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6th July 2005 Archive

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  • Miracle in Redmond! Tablet PC memory bug fixed

    Uptime of days promised

    Microsoft has finally issued a patch for a notorious bug in the Tablet PC edition of Windows XP. The bug is a memory leak in the default digitizer that ships with the system, and has been irking users for over a year. The digitizer process gradually ate up all available system memory, grinding the machine to a halt, and …

    PCs 6 Jul 2005, 00:18

  • BSA slams blasé management of flexible working

    Call out the home guard

    Flexible working in the UK is growing but the rollout of technology to enable home working is frequently mismanaged. This leaves firms more exposed to security and operational risks, according to a Business Software Alliance (BSA) sponsored study A poll of 500 UK business managers by NOP on behalf of the BSA found that firms …

    Security 6 Jul 2005, 01:02

  • 3 launches SpinVox voice2text

    As one text robot dies, another gets a phone to play with

    It's almost worth signing up for a "3" voice phone contract: the opportunity to see if SpinVox can, really, turn incoming voicemail into incoming texts. The news came on the same day that Orange killed its voice-to-commands service, WildFire. A cynic might suggest that it was a sneaky way for the Hutchison 3G phone operator to …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 08:31

  • Oracle goes shopping again

    More apps to add to database

    Database giant Oracle made another buy yesterday picking up privately-owned ProfitLogic. ProfitLogic sells software which helps retailers get inventory levels right by analysing customer demand. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The two companies already share many customers with most ProfitLogic users running …

    Applications 6 Jul 2005, 08:35

  • Who wants a piece of T-Mobile?

    Analysis European mobile savvy falls short in the USA

    And then there were three... Or at least, there may soon be only three nationwide mobile phone networks in the United States. The owner of T-Mobile, Deutsche Telekom is considering selling its US division. But would a sale make sense, and who would want to step up as a T-Mobile buyer? Predictably, expert opinion has so far …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 09:25

  • Leaked drivers reveal upcoming Nvidia kit

    G72, G70GL, NV48, C51 among others

    Nvidia has a raft of new items on the way, if product names embedded in a leaked copy of its latest ForceWare drivers are anything to go by. The software apparently mentions the as-yet-unreleased G72 - undoubtedly a variant of the recently shipped G70, better known now as the GeForce 7800 GTX - as is the G70GL, also listed in …

    Peripherals 6 Jul 2005, 09:28

  • Nildram struggles with 'major network upgrade'

    Punters lose bro.db..d con..ct.on

    Some 700 business punters have suffered a flaky broadband service since the weekend following a major network upgrade at Nildram. Although the ISP publicised the upcoming maintenance work, the upgrade has not proceeded as smoothly as planned. The technical issues at Nildram associated with the major network upgrade were …

    Telecoms 6 Jul 2005, 09:31

  • ATI adds digital telly to All-in-Wonder line

    DVB-T support in Europe - SCART, too

    ATI this week announced the latest addition to its All-in-Wonder multimedia-oriented graphics card line-up. The PCI Express-based AIW X800 XL's core is clocked at 400MHz and the board contains 256MB of GDDR 3 graphics memory clocked to an effective 980MHz. The graphics engine contains 16 pixel processing pipelines and six …

    Peripherals 6 Jul 2005, 10:10

  • Readers leap to eBay's defence

    Letters What was the point of Live8, anyway?

    Another week, another eBay/Live8 complaint. This time the auction site is trying to pull illegal recordings of the Live8 gig from its site. The BPI says that "sadly" it isn't surprised that the recordings are out there. You aren't surprised either, but you are much less bothered: I don't see what the big deal is considering …

    Letters 6 Jul 2005, 10:20

  • Adobe update quells Unix PDF peril

    In brief Acrobat stability restored

    Adobe has issued patches for a common vulnerability in various Unix versions of its Acrobat Reader software to guard against possible hacker attack. The vulnerability stems from a boundary error in "UnixAppOpenFilePerform()" function when Acrobat Reader is opening a document containing a "/Filespec" tag. This stack buffer …

    Enterprise Security 6 Jul 2005, 10:26

  • Security meltdown: who's to blame?

    We all are, naturally

    If there's one thing the security industry is really good at, it's pointing fingers. We all like to say that "security starts with you", so that everyone can share a piece of the mud pie. While we're pointing fingers, let's look at a few groups and individuals and see how they can share the blame for their own insecurity - and …

    Security 6 Jul 2005, 10:38

  • AMD to drive dual-core downmarket

    Moving into the mainstream?

    AMD will next month trim its Sempron chip prices as it moves to push its Athlon 64 X2 line down-market. So claim mobo industry sources cited by DigiTimes. The Sempron tweaks will knock around ten per cent off each part's current 1000-chip batch price. The sources only mention the Sempron 2500+, but it seems unlikely AMD plans …

    PCs 6 Jul 2005, 10:45

  • USC admissions site cracked wide open

    Flaw allowed access to applicant data

    A programming error in the University of Southern California's online system for accepting applications from prospective students left the personal information of users publicly accessible, school officials confirmed this week. The flaw put at risk "hundreds of thousands" of records containing personal information, including …

    Enterprise Security 6 Jul 2005, 10:53

  • UK PSP importer dodges sales ban... for now

    And Lumines cracked... sort of

    UK PlayStation Portable importer Nuplayer won a small victory over Sony on Monday when the Japanese giant failed to secure an injunction banning the company from selling PSPs sourced from overseas. However, the High Court judge considering Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's contention that Nuplayer has infringed its …

    Consoles 6 Jul 2005, 11:01

  • EU Parliament bins software patent bill

    By 648 votes to 14

    The European Parliament has voted by a massive majority to reject the software patents directive, formally known as the Directive on the Patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions. The vote to scrap the bill was passed by a margin of 648 votes to 14, with 18 abstentions. The Foundation for a Free Information …

    Software 6 Jul 2005, 11:04

  • Bulldog fingered for misleading radio ad

    Someone's in the doghouse

    Bulldog is in the doghouse after two radio ads plugging its 4 meg broadband service were found to mislead punters. The Cable& Wireless-owned Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) operator bragged that "Bulldog is Britain's fastest broadband for under 20 quid". "Four megabytes of unlimited access giving you more of what you want, …

    Telecoms 6 Jul 2005, 11:10

  • Astrologer sues NASA for Tempel 1 'moral trauma'

    Deep Impact litigant demands $300m

    A Russian astrologer is suing NASA for $300m in damages for "moral trauma" after the agency's Deep Impact mission successfully slammed a probe into comet Tempel 1. Marina Bay has filed suit in a Moscow court claiming that "any variation in the orbit or the composition of the Tempel comet will certainly affect her own fate". She …

    Bootnotes 6 Jul 2005, 11:14

  • Regulators try to squash Crazy Frog

    Bing-deh-bing-bing-bing-bing

    Jamba, the Verisign-owned ringtone vendor, seems to have saturated the patience of regulators in Europe with its torturous Crazy Frog tune. The campaign has proved so successful that Crazy Frog's reworking of Harold Faltermeyer's 'Axel F' beat Coldplay to No 1 in the pop charts. The Berlin-based company has grossed an estimated …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 11:22

  • Europe seeks harmonized music royalties

    Public consultation imminent, reports claim

    The European Union is planning to create a new Europe-wide licensing scheme for music royalty collection and airplay compensation. Reuters reported this week that it could be ready to go to public consultation as early as this month. At the moment royalties are collected by a different agency for each country, and in some …

    Financial News 6 Jul 2005, 11:25

  • Swiss introduce e-post

    Legally-binding digital postmark

    Swiss Post has bought the Zurich-based firm SwissSign, which specialises in digital encryption, to introduce registered e-post. Its new incaMail communication platform will permit letters with signature or registered letters to be displayed electronically in a legally-binding form. The digital postmark will act as a guarantee …

    Financial News 6 Jul 2005, 11:34

  • Hurrah for Ofcom's spectrum plans

    Spectrum Framework Review gets gold star

    We do confess to being fans of the new UK regulator Ofcom, having been critical of the way the UK allocated Spectrum in the past, and it has now finalized its Spectrum Framework Review, with the majority of the changes being that UK license holders can trade spectrum and that licensees can decide what services to offer with a …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 11:36

  • Execs stumble over digital toys

    Easily done

    Giving senior execs digital toys such as PDAs and wireless gizmos can be more trouble than it's worth, according to research out today. While the idea of mobile working might sound appealing, the reality can be a technological nightmare for those on the road. Even the basic task of connecting "mobile execs" to corporate …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 11:38

  • Nuclear fusion: power to the people?

    Analysis Or just political hot air?

    It's G8 week, and climate change is high on the agenda. And now that even George Bush has acknowledged that climate change is (a) happening and (b) is at least partly due to humans but insisted it (c) should be tackled through technology, why not focus again on a technology that's (1) happening and (2) partly controlled by …

    Science 6 Jul 2005, 11:40

  • Penis pill purveyor faces prison

    Spammer 'Rizler' Smith returns from exile

    Notorious spammer Christopher "Rizler" Smith is due in court on Wednesday following his arrest at Minneapolis St Paul International airport last Thursday. Prosecutors are calling for Smith to be held in contempt of court and jailed for six months over his flight from justice after a US judge brought the shutters down on his …

    Spam 6 Jul 2005, 11:52

  • Canon IXUS 700 seven megapixel digicam

    Review Too big?

    Before you even think about buying this camera you have to ask yourself one key question: do you really need seven million pixels in a compact digital camera? That's what the IXUS 700 offers: a seven megapixel resolution in a body the size of a bar of soap. So you've decided that you might you might need the megapixel count - …

    Reviews 6 Jul 2005, 12:10

  • London secures 2012 Olympics

    In brief Sacre bleu!

    London has emerged as the surprise winner of the race to host the 2012 Olympic Games. IOC president Jacques Rogge made the dramatic announcement at 1249 BST after the vote in Singapore. Long-term favourite Paris was overhauled in the final lap as the majority of support from eliminated cities of Madrid, New York and Moscow fell …

    Bootnotes 6 Jul 2005, 12:12

  • Poor diet + pollution = brain damage

    Too little iron, too much lead, say UK researchers

    Biomedical researchers in the UK are planning new research into the links between poor diet in children and their susceptibility to brain damage caused by pollution, particularly in the developing world. It is known that blood levels of around 10 micrograms of lead can cause a drop in IQ levels, the researchers at Manchester …

    Science 6 Jul 2005, 13:30

  • MS UK defaced in hacking attack

    Digital graffiti

    Microsoft's UK web site was defaced late on Tuesday night with a message in support of Venezuelan hacker Rafa. Defacement archive Zone-H reports that well-known defacer Apocalypse hacked into Microsoft's UK web site (microsoft.co.uk) and uploaded a picture with the message "FREE RAFA - HACK IS NOT A CRIME" (recorded in an …

    Enterprise Security 6 Jul 2005, 15:57

  • Open source database firm gets webMethods infusion

    All aboard EnterpriseDB

    The ex-webMethods crew at PostgreSQL database start-up EnterpriseDB has added to their numbers with a fresh board appointment. WebMethods board member Jack Lewis has been elected to the EnterpriseDB board to bring 35-years' experience in legal and business development to the young company. Lewis joins webMethods founder and …

    Applications 6 Jul 2005, 17:31

  • Can Sun turn SOA rhetoric into weapon against IBM and SAP?

    And erase App Server disaster

    As with asking someone you fancy out on a first date, IT strategy is often a matter of timing. Having completely missed out on the Java application server market, Sun Microsystems now seems to be positioning itself to take a slice of the SOA pie. Two events happened last week that indicate Sun is doing a lot more forward …

    Applications 6 Jul 2005, 19:58

  • LG throws PalmSource a lifeline

    PalmSource throws LG a license

    Korean giant LG has given PalmSource a much needed piece of good news, by agreeing to license PalmOS for smartphones. It wasn't disclosed which offering LG will take, nor what the deal is worth. PalmSource offers PalmOS 5 "Garnet", its 32-bit successor "Cobalt", and Linux. Last week, however, PalmSource's acting boss Patrick …

    Mobile 6 Jul 2005, 21:21

  • Intel and Morgan Freeman put DRM to work in new movie venture

    Downloading Hollywood

    Intel is teaming-up with Morgan Freeman's Revelations Entertainment company to deliver an online digital entertainment service that helps counter film piracy. The companies are backing ClickStar, a venture whose mission is to side-step the cinema as the default vehicle for viewing films on their first release. First-run, pre- …

    Music and Media 6 Jul 2005, 22:34

  • Napster, Dell cash-in on student DRM tax

    Britney Spears or buses?

    It's right up there with all the big headlines of the day. London wins Olympics bid. Angelina Jolie adopts Ethiopian AIDS orphan. Prince Albert knocks boots with French-Togolese flight attendant and pops out a baby. Dell sells blade servers that can run Napster software at colleges. In a more perfect world, we'd spend the next …

    Music and Media 6 Jul 2005, 23:18