29th December 2008 Archive

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101 uses for a former merchant banker

Comment Innovators who work out the best one will make a killing

So how are we going to get out of this recession thing, then? If we just cut interest rates to zero and crank up the printing presses, will everything return to being fine and dandy? Well, possibly, although I have to say that I personally severely doubt it. Such alarmingly simplistic Keynesian policies might help us along the …

Financial News 29 Dec 08:02
Noise-cancelling headphones head-to-head test

Review Sennheiser's established PXC-350 vs Denon's brand-new AH-NC732

Now we're in the season of the long winter break, with its long train, car and plane journeys, we thought a comparison of some noise-cancelling headphones from Denon and Sennheiser would be timely. Sennheiser's PXC-350: NoiseGuard technology well established Noise-cancelling technology has come a long way and despite a …

Reg Hardware 29 Dec 09:02
Unlocking IT-IT relationships

How intra-IT relations drive departmental success

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been considering a topic which is close to our hearts, but which is not often discussed (not online, anyway) – that of the relationship between IT professionals in development and operations roles. It’s a tricky one to research, not only because of the self-selecting nature of web-based …

Infrastructure 29 Dec 10:04
Samsung digital picture frame CD infected by virus

You've been iframed

Christmas gifts of Samsung Digital Picture frames could come with the unwelcome gift of malware, Amazon has warned. The online retailer cautioned that versions of Samsung's SPF-85H 8-Inch digital photo frame product came with an installer disc contaminated with the Sality worm. The disc is needed to use the kit as a USB …

Malware 29 Dec 10:23
Giant US air travel data suck fails own privacy tests

But gets cleared anyway

A US Department of Homeland Security privacy report published earlier this month reveals that the DHS remains in violation of both US law and the DHS-EU agreement on the handling of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. The report itself claims that the DHS is in compliance on both counts, but according to the Identity Project, it " …

Government 29 Dec 11:22
CA issues no-questions asked Mozilla cert

Snafu highlights wider trust problem

Security researchers have uncovered weaknesses in low-assurance digital certificates that create a means for miscreants to mount more convincing man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. MITMs involve a hacker planting himself between two parties in a dialogue, relaying messages between them and effectively controlling the …

Enterprise Security 29 Dec 11:32
UK.gov to push Obama for tougher rules online

Burnham's 'big moment'

The culture secretary Andy Burnham has suggested the UK should lead an international effort to introduce cinema-style age ratings on websites to prevent children accessing "unacceptable" material online. In interviews with the Telegraph and BBC, published on Saturday, Andy Burnham said it should be easier for parents to …

Law 29 Dec 12:40
CastleCops shuts up shop

Updated Sad demise of volunteer security community

CastleCops, the volunteer security community, has called it a day. For six years CastleCops campaigned against internet fraud by running malware and phishing scam investigations and take-downs. CastleCops also ran volunteer training programs, as well as maintaining other services including computer virus clean-up assistance to …

Security 29 Dec 12:49
In the ditch with DAB radio

Analysis We're different - right hand drive cars, sterling, DAB...

In 2008, the wheels fell off the DAB digital radio platform. Last week, after a year of deliberation, the government’s Digital Radio Working Group concluded that outdated DAB technology should be the sole broadcast platform for UK radio, irrespective of global market conditions or the impractical cost of its implementation. …

Music and Media 29 Dec 12:58
Big Indian outsourcer admits big problems

Two directors quit ahead of emergency meeting

Indian outsourcer Satyam has confirmed the departure of two directors and an early board meeting to discuss its future after a disastrous few weeks. Satyam, India's fourth largest outsourcer, said Professor Krishna G Palepu, a non-executive director and Mr. Vinod K Dham, a non-executive and independent director, have both left …

Channel Register 29 Dec 13:07
San Francisco's 'rogue' sysadmin faces trial

Bail reduction refused

Terry Childs, the allegedly rogue sysadmin accused of locking San Francisco authorities out of their own network at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, will stand trial on four charges of tampering with a computer network. At a preliminary hearing last week, a judge ruled there was enough evidence of his probable guilt …

Law 29 Dec 13:21
Tabloid girl's jubs freeze at -130°C

NSFW Nippy weather ahead, warns Daily Star

If you think it's a bit nippy now in good old Blighty, you'd better get your thermal undies warming on the radiator because the worst is yet to come, according to the Daily Star: We're obliged to the paper for the chilling warning, and for providing photographic evidence of just what happens when you decide to whip out your …

Bootnotes 29 Dec 14:26
Facebook in goldmine potential deficit

I know, shocking... bitch

Social networking sites will start going titsup in 2009, according to analysts, and may begin trying to charge users for the ability to publish videos of their cat playing the piano. The wheels have been coming off the Web 2.0 bandwagon for a few months now. News that the "Long Tail" theory - an article of faith for True …

Financial News 29 Dec 14:50
RBS WorldPay breach exposes 1.5 million

Payment processor buries bad news

RBS WorldPay belatedly admitted last week that hackers broke into its systems. The attack against the electronic payment services firm leaves to to 1.5 million payroll and gift card holders in the US at risk of fraud. Up to 1.1 million social security records were also exposed as a result of the breach. The affected pre-paid …

Security 29 Dec 15:03
Big Blue urged to open Notes and Domino

Free advice for ~~rich~~ deaf ears

Ian Tree, the chief architect at IT consultancy Hadleigh Marshall Netherlands b.v. of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has some free advice for IBM's Software Group: Take the Notes/Domino groupware stack open source with a community-developed programming model. The idea is to keep the Notes client and the Domino server relevant in a …

Developer 29 Dec 15:09
They used 'em, you reeled: the year's most overused phrases

Green cloud-as-a-service, anyone?

Credit crunch and economic meltdown aside, if 2008 is remembered for anything in tech it will be for the domination of the phrase "cloud computing". The "cloud" was seized on by start-ups and tech giants rushing to catch the next wave or remain relevant. The "cloud" didn't own the entire mind-share market in 2008, though. Here …

Software 29 Dec 16:02
US Navy settles sonar lawsuit

Cods up sand dollars for sea mammal research

The US Navy has settled a whale-saving lawsuit filed by environmentalists challenging the use of military sonar for testing and training exercises around the world, with both parties proclaiming victory. Five environmental groups, headed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said they reached the deal because the …

Science 29 Dec 19:31
Server racket to slow in 2009?

Upgrade Cycle v Meltdown

With some 2 million-plus physical boxes still being shipped every quarter on a global basis, the server racket is still a pretty good one. In the first three quarters of 2008, vendors peddled some $40bn in gear, and if you use IDC data as a gauge, they've collectively managed to boost revenues by 3.5 per cent for the year so far …

Servers 29 Dec 19:51
NEC, Nissan lob $1.1bn at 'lectric car battery biz

Japan shames America

In the States, tech giants can't build their own electric-car-battery plant without begging the government for the money. But in Japan, things are different. According to a report from the Nikkei business daily - kindly flagged by Reuters - Nissan and NEC will invest at least $1.1bn in an effort to churn out lithium-ion …

Reg Hardware 29 Dec 20:14
Apple wants to swipe your iPhone

Patent application stretches multi-touch

On Christmas day, the US Patent & Trademark Office slipped a little present under our collective trees: an Apple patent application entitled "Swipe Gestures for Touch Screen Keyboards." Originally filed on June 27, 2007, the application describes "Systems, methods, and devices for interpreting manual swipe gestures as input in …

Hardware 29 Dec 20:22
AT&T punts $99 iPhone

Yes, it's a refurb

Although the rumors of a $99 iPhone 3G from Walmart recently died an ignominious death, that yearned-for two-digit price point has again resurfaced - and this time it's real. To make the deal even sweeter, if you buy before December 31 you can knock another fifty bucks off the price. That's the good news. The bad news is that …

Mobile 29 Dec 22:07
Intel births Meltdown-friendly mobile quad core

And a litter of dual cores

Intel has birthed a recession-friendly quad core mobile processor. And you can find one at the heart of a new Acer laptop. Maybe. According to the Intel's latest processor price list (PDF warning), the chip giant is offering five new mobile CPUs as of December 28: one ultra-low-cost quad core and four high-end dual cores. The …

PCs & Chips 29 Dec 22:10
City of Heroes fingered in MMO patent lawsuit

Troll hits for 53 points of damage

On Christmas Eve, South Korean game developer NCSoft received a lawsuit in its stocking from a Massachusetts firm that claims to hold an extremely broad patent for developing online virtual worlds. The legal complaint from Worlds.com alleges NCsoft infringed on its patent for a "system and method for enabling users to interact …

Law 29 Dec 22:16