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19th March 2010 Archive

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  • Energizer site still plagued by data-stealing trojan

    Anybody home?

    The maker of Energizer brand batteries is continuing to serve its customers a file laced with a data-stealing trojan more than 24 hours after the company was notified of the threat and almost two weeks after it promised to fix the problem. A spokeswoman for Energizer Holdings acknowledged receiving a voicemail Wednesday night …

    Malware 19 Mar 04:52

  • Privacy chiefs define 'data processor' and 'data controller'

    Oo are yer?

    Europe's privacy watchdogs have outlined exactly what the meanings are of the two terms on which the whole EU Data Protection Directive hangs. It said that organisations need more guidance now because of the complexity of modern business. The Data Protection Directive governs how organisations can treat anything deemed as ' …

    Government 19 Mar 07:02

  • Canon Powershot G11

    Review The resolution race is over, apparently

    Canon’s Powershot G-series has been a best seller for the best part of 10 years. What photographers have always loved in these cameras is the combination of pocketability with full manual control and direct access to all main settings by means of professional-looking dials and buttons. No contest? Canon's Powershot G11 With …

    Reg Hardware 19 Mar 08:02

  • UK.gov spunked £153m on reorganisation IT

    That's a lot of deckchairs

    The National Audit Office says that nearly 20 per cent of the £780m spent on central government reorganisations over the last four years has gone on IT. Nearly half of departments reported that IT purchasing had a high or moderate cost impact on their reorganisation process and 45 per cent said the same about website …

    Government 19 Mar 08:02

  • End government pre-snoop on stats

    '24 hours allows for shenanigans'

    The ability of politicians to spin official statistics to support their own point of view is likely to be severely curtailed – at least if UK Statistics Authority has its way. While the Reg finds it hard to believe that any government minister would be tempted in this way, the good folk over at the Statistics Authority would …

    Government 19 Mar 09:23

  • Loch Ness Stig blurred into oblivion

    Mere pixellation inadequate, Street View decides

    The curious case of the Loch Ness Stig just got a lot curioser, and the conspiracy thoeorists among you would do well to don your tinfoil hats and keep a sharp eye out for approaching black helicopters. Back in January, the Top Gear wheelsman was spotted on Street View close to Scotland's famous body of water. It took the …

    Bootnotes 19 Mar 09:27

  • Virgin Media to demo 200Mb/s broadband tomorrow

    Whoosh

    Virgin Media will publicly demonstrate its upcoming 200Mb/s broadband service this weekend. VM's demo follows hot on the heels of the expansion of its 200Mb/s trial into Coventry. The test set-up is already operating in Kent and has been since the summer of 2009. The service operates over Virgin Media's fibre optic network, …

    Networks 19 Mar 09:30

  • Student loan system failure could happen again

    Watchdog warns as SLC handles double apps

    An investigation into the failure of the Student Loan Company to properly process applications has revealed the disaster could be repeated later this year. Spending watchdog the National Audit Office said that failures of oversight from the company's board, and from Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills …

    IT Director 19 Mar 09:44

  • And now - new stealth jumpjet makes first hover landing

    Vid 'Cobblestones' effect reduced, says Brit test pilot

    Following yesterday's initial hover, the new F-35B Lightning II - world's first supersonic stealth jumpjet - has now made a vertical landing. British test pilot Graham Tomlinson said the aircraft is much easier to set down than today's Harrier. “Today’s vertical landing onto a 95-foot square pad showed that we have the …

    Science 19 Mar 09:49

  • Tiger Woods' alleged mistress publishes X-rated texts

    NSFW Golfer's impressive SMS technique revealed

    One of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses has published (NSFW) a series of explicit text messages she claims the errant golfer sent to her between July and October 2009. Joslyn James, a former porn actress who has of late "been seen on Inside Edition, Playboy Online, Hustler Magazine and in the public eye speaking out about her …

    Bootnotes 19 Mar 09:51

  • Chip maker to take on iPad with $99 tablet

    Apple-beating mini Marvell?

    Chip maker Marvell - the company that acquired Intel's ARM-based processor portfolio back in 2006 - is to pitch a low-cost tablet to students. Dubbed the Moby, the device will provide 1080p video playback, always-on - Wi-Fi rather than 3G - internet connectivity, gaming-capable 3D graphics, e-book reader software and support …

    Reg Hardware 19 Mar 10:07

  • Google to flee China on April 10, says report

    Announcement on Monday. Apparently

    Google may exit China on April 10, according to a report citing an unidentified sales agent for the company. The Shanghai-based China Business News also cites a Google China employee saying that the company will announce its Chinese plans on Monday, March 22. This will apparently include information on how it will compensate …

    Government 19 Mar 10:21

  • PayPal enables cash-by-slap

    iPhones that go bump in the night

    The latest version of PayPal's iPhone application allows users to transfer money by bumping their handsets together, putting one more nail into the NFC coffin. PayPal's application allows those with an account to reimburse each other for a split bill, collect money for a leaving present or donate money to charity on a whim. …

    Mobile 19 Mar 10:57

  • Vodafone Spain admits 3,000 smartphones shipped with Mariposa

    Pre-pwned snafu not so isolated after all

    Vodafone Spain has accepted that 3,000 customers were potentially exposed to malware after Mariposa botnet agents strayed onto the HTC Magic smartphone. The admission to Spanish media on Thursday follows a meeting between the mobile phone giant's Iberian arm and representatives from Panda Security. The infection of microSD …

    Enterprise Security 19 Mar 11:02

  • Microsoft talks up Windows 7 SP1, shy on dates

    'Go ahead and deploy… you know you want to! ;-)'

    Microsoft revealed a few more details about Windows 7 Service Pack 1 yesterday, confirming it would involve a small-fry update to the operating system. However, the software vendor didn't reveal when a finalised version of Windows 7 SP1 - nor indeed a beta - of the updates package would land. "For Windows 7, SP1 includes only …

    Operating Systems 19 Mar 11:03

  • Sky 3D to go live on 3 April in 'thousands' of pubs

    First match: Man U vs Chelsea

    Sky's 3D TV channel will kick off on Saturday, 3 April will the Barclays Premier League match pitching Manchester United against Chelsea, the satellite broadcaster said today. More than a thousand pubs have signed up for the channel, Sky said. It hopes more will follow in the coming months. During that time, Sky will show no …

    Reg Hardware 19 Mar 11:07

  • Orange to launch mobile games store with HMV

    All networks covered

    Orange and high-street retailer HMV will next week launch what they claimed is a first for a UK mobile phone operator: an online games download store for Java-enabled phones. The ship will be branded "HMV Mobile Games" and be tagged as "powered by Orange". Even so, it will be open to gamers who use any of the other networks …

    Reg Hardware 19 Mar 11:28

  • China Mobile pleads for compatible iPhone

    Go on go on go on go on

    China Mobile's inability to sell the latest tech is starting to hurt, with the company's head asking Apple to develop a TD-SCDMA version of the iPhone, please. The call came during the company's annual results as the FT reports - Wang Jianzhou (chair and CEO of China Mobile) pointed out that RIM is prepared to create a China- …

    Mobile 19 Mar 11:56

  • VirnetX flings second patent infringement sueball at Microsoft

    Claims Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 use VPN tech

    VirnetX is hoping to scoop up a brace of lawsuit wins against Microsoft, after it filed a second patent infringement claim against the company yesterday. On Tuesday, Redmond was ordered to pay VirnetX nearly $106m after a US jury in Texas ruled that Microsoft "willfully" used the firm's virtual private network (VPN) tech in …

    Law 19 Mar 12:02

  • Mountain View promises Google Analytics opt-out

    Another privacy tool few will ever use

    Google is developing a browser plug-in that will let you opt-out of being tracked by Google Analytics, the traffic monitoring service now used by 71 per cent of the top domains on the interwebs. In a blog post yesterday, Google Analytics product manager Amy Chang said that engineers are "finalizing" testing on the plug-in and …

    Applications 19 Mar 12:06

  • Home Office planning to brick version 1 ID cards in 2012?

    Yes, they really could get more useless

    The current generation of UK ID card is, apparently, the wrong kind of ID card, and is likely to be upgraded to incorporate new features by 2012. These are likely to include chip and pin for online transactions and ID verification, both of which have been spoken of in the past by ID minister Meg Hillier. The upgrade, however, …

    Government 19 Mar 12:14

  • LHC boffins crank beams to 3.5 TeV redline

    'Dump cores' catch and stop moving aircraft carriers

    Big news from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) overnight. The titanic proton-punisher has once again smashed all records to achieve the most powerful particle beams ever generated by the human race, at energies of 3.5 Tera-electron-volts - the maximum redline power at which the mighty machine can currently be safely run. …

    Physics 19 Mar 12:44

  • Virgin Mobile fined for pushing mobile spam

    Ignored Oz opt-outs

    Virgin Mobile has been fined for sending spam messages to Australian mobile users who'd already opted out of receiving promotions. The carrier was fined AU$22,000 (US$20,240) after it was found to have sent messages to mobile subscribers who had clearly stated their preference not to receive unsolicited text message ads. The …

    Spam 19 Mar 12:46

  • Dell order status website suffers second server meltdown

    That déjà vu feeling

    Dell has once again apologised, after its servers buckled under the strain of requests from customers hoping to check the status of their orders on the company's website. As we reported in February, Dell assured its customers that it was putting processes in place to prevent its order status website from ingloriously dying on …

    Channel Register 19 Mar 12:47

  • Health records riddled with errors

    Broken Summary Care Records

    The Summary Care Records scheme is not trusted by doctors because some records have serious errors. No patients have actually been harmed, but only because doctors do not trust the information contained in the database and so are double-checking information. Researchers from University College London found records which had …

    Government 19 Mar 12:52

  • Blighty gives Street View the bum's rush

    Google Moon, UK style

    It's Friday, and rapidly approaching pub o'clock, so no apologies for this week's last two offerings from the wonderful world of Street View: Google Moon, UK-style: Very silly. Those readers wishing to monitor just how quickly Google moves to Stig blurbrush these wags can find the above outrages against public decency here …

    Bootnotes 19 Mar 12:54

  • Blunkett: 'The dog howls when I whip out my ID card!'

    Lifetime Privacy Menace in shock barking claim

    "Even the dog howls when I bring it home," claimed former Home Secretary and Big Brother Awards Lifetime Menace as he waved his ID card at Privacy International's 20th birthday party last night. Speaking to a not wholly sympathetic crowd, the Menace himself claimed to have been "at least partially converted" to the cause of …

    Government 19 Mar 12:55

  • YouTube accuses Viacom of secretly uploading videos

    $1bn legal row gets touchy-feely

    Google has accused Viacom of secretly uploading videos to YouTube in an effort to support its copyright infringement claims against Mountain View. In March 2007 the US media giant filed a $1bn lawsuit against Google, alleging the video-sharing site was responsible for Viacom-owned clips posted to YouTube. Now, in the latest …

    Music and Media 19 Mar 13:04

  • Facebook stands up to UK.gov's cyberbullying

    Comment Beyond 'panic button' logic

    The Home Office has half-heartedly claimed victory in its effort to strong-arm Facebook into publishing a child protection "panic button" on its users' profiles. In fact, the government has been given an embarrassing lesson in rationality by the leading social network. Following a meeting with Facebook's regulation staff on …

    Policing 19 Mar 13:45

  • Server makers prepping for Opteron 6100s

    AMD almost confirms it

    In direct response to a story published earlier this week by The Register regarding the OEM support for the upcoming dozen-core "Magny-Cours" Opteron 6100s and related chipsets, Advanced Micro Devices has been compelled to blog that there are indeed tier one server makers working away on servers that will use the new chip. AMD …

    Servers 19 Mar 14:47

  • Just how does IT spend its time looking after ERP?

    Poll Results The results are in

    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages providing functionality to support core business processes in an integrated manner are a prominent feature in a lot of IT environments. But what kind of burden do they place on the IT department? Some of us who have been in the business for a while can remember the days when these …

    ERP 19 Mar 15:02

  • Google knew YouTube did evil, but bought it anyway

    Elastic ethics

    Do no evil? Google execs knew YouTube was in the wrong, but swallowed hard and bought it anyway, emails disclosed to a US court show. In 2006 execs at the Chocolate Factory were aware that the startup was less than wholesome, describing it as a "rogue enabler of content theft" whose "business model is completely sustained by …

    Law 19 Mar 15:04

  • Google ratchets interweb 3D on Windows

    Open browser bling for the Microsoft set

    Google has announced a new open source project designed to facilitate the use of WebGL, the browser-based 3D graphics standard floated by Mozilla and the Khronos Group. Known as the Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine - ANGLE, for short - the project will allow the still-gestating WebGL to work in tandem with Microsoft's …

    Applications 19 Mar 15:20

  • Fake servers even less secure than real ones

    But not necessarily so

    The prognosticators at Gartner are at it again, and this time they are guessing that IT shops are not going to be as diligent in securing their virtual servers as they need to be for many years to come. The company has released a new report, with the catchy title Addressing the Most Common Security Risks in Data Center …

    Virtualization 19 Mar 16:56

  • Firefox zero-day fix set up for 30 March release

    Mozilla acknowledges unpatched bug

    Mozilla confirmed the presence of an unpatched flaw in its browser on Thursday, with a post promising to release a fix at the end of the month. The flaw, discovered by security researcher Evgeny Legerov and reported by The Reg last month, creates a means to inject hostile code on vulnerable systems. The vulnerability is due to …

    Enterprise Security 19 Mar 17:01

  • Microsoft, 'open' data, and the curse of open source

    Thanks a lot, HTML5

    Do the rise of cloud computing and the outbreak of peace on open standards in the browser mean programmers will be forced to find new ways to make money online? In the last few days, Microsoft surrendered to common sense by announcing that Internet Explorer will finally embrace common standards with HTML5. It was a critical …

    Software 19 Mar 17:02

  • Computer glitch prompts 50 raids on elderly couple's home

    51st time's the charm

    New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized to an elderly Brooklyn couple on Friday for about 50 door-pounding visits police made to their home resulting from a glitch in one of the department's computers. Police used the address of Rose and and Walter Martin's modest home as part of "random material" to test the …

    Policing 19 Mar 18:46

  • Nerd alert: First Lucid Lynx Ubuntu beta fun

    Review Shuttleworthian style and substance

    Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu 10.04 that Friday entered the beta stage, looks to be taking the popular distro to an entirely new and very consumer-oriented level. Between Canonical's web-based syncing service Ubuntu One - unveiled last year - the coming U1 music store, and the new Me Menu, Lucid Lynx is looking less like the stoic Linux …

    Operating Systems 19 Mar 19:38

  • Massive FBI computer overhaul is put on ice (again)

    Carrier pigeons still viable

    The FBI has once again suspended work on parts of a massive computer overhaul that many say is vital to fighting crime and terrorism. Putting the project known as Sentinel on hold has alarmed some on Capitol Hill because the upgrade was considered vital to shoring-up deficiencies in key areas, The New York Times reports. …

    Government 19 Mar 20:35

  • Intel Labs unveils PC power plans

    'Humongous' savings, tiny batteries

    Engineers at Intel Labs are toiling away at a "holistic approach" to energy savings that could result in lower-power processors, shrunken power bricks and batteries and worldwide power bills shrinking by billions of dollars. At a gathering of reporters Thursday in San Francisco, the director of circuits and system research at …

    PCs & Chips 19 Mar 21:42

  • Steve Jobs and governator tout transplant reform

    'I could have died'

    The über-private and über-reclusive Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a rare non-keynote public appearance on Friday, joining California governor and action-film hero Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote organ-donation legislation. The San José, California Mercury News reports that the tech world's most famous transplant recipient joined …

    Biology 19 Mar 23:20