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18th June 2010 Archive

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  • Microsoft unveils – wait for it – another mobile OS

    'We'll call this one Windows, um, Embedded Handheld'

    Microsoft has added yet another mobile operating system to its OS smörgåsbord: Windows Embedded Handheld, to be released sometime in the next six months. Designed for what Redmond defines as the "enterprise handheld device market", Windows Embedded Handheld — which, for convenience, we'll shorten to WiEmHa, pronounced "weem- …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 03:45

  • Mozilla's next Thunderbird gives Gmailers hope

    Review Sync-challenged. But faster and more searchable

    Thunderbird 3.0 was a less than stellar piece of software. Mozilla's email client was marred by some pretty serious bugs, such as the failure to import mail from past editions, which meant the suite had a habit of becoming unresponsive while indexing large mail stores. And while Thunderbird 3.0 had a number of nice new …

    Applications 18 Jun 2010, 03:50

  • Mio Navman 470 satnav

    Review Economy drive

    With an eye to entry-level ownership, Mio has added two new affordable satnavs to its range: the Navman 470 and 475. The cheaper 470 will set you back less than 100 nicker and comes with a 4.3in screen. For £110, the 475 offers access to TMC traffic data which isn't featured on the 470, the model I've had stuck to my windshield …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2010, 07:02

  • ConDems shelve Equality Act timetable

    Likely to enact favourite bits

    The Government Equality Office (GEO) has withdrawn the timetable that detailed which parts of the recently passed Equality Act would come into force when. Some elements were due to come into force in October. The GEO had published a timetable online but that has been withdrawn. A GEO spokeswoman said that the withdrawal was …

    Small Biz 18 Jun 2010, 07:49

  • Chancellor's cuts should spare small biz

    Pretty please with a cherry on top

    Ending tax relief for small business will send thousands of small companies into administration, the Chancellor is warned today. The Time to Pay scheme was introduced to help offset the impact of the credit crunch in late 2008. It allows small firms to defer tax payments and has already been used by 200,000 firms which have …

    Small Biz 18 Jun 2010, 08:01

  • EMC sells Retrospect to Sonic

    So long Dantz

    EMC has sold its Retrospect backup software business to Sonic Solutions, owner of the Roxio product set. EMC, according to a person close to events, has decided that Retrospect was no longer a strategic product. EMC bought Dantz Corporation in 2004 to acquire Retrospect and add it to the Insignia small business product line. …

    Virtualization 18 Jun 2010, 08:45

  • Info Chief to get more power

    Cabinet Office releases reform plan

    The government is planning to increase the power of its chief information officer as part of a range of measures within the Cabinet Office Structural Reform Plan. The plan (pdf) said the move will be a key element of of reducing the cost structure of ICT in central government. The first point in the plan's section on ICT …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 08:47

  • Native Oz ducks being raped to extinction

    Got any mallard in you? Would you like some?

    Oz's native Pacific black ducks are apparently at serious risk of extinction, thanks to unwanted sexual advances by feral domestic mallards. According to Victoria University research fellow Dr Patrick-Jean Guay, the "rape" of the Lucky Country's black ducks by "big, sexually aggressive" mallards is threatening the genetic …

    Science 18 Jun 2010, 09:03

  • Oz Attorney-General wants ISPs to hold data for 2 years

    Leaked minutes show cavalier attitude to privacy

    Australia’s descent into internet madness continues apace with the leak of confidential minutes suggesting that that country’s law enforcement agencies have no understanding of either the technology behind the web, the ethics behind a functioning democracy – or both. If such leaks are to be believed, the Office of the …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 09:04

  • Expedition 24 crew board ISS

    Warm welcome at orbiting outpost

    The trio of flight Expedition 24 flight engineers who blasted off on Tuesday from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome were yesterday welcomed aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft bearing NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin docked with the orbiting …

    Science 18 Jun 2010, 09:05

  • Humongous star ejects jumbo jellyfish

    WISE snaps giant's 'stellar innards'

    NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has snapped the "jumbo jellyfish" resulting from the ejection of material from "humongous" V385 Carinae - a Wolf-Rayet star lying some 16,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Carina: NASA explains that V385 Carinae is about 35 times as massive as our own Sun, …

    Science 18 Jun 2010, 09:48

  • BT workers get strike ballots

    Stand-off sees throw-down

    BT workers will receive ballot papers early next week, as they go to the polls over what would be their first strike since 1987. Talks over pay broke down last week and it's now expected that 55,000 members of the Communication Workers Union will vote to walk out. They are demanding a five per cent pay rise this year. BT has …

    Broadband 18 Jun 2010, 09:50

  • Vatican orders Catholics to watch the Blues Brothers

    They really were on a mission from God

    The Vatican has given a big fat thumbs up to the Blues Brothers, the 30-year-old movie that saw John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd outwit cops, Illinois Nazis and ex-girlfriends to save a Catholic orphanage. Pope Benedict's in-house magazine L'Osservatore Romano has declared the film a "Catholic Classic" which should be recommended …

    Media 18 Jun 2010, 10:11

  • MySpace loses co-president

    Won't be replaced

    Jason Hirschhorn, co-president of MySpace and the man meant to rebuild the social networking site, is leaving the company. News Corporation's chief digital officer Jon Miller said the company respected his decision and his desire to return to New York. Miller gushed: "As many people know, Jason is like family to me, and as …

    Media 18 Jun 2010, 10:15

  • Vodafone blocks World Cup, except for iPhone owners

    Balls up

    Vodafone is still blocking RTSP streams, for the sake of the children, eight months after claiming the block was a temporary measure, thoughiPhone users remain free to stream what they like. The block was instituted last October, and at that time Vodafone claimed it was a temporary measure while servers were being upgraded. …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 10:18

  • Rainbow plane warps in from gay dimension

    Further satellite evidence of Obama's lovely, lovely America

    Further proof that Obama's America really is a much, much lovelier place comes in the form of another Google Maps polychromatic plane sighting, following the discovery last year of El Prez's rainbow stealth aircraft. In this case, the vehicle in question is warping in over South Carolina, having presumably travelled at light …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2010, 10:24

  • High-living hacker swaps Porsche for porridge

    Youthful swine jailed for fraud

    A 21-year-old hacker was banged up yesterday for frauds netting him a Porsche, £40,000 in cash and £30,000 in gold bullion. Alistair Peckover is serving 20 months after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud, and admitting 50 other offences which were taken into consideration. Peckover targeted online betting sites, and also …

    Security 18 Jun 2010, 10:34

  • ISPs agree to cheaper contract buyouts

    Firing your provider to cost less

    The country's three biggest broadband and home phone providers have agreed to slash their charges to customers who cancel their contracts early, following pressure from regulators. BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have previously made subscribers pay full or nearly full charges for every month left on their contract in order to …

    Broadband 18 Jun 2010, 10:37

  • Laser-toting robots take over UK hospital

    They control your drugs now

    A Scottish hospital will become the first in the UK to use robots to clean, deliver food and dispense drugs. The Forth Valley Royal Hospital's fleet of bots will also be carrying clinical waste and cleaning operating theatres when the new £300m Stirlingshire hospital opens in August. The robot squad will move around via their …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 10:54

  • BOFH: Risky business

    Episode 7 Contingency plan? Shine a light

    "All I'm saying," I say, trying not to lose my rag, "is that you don't have to keep all your email messages in their entirety." "Yes, but I need my email as a record," the PR droid burbles. "That may be, but you don't need a record of the 50 messages between you and the woman from the office across the road saying 'what do …

    BOFH 18 Jun 2010, 11:02

  • Watch bandit IDed by own mobe snap

    Hi-res photo leads to palm match

    A hi-res mobile phone image of a man handling stolen watches gave forensic coppers the evidence needed to get the villain sent down yesterday. The quality of the image on Stephen Taylor's Sony Ericsson W995 was sufficient for a forensic image specialist to get an enhanced picture of Taylor's palm print. The match was enough …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 11:04

  • Apple gives MobileMe a makeover

    But still $99 a year

    MobileMe didn't go free, despite the rumours, but it has got a new look and some improved features. Apple has renovated its cloud-based service with better email and faster performance, as well as a new iPhone application you can use to find your lost iPad. The layout improvements are mainly tweaks, but there is some meat in …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 11:16

  • Primate-phobic Brit attacked by crab-eating Macaques

    Plan to confront fears goes seriously titsup

    A Peterborough woman's plan to confront her lifelong fear of primates went seriously titsup when she was set upon by a pack of crab-eating macaques, the Daily Mail reports. Dee Darwell, 56, had apparently taken a strong dislike to our cousins as a result of her dad raising a "positively evil" chimpanzee. In an attempt to the …

    Bootnotes 18 Jun 2010, 11:21

  • Utah Attorney General tweets execution go-ahead

    What's happening? A firing squad, that's what's happening

    Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff last night used Twitter to announce the impending execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner. Shurtleff declared from his iPhone* ealier yesterday: "A solemn day. Barring a stay by Sup Ct, & with my final nod, Utah will use most extreme power & execute a killer. Mourn his victims. Justice" He later …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 11:37

  • Google's gatekeeper to collect toll for dying news orgs

    NewsPass allows a peek over the firewall

    Google is planning to introduce a billing and payment system for news content producers by the end of the year, according to a report in Italian newspaper La Repubblica. From the description, this new caper is some way short of a micropayment system, being more like an Oyster Card for news, and other content such as video and …

    Media 18 Jun 2010, 11:40

  • Tech resource woes won't be solved with Afghan minerals

    Taleban not sitting on an enormous laptop battery

    Wondrous news don't you think? Afghanistan is stuffed to the brim with $1 trillion worth of valuable metals. We can just flog off a few mineral concessions and the country is rich, rich beyond the dreams of avarice while kittens gambol happily in the Kabul sunshine. Sadly, no, not really: there's a few minor little problems …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 12:02

  • Windows Phone 7 compass mandatory but broken

    No standard API at launch

    The Windows Phone 7 APIs will not include access to the compass at launch, as the next version of Windows Mobile struggles to find a direction. Not that the hardware will lack a compass - its inclusion is one of the requirements to run Windows Phone 7 - but the product manager told Channel 9 (as reported by Mobility Digest) …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 12:13

  • Facebook's critics 'unrealistic', says US privacy law expert

    Demands 'commercially impossible' to enact

    The expectations and demands of privacy activists are unrealistic and uncommercial, according to one of America's top privacy law academics. Lobbyists for privacy rights should be more pragmatic and cooperate with companies, he said. Privacy advocates this week wrote to social networking giant Facebook in the latest of a long …

    Law 18 Jun 2010, 12:29

  • IT chiefs in cloaks and sashes gets Queen's mark of approval

    Surrounded by men with pikes and muskets

    The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists received its Royal Charter yesterday - its mark of approval from the Queen. The Livery Companies were originally proto-trade unions or professional standards bodies, depending which you look at it, based in the City of London. The first, the Worshipful Company of Mercers, got …

    CIO 18 Jun 2010, 12:49

  • Leica M9 rangefinder camera

    Review The money shot

    For anyone in the business of photography Leica has always been synonymous with photographic excellence and Magnum-style photojournalism. With its M-series, the German manufacturer has, since 1954, produced one of the most iconic and better performing 35mm systems, mastering unparalleled image quality in such inconspicuous and …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2010, 12:59

  • Speed cameras slide out of LibCon budget

    Annoying motorists is a luxury In These Troubled Times

    Jeremy Clarkson can start pressing his itchy accelerator pedal back to the metal - the new LibCon Government isn't going to fund more speed cameras. It's acknowledging the suspicion that the devices are being used as revenue generators, and is encouraging local councils to “use other methods and effective safety measures” to …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 13:13

  • Dr Who clocks up monster game download stats

    You be Who

    Not so popular with Cybermen, but hugely popular in cyberspace, downloads for Doctor Who: The Adventure Games are going through the roof. In the first 12 days since the release of episode one, more than half a million download requests were logged, the BBC announced this week. Episode two will unveil at a BBC Learning event …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2010, 13:43

  • Renew your firearms licence via your iPhone

    There's an app for everything

    Sussex Police plan to allow gun owners to renew their firearms licences using an iPhone app. The app will be part of a suite allowing the public to access news, appeals and other services form their iPhone. The technology push is intended to save £3m, freeing up valuable cop time, but means firearms applicants won't have to …

    Law 18 Jun 2010, 13:47

  • New leader, same old job for Martha Lane Fox

    David Cameron appoints Digital Champion as Digital Champion

    Number 10 announced today that Martha Lane Fox had been appointed the UK's Digital Champion, apparently forgetting this is a job which was created for her by the previous government. David Cameron has given the former online ticket flogger a remit "to encourage as many people as possible to go online, and improving the …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 14:11

  • Sex offender downloads child pr0n to get back into prison

    A purely practical measure

    A novel approach to finding accommodation was revealed by a convicted sex offender this week – as it was explained in court on Monday that he had downloaded child porn in order to be sent back to prison. David Clark, 54, of Willington Green in Maidstone complained to all and sundry - including his MP - that despite his putting …

    Law 18 Jun 2010, 14:12

  • Microsoft and eBay build fraudster blacklist

    Info sharing to the max

    Microsoft is teaming up with eBay and several other organisations to create a blacklist of fraudulently obtained log-in details for online services or compromised credit card numbers. Other members include PayPal, the Federal Trade Commission, National Consumers League and the American Bankers Association. The service goes …

    Security 18 Jun 2010, 14:42

  • Apple Mac Mini 2010

    Review Makes other SFF PCs look like towers

    I’ll admit up front that I’ve always liked the Mac Mini. I used one as my main office computer for a couple of years before retiring it to my living room where it’s hooked up to my HD TV and makes a terrific little media centre. Apple's Mac Mini: the new Apple TV? So I was delighted to see that the new model not only sports …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2010, 14:46

  • Oracle spikes HP's Solaris OEM contract

    Others to follow?

    Solaris shops running that Unix operating system on x64-based servers from Hewlett-Packard have been notified that Oracle has spiked HP's OEM contract to distribute and sell support for Solaris on HP's ProLiant x64-based lineup of tower, rack and blade servers. Oracle, as usual, was unwilling to comment on the matter, but a …

    Operating Systems 18 Jun 2010, 14:47

  • DoS attack stuffs Turkey's internet censors

    Hackers protest net interference

    Access to the internet in Turkey is becoming increasingly ragged, as growing state censorship collides with retaliation by anti-censorship hackers, leading to difficulties both in viewing sites and applying key online functions. Earlier this month, The Register reported that multiple Google services including Google Translate …

    Government 18 Jun 2010, 15:12

  • IBM tries to break into mobile operators' back rooms

    Unseen, but profitable

    IBM wants to get into operator's back rooms, leaving the public-facing, stuff to HP and its ilk, and has opened a new research centre specifically aimed at mobile operators. The new centre is based in Littleton, Massachusetts, where IBM already has a huge R&D campus employing 3,400 people. The idea is to create more software …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 15:56

  • Hands on with Sony's NEX DSLR-quality compact camera

    Video Ongoing optical options offensive

    Sony UK held a launch party this week for its new NEX-5 and NEX-3 compact digital cameras. The company seems minded to make a dent in sales in the micro four-thirds format as both NEX models accommodate interchangeable lenses and utilise a 14.2Mp APS sensor. Sony's NEX cameras have a detachable flash to keep them compact …

    reghardware 18 Jun 2010, 16:42

  • Firefox add-on does 'HTTPS Everywhere'

    Well, everywhere possible

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Tor Project have teamed up to offer a Firefox add-on that beefs up https on several major websites, including Google.com, Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, and PayPal. Currently in beta, HTTPS Everywhere is designed to make encryption easier to use on sites offering at least partial SSL …

    Applications 18 Jun 2010, 17:40

  • Apple asks US gov to hide iPhone details

    No photos until, um, 28 days after launch

    Apple has petitioned the US Federal Communications Commission to keep details of the iPhone 4 secret — some for a month and a half, some in perpetuity. Saying that Apple is secretive is akin to saying that the sky is blue or that water is wet. Still, Apple's letter to the FCC, as revealed by Patently Apple, is a veritable …

    Mobile 18 Jun 2010, 18:35

  • Google hugs Adobe harder with Chrome-PDF merge

    'Long live the plug-in!'

    After announcing plans to integrate Adobe Flash with its Chrome browser, Google is now integrating a PDF reader as well. On Friday, Mountain View rolled out Chrome developer builds for Windows and Mac that include a PDF viewer based on NPAPI Pepper, the revamped plug-in model Google originally developed for use with its Native …

    Developer 18 Jun 2010, 19:29

  • Ubuntu v iTunes: the music playoff for Applephobes

    Best of Linux Rhythmbox, Banshee, Daemon unleashed

    With Ubuntu 10.04, Canonical delivered a good-looking Linux distro that just works. Mark Shuttleworth's outfit has put together an impressive user interface to solve its famous bug number one - luring people away from Windows. But good looks and great hardware support are just the beginning. If Ubuntu really wants to help …

    Media 18 Jun 2010, 20:08

  • FCC takes baby step towards net neutrality

    Critics foresee webageddon

    The US Federal Communications Commission announced on Wednesday that it would open up the topic of broadband regulation to public commentary — and from some of reactions to that mild step, you'd think that by doing so they were destroying America's economic future. The vote to open chairman Julius Genachowski's compromise " …

    Networks 18 Jun 2010, 21:15

  • Google's Wi-Fi snoop nabbed passwords and emails

    French inspection

    The Wi-Fi traffic collected by Google's world-roving Street View cars included passwords and email, according to a report citing a preliminary study from the French data protection authority. IDG reports that the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL) has examined part of the data, after it was turned over …

    Security 18 Jun 2010, 22:42