29th July 2008 Archive
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Ex-Googlers reinvent web search
Updated - but still NSFW Quantum porn
In an attempt to upstage their former employer, a trio of ex-Googlers have launched a search engine of their own. They insist on calling it "Cuil" - pronounced "cool," apparently - and they say it "goes beyond today’s search techniques." This includes flashing random pornography when you search for information about a Grenoble …
Music and Media 29 Jul 2008, 01:13
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China readies Blu-Ray competitor
People's techromancers revive HD-DVD
Some Chinese consumer electronics companies are good and tired of signing royalty checks to foreigners for a new generation of high definition optical discs, but are they too late to make a change? Shanghai United Optical Disc today announced it has completed the first production line for China Blue High-definition (CBHD) disc …
Entertainment 29 Jul 2008, 01:34
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Vista 'perfection' dream over for iPhone?
Microsoft gets legal
An iPhone hacker claims to have been told by Microsoft's legal team to stop giving broken handsets a Windows Vista make over. The coder known as ebl4287 has posted on the modmyifone site - where news of the VistaPerfection software for the iPhone surfaced - that "Due to a big fat legal letter that was sent from Microsoft, I …
Mobile 29 Jul 2008, 01:47
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Oracle ratchets SAP 'grand-theft' allegations
Claims brass OKed 5TB heist
Oracle has turned up the heat in its already torrid legal attack on SAP, accusing high-ranking executives throughout the German company of knowingly approving a program that illegally downloaded five terabytes worth of Oracle software and support materials. The allegations, which expand on accusations Oracle first aired 16 …
Applications 29 Jul 2008, 01:59
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What's the best AMD CPU for my mobo?
Q&A
I'm going to build a new computer and I already bought my motherboard, a Uabit AN78GS. But I'm debating on what AMD processor to use it with. The motherboard is so new all I can find as far as reviews is one, so I thought I would ask people who know much more than I about AMD Processors, which is the best to use. The computer …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 06:02
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Barclays and HBOS slash contractor rates
Exclusive: Summer in the city, pay down, isn't it a pity
Barclays is cutting IT contractor rates by ten per cent across the group, less than a month after cutting 1,800 IT jobs. Back in May Barclays Capital forced contractors to take a ten per cent pay cut, and now the policy is being extended to the bank's global retail and commercial banking business. From 31 August, anyone who …
Financial News 29 Jul 2008, 08:51
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BT snares Silicon Valley phone firm
Yak yak, Ribbit Ribbit
BT is buying phone firm Ribbit for $105m, months before the Silicon Valley outfit's service is even scheduled to launch to consumers. Ribbit makes a development platform which eases creating or adding voice applications - for instance it has added voice to salesforce.com's programs. The company uses open APIs and has …
Mobile 29 Jul 2008, 08:58
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Boeing chuffed with latest raygun-jumbo ground tests
Nuke-nobbling 747 hasn't exploded or melted so far
US aerospace colossus Boeing has informed the world that everything continues to be fine with its plan to build an enormous nuclear-missile-blasting laser cannon inside a jumbo jet. According to the company, the business part of the ray weapon has now begun ground checks using its deadly, poisonous, corrosive chemical fuel - …
Science 29 Jul 2008, 09:01
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Dell's dinky designer desktop
Stylish Studio Hybrid line unveiled
Dell has unveiled a range of miniature PCs aimed at anyone looking to minimise their electricity consumption and maximise their desktop space. Dell's Hybrid Studio desktop: pick a sleeve, any sleeve According to the manufacturer, the Studio Hybrid PC line is “energy efficient” because it uses roughly 70 per cent less power …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 09:37
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UK BOFHs face psychometric dissection
Empathy? Let me tell you about empathy...
The techies among you who are operating in or around Bolton had better watch your backs - the local uni is offering postgraduate PhD studentships in the ominously-titled "Cognitive Style Differences Between IT Support Staff and Computer Users as Causes of Stress in the Workplace". Read on... The project will adopt an …
Bootnotes 29 Jul 2008, 09:50
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Panasonic's chameleon skin talker
Phone's surface changes colour according to viewing angle
There are two sides to every story, so goes the saying. But Panasonic has developed a phone that’ll always give you a different response, depending on which side you look at it from. Panasonic's Mirror phone changes colours Technical details for the Mirror II 824P are somewhat sketchy, but it’s said that the clamshell phone …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 10:07
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Blank robbers swipe 3,000 'fraud-proof' UK passports
Game on for the passport fraudsters?
A consignment of 3,000 "useless" blank biometric passports has been stolen on its way to British embassies throughout the world. Or at least, the Identity & Passport Service says they're useless. IPS' claim is based on the standard, highly optimistic party line that, as the passports contain a chip, they can't be used to …
Government 29 Jul 2008, 10:18
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Branson unveils Virgin Galactic mothership
WhiteKnightTwo fuselage fatigue 'not an issue' says Rutan
As expected, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace engineer Burt Rutan unveiled the WhiteKnightTwo mothership yesterday that will be used for his project to launch tourists into space. The mothership itself is not designed to leave the atmosphere, but will air launch the yet-to-be-finished SpaceShipTwo …
Space 29 Jul 2008, 10:32
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60GB Xbox 360 spied in store
Gamer snaps picture of machine ahead of launch
Microsoft confirmed its creation of a 60GB Xbox 360 earlier this month. And although the first such consoles aren’t expected to ship until next month, the machine’s already been seen in the wild. Sort of… Microsoft's 60GB Xbox 360 A picture has emerged on website Penny College of an Xbox 360 box, which is branded as “Go Pro …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 10:32
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RM navigates through tighter market
RM today reported a tighter education software market and PC margins "affected by worldwide market conditions". But while saying "there is more to do" in Q4, its expectations for the full year are unchanged. RM Interim Management Statement.
Channel Register 29 Jul 2008, 10:38
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Who wants a music tax?
This blanket is no comfort
In Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, set in WW2 London, a character called Slothrop begins to realize that everywhere he has sex, a V2 rocket subsequently lands on the same spot, obliterating the area. If you dig a little, you may notice something spookily similar with the idea of a Music Tax in the media. Back in March, talk of a …
Music and Media 29 Jul 2008, 11:02
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LG KC550 5-megapixel cameraphone
Review Looks like a fish, moves like a fish...steers like a cow
And at first glance, the KC550 looks like a chip off the old Chocolate block, but with proper buttons rather than the touch-sensitive surfaces of LG's confectionery-monikered hero line. There's a large 2.4in screen surrounded by shiny black plastic and a chrome rim. On the back the 5-megapixel camera lens is hidden behind an …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 11:02
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EDS delivers final final numbers
Confounds Wall St one last time
EDS missed Wall St revenue estimates but trumped earnings forecasts when it turned in its swansong Q2 results yesterday. The services company, which is due to be swallowed by HP in the next few months, turned in revenues of £5.6bn for the quarter ending June 30, up three per cent on the year. Wall Street analysts had been …
Channel Register 29 Jul 2008, 11:14
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BO buy takes bloom off SAP Q2
But ERP giant dodges economic stormclouds
SAP weathered the intensifying economic storm to post solid second quarter results this morning that showed the German business software giant beating market expectations. The tricky acquisition and integration of Business Objects depressed net profits 9 per cent compared to a year earlier, at €408m. That's a softer blow than …
Financial News 29 Jul 2008, 11:21
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Sub-prime 'woes' infect world’s laptop market
So why is outlook unchanged?
The world’s economy may be going down the pan, but PC sales are holding up pretty well. In Q2, demand from BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China - held firm, while fire sales in the US fuelled big shipments. Everywhere, people want laptops. Especially Small Cheap Computers. How long can this last? The big Taiwanese laptop …
Channel Register 29 Jul 2008, 11:23
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Excessive texting 'damages your health'
A text a day won't keep the doctor at bay
Sore neck? Aching thumbs? Creaking wrists? The cause may not be too many hours sat at the keyboard, but excessive texting - a physiotherapy body warns. According to The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), text message injuries are especially common among the young. It recently surveyed 177 people aged between 16 and 24 …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 11:29
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Alcatel-Lucent bosses walk as net loss tops €1bn
Russo says she's pleased with progress
Alcatel-Lucent today posted a second quarter net loss of €1.1bn ($1.7bn), and announced CEO Patricia Russo and chairman Serge Tchuruk would step down by the end of 2008. The world’s largest telecoms equipment supplier’s hefty net loss for Q2 surpassed analyst expectations and far exceeded the €586m loss for the same period a …
Data Networking 29 Jul 2008, 11:30
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Oracle warns over unpatched vuln
Zero-day BEA WebLogic flaw gets up Oracle's bonnet
Oracle has decided to break its quarterly update release cycle with plans to develop a patch against a zero-day exploit. The planned fix addresses a buffer overflow flaw in Oracle WebLogic Server which creates a means for hackers to plant malware onto targeted systems. By sending a specially-malformed HTTP POST request …
Enterprise Security 29 Jul 2008, 11:32
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Bebo users to summon superhuman alien pop-fancier invasion
Russian boffin in close encounters of the Web 2.0 kind
A controversial Russian scientist with a history of beaming powerful radio signals to possibly hostile alien civilisations has now teamed up with Bebo. The idea is that a collective of Bebo users - and people selected by them, such as their chosen musical artistes - will compile multimedia packages to be transmitted into deep …
Space 29 Jul 2008, 11:36
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Sage joins the PCA
Sage is joining the Professional Computing Association in a show of love for the channel lobby group's stance against software piracy. Sage goodies may be coming down the line for PCA members, if comments from Sarah Mckenzie, Sage software licensing manager are anything to go by - "We hope that our membership of the PCA will …
Channel Register 29 Jul 2008, 12:00
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Mosley orgy judge blocks web forum libel writ onslaught
No damages for 'mere vulgar abuse'
The High Court judge who prompted sharp intakes of breath from newspaper editors when he awarded Max Mosley damages last week has now drawn sighs of relief from website owners, by blocking a web forum libel case that could have suffocated the flame wars that often rouse debate. While the privacy-infringing report of Mosley's …
Law 29 Jul 2008, 12:02
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US firm with 'limited operations' wants to buy Dorset reseller
CLP Computer Office Supplies looks set to be bought by a US company called Geo Vision International Group, for an undisclosed amount of stock and cash. The press release is somewhat ambiguous. The headline reads: "Geo Vision International Group to Acquire CLP UK". But the first sentence says GEO is "negotiating acquiring" CLP …
Channel Register 29 Jul 2008, 12:43
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Microsoft quietly settles .NET legal dispute with web firm
Vertical Computer Systems kicks sue ball into stands
Microsoft settled a patent lawsuit with Vertical Computer Systems Inc (VCS) late last week. Fort Worth, Texas-based VCS kicked off the legal spat in April 2007, alleging that Microsoft’s .NET Framework violated patent number 6,826,744, for a "system and method for generating websites in an arbitrary object framework". …
Developer 29 Jul 2008, 12:44
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Nintendo rallies troops in R4 fight
Mario joins 54 firms in filing lawsuit against R4 importers
Nintendo is currently embroiled in a fierce legal spat over its Wii Classic Controller, but the videogames giant still has enough spare time to lead the fight against software piracy. Nintendo claims R4 cartridges are damaging videogame sales The firm, alongside 54 other Japanese software businesses, including Capcom, has …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 13:30
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Russians probe depths of Lake Baikal
Submersibles set new record for freshwater descent
The Russians earlier today claimed a new record for "freshwater submersion" by dispatching two vessels to the deepest point of Lake Baikal - 1,680 metres (5,510 feet) beneath the surface. The expedition to southeast Siberia, consisting of the Mir-1 and Mir-2 submersibles each with a crew of three, was led from the surface by …
Science 29 Jul 2008, 13:43
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Apple skewered over missing DNS patch
Users in a BIND
Apple has come under fire for failing to patch the critical Domain Name System (DNS) flaw which prompted a (rest of) industry wide response earlier this month. For anyone just back from a trip up the Amazon, the discovery of a domain spoofing vulnerability by security researcher Dan Kaminsky sparked a massive patching effort …
Enterprise Security 29 Jul 2008, 14:27
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Pentax's identical digital duo
Two compact shooters, two model numbers, but somehow one camera
Pentax has been relatively quiet of late, but the manufacturer’s sneaked back onto the scene with two compact cameras so similar that not even a strip of 35mm film separates their differences. Pentax's M60 has 10Mp and a 5x optical zoom On megapixels, the new E60 has the edge over its rival M60 because whereas the M60 has a …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 14:28
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Transition roadable-plane/flyable-car prototype on show
Not a true flying car, but it'll do for now
A prototype of the Terrafugia Transition - the folding-winged, road-drivable light aeroplane, perhaps the vehicle closest in the world to being a flying car - was revealed to the general public at an air show in America yesterday. The designers say they are on track for first flights and road-safety testing by the end of the …
Science 29 Jul 2008, 14:34
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ETS expelled from re-marking by exams body
Sit over there and think about what you've done
ETS Europe has been barred from administering the re-marking of exam papers following the school test admin fiasco – brought on in part by technical cock-ups at the firm. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) announced yesterday that the National Assessment Agency (NAA) was to “take over the management of the …
Government 29 Jul 2008, 14:55
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Cybercrooks get faster, further and sneakier
Browser plug-ins flaws help hackers build botnets
Cybercrooks are becoming faster at utilising newly-discovered browser exploits. More than nine in ten of all browser-related exploits occurred within 24 hours of an official vulnerability disclosure, according to a survey by IBM's X-Force security division. The cyber-threat survey, which looked closely at information security …
Crime 29 Jul 2008, 15:08
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Sony profits down, but PS3 sales up
PS3 still Sony's main attraction
The financial results for Sony's first quarter of 2008 are out, and things aren’t looking good. However, the firm's PlayStation business will be smiling because PS3 and PSP sales increased. For three months ended June 2008, Sony only brought in ¥35bn (£163m/$326m) – representing a 47 per cent drop from the ¥66.5bn (£312m/$618m …
Reg Hardware 29 Jul 2008, 16:00
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Lateral thought saves sizzling server
D'oh! Game, set and crash
I learned a long time ago that generating random numbers (really, truly random numbers) is a non-trivial exercise. However, I completely failed to apply that computer science lesson to the real world of computing and continued to believe that events in the Newtonian world could happen without a cause. Such a belief system is …
Servers 29 Jul 2008, 17:02
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Swedish spy agency sics lawyers on wiretap critic
Whose free speech is it anyway?
Swedish spy authorities have taken legal action against a Brussels-based blogger who published a classified document purporting to prove they snooped on individual Swedes more than a decade ago. The country's National Defence Radio Establishment, which in Swedish translates into the acronym FRA, filed a complaint against …
Security 29 Jul 2008, 19:42
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HPIntelYahoo! fluffs cloud for every boffin and his brother
Three countries, six data centers, and one stuffed elephant
HP, Intel, and Yahoo! have teamed up to build an enormous cloud for grounded boffins across the globe. They call it the HP, Intel and Yahoo! Cloud Computing Test Bed - CCT, for short - and when completed sometime later this year, it will span six data centers in three separate countries. "This test bed will provide a globally …
Servers 29 Jul 2008, 19:45
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Apple confesses MobileMe vanishing contact bug
iPhone reset time
Apple is having yet another issue with its MobileMe service, although this time the problem is mercifully less substantial than having subscribers locked out of their accounts for more than a week. A new glitch has made its presence known on Apple's MobileMe forums. Several users have complained today that various contact …
Mobile 29 Jul 2008, 20:04
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Yahoo! vows freedom for DRM prisoners
Music Unlimited after all
Yahoo! now says it will reimburse all those people silly enough to purchase DRM-shackled tunes from its failed music store. On September 30, when it shuts down Yahoo! Music Unlimited, the company will no longer serve up DRM keys for songs downloaded from the online music store/subscription service. But unlike Microsoft - which …
Music and Media 29 Jul 2008, 21:50
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Microsoft Mojave 'outs' secret Vista lovers
Analysis Old battle, new cry
If you listen very carefully, you'll hear a new beat coming from the drums in Microsoft's marketing department these days. After two years in embarrassed silence, people have come out pumped up and taking no prisoners. The message has come from the top and is beginning to percolate. "Windows Vista is great, just misunderstood …
Operating Systems 29 Jul 2008, 23:29
