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3rd April 2009 Archive

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  • Linux chief calls for FAT-free Microsoft diet

    Moment on the lips, lifetime on the GPS

    Microsoft and TomTom might have settled over patents, but that hasn't stopped one Linux advocate from calling on manufacturers to adopt a "FAT-free diet". Jim Zemlin, Linux Foundation executive director, has said those who implement File Allocation Table should undertake a wholesale review and strip a technology from their …

    Software 3 Apr 2009, 00:15

  • Google advises flushing your website

    Web 2.0 Expo Lessons in load time

    Steve Souders is the sort of person who spends his Saturday afternoons measuring website load-times. "You might watch football games," he says. "I watch websites load." After founding the Exceptional Performance Group at Yahoo! - an effort to improve website speed from the websurfer's point of view - Souders now does similar …

    Developer 3 Apr 2009, 00:17

  • Clearwire gives devs free WiMAX sandbox

    Silicon Valley 'head start'

    In a clear bid to exploit WiMAX's time-to-market advantage over LTE - its 4G wireless-broadband competitor - Clearwire will offer free WiMAX service to developers in Silicon Valley. The free ride, dubbed the "WiMAX Innovation Network," will be available to "a limited number of qualified developers for one year" and will cover …

    Broadband 3 Apr 2009, 00:24

  • Super Talent flashes the big whopper

    Settle down - it's a 2TB PCIe flash drive

    Solid state drive supplier Super Talent has added a PCIe-connected 2TB flash SSD, the RAIDDrive, to its product line, with versions for gamers, workstation and enterprise users. The drives support single layer cell (SLC) or multi-layer cell (MLC) flash. SLC flash is faster whereas MLC memory holds more data at less cost per GB …

    Storage 3 Apr 2009, 07:02

  • How gov scapegoats systems for man-made errors

    Dead pupil letter shows it is human to err

    If you want to understand what is wrong with public policy when it comes to IT in the UK, look no further than the recent tragic case of the letter sent by a school to the parents of dead schoolgirl Megan Gillan, demanding that she improve her attendance. It was one of those bleak and bitter accidents that inevitably occur …

    Government 3 Apr 2009, 08:02

  • White wine stains your teeth too

    Off-colour gnashers: the wages of sin

    Dental boffins in New York have carried out groundbreaking research indicating that white wine, counterintuitively, stains your teeth. No, really. The new research was carried out by Dr Mark Wolff, prof at the New York University College of Dentistry, and Cristina M Dobrescu, a third-year student. The two dentists, rather …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 09:01

  • BT gets 8 NHS trusts in south

    Connecting for Health gets hooked up

    NHS Connecting for Health has agreed that BT will take responsibility for the Cerner Millennium installations at eight acute trusts in the south of England. The NHS National Programme for IT has lacked a local service provider in the south of England since CfH fired Fujitsu in May 2008. "NHS Connecting for Health can confirm …

    Policy 3 Apr 2009, 09:11

  • Xbox 360 update released

    And just after the PS3 firmware launch too...

    Unwilling to let Sony steal all the limelight with its newly unveiled PlayStation 3 firmware update, Microsoft too has launched new software for its console. Microsoft staffer Major Nelson said on the official Xbox 360 blog that the system update for the console has just been released, so next time you sign into Xbox Live you’ …

    Games 3 Apr 2009, 09:13

  • Radiohead and chums demand copyright 'fair play'

    The Cliff Clause

    A pop stars' pressure group has called for copyright in sound recordings to be extended beyond the current 50-year term, but has said that artists should be given control of the copyright after 50 years. The European Commission and European Parliament are debating proposals to extend the period of protection for sound …

    Media 3 Apr 2009, 09:14

  • Wacky DS gadget sounds playing-too-long warning

    Tells if you're too close, too

    If you're the sort of person who worries that sitting too close to the will strain your eyes, you're likely to be concerned that playing too long on your Ninendo DS will likewise addle your optics. So here's a new Japanese console gadget designed to make sure that doesn't happen. Health Control Gametimer warns you when your …

    Games 3 Apr 2009, 09:19

  • Obama gives Queen iPod

    'We have already got one'

    Apple has received a royal warrant, sort of – thanks to US President Barack Obama’s recent gift to the Queen. When he met with Her Majesty in London this week he presented her with one of America’s finest exports – an iPod. The gadget was reportedly pre-loaded with pictures of the Queen’s 2007 trip to North America. Perhaps …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 09:25

  • Ofcom gets puffed out over wind turbines

    The answer is blowing in the wind

    UK regulator Ofcom has been looking at the way wind turbines affect microwave radio transmissions and radar signals, and has concluded that we just have no idea if it would be safe to put more turbines near radio connections. There are around 40,000 microwave links in the UK, generally operating over line-of-sight connections …

    Broadband 3 Apr 2009, 10:09

  • Fighting Thermageddon just got £1 trillion cheaper

    Thanks to the magic of numbers

    As if by magic, a trillion pounds has been shaved off the estimated cost of Global Warming regulation in the UK overnight. Parliament has yet to be informed of this numerical feat. When MPs and Lords passed the Climate Change Act late last year - see Snow blankets London for Global Warming debate - they did so without so much …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 10:17

  • Mandy ditches red tape pledge

    Cos what goes up, must always come down

    The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is ending its regulatory budgets scheme to consider the cost of red tape imposed on British businesses. Regulatory budgets meant government departments were supposed to estimate the total cost for businesses of implementing new regulations. Once a ceiling was reached …

    Small Biz 3 Apr 2009, 10:27

  • Locking up the cloud

    Ninja security group forms alliance

    A Cloud Security Alliance has popped up and will show itself at an RSA security conference on April 21. The non-profit CSA says it's formed itself to "promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing", and to show users how to use cloud computing "to help secure all other forms of …

    Security 3 Apr 2009, 10:30

  • Asus Eee Linux-based Skype Videophone

    Review Chat with your chums, change the source code

    Appearing a somewhat solitary member of the Asus Eee product family, the unique AiGuru SV-1 Videophone stands alone in more ways than one. At around 25cm tall, with curves akin a to Brancusi sculpture, this tabletop unit bearing a widescreen 7in LCD features built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and a rechargeable battery to deliver round- …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 10:34

  • G20 Summit: All the action caught on camera

    Our man braves London's riot-ravaged streets

    It's been quite a week in good old London Town, what with international big cheeses rolling in to solve the world's economic woes at a stroke and restore our beloved planet to its happy pre-crisis condition of nothing more worrying than some bothersome developing world hunger and the occasional light war to entertain the masses …

    Bootnotes 3 Apr 2009, 10:38

  • Orange unveils Tabbee family organiser

    Take that, Joggler

    Undoubtedly unhappy about rival operator O2 stealing all the limelight with its Joggler "family organiser", Orange has taken the wraps off its own home-focused kitchen-friendly internet device. Tabbee is a Wi-Fi enabled 7in touchscreen tablet that’s designed to put “the whole web at your fingertips”. Orange's Tabbee: family …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 10:51

  • Conficker zombie botnet drops to 3.5 million

    Map of the Problematique

    The "activation" of Windows machines infected with the latest variant of the Conficker worm has allowed security watchers to come up with a far more accurate estimate of how many machines are infected. Early versions of Conficker called home to 250 different domain names every day to check for updates. Since Wednesday, …

    Security 3 Apr 2009, 10:54

  • China goes gung-ho for EVs

    'Leccy Tech Cure to nation's pollution ills?

    The number of China-related 'Leccy Tech stories seems set to increase. Why? Because the Chinese government apparently wants to see 500,000 – yes, half a million – hybrid and electric cars and buses roll off the nation's production lines by the end of 2011. Last year, China produced 2100 of them, making that a dizzying rate of …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 11:03

  • Bucks village repels Street View spycar

    Blitz mentality halts progress of German-manufactured invader

    The Buckinghamshire village of Broughton has, for the time being, been spared the attentions of Google's all-seeing Street View, after locals repelled the advance of one of the search monolith's Orwellian black Opels. According to the Milton Keynes Citizen, "mutinous householders" mobilised on Wednesday as the spycar prepared …

    Bootnotes 3 Apr 2009, 11:11

  • Students Union reps vote to ban cheap booze for students

    Talk about your ivory tower viewpoint

    More politicians-gone-wild news today, as reports have it that Students' Union delegates have voted against cheap beer. The bizarro move took place at the annual conference of the National Union of Students (NUS) in Blackpool earlier this week. Delegates voted to start moves aimed at minimum pricing for alcohol in student …

    Bootnotes 3 Apr 2009, 11:18

  • Lloyd-Webber calls for clampdown on ISPs

    How do you solve a problem like peer-to-peer?

    Musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd-Webber has railed against ISPs in the House of Lords for profiting from internet piracy, and urged the government to clamp down hard. In a debate on Thursday, Lloyd-Webber claimed the government's proposed regime to discourage illegal file-sharing will not achieve its aim of reducing …

    Broadband 3 Apr 2009, 11:21

  • British steam car completes final testing

    Next stop 170mph

    The British Steam Car Challenge - which aims to break the 127mph record for a steam-powered car - has finished its final public tests before being shipped to the US for the record attempt. The British team successfully hit 80mph and deployed the braking parachute. The kettle car will now be packed up before being shipped out …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 11:26

  • Google makes Gmail search accessible to all comers

    About time too

    Google has released a new Gmail search tool that provides suggestions for messages, attachments and even file names in a move to degeekify its email service. Search Autocomplete is Mountain View’s latest Labs add-on, and also highlights Google’s sluggish response to improving search in its webmail app for all its users. The …

    Applications 3 Apr 2009, 11:43

  • Harvard Prof. praises 'file-sharing Radiohead'

    The whacky world of Charlie Nesson

    Has Charlie Nesson been at the magic mushrooms again? The hippy head of the Berkman Center, the influential New Age techno-utopian think tank that's attached to Harvard Law School, wants to enlist Radiohead in his fight against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Nesson, a long-time opponent of creator's …

    Media 3 Apr 2009, 12:02

  • Verizon promises 4G for every American

    Life, liberty and mobile data

    Verizon has promised to connect up the whole of America with 4G technology based on LTE, at 700MHz, belittling Sprint's WiMAX efforts on the same day that Telefonica demonstrated the first LTE calls and Nokia finally gave up on WiMAX. Verizon built itself a national spectrum holding during the 700Mhz auctions, and CTO Tony …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 12:09

  • BBC fined £150k over Manuelgate

    Ofcom slaps Auntie hard

    The BBC has been fined £150,000 over the Manuelgate scandal, Ofcom has confirmed. On 18 October last year, Radio 2 broadcast a show featuring Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross in which they rang actor Andrew Sachs and left messages on his ansafone which boasted that Brand had slept with the Fawlty Towers vet's granddaughter, …

    Bootnotes 3 Apr 2009, 12:28

  • French pass 'three strikes' file-sharing law

    Oh merde

    In a decision that is likely to alarm file-sharers worldwide, an almost empty French National Assembly has finally voted through its "three strikes law" designed to clamp down on file-sharing and illegal downloads. This was despite the guerilla warfare waged against these proposals over the last few months by a handful of …

    Media 3 Apr 2009, 12:38

  • Security's golden rules

    Episode 6 Audio with slides

    In this the last Regcast looking into the state of the security market, our panel return to discuss the lessons learned and the key points to be taken from the series. Jon Collins from Freeform Dynamics and Jon Clay of Trend Micro lend their expert opinions and advice. They discuss where to start, what challenges are …

    State of Security 3 Apr 2009, 12:57

  • Ready or not, IPv6 is coming

    Analysis Google attempts to avert interweb end-of-days scenario

    Google last week touted the benefits and ease of switching to IPv6, the next generation internet protocol, while the IT world in general remains resolutely indifferent about the technology. Uptake of IPv6 is low, despite predictions that IPv4 numbers will become used up in as little as two years. A recent survey by the …

    Data Networking 3 Apr 2009, 13:02

  • Twitter not yet in 'late stage' talks with Google

    Web 2.0 will have to wait for Googlitter

    The interwebs have been abuzz with rumours Google is in "late-stage" talks with Twitter over a possible buy-out of the micro-blogging site, but the original source of the story has already played down the prospect of an early deal. Michael Arrington at TechCrunch "broke" the initial story last night, in which he cited several …

    Applications 3 Apr 2009, 13:05

  • Man gets life for killing game-obsessed partner

    Woman stayed up all night with Niko Bellic

    A man has been sentenced to life in prison after killing his partner, who’d become hooked on Grand Theft Auto. Carol Cannom, 46, from Lincolnshire, installed a 37in plasma TV in the couple’s bedroom and would regally stay up to the wee small hours playing the game on a PlayStation 3, night after night. But Cannom’s …

    Games 3 Apr 2009, 13:07

  • UKBA to exchange fingerprints with US

    Someday, your prints will come

    The UK Border Agency plans to start exchanging fingerprint data with the US, Canada and Australia in the near future The organisation, which gained full executive agency status on 1 April 2009, says in a business plan issued on the same day that that it plans to work with the USA, Canada and Australia to "introduce a system of …

    Government 3 Apr 2009, 13:10

  • Next-gen iPhone to sport 3.2Mp camera?

    5Mp Apple device coming later this year, claim moles

    The next iPhone could have a 3.2Mp camera on board if leaked details concerning an alleged Apple camera contract are to be believed. Unnamed moles have told website Digitimes that digital imaging firm OmniVision has won an order from Apple to supply it with 3.2Mp CMOS image sensors - specifically for use on the next-generation …

    Phones 3 Apr 2009, 13:28

  • BT cuts phone charges for prisoners

    Scottish porridge eaters pay more

    Payphone charges for prisoners in England and Wales have been cut after long-running campaigns by the Prison Reform Trust and the National Consumer Council. The Trust took its complaints to Ofcom last year. The Home Office said at the time it was disappointed at the action and that cutting costs would require a subsidy. Calls …

    Broadband 3 Apr 2009, 13:33

  • Unpatched PowerPoint flaw spawns Trojan attacks

    Clear and presentation danger

    Microsoft has confirmed that hackers are using an unpatched flaw in PowerPoint to assault vulnerable systems. The attacks rely on tricking prospective marks into opening a maliciously crafted PowerPoint file, either hosted on a website or sent via email. In both scenarios users would have to open a booby-trapped PowerPoint …

    Security 3 Apr 2009, 13:37

  • MSI prices up Eee Top-style all-in-one PC

    'Glassy' desktop to arrive next month

    MSI’s ultra-quiet all-in-one PC will be available to buy in the UK next month, the firm’s announced. As previously reported, the AE1900 has a touch-sensitive 19in display that’s surrounded by a “glassy frame” with an embedded 1.3Mp webcam. At its core you’ll find a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor and 945GV chipset, alongside …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 13:46

  • EMC could refresh Symmetrix on April 14

    DMX-5 - Tigon or try-on?

    The much-anticipated EMC Symmetrix refresh could be announced on April 14 with the expected DMX-5 product code-named Tigon. The DMX-4 is the current Symmetrix and it was introduced in the third quarter of 2007. EMC has scheduled a web cast event for April 14, and is inviting people to register for it and find out how they can …

    Storage 3 Apr 2009, 14:08

  • Boffins invent automatic net-hookup roboffinry machines

    Exponential +feedback runaway droidscience epoch coming

    Perturbing news from the world of robotics and automation broke today, with scientists on both sides of the Atlantic revealing that they have developed machines which can replace scientists. The prospect of a runaway self-sustaining science and technology revolution/singularity/human-obsolescence style affair now seems imminent …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 14:22

  • AMD ATI Radeon HD 4890

    Review Get ready for gigahertz graphics

    The new AMD ATI Radeon HD 4890 is heavily based on the HD 4870 but it has some changes in its architecture that allow it to run substantially higher clock speeds. How much higher? Glad you asked. The 4870 has reference clock speeds of 750MHz for the core and GDDR 5 memory that runs at 900MHz. GDDR 5 is a completely different …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 14:33

  • U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 8.5 per cent

    Tech vendors and telcos still cutting jobs

    The monthly batch of bad news came out of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, which reported that companies in the United States chopped 663,000 jobs from their payrolls in March, boosting the unemployment rate to 8.5 per cent. Since the recession started in December 2007, U.S. companies …

    The Channel 3 Apr 2009, 15:00

  • We can save the world, claim mobile operators

    If only you'll let us

    A modest pitch from the mobile industry - stop restricting use of spectrum and we'll save the world economy, except that restricted spectrum use is exactly what the companies are actually asking for. The pitch comes in the form of a letter to the G20 leaders, headed by industry-body the GSMA but signed by 20 of the world's …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 15:04

  • Tories fear legal dodge over comms überdatabase

    Euro data law comes into force on Monday

    Laws mandating a massive central database of email, web browsing, telephone and social networking data may already have been passed without proper scrutiny by MPs, according to the Conservatives. The Home Office is due to publish its delayed consultation on the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) "shortly". In a Lords …

    Government 3 Apr 2009, 15:15

  • Sky broadcasts live 3D pop concert

    Keane as mustard on 3DTV

    Sky claims to have become the first broadcaster to have successfully televised an event in 3D using a domestic 3D-ready TV. Last night, Sky filmed popular beat combo Keane performing a gig in London’s Abbey Road studios using 3D camera equipment. The pictures were beamed by satellite to a nearby Sky+ HD box connected to a 46in …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 15:42

  • Do we get the IT security we deserve?

    Balancing technology with governance

    In recent weeks we have run a number of connected "articles" about IT security. In this, the last article in the series, we reflect on security as a whole, and reviewing some of your feedback. We kicked off with a piece on "why IT security matters" . While we said that it would be a rare IT person who saw security as …

    State of Security 3 Apr 2009, 16:45

  • Parallels conducts Extreme Nehalem workstation wooing

    Virtual machines for actual whizzes

    Virtualization hypervisor wannabee Parallels has released the latest version of its desktop - not server - hypervisor aimed at high-end workstations. Called Parallels Workstation Extreme, the product is not based on the bare-metal or type 1 hypervisor we told you last week that Parallels had in development, and is it also not …

    Virtualization 3 Apr 2009, 17:31

  • Why the iPhone's megapixelage alone won't matter

    Size isn't everything

    Don't go getting all excited by reports that the camera in Apple's upcoming, new iPhone will be of the 3.2-megapixel variety. Merely pumping up megapixelage doesn't make a camera better. A 3.2-megapixel camera with the same sub-optimal optics and image-processing circuitry as is in the current iPhone will produce equally …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 17:40

  • The Messaging is The Medium: survey results are in

    Reg Tech Panel IBM is down, but not out

    Messaging is a thread that runs through IT from top to bottom, from humans exchanging information with each other, down to software and even hardware exchanging status messages and information packets. This report, which is based on feedback from readers of The Register provided during our last annual Barometer Survey, …

    Applications 3 Apr 2009, 17:56

  • Google brewing 'offline' web office apps

    Web 2.0 Expo Browserized Gmail for iPhone, Android

    Embracing the web's next-generation "markup language" - HTML 5 - Google is prepping versions of its online office apps that also work offline. Up to a point. As Google revealed in February, it's already built an HTML 5 version of the five-year-old Gmail that runs on the downsized browsers of devices like the Apple iPhone and …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 18:01

  • Japan talks lunar 'bots as commies go hot

    Time to stretch those servos

    As North Korea preps a ballistic missile launch over Japan, the Japanese are grandstanding back with promises of robots walking on the moon by 2020. A government task force charged with plotting Japans future space development said it wants a two-legged robot strolling on luna firma by the end of the next decade. The drafted …

    Science 3 Apr 2009, 18:16

  • IBM cuts internet comp for work-at-homers

    Big Blue 'denies' internal memo

    IBM's newest cost-cutting scheme is eliminating its program that lets employees working from home claim internet access as a business expense, according to InformationWeek. An internal memo reportedly sent to IBM employees and obtained by the publication states employees worldwide can no longer obtain reimbursement for …

    Financial News 3 Apr 2009, 19:26

  • iPhone VoIP tussle heats up

    Skype vs Deutsche Telekom, AT&T

    Skype and its allies are fighting back against telcos that disallow or cripple its voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) service. At issue is Deutsche Telekom's edict that customers who use Skype's free VoIP service on their iPhone will have their internet access summarily severed and AT&T's refusal to allow Skype to work on its …

    Mobile 3 Apr 2009, 20:46

  • SAP promises maintenance metrics 'soon'

    Customer relationship breakdown

    Disgruntled SAP users should next week find out how they can see whether its support is up to scratch, following a maintenance price hike. The software giant told The Reg Friday it's reached a "mutually acceptable agreement" with the SAP user group executive network (SUGEN) on a set of long-awaited key performance indicators ( …

    Applications 3 Apr 2009, 21:22

  • Gnome answers Linux critics with 'big' vision plan

    "Experience" this

    The Gnome Foundation has laid out a roadmap saying it's time to depart from incremental updates. The team said it's realized it's not enough to simply organize a collection of individual sub-projects and that a project-wide roadmap is needed. Gnome is the default environment of Fedora, Debian, and Ubuntu, and initially the …

    Operating Systems 3 Apr 2009, 22:28

  • Google force feeds Web 2.0 to US gov

    Web 2.0 Expo And it comes right back up...

    When uber-Googler Andrew McLaughlin joined the Barack Obama Transition Team, charged with prepping the new administration for inauguration day, he had dreams of "bringing Web 2.0 to Washington." But he soon realized the US government is the sort of operation that can't use the interwebs without printing every page. Quite …

    Government 3 Apr 2009, 23:24

  • Massive Sun cuts planned as IBM focuses on software trio

    Death and the community

    If IBM purchases Sun Microsystems - as expected - the fallout will be brutal. IBM staffers have, according to a Reg source close to the parties, been talking to Sun about its software portfolio and - unsurprisingly - they don't like what they've found: It's not making any money. IBM's now interested in three Sun software …

    Applications 3 Apr 2009, 23:44

  • AMD to spend $50m cutting costs

    If it wasn't for bad luck...

    There's more bad news for AMD stockholders - $50m (£33.7m) worth of bad news, to be exact. In December of 2008, the company told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it would incur restructuring costs in the first half of 2009, but that it couldn't then estimate what those costs would be. On Thursday, in an …

    Hardware 3 Apr 2009, 23:52