27th October 2009 Archive

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Facebook enshrines dead people profiles

'When someone leaves us, they don't leave...our social network'

Facebook has announced a new service for the friends and family of dead people. Monday morning, after some public pressure from Canada's privacy czar, Mark Zuckerberg and company told the world they're now "memorializing" the Facebook profiles of those who graduate to that big social network in the sky. "When someone leaves …

Music and Media 27 Oct 01:26
Fake servers sell better than real servers

x64 loads 50 per cent fake by 2013

Vendors who were hoping to get rich on the server virtualization trade have been disappointed by the effect the economic meltdown has had on their business. Just when virtualization products from VMware, Citrix Systems, Microsoft, and a few others have the kind of management features to make them enterprise grade, companies are …

Virtualization 27 Oct 06:02
Sun's MySQL fork survival theory ripped

GPL does code, not 'brand'

If Oracle screws up MySQL, the community will fork and the database will live on under another name - leaving Oracle high and dry. At least that's the open-source theory. And it's a theory Sun Microsystems' executives past and present have recited to placate those concerned by the prospect Oracle, the number-one database …

Applications 27 Oct 06:02
UK data losses keep growing

Government and private sector still failing basic tests

A Freedom of Information request by infrastructure specialist Software AG reveals that more companies and government departments than ever are reporting data losses to the Information Commissioner's Office. There were 356 self-reported data losses this year - between November 2008 and September 2009. This compares to 190 …

IT Director 27 Oct 07:02
Deploying VoIP in real life

Regcast is on demand

Missed our recent live Regcast, Deploying VoIP in real life? Never fear: the on-demand version is available now for your viewing pleasure. Moderator Tim Phillips discusses the promise of VoIP, and if and how it can be made a reality with Josie Sephton from Freeform Dynamics and James Hone from Thus. In the webcast the panel …

VoIP 27 Oct 07:10
Suzuki unveils fuel cell e-scooter

Leccy Tech Hydrogen-powered runabout, anyone?

Suzuki has put British engineering centre stage at the ongoing Tokyo Motor Show, unveiling a scooter powered by a UK-made hydrogen fuel cell. Suzuki's Burgman: powered by an air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell Inside the Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter is a light-weight, air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell developed by British company …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 08:02
Sony Walkman NWZ-S544

Review PMP with speakers, anyone?

Do pocket media players need built in speakers? Certainly, apart from the Touch, Apple doesn't seem to think so and let's face it, love it or loathe it, Apple knows a thing or two about selling MP3 players to world+dog. Sonic boon? Sony's Walkman NWZ-S544 Sony, however, begs to differ and has launched a new series of …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 09:02
Raytheon buys BBN for 'about $350m'

Arms biz buys up the "@" in email

Renowned techsploration company BBN - famed far and wide for inventing forerunner internet kit, and for giving the world the "@" symbol in email addresses - has been bought by US armsbiz colossus Raytheon. The move illustrates growing aspirations on the part of arms firms to do business in the information systems sector. …

Enterprise Security 27 Oct 09:21
Retailers price up Blighty's black Wii

Out next week

The black Wii has been priced up ahead of its UK release on 6 November. Officially announced by Nintendo last week, the black Wii’s retail price is £180 ($294/€198), numerous online retailer, including HMV, have stated. The black Wii launches in Blighty on 6 November However, both Amazon and Play have slashed the console's …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 10:15
Clock stopped for McKinnon extradition

Glimmer of hope for alien-seeking hacker

Home Secretary Alan Johnson has confirmed to the House of Commons that he has "stopped the clock" on Gary McKinnon's extradition while new medical evidence is considered. Answering a question from McKinnon's MP David Burrowes, Johnson said: "we have stopped the clock ticking in regard to the representation to the European …

Government 27 Oct 10:30
El Reg receives message from planet 'Female Pigeon'

Peristera pecks back

Our suggestion yesterday that exoplanet HD 43848 b in the constellation Columba would probably benefit from a name other than "Female Pigeon" (Peristera) prompted the planet formation expert responsible for the idea to beam over a mild email protest. Wladimir Lyra writes: Dear Mr Haines, I just saw the text you wrote about …

Space 27 Oct 10:32
Gov advises authorities on when EU procurement rules apply

Formalises previously hit-and-hope legal procedures

The Government has published a guide it hopes will clarify when land deals are subject to EU procurement rules and when they are not. The guidance relates to agreements between authorities and land developers. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has produced the guidance to help authorities and companies in what it says is …

Channel Register 27 Oct 10:33
MSI to make Tegra-based e-book viewer

CPU, GPU overkill?

Taiwan's MSI is developing an e-book reader, its chairman, Joseph Hsu, has apparently revealed. The unit will be based on Nvidia's Tegra ARM-based system-on-a-chip, but that's ultimately irrelevant to its role - unless, of course, MSI plans to pitch the device as an all-round large-format media player along the lines of Apple' …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 10:46
IBM gives voice to your web

New tool directs vocal flow for the blind and lazy

Researchers at IBM have created a tool to put vocal flow into any web site, making life easier for the blind as well as the exceptionally lazy. Blind web surfers use software which reads out the contents of web pages at a bewildering speed (to those unused to it), allowing the user to select hyperlinks and navigate sites. …

IT Director 27 Oct 10:51
3PAR developing united federation of clusters

Boldly going where no SAN has gone before

3PAR is actively developing technology needed to federate its InServ clustered storage arrays together and provide a single pool of resources across the federation. 3PAR believes that there is a practical limit to the scaling on the number of nodes in a cluster, due to the risk of a node failure taking the entire cluster down …

Storage 27 Oct 10:53
MySpace in talks to become Facebook friend

Or more a minor acquaintance

Facebook is in talks with MySpace to assimilate some of its content, in what would mark a formal admission of defeat for the Murdoch-owned site. The proposed deal, mostly significant as an acknowledgement of Facebook's seniority, would see MySpace effectively supply videos and music and allow users to log in via the Facebook …

Music and Media 27 Oct 11:06
Upminster top for tupping on UK bonkmap

New online tool maps sexual state of nation, provides proud IT angle

The most sexually obsessed town in the UK is officially Upminster, according to an important new interactive mapping survey. If you prefer to participate in quieter, less salacious weekend and after-hours activities, the wilds of Scotland, rural Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire might better suit your temperament. Upminster was …

Bootnotes 27 Oct 11:09
Intel soups up 34nm SSDs

Write-boosting tweak works on XP, Vista as well as 7

Intel has updated the firmware installed in its 34nm X25-M SSD line, claiming the new code helps deliver a sequential write speed boost of up to 40 per cent. We'll be conducting tests on the new X25-M firmware in due course to see how accurate that claim is. In the meantime, we can say the new software adds support for the …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 11:22
Bloggers go ballistic over non-existent wireless tax

Oh just sit down and read an actual newspaper or something

The UK is not in fact about to impose a tax on wireless networks, but that hasn't stopped bloggers jumping up and down about it. Rumours that the UK was about to introduce a tax on wireless networking set the blogosphere afire towards the end of last week, with opponents pointing out that a tax of £100 per access point would …

Mobile 27 Oct 11:38
BlackBerry wristband accessory priced, dated

Coming early next year

The inPulse watch accessory for BlackBerry handsets will appear on wrists in February 2010, it has emerged. Allerta's inPulse: not quite a BlackBerry on your wrist Allerta, the company behind the officially licensed BlackBerry accessory, has priced inPulse up at $149 (£90/€100), but claimed that “industry regulations” mean …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 11:41
Nintendo to increase DSi screen size?

iPhone-fighting move

Nintendo has designed a new version of the DSi, this one featuring larger screens, a Japanese publication has claimed. The usually reliable Nikkei said that the new DSi will have two 4in screens, putting the handheld console's panels to bring it closer to the PlayStation Portable 3000’s 4.3in display. That said, the update …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 11:48
Land Warrior war-smartphone tech support goes to A'stan

General Dynamics opens Genius Bar in Spin Boldak

The Land Warrior wearable military smartphone rig - one of the few of its type to have seen combat service in large numbers - continues to rise from its ashes, having been officially cancelled in 2007. However, the kit is now in service in Afghanistan, and makers General Dynamics have just announced a $50m tech-support deal from …

Science 27 Oct 11:53
Google stalks your social circle

All in the name of friendship, you understand

Google took its beach towel down to the social networking pool yesterday with the release of its latest Facebook-apeing Web 2.0-stylie search tool. Mountain View announced a new Google Labs experiment - dubbed “Social Search” - that creepily helps users probe more “relevant public content” from their “broader social circle”. …

Applications 27 Oct 11:57
ID Card scheme banking on 28 million volunteers

Good luck with that

Government claims that the ID Card scheme will be self-financing are "completely deluded", the Tories have claimed today. Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling launched the attack as the Home Office released its twice-yearly estimates on the multibillion-pound project's cost to the Exchequer. His opposite number on the …

Government 27 Oct 12:01
Did the credit crunch and Vista stop you buying PCs?

Mini Poll Stopping to think or same old same old?

In this poll we are trying to get a handle on whether readers are considering breaking with old habits when it comes to desktop refresh strategy. We've talked about the combined impact of the credit crunch and Windows Vista – causing a hiatus and giving organisations time to think about their own needs rather than rushing off …

PC Management 27 Oct 12:15
On2 investors call off attack dogs against Google takeover

Hostility towards buyout compressed

On2 Technologies Inc has settled legal challenges mounted by some shareholders who opposed Google's proposed $106.5m acquisition of the video software company. In August, a number of On2 investors expressed dissatisfaction with the price and terms of the takeover, and some filed separate lawsuits in New York and Delaware …

Financial News 27 Oct 12:57
MSI X-Slim X600 15.6in notebook

Review Light as a feather, would you believe?

We're beginning to think there's some sort of competition between laptop manufacturers to come up with the most ridiculous marketing statements. In our recent review of the EasyNote Butterfly, we were left cringing at Packard Bell's explanation of exactly why it had chosen to use that name. MSI’s X-Slim X600: literally, as …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 12:58
'New discipline' of 'Network Science' birthed by US Army

Military to ensure the revolution will not be Twitterised

Assorted American boffins and social scientists armed with supercomputers and US Army funds will come together to create "the new discipline of Network Science", according to those involved. The new Centre for Social and Cognitive Networks will be founded at Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York State. Rensselaer profs were …

Data Networking 27 Oct 13:43
Home Office: El Reg may be right on vetting figures

ISA Chair admits published estimates are wrong

A senior Home Office official has admitted that figures presented for the last 18 months regarding the number of adults likely to end up needing to be vetted may be a serious underestimate. He also suggested that El Reg figures may be right, despite frequent previous denials. Sir Roger Singleton, Chair of the Independent …

Government 27 Oct 13:56
Sky Player hits Xbox 360

No dish required

Broadcaster Sky has launched its long-awaited video-on-demand and streaming service for the Xbox 360. Sky Player's 'Home' screen on Xbox Live Called Sky Player, the service – the first of its kind for a games console, Sky claimed - works through Xbox Live and provides gamers with access to 24 live streaming channels and “ …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 14:55
Microsoft drops Family Guy like a hot deaf guy joke

Had it confused with Ivor The Engine

Microsoft proved that one thing Windows 7 won't install is a sense of humour yesterday, by hastily pulling out of its sponsorship of a Family Guy/American Dad variety special. The vendor announced two weeks ago that it would blow some of its Windows 7 marketing budget on "an upcoming television event devoted to the comedy of …

Operating Systems 27 Oct 14:55
Computacenter ditches last distie biz

End of an era as former reseller focuses on services

Computacenter has sold the last of its distribution businesses to Ingram Micro for an undisclosed amount. In a statement, the reseller said: "This completes Computacenter's exit from trade distribution and leaves Computacenter totally focused on services and solutions for end user customers." The takeover means about 40 staff …

Channel Register 27 Oct 14:56
Secure Juniper triggers Dell's OEM'ing instinct

But Brocade still has a home in the range

Dell is going to OEM Juniper networking gear as well as Brocade's, because of Juniper's superiority in wide area networking and security. It is going to take certain models of Juniper's MX Series services routers, EX Series Ethernet switches and SRX Series services gateways, all of which run Junos software. Dell will supply …

Data Networking 27 Oct 15:04
Subterranean hive mammals may offer cancer cure

Secrets of the sexy, naked ever-youthful Mole Queens

Boffins probing the secrets of fantastically long-lived and sexually active subterranean nudie hive rodents say they may be on the track of a preventive for cancer. Regular readers will doubtless recall our earlier coverage of the East African naked mole-rat. These hairless burrowers are well-known for the fact that they live …

Biology 27 Oct 15:32
Ares I-X stuck on the pad

Florida weather halts trailblazing launch

NASA's Ares I-X is still standing on Kennedy Space Centre's launchpad 39B, following the cancellation of the first trailblazing flight of the Constellation programme. The launch was delayed while NASA eyed the skies with suspicion, and a stray cargo ship in the launch danger area prompted a minor scare. Launch Weather Officer …

Space 27 Oct 15:33
BlackBerry Storm 2 launch continues

Verizon to follow Vodafone's recent UK launch

The BlackBerry Storm 2 will be available in North America just two days after the handset hits Blighty. Vodafone released RIM’s second attempt at the Storm smartphone into the UK yesterday, and US carrier Verizon subsequently announced that it will release the Storm 2 Stateside on 28 October – that’s tomorrow, folks. In the …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 15:53
Games developers demand tax breaks

Or UK videogames biz will slump, says Tiga

Direct tax breaks for the UK videogame development sector are crucial if the industry is to grow, industry trade body Tiga has claimed. Tiga’s own research has revealed that if the government fails to introduce a “Games Tax Relief” (GTR), the sector’s employment figure – currently estimated at just over 9000 people - will …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 16:07
Dassault picks up PLM unit from Big Blue

$600m to control its own future

Dassault Systemes, which arguably gave IBM a credible toehold in the Unix business in the late 1980s, has bought IBM's PLM software business unit for $600m. That business unit, tucked within IBM's Software Group, was responsible for selling the CATIA product design software, developed by Dassault. It was the first big …

Applications 27 Oct 16:07
Gizmodo says sorry for malware suckerpunch

Staff on Macs late to spot hack

Tech blog Gizmodo has been suckerpunched by cyber scoundrels, who placed malware-loaded web ads on the site. Gizmodo is the latest online publication to have been targeted by villainous hackers. The site coughed to the nasty scam and issued an apology today. “Guys, I'm really sorry but we had some malware running on our site …

Malware 27 Oct 16:18
IBM board gives Big Sam another $5bn

Continues throwing money at market to inflate EPS growth

IBM's stock repurchasing addiction to show earnings per share growth continues unabated, and today the company's board of directors gave the company's management another $5bn bag of junk to take to Wall Street to buy back its own shares in the coming year. The news came as IBM was paying out its quarterly dividend of 55 cents …

Financial News 27 Oct 16:28
Symbian aims to ~~baffle~~ embrace community

Once more unto the ideamagoria my friends

Symbian has marked its annual shindig by once more launching its application warehouse, and looking to the wisdom of the crowds to tell it what its future plans should be. Lee Williams, Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation, has been making waves recently asserting that Android is just a beginner and Apple is …

Mobile 27 Oct 16:59
Cisco borgs real-time security biz ScanSafe

A plug for the IronPort

Cisco intends to buy the web security outfit ScanSafe in a deal worth approximately $183 million, the networking gear maker said today. ScanSafe sells a web-based security service that analyzes a company's end-user web requests in real-time to determine if content is malicious, inappropriate, or acceptable based on defined …

Data Networking 27 Oct 17:09
Microsoft inflates Web Office test program

Limited potential

Microsoft's Outlook format isn't the only things being opened up. Just over a month after releasing a limited pilot of its long-awaited online version of Office, Microsoft has said it's inviting more people to participate in tests. Office Web apps program manager Nick Simons said in a blog post that the company was responding …

Applications 27 Oct 17:28
Apple dangles tablet lure in Oz

Media censorship?

Today's Apple-tablet rumeur du jour is that Cupertino is shopping its not-so-secret "print redefiner" to Australian media companies, trolling for content partners. According to a Tuesday report from The Sydney Morning Herald, Apple has sent specs of the device to Oz-based content creators, in the hopes of enticing them to …

Music and Media 27 Oct 17:42
Mass web infections spike to 6 million pages

640k sites out to get you

An estimated 5.8 million pages belonging to 640,000 websites were infected with code designed to launch malware attacks on visitors, according to a report released Tuesday. The numbers, compiled over the third quarter by security firm Dasient, represent a significant jump in number of legitimate websites that have been …

Security 27 Oct 17:47
Nissan ~~steps~~ glides into mobility tech

Ski poles, roller skates and motors

Honda has really been pushing the boundaries of mobility devices recently, while Nissan has stuck two poles onto a pair of roller skates. Nissan's robotic roller skates during a dry run Nissan has teamed up with Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology to create a motorised mobility device …

Reg Hardware 27 Oct 17:48
Amazon rains MySQL from the heavens

Simple DB of a different kind

Amazon has floated a new cloud based on MySQL, giving sky-high developers instant access to a database that's not its very own SimpleDB creation. Dubbed the Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS), the new offering is essentially MySQL running atop the company's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The company has long offered …

Applications 27 Oct 18:40
Pig plague? There's an app for that!

Swine flu infects iPhone App Store

The medical heavyweights at the Harvard Medical Center have jumped on the swine flu-info bandwagon with the release of an iPhone app to educate individuals and businesses about the ongoing pig plague pandemic. The new $1.99 app, HMSMobile Swine Flu Center (all App Store links), includes instructional videos, animations, and …

Mobile 27 Oct 19:23
Punked US Chamber sues faux press release pranksters

Misty water-colored memories...

The US Chamber of Commerce has sued a group of online pranksters for trademark infringement, after these Yes Men floated a fake online press release that mimics the Chamber's website. The suit arrived on the heels of Chamber efforts to destroy the online release with a DMCA takedown notice. After receiving the notice, one ISP …

Music and Media 27 Oct 20:50
US DoD snuffs open-source 'misconceptions'

Your secrets are safe

The US Department of Defense is promoting the positive aspects of free and open-source software for use in sensitive and un-restricted government IT projects. The department has highlighted six benefits to tackle what it called "misconceptions and misinterpretations" of the existing laws, policies, and regulations. The current …

Software 27 Oct 20:51
Free Microsoft security tool locks down buggy apps

No assembly required

Microsoft has released a free tool designed to harden software applications against attacks that exploit common security vulnerabilities. EMET, short for Enhanced Mitigation Evaluation Toolkit, allows developers and administrators to add specific security protections to applications. Unlike mitigations released in the past, …

Security 27 Oct 21:37
IBM stirs up new mashup tools for Cognos

Also soups up Mashup Center

IBM has launched a new mashup service for its Cognos 8 business intelligence suite today, as well as updated its Mashup Center software to plug into more enterprise sources. The new offering, soberly called IBM Cognos 8 Mashup Service, is an application programming interface (API) that exposes content from the Cognos platform …

Applications 27 Oct 21:38
China accuses Google of 'malicious' censorship

Insert irony here

The Chinese Communist Party's main newspaper is (apparently without a trace of irony) accusing Google of unfairly censoring its website for having reported on the search firm's book-scanning copyright dispute. People's Daily said its online book section was blocked from Google searches via a malware warning for three days …

Music and Media 27 Oct 22:02
Asustek opens curtain on desktop 'supercomputer'

Eee HPC, anyone?

Taiwanese motherboard and PC maker Asustek is apparently getting ready to jump into the personal supercomputer market with a glorified deskside supercomputer that it has developed in conjunction with graphics chip maker Nvidia and the National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. Asustek Computer, known by gearheads for its Asus …

HPC 27 Oct 22:34
Firefox nabs 30 million users in eight weeks

Mozilla CEO Tweeteth

Internet Explorer's dominance of the browser world continues to melt away at a steady but glacial pace — with Mozilla earnestly waving a hair dryer. Mozilla Corporation CEO John Lilly revealed in a Twitter post on Monday that Firefox gained over 30 million unique users over the past eight weeks. He calls the recent growth …

Applications 27 Oct 23:39
Dell chief stuffs data center into suitcase

Ripped and replaced

Sun Microsystems took data centers mobile when it embraced shipping containers, but Dell's gone further - and smaller - with a data center in a briefcase. Self-outed Dell geek Jimmy Pike has built a data-center in a briefcase, hacking together a dual-socket server cluster featuring a pair of 2.5GHz Intel processors and a …

Servers 27 Oct 23:43