Channel Register

28th November 2007 Archive

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  • Google permits Dell to sell Dell servers

    Search appliance alliance

    Dell has cuddled right on up to Google, agreeing to hawk search appliances directly to customers. A deal like this has been in the making for some time, since Dell actually provides the hardware for the Google Search Appliance. Google has relied on the PowerEdge 2950 rather than making custom hardware as it does for its own …

    Enterprise 28 Nov 2007, 00:12

  • Java 6 for OS X 'weeks away'

    Apple hole gets community stuffing

    A community project putting the latest version of Java on Apple's newest version of OS X is inching closer to completion. The project to port Java 6 to Apple's Leopard and Tiger has been quietly released as a second developer preview for a fresh round of testing, after the first implementation was thrashed and debugged by a …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 01:00

  • HDS adds mass to its NAS

    Quadruples capacity, births two boxes

    Hitachi Data Systems is aiming its high-end NAS at the mid-market, squeezing out two new offerings to appeal to little guys. Customers will now find the NAS Platform 2000 and the NAS Platform 2000 Nearline, which (logically enough) fit underneath the existing NAS 2100 and 2200 models. HDS is pitching the NAS Platform 2000 as …

    Enterprise 28 Nov 2007, 01:07

  • Next year's next big thing

    Big in 2007

    Get your nose out of that code and turn off that compiler: the mother of all deadlines is upon us, and nobody (except, maybe, Dr Who) can push back or alter the deliverables. Yes, Christmas and the New Year are factors you can no longer ignore or resist. With that in mind, Reg Developer has been asking you to give us your top …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 01:12

  • The myth of the humble nerd tycoon

    Real Mail Readers prefer Montgomery Burns to Larry & Sergey

    Last week I took Alexander Chancellor to task for a column based on a fantasy. He compared the frugal, down-to-earth Google founders favourably with a Saudi Prince. The Google founders don't even have a jet, he wrote, and this humility was the norm in Silicon Valley. The column was based an ancient profile - but it evidently …

    IT Channel 28 Nov 2007, 01:36

  • America's 8m victims of identity theft

    And that's only in 2005

    About 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 per cent of the population, were victims of identity theft in 2005, according to the Federal Trade Commission. About 3.3 million adults, representing 1.5 per cent, experienced misuse of non-credit card accounts, slightly edging out the hijacking of credit cards, which was suffered by …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 06:49

  • Intel 'Moorestown' UMPCs to feature single-chip CPU/GPU

    Will you please welcome 'Lincroft' and 'Langwell'

    Intel announced its 'Moorestown' system-on-a-chip platform for UMPCs and internet tablets back in April this year, but it kept the details close to its chest. Now they've leaked out. Moorestown will comprise two chips: the SoC, codenamed 'Lincroft', and an I/O part called 'Langwell'. According to a report on Japanese-language …

    PC Builder 28 Nov 2007, 09:56

  • Rare bug blights Lotus Notes

    1-2-3 hack risk

    Security researchers have discovered a rare, and potentially serious, security bug in Lotus Notes. A buffer overflow flaw in IBM's groupware package enables hackers to trick users into running hostile code on vulnerable systems. The security bug stems from boundary errors within the Lotus 1-2-3 file viewer (l123sr.dll) …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 10:39

  • Google adds terrain to Google Maps

    Light relief for users

    Google has added a "terrain" feature to its Google Maps service, giving a nice bit of light relief to its hitherto decidedly flat cartographical offering: While there's a limit to how close you can zoom in, users can at least get some idea of the lie of the land. The terrain view update follows Google Maps' deployment back …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 11:02

  • Dixons grinches Christmas

    There may be trouble ahead

    Dixons Store Group (DSG) blamed overstocking of laptops for poor performance at PC World, and sounded a warning for Christmas and the rest of the financial year. DSG chairman Sir John Collins said: "There is much debate about the uncertain outlook in many of our markets and the economic fundamentals make it difficult to …

    IT Channel 28 Nov 2007, 11:03

  • Audit commission tells councils to get competitive

    If you're going to save £4.9bn, it's time to get creative

    The Audit Commission is urging councils to be more creative in using the market to drive down costs and improve services. Local authorities need to be more open minded and creative if they are to realise the £4.9bn efficiency savings required following this year's Comprehensive Spending Review, says a new report by the local …

    IT Channel 28 Nov 2007, 11:15

  • Fujitsu promises 320GB laptop HDD next year

    Rivals are already selling similar products

    Fujitsu today pledged to make a 320GB 2.5in hard drive available to buyers in February 2008 - even though rival HDD makers like Western Digital are already selling laptop hard drives of that capacity. Fujitsu's 320GB MHZ2-BH: ready for laptops next February Fujitsu's MHZ2-BH series will come with between 40GB and 320GB of …

    PC Builder 28 Nov 2007, 12:03

  • Capita-Lincolnshire IT venture scrapped

    'Deal not right for taxpayers'

    Capita Group said yesterday that a proposed partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council had been scrapped after final negotiations between the two sides broke down. Councillor Andrew De Freitas said in a statement that a cabinet meeting on Monday decided the planned outsourcing deal with Capita, in which the firm was …

    IT Channel 28 Nov 2007, 12:18

  • Online sellers warned on UK cheque clearance changes

    On the seventh day banks guarantee payments

    Online retailers and eBay sellers are advised to keep abreast of new cheque clearance rules that come into force in the UK on 1 December, or risk a heightened threat of becoming victims of fraud. The new 2-4-6 cheque clearance rules mean that payment by cheque is not guaranteed until the seventh working day after a cheque has …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 12:36

  • Microsoft funds object of IBM's mainframe fury

    PSI pockets $37m

    Microsoft has put its loaded name behind PSI - a Silicon Valley-based start-up currently at war with IBM in the mainframe market. PSI (Platform Solutions Inc.) this week revealed Microsoft as a new investor participating in its fresh $37m Series C funding round. Redmond joins companies such as Intel, Goldman Sachs and InterWest …

    Enterprise 28 Nov 2007, 14:08

  • Sage clocks £1.16bn revenues

    Expects US biz to lag behind in 2008

    UK accounting software giant Sage Group PLC said today that revenues for the year were up 30 per cent, buoyed by a number of key acquisitions. However, the firm also fired off a warning about its underperforming North American unit. The Newcastle-based company reported group revenues of £1.16bn for the year ended 30 September …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 14:08

  • Celebrity spam gang whips up a storm

    Stealth botnet responsible for huge spam surge

    A copycat spam gang has launched an effort to compromise PCs that rivals the botnet created by the infamous Storm Worm Gang. The botnet established by the Celebrity Spam Gang, so-named for a habit of using celebrity names in malware, is currently responsible for 20 per cent of junk mails in circulation, according to net …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 14:11

  • Capita ties up Prudential deal

    As one door closes, another opens...

    Fresh from losing a multimillion pound local council deal, IT outsourcing outfit Capita has pounced on the man from the Pru. Prudential said today that it planned to move 3,000 of its staff over to Capita in a cost-cutting exercise that could save the life and pensions provider £60m a year. Capita said that under the deal, …

    IT Channel 28 Nov 2007, 15:42

  • Miscreants subvert search results to punt malware

    Using botnets to plant links and nurture zombie farms

    Miscreants have set out to poison search results with links to malware infested sites via a new campaign. Users searching Google or other prominent search engines for sites referring to innocuous terms ranging from "alternative router firmware" to "cotton gin and slavery" are often confronted with a list of results where at …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 16:37

  • Novell vs SCO will go to court after all

    Chapter 11 immunity lifted

    Novell has succeeded in getting a court to lift SCO's Chapter 11 immunity from legal action, meaning the firm's IP spat can go to trial. Normally Chapter 11 means that companies cannot take legal action against you - it is designed to protect a firm from creditors while it reorganises. SCO filed for protection in September. …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 16:44

  • So many paths to Nirvana

    Playing God with ALM

    We've groused repeatedly about the gaps in the software development lifecycle, or more specifically, that communication and coordination have been haphazard at best when it comes to developing software. Aside from the usual excuses of budgets, time schedules, or politics, the crux of the problem is not only the crevice that …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 17:51

  • Virgin Mary appears in Google's Iowa data center

    Blessed be thy server

    Who needs religion in middle America when you have Google? Google executive Ken Patchett recently visited Council Bluffs, Iowa and received a hero's welcome. Patchett leads Google's effort to build a $600m data center in corn country, and the locals couldn't be happier to have him around - at least according to propaganda …

    Enterprise 28 Nov 2007, 19:11

  • Nigerian keyboard firm sues One Laptop per Child

    No hugs and kisses for XO Laptop

    The One Laptop Per Child foundation is being sued over its XO laptop keyboard design by the Nigerian-owned, Massachusetts-based firm, Lagos Analysis Corp. Lagos claims the non-profit illegally reverse-engineered their software drivers to make the OLPC keypad more accent mark friendly to foreign fingers. The initial copyright …

    Reg Hardware 28 Nov 2007, 20:00

  • Reported malfunction in PayPal Security Key

    Updated False sense of security

    When eBay rolled out the PayPal Security Key earlier this year, its executives hailed it as an important measure that would make users more secure. And it was. By generating a random, six-digit number every 30 seconds that users needed to authenticate themselves online, the small electronic token provided an additional layer of …

    Software & Security 28 Nov 2007, 23:00

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