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24th July 2008 Archive

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  • Perfect prints, the Wii way

    Nintendo launches console photo service

    What do you get when you combine Nintendo with Fujifilm? Why it’s the online Wii Photo Channel, of course. The Wii's Photo Channel: lets you print out pictures The service enables Wii owners to upload images through a web connection and then have them printed out and delivered by Fujifilm. Images can be loaded onto the Wii …

    Games 24 Jul 2008, 00:02

  • HMV lines up a few VAT-free CDs and DVDs

    How not to cannibalise your sales

    HMV is planning to put kiosks into some of its stores to allow customers to order out-of-stock CDs and DVDs which will be fulfilled VAT-free from the Channel Islands. Many online and mail order music services including Tesco and Amazon.co.uk already have warehouses in Jersey and Guernsey because EU law allows items with a …

    Small Biz 24 Jul 2008, 07:02

  • Cannibal's legal objection hamstrings German horror film

    Rights infringement leads to ban

    A horror film has been banned in Germany because it infringes on the personality rights of the German man who killed and ate a voluntary victim on Christmas Day in 2001. Rohtenburg is a horror film about a man who engages in very similar acts to Armin Meiwes, who was arrested in 2002 and convicted of murder in 2005. Meiwes …

    Law 24 Jul 2008, 07:02

  • MPs probe MoD accountancy shenanigans

    Analysis 'The arms industry are your masters, aren't they?'

    The UK Ministry of Defence has taken yet another lengthy roasting from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, PAC, which has been examining its recently audited accounts. The MoD is accused of "masking" the costs of its biggest and most expensive equipment projects by creative accounting, and responds by pointing out …

    Government 24 Jul 2008, 07:02

  • 'Contagious' fungus threatens videotape collections

    Bold mould

    Video digitising hardware makers are leaping for joy over news ye olde VHS tapes are becoming unwatchable thanks to an outbreak of mould. According to a Telegraph report this week, too many folk, museums, archive owners and collectors are keeping their old tapes in damp conditions. While the wet won't harm videotape, it …

    Hardware 24 Jul 2008, 08:02

  • Nokia and Qualcomm end patent war

    Legal attack dogs muzzled

    Nokia and Qualcomm have agreed to end their worldwide legal battle over patents. Yesterday saw a German court throw out Qualcomm's claims but the two had pending legal action in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and China. The deal therefore came as a surprise. Varied standards are covered by the deal, including GSM, …

    Mobile 24 Jul 2008, 09:25

  • Creative continues ZEN range with Mozaic media player

    Creative today announced the launch of the ZEN Mozaic portable media player for music, photos and video, featuring a 1.8in LCD colour screen, FM radio, voice recorder and built-in speaker. Available silver, pink and black, four different memory sizes will be on sale, 2GB at £50, 4GB at £60, 8GB at £80 - all of which will be on …

    Hardware 24 Jul 2008, 09:26

  • Sony Ericsson C702 rugged handset

    Review More Ross Kemp than Andy McNab

    The C702's moniker might give the impression that it's a stripped-down version of the 5mp camera-toting C902. But while it shares some features, the C702 is very much its own model. For a start, it's pitched as a rugged, outdoorsy sort of handset, with protection against dust and moisture. While we wouldn't recommend dunking …

    Phones 24 Jul 2008, 10:10

  • Norwegians demo 10cm video & GPS pocket-chopper

    Palmtop helipad aviation goes live

    "The world's smallest full authority helicopter", with rotors just 10cm across, has been successfully flight tested in Norway. Scandinavian microcopter developers hailed the debut of the prototype PD-100 Black Hornet as "a major success". Sceptical readers in possession of the small battery-powered remote-controlled …

    Science 24 Jul 2008, 10:14

  • Feargal Sharkey on the ISP filesharer MoU

    Three Strikes RIP?

    The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ISPs and the music business will lead to radically new "legal P2P" services, British Music Rights' Feargal Sharkey told us this morning. Licensing deals have already been signed, we reported recently. The agreement between the music business and six of the UK's biggest ISPs will …

    Media 24 Jul 2008, 10:16

  • Apple account hijacks spread to developers

    From iTunes to Apple Developer Connections

    Account hijackers have targeted Apple iTunes for months, but now they're hitting Apple developers as well. Reg reader Andrew McAuley discovered that his iTunes account was hijacked after 150 unauthorised transactions, each valued at $42, appeared on his debit card bill. McAuley, a Brit who lives in the US, noticed the attack …

    Security 24 Jul 2008, 10:25

  • NZ judge saves girl from bloody silly name

    Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii

    An NZ judge has done the decent thing and made a nine-year-old girl a ward of court to allow her to ditch what must rate among the most preposterous names of all time - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. The issue of the poor child's moniker surfaced during a custody hearing in New Plymouth back in February, the BBC reports. …

    Bootnotes 24 Jul 2008, 10:28

  • Cheque-red flag for Max Mosley

    News of the World organises whip-round to pay damages

    So the dust has settled, Max Mosley has won his case, and UK privacy law advances a further notch. Does this make any difference at all to the El Reg readers – apart from those few who get their jollies from dressing up in strange uniforms and whipping one another at the weekend? The answer, as with most things legal, was …

    Law 24 Jul 2008, 11:39

  • It's official: Samsung shows off i8510 8mp cameraphone

    Korean company joins cameraphone crème de la crème

    Rumours that the South Korean company was going to join the 8mp cameraphone crowd have been circulating for a while, now Samsung has confirmed it's launching the i8510 in the UK in August. Much like the iPhone, the i8510 comes in 8GB and 16GB variants, with 3G and HSDPA as well as Wi-Fi. It also features GPS and a camera …

    Phones 24 Jul 2008, 11:45

  • Microsoft bigwig jumps ship in re-org wake

    Kevin Johnson is off to Juniper

    The man who led Microsoft’s recent failed bid to buy Yahoo! is leaving the software giant after more than 15 years with the company. Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s platforms and services division, is jumping ship amid a major shake-up at the company. Redmond is splitting Johnson’s old unit into two groups – one …

    Software 24 Jul 2008, 11:51

  • Airbus A380-800: an airborne treat for gadget fans

    Tech heaven at 37,000ft

    I’m writing this sitting in a Singapore Airlines double-decker Airbus A380 bound for the carrier’s home city. We’re at 35,320ft and I’m up in tech heaven. I have my Eee PC 900 open in front of me, its meagre battery being kept topped up from the power socket in the armrest to my right. My iPhone is sitting on the fold-out …

    Hardware 24 Jul 2008, 11:52

  • Scientists decry Bletchley Park's decline

    Demand government action to save Station X

    A group of the UK's leading computer scientists has demanded government action to save Bletchley Park from further decay, saying that “the ravages of age and a lack of investment” threaten the future of Station X. Some of the wooden codebreaking huts are in "a desperate state of decay" and, as we recently reported, the …

    Science 24 Jul 2008, 11:58

  • Facebook faker ordered to pay thousands in libel damages

    Grudge judged

    The High Court has today ordered a man who concocted a Facebook account to attack a former school friend to pay £22,000 in damages. Grant Raphael had claimed strangers at an impromptu party had used his home computer to create a fake profile in the name of Mathew Firsht. Deputy Judge Richard Parkes QC described the story as " …

    Law 24 Jul 2008, 12:01

  • Spanish doc cuffed for webcam in toilet

    Ronaldinho's sister caught on camera?

    A Spanish doctor was last week cuffed for installing a webcam in the toilet of his Barcelona consultancy, a nutritional centre frequented by the likes of motorcyclist Jorge Lorenzo and the sister of former Barcelona ball-worrier Ronaldinho. According to El País, the webcam was spotted by an employee of Jorge I.P's Centro …

    Security 24 Jul 2008, 12:17

  • Southeast London is card fraud cesspool

    UK danger zones named

    London is the biggest single centre for credit card fraud with southeast London - particularly Thamesmead (SE28) - becoming notorious as the place with the most fraudulent activity in the UK, according to a new survey. An analysis of over 30 million 'good' and 'bad' card transactions over the first half of 2008 by anti-fraud …

    Small Biz 24 Jul 2008, 12:26

  • The return of Killer Chlorine

    Numberwatch Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water

    After many mind-sapping years of trawling through the morass of health scare stories, I formulated a number of laws, one of which was the Law of Beneficial Developments: The intensity of the scaremongering attack on any new development is proportional to the level of benefit that it endows. Unbelievably, the Chlorine Scare has …

    Science 24 Jul 2008, 12:36

  • Dell adds multi-touch to Latitude XT

    Bigger SSD drives too

    Dell has announced it's incorporating touch-screen functionality - in the form of an easy-to-install firmware upgrade - on it's Latitude XT tablets. Tablets or convertible PCs are notebooks with a rotating screen that can be used as a flat writing surface. With the free software, users can scroll by placing two fingers on the …

    Hardware 24 Jul 2008, 12:54

  • Eye of newt: Inside Google's AdWords auction

    Analysis Or whatever it is

    When Google chief legal officer David Drummond testified before Congress last week, he didn't disappoint. He splattered Capitol Hill with the sort of shameless nonsense we've come to expect from Mountain View's number one huckster. In short, Drummond told all those Congresspeople that if Google is allowed to rule 90 per cent of …

    Financial News 24 Jul 2008, 14:02

  • Ballmer upset by Apple cart

    Plans to compete with 'thriving' rival

    Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer yesterday openly acknowledged Apple's "thriving" success in the lucrative consumer market. Historically, Ballmer has not often taken Apple seriously as a competitor. Well, apart from dismissing the iPhone as "niche" and iPod owners being thieves of course. Ballmer outlined his “priorities” in an …

    The Channel 24 Jul 2008, 14:06

  • HP borgs Voodoo

    High-end games join consumer unit

    HP is merging the VoodooPC business it bought two years ago into its consumer PC division. The brand will live on and Voodoo machines will be sold alongside Compaq Presarios and Pavilions. HP bought VoodooPC in 2006. The company specialised in very high-end machines for obsessive gamers. It has run as a separate unit for the …

    Hardware 24 Jul 2008, 14:42

  • iPhone Mail bug adds phishing danger

    Be careful around the net

    Flaws in the Mail and Safari applications bundled with the iPhone leave users of the device at greater risk of phishing attacks. A URL-spoofing vulnerability means that a dodgy domain pointed to by a specially crafted URL can appear to be that of a trusted brand when viewed through the iPhone's mail or Safari browser …

    Mobile 24 Jul 2008, 14:47

  • Doctor Who fans told to lay off Hamlet

    Trekkies also unwelcome at Stratford stage door

    Fans of Doctor Who and Star Trek have been told to lay off autograph hunting at the stage door of the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford, where David Tennant and Patrick Stewart are thesping it up in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet. The ban comes after fans apparently started turning up at the venue with "bags" of …

    Bootnotes 24 Jul 2008, 17:03

  • eBay auction fraudster jailed for four years

    Hammer to fall

    An Oregon man who auctioned counterfeit Adobe software on eBay under a variety of false identities has been jailed for four years. Jeremiah Mondello, 23, of Eugene, Oregon, was also sentenced to a further three years on probation following his release and 130 hours of community service a year for three years at a sentencing …

    Security 24 Jul 2008, 17:56

  • Exploit code for Kaminsky DNS bug goes wild

    Still think threat is exaggerated?

    When Dan Kaminsky disclosed a critical flaw in the net's address lookup system earlier this month, he said it was crucial internet service providers and other organizations install patches immediately. He wasn't kidding. Security researchers have developed two working exploits that poison vulnerable domain name system servers …

    Security 24 Jul 2008, 18:10

  • XM-Sirius merger OKd in fines plus booster-dump deal

    Woo FCC with $19m in 'voluntary contributions'

    XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio are nearing a final agreement with US regulators to approve their long-pending merger. The companies agreed to pay millions of dollars in fines in order to grease the wheels of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for formal approval of their proposed monopoly. Some …

    Financial News 24 Jul 2008, 18:47

  • Court defends America's right to online smut

    First Amendment meets Groundhog Day

    Ten years after it was rubber stamped by US lawmakers, the free-speech-throttling Child Online Protection Act (COPA) remains in legal limbo, but its chances of survival took another blow this week as a federal appeals court upheld an earlier ban on the statute. “COPA cannot withstand a strict scrutiny, vagueness, or over …

    Law 24 Jul 2008, 19:32

  • Apple is Fisher-Price of sound quality, says Neil Young

    The revolution will not be podcast

    Over five decades Neil Young has played a variety of roles including sixties protester, folk singer, Ronald Reagan supporter, grunge rocker and film maker. Now he's donning a new hat: Apple basher. Young says Apple, with its ubiquitous iPod and iTunes, has dumbed down sound quality to "Fisher-Price toy" levels that place …

    Media 24 Jul 2008, 20:03

  • Cancer doctor cites 'early' data on cell phone danger

    Quick! Call a doct... oh damn.

    The head of a leading US cancer research institute has sent out a warning to his staff to limit their cell phone use because of a risk of developing brain cancer. In a memo sent by University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute director Dr. Ronald Herbman yesterday, he cautions mobile phone users should not to let a lack of …

    Broadband 24 Jul 2008, 21:35

  • Poker-faced Ballmer explains Google beating plans

    Send in the marines

    When you report annual revenue of $60bn you'd expect Wall St would give a little credit where credit's due. Not take your stock price outside and rough it up. Yet, a pounding it got last Friday from analysts concerned by increasing costs and ongoing losses at Microsoft's online business - MSN, Windows Live, Live Search and …

    Financial News 24 Jul 2008, 21:45

  • Tory leader's stolen bicycle surfaces on eBay

    'It leans oddly to the right'

    Hours after Tory leader David Cameron told the world that someone had nicked his bicycle, the much-discussed two-wheeler has turned up on eBay. Or so it seems. "This bike is not exactly new but it is nearly new because it has only been used for a couple of photo-opportunities," says the anonymous huckster offering Cameron's …

    Bootnotes 24 Jul 2008, 21:49

  • American data pimper exposes ad equation

    26,000 tracked, 15 opt out

    How much notice did American ISPs provide when testing NebuAd's Phorm-like behavioral ad targeter? Not as much as NebuAd CEO Bob Dykes would have you believe. Responding to an open letter from three big-name US Congressman, Middle American ISP Embarq Corp. has admitted that before activating NebuAd's deep packet inspection …

    Broadband 24 Jul 2008, 23:55