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18th June 2009 Archive

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  • EnterpriseDB revs Postgres database

    Now behaves like Oracle

    The Postgres Plus database peddled by upstart EnterpriseDB was revved this week with the fifth tweak of its Oracle compatibility layer, bringing enhanced compatibility of key features in generations of Oracle databases and enabling the Postgres Plus Advanced Server database to mimic Oracle databases, particularly when coping …

    Servers 18 Jun 2009, 00:06

  • EchoStar stumped in Tivo patent prosecution

    Kill or cure four-million DVR boxes

    Time is running short for EchoStar to figure out an acceptable workaround to Tivo's DVR patent. The satellite provider said in a one-sentence court filing Monday that it's "investigating other potential design-around options, but at this stage, does not know whether a future design-around is even possible." If the company can …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 00:18

  • AT&T rethinks iPhone 3G S upgrade fee

    For some, but not others

    Apparently, the howls of hurt from early iPhone 3G buyers reached the heights of AT&T's bean-counting management. The company announced Wednesday that it would let iPhone 3G owners buy into new two-year iPhone 3G S contracts at a less punitive rate. Well, some iPhone 3G owners. In an open letter released on Wednesday, Big …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2009, 00:22

  • Microsoft open-source license finds (some) love

    'Intelligentsia' beats Google with AGPL

    A home-cooked Microsoft license has carved out a small but growing following among the open-source community in less than two years. Microsoft's Public License (MS-PL) is used by 1.03 per cent of open-source projects less than two-years after it was officially recognized by the Open-Source Initiative and is poised to overtake …

    Applications 18 Jun 2009, 05:24

  • HDS adds thin provisioning to mid-range

    Thinner middle, greater efficiency, smaller trousers

    Being miserly with disk space allocation is goodness these days, and all the array suppliers are offering thin provisioning, with applications getting disk capacity as needed instead of it being allocated up front and all at once. HDS has extended its version, Dynamic Provisioning, to its AMS 2000 mid-range storage products. …

    Storage 18 Jun 2009, 06:02

  • Koenigsegg e-sportster moves closer to reality

    Leccy Tech Mole leaks production plans

    When Register Hardware first clapped eyes on the Koenigsegg Quant leccy hyper-car back in March, we never thought the vehicle would see the light of day. Yes it will, a company mole has insisted. Limited Quant production will start soon, a Konigsegg mole's claimed The insider told Swedish website Realtid that the e-supercar …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 07:02

  • Roll up for the TechNet virtual tech conference

    June 19, 9.30am

    Last call for Microsoft’s TechNet's first virtual conference for the UK tech community. The all-day free event opens for business tomorrow (June 19) at 9.30am BST and brings together Microsoft experts and the IT community. [And The Register – we are the official media partner for the conference.] TechNet Virtual Conference …

    Software 18 Jun 2009, 07:51

  • Shuttle XPC SX58H7

    Review Monster CPU, miniature chassis

    Shuttle has managed a feat of engineering with the XPC SX58H7. It has shoehorned a Core i7 motherboard into a small(ish) form-factor case - it measures 325 x 208 x 189mm - of the kind we've seen on models such as the SP45H7. Shuttle's XPC SX58H7: engineering miracle? It is the work of moments to remove the main cover, drive …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 08:02

  • Home Office kicks ID cards into touch

    And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain

    The Home Office confirmed yesterday it is delaying awarding the key contract for the national ID card project - actually making the cards for UK citizens. Fujitsu, IBM and Thales were all in the running to make the cards. But this contract will not now be awarded until autumn 2010 - after the general election, which at the …

    Government 18 Jun 2009, 08:29

  • LaCie rolls into array business

    Xyratex OEM partnership

    LaCie looks set to enter the disk drive array business through an OEM deal with Xyratex. In the storage world Paris-based LaCie is known for stylish external drives for Windows, Linux and Mac users, with minimalist enclosures designed by Neal Poulton. Xyratex makes storage array subsytems which it supplies to storage array …

    Channel Register 18 Jun 2009, 09:16

  • New green and quiet jet-engine test results announced

    Paris Airshow Revolutionary turbofan spun by P&W

    US jet-engine colossus Pratt & Whitney have announced the test-programme results of their (ahem) revolutionary new PurePower™ Geared Turbofan (GTF) at the Paris Airshow. Unsurprisingly, P&W consider that the GTF will become the new standard in commercial jet engines, significantly greening the aviation industry. Everything, …

    Environment 18 Jun 2009, 09:24

  • Apple wilts under iPhone upgrade strain

    iTunes helps you seethe more easily

    Owners of Apple's iPhone, desperate to be the first to upgrade to version 3 of the OS, are hitting certification problems. Some are reporting that their beloved handsets refuse to work after an attempted upgrade. The problems seem to be down to Apple's certification service, though the details are far from clear. It is …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2009, 09:28

  • PETA pronounces on Obama fly-swat

    El Prez not Buddha, animal huggers confirm

    Animal rights outfit PETA has finally pronounced on the matter of Barack Obama's shock fly-swat, following considerable press pressure for clarification if the savage act of executive violence merited comparison with the Armenian Genocide. Well, the result disappointingly lacks an international poster campaign featuring a …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 09:32

  • Facebook facing regulator crackdown

    'Meeting with EU' may soon appear in event invitations

    Facebook is facing a difficult future as it tries to exploit user data to turn a profit - European regulators are considering sweeping reform of data regulations to prevent social networks from over-exploiting the private data of their users. Changes would extend data protection rules to third party application developers …

    Law 18 Jun 2009, 09:38

  • LG promises three Android phones for '09

    First due during late Q3/Q4

    LG has said it plans to launch three Android-based smartphones during 2009. The firm refused to disclose specific launch dates or provide technical details about any of the devices during as announcement at the ongoing CommunicAsia event in Singapore. But LG did confirm that its first Android smartphone will appear during the …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 09:56

  • How to speed up the iPhone 3.0 update process

    Turn off AirPort

    Having trouble getting your iPhone to activate while applying the shiny new 3.0 firmware update? Fret not - Register Hardware has the answer. Tired of seeing this? Read on... When iTunes asks you if you want to download the update, say yes. If you've seen the message above, you've already downloaded the code, so click …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 10:06

  • Phorm incinerates $50m in 12 months

    EU mulls UK response on privacy failings

    Phorm was forced into deep cost-cutting after its controversial battle to monitor and profile web users burned through an average of more than $4m per month last year, its financial results today reveal. The behavioural targeting outfit, whose operations are headquartered in London but which is registered in Delaware, reported …

    Telecoms 18 Jun 2009, 10:11

  • HP sees techies living in a box

    POD bay doors thrown open

    HP has revealed its own POD containerised data centre at its Technology Forum in Las Vegas. The POD acronym stands for Performance-Optimised Datacentre and, like several other companies, HP has decided to follow in Sun's Project Blackbox footsteps and build data centres in shipping containers. HP says it can be built and …

    Servers 18 Jun 2009, 10:16

  • Intel tears up CPU branding scheme

    Centrino to move from laptops to Wi-Fi chips

    Intel is to ditch its Core 2 and Core 4 brands, along with their Solo, Duo and Quad sub-brands in favour of, simply, Core. Well, sort of. Intel's plans aren't quite that clear cut. Rather than nuke and pave, Intel is rolling out the new brand pland as it rolls out new products, while clearing out the old brands through natural …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 10:52

  • Digital Britain dithers over spectrum plans

    Digital Britain Disses WiMAX, tries on caps, wobbles on universal service

    Lord Carter's report on Digital Britain has quite a lot to say on spectrum allocations, though there are still significant gaps to fill before we have a radio spectrum master plan. Most of what's in Digital Britain echoes the proposals made by Kip Meek last month. This should come as no surprise, given that Mr. Meek was tasked …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2009, 10:59

  • Man dressed as dead mother to scam $1m

    'I am not Norman Bates', insists cuffed fraudster

    A 49-year-old Brooklyn man faces up to 25 years' jail for allegedly dressing as his dead mother to scam $1m in benefits and loans, the New York Daily News reports. Thomas Prusik Parkin (pictured) adopted Irene Prusik's identify following her death in 2003, the Brooklyn district attorney's office claims. Dressed in "wig, makeup …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 11:01

  • Royal Navy sailors hurl Ronald McDonald into Chilean harbour

    Matelots in bungled Valparaiso hamburgling

    Two Royal Navy sailors have appeared in a Chilean court for stealing a life-sized plastic statue of Ronald McDonald from an outlet of the popular animal-products-in-a-bun globocorp. The mischievous matelots were thought to have hurled the tasteful icon of American capitalism into the harbour. The BBC reports that the duo were …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 11:38

  • Game laws to make underage selling illegal

    Digital Britain Vendors to be legally bound to think of the children

    The Government has abandoned its hybrid approach to age-rating computer games in favour of a single system. One method will now be used to rate all games in the UK and a new law will give regulators statutory power over game rating. Computer games are currently only controlled by legally-enforceable ratings if they contain …

    Law 18 Jun 2009, 11:42

  • 9/11 hero mutt cloned

    Ground Zero rescue dog honoured fivefold

    The teary-eyed owner of 9/11 hero Trakr - the dog who pulled the last survivor from the rubble of the World Trade Center - has been presented with five clones of his beloved mutt, AFP reports. Former Canadian cop James Symington and Trakr arrived at Ground Zero on 12 September 2001, among the first "K9" search and rescue teams …

    Biology 18 Jun 2009, 11:45

  • ITU calls for cooperation in keeping kids safe online

    Unhysterical guidelines for kids, parents and industry

    The International Telecommunications Union has issued draft guidelines to help keep kids safe online. We're not sure how many children will wade through the 66 page pdf offering advice for kids online, but its basic message is sensible. Using the acronym 'SMART' kids are advised to: Set your limits - use privacy settings, be …

    Law 18 Jun 2009, 11:50

  • Student leader demands lectures be 'put against the wall'

    Citizen Streeting wants end to fleshy student interaction

    The leader of the UK's students has declared that "come the revolution", lectures would be put up against the wall and shot in favour of virtual teaching. Wes Streeting, the head of the National Union of Students, has dismissed lectures as redundant and out of date in an article in Policy Review Magazine, The Times reports. …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 12:00

  • Xerox Phaser 6280V/DN

    Review Page turner – faster than your average duplex?

    The sales ratio of colour to mono laser printers continues to swing towards colour, and not just in the SoHo market. If you want to buy a colour machine for a small business or a reasonably-sized workgroup, say four or five people, then the Xerox Phaser 6280V/DN certainly deserves a look. Xerox's Phaser 6280V/DN Xerox still …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 12:02

  • Vodafone lets slip Nokia 'N97 Mini'

    Official blog reveals cut-down version of flagship phone

    The N97 – Nokia’s new flagship handset – has barely been available in the UK, but Vodafone has hinted that a second version of the touchscreen handset has been designed. In response to a customer’s question about whether the N97 and Palm Pré will being available on Vodafone, the operator announced on its official blog recently …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 12:46

  • Alcatel-Lucent to eject '1,000 IT staff' into HP

    Computing and telecoms giants strike ten year deal

    Alcatel is to transfer about 1,000 workers to HP as part of a ten year "alliance" between the two firms that will see the Californian firm take over most of the French telecoms company's IT operations. The firms described their tie-up as a "10-year global alliance to help customers leverage the convergence of telecommunication …

    Channel Register 18 Jun 2009, 12:49

  • Bristol crim caught with mobile up jacksie

    Eight weeks' extra porridge for prison smuggle fail

    A 22-year-old Bristol master criminal will spend eight weeks in prison for attempting to smuggle a mobile phone into prison by "concealing it internally", as the Bristol Evening Post delicately puts it. Aaron Walker had been ordered back to Horfield Prison on 30 April for breaching the licence for a previous unnamed offence. …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 13:15

  • Be broadband denies BitTorrent ban

    Customers blame Carter

    Be broadband has denied accusations from customers it is blocking access to popular BitTorrent trackers including Pirate Bay and Mininova. Reports that several trackers were unavailable began to emerge yesterday morning. The problems are understood to be ongoing. In the wake of the forthcoming anti-piracy measures announced …

    Telecoms 18 Jun 2009, 13:30

  • January's Windows 7 hole still open

    Sort it out, Redmond

    A security hole in Windows 7, highlighted by a blogger back in January, is still wide open and Microsoft is showing very little interest in closing it. Of course the software is only in beta right now, but the full release is due in August. An Aussie blogger spotted the problem with User Account Control back in January. John …

    Enterprise Security 18 Jun 2009, 13:58

  • Fiancée discovers boyf is grumble flick stud

    Vicar's services dispensed with following net revelation

    A bride-to-be has cancelled her fairytale church wedding after discovering her "romantic, thoughtful and passionate" fiance had been putting it about for the benefit of grumble flick cameras. Haylie Hocking, 27, met "strapping" 30-year-old personal trainer Jason Brake last year at the garage where she worked. After six months …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2009, 14:00

  • Oz comms minister cops Internet Villain jibe

    He'll 'roo the day

    Australian communications minister Stephen Conroy's attempts to clean up the web Down Under have been officially recognised by British ISPs - with a nomination for their Internet Villain of the Year Award. Conroy is cited in ISPA's annual boo-hiss list for "continuing to promote network-level blocking despite significant …

    Telecoms 18 Jun 2009, 14:38

  • Reg reader bombarded by 3 sales calls

    10('Ah, go on')

    Sales calls from operators are common enough, but 3UK seems to be overdoing it slightly after calling one El Reg reader ten times within a couple of hours on Monday evening. Our chap's contract with 3 expires on Sunday, so a call or two asking him to renew should be expected. But having received a few calls from the "exclusive …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2009, 14:42

  • Sweden: IP numbers are personal...unless you're a pirate

    Court ruling no defense

    A ruling from a Swedish court that IP numbers should be considered personal data will not have any impact on the country's recently passed anti-piracy law. The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court ruled today that IP numbers should be considered personal information. This is a hot topic because copyright holders routinely use …

    Law 18 Jun 2009, 15:02

  • T-Mobile names next Android handset

    Huawei's U8230 - or HTC's Magic?

    T-Mobile has announced the name of its second Android-based handset. In a post on its Twitter page, the network operator announced today that the phone will be called the G1 Touch. “Very excited! T-Mobile’s highly anticipated 2nd Android phone has been named the T-Mobile #G1Touch – more soon!” the post read. T-Mobile’s first …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2009, 15:18

  • Canucks buy 300 teraflops Blue iDataPlex super

    Melting Arctic sea ice to, er, save Arctic sea ice

    The University of Toronto's SciNet consortium, which provides supercomputing oomph for colleges, universities, and research hospitals across Canada, will today announce that it has selected IBM's iDataPlex servers using Intel's new "Nehalem EP" Xeon 5500 processors to create the most powerful supercomputer in Canada. The …

    Servers 18 Jun 2009, 15:57

  • Collecta - real-time search in real-time

    Let the links come to you

    Following the (semi-)success of Twitter's self-search engine - meant to tell you what the world is thinking right now - there's no shortage of web-happy outfits scrambling to crack so-called real-time search. That includes everyone from Google and Facebook to Web2.0rhea-loving startups like Tweefind and Twingly. Yes, Tweefind …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 16:02

  • Microsoft kills Visual Studio's Oracle data connection

    Swift reaction: 'Sucks', 'shortsighted'

    Coders have reacted with disappointment and frustration to Microsoft's decision to cease development of a connector to Oracle in its .NET Framework, a move that looks like another budget cut. Microsoft has said it will no longer develop OracleClient, or System.Data.OracleClient, with the the up-coming .NET Framework 4.0. It …

    Developer 18 Jun 2009, 18:17

  • US city demands FaceSpaceGooHoo log-ins from job seekers

    Updated Data protection and privacy...we've heard of that

    If you apply for a job with the City of Bozeman, Montana - a mid-sized burg halfway across these United States - you're forced to surrender usernames and passwords for every account you've set up with websites of the "social networking" variety. According to the City, that includes everything from Facebook and MySpace to …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 18:25

  • EC calls for one world internet governance

    ICANN haz oversight too?

    The European Commission is once again calling for the United States to let go of ICANN and place it under international supervision. Echoing an earlier appeal from EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, the Commission said in a statement today that future internet governance "should reflect the key …

    Public Sector 18 Jun 2009, 18:40

  • Sun kicks out VirtualBox 3.0 beta

    Virtual SMP and graphics boost

    Just after Oracle closes its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in about a month's time, one of the things it's going to have to sort out is a hodgepodge of virtualization products that Oracle and Sun have amassed. But in the meantime, Sun's VirtualBox development team is still at it, rolling out the first beta of VirtualBox 3.0 …

    Virtualization 18 Jun 2009, 19:30

  • Google accused of avoiding YouTube revenues

    Toilet-using cats cheaper than you think

    Google acknowledges that YouTube is still losing money. But according to an opinionated San Francisco IT research and consulting firm, it's not losing as much as it wants you to believe. In April, the financial brains at Credit Suisse famously estimated that Google will spend a good $711m on YouTube this year while pulling in …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 21:56

  • Economists say P2P file-sharing fuels art

    Moneymaking? Not so much

    A pair of economists have released a report arguing that file-sharing doesn't stifle the creation of music, films, and books. On the contrary, they say, weaker copyright protection has benefited society. Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard University and Koleman Strumpf of the University of Kansas recently published a working …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 22:34

  • Ballmer not so bullish on Bing

    No more bets, gentlemen

    After the launch, the hype. But one individual is not buying into the idea that Bing is a done deal or that Google is scared. That person is the one with the most at stake: the normally tough-talking and excitable Steve Ballmer. Microsoft's CEO is reported to have downplayed the immediate euphoria and creeping expectations …

    Music and Media 18 Jun 2009, 23:44

  • Canadian bill forces personal data from ISPs sans warrant

    Requires police intercept hardware

    Canada is considering legislation allowing the country's police and national security agency to readily access the online communications and the personal information of ISP subscribers. "We must ensure that law enforcement has the necessary tools to catch up to the bad guys and ultimately bring them to justice. Twenty-first …

    ID 18 Jun 2009, 23:49