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1st May 2009 Archive

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  • Google name 'worth $100 billion,' says Strategy Boutique

    Joss sticks dropped for magic abacus

    The most valuable brand in the known universe is Google, according to a survey produced by a Strategy Boutique that makes its living convincing companies that a specific financial value can be attached to something as amorphous as a brand. The supremely confident brandmeisters at Millward Brown Optimor published their fourth …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2009, 04:10

  • Disney dances the Hulu

    NetworkTube gets ABC vids

    Disney movies and ABC TV shows are coming to Hulu, now that the Mouse House is buying a stake in the popular US online video site. It's a honey of deal for Hulu, which is rapidly becoming the de facto repository of commercial internet television in the US. While the size of Disney's stake in Hulu wasn't officially disclosed, …

    Media 1 May 2009, 04:11

  • Google, Schmidt, and the Gray Lady Resuscitator™

    A cesspool of drivel

    Google is preparing a post-print-age online news service that will feed you the "high-quality news" you want - even when you don't realize you want it. At least, that's the word from Sharon Waxman, a former correspondent with the The New York Times and The Washington Post now writing for The Wrap, a Hollywood news blog. …

    Media 1 May 2009, 04:53

  • Citroën e-car launched in Blighty

    'Leccy Tech Electric C1, yours for £17k

    A new e-car from a major manufacturer - sort of - launched in the UK today. The vehicle in question is actually an after-market modification of Citroën's C1. The tweaks were carried out by Mayfair-based Electric Car Corporation, which will start taking orders tomorrow. ECC/Citroën's C1 ev'ie: princely priced plug-in Prices …

    Science 1 May 2009, 07:02

  • LG Arena touchphone

    Review Apple cool?

    As they say, it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it. The LG's KM900 - aka Arena - may pack in an impressive quantity of functionality, but the real question is whether LG’s new S-Class touchscreen UI, making its finger-dabbing debut on this device, has the touch. LG's Arena: smooth and stylish The Arena delivers …

    Phones 1 May 2009, 08:02

  • Space shuttle may fly until 2011

    Extension to avoid 'bitter pill' of paying Russians

    The US House of Representatives and Senate have agreed a further $2.5bn to keep the space shuttle in service until 2011 - "if such an extension is necessary to complete currently planned missions to the International Space Station", as the Wall Street Journal puts it. The final planned shuttle launch is Endeavour's mission STS …

    Science 1 May 2009, 08:56

  • QLogic fortifies results with acquisition

    NetXen purchase sends message to market

    QLogic has tempered weaker than expected results by buying NetXen, a 10Gbit/E product supplier, thereby injecting more energy into the converged networking scene. QLogic makes Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) to connect servers to Fibre Channel storage networks, as well as Fibre Channel fabric switches and InfiniBand products. It is …

    Storage 1 May 2009, 09:23

  • Star Trek Klingon lingo hits cutting room floor

    qaStaH nuq jay', thunders Trekosphere

    The Trekosphere has got itself into a bit of a tizz over the culling of the Klingon lingo from the forthcoming Star Trek movie. According to SCI FI Wire, co-writer Alex Kurtzman broke the terrible news on Sunday when he confirmed: "We actually had a sequence that ended up getting cut from the movie that took place on Rura …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2009, 09:29

  • Logica says hard cheese to Dutch workers

    Jobs go, but revenue holds

    Logica is cutting jobs in the Netherlands and has stopped recruiting in the rest of Europe. The company said that attrition rates had fallen from 14 per cent at the end of 2008 to less than eight per cent now. Logica said: "We are acting decisively to reduce headcount further in the geographies where we see significant …

    The Channel 1 May 2009, 09:33

  • Disclosure to private eyes sometimes legal, says privacy watchdog

    Good news for mustachioed Ferrari drivers

    Organisations should not hand over employees' personal details to private investigators except in very limited circumstances, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned. The handing over of personal information is likely to be a breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA) in most cases but if some strict conditions are …

    Law 1 May 2009, 09:39

  • Asus to launch Air-like Eee PC 'Seashell' next week

    Conch trick?

    Asus has launched its MacBook Air-style Eee PC 1008HA in Taiwan, and will do it all over again over here early next week, Register Hardware has learned. Asus' Eee 1008HA: Air inspired? The skinny netbook measures between 18 and 26mm top to bottom, has a footprint of 262 x 178 and weighs 1.1kg - one of the lightest 10in, HDD …

    Hardware 1 May 2009, 09:41

  • Equality Bill U-turn could damage businesses, warns expert

    Pay audits could open tribunal floodgates

    The Government has published its proposals for new equality legislation and one employment law expert has warned that a policy U-turn could leave companies exposed to a deluge of equal pay claims. The just-published Equality Bill gives the Government the power to introduce regulations forcing companies of more than 250 …

    Small Biz 1 May 2009, 09:54

  • DHS tests bomb-proof CCTV by blowing up bus

    Pop quiz, hotshot. Everybody's dead, what do you do?

    Depressing news for extremist privacy lovers today: a cheap CCTV camera which can reliably survive a large bomb explosion with video recordings intact has been developed. It's no longer possible to cover one's tracks by simply blowing everything up. News of the new cheapo bombproof surveillance cams comes to us courtesy of - …

    Science 1 May 2009, 10:15

  • Videogame history project successfully emulates CRT on LCD

    See old games how they were meant to look

    We thought fuzzy images went out with cathode ray tube monitors, but a team of boffins at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an app that mimics the visual characteristics of CRTs on today crisp, pixel-perfect LCD screens. And it's all been done in the interest of historical research, specifically the evolution …

    Games 1 May 2009, 10:20

  • Home Office 'ring of steel' fails the pig plague test

    Passenger list? Nope, don't have that...

    One unexpected benefit of the Home Office's obsession with 'counting them all in, counting them all out' is that in the event of, say, a flu pandemic it would be simple to grab a list of all the passengers on an affected incoming flight, and check them out for infection. But no, not exactly - that's not quite how it appears to …

    Government 1 May 2009, 11:02

  • Windows 7 brings Microsoft to its knees

    In a good way, unlike Vista

    Desperate beta testers brought down Microsoft's Windows 7 download page yesterday for about two hours. Only Microsoft Developer Network members and TechNet members were offered keys, but Microsoft still had to make some changes to keep the site up and running. The MSDN blog said "systems are having trouble keeping up" and …

    The Channel 1 May 2009, 11:02

  • NHS warned about data protection

    Trusts pledge to treat data incontinence

    Data breaches at four trusts have prompted the Information Commissioner's Office to remind the health service about patient record privacy. All NHS trusts have been reminded about data security after breaches at Cambridge University Hospital, Central Lancashire Primary Care, North West London Hospitals and Hull & East …

    Government 1 May 2009, 11:04

  • Satellite to offer 10Mbit broadband to entire UK

    Not cheap, but better than nothing

    A French firm plans to launch a satellite next year that it says will offer the entire UK up to 10Mbit/s broadband, including rural areas that are poorly served by ADSL and cable. This week, Eutelsat is launching "Tooway" broadband in the UK at up to 2Mbit/s, via an existing satellite. Its new craft, launching in the third …

    Broadband 1 May 2009, 11:05

  • Video iPhone coming in June?

    'A one-stop studio for recording, editing, viewing and sharing videos'

    Apple is on the cusp of unveiling a third-generation iPhone which, it has been claimed, will sport a strong focus on video features. A source said to be familiar with Apple’s plans for the next iPhone has told a Business Week reporter that the device will be as easy to shoot video with as it is on the Flip pocket camcorder. …

    Phones 1 May 2009, 11:18

  • BOFH: Spontaneous Legal Combustion

    Episode 6 The truth? You can't handle the truth...

    The following concludes episodes 4b, 4c and 5b, which are available exclusively to Register Platinum Cookie readers (with access to the content opulent Register Website). For the benefit of general (Lead Cookie) readers, the following flashback snippets have been approved for distribution: Boss: You Bastards! (Episode 4b) …

    BOFH 1 May 2009, 11:19

  • NASA hacker Tenenbaum agrees to US extradition

    Analyzer surrenders to US Marshals

    NASA hacker turned credit card fraud suspect Ehud Tenenbaum has agreed to surrender to US justice, The Calgary Sun reports. Tenenbaum (AKA The Analyzer) will face the courts in the US, not those in Canada where he is being held on detention, over allegations he masterminded a multi-million dollar credit card scam. He agreed to …

    Security 1 May 2009, 11:24

  • PS3 motion-sensing controller en route?

    Sony thought to be prepped for E3 launch

    Rumours of a motion-sensing controller for the PlayStation 3 have been around for years, but it’s now been claimed that the controller does exist and that Sony will unveil it within months. One of several sources that spoke to Variety claimed to have actually seen a working model of the mystery controller, which was first …

    Games 1 May 2009, 11:27

  • Isle of Man KKK burns cross on Facebook

    Satirical responses suggest rivers of blood unlikely

    Facebook has closed an "Isle of Man KKK" page exhorting locals to stem the tide of unwelcome incomers polluting the racial purity of the Irish Sea island paradise. According to the Telegraph, the page's Grand Wizard declared: "There are too many comovers* [sic] on the Island. They are taking all of the jobs, houses and most of …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2009, 11:28

  • Apple ponders quantitative easing for hard-up customers

    Macbook and iMac to offset Intel's Air for all plan

    Apple looks set to bite the bullet and drop its price bands, even going so far as making its products "affordable". Apple Insider reports that the vendor is putting the final touches to a brace of lower price products - to wit, an iMac and a Macbook. The site takes its cue from the 20 inch Aluminium iMac which the vendor is …

    The Channel 1 May 2009, 11:40

  • China launches DNA database to track trafficked kids

    It couldn't happen here, could it?

    China's Ministry of Public Security is to use DNA testing to help police identify kidnapped children and return them to their homes. The database is meant to help deal with children who are kidnapped or abducted for money. Five groups will be tested according to the report: parents whose children have been confirmed …

    Government 1 May 2009, 11:44

  • Oracle to intensify battle with Salesforce.com

    Seven services spied

    Oracle is developing seven new online business products in a big move into software as a service, according to reports. The move will see the firm's rivalry with Salesforce.com - in which Oracle chief Larry Ellison was an early investor and Salesforce boss Marc Benioff is ex-Oracle - intensify. Ellison was also an investor in …

    The Channel 1 May 2009, 12:20

  • Yes! It's the invisible¹ shed²!

    At last, some proper arse-kicking new tech³

    Life is often disappointing for the technology enthusiast, unless you're the pathetically easily-pleased kind who's impressed by the ability to update your web page while having a dump. Proper new technology - robot or brainchip-monkey butlers, flying cars, headmounted energy weapons for one's swimming-pool menagerie - these …

    Science 1 May 2009, 12:34

  • Palm Pré 2 rumours gathering pace

    Eos en route?

    Just 24 hours after news broke about a possible Palm Pré 2 launch, Register Hardware’s discovered yet more information about the rumoured handset, including its name and a full specification list. Palm's Eos will be an alternative to the Pré Unconfirmed sources cited by Engadget claim to have discovered that the phone will …

    Phones 1 May 2009, 12:34

  • Windows 7: MS plays a Jedi mind trick on netbook owners

    Radio Reg And happiness is not a hardware acquisition

    At Microsoft, your potential is their passion. Unless you’re passionate about owning a low-priced netbook, which hurts Microsoft’s bottom line. Netbooks are the only segment of the PC market growing, and while netbooks installed with Windows are good for the ubiquity of Windows and power of Microsoft, they deny Microsoft money …

    Microbite 1 May 2009, 12:54

  • PRS shakes up online music fees

    New rates for hobbyists, small 'casters

    The UK performing rights society, the PRS, has published a new schedule of royalty rates that cover everyone from internet radio hobbyists, to blogs, to major music services. The headline rate is unchanged at 8 per cent of gross revenue max, while the minima can be negotiated. The fees will replace the JOL (Joint Online …

    Media 1 May 2009, 13:27

  • Sacha Baron Cohen scars Paula Abdul for life

    American Idol judge traumatised by Bruno interview

    American Idol judge Paula Abdul has described herself as "scarred for life" by a Sacha Baron Cohen set-up which saw her interviewed from the comfort of two Mexican gardeners by the Brit comedian's alter ego Bruno. Abdul was last year duped into believing she was to be interviewed by a German TV crew "after winning an artist of …

    Bootnotes 1 May 2009, 13:36

  • USB gadget warns of impending suffocation

    Breathe easy

    Worried that the air around you isn't very clean? Well, a USB-powered gadget aims to tell whether it is or not. The Breathing Bud Air Quality Indicator: does exactly what it says The Breathing Bud Air Quality Indicator is a concept gadget that would essentially continually analyse the quality of the air around it and then …

    Hardware 1 May 2009, 14:24

  • Palm crosses twits with silver

    Blogtastic web 2.0 Pre marketing plan unveiled

    Palm is looking to harness the blogosphere to promote the Pre, offering free devices and six-month's connectivity to those willing to keep the Web 2.0 crowd updated about their experience. Only Americans aged over 18 are eligible to become "Real Reviewers" - as opposed to those fake chaps over at Hard Reg - and you'll need to …

    Mobile 1 May 2009, 14:34

  • Flood of liquidations as credit dries up

    Accountants still getting rich

    Figures from the Insolvency Service show a big jump in the number of English and Welsh firms going into either compulsory or voluntary liquidation. Compulsory liquidation and creditors' voluntary agreements hit 4,941 firms in the first quarter of 2009, up 56 per cent on the same three months of 2008. 316 companies went into …

    Small Biz 1 May 2009, 14:38

  • T-Mobile getting out of blighty?

    And then there'd be four

    The Financial Times is reporting that Deutsche Telekom, owner of T-Mobile, is under pressure to get out of the UK following disappointing financials. Former-monopoly Deutsche Telekom's two largest shareholders - the German government and private-equity group Blackstone, are both reportedly keen to see T-Mobile leave the UK and …

    Mobile 1 May 2009, 14:47

  • Chip sales dive 29% in March

    Big year on year slump, but up on February

    Worldwide chip sales were down almost a third on the year in March, though shipments were up a touch on the previous month. Total sales were $14.7bn the SIA reports, down 29.9 per cent on the previous year, but up 3.3 per cent on February. The orgranisation said sales were up on the month in all regions, except for Japan. …

    The Channel 1 May 2009, 14:51

  • Nikon Coolpix P90 bridge camera

    Review Super zoom, so-so pictures

    You know, there’s a lot to be said for superzoom cameras. Instead of lugging around a DSLR camera and a stack of lenses, you can stick a massive zoom onto a camera that’s a little smaller than your average DSLR and simply carry that around. Nikon’s Coolpix P90 is a superzoom bridge camera with a whopping 24x zoom. It’s aimed at …

    Hardware 1 May 2009, 16:05

  • Rackable free to pick SGI carcass

    Court OKs $42.5m buy

    Niche server maker Rackable Systems said this morning that the U.S. bankruptcy court in New York handling the Chapter 11 proceedings for supercomputer maker Silicon Graphics has approved Rackable's acquisition of most of the assets of SGI. Under the deal that was announced on April 1, the same day that SGI filed for bankruptcy …

    Servers 1 May 2009, 16:08

  • Interference knocks Vodafone NZ into court

    Seeks to block rival's new service

    Vodafone New Zealand is in court trying to get an injunction to prevent rival-operator Telecom NZ launching their new "XT" service, which is scheduled to come online on May 13th. The operators, who run a virtual duopoly on New Zealand mobile telephony, are both in the process of upgrading their networks, but Vodafone reckons …

    Mobile 1 May 2009, 16:15

  • Windows 7’s XP Mode — Virtually worth the effort

    Review What’s real and what’s not?

    The discovery that Windows 7 will use desktop virtualization so you can run Windows-XP-compatible applications caused almost as much excitement as the news the Windows 7 Release Candidate would ship this week and next. The planned Windows XP Mode will, theoretically, let you keep on running your existing applications on a …

    Operating Systems 1 May 2009, 17:15

  • IBM lubricates Obama's IT stimulus

    Fronts $2bn for 'smart infrastructure'

    For US companies, state and local governments, and educational institutions, figuring out how to get a piece of the Obama $787bn stimulus package is a drag - and a drag on business. And so, IBM has announced that it is fronting $2bn of its own financing in an effort to speed up IT-related projects that come under the American …

    Government 1 May 2009, 17:52

  • NASA's ENose sniffs for cancer

    Still no cure for B.O.

    The same electronic "nose" designed to monitor air quality on the International Space Station is apparently also a deft nostril at sniffing out cancer. Neurosurgeons at the City of Hope Cancer Center along with boffins from the Brain Mapping Foundation and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory say the US space agency's ENose can be …

    Science 1 May 2009, 17:56

  • US Congress wants hack teams for self-penetration

    While girding power grid

    The United States Congress this week delved further into the country's cybersecurity preparedness as members introduced two bills designed to protect federal networks and electric power grids from attacks. One bill, dubbed the US Information and Communications Enhancement Act of 2009, would mandate the formation of hacker …

    Security 1 May 2009, 19:03

  • Google sued for 'stealing' Android name

    Along with Vodafone, Intel, Nvidia, TI...

    Google and 47 other international corporations have been sued in a US District Court for trademark infringement over their use of the word "Android." To Google, Android is the name of its open-source, Linux-based operating system for phones and mobile devices that it introduced in November of 2007. To Erich Specht, a software …

    Mobile 1 May 2009, 19:22

  • OpenBSD 4.5 light cycles into the wild

    Master Control Program shakes fist in anger

    The OpenBSD developers are channeling Tron to celebrate the release of version 4.5 of their open source operating system. Before we jump into the OS's new shinies, the team deserves a proper nod for having good fun with their releases. Version 4.5's release song (as is the tradition) is "Games," featuring the proper dose of …

    Operating Systems 1 May 2009, 20:09

  • Fired IT director admits $94k rampage on organ bank

    Revenge served coldly

    A former technology director who was fired from a regional organ donation center in Texas has admitted to breaking into her former employer's network and destroying more than $94,000 worth of data. Danielle Duann, 51, of Houston admitted that in November 2005 she illegally accessed the network of LifeGift just hours after …

    Security 1 May 2009, 21:32

  • Love on the buses: The S-100 and me

    This Old Box An illustrated affair

    Although the IBM PC had been released in August of 1981, the system of choice for true geeks in those days was a home-brewed computer based on the S-100 bus architecture. I may have not been a bull geek in those days, but I was working on it - so I built one in 1982. It served as our family's computing workhorse for a few …

    Vintage 1 May 2009, 23:18

  • YouTube swot beats ambulance to birth

    Skateboarding dog not in picture

    When his wife went into labor, a Redruth, Cornwall, engineer discovered that YouTube offers more than dance history and skateboarding dogs. As Marc Stephens told the BBC: "I Googled how to deliver a baby, watched a few videos and basically swotted up". Luckily, Marc's Googling didn't end after he found the Trunk Monkey …

    Media 1 May 2009, 23:52