13th November 2009 Archive

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Apple pen-tablet plan revives Newtonian handwriting

Microcosmic God at work

An Apple patent filing may point to pen-based handwriting recognition in Cupertino's oft-rumored tablet/netbook/media-pad/ebook/whatever. Or it may not. Published on Thursday, the filing carries the rather prosaic appellation: "Method and Apparatus for Acquiring and Organizing Ink Information in Pen-Aware Computer Systems" …

Hardware 13 Nov 2009, 03:26
Will HP 3PAR high-end storage arrays?

Comment Crossroads for ex-EMC man Dave Donatelli

What is the future for HP's high-end XP storage arrays? Which way will incoming HP server-networking-storage boss David Donatelli jump? Donatelli left EMC to run a combined server, storage, and networking operation at HP. The company is busy creating an integrated IT stack consisting of servers, storage, networking, and system …

Storage 13 Nov 2009, 05:35
NASA preps Mars rover rescue plan

Earthly for trapped Spirit

NASA has come up with a plan to extricate their stuck rover Spirit that's been bogged down in a Martian sand trap since April. Space agency brains have been conducting a lengthy series of trials using a test rover and sandbox on Earth to figure out the best way of freeing the hindered droid. "This is going to be a lengthy …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 06:02
EU 'optimistic' Oracle will see reason on MySQL

It's the open source, stoopid

The European Union's competition chief has said she's "optimistic" a settlement can be reached with Oracle over its proposed $5.6bn acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Neelie Kroes is reported to have told journalists: "Let's be optimistic, and let's find out if they could take us to a point that we say, 'OK, here we can take the …

Applications 13 Nov 2009, 06:02
Europe clamours for data centre capacity

Price rises on the way

Data centre outsourcing in Europe is booming, with market revenues forecast to more than double from 2010's €3.3bn to €7.2bn in 2015. The London telecoms pricing research firm Tariff Consultancy looked at prices for a standard 19-inch rack, small cage space and a 50 KVA suite of space in 19 European countries and found a …

Servers 13 Nov 2009, 07:02
Google gives Voice to 'open standard Skype'

And vice versa

Google has acquired VoIP startup Gizmo5, intending to roll the company's engineers into the team that develops the telephony application/controversy magnet known as Google Voice. Whereas Gizmo5 offers Skype-like software for calling people over the interwebs, Google Voice is a special telephony thingy that lets you use a …

VoIP 13 Nov 2009, 07:02
Lite-on ETDU108 slim DVD drive

Review Burning ambition?

So ubiquitous has DVD burning become that when Lite-on sent us its ETDU108 slimline external optical drive, we naturally assumed it could write DVD±R/RW discs. It was only when we tried unsuccessfully to burn one that we realised our assumption was incorrect. Liteon's ETDU108: read only The ETDU108 is a read-only device …

Hardware 13 Nov 2009, 08:02
Corel receives bigger buyout offer

The other software company...

Corel has told regulators in Canada that it has received an improved offer to buy the firm, and the board has not yet decided what to do. Venture capital firm Vector Capital, which already owns a majority stake in desktop software vendor Corel, is offering to buy the rest of the firm. In a statement to Canadian share …

Applications 13 Nov 2009, 09:55
Tax regime fails to help UK technology sector, says PwC

Please stop messing about, Darling

Despite the wide range of tax relief available, over two thirds of UK technology companies do not believe the current tax regime fuels enterprise in the UK, according to a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Its survey found that measures introduced in the 2009 Budget are not reaching the majority of the domestic …

Small Biz 13 Nov 2009, 09:57
3UK shapeshifts on traffic shaping

Reprieve for video steaming, but P2P still in sights

UK mobile operator 3 has insisted hardly anyone will be affected by the traffic shaping regime it will bring in on Monday. 3's plan is to introduce traffic shaping from Monday, but while the plan was to limit customers attached to congested cells to a single video stream as well as choking P2P applications, the operator has …

Mobile 13 Nov 2009, 10:03
German boffins produce sim of 'invisibility carpet' in action

Don't try sweeping anything important under this

Remorseless German boffins have developed a simulator which can show how so-called "invisibility carpets" fashioned of metamaterials (in fact more likely to appear in the form of invisible sheds, according to top boffins) would actually appear to the human eye. According to the simulation, the invisible sheds would produce …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 10:28
Activision leaps into Modern Warfare 2 sales figure fight

As Grand Theft Auto IV's loses day-one sales crown

The publisher of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has waded into the conflict surrounding the game’s day-one sales, claiming that 4.2m copies of the videogame were shifted within 24 hours. The title notched up “sell-though sales” of $130m in the UK and North America combined during its first 24 hours of availability, according …

Games 13 Nov 2009, 10:42
Samsung retracts Symbian support snub

Kissy faces back on

Samsung has denied its plans to drop support for the Symbian platform, proving only that the Korean company is getting better at western politics. The anti-Symbian statements made by a Samsung VP, which we relayed on Wednesday, aren't exactly denied by the manufacturer, but the company would like everyone to know that it's …

Mobile 13 Nov 2009, 11:00
Dirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide

Ventblockers Horror beyond human imagination

Our shock picture last Friday of a Quatermass-style lifeform lurking inside a PC prompted a flurry of snaps forwarded by readers who had similarly confronted unspeakable horrors. We gather that many of our correspondents are responding well to therapy, and could be back working in PC maintenance in five years or so. Others, …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 11:00
Police sitting on forensic backlog risk, says top e-cop

Triage tool coming to save the day

The UK's top e-cop believes the forensic backlog in seized IT kit poses a serious risk to ongoing criminal investigations. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, the national lead on e-crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), also sees the situation as unfair to those having to wait ages to get their …

Law 13 Nov 2009, 11:02
Reg readers on: Stuff you run vs stuff you run it on

Workshop Poll results

Thanks to everyone who took part in our latest mini-poll, which teased out some insights on how you balance the requirements of the teams that build and operate the resources and capabilities running in the server room. On the face of it, the overall relationship between software developers / procurement and those tasked with …

Server Management 13 Nov 2009, 11:19
Novell targets netbooks with latest OS

OpenSUSE 11.2 tugs at Karmic Koala's fur

Novell has released openSUSE 11.2, just a few short weeks after Ubuntu 9.10 - aka Karmic Koala - landed. The latest version of the operating system clearly signals Novell’s intent to scoop up some share of the nascent netbook market. OpenSUSE 11.2 comes loaded with version 2.6.31 of the Linux kernel, while the default file …

Operating Systems 13 Nov 2009, 11:25
Atlantis crew gears up for Monday launch

Poses for cheerful snap ahead of ISS jaunt

The crew of space shuttle Atlantis has arrived at Kennedy Space Center ahead of Monday's slated launch of mission STS-129 to the International Space Station. Posing for the camera on the tarmac were (from left) mission specialist Leland Melvin, pilot Barry E Wilmore, commander Charles O Hobaugh, and mission specialists Randy …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 11:32
BOFH: Slab happy

Episode 15 The PFY needs to play his cards right

Isn’t it annoying when senior management simply has to have access to every door, room, system and application in the enterprise - even if they have no idea what to do with the access once they get it. Like our new IT Director (after the previous Director tragically stepped over the protective railings and into the path of …

BOFH 13 Nov 2009, 12:02
Last call: HTC Hero up for grabs

Lucky Draw Win HTC’s latest Android phone and Copilot Live 8

The Register is giving one lucky reader the chance to get his or her mitts on HTC’s latest Android phone — the HTC Hero, complete with a copy of CoPilot Live 8 with UK and European maps. But hurry: the lucky draw closes tomorrow. The HTC Hero includes a new user interface, multi-touch screen, 5MP camera and enhanced social …

Phones 13 Nov 2009, 12:07
Microsoft defends Hotmail's cookie requirement

Log out block 'good for security'

Microsoft has said its new policy of requiring users to accept third party cookies to log out of Hotmail improves security. We reported the change, which was applied earlier this month, yesterday. Some readers who contacted El Reg said it raises the risk that accounts will be compromised on public machines, while others who …

Security 13 Nov 2009, 12:09
Swiss roll Street View into court

Data protection supremo's patience runs out

Switzerland's head of federal data protection has announced that he's taking Google to court after the search monolith refused to comply with several privacy requests regarding its Swiss Street View service. Google incurred the wrath of Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) Hans-Peter Thür back in August …

Law 13 Nov 2009, 12:13
Bishop calls for Priests 2.0 to evangelise on the net

No fear of the flames

A French Bishop has called for the Vatican to unleash a cadre of crack Web 2.0 trained priests to push the Church of Rome's message on the internet. The call to spiritual cyberarms came from Monsignor Jean-Michel Di Falco, the Bishop of Gap, in France, at the opening of a Vatican conference on the internet this week. Di Falco …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 12:16
Wii to receive dedicated iPlayer feed

Auntie's interface adjusted?

The UK's Wii owners will get a dedicated BBC iPlayer channel on their connected consoles next week, it has been confirmed. An iPlayer channel will arrive on the Wii on 18 November Although iPlayer has been available on the Wii since April 2008, the BBC said that “many console owners reported problems with the original …

Games 13 Nov 2009, 12:23
Sophisticated parcel mule scam unpicked

Middlemen stung by work-from-home scam

Details of a sophisticated re-shipping scam that tricked US residents into working as freight-forwarding middlemen for eastern European crooks, have been exposed by security researchers at RSA. The web-based fraudulent operation received applications from around 1,900 people, hiring 33 marks to take delivery of high-value …

Security 13 Nov 2009, 12:29
Windows Mobe Marketplace sets its stall out

150 apps available: Apple quaking in its boots

Windows Phone Marketplace is now available on the web, and has new DRM too, allowing everyone to see the impoverished selection of apps that are now harder to steal. To be fair, the Windows Phone Marketplace hasn't been running long, and it's not as though one can't get applications elsewhere - Handango lists tens of thousands …

Mobile 13 Nov 2009, 12:33
'F-22 Raptor stealth coatings are crap' case goes to court

Updated Pricey ultrafighter 'defective', alleges whistleblower

A former Lockheed stealth-tech engineer has alleged that radar-invisibility coatings on the USA's F-22 "Raptor" ultrasuperfighter are "defective", and that Lockheed supplied them knowing that this was the case. It has now been confirmed that Darrol Olsen's whistleblower lawsuit will be heard in federal court. Look mummy, that …

Government 13 Nov 2009, 12:54
Olympus PEN E-P1 Micro Four-Thirds camera

Review Grown-up compact for DSLR lovers?

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. We used to looked back at past technologies with fond memories, but be grateful that we lived in the modern world. Now, it seems, some of us want a piece of both the past and the present, with gadgets combining an old exterior with a modern interior. Olympus' PEN EP-1: not your dad's camera …

Hardware 13 Nov 2009, 13:02
US judge rules quadriplegic can bear arms

Grants firearms permit to wheelchair-bound hunter

A US judge has ruled that a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, who is "physically unable to hold a gun or pull a trigger", can have a firearms permit allowing him to bear arms. James Cap, 46, of Manville, New Jersey had been fighting for two-and-a-half years to get the go-ahead to buy firearms. In his youth, he'd been a keen …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 13:30
Office 2010 beta sneaks onto wild wild web

(Spread)sheeeeeeeeit!

A beta version of Microsoft’s Office 2010 software package has unsurprisingly tipped up on some BitTorrent sites ahead of its expected official release next week. In recent days the beta code has begun to appear on the likes of The Pirate Bay et al. Elsewhere, IT site Craving Tech has posted some screenshots of what Office …

Applications 13 Nov 2009, 13:33
Michael Jackson planned 'robot duplicate' of himself

Dead megastar droid zombie blueprints offered for $1m

Famous dead pop legend Michael Jackson intended to construct an eerily-lifelike robotic duplicate of himself, according to reports. Detailed three-dimensional scans of the deceased globo-celeb's body were made, and the super-accurate body maps are now said to be on sale for a million dollars. The story was reported yesterday …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 13:37
Play.com leaves Modern Warfare 2 buyers empty handed

Updated Guaranteed launch day delivery promise broken

Online retailer Play.com has failed to reach out to many Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 buyers it left in the lurch after failing to live up to its guaranteed launch-day delivery promise. While many retailers, including supermarket Sainsbury’s, slashed the game’s price to around £26 ($43/€29), Play promised “guaranteed delivery …

Games 13 Nov 2009, 13:39
Border guards get first dozen ID card readers

That's 167 cards per machine - how will they cope?

The Home Office has introduced a dozen identity card readers as part of a pilot scheme, having had none earlier this year. In a written parliamentary answer, Home Office minister Phil Woolas said that as of 1 October, the Home Office had issued 12 card readers to its staff for use at major ports and enforcement operations. " …

Government 13 Nov 2009, 13:43
Morgan Computers: Your memories

Cheap PC flogger of all our hearts

Last week's coverage of the shuttering of Morgan Computers, the mini-chain of cheap computer dealers, sparked memories of first computers and other odd bits of kits from you lot. Bertie Bassett remembered: In the days before ebay Morgan was the place to get end of line kit and much much reduced prices - I've visited both …

The Channel 13 Nov 2009, 14:02
Revealed: The amazing premise behind Ridley Scott's Monopoly

Go directly to Fail?

The man who apparently persuaded Ridley Scott to helm a film based on Monopoly has described the amazing premise which reeled in the director. Yes indeed, this is a special treat for the board game movie adaptation fans among you, who've been known to ask, for example, just how on God's Green Earth they expect to translate …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 14:30
Overland languishes in intensive care

Bleeding cash still

There were signs of hope for the ailing Overland Storage last quarter, but these have been comprehensively dashed by the latest results. Can it still be saved? For its first fiscal 2010 quarter revenues were $19.3m, substantially down on the year-ago quarter's $32.3m, due to a combination of the recession and customers' …

Storage 13 Nov 2009, 15:08
Casio designs camera for golfers

Able to analyse your swing

If you're looking to improve your golf swing, then ditch Fujitsu’s mobile phone app and consider Casio’s latest compact camera. Casio's EX-FS10 could be the first camera to improve your golf swing From what we can glean of Casio’s Japanese announcement, the EX-FS10 features a swing analysis mode enabling it to determine how …

Hardware 13 Nov 2009, 15:18
Quickening satellite quickens pulses at ESA

Speeding Rosetta orbiter baffles astro-boffins

Baffled Boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA) are hoping that today's Earth fly-by of the Rosetta satellite will shed light on a problem of significant gravity. At 07:45GMT this morning, the ESA's Rosetta started its third fly-past of the Earth, looking for a gravitational sling-shot. This particular event is being …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 15:32
Adobe Flash attack vector exploits insecure web design

User-supplied malware upload peril

An unpatched security risk involving Adobe Flash creates a possible mechanism for hackers to load exploits onto websites. The vulnerability was discovered by security researchers at Foreground Security and reported to both Adobe and Google, whose Google Applications, including Gmail, are potentially vulnerable to exploit. No …

Security 13 Nov 2009, 15:32
Spanish region teaches kids how to crack one off

'Pleasure is in your hands', suggests Extremadura

Spain's autonomous region of Extremadura has sparked a bit of a rumpus by issuing an educational leaflet entitled Pleasure is in your hands, detailing the best way to achieve solo satisfaction. The offending literature is part of a €14,000 campaign aimed at raising sexual awareness among the region's 14 to 17-year-olds, and …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 15:39
HP: Q4 will be better than expected

China wakes up early from recession

In the wake of Hewlett-Packard's $2.7bn deal to take over networking player 3Com earlier this week, HP's top brass announced preliminary results for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, ended in October. The numbers are better than expected - in large measure because of an business upswing in China. HP said that it expects …

The Channel 13 Nov 2009, 15:40
To horse! It's Comment of the Week

CoTW I preferred the 'Dungeon' theme but whatever

Fortified as I am by the greasiest, kebabingest TechnoWrap™ Soho has to offer and a generous nip of desk brandy, I suppose I can just about stomach a traipse through your scintillating contributions to modern discourse. Welcome back to Comment of the Week, your new favourite Reg regurgitationfest. Last week's controversial …

Bootnotes 13 Nov 2009, 16:02
Feds pinch two Madoff geeks

Due in court today

The FBI has arrested two programmers in connection with falsifying records at Bernie Madoff's investment firm. The pair, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, had worked for the firm since the early 90s. They were arrested at their homes this morning and will be charged with conspiracy, falsifying books and records of a broker- …

Financial News 13 Nov 2009, 16:08
Taser gang targets 'high value' Heathrow computer consignment

Heist used bogus police checkpoint

A gang of robbers targeted a delivery van carrying "high value computer equipment" near Heathrow Airport on Monday night by setting up a fake police checkpoint. The four men, dressed in high visibility jackets, attacked the van driver and his companion with CS gas and threatened them with a taser at 11.18pm, having laid their …

The Channel 13 Nov 2009, 16:23
Mantis Reaper-clone drone flies

BAE rolls out latest Wheel 2.0™ offering

UK-headquartered arms globocorp BAE Systems has announced completion of initial flight trials by its large, twin-engined "Mantis" unmanned aircraft above Australia. Praying for pork. “This achievement is testament to the can-do approach of the whole team working on this programme," said BAE killdroid honcho Chris Allam. "It …

Government 13 Nov 2009, 16:30
ISS piss recycler packs up again on eve of Atlantis visit

O for a beaker of the warm south

The International Space Station's buggy urine-recycling unit has packed up again, according to reports. With the shuttle Atlantis due to visit shortly, temporarily boosting the number of people at the orbiting outpost to 12, it's feared that areas of the station may begin to fill up with containers of astronaut piss awaiting …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 17:04
Dell confirms first Android-based smartphone

Launch announced, specs not

Dell has officially announced its first branded smartphone – the Mini 3i. Dell's Mini 3i will appear in China later this month The PC manufacturer hasn’t released a list of the phone’s technical specifications - perhaps an indication that Dell executives have yet to sign off on the Mini 3i’s features. However, the firm has …

Phones 13 Nov 2009, 17:07
iPhone worm hacker gets death threats, job offers

Mixed ~~bug~~ bag for chastened VXer

The creator of the rickrolling iPhone worm has spoken of possible job offers and death threats since the release of the Jesus Phone malware last weekend. Ashley Towns, 21, from Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, told local media he received both threats and offers of possible work a day after he was identified as the …

Security 13 Nov 2009, 17:41
Google Chrome OS due next week, says someone

Goonux for Eee. Maybe

Google will offer downloads of its Chrome operating system any day now, according to an internet rumor. Citing a "reliable source," TechCrunch indicates an early version of the Chrome OS will arrive with a limited collection of hardware drivers "within a week." Google had previously said that an early version of the OS would …

Operating Systems 13 Nov 2009, 18:02
Microsoft opens Windows 7 to advertisers

Dolly Parton sings for IE 8

Microsoft has cracked open Windows 7 to commercial sponsorship with desktop themes from advertisers. The company Friday announced desktops from Ducati, Infiniti, Porsche, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Twentieth Century Fox under a pilot program that'll run until next October. Microsoft also created its own Windows 7 themes for Xbox …

Operating Systems 13 Nov 2009, 19:49
NASA: the Moon is a hydrated mistress

LCROSS spies 'buckets' of water in lunar crater

NASA's LCROSS probe has confirmed the presence of water on the lunar surface, including buckets of the stuff in a shadowed crater near the moon's south pole. "Indeed, yes, we found water," said LCROSS principal investigator Anthony Colaprete said during a news conference today at NASA's Ames Research Center. "And we didn't …

Science 13 Nov 2009, 20:12
Apple snuffs iPhone app for too much Appleness

'Devs can't use pics we give to devs'

A longtime Mac developer has walked away from the iPhone App Store after Apple's app police spent three months deciding to reject the developer's application for using Apple images meant specifically for developers. The latest victim of Apple's capriciousness is Rogue Amoeba Software (tagline: "Strange Name. Great software …

Developer 13 Nov 2009, 21:04
Boffins fight pacemaker hacks with ultrasound security

Don't go breaking my heart

Researchers are looking to ultrasound waves as a way to prevent attacks on radio-controlled pacemakers. The plan - floated by doctors from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control - uses ultrasound waves to determine the precise distance …

Security 13 Nov 2009, 21:17
HPcom spells 'IT disaster,' says UK firm

Save the 3Com customers foundation

A UK-based IT service company is warning that HP's acquisition of 3com could "spell IT disaster" for existing 3com customers. Comtek Network Systems, self-described as "Europe's Largest IT Hardware Repair Service," issued a media alert Thursday to sound the alarm. According to the release, many of 3com's products could be …

Data Networking 13 Nov 2009, 21:48
Google Docs set for 'get rid of' Office moment

Only a year away. Says Google

By next year, Google says, its web-happy word processor will be so effective, most enterprises will be able to "get rid of [Microsoft] Office." Speaking with ZDNet Asia, Dave Girouard - president of Google's enterprise division - admitted that Docs isn't up to snuff at the moment, calling it "much less mature" than Google Mail …

Applications 13 Nov 2009, 23:10
Microsoft admits Win 7 tool violated GPL

ImageMaster open sourced

Microsoft will soon release a Windows 7 tool under the GPL, after admitting the product violated the terms of the popular open-source license. On Friday, the company said it will release the ImageMaster USB/DVD source code and binaries under GPLv2 next, following an internal investigation into the matter that found it had …

Software 13 Nov 2009, 23:11