22nd October 2008 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

Sun shares DARPA dough with photon biz (again)

Chipping the light fantastic

As it fashions optical chip links for the US military, Sun Microsystems has enlisted the help of another optically-minded partner. Last month, Kortura Inc. leapt aboard the Ultraperformance Nanophotonic Intrachip Communications (UNIC) project, a DARPA-funded undertaking run by Sun, and this month, it's the California-based …

Servers 22 Oct 2008, 06:02
Sun claims super-skinny JavaFX milestone

The fat app still hasn't sung

The leaves might be falling, and the first installment of Sun Microsystems' JavaFX might still not be here, but the company has delivered what it's calling a "milestone" for its rich internet application (RIA) platform and runtime. Sun has released Java Standard Edition 6 Update 10, a version of Java SE that features a re- …

Developer 22 Oct 2008, 06:02
Eee PC series to get Windows 7 but not Vista, says CEO

Dismissed Linux high return rate claim

Asus CEO Jerry Shen has denied claims that consumers are sending back more Linux netbooks than they're returning Windows-based models. Speaking in an interview with Laptop Magazine, Shen said return rates were the same for both operating systems. "I believe the Linux and Windows have similar return rates," he said, adding …

Operating Systems 22 Oct 2008, 07:51
Greenpeace on fusion: Whatever it is, we're against it

Luddites 2.0

CERN boffins are confident that fusion, the holy grail of cheap, safe power will be economical and usable within thirty years. It's a finger in the air sort of estimate, based on projects from the Age of Scientific Optimism, such as the Los Alamos and Apollo moon landing projects. The Soviets built the first experimental …

Environment 22 Oct 2008, 08:02
Samsung flees SanDisk bid

Hariri pushes the beast off

Samsung has pulled out of its SanDisk bid because it looks far too risky - with SanDisk making increased losses, selling off some manufacturing capacity, and its share price tumbling well below the bid offer. A Samsung bid withdrawal letter, quoted by Objectve Analysis's Jim Handy, said: “Your surprise announcements of a …

Financial News 22 Oct 2008, 08:24
Intel shows off 'giant iPod Touch'

Smartphones and MIDs just too darn small for you? Apply within

Intel demo'd what one staffer called a "giant iPod Touch" at the chip giant's gathering of Taiwanese developers this week. The inflated tablet is based around an 11.1in touch-sensitive display and Intel's small form-factor Core 2 Duo processors - the same chips found in the MacBook Air and other ultra-skinny laptops. Intel's …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 08:43
India's Moon shot takes to the skies

Successful launch of Chandrayaan-1

India's Moon probe Chandrayaan-1 this morning successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, the Indian Space Research Organisation reports. The $83m mission, carrying a multinational array of kit, was carried aloft atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle at 06:22 Indian Standard Time (00:52 GMT). Chandrayaan-1's …

Space 22 Oct 2008, 08:44
QLogic dodges recession in second quarter

Host bus adaptors swerves downturn for now

QLogic is doing its best to be immune to economic doom and gloom scenarios with a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in quarterly revenues and a 20 per cent net income rise. The maker of storage networking host bus adapters (HBAs) and switches posted second quarter fiscal 2009 (Q2 fy09) results to September 28 with net revenues …

Storage 22 Oct 2008, 08:51
Wiggy scuffle pampernaut lawyers back in court

Space loverat romanta-dustup evidence appealed

The legal team of Lisa Nowak, the one-time NASA spacewoman accused of planning to abduct and mishandle a rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, appeared again in court yesterday. Prosecutors were appealing against an earlier decision to throw out most of the evidence in the case. Florida cops originally braceleted …

Space 22 Oct 2008, 09:01
VMware freezes hiring, gives chilly outlook

Full year to be low end of estimates

Virtualisation company VMware increased turnover by 32 per cent in the last three months, but warned that earnings for the year are likely to be on the low side of previous estimates and that it has started a hiring freeze. Revenues were $472m in the third quarter of 2008 and the firm made GAAP operating income of $101m - up …

Financial News 22 Oct 2008, 09:17
German privacy watchdogs agree social networking ground rules

Keep users informed about data use

Social networking sites are not permitted to store information about people's use of the sites beyond the duration of a particular session, according to a panel of Germany's data protection officials. Companies behind social networks such as MySpace and Facebook must also tell users what happens to any data that is collected …

Law 22 Oct 2008, 09:44
Watchdog snarls at Commando Krav Maga

'Devastating Israeli Fighting System' no match for ASA

The Advertising Standards Authority has ordered Combat Survival Inc, trading as Commando Krav Maga, to stop claiming its main man Moni Aizik is a terror-busting, "Ex-Israeli Special Forces Commando" human death machine. For those of you not au fait with what experts in doing other people bodily harm apparently consider "the …

Bootnotes 22 Oct 2008, 10:10
Government tied in knots by bondage protest

Campaign group objects to government sexual witch-hunt

"Forget the whips and chains: it's actually a lot more serious than that". This was the view of Consenting Adult Action Network Spokesperson and disability activist Clair Lewis, as she joined fashion photographer Ben Westwood and a bevy of bound and gagged models in a demonstration against what they believe to be the latest …

Law 22 Oct 2008, 10:46
Believe your own hype - always

Bringing Nothing to the Party: Ben Cohen and the art of the press release

In our third extract from Paul Carr's book Bringing Nothing to the Party, the nascent net-botherer muses on one particularly irksome and precocious flash in the dot com pan... During the post-bubble years, between 2000 and 2004, the entire dot com industry was in turmoil. No one could agree whether we were seeing an industry …

Music and Media 22 Oct 2008, 10:49
Prison boss demands right to jam inmates' cellphones...

Can you hear me now? Yes? Damn.

South Carolina's state prison chief Jon Ozmint is fighting for the right to deploy mobile phone jammers, in order to prevent criminals from staying in touch while they're out of circulation. Ozmint believes it's impossible to control the flow of handsets into the prison even with random cell and body searches, and that mobes …

Mobile 22 Oct 2008, 10:52
Motorola intros wacky flip-round phone

Design team runs riot

Mention Swiss-made bearings, custom engineering, tungsten-carbide coated gears and a mirror-polished finish, and you’d be forgiven for thinking we were referring to a luxury watch. Instead, all these features and more are present in Motorola’s latest wacky handset. Motorola's Aura: opens with a sliding face The first thing …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 10:58
Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Windows Mobile smartphone

Review Could have been a contender

Sony Ericsson's answer to the iPhone is finally with us, and though there's much to admire, it doesn't feel like it's quite the phone it could have been. First, though, the good stuff. The X1 is a good-looking handset, with its matte black face offset by silver trim around the sides. The front is dominated by its large, 800 x …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 11:02
Sarko demands withdrawal of voodoo doll

Feels a little prick

Preposterous presidential playboy Nicolas Sarkozy is not amused by a voodoo doll of himself for sale in French bookshops, and has demanded the pernicious pin-based product is pulled from the shelves, er, post-haste. The dolls, according to the Times (which displays a lovely picture), are being sold along with a handy set of …

Bootnotes 22 Oct 2008, 11:06
Sony powerless to fix PSP screen problem

Lines and lines and lines

Sony has admitted that it’s powerless to fix display problems on the PlayStation Portable 3000, which gamers have complained displays strange lines on its screen. Scan lines appear on the PSP 3000's screen (left) but not on the PSP 2000's screen Images courtesy of Gaming Bits “On some occasions, scan lines may appear on …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 11:13
Chrome sweeps carpet-bombing bug under the rug

Second fix only for developers and still threadbare

Google has issued a second partial fix to Chrome for an infamous carpet-bombing vulnerability that affected multiple browser packages, but it is only available via the developer version of its browser. The patch has not been published as an automatic update to general users, though it is possible for the tech-savvy to get the …

Enterprise Security 22 Oct 2008, 11:14
Google Maps gets gov M-way congestion overlay

Superhighway information information superhighway

England's Highways Agency has announced a hookup with Google which presents live traffic information overlaid atop the online ad firm's popular cloud map app, Google Maps. The pileup mashup goes live "I'm delighted that we are the first country in Europe to work with Google and use our information for the benefit of road …

Applications 22 Oct 2008, 11:15
Flanders demands its own top-level domain

Flems go to war over ~~a scrap of paper~~ a URL

The detente between Belgium's fractious regions is under strain again after the Flemish parliament demanded its own top-level domain. Instead of .be it wants vla, .vln, .vlaanderen or .fla. Kris Peeters, the prime minister of Flanders, says he will look into the possibility of creating such a domain extension. The Internet …

Government 22 Oct 2008, 11:32
Microsoft sued in China for black screen of death

WGA wins more enemies

A Chinese lawyer has filed a legal complaint against Microsoft for installing Windows Genuine Advantage on his computer. He has asked the Ministry of Public Security to file criminal charges against Microsoft. Dong Zhengwei accused the company of hacking into people's computers. He said: "I respect the right of Microsoft to …

Channel Register 22 Oct 2008, 11:42
Bank of England prescribes 'boredom'

Will sliding pound make exciting IT kit more expensive?

Sterling hit a five-year low against the dollar this morning after Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s governor, admitted that Britain was headed for a recession. The pound is currently resting at just over $1.60, well off its $2.11 12 month high. The slide in sterling will likely make IT products more expensive in the UK, as …

Small Biz 22 Oct 2008, 11:52
PS3 decked out with Metal Gear design

Laser cut letters and producer signatures

If you’re totally addicted to Metal Gear Solid, then your heart’s sure to skip at the sight of this MGS4-themed PlayStation 3. The ultimate MGS4 PS3? Every centimetre on the console’s been decked out in some form of MGS4 design. For example, a “Carbon Fibre and Midnight Black” colour scheme has been added to the console’s …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 11:56
Apricot drops 'too complicated' Linux from netbook line

Windows XP only from now on

Apricot has pulled the plug on its Linux-based netbook, choosing instead to offer the pint-sized Picobook Pro only with Windows XP. The Pro, which launched last week, was to be offered with a choice of XP and SuSE Linux Enterprise Edition - the latter priced at £279, the Windows model costing £328. Yesterday, Apricot yanked …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 12:04
US uni hacker skirts child abuse charges

Gets three months as Judge wrestles with conscience

A University of Pennsylvania student was sentenced to three months in custody on Tuesday after confessing his part in a cyber attack that crashed the server of the US uni's engineering facility two years ago. Ryan Goldstein, 22, of Ambler, Pennsylvania, will also face five years on probation following his release from custody …

Crime 22 Oct 2008, 12:38
London could get HD Freeview next year

Ofcom considers Operation Spectrum Juggle

Freeview viewers in London and other major metropolitan areas could get high-definition TV next year under spectrum juggling plans being considered by regulators. The BBC has applied to Ofcom to temporarily use so-called "programme making and special events" frequencies for high definition broadcasts until the national switch …

Music and Media 22 Oct 2008, 12:39
Toshiba blasts out S300 Satellite Pro

Four strong laptop line

Toshiba has launched its latest addition to its Satellite Pro laptop series: the fully-featured S300. Toshiba's Satellite Pro S300 range contains four models The S300 comes in four flavours, with the cheapest model sporting a 2GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200 processor, and the most expensive including a 2.26GHz Intel Core …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 12:40
EMC's double-digit growth run will finish this quarter

For the good times...

Storage industry bellwether EMC has delivered its 21st consecutive double digit growth quarter with revenues of $3.76bn for the third quarter. These are up 13 per cent on last year's revs, which were $3.3bn. But the company is forecasting low single-digit growth next quarter. GAAP net income for the quarter to the end of …

Storage 22 Oct 2008, 13:12
HP boss places bets on 1,000 staff at UK race track

They shoot horses, don't they?

Hewlett-Packard boss Mark Hurd has spent the morning at Ascot’s racing course with 1,000 hand-picked UK employees mulling the future of the company, after announcing earlier this month that 3,378 jobs are off to the knacker's yard. According to the union Unite, EDS staff will account for up to 90 per cent of UK workers to be …

Financial News 22 Oct 2008, 13:20
BAE's bandwidth blimp-bot takes off (indoors)

Branson balloon crony floats droid dirigible

A British robot blimp prototype has made its first flight inside a large hangar. The company making the droid airship is run by noted aerial daredevil Per Lindstrand, famous for his ballooning sky-jinks with beardy biz tycoon Richard Branson. BAE's vision system vision The GA22 robot blimp's inaugural liftoff took place …

Science 22 Oct 2008, 13:43
Date set for internet 'obscene' publications trial

Man in court over 'Girls Aloud' story

Darryn Walker, a 35-year-old civil servant from Mowbray Road, South Shields, will go to trial next year after being accused of publishing an obscene story on the internet. Walker was arrested earlier this year, after allegedly posting a work of fantasy titled Girls (Scream) Aloud - about pop group Girls Aloud - on the internet …

Law 22 Oct 2008, 14:05
Alarm clock becomes digital detective

Perfect for snooping whilst you sleep

Convinced that ghosts are creeping around your bedroom as you sleep? Well, now there’s a high tech solution that may help catch them - burglars too - in the act. Swann's Digital PrivateEye Clock: pretty pointless, really The Digital PrivateEye Clock is simply an alarm clock with a digital camera cunningly hidden inside. …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 14:27
Europe gives temps same rights as permanent staff

So much for UK gov's small biz promises

The European Parliament has passed a proposal to give temporary staff and contractors the same employment rights as permanent staff. On the day Mandelson's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform promised to cut red tape for small businesses, Brussels seems intent on moving in the opposite direction. The …

Small Biz 22 Oct 2008, 14:39
OWC intros 'world's first' four-interface Blu-ray burner

US peripherals specialist Other World Computing (OWC) today touted what it claims is the world's first external Blu-ray Disc burners with two species of Firewire port - 400 and 800 - plus USB and eSata interfaces. The Mercury Pro incorporates a 4x Blu-ray writer that can handle both single- and dual-layer media in both …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 14:41
Virgin Media network downed by scouse power outage

Backup fails

Power problems in Knowsley near Liverpool downed Virgin Media's cable network in the north and midlands today, leaving customers without broadband or TV for several hours. The problems began at about 11.30am. Power was restored around 1pm, a Virgin Media spokesman said, and engineers are still investigating the specific cause …

Data Networking 22 Oct 2008, 14:46
French mini M.Go is go for Q1 2009 launch

'Leccy Tech Plus version for licence-less yoof

Gallic car maker Microcar has announced that its new Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) model, the M.Go, will go on sale in the first quarter of 2009. Microcar's M.Go: not quite tearing up les boulevardes The diminutive two-door urban runaround, first shown at the Paris Motor Show earlier this month, will be available in …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 14:59
TSA signs off on paperless boarding

On-screen bar-codes replacing boarding passes

The US Transport Security Administration says it has successfully completed tests of electronic boarding passes sent to mobile phones as bar-codes, setting the stage for expanded use of the technology. The passes have been in use at a few airports around the USA, including deployments by Delta Airlines at LaGuardia (New York) …

Government 22 Oct 2008, 15:12
Feds raid Miley Cyrus hack suspect

Social engineering and risqué snaps

A hacker who allegedly uploaded pictures of 15-year-old Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus onto the net was raided by the FBI on Monday. Agents carried away three computers and a mobile phone for forensic examination after raiding the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, home of Josh Holly. The 19-year-old allegedly bragged online that he'd …

Crime 22 Oct 2008, 15:19
Muslim leader rejects Sony's LittleBigPlanet edit

'We should be able to choose to buy, or not to buy'

Sony should not have removed controversial background music from its LittleBigPlanet game simply because it contained words from the Koran, an influential Muslim has said. Instead of condemning the use of two quotations from the Koran in the game’s music, M Zuhdi Jasser, MD, President of the American Islamic Forum for …

Reg Hardware 22 Oct 2008, 15:28
What is a Linux distro worth?

A lot more than people pay for it

Here's a thought experiment proposed by the Linux Foundation today: If you had to start from scratch, what would it cost to create a Linux distribution? The short answer is: about $1.4bn for the Linux kernel and about $10.8bn for the Red Hat Fedora 9 development release, the latest one out this summer. Because Linux is an …

Operating Systems 22 Oct 2008, 15:46
One billion unwanted opinions in real-time: Now SHOUTED at you

These are the things I can do without - come on!

Hats off to young British entrepreneur Chris Ridgeon for developing a new tool for self-expression. Internetshout.com which launches today describes itself as "the world's voice-based social and discussion forum" - and delivers exactly what it promises on the tin. Instead of simply spraying your thoughts onto the Hive Mind's …

Music and Media 22 Oct 2008, 15:50
1,400 Yahooligans perish as Yang raids needle cabinet

Fail and Yahoo! Maybe he shouldn't have bought all this s**t

Yahoo! is firing a bunch of people to cut $400 million from its budget. That sucks for the people who work there, but the entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who hustled Yahoo! out of more than $2.5 billion in the last 4 years probably aren't terribly concerned. In the typical American fashion, Yahoo! bought a bunch of shit …

Financial News 22 Oct 2008, 16:43
Symbian Foundation gets new high priest

Who's gonna keep the Kool Aid cool?

The Symbian Foundation, marshal of the open source world in which the dominant mobile platform finds itself, has appointed Lee Williams as Executive Director - though guru might be a better title for someone expected to lead a religion. Lee comes from Nokia - current owners of the Symbian OS - and will remain there as head of …

Mobile 22 Oct 2008, 17:36
Gmail cuts out the meatspace with canned replies

Automatic for the boring

Lazy Gmail users can now set up automatic replies to common emails with a new add-on feature dubbed ‘Canned Responses.’ "If you are sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question, now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the 'Canned Responses' button," said …

Applications 22 Oct 2008, 17:38
Feds seize biker gang's trademark

Commence the Mongol Marketing

Federal investigators have hit a California biker gang where it hurts - by seizing the group's trademark. The Mongols OutLaw Biker Gang [website] attracted the attention of the DoJ's Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Department, with 61 indictments issued today. Search warrants were issued in six states yesterday, following a long …

Government 22 Oct 2008, 18:48
TSA seizes pre-flight terrorist screening

Good enough for government work

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will soon take control of screening airline passengers against the country's terrorist watch list in a much-delayed bid to net less infants, Senators, and other innocent travelers. Department of Homeland Security officials today unveiled a revised program for pre-departure …

Government 22 Oct 2008, 18:55
Oracle cites 'screw up' for BEA support outage

No conspiracy here folks, move along

Oracle has moved to re-assure users on legacy versions of BEA Systems software their products are safe, after online support became suddenly unavailable. The database giant blamed a "logistical screw up" in moving WebLogic and AquaLogic upgrades, services packs, and old release from the old BEA site to Oracle's Technology …

Applications 22 Oct 2008, 19:00
Dell: 'We will out-pace the rest of the industry'

Faster than the slow

Dell claims it will out-pace the rest of the PC industry this year. But that may not be much of a boast. The company doesn't know whether the industry is actually on the way up. "For the first nine months of this year, according to IDC, Dell grew a few points faster than the overall industry for our unit growth," Michael Dell …

PCs & Chips 22 Oct 2008, 20:01
Dutch court convicts teens for stealing pixels

Your +5 magic amulet or your life

A pair of Dutch teenagers have been convicted of theft for stealing virtual items from a classmate. Leeuwarden district court sentenced the boys, aged 14 and 15 to community service for punching, kicking, and threatening their 13-year-old victim with a knife until he agreed to transfer a virtual amulet and mask from the game …

Law 22 Oct 2008, 20:14
IBM defers New Coke financing

z10 mainframes get 'buy now' Linux discount

Launching a new server platform of any kind in this economic environment is never an attractive option - unless it costs a lot less money than the alternatives. With mainframes, just being a lot cheaper than last year's model is progress, and with the System z10 Business Class entry mainframes announced this week, IBM has cut …

Servers 22 Oct 2008, 20:31
Ohio elections website hacked as vote scuffle gets ugly

USA '08 Service restored

Service has been restored to the website that handles Ohio's voter registration and elections information after hackers breached its defenses. The intrusion is just one of several assaults confronting the Secretary of State's office as tensions mount over next month's presidential election. IT workers took the site down on …

Security 22 Oct 2008, 21:40
Is Amazon censoring anti-DRM reviews?

System glitch or industry bitch

Amazon.com customers are once again accusing the online retailer of removing video game reviews that criticize the use of SecuROM Digital Rights Management (DRM). The site says unfavorable reviews aren't being censored, claiming they have accidentally been removed due to a "technical glitch" in automated filtering. …

Applications 22 Oct 2008, 23:37
IBM spins up AJAX collaboration project

AJAXWorld Talk over your colleagues

Not content with its current roster of collaboration software, IBM is spinning up an effort based on completely open technologies including AJAX. The giant has unveiled the reference implementation for a project called OpusUna, to serve up combined video, audio, and data through the browser. IBM said OpusUna is faster and more …

Developer 22 Oct 2008, 23:54