk fix

    Redmond security gnomes get tough

    Critical bug fixes are on the agenda for this month's monthly patch update from Microsoft. The four "important" fixes due out next Tuesday (8 July) for Microsoft SQL Server and Exchange as well as a brace of fixes for Windows. One of the Windows fixes affects Vista and poses a "remote code execution" risk, something that would …

    Enterprise Security 4 Jul 2008, 09:52

  • BSA slams EC's 'narrow-minded' interoperability vision

    EIF 2.0 draft ruffles some proprietary software feathers

    An open standards row is brewing between the EC and a lobbying group for software multinationals over a proposed European framework on interoperability – a draft of which is due to be published on 15 July. The Interoperable Delivery of European e-government Services to Public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens (IDABC) …

    Applications 4 Jul 2008, 10:02

  • Microsoft gets hip with da yoof to flog email

    Doing it for charidee

    What could be more insincere than a bunch of marketing types concocting a fake blog to pimp their company's services by hitching them to worthy causes? This could - getting a bunch of marketing people who specialize in nothing but pimping other people's products and services to do it for you. And then targeting kids and teens …

    Applications 4 Jul 2008, 10:07

  • Palm, BlackBerry-beating demand for 3G iPhone claims researcher

    US consumers eye Apple smartphone

    More than half of US consumers looking to buy a smartphone in the next three months will opt for Apple's 3G iPhone. So says investment house RBC Capital Markets on the back of a survey of 3600 tame consumers on its Technology Adoption Panel conducted last month just after the second-gen iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs. …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 10:10

  • Solar power gets curtains twitching

    Use your curtains to generate eco-power, says boffin

    Given that curtains help us block light out, it seems sensible to use one side to suck up the sun’s rays. So a textiles boffin has developed "smart" drapes with integrated solar panels. Gadget-powering curtains Sheila Kennedy, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has begun developing a thin-film …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 10:34

  • Pioneer plots Blu-ray Disc autumn offensive

    Now that HD DVD's out of picture, consumer electronics companies can steer Blu-ray into the mainstream. The latest to do so, Pioneer, has unwrapped a quartet of players it plans to launch. Pioneer's BDP-LX08: slimline The BDP-LX91, BDP-LX71, BDP-LX08 and BDP-51FD all support version 1.1 of the Blu-ray spec, aka Profile 1.1 …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 10:43

  • Google deigns to comply with a privacy law

    Corporate Rainmen avoid panic attack over word count

    Google has finally added a link to its privacy (or lack thereof) policy on its homepage following pressure from privacy advocates. A gaggle of US non-profits realised early in June that without a direct link to the policy, Google.com violated the California Online Privacy Protection Act. They called on Google to add a " …

    Bootnotes 4 Jul 2008, 10:58

  • Opera update fixes stability bugs

    And mystery code injection flaw

    Opera released an update to the latest version of its browser on Thursday. Version 9.51 of the software fixes an unspecified code execution flaw, but the main focus of the upgrade involves performance tweaks to version 9.50, a major upgrade issued last month. The latest version of the software is designed to resolve problems …

    Applications 4 Jul 2008, 11:00

  • BOFH: The admin gene

    Episode 24 That mysterious gift

    "Woah!" the PFY breathes, looking up quickly. "Woah what?" the Boss asks, looking around cautiously, as I re-enter the room from the passage to the server room. "Nope, it'll be OK," I say to the PFY, ignoring the Boss for a moment. "What'll be OK?" "Are you sure?" the PFY asks. "It was quite noticeable." "What was …

    BOFH 4 Jul 2008, 11:02

  • Geldof backs Davis 'For Freedom' by-election

    Banana republic, sceptic isle redux

    Popstar turned humanitarian Bob Geldof has thrown his unkempt weight behind David Davis' by-election campaign. Geldof’s announcement adds just a pinch of stardust to Davis’ effort to turn the by-election into a debate on the erosion of civil liberties in the UK. However, it will get up the nose of Gordon Brown, whose efforts …

    Law 4 Jul 2008, 11:09

  • 'Anaconda' 200m rubber snake generator scheme gets funding

    'Bulge' wave power - a hard one to swallow?

    British professors have secured government research funding for their plans to generate energy using gigantic black rubber snake-like devices moored off the UK coasts. The "Anaconda" is intended to harvest power using patented "Bulge" wave technology. A full-size device, according to the designers, could easily be 200m long …

    Environment 4 Jul 2008, 11:17

  • eBay Australia ditches PayPal scheme

    Seller fury prompts backdown

    eBay Australia has given up on its attempt to force virtually all payments through its subsidiary PayPal. The move proved hugely unpopular with users and had to be put on hold while it was investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. eBay notified the ACCC of its decision to move to PayPal-only payments …

    Small Biz 4 Jul 2008, 11:26

  • David Davis tells El Reg that Labour is 'mesmerised' by tech

    Interview Liberties sacrificed for 'an illusion'

    As polling day approaches for the Howden and Haltemprice by-election, voters and observers are left with an eerie sense of déjà vu as Labour once again refuses to debate its civil liberties record with David Davis. Just over four years ago, a keynote conference, “Mistaken Identity”, was organised by Privacy International. …

    Government 4 Jul 2008, 11:43

  • TVonics MFR-300 micro digital TV set-top box

    Review Bringing digital to Scart-free tellies

    Thousands of Brits are going to find their analogue TVs incapable of picking up a signal come 2012. Clearly, that doesn't concern too many of us, since we're still buying plenty of analogue tellies. This situation may have got Parliament in a panic but plenty of punters know all they need to go digital is to pick up a set-top …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 12:13

  • Wii racers get a wheel deal

    Stiffen your in-game kart control

    Mario Kart is a great Wii game, but because the driving wheel doesn’t have a fixed position, kart control can be tricky. Thankfully, an ingenious Wii Wheel Stand has been…ahem… invented. The Wii Wheel Stand lets you fix your driving position The stand simply clips onto the back of the Wii Wheel, around the section where the …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 12:15

  • Mystery over Verisign boss' shock exit

    Like déjà vu all over again

    Wall Street shut down for the long July 4 weekend pondering a puzzler. It emerged yesterday that Verisign CEO Bill Roper had suddenly quit the firm to be replaced by the firm's founder and chairman, Jim Bidzos. Roper took the helm at Verisign only last year. The firm said in its statement to investors and the media that he had …

    Financial News 4 Jul 2008, 12:23

  • MoD mega gov-IT project only mildly catastrophic - NAO

    Military celebrate limited-disaster triumph

    The UK Ministry of Defence has received some qualified praise for its ongoing, enormous effort to replace hundreds of different internal IT systems comprising scores of thousands of machines with a single integrated infrastructure. War is Dell nowadays, apparently. The National Audit Office, reporting on the Defence …

    Government 4 Jul 2008, 12:47

  • IPS finds no nuggets in ID checking goldmine

    Claims targets exceeded, but fee income tiny

    Government plans to position the Identity & Passport Service as the UK's de facto identity services broker seem not to have entirely caught the imagination of the private sector, figures in IPS' annual report and accounts suggest. Although IPS recruited 44 new customers for its Passport Validation Service (PVS), income from this …

    Government 4 Jul 2008, 13:00

  • Consider yourself Moderatrixed

    And be damn grateful about it, worms

    Well, I was actually hoping to spend this Friday performing my usual duties, perhaps enjoying a little light banter with my colleagues, and then sauntering out at lunchtime to get society-endangeringly drunk. But it would seem that this very modest dream of mine is to remain in the realms of fantasy. This is because, despite …

    Bootnotes 4 Jul 2008, 13:22

  • Navman upgrades satnavs with 3D

    More realistic driving?

    Navman has re-launched its S-series of satnavs with three models that promise to guide you around points of interest - now in glorious 3D. Navman's S-series now offers 3D navigation The S30, S50 and S70 were originally launched back in September 2007, but each model has now been updated to include 3D landmarks of over 1000 …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 13:34

  • Ofcom flashes cash guarantees at BT for fibre investment

    Next gen network quid pro quo tabled

    The boss of Ofcom has given the clearest indication yet that regulators are ready to offer BT more control over a next generation UK broadband infrastructure in exchange for investment. In a speech in London at IT bigwig yacking shop Intellect yesterday, Ed Richards sympathised that "operators" who might invest in new …

    Telecoms 4 Jul 2008, 13:54

  • Serco sharpens the IT guillotine

    Job cuts consultation underway

    Government services firm Serco is looking to cut up to 500 jobs from its IT division, with satellite offices and its Birmingham HQ all likely to be hit. Serco bought ITNet in 2004 and has contracts with the RAF and several local authorities. A spokesman for the firm confirmed to The Register that restructuring meant jobs …

    Channel Register 4 Jul 2008, 14:12

  • Apple drags its heels on iPhone security patches

    Waiting for the second coming

    Apple has failed to keep software for the iPhone up to date with patches available for its desktop PCs. The latest version of the software for the iPhone, 1.1.4, came out in February and is essentially a pared-down version of Mac OS 10.5, according to security researchers. As a result the Jesus phone is still vulnerable to an …

    Mobile 4 Jul 2008, 14:39

  • Welcome back, WiReD!

    Competition Photoshoppers, pick up your brushes...

    More than a decade after it crashed and burned so spectacularly, WiReD - the house magazine for the Children of the Corn - is returning to the UK. Publisher Conde Nast, which acquired WiReD after the first UK version shut down, says it will launch next year and has hired an editor, David Rowan. He's already fully buzzword …

    Bootnotes 4 Jul 2008, 15:20

  • DARPA calls for 'DUDE' combo infra-nightscope

    As in 'Dude, where's my multispectral imaging device?'

    DARPA, the renowned bulgy-bonced battle-boffinry bureau (apparent motto: "If you can't beat them... well, some sort of murderous killer robot army would seem to be in order") has just issued its latest call for notions. This time, the Pentagon science chiefs want a new and ultra-puissant combo nightsight module. This is …

    Science 4 Jul 2008, 15:23

  • PC World pips Asus to UK Atom sub-laptop premier

    Who has the first SCC with Intel's new chip?

    PC World today claimed to have beaten Asus to the punch by launching the first Small, Cheap Computer in the UK equipped with an Intel Atom processor. PC World's Advent 4211: out ahead of the Eee 901? PC World's own-brand Advent 4211 sub-notebook is essentially MSI's Wind rebadged. It's got a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of DDR 2 …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 15:39

  • 2010: the 5TB 3.5in HDD cometh

    Hitachi promises 1TB per square inch

    Hitachi has pledged to release a 5TB 3.5in hard drive within two years, and it claims two of the drives will boast enough capacity to store everything in your brain. According to a report by Nikkei Net, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies will use Current-Perpendicular-to-Plane Giant Magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) magnetc read …

    Reg Hardware 4 Jul 2008, 15:45

  • Indies celebrate Independence Day

    Interview Finding the sharing button

    Did anyone, I wonder, ever buy just one Motown single? Or just one 2-Tone single? And while you're pondering... can you even remember what major label your favourite artist is on? Unigram, perhaps. Or Polycorpse. The received wisdom today is that the record label is doomed. Not surprisingly, since the Big Five (now Four) …

    Music and Media 4 Jul 2008, 15:57