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29th January 2009 Archive

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  • 5,000-year-old 'ice man' was shot to death

    Had 99 problems, but dying of exposure wasn't one

    The final days of Oetzi, the Copper Age hunter whose frozen body was found preserved in an Italian glacier in 1991, were about as rough as they come. New investigations by a research team from Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich and Bolzano, Italy conclude the world's oldest "ice mummy" probably suffered at least two separate …

    Science 29 Jan 00:34

  • US Congress kills digital TV delay

    February 17. Ready or not

    The US House of Representatives today voted down a bill that would have delayed the States' changeover from analog to digital television broadcasting, a move that could shut down the boob tube for an estimated 6.5 million Americans in three weeks. If the vote stands, the switchover will take place on February 17 as originally …

    Government 29 Jan 00:39

  • Google shamed by Low Countries search

    Privacy Theatre upstaged

    As Google and Yahoo! play Privacy Theatre, at least one search engine has realized your personal data is not a toy. Today - aka Data Privacy Day 2009 - Netherlands-based search engine Ixquick told the world it will no longer log user IPs. In the past, the privacy-obsessed outfit stored IP addresses for only 48 hours, but it …

    Applications 29 Jan 01:22

  • EC will force users to pick a Windows browser, says Microsoft

    No escaping choice

    The European Commission may force PC users to choose between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and other browsers when they set up a new machine. That's according to Microsoft's second-quarter 10-Q SEC filing, which claims the Commission is considering ordering Microsoft and PC vendors to "obligate" users to chose their browser …

    Channel Register 29 Jan 01:28

  • GeoCluster - Windows from here to Timbuktu

    Global Double-Take

    Double-Take Software - which was founded to provide data replication for servers and their applications - has been transforming itself into a workload optimization and high availability software vendor. And like everyone else, Double-Take is trying to get into the virtualization game - not just to make money, but because servers …

    Servers 29 Jan 05:45

  • Fujitsu sells out to Toshiba

    No job loss shock

    Fujitsu has agreed to sell its hard disk drive (HDD) business to Toshiba, according to reports. Ranked number six worldwide by iSuppli, Fujitsu's HDD business is loss-making, and Western Digital (number 2) was a rumoured buyer before Toshiba emerged. The global HDD industry is seeing a contraction in demand due to the …

    Storage 29 Jan 05:49

  • Asus ENGTX285 TOP overclocked graphics card

    Review Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 285 makes its debut

    Asus' ENGTX285 TOP graphics card is based around Nvidia’s latest graphics chip, the GeForce GTX 285. This is the GT200b core, which is a die-shrink from 65nm to 55nm of the GT200 that was the basis for last summer's big Nvidia release, the GeForce GTX 280. Asus' ENGTX285 TOP: factory overclocked GTX 285 All of the features …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 09:02

  • Extreme pron vigilantes are after you

    Or are they?

    Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toe back in the waters of internet smut, along comes a bunch of vigilantes who could be about to make life a great deal more worrying. Or perhaps not - read on and make your own mind up. This week, the new law on extreme porn went live throughout the UK (except Scotland). Hopes in …

    Law 29 Jan 09:02

  • Capgemini tells contractors to bite 15 per cent cut

    Suck up or ship out

    Capgemini has told contractors working on its Aspire contract to accept a 15 per cent cut or leave. Blaming the recession, Capgemini asks contractors to work with their agencies to cut rates. Aspire is CapGemini's outsourcing deal with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - it cut 600 jobs on the contract back in late 2007. The …

    IT Director 29 Jan 09:11

  • Universal thaws out The Thing

    'You gotta be fu*king kidding'

    Variety has confirmed chilling rumours that Universal was planning to remake The Thing - a project described as a "re-imagining" of the classic which first hit the big screen in 1951 and resurfaced in John Carpenter's excellent 1982 adaptation. The rehash is, as were the first two outings for The Thing, based "heavily" on the …

    Entertainment 29 Jan 10:33

  • Behaviour trumps 'non-waiver' clauses, says Court of Appeal

    Peeved by Post Office perambulation

    The Post Office was not allowed to walk away from a contract because it had continued to perform its duties for 11 months after the other company breached the contract, the Court of Appeal has ruled. That continuation of the contract after the breach undermined the Post Office's ability to walk away from the deal, even though …

    IT Director 29 Jan 10:34

  • The A-Team flies into Hollywood

    I ain't goin' on no adaptation, fool!

    Twentieth Century Fox has enlisted director Joe Carnahan to bring 1980s TV series The A-Team to the big screen, Variety reports. The project, slated for a summer 2010 release, sees Ridley Scott producing with brother Tony in the exec producer's chair under their "Scott Free" banner. Canahan will rework a script by Skip Woods ( …

    Entertainment 29 Jan 10:34

  • Dutch search engine ignores IP addresses

    We ain't logged you, right?

    A Dutch search engine has become the first to operate without recording the address of the computer used to make the search. Ixquick said it had taken the move to protect users' privacy. Ixquick is a meta search engine which uses other search engines to provide results to users' queries. It has made privacy its main selling …

    Applications 29 Jan 10:42

  • NASA ponders Spirit's erratic behaviour

    Mars rover showing its age?

    The team controlling NASA's Mars rover Spirit is planning to carry out some diagnostic tests on the venerable vehicle after it earlier this week indulged in some "unexplained behavior", as the agency puts it. On Sunday, Spirit reported that it had "received its driving commands for the day but had not moved" - a correct …

    Space 29 Jan 11:24

  • WD financial platters spinning slower

    Quarterly profit 95 per cent down

    Western Digital's financial platters are spinning markedly more slowly. Profits in its fiscal 2009 second quarter, which ended on 26th December 2008, more than halved from the year-ago quarter to $123m, and were then almost obliterated by a restructuring charge to just $14m. At least it was a profit. The gory details are Q2 …

    Channel Register 29 Jan 11:35

  • LIVE 2pm GMT today: BI for mid-market companies

    Regcast The role of IT in enabling business performance

    Join The Register’s expert panel from 2pm GMT today for this live, free, interactive webcast on the role of IT in enabling business performance. The team kicks off with an assessment of business intelligence for mid-market companies, and debate why it’s relevant now more than ever as they highlight findings from Reg Tech Panel …

    Tech Panel 29 Jan 11:36

  • 'Bart Simpson' punts Church of Scientology

    Fox none too pleased

    It appears that Twentieth Century Fox is none too pleased with Nancy Cartwright's use of Bart Simpson to punt an upcoming Church of Scientology event in a "robo-calling" recording. Committed Scientologist Cartwright, who has donated $10m to her favourite cult, begins her message with “Hey, what’s happening man, this is Bart …

    Bootnotes 29 Jan 11:46

  • Symantec braces for economic downturn

    Precautionary $7bn hit helps boost share price

    Symantec's operating profits beat Wall Street forecasts, but the firm still recorded a $6.8bn third quarter loss because of write-downs. The company reported a third-quarter loss of $6.8bn compared to a profit of $132m in the same quarter last year. Sell fell slightly by 0.1 percent to $1.51bn in the the three months running …

    Financial News 29 Jan 12:09

  • Nokia intros Classic trio

    Something for every pocket wallet

    The annual Mobile World Congress - aka 3GSM - mobile phone shindig is less than a month away, but Nokia can’t wait until then to talk-up its latest phones. So it’s unveiled three new Classic-brand talkers. Nokia's all-sining, all-dancing 6700 Classic The 2700 Classic, 6303 Classic and 6700 Classic are all similar-looking …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 12:10

  • AMD upgrades VIP to VIP status

    Warrington distie masters AMD channel

    AMD has promoted VIP Computer Centre Ltd to Master Distributor status, following some successful campaigns by the components wholesaler to flog more AMD product. The practical effect is that VIP will hold more AMD stock, distribute more AMD SKUs and at more competitive prices. Faye Le Duc, who runs UK channel marketing at AMD …

    Channel Register 29 Jan 12:21

  • Third-gen Apple iPhone in development?

    Firmware code points to new model

    iPhone fans, hold onto your hats. A block of XML in Apple's latest phone firmware has reignited rumours that a new version of the handset's in development. Apple's firmware refers to "iPhone2,1" Each iPhone model carries its own version number, with the first-generation GPRS/Edge model down as iPhone1,1 and the 3G model …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 12:23

  • Force 1800 superhurricanes snapped on far-off world

    Pic 'These images are not artists' impressions'

    Californian astronomers have used a NASA orbital telescope to generate unique "photorealistic" imaging of a planet nearly 200 lightyears away while it swung close by its parent star, causing an "explosion" of terrifically powerful atmospheric storms as the far-off world heated up to 1200°C. Force 1800 winds follow the 1200°C …

    Space 29 Jan 12:31

  • Sony plans touchscreen Surface-like printer

    Patent app reveals detailed sketches

    Sony has submitted a patent application for a device featuring Microsoft Surface-like touch display technology alongside the ability to print out physical photographs. Sony's applied to patent a touchscreen and wireless-capable printer Despite the application’s description being about as helpful its long-winded title - “ …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 12:31

  • Graphics biz feels first real pain since 2000

    Worse to come

    Q4 2008 was a poor period for manufacturers of graphics chips: all of the key players experiencing sales slumps whether measured on a quarter-by-quarter or a year-on-year basis. According to market watcher Jon Peddie Research (JPR), it's the first time the graphics market has shrunk between Q3 and Q4 since 2000. "Put simply, …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 12:56

  • iRiver Spinn media player

    Review Why settle for a touchscreen when you can twiddle a knob too?

    The iRiver Spinn seems to have been forged in the white heat of a fierce row about the merits of a touchscreen vs traditional controls. But rather than come down on one side of the fence or the other, iRiver seems to have ended the argument with a petulant 'fine, we'll have both then!' iRiver's Spinn: why have touchscreen or …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 13:02

  • Falling chip sales cost more jobs

    One in ten go at STMicro

    STMicro is laying off 4,500 people - one in ten of its workforce - and won't provide revenue guidance for next year until the market is clearer. The company will cut $700m from expenses in 2009 by slashing jobs and "resizing" manufacturing operations. STMicro makes chips for industrial applications, set-top boxes and cars. …

    PCs & Chips 29 Jan 13:05

  • Nokia eyes up innovators

    11 apps fight to be the future of mobility

    Nokia has released details of the 11 finalists in its "Calling All Innovators" competition, picked from almost 1000 entrants and apparently focusing on applications that improve the quality of life on earth. There are those who believe the best way to improve quality of life would be to switch off the mobile, but …

    Mobile 29 Jan 13:08

  • Vladimir Putin bitchslaps Dell-boy

    'We don't need any help. We are not invalids'

    Michael Dell might think twice about dishing out a sales pitch to a world leader in the future after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin very publicly dissed his patronising offer of help. The founder of computer giant Dell attended the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland yesterday. Putin had …

    Channel Register 29 Jan 13:10

  • Carter pledges file sharing snoop laws

    Digital Britain And broadband for all

    Lord Carter's interim report Digital Britain promises legislation to force ISPs to identify people using file sharing software, more promotion for DAB radio and a weakening of BT's universal service obligations. Instead of BT having a legal duty to universal access to phone lines, there will be a shared obligation to provide …

    Public Sector 29 Jan 13:18

  • Digital Britain: A tax, a quango and ISP snooping

    Digital Britain All in a day's work for the modern bureaucrat

    Did anyone expect more from Stephen Carter CBE? The former Ofcom boss and No.10 strategy chief (sic) has spent his career moving between the world of advertising and public relations, quangos and party. So it's no surprise that the "vision thing" involves a tax, a quango and a burden by private parties to snoop on the public. It …

    Government 29 Jan 13:36

  • British Airways to enable mid-Atlantic texting

    Thumbs: Up

    British Airways has announced that customers crossing the pond on their new service from City Airport to New York will be able to send text messages and access the internet from the middle of the Atlantic. The new service, which will launch later in the year, is business class only and will stop off in Ireland on the way to …

    Mobile 29 Jan 13:42

  • Kodak quietly unveils its latest compact

    Entry-level camera

    Without saying a word, Kodak has listed a new compact camera on its website: the 10.2Mp C180. Kodak's C180 compact: 10.2Mp sensor and YouTube support The AA battery-based snapper has a 2.4in screen and is capable of both a 3x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. ISO sensitivity tops out at 1250. As with most modern compacts, …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 13:48

  • IE8 Suggested Sites suggested to be snoopy

    Privacy activists cry Phorm on Redmond

    Privacy activists are crying foul over the "Suggested Sites" feature in IE8, but Microsoft insists concerns about the feature, such that it might be used to serve up targeted advertising or that it poses a security risk, are misplaced. The optional component in the next version of Microsoft's browser software "discover …

    ID 29 Jan 14:17

  • UK.gov backs ISPs on charging content providers, throttling P2P

    Digital Britain Carter kicks net neutrality corpse

    The government today rejected any prospect of US-style "net neutrality" laws to prevent ISPs from charging online content providers for traffic prioritisation, or from restricting bandwidth-hungry protocols such as BitTorrent. In his Digital Britain report, Lord Carter said givings ISPs the ability to charge for guaranteed …

    Telecoms 29 Jan 14:40

  • EU funds Antipodes-in-90-mins rocketliner concept

    Winged droptanks recovered midair by 747 sky-tugs?

    The EU is funding a radical German design for an exo-atmospheric rocketliner capable of making a daily run from Europe to Australia in ninety minutes. The plans might even include winged glider droptanks, recovered in midair after use by aerial tugs. The bad news is, the ship isn't realistically expected in service until 2075 …

    Science 29 Jan 15:06

  • Exploding core counts: Heading for the buffers

    Ferrari engine meet go-kart

    The top minds at IT analyst Gartner have been mulling over the ever-increasing number of cores on modern processors, and have come to a conclusion that many academic experts have already come to - boosting core counts to take advantage of Moore's Law is gonna run out of gas, and sooner rather than later, because software can't …

    Servers 29 Jan 15:24

  • Japan gets 3D phone

    Surf the web, in 3D!

    Since 3G networks and mobile phone-based wallets are run of the mill in Japan, the country’s network providers need to offer pretty advanced handsets if they want to snare more cash. So operator KDDI has unveiled a phone with a 3D display. The Wooo Ketai H001 had a 3D display The recently announced Ketai H001 has a 3.1in …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 15:33

  • Sky hints at 3D TV launch

    Possible launch within two years

    Satellite broadcaster Sky has said that UK viewers could be treated to 3D broadcasts inside 24 months. The firm’s Director of Strategic Product Development, Gerry O'Sullivan, told The Times newspaper that a 3D service “could be launched any time in the next two years”. “Could” is the key word here, as O'Sullivan stressed that …

    Reg Hardware 29 Jan 15:39

  • UK to rely on mobile operators for universal broadband

    Digital Britain 2Mbit/s with 'a bit of wiggle room'

    The government will turn to mobile operators to deliver the commitment made by Lord Carter today that every home in the UK should be able to get 2Mbit/s broadband by 2012. The interim Digital Britain report, published today, is short on specifics of how a new Universal Service Commitment (USC) will function, and defers …

    Telecoms 29 Jan 16:21

  • Indian embassy website hack part of wider assault

    Ad ranking scam or massive malware attack?

    The compromise of legitimate websites with hostile code ultimately designed to serve up malware onto the PCs continues apace, with the latest victims including the Indian embassy in Spain. Security researchers Ismael Valenzuela (here) and later Dancho Danchev (here) discovered that the the Indian Embassy in Spain was serving …

    Enterprise Security 29 Jan 16:57

  • Intel consolidates European R&D

    No crystal ball on job cuts

    Chipzilla’s lame duck chairman has insisted that Intel will not be cutting jobs at its Irish unit after the firm announced a shake-up of its European R&D unit. Just last week, Craig Barrett announced his retirement from the company, 48 hours after Intel revealed that it would close five plants in a restructuring move that …

    Financial News 29 Jan 18:22

  • Intel gives shareholders 'say on pay'

    Weighing Otellini's package

    Intel has given shareholders a say on the size of its executive packages. Yesterday, Intel shareholder Walden Asset Management told the world that the chipmaker's board of directors has approved an Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation, otherwise known as a "say on pay." At Intel's annual meeting in May, shareholders will …

    Financial News 29 Jan 18:23

  • US House OKs Obama's IT stimulus

    $825bn bill hits Senate

    The U.S. economic stimulus bill espoused by President Obama - and a bunch of IT luminaries hoping to benefit from spending on infrastructure projects - was approved yesterday by the House and will now move on to the Senate. The president used the occasion to invite some IT heavy hitters to the White House for a roundtable …

    Government 29 Jan 18:45

  • AOL lays off 10 per cent, freezes pay

    Ad slump blamed

    AOL will lay off 10 per cent of its workforce, or about 700 people, to cope with an advertising slump from the US recession, according to a memo sent to employees Wednesday. The Time Warner internet division will also freeze employee merit pay raises in 2009 to help minimize the layoffs, AOL chief Randy Falco said in the …

    Financial News 29 Jan 19:06

  • Mobile broadband or WiFi? You betcha

    Horses for wireless courses

    Our increasing appetite for sending and receiving data on the move fuels ever increasing need for wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi access and mobile broadband are usual ways of meeting this need. So what's best? At this stage, WiFi is ahead in convenience terms, but it is debatable by how much - particularly when roaming - and for …

    Notebooks 29 Jan 19:19

  • Feds: IT admin plotted to erase Fannie Mae

    'Server Graveyard' narrowly averted

    A fired computer engineer for Fannie Mae has been arrested and charged with planting a malicious software script designed to permanently destroy millions of dollars worth of data from all 4,000 servers operated by the mortgage giant. Rajendrasinh Babubahai Makwana, 35, of Virginia, concealed the Unix script on Fannie Mae's main …

    Crime 29 Jan 20:18

  • Microsoft's Automatic Update - the way to browser competition?

    Chrome, Firefox, and Opera ride with IE

    Microsoft could restore competition in the browser market overnight by throwing open its Automatic Update service to Google, Mozilla, and Opera. Opera Software's chief technology officer told The Reg that the inclusion of rivals to Internet Explorer in Microsoft's software update service would mean Microsoft reaches millions …

    Applications 29 Jan 22:12

  • CIA's Algeria chief recalled amid rape allegations

    Spy boss laptop seized as evidence

    The CIA's top officer in Algeria has been recalled to Washington amid accusations he drugged and raped two women at his Algiers residence. The officer, identified in an affidavit as Andrew Warren, was the spy agency's station chief in Algeria from 2007 until late last year. The allegations, first reported by ABC News, surfaced …

    Crime 29 Jan 22:16

  • Google gives world net test lab

    Broadband sniff haven

    Joining forces with some close friends, Google has given the world an online lab for testing the behavior of its internet connections. Yesterday, in tandem with the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute and the PlanetLab Consortium, the search giant unveiled Measurement Lab - a distributed server platform where …

    Music and Media 29 Jan 22:26

  • Business Objects pioneer embraces open source BI

    Remember me, SAP?

    The founder, former chairman and chief executive of Business Objects has turned to open source for his latest venture in business intelligence. Bernard Liautaud has joined the board of open source ETL and data integration specialist Talend following a round of $12m funding by Balderton Capital. Liautaud - a pioneer in BI who …

    Developer 29 Jan 23:53

  • Amazon expands as etail shrinks

    Post-Meltdown sales up 18 per cent

    Unlike the average etailer, Amazon actually enjoyed the post-Meltdown holiday season. In the fourth quarter, according to those clever net watchers at comScore, etail spending shrunk for the first time in history. But the grand dame of online shops grew revenue 18 per cent year-over-year, from $5.67bn to $6.7bn. And profits …

    Financial News 29 Jan 23:57