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3rd November 2008 Archive

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  • Intel prices up first Core i7 four-core CPUs

    Still mum on the release date, though

    Intel has priced up its upcoming initial quad-core Core i7 processors, all based on its new 45nm microarchitecture, 'Nehalem'. The initial roll-out will centre, as expected, on three desktops CPUs: the 920, 940 and 965 Extreme. All three 'Bloomfield' chips contain 731m transistors in a die that measures 263mm² Intel's Core …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 05:02

  • Sun starts skoolin' partners on software sales

    Those who can't do, teach

    No-one's ever accused Sun Microsystems of knowing how to sell software, yet the giant is about to start telling other people how they should go about it. The company plans today to start educating members of its Partner Advantage Program in the mysteries of pre-sales and marketing, systems engineering and architecture, using …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 2008, 05:02

  • Sprint de-partitions internet

    Restores Cogent connection (temporarily)

    Sprint-Nextel has reinstated the net connections it supplies to Cogent Communications, three days after severing ties with the bandwidth provider and leaving many net users unable to communicate. But the company says the move is only "temporary." On Thursday, October 30, after a long contractual dispute between the two outfits …

    Networks 3 Nov 2008, 05:05

  • Texas fines IBM for 'crucial back-ups' failure

    Server crash puts prosecutions at risk

    Texas Governor Rick Perry has suspended the transfer of state files to IBM IT systems and fined the company $900,000 for data lost through back-up failures. In 2005, Texas began an $863m, seven-year outsourcing contact with IBM. Currently, 27 agencies are managed by IBM or transitioning to IBM control. In July a server crash …

    Storage 3 Nov 2008, 07:23

  • Government Gateway login details found in pub car park

    Updated Transformational security breaches

    Key government services were taken offline over the weekend after the discovery in a pub car park of a pocket storage device containing details of the Government Gateway. The Gateway is intended to provide a central secure login service for a range of government systems, including tax credits and self assessment, so taking it …

    Government 3 Nov 2008, 08:00

  • 3M MPro110 handheld projector

    Review Palm-sized and ready for business

    In the spotlight at the Consumer Electronics Show this year was 3M's Mobile Projection Engine, a tiny projector - the vision is that we’ll all have one embedded in our mobile phones etc. Such products have yet to see the light of day, but the next best thing has: the 3M MPro110 portable projector. About the size of a …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 09:02

  • InPhase delays holographic storage to late 2009

    As GE spins own technology

    Holographic storage developer InPhase has put its first drive ship date back to late 2009. Meanwhile GE thinks it has a CD/DVD-compatible holographic technology that can be made into a commercial product. InPhase is developing a Tapestry holographic drive which uses a $180, CD-size disc with data stored as holograms within the …

    Storage 3 Nov 2008, 10:08

  • Dell hit with $500m discrimination suit

    'Old boys network'

    Four former senior Dell HR executives, all women, have filed a $500m class action that accuses the company of systemic gender and age discrimination. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, alleges Dell unfairly targeted women and employees over 40 in the big round of recent …

    IT Director 3 Nov 2008, 10:18

  • London drum-maker dies of inhalation anthrax

    Fatal percussion

    The London-based Spanish drum-maker admitted to Hackney's Homerton Hospital with anthrax contracted from imported animal skins died on Sunday afternoon, the BBC reports. A hospital spokesman confirmed that Fernando Gomez, 35, died of inhalation anthrax - the same means of transmission which in 2006 proved fatal for 50-year-old …

    Biology 3 Nov 2008, 10:42

  • What's the best 1TB wireless storage box?

    Q&A

    I'm looking for a product similar to the Freecom Datatank Gateway. Can anyone suggest a good alternative? I was originally going to get the Freecom, but after reading some reviews it didn't seem that good. Are there any good alternatives? All I want is a 1TB HDD with wireless features, Raid 1 technology and printer sharing …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 10:44

  • Sky 'to bid' for Tiscali

    Updated The neverending auction

    We're indebted to The Sunday Times for a reminder that Tiscali is still for sale. According to the paper, Sky has entered "exclusive" talks to buy the UK ISP business for an "indicative price" of £450m. Due diligence could bring the figure down. Acquiring Tiscali's 1.8 million subscribers would boost Sky from fifth to third …

    Telecoms 3 Nov 2008, 10:49

  • Microsoft sticks to its Xbox 360 prices

    No Xbox 360 price cut coming this year or next

    Microsoft has claimed that the Xbox 360 now offers such good value for money that is doesn’t plan to cut the console’s prices any further - not for a long while, at least. Stephen McGill, Head of Gaming and Entertainment at Microsoft, told VideoGamer.com that the three-strong console range is at a "great" price now and so MS …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 11:14

  • Google plugs first Googlephone flaw

    Welds patch onto Android

    Google has responded to the discovery of a security bug by pushing out the first patch for its Android mobile phone platform. Users of the G1, developed by HTC, was patched over the weekend in response to the discovery of a flaw in its browser software on 24 October. The bug was discovered by Charlie Miller, Mark Daniel and …

    Mobile 3 Nov 2008, 11:21

  • Astronaut space dump pong-bomb frag shower today

    ISS Stinky fridge hurl plunge shocker

    An old fridge thrown off the International Space Station last year is set to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere shortly, according to reports, delivering a volley of 100mph space frag debris to an as-yet unknown impact site. The refrigeration unit in question is the Early Ammonia System (EAS), a 1400lb tank intended to furnish …

    Space 3 Nov 2008, 11:39

  • Sarah Palin gets righteously punk'd

    USA '08 Nic Sarko calls to praise Who’s Nailin’ Paylin?

    US vice-presidential hopeful and Alaskan MILF pin-up Sarah Palin this weekend demostrated that she's more than ready to mix it up with the world's movers and shakers when she fielded a call from none other than French prez Nicolas Sarkozy. Or rather, when she chewed the fat with Canadian radio wags Sébastien Trudel and Marc- …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 2008, 11:40

  • Tesla Model S spied?

    'Leccy Tech Day not spoiled at BMW, Jaguar etc

    News out of Tesla is starting to read like the lyrics of the new Katy Perry single: you're hot then you're cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down. To counter the recent slew of bad news, including lay-offs at the UK assembly operation run by Lotus at its Hethel factory and the …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 11:43

  • Windows 7 'pre-beta' washes up on Pirate Bay and co

    It's as if people WANT to download the next MS OS

    Microsoft’s “pre-beta” version of its upcoming OS – Windows 7 – has already tipped up on BitTorrent sites just as the dust settles on the firm’s Professional Developers Conference. Developers and hacks at the software giant’s event were handed copies of the operating system in Los Angeles last week. Since then the likes of …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 2008, 11:52

  • Western Digital debuts HD TV add-on

    Western Digital has introduced a gadget that'll turn an external hard drive into an HD-capable media player. Western Digital's WD TV HD: sits between your telly and your hard drive Dubbed WD TV HD pulls content off a USB-connected hard drive such as WD's new My Passport external drive and presents it on an HDMI-connected HD …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 11:54

  • Are you making the most of your IT?

    RegCast El Reg and the experts tackle IT effectiveness live

    The Register is teaming up with Microsoft and Freeform Dynamics for a live, interactive one-hour video workshop on the importance of effective IT use, and we want you to join us. Driving revenue with effective IT explores how we can all start to make the most of our IT to increase business performance - a highly desirable goal …

    Business 3 Nov 2008, 11:54

  • MPs decry Heathrow T5 fiasco

    'National embarrassment', says Transport Committee

    The House of Commons Transport Committee has described the anarchic opening of Heathrow's Terminal Five as a "national embarrassment" which showed "serious failings on the part of both BAA and British Airways". The committee's report into the 27 March fiasco, which saw 36,584 passengers affected by a series of shortcomings in …

    Government 3 Nov 2008, 12:25

  • The amazing, endless, bioterror pork conveyor

    Comment The war on terror as corporate welfare...

    As the final days count down to the US election one can look at the past few years and be deeply disappointed at the country's approach to national security. Rather than count off every single well-publicized major gaffe and fiasco, it's possible to list more minor things which, when taken together, indicate the country …

    Government 3 Nov 2008, 12:46

  • Microsoft: Malware for Windows on the rise

    Attack of the killer password stealers

    Malware and unwanted software made strides in the first half of 2008, according to the latest security intelligence report from Microsoft, which tallied a 43 percent increase in the number of programs exorcised by the the company's malicious software removal tool. In the first six months of this year, there were some 62 …

    Malware 3 Nov 2008, 13:02

  • What Ray Ozzie didn't tell you about Microsoft Azure

    Fail and You Behind the whiteboard of confusion

    Unveiled earlier this month at Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference by Chief Whiteboard Operator Ray Ozzie, the Azure Services Platform confused damn near everyone. But after days of collaboration with the top minds in both industry and academia, El Reg is proud to announce that we have finally figured out what …

    Developer 3 Nov 2008, 13:02

  • Motorola legal tie to pull pricey Aura phone off eBay

    Exclusive 'I do solemnly swear not to sell my $2000 handset...'

    Once you’ve grown tired of your mobile phone then it’s your prerogative to flog it on eBay, right? Not if you buy Motorola’s upcoming Aura phone, because the firm’s penned a contract to prevent secondhand sales. Motorola's Aura: won't appear on eBay A source close to the company told Register Hardware that in order to …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 13:12

  • Virgin sacks the Facebook 13, BA customers stink

    Social networking for fun and P45s

    Virgin Atlantic has sacked the thirteen staff who labelled customers "chavs" and criticised the maintenance record of the airline's fleet of Boeing 747s which fly from Gatwick. The staff criticised the cleanliness of Virgin's fleet and of its passengers. All 13 have now been sacked for their comments. It seems staff at …

    IT Director 3 Nov 2008, 13:21

  • Microsoft slings Windows Home Server in OEM bargain bin

    'Will anyone buy my lurvverly OS?'

    Microsoft has slashed the OEM price of its Windows Home Server software by 30 per cent. The firm said on Friday that the channel would get more “value” out of the system builder version, the pricing for which changed on 1 November. Of course, many will wonder – in these head-in-the-cloud days – why such a product is desirable …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 2008, 13:29

  • MPs join fight to save McKinnon from US prison

    Pentagon hacker 'too vulnerable' to survive hard time

    MPs are being asked to support accused Pentagon hacker via a motion demanding he serves any jail time he might eventually receive in the UK, even if his long-running campaign to avoid extradition and trail in the US fails. Lawyers for McKinnon claim his recent diagnosis with Asperger's syndrome ought to preclude his …

    Law 3 Nov 2008, 13:32

  • Intel Core i7 'Nehalem' processor and X58 chipset

    Review We put the chip giant's new architecture to the test

    In appearance, the new Intel Core i7 - based on the 'Nehalem' microarchitecture - looks like a bigger, chunkier version of the Core 2 Quad but under the heat spreader and casing it has a radical design that breaks new ground. New ground, that is, for Intel, but Core i7 seems to have rather a lot in common with AMD's Phenom …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 13:43

  • Music royalties group pooh-poohs Belgian P2P appeal reports

    ISP must filter, just later, SABAM says

    The Belgian music royalties collecting society SABAM has denied reports that a judge last week binned a landmark decision forcing an ISP to block unlicenced file sharing. The Belgian press reported that the ISP Scarlet had convinced the judge that filtering its network for copyright infringement was technically impossible. We …

    Music and Media 3 Nov 2008, 14:07

  • Why no c*nt and paste for the iPhone?

    It's just Jobs being awkward, suggests ZDnet

    Yes, we know it's childish, but we couldn't resist bringing you this crisp autumnal Monday a bit of a classic from our chums down at ZDnet, whose sub-editors were evidently suffering this morning from a touch of pub flu: A fair question. I for one would stump way over the asking price for an Jesus phone with this juicy …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 2008, 14:22

  • Asus intros £449 all-in-one desktop Eee

    Asus unveiled its touchscreen desktop Eee PC, the Top 1602, late last week, touting the all-in-one box's "powerful multimedia capabilities". What, with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and the chip giant's GMA 950 integrated graphics on board? "I think you overestimate their chances." Asus' Eee Top: slimline media centre, …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 14:58

  • York council gets sniffy with Street View

    Could have asked for permission to film

    York council is a bit miffed that Google's Street View spycars have hit the historic city's highways and byways without asking for permission to film, local paper The Press reports. York Street View monitors have apparently been watching the Orwellian Opels doing their master's dark will over the past couple of weeks, …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 2008, 15:02

  • MoD miracle-armoured-vehicle scheme still struggling

    Comment FRES: Fudgemobiles Repeatedly Expected Soon

    UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to purchase a multibillion pound integrated combat vehicle fleet with well-nigh miraculous capabilities may be back to square one, according to reports. The Financial Times reports today that negotiations between the MoD and US weaponry leviathan General Dynamics on the so-called Future Rapid …

    Government 3 Nov 2008, 15:11

  • Drunken paedo commie exposed on internet

    Chinese official sacked for restaurant escapade

    A Chinese government official has been sacked after photos and vid clips of him drunkenly trying to force an 11-year-old girl into the men's toilet of a Shenzhen seafood restaurant surfaced on the internet, Reuters reports. Lin Jiaxiang, former Communist Party chief and deputy director of the Shenzhen Maritime Safety …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 2008, 15:14

  • Free WinMo 7 phones to lure punters to desktop Windows 7

    Exclusive Buy the MS PC OS, get the MS phone OS - and a handset - free

    Carphone Warehouse looks set to give away free smartphones running Windows Mobile 7 with copies of the upcoming Windows 7 PC operating system, Register Hardware has learned. A phone manufacturer source familiar with the phone retailer's plans told us that the Windows Mobile 7 phone and Windows 7 bundle boxes will be released …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 15:18

  • US court narrows scope for business method patents

    Tight squeeze

    One of the US's highest courts has ruled that business methods cannot be patented unless they meet a test laid down by the Supreme Court. It has overruled a test set by a lower court and narrowed the scope of business method patents. Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw tried to patent their method of hedging risk in energy …

    Law 3 Nov 2008, 15:21

  • Dell scrambles onto de-dupe bandwagon

    Quantum of revenue solace

    Dell has jumped on the Quantum/EMC de-dupe bandwagon and is developing a single block-level de-dupe and replication architecture spanning its own, Quantum and EMC storage arrays. De-duplication involves detecting and removing repeated block-level patterns of data in a file and replacing them with pointers thus reducing the …

    Storage 3 Nov 2008, 15:39

  • FCC under pressure to reduce D block cost

    $750m proves a bit pricey

    The FCC is being asked to reduce the minimum bid for the the last of the 700MHz blocks, due to be auctioned next year, as $750m is a lot of money for frequencies to which the buyers won't have exclusive access. Next year the FCC will be auctioning off D Block spectrum, again, and despite bids of only $472m last time it's …

    Networks 3 Nov 2008, 16:12

  • MS punts Xbox Live starter pack for network newbies

    Get online for Christmas

    Microsoft has created a bundle pack designed to tempt Xbox 360 gamers to try online gaming. Microsoft's Live starter pack: all you need to get your Xbox 360 online The 60GB Live Starter Pack includes everything you need to upgrade your console from a standalone machine to an all-singing, all-dancing connected entertainment …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 16:25

  • Sapphire twinkles over Radeon HD 4850 X2 exclusive

    Two GPUs, only one board supplier

    Sapphire has launched what it claims its the only graphics card you can get that features AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2 twin-GPU set-up. Sapphire's HD 4850 X2: two GPUs, one supplier The Sapphire HD 4850 X2's two 4850 chips each connect to its own 1GB of GDDR 3 memory over a 256-bit bus. Both GPUs co-operate using AMD's …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 16:49

  • VMware does U-turn on recent, unloved price hike

    Channel players grumble at sudden change of heart

    VMware has cancelled out the 10 per cent price hike it applied to its virtualisation products back in August thanks to a more favourable exchange rate in the European and Asian markets. However, the move has upset some channel players, who have recently adjusted the VMware products they sell to the new price list the company …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 2008, 17:05

  • Users pour forth MacBook trackpad woes

    Failing to click

    An official Apple forum has become a sounding board for numerous complaints that the MacBook’s new multi-touch glass-covered trackpad isn't behaving itself. Apple's MacBook trackpad: freezing after 50 clicks? Owners of shiny new metal MacBooks grumble that the trackpad freezes after roughly 50 clicks and that it suddenly …

    Reg Hardware 3 Nov 2008, 18:02

  • Ubuntu 8.10 - All Hail new Network Manager

    Review The good kind of UI theft

    Canonical, the developers behind Ubuntu Linux have release Intrepid Ibex, the successor to last spring's Hardy Heron release. Ibex isn't a long-term support release - which might put off some large organizations - but for Ubuntu desktop fans, version 8.10 makes a worthwhile upgrade. If you made the leap to Ubuntu 8.10 when it …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 2008, 18:31

  • IBM smells Sun red ink

    Undercuts Sparc servers with beefier rebates

    Back in April, when IBM rolled out the completely refreshed Power Systems Power6-based server line, the marketeers also got a chance to play alongside the engineers with the launch of the Power Rewards rebate program. At the time, Hewlett-Packard's vintage HP 9000 server line seemed to be the main target of Power Rewards, which …

    Servers 3 Nov 2008, 19:04

  • Second French rogue trader case sparks risky thinking

    Can real-time controls prevent fraud?

    A trader suspected of losing his employer as much as €751m ($940m) in ill-judged derivatives trades has been placed under investigation. The case has sparked a fresh assessment of the adequacies of compliance systems and how they might be improved and stirred up a few unhappy memories. Boris Picano-Nacci, of French mutual bank …

    Security 3 Nov 2008, 19:05

  • OpenBSD 4.4 released

    Free Unix offshoot lands

    The 25th release of the free BSD Unix-like operating system has been made available. OpenBSD 4.4 offers new improved drivers including support for the Intel G33 and G35 chipsets and a variety of new Wi-Fi chips. It also boosts better ACPI support for some Asus and Thinkpad notebooks. The software can be downloaded from …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 2008, 19:10

  • Sun euthanizes UltraSparc-IV boxes

    A promotion before dying

    Sun Microsystems has announced that its Sun Fire line of dual-core UltraSparc-IV and UltraSparc-IV+ servers has come to the end of the economic line. This will not come as a surprise to the Solaris install base, which has been told repeatedly over the past several years to move to Sparc T servers using "Niagara" multicore and …

    Servers 3 Nov 2008, 19:19

  • Circuit City cutting jobs, stores, inventory for the holidays

    All I want for Christmas is liquidity

    Circuit City today confirmed plans to lay off thousands of US workers and close 155 stores in order to survive the holiday season. The consumer electronics chain will also reduce the number of future store openings and renegotiate leases on some of its remaining 566 locations. Circuit City's scheme was first reported in The …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 2008, 19:22

  • Salesforce.com apps integrate with Facebook and Amazon

    Dreamforce 2008 Microsoft "scared" of clouds

    In a world where "software as a service" was looking dated, Salesforce.com's has gone hip with Facebook and Amazon while taking swipes at Microsoft's attempts to be cool. Salesforce.com's chief executive Marc Benioff has unveiled Force.com for Facebook to integrate 260,000 of the social networks' applications with business …

    Developer 3 Nov 2008, 20:33

  • CIO surveys murdering IT budgets

    Stop the mag before it polls again

    Now might be a good time for CIO Magazine to stop bugging chief information officers and IT managers about their IT spending plans. Its surveys are killing us. Back in March, when the magazine did a survey of IT shops just as the global economy started looking a little ill, only 17 per cent of the CIOs polled said they …

    Financial News 3 Nov 2008, 21:13

  • Gartner dips chip forecast for 2009

    Something about an economic something-or-other

    The chip industry has done OK despite global economic troubles, but the road ahead isn't looking nearly so pleasant, according to a new survey by Gartner. The market researcher/diviner's formal report on the semiconductor business won't be ready until the end of November, but it's already made some major revisions to previous …

    PCs & Chips 3 Nov 2008, 22:32

  • Oxford don offered $10,000 for proof terrorist penned Obama memoir

    USA '08 Philosophy, computing, and Republican desperation

    In a last-ditch attempt to spook credulous Americans into voting for John McCain, a Republican congressman and his brother-in-law have offered $10,000 to a software-wielding Oxford don, asking for proof that Barack Obama's memoir was written by former domestic terrorist William Ayers. As first reported by The Sunday Times, Dr …

    Government 3 Nov 2008, 22:36

  • Violent video games <coin flip> ARE linked to child aggression

    Giant enemy crabby kids

    Studies connecting video games with real world violence have historically been... conflicting. It's almost as if the human brain is complex and doesn't dictate behavior based entirely on one particular stimulus. Or something. The most recent finding out there leans towards a direct connection. But it also attempts to avoid …

    Applications 3 Nov 2008, 23:47