August 2007
Aussie scam artist rides bank computer glitch to...
Death bars refund
After a computer glitch allowed him to overdraft almost $9m from his bank account, an Australian man has refused to return the pilfered funds, arguing that he will soon be dead.…
(via The Register)
Apple drops NBC after NBC drops Apple
Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales (via Digg / Technology)
California OKs class-action suits for unpaid...
Arbitration policies can’t stop litigation
The California Supreme Court ruled this week that employees who claim they’ve been cheated out of overtime can sue their employer, whether or not the company’s arbitration policy forbids class actions.…
(via The Register)
Security researcher stumbles across embassy e-mail...
Some diplomats aren’t too careful with their login credentials. A Swedish security consultant has stumbled across a security information for users at the Russian, Iranian, Indian, and other embassies. (via Digg / Technology)
The iPhone at two months: It's all about the...
“When I first walked into the house the day I bought my iPhone, I had a moment of panic. After six months of media frenzy and amongst all of the excitement, I had lost sight of the fact that the 8GB iPhone I bought at a nearby AT&T store had set me back $600. Not that I hadn’t been warned; the price information was everywhere…” (via Digg / Technology)
4 Up-and-Coming Social News and Networking...
“Much like front-runner political candidates, mainstream social media sites often get more attention than up-and-coming ones. There are, however, compelling reasons to look at newer and/or less well known sites. The following four websites are ones that social media site users and bloggers alike should be aware of …” (via Digg / Technology)
Researchers: AMD less power-hungry than Intel
‘Opteron more efficient than Xeon’
Computer performance consulting firm Neal Nelson & Associates claims that AMD-based servers have beaten Intel in 36 of the 57 power efficiency tests it has conducted. The tests put an AMD Opteron-based server up against an Intel Xeon-based server.… (via The Register)
Apple Passes Google In Market Value
Today, Apple, worth $120B, passed Google, worth $119B. (via Digg / Technology)
Comparison of Leopard transparent menu bar from...
There was much shouting about how bad the “transparent” menu bar was in the WWDC release of Leopard beta. Turns out Apple listened to all the moaning… see for yourself. (via Digg / Technology)
Security SNAFU exposes email logins for 100...
In Tunisia, Iran’s password is “Tunisia”
Underscoring a major susceptibility threatening thousands of high-profile computer users across the world, a Swedish security consultant has published login credentials belonging to some 100 embassies.… (via The Register)
SanDisk goes launch-crazy
8GB cellphone and camera cards, six-card adapter, and solid-state drive
IFA 07 SanDisk released today a slew of products at IFA, the consumer electronics show in Berlin. The lineup includes a 8GB card for mobile phones, a faster card for cameras, a high-speed card adapter and a new solid-state drive for laptops.… (via The Register)
NBC to Apple: 'You're fired!'
Apple to NBC: ‘You can’t fire me! I quit!’
The Americanized version of “The Office” will soon disappear from Apple iTunes. The Reg couldn’t care less - we prefer the original, and we have no interest in watching even our favorite TV shows on an overpriced, DRM-shackled, handheld status symbol - but many uncultured Apple-loving web mavens are sure to be very...
Worse than Vogon poetry: bogus DMCA takedowns stun...
The SFWA, which represents science fiction and fantasy authors, has demanded that a web site remove “infringing” content like sci-fi reading lists, Creative Commons-licensed books, and more. (via Digg / Technology)
KDE 4.0 Delayed To Winter Release
“It has been announced on the kde-core-devel mailing list that KDE 4.0 has been delayed by two months. KDE 4.0 was originally scheduled for release towards the end of October, but now it won’t make it out until at least December 20.” (via Digg / Technology)
21c: The weekend! I could use a nice game of beer...
21c: The weekend! I could use a nice game of beer pong tonight! - http://urltea.com/1ddm (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
Third Apple retail store burglarized this month
Burglars smashed the front window of the Apple Inc.’s Saddle Creek retail store in Memphis, Tenn. Tuesday morning, making off with $25,000 worth of goods in less than a minute flat. (via Digg / Technology)
Peugeot Design Competition Winner - with an Xbox...
A major component to Peugeot’s ongoing International design competition is the full-scale conceptual rendering the company works up and displays at the year’s biggest European auto show. This year’s winner was a design by Mihai Panitescu - his Flex roadster concept blends sportiness, versatility and a flair for the ultramodern. (via Digg / Technology)
iPhone explodes from unlock attempt (picture)
“We were so happy, all the software part was done, so we started opening the iphone. The antenna cover was a bit tricky but eventually it came off. Then we started to open the metal cover (after taking out the 3 screws) and PUFF, up it went in smoke, I think my collegue must have touched something (via Digg / Technology)
Facebookers bring HSBC to its knees
A student campaign using the social networking website Facebook has forced an international bank into a U-turn over charges. (via Digg / Technology)
Monster.com attack hits federal job search site
Collateral damage as Monster talks of previous assaults
Cybercrooks who raided Monster.com’s database also pilfered the personal information of an estimated 146,000 from USAJobs, the US government’s official job search site. Monster Worldwide is the technology provider for the USAJOBS website, so the recent attack on Monster.com’s systems also exposed the contact information of...
An Open Letter to NBC re: Leaving Apple's iTunes...
Two years ago, the idea of paying $2 per episode for a TV show seemed almost crazy, thanks mostly to DVRs, VCRs and file-sharing networks. But the iTunes Store has changed that, and helped to popularize TV shows such as The Office, Battlestar Galactica, and Heroes in the process. Now NBC is threatening to pull out of iTunes. Sound off inside. (via Digg / Technology)
Apple responds: NBC wanted $4.99 per TV show...
Apple has responded to news that NBC will not renew its iTunes contract. In a shocker, NBC wanted an eye popping $4.99 per episode, which is up from the $1.99 price that over 50 cable networks have agreed to this fall. As a result, the iTunes Store will not offer any episodes from the upcoming seasons of NBC TV shows. (via Digg / Technology)
Scoble Defines the "Blog of the Future" - It's...
A review of the latest video from the man who said Mahalo will kill Google. A vision of the “Blog of the future”, which, as Allen Stern points out… is already here. (via Digg / Technology)
Researchers develop a 360-degree holographic...
Researchers at USC have taken another step towards that holiest of sci-fi dreams: the 3D holographic display. Using a spinning mirror covered with a “holographic diffuser,” a special DVI implementation, and a high-speed projector. Wait till the porn industry gets hold of this. (via Digg / Technology)
It's never been easier to help Firefox
There are a lot of ways to contribute to the Mozilla project, but QA and testing is one of the easiest and mosts important ways to get started! Ryan Paul at Ars has some good pointers for how you can have a huge impact on over 100 million Firefox users without writing code. (via Digg / Technology)
RIAA denies copyright misuse in the wake of...
The RIAA is fighting allegations that its identical tactics in over 25,000 file-sharing lawsuits demonstrate that it is an anticompetitive cartel, and therefore guilty of copyright misuse. (via Digg / Technology)
Sony's Rolly, revealed
the weird and wonderful, by sony. (via Digg / Technology)
Who's afraid of Google?
RARELY if ever has a company risen so fast in so many ways as Google, the world’s most popular search engine. This is true by just about any measure: the growth in its market value and revenues; the number of people clicking in search of news, the nearest pizza parlour or a satellite image of their neighbour’s garden; the volume of its advertisers; (via Digg / Technology)
slashdot: Australian ISPs Reject Calls To Police...
slashdot: Australian ISPs Reject Calls To Police Their Users http://tinyurl.com/322rtf (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
21c: Capitalist Climate Cola -...
21c: Capitalist Climate Cola - http://urltea.com/174k (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
Microsoft settles eight year patent case with...
Undisclosed payment over rights violation claim
Microsoft has settled a long-running patent infringement suit with Eolas and the University of California in a case which has been running since 1999. Microsoft will make an undisclosed payment to Eolas.… (via The Register)
FileZilla 3 brings Windows FTP goodness to Linux
FileZilla is one great open source FTP client that — up until now — was available only for Windows. Version 3 is a ground-up rewrite that makes the application available for the first time on Linux, too. (via Digg / Technology)
Mono developer brings the Ribbon interface (as in...
New GTK# widgets created by a Google Summer of Code participant enable Linux developers to create applications with visually attractive toolbars that resemble Microsoft’s Ribbon paradigm.Check out the screencast at: http://mono-soc-2007.googlegroups.com/web/Ribbons-final.ogg (via Digg / Technology)
Russia plans 2025 Moonbase, 2035 Mars shot
All your base …
Russia will put cosmonauts on the Moon by 2025, the head of the country’s space agency has said. A permanent manned base might follow.… (via The Register)
joshr: ordering a new harddrive for doing backups...
joshr: ordering a new harddrive for doing backups on, being paranoid innit (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
Shotgun Wedding: Enterprise Architect 7.0
Good UML diagramming that won’t break the bank
Agile development, for some, means avoiding diagramming (whether for documentation or analysis and design) and just getting on with testing and coding.… (via The Register)
Blogging: made in England?
Crouching tiger slagging blogger
Column Here’s a quote from an interesting time in the past: ten years ago. You know, a decade back, 1997, when (It says here) ‘Jorn Barger, who started his Robot Wisdom weblog in 1997, is “regarded by many” as the “first blogger”.’… (via The Register)
Cops seek 179mph net vid biker
Burn-up footage sets new UK record
Police would very much like to speak to a biker who filmed himself apparently gunning it at 179mph on a “dangerous stretch” of the A628 Woodhead Pass in South Yorkshire, the Daily Mirror reports.…
(via The Register)
FCC to fine network operators who can't find...
They can run, and they can hide
US network operators who can’t locate their customers in the case of an emergency are facing fines of over $2m, having already been given 18-months grace to comply.… (via The Register)
Sky launches Google Tools service
Sky has today announced to its users that it will be outsourcing its e-mail platform to Google, which has been offering outsourced e-mail solutions for a while. (via thinkbroadband news feed)
The Black Hole Of The Internet (Pic)
It surprising which parts of the Internet where information can flow freely. (via Digg / Technology)
UK online gambling regs go live tomorrow
Computing Which? hack gets skinned
With the UK’s 2005 Gambling Act coming into force tomorrow, and online gambling hugely more popular than it was*, is it time to assess the landscape of internet betting for British consumers? Computing Which? magazine says yes, and publishes the result of its painstaking investigation today.…
(via The Register)
Microsoft gets bugs, Google gets worms, and Orange...
To subscribe to The Register’s weekly newsletter - seven days of IT in a single hit - click here (via The Register)
Researchers aim to make Internet bandwidth a...
Computer scientists are using a novel peer-to-peer video sharing application to explore a next-generation model for safe and legal electronic commerce that uses Internet bandwidth as a global currency. The application (available for free download) is an enhanced version of a program called Tribler. (via Digg / Technology)
OS2World: The Swedish OOXML vote has been declared...
The Swedish Standards Institute has tonight issued a press release where they declared this weeks earlier vote regarding OOXML as invalid and by that Sweden don’t have any official position regarding OOXML any more. (via Digg / Technology)
joshr: apparently e-kagen is closed til the 3rd.....
joshr: apparently e-kagen is closed til the 3rd.. soooo, pompoko maybe? @dctanner? @ribot? @builtbydave? (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
21c: New article posted this morning: A simple...
21c: New article posted this morning: A simple Step you can take: Join Freecycle http://urltea.com/1d8f - step by step instructions for freecycle (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
joshr: considering e-kagen (above yum yums) for...
joshr: considering e-kagen (above yum yums) for lunch, anybody? (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
joshr: ok, writing another important email for...
joshr: ok, writing another important email for today (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)
joshr: tried out betfair, got bored
joshr: tried out betfair, got bored (via Twitter / jimkcouk with friends)