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18th July 2008 Archive

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  • Here's the multi-core man coding robots, 3-D worlds and Wall Street

    Radio Reg Kunle Olukotun gets pervasive

    "You have to do some really good work and become famous." That's what Stanford President John Hennessy said would be required if then associate professor Kunle Olukotun wanted to secure tenure. So, Olukotun set after that goal with some ground-breaking work in the field of multi-core processors. His research helped form the …

    Semi-Coherent 18 Jul 2008, 01:38

  • IBM misses memo on economic slowdown during Q2

    Sold out

    IBM has yet again shrugged off the global economic slowdown with second quarter profits leaping 22 per cent and revenues rising. Although improvements were reported across most operations, IBM's bread-and-butter services division was the star of the show. "I've got to say that this is one of the best quarters I've ever seen …

    Financial News 18 Jul 2008, 01:59

  • Microsoft predicts 'some' ROI for online millions by 2010

    Wall St slaps back

    Two years after Microsoft rattled Wall St committing to spend millions against Google, the company's said it'll be at least another two years before investors see any return on the investment. Chief financial officer Chris Liddell, announcing Microsoft's fourth-quarter and fiscal 2008 results, told Wall St it'll likely be …

    Financial News 18 Jul 2008, 02:35

  • What's the transistors-on-a-chip record?

    What is the current record for the number of transistors on a chip? Any sort: processor, graphics, memory, etc. Just wondering exactly how many hundreds of millions - or probably billions - the industry has actually achieved.  

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 07:02

  • Prime Minister's email takes month off

    Brown envelopes will probably get there quicker

    British citizens wishing to write to Prime Minister Gordon Brown via email are currently being told that the service is down due to maintenance work. Number 10’s website is currently carrying this message about Brown’s inability to receive emails from pen-shy members of the public: This service has been temporarily suspended …

    Government 18 Jul 2008, 07:02

  • EU, champion of the ringtone downloader

    Giant stands on shoulders of local watchdogs

    The EU Consumer Commissioner reports that a sweep of web sites promoting ring-tone downloads discovered that 80 per cent were in breach of regulations, but notably failed to mention the role national regulators played in finding the miscreants. The EU looked at 558 sites across Europe, of which 466 need further investigation. …

    Mobile 18 Jul 2008, 07:12

  • Apple grabs number-three US PC market slot

    Steps past Acer

    Fanboys, rejoice - Apple 'aters, gnash your teeth. The Mac maker is now once again the third largest computer maker in the US. So claims market watcher Gartner, which has just posted its Q2 numbers. Dell and HP were the top two companies with market shares of 31.9 per cent and 25.3 per cent, respectively. Between them they …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 07:52

  • Justice Ministry opens ICO consultation

    While MPs get petulant

    The Ministry of Justice has published a consultation on changes to the powers and funding of the Information Commissioner's Office - a core conclusion of the Data Sharing Review was that the ICO needed more money and more powers to be effective. The consultation proposes changing the current £35 flat-fee arrangement for …

    Government 18 Jul 2008, 08:02

  • Carphone Warehouse reveals latest Sony Ericsson launch date

    T303 on sale within weeks

    Carphone Warehouse has revealed that Sony Ericsson’s latest “high-end entry-level handset” will be available next month. Sony Ericsson's T303: at the high end of the low range The T303 was unveiled at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany back in March, but at the time SE wasn’t willing to provide prospective punters with a shipping …

    Phones 18 Jul 2008, 09:20

  • UK.gov tells throttling petition: Choke on it

    Red Arrows trump web users on nation's worry list

    The government has told an e-petitioners calling for an investigation into ISPs taking on too many subscribers and throttling bandwidth to get over it. The petition, signed by 2,600 people, asked the Prime Minister to "investigate ISPs oversubscribing on their network and throttling broadband". It accused ISPs of taking on too …

    Broadband 18 Jul 2008, 09:31

  • LG Secret KF750 phone

    Video Review Sleek, sexy and slidey

    The Secret is LG’s latest Black Label phone. These phones are supposed to be among the swankiest on the market, and this one certainly looks the part. It’s got a touchscreen, five-megapixel camera, HSDPA 3G, Divx playback and some very funky soft buttons. But how well does it actually fare in everyday usage? Can't see the …

    Phones 18 Jul 2008, 09:40

  • Weaker sterling knocks back DCC

    Profits up at tech distribution arm

    DCC, the Irish conglomerate, today said its IT distribution arm, DCC Sercom, achieved underlying double digit operating profit growth. But it warns that weaker sterling could feed through to worse group profits in the second half of the year - the company reports in euros. DCC Sercom either traded ahead of or in line with …

    The Channel 18 Jul 2008, 09:45

  • MoD: We lost 87 classified USB sticks since 2003

    Over-use of secrecy leads to bullethole in foot

    The UK Ministry of Defence has told parliament that it has lost or had stolen some 87 USB sticks holding "protectively marked" - ie classified - material since 2003. However, almost all the devices were marked at the lowest grade of classification, and even the remaining few are unlikely to have contained information of any …

    Government 18 Jul 2008, 09:59

  • SF's silent sysadmin pleads not guilty

    The password? Can't say? Won't say?

    The sysadmin accused of locking the San Francisco city council out of its computer network was back in jail yesterday after pleading not guilty to four counts of computer tampering. Terry Childs was locked up in lieu of $5m bail last weekend, after the city accused him of creating a super password for its new FiberWan network …

    Management 18 Jul 2008, 10:14

  • Oz Anglicans embrace Darth Vader

    I feel a great disturbance in the Church

    Those of you requiring proof that Oz's Anglicans are indeed a broad church should cast your eyes over this remarkable shot captured recently in Bondi, NSW, by reader Howard Owens: Yup, it's clear Darth Vader has shunned the dark side and is well on his way to redemption. Give him a couple of years and he'll be apologising for …

    Bootnotes 18 Jul 2008, 10:15

  • Symantec COO infuriates US channel

    Big foot in mouth

    Enrique Salem needs some media training before he's let out in public again. Or a lesson in diplomacy. The Symantec chief operating officer has provoked furious reaction in the US channel - for dissing them behind closed doors. Last month he told financial analysts in a supposedly private conference that Symantec wanted to …

    The Channel 18 Jul 2008, 10:23

  • HP shatters excessive packaging world record

    17 boxes to protect 32 A4 sheets

    We've just had an email from a shaken Stephen Strang who this morning took delivery of a very, very large box from HP: Stephen said: "Imagine our excitement as we opened it, hoping against hope that it might contain a copy of some c-class virtual connect firmware that actually works." Sadly not. What the überbox did contain …

    Bootnotes 18 Jul 2008, 10:27

  • Apple buys more PCBs - MacBook refresh imminent?

    More evidence has emerged that Apple's about to refresh its laptop line-up: the company is claimed to have upped its circuit-board orders by 20 per cent. So say sources cited by Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times. That increase is over and above the volume of PCBs Apple is said to have ordered for Q2. Of course, …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 10:28

  • EU complaint is just more of the same, says Intel

    We never done nothing

    Intel has delivered a weary response to the latest European Commission's Statement of Objections which accused it of anti-competitive behaviour. The Statement accused Intel of providing rebates to a retailer provided they sold only Intel-based PCs, of paying an original equipment manufacturer to delay the launch of a line of …

    The Channel 18 Jul 2008, 10:44

  • Brits more hooked on mobile tech than Yanks are

    And kids more than adults

    Britons are more mobile-obsessed than their US counterparts, a new survey has revealed. According to the latest edition of Carphone Warehouse’s Mobile Life Report, 94 per cent of British youngsters own mobile phones, compared to just 80 per cent of those in the US. CW’s report sought to analyse the relationship that 6000 …

    Mobile 18 Jul 2008, 10:53

  • Sony names PlayTV debut day

    Launch confirmed

    Register Hardware has already brought you the news that Sony's PlayTV PS3 DVR add-on will be available in Europe this September, but now we can tell you exactly which day. Sony's PlayTV: arrives here on 10 September According to David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, the unit will land in Blighty on …

    Games 18 Jul 2008, 11:01

  • BOFH: The PFY wants a reference

    Episode 25 Immediately my suspicions are aroused...

    "So let's just get this straight," I say to the PFY as he hovers about my desk. "You want me to write a reference for you lauding you as a veritable workplace IT savant who can leap laser printers in a single bound, bend RFPs in his bare hands and generally manage an IT project with the ease of a veteran?" "Yes." "So you …

    BOFH 18 Jul 2008, 11:02

  • Crooks charge premium for filter-evading Trojan

    Chameleon malware from business-minded VXers

    Cybercrooks have released a custom-built Trojan, dubbed Limbo 2, "guaranteed" by its shady creators to continually evade the top ten anti-virus products on the market. The Limbo 2 Trojan is touted as being able to bypass products from Symantec, McAfee, AVG and others to steal login credentials from online banking sessions. …

    Security 18 Jul 2008, 11:17

  • Torvalds brands Digg users 'W*nking Walruses'

    Takes one to know one

    Linus Torvalds used his latest missive to the Linux Kernel mailing list to have a go at innocent Digg users - all in the name of getting the email more widely read, of course. At the end of the message detailing merge requests, Torvalds wrote: "PS. And to get wider distribution for this message: Digg users - you're all a bunch …

    Bootnotes 18 Jul 2008, 11:31

  • DARPA plans soldier-tagging system for US troops

    Entirely for their own good, apparently

    DARPA, the Pentagon boffinry outfit which bestrides the tech world like some mighty, erratic robot colossus with a frikkin laser beam on its head, has made a new move. The plan is to electronically tag US combat soldiers in a similar fashion to criminals under judicial restraint, the idea being that the troops can then be …

    Government 18 Jul 2008, 11:37

  • Apple iPhone 3G

    Review Love it or loathe it, it's here

    So the much-hyped iPhone 3G is finally here, flaunting its new HSDPA connection and AGPS. But all is not rosy in the Apple's garden of touchy-feely delights, since many of the old version's problems still remain. At first glance the new model looks just like the old one. From the front, there's no obvious difference between …

    Phones 18 Jul 2008, 11:51

  • Shake up your music and movie collections - literally

    PMP controlled by shakes, rattles and - possibly – rolls

    Gadget manufacturer Electron Box is on a mission to shake up the portable media player biz with a gadget that’s perfect for coffee junkies or Shakin' Stevens. Electron Box's miShake: controlled by shakes The firm’s miShake player uses motion sensing technolog to allow users to literally shake their way through the PMP’s …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 11:58

  • BSA: Software piracy's 'tragic' impact on US society

    Think of the children policemen

    The Business Software Alliance claimed yesterday that software piracy in the US is costing the industry $11.4bn and local government $1.7bn in lost taxes. The software multinational lobbying group reckoned that although four out of five pieces of software is legally bought in the US the remaining counterfeit material results …

    The Channel 18 Jul 2008, 11:58

  • El Reg tells you what the Highway Code can't

    Traffic wardens turn to calculators, clampers target ambulances

    This week’s big motoring news has to be Swindon Borough Council’s decision to look again at the use of speed cameras. Or is it? El Reg is not so sure, as we explain below. Meanwhile, peculiar parking practices continue to hit the headlines. Red faces all round in Torbay, where one parking enforcement officer attempted to tell …

    Law 18 Jul 2008, 12:06

  • IEEE fails to agree on powerline Ethernet standard

    Vote, vote and vote again

    The organisation charged with putting in place a standard for networking over mains wiring has once again failed to elect one of the two competing specifications as its choice. Last week, members of the IEEE P1901 Working Group met in Miami to vote on the confirmation of a joint proposal from Panasonic and the HomePlug …

    Broadband 18 Jul 2008, 12:41

  • AMD confirms 'Atom-smasher' chip on its roadmap

    But Intel's Atom issues mean there's no rush to release it

    AMD will unfold its plan to take on Intel's Atom in November, newly promoted CEO Dirk Meyer said last night. As Register Hardware has reported in the past, AMD's is currently working on a chip codenamed 'Bobcat', a single-core, 64-bit processor designed for low-cost laptops and Small, Cheap Computers. Past leaks have …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 13:20

  • Panasonic's pivoted HDMI cable to end connector slippage?

    HDMI may be the best technology for connecting up your HD TV, but that hasn't stopped some punters complaining that the cables slip out too easily. Panasonic now reckons it has the solution. Some observers have suggested the companies behind HDMI design a version of the connector with locking screws of the kind found on VGA …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 13:35

  • Researchers show up deniable file system crypto leaks

    Deny deny denied

    Crytography researchers have demonstrated weaknesses in encryption technology used to create so-called deniable file systems (DFS). On-the-fly cryptography packages such as TruCrypt allow the creation of a hidden, encrypted volume (containing files and directories) on a hard disk. Users typically create Alice, a standard …

    Security 18 Jul 2008, 13:39

  • Government kids website pays £6 for every visitor

    Just £60K for 10,000 - bargain

    The Department for Children, Schools and Families spent almost £60,000 developing a temporary website which has had less than 10,000 visitors since it was created and which is due to close next month. The site - called "Build your PlaySpace" - cost £50,000 plus VAT to build - and was meant to encourage children to get involved …

    Government 18 Jul 2008, 14:33

  • Sony Ericsson sees profits tumble, turns on workers

    A new low for high-end handsets

    There'll be long faces at Sony Ericsson this evening, with the gloomy news that the mobemeisters is cutting 2,000 jobs after pulling in just €6m in profits in the last three months. This is a massive slide on the €220m the company made during the same period in 2007, despite shipping almost as many phones. In their second …

    Mobile 18 Jul 2008, 14:42

  • Dublin airport was crippled by flakey network card

    Flight into terror tedium

    An air traffic control fault that brought Dublin airport to its knees last week has been traced to an intermittently flakey network card. Sadly, while the problem was simple enough to diagnose, it’ll be weeks before the airport’s air traffic control system will be able to run at full capacity. The system went for a little lie …

    Data Networking 18 Jul 2008, 14:43

  • Dutch university can publish controversial Oyster research

    Freedom of speech trumps all

    Dutch researchers will be able to publish their controversial report on the Mifare Classic (Oyster) RFID chip in October, a Dutch judge ruled today. Researchers from Radboud University in Nijmegen revealed two weeks ago they had cracked and cloned London's Oyster travelcard and the Dutch public transportation travelcard, which …

    Security 18 Jul 2008, 14:45

  • Farnborough Airshow goes public this weekend

    Farnborough Space-pod babes meet the robotic woman-brandisher

    Today is the last of the "trade days" at the Farnborough Air Show, but the event isn't over. Most of the aerospace biz types, hacks etc. are either dispersing now or have already done so (we're back at Vulture Central), but the show goes on. Alright Airbus, we get the message Tomorrow and Sunday are the public days, and we' …

    Science 18 Jul 2008, 15:07

  • Fujitsu intros half-a-tera pocket drive

    World's largest capacity?

    Fujitsu has unveiled what it claims is the world’s highest capacity 2.5in external hard drive, the only problem being that… er… it’s not. Fujitsu's 500GB 2.5in drive The company claims that the HandyDrive storage unit features “the world's highest capacity 2.5in external hard disk drive with up to 500GB of storage space in …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 15:33

  • Microsoft, Facebook, Google box clever on really big systems

    The enemy of my enemy...

    Facebook's decision to release under open source a large-scale data management project similar to - and inspired by - Google's BigTable has received backing from an unusual quarter: Microsoft. Data center futures architect and distinguished database developer James Hamilton, has complemented the pimply faced social network for …

    Applications 18 Jul 2008, 17:02

  • Ubuntu made me puke in a bucket

    Radio Reg And then a Playboy blogger saved my soul

    The world is a disgusting, filthy place. So, it's important to take a moment away from the turmoil from time-to-time, spread your legs and eat some aromatic pistou of borage. And, god bless, that's exactly what you can do at the Ubuntu restaurant and yoga studio in Napa. We discussed Ubuntu and better bowel maintenance during …

    Open Season 18 Jul 2008, 19:24

  • Ubisoft pirates game fix from pirates

    Great moments in lazy coders

    Companies that take an iron fist approach to fighting software piracy are generally best served by not lifting a pirate group's code themselves to fix their own product. Ubisoft, the French video game developer and publisher, was recently caught with its pants down, releasing a pirated hack as an official fix. Ubisoft sells …

    Applications 18 Jul 2008, 19:46

  • Power6 meets Tukwila meets Rock meets SPARC64 in chip death match

    Hot Chips China's Godson-3 whimpers in too

    The grandest chip unveiling in many, many years will take place this August on the campus of Stanford University. At the annual Hot Chips conference, the world's top chip makers including Intel, IBM and Fujitsu/Sun plan to show off some of their most ambitious designs to date. In addition, a host of start-ups dabbling in the …

    Servers 18 Jul 2008, 20:17

  • AMD thanks Ruiz for courageous ability to lose money

    Comment Heck of a job, Hector. We'll keep it up!

    Normally, a succession plan is a good thing. You want the new CEO to slide into the old CEO's chair with an ease that says, "Our asses were molded by the same country club rib eyes and crème brûlées. Everything is under control." Yesterday, though, AMD could have done with some unforeseen CEO-swapping spatter. It should have …

    Servers 18 Jul 2008, 22:38

  • Dell's Ubuntu love-in expands to new laptops

    Existing gear gets Hardy Heron

    Linux lovers take note, Dell is feeling another round of the community spirit tugging on its heartstrings. The Round Rock vendor said it will pre-load the Ubuntu operating system on two new boxes, starting early next month. It's also arming its current selection of Ubuntu PCs and laptops with an updated version 8.04 (AKA …

    Hardware 18 Jul 2008, 22:40