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28th May 2009 Archive

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  • IBM goes judicial over second strategic exec exit

    Dell bracketed with Apple

    IBM has apparently moved to block a second strategically important employee from joining a systems competitor. The giant is reportedly suing to stop former mergers-and-acquisitions chief David Johnson from joining Dell, the world's joint second largest provider of PCs. IBM claimed Johnson's new position at Dell violates an …

    Business 28 May 2009, 00:27

  • Microsoft fortifies Windows 7 kernel with overrun buster

    Safe unlinking coming to a PC near you

    Microsoft engineers have fortified the latest version of Windows with a feature designed to make it significantly harder for attackers to exploit bugs that may be lurking deep inside the operating system. The safeguard is called safe unlinking, and it's been dropped into a part of the Windows 7 kernel that allocates and …

    Security 28 May 2009, 00:34

  • Google: The internet is 'the right programming model'

    Google I/O 'The web has won'

    Just five years ago, Vic Gundotra argued that web apps could never rival their desktop brethren. But that's when he worked for Microsoft. He works for Google now. And he sees things quite differently. In 2004, Gundotra and his Microsoft team - responsible for driving developers to Windows - pointed to an application called …

    Developer 28 May 2009, 02:04

  • Decarbonising Britain won't work: study

    Pious targets don't butter no parsnips

    The UK's climate act is "all but certain to fail" and alternative approaches should be considered, according to a new study. The act commits the UK to cut its CO2 emissions by a third in just 13 years, and by 80 per cent by 2050. Roger Pielke Jr is a professor at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences …

    Science 28 May 2009, 07:02

  • Sun rolls out turbo-munchkin cluster storage box

    7310 wheeled out of garage

    Sun has introduced an entry-level 7000 cluster configuration, for users needing high-availability with up to 96TB of capacity. In November, 2008, Sun announced three members of the 7000 Unified Storage family: the 7110 entry-level with a single quad-core Opteron controller, the dual quad-core Opteron-powered 7210, and a dual- …

    Storage 28 May 2009, 07:02

  • Ofcom sets out Olympic spectrum plan

    Government asked to pay for it all

    UK regulator Ofcom has laid out a consultation plan for radio spectrum use during the London Olympics in 2012, ensuring that even if the games fail to be spectacular, at least the coverage will be wireless. Ofcom reckons there'll be more than 21,000 accredited media personages descending on London come July 2012, who will want …

    Broadband 28 May 2009, 07:33

  • Aliph Jawbone Prime Bluetooth headset

    Review Is wind a problem during conversation..?

    Last year Reg Hardware ran the first UK review of Jawbone II, the second Bluetooth headset from Aliph. This wasn’t just another gizmo for hands-free phone calls, it looked better than the rest, was easier to set up and reliable too. It also featured effective noise-cancelling characteristics, based around technology developed in …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 08:02

  • 4K by 2K resolution, Ethernet-equipped HDMI 1.4 announced

    Taking the connectivity fight to Firewire

    Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please welcome HDMI 1.4, the latest incarnation of the all-digital hi-def interconnect. Due for publication by the end of June, the HDMI 1.4 spec's key elements are integrated networking, support for bigger screen sizes, 3D friendliness and a new, more compact connector. The addition of …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 08:40

  • Irish politico in Facebook jub-rub outrage

    Girl-on-girl massage pic rocks Fine Gael

    Those of you eligible to vote in the forthcoming elections for Newbridge Town Council in County Kildare might want to consider the impressive political credentials of Fine Gael candidate Emma Kiernan. Ms Kiernan, 27, seen here on the Fine Gael website, was recently out celebrating a chum's 30th birthday, and took time to …

    Bootnotes 28 May 2009, 09:05

  • Time Warner gives up selling AOL

    That must be why Connie was living in her Dad's flat

    Time Warner's board of directors are likely to decide today to spin-off AOL as an independent company. The ailing dial-up internet service provider has been hawked around for sale for several years. Disney and Microsoft are among those who rejected a deal. AOL famously began life as a dial-up ISP and covered doormats around …

    Financial News 28 May 2009, 09:07

  • Sata spec update to yield faster, thinner netbooks

    Sata 3.0 ups peak speed to 6Gb/s too

    Serial ATA 3.0 is go, the Sata-IO industry body announced yesterday. Sata 3.0 doubles the bus' current peak bandwidth to 6Gb/s, improves its power-conservation capabilities and upgrades the standard's Native Command Queuing (NCQ) technology to add streaming and better command management, all designed to make it easier to get …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 09:10

  • HDS adds failover clustering

    Baby step towards 'future of storage'

    Replicating features that NetApp and IBM already support, Hitachi Data Systems has added failover clustering to its enterprise-class USP-V storage arrays. The USP-V (Universal Storage Platform - Virtualising) is a virtualising storage controller that can combine both Hitachi and third-party storage arrays into a single logical …

    Storage 28 May 2009, 09:28

  • Intel nudges back mid-range Core i CPUs?

    'Nehalem' for the rest of us

    Intel has delayed the roll-out of its anticipated 'Nehalem'-based mainstream desktop processors - as opposed to 'performance desktop parts, already released as Core i7 - it has been claimed. The new timetable, alleged by Asian motherboard-maker moles cited by Digitimes, would seem to be inspired more by the market than …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 09:59

  • Gov spunks hundreds of thousands on mobe condom clip

    Prophylactic promo reaches 5k viewers

    Much backslapping at the Department for Children, Schools and Families whose safe-sex mobile phone drama, Thmbnls, has been shortlisted for a Meffy (Mobile Entertainment Award). It ought to be gong-worthy, given the series is costing the UK taxpayer more than fifty quid per viewer. The department has spent 4.6 million nicker …

    Government 28 May 2009, 09:59

  • Nintendo: no DSi phone but maybe a 3G-connected one

    Hints at always-on wireless

    A Nintendo executive has said that although the console pioneer isn't planning to bolt phone services onto its handheld gaming devices, it may consider expanding its consoles’ wireless connectivity features. “Telephony is not in our wheelhouse,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo America's COO, during a recent briefing with the …

    Games 28 May 2009, 10:07

  • Spotify shows offline, Android smarts

    I hope Apple don't block this, by Ek

    Spotify, the major labels' big bet for stopping P2P wickedness, has demonstrated an offline version of the service for the first time. It's running on a Google Android mobile phone at Google's I/O developer event. And as you can see, it provides fast and slick access to the music, just like the desktop client. The most …

    Media 28 May 2009, 10:14

  • 'Supermodel' glow-in-the-dark pocket monkeys created

    Jellyfish-marmoset makes cover of boffins' glossy

    A team of crack Japanese boffins has at last achieved one of humanity's most important scientific goals - namely, the creation of small monkeys which glow green when exposed to ultraviolet light. Unsatisfactory one-off fluorescent primates had been created previously, but the new, cutting-edge fluoro-monkeys' abilities are …

    Science 28 May 2009, 10:21

  • Google book scan plan raises European hackles

    Brussels shouts

    Google's ongoing effort to create a vast digital library is set to come under fire at the EU from countries who fear it will violate copyright and stymie competition. German diplomats plan to raise the issues in Brussels today, EUobserver reports, with support from France, Austria and the Netherlands. Google controversially …

    Law 28 May 2009, 10:27

  • Dutch cat skinner publishes critics' personal details

    Kitty handbag artist tracks hatemailers across cyberspace

    The Dutch "artist" who in 2004 turned her pussy into a handbag under the performance art title "My dearest cat Pinkeltje (2004)" has published personal details of those who emailed her expressing their disgust. Katinka Simonse, aka Tinkebell, copped a veritable shitstorm of e-abuse for the feline fashion accessory stunt ( …

    Security 28 May 2009, 10:34

  • Sony extends Cyber-shot W series compact line

    Here comes summer

    From Sony, two new Cyber-shot W-series compact cameras, out in July in time for the summer hols. Sony's Cyber-shot W190: ready for the summer The W180 and W190 differ only on image sensor - 10.1Mp and 12.1Mp, respectively - digital zoom - 17x and 18x - and, for these two reasons, price, though Sony didn't say what it'll …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 10:53

  • German politicians leak election info on Twitter

    Dummkopf 0.2

    A pair of German politicians are in trouble for breaking constitutional protocol after leaking news of the German president's re-election through Twitter ahead of the official publication of the results. News that Horst Köhler had been re-elected as German president for a second five-year term appeared on the microblogging …

    Bootnotes 28 May 2009, 11:10

  • BBC devs Doctor Who movie script

    David Tennant to meet Catherine Zeta Jones?

    The BBC has said “a script is in development” for a possible Doctor Who movie spin-off - with David Tennant the favoured thesp to take the lead. The news came as the Beeb confirmed Tennant would appear as the Time Lord in the forthcoming third series of CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures, due to hit the small screen later this …

    Bootnotes 28 May 2009, 11:15

  • Clickfree Traveler SSD

    Review Credit card-sized, no-brainer backup

    The Clickfree concept is to provide effortless file backups for people who want hassle-free security from data loss. Yet the original Clickfree Portable drive received a mixed reception from Reg Hardware readers, comparing it unfavourably with ‘regular’ USB hard drives. The latest incarnation is a little different and relies on …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 11:56

  • HP job cuts hit Scotland

    Jobs Czech out

    Ink giant HP is sacking 850 people at its plant in Erskine, Renfrewshire because production of servers and storage devices is moving to the Czech Republic. Some 1,300 people are employed at the plant. Staff are expected to be told the news later today; a spokeswoman for HP confirmed to the BBC that a meeting was being held …

    Servers 28 May 2009, 12:10

  • Cobol hits fifty

    DISPLAY "Happy Birthday" LINE 15 POSITION 10.

    Cobol, the venerable computer language so beloved of Y2K-fearing businesses, has hit 50 years young today, having been invented on the 28th of May 1959 at a meeting of the Short Range Committee at the Pentagon. The news comes from Cobol specialists Micro Focus, which tells us that there are two hundred times as many Cobol …

    Developer 28 May 2009, 12:43

  • Segway inventor builds shoe-controlled bionic arm

    Kamen's vibro-limb tried out by US veterans

    Famous inventor Dean Kamen has developed a revolutionary new bionic arm for use by US troops injured in combat. The arm, now in beta testing, is manipulated from a foot-operated control panel inside one of the user's shoes and employs a vibrating feedback mechanism. More useful than a Segway? The new cyberlimb is built by …

    Science 28 May 2009, 13:13

  • Tory who claimed brother's tech gear on expenses quits

    Kirkbride scandal provides IT angle at last

    Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP who claimed almost £1,000 from taxpayers for computer equipment bought by her IT consultant brother, will not stand as a candidate at the next election, she has announced. Kirkbride has been placed under mounting pressure to give up her Bromsgrove seat by a series of damaging revelations …

    Government 28 May 2009, 13:20

  • HP launches SMB storage blitz

    New products rain from the skies

    HP is blitzing small and medium businesses with SAN, direct-attached and unified shared storage product offerings, upgrading its own products and taking on all comers. The StorageWorks X1000 storage system replaces HP's All-In-One low-end storage product. It combines network-attached storage (NAS) and iSCSI SAN (Storage Area …

    Storage 28 May 2009, 13:43

  • Lost laptop exposes thousands of pension records

    Exclusive Quest to free all world's imprisoned data continues

    A lost laptop containing the personal data of 109,000 Pensions Trust members has sparked the latest in a growing list of information security breach alerts. The missing machine was stolen from the offices of NorthgateArinso, suppliers of the Pensions Trust's computerised pensions administration system, where it was being used …

    Security 28 May 2009, 13:45

  • Administrators called in at titsup Sage reseller

    Numbers didn't add up

    The fate of Sage reseller BDE Group has been confirmed by the appointment of administrators. Neil Mather and Mark Fry at Begbies Traynor were appointed joint administrators on Tuesday, CRN reports. We reported yesterday how the firm's 100 staff feared the worst when they were sent home without pay last week. That came after …

    The Channel 28 May 2009, 14:28

  • Welsh mum amazed by Marmite Messiah

    Edible Son of God manifests in Rhondda

    Aficionados of Jesus simulacra can add a Marmite lid to the list of places the Son of God has chosen to manifest, following a Welsh woman's discovery of the Messiah's likeness formed from the delicious tar-based spread. Claire Allen, 36, spotted the astonishing face as she was poised to poison son Robbie, 4, with Marmite on …

    Bootnotes 28 May 2009, 14:32

  • HP begins European jobs chop

    Consultation begins

    HP is beginning consultations on cutting nearly six thousand European jobs. It has given its restructuring plan to the European Works Council, which represents staff, and detailed where in Europe, and in HP, the jobs will go. HP is cutting 5,700 positions from its total European staff of 80,000. The statement said: "In …

    Servers 28 May 2009, 15:15

  • Dell slides out svelte, DVD-less notebook

    The 14in Studio

    Dell has launched a notebook which, the vendor claimed, doesn’t compromise on self-expression. Just on optical storage. Dell's Studio 14z: no optical drives keep its size and weight down The Studio 14z has a 14in, 1280 x 720 display – although a 1440 x 900 option is also available – that’s hooked up to Nvidia’s GeForce …

    Hardware 28 May 2009, 15:23

  • RIM warns over PDF peril

    BlackBerry squash potential

    Research In Motion (RIM) has warned of a vulnerability in how BlackBerry servers handle malformed PDF files that potentially leaves the door open to hacking attacks. If corporate users of BlackBerry mobile devices are tricked into opening an email message with a booby-trapped PDF attachment, it might be possible to inject …

    Security 28 May 2009, 15:33

  • IDC: First quarter worst for servers in 12 years

    IT shops make do with what they have

    All the gadgets and gizmos and marketing spiel in the world didn't make much of an impact on IT shops in the first quarter, with box counter IDC reporting this morning that the run from January through March was the worst quarter for server sales in the dozen years that the market researcher has been releasing quarterly server …

    Servers 28 May 2009, 15:48

  • Virgin Galactic tests laughing-gas powered rocket motor

    Branson's spaceship, burning rubber into space

    Sir Richard Branson's space-tourism operation, Virgin Galactic, has announced successful tests of the rocket motor it will use to launch fare-paying passengers out of the Earth's atmosphere. Unusually, the rocket runs on laughing gas and tyre rubber. Burn the tyres and light the fires. The engine, which will boost the …

    Science 28 May 2009, 15:53

  • Nokia's Ovi store mostly unavailable and empty

    App Store killer in slo-mo suicide?

    It's been two days since Nokia's Ovi application store opened for business, and we had hoped to bring you some recommended apps by now, but Ovi's shelves are still very empty as Nokia's openness could yet prove Ovi's downfall. While the web-based store has been bouncing up and down we have had success in using the on-device …

    Developer 28 May 2009, 15:58

  • Google Oz coders crossbreed email with IM

    Google I/O Maps brothers ride Wave

    Google has unveiled a new-age communication and collaboration tool developed by the brother tandem behind the original Google Maps. Available today to a limited number of developers, the tool is called Google Wave, and naturally it's an online application that leans heavily on the still-gestating HTML 5 standard. "This is an …

    Developer 28 May 2009, 17:52

  • AOL and Time Warner splitsville by end of the year

    Grabbing Google's 5% first

    Time Warner and AOL will divorce at the end of the year, just as soon as the internet unit buys its stock back from Google. AOL plans to do its online services and advertising gig solo, leaving Time Warner to focus on media and cable. But first, Time Warner said it needs to repurchase the 5 per cent stake in AOL currently …

    Financial News 28 May 2009, 18:40

  • Apple raises retail stakes against Microsoft

    Genius growth

    Apple plans to refurbish 100 of its retail stores this year, just as Microsoft prepares its first tentative moves into the bricks-and-mortar sector. Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president of retail, is reported to have said the Cupertino computer consumer-electronics trend-setter will buff up its retail spaces by adding …

    Business 28 May 2009, 19:10

  • Microsoft's Google challenger is not a search engine

    Decides to channel ghost of Friends

    Microsoft likes to take simple, everyday technologies and deliberately inflate them, making them seem greater than they really are. The benefits of Windows 95, Windows Vista, .NET, and every version of Office and its related "information worker" applications have been blown out of all proportion in their time. Microsoft can't …

    Media 28 May 2009, 19:14

  • EMC lashes another to its systems management vision

    Learns from Victor Kiam

    You could call it the Victor Kiam strategy. EMC liked systems management company Configuresoft so much it OEMed the products, and now its bought the the whole company. Configuresoft, founded in 1999, has established itself in a niche for systems configuration and compliance tools. Configuresoft last year inked an OEM agreement …

    Servers 28 May 2009, 19:59

  • Hiding secret messages in internet traffic: a new how-to

    Covert messages exploit TCP

    Researchers have demonstrated a new way to hide secret messages in internet traffic that can elude even vigilant network operators. The process is a network application of steganography, which is the ancient science and art of hiding messages in documents, pictures and other media in a way that can be easily detected by the …

    Security 28 May 2009, 20:13

  • Jobs sighted, reality distortion field primed for WWDC?

    Miraculous use of Apple HQ main door

    Evidence has surfaced that Steve Jobs may be hale and hearty enough to put in an appearance during Apple senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller's keynote presentation at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 8th. For one, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak reported Wednesday to attendees at …

    Bootnotes 28 May 2009, 21:13

  • Super computer innovator preps for asset sale

    Cash is king for SiCortex

    SiCortex, an innovative maker of MIPS-based massively parallel supercomputers running Linux, has hired intellectual property managers to sell its assets. HPCwire was the first to report the story after catching wind that SiCortex had engaged Gerbsman Partners to help peddle its assets. Gerbsman published a notice on its blog …

    HPC 28 May 2009, 21:23

  • NASA marks 50th anniversary of monkey spaceflight

    "My god, it's full of bananas"

    Fifty years ago today, two monkeys became the first mammals to successfully return to Earth after spaceflight, paving the way for manned missions. On May 28, 1959, Able, an American born rhesus monkey and Miss Baker, a Peruvian squirrel monkey were strapped into the nose cone of a liquid-fueled Jupiter missile by NASA …

    Science 28 May 2009, 22:02

  • Non-beta Google betas may lose beta tags

    Google I/O 'They're not betas. We just call them that'

    Five years after its public debut, Gmail is still "in beta." But Google is willing to bring the curtain down on this long-running online farce. Or maybe not. Its decision to eliminate meaningless beta tags is still in beta. Speaking at its annual developer conference Wednesday, the company said that its endless beta posturing …

    Media 28 May 2009, 22:07

  • Critical Windows vulnerability under attack, Microsoft warns

    Drive-by web exploits possible

    Microsoft has warned of a critical security bug in older versions of its Windows operating system that is already being exploited in the wild to remotely execute malware on vulnerable machines. The vulnerability in a Windows component known as DirectX is being targeted using booby-trapped QuickTime files, which when parsed can …

    Security 28 May 2009, 22:37

  • Dell profits down, hopes up

    Meltdown's bottom not yet certain

    As is true with most every tech company during the ongoing meltdown, Dell announced Thursday that its just-finished fiscal quarter saw shrinking revenues and income. Despite some ugly numbers, the company's chairman and CEO Michael Dell predicts better days ahead - although those days may not arrive for some time. During Dell …

    Financial News 28 May 2009, 22:55

  • Novell carbon copies another quarter

    No silver lining yet

    Operating system maker Novell had about as good - or bad - a recent quarter as everyone else in the IT racket. For its quarter ended April 30, Novell sales fell by 8.5 per cent to $215.6m. But because it has been tightening the belt and it had a pretty bad corresponding quarter last fiscal year, bringing $15m to the bottom line …

    Financial News 28 May 2009, 23:10

  • Judge throws the book at phishing fraudster

    100 months of solitude

    A fraudster has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after copping to a series of phishing scams that affected 7,000 victims and netted an estimated $700,000 in illicit income. Sergiu Daniel Popa, 23, started his fraudulent activities almost nine years ago back in June 2000 when he was only 14 years-old, the …

    Security 28 May 2009, 23:20