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16th July 2009 Archive

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  • Google data center born without chillers

    Belgian free cooling

    The cooling system inside Google's Belgium data center has no chillers. It uses nothing but outside air - so-called "free-cooling" - to keep temperatures down. And if the Belgian air gets too hot, Google shifts the data center's compute loads to other facilities. As we reported late last month, Google senior manager of …

    Servers 16 Jul 2009, 00:01

  • Amazon sued for cracks in Kindle

    It's their own fault(line)

    An Amazon Kindle owner is angrily suing the online bookseller marketplace, alleging that his Kindle's cracks were caused by Amazon's own supposedly protective Kindle Cover. How angry is plaintiff Matthew Geise? About $5 million worth of angry. Yes, Geise paid but $359 for his now-deceased Kindle 2, but he's going for bigger …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2009, 00:03

  • Microsoft 'deal factories' fast-track customers to block rivals

    WPC Exclusive The Wal-martification of Redmond

    Microsoft is rolling out "deal factories" run by executives with the power and authority to cut quick deals with customers, so they don't go to rivals. A factory has been created in the UK - and one is understood to exist in the US - with Microsoft's country subsidiaries believed to be rolling out their own factories this year …

    Software 16 Jul 2009, 04:51

  • O2 gets into banking business

    Time to talk money

    O2, the UK brand of Spanish network operator Telefonica, has got into bed with NatWest Bank to launch two payment cards, as it expands into financial services. The operator has announced the launch of two pre-paid credit cards under the "O2 Money" brand: one for children (Load & Go) and one for grown ups (Cash Manager). Both …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 06:47

  • Synology Disk Station 409Slim

    Review Laptop storage drives nano Nas box

    At first glance, the Synology Disk Station 409 Slim seems a rather strange concept. Why use 2.5in disks in a four bay Nas enclosure? Surely, you’d want to cram as much storage space as possible into a NAS? Moreover, 2.5in drives are currently limited to around one quarter of the capacity of their 3.5in counterparts, hence, …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2009, 08:02

  • Zombies bite into Symbian smartphones

    Low-risk mobile Trojan bundles botnet features

    Security researchers have identified the first known spam bot client for 3G phones. YXES-B poses as a legitimate application called Sexy Space (ACSServer.exe) to steal the subscriber, phone, and network information of victims. The malware forwards these details to a site under hacker control. The same site contains message …

    Security 16 Jul 2009, 08:49

  • Lords cut Irish travel from e-Borders

    Irish sea no barrier for now

    The e-Borders programme suffered a setback after the government dropped plans to introduce immigration controls between UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands. The £1.2bn e-Borders programme aims to introduce electronic checks on all travellers entering and leaving the UK by March 2014. However, after accepting House of Lords …

    Government 16 Jul 2009, 08:51

  • BT brings jobs back from India

    'Not about customer service...'

    BT is bringing call centre jobs back to Blighty from India. The move was revealed in an answer to a shareholder at BT's annual general meeting yesterday. Ian Livingstone, chief executive at the telco, was asked, to huge applause, when he would close the firm's Indian call centres. In response he said he would move about 2, …

    Management 16 Jul 2009, 09:07

  • BMW to ride in with 115-mile range e-scooter?

    Leccy Tech C1 revamped for electric era

    BMW has cracked the electric scooter nut and will start to sell what appears to be a genuinely usable electric bike in 2011. That's assuming a report in overseas magazine Solo Scooter is correct, of course. The putative BMW machine will apparently have a top speed of 120kph (75mph) and a range on a full charge of its lithium- …

    Science 16 Jul 2009, 09:41

  • Win a Samsung C6625. Oh yes!

    Lucky Draw Windows Mobile handsets up for grabs

    The Register has teamed up with Microsoft to give two readers the chance to get their hands on the Samsung C6625 equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1. The handset features a 2.6” 262k tft screen, GSM Tri-band, HSDPA 3.6 MBPS connectivity for keeping in touch, a 2.0 megapixel camera with digital zoom, Assisted – GPS, 100MB of on- …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 09:48

  • Airbed-fixing German blows up mattress flat

    Bright spark sparks solvent blast

    Some light airbed-fixing DIY ended badly for a Düsseldorf man when he blew up his flat instead of the inflatable mattress he was attempting to fix. According to Spiegel, the 45-year-old patched the leaky bed earlier this week with some "tyre solvent", and left it overnight. The next day, a spark from the mattress's electric …

    Bootnotes 16 Jul 2009, 09:53

  • Child protection groups undermine Aussie Firewall

    Gov.au attacks 'spurious claims'

    You know your child protection policy is in trouble when even mainstream children’s charities speak out against it – and this is just the latest in a string of bad news to hit Australian Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy over the last seven days. First up is the news that Save the Children and the National Children’s & …

    Broadband 16 Jul 2009, 10:24

  • Government defeats Tories in 'McKinnon' extradition vote

    Labour political hacks fail to back hacker

    An opposition motion calling for a review of the extradition treaty between the US and UK failed in Parliament on Wednesday after Labour supporters of US extradition target Gary McKinnon fell behind the party whip. A total of 82 Labour MPs have supported McKinnon's campaign against extradition in three Commons motions tabled …

    Law 16 Jul 2009, 10:39

  • Brits don't think musicians should be paid

    Can pay - but won't pay

    A poll suggests an emergent misanthropic streak in British adults, with only 38 per cent agreeing with the statement that musicians should earn royalties from online transactions. The poll didn't offer an option about paying (nor not paying) songwriters and composers, who create the original material. However a similar figure …

    Media 16 Jul 2009, 10:55

  • The tragedy of the Creative Commons

    Bogus tags sour the cybernetic dream

    The Creative Commons initiative fulfilled a major ambition last week - but it's taken only days for the dream to turn to crap. Google granted the wish by integrating the ability to search images based on rights licences into Google Image Search. Yahoo! Image Search has had a separate image search facility for years, but Google …

    Media 16 Jul 2009, 11:01

  • City turns up nose at Autonomy's cautious optimism

    Shares slide on Q2 numbers

    Autonomy shares bombed more than 10 per cent this morning, after the software firm reported its second quarter results. The Cambridge-based company, which provides search data software, posted Q2 revenue today that it said was in line with expectations with earnings slightly up on that forecast. It reported revenue of $195.2m …

    Financial News 16 Jul 2009, 11:10

  • Anti-trust bomb falls on LCD market

    Analysis More EU probes could follow

    In all probability the anti-trust bomb that landed on Philips and LG Displays desk this week, courtesy of the European Union, is unlikely to be the only one dropped by the European Commission in this recession. In order to engage in price fixing, LG, the global market leader in small LCD displays, must have entered into price …

    The Channel 16 Jul 2009, 11:17

  • Panasonic Viera TX-P42G10 Freesat HD TV

    Review Plasma provides pacy picture precision

    It was a smart move by Panasonic to time its recent ad campaign to coincide with the French Open and Wimbledon tennis season. Indeed, tennis is certainly the sort of sport that highlights benefits of the company’s 600Hz ‘intelligent frame creation’ technology used in its Viera NeoPDP televisions. Panasonic's Viera TX-P42G10 …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2009, 12:02

  • California skateboard dude swipes Reg logo

    LogoWatch Vulture in apparel-scavenging outrage

    It's come to our attention that California "retail boutique" Primitive Shoes - owned by professional skateboarder and thesp Paul Rodriguez Jr, aka "P-Rod" - has been playing it a bit free and easy with our beloved El Reg Vulture logo: Ahem. Much as we'd like to raise a red cup filled with Jack Daniels to this fine scavenging …

    Bootnotes 16 Jul 2009, 12:27

  • Picsel Technologies goes dark

    Updated Website offline, calls referred to PwC

    The future of Picsel Technologies is in doubt today after its website disappeared amidst claims that it has gone into administration. Sources claimed last night that PricewaterhouseCoopers had been appointed as administrators of the Renfrew-based firm. Meanwhile, the website appears to have vanished off the internet. When we …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 12:40

  • India plots 1.2bn user biometric ID cards project

    What could possibly go wrong?

    India is pushing ahead with plans to issue each of its 1.2 billion citizens with biometric-based ID cards, linked through an online database of Himalayan proportions. The monster project, assigned to India's newly-established Unique Identification Authority, is designed to resolve confusion over 20 existing proof of identity ( …

    Government 16 Jul 2009, 12:47

  • Tattooed Swedish devil girls sexually molest cyclist

    Warning: No IT angle 'Downright unusual' attack, cop admits

    Swedish cops are on the look-out for a quintet of tattooed girls who dragged a 50-year-old man off his bicycle, pulled down his trousers and smalls and "sexually molested" the poor bloke. The incident happened on 8 July in Örebro, central Sweden, the Aftonbladet newspaper reports. One of the gang - described as 5' 7" tall and …

    Bootnotes 16 Jul 2009, 12:51

  • Virgin Media sets throttle on hardcore hogs

    Policy change to target 0.1 per cent

    Virgin Media's bandwith throttling policy will in future be more targeted towards the minority of customers the firm says "hammer" its network. It said its 50Mbit/s network upgrade programme, now completed, will allow it to restrict bandwidth during peak times for 2 per cent of customers rather than the current 5 per cent. …

    Broadband 16 Jul 2009, 13:14

  • Vulture Central plans Brit-Yank dictionary

    El Reg lingo giving you gyp? Do tell...

    It's come to our attention (again) that some of our Stateside cousins continue to struggle with El Reg's flavour of the Beloved Mother Tongue™. We have, of course, in the past published a couple of brief guides to those terms which prove The Register is a fertile breeding ground for neologisms, as well as a treasure house for …

    Bootnotes 16 Jul 2009, 13:20

  • Former astronaut takes control of NASA

    Charles Bolden gets Senate nod

    The US Senate yesterday confirmed former astronaut Charles Frank Bolden as the new NASA head, with Lori Beth Garver occupying the deputy administrator's office. Bolden, 62, is a former Marine Corp pilot who flew over 100 combat mission in Vietnam and eventually rose to the rank of major general before retiring from the service …

    Science 16 Jul 2009, 13:21

  • Toshiba relaunches Satellite laptop line

    Four eco-friendly models

    Toshiba will release a quartet of new Satellite laptops at the end of the month, some bringing multi-touch touchpads to the line, all offering improved energy efficiency, the company said. Toshiba's Satellite A500: some models have a TV tuner Top of the list is the multimedia-oriented Satellite A500. It's a 16in machine …

    Hardware 16 Jul 2009, 14:03

  • Mercedes' performance team confirm e-car plan

    Leccy Tech AMG SLS eDrive revealed

    The speed freaks at Mercedes-Benz's tuning subsidiary and skunkworks, AMG, are preparing an electric version of the forthcoming SLS AMG gullwing über-coupé. And here's a schematic of the beast's "SLS eDrive" power train: Inside AMG's SLS eDrive Click for larger version AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg recently said the SLS …

    Science 16 Jul 2009, 14:19

  • Nokia sees sales, shipments and profits slide

    Looks for solutions pick-me-up

    The recession bit Nokia with a vengeance in the second quarter, with the company seeing most of its major metrics take a turn for the worst. Nokia's profit before tax for the second quarter of 2009 fell by some 74 per cent, with the company only bringing in €380m compared to the €1.4bn it managed in the same period last year …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 14:20

  • Builder blacklist boss hit with £5,000 fine

    List users may be next in the dock

    Ian Kerr, the man behind the Consulting Association, which held and maintained a blacklist of builders, has been fined £5,000 by Knutsford Crown Court. The company was raided by the Information Commissioner's Office in March when the watchdog made its first ever use of an Enforcement Notice to shut it down. The Consulting …

    Law 16 Jul 2009, 14:21

  • Google puts Chrome updates on Courgette-only diet

    Squeezing the zucchini juice

    Google has shrink-wrapped the way it delivers updates to its Google Chrome browser by releasing a new system dubbed Courgette. Mountain View wonks decided to tweak the way it automatically sends out code to Chrome, after finding that some of the updates were slowing down Windows-based computers, as well as making them more …

    Security 16 Jul 2009, 14:28

  • UK to get Kindle in Christmas stocking?

    Just needs a network, publisher agreements and a SIM card

    Amazon's Kindle e-book reader will apparently be launched in the UK by Christmas, complete with a virtual network operator and GSM compatibility. The news comes from Mobile Today, who reckon Amazon is about to finalise a launch date, but has been having trouble finding a network operator prepared to host the Kindle's …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 14:57

  • High spam response powers junk mail economy

    Lunkhead junk mail buyers come clean

    Almost a third of consumers admit responding to messages that might be spam emails. Some acted out of curiosity or by mistake but a puzzling 96 from a sample of 800 (12 per cent) said they clicked because they interested in the product or service advertised in junk mail messages. A survey by the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working …

    Security 16 Jul 2009, 15:17

  • The curious case of Sun's hardware biz

    Comment It's time for Oracle to come clean

    Today is the day that shareholders of Sun Microsystems will gather to decide the fate of the company, either approving or disapproving of Oracle's $5.6bn takeover of the server and operating system maker. Considering Sun's options - which are basically none if the Oracle deal isn't approved - the fate of the company is not …

    Servers 16 Jul 2009, 15:58

  • PCs do better than expected in Q2

    IDC and Gartner not celebrating just yet

    It looks like the prognosticators at IDC and Gartner were a little too cynical about the state of the PC market, and shipments have apparently fallen less than they had predicted in the second quarter. IDC said today that second quarter PC shipments came in slightly ahead of its projections, as they did in the first quarter as …

    The Channel 16 Jul 2009, 16:07

  • Move over, Apple: Symbian preps app warehouse

    Horizon distribution centre set for October

    The Symbian Foundation has been waxing lyrical about its application warehouse, now titled Horizon, which will be available to all and sundry come October. Horizon won't be an application store, but is intended to be a warehouse from which application stores can select their stock. The Symbian Foundation will sign applications …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 16:43

  • Sun shareholders approve Oracle deal

    Far from unanimous

    The shareholders that actually own Sun Microsystems - as opposed to the people who used to run it and behaved as if they owned it - approved of the $5.6bn takeover of Sun by software powerhouse and server and storage (not)wannabe Oracle. According to a terse statement from Sun - and the last thing Sun will say as an …

    Financial News 16 Jul 2009, 18:34

  • Reg readers crack case of the $23 quadrillion overcharge

    <empty field> + binhex = Visa FAIL

    It seems an empty amount field is the culprit in the programming glitch that caused some 13,000 holders of prepaid Visa cards to receive warnings that their accounts were overdrawn by more than $23 quadrillion. At least, that's the theory advanced by several Register readers, who posit an 8-byte blank field was converted to …

    Software 16 Jul 2009, 18:49

  • OpenOffice bug/feature stirs 'horde of angry chimps'

    The Seven Year Microsoft Itch

    Update: This story has been updated to clarify when the described bug/feature occurs Seven and a half years after some poor soul first complained it was vaporizing his data, OpenOffice is still plagued by a Calc bug/feature that overwrites fields hidden using the spreadsheet's Autofilter tool. "There are only two things …

    Applications 16 Jul 2009, 18:59

  • Apple's panties in bunch over Microsoft ads

    Adverts misleading? Who knew!

    Apple's legal arm asked Microsoft to pull its ongoing series of Laptop Hunter ads, according to one Microsoft exec. On Wednesday, at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 (WPC09), the company's COO, Kevin Turner, gave a traditional partner-stroking talk that alternated between thanking and exhorting the assembled …

    Media 16 Jul 2009, 19:00

  • Mandriva's Linux-on-a-stick refreshed with Spring '09 release

    I'm happy to see you, but that is an OS in my pocket

    Mandriva has refreshed its Linux-on-a-stick distribution to put the pocket-sized operating system in line with its desktop Mandriva Linux 2009 Spring release. Mandriva's 8GB USB dongle comes with a complete, bootable version of Mandriva Linux, with 6GB of the space free for saved software, documents, and system preferences …

    Operating Systems 16 Jul 2009, 19:27

  • Lawsuits in Motion settles one more lawsuit

    RIM back on legal form after a long layoff

    Research in Motion of BlackBerry fame has agreed to a patent-dispute settlement in the latest chapter of the long-running saga of RIM versus world+dog. RIM and its antagonist du jour, Visto Corporation, released a joint statement on Thursday announcing that RIM would pay Visto $267.5m (£230m) to bring an end to their long- …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 21:08

  • Mysterious organic blobs found in Alaskan waters

    Everyone out of the pool

    Enormous blobs of thick, black, gooey biological material have been spotted drifting in the waters off Alaska's northern coast, and nobody is quite sure what they are. Alaskan hunters first noticed the ooze early last week drifting miles offshore in the frigid arctic waters of the Chuckchi Sea, according to Anchorage Daily …

    Science 16 Jul 2009, 22:00

  • IBM: Revenues down, profits up in Q2

    Raises earnings guidance for 2009

    IBM's top brass must surely be glad that the acquisition of Sun Microsystems that was in the works since last November fell apart in the spring. Because the current configuration of Big Blue, with its emphasis on services and software and decreasing dependence on hardware, means it can continue to generate profit growth, even …

    Financial News 16 Jul 2009, 22:59

  • Google adds location-based searches to iPhone

    You can hide if you want

    Google has added location-based search capabilities to the iPhone 3.0-enhanced version of its mobile-device website. Now when you initiate a search in the iPhone's browser, you're first asked whether Safari can use your location, then if Google can. If you assent, and then tap on the Local link at the top of Google's results …

    Mobile 16 Jul 2009, 23:12

  • Google profits climb 19% amid 'difficult environment'

    Schmidt and Co. hail YouTube 'trajectory'

    CEO Eric Schmidt says Google has yet to find a mathematical model that can predict the future of the worldwide economy. But there's little doubt the company has developed a search ad monopoly capable of weathering the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression. In the quarter ending June 30, Google revenues climbed to …

    Financial News 16 Jul 2009, 23:27

  • HP chases Sun Oracle server shops

    Freebies, discounts, and credits

    Now that shareholders of Sun Microsystems have voted to approve Oracle's $5.6bn (£3.4bn) takeover, Unix rival HP is trying to cull customers from the Solaris herd and move them to ProLiant or Integrity machines running Windows, Linux, or HP-UX. In the past six months, HP says, more than 100 Sun customers have migrated from Sun …

    Servers 16 Jul 2009, 23:37

  • Webcams, printers, gizmos - the untold net threats

    Ghost in the machine

    Forget mis-configured Apache servers and vulnerability-laden Adobe applications. The biggest security threats to business and home networks may be the avalanche of webcams, printers, and other devices that ship with embedded web interfaces that can easily be turned against their masters. The web interfaces are designed to make …

    Security 16 Jul 2009, 23:47