27th April 2009 Archive

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Will Oracle kill MySQL? Who cares?

Fail and You MySQL's already killing itself

When Oracle bought Sun last week, the MySQL community collectively curled its lip into a worried sneer. Is Oracle going to kill MySQL? We'll have to wait and see. Oracle's acquisition of MySQL isn't like a lottery ticket. There is no chance that MySQL will get significantly better by leveraging some of Oracle's technology. …

Applications 27 Apr 2009, 03:13
Kyocera Mita FS-2020D

Review What, no networking?

Kyocera Mita makes a range of laser printers and multi-functionals from personal one-per-desk models right up to big-league machines that can handle small-run production print jobs. The FS-2020D is a ‘team’ printer, so medium-size groups of workers are the users it's been developed for. There are a few things it needs to do to …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 08:02
UK agent leaves secret drugs info on bus

'Scatterbrained' spook's error costs £100m

A British secret agent for the Serious Organised Crime Agency left information on dozens of informers and agents on a bus while working with Colombian customs. Agent T had been moved from the SOCA station in Ecuador to Bogota, where she was to liaise with MI5, MI6, and the US Drug Enforcement Agency. She had downloaded "SOCA's …

Policing 27 Apr 2009, 08:48
Swiss woman rolled over Facebook

Sack for migraine sickie social networker

A Swiss woman caught red-handed on Facebook while off work with a migraine has been given her marching orders, the BBC reports. The unnamed social networker told employer Nationale Suisse she was incapacitated and in serious need of a lie-down in a darkened room. However, a colleague "inadvertently noticed her using Facebook …

Bootnotes 27 Apr 2009, 08:49
Point solutions are the enemy of data compliance

Three papers about IT and data governance

The rules of the IT game grow longer by the day, and for many it is a struggle to keep up. But good IT governance makes life easier, while saving money and improving profitability. At any rate, this is the thesis of these three vendor papers from the Reg Library. Read on. Compliance: Meeting the demands of data law "Point …

Applications 27 Apr 2009, 08:53
Big Blue, Brocade to show united front to Cisco

IBM to OEM Brocade's Ethernet gear

IBM is about to supply Brocade's Foundry-based networking products, according to persistent rumours reported by Reuters and others. Neither company has commented on this matter, although Brocade has said that it expects to benefit through closer ties with server partners, following Cisco's entry into the server market. IBM is …

Storage 27 Apr 2009, 09:12
Western demand for netbooks in decline?

Chinese 3G networks taking up the slack - and then some

If you can't find the netbook you want to buy, blame Chinese mobile phone networks. However, the signs are you're not going to buy a netbook anyway. According to Asian memory market watcher DRAMeXchange, such is the demand for netbooks among China's carriers - they want them to bundle with 3G data packages - rather a lot of …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 10:03
Samsung unveils first Android handset

O2 gets exclusive on I7500

Samsung has finally taken the wraps off its first Google Android-based handset, with an official launch of its I7500 phone. The I7500: Samsung's first Android handset The device has been unmasked by O2’s German arm, which said it has the I7500 exclusively. It’s unlikely the operator will restrict sales solely to Germany, …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 10:08
Ofcom leery of Beeb's uber-set-top box

Regulator notes its problems on Canvas

Ofcom has warned that the BBC's set-top box project - dubbed "iPlayer in hardware" - could eventually be halted by the regulator. Project Canvas is a Linux-based box that's an attempt to update Freeview with PVR functionality, home networking, IPTV, and access to web material. The BBC won't manufacture Canvas boxes, but wary …

Music and Media 27 Apr 2009, 10:08
Jacqui drops central snooping database

Burden falls to ISPs

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has confirmed the government is ditching the idea of a central intercept database to log all phone calls and emails sent or received by UK citizens. Instead, internet service providers will be expected to store the data for later government use. The Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), first …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 10:19
Windows 7 gets built in XP mode

Microsoft's new OS comes with compatibility insurance policy (sort of)

Microsoft is adding a "Windows XP Mode" to Windows 7, in a move to encourage users to make the switch to the software vendor's forthcoming operating system. The firm has built its XP mode into Windows 7 by using the Windows Virtual PC technology Microsoft acquired in 2003, to make the OS compatible to run apps designed for …

Operating Systems 27 Apr 2009, 10:29
US declares 'public health emergency' over swine flu

UK advises coughs and sneezes spread diseases

Britain's medical system has started gearing up for a flu pandemic and the US has declared a "public health emergency", after it became clear that an outbreak of swine flu in Mexico had worked its way into the human population. The outbreak in Mexico has been blamed for over 100 deaths. While the disease has now surfaced in …

Biology 27 Apr 2009, 10:39
Greens: Telcos must share cell towers to save on CO₂

Gathering low-hanging fruit with tweezers

The Green Party has published a report calling for cell networks to share equipment, saying that "competition between mobile phone companies is wasting almost 300 GWh a year due to duplication of telephone network equipment". Three hundred gigawatt-hours annually is approximately one per cent of one per cent of the UK's energy …

Mobile 27 Apr 2009, 10:57
Dell prices up XPS 435 gaming beast

Expensive, but sexy, desktop gaming PC

When Dell first displayed its XPS 435 PC back in February, we ribbed the gargantuan gaming machine’s “coin collector tray”. But it turns out that you won’t have much spare change left to chuck in it now that Dell’s announced that machine’s starting price. Dell's XPS 435: good looking, but expensive Jokes aside, the Studio …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 10:59
Anonymity proves grey area for IDScan

Redacted 'fake' card details exposed on website

Security software provider IDScan has been left red-faced after a page of supposedly anonymous details of ID cheats on its website turned out not to have been anonymised after all. IDScan have developed a range of products designed to assist retailers and licensed premises in complying with laws that aim to regulate the sale …

Policing 27 Apr 2009, 11:07
Thieves lift hives as UK bee numbers drop

Beekeepers feel sting of 'apian black market'

The UK's beekeepers are facing a new threat to their hives in the wake of a dramatic decline in honeybee numbers - the wholesale theft of colonies for sale on a burgeoning "apian black market", as the Times describes it. The value of honeybees has risen sharply as populations succumb to a combination of threats including …

Biology 27 Apr 2009, 11:19
Swine flu apocalypse: Batten down the hatches

Are your IT systems braced for Black Death 2.0?

The world is this week mobilising to battle the mutated H1N1 "swine flu" virus which, having caused a suspected 103 deaths in Mexico, is now reported to have spread to the US, Canada and Europe - in the process pulling off the improbable feat of knocking Jade Goody (RIP, princess) from the front pages of panic-stricken UK …

Bootnotes 27 Apr 2009, 11:34
Boffins dream up Sleeptalking PC standby-mode tech

USB NIC gizmo handles (some) BitTorrent on its own

Computer boffins at Microsoft Research and UC San Diego have proposed the introduction of "sleep talking" technology, allowing PCs to carry out network tasks such as BitTorrent downloads or VoIP/IM listening while in energy-saving standby mode. Sniffs your packets while you sleep. The kit, catchily dubbed Somniloquy, …

PCs & Chips 27 Apr 2009, 11:41
UK.gov to spend £2bn on ISP tracking

Uberdatabase ditched, but IMP is go

The government plans to spend £2bn for ISPs to intercept details of their customers' emails, VoIP calls, instant messaging and social networking. Under the proposals, mobile and fixed line operators will be required to process and link the data together to build complete profiles of every UK internet user's online activity. …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 11:51
Strumpets strut Spain's Street View

NSFW Handy visual guide to Madrid leisure services

We're obliged to Manuel Santos this fine-ish spring morning for evidence of what happens when the newest kid on the net surveillance block meets a representative of the world's oldest profession, in this case on Madrid's Calle del Desengaño: Yup, the gynaecological clinic is a nice touch, and for those prepared to dispute …

Bootnotes 27 Apr 2009, 11:57
Surgient revs fake server headache pill

Self-serve VM stacks

The server virtualization hypervisor space is seeing a flattening in revenues, as industry juggernaut VMware admitted last week. But the myriad niche companies that are selling tools to manage virtual and physical servers are benefiting from the continuing sprawl. One such company is the Austin, Texas-based Surgient, which …

Virtualization 27 Apr 2009, 12:02
Zotac GeForce GTX 275 AMP! Edition

Review Factory-overclocked for extra grunt

Nvidia launched its GeForce GTX 275 on the same day that AMD delivered the ATI Radeon HD 4890 but it has taken us a while to get our mitts on this factory-overclocked Zotac GeForce GTX 275 AMP! Edition. Zotac's GeForce GTX 275 AMP! Edition: ready to take on the Radeon 4890? AMD had the Radeon HD 4890 available at launch, …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 12:02
Texas passes videogame tax break bill

State's aid on booming industry expands

The US state of Texas has passed a bill that will see local videogames firms awarded development tax breaks. The legislation – known as House Bill 873 – gives the Texas Film Commission a remit to offer financial help to videogame projects in addition to the fiscal aid it can already grant local film and TV content producers. …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 12:03
Musician dumps instruments for iPhone

Apple addict to perform with handsets only

The days when musicians rocked up to gigs with trucks full of guitars, keyboards and drums are dead. Because one musician plans to entertain London’s Wembley crowd with just one instrument... his iPhone. Gary Go – the stage name of 24-year-old Gary Baker – will support Take That later this year in a series of warm-up gigs …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 12:08
Cameron: Give the UK's health records to Google

Government should look to Wikipedia for inspiration

David Cameron has repeated his pledge to cancel the ContactPoint database and the ID card scheme if the Tories win the next election. Speaking at the weekend, Cameron said the Tories would also look closely at the National Programme for IT - the controversial and expensive NHS modernisation programme. Echoing last September's …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 12:16
No queue to succeed at QLogic

Comment After Desai who?

Everyone knows that QLogic has valuable intellectual property: Fibre Channel over Ethernet - or FCoE - a highly desirable piece of IP in the converged data centre stakes. But with Broadcom bidding for QLogic competitor Emulex and with the QLogic CEO being 15 years in post, aged 63 and with no successor in sight, where is QLogic …

Storage 27 Apr 2009, 12:34
Microsoft ditches Live Search product upload tool

Dies in beta

Microsoft has ditched its Live Search Product Upload tool as part of its latest shake-up of its less-than-popular web search service. The firm confirmed to users that the tool, which was used by retailers to get their products into Microsoft’s search database, had been discontinued late last week. "Thank you for your interest …

Applications 27 Apr 2009, 12:49
DHS trials musical brainscan wellness tech on US firemen

'Federal agents' to get Russian bonce-sonata boost, too

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has unveiled plans to enhance the performance of firemen and federal agents by playing them special music synthesized from their own brain waves. "Every brain has a soundtrack," note the DHS Science & Technology people. "When that soundtrack is recorded and played back - to an …

Biology 27 Apr 2009, 13:19
ISPs eye role in Jacqui's mass surveillance system

As long as you're paying for it

The trade body for ISPs has today cautiously welcomed news that the government does not plan to build a massive, centralised database of communications data, but voiced fears about the cost to its members. ISPA was responding to the Home Office's consultation on the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), published this …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 13:33
Reding demands Cyber Cop for Europe

'Member States have been quite negligent'

Europe needs a security tsar to defend and protect its communications networks against attacks from organised crime, rogue states and breakdowns, Viviane Reding has claimed. The EU's Commissioner for information society and media's portfolio "encompasses telecommunication networks, broadband internet access and satellite …

Enterprise Security 27 Apr 2009, 14:15
Taxman denies Wikipedia UK charity status

Decision unlikely to be amended

Wiki-fiddling isn't a charitable activity, according to the UK tax man. Revenue and Customs is denying tax privileges that go with charity status to Wikimedia UK, or Wiki UK Limited, as it's officially registered. Wikimedia requested that because it is "disseminating knowledge", the operating company should receive charitable …

Music and Media 27 Apr 2009, 14:35
RFID rag launches radio ID database

Keeping tabs on taggers

In demonstration of how ubiquitous radio frequency identification tags have become RFID Journal has launched a graphical tool showing deployments around the world, but is asking those in the industry to provide some data. The project, which already has a pretty map and query tool, is intended to demonstrate how pervasive RFID …

Wireless 27 Apr 2009, 14:42
Carphone Warehouse linked to Tiscali buy-up (again)

Wake us when it's over

Tiscali shares were given a boost today on the Italian stock exchange by reports that it is once again close to a deal to offload its UK operation to Carphone Warehouse. Tiscali has been trying to sell its almost 1.8m subscribers for over a year, and Carphone Warehouse has been named as a suitor throughout. Italian papers said …

Telecoms 27 Apr 2009, 14:51
Tandberg Data taps out but doesn't go liquid

The bright side of bankruptcy

Tandberg Data ASA has filed for bankruptcy in Norway after it was unable to repay a loan from Cyrus Capital, and will use the process to restructure and reduce its debt burden. Tandberg Data ASA is a holding company which owns Tandberg Storage, responsible for tape drive design, manufacturing and OEM sales to the low- and mid- …

Storage 27 Apr 2009, 15:05
Obama awaiting super-secure BlackBerry delivery

The BlackBerry One, for presidents only

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has designed a new model, but you’ll never get your hands on one because this emailer’s been designed with just one person in mind: Barack Obama. Obama’s BlackBerry love has been well documented, but according to various online reports, he’ll soon take delivery of a super-secure model …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 15:48
Sony pops out Bluetooth headphone duo

Look ma, no cables!

Whether you’re planning on listening to music or making calls, Sony has labelled its latest wireless headphone duo as perfect for either audio form. Sony's DR-BT101: over-ear Bluetooth headphone option The DR-BT100CX and DR-BT101 are essentially the same thing: Bluetooth headphones capable of streaming music and voice calls …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 15:52
Mexico? US? Just don't go there, warns EU health chief

Porcine flu terror spreads

Spain has confirmed one case of swine flu in the east of the country, as the European Commissioner for Health warned against unnecessary travel to the countries at the centre of the outbreak. The warning came ahead of reports that the World Health Organisation was considering upping its alert level to an unprecedented high …

Biology 27 Apr 2009, 15:59
GE talks up 500GB-per-disc optical storage tech

Micro-holographics equal massive density discs

General Electric (GE) has demonstrated a storage technology with the potential for allowing 500GB of data to be written onto a single DVD-sized disc. GE hailed its technology – known as micro-holographic storage – as a “next generation optical storage” technology. It added that the technology could see individual discs able to …

reghardware 27 Apr 2009, 16:06
Liquid crystals - Display genius no match for petty politics

Happy Birthday, IC How the LCD lost its Daddy

George Heilmeier is widely known as the father of the LCD. But he abandoned his liquid crystal baby nearly forty years ago. In 1964, as a researcher at RCA's corporate lab in Princeton, New Jersey, Heilmeier uncovered the electro-optical properties of molecular and liquid crystals. And four years later, at an RCA press …

Science 27 Apr 2009, 17:17
IBM pits Watson super against humanity

This time, we're in Jeopardy

"This downtown boy met and married an uptown girl." On the popular Jeopardy game show, such a statement functions like a question in terms of being a piece of input data that expects one and only one bit of output data, in this case an actual question: "Who is Billy Joel?" While playing the Jeopardy game is not all that …

Servers 27 Apr 2009, 17:19
Pink-slipped sysadmin admits to threatening ex-employer's network

Breaking up is hard to do

A system administrator has admitted he threatened to cause extensive damage to his former employer's computer system after he was laid off. Viktor Savtyrev, 29, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, worked as a sysadmin for five years at an unnamed mutual fund company located in New York City that managed more than $15bn, according to …

Crime 27 Apr 2009, 18:01
Yahoo! hooks Adobe digital-media veteran

Online-applications remit

Yahoo! has reportedly hired an Adobe Systems veteran to head up its online applications. Bryan Lamkin has been named senior vice president of applications products, apparently taking over the portfolio from Scott Dietzen, who joined Yahoo! with its $350m purchase of open-source email start-up Zimbra. Dietzen will become vice …

Developer 27 Apr 2009, 18:21
Microsoft unfurls BizTalk Server 2009

Windows Server lovin' meets Oracle pluggin'

Microsoft on Monday turned the dial that releases Biztalk Server 2009 into the wild. The sixth incarnation of Redmond's connectivity and integration software is now available for Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) customers and May 1 for everyone else. BizTalk Server 2009 hooks into the latest wave of Microsoft apps like …

Applications 27 Apr 2009, 18:38
Wikipedia's Norwegian press officer cuffed for killing mum

The free encyclopedia anyone can edit

One of the "bureaucrats" who oversaw Norway's incarnation of Wikipedia - and the press officer for Wikimedia Norge, the organization that oversees the Norwegian Wikipedia - has been arrested for killing his mother. Last week, as reported by Dagbladet, one of Norway's largest newspapers, a 36-year-old man phoned the police in …

Odds and Sods 27 Apr 2009, 19:33
Qualcomm surrenders in Broadcom patent spat

Only lawyers annoyed

Wireless-communications leader Qualcomm has agreed to an $891m (£608m) settlement with its bitter rival Broadcom, thus ending a long-running patent dispute between the two companies. The $891m will be paid over the next four years, with the first $200m (£136m) due to Broadcom on June 30th. The two companies will license each …

Mobile 27 Apr 2009, 19:53
Obama pledges 3% of GDP for science

Research boost for nation's health

President Barack Obama has set the goal of devoting more than 3 per cent of the US gross domestic product (GDP) to science research and development. That amount would be the largest-ever US investment in science research and innovation, Obama said during a speech on Monday to the US National Academy of Sciences in Washington …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 20:25
Google and Microsoft get in Obama's ear

Tech rivals to advise on national strategy

During President Barack Obama's first 100 days, much was made about his Lincoln-esque cabinet of all the talents bringing together expert individuals even from the opposition. Now, Obama has recruited executives from rival tech titans to a government panel advising him and vice president Joe Biden on US scientific and …

Government 27 Apr 2009, 20:29
Apple shareholders get 'say on pay'

Jobless outfit admits vote miscount

Apple's shareholders will, after all, have the opportunity to weigh in on executive compensation. In a brief announcement on Monday, Apple acknowledged an error in how it tallied a recent vote about granting shareholders input on executive pay. The original count had incorrectly recorded abstentions as "No" votes and the …

Business 27 Apr 2009, 20:44
EFF accuses Apple of muzzling iPhone hobbyists

Reverse engineering posts censored

The operator of a wiki website has filed a federal lawsuit that accuses Apple of trying to squelch protected speech after it demanded the removal of posts discussing ways hobbyists can make iPods and iPhones work with software other than iTunes. OdioWorks claims Apple's demands that the posts be removed from BluWiki violate …

Law 27 Apr 2009, 20:56
Craigslist founder defends 'erotic' listings

Masseuse murder microscope

There's only a few PR predicaments worse than having a sensationalized killing named after your business*. Yet, despite intense coverage of the so-called "Craigslist murder," Craig Newmark - founder of the popular online classified service - says there's no plans to shutter the site's "erotic services" section. Newman told ABC …

Music and Media 27 Apr 2009, 22:24
Open cloud crusade yokes Microsoft, Intel, VMware, Sun...

What to do while Amazon waits

Backed by such familiar names as AMD, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Red Hat, Sun, and VMware, the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) has joined the increasingly fragmented fight for so-called open cloud standards. Today, the DMTF announced the formation of an "Open Cloud Standards Incubator," charged with developing …

Virtualization 27 Apr 2009, 22:30
Virt tool maker Cassatt is going titsup

Tough times of the B in BEA

William Coleman - the founder and chief executive officer at server virtualization management tool maker Cassatt - has bared his soul to Forbes magazine and says that the company is in the process of trying to sell itself or shutting down and selling off its assets. A company spokesperson confirmed the Forbes report and added …

Virtualization 27 Apr 2009, 22:44