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8th October 2008 Archive

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  • SpringSource responds to support criticism

    Exclusive Java acquisition coming

    SpringSource is updating its controversial maintenance policy three weeks after encountering a barrage of criticism. The steward of the popular open-source Spring Framework has revealed that it plans a stripped-down version of the maintenance policy for small businesses. The company will also tag code in its Spring repository …

    Developer 8 Oct 2008, 00:00

  • Google takes aim at drunken messaging

    Can Mountain View end Beer Goggles?

    The forward-thinking folks at Google have implemented a novel solution to prevent regretful drunken digital correspondence to friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones. Gmail engineer Jon Perlow is introducing Mail Goggles, a new feature that will tease the bean before ill-conceived late night and weekend emails can be sent …

    Applications 8 Oct 2008, 00:13

  • Sepaton's tape library de-duplication guarantee

    Will it be duplicated?

    Guarantees are getting popular. De-duplicating virtual tape library supplier Sepaton is offering a simple 40:1 de-duplication efficiency guarantee with few restrictions compared to NetApp's 50 per cent savings guarantee. Here's the full guarantee description: Sepaton guarantees that the FastStart Plus De-duplication Package …

    Storage 8 Oct 2008, 00:16

  • Red Hat tells Wall Street it wants Main Street

    'Economic Meltdown, we embrace you'

    Commercial Linux distributor Red Hat hosted its annual analyst day in New York today, and as Wall Street continues to hemorrhage, the company couldn't have picked a gloomier time for the occasion. But harsh economic conditions tend to accelerate technology shifts, so the top brass at Red Hat were a pretty chipper bunch as they …

    Operating Systems 8 Oct 2008, 03:42

  • Toshiba re-states commercial fuel-cell deadline

    Mass-production by March 2009

    Toshiba has re-iterated that it will commercially introduce fuel cells for portable devices by the end of March 2009. The Japanese giant hasn't said what form the fuel cell will take - whether it'll be integrated into a device or offered as a back-up power source for traditional rechargeable batteries, for instance - though …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 06:02

  • Plasmon UK goes into administration

    Redundancies en route to a takeover

    Plasmon has placed its UK and Europe operation in administration as it negotiates with an investor who it hopes will refinance and take over its core archive business. Plasmon has said that staff from Kroll's Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Group were appointed as Joint Administrators on Monday, 6 October. There are, in …

    Storage 8 Oct 2008, 07:02

  • I'm very sorry, says gay health warning clergyman

    'Full and complete' apology for tattoo slur

    The chaplain to the London Stock Exchange has offered a "full and complete" apology for suggesting on his blog that gay men should carry tattooed health warnings. The Rev Peter Mullen, who's also rector of St Sepulchre without Newgate and St Michael's Cornhill, caused a bit of rumpus by declaring: "It is time that religious …

    Bootnotes 8 Oct 2008, 08:02

  • Hitwise and Compete: the user data ISPs do sell

    Data pimping it old school

    Testifying before Congress last month, three of America's four largest ISPs said they wouldn’t sell customer data to the likes of Phorm and NebuAd without getting consent. And the press applauded. But no one thought to ask one more question: Are they selling customer data to anyone else? Addressing the Senate Commerce …

    Networks 8 Oct 2008, 08:29

  • Tories plan streamlined children's database

    Only 'vulnerable' kids

    An incoming Conservative government would replace the ContactPoint database of all children in England with a system covering only those seen as vulnerable. Its central system would cover only groups such as those in care, on the child protection register or with backgrounds of domestic violence, according to Tim Loughton, the …

    Government 8 Oct 2008, 08:56

  • Boris to give out Olympic 'BlackBerries'

    Handheld devices promote a 'more intimate experience'

    Visitors to the 2012 Olympics may be entertained by “handheld electronic devices” designed to provide spectators with a “more intimate experience”. The “handheld devices”, it transpired, will most likely be “some sort of Blackberry”, helping visitors to find their way around, and providing them with action replays of key …

    Government 8 Oct 2008, 09:13

  • Darling launches £50bn relube of bunged-up UK banks

    Union slams 'disgraceful behaviour' of bank bosses

    The UK government has announced a dramatic £50bn part-nationalisation plan for the country’s struggling banking system. Eight of Blighty’s biggest banks and building societies will be handed the extra capital. Some had earlier urged UK.gov to put together a rescue package after taking a hammering in the City. The government …

    Financial News 8 Oct 2008, 09:22

  • BlackBerry Storm finally blows in

    Official

    RIM, together with Vodafone, has finally taken the wraps off the worst kept secret in handset history: the BlackBerry Storm. Although pretty much all of the Storm’s features have already been leaked online, Vodafone has at least confirmed that the UK’s panting punters will be able to get their mitts on the first touchscreen …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 09:24

  • Green biz now 'bigger than software and biotech'

    Bankers show off amazing motorised goalposts

    The green sector - those companies providing goods and services which tackle climate change - is now bigger than software and biotech combined, according to bank analysts. However they have only reached this conclusion by including industrial groups whose greenness would be questioned by many. The Financial Times reports this …

    Environment 8 Oct 2008, 09:27

  • My jubs are real, wails Kim Kardashian

    No runaway inflation here, fetching snap proves

    Forget the international financial meltdown - this week's hot news is that foxy minx celebutard, Playboy model and amateur grumble flick performer Kim Kardashian has definitely not indulged in jub enhancement. The brunette world's answer to "One Night In" Paris Hilton was moved to counter scurrilous suggestions that her not …

    Entertainment 8 Oct 2008, 09:39

  • Asus sexes up Eee line

    First-birthday celebration

    Asus has formally launched the svelte Eee PC S101, its attempt to lift the line out of its netbook-for-kids ghetto and parade the Small, Cheap Computer family up Main Street. Linux buffs will be disappointed to learn there's no open source operating system on the SCC, at least not initially. And, design aside, the S101's specs …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 10:02

  • Boy band sings praises of Windows 7

    'I've seen you in my dreams, I love you so much...'

    The world is awaiting with tremulous expectation the forthcoming Professional Developers [sic] Conference, aka PDC2008, which Microsoft has dubbed an event "so hot, the t-shirts caught on fire!" Crikey. PDC2008 attendees will apparently walk away with a 160-gig hard drive loaded with Windows 7, and what better way to celebrate …

    Developer 8 Oct 2008, 10:40

  • PS3 too expensive, claims analyst

    Reduce the price, or risk lost sales

    Sony must slash the PlayStation 3’s retail price in order to avoid losing sales to its arch-rival, Microsoft's Xbox 360, a gaming analyst has warned. Jesse Divnich, an analyst at US investment house EDAAR, said in a recently published research note that the PS3’s $399 (£228/€292) price tag – which applies to the 80GB model - “ …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 10:42

  • DARPA to begin mysterious 'Project GANDALF'

    'And with you come evils worse than before'

    The renowned US military ultratech agency, DARPA*, is about to begin work on a mysterious new piece of surveillance and tracking kit known only as "Project Gandalf". According to the initial announcement (pdf) regarding an industry briefing for contractors who might be interested, the details of the Gandalf programme are …

    Science 8 Oct 2008, 10:43

  • AMD Fusion for Gaming

    Review Fusion debuts... as a software system speed booster

    AMD has been talking about its Fusion technology, which will combine the CPU and GPU in a single unit, for some time now. It's not due until next year, so we were taken aback when the first incarnation of Fusion turned out to be software, not silicon. It looks as though AMD has taken a leaf out of Google’s book as AMD Fusion …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 11:02

  • Judge Dredd smartshell shotguns to hit Iraq in '09

    'XM-25' wireless airburst slugs hit round corners

    It's quite difficult to make guns - portable ones, anyway - convincingly hi-tech. Sure, you can add a laser sight, you can attach all kinds of crazy lights and optics, you can even have a boresight camera and helmet heads-up display for shooting round corners without sticking your neck out*. But at the end of the day it will …

    Science 8 Oct 2008, 11:04

  • Voltaire expects revenue dive

    InfiniBand feels knock-on effect

    InfiniBand supplier Voltaire expects sharply lower third quarter 2008 revenues and a net loss for the period, due to delays on two multi-million dollar orders from financial institutions. The orders were expected in September but did not arrive. Voltaire expects Q3 revenues to be between $14.1m and $14.6m instead of the …

    Data Networking 8 Oct 2008, 11:11

  • Axmark quits Sun cos he 'hates' working for the man

    'Rules suck', says MySQL co-founder

    David Axmark, co-founder of MySQL, has quit Sun Microsystems because he “hates” all the rules he has to follow at the company. “I have thought about my role at Sun and decided that I am better off in smaller organisations,” wrote Axmark in his resignation letter, according to a blog post from Sun flack Kaj Arnö. “I HATE all …

    Developer 8 Oct 2008, 11:13

  • Messenger delivers more Mercury postcards

    Second fly-past runs on rails

    NASA's Messenger has delivered its second set of postcards from Mercury, following a successful low-altitude fly-past on Monday which saw the spacecraft swoop to within 125 miles (200km) of the planet's surface, snapping furiously as it went: This image was taken around 90 minutes after Messenger's closest approach. NASA …

    Space 8 Oct 2008, 11:28

  • Swedish kingpin backs new mobe technology in US

    Rollout to start in Florida next month

    XG Technology has secured a significant infrastructure order from secretive Swedish billionaire Johan Bohman, enough to enable the company to subsidise the first rollout of its so far untested network architecture in Florida, scheduled for next month. Deploying a mobile phone network based on an untested technology takes a lot …

    Mobile 8 Oct 2008, 11:45

  • 'Podestrian' risk rising for drivers, warns insurer

    Beep! Beep!

    Portable media players are putting a growing number of pedestrians in danger, UK insurance firm Swinton has warned. "Watch where you're f***ing going!" It defined a “podestrian” is anyone who listens to an MP3 player or phone while they're out and about, and are so immersed in the musical experience or their conversation …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 11:48

  • Brown promises £250bn bailout will save SMEs

    Hello, is that the Titanic? Your bucket's on its way

    Downing St has put SMEs at the centre of its bank bailout plan, but is relying on European funds and the banks' own word to deliver much needed relief to small business. Chancellor Alistair Darling's £500bn bailout for the banks has been swiftly followed by action from the Bank of England, which has announced an immediate half …

    Small Biz 8 Oct 2008, 12:03

  • Europe whacks industry, blesses capture caper

    De-industrialisation: It's full speed ahead

    Power generation, construction, coal and aluminum are the biggest losers after a day of votes by the European Parliament's environment committee yesterday. The winners on "Super Tuesday", as it was dubbed, will be investors in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology and Russia. The committee was staking out a position on …

    Environment 8 Oct 2008, 12:08

  • Asus admits Eee Box mini PC shipped with virus

    Other regions as well as Japan affected?

    Asus has admitted that some of the its Eee Box desktop mini PCs have shipped with a virus. But while the company has only admitted the infection was present in machines shipped to Japan, Register Hardware can confirm that other territories may be affected too. According to an email sent out by Asus, PC Advisor reports, the …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 12:10

  • UK.gov £12bn comms überdatabase 'wouldn't spot terrorists'

    Influential US report says data mining ineffective

    A heavyweight US investigation of counter-terror databases has concluded that the type of intelligence mining proposed by UK spy chiefs under the auspices of the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) probably won't catch jihadis. The central database aspect of IMP is being discussed in secret on the basis it will " …

    Government 8 Oct 2008, 12:19

  • Symantec swoops on Messagelabs

    Hot and SaaSy

    Symantec is to buy the British messaging security firm MessageLabs for $695m in cash. The company will merge MessageLabs with its own Symantec Protection Network for a more comprehensive software-as-a-service offering. This will incorporate Symantec technology in data loss prevention, compliance, endpoint security and …

    Financial News 8 Oct 2008, 12:28

  • Famed investor backs away from web-obsessed Microsoft

    Accuses firm of 'Google-envy'

    A well-known hedge-fund manager has hit out at Microsoft’s “overaggressive and almost panicky” attempts to plump up its online investments. David Einhorn, president and founder of Greenlight Capital, yesterday accused Microsoft of suffering from “Google-envy” and said he was giving up on investing in the software giant until …

    Financial News 8 Oct 2008, 12:56

  • HP and Tandberg trumpet lifesize video conferencing

    Save those air miles

    Video conferencing suppliers HP and Tandberg have got together to provide a one-stop video-conferencing shop. They call it Telepresence. This odd term refers to the large screen for a video-transmitting IP network, and all the cameras, microphones, video servers and gateways needed for the task - that of presenting high- …

    Data Networking 8 Oct 2008, 14:09

  • UK asks to buy next-gen spy planes from US

    Plan to use replica De Havilland Comets shelved?

    The UK has applied for permission to purchase three large, heavily-equipped spy planes from America. The move will fuel speculation that replacements for the RAF's existing, aged Nimrod R1 surveillance/intercept birds will not be British-sourced. Most people who follow defence matters will be aware that the RAF currently …

    Government 8 Oct 2008, 14:09

  • Autopilot blamed for Qantas plunge

    Computer says 'Weeeeee!'

    Australian air traffic investigators believe the Qantas Airbus which suddenly lost altitude over Western Australia, seriously injuring 14 passengers, may have suffered from computer problems. The Airbus A330-300 was flying normally at 37,000 feet when the computer system warned of an irregularity with the elevation system and …

    Bootnotes 8 Oct 2008, 14:23

  • US military fails to go RFID tag-tastic

    RFID in policy, bar-coded in action

    The US Department of Defence is failing to follow its own mandate for RFID implementation despite sinking $12.2 million into the project, according to a report from the Inspector General. The investigation found that of 327 shipments received and inspected, 220 fell within the RFID-tagging remit; but of those 220, 23 lacked a …

    Government 8 Oct 2008, 14:31

  • Scaling agile software development

    Reader Poll Divide and Conquer

    The question we asked on Monday - whether agile development could scale - certainly put the cat among the pigeons. There were undoubtedly those for whom the answer was a resounding ‘no!’ – not least because for many, Agile is predicated on the basis of small teams. Big teams = big problems, we were told, and Agile is not going …

    Workshop 8 Oct 2008, 15:01

  • Ten of the Best... Pocket Camcorders

    Round-up YouTuber or home-movie buff - here are the cameras you should audition

    YouTube has a lot to answer for – not least the sudden rush of low-cost ‘pocket’ camcorders designed for quickly capturing short video clips on the move. These cameras typically cost less than £100 and have pretty low specifications – as little as 320x240 resolution in the case of the cheap and cheerful Disgo camcorder. At the …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 15:38

  • Acer Aspires to WiMAX with 4G laptop duo

    But only if you're living in Baltimore

    Acer is the first company to announce a pair of WiMAX-touting notebooks so that residents of Baltimore, where Sprint has rolled out its WiMAX service, can enjoy speeds approaching 3G with 4G technology. The two models of notebook, the Aspire 4930-6862 and 6930-6771, include embedded WiMAX connectivity compatible with the Xohm …

    Reg Hardware 8 Oct 2008, 15:47

  • Unisys cranks out kicker CMOS and Xeon mainframes

    Yes, Virginia, companies still use mainframes

    Server maker Unisys is today announcing its second generation of dual-core ClearPath mainframes. These use the company's own CMOS-based mainframe engines and new midrange mainframes based on Intel's Tigerton quad-core Xeon 7300 processors, sporting the same OS 2200 and MCP operating systems that run on the CMOS iron. A lot of …

    Servers 8 Oct 2008, 16:03

  • HP and EDS kill nearly 3,500 UK jobs

    Union condemns move, says public sector will suffer

    EDS and Hewlett-Packard will slash its UK workforce by 3,378 jobs over the next two years, according to the Public and Commercial Services union. The union, which has more than 2,000 EDS members, said in a statement this afternoon that the figure was higher than had been feared, and warned that the move would greatly affect …

    Channel Register 8 Oct 2008, 16:08

  • Son of state lawmaker charged with Palin email hack

    'No interwebs for you!'

    The son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker pleaded not guilty on Wednesday after being indicted for breaking into the email account of US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. David C. Kernell, 20, of Knoxville, entered the plea in federal court in Knoxville. He was released without posting bond, but the court forbid …

    Security 8 Oct 2008, 17:05

  • Apple patents OS X Dock

    Do you hear war drums?

    Apple has patented the OS X Dock, nearly a decade after the operating system made its public debut with a new slant on the taskbar. The late arrival isn't due to a lack of initiative, however. Apple applied for the patent December 20, 1999, and it was approved by the US Patent Office only yesterday. Apple summarizes the Dock …

    Operating Systems 8 Oct 2008, 19:02

  • World's largest ad broker targets web games

    Google and 'family safe' Flash

    In its continued struggle to duplicate the worldwide dominance of its text-based advertising biz, Google has launched a long expected program for slapping ads onto Web-based Flash games. Naturally, "AdSense for Games" is billed as a beta. Google gobbled game ad outfit Adscape Media in February 2007, and this morning, the, um, …

    Music and Media 8 Oct 2008, 19:22

  • Unisys anoints ex-Gateway chief as CEO

    Another sale, Mr. Coleman?

    Well, that didn't take very long. Only two weeks ago, server and services specialist Unisys said that Joe McGrath, its president and chief executive officer, was stepping down at the end of the year and that its board of directors were beginning a search for a new executive to accelerate its strategy. And today, Unisys announced …

    Financial News 8 Oct 2008, 20:16

  • $236m judgment lands on mom and pop spam shop

    Bulk Mailing 4 Dummies

    An Arizona couple accused of bombarding a small internet service provider with millions of spam messages has been ordered to pay more than $236m in a federal case that documents the heroic measures one man took against the torrent of unsolicited junk mail. Henry Perez and Suzanne Bartok were ordered to pay the sum late last …

    Spam 8 Oct 2008, 20:39

  • Terracotta claims cure for web app bottleneck

    Take one giant JVM cluster and call me in the morning

    Startup Java infrastructure software maker Terracotta has taken the wraps off version 2.7 of its eponymous Java application scaling and acceleration program. With Terracotta 2.7, the company is adding support for a bunch of new web application servers and application frameworks, but more importantly, it's trying to get the …

    Servers 8 Oct 2008, 22:17

  • Facebook and Microsoft complete Live Search crowbarring trick

    'Check out this restaurant...bitch'

    Microsoft operation Force-feed Live Search is now making official use of the company's $240m stake in Facebook. The social networking site has added an option (for US members) to retrieve Live Search results from the entire web courtesy the Facebook search bar. Of course, along with the results come a sidebar of contextual …

    Applications 8 Oct 2008, 22:41

  • US teen cuffed for sending nude phone pics

    ...of herself

    A 15-year-old Ohio girl was arrested on felony child pornography charges for allegedly sending nude cell phone pictures of herself to classmates. Authorities are considering charging some of the students who received the photos as well. The unnamed student from Licking Valley High School in Newark, Ohio was arrested Friday …

    Crime 8 Oct 2008, 23:39