7th August 2007 Archive

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US bloggers set for journalistic shield

The importance of earning

A US bill that would shield journalists, including bloggers, from revealing their sources has cleared the House Judiciary Committee, an important stage in becoming law. There is already legislation in the UK which protects journalists and bloggers. The US Free Flow of Information Act protects journalistic sources generally, but …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 00:04
Finnish Football, LA riot journo join attack on YouTube

No free Veikkausliiga!

It seems that far too many people are watching free Veikkausliiga highlights on YouTube. Today, the English Premier football league and music publisher Bourne Co. announced that eight other parties have joined their lawsuit against the Google-owned YouTube, including the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the …

Music and Media 7 Aug 2007, 00:07
World Poker Tour goes, er, global

Inks deal with Chinese authorities - just no bets, please

The China Leisure Sports Administrative Center has tied the knot with World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPT) to promote “the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China’s first ever national poker competition,” the Associated Press reported today. Well, something like poker, at least. The Chinese …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 01:07
Of EMC's storage blitz

SATAsfy your love

EMC Corporation last month announced a new line-up of storage systems and software that seek to help customers store information more cost-effectively, securely, and intelligently. Among the products announced are the new EMC Symmetrix DMX-4 series of high-end storage arrays featuring an end-to-end 4GBps architecture, Fibre …

Storage 7 Aug 2007, 08:02
National Express bus kingpin ditches biofuel trial

Made of plants doesn't always mean green

National Express, "the largest scheduled coach provider in Europe," has closed down a biofuels programme which could have seen its vehicles running on 30 per cent-bio diesel. According to a Press Association report, the coach giant quit on biofuels due to worries that they weren't, in fact, a truly green option. "The issue …

Science 7 Aug 2007, 08:02
AMD's Opteron goes to 3.2GHz

High-end chips gussied pre-Barcelona

AMD is trying to breath new life into its dual-core Opteron by upping the chip to 3.2GHz just weeks before Barcelona rolls on store shelves. AMD announced today the pricing and availability to its Opteron 2000 and 8000 series x86 chips, both in a mainstream and high performance flavor. The top-end models 8224 SE and 2224 SE …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 09:11
Broadband claims mislead on speed

Which? calls on Ofcom and Trading Standards to investigate

There is a huge gap between advertised broadband speeds and the actual speeds users can achieve, new research from consumer group Which? has shown. A survey by the organisation found that broadband packages promising speeds of up to 8Mbps (megabits per second) actually achieved far less. Tests of 300 customers' net connections …

Networks 7 Aug 2007, 09:11
Teaching hacking helps students, professors say

'The students love it'

When Sam Bowne visited the DEFCON hacking conference in 2006, he saw a lot of people having fun with a really interesting topic: computer security. As a professor of computer science at the City College of San Francisco, Bowne wanted to find a way to make computer security accessible to the average student. So, following his …

Security 7 Aug 2007, 09:23
Yahoo! denies! China! claims!

We! never! done! it!

Yahoo! has hit back at claims by a US Senate committee that it covered up its involvement in handing over information to Chinese authorities which led to the arrest and detention of four Chinese citizens. In a statement the company said: “Yahoo!’s testimony was truthful, and while we regret Chairman Lantos is rushing to …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 09:26
Microsoft sees $1.5bn verdict chucked out

Judge rules against Alcatel-Lucent

Microsoft yesterday overturned a $1.5bn ruling made against it for patent infringement. Back in January a jury ruled that Microsoft had infringed two patents owned by Alcatel-Lucent relating to MP3 standards. It made the record award of $1.5bn. Judge Rudi Brewster overturned the jury's damages to Alcatel-Lucent for supposed …

Software 7 Aug 2007, 09:32
Linux database becomes a browser

Mashups are us

The fashion for "web mashups" just got a steroid boost with the release of a browser that is really a desktop database, with full SQL scripting and the ability to manipulate tabular data found on the Internet. The browser, Kirix Strata, started life two years ago as a Linux desktop database, said Kirix founder and president, …

Software 7 Aug 2007, 09:36
Four-way stellar smash will form monster galaxy

Check back in a couple of eons

What do you get if you take four galaxies and set them on a collision course? The biggest cosmic pile-up we earthlings have ever seen. Come back in a few million years and they will have formed a giant galaxy, roughly ten times the size of our puny Milky Way The star-wreck was spotted by astronomers using NASA's Spitzer space …

Space 7 Aug 2007, 09:51
Poker for potholes initiative makes run at California ballot

YouTube regular Tuff Fish ‘monumentally tired’ of bad roads

A California YouTube junkie received permission last week from the California Secretary of State to circulate a petition to establish a government run online poker site that would subsidize fixing the state's roads. Anthony "Tuff Fish" Sandstrom, who regularly chronicles the ups and downs of his online poker life on YouTube, …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 09:57
Motorola Q 9h smartphone

Review Will this smartphone eat BlackBerries for breakfast..?

On first viewing, the Moto Q 9h is reminiscent of a calculator; despite going for a BlackBerry-style layout, its square features haven't quite captured the improved look of those devices, and pulling it out of your pocket could see colleagues and co-workers stifling a few laughs. Motorola Moto Q 9h: icon shortcut keys allow …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 10:13
Stricken Evesham says will honour warranties and support

'Business as usual' as union demands entry

Evesham Technology's founder and chairman Richard Austin has said that DTE Leonard Curtis has been appointed administrator of the firm's accounts. Following on from a very difficult few days for many ex-employees of the firm, Austin finally confirmed yesterday that Evesham had indeed entered administration on Friday 3 August …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 10:16
Dell brings the cha-ching to buy Zing

Prepare for the Dell Zune

Dell has agreed to cough up for music startup Zing, which makes software to connect personal music players to live streams and other online content. Mountain View-based Zing was founded by iPod alumnus and Jobsian fashionista Tim Bucher and launched at the beginning of 2006. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Dell …

PCs & Chips 7 Aug 2007, 10:16
Orange dismantles Bristol Tower of Doom

Vodafone to continue grilling locals

Orange has agreed to remove a mobile-phone base station from the top of a block which has become known as the "Tower of Doom", thanks to the high incidence of cancer amongst the elderly residents. So far, seven people in Berkeley House in Staple Hill, Bristol, have contracted cancer, with three dying. Never ones to let …

Mobile 7 Aug 2007, 10:21
First Response issues ID theft alert after burglary

Precautionary alert

First Response Finance has warned thousands of UK customers to be wary of suspicious transactions on their accounts following the theft of storage discs from the finance firm's offices near Manchester. Server equipment containing customer data was stolen in a break-in at its Leigh offices late last month, prompting the firm …

ID 7 Aug 2007, 11:01
Microsoft cuts Xbox 360 prices

And so the price war continues

Microsoft has announced a price cut across the Xbox range in the US, but Europeans will have to wait before they see any markdowns. From tomorrow, stateside gamers will be able to pick-up a Premium for $50 less, in addition to a $30 cheaper Elite system or $20 cheaper Core. The Premium model will now retail for $350, while …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 11:29
Qualcomm fails to overturn US import ban

President Bush holds onto veto

Qualcomm seems out of options in the ongoing patent dispute with Broadcom, having failed to get the president to overrule the court-imposed ban on the import of phones containing chips which infringe Broadcom's patents. Even its attempt to get the ban rescinded on safety grounds has fallen on deaf ears: "After extensive …

Mobile 7 Aug 2007, 11:37
Wipro jumps on Infocrossing

Indian firm looks to buy Nasdaq-listed outsourcing outfit

Wipro Technologies, the global IT services arm of Indian outsourcing firm Wipro Ltd, said it has signed a $413.27m all-cash deal to acquire Infocrossing Ltd. The firm has offered $18.70 per share for Infocrossing which is a Nasdaq-listed, New Jersey-based IT infrastructure specialist that provides outsourcing services to SMBs …

Channel Register 7 Aug 2007, 12:14
Boffins flick Quantum vacuum switch from suck to blow

Goldenballs will power gecko hoverships, raygun gloves

Cartoon-loving boffins from University of St Andrews believe they have found a way to reverse the "Casimir force" which causes really small things to stick to each other. This has been widely written up, usually with the word "levitation" in the headline. The University press release notes that: "Professor Ulf Leonhardt and …

Physics 7 Aug 2007, 12:44
Mega-planet spotted orbiting fading star

Big and clever

Astronomers have discovered the biggest transiting exoplanet yet. Orbiting a fading star in the constellation of Hercules, planet TrES-4 is a whopping 70 per cent bigger than Jupiter. To put these numbers in context, Jupiter is a mere 16 per cent (or so) bigger than Saturn, but is almost four times the mass. Although volume …

Space 7 Aug 2007, 13:30
Patientline backs down on price rises

Still 10p a minute though

Patientline, the beleaguered monopoly supplier of communication services to UK hospital patients, has dropped its prices back to the pre-April level of 10 pence a minute for outgoing calls: incoming calls remain at the outrageous 49p a minute. The company paid a fortune to fit specially-manufactured equipment beside hospital …

Telecoms 7 Aug 2007, 13:45
Alcatel unveils mobile phone under £20

Take a hammer to your piggy-bank

Does your phone support Hair-Band GSM/GPRS/BONO EDGE and HSBC capabilities? If you think a 3G phone is under gravitational stress, or WMV music is a highstreet store...there’s no point paying for a cutting-edge handset. Alcatel is attempting to remedy this by launching a back to basics mobile phone. Register Hardware would …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 13:49
UK Information Commissioner: protect your own data

Tells citizens to get a grip

The Information Commissioner's Office - the UK public body tasked with protecting ordinary individuals from abuses by the rapidly-multiplying organisations which hold personal data - has today "published new guidance to help individuals understand how and why their personal information may be shared by organisations." As the …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 14:45
Planting trees will not save the planet: official

Bad news for carbon banking

Bad news for plastic greens: planting trees really isn't going to save us from global warming. Researchers studying pine trees in North Carolina have determined that there is a limit to the amount of extra carbon dioxide a tree can actually turn into more tree. The decade-long Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) experiment, set …

Environment 7 Aug 2007, 15:05
Beeb exterminates Tomorrow's World rumours

Recruits Sexy Beast star for Dr Who baddie role (not Kylie)

Tomorrow's World is yesterday's news following confirmation from the Beeb that the populist science and technology show will not be returning to our small screens any time soon after all. Big sighs all round, we hear; especially as rumours had suggested a comeback for the live, gadget-happy, anything-can-go-wrong-and-usually- …

Entertainment 7 Aug 2007, 15:11
T-Mobile wants our phones

Hippies to turn them in to traffic cones and buckets

Pile 'em high. A new survey from T-Mobile suggests that the UK population is sitting on 52.3 million old phones, with a combined value of £1.1bn, and they've kindly offered to take them off our hands too. They go on to suggest that these phones could be used to pay for 39,000 nurses, or to buy the entire Chelsea football …

Mobile 7 Aug 2007, 15:22
US rules vote swapping legal

Swap you an Al Gore for a Ralph Nader

A US court has ruled that websites set up to allow people to swop their votes are legal and protected by the Constitution. Back in the heady days of 2000, prior to the election of George W Bush, a couple of websites were set up to allow supporters of independent candidate Ralph Nader and of Democrat candidate Al Gore to trade …

Government 7 Aug 2007, 15:26
Researchers ease LCD viewing angle woes

Taking a different view of the problem

Researchers at a Taiwanese university have developed an LCD that tracks a viewer’s movements and then adjusts its settings to give the optimum display. It’s claimed the design can therefore overcome blurred or distorted images when viewing the screen from an angle. The prototype display, developed at the National Chiao Tung …

Reg Hardware 7 Aug 2007, 15:33
Sun to axe more jobs

3,700 and counting

More layoffs are on the way at Sun Microsystems. Despite its third consecutive profitable quarter, the Silicon Valley server giant will cut an unspecified number of jobs by the end of this year. Early last week, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sun's board of directors approved a plan to …

Financial News 7 Aug 2007, 18:27
Governator vows to appeal ruling striking down video game law

'I'll be back'

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to appeal a federal judge's ruling striking down a state law that prohibits the selling or renting of violent video games. The decision, issued in a case brought by video game industry groups, said the restriction violated the freedom of speech provision in the US Constitution …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 20:35
Desktop Linux: That dog will mount

LinuxWorld Bad case of Fluendo

The Linux desktop reminds us of a dog humping a table leg. It's both fun and disturbing to watch, but ultimately there's very little payoff from the exercise. Linux advocates, however, refuse to quit hoping that the leg humping will evolve into something spectacular. So we find yet another desktop panel discussion taking place …

Applications 7 Aug 2007, 20:37
Google to rescue Linux from Microsoft lawyers

The battle for the soul of open-source

Google has joined the fight to save Linux from an army of patent-waving Microsoft lawyers. With Redmond threatening to collect royalties from Linux users and distributors across the industry, claiming that the open-source operating system violates 235 of its patents, Google has thrown its considerable weight behind the Open …

Law 7 Aug 2007, 21:59
Brocade ex-CEO guilty of options fraud

Vows to appeal

Gregory Reyes, the former boss of Brocade, has been found guilty of securities fraud concerning backdated options. A San Francisco jury today convicted him on ten counts of altering the IT storage company's records and lying over option practices. Reyes could face a jail sentence of up to 20 years and a fine of $5m - small …

Financial News 7 Aug 2007, 22:04
So you want to be a Teradata specialist?

Good living for some

Many aspiring IT professionals look for career safety with mass-market technology. However, there’s also a secure career in specialist technology, as long as your chosen vendor doesn’t become complacent. So, as an example, we asked a Teradata specialist about the possibilities of a career with his specialist technology. Similar …

Business 7 Aug 2007, 22:25
Efficient data centers make companies less green

LinuxWorld HP guru says infrastructure is king

Being green is obviously a huge concern for the tech industry. It doesn't take an industry microscope to see hardware vendors scampering to improve their hardware efficiency to appeal to folks sweating over the rising cost to power a data center. But Christian Belady, Hewlett-Packard's "distinguished technologist" doesn't see …

Servers 7 Aug 2007, 22:54
Fake e-cards signal massive DDoS attack

Storm worm's a brewin'

Security researchers are reporting a sharp increase in the number of machines infected by the Storm Worm, prompting speculation that its authors, who so far have limited their activities to spam, intend to use it for more destructive purposes, such as launching massive denial of service attacks. In June and July, internet …

Spam 7 Aug 2007, 23:11
Dell to stuff hypervisors in flash memory

LinuxWorld Vendor on ESX Lite diet?

A rather nimble Dell looks set to rattle the server market later this year by embedding the core virtualization code of a prominent software maker in flash memory. Dell CTO Kevin Kettler today confirmed these plans during a speech here at LinuxWorld, saying the company expects to see major performance and power-saving …

Servers 7 Aug 2007, 23:18