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4th December 2007 Archive

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  • Bloody code!

    Multiple exit points

    It's amazing how some good practices limp on for decades beyond their expiration date. I still encounter people who insist that a method should have only one point of return - as if we're all still littering our code with GOTOs, and the concept of a "black-box" function was never invented. The way these same people go on about …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 00:32

  • Open source model impacts EnterpriseDB staff

    Workers freedomed out the door

    The open source model has taken its toll on a number of EnterpiseDB staff. The company recently laid off some sales workers and under performers, as it realigns its business. According to CEO Andy Astor, EnterpriseDB has enjoyed a strong recent run. “We are in the middle of our best quarter ever,” Astor said. “We are in …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 01:39

  • Canadian loses $20K in phony eBay sale

    Account hijacking continues

    A Canadian man was scammed out of $20,000 when he tried to buy a car through eBay. Shaqir Duraj, a baker from Calgary, thought he was dealing with a reputable seller because the person had a 98-per cent customer satisfaction rating. The refugee from Kosovo had already made high-ticket purchases off eBay, buying a big oven for …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 01:50

  • IT pro admits stealing 8.4M consumer records

    Netted $580,000

    A senior database administrator for a consumer reporting agency in Florida has admitted stealing more than 8.4 million account records and selling them to a data broker. He netted $580,000 over five years from the scheme. William Gary Sullivan, a DBA for Fidelity National Information Services, faces up to 10 years in federal …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 02:00

  • Sun itching to release its virtualization platform

    xVM Ops Center gets a price tag

    Have ready some clean towels and a cardboard box, Sun Microsystems is whelping the first in a litter of virtualization products next month. Sun is sneaking off to a nice quiet closet to birth xVM Ops Center, the physical and virtual resource management stack for the xVM product family. This puppy will be available January 8, …

    Enterprise 4 Dec 2007, 05:02

  • Intel roadmaps P45, G45 chipsets for Q2 '08

    Fully Vista-friendly integrated GPUs too

    Intel's X48 chipset - reviewed by Register Hardware here - is due in Q1 2008, but we'll have to wait until the following quarter for the rest of the 4-series 'Eaglelake' chipset family to arrive. So indicates an Intel presentation slide posted by Chinese-language site HKEPC. Q2 2008 will see the arrival of the P45 discrete …

    PC Builder 4 Dec 2007, 10:36

  • Poor take-up of e-tax system

    Biz won't fill in returns electronically, say MPs

    A committee of MPs has found that take up of online services for filing company tax returns remains low, despite the incentive of cost savings to users and the government. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is planning to invest £340m in its online services between 2006 and 2015. As levels of online filing increase, it expects to …

    IT Channel 4 Dec 2007, 11:15

  • Less cash for more chips

    Consumers gorge on silicon

    Sales of PCs and other silicon-heavy goodies helped chip sales climb in October, but vendors are seeing less revenue per part due to continuing price attrition. The Semiconductor Industry Association says worldwide chip sales were up 5 per cent year on year to $23.1bn. This was a two per cent advance on the previous month. …

    PC Builder 4 Dec 2007, 11:36

  • Counterfeit Vista rate half that of XP

    And not for the reasons you think

    The piracy rate for Windows Vista is less than half that of Windows XP, according to Microsoft. The vendor made the claim as it revealed plans to further curtail piracy when it launches the first service pack for Vista. Redmond attributes tougher anti-piracy measures in Vista, which it intends to further improve, for its …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 12:13

  • Acer gives Dell notebook business a kicking

    Taiwanese firm buys way into second place

    Dell was kicked into third place in the worldwide laptop market last quarter, as Acer and its associated brands took second slot behind HP. A grand total of 29 million laptops were shipped in the third quarter, according to researcher firm Displaysearch, up 42 per cent on the year. The firm expects full year shipments to hit …

    PC Builder 4 Dec 2007, 13:49

  • DARPA seeks network firing ranges for cyber weaponry

    Keep out, war-warez test in progress

    DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Project Agency), the Pentagon battle-boffins who would rather bet on a long shot than eat their dinners, are looking for the computer-net equivalent of a firing range or exercise training area. The proposed "cyber network ranges" would be used to test revolutionary new cyber tactics and combat …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 13:50

  • Mum defends suspected Kiwi botmaster

    Misunderstood youth

    New Zealand reporters have unearthed the identity and background of a teenage hacker at the centre of an international cybercrime investigation. Owen Walker, 18, who police identified only by his online moniker of AKILL, was arrested last week as part of a larger FBI-led operation aimed at cracking down on the trade in …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 14:46

  • Win 2000 anti-virus products fail independent tests

    Polymorphic virus fools mediocre security packages

    Many big-name anti-virus products failed to secure Windows 2000 in recent independent tests. Seventeen out of 32 products tested - including packages from Trend Micro, Kaspersky, Norman and Sophos - failed to reach the standard required for VB100 certification. A total of 13 products failed to spot threats known to be …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 16:30

  • Stock market breaks out mistletoe for Microsoft-SAP

    Old chestnuts, get your old chestnuts

    Rumours that SAP might be in takeover talks with Microsoft have pushed up shares in the German software giant over the last couple of days. Reuters reports that large numbers of shares in SAP changed hands today, as traders reacted to the rumour which began circulating on Monday. We say Monday, but an SAP love match has been …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 16:34

  • VMware parades virtualization for the SMB masses

    Squirt the virt

    VMware has announced three new VMware Infrastructure packages that are designed to help IT administrators at SMBs make the decision to deploy virtual infrastructure. The SMB bundles are based on the latest release of VMware Infrastructure, which will include the new VMware ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, and are focused …

    Enterprise 4 Dec 2007, 18:09

  • Privacy breach nuked in Canadian passport site

    Applicants' intimate details free for the taking

    Red-faced Canadian passport officials say they've closed a privacy breach on their website that leaked the personal information of applicants, including their driver's license numbers, birth dates - even whether they owned a gun. The hole was discovered last week by an Ontario man who found a simple way to cause the Passport …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 18:18

  • Vista vs XP performance: Some informal tests

    Who's the daddy?

    After posting about the inadequacy of a recent test report I thought it would be interesting to conduct my own informal tests of Vista vs XP performance. I do not run a computer laboratory, but I guess my tests have the benefit of being real-world. I tested several conditions on three computers. On two of them I was able to …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 19:51

  • Experts paint bleak picture of security in 2017

    Cyberterrorists and software stalinism

    In case there was any doubt, leaden clouds loom over the future of computer security. At least that's the picture sketched by experts Bruce Schneier and Marcus Ranum in a recent conversation as they envision the state of computing a decade from now. By 2017, computers will be even more central to our economies, infrastructure …

    Software & Security 4 Dec 2007, 23:48

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