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30th September 2008 Archive

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  • Servers buckle as Congress rejects $700bn Wall Street bailout

    Microsoft assumes voice of reason

    Following the US House of Representatives rejection of a $700bn the financial bailout bill and the ensuing stock market carnage, it's easy to overlook the unspoken victims of today's Wall Street meltdown. We're referring, of course, to the machines running the House's official web site. Millions of individuals seeking …

    Government 30 Sep 2008, 00:03

  • Nasty web bug descends on world's most popular sites

    ING, New York Times bitten hard

    Underscoring the severity of of an exotic form of website bug, security researchers from Princeton University have cataloged four cross-site request forgeries in some of the world's most popular sites. The most serious vulnerability by far was in the website of global financial services company ING Direct. The flaw could have …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 03:50

  • EU Commissioner wants to ease SMEs' red tape burden

    Keeping the credit crunch wolves at bay

    The European Union yesterday called on Member States to participate in a major review of the accounting directives for small biz firms to help reduce the administrative burden on SMEs. Charlie McCreevy, who is the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, said that during this “difficult period” of ongoing economic …

    Small Biz 30 Sep 2008, 06:02

  • Get ready for the coming data centre crunch

    Can you go short on a power hungry server?

    "If there's going to be a theme of the Press Summit this year," mused one delegate on the flight to Portugal, "then it's going to be power, and heat." He should have been right. We covered femtocells, 100-gig Ethernet, managed wireless, specialised security-oriented operating software for network switches, media gateways and ( …

    Servers 30 Sep 2008, 07:02

  • Nvidia settles price-fixing lawsuit

    Out-of-court deal cut with plaintiffs

    Nvidia has settled a class action lawsuit that alleges it conspired with AMD to fix graphics chip prices. The proposed settlement, outlined in the company's latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), offers initial plaintiffs $112,500 and a further $1.7m to all the others who subsequently signed up …

    The Channel 30 Sep 2008, 08:06

  • US boffins: Laptops will be as hot as the Sun by 2030

    Nanodemon tech to prevent notebook novae

    US boffins say that the tendency of laptops to run hotter as performance increases is out of control - and notebooks will be as hot as the surface of the sun by 2030. The American brainboxes reckon to solve the problem by using nanotech demons to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. "Laptops are very hot now, so hot that …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 09:07

  • Tories would decentralise NHS IT

    Want patient confidence and reined-in data

    An incoming Conservative government would decentralise health service computing and extend competition between suppliers, according to a plan released at its party conference. The party's NHS Improvement Plan, released on 29 September 2008 by shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley, says the party will replace "Labour's …

    Government 30 Sep 2008, 09:17

  • AMD intros low-tier Radeon GPUs

    Higher-end model coming next month

    AMD has introduced its latest 4000-series graphics chips, two weeks after the last lot. And there's another one coming next month. Today's launch centre on the ATI Radeon HD 4550 is a mid-range part that packs in 80 unified shaders. The core's clocked at 600MHz, the 512MB of GDDR 3 memory it connects to at an effective 1.8GHz …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 09:29

  • Lotus flowers with Apple app

    But IBM won't go native

    IBM has released a web application providing easy access to Lotus Notes, and claims it's working with Apple on a native application to properly integrate the service. The application, termed "iNotes Ultralite", is a free download from IBM, though you'll need Domino Web Access 8.0.2 and, like every web app, you'll need to …

    Mobile 30 Sep 2008, 09:53

  • Panasonic says Intel Atom not up to snuff for its PCs

    Japanese vendor not interested in netbooks

    Japanese giant Panasonic has said no to netbooks: it's not going to make a Small, Cheap Computer. It's reasoning is that SCCs are consumer products and it's in the business of selling to, well, business. Clearly it doesn't - for the moment - believe executives and mobile workers want ultra-compact laptops. Given the battery …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 09:57

  • China wins, Symbian loses in Sony Ericsson reorg

    The UI moves East

    Sony Ericsson announced a company reorganisation yesterday, intended to rationalise its R&D investment. The 2,000 job losses had been announced after another brutal quarter back in July, so yesterday's announcement tells us where these will fall. User interface development will be centered in Beijing. The move also sees …

    Mobile 30 Sep 2008, 09:58

  • Secret Service camera bought on eBay

    Nikon camera, good nick, includes secret files

    Today's government data loss shenanigan is a repeat performance of that old favourite - flogging off old kit containing secret information to a random punter through online tat bazaar eBay. An unnamed 28-year-old delivery man from Hemel Hempstead bought a Nikon Coolpix camera for £17 on eBay. But when he returned from his …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 10:01

  • LG notches up second 8Mp phone

    Take that Samsung!

    LG isn’t going to let Pixon make Samsung the only phone manufacturer able to offer two eight-megapixel handsets. So the South Korean firm’s created a second super-snapper phone of its own. The phone’s thought to be called the LG-KC780 and, although LG’s yet to confirm the talker’s existence, a very official-looking picture of …

    Phones 30 Sep 2008, 10:03

  • Hubble transmissions cease as computer fails

    Backup a bit dusty

    The Hubble space telescope has stopped transmitting data to Earth after a data formatting computer failed. A Shuttle service mission to the telescope has been delayed for four to six months while a replacement formatter and its installation procedures are prepared. The Hubble space telescope in orbit. Hubble has a Science …

    Science 30 Sep 2008, 10:05

  • Germans give peeking Google one in the eye

    Schleswig-Holstein's answer is NEIN!

    The town of Molfsee near Kiel in the north-western German state of Schleswig-Holstein doesn't want to be filmed by Google for its Street View program, a service that provides 360-degrees street level images via Google Maps. The leader of the Christian Democratic Union on the town council told the Lübecker Nachrichten that "we …

    Bootnotes 30 Sep 2008, 10:10

  • UK cybercrime overhaul finally comes into effect

    DDoS doubly illegal from 1 October

    Updates to the ageing Computer Misuse Act (CMA) finally come into force in England and Wales on Wednesday (1 October). Modifications to the CMA - which was enacted in 1990 before the advent of the interweb - were included in the Police and Justice Act 2006. These changes were then themselves amended by the Serious Crime Act …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 10:41

  • Sony all-in-one PCs get even more iMac-alike

    Say hello to the Vaio JS1

    As laptop prices fall, it’s easy to forget that not everyone wants to lug a laptop around – no matter how light it is. Sony has realised this and launched its latest all-in-one slimline desktop. The Vaio JS1 looks like Apple's iMac, meaning the Sony PC's 20.1in screen has everything needed on a computer, such as storage and …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 10:52

  • Vendors launch sticker chart to boost 3G take-up

    GSMA launches pre-emptive strike

    The GSM Association, trade body to the network operators, has teamed up with 16 companies to launch a new logo which can be affixed to any kit offering 3G connectivity. The new service mark is titled "Mobile Broadband", and will be promoted with a $1bn advertising budget put together by the 16 launch participants including …

    Mobile 30 Sep 2008, 10:57

  • Meat Loaf gets Q gong

    Fat old man continues to flog dead Bat

    Grunting calorie-fan Meat Loaf is to be lauded for the 47,000th time for his 31-year-old song Bat Out Of Hell, saith the Beeb. The voluminous ditty, which goes on and on and on for just a whisker under ten minutes and is roughly a fifth as good as Bohemian Rhapsody, has been praised to the heavens for years on end but …

    Bootnotes 30 Sep 2008, 10:59

  • Phoenix sees snow above Mars, but it's not sticking

    Boffins dreaming of white Xmas at Martian North Pole

    NASA's Phoenix lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds, hinting that liquid water may once have been common on the surface of the Red Planet. However, the snow seen by the explorer robot didn't merely turn to rain as it fell - it vapourised, never even reaching the ground at all. Do robots dream of a white light- …

    Science 30 Sep 2008, 11:04

  • Michael Dell says: If I could do it all again...

    Interview I'd go to China and start a storage business

    If Michael Dell were starting up in business today, it would be in storage and operate in China. At least that's what he he said in a briefing and interview session with journalists last week. He and Dell's EMEA President David Marmonti gave their views on aspects of Dell's business. The company is not out of the woods yet, …

    The Channel 30 Sep 2008, 11:14

  • Microsoft waves updated Maps, Hotmail at customers

    'Look, we're over here...'

    Microsoft yesterday updated its Windows Live versions of Hotmail and Maps, in its latest attempt to appear relevant in the online world. The proprietary software giant hasn’t rolled out the tweaks made to Hotmail to everyone yet. Most peeps will have to wait a few more weeks, but a few lucky non-Googlemail individuals can …

    Applications 30 Sep 2008, 11:43

  • Stealthy malware expands rootkit repertoire

    Burrowing worm borrows Windows vuln

    Security researchers have discovered one of the most subtle and sophisticated examples of Windows rootkit software known to date. The AutoRun-NOX worm extends the standard VXer trick of using software vulnerabilities to infect systems, by including functionality that allows the worm to exploit Windows security bugs to hook …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 11:46

  • 'Extreme' extreme porn law puts Scots out of kilter

    Proposals would criminalise material allowed in rest of UK

    If you thought Scotland might be a safe place to stash your collection of dubious erotic artwork when legislation on extreme porn comes into force, think again. Proposals announced last week by the Scottish Executive suggest that far from being a haven for smut, Scotland is soon to become an even tougher regime for those with …

    Law 30 Sep 2008, 11:51

  • Western Digital ShareSpace 4TB NAS box

    Review NAS for the non-geek?

    Western Digital has been selling external hard drives for ages, most notably its MyBook range. That line-up has included NAS boxes, the MyBook World Edition series, but now, here comes their big brother. There's a sense in which the networkable MyBooks are simply multi-users hard drives ready for backing up and file swapping …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 12:02

  • Sky told to hand over footy and film rights

    Rivals to get access at fair price

    The UK's media regulator Ofcom has told Sky it should offer to sell rights to football games and Hollywood films to other broadcasters at a fair price. The investigation into pay TV was begun after complaints were made by BT, Virgin, Setanta and Top Up TV. Ofcom reckons that consumers make their choices of which service to go …

    Government 30 Sep 2008, 12:21

  • BPM unravels before your eyes

    'Next big thing' gets the RegCast treatment

    All the action from The Register's latest live webcast - an in-depth look at Business Process Management bringing together a panel of experts to share their insight, debate with each other and answer questions from the Reg faithful - is now available to download and digest at your leisure over in our archive. In a format with …

    Tech Panel 30 Sep 2008, 12:47

  • LG launches cost-conscious touchscreen caller

    UK's 'most affordable' touchscreen phone?

    If you’re going to claim that your latest touchscreen mobile’s the "most affordable" one in the UK, then stating its price is a good idea. LG, we're looking at you. According to the firm, the KP500 is “the most affordable full touchscreen handset in the UK”. Register Hardware’s not sure how LG measures affordability, because …

    Phones 30 Sep 2008, 12:54

  • Circuit City feels yet more pain in Q2

    Rocky retail horror show

    Circuit City yesterday admitted that its second quarter performance simply wasn’t good enough as it clocked up another quarterly loss. The struggling US consumer electronics retailer, which last week saw CEO Philip J. Schoonover quit following a year of dire financial results, reported a significant sales slowdown and more …

    The Channel 30 Sep 2008, 12:58

  • IBM, Sun, Microsoft sink differences on VMs

    Anything for scripting

    Corporate rivals have temporarily sunk their differences to find ways to fine-tune the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to a variety of popular dynamic languages. Language experts from IBM, Microsoft, and others have converged on Sun Microsystems' Santa Clara campus for a three-day workshop to find ways of delivering Java-like …

    Developer 30 Sep 2008, 13:02

  • Sony's curved OLED

    CEATEC visitors treated to prototype display demo

    Sony has gotten all bent out of shape over OLED screens and given gadget fans a sneak preview of its curved organic LED display. Sony's curved OLED on display in Japan Images courtesy of Engadget The 0.3mm-thick screen’s on show at the CEATEC show in Japan. Unfortunately, nothing’s known about the screen’s technical …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 13:04

  • Custom-car creator preps electric Porsche

    'Leccy Tech Lithium-ion, Dr Ferdinand?

    Porsche may or may not be working on an electric sportscar - there's nothing lined up for its Paris Motor Show appearance, that's for sure - but if you want one, turn to German auto tuner Ruf. Ruf's custom Porsche CTR3: will the 'leccy one look like this? Next month, the company will show off a prototype based on the …

    Science 30 Sep 2008, 13:06

  • R&D tax credits knocked out in Congressional punch-up

    'This is the absolute worst that could happen'

    Tech vendors had another reason to cry into their beer today, as it emerged that the congressional logjam that has scuppered the White House’s $700bn bank bailout has also iced the restoration of their beloved R&D tax credit. Similar breaks on the development of renewable energies have also run into the ground, as Congress …

    Government 30 Sep 2008, 13:10

  • About The Register

    Here we are then

    The Register is a leading global online tech publication, with more than seven million unique users worldwide. The core audiences are the UK and US, accounting for nearly 5m readers. The bulk of the remaining readership are located in Canada, Australia and northern Europe. Starting out in London in 1994 as an occasional email …

    The Company 30 Sep 2008, 13:18

  • Terms and Conditions

    The small print

    Welcome to The Register. The Register is a news organisation owned and operated by Situation Publishing that allows users who have created an account with us (“Members”) to post comments on contributions/articles and to receive newsletters through email subscriptions. 1. Your acceptance of these Terms 1.1 By using, visiting, …

    The Company 30 Sep 2008, 13:33

  • Ballmer on banking crisis: No one is safe

    Yeah, cheers Steve

    Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer warned today that no company is safe from the financial crisis. We all knew that of course, but when an ego the size of Ballmer's decides to gulp you know we're really in trouble. Reuters reports that Ballmer told a news conference in Norway: "I think one has to anticipate that no company is …

    Financial News 30 Sep 2008, 13:49

  • NetApp's 50 per cent guarantee

    Not against named competitors though

    NetApp will guarantee customers they will use half as much NetApp storage in virtual server and desktop environments compared to 'traditional storage', but won't make comparisons to specific products from competing suppliers. NetApp's chief marketing officer, Jay Kidd, said: "The pressure for cost reduction has led to the …

    Storage 30 Sep 2008, 14:12

  • Slimline Xbox 360 due in December?

    Microsoft exec in the firing line

    Microsoft has fanned the flame of speculation that it's working on a slimline Xbox 360, by retracting an executive’s claim that an announcement will be made before Christmas. According to a report by Split Screen, Rahul Datta, Microsoft India’s Retail Services Manager, told the gaming website that an announcement regarding a …

    Games 30 Sep 2008, 15:27

  • Panasonic punts 'Freesat inside' HD TV duo

    Bringing HD to the masses

    As the masses slowly catch on to the free satellite TV message, Panasonic has begun expanding its range of HD TVs with integrated Freesat tuners, by unveiling two further models. Panasonic's 32in and 37in 'Freesat inside' duo The modestly sized 32in and 37in sets form part of its new LZD81 series and because both can …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 15:30

  • Sony intros good-looks laptop

    The Blu-ray VGN-NS11Z/S

    Modern laptops must offer functionality and good looks, so Sony’s launched a Vaio notebook that it hopes will hit both notes. Sony's VGN-NS11Z/S: 15.4in display and a Blu-ray drive The VGN-NS11Z/S has a 15.4in, 1280 x 800 LCD display that features the manufacturer’s X-black technology for displaying richer colours, better …

    Hardware 30 Sep 2008, 15:34

  • How many terabytes can you fit on a 2.5-inch hard drive?

    Fun with areal densities

    Can we expect 2.5TB 2.5-inch hard drives and 5TB 3.5-inch drives by 2012? It seems realistic if the claims of hard disk drive toolmaker MII, Hitachi GST, and others are realised. To reach these levels, platter areal density needs to increase and read/write head capabilities also need to improve. Current areal density mass …

    Storage 30 Sep 2008, 16:55

  • Attack of the 50-foot mobile virus risk

    Don't believe the hype - show us the malware

    Increased standardisation across mobile devices will make it easier for miscreants to write malicious code, a Gartner analyst has warned - but the familiar prediction overlooks a bigger threat. The warning makes for a repeat of a long-standing anti-virus industry prediction that has yet to come to fruition. Meanwhile, the …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 16:59

  • Microsoft's Hotmail hybrid struggles to life

    'Classic' meets 'full,' fails to show

    The long-awaited merger of Microsoft "classic" and "full" Hotmail services has got off to spotty and painful start. Hotmail users are complaining of confusing layouts and cumbersome features, and calling for a return to the exiting version of Microsoft's email service. That's users who can get the new Hotmail, of course, as …

    Applications 30 Sep 2008, 17:54

  • Virgin Galactic to save planet from climate change

    Keeping up with the Googlers

    One trouble with conducting global atmospheric research is the distinct lack of flashy suborbital rocketplanes available. Fortunately, the tender heart of space tourism venture Virgin Galactic is easily wrung by such complications. The company said today it plans to join up with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric …

    Science 30 Sep 2008, 19:13

  • UCSniff - VoIP eavesdropping made easy

    Press 1 for CEO wiretap

    A security consultant with expertise in protecting phone conversations as they travel over the internet has unveiled a new tool that demonstrates just how vulnerable voice over internet protocol, or VoIP, calls are to interception. UCSniff bundles a hodgepodge of previously available open-source applications into a single …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 19:35

  • Movie giants sue RealNetworks over DVD copying software

    First day on sale

    US movie studios on Tuesday sued RealNetworks to stop it from distributing software that lets people copy DVDs onto their computers. In a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the Motion Picture Association of America said RealDVD violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by circumventing technology that …

    Law 30 Sep 2008, 20:47

  • Super Talent delivers SSDs for poor people

    128GB for just under $300

    Solid-state drives have a lot going for them. They're thinner, faster, more efficient and longer lasting than most traditional spinning hard disks — yet high prices keeps most folks steering well clear. US Flash memory maker Super Talent Technology plans to mix things up by releasing a pair of SSDs this week that won't send …

    Data Center 30 Sep 2008, 21:46

  • AMD races for Shanghai

    After botched trip through Barcelona

    There are a lot of different things that Advanced Micro Devices needs to do to get itself back on track, but one of them - and perhaps the most important - is to execute a flawless launch of the "Shanghai" quad-core Opteron chips for servers. Not just in terms of having no bugs, but also having a smooth production ramp on the …

    Servers 30 Sep 2008, 22:18

  • Apple condemns FileVaulters to seventh circle of Safari hell

    The bug that wouldn't die

    A Reg journo was bemused this morning when he rebooted his Mac and the machine decided that Safari - not Opera - should be his default web browser. Apple has a habit of forcing its second rate browser down the gullets of unsuspecting web surfers. But this seemed beyond the pale. The culprit, our journo discovered, was Apple's …

    Applications 30 Sep 2008, 22:31

  • Adobe preps Jesus Phone Flash Player

    Awaits Jobsian blessing

    Adobe Systems could soon join the ranks of frustrated tech companies building versions of their software for Apple's Jesus Phone. Adobe has reportedly confirmed it's planning a version of the ubiquitous Flash player for use on Apple's iPhone that could be available "in a very short time." Paul Betlem, Adobe's senior director …

    Mobile 30 Sep 2008, 23:05

  • Elvis has left the border: ePassport faking guide unleashed

    Not good enough to work - probably

    The Hacker's Choice (THC) has released details of a procedure that allows you to "create a backup of your own passport chip(s)" - or, if you were that way inclined, use a modified chip to build a fake ePassport that will not be detected by at least some passport readers. THC offers a video of "Elvis's" passport being approved …

    Security 30 Sep 2008, 23:11

  • MS apps division architect to be fired into space, again

    Forgot his hat, or something...

    The man who built - not entirely deliberately - Microsoft's applications division is to be fired into space for a second time, at the cost of another slight ding in his huge money pile. Charles Simonyi, father of Excel and Word (sort of), will train with crack Russian billionaire minders in preparation for a mission in the …

    Bootnotes 30 Sep 2008, 23:59