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28th July 2008 Archive

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  • Sun may or may not be about to obliterate Oracle and Microsoft

    Fail and You Transactional memory: The great nerd equalizer

    I don’t know about you, but every time I have to program with threads and shared resources, I want to remove my face incrementally with a salad fork. Locks, mutexes, the synchronized keyword; all of these things can strike fear into the heart of a green developer. Most seasoned developers just fall into a rut of depression when …

    Servers 28 Jul 2008, 03:56

  • Focus plus excitement: Michael Dell talks turnarounds

    Interview While avoiding trucks

    Despite harsh economic times, Michael Dell hasn’t been complaining. "We've been growing faster than the industry for the last three quarters," the Dell CEO told a group of Latin-American and European reporters. In Round Rock, Texas, a town which wouldn’t have existed today if Dell hadn't established its headquarters there, …

    PCs & Chips 28 Jul 2008, 08:29

  • Chinese takeaway biodiesel man in garage explosion horror

    Out of the frying pan into the fireball

    A Northamptonshire man destroyed his garage and badly injured himself at the weekend while attempting to make biodiesel from used cooking oil. A devastating explosion levelled the makeshift reprocessing plant on Saturday afternoon, when sparks from an electric drill being used to mix ingredients ignited explosive vapours. …

    Environment 28 Jul 2008, 09:00

  • DIY: Replace your iPhone 3G's scratched screen

    Knowhow not included

    If you’ve bought an iPhone 3G and already scratched the display, then you’re probably feeling pretty depressed? Thankfully, retailer Brando is selling replacement touchscreens to transform the phone to its former glory. Brando's replacement screen for the iPhone 3G Unfortunately, the only information that Brando provides …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 09:34

  • Motorola splits business into three parts

    Cell division

    Motorola is dividing up its home and networks division as a possible precursor to selling off parts of the business. The company will post its quarterly results on Thursday and update markets on plans to improve profitability. This could include selling the handset division, which has struggled in recent quarters. The home …

    Mobile 28 Jul 2008, 09:50

  • Super-skinny storage

    Freecom touts tiny travelling HDD

    What keeps expanding whilst still getting smaller? The answer is storage and Freecom claims to be the latest manufacturer able to boast the title of world’s smallest 2.5in USB 2.0 external hard drive. Freecom's Mobile Drive XXS: small Freecom also claims the Mobile Drive XXS is the world’s lightest such drive, with a weight …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 10:07

  • IBM throws arms around ILOG

    BPM, SOA treehuggers unite

    IBM is buying French software maker ILOG for €215m ($340m). The tech giant said today the deal is part of IBM’s strategy to beef up business process management and service-oriented architecture technologies. The offer price represents a premium of about 56 per cent compared with ILOG’s one month average closing share price …

    Financial News 28 Jul 2008, 10:32

  • Oops - SF prosecutors put city passwords on public record

    Cunning plan

    San Francisco prosecutors have put the city's network at further risk by placing access passwords and usernames on the public record as part of their case against Terry Childs, the sysadmin alleged to have hijacked the city's wide area network. A list of 150 usernames and passwords of city officials was submitted to court as …

    Enterprise Security 28 Jul 2008, 11:05

  • Aussie school goes high-tech

    School opts for voice recognition desktops

    Kids restocking their pencil cases with new pens at the beginning of a school term could soon be a dying sight. At least in one school Down Under, where voice recognition technology is now on the curriculum. According to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), the privately funded Queenwood School for Girls, Sydney is …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 11:06

  • Brits terrified of online fraud, but want magic cars, says BT

    UK a nation of web worrywarts

    Britons' fear of online crime has rocketed in the last ten years, according to BT. The UK telco makes the claim in its new "21st Century Life Index", a pile of research examining how consumer attitudes to technology have changed since the heady days of 1998 and the information superhighway. Back then only 3 per cent said that …

    Telecoms 28 Jul 2008, 11:11

  • Toshiba's handy camcorder

    Sporting an "attractive palm-shaped design"

    Toshiba has expanded its Camileo camcorder range with a pocket-sized model, perfect for anyone concerned about portability and price. Toshiba's Camileo H10: small and handy The H10 model supposedly sports an “attractive palm-shaped design,” which is…erm…handy, and weighs in at a pocketable 340g. So, the camcorder should be …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 11:53

  • Home Office to order fingerprinting of air passengers

    Updated T5 plan back, but bigger and nastier

    Fingerprinting of air passengers in the UK is back on the agenda, despite its having been derailed by the Information Commissioner earlier this year. the Home Office now plans to change aviation security rules to compel airport operators to collect fingerprints from next year onwards. A 'count them in, count them out' system …

    Policing 28 Jul 2008, 12:00

  • Screwgle™ - Google's new ad revenue model

    It's wallet-emptying good...

    Google's strict code of secrecy calls for extra silence when the subject is AdWords, the epic money-making machine fueling the company's drive towards world domination. But sometimes, the truth slips out. Earlier this month, during Google's all-important quarterly earnings call, a financial analyst outed the company's plans to …

    Telecoms 28 Jul 2008, 12:02

  • US man cuffed for executing lawnmower

    Shotgun maintenance voids warranty, expert warns

    A Milwaukee man faces up to six years and three months in chokey and a maximum fine of $11k for blasting his lawnmower with a shotgun after the machine ill-advisedly refused to start, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. Keith Walendowski, 56, (pictured) had apparently had a few ales when he decided to fire up his "Lawn-Boy …

    Bootnotes 28 Jul 2008, 12:24

  • Sophos bids €217m for data loss firm

    Prevention is better than cure

    UK-based net security firm Sophos has launched a €217m ($342m) bid to buy data loss prevention firm Utimaco. Sophos intends to offer €14.75 per Utimaco share, a premium of 92 per cent on its closing price of €7.68 on Friday. Investcorp Technology Partners, the largest single shareholder, has already agreed to sell its 24.99 …

    Security 28 Jul 2008, 12:25

  • Celebrity publicist develops mathematical 'fame formula'

    (Zero + Bullshit)Spin = Total bullshit

    A celebrated celebrity PR consultant has written a book in which he offers "mathematical" proof that fame - or anyway, spikes in fame - last fifteen months, rather than any traditional period of minutes. However, the bogo-scientific gloss applied to publicist Mark Borkowski's theories is so fragile as to shatter at a glance. …

    Bootnotes 28 Jul 2008, 12:28

  • FCC censures Comcast for doing its job

    Hangs the monkey

    In a landmark decision, the FCC is set to censure Comcast for engaging in traffic management, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. While largely symbolic - Comcast will not be fined, the Journal reports - it marks an important victory for campaigners seeking greater regulation of the internet. The case was brought by P2P …

    Telecoms 28 Jul 2008, 12:41

  • Nokia 6220 Classic candybar phone

    Review This mild-mannered mobile is secretly...Super Phone

    It may look like an ordinary phone, but under the skin the 6220 Classic is anything but that. Nokia has crammed in much of the high-end features usually reserved for its Nseries smartphones. A 5-megapixel camera, featuring Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash, sits on the back panel, while inside there’s A-GPS navigation …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 12:45

  • Microsoft slams 'sensationalist' Vista analysis

    Take my XP from my cold, dead hands

    Microsoft has dismissed analyst house Forrester Research's report on slow corporate adoption of Windows Vista as sensationalist and schizophrenic. The reluctance of many enterprise-sized companies to upgrade their systems to Microsoft’s current OS was highlighted by Forrester analyst Thomas Mendel in his 23 July report. …

    Software 28 Jul 2008, 13:08

  • Steve Fossett may be alive, investigator claims

    Black helicopters circle missing adventurer

    Adventurer Steve Fossett, who has not been seen since last September after flying off into the skies above Nevada, may have faked his own death, investigators have claimed. Despite a massive search for Fossett and his Bellanca Citabria Super Decathalon, no trace of either has ever been found. Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of …

    Bootnotes 28 Jul 2008, 13:11

  • Sony unveils EPUB eBook support

    Format friendly electronic reading

    Sony thinks eBooks are the way forward and, in an effort to get novel nerds ditching their paperbacks, the firm’s introduced EPUB file support to its later Reader. Sony's red PRS-505 Reader, with EPUB support included The company intends to release a firmware update allowing the PRS-505 Reader to access and accept both …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 13:34

  • SAP defends forced price hike against user anger

    'If you don't want it now, you will later'

    SAP today rejected claims by British customers that its new support pricing scheme will unfairly slap small and medium-sized businesses with extra costs for services they won't use. The UK SAP users group released a statement on Friday urging the German software giant to rethink a compulsory hike in support costs from 17 per …

    Software 28 Jul 2008, 14:13

  • Orangutans concoct plant-based soothing balm

    Great apes show medicinal savvy

    Indonesian wild orangutans have demonstrated a certain degree of medicinal savvy by deploying naturally-occuring anti-inflammatory drugs to "treat aches and pains", as the New Scientist puts it. Four of the Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) were spotted by Cambridge University primatologist Helen Morrogh-Bernard in the …

    Biology 28 Jul 2008, 14:17

  • CGI furnishes filmstar with fur

    Miller merkin made manifest in mockery of method

    Film fans are reeling from the latest Sienna Miller outrage, as studio sources reveal that technical wizardry is bestowing upon the actress a CGI-merkin. With the whole Getty-nabbing furore so totally 30 seconds ago, the world is now agog (or at least so her agent would no doubt prefer) for details of the post-production …

    Entertainment 28 Jul 2008, 14:39

  • Gateway stops selling direct

    Follows parent company's lead

    Gateway, the US PC maker, has stopped selling PCs online. From here on in, it will sell only through retailers and computer resellers. The move brings the company into line with parent company, Acer, which sells only through the channel. Interestingly enough, Gateway thinks the move will save it money, which goes to show that …

    Channel Register 28 Jul 2008, 14:48

  • NASA's robotic moon-dirt grubbing contest is go

    Mole-mechs battle it out in 'regolith simulant' sandbox

    August is almost here, and 'tis the season to be building moon-dirt digger droids. That's because the annual NASA lunar autoscoop contest is to be held in California this weekend, with 25 design teams competing for $750,000 in prizes. NASA, plainly no fans of calling a robot spade a robot spade, refer to the contest as the …

    Space 28 Jul 2008, 15:39

  • Korean loan sharks feed on hacked data

    Alleged ringleader flees to China

    Korean police are hunting a loan broker thought to have fled to China after allegedly fencing nine million credit records. Police are working on the theory that Korean financial data files obtained by a Chinese hacker were resold by a 42-year-old go-between, named only by his surname Chun. The suspected crook, charged with …

    Crime 28 Jul 2008, 15:44

  • Emirates takes delivery of its first A380 super jumbo

    One down, 57 to go

    Emirates has at last taken delivery of the first of 58 Airbus A380s it has on order. It was handed over today at an "historic" ceremony in Hamburg, graced by the airline's chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and Airbus CEO Tom Enders. Judging by the Airbus press release the shindig was a bit of a love-in, with Sheikh …

    Science 28 Jul 2008, 15:47

  • Dud Nvidia GPUs tip up in Dell laptops

    Not just HP, then...

    Dell says ten laptop models have been sucker-punched by the GPU problems affecting Nvidia chipsets. The company said on Friday that Dell laptops including Inspiron, Latitude and XPS models, could suffer glitches from a weak die/packaging material set that may fail with graphic processing unit (GPU) temperature fluctuations. …

    PCs & Chips 28 Jul 2008, 15:55

  • The PSP: what's its future?

    PSP 3000 en-route?

    Rumours have emerged that suggest Sony could be working on a new PSP that combines gaming with the qualities of an iPod and iPhone. Could these be true? Let’s examine the evidence… UMD: a doomed format? One of the PSP’s major stumbling blocks has always been its UMD format. Gamers may be willing to watch films on the …

    Reg Hardware 28 Jul 2008, 16:17

  • Microsoft readies XP for One Laptop Per Child computer

    Windows-only XO timidly opens curtain

    Microsoft has quietly released to manufacturing a tweaked version of Windows XP to run on the One Laptop Per Child XO computer. Microsoft’s marketing and communications wonk James Utzschneider offered some detail about its forthcoming release in a blog post late last week. “Microsoft internally ‘RTM'ed’ the Windows XP version …

    PCs & Chips 28 Jul 2008, 16:22

  • Business Objects/SAP bungle leaves users in lurch

    Thanks for the support

    Business Objects users have been left confused and angry after a bungled attempt to merge their product support with a system serving SAP customers. Some Business Objects users have had to wait for full product support almost three weeks following an attempt to merge them into SAP's main support system, in the wake of its $6. …

    Applications 28 Jul 2008, 17:02

  • Apple is sorry (again) over MobileMe

    Some email lost to the void

    Apple's new MobileMe service suite has lost some emails. And the company is very sorry. The consumer electronics giant said one per cent of users have permanently lost some of the email messages sent to them between 18 July and 22 July. Apple has established a MobileMe status page. This is to be updated every other day - at …

    Mobile 28 Jul 2008, 17:07

  • Rackable clears ICE Cube shipping containers for IBM blades

    We'll skate past the obvious joke

    Rackable is opening its white trash data centers to an outside guest for the first time. The company's ICE Cube modular data centers will now accommodate IBM's BladeCenter systems. How hospitable. The companies have agreed to offer IBM's BladeCenter T and HT blade systems for Rackable's containers. Both models are NEBS-3 ( …

    Servers 28 Jul 2008, 18:42

  • AT&T kicks Intel's pet WiMAX project

    Sprint-Clearwire tie-up 'defective'

    True to form, AT&T is attempting to scuttle the Great American WiMAX Merger. Late last week, the big-name US telco tossed an official petition (PDF) at the FCC requesting a rejection of the proposed WiMAX tie-up between Sprint and Clearwire. "The applicants have failed to address in any meaningful way the competitive showing …

    Wireless 28 Jul 2008, 20:24

  • Exploit code targets Mac OS X, iTunes, Java, Winzip...

    Time for an Evilgrade

    A researcher from Argentina has released an exploit package that can install malware on end user machines that run iTunes, Mac OS X, Winzip and a host of other popular software. Evilgrade is the brainchild of Francisco Amato and works by exploiting weaknesses in the automatic upgrade feature of an affected program or operating …

    Security 28 Jul 2008, 20:32

  • VMware slashes ESXi price to zero

    Eye on Redmond

    With rivals clambering at the gate, VMware has opted to offer its bare-bones ESXi hypervisor for free. The price change is the first major tactical play under VMware's new CEO, Paul Martiz. It's also a pretty logical one considering where the company is at. Turning ESXi into a freebie was alluded to in VMware's quarterly …

    Servers 28 Jul 2008, 21:12

  • Site guesses your sex via age-old web flaw

    Pardon me, your browser history is showing

    One of the problems that's plagued netizens since the inception of the world wide web that their browsers have a habit of leaking every site they've visited in the recent past. A quick stop at Blowupdolls.com, Mysecretbusinessproject.net or any other site is available to any webmaster with rudimentary coding skills. Now the …

    Security 28 Jul 2008, 22:40