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12th December 2008 Archive

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  • Apple updates MacBooks

    Bug-squishing continues apace

    If you - like many other owners of Apple's new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air - have experienced random flakiness from your pricey new toy, Apple is offering some help. You can now download SMC and EFI firmware patches for the three offending 'Books from Apple's support center. Apple claims that the SMC updates improve …

    Hardware 12 Dec 2008, 00:56

  • 2008's top three radios

    Kit of the Year Digital sounds from DAB to the web

    The great DAB debate rages, but there's no doubt digital radios make great presents for regular listeners still tuning in to old trannies. Ahem. And these new fangled ones do FM and internet radio too. Pure Digital Evoke Flow Put simply, this is a great little radio. In terms of features and performance compared to price …

    Hardware 12 Dec 2008, 09:02

  • IWF rethinks its role

    Ministry of Justice misleads on extreme porn

    Anger at aborted attempts by net censor, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to block material hosted on Wikipedia earlier this week may lead to radical changes in the way the organisation works - it has already changed the way the organisation is perceived. However, a campaign to turn the IWF into a classificatory system for …

    Law 12 Dec 2008, 09:10

  • Seagate slashes bare drive warranties

    From January

    Seagate is cutting the warranty period of its bare drives. A mail sent by Seagate to a North American reseller said: Seagate Updates Warranty Terms on Select Bare Drives Starting in 2009, Seagate will be making some important changes to its limited warranty terms for selected bare drive products. For products purchased on …

    The Channel 12 Dec 2008, 09:47

  • Google removes Chrome beta wrapping

    As Linux, Mac versions remain MIA

    Google has brought Chrome out of beta just three months after it released the open source browser that currently only plays nice with Windows. It's a break with tradition because the internet giant is notoriously reluctant to remove the beta tag from new products. Googlemail, for example, remains in beta years after it was …

    Software 12 Dec 2008, 10:26

  • Germany tests tadpole airship

    Vid Uses Graf Zeppelin style gas-fuel tech

    A German-American company has successfully tested a prototype unmanned airship of weird and wonderful design. The so-called "Stratellite" craft is composed of gas-filled segments linked in a chain, so it can flex and bend with the wind. Here's a company flight-test vid (you need Flash and YouTube privileges to see it): …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 11:02

  • Nokia readies HSDPA dongle for laptops

    Good news for netbook owners?

    Nokia will ship a USB HSDPA 3G dongle early next year in a bid to grab a share of the growing laptop-oriented mobile broadband business. To date, Nokia has left the modem market to others, allowing Chinese connectivity specialist Huawei to grab the lion's share of the business, which it's battling the likes of Sierra Wireless …

    Mobile 12 Dec 2008, 11:16

  • T-Mobile socks it to O2 over BlackBerry launch

    Curve 8900 sees early launch on T-Mobile

    In a move that will make O2 see red, rival operator T-Mobile has released the BlackBerry Curve 8900 earlier and at a potentially lower price than its rival. From today, the email-friendly handset is available from T-Mobile stores and online. It’s free when you sign up to one of the firm’s £35 ($52/€39) monthly contracts. O2 …

    Mobile 12 Dec 2008, 11:29

  • Application platforms: different stuff, same story?

    Build, reuse or buy – the eternal argument

    When it comes to IT, the build versus buy argument is part and parcel of the industry. We know from the last Barometer study that custom application software development is just as important for many of you as packaged application software. The notion of an application platform (aka ‘the bits between the app and the server’) …

    Systems 12 Dec 2008, 11:45

  • Addonics to strike big with matchbox NAS kit?

    Bring your own drive

    Want a really cheap way to build your own NAS rig? Enter Addonics' NAS Adapter, a $55 (£37/€42) dongle that connects any USB hard drive to your network. OK, it's not going to be a full replacement for a Netgear ReadyNAS or somesuch, but the tiny NASU2 does provide a handy way of adding an existing drive to a network. …

    Storage 12 Dec 2008, 11:47

  • La Cie's quiet fans

    Shh

    External storage supplier La Cie has found a way to quieten its external drives by adding staggered notches to the trailing edges of the fan blades. How does that work? This is my understanding of the airflow and acoustics involved. A typical drive or CPU-cooling fan has, La Cie says, seven blades. These blades are angled and …

    Storage 12 Dec 2008, 12:12

  • Dell battles HP to trash Mother Earth

    Aboxalypse now 1 sheet of A4 paper, bubblewrapped...

    HP's ongoing bid to trash Mother Earth by putting small things in really big boxes and, if possible, strapping those to a pallet continues apace, as witnessed by NZ-based Eugene Chan, who recently made the mistake of ordering a licence key from the world's biggest consumer of cardboard: Scratch one hectare of rainforest, and …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 12:23

  • Public support for ID cards dips to 55 per cent

    Update Home Office: 'Gov won't be able to access card data'

    The latest Home Office poll on public attitudes to the planned National ID card indicates that support for the scheme has eroded slightly, with the proportion of those in favour down from 60 to 55 per cent. The survey, carried out among 2,098 randomly selected Brits from 31 October to 4 November, showed opposition to the Card …

    Government 12 Dec 2008, 12:25

  • Top UK cybercop dreams of PC breathalysers

    Plod friendly kit tops PCeU technology wish list

    A breathalyser-style tool for PCs capable of spotting potentially illegal activity is needed in order to address a mounting computer forensics workload. However experts in the field warn that such a device, desirable though it might be, could be difficult to develop in a reliable form. Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie …

    Law 12 Dec 2008, 12:32

  • Doctor Who heads iPlayer hit list

    Jezza Clarkson and co race into second spot

    The fourth Series of Doctor Who has topped the Beeb's iPlayer hit list, proving the most-watched programme since the service launched on Xmas day last year, according to Broadcast. Top Gear's twelfth and eleventh series roared into second and third spots, respectively, followed by Little Britain USA. The full top ten is: …

    Media 12 Dec 2008, 12:34

  • FSF throws sueball at Cisco

    Brings lawsuit for alleged copyright infringements

    A group of open source advocates is suing tech giant Cisco for alleged violation of the General Public Licence (GPL). The Free Software Foundation (FSF) said yesterday that it had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the network kit vendor in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The group …

    Networks 12 Dec 2008, 12:41

  • Vote now for your worst net neologism

    Reader poll ROFLMAO? No, actually

    It's the traditional ta very much to all of you who responded to our call for nominations for the worst net neologism - Mephistophelean vocab so hideous in countenance that it must be viewed only as a reflection in a bronze shield lest the reader be turned immediately to stone. With that in mind, you're advised to approach the …

    Bootnotes 12 Dec 2008, 12:43

  • The key to safe driving?

    Car key blocks mobile phone use

    Drivers talking or texting while speeding down the motorway could soon become a thing of the past, because a car key’s been developed to render the user’s phone useless when the motor's running. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com Key2SafeDriving is a Bluetooth-enabled car key which, when in the …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 12:48

  • LG KF300 budget clamshell phone

    Review An easy-to-use offering for the non-techie in your life

    So what if you’re after a phone that doesn’t have an eight-megapixel camera, smartphone functionality or touchscreen tech? LG’s been busy of late speccing up and serving out a pick-and-mix of eye-catching and - occasionally - innovative mobiles, but they're not for everyone. Enter LG’s KF300, aimed squarely at those mobile …

    Phones 12 Dec 2008, 13:02

  • BOFH: Blackmail and fine wine

    Episode 40 That's how they Roll

    "So which of you is on call over the break?" the Boss asks. "Why are you asking?" the PFY asks. "Just thought it might be an opportune time to do a bit of housekeeping, you know, security audits... er..." "Our firewall has Intrusion Detection built into it," the PFY explains. "So we're safe then?" "As safe as a domain …

    BOFH 12 Dec 2008, 13:04

  • Staff get the chop at London's web 2.0 poster child

    CBS makes cuts at Last.fm

    CBS has layed off about 20 per cent of staff at music site Last.fm, the poster child for would-be web 2.0 millionaires in the UK. As part of cuts across CBS' online properties, about 20 of Last.fm's 95 staff received the bad news yesterday, according to reports. Last.fm spokesman Christian Ward declined to comment. CBS paid $ …

    Media 12 Dec 2008, 13:44

  • Music copyright extension - strings attached

    Sort yourselves out, warn Burnham and McCreevy

    Culture Minister Andy Burnham gave clear backing to extending the copyright term for sound recordings yesterday - but called on the music business to make sure it benefits musicians, not industry fatcats. "We want the industry to come back with good, workable ideas as to how a proposal on copyright extension might be framed …

    Media 12 Dec 2008, 13:52

  • Closing the gap between development and operations

    Two countries divided by a common language?

    A few years ago, when I still had what could loosely be classed in this industry as a ‘proper’ job, I happened to be sitting in a meeting – the purpose of which was to plan the deployment of a new application. And things were not going well. It didn’t help that the application had already been written, and the stated goal was …

    Infrastructure 12 Dec 2008, 13:55

  • Mixed reviews for semen-based recipe book

    NSFW Natural Harvest not to everyone's taste

    The chaps out there who were wondering just how to give the missus a special treat this Xmas might consider a tasty alternative to taking her up the Oxo Tower - a glossy book of semen-based recipes: As the blurb rightly points out, semen is "inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and …

    Bootnotes 12 Dec 2008, 13:59

  • Boeing sets (another) date for first Dreamliner flight

    787 now go for Q2 2009

    Boeing yesterday announced that the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner will now take place in the second quarter of 2009 ahead of a first delivery in Q1 2010. Boeing says the new schedule "reflects the impact of disruption caused by the recent machinists' strike along with the requirement to replace certain fasteners in early …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 14:01

  • Nintendo whacked with $5m Wii strap lawsuit

    Wrist action comes back to bite

    Nintendo has been hit with yet another Wii-related lawsuit. This time, it’s a $5m (£3.3m/€3.7m) action filed by a US mother who claims that the console’s Remote strap design is faulty and dangerous. Nintendo's second Remote strap design (left) and third attempt (right) According to documents filed with the Colorado US …

    Games 12 Dec 2008, 14:02

  • Mercedes reveals plug-in, fuel-cell concept cars

    'Leccy Tech Blue-Zero E-Cell series unveiled

    Mercedes will unveil three electric concept cars at the Detroit Motor Show in January. According to German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Mercedes will show the Blue-Zero E-Cell, which is powered solely by a lithium-ion battery pack, as well as two other variations on the 'leccy car theme. The Blue-Zero E-Cell Plus is a plug- …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 14:36

  • Contractors and managers hit in Alcatel-Lucent layoffs

    6,000 'realigned' to dole queue

    Recently-installed Alcatel-Lucent boss Ben Verwaayen has wasted little time in swinging the axe - today the firm said 1,000 managers and 5,000 contractors are for the chop. The company-wide cost-cutting programme is planned to save €1bn per year in the next two years. The loss-making telecoms equipment maker said it will break …

    Networks 12 Dec 2008, 14:49

  • Daft list names Firefox, Adobe and VMWare as top threats

    Bit9 trolls for publicity

    Vulnerable applications that fail to lend themselves to updating through corporate tools are creating a security gap, according to a ludicrous list from whitelisting firm Bit9. Bit9's list of "threats in plain sight" names Firefox at the top of a "Dirty Dozen", essentially because it's both popular and has been the subject of …

    Security 12 Dec 2008, 14:56

  • Grove: Intel should make electric car batteries

    Assault not included

    Intel's former chairman and chief executive officer, Andy Grove, is, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, bending the ear of the current top brass at the chip company to make batteries for electric powered cars. There's a volume market with relatively small research, development, and manufacturing retooling …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 15:32

  • Any clouds in your sky?

    Hype aside, is there anything in this cloud computing lark?

    When the BBC features a cloud computing piece on its news bulletin (28 October), you know the hype is beginning to bite. But does the idea have substance or was Microsoft's Azure announcement just a handy lead-in to the weather on a slow news day? The broadcasters made it sound so easy. Containers full of servers and all the …

    Productivity 12 Dec 2008, 15:47

  • Man trademarks ;-) emoticon

    Winker in chief?

    A Russian businessman has trademarked the combination of semicolon, dash and bracket that make up a winking face 'emoticon' in texts and emails. Oleg Teterin, President of mobile advertising company Superfone, doesn’t intend to stop the average Joe from using the linguistic emotion without his permission. But he will send …

    Hardware 12 Dec 2008, 15:48

  • Orchestral Star Wars spectacle to debut in London

    A Musical Journey

    Those of you who like your Star Wars films condensed into a two-hour compilation* and projected large to an 86-piece orchestral backing are in luck - that's exactly what Star Wars: A Musical Journey will offer when it debuts on 10 April next year at London's O2 arena. According to the BBC, the spectacle is a collaboration …

    Media 12 Dec 2008, 16:01

  • Welsh Tories ask taxpayers to pick up iPod tab

    Apple fan boyos

    Taxpayers will be baying for blood today after the Welsh assembly published a list of its members' expenses which included two claims for iPods. According to the Beeb, Tory leader Nick Bourne, who represents Mid and West Wales, and fellow Conservative Alun Cairns submitted the MP3 players, worth a combined £398, as 'office …

    Bootnotes 12 Dec 2008, 16:09

  • BT offers £15,000 to catch London exchange burglary gang

    Bought any heavy duty network kit in the pub lately?

    BT is offering a reward of £15,000 to anyone with information on a burglary at an exchange in Stepney, East London that took down phone and internet communications for homes and businesses. The thieves are also being linked to other similar burglaries in the capital. Raiders hit the Stepney Green exchange on Commercial Road …

    The Channel 12 Dec 2008, 16:12

  • Aussie boffins use sarcasm to investigate brain illness

    Oh rilly??

    Australian scientists studying illnesses of the brain believe that an inability to detect when someone is being sarcastic is a symptom of dementia. In a study published today in the periodical Brain, brain brainiacs from New South Wales Uni outline their research. "Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients present changes in …

    Science 12 Dec 2008, 16:22

  • 'Facebook for Kids' slammed by security researchers

    Updated 'Users could be anybody: a child, an adult, a child predator, or a spambot'

    A new social network website claiming to be a "Facebook for Kids" is riddled with security shortcomings, security researchers at Cambridge University have warned. The site - School Together Now - said that it took security seriously and promised to review the findings of the Cambridge researchers. School Together Now - which …

    Security 12 Dec 2008, 16:41

  • O2 flunks Litmus test

    Hops Web 2.0 bandwagon, just as wheels fall off

    UK operator O2 has just launched its latest attempt to create a mobile developer's community, ticking all the Web 2.0 boxes - just as the rest of the industry seems to be moving on. Like the dad arriving late to the party, O2 is keen to show off their Web 2.0 credentials: Litmus features social networking, user ratings, a blog …

    Mobile 12 Dec 2008, 16:59

  • IE zero day bites broader group of users

    Misconceptions about root cause also exposed

    Researchers are warning that the unpatched security vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer affects more versions of the browser than previously thought, and that steps users must take to prevent exploitation are harder than first published. According to an updated advisory from Redmond, the bug that's been actively …

    Security 12 Dec 2008, 18:41

  • Brazilian hackers blamed for aiding Amazon deforestation

    Computer cracking carbon footprint

    Malicious hackers have been charged with all manner of misdeeds, from mounting the biggest military hack ever to sending Viagra to Bill Gates to crashing sewerage systems. On Friday, Greenpeace accused cybercrooks of conspiring to allow actions that threaten the balance of nature by helping to destroy the Amazon rainforest. …

    Security 12 Dec 2008, 19:07

  • Google cranks up the Consensus Engine

    Manufacturing isn't dead - it just went to Mountain View

    Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance. Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer …

    Media 12 Dec 2008, 19:38

  • Nintendo sells metric %#@&-load of Wiis in November

    DS hits 3/4 a %#@&-load

    Nintendo sold a staggering number of video game consoles in November, moving more than 2m Wiis in the US alone and smashing sales records for a non-December month... twice. Nintendo's Wii: raining on its rival's parade Wii shipments in the US totaled 2.04m in November, according to the market bean-counting firm, NPD. The …

    Data Center 12 Dec 2008, 20:53

  • Lenovo touchscreen talker leaked online

    OPhone's features still a mystery

    A picture of Lenovo’s first foray into the mobile phone market has been leaked online. Is this Lenovo's OPhone? Rumoured to be called the OPhone, the mystery device is – according to several online sources – thought to run on Google’s Android platform. What we can ascertain from the picture is that the talker has a full …

    Mobile 12 Dec 2008, 21:08

  • Amazon caught in cloud container craze?

    Microsoft data center brain defects

    The word on the street is that James Hamilton - one of the chief nerds that has helped Microsoft plan its containerized data center strategy for its forthcoming Azure compute cloud - is leaving to take a job at Amazon. And perhaps not coincidentally, this is happening at the same time as the local papers in Oregon are reporting …

    Servers 12 Dec 2008, 21:09

  • Wisemen bring Jesus Phone (free) cut-and-paste

    How-to Jobsian hole filled

    Thanks to a new, free, web-based service launched today, you can now cut and paste text snippets between Safari and Mail on your iPhone. As The Reg pointed out in our recent overview of Apple hardware, the Jesus Phone's lack of a cut-and-paste capability is one of its more annoying limitations. As we wrote, the lack of cut-and …

    Mobile 12 Dec 2008, 22:21

  • McCain campaign sells unwiped Blackberry for $20

    Reporter's windfall includes hundreds of emails

    A Blackberry containing sensitive information belonging to the now-defunct presidential campaign of John McCain has made its way into the hands of a Fox 5 reporter, who was able to purchase the unwiped device for a mere $20. The Blackberry, which was sold this week during a liquidation sale, contained some 50 phone numbers of …

    Government 12 Dec 2008, 22:26