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27th May 2009 Archive

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  • Great Australian Firewall may be optional

    Oz comms chief ponders 'voluntary' filtering

    The Australian government may be backing away from plans of enforcing its proposed internet filtering regime with legislation. Aussie communication minister Stephen Conroy told a Senate estimates committee Tuesday that the Great Australian Firewall could materialize as a voluntary industry code, rather than a new law. The …

    Networks 27 May 00:09

  • BNP pleads for cash after reported DDoS assault

    Updated 'Largest cyber-assault in history'

    The website of the British National Party is back online following a reported distributed denial of service attack over the weekend. Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right political party, is appealing for £5,000 urgently to purchase hardware and servers to keep the site online in the run-up to the European and local elections …

    Enterprise Security 27 May 07:38

  • Canon Pixma MX330

    Review Small office all-in-one inkjet without the photo frills

    Recent offerings suggest a handful of printer manufacturers are trying to move inkjet technology into the lower-end small office, SoHo space, by targeting those wanting the superior colour inkjets can produce, without all the glossy photo facilities of family and photo-buff models. Doing the business: Canon's Pixma MX330 all- …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 08:02

  • Coppers prowl Sheffield's Letsby Avenue

    Street View confirms improbable cop shop address

    The news yesterday that the good burghers of Butt Hole Road, South Yorkshire, had got a tad irritated with living on an international laughing stock provoked a few Reg readers to offer their particular fave street names. Among the comments was the claim that Sheffield boasts a Letsby Avenue and, of course, on said thoroughfare …

    Bootnotes 27 May 08:37

  • Donatelli can start work at HP

    Court restriction rescinded

    A Massachusetts court that said ex-EMC storage head David Donatelli could not start work at HP has changed its mind. When Donatelli abruptly left EMC late last month to join HP and run its servers, storage and networking businesses, EMC filed a suit in the Suffolk County Superior Court of Massachusetts, claiming that a non- …

    Servers 27 May 08:38

  • Elbonia: Your next (and only) music destination?

    Industry bald men fight over someone else's comb

    The EU's competition commissioner has stepped up the war of words on authors' and composers' collection societies, ahead of their biennial copyright summit next month. It's the latest in a long-running saga over pan-European licensing of online content, now into its second decade. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes says …

    Music and Media 27 May 09:02

  • Brusa weaves sexy, sporty Spyder

    Leccy Tech But floor it, and you won't go far

    Buddy's Metro was the only production e-car unveiled at the recent Electric Vehicle Symposium in Norway, but it certainly wasn't the prettiest. That accolade’s almost certainly been won by Brusa's Spyder. Brusa's Spyder: production plans aren't in place Looking like a cross between a Porsche 356 and Lotus Elise – and that's …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 09:12

  • eBay not obliged to protect trade marks, says High Court

    Because you're not really worth it

    Online auction site eBay has "no legal duty" to protect other companies' trade marks or stop its sellers from infringing them, the High Court has said. Cosmetics company L'Oréal has failed to show that eBay was jointly liable with the sellers of fakes and illegally imported goods and had "participated in a common design" to …

    Law 27 May 09:28

  • Getting real about Linux on the desktop

    Reg Tech Panel Selective targeting is key

    Few topics in the IT industry are more contentious than the prospect of putting Linux on the corporate desktop. Opinions range from the religious view at one end, promoting a fundamentalist belief in open source as the saviour of mankind, to the reaction of corporate conservatives at the other, dismissing Linux as irrelevant to …

    Software 27 May 09:36

  • Vodafone does close-up magic on roaming charges

    New data policy is hey look what's that over there?

    Vodafone's magnanimous gesture in waiving roaming charges over the summer amounted to a nifty bit of misdirection - few noticed that it also slipped out some radical changes to the price of data for the traveller who can't be without their email. The changes to the cost of roamed data were posted onto the company website …

    Mobile 27 May 09:43

  • Microsoft announces Zune HD

    In North America only, as usual

    Recent rumours that Microsoft has been secretly working on a new Zune Portable Media Player (PMP) were true, because the firm’s officially unveiled the range’s latest model. Microsoft's Zune HD: 3.3in OLED screen, "HD Radio" and Wi-Fi Called, as expected, Zune HD, the player’s described as “the next iteration of the Zune …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 09:49

  • Microsoft squirts out Vista SP2

    Windows 7's ugly older bro gets updated

    Microsoft spat out the second and final service pack for Windows Vista yesterday. Vista SP2 can now be downloaded from Microsoft’s Download Center. However, anyone who had been running the beta of the service pack, which was released late last year, will have to remove it before proceeding with the install. Upgrading to …

    Operating Systems 27 May 09:50

  • Boffins develop interstellar alien ocean-spotting tool

    'Pale blue dot' single-pixel planet problem cracked

    Astronomy boffins say they have developed new techniques which could use the space telescopes of tomorrow to detect oceans on alien worlds orbiting other suns. Earth as an alien invasion/harvest fleet would see it. As all regular Reg readers will be aware, new telescope satellites now going into space are expected to …

    Space 27 May 09:59

  • Ocarina makes waves with lossless image compression

    Interview Heeeeey Ocarina! Aaaha!

    Ocarina, the deduplication startup, is making waves with its partnerships with storage vendors, due to its unique lossless image compression technology. Yet the Ocarina founders were not wedded to image deduplication when they started up the company. How did it come about? The way Murli Thirumale, Ocarina's CEO, tells it, the …

    Storage 27 May 10:02

  • GTA IV's second update confirmed

    The Ballad of Gay Tony

    Grand Theft Auto IV’s developer, Rockstar, has taken the wraps off of the title’s second update, to be called The Ballad of Gay Tony. The next GTA IV update (above) will feature more guns, glitz and crime Apparently the episode – which comes after The Lost and Damned, released back in February – focuses on “high-end …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 10:23

  • Accenture switches tax havens

    Good news for Ireland

    Accenture, the outsourcing giant, is switching its accounting base from Bermuda to Ireland, amid growing policial hostility towards tax havens and tax avoidance. Announcing the move on Tuesday, Accenture said it does not expect any impact on its financial results or tax treatment. Accenture chairman William Green said: "A …

    Financial News 27 May 10:24

  • Riverbed accelerates AutoCAD again

    AutoCAD 2010 gets back with the program

    AutoCAD users with tortoise-like WAN file transmission across Riverbed optimised networks can breathe a sigh of relief: AutoCAD 2010 files sprint across the network like hares on steroids. Riverbed's Steelhead WAN optimisation appliance speeds TCP/IP network transmission and also deduplicates files to reduce the number of …

    Data Networking 27 May 10:29

  • Vatican blesses iPope app for Jesus Phone

    Proof that Microsoft really is in league with Satan

    Those of you who simply can't wait for Benny 16's latest pearls of wisdom on AIDS in Africa and Angels and Demons will be delighted to learn that his Holy Big-Hattedness is now available direct to the Jesus Phone and iPod Touch. Yup, breaking Catholic news comes to you courtesy of the H2Onews app, delivering video, audio and …

    Bootnotes 27 May 10:59

  • Extra ISS crew blasts off from Baikonur

    Orbiting outpost to host six residents

    Expedition 20 to the International Space Station lifted off today at 10:34 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Aboard the Soyuz spacecraft are cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, who are slated to dock with the ISS at 12:36 GMT …

    Space 27 May 11:01

  • ICO tells cops to behave on CCTV

    'Businesses are being forced into gathering information'

    The Information Commissioner's Office is poised to tell the Home Office to rein in police demands that pubs and clubs install CCTV cameras as a pre-condition of their licences. The issue came up back in February when it emerged that the Metropolitan Police were pressuring a pub in Islington to install cameras in order to …

    Policing 27 May 11:20

  • Sage reseller goes titsup?

    Exclusive BDE International Ltd hits buffers

    BDE International Ltd lost its reseller partner status with software giant Sage on 15 May, and told around 100 staff to go home just three days later, The Register has learned. Amid the turmoil, the company’s non-executive director Bruce Fraser quit BDE International Ltd - which trades as BDE Group - on 16 May, according to …

    Channel Register 27 May 11:24

  • HP pumps out Mini PC trio

    Bite-size machines for 'information snacking'

    In an effort to satisfy customers' appetites for small and portable PCs, HP has expanded its Mini laptop line with the addition of three “information snacking” models. HP's Mini 110 models flank the Mini 1101 (center) All three models sport 10.1in displays and your choice of either a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 or N280 processor …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 11:35

  • Cameron wants techies to open up Parliament

    Can also appear on YouTube without scaring kids

    Tory leader David Cameron would welcome some key technological changes to the way that Parliament makes its business available to the public. That is just one thrust of proposals for modernising government, which he set out in a speech to the Open University in Milton Keynes, yesterday. Starting with the contention that "We …

    Government 27 May 11:38

  • Netgear EVA9150 Digital Entertainer Elite

    Review Looks good, plays well... pricey though

    The EVA9150 is the latest addition to Netgear's Digital Entertainer family of media streamers and it picks up pretty much where its predecessor - the EVA8000 - left off. The main draw of the EVA8000 - providing you were running latest beta firmware version and not the shipping release - was its ability to chew through almost any …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 12:07

  • LG shines light on world's brightest 3D TV

    Twice the brightness of conventional 3D screens

    While some manufacturers are still grappling with designs for their first 3D TVs, LG has surged ahead with creation of what it’s claimed is the world’s brightest 3D-capable telly. LG's 3D telly employs “enhanced brightness” technology The firm’s succeeded in developing a 1080p, 23in LCD panel with “enhanced brightness” …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 12:20

  • Junk email volumes hit high

    Spam volume increases despite swine flu

    Nine in ten emails in circulation are spam, according to the latest stats from email security services outfit MessageLabs. The abuse of free hosted domains is playing a major role in clogging users' in-boxes with get-rich-quick scams and penis pill offers, MessageLabs reports. The security services arm of Symantec noted that …

    Spam 27 May 12:23

  • Twitter suffering chronic banality, diagnoses Dr House

    'I don't understand the purpose of it', admits Hugh Laurie

    Brit thesp and House star Hugh Laurie has told the BBC he's not that impressed with microblogging Web 0.2 phenomenon Twitter, even though he maintains a profile there. Speaking to Radio 4's Front Row programme, Laurie described himself as "bothered by the social cost of every tweet", explaining: "As I look around my friends' …

    Entertainment 27 May 12:35

  • What Exchange 2007 can't do

    Emailing two papers

    This week we rummage through the Reg Library for papers about email and archiving and stuff. We kick off with the corporate daddy, Exchange 2007. Exchange 2007 risks and migration strategies So we thought that running Microsoft Exchange was a pain for small businesses. According to this Dell white paper about Exchange 2007, …

    Applications 27 May 13:16

  • Top Avon and Somerset cop up before the beak

    Police turn spotlight on their own Chief Constable

    Avon and Somerset villains may be breathing easier this week as the local constabulary devotes ever more of its time to the vexed question of whether to lock up their own Chief Constable, Colin Port. In September last year, Avon and Somerset Police seized a wide range of material from the home of Jim Bates, a computer …

    Policing 27 May 13:19

  • Streaming rates cut to lure back YouTube, Pandora

    Stream laundry

    Online services have welcomed a new rate schedule that will cut the cost of music streams in the UK. The PRS yesterday cut the cost of royalties owed for streaming a song from 0.22p to 0.085p. The headline rate rises to from 8 per cent to 10.5 per cent of revenue, supposing the company has any. Steve Purdham, chief executive …

    Music and Media 27 May 13:20

  • BNP DDoS 'mega-assault' not actually mega in the least

    It was eight, no ten really big lads that jumped me

    A supposedly massive denial of service attack against the British National Party website has been exposed as a gross exaggeration. The assault, which began on Friday, was described by the party in an email appeal for funds as the "largest cyber attack in recorded history" and comparable only to a 2001 assault against Microsoft …

    Enterprise Security 27 May 13:46

  • HP CULV notebooks inbound?

    Firm to craft CULV notebooks from old models

    In its rush to get CULV-based notebooks onto the market, it’s been rumoured that HP has resorted to using chassis designs from existing notebooks. It’s expected that roughly 10m laptops based on Intel’s CULV platform will be shipped this year, according to Asian memory market watcher DRAMeXchange. So by making use of existing …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 13:47

  • Ovi still bouncing on and offline

    Nokia putting Humpty together again... again

    Nokia's Ovi store is suffering from more teething problems as the site can't seen to keep itself online - though the company claims that users coming in direct from devices aren't experiencing problems. Ovi is Nokia's answer to Apple's iTunes, offering a broader range of content to a broader range of handsets - or at least it …

    Developer 27 May 13:52

  • IBM lets HPC storage get some sleep

    DCS9900 orders pyjamas

    IBM has updated its high-performance computing storage array - so it can go to sleep. In an implementation of MAID technology, IBM's DCS9900 HPC storage product can spin down tiers of SATA drives to save power. It gives the 9900 a capability the preceding DCS9550 array had, but which was not inherited by the original 9900 …

    Storage 27 May 13:54

  • Greenpeace pushes Ballmer to intervene on climate

    Hey Steve get offa that cloud

    The efforts of climate activists to turn the CEOs of international IT megacorps into atmosphere-hugging greenies are having little impact, according to Greenpeace. The results of the pressure group's Cool IT Challenge (geddit?), released today, awarded IBM's Sam Palmisano and Sun's Jonathan Schwartz top spot among green IT …

    PCs & Chips 27 May 14:04

  • Summer debut for Judge Dredd computer smart-rifle

    Exploding wireless mini-shell ammo hits round corners

    US Army officials have announced that the high-tech XM-25 computer smartgun, intended to let soldiers shoot at and hit enemies hiding around corners, will enter field trials this summer. The "counter defilade" gun, similar in size to existing infantry weapons, is expected to reduce the number of controversial airstrikes used in …

    Physics 27 May 14:11

  • Intel: Nehalem EP ramp is steep

    AMD price war looms large

    As part of its preview of its "Nehalem EX" processor for high-end servers yesterday, Intel cushioned the blow in delaying this chip by showing how well its baby brother, the "Nehalem EP" chip for two-socket boxes, was doing in the market. Boyd Davis, general manager at Intel's Server Platforms Group marketing, said that …

    Servers 27 May 14:30

  • BT Global Services' own Clouseau bags massive bonus

    Le chat gros

    The man who piloted BT's Global Services division into a cliff and ensured the wider group made losses that prompted thousands of job cuts trousered £2.85m for his efforts, investors were told today. Francois Barrault last year received a £1.6m termination package, along with hundreds of thousands for school fees, housing and …

    Channel Register 27 May 14:44

  • Epson inkjet tech promises larger OLEDs

    37in OLED TVs on the horizon, apparently

    Sod Sony’s 11in XEL-1 OLED telly, Seiko Epson has perfected a technology that it’s claimed could pave the way for 37in and larger OLED TVs. Epson's 14in OLED (above) is based on its perfected inkjet technology The firm’s inkjet technology supposedly enables extremely accurate and uniform ink droplets to be deposited onto …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 15:20

  • Dell claims Latitude E4300 glitches 'fixed'

    Technical issue now resolved, we're told

    Dell is on a collision course with some disgruntled customers after it insisted problems with a components shortage in the vendor's Latitude E4300 models had now been resolved. The computer maker added the issues with the laptop, which was hit by lengthy shipping delays of up to three months in January, had been fixed and that …

    PCs & Chips 27 May 15:51

  • Intel plays down netbook 'cannibalisation'

    There, there

    An Intel exec claimed today that the dive in computer sales many have blamed on cheap-as-chips netbooks was currently at about 20 per cent, "less than speculation". Chipzilla's EMEA sales boss Christian Morales told Reuters netbook sales accounted for 16 per cent of all notebooks flogged worldwide. He added that the figure …

    PCs & Chips 27 May 15:55

  • Designer pitches high-tech gadget treasure chest

    Safely store your kit during beach trips

    Summer trips to the beach always present the same problem: where can you safely store your gadgets while taking a dip? Well one designer reckons he’s got the perfect solution – a high-tech clam that you literally bury in the sand. Gigga Clam: lock your kit inside and then bury it in the sand Designer Chris Stratton’s Gigga …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 16:20

  • Apple tweaks 13in MacBook specs

    For free!

    Without any fanfare, Apple has updated the specifications of its 13in MacBook. Apple's changed the MacBook's processor, memory and storage specs Although still based around an Intel Core 2 Duo, Apple’s upped the processor speed from 2.0GHz to 2.13GHz. But that’s not all, because Apple also increased the MacBook’s storage …

    Reg Hardware 27 May 17:02

  • Ingres and Red Hat unite to thwart Ellison's Sun love

    Not just another database

    Open source database vendor Ingres might stand a better chance at taking on the enterprise with Oracle fixing to swallow developers' favorite MySQL along with Sun Microsystems. To help, it's begun forging alliances with open-source operating-system companies. Red Hat and Ingres have been sniffing around each other for the past …

    Developer 27 May 18:00

  • Google opens Java-soaked cloud to world+dog

    Google I/O App Engine sans Python

    Google's Java-fied App Engine is now open to world+dog. In early April, the company added the Java runtime to its App Engine - a (semi-)free service that lets you build and host web apps on Google's very own cloud distributed infrastructure - but it was only available to 10,000 of the web's most eager Java coders. Today, at …

    Developer 27 May 18:08

  • Apple offers free iPods, upgrades MacBook

    Today US, tomorrow UK

    Apple has launched its annual buy-a-Mac, get-an-iPod Back to School program in the US, and confirmed to The Reg that the same program will be available in the UK from Thursday, May 28. The offer is open to college students and faculty and staff members at all grade levels. To get in on the giveway, qualifying folks will need …

    PCs & Chips 27 May 18:22

  • Google toys with plug-in free YouTube

    Google I/O HTML5 rescues browser video

    Google has mocked up a version of YouTube built around the HTML5 video tag, playing mini-movies inside a browser sans plug-ins. Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra demonstrated the mock-up during a keynote speech this morning at the company’s Google I/O developer conference in downtown San Francisco. But he …

    Developer 27 May 18:25

  • Seminal password tool rises from Symantec ashes

    L0phtcrack returns

    More than three years after Symantec unceremoniously pulled the plug on L0phtcrack, the seminal tool for auditing and cracking passwords is back with a set of new capabilities. Starting Wednesday, L0phtcrack 6 is available from the same team of hackers who introduced it to the world a decade ago. The program was pulled from …

    Enterprise Security 27 May 18:34

  • Obama stimulus means windfall for Wi-Fi

    Dare to think the unthought

    Wireless kit providers will get an enormous boost from President Obama's economic stimulus package if they concentrate on healthcare, education and especially the homeland security market. An ABI Research forecasts that the $6.8bn earmarked for wireless communications upgrades and new deployments during 2009 and 2010 will have …

    Wireless 27 May 18:52

  • Google punts self cut-and-paste

    Google I/O Embed us, please

    Google has launched an online service designed to facilitate the addition of various Google stuff onto your webpages, including Google Maps maps, Google News feeds, and YouTube videos. Introduced this morning at the company's Google I/O developer conference in downtown San Francisco, the new online service - dubbed Google Web …

    Developer 27 May 20:19

  • Cisco polishes ISR and Catalyst nuts and bolts

    Energy savin' skoolin'

    Cisco has seasoned a stew of integrated-service routers (ISRs) and Catalyst network switch announcements with customer backing. Featured in the release were a pair of new ISRs, the 880 VDSL2 and 890 series ISRs. Both are aimed at small business, offering VDSL2 broadband, wireless support, and - according to Cisco - improved …

    Data Networking 27 May 20:38

  • Fraud guardian uses 'unfair business practices', Judge rules

    LifeLock encroaches on Experian operation

    Fraud-prevention service LifeLock engages in unfair business practices because it violates parts of a federal law governing the safeguarding of consumer credit reports, a federal judge has ruled. The finding, by US District Judge Andrew J. Guilford of California's central district, came in a case brought by Experian, one of …

    ID 27 May 20:49

  • NASA explores 'Curiosity' for nuclear-powered Mars rover

    Don't burn the locals

    A 12-year-old girl from Kansas has chosen the name of NASA's nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory rover. Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech Clara Ma, an elementary student from Lenexa, Kansas, submitted the winning entry, "Curiosity" for the space agency's nationwide essay contest for youths to name the rover. Her …

    Space 27 May 21:28

  • SATA Revision 3.0 released

    It's a geekerific day, callooh, callay!

    The eagerly awaited new specification for hard-drive interconnects was released today, promising file-transfer speeds of up to six gigabits per second. The cleverly acronymed Serial ATA International Organization - SATA-IO - on Wednesday announced that the SATA Revision 3.0 specification was officially ready for public …

    Storage 27 May 22:07

  • Sun's Java body to open smoke-filled rooms

    No talking allowed

    More than a year after coming under pressure to break its corporate bias and to woo individuals, the Java Community Process has responded. The body's announced proposed changes to the way it discusses, manages and votes on the Java language and platform. If accepted, the changes will be adopted by the JCP next month. However …

    Developer 27 May 22:21

  • AT&T, not ready for 3G, lobbies for 3G Palm Pre

    It'll get slower before it gets better

    AT&T chief Randall Stephenson warned that US wireless networks aren't ready for a deluge of 3G traffic, while noting he'd like his company to start selling the 3G Palm Pre once Sprint's exclusive contract runs out. "Prepared to handle" and "prepared to sell" are very different things, you see. Speaking at the All Things …

    Telecoms 27 May 22:44

  • Cisco touts self as Unified Computer System pioneer

    Plans California's own data center

    Cisco Systems has been talking about its Unified Computing System, code-named California, so much for months now that it is hard to remember sometimes this mega product is still not shipping. Turns out Cisco is its own first beta test customer, and the company's IT brass Wednesday was talking about its own plans for deployment …

    Hardware 27 May 23:33

  • AT&T may have influenced American Idol final vote

    Partisan employees get over excited

    Telecom giant AT&T stands accused of attacking the very foundations of American suffrage after allegedly tainting the results of the country's largest democratic election - voting for American Idol. The New York Times has reported that AT&T - one of the show's largest corporate sponsors to the US edition of Pop Idol - helped …

    Music and Media 27 May 23:58