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19th September 2008 Archive

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  • How green is your supercomputer?

    Color is relative

    If supercomputers weren't so useful for predicting weather and climate change, the tree-huggers of the world would insist they be outlawed. But supercomputers are here to stay and - so it seems - to suck up a lot of juice. Twice a year, the Top 500 list of supercomputing sites racks and stacks the biggest, baddest machines in …

    Servers 19 Sep 2008, 02:18

  • How IBM turned lost storage share into a big win

    Comment Ground and pound

    IBM claims its storage software revenues have grown by almost three times as much as EMC's and double HP's, as reported by IDC. Yet IDC's data shows HP growing faster than IBM and Symantec growing at more than twice IBM's rate in Q2 2008. But this is Big Blue arithmetic, where numbers can't be taken for granted. IDC's report, …

    Channel Register 19 Sep 2008, 06:02

  • Google's 'Smart Grid' idea? Get the govt to pay for it

    Mr Schmidt goes to Washington

    Advertising colossus Google has announced a partnership with engineering titan GE, aimed at introducing "a combination of technologies that could be known as the 'smart grid'." Google doesn't explain in hard and fast terms just what it thinks would make a grid smart. However, Google spokesman Michael Terrill, writing at the …

    Environment 19 Sep 2008, 09:15

  • US blogger to enjoy Singapore jail

    3 months for insulting judge

    A blogger who accused a Singapore judge of "prostituting herself" has been sentenced to three months' jail, AFP reports. Former lawyer and US citizen Gopalan Nair, 58, made the ill-advised remark while commenting on a hearing "at which Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, …

    Law 19 Sep 2008, 09:19

  • Apple ships 4GB iPod Nano instead of 16GB version

    Shipment blunder revealed

    A Dublin-based Register Hardware reader almost received one of the recently revealed 4GB fourth-generation iPod Nanos, thanks to an Apple shipment blunder. A reader almost got a 4GB Nano instead of a 16GB model Click for full-size image The reader, Paul, told us how he ordered a 16GB capacity version of the new oval- …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 09:20

  • Asus intros 'world's first' Skype videophone

    No PC needed

    Asus has launched a videophone, but not just any videophone - this one's claimed to be the world’s first Skype-certified standalone videophone. Asus' AiGuru SV1: PC-free Skype video calls The AiGuru SV1 sports a 7in, 800 x 480 display and integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam, in addition to the obligatory built-in speaker and …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 09:30

  • Nvidia to axe 360 jobs

    Money saved to be spent on SoC development

    Nvidia is to rid itself of 6.5 per cent of its worldwide workforce, the graphics chip maker has admitted. The cuts, which will see 360 Nvidia staff being handed redundancy notices, will have all been made by the end of October, when the chip maker's third fiscal quarter comes to a conclusion. Nvidia's Q3 balance sheet will …

    Channel Register 19 Sep 2008, 09:57

  • 500,000 oppose Red Arrows Olympic ban

    Gov responds to e-petition

    The government has finally responded to an online petition demanding the Red Arrows be allowed to fly at the 2012 Olympics - an exercise in Democracy 2.0 which attracted a staggering 502,294 signatures despite the fact that a reported ban on the RAF gracing the skies above London was a load of complete cobblers invented by the …

    Bootnotes 19 Sep 2008, 10:12

  • Asus launches Atom-based notebook - not netbook

    N10 debuts

    Asus has formally launched its N10... well, it's not a netbook despite being based on Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, it's more a scaled down executive laptop. In addition to the Atom CPU, the N10 comes with 2GB of DDR 2 memory and full-scale GPU, an Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS with 256MB of dedicated video Ram. It also has a …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 10:28

  • Oracle assures financiers they're not that important after all

    Trust us because we don't trust you

    Oracle comforted distraught investment bankers yesterday by delivering better-than-expected first quarter profits and pointing out it really doesn’t do that much business in the financial services sector. The database giant turned in revenues up 18 per cent to $5.3bn for the quarter ending August 31, producing a net profit of …

    Channel Register 19 Sep 2008, 10:28

  • EU slaughterhouses may get animal welfare officers

    'Feeling ok? Any last requests?'

    Those of you who feel that slaughterhouses don't treat their Death Row inmates as well as might be expected will be delighted to learn that the EU is suggesting that abattoirs be obliged to appoint "special officers for animal welfare". That's according to EUobserver, which quotes European Commission proposals unveiled …

    Bootnotes 19 Sep 2008, 10:35

  • Unannounced Nokia E-series talkers leaked

    Updated E72 slider and E75 business

    Nokia is developing two new E-series handsets, according to a promotional video that’s been leaked online. Nokia's E72 Although the YouTube video is most likely a stab at viral marketing, the polished performance shows one device called the E72 and another dubbed the E75. A sliding Qwerty keyboard The E72 is quite a …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 10:39

  • Apple fans besieged by iPhone Trojan and iTunes attack

    iExploits

    Apple fans are under attack on multiple fronts. Security researchers have discovered an unpatched vulnerability in Apple's iTunes and QuickTime software that creates an opportunity to crash browser applications. The flaw might also open up a route to inject hostile code onto vulnerable systems, though this remains unproven. …

    Mobile 19 Sep 2008, 10:39

  • ePassport tests put biometrics through their paces

    Vendors sweat ahead of June dabs and iris scan deadline

    Results have emerged from tests held in Prague last week designed to put 'second-generation' electronic passports through their paces, and guess what - no-one failed. The tests are partly designed to address recent security and privacy concerns about electronic passports that feature RFID chips containing biometric data. The …

    Government 19 Sep 2008, 10:57

  • BOFH: Remote access malarkey

    Episode 31 Don't mark yourself as a target

    "...And so you can just log in to my machine and look at it whenever you like?" our user asks indignantly. "Uh-huh," the PFY says, fixing the user's printer settings while he's talking. "And I don't have to give you permission or anything?" "I'd have assumed that was implied by ringing the helpdesk?" the PFY says. "Yes …

    BOFH 19 Sep 2008, 11:02

  • Samsung unveils Small, Cheap Computer

    Korean giant to take on Acer, Dell, Asus, HP et al

    Samsung has announced its entry into the Small, Cheap Computer segment, following yesterday's Toshiba unveiling with a stylish SCC of its own. Samsung's NC10 is fitted with a 10.2in, 1024 x 600 display that it stressed was a "non-gloss" panel, perhaps to distinguish it from Acer's shiny Aspire One screen, which the Samsung SCC …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 11:16

  • What is Oracle's 'major database innovation'?

    A Delphic Sibyl at the Moscone Centre

    On Wednesday next week database users and buyers will behold one of the wonders of the modern world - Larry Ellison live on stage. He'll hold them in the palm of his hand as he talks in an "Extreme. Performance." keynote about something wondrous for the database world. In the earnings call at the end of Oracle's final quarter …

    Developer 19 Sep 2008, 11:28

  • Retailers predict price-led Xbox 360 sales surge

    Cuts fuel demand boom

    Microsoft’s recent decision to cut the price of the Xbox 360 range will fuel UK sales, according to execs at some of Blighty’s biggest electronics retailers. Tricia Brennan, MD of Game UK, said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that the console’s new price points mean that all three models now appeal to a wider variety of …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 11:41

  • Ten of the Best... MP3 speakers

    Round-up Play it all night long

    Portable loudspeakers are always a tricky proposition. Generally, small speakers produce an equally small sound. If you do try to pump up the volume then the sound tends to become distorted. So there’s a difficult balancing act between the size of the speakers and the quality and volume of the sound that they can produce. …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 11:42

  • Bluetoothing androids to shout at blind people

    Just follow the websigns

    American researchers have developed a Bluetooth-based system which would allow blind people to hear information about their immediate surroundings in the same way that others read posters, signs or notices. The "Talking Points" system was developed at the University of Michigan, and will be presented at international …

    Wireless 19 Sep 2008, 11:42

  • Noel Edmonds defies BBC's jackbooted enforcers

    Cancels TV licence - or does he?

    Embearded TV presenter Noel Edmonds last week made a heroic stand against the BBC's "threatening" manner towards those who refuse to stump for the privilege of gawking at the idiot's lantern by cancelling his TV licence, the BBC reports. Edmonds, 59, declared he was protesting against "an aggressive culture in the UK", and …

    Entertainment 19 Sep 2008, 11:45

  • Sun stuffs bigger kit in Backbox

    Containers get more high-end gear

    Sun's containerised Blackbox data centres can now have larger data centre servers and storage installed at the expense of losing one standard rack. A Blackbox shipping container in its S20 format has a row of four standard 19-inch racks, 78.1cm deep and aligned sideways along each side of the container. In the new D20 format …

    Channel Register 19 Sep 2008, 11:46

  • Dell offers XP option for £44k

    Avoid Vista - at any price

    Readers who'd rather chop off their arms with a hacksaw than touch Windows Vista with a very long pointed stick can still avail themselves of XP down at Dell - albeit at a price: Crikey. Mercifully, you can pay for your OS of choice at a mere £1,510 a month, which should help cushion the violent blow to your wallet. ® …

    Bootnotes 19 Sep 2008, 12:04

  • First Merc hybrid first to use laptop battery tech

    'Leccy Tech The li-ion and the lamb

    Mercedes' first hybrid car looks set to become the first production motor with a lithium-ion battery when it debuts in Europe next summer. According the German car maker, the S400 BlueHybrid will use lithium-ion rather than the more commonplace nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery tech because of its much greater energy density …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 13:09

  • Danish court jails six in terror T-shirts case

    Radical chic ends up in prison wear

    A Danish court jailed five people for selling T-shirts to finance Palestinian and Colombian ‘terror’ organizations yesterday, suggesting the wrong clothing choice could land you in a orange jump suit in the future. Defence lawyers for the T-shirt floggers said they would appeal the decision, all the way to Europe if necessary …

    Law 19 Sep 2008, 13:15

  • Slimline Xbox 360 to be named the Pure?

    New model, or replacement for Arcade, Premium or Elite?

    Microsoft could be in the final stages of renaming one of its Xbox 360 models - or introducing a new one - if a rather sketchy snap is to be believed. Metal plates have also been disregarded, whatever that means... A snap of what appears to be an internal company memo has surfaced on website Cheap Ass Gamer (CAG). The memo …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 13:25

  • Mission Impossible: Restoring Exchange in 30 Seconds

    Application restore that is: full data is something else

    Users can use a crashed Exchange server 30 seconds after restoration is started using a new BakBone RDP product which works with SQL Server too. What clever trick is being used? BakBone's NetVault: Real-Time Data Protector (RDP) product actually restores the application first and then streams the data in afterwards. Full …

    Storage 19 Sep 2008, 14:12

  • Stob latest: IEEE flags dodgy paper

    Cleaning up after peer review

    For the past few weeks I've been trying to piece together an explanation for Verity Stob's extraordinary adventure in academia, published here on Monday. Why did the Open University set as a marked assessment for postgraduate students a plagiarized piece of garbage, then admit they hadn't really read it? Why had a prestigious …

    Developer 19 Sep 2008, 14:15

  • Did the width move for you, darling?

    Reg makeover, five days in

    Some years back — it might even be ten — The Reg went live with a major site overhaul — by mistake. Some contract techie pressed the red button, it all switched on and the first we knew about it was when we woke up, saw the new site had magically materialised and we had to start swimming for our lives. I now thank that dork, …

    Site News 19 Sep 2008, 14:16

  • Firm threatens action against CCTV whistleblower

    Takes exception to him going public

    A row has broken out between a supplier of secure CCTV products and a whistle blower who discovered a vulnerability with the company's products that allowed world+dog to view static images from any camera connected to its servers. The flaw affects The LookC 4x4 server and Pro IX server, some of which are installed in primary …

    Enterprise Security 19 Sep 2008, 14:18

  • GSMA to fund alternative fuel base stations

    Wind, solar, chip fat?

    The GSM Association has announced a target of 118,000 base stations to be powered by wind, solar and biofuels by 2012 - but in the developing world, not here. Adding alternative energy sources to 118K base stations would save 2.5 billion litres of diesel a year, according to the GSMA. 25 Mobile operators will be provided with …

    Networks 19 Sep 2008, 14:41

  • Boffins create everyday Bluetooth audio guide

    "And on your left is a Starbucks"

    A simple stroll around the block will one day be enhanced by an interactive audio guide of local sights, shop offers and more. That’s if a prototype Bluetooth-based technology gets off the ground. Talking Points was invented by boffins at the University of Michigan and is designed to feed verbal information to Bluetooth- …

    Reg Hardware 19 Sep 2008, 15:16

  • Today be talk like a pirate day

    Avast, ye scurvy sons o' the IT strumpet

    We're sure you don't really need reminding, but today is Talk Like A Pirate Day - in fact extended into one long buckaneer-lingo weekend since the internationally famous celebration falls on a Friday, me hearties. Nuff said, really, except to add that it's time to get fired up on grog, keelhaul Noel Edmonds, give Sarah Palin a …

    Bootnotes 19 Sep 2008, 16:00

  • Google's IP 'anonymization' inadequate, says EU watchdog

    Hearings with Mountain View imminent

    An influential group of European privacy experts said this week that it will lead hearings with Google over the search giant's claim that EU data protection laws do not apply to it. The Article 29 Working Party, an independent EU advisory body on data protection and privacy, said that Google is refusing to submit to Europe's …

    Law 19 Sep 2008, 16:59

  • Citect yanks 'misleading' SCADA bug advisory

    Are you vulnerable? Only you can know

    Citect, a designer of software used by manufacturing plants and other industrial facilities, has removed an advisory that played down a vulnerability in one of its popular pieces of software. Citect's move followed last week's release of proof-of-concept code that exploited a vulnerability in CitectSCADA, which is used to …

    Security 19 Sep 2008, 17:33

  • SiCortex cranks clocks on mega MIPS machines

    Buy one supercomputer, get one free

    Supercomputer maker SiCortex launched its first MIPS-based Linux machines back in November 2006 and has been gradually ramping up sales. To help make its sales pitch easier, the company this week announced a kicker to its original boxes, which now support faster processors, a tweaked software stack, and manufacturing costs that …

    Servers 19 Sep 2008, 18:09

  • Sockpuppeting civil servant Wikifiddles himself

    Exclusive Multiple personality face stealer suspended

    Web 2.0, the believers say, gives a voice to everyone and their brother. But that's only part of the story. Truth be told, the net's second coming gives a voice to everyone and their brother and all their alter egos. In the alternate universe cultivated by an endless parade of blogs, online discussion forums, and so-called …

    Music and Media 19 Sep 2008, 18:09

  • Mozilla plans mobile Firefox, plus 'public resource' usage data

    Anonymous, of course - but isn't it always?

    Mozilla's chief has set goals for the development of the open source project over the next two years, including the release of a mobile version of Firefox by 2010. A mobile version of Firefox would compete with versions of Opera and Internet Explorer and would adopt the same desktop feel as its desktop cousin - if the goal of …

    Applications 19 Sep 2008, 19:15

  • Cisco borgs Jabber

    You're next, Jibber

    Cisco Systems plans to assimilate the instant messaging software maker Jabber Inc. into the corporate collective, bolstering the network giant's arsenal of enterprise communication and collaboration tools against the likes of Microsoft, Google, IBM and others. Denver-based Jabber is the commercial software house behind the …

    Financial News 19 Sep 2008, 19:18

  • HP surprises itself with virtual Exchange servers

    VMware lovey dovey

    As the volume leader in the x64 server racket, Hewlett-Packard was an early and enthusiastic supporter of VMware and its ESX Server hypervisor for virtualizing servers. But with HP (or rather, Compaq) having long ago established that systems management is one of the key control points in a customer account - and VMware wanting …

    Virtualization 19 Sep 2008, 19:45

  • Texas National Guard site disappears after malware attack

    The $50 exorcism

    The website for the Texas National Guard remained unreachable on Friday, two days after security researchers said it had been hacked by miscreants who were using it to install malware on the PCs of visitors. On Wednesday, Roger Thompson, chief research officer of anti-virus provider AVG, reported that selected pages on the …

    Security 19 Sep 2008, 19:51

  • VMware patches remote execution vulns

    Closing openwsman

    VMware has fixed critical security bugs in two of its virtualization products that could allow a remote attacker to remotely install malware on a host machine. The patches, which apply to ESXi and ESX 3.5, fix two buffer overflow bugs that reside in a component known as openwsman. It provides web services management …

    Security 19 Sep 2008, 22:59

  • Bill Buxton to change Microsoft from within, hug Steve Ballmer

    Remix 08 Can Redmond learn design?

    "Last year at the company meeting Steve Ballmer said quite clearly to 85,000 employees 'If you don’t change and you don’t go in this direction, we’re dead, and I don’t want to die.' I wanted to go hug him when he said that." So says Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher at Microsoft, interviewed at the company’s Remix 08 …

    Applications 19 Sep 2008, 23:33