30th October 2009 Archive

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Cray has ups and downs in Q3

Gears up for 2010 XT5 upgrades - and profits

High-end parallel supercomputer maker Cray, which has been trying for the past year to round out its business by peddling entry-level HPC gear, is still not quite making it up in volume. But some big deals and system upgrades, as well as an expanding custom engineering business and the entry-level HPC product line are making …

HPC 30 Oct 00:15
Giant iPhones invade Florida

85 pounds of fanboi strap-on

A trio of Floridians have created a pair of Halloween costumes sure to melt the hearts of even the most jaded Apple fanbois: working, wearable, human-sized iPhones. Unemployed former Apple employee John Savio, actor/DJ Reko Rivera, and carpenter John Matthews mounted a pair of 42-inch LCD TVs in sandwich-board frames and …

Odds and Sods 30 Oct 00:35
Oracle sees future in Sun's GlassFish

A user is a user is a user

Oracle's drip feed of promises on Sun Microsystems' software has now extended to middleware, open-source, and tools. The database giant has said it will continue Sun's investment in the company's open-source Java application server. "Oracle plans to invest in aligning common infrastructure components and innovations from …

Applications 30 Oct 02:12
Intel opens cloud fluffing school

Dude, we know Google

Intel has opened its very own cloud-fluffing school. Boasting that it helped fluff the mega clouds floated by Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft in recent years, the chip giant wants you to know that its sky-high experience is now available through a new program it calls Intel Cloud Builder. "We've got a pretty good legacy that …

Channel Register 30 Oct 06:02
Ares 1-X booster rocket dented in test flight

Mystery thump

The first stage booster rocket used in the Ares I-X test flight was found to be badly dented when it was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. Ares 1-X was launched Wednesday to test the rocket's flight characteristics and hardware. NASA hopes Ares 1 will carry astronauts aboard the new Orion crew exploration vehicle back to the …

Space 30 Oct 06:02
Nokia 6303 Classic

Review A no-frills phone just for talking on? Surely not?

While Nokia continues to push at the boundaries of mobile phone technology, it also has its eye on the voice-as-primary-function mainstream. This is where its bread and butter lies, and a market well served by the stalwart and very popular 6300. Now meet its successor, the 6303 Classic. Nokia's 6303 Classic: the candybar …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 09:02
Ericsson designs gadgets of 2020

Spider PCs, high-tech sofas and shopping thermometers

Eleven years from now we will be embedded with GPS chips at birth, drive flying cars and struggle to remember what was so great about the iPhone – right? Sort of, according to Ericsson, which has forecast which gadgets will be making headlines in 2020. Ericsson's Spider Computer is part PC and part phone One such headline- …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 09:20
Non-Latin web addresses approved

Russian domains are идти

ICANN has voted, as predicted, in favour of non-Latin web addresses. The move means that from 16 November countries can apply for extensions in their own languages. And if approved local domain registrars can start accepting registrations. Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN's chairman, said: "Right now Internet address endings are …

IT Director 30 Oct 09:50
Are you mulling new ways of refreshing desktop and laptop estates?

Workshop 57 per cent say 'Yes we are!'

In this week’s poll we asked if people were rethinking their desktop strategies, and what options they were considering. So what is really happening – is anyone actually considering refreshing their desktop and laptop estates? Well when we asked you “Have you been given pause for thought about your own desktop strategy for any …

PC Management 30 Oct 10:23
Numonyx wiggles out of PCM scaling trap

Intel and Numonyx open a PCM die capacity door

Intel and Numonyx announced a way to build vertical stacks of Phase Change Memory arrays without losing performance. Phase Change Memory (PCM) is an experimental memory technology that is non-volatile, bit-addressable - unlike flash - and capable of moving to smaller process geometries than flash which, manufacturers say, is …

Storage 30 Oct 10:30
Climate Fools Day rallies the heretics

Stop them, before they Deny again!

On my way to a climate conference yesterday, I wondered what £6m worth of TV advertising might look like if it climate sceptics dominated the political and media elites, rather than environmental activists. This campaign would obviously be targeted at the small minority of people who think that their lifestyles affect the …

Environment 30 Oct 10:56
eBay.co.uk blocked for smelling phishy

OpenDNS makes oopsie

Online tat bazaar ebay.co.uk was blocked for much of yesterday because OpenDNS wrongly labelled auction pages on the site as phishing pages. Individual items, with addresses starting cgi.ebay.co.uk, were unavailable to anyone using the system, or using an ISP which uses the system. Instead surfers saw this error message: " …

Enterprise Security 30 Oct 11:11
State attorney nabbed in car with stripper, Viagra and sex toys

South Carolina cemetery tryst ends in sack*

A South Carolina deputy assistant attorney general who claimed he was on his lunch break, but was actually entertaining a stripper in his SUV, has been given his marching orders. Former state legislator Roland Corning, 66, was spotted on Monday by a police officer in "a secluded part" of a Columbia cemetery last Monday. …

Bootnotes 30 Oct 11:12
DARPA issues balloon-hunting $40k 'Network Challenge'

Distributed natter-mob spy legions at the ready

Famed US military bonkers-boffinry bureau DARPA, in order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the internet, has issued a zeitgeisty "Network Challenge". The first person or team to correctly locate ten large red balloons scattered across the USA will win $40,000. “It is fitting to announce this competition on the anniversary …

Physics 30 Oct 11:29
World Wii sales slump by 43%

CEO admits console has 'stalled'

Nintendo has admitted that Wii sales have “stalled” after reporting a 43 per cent drop in global sales of the console during the first six months of the firm’s current financial year. The company sold 5.7m Wiis during the six months to 30 September, compared to 10.1m during the year-ago half. Global Wii videogame sales also …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 11:44
IBM erects fedware for The Man 2.0

Big Blue descends on gov services

IBM is sinking its teeth deeper into government IT today with a new software framework that joins the company's expansive middleware portfolio into a neat package for The Man 2.0. The new IBM Government Industry Framework is designed for government citizen services – a market that covers nearly everything fed except defense …

Applications 30 Oct 12:02
BOFH: The stupidity criticality

Episode 14 C no evil - OK, maybe just a bit

"I just don't understand him!" the PFY snaps. "Yes, well, you've got to remember we’re talking about a new Boss, so we're really looking at one of three types of people," I reply. "A - a grizzled professional who's seen and endured the stupidity of users. B - an idiot with no idea who just keeps his head down and waits till …

BOFH 30 Oct 12:02
Comparison shopping sites not wicked after all, says Google

As it intros comparison shopping services

Google is adding "AdWords Comparison Ads" to its armoury of weapons designed to squeeze even more money out of advertisers "make ads more relevant and useful". The ads will list prices and features for multiple products from paying advertisers on a single page, thus making it easier for shoppers to find the best deal without …

IT Director 30 Oct 12:16
Facebook to share more user data with advertisers

In a language Canadians can understand

Facebook has rewritten its privacy policy to cut out legal jargon and has indicated it plans to broaden the types of user data it shares with advertisers. The changes, announced by PR boss Elliot Schrage, suggest Facebook will give its paying customers more details about how their adverts perform. User data will be "anonymised …

Applications 30 Oct 12:25
Somerset council resigns over blog

'Jackasses' jibes prove too much

Eleven councillors from a rural Somerset town have resigned their posts having had a bellyful of a local blogger who waged a concerted online campaign against them. Niall Connolly has variously accused Somerton Town Council of corruption, called them "jackasses" and slammed a "Good Citizens" statement as "a Nazi call to arms …

Bootnotes 30 Oct 12:34
DJ Hero sets up, scratches down in Blighty

May not save your life

Strumming is out and spinning is in, at least according to videogame developer FreeStyleGames, which has today launched DJ Hero as a rival to Guitar Hero. DJ Hero makes spinning tunes easy, but won't turn you into John Peel DJ Hero invites would-be slipmat superstars to mix, spin and scratch tunes on a plastic turntable. …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 12:42
Koreans, Apple frolic through mobile recession

SonyEric, Motorola's destruction laid bare

Mobile phone market estimates show progress by the two Korean giants and Apple - but make grim reading for everyone else in the hardware business. Strategy Analytics says handset shipments fell 4 per cent in the last quarter from a year ago to 290.5m - but forecasts a rise of 3 per cent in Q4 over 2008 - "signalling an end to …

Mobile 30 Oct 12:46
The Register Downloads channel is live and kicking!

Site news Fresh meat daily

The Register has teamed up with Betanews.com, the US online tech publication, to launch our very own software downloads channel at http://downloads.theregister.co.uk. We trust you will find it useful. Readers with long memories may recall that we had a downloads channel once before. This was popular at first, but the guys …

Site News 30 Oct 12:49
Nikon D3000 digital SLR

Review Top shot techniques tutor at a not-so-painful price

The D3000 is the new entry-level DSLR from Nikon and it’s aimed at the complete beginner with high-performance ambitions. It replaces the best selling D60 and marks a much needed and anticipated upgrade. The basic kit includes an 18-55mm lens and comes in at £429, stirring up competition for its main rivals the Canon EOS 450D, …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 13:02
Whitehall mulls new police leak investigations

Cabinet Office still playing whack-a-mole

The head of the civil service is considering calling police in over leaks from parts of the government that deal with national security issues. Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, told MPs information is escaping from what he called "sensitive" areas, but he has so far not called police in. "I'm trying to work out …

Government 30 Oct 13:53
Charlize Theron to travel Mad Max's Fury Road

Mel Gibson to reprise Oz road warrior?

Charlize Theron will star in the fourth outing of the Max Max franchise - Fury Road - alongside Brit thesp Tom Hardy of Black Hawk Down fame. George Miller, who launched Mel Gibson to stardom with the original 1979 Max Max, and went on to helm The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome, will direct the movie from his own …

Entertainment 30 Oct 13:54
Asus CEO signals Q1 2010 smartbook launch

Asus aiming for ARM after all

Asus will launch a netbook based on ARM chippery during Q1 2010, the company's CEO, Jerry Shen, promised this week. Details are thin on the ground - we hope to learn more at Asus' annual R&D shindig in Taipei next week - but Shen did say the price could be as low as TWD6000 (£112/$185/€125), according to a write-up by Chinese- …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 13:55
Green Berets get wearable combat smartphones

Monocle-vid computing for the rest of the best

It would seem that the American Land Warrior wearable war-smartphone system, once reviled by troops and cancelled by top brass, is now firmly on the road to military fashionability. The ultimate kit accolade - used by special forces - now appears to have been bestowed on the digi-trooper gear. Improved GUI my ass Land …

PCs & Chips 30 Oct 13:57
3PAR shows not so sub-par results

Modest improvement

3PAR has announced modestly improved results beating expectations and set against a still-depressed customer spending environment. Revenues in its second 2009 quarter were $46.1m, a two per cent year-on-year increase, meaning a $1m improvement, and four per cent higher than the previous quarter. The net loss of $0.76m was down …

Storage 30 Oct 14:28
New Doctor Who is 'simply the best'

Steven Moffat sings praises of Matt Smith

Doctor Who lead writer Steven Moffat has classified Matt Smith as "simply the best" Time Lord of the bunch - a brave statement as the 27-year-old actor prepares to receive the Tardis keys from David Tennant. Moffat, who's penning six of the thirteen episodes for Smith's first series next year, told the 2009 Screenwriters' …

Entertainment 30 Oct 14:50
HTC says no to Android HD2 to aid Windows Mobile

Vendor feels need to 'take care' of MS OS

Despite being the first firm to launch an Android-based smartphone, HTC has hinted that its upcoming HD2 won’t be given a Google OS makeover. HTC has downplayed the possibility of an Android-based HD2 Peter Chou, Chief Executive of HTC, boasted to Forbes that although the firm could "technically" make an Android HD2, the …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 15:27
Hack slots hotspots into Windows 7

Nomadio, no connectivity problems

An unfinished project to fit Windows 7 with virtual Wi-Fi devices makes every laptop into a hotspot with the smallest of patches. The patch comes from Nomadio, who followed Microsoft's plans for virtual Wi-Fi support until Redmond dumped the project in 2006. Nomadio then noticed that most of the code is present in Windows 7, …

Wireless 30 Oct 15:54
Thieves target BT cables as scrap value rises

There's never a copper around when you need one

Thieves in Sussex made off with more than half a mile of BT cabling in an overnight operation that cut off 800 homes and businesses. The line was ripped out at between 1am and 2am on Wednesday morning from a rural road near Lewes. Workers discovered the theft at 4am. The recent recovery in the price of copper has once again …

Crime 30 Oct 15:57
NBA launches live game streaming app

Catch some hoops wherever, whenever

The National Basketball Association (NBA) hopes to score a slam dunk with a hi-tech application that will let fans watch live games on their mobile phones. The NBA's app brings live games to mobile phones NBA League Pass Mobile lets smartphone-equipped basketball fans watch up to 40 live games each week, with the …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 16:02
Microsoft in Bing jingle kiddie vid outrage

'I literally cried', admits shaken composer

Microsoft may well find itself sharing the dock* in The Hague with Radovan Karadzic on a crimes against humanity rap after unleashing a "terrifying" video punting its Bing search thing: What we have here are "400 6th graders from Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, PA" interpreting Bing Goes the Internet by Jonathan …

Music and Media 30 Oct 16:04
NASA chuffed with super-accurate new map of universe

Quasars. Is there anything they can't do?

NASA and an international boffinry alliance are chuffed to announce that they have successfully updated the map grid of the entire universe. Just as old-time sailors used the stars to navigate the Earth's oceans, spacecraft plying the infinite void of space - and astronomers probing it - will use quasars a billion lightyears …

Space 30 Oct 16:06
Norway warns Amazon against Kindle launch

Not here, and not like that

Norway's Consumer Council reckons the Kindle breaches Norwegian law, and will have to change radically before any local launch. It's not the first group to complain about Amazon's vice-like grip on the Kindle, not to mention its supporting services and customer information, but the Norwegian Consumer Council is able to impose …

Law 30 Oct 16:09
Samsung redesigns colour e-paper

Resolution up, but video out

Samsung has gone back to the drawing board to improve the resolution of its colour-capable electronic paper. Samsung will mass produce its colour e-paper within two years The company first demoed a prototype 10.2in colour e-paper panel with 320 x 240 resolution back in June 2009. However, the firm has just unveiled a …

Reg Hardware 30 Oct 16:32
Moffat leaves IBM after insider trading arrest

New server GM in hunt for top job

Bob Moffat - IBM's top server, storage, and chip exec - has left the company following his arrest for alleged involvement in an insider trading scam. Moffat was arrested by the FBI on October 16 and charged by the US District Attorneys office in Manhattan, along with five others, in an alleged insider trading scam that allowed …

Business 30 Oct 17:27
Facebook awarded $711m in 'Spamford' Wallace case

Expects to receive almost nothing

Facebook has been awarded $711 million in damages against the infamous junk mail merchant, Sanford "Spamford" Wallace, who gained access to numerous accounts on the social website and sent phony messages to their friends. "While we don't expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a …

Spam 30 Oct 18:23
California man accused of DOSing site he founded

Former YouSendIt CEO and (very) prolific iPhone developer

Federal prosecutors have accused a co-founder of YouSendIt.com of repeatedly launching web attacks against the popular upload site. Khalid Shaikh, who was CEO and CTO of the California-based company until he left in 2006, used an Apache benchmarking program to flood YouSendIt servers with more traffic than they could handle, …

Crime 30 Oct 20:53
vBulletin denies busting downloads in paid-up protester ban

Updated Own employee says otherwise

Forumware giant vBulletin has vehemently defended its decision to ban paying customers from its own support forums after they complained about its new licensing scheme. Now owned by the self-described new-media company Internet Brands, vBulletin offers messageboard software used by roughly 40,000 "online communities" across …

Applications 30 Oct 21:08
Wintel 7 machines freeze out iPhone

Updated Jobs can't drive P55?

If you're having trouble syncing your iPhone with a PC based on the Intel P55 chipset and running Windows 7, you're not alone. For the past six weeks, complaints from users running this trifecta of pain have been clogging a thread on Apple's discussion board. The posts report that - in most cases - iTunes 9 for Windows will …

Mobile 30 Oct 21:18
Cisco thinks twice on Norwegian video borg

$3 billion walk away?

Cisco may walk away from its $3 billion offer to buy Norwegian video conferencing specialist Tandberg amidst resistance from a block of shareholders. A report from Bloomberg on Friday cites "a person familiar with the transaction" saying that Cisco may deep-six the corporate assimilation rather than upping its initial offer. …

Financial News 30 Oct 22:06
DDoS attacks topple 40 Swedish sites

Police among victims

Swedish authorities have few leads in their investigation of a massive denial-of-service attack on Thursday that downed about 40 websites belonging to police and media outlets. According to The Local, the attacks flooded media IT development firm Adeprimo with some 400,000 requests per second, compared with the 800 requests …

Crime 30 Oct 22:12
Microsoft smothers Sage and Intuit challenger

Good-enough accounting

Microsoft's Office Accounting software, used to challenge Sage and Intuit, has become the latest victim of corporate cuts. The package will no longer be distributed after November 16, Microsoft said Friday. Versions of the product affected are the Express, Standard, Professional, Professional Plus, three-user and Small …

Applications 30 Oct 22:52
Shsssh! Google Voice has 1.4 million users

PDF error spills confidential count

Despite the fact that Google Voice remains an "invitation only" service, it has grown to well over 1.4 million users with a cool 570,000 folks using it daily. But you're not supposed to know that. As The Reg reported yesterday, Google on Wednesday sent a letter to the US Federal Communications Commission in response to the …

Telecoms 30 Oct 23:15
NASA to irradiate monkeys for science

Progress goes 'ook'

It's good to see NASA getting back into the old spirit of space exploration these days. After years of settling for what are essentially low orbit field trips, the space agency is not only setting sights back on the moon, it's reintroducing the neglected trade of doing strange and unusual things to moneys for science. NASA …

Space 30 Oct 23:17
P2P snafu blows lid on secret Congress probes

30+ legislators under investigation

A confidential memo from one of the most secretive panels in Congress was leaked on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, publicly detailing sensitive probes involving more than 30 lawmakers and aides. The release of the report was jarring enough that Zoe Lofgren, chairman of the House ethics committee, interrupted a series of …

Government 30 Oct 23:48