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15th July 2009 Archive

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  • Supers get greener

    But HPC iron still glows red hot

    The Top 500 ranking of the world's supercomputers, put out by a group of performance-loving nerds, came out a few weeks ago. Now a few efficiency-loving nerds have added power-consumption figures to the Top 500, resorted the list, and have created the Green 500 supercomputer ranking. The pursuit of hundreds of teraflops and …

    HPC 15 Jul 00:03

  • Ricoh Aficio GX 3000S

    Review Quick dry ink, the fast print solution?

    The main problem with shoehorning inkjet printers and all-in-ones into the office environment is the time it takes for the ink to dry. Faster drying ink means higher print speeds, so Ricoh’s Gelsprinter technology that utilises gel-based inks, is designed to offer high-speed documents, with the benefits of the large colour gamut …

    Reg Hardware 15 Jul 08:02

  • Long wait for health records

    New system will miss the Olympics

    The government has confirmed that we will need to be patient in waiting for patient care records. Health minister Mike O'Brien told Parliament that it would be 2014 or 2015 before all health trusts had properly deployed health record systems. Parts of the system are already up and running and a spokeswoman for Connecting for …

    Government 15 Jul 08:16

  • Three brothers jailed for credit card factory

    Twelve years for the brothers PIN

    Three brothers have been jailed for a total of 12 years for making fake credit and debit cards. The three pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to conspiracy to defraud. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's specialist card fraud squad were searching an office space in Brent and found evidence that the room was being used …

    Crime 15 Jul 09:04

  • Save journalism, online newspaper publishers beg EC

    Demand for better copyright protection

    Newspaper publishers have asked the European Commission to look into "improvements" in the copyright protection afforded to newspaper content. Their submission claims that a refusal by the Commission to help could endanger journalism. Publishers' groups the European Publishers' Council (EPC) and the World Association of …

    Music and Media 15 Jul 09:17

  • DNA database swells despite human rights ruling

    5.6 million records and still growing

    An average of 40,000 profiles per month have been added to the National DNA Database since judges ruled the retention of samples from innocent people was illegal under human rights laws. More than 300,000 profiles have been added since the judgment last December. The figures, released on Tuesday, take the total number of …

    Policing 15 Jul 09:56

  • PC market to shrink for first time since dot com crash

    Vendors bumping against rocky bottom

    iSuppli thoroughly dampened any PC industry euphoria in the wake of Intel's happy results yesterday, predicting that this year will show the first overall contraction of PC shipments since the dot com crash. Intel reported a better than expected second quarter yesterday, with the fastest revenue climb in 20 years, and …

    Channel Register 15 Jul 10:09

  • Sony whips up fresh Walkman players

    Zappin', apparently

    Sony has unveiled a pair of new "entry-level" Walkman music players. The E440 series sports a 2in, 320 x 240 LCD display and is video-capable, playing back MPEG 4 and H.264/AVC files copied across from... iTunes. Yes, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Sony's Walkman E: Clear sound, apparently The 9.3mm-thick Es will play …

    Reg Hardware 15 Jul 10:21

  • New CEO to Tiscali TV: 'Show me the money'

    Carphone Warehouse boss throws on-demand service a bone

    The new owner of Tiscali, Carphone Warehouse CEO Charles Dunstone, has told the Financial Times that he's prepared to give Tiscali TV a chance to demonstrate that its video-on-demand service can make money for the company. The news comes as a relief to those working in Tiscali TV, as Mr. Dunstone has been pretty dismissive of …

    Telecoms 15 Jul 10:23

  • Blade pioneer dies

    Chris Hipp, RIP

    We're very saddened to hear of the death of Reg friend Chris Hipp, who has died suddenly aged 49. A competitive cyclist who used to race with Lance Armstrong, Chris turned his boundless energy and curiosity to the computer business a decade ago. Seeing the potential of using low-power laptop chips to create high-density …

    Servers 15 Jul 10:32

  • Toyota to punch out second hybrid in UK

    Leccy Tech Next-gen Auris assembly plan announced

    Toyota has revealed that a hybrid version of its Auris hatchback will be built at its UK plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire from 2012. According to a report in the Japanese industry daily, Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun, the Auris is due for a major facelift in 2012 which will coincide with the release of the hybrid model. The car will …

    Reg Hardware 15 Jul 10:34

  • Dell strives to fill storage holes

    Will plug gaps with storage supplier buy

    Dell will likely make storage supplier acquisitions to fill holes in its offerings, the company has told analysts. The company held a financial analysts event at its Round Rock, Texas headquarters yesterday. It said it is enduring a spending squeeze by its corporate, public sector and SME customers and sees a transition to …

    Storage 15 Jul 10:35

  • Zero-day fixes star in MS Patch Tuesday

    More of the same to come

    Microsoft released six bulletins - three covering critical flaws - on Tuesday as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday update cycle. The releases address two unpatched zero bugs (involving DirectShow and Microsoft Video) that have become the target of hacking attacks over recent weeks but offers only mitigation against a problem …

    Enterprise Security 15 Jul 10:59

  • Google Voice gets Android guestlist

    BlackBerry's in, iPhone still wearing wrong shoes

    Google Voice has arrived on Android and BlackBerry as a dedicated application - despite the service still being an invitation-only gig. The Google Voice application offers proper integration with the address book, showing your Google Voice number to people you're calling. It aims to provide punters with a single phone number …

    Mobile 15 Jul 11:00

  • New Zealand set to join internet blocking club

    Concerns over oversight and spying on users

    New Zealand is preparing to join the list of internet blockers. From last week, New Zealanders who want to know what is in store for them can access a useful new online resource - "the Compleat Thomas Beagle" - which includes a FAQ providing in-depth coverage of political and technological issues involved. At present, New …

    Telecoms 15 Jul 11:03

  • Chrome OS: Windows killer?

    Or will it just leave smudgy fingermarks?

    Google’s announcement last week concerning its plans to bring out a fully fledged operating system was inevitably going to put the cat amongst the twitterati. “Let’s see,” asked the pundits, “who else makes operating systems?” Of course the intention was to have the Microsoft marketing monster shaking in its boots, not least …

    Operating Systems 15 Jul 11:44

  • Microsoft store crumples as Win7 promo kicks off

    Partner opportunity or what?

    Microsoft kicked off its massive pre-order promo for Windows 7 today, and promptly saw its European online store decide it was time for a little lie down. The software giant styled the promo as a "perfect way to [say] thank you" to beta testers who'd given it feedback on the (potentially industry saving) operating system. It …

    Channel Register 15 Jul 11:49

  • Rackspace adds API access to its hosted clouds

    RESTful and be thankful

    Cloud service host Rackspace is adding API access to its hosted clouds, to give cloud service suppliers more control and flexibility over their hosted servers. Rackspace offers Cloud Server hosting to cloud service provider customers, using technology from its Slicehost subsidiary. Customers currently manage their servers …

    Servers 15 Jul 11:52

  • Acer Tempo M900

    Review Acer's last and best Windows Smartphone?

    With the launch of the M900, Acer's assault on the smartphone market comes to a halt. Well, at least until its first Android or WinMo 6.5 handsets emerge blinking into the cold light of day. Joining the ranks of the dual SIM DX900, 2.8in screen X960 and 3.8in F900, we now have a Windows Mobile handset with a slide-out Qwerty …

    Reg Hardware 15 Jul 11:57

  • Gaza youth 'corrupted' by aphrodisiac chewing gum

    Israel finds Hamas claim hard to swallow

    An Israeli military source has dismissed Hamas claims that its intelligence service is offloading aphrodisiac chewing gum on Gaza Strip youth in some form of cunning sex-based plan to destabilise the Palestinian territory. Hamas spokesman Islam Shahwan said: "We have discovered two types of stimulants that were introduced into …

    Bootnotes 15 Jul 12:13

  • MP asks UK.gov: Why are you still using IE6?

    It's insecure, it's flaky... it's government IT policy

    Tom Watson MP has spent the last few days asking government departments when they intend to upgrade their web browsers from IE6. Yes, that's Internet Explorer 6. Responses ranged from departments which are in the process of upgrading like the Department of Justice and Foreign Office to the MoD, which has no intention of doing …

    IT Director 15 Jul 12:17

  • Plod offered SIM confiscation powers by Tories

    Errant yoof face summary mobile justice

    Young people accused of anti-social behaviour could soon see their SIM cards summarily confiscated by police for up to a month, using new powers proposed by the Tories. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said yesterday that taking away access to mobile communications would "go right to the heart of what matters to a Nokia …

    Policing 15 Jul 12:22

  • Cocaine-smuggling golfer fails 'what's your handicap' test

    Disability? What disability?

    A 23-year-old Sussex woman's cunning plan to smuggle cocaine into the UK concealed in the shafts of golf clubs fell apart, when she mistook suspicious customs officials' quizzing about her handicap for a request for information as to whether or not she was disabled. According to the Sun, Kayti Ella Dryer from Lewes jetted in …

    Bootnotes 15 Jul 12:24

  • Kent Police clamp down on tall photographers

    Updated New heights of absurdity (about 5'11")

    Kent Police set a new legal precedent last week, as they arrested a photographer on the unusual grounds of "being too tall". This follows a year of increasingly unhappy incidents, in which continued reassurances from on high appear to have had little impact on how Police Forces deal with photographers – and reinforces a …

    Policing 15 Jul 12:45

  • MPs shown 'email evidence' of wider NotW snooping

    'One bad apple' defence wormed into

    A committee of MPs was presented evidence on Tuesday that several News of the World journalists were involved in illegal mobile phone hacks, piling further pressure on News International which maintains that only one rogue reporter was involved. Appearing before the Commons committee on culture, media and sport, Guardian …

    Enterprise Security 15 Jul 14:16

  • World's oldest mum pops clogs

    Has twins at 67, dies at 70*

    María del Carmen Bousada de Lara, the Cadiz woman who controversially had twins at 67, has died of cancer aged 70, the Diario de Cádiz reports.* Former shop assistant Bousada de Lara lied about her age to the Los Angles clinic which imposed the legal limit of 55 years for IVF treatment. Following the successful deception, she …

    Biology 15 Jul 14:17

  • CRB drops fees ahead of expected vetting surge

    Volume snooping discounts

    The Criminal Records Bureau has dropped its fees ahead of an expected massive increase in business come October. The government's Vetting and Barring Scheme kicks in this October, bringing an end to the disparate collection of lists of adults who are banned from working with children or other vulnerable children. The scheme …

    Government 15 Jul 14:17

  • No green shoots for 3PAR

    Situation actually getting worse

    Installation delays and lowered demand have depressed 3PAR's quarterly results, and it sees no green shoots of recovery looking ahead. For its first fiscal 2010 quarter, ended June 30, it expects to report revenues of $44.2m - $44.5m. This is an increase of just 3-4 per cent year-on-year but an 8-9 per cent decline compared to …

    Storage 15 Jul 14:37

  • Government promises low carbon future

    £10m for electric car chargers

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has outlined our bright, green future in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan which aims to cut emissions by 34 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020. Some 21 per cent has already been cut., and by 2020 Miliband reckons we'll have 1.2m in "green jobs", whatever they are. Some 1.5m households will be …

    Environment 15 Jul 15:04

  • BlackBerry snoopers can explain everything

    Etisalat downloads smoke and mirrors

    Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates operator who recently pushed snooping software to its BlackBerry-using customers, has explained that it's all in the interests of network compatibility. But its claim that appear fall down at the slightest scrutiny - or at least with a glance at the code in question. The patch, which was …

    Mobile 15 Jul 15:09

  • Explosive French workers threaten second factory

    Nortel plant in gas bottle menace

    Nortel workers have taken a leaf from the book of their New Fabris comrades and threatened to blow up their company's Yvelines factory unless the telecomms outfit treats them with a bit more respect and to a bit more redundancy cash. According to Reuters, 480 employees face the chop following "bankruptcy proceedings". Earlier …

    Bootnotes 15 Jul 15:11

  • Microsoft hosts Feynman lecture series

    Actual fun with physics

    Forget Windows 7, the most useful thing that Microsoft will do this year is host the videos of a famous lecture series given by Nobel prize winning physicist Richard Feynman back in 1964, so anyone can watch them and see a brilliant man engaged with the workings of the physical world and the people he is trying to get hooked on …

    Physics 15 Jul 15:12

  • Fancy dropping into Pitetsbkrrh?

    Pittsburgh tower fails spelling test

    Grant Tower, a Pittsburgh landmark topped with a radio mast and a flashing light spelling out the city's name in Morse, has instead been spelling out the word "Pitetsbkrrh" for some time. The mistake wasn't noticed until one Tom Stepleton, a Radio Ham familiar with Morse, recognised the letter "K" in the flashing sequence and …

    Networks 15 Jul 15:26

  • Juniper wraps remote types in security blanket

    Measures self with Cisco yardstick

    Juniper has stretched its enterprise security mechanisms to better protect all those machines logging into corporate networks from remote locations. Dubbed Juniper Networks Adaptive Threat Management Solutions, the new offering automatically deploys anti-malware and anti-spyware tools to remote clients tapping the network via …

    Security 15 Jul 16:51

  • O2 caught in smartphone virus outbreak

    Snazzy Toshiba TG01s infected

    O2 in Germany has stopped sending out Toshiba TG01 smartphones, which have been inadvertently infected with malware. Speaking to German-language website, an O2 spokesman said the carrier began selling the TG01 - which boasts a 4.1in, 800 x 480 display - in early July. It's not known how the virus ended up on the phones - pre- …

    Reg Hardware 15 Jul 17:06

  • Apple's iPhoneware update snuffs tethering hack

    Adds obey AT&T code

    Apple released its iPhone Software 3.1 beta 2 on Tuesday, and today, the web is alive with reports that the release has disabled a hack that allowed fanbois to use the iPhone 3G and 3GS as wireless broadband modems for laptops and PCs. This capability - known as tethering - was touted as one of the benefits of 3.0 when Apple …

    Mobile 15 Jul 17:41

  • Visa dings teen for $23-quadrillion restaurant charge

    Admits 17-digit 'glitch'

    Visa says a technical glitch is responsible for a rash of notices warning customers their accounts are overdrawn to the tune of $23 quadrillion. An anonymous Reg reader tipped us to one emailed statement, which claimed the account of the tipster's son was on hold because of a charge made to an Applebee's restaurant for $23,148 …

    Security 15 Jul 17:54

  • Nehalem and Atom save Intel's Q2 cookies

    Supply chain planning 101

    Intel's decision late last year to hold back the launch of the 'Nehalem EP' Xeon 5500 processors for servers until the end of the first quarter of this year seems to have played out exactly as planned, as the chip maker's financial results reported yesterday bear out. Launching the Nehalem EP chips for two-socket servers late …

    Servers 15 Jul 18:01

  • New York nips facelift firm for astroturfing

    But they're still grinning...

    A facelift firm is being slapped with a $300,000 fine by New York state for flooding the internet with fake positive reviews about itself. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said the case is believed to be the first in the US to punish so-called "astroturf" marketing. Under a settlement deal announced Tuesday, the cosmetic …

    Music and Media 15 Jul 18:35

  • Microsoft invests $1m in IT girls

    Designing Women

    Microsoft has made its second million-dollar grant to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) to support the advancement of women in IT. Founded in 2004, NCWIT is a coalition of over 170 corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to expand women's participation in …

    Financial News 15 Jul 18:44

  • Apple ends Palm Pre's iTunes charade

    Updated 'Falsely pretending' devices disabled

    Apple released an update to its iTunes music-management app on Wednesday that prevents Palm's Pre smartphone from appearing to be an iPod when connected to a Mac or PC. An Apple spokesman told The Reg that "iTunes 8.2.1 is a free software update that provides a number of important bug fixes. It also disables devices falsely …

    Music and Media 15 Jul 20:24

  • HTC smartphones vulnerable to Bluetooth file sniffing

    Still no fix

    If you own a mobile phone made by HTC and connect using Bluetooth, there's a decent chance security researcher Alberto Moreno Tablado can rummage through sensitive files stored on the device using a critical bug in some of its wireless device features. The directory traversal flaw resides in the File Transfer Profile (OBEX FTP …

    Security 15 Jul 20:29

  • Ingres punts dev software bundle wrapped in Oracle fears

    WAMPS to WAIPS in a single install

    Open source database vendor Ingres is working hard to take advantage of any uncertainty over the fate of MySQL once Oracle gets its hands on Sun. Oracle's acquisition has been an opportunity for Ingres to forge new alliances as well as push its product to PHP devs concerned over potential MySQL support price hikes or other …

    Applications 15 Jul 20:36

  • Microsoft stores to get in Apple's face this autumn

    WPC Triumph of the mall

    Microsoft will open its promised retail outlets this Autumn right next door to Apple's shops, in what sounds like a Nietzsche-style test of corporate will and destiny. Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer, promised partners Wednesday that the outlets would open in time for Christmas and the back-to-school PC and …

    Channel Register 15 Jul 21:12

  • Bull to do homegrown Nehalem EX chipset

    Fame 2G and its Mesca servers

    French server maker Bull is getting serious about the server racket, and is doing the engineering needed to back up its ambitions. Only two weeks ago, Bull announced that it was creating its own line of extreme-scale blade supercomputers with the unfortunately and presumably unintentionally hilarious name bullx. The machines …

    HPC 15 Jul 22:01

  • Endeavour heads for ISS on sixth try

    'Persistence pays off' for STS-127

    Space shuttle Endeavour has finally blasted off on its mission to the International Space Station. Image courtesy NASA TV The belated liftoff of mission STS-127 from Kennedy Space Center is NASA's sixth attempt to get Endeavour off the ground. Two cancellations in June were due to a leak in the shuttle's hydrogen gas …

    Space 15 Jul 22:23

  • Twitter's underwear exposed after Google Apps hack

    Biz Stone's briefs

    An unidentified hacker has exposed confidential corporate and personal information belonging to microblogging site Twitter and its employees after breaching electronic accounts belonging to several people close to the company. The episode is the latest reminder that the convenience of cloud-based services that store …

    Security 15 Jul 23:33

  • IT admin sentenced for sabotaging employer's network

    $30k rampage served cold

    A former support admin was sentenced to one year in prison after admitting he shut down the servers of a large IT company a few months after his employment ended there. Lesmany Nunez, 30, was an employee at Quantum Technology Partners in Miami from August 2006 to May 2007. Amazingly, he was able to breach the company's network …

    Crime 15 Jul 23:48

  • Microsoft apes Spotify with ad-stuffed tune streaming

    Copycat for Zune, Xbox

    Microsoft is on the verge of mimicking Spotify, the UK-based music streaming service that serves up audio ads alongside free tunes. As reported by The Telegraph, Redmond will have its Spotify-like service "ready" by the end of this month. That's in 16 days. "Music is an important area for Microsoft. We are looking at …

    Music and Media 15 Jul 23:58