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24th August 2009 Archive

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  • Brocade results disappoint Wall Street

    Prospect of 2010 recovery keeps faces smiley

    Despite quarterly sales growing 35 per cent in a year, Brocade disappointed Wall Street expectations and posted a loss due to legal and other exceptional items. Revenues in its third fiscal 2009 quarter were $493.3m, a 3 per cent ($13m) decline on the previous quarter. The net loss of $21m was about a third of the previous …

    Financial News 24 Aug 2009, 09:56

  • NetApp peeking at object interfaces

    Big blogger Bercovici block boast

    NetApp is going to add a native object interface to its storage arrays, probably before the middle of next year. Val Bercovici, the company's cloud czar, revealed this in a blog posting entitled NetApp 3.0. So what is an object interface, as compared to a file interface and a block interface? In block storage a hard disk …

    Storage 24 Aug 2009, 10:12

  • Storm 2 gets 'spongy' touchscreen

    BlackBerry flagship has Piezo-based screen, claims blogger

    Research in Motion (Rim) has redesigned the Storm smartphone’s screen to provide an improved touchscreen experience, an anonymous blogger has claimed. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com The original Storm’s touchscreen worked liked one big button, physically moving down one or two millimetres each …

    Phones 24 Aug 2009, 10:15

  • Not now darling I'm twirping

    Stob Verity determines to enhance her social graph

    Baroness Susan Greenfield, head of the Royal Institution and occasional star of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science column, has dramatically claimed, via the offices of the Daily Mail, that social websites harm children's brains. I think the Baroness misses a trick. Children are not the problem in my experience. My difficulty is the …

    Verity Stob 24 Aug 2009, 10:17

  • London hospital recovers from Conficker outbreak

    Whipps Cross worm-whipped

    An east London hospital has confirmed its computer systems were infected by the Conficker worm earlier this month. Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust stressed that the outbreak affected only administrative systems, causing minor inconvenience, and did not affect patient care. Systems have since been restored to normal …

    Security 24 Aug 2009, 10:29

  • New NASA rocket fuel 'could be made on Moon, Mars'

    Exploding toothpaste to bring astronauts home

    NASA, in a joint venture with US air force boffins, has tested a new kind of rocket fuel which "has the consistency of toothpaste" and could potentially be manufactured off-planet in remote space outposts. Its inventors say it is also less environmentally damaging than some current rocket fuels when used within Earth's …

    Science 24 Aug 2009, 10:46

  • Hedgehog quip secures Fringe's top gag crown

    iPhone and Rose West also honoured

    Comedian Dan Antopolski has secured the 2009 top Fringe gag crown for entertaining Edinburgh Festival crowds with: "Hedgehogs. Why can't they just share the hedge?" Antopolski (pictured) topped a Dave TV poll featuring top quips from the festival selected by a panel of "nine of the UK's leading comedy critics". Having …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2009, 10:47

  • Microsoft responds to Xbox's 54% failure rate

    We're working on it, hints M'soft

    Microsoft has admitted that it is “constantly improving” the Xbox 360, following the recent publication of a gamer-based survey that found the console to have a 54.3 per cent failure rate. Instead of refuting the survey’s findings – derived from a survey of 5000 Game Informer magazine readers, Microsoft told TG Daily that it …

    Games 24 Aug 2009, 10:50

  • Apple blogger legally unlocks iPhone

    Thanks be to 'benevolent carrier'

    An iPhone blogger has revealed a way of legally unlocking the device after paying off his mobile contract. TheAppleBlog.com’s Olly Farshi claimed he legitimately unlocked his two-year-old iPhone 3G by taking advantage of what appears to be a European loophole. He simply paid off a two-year contract with his carrier, Sonera. …

    Phones 24 Aug 2009, 10:55

  • Apple says Google Voice is on hold, not cut off

    AT&T denies iPhone app slap

    Apple has denied it has outright rejected the Google Voice app for the iPhone, and told regulators on Friday it is under review because it could interfere with the "user experience". In its letter to the FCC, Apple said: "Contrary to published reports, Apple has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study …

    Broadband 24 Aug 2009, 10:59

  • Smartphones sapping free time, survey finds

    Always available tech ruining work/life balance?

    If you want a better work/life balance then ditch your smartphone, because a survey has discovered that high-tech handsets can sap your personal time. Workers with BlackBerry-esque mobile devices toil for - on average - an extra 15 hours each week, an analysis of over 600 employees by employment law firm Peninsula has …

    Phones 24 Aug 2009, 11:23

  • Street View in a jam over Swiss roll-out

    Data protection head orders service offline

    Google has run into a spot of privacy bother with the Swiss roll-out of its all-seeing Street View, with the country's head of federal data protection demanding it be shut down just days after it went online last Tuesday. According to Hans-Peter Thür, "many faces and car registration plates were clearly visible or were …

    Government 24 Aug 2009, 11:33

  • Microsoft's Word patent case to hit appeal court next month

    XML-rated headache for Redmond

    A US federal court will hear Microsoft’s Word injunction appeal on 23 September. i4i, the company that secured a major victory against MS earlier this month, confirmed the hearing late last week. On 11 August a judge for the US District Court of Eastern Texas ordered Microsoft to stop shipments of Word in 60 days time, after …

    Applications 24 Aug 2009, 11:44

  • Nokia launches laptop

    A first for the phone giant

    Following months of speculation, Nokia has officially launched its first laptop - Booklet 3G. Nokia's Booklet 3G: 10in display, 3G and an HDMI port - all within an aluminium chassis Described by Nokia’s Executive Vice President as a “natural evolution” for the formerly phone-only firm, today’s surprise announcement sees the …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2009, 11:58

  • Honda Insight five-door hybrid

    Review Less pious than the Prius?

    In the race to popularise the hybrid, Honda has been shown a clean pair of heels by Toyota. This situation is graphically underlined by the fact that Toyota's Prius is currently on its fourth incarnation since its launch in 1997, while the Honda's Insight is only on its second since 1999. Between 2006 and the launch of the new …

    Science 24 Aug 2009, 12:02

  • Solarflare claims integrated 10GBASE-T LOMs first

    Updated No need to re-cable

    Fabless chip-design house Solarflare Communications is today expected to announce what it claims are the first integrated 10GBASE-T LAN-on-motherboard (LOM) controllers. The key word here is "integrated." Last November, Mellanox announced its ConnectX ENt 10GBASE-T LOM. That part, however, is a two-element package that …

    Data Networking 24 Aug 2009, 12:02

  • Microsoft gives Live Framework weeks to live

    Developers urged to salvage code before cut off date

    Microsoft will end support for a test version of its Live Framework next month. The software vendor said it would shutter the developer side of its Live Mesh service in September. It plans to integrate many of the concepts incubated there into the upcoming version of Windows Live. “If you are a Live Framework technology …

    Developer 24 Aug 2009, 12:16

  • Liberty launches McKinnon paper plane campaign

    As autism charity petitions the Queen

    The campaign to keep Gary McKinnon in the UK continues - this week sees the launch of petitions by both an autism charity and human rights campaigners Liberty. Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society's petition calls on the Queen or Home Secretary to intervene in the case of the Pentagon hacker, who suffers from Asperger's …

    Government 24 Aug 2009, 12:29

  • Virtualization and the cloud

    Reader Workshop Just a stepping stone?

    A reasonably fundamental principle of virtualization is that it creates a layer of abstraction between a virtual machine and the physical hardware. As we have already discussed in this series, this allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical machine, and also can enable a virtual machine to be moved quite …

    Software 24 Aug 2009, 13:02

  • Vodafone's Ovi-killer leaks

    Federate this

    The world's biggest global mobile network appears to be planning to put the skids under Nokia, Google and Apple's plans for mobile software. According to videos leaked to TechCrunch UK last week, Vodafone is planning a comprehensive services offering called "Vodafone People". Apple might not be too worried, but Nokia and Google …

    Mobile 24 Aug 2009, 13:36

  • UK cops eye shotgun cartridge Taser

    'eXtended Range Electronic Projectile' a bad mofo

    The Home office has confirmed it's eyeing the Taser eXtended Range Electronic Projectile (XREP) for possible deployment with UK police forces, the Guardian reports. Taser describes the XREP as "the most technologically advanced projectile ever deployed from a 12-gauge shotgun". The company elaborates: "It delivers a similar …

    Law 24 Aug 2009, 13:39

  • Boffins in 'let's create black holes in the lab' jape

    SQUIDs. Is there anything they can't do?

    Boffins in America say they have worked out a method of creating small black holes in the laboratory for experimental purposes. They seem unconcerned at the prospect of possibly destroying the earth, creating a portal into a parallel universe where peckish man-eating dinosaurs rule etc. Many scientists, of course, have sought …

    Science 24 Aug 2009, 13:41

  • Tearaways deface Tayside Police website

    Wee security snafu down Dundee way

    Tayside Police have restored their website following an embarrassing defacement late last week. Surfers visiting the site from late afternoon on Thursday were confronted by a defacement, claimed in the name of Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle, and accompanied by notes more in the style of Irvine Welsh than Jim Taggart. The …

    Security 24 Aug 2009, 14:26

  • Lexus planning compact e-car?

    Leccy Tech Firm teases with concept sketch

    Lexus has promised to unveil a “ground-breaking” concept compact car at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, leading many to wonder if the company’s sketched plans for a small-size leccy vehicle. Lexus' concept car: will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month Although it isn’t giving much away just yet, Lexus has …

    Science 24 Aug 2009, 14:31

  • Apple admits iPhone apps not suitable for business

    Commercial programs are solely for non-commercial use

    Apple is reminding customers that applications sold through the iTunes store are strictly for non-commercial use: business use is forbidden, which makes one wonder what that section of the store is for. Apple certainly gives the impression that the iPhone is suitable for businesses, and the Business section of the iTunes …

    Mobile 24 Aug 2009, 14:32

  • In the spin of SSDs on database servers

    The future is static

    Interest in solid state drives (SSDs) is growing as their initially terrifying price plummets: Intel recently announced a 60 per-cent reduction in the cost of its X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD since its launch last year. SSDs are attractive because they radiate less heat than traditional spinning disks, they're smaller, quieter …

    Storage 24 Aug 2009, 15:02

  • Aussie birds 'desperate to copulate with brainy males'

    Bit of a desert out there, Sheila

    Top-level boffins, having carried out extensive surreptitious surveillance of Australian females copulating with their chosen sexual companions, have stated that most down-under birds in their test group would prefer a brainy partner. The Aussie birds in question are not the distaff human populace, but rather a group of " …

    Science 24 Aug 2009, 15:03

  • Snow Leopard launch date emerges

    Mac OS X v10.6 coming this Friday

    Apple has announced that Snow Leopard – that latest update to the Mac OS - will be available later this week. Mac OS X v10.6, as it’s also known, will be released on 28 August – that’s this Friday. Apple has priced the release up at upgrade price of $29 (£18/€20). So what’s changed since Leopard? Well, the first thing to note …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2009, 15:06

  • Apple confirms 28 August is Snow Leopard day

    Last week's leak proves correct

    Last week's leak was correct: Apple will ship Snow Leopard on 28 August. Apple's online store last week put up a page listing Mac OS X 10.6's "available" date as the 28th. The company quickly spotted the sudden change and reverted the date to simply "September". Now the press release is ready and approved by management, and …

    Hardware 24 Aug 2009, 15:06

  • Model-slag blogger sues Google for blowing her cover

    'Skanks in NYC' catfight hots up

    The woman behind the "Skanks in NYC" blog dedicated to putting the boot into model Liskula Cohen is suing Google for $15m after the search monolith bowed to court pressure to reveal her identity. Student Rosemary Port, 29, apparently knew Cohen from the NY fashion scene and the pair "reportedly quarreled after Cohen badmouthed …

    Bootnotes 24 Aug 2009, 15:07

  • Rogue admin charges cut to size

    Network kidnapper still going on trial

    Terry Childs, the San Francisco administrator accused of locking the city out of its own network, has seen most of the charges against him dropped. A judge ruled last week that Childs would face just one charge, with three hacking charges being dropped. Childs has been banged up since July last year. He remains accused of …

    Law 24 Aug 2009, 15:20

  • GSM connectivity now enjoyed by 4 billion

    Take that, CDMA

    GSM is well on the way to global domination, with one-time rival CDMA serving a mere 423 million compared to the four billion who'll soon be able to make a GSM call. The news comes from industry advocate group 3G Americas, who reckon that by the end of September phones compliant with the GSM family of standards will be in the …

    Mobile 24 Aug 2009, 15:41

  • Snow Leopard to ship this Friday

    Mac OS X 10.6 arrives early

    Apple announced today what the rumor mill reported last week: that Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, will be released this Friday, August 28. Today's announcement is a rare occurence in the tech world - a product being released before it was originally scheduled to hit the streets. When Apple's SVP for software engineering, …

    Operating Systems 24 Aug 2009, 15:54

  • Scammers step up attacks on Warcraft players

    'Particularly nasty' hole closed after four months

    Out to steal online gold and other assets worth real money, scammers are stepping up attacks on World of Warcraft players, according to security researchers. A researcher from anti-virus firm Webroot has written here how official forums offered by WoW creator Blizzard are being used to spread links that lead to malware that …

    Security 24 Aug 2009, 17:52

  • Platform buys HP's message passing interface

    Supercomputer über-stack

    Platform Computing, which has carved out a niche for itself managing supercomputer clusters and dispatching applications on HPC gear, has been expanding up the stack. It continued this process today when it acquired the HP-MPI stack created by HP for its own servers, as well as others used in HPC clusters. MPI, short for …

    HPC 24 Aug 2009, 18:31

  • Swedish court orders The Pirate Bay shutdown

    TPB's major bandwidth supplier pulls plug

    Days ahead of The Pirate Bay's supposed takeover and lawful reform, Swedish authorities are playing wack-a-mole with the notorious BitTorrent tracker's bandwidth suppliers. Stockholm's district court today ordered The Pirate Bay's largest ISP, Black Internet, to stop serving the website's traffic or face a penalty of 500,000 …

    Media 24 Aug 2009, 18:48

  • 4chan pwns Christians on Facebook

    Unholy hack

    The denizens of notorious imageboard 4chan are up to mischief again with an attack on Christians over the weekend. Login details and passwords from an unnamed social networking or dating site for Christians* were posted as a file called "christian.txt" on 4chan. The information was spread among hackers, some of whom hit on the …

    Security 24 Aug 2009, 19:14

  • Real versus Spotify: the battle for subscriptions

    Behind the Rhapsody Apple play

    Real is the latest company to goad Apple, taking aim at its selection policy for the iPhone App Store. Real said yesterday it's going to submit a Rhapsody application, daring Apple to refuse it. In an announcement on Sunday, Real announced and demoed the application, giving subscribers access to its 8 million song catalog. The …

    Media 24 Aug 2009, 19:32

  • Three-way fight for Real's iPhone-Rhapsody application

    Inside Apple's dilemma

    Apple has another embarrassment brewing, as its secretive App Store guardians ponder whether to allow an app from RealNetworks onto the Store's virtual shelves. As we reported earlier today, RealNetworks has submitted an iPhone/iPod touch application to Apple that will allow users of those devices to access Rhapsody's eight- …

    Mobile 24 Aug 2009, 19:59

  • RIM joins WebKittens litter with Torch-Mobile buy

    Blackberry ripens

    Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry, has acquired Torch Mobile, developers of the WebKit-based Iris Browser. A brief posting on Torch Mobile's blog says: "Our team of developers will join RIM’s global organization and will now be focused on utilizing our WebKit-based mobile browser expertise to contribute to the …

    Developer 24 Aug 2009, 20:04

  • Facebook to hire like it's 1999

    Could increase staff by as much as 50 per cent

    Facebook expects to increase its staff by as much as 50 per cent this year by tapping into the "surplus" of out-of-work engineers caused by the Meltdown. The social networking website's chief executive Mark Zuckerburg said in an interview with Bloomberg that while most tech firms are shedding workers to make do, Facebook's …

    Media 24 Aug 2009, 21:26

  • Mass infection turns websites into exploit launch pads

    More than 57K pwned

    Malicious hackers have managed to infect about 57,000 web pages with a potent exploit cocktail that targets a variety of vulnerable applications to surreptitiously install malware on visitor machines. The exploits install an assortment of nasty software, including Gologger, a keystroke logging trojan, and a backdoor that …

    Security 24 Aug 2009, 21:40

  • Sun touts Sparc T Java bang

    3Leaf Systems blows Sun out of the water

    Sun Microsystems might be as quiet as a church mouse these days as it awaits the final OK on the looming $5.6bn Oracle acquisition, but the company is still benchmarking its latest Sparc T iron as if everything were normal - they're just not bragging about the results as per usual. Sun has just tested the new 1.6GHz Sparc T2 …

    Servers 24 Aug 2009, 22:00

  • Microsoft's Windows 7 pretzel takes fresh twist

    Europe liberated with upgrade prices

    Microsoft's tortured stance on Windows 7 in Europe continues, with the company circling back on packaging and pricing. Having killed the planned Windows 7 E spoiler edition it unveiled for Europe, Microsoft's announced packaging and pricing in line with other worldwide markets. Windows 7 E was the version of Microsoft's …

    Operating Systems 24 Aug 2009, 22:59