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19th November 2009 Archive

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  • Stalker video peepholed ESPN bombshell

    'Erin Andrews Naked Butt'

    A Chicago man who stalked ESPN reporter Erin Andrews across the United States managed to secretly videotape America's sexiest sportscaster in the nude twice, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The eight-month odyssey by Michael David Barrett began in Columbus, Ohio in early 2008 and concluded in Nashville, according to court …

    Crime 19 Nov 01:12

  • National Security Agency beefed Win 7 defenses

    Now for Apple, Sun, and Red Hat

    The National Security Agency helped Microsoft harden Windows 7 against attacks and is providing similar assistance to Apple, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat too, an agency official said. The admission came in prepared remarks delivered Tuesday by Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, at a hearing before the …

    Security 19 Nov 04:35

  • IBM greases mainframe app pipe

    System zware boost

    IBM is sweeping cobwebs off big iron with a host of new software products and updates aimed at streamlining maintenance and squeezing more workloads out of the System z mainframe. The company said System z has renewed life as a platform for its cost-cutting and consolidation values, but alas, software today requires better …

    Servers 19 Nov 05:02

  • DWP IT contractors in strike ballot

    Union: 'Tell management that enough is enough'

    HP contractors working for the Department for Work and Pensions will vote on whether to strike over job losses and pay. More than 1,000 government IT contractors, working mainly for the DWP in locations around the UK including Newcastle, Washington, Preston and near Blackpool, are voting in a ballot which will run until 30 …

    Government 19 Nov 06:02

  • Fedora 12 - it's a horse, not a camel

    Review Design by committee makes good

    The Fedora Project has announced the latest version of its popular open source Linux distribution. Nicknamed Constantine, Fedora 12 has quite a few impressive new features and demonstrates that the project has gained a renewed sense of direction. In the build-up to the release of Fedora 12, the Fedora community has focused its …

    Operating Systems 19 Nov 06:02

  • US, China play footsie with joint space mission

    We will 'enhance security in outer space'

    The United States and China have agreed to step up discussions on cooperative space exploration, as both countries separately pursue ambitious plans to send a manned mission to the Moon by around 2020. US president Barack Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintaro have agreed during a summit in Beijing this week to formalize joint …

    Space 19 Nov 07:02

  • Crypto pioneer and security chief exits Sun

    One in the PKI?

    Crypto pioneer and Sun Microsystems' veteran chief security officer Whitfield Diffie has left the company, with database-giant Oracle's acquisition still in the air. According to Technology Review, Diffie is slated to be a visiting professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, after 18 years at Sun, latterly in the high- …

    Business 19 Nov 07:02

  • Google remaps Earth for iPhone

    Review Turn-by-turn (mis-)directions

    Google has released a major update to its Google Earth iPhone app, boosting it a full point to 2.0. Let's hope, however, that a version 2.0.1 will soon squash the bugs we dug up when we loaded the new Google Earth onto our iPhone 3GS and took it for a spin. On the plus side, version 2.0 contains all of the fun and …

    Mobile 19 Nov 08:02

  • Nuke labs show the future of hybrid computing

    SC09 Share and share alike

    The Hybrid Multicore Consortium is on a mission that perhaps all of computing - on the desktop and in the data center - will one day embark on: making hybrid computing architectures as easy to program and use as monolithic platforms have been. There is a growing consensus - but by no means a complete one - that the future of …

    HPC 19 Nov 08:02

  • IoSafe Solo disaster-proof drive

    Review Fireproof and waterproof - we know, we tried it

    The IoSafe Solo USB drive is a robust storage device that promises to protect precious data in the event of a fire or flood. It uses patented technology to surround the 3.5in Sata hard disk with both waterproof and fireproof barriers, as well as an innovative cooling mechanism. IoSafe's Solo: disc burning and soak tests take …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 08:37

  • No Freeview HD kit in time for launch, warns telly exec

    Full rollout timetable revealed

    It's now clear that you'll need a new TV or set-top box (STB) to pick up Freeview HD. However, Register Hardware has learned that compatible kit won’t arrive in Blighty in time for the service’s debut early next month. Richard Lindsay-Davis, Director General of the Digital TV Group (DTG), has admitted to us that “at this stage …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 09:02

  • The Register's threat predictions for 2010

    Webcast What lurks in the New Year?

    Find out what threats lie in wait for your business throughout 2010 and how to avoid them, with this free to view audio slideshow from The Register, in association with MessageLabs. Last week we invited Freeform Dynamics' Jon Collins and Paul Wood of MessageLabs to bring their crystal balls to the Reg studio and give us their …

    Security 19 Nov 09:20

  • Queen's Speech slammed by small biz

    Seven minutes of slurry

    Small business groups were less than impressed with Gordon Brown's fantasy list of what he would do in the unlikely event that he is re-elected as Prime Minister. Although many were shocked at the lack of action on MPs' expenses, small business groups were unimpressed at the lack of promised action on improving internet access …

    Small Biz 19 Nov 09:32

  • Arriva cellphone tickets let mobiles keep you mobile

    Bus spotters irate*

    Passengers travelling on an Arriva bus can now pay with a wave of their mobile phone, without recourse to NFC, RFID, or any equally high-tech solutions. The system deployed by Arriva uses a Java client on the phone to sell tickets to the passengers using a credit card or at a PayPoint outlet, the ticket can then be activated …

    Mobile 19 Nov 09:58

  • Arkansas cop tasers 10-year-old girl

    Mother backs electric justice for unruly child

    An Arkansas cop has been suspended after tasering a ten-year-old girl who repeatedly "screamed, kicked and resisted" when her mother attempted to get her to have a shower before bed. Officer Dustin Bradshaw was called to a "domestic disturbance" in Ozark on 11 November, where he found the girl "curled up on the floor, …

    Bootnotes 19 Nov 10:26

  • Infrastructure convergence - The two sides of the coin

    Comment What are you gonna do today, Napoleon?

    Let’s be fair – IT isn’t the only industry fraught with jargon, but it can certainly hold its head up high among the leaders in the field of gobbledygook. The minefield of acronyms we all have to suffer is worsened by the astonishingly bad practice of overloading individual, sometimes quite innocuous words and combining them …

    Data Networking 19 Nov 10:28

  • Toshiba plans new enterprise: High capacity 3.5-inch HDDs

    Wants to be a bigger player in the big drive market

    Toshiba is planning to enter the high-capacity enterprise 3.5-inch hard disk drive market. Toshiba Storage Division Europe hosted a press event in London yesterday, following on the completion of its acquisition of Fujitsu's hard disk drive (HDD) business. Following the acquisition Toshiba has a portfolio of HDDs that are …

    Storage 19 Nov 10:32

  • When algorithms attack, does Google hear you scream?

    Analysis Inside Google's search penalties gulag

    One day in June 2006, search startup Foundem vanished from Google. Foundem is the developer of a "universal vertical search" technology, and currently offers comparison shopping across a range of consumer and travel categories by drilling down into vendor sites and returning details of actual flights and products. But on 26 June …

    Music and Media 19 Nov 11:02

  • North England to replace satanic mills with iPhone app factories

    On Ilkley Moor baht app

    Offical boosters for the North of England have been looking at iPhone development, and published a guide for entrepreneurial Northerners on how to get their apps noticed. Regional development body Northwest Vision and Media body tries to promote development of the digital economy up North, and reckons that iPhone application …

    Mobile 19 Nov 11:02

  • 'Hybridisation' tech to quintuple battery life

    DARPA seeks box-o-lotso energy goodening gear

    Most of us these days find battery life an annoying issue, as our increasingly puissant personal gadgetry uses juice faster and faster. Few, however, find batteries as troublesome as modern-day soldiers do - burdened as they are with lasers, optics, radios, monocle displays and other electronic paraphernalia. Adding insult to …

    Physics 19 Nov 11:05

  • iPhone gets NFC hook-up

    Plug-in peripheral enables wireless goodness

    iPhone owners lamenting the lack of NFC capability can now plug in the iCarte from Wireless Dynamics, providing short-range wireless at the cost of a little extra length. Those who can't wait for the next iPhone, or believe Apple lacks the nerve to fit Near Field Communications internally, now have the option of plugging NFC …

    Mobile 19 Nov 11:20

  • Apple iPad to get OLED screen

    But launch delayed as a consequence, claims mole

    Apple's much anticipated iPad won't appear until the second half of 2010 - but at least the delayed model will come with a 9.7in OLED display rather than an LCD. So claims a mole within Taiwan's contract manufacturer community, according to a DigiTimes report. The OLED panel will be coming from LG, apparently. LG signed a $ …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 11:30

  • Atlantis specialists set for ISS spacewalk

    Robotic arm lube job on list of tasks

    Space shuttle Atlantis mission specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher will later today step outside the International Space Station for the first of three STS-129 mission spacewalks. Atlantis docked with the ISS yesterday (see pic*) bearing 27,000lb (12,300kg) of cargo that is "essential for the continued operations of …

    Space 19 Nov 11:31

  • Palin claims webmail hack disrupted GOP campaign

    Yes, that was the problem, Sarah

    Sarah Palin has described the hack of her webmail account as the "most disruptive" event in her campaign to become US vice president last year. Palin singles out the hack into her Yahoo! web account as "the most disruptive and discouraging" incident in the presidential campaign in her new book Going Rogue: An American Life, …

    ID 19 Nov 11:56

  • Hi-tech Silly Putty reformed as gadget protector

    Malleable orange goo absorbs impact

    What is the best way to protect your laptop or smartphone? By covering them in bubble wrap? Or by restricting their use only to well-padded areas? No. A hi-tech Silly Putty is your best bet, according to manufacturer Tech21. D3O in its raw, stretchy form Tech21 last night launched its range of smartphone and laptop cases …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 11:58

  • NetApp doubles profits ahead of Fujitsu love-in

    Mighty strong quarter there

    NetApp recorded more than doubled profits for its second fiscal 2010 quarter, out-performing its largest competitors and beating its own plans and Wall Street’s expectations alike. Revenues were $910m, essentially flat being down just $1.6m on the year-ago quarter, and up nine per cent sequentially, but net income of $96m was …

    Storage 19 Nov 12:05

  • New 'reversible' paralysis-ray turns victims blue, flaccid

    'Many test subjects survived', claim inventors

    Canadian boffins say they have developed a fearsome paralysis ray technology which caused test animals zapped with it to "turn blue and become paralysed". The effect is claimed to be "reversible", but is often fatal. Chemistry prof Neil Branda and his colleagues achieved their startling effects by drugging their test animals …

    Biology 19 Nov 12:25

  • MySpace recruits Imeem band member

    Web 2.0 music titan mashup

    MySpace, the yesterday-man of social networking sites, has reportedly bought Imeem for an undisclosed sum. Neither firm is commenting on the deal but it’s understood that News Corp-owned MySpace has stumped up around $8m for Imeem. The acquisition of the ad-supported site represents MySpace’s latest move into overhauling its …

    Financial News 19 Nov 12:27

  • Modern Warfare 2 sets second sales record

    Most sales over a five-day period, claims publisher

    Videogame publisher Activison has claimed a second sales record for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, based on the game’s five-day global “sell-through” figure. The title has achieved five-day sell-through sales of $550m (£329m/€369m) across the globe, according to the publisher. This is a record, it claimed. Last week, …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 12:35

  • How blogger kept Belle de Jour's ID secret

    Using Google for good

    British blogger Darren Shrubsole has revealed how he used a GoogleWhack and IP tracking to create an early warning system for the anonymity of sex worker and writer Belle de Jour, who was outed in the press this week. Darren has run a link blog - linkmachinego.com - since well before the mainstream media had even heard of …

    Music and Media 19 Nov 12:39

  • Casio casts ultra-slim 'freezeproof' compact

    Tougher than old boots?

    Blighty’s winter mornings can get rather cold, so if you insist on taking pictures of frozen flowers and iced-up lakes then at least Casio is here to help with a super-slim “freezeproof” compact camera. Casio's EX-G1: slim and well 'ard The Casio EX-G1 will apparently still snap stills in temperatures as low as -10°C, a …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 12:51

  • Ofcom talks to spook firm on filesharing snoop plan

    Exclusive Peering inside your packets

    Ofcom has held talks over a monitoring system that would peer inside filesharing traffic to determine the level of copyright infringement, in preparation for new laws designed to protect the music, film and software industries. The Digital Economy Bill, to be published by Lord Mandelson tomorrow, will require the …

    Telecoms 19 Nov 12:54

  • Parents demand control over text messaging

    cnt tlk, mum's listnin 2 my txtz

    More than 90 per cent of parents want more control over their sprog's texting habits, and would buy more phones if they had it. Messaging company Acision spoke to 1000 mobile phone users and established that parents would be happy to equip their ankle-biters with mobile phones at an even younger age, if only they had more …

    Mobile 19 Nov 13:01

  • Sony Bravia KDL-46W5810 46in LCD TV

    Review Setting the standard for Freesat tellies?

    The W5810 range represents Sony’s first move into the Freesat market, allowing you to sample the delights of true HD broadcasting without coughing up any extra cash for a Blu-ray player or Sky HD subscription. Sony’s Bravia KDL-46W5810 – one of the company’s first Freesat tellies As the name implies, the KDL-46W5810 is the …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 13:02

  • Downfall writer praises Hitler rant net meme

    'I find those parodies tremendously amusing'

    The writer of 2004 German film Downfall has described as "tremendously amusing" the plethora of parodies featuring a ranting Hitler reacting angrily to various topical bad tidings - including the news he's been banned from Xbox Live, and Frank Lampard is signing for Inter Milan. The net meme may, Variety suggests, have started …

    Bootnotes 19 Nov 13:18

  • ISA report reveals email security lapse

    Safeguarders slightly slipshod on safeguards

    The Independent Safeguarding Authority's first annual report reveals that it sent an email with confidential data to the wrong address. The incident, which occurred in the organisation's first full year of operation, was followed by an investigation which concluded that the lapse was due to human error rather than procedural …

    Enterprise Security 19 Nov 13:26

  • Japan claims latest long distance e-car record

    Leccy Tech Sorry, Tesla!

    A Japanese e-car has set a new world record for the longest distance travelled on a single charge, travelling the 345 miles from Tokyo to Osaka without pulling over to re-charge. Tateuchi drove his modified Mira from Tokyo to Osaka The distance trumps the 313 miles managed by a Tesla Roadster through a strip of Australia …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 13:58

  • Spanish payment breach prompts huge German card recall

    Holidaymakers at risk of fraud

    German authorities have recalled more than 100,000 credit cards over fears that crooks may have obtained details of the cards via an unnamed Spanish payment processing firm. Holidaymakers who used their Visa or Mastercard credit card in Spain may be at risk of fraud following the reported security breach, which prompted the …

    Crime 19 Nov 14:01

  • Judge batters Bluebeat with injunction over Beatles downloads

    Site owner gives long and winding explanation

    An LA judge has slapped an injunction on the Californian website that was flogging downloads of the Beatles catalogue at 25 cents a pop. According to the LA Times, Judge John F Walter said the defendant in the case, BlueBeat.com and its owner, Hank Risan, rejected Bluebeat's argument that it had not breached copyright in the …

    Music and Media 19 Nov 14:12

  • HP workers eye walkout over engineer jobs dispute

    Updated 'Sacrificial offering on the altar of stock exchange'

    Hewlett-Packard workers have voted in favour of strike action in the UK, following a ballot among members of the Unite union who complained about 150 customer engineers being shunted over to a subsidiary company. Unite said 77 per cent of members at HP voted for a staff walkout, while 85 per cent called on "action short of …

    Financial News 19 Nov 14:40

  • Sony Ericsson goes web crazy

    Who wants to be native these days?

    Sony Ericsson has decided web applications are the way of the future, with a new SDK and emulators enabling the development of cross-platform applications. Like many of the non-aligned manufacturers Sony Ericsson is forced to support application development on a variety of platforms, including Android and Symbian, so shifting …

    Mobile 19 Nov 14:52

  • US flights suffering nationwide delays

    Computer says whoa

    The Federal Aviation Administration has blamed a computer glitch for flight delays across the US today. Flight plans which are normally entered onto the system automatically are not being loaded. A spokeswoman for the FAA told the Register: "We're experiencing a system wide outage. It started at 5.06am and we're still working …

    Servers 19 Nov 15:01

  • Boffins try to get closer to hot bodies

    Quantum dots: making electricity from waste heat

    Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found a way of of increasing the amount of energy that can harvested from a hot body*. If the discovery lives up to the hype then it could possibly pave the way to devices that can use waste heat as a power source. Pointing out the potential of wasted heat, the press …

    Physics 19 Nov 15:02

  • US monster-truck roboguns to blast enemies autonomously

    While simultaneously shooting rockets out of the air

    Military boffins in the US are now equipping a small fleet of armoured lorries with automatic defensive weapons which can detect incoming antitank rockets and shoot them down in mid-air before they strike, meanwhile retaliating upon the enemy gunmen with devastating firepower - all without human input. Don't shoot it, you'll …

    Science 19 Nov 15:14

  • Santa menaced by sex offender postie

    US Postal Service grinches Christmas

    The US Postal Service has pulled the plug on a Santa Claus letter service which has run since 1954. Thousands of letters sent by children around the world to "Santa Claus, North Pole" were opened by volunteers and replies written and sent. Envelopes were returned with a North Pole postmark. [The North Pole in question is in …

    Bootnotes 19 Nov 15:28

  • Qualcomm's nifty Skifta home P2P

    It's Orb-tastic

    A 6 man "startup" was one of the highlights of Qualcomm's first European R&D showcase today. Skifta is a private P2P network for media sharing - much like Orb. There's a small daemon that runs on Linux, Mac or PC and this sprays music, photos and other movies around different devices such as games consoles, TVs, your mobile or …

    Mobile 19 Nov 15:30

  • Will Ferrell is Hollywood's most over-rated overpaid star

    Tops Forbes' list of fiscal shame

    Will Ferrell has landed Forbes' "Most Overpaid Star" honour, topping a list of names who sometimes "cost more than their box office worth". Ferrell's elevation to fiscal fame and shame is partly as a result of this summer's Land of the Lost crash and burn, which saw the movie cost $100m and recoup just $65m at the box office. …

    Entertainment 19 Nov 15:58

  • California votes in HD TV power pruning law

    Standby not good enough?

    Legislators in California have voted to exterminate overly energy-hungry TVs, creating a law that insists the state’s tellies meet strict energy consumption standards. Set to come into force in 2011, the law will require TVs with screen sizes of 58in or less to consume 33 per cent less electricity than existing models do. For …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 16:02

  • 'Banned' Xbox Live consoles appearing on eBay

    Cheap consoles without connectivity

    Microsoft’s decision to ban gamers from Xbox Live as punishment for allegedly modifying their consoles has spurred many to simply sell their Xbox 360s through eBay, it has emerged. Earlier today, the number of Xbox 360s described as “banned” on eBay’s UK website was steadily growing, with prices for such machines ranging …

    Reg Hardware 19 Nov 16:08

  • IBM squishes systems software into new business unit

    Making programs play nice with each other

    As is usually the case at IBM, the official convergence is often announced long after various product lines were already well on their way toward a confluence behind the scenes. And so it is with a new unit of Big Blue's Systems and Technology Group, which put all of its operating systems and hypervisor virtualization software …

    Software 19 Nov 16:10

  • NJ teen jailed over Scientology DDoS

    Anonymess

    A New Jersey teenager convicted of participating in a denial of service attack against the Church of Scientology has been jailed for a year. Dmitriy Guzner, 19, from Verona, was also ordered to spend two years on probation following his release and pay $37,500 in compensation at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, The New …

    Law 19 Nov 16:11

  • FCC approves radio mast 'shot clock' rule

    Not as fun as it sounds

    The FCC has agreed that local authorities must approve or deny applications for new radio towers within 150 days, or 90 days for additional kit on existing towers. The new rule, widely known as a "shot clock" in reference to sporting time limits, means that state and municipal authorities will have to respond to applications …

    Mobile 19 Nov 16:59

  • AOL appeals for 2,500 job axe volunteers

    Imminent Time Warner divorce puts web firm in bedsit

    AOL has asked 2,500 workers to volunteer for redundancy packages at the ailing web firm. The company currently employs 6,900 staff. AOL hopes that enough volunteers will step forward otherwise layoffs will follow, it said. The firm’s owner Time Warner plans to set AOL adrift next month. It’s told employees that the voluntary …

    Financial News 19 Nov 17:15

  • Scareware tool dumps smut on Windows PCs

    Rogue clean-up tool poses child abuse frame risk

    Rogue anti-virus slingers are getting even sneakier. Instead of offering to clean up non-existent malware threats as per the traditional approach, one rogue scanner offers to clean up images of porn it claims to have found on a prospective mark's PC. In reality, these images get downloaded by the purported clean-up package …

    Security 19 Nov 18:05

  • Google open sources flash-happy Chrome OS

    Updated Uber browser shuns hard drives

    It's a big week for Microsoft. Which means Google has made a point of spotlighting a product designed to undercut its Redmond arch rival. Today, via webcast from its Mountain View headquarters, Google VP of product management Sundar Pichai and Engineering Director Matthew Papakipos unveiled an early version of Chrome OS, the …

    Operating Systems 19 Nov 18:20

  • Users howl as Fedora 12 gives root to unwashed masses

    Updated Breaks Unix 'zero-assumption' trust model

    This story was updated about 11 hours after it was published to reflect that Fedora developers have reversed course. Operating system users once again will be required to enter a root password before installing software packages. Fedora users are revolting against a change introduced in the latest version of the operating …

    Security 19 Nov 18:59

  • Intel invests in exafloppy future

    'Calcul Intensif,' indeed

    Intel has announced that it is joining forces with a trio of French institutions to create a European research center focused on the development of supercomputers with exaflop-level performance. An exaflop - for those of you who skipped that day at university - is 1,000 petaflops. Intel's contribution to the planned Exascale …

    HPC 19 Nov 19:18

  • Google adds automatic captions to YouTube

    Robo-transcription technology

    Google is adding new technology to YouTube that can automatically add text captions to videos using speech recognition. The website has allowed users to manually add captions to videos for about a year now, but the process requires the author to pen a full transcription of their content and time it properly to the on-screen …

    Music and Media 19 Nov 19:29

  • Why Microsoft's IE 9 will frustrate standards fans

    PDC Return to render

    Performance and standards look like dominating work on Microsoft's next version of Internet Explorer. As ever with Microsoft, though, it's likely to be the former that not just trips up the latter but that also continues to sour Microsoft's relationship with the rest of the industry. President of Microsoft's Windows and …

    Developer 19 Nov 20:19

  • Write haiku, win home server

    What's needed to win
    Microsoft and Intel schwag?
    Creativity

    Intel and Microsoft want to give you a home server in exchange for 17 syllables of poetic artistry. Seeing as how, according to the companies' just-announced Home Server Haiku Challenge, a "home server is like having a samurai in a box," it's fitting that a haiku-writing contest would be just the culturally sensitive gimmick …

    Odds and Sods 19 Nov 21:37

  • Al Gore entertains the supercomputer troops

    SC09 Seeks political scientists

    Former vice president and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore did his self-deprecating politician and climate change champion routine as a keynote for the HPC (high performance computing) faithful at the SC09 trade show in Portland, Oregon, this morning and did his best to get the HPC community fired up about the job they need to do to …

    HPC 19 Nov 23:04