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10th October 2008 Archive

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  • US telco: 'Public broadband is illegal'

    Judge: 'Pull the other one'

    Like dozens of other communities across America, the tiny town of Monticello, Minnesota wants to build a fiber-optic broadband network. In September of last year, its citizens approved the project via referendum, with 74 per cent of voters giving the nod. But thirteen months later, its fiberlicious dream is still on hold, thanks …

    Broadband 10 Oct 2008, 00:02

  • Microsoft, Apple trumpet bevy of critical vulns

    Whether you're a Mac or a PC, you need patching

    Whether you use a Mac or a PC, be prepared to install a bumper crop of security patches on your machine in the near future. On Thursday, both Apple and Microsoft warned of critical vulnerabilities in their flagship software products that could allow attackers to take control of users' machines. Updates fixing more than 40 …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 00:15

  • Bluetooth, iPods, HDDs to define in-car tech in 2009

    No longer options, now must-haves

    Bluetooth, iPod connections, embedded hard drives and real-time location-based traffic monitoring will all be increasingly popular features in cars next year, an analyst has predicted. Market watcher iSuppli has forecast that, in the US, the number of car manufacturers “aggressively adopting” Bluetooth wireless connections …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 07:23

  • Apple to detail latest laptops on 14 October

    But what'll Steve pull out of his envelope this time?

    It's official: Apple is updating its MacBook laptop line next week - the Mac maker has mailed out invites to an event at which "the spotlight turns to notebooks". And we turn to what's likely to be announced. Centrino 2-based - but not branded - MacBook Pros are the most likely, as Apple takes advantage of Intel's latest …

    Hardware 10 Oct 2008, 07:52

  • Plasmon Inc preps for rebirthing

    But little return expected on Plasmon Ltd

    Plasmon's US operation is preparing for lift-off as an independent company whilst Plasmon Ltd's shareholders, creditors and staff try to see if any crumbs will fall their way from the administrators' table. Just a few days after the UK firm went into administration, Plasmon CEO and president Steve Murphy wrote an open letter …

    Storage 10 Oct 2008, 09:00

  • MoD loses most of the armed forces

    Oh! what a lovely data loss

    The Ministry of Defence and contractor EDS are frantically checking the bins this morning for a missing hard drive containing records of 100,000 servicemen and women and their families. The case is worrying, even by this government's cretinous standards, because of potential targetting of people who worked in Northern Ireland …

    Government 10 Oct 2008, 09:20

  • ATK shows off 'palletised, plug-in' robot cannon system

    From the crate to reaping fleshies in 10 minutes

    US weaponry and aerospace giant Alliant Techsystems (ATK) - makers of rockets to NASA, among other things - are pleased to announce their latest gizmo: the Palletised Autonomous Weapons System (PAWS). PAWS, according to its proud manufacturers, is: A self-contained and autonomous armament package... [It can] aim and fire …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 09:25

  • Brussels bounces BT-Phorm quiz back to UK.gov

    'Let's try that once more shall we?'

    The European Commission has again written to the government for an explanation of UK authorities' response to BT's allegedly illegal secret trials of Phorm's ISP adware system. Brussels still wants answers after a September missive from Whitehall failed to address legal issues surrounding past deployments of the technology, …

    Broadband 10 Oct 2008, 10:02

  • Symantec hedges bets with large stake in hosted security

    Analysis MessageLabs deal pilots security giant into cloud computing

    Symantec, traditionally one of the more conservative firms in the security market, is attempting to pull off a high-wire balancing act with its surprise $695m acquisition of security software-as-a-service pioneer MessageLabs. The firm is betting that increased revenues in the hottest segment of the security market will justify a …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 10:06

  • Serial commentard bitchslaps Reg hack

    FoTW 'Run away you little pansy, the databases are coming'

    It's a well-known fact that flames are like number 13 buses - you wait ages for one and then a whole load turn up and once. Yes indeed, following last week's truly exceptional outburst during which certain Reg readers found themselves on the receiving end of some particularly tasty abuse, we have one Aaron Kempf who rather …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 10:10

  • Opera update quietly fixes bug brace

    Shh, we're guarding against 'severe' vulns

    Opera has patched a brace of critical vulnerabilities with the release of the latest version of its web browser. The release notes accompanying Opera version 9.60 focused on features such as speed improvements and a cleaner layout for feeds. But underneath the bonnet, a couple of security vulnerabilities have been patched. …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 10:18

  • Radiation warning for low-energy lightbulbs

    UV emissions could be danger

    The Health Protection Agency is warning that low-energy light bulbs could give enough ultraviolet radiation to cause damage to your skin. You'd need to be closer than 30 cm from the bulb for more than an hour a day and it would need to be an open type light bulb - the whirly ones (see pic). The Agency recomends lamps or …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 10:22

  • Lenovo releases WiMax-fitted ThinkPads

    But only in Baltimore

    First Acer, now Lenovo. The ThinkPad company has rolled out a laptop with WiMax on board to cater for wireless broadband buffs in Baltimore. The WiMax line-up comprises the ThinkPad X301, T400, SL500 and SL300. Prices start at $720, and they're available now to punters in the US city who want to sign up for Sprint's Xohm WiMax …

    Broadband 10 Oct 2008, 10:33

  • US military: Electropulse bombs now from next year

    Maryland state gov preps tinfoil windmill defences

    One of the longest-sought, most keenly anticipated high-tech weapons of the past century - namely, the dreaded circuitry-frying electromagnetic pulse bomb - seems to have had its schedule moved forward. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP, aka High Power Microwave or HPM) weapon has long been theorised upon, ever since it was found …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 10:42

  • BT's 21st Century network, er... isn't

    No IPv6 support for you, sonny

    ISPs have been worried to learn that BT's ongoing multibillion pound "21CN" network upgrade won't offer native support for IPv6, the networking protocol that it's planned will form the bedrock of a rapidly expanding 21st century internet. The ommission surfaced when business provider AAISP, one of a select group of resellers …

    Data Networking 10 Oct 2008, 10:56

  • Nintendo unveils Wii Music

    Sounds good?

    The Wii’s Nunchuck is set to become a musical instrument, because Nintendo has launched a musical videogame for the console. Wii Music: get musical, virtually Wii Music, which borrows many of its ideas from the Guitar Hero series, lets gamers re-create any one of the 50 bundled tracks by using the Remote and Nunchuck as …

    Games 10 Oct 2008, 10:58

  • US woman shot by cast iron stove

    Pops a .22 cap in her sorry ass calf

    Here's top tip for those of you who like to have the odd firearm around the house: Don't put live rounds wrapped in newspaper in your cast iron stove and then throw a match in. That's exactly what Cory Davis, 56, of Sekiu in Washington state did. According to the Peninsula Daily News she'd "just finished stoking her cast-iron …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 11:00

  • BOFH: Unfriendly ghosts

    Episode 33 The expense of defence

    "But why can't we visit the site?" the Boss bleats one morning when we shoot his idea of seeing the ghost facility down. "It's a defence site," I lie. "They host defence computers as well as stuff for companies like us. They're probably not allowed to show people through their server rooms." "We should just turn up …

    BOFH 10 Oct 2008, 11:02

  • Sun's not so cheap trick doesn't work

    A Unisys look-alike?

    Sun's share price has fallen so low it is about the same as before last year's reverse stock split. So is Sun turning into another Unisys? In September 2007 Sun proposed a 1:4 reverse stock split (stock consolidation) to its shareholders as its share price headed down to $5, continuing a long fall. The three benefits were said …

    Servers 10 Oct 2008, 11:10

  • Mandriva Linux 2009 threesome outed

    So many flavours, so little time

    Mandriva has released the latest version of its desktop Linux distribution, which comes loaded with new KDE, Gnome, Firefox and OpenOffice tools. Mandriva Linux 2009 was made available for download yesterday. It reduces boot time and includes an installer that optimises the platform for diminutive laptops, the open source …

    The Channel 10 Oct 2008, 11:27

  • Taser rival offers cops 'Trade in your Taser' zapgun deal

    Also punts remote-control electroshock handcuffs

    An aggressive newcomer is muscling in on everyone's favourite cattleprod-enforcement firm, Taser International. Stinger Systems says its "advanced electro sparc-pulsed" zap weaponry is much safer for the victim miscreant, and is offering American police forces a cheap "trade in your Taser" deal. According to Stinger: Rather …

    Law 10 Oct 2008, 11:31

  • Asus Eee Box Atom-based desktop mini PC

    Review Small, Cheap Computers aren't just laptops, you know

    Asus' Eee marque may be associated with laptops, but it's been applied to desktops too, specifically the Eee Box, a slimline unit designed to stay in one place. The key to this Eee is still low-cost laptop technology: Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, the same chip used in Asus' top-of-the-line Eee portables. It's backed …

    Hardware 10 Oct 2008, 11:35

  • Canada sex shop heist shafts proprietress

    Vibrator theft ruins buzz

    Spare a kinky kind thought for one Wicked Wanda this Friday - the Canadian sex shop owner has been robbed of vibrators to the tune of $2,000. Two sticky light-fingered blighters swiped the joysticks from Wicked Wanda's Adult Emporium in Ottawa at around 2.30am on Thursday morning, cnews reports. However, 41-year-old Wanda …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 11:38

  • Heads up, here's the HUD satnav

    AsusTek's projection satnav

    A Heads-Up Display is usually the reserve of only the most exclusive motors, but Asus has made the technology more mainstream by integrating it into its latest satnav. AsusTek's R710: shows navigation info on your windscreen Although the Asus R710 has a 5in, 480 x 272 touchscreen that drivers can play around with, the …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 11:48

  • Motorola's intros non-3G BlackBerry-style smartphone

    A phone, with a real keypad

    You may feel like most phone manufacturers have ditched physical keypads in favour of touchscreens. But Motorola has bucked the trend and launched a BlackBerry-esque button-based phone. Motorola's Q11: The Moto Q11 is designed for anyone who wants a fully featured smartphone and the advantages associated with a physical …

    Phones 10 Oct 2008, 11:58

  • Startup promises auto Windows file virtualisation

    Consolidate file storage and drive up disk utilisation

    Startup AutoVirt is going to introduce a Windows file share virtualisation product to drive up disk utilisation and ease file storage consolidation. It's like an IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) for files. AutoVirt was founded in 2007 on the premise that unstructured file growth combined with low Windows server and Windows …

    Storage 10 Oct 2008, 12:15

  • Turbo-charged wireless hacks threaten networks

    Graphics cards encryption skulduggery

    The latest graphics cards have been used to break Wi-Fi encryption far quicker than was previously possible. Some security consultants are already suggesting the development blows Wi-Fi security out of the water and that corporations ought to apply tighter VPN controls, or abandon wireless networks altogether, in response. …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 12:25

  • US Justice Dept builds microwave heat-ray 'rifle'

    Settings: Radar, pain-blaster or nudie perv scan

    Reports are emerging that the US Justice Department is working on a hand-held version of existing microwave cannons intended for riot or crowd control. The portable raygun could also have applications as a scanner or detector system, apart from being a weapon; and a working prototype has already been built. Raytheon, the …

    Science 10 Oct 2008, 12:34

  • BlackBerry Bold drops off Orange website

    Video software problems to blame?

    Software issues affecting the BlackBerry Bold appear to have spurred Orange to suspend all UK sales of the 3G handset. Orange's website does nothing to dispel the broken Bold myth According to an allegedly leaked internal Orange memo, which was seen by website Mobile Tech Addicts, the network operator has said that: “ …

    Phones 10 Oct 2008, 12:58

  • C4 abandons DAB

    Farewell, consortium

    Cash-strapped TV broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed it will completely withdraw from the eponymous DAB radio consortium, Digital 4. The move will save £10m, executives said today. The Channel 4-led venture was awarded the second national digital multiplex in July last year, and planned to launch ten radio services including a …

    Media 10 Oct 2008, 13:00

  • Dial 'M' for Microsoft's new programming language

    Oslo trio uncovered

    As if you haven't got enough languages already, Microsoft is about to give you one more: M, part of its Oslo development and service-oriented strategy. The company is today due to announce M, for building textual domain-specific languages (DSLs) and software models with XAML. Microsoft will also announce Quadrant, for building …

    Developer 10 Oct 2008, 13:02

  • Vista scrabbles for X Factor

    You can't sing, you can't dance - what do you want me to say?

    Microsoft has desperately turned to Simon Cowell to help sprinkle some X Factor dust on Windows Vista, giving the already has-been OS a last shot at stardom. In its latest effort to get the youth to take up Vista, Microsoft will debut its ‘I’m a PC’ ad campaign in the UK during a commercial break in the first live X Factor …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 13:03

  • Channel 4 in Heathrow Playmobil reconstruction shocker

    Oi!

    It's come to our attention that a trailer for Channel 4's Dispatches - which will next week ask "if the sun is setting" on British Airways - features some rather fetching Playmobil scenes set inside Heathrow's acclaimed Terminal 5. Well, what a very entertaining idea. So entertaining in fact that after El Reg first unleashed …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 13:22

  • 'World's first' WiMax mobile phone spied

    HTC planning Russian WiMax launch?

    Mobile phone connections over 3G are like so yesterday. HTC obviously knows this and so has developed what could well be the world’s first WiMax-capable phone. HTC's T8290 could be it's first WiMax phone Picture of the handset, said to be called the HTC T829, have leaked out and, unless some good-quality Photoshop trickery’ …

    Phones 10 Oct 2008, 13:33

  • Oz radio newsreader skips broadcast for Facebook

    IT team probe exposes social networking hackette

    An Oz radio news outfit last Sunday failed to broadcast its 4pm bulletin because the female newsreader was glued to Facebook, The Australian reports. 3AW listeners were alerted to the impending six-minute newscast by its theme music, but nothing more than ads followed. An insider recounted that "a producer raced to the …

    Bootnotes 10 Oct 2008, 14:02

  • Laptops to blame for Qantas jet plunge?

    Cargo hold over-filled with XXXX no longer thought responsible

    Passengers are being questioned over whether they were using electronic equipment just before their Qantas A330-300 plunged out-of-control over Western Australia. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has said an "irregularity" in one of the aircraft's computers may have caused the dramatic altitude change that threw …

    Hardware 10 Oct 2008, 14:14

  • Virgin Media calls foul on web speed testers

    'We're just too quick for you'

    Virgin Media believes it is being shafted by comparison sites offering ISP speed checks, and has called on them to improve their techniques ahead of the launch of its 50Mbit/s upgrade. Switching sites are becoming an increasingly powerful force in the near-saturated broadband market. uSwitch recently said the tightening of …

    Broadband 10 Oct 2008, 14:18

  • Verizon to charge for message termination

    Feed the masses, threepence a time

    As Europe braces itself for mobile telephony without termination rates, Verizon is to start charging companies for delivering messages to its customers, while continuing to charge those customers for receiving them. Verizon has notified its OpenMarket partners, in a letter reproduced by RCR Wireless, that from 1 November they' …

    Mobile 10 Oct 2008, 14:35

  • PayPal top-up card is titsup

    And nobody knows anything

    Payments made to PayPal's top-up card on Wednesday of this week have still not appeared on account balances, and the company is unable to tell angry customers when the problem will be fixed. Several Reg readers got in touch about the problem. The PayPal card is a prepaid Visa card that can be used online or in shops. The card' …

    Financial News 10 Oct 2008, 14:41

  • OpenOffice.org welcomes gatecrashers to version 3.0 orgy

    Key-swapping is optional extra

    OpenOffice.org is throwing a launch party in Paris on 13 October to mark the eighth anniversary of the popular open source office software suite and announce – it hopes – the release of version 3.0. Release candidate 4 was made available on the outfit’s website earlier this week for brave souls to tinker with ahead of the …

    Applications 10 Oct 2008, 14:50

  • Agile Development’s Secret Sauce

    Reg Reader Workshop It’s all in the recipe

    One criticism levelled at Agile methodologies for software development is that of scale. “It’s all very well for very small projects,” we have been told, “but for anything above 10 people, you can forget it.” So, how true is this? We took this question to the Reg reader panel, and the results make for interesting reading …

    Workshop 10 Oct 2008, 15:12

  • Merrill Lynch buys IBM's iDataPlex blades

    But with whose cash?

    In a shameless effort to show that someone in the financial services industry is still investing in technology - and relatively exotic new blade server technology at that - IBM has announced that brokerage house Merrill Lynch, soon to be part of the Bank of America behemoth after running into BoA's welcoming arms in mid- …

    Servers 10 Oct 2008, 15:24

  • MS: Xbox will not go Blu

    Giant has 'no plans' to bring the format to its console

    Microsoft has once again poured cold water over the latest rumour that it’ll launch a Blu-ray Disc drive add-on for the Xbox 360. A blogger going by the name of “Major Nelson” has posted an audio interview online with Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Group Product Manager for the Xbox 360. In the interview, which took place at the …

    Games 10 Oct 2008, 16:17

  • Imation backpedals in Q3

    Blames The Meltdown

    Imation has issued preliminary third quarter figures badly affected by the financial market turmoil in September. For its third quarter ending September 30th (Q3 08), Imation expects to report revenues of $525m, the same as the year-ago quarter and $22m down from Q2 08. Excluding restructuring charges, it expects an operating …

    Storage 10 Oct 2008, 18:04

  • Scotland Mountain Rescue turns on Ofcom

    Volunteers asked to put anger into words

    Volunteer mountain-rescue staff in Scotland are being asked to write to the UK regulator Ofcom to complain about increased spectrum prices that could drive them out of the life-saving business. The BBC reports that the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland has asked its members to write to the regulator in response to the …

    Government 10 Oct 2008, 18:10

  • Lenny might be late

    Debian: 'We're almost there'

    Debian project leader Steve McIntyre has dismissed claims that the next stable version of Debian – codename Lenny – could be delayed until June 2009. Based on the number of outstanding release-critical bugs and the time it has taken to fix them on previous releases, Debian developer Bastian Venthur estimated it will take a …

    Operating Systems 10 Oct 2008, 18:17

  • New Google bugs empower phishermen

    Domain vuln + frame injection = dead ringer spoof pages

    Google's Gmail service suffers from security flaws that make it trivial for attackers to create authentic-looking spoof pages that steal users' login credentials, a security expert has demonstrated. Google Calendar and other sensitive Google services are susceptible to similar tampering. A proof-of-concept (PoC) attack, …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 19:19

  • Wal-Mart pressured into tune keys life support

    DRM servers open 'for the present time'

    For digital music vendors, protecting files with digital rights management (DRM) is like a lobster trap. It's easy enough to enter into, but getting back out is another matter entirely. Like Microsoft and Yahoo before it, US music selling heavyweight Wal-Mart has found itself in the same cagey predicament. Wal-Mart today bowed …

    Media 10 Oct 2008, 19:49

  • Gates dethroned as tech's richest get thumped

    Larry Ellison searches sofa for change

    It seems that tech's billionaires are sharing the privations of ordinary citizens, whose savings are vanishing and pensions becoming worthless as stock markets tumble. Bill Gates' 15-year reign as America's richest person is reportedly over, as the value of his investments has shrunk, surrendering his crown to investor Warren …

    Financial News 10 Oct 2008, 20:59

  • Organized crime tampers with European card swipe devices

    Customer data beamed overseas

    Hundreds of card swipers used by retail stores across Europe are believed to have been tampered by organized crime syndicates in China and Pakistan, according to US National Counterintelligence Executive Joel Brenner. Brenner told The Daily Telegraph that criminals have doctored chip and PIN machines either during …

    Security 10 Oct 2008, 21:21

  • Sprint execs named 'most overpaid' in 2007

    $74m in CEO pay, $29bn in losses

    Sprint Nextel executives are the most "overpaid" in corporate America, according to a study by investor advisory firm, Glass Lewis & Company. The mobile communications provider was tapped for the dishonor by having the worst 2007 pay-for-performance rating among the Standard & Poor's 500 index of large companies. Top managers …

    Financial News 10 Oct 2008, 23:34

  • SpringSource regains footing with support change

    Inclusive, not exclusive

    The change to SpringSource's enterprise maintenance policy for the popular open-source Java framework represents a gentle shift in emphasis. Announced literally as The Reg was going to press with our story announcing the forthcoming changes, SpringSource has adopted a policy that is more inclusive than exclusive. It seems to …

    Developer 10 Oct 2008, 23:39