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17th August 2009 Archive

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  • Pressure group aghast at Hillingdon ID card scheme

    Cheaper local shops for local people

    Has Hillingdon Borough managed to find a way to introduce an ID card scheme that is non-intrusive, respects civil liberties – and is actually welcomed by local residents? According to pressure group NO2ID, the answer is....no. In June, Hillingdon started to issue "HillingdonFirst" cards to residents, offering "access to …

    Government 17 Aug 2009, 08:02

  • Open source, proprietary or a little of both?

    Webcast Replay IT in the real world

    The Register's latest video webcast, an expert look at open source and traditional proprietary software models, is now available on-demand from the Reg archives. This broadcast explores the relative merits of open source and traditional proprietary software, and discusses how they can best be made to co-exist happily. El Reg …

    Operating Systems 17 Aug 2009, 09:02

  • IBM halves mainframe Linux engine prices

    Feeling the Nehalem Xeon pinch

    The IBM mainframe may not have a lot of direct competition when it comes to z/OS-based batch and transactional work, but the story is different when it comes to Linux. There's plenty of competition among Linux platforms, and Big Blue can't ignore the pressure that Moore's Law brings to bear. So IBM is slashing the prices it …

    Servers 17 Aug 2009, 09:28

  • USB connector-sized Flash drive launched

    Even harder to lose now

    We've seen tiny Bluetooth adaptors that are barely bigger than a standard USB connector and now here's a Flash drive built to the same form-factor. The pictures say it all: EagleTec's USB drive: smallest of its kind? Fits even the most space-constrained connectors The ridiculously tiny drive comes with a choice of 4GB …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 09:37

  • Apple iTablet snaps emerge

    The real thing?

    As Apple fanboys eagerly await the firm’s 7 September announcement, images of the much-rumoured iTablet have appeared online. First things first – we’ve no proof that these images are authentic, but as the French website that has them, Nowhereelse, points out, the pictured gadget does look very credible. Could this be Apple' …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 10:27

  • Advent to launch MacBook Air-alike next week

    Skinny Altro made of metal

    Dixons' own PC brand, Advent, is having a go at taking on Apple MacBook Air. While the skinny Altro won't beat the Air on thinness, it does have it licked on price. Advent's Altro: Air-alike The metal-cased Altro will retail for £600 - rather less than the £1149 Apple want for the entry-level Air. That's said you don't get …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 10:28

  • Dell's Android phone unmasked

    The rumours were true...

    The first phone developed by Dell has finally been revealed, thanks to the PC manufacturer’s tie-up with a Chinese network operator. Dell's Mini3i Android phone has launched in China Source: mobile.i63.com The handset – blurred images of which were first leaked last week – is called the Mini 3i. The device was demoed, …

    Phones 17 Aug 2009, 10:38

  • Capital markets recover but tech must wait for cash

    VCs and private equity get pickier, survey shows

    The economy may be looking up but the ever cash hungry tech sector will have to wait before the capital markets begin loosening their purse strings. The French and German economies are exiting their recessions and delivering three-tenths of a per cent of gross domestic product growth in the second quarter, and the Blue Chip …

    Financial News 17 Aug 2009, 10:42

  • Judge rules for the Finns in Nokia/InterDigital spat

    Verdict could trigger InterDigital licence apocalypse

    A US International Trade Commission judge has ruled that Nokia is not infringing four disputed patents owned by InterDigital, paving the way for the Finns to walk away from the lengthy spat come December. The ruling is an Initial Determination that won't be confirmed until December. But it is a win for Nokia in the long …

    Mobile 17 Aug 2009, 10:47

  • Second Life figures cast doubt on Ofcom report

    Virtual monitoring is virtually impossible

    Disputed figures put out by broadcasting industry regulator Ofcom last week, in respect of Second Life usage, raise questions as to how seriously we should take Ofcom reports. However, the debate goes beyond questions of mere accuracy, raising issues around how we can generate meaningful measures of social networking sites. …

    Media 17 Aug 2009, 10:47

  • WD TV part two on its way

    New series of Western Digital media boxes

    Western Digital appears to be working on a networked version of its WD TV streaming media package. The first version is an adapter that depends upon a USB-attached external drive, onto which streaming media files are loaded. The idea is that customers will have backed up media files into an external hard drive already, so will …

    Storage 17 Aug 2009, 11:04

  • Facebook phishers cast multiple lines

    Scammers bait social networking site with hooky apps

    Miscreants have recently begun peppering Facebook with a variety of new phishing scams with sex, sex, sex and more sex featuring prominently. One example involves a fake customer dispute application page, since pulled, that appeared to have a valid Facebook URL. The content was actually hosted by Ripway hosting, a service …

    Security 17 Aug 2009, 11:07

  • Apple VP makes magic real

    iPhone app store's Mr Fixit goes talkabout

    Apple VP Phil Schiller has expanded his one-man operation to sort out the iPhone application store, this time conceding that magic tricks can indeed be "confusing" to users. Having responded to developers who threatened to walk away from the iPhone platform and those who asserted unreasonably prudish behaviour from Cupertino, …

    Mobile 17 Aug 2009, 11:15

  • MoD stokes media-paralysing UFO feedback loop

    Getcher old govment loony files here! They're luvverly!

    Fans of enormous government files will be overjoyed today as the National Archives release the third tranche of accumulated Ministry Of Defence (MoD) UFO-sightings bumf. The compiled MoD documents are available free here in glorious pdf for one month, after which period downloaders will be charged "a small fee". The files …

    Science 17 Aug 2009, 11:17

  • Communist car given electric overhaul

    Leccy Tech Trabant to become Trabant nT?

    The truly wretched East German Trabant looks set to make a comeback at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show. But, unlike the fume-belching 1950s-era model, the updated Trabant will run on electricity and sunshine. Set to be called the Trabant nT, the redesign is the idea of German die-cast toy manufacturer Herpa Miniaturmodelle, …

    Science 17 Aug 2009, 11:42

  • Samsung gets 'stupid fast' in gaming grab

    Directly engages gamers with 256GB SSD

    Samsung is pitching its fast 256GB solid state drive (SSD) at desktops and notebook gamers and cites a YouTube blogger saying it will make their systems "stupid fast." The drive uses 2-bit multi-level cell technology to produce its 256GB capacity and this is twinned with a Samsung-developed controller using an ARM processor …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 11:53

  • Mandy not swayed by ents mogul on illegal file sharing

    Says piracy chat with David Geffen never happened

    The government has dismissed reports that suggest business secretary Lord Mandelson plans to crackdown on illegal file sharing, by slapping hefty fines on thousands of individuals found guilty of abusing their web access. A spokeswoman at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) told The Register that it was “ …

    Government 17 Aug 2009, 11:59

  • Apple MacBook Air June 2009

    Review Laptop lightweight packs more punch

    Now in its third generation, the MacBook Air hasn’t had the same sort of overhaul as the rest of the MacBook range has had in recent months. Even so, Apple’s super-slim laptop has received a welcome price and performance tweak that should help broaden its appeal in more ways than one. Apple’s MacBook Air: still skinny The …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 12:02

  • Jetpod 'flying taxi' inventor dies in prototype crash

    VQSTOL city-hopper pranged in Malaysia

    The inventor of a potentially revolutionary super-quiet "flying taxi" has died in a crash while test-flying his prototype in Malaysia. Any colour you like. Michael Dacre, MD of British-headquartered Avcen, was at the controls of a "Jetpod" aircraft at Tekah airstrip near Taiping when it crashed shortly after takeoff …

    Science 17 Aug 2009, 12:17

  • Boffins build World's tiniest 'laser'

    Photons in, surface plasmons out

    Scientists in the US have developed what they claim is the world's smallest laser. The device, which is just 44nm in diameter, could pave the way for the development of chips that operate using light rather than electrons. The device isn't technically a laser, but it works using the same principle. It uses a property of metals …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 12:20

  • TomTom navigates way onto iPhone

    Apple addicts get mobile

    TomTom has switched its attention to the iPhone, launching a “turn-by-turn” navigation application for the 3G and 3GS models. TomTom's adapted its satnav tech for iPhone users The app’s routing information is based on IQ Routes, which TomTom described as a navigation system that uses “the actual experience of millions of …

    Phones 17 Aug 2009, 12:24

  • HSBC Trojan warning tracked down as false alarm

    Updated Kaspersky blushes abound after bank site misfire

    A false alert left users of Kaspersky's internet security software fearing there was malware on HSBC's website last weekend. Users of Kaspersky Internet Security logging onto HSBC's Personal Internet Banking site were incorrectly informed that a malicious file containing the HTLM-Agent-CE Trojan had been loaded onto their …

    Security 17 Aug 2009, 12:44

  • Labour party unveils Tweeter-in-chief

    McCarthy to whip MPs into Web 2.0

    The Labour Party has appointed a 'Twitter tsar' to spearhead its social media efforts to win the next election. But Kerry McCarthy has her work cut out for her, given the kicking Gordon Brown got for his YouTube appearances, and the fact that Labour HQ can't be bothered keeping its own blogs up to date. McCarthy is Labour MP …

    Government 17 Aug 2009, 13:09

  • Orange challenges cheapo French spectrum

    €240 pour le radio 3G, arachide!

    The French regulator has put a price tag of €240m on a chunk of spectrum to run a fourth 3G mobile network - a third of the €619m paid by the incumbents, who are not amused and could challenge the decision. Orange has said it is prepared to take the issue all the way to the European Commission - accusing the French Government …

    Mobile 17 Aug 2009, 14:16

  • Earthquake-squelching, sonar-invisible 'active cloak' unfurled

    Will you just shut up about f*ing Harry Potter, pleads prof

    Boffins in America have violated every rule of Invisibility Club by stating that their astounding new "active cloaking" research has nothing to do with Harry Potter or Star Trek. "It's a brand new method of cloaking," says Utah Uni maths prof Graeme Milton. "Real objects could be cloaked. It's called active cloaking, which …

    Science 17 Aug 2009, 14:28

  • Freecom pitches 'credit card' USB drive

    Freecom may say its new Hard Drive XS is "the size of a credit card", but as the following picture shows, there's a bit more to the mini storage add-on than that. Same footprint, but not the same thickness. And we're not sure how many wallets this so-called "wallet-sized" drive will fit easily into either... They'll be £85 …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 14:42

  • Arizona sheriff prefers jail to handing over server password

    It’s like the Wild West out there

    A legal standoff has developed in Arizona between sheriff’s deputies and county officials over a management system overhaul. Last week officers from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office raided government buildings and took over computer systems shared between law enforcement and county officials. Sysadmins were marshalled away …

    Management 17 Aug 2009, 15:27

  • IBM twists DNA for future chip fab tech

    Organic armature for nanotubues, anyone?

    Read the release and you'd think IBM has discovered the Holy Grail of chip making: a way to "pack more power and speed" into microprocessors, while "making them more energy efficient and less expensive to manufacture". One day, maybe. For now, though, the concept of using DNA to create shapes onto which chip makers can then …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 16:24

  • Microsoft recants branding excess with model merger

    Oslo joins tools line up

    Microsoft's long march towards model-based development has seen it integrate its latest effort with the Visual Studio and the .NET Framework teams. The company said it's also scaled back on the wide-ranging use of the phrase "Oslo" to describe the modeling initiative, saying it had "really confused customers". Oslo joins .NET …

    Developer 17 Aug 2009, 18:20

  • Intel's consumer-friendly Nehalem chips arrive early?

    Core i5, i7, P-55 hit Asia

    Intel's long-awaited consumer-level Nehalem-based processors and motherboards are already available in Asia in "small volumes", ahead of their expected launch early next month. That is, if a report by the Taiwanese market-watchers at DigiTimes is to be believed. DigiTimes reports that unnamed "market sources" have told them …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 18:33

  • DNA-carbon nanotube microprocessors — small hope for a big shift?

    Comment Moore’s Law on a new curve

    We may have a long way to go before Moore's Law, which calls for the doubling of transistor counts — and therefore computing capacity — every two years or so, runs completely out of gas on current electron beam and optical lithography techniques. The question is, will the IT industry, which is predicated on the idea that …

    Science 17 Aug 2009, 18:46

  • Hackintosher denies Apple's documents allegation

    Psystar takes it to the street

    Psystar is vigorously defending itself against Apple's latest charge that the Florida Hackintosher has destroyed documents relevant to the two companies' ongoing legal brawl. "Psystar has not destroyed documents," Kiwi Camara of Camara and Sibley, Psystar's recently retained lawyers, bluntly told The Reg. Apple says they did …

    Hardware 17 Aug 2009, 20:38

  • Researchers forge secure kernel from maths proofs

    Machine verified micro-kernel

    Aussie boffins have developed an operating system micro-kernel mathematically established as free of many types of errors. The development points the road toward "safety-critical software of unprecedented levels of reliability" for applications such as aircraft and cars. The software - called the secure embedded L4 (seL4) …

    Security 17 Aug 2009, 20:43

  • TJX suspect indicted in Heartland, Hannaford breaches

    Networks pierced by garden-variety exploit

    Federal authorities have charged a previously indicted hacker with breaching additional corporate computers and stealing data for at least 130 million credit and debit cards, the biggest identity theft case ever prosecuted in the United States. Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez and two unnamed Russians were indicted on Monday for …

    Security 17 Aug 2009, 20:49

  • Second open-source Silverlight hits beta

    November completion expected

    The second edition of the open-source edition of Microsoft's Silverlight media player has been released to beta testing. Moonlight, which puts the Silverlight player on Unix and Linux, updates the initial open-source player with fixes tackling security and performance. Project leader Miguel de Icaza is reported to have said …

    Developer 17 Aug 2009, 21:34

  • Red Hat steps up channel reach against Novell and Microsoft

    Hoes long row

    It takes money to make money, and commercial Linux distributor Red Hat knows this. Red Hat has made no secret of the fact that it wants to get more of its sales through indirect channels. This is not just a matter of shifting the burden of sales to resellers, as is the case with most server makers, but is also a means of …

    Operating Systems 17 Aug 2009, 23:32

  • Apple tried to quash Sunday Times' Jobs profile

    Nothing personal - oh, sorry, it is

    A noted British writer has joined an exclusive literary league: authors whose writings about Steve Jobs Apple has tried to suppress. Bryan Appleyard wrote an extensive piece published in this week's Sunday Times about Cupertino's mercurial master that, according to him, an Apple PR staffer attempted to quash. "Apple hates …

    Media 17 Aug 2009, 23:48

  • When ISPs hijack your rights to NXDOMAIN

    Fail and You Get lost online, without ads

    Virgin Media's UK customers are about to experience a wonderful new service that intercepts unresolvable DNS requests and redirects the user to a page full of ads and search results. It's becoming a frequent trick that ISPs are pulling on their customers, as non-technical executives who could even put the airline industry to …

    Media 17 Aug 2009, 23:57