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8th April 2010 Archive

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  • Mandybill: All the Commons drama

    Web-blocking goes through, orphan works fails

    Live TV and internet coverage allowed the nation to feel grubby as the Mandybill was shunted through the House of Commons late last night. The government’s replacement for Clause 18 – a catch-all illiberal web-blocking measure that few in the music business ever expected to survive – was approved, and the photographers cemented …

    Media 8 Apr 2010, 00:03

  • Leaked details on HP iPad challenger reveal tight fight

    Swings, roundabouts and tablets

    Hewlett-Packard's Slate will be close to Apple's iPad in many regards except one: It'll be a lot cheaper at the high end, according to an apparently leaked HP slide. The PC maker will offer a Slate with Wi-Fi capabilities and 64Gb memory with a top recommended retail price of just under $600 compared to a WiFi and 64Gb enabled …

    Media 8 Apr 2010, 00:35

  • Photogs sue Google over Book Search culture grab

    Artwork wants its due

    The American Society of Media Photographers has sued Mountain View over Google Book Search, the library-scanning project that's already the subject of an unusually controversial lawsuit from American authors and publishers. In a class action suit filed in a New York-based federal court on Wednesday, the photographers' trade …

    Media 8 Apr 2010, 00:38

  • Think you can’t teach an old business UC tricks?

    UC It’s all in the crossover

    Unified Communications (UC) fixes fragmented workplace communications, right? But if businesses implement UC and carry on working in pretty much the same way as before (albeit more efficiently), they are probably missing a trick or two. A UC implementation offers businesses a great opportunity to review the way they work, and …

    Unified Comms 8 Apr 2010, 07:34

  • IT pay is up for temps and perms

    But there may be trouble ahead

    Recruitment agencies in the UK have seen the fastest rise in job placements this month at any time in the last 12 years. Recruitment firms, admittedly a somewhat optimistic group, claim the strongest growth in permanent positions since October 1997. Recruiters are also seeing more demand for temporary staff. Salaries for …

    CIO 8 Apr 2010, 07:57

  • Asus Home Server TS Mini

    Review The ideal Nas box for newcomers?

    Pitched as a competitor against the likes of the Acer’s easyStore line of Windows Home Server-based Nas boxes, Asus brings us the TS Mini home server. Based on Intel’s 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor, the TS Mini can be configured with up to 2GB of 800MHz DDR 2 memory and houses two 3.5in Sata drive bays. Asus' Home Server TS …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 08:02

  • NetApp buys small, large storage specialist

    Buys up Bycast

    NetApp is buying Bycast, a relative unknown. But there's more to this privately-held object storage developer than meets the eye. Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, Bycast makes the StorageGRID product for very large object-based, fixed-content archive vaults that can encompass petabytes of data. The software verifies …

    Storage 8 Apr 2010, 08:44

  • German group urges boycott over Facebook privacy shake-up

    This ain't no nudist beach

    A German consumer group is urging surfers to ditch Facebook in protest over proposed privacy changes, AFP reports. The Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBZ) wants users to abandon Facebook for other social networks in order to pressure Zuckerberg's baby into reconsidering a controversial data sharing plan. VZBZ …

    Applications 8 Apr 2010, 09:42

  • Tories drop opposition to UK.gov DNA plans

    'Real point of principle' proves somewhat bendy

    The Conservatives have dropped their opposition to the government's planned changes to the National DNA Database for fear of being branded soft on crime in the run-up to the election. The opposition had planned to use the Parliamentary "wash-up" this week to insist fewer DNA profiles be retained from people arrested but not …

    Government 8 Apr 2010, 09:44

  • Samsung squeaks ahead with Spinpoint MP4

    Momentary notebook disk lead

    Samsung has claimed a momentary notebook hard drive lead with a 640GB Spinpoint MP4 spinning at 7200rpm. It's the highest density 2-platter, 2.5-inch drive, spinning at 7200rpm. Mainstream 640 gig notebook drives spin at 5400rpm so MP4 users will get faster access to their data, 30 per cent faster according to Samsung. The …

    Hardware 8 Apr 2010, 09:53

  • Apple patent shows iPhone ruling the home

    In your living room? NFC

    Apple has patented using an NFC-equipped iPhone to set up links between electronic devices, hinting at how the company sees the future of the living room and its part there. The recently published patent covers the use of an iPhone to connect to various consumer devices, including speakers, televisions and set-top boxes. The …

    Mobile 8 Apr 2010, 10:08

  • Guy Kewney dies at 63

    RIP The man who made Britain love computers

    Veteran technology writer Guy Kewney died this morning. He had been suffering from bowel and liver cancer for over a year. Guy had been a force in UK tech journalism UK since the 1960s, writing for magazines including Electronics Weekly, Computing, and New Scientist. He was perhaps most famously associated with Personal …

    Site News 8 Apr 2010, 10:55

  • Unofficial Windows 7 SP1 beta stumbles onto interwebs

    Bright light, bright light

    A beta copy of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 Service Pack 1 has apparently been leaked onto some Torrent sites. Redmond hasn’t confirmed a date for the release of Windows 7 SP1 yet. Despite that, a pre-release copy of the minor updates package appears to be unofficially available for download online. We asked Microsoft if it …

    Operating Systems 8 Apr 2010, 10:59

  • ICBM lifts Europe's ice-sniffing sat

    Cryosat-2 launches successfully

    The European Space Agency's Cryosat-2 launched today atop a converted SS18 intercontinental ballistic missile from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome. The lift-off went as planned at 13:57 GMT, and the Dnepr missile sent Cryosat-2 on its mission to precisely gauge "the changes in the thickness of marine ice floating in the polar …

    Science 8 Apr 2010, 11:03

  • Motorola provides SIM condom for child protection

    Sticky-backed censorship

    Motorola will be providing wraparound covers for SIMs, enabling parents to control who their children speak to and when at the click of a mouse. Services managing kids' communications generally rely on a compliant network operator and/or a customised handset, but Motorola reckons it has the technology to apply parental …

    Mobile 8 Apr 2010, 11:10

  • Administrator access: Right or privilege?

    Workshop A cautionary tale

    Here’s a story, which may or may not be true. A long, long time ago, a UNIX sys admin was having a problem with some of his users, who thought it was really funny to download explicit photos from the then still-fledgling Internet and pop them up on other people’s screens. It wasn’t funny of course, but when the administrator …

    Desktop Management 8 Apr 2010, 11:17

  • England fails to make World Cup 3D screening draw

    No Rooney reaching through the screen unless he makes the finals

    England fans will not get to see their favourite World Cup team in 3D unless the players reach the group winners' matches. Fifa and Sony today announced that 25 World Cup 2010 matches will be recorded in 3D, one on each day of the tournament, from the first game between South Africa and Mexico to the final. Ironically given …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 11:31

  • UKIP suspends Scouse candidate over sado smut movies

    Don't act like you don't like it

    While the Lib Dems may have no qualms about running Anna Arrowsmith, a maker of serious female-oriented porn as a candidate in Gravesham, Kent, UKIP are having some difficulty swallowing the notion that one of their candidates may have been involved at the sharp end of smut-making. They have therefore suspended the membership …

    Bootnotes 8 Apr 2010, 11:48

  • Bank insider charged over ATM malware scam

    BofA BOFH cuffed

    An IT worker at Bank of America has been charged with hacking ATM systems so that machines handed out cash without recording his transactions, IDG reports. Rodney Reed Caverly, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged with a single count of computer fraud over the alleged creation of malware that infected bank computers and …

    Security 8 Apr 2010, 11:58

  • Guy Kewney, pioneer, guru, friend - RIP

    RIP We'll all miss you

    When I first met Guy Kewney, who died early this morning after a long struggle with cancer, he was already firmly established as star columnist at Personal Computer World - then, and for years to come, the UK's flagship IT publication. Until he started working for The Register a couple of years back, that was one of the few …

    Site News 8 Apr 2010, 12:01

  • Dell Latitude Z

    Review Super-slim designer notebook, anyone?

    If you want a laptop to impress, then a likely choice is a high-end MacBook rather than an amorphous black box Windows notebook, that looks about as cool as a fridge-freezer. With admiring glances in mind, is Dell's Inspiron Latitude Z, a machine the company is heralding as the thinnest and most stylish 16in laptop around. …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 12:09

  • O2 tops broadband customer satisfaction poll

    But punters voting with their feet go elsewhere

    O2 has been rated Britain's best broadband provider, but the scores tell a different story. Between September 2009 and February 2010, just over 100,000 visitors to broadband comparison site Broadband Expert were asked to rate their providers. According to the site, O2 was top, with an average satisfaction rating of 77 per cent …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 12:23

  • HP's Memristor tech - better than flash?

    It will be, says HP

    HP will claim today to have pushed Memristor technology to equal the switching speed and endurance shown by current NAND flash cells. The Memristor or memory resistor is said to be a fundamental electrical circuit element, along with the resistor, capacitor and inductor. Its electrical state remains unaltered between a device …

    Storage 8 Apr 2010, 12:24

  • Microsoft sorry over quiet Office Mobile 2010 beta kill date

    Windows Mobile 6.5 feels the burn

    Microsoft has apologised to Windows Mobile 6.5 users this week after it killed a beta of Office Mobile 2010 some had been running on their devices. The software giant quietly released the beta last year and it expired on April 5, but Microsoft didn’t adequately warn users of its imminent demise. The company only provided …

    Applications 8 Apr 2010, 12:25

  • Mandybill: It ain't over yet

    Updated Lords may kill Bill

    It’s a bit premature to declare winners and losers from the Digital Economy Bill just yet. The Open Rights Group may have given up campaigning – having already turned its front page into a giant click-through recruitment poster* - but the fight's not over. The legislation may yet fall. For all the hot air blown over the floor …

    Media 8 Apr 2010, 13:01

  • Brown promises no change to basic tax rate

    Watching the election, so you don't have to

    Prime minister Gordon Brown said there will be no rise in the basic rate of 20 per cent tax should Labour win the election. Brown pledged to stay for a full five years and said the party had chosen an increase in National Insurance in order to protect public services. He claimed the Conservative party had failed to either make …

    Government 8 Apr 2010, 13:13

  • Nokia launches DRM-free Comes With Music

    Lucky China

    Nokia is to launch its Comes With Music service in China, without Windows DRM, for the first time. The service bundles a year’s worth of unlimited downloads with selected handsets, and the account can continue when a new CwM phone is purchased. The DRM was used to tie to the music to one desktop and one phone at a time, but …

    Mobile 8 Apr 2010, 13:22

  • Matrix actor site stages defacement spat

    'Go home to mum, sub-s'kiddie'

    Rival hackers are duking it out on the site of Matrix actor Harry Lennix. Lennix, who played Commander Lock in the second two films of the Matrix trilogy and more recently played Boyd in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, maintains the site harrylennix.com. The site was defaced last week, and just a few days later was sprayed with …

    Security 8 Apr 2010, 13:57

  • Microsoft preps first Exchange Server 2010 service pack

    TechEd SP1 beta coming in June

    Microsoft dished up details of its first service pack for Exchange Server 2010 yesterday. The company plans to slot updates and bug fixes into its email server software, alongside improved archiving and better message searching. Microsoft said it would offer feature tweaks to Outlook Web Access and an additional user interface …

    Servers 8 Apr 2010, 13:59

  • High Court: Moderate user comments and you're liable

    Even fixing spelling can see you busted

    A blog owner can avoid liability for user-generated content that appears on his site without being checked or moderated, the High Court has ruled. But fixing the spelling or grammar in users' posts could lose him that protection, it said. The Court ruled that the operator of blogging site Labourhome.org could not have a libel …

    Law 8 Apr 2010, 14:39

  • IBM raids Oracle-Sun hardware channel

    $500m in financing to peddle Blue gear

    IBM has been chasing customers using Sun Microsystems' Sparc-based servers for more than a decade. Now that Sun is part of the much-stronger Oracle collective, Big Blue is trying a different tactic - going after the channel partners who distribute Sun systems. To get Sun Oracle resellers interested in switching to peddling …

    The Channel 8 Apr 2010, 14:43

  • Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx turns back on Yahoo! search switcheroo

    Google applies Bing sting, or something

    Ubuntu coders have abandoned plans to shift the next iteration of their popular distro to Yahoo! as the default search engine within Firefox and instead will stick with Google after all. The open source outfit didn’t reveal why it had backtracked on its plans to replace Google as its default search engine in Ubuntu 10.04, AKA …

    Operating Systems 8 Apr 2010, 14:57

  • Bloggers sight upgraded IBM DS8700 on the horizon

    Automated data tiering and Power7 arrival

    IBM is expected to announce an upgrade to its DS8700 storage array product at SNW next week. Big Blue's largest storage array could get automated data movement software to detect hot or cold data and move it at the volume level between the DS8700's SATA hard drive, fibre channel hard drive and solid-state drive tiers. When the …

    Storage 8 Apr 2010, 15:03

  • LG names 15in OLED TV UK release date

    *How* much?

    Sony may be stepping away from the world of OLED TVs, but that hasn't stopped LG announcing it will release a 15in model later this month. Unsurprisingly, LG didn't mention how much the 720p panel will cost. We're still awaiting a response to our request for the price, but we're not expecting to be surprised by how low it is …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 15:17

  • BBFC logos to vanish from future games releases

    Pegi in, officially, as Digital Economy Bill gets Royal Assent

    The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (Elspa) has wrested the classification of videogames away from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The switch follows the passing of the Digital Economy Bill into law, a move that will see the Elspa-backed Pan-European Game Information (Pegi) system …

    reghardware 8 Apr 2010, 16:27

  • Adobe Reader security updater to be unveiled next week

    Finally!

    Under criticism for applications that are hard to patch, Adobe Systems next week will unveil a mechanism that automatically downloads and installs security updates for its widely used PDF programs. The software maker announced the updater for its Reader and Acrobat apps in October and used it with beta testers for patches …

    Security 8 Apr 2010, 18:30

  • Microsoft media server beams direct to iPad

    Silverlight clients hunted

    Flash is blocked from Apple's iPad and iPhones, but Adobe rival Microsoft is getting a foot in the door of sorts, with a media server used to stream content for its Silverlight player. Microsoft said Thursday that this year, it will update its Internet Information Services (IIS) Media Services so you can stream on-demand media …

    Media 8 Apr 2010, 20:20

  • Citrix buys stake in virtual desktopper

    Hedges bets on SMBs

    Citrix Systems has just bought a little insurance in its ongoing battle against VMware and others over virtualizing corporate desktops by investing in a startup called Kaviza. The economic meltdown and the transition to Windows 7 on the desktop have all vendors of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) products all rubbing their …

    Software 8 Apr 2010, 20:37

  • Apple rumored to put beefy iPad on diet

    The slightly-less-fat iPhone without the phone

    Apple is planning a smaller version of the iPad that could arrive as soon as the first quarter of 2011, according to a research analyst citing sources among Apple's upstream component suppliers. Yes, Steve Jobs and company already offers a smaller version of the iPad. It's called the iPhone. And there's another smaller version …

    Mobile 8 Apr 2010, 20:54

  • iPhone 4.0: iAds, multitasking, and 98 tweaks

    One billion ads a day

    When announcing iPhone OS 4.0, Steve Jobs said that Apple has "no plans to become a worldwide ad agency" - but it appears that he's planning to do just that. Jobs' goal: to get one billion ad impressions per day by the end of the year. Among the 100 new features that Jobs promised for iPhone OS 4.0 is iAd, a service that will …

    Mobile 8 Apr 2010, 22:58

  • Forrester calls time on IT downturn

    It's over. Unofficially

    Forrester Research today upped its forecasts for spending on IT wares this year, thanks in large part to a slightly faster recovery in the United States than the market prognosticators expected when they did their initial projections back in January. At the time, Forrester called an "unofficial" end to the technology downturn …

    CIO 8 Apr 2010, 23:10