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4th December 2008 Archive

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  • Bot-wielding hackers crash eBay holiday giveaway

    eBay cares not

    eBay users are howling in protest after discovering hackers are using automated scripts to win hundreds of steeply discounted auctions as part of a holiday season contest designed to draw visitors to the site. Auctions for pricey items including a Green Life electric scooter and an Oscar de la Renta evening gown, which had …

    Security 4 Dec 2008, 00:38

  • FCC boss spices Puritan wireless plan

    The threat of unlicensed spectrum

    FCC chairman Kevin Martin has added some kick to his plan for a free nationwide wireless network, flirting with the possibility of dropping at least a portion of the zero-cost spectrum straight into the hands of mobile developers. As we reported earlier this week, the FCC is set to vote on Martin's plan at its December 18 …

    Wireless 4 Dec 2008, 00:45

  • 'Faith-based' investment firm fingers holiday's most sinful games

    Holy @&$#

    Buying video games as holiday gifts can be pretty intimidating when you've got a major deity looking over your shoulder. Fortunately, if you subscribe to the same flavor of US "conservative Christian" values as the Florida investment firm The Timothy Plan, this year your soul may conveniently be spared from the ever-lasting …

    Odds and Sods 4 Dec 2008, 00:49

  • Sun sneaks JavaFX Mobile into desktop FX

    Any RIA in a storm

    Sun Microsystems, it is generally felt, lost the desktop to Microsoft a long time ago. Aware of this, Sun in recent years evangelized mobile as Java's habitat - mobile is, after all, where Microsoft's at its weakest. Such was Sun's buy-in to this idea the annual JavaOne in 2007 was dominated by mobile, and Web 2.0, while the …

    Developer 4 Dec 2008, 05:02

  • Irish govt powers up electric vehicle drive

    'Leccy Tech But is €1m enough?

    The Irish Government has been bitten by the 'leccy car bug. Last week, it announced that it wants ten per cent of the cars running on Ireland's roads to be powered by electricity. That means 250,000 of them humming around the Emerald Isle by 2020. A national task force will be set up to put flesh on the bones of this ambitious …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 07:02

  • Novell grooms NetWare-Linux lovechild

    Real-server tools meet fake-server tools

    While Novell may be the second largest commercial Linux distributor, it still gets the bulk of its sales off of NetWare and related products. The Open Enterprise Server hybrid, which puts NetWare services on top of SUSE Enterprise Linux, bridges the gap for Novell, and today, OES got a service pack to make it more appealing. …

    Operating Systems 4 Dec 2008, 07:24

  • Logitech PureFi Mobile portable Bluetooth speaker set

    Review A multi-purpose on-the-move system

    This versatile product is a combination of a Bluetooth speaker phone and a powered speaker rig that can be hooked up to any A2DP-capable device, or one with a USB cable or 3.5mm audio cable. Like most kit coming from Logitech these days, the PureFi Mobile is a very well built device. Though black and silver plastics abound, …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 09:02

  • Aussies to get first Googlephone January 2009

    Kogan Agora delayed a month

    Over here, we get the T-Mobile G1 as our first phone based on Google's Android platform. Down Under, they get the BlackBerry-like Kogan Agora. Kogan's Agora: no Wi-Fi and camera-less Well, next year they will - the Agora's not due to go on sale until 2009, the company now admits. Last month, it claimed its AU$199 ($128/£87 …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 09:47

  • Pirates pee on Amazon's MP3 parade

    Hijack MP3 announcement

    Amazon.co.uk yesterday trumpeted the launch of its MP3 download service, but a group of upstart coders chose the same day to blow their own horn about a Firefox plugin linking the e-tailer's service to The Pirate Bay. The Amazon service is flogging albums from £3 and individual songs from 59p. However, the 'Pirates of the …

    Music and Media 4 Dec 2008, 10:04

  • Panasonic steers out of satnav street

    Panasonic is pulling out of the satnav business in Europe on the back of tumbling prices. With High Street auto-accessory chain Halfords knocking 50 per cent off the price of all the satnavs it stocks, we're not at all surprised. Indeed, as one industry source dejectedly put it: "The UK satnav market's in the crapper." That …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 10:28

  • MPs demand investigation into unlawful police action

    Comment PC Power grab put on hold

    Today’s revelation that the police raid on the offices of Damian Green, MP, had been carried out without a full warrant may yet return to haunt the police officers who authorised it. Critics of the police are asking whether this was simple oversight, or part of a broader pattern of police setting out to ignore restraints placed …

    Public Sector 4 Dec 2008, 10:33

  • Firefox plug-in Trojan harvests logins

    Spy on the wire

    Virus writers have latched onto the popularity of Firefox with a new variant on the established practice of stealing online banking passwords. A password pinching Trojan that poses as a Firefox Plugin is doing the rounds, Romanian security firm BitDefender warns. ChromeInject-A is typically downloaded onto Windows PCs already …

    Malware 4 Dec 2008, 10:35

  • Lego terrorist threatens democracy

    Religious leaders slam 'Toy Taliban'

    Religious leaders have united to express their dismay at a custom range of Lego figures - including a "Toy Taliban" armed to the teeth with C96 broomhandle Mauser pistol, AK Assault Rifle and M67 frag grenades. The offending terrorist - made by US firm BrickArms and punted for £9.50 to impressionable UK kiddies here - didn't …

    Bootnotes 4 Dec 2008, 10:40

  • Human rights court rules UK DNA grab illegal

    Updated Jacqui Smith: Law to remain while judgment 'carefully considered'

    The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is illegal for the government to retain DNA profiles and fingerprints belonging to two men never convicted of any crime. The landmark decision could mean the more than 570,000 DNA profiles in the National DNA Database belonging to innocent individuals will have to be deleted …

    Public Sector 4 Dec 2008, 11:02

  • 130,000 inflatable jubs missing at sea

    Oz mag issues floating chesticle alert

    An Australian men's mag has asked beachcombers to keep a sharp eye out for inflatable breasts after 130,000 pneumatic chesticles went awol en route from Beijing to Sydney. Ralph had intended to to distribute the tits free with its January issue, but while the AU$200,000 cargo apparently left China a couple of weeks back, when …

    Bootnotes 4 Dec 2008, 11:03

  • Adobe axes 600 jobs, lowers sales outlook

    Recession bites

    Adobe will slash 600 jobs after it lowered its revenue outlook yesterday, citing the economic slowdown for less-than-impressive sales in the last quarter. Stock tumbled seven per cent in extended trading on Nasdaq following Adobe’s announcement. "The global economic crisis significantly impacted our revenue during the fourth …

    Financial News 4 Dec 2008, 11:51

  • CSC orders staff home in cost-cutting shutdown

    'It's OK, you can use up next year's holiday!'

    Outsourcing firm CSC has joined other IT giants by ordering staff to take extra holiday over Christmas in a bid to cut costs. Managers in CSC's Global Outsourcing Services (GOS) division have been told to identify critical areas that need to be staffed by a skeleton crew during the festive period, according to an internal …

    Financial News 4 Dec 2008, 12:01

  • Reding prods Germans on termination rates info

    C'mon, regulator - spill

    EU Commissioner Viviane Reding, has written an open letter to the German telecoms regulator to request information about termination rates charged by local operators - information the regulator has so far refused to share. The regulator, BNetzA, has refused to include termination rates in the last two analyses of the …

    Mobile 4 Dec 2008, 12:12

  • IBM takes on VMware virtual desktop

    Big Blue's view different from VMware View

    IBM is taking on VMware's virtual desktop infrastructure with its own Linux and Lotus-based virtual desktop. VMware's VDI, recently re-launched as View, ships a virtual Windows or Linux desktop to desktops, notebooks and thin client devices, and is built from a golden master file and linked clones, stored on a VMware ESX …

    Applications 4 Dec 2008, 12:17

  • A last hurrah: Matching info challenges with functional capabilities

    What about the stuff we’re not so good at?

    Over the last few articles, we’ve talked about the pain of getting information to the people that need it, and discovered that most of you don’t consider information or data management/delivery capabilities as a high priority when thinking about components to include in an application platform. Many of the comments to the …

    Systems 4 Dec 2008, 12:45

  • US space outfit promises The Right Stuff experience

    Sub-orbital jaunt for $95k

    Brave souls looking for "The Right Stuff experience" can now buy tickets for a sub-orbital jaunt aboard the XCOR Lynx for a modest $95,000. XCOR has inked a deal with Arizona-based RocketShip Tours, which will handle Lynx bookings and has already taken a $20k deposit from its first customer - Danish investment banker Per …

    Space 4 Dec 2008, 12:46

  • Microsoft wants to get under your skin

    HealthVault links up with VeriMed RFID chips

    Microsoft's HealthVault, the medical records database, is to be integrated with VeriMed's human-embedded RFID tags, allowing doctors to access the medical records of unconscious patients with a quick scan of the arm. VeriMed consists of an RFID tag that is embedded in the arm of a hopefully willing participant, and responds …

    Science 4 Dec 2008, 12:48

  • Sun and VMWare updates keep sysadmins busy

    Patched quilt

    Security updates from Sun and VMware make it a busy day for patching on Thursday. Sun Java 6.0 Update 11 addresses multiple security and performance bugs in Java Runtime Environment and Java SE Development software, as explained in release notes from Sun here. The one-line descriptions of the 18 bugs addressed by the update, …

    Virtualization 4 Dec 2008, 12:49

  • Fujifilm FinePix S100 FS digital camera

    Review A bridge camera that offers bags of DSLR features

    Who wants a bridge camera these days? After all, you can always opt for a super-zoom compact or an entry-level digital SLR. Well, according to Fujifilm, the FinePix S100 FS “provides the manual controls and functionality of a DSLR without the bulk, hassle and expense of additional lenses”. At first glance, you’d be forgiven …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 13:02

  • Tell Santa to bring more assault rifles

    America tools up for the inauguration

    It's guns and ammo for the holiday season if you read the news following Black Friday, the time annually reserved for the great annual shopping spasm in the US. "Panic at Gunfire in Toy Store," blared the November 29th frontpage headline in the Los Angeles Times, reporting a uniquely American muzzle flash. "Instead of the …

    Public Sector 4 Dec 2008, 13:07

  • Jacqui Smith denies any knowledge of police search

    And Speaker's 'speedy' enquiry goes slow

    Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the House of Commons she had no prior knowledge of the police investigation into Tory shadow minister Damian Green. She said she did not know an MP was the likely target of the investigation and that it would have been inappropriate for her to be involved. Theresa May, shadow Commons leader, …

    Government 4 Dec 2008, 13:12

  • Oz MPs 'could be breathalysed'

    Major blow for New South Wales politicos

    New South Wales MPs "could be breathalysed before voting" following a series of incidents which have led to suspicions that the state's politicos are sometimes less sober than their jobs demand. According to the BBC, the idea gained much favour earlier this week when National Party MP Andrew Fraser - who'd earlier enjoyed the …

    Bootnotes 4 Dec 2008, 13:29

  • Israeli Linux fan squeezes Windows refund out of Dell

    Settles out of court over EULA dispute

    A Dell customer has struck an out of court settlement with the computer giant after being refused a refund apparently guaranteed under the terms of Microsoft’s Windows licensing agreement. According to Ynetnews.com, Ziv Devir from Haifa, Israel, sued Dell in the small claims court for the cost of the Windows operating system …

    Operating Systems 4 Dec 2008, 13:41

  • Plod punishes PC-reliant businesses

    Innocent or not, you deserve to suffer

    As police begin the tedious task of sifting through Tory frontbench spokesman Damien Green’s computer effects, politicians and professionals have expressed concern that computer investigations are becoming a source of serious injustice, in need of reform and regulation. If you are suspected of an offence that involves the use …

    Policing 4 Dec 2008, 13:46

  • US WMD report: Dirty bombs, chem weapons are bunk

    But the bioterrorists will strike by 2013! Aiee!

    A US congressional investigation into terrorists and WMDs has concluded that there will be a WMD attack within five years unless prompt international action is taken. The report also effectively says that the only kinds of WMD worth worrying about are atomic bombs and biological weapons. Bob Graham and Jim Talent, both former …

    Government 4 Dec 2008, 14:06

  • Apple more closed than Microsoft

    Reg Tech Panel Choice cut from Reg Barometer Survey

    Bashing Microsoft for being closed and proprietary has been a popular pastime in the media and the IT industry for many years, and there is no doubt that much of this has been well deserved. After having its wings clipped on several occasions by regulators, however, the Microsoft of today, while not totally reformed, is a lot …

    Developer 4 Dec 2008, 14:30

  • UK ramps up health über-database

    We take part (voluntarily) in Biobank UK

    Napoleon called the British a nation of shopkeepers, but we'll be nation of statistics if UK Biobank has its way. It's a scheme backed by the Government and the NHS, and by major medical NGOs and charities, including the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation. Its aim is to evaluate the lifestyles of half-a-million …

    Science 4 Dec 2008, 14:35

  • Nokia trims expectations again

    Palm to cut costs by 20%

    Nokia has cut expectations of the mobile-phone market for the third time in as many months, while Palm is planning to cut costs by 20 per cent following a halving of sales. Less than a month ago Nokia predicted 330 million phones would ship in the last quarter of 2008, a prediction the company now thinks was optimistic - …

    Mobile 4 Dec 2008, 14:50

  • AT&T will slash 12,000 from workforce

    Telco cuts off 4% of workers

    AT&T is laying off 12,000 staff and putting the blame on the economy and "a changing business mix". The cuts amount to roughly four per cent of the US telecoms giant's total workforce. The telco said it was moving to a more streamlined structure and would cut capital expenditure in 2009 - it is finalising budgets now and will …

    Telecoms 4 Dec 2008, 14:56

  • Networked multipack cruise missiles in successful test

    Could make tanks & artillery obsolete

    Development continues on the US Forces' network-controlled, crewless homing missile system. The Non Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS), aka "Netfires", has had a successful test firing, and is now being fitted aboard the US Navy's new inshore warships. The NLOS-LS comes in the form of a large box about 1.5m tall and light …

    Science 4 Dec 2008, 15:15

  • Lapland New Forest website suffers 'unusual technical problems'

    'Scam' Xmas attraction hit by 'bizarre machine fault'

    The website of Lapland New Forest - the winter wonderland described in less than flattering terms by enraged punters who'd stumped £25-£30 for an unforgettable Yule experience - went off air earlier today amid reports that the attraction has been shut down. According to the BBC, Lapland New Forest is no more. Trading Standards …

    Bootnotes 4 Dec 2008, 15:54

  • VoIP is coming to the iPod Touch

    Is there nothing an Apple can't do?

    VoIP provider Truphone has ported its VoIP client to the iPod Touch, enabling the music player to make free phone calls over Wi-Fi networks, but only to other Truphone users for the moment. Truphone's iPhone application has been around for a while, enabling VoIP calls over Wi-Fi connections, but the application deliberately …

    VoIP 4 Dec 2008, 15:55

  • Interflora sues M&S over Google keywords

    Could be trade mark test case

    The world's largest flower delivery firm has sued Marks and Spencer at the High Court in London for sponsoring the word 'Interflora' as a search engine keyword. The case could be an important test of how UK trade mark laws apply to keyword advertising. Michigan-based Interflora and its UK trading arm are seeking an unspecified …

    Law 4 Dec 2008, 16:11

  • Booby-trapped emails fly back into fashion

    Trojan assault wave takes many guises

    Malicious email attachments disguised as airline ticket receipts are being spammed across the internet as part of a new attack. The assault is the latest in a series of booby-trapped email attachments, which have seemingly become fashionable among VXers again, after many months of playing second-fiddle to website attacks. The …

    Spam 4 Dec 2008, 16:21

  • AMD chip sales crashed in Q4

    Shanghai'd by the meltdown

    Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices will be disappointing Wall Street once again. But, then again, Wall Street has been particularly disappointing for the past several months itself. AMD this morning issued a terse two-line statement explaining the situation. The first sentence explained that for the quarter ending December 27 …

    PCs & Chips 4 Dec 2008, 16:38

  • Microsoft warns customers against bogus 'Blue Edition' Office

    Which you can buy on MSN?

    Microsoft has today filed 63 lawsuits against online auctioneers in 12 countries who allegedly sold pirated copies of MS software on sites including its own MSN shopping network. The company said the number of counterfeit Microsoft goods sold online was getting out of hand. “Dishonest auctioneers are too often using these …

    Software 4 Dec 2008, 16:50

  • Leaked Met letter questions Speaker's version of police raid

    When powerful interests attack

    The senior policeman in charge of the Whitehall leak investigation has given an account of how consent was obtained that calls the Speaker of the House's version of events into question. In a letter (pdf) to Jacqui Smith yesterday, leaked to Wikileaks today, Met assistant commissioner Robert Quick wrote: "The officers [ …

    Government 4 Dec 2008, 17:11

  • Microsoft to embed RSA data cop in Windows

    Rights management deal

    Microsoft is adopting technology from EMC's RSA security division for Windows to police data and prevent loss and theft of information. The companies announced Thursday Microsoft will license RSA's data loss prevention (DLP) engine for future versions of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and "similar" products. Microsoft …

    Operating Systems 4 Dec 2008, 18:02

  • Apple eyes (yet another) multi-touch patent

    Give your UI the finger

    Ever since Jeff Han's deservedly famous demo of a multi-touch interface at the TED conference in February of 2006, gestural-display developments have continued to appear, from Apple's mega-successful iPhone to Microsoft's micro-market Surface computer. In an application filing published today by the US Patent Office and …

    Mobile 4 Dec 2008, 19:19

  • Angel spots CherryPal cloud chimera

    It's small and it's real

    Though some claimed it didn't exist, the CherryPal cloud PC chimera has been spotted in the wild. Max Seybold's new-age thin client/ultimate buzzword mash-up first went on sale in late July, but it wasn't until yesterday that someone outside the mystery company actually laid their eyes on a shipping system. Over the summer, …

    PCs & Chips 4 Dec 2008, 19:20

  • Third ex-NASA Ames worker jailed for child porn

    Yes, third

    A third former worker at the NASA Ames Research Center in California was sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for using a government computer to download child pornography. Ernst John Rohde, 64, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of receiving materials relating to the sexual exploitation of minors while working at the …

    Crime 4 Dec 2008, 19:28

  • Blu-ray backers highlight rising demand

    Player shortages, consumer fears exaggerated, it's claimed

    The Blu-ray Disc Alliance (BDA) has pooh-pooh'd claims that demand for the format is slowing under the recessionary pressures. It even forecast "Blu-ray will enter the mainstream" in Q1 2009. Still, it's circumspect about releasing real numbers. The best it offered this week was the news that Brits bought 462,500 BDs in …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 19:37

  • How to customise the Acer Aspire One GUI

    Get the look you want

    We like the Acer Aspire One netbook's out-of-the-box UI. It's like Mac OS X's Dock writ large: a way of giving you easy access to key apps, but right in front of you, not tucked down at the bottom of the screen. However, you really should be presented with the apps you want, not what Acer believes you should have. Customising …

    Reg Hardware 4 Dec 2008, 20:36

  • Python 3.0 appears, strangles 2.x compatibility

    No more snake jokes. We promise

    Python 3.0 is out now. The latest version makes some major changes to the popular programming language, and it's incompatible with version 2.x releases. Ouroboros jokes don't count. It's the first Python intentionally made to break compatibility, according to project founder Guido van Rossum. He describes in the release …

    Developer 4 Dec 2008, 21:14

  • Apple prepping $99 Wal-Mart iPhone?

    Boy Genius cranks rumor mill

    Every December, the rumor mills begin to churn with speculation about what Apple will reveal at January's Macworld Expo. The first scintillating scuttlebutt of this year's rumor season, however, focuses not on Steve's traditional "And one more thing..." but instead on Wal-Mart's possible revival of the 4GB iPhone. The Boy …

    Mobile 4 Dec 2008, 21:25

  • Microsoft preps IE 8 for the web-challenged

    Hipsters not allowed

    Internet Explorer 8 will feature a user-generated list of "compatible" web sites, after trials found many ordinary surfers and major web sites can't work with Microsoft's next browser. The browser's planned list will be targeted at users that Microsoft considers not "web savvy". By opting to use the list with IE 8, they'll …

    Software 4 Dec 2008, 22:57

  • American 'football' goes 3D

    Multidimensional Rugby-like game

    Three select - and well-connected - audiences in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston were scheduled Thursday night to watch the first 3D broadcast of an American "football" game, according to Dvice. The technology behind this demonstration event will be provided by 3ality Digital, a California company whose chairman, David …

    Music and Media 4 Dec 2008, 23:23

  • ARSes crush Novell profits

    Could be worse

    Software maker Novell has reported financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2008 ending October 31, and the meager profits that the reorganized company was able to eek out were mostly wiped out by an impairment charge related to its investment in auction rate securities. ARSes, for short. Sales in the quarter came to …

    Financial News 4 Dec 2008, 23:54