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25th November 2009 Archive

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  • Google eyeballs to track Tivo watchers

    Pact gives ad giant 'second-by-second' data

    Google has inked a deal with digital video recorder (DVR) outfit Tivo that lets the search firm snoop on audience numbers as a way of fueling its TV advertising business. Tivo said the agreement allows the Google TV Ads platform to draw anonymous "second-by-second" DVR viewing data from all Tivo subscribers using standalone …

    Media 25 Nov 2009, 06:02

  • Climate change hackers leave breadcrumb trail

    Is anyone looking?

    The hackers who leaked more than 1,000 emails from one of the top climate research centers may have used an open proxy to cover their tracks, but that doesn't mean authorities can't figure out who they are. Rob Graham, CEO of penetration testing firm Errata Security, said his analysis suggests that the hackers used three open …

    Security 25 Nov 2009, 06:02

  • Billionaire floats eco dream on sailing soda bottles

    Plastiki and the 100% recyclable yacht

    By now, David de Rothschild is used to being cast as the eccentric visionary whose well-meaning crusade to save the world's oceans is overshadowed by a lack of execution - or at least naiveté. After all, the billionaire eco-adventurer's three-year quest to sail across the Pacific in a boat made completely of recycled materials …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 07:02

  • Apple tops Google as UK 'Thought Leader'

    Tories top thinkers too

    Apple has replaced Google as the top "Business Thought Leader" in the UK, according to a survey of 1,000 Blighty-based "Key Opinion Leaders." The survey - known as the Thought Leadership Index 2009 (PDF) - was conducted by the brand-floggers TLG Communications and the research firm Populus. Those opinion-offering KOLs (yes, …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2009, 07:02

  • Data Direct offers native file system

    Nehalem replaces FPGA hardware

    DataDirect, a shipper of very high-speed block-access storage to the high performance computing (HPC) and media worlds, is now offering native file access. The company has seen the way two winds are blowing. The first is that multi-core commodity CPUs are outpacing what it can do with its in-house FPGA hardware. The second …

    Storage 25 Nov 2009, 08:02

  • iRiver Story

    Review Best in class e-book reader?

    While the price and diversity of e-book readers is still some way off achieving the sort of critical mass that put an MP3 player in nearly pocket, the number of devices appearing on the market is increasing at a healthy rate. A good read? iRiver’s Story While not exactly a household name here in the UK, iRiver can usually …

    Tablets 25 Nov 2009, 08:02

  • Unified networking: Reality or a marketing myth?

    We all know that the IT Infrastructure has a life of its own. In the vast majority of organisations the infrastructure evolves over time rather than being designed as a whole. This applie s to all of the underlying components: the servers, the storage and -an area very easy to overlook - the network or networks that tie …

    Data Networking 25 Nov 2009, 08:58

  • 1,024 TV Re-Runs at 1.5GB/sec

    Now that's what I call streaming!

    As we’re slowly gathering our wits again after a week of supercomputing fun at SC09, a story from Chris Mellor caught our eye this morning. Chris was writing about Fusion I/O and its newest SSD (Solid State Drive) product, the Fusion ioDrive Octal. These units provide up to 5TB raw storage and can push up to 800,000 IOPS. We …

    HPC 25 Nov 2009, 09:39

  • Feral dromedaries besiege Oz Outback town

    'Some people open their windows and all they see is camels'

    An Oz Outback community is battling to regain control of its town from a 6,000-strong feral camel invasion, which has seen the thirsty dromedaries cause "chaos" in their search for water. According to the Times, the drought-hit beasts have descended on the Northern Territory's Docker River en masse, "trampling through homes, …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 09:50

  • Microsoft loses top beancounter

    CFO looks for pastures beyond Redmond and beans

    Microsoft is saying goodbye to its chief beancounter, Chris Liddell, after four and a half years in the post. CFO Liddell leaves at the end of the year and will be replaced by Peter Klein - currently CFO of Microsoft's business division. Klein worked in corporate finance before joining Microsoft. Steve Ballmer said Liddell …

    Financial News 25 Nov 2009, 09:53

  • Eat frozen food and avoid line-caught fish, says eco study

    Enviro-profs clash with Greenpeace advice

    Enviro-profs studying the ecological impact of food production have come out with some counter-intuitive results. According to a new study, it is greener to eat frozen salmon than fresh, and catching fish en masse in nets does less damage to the planet than taking just a few using hooks and lines. The new research was carried …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 09:53

  • Tivo to return to UK in 2010

    Virgin Media tie-in

    Virgin Media has announced impending plans to deliver Tivo to UK homes. Tivo, the original PVR service, will provide “middleware and user interface software” for co-branded Virgin Media next-generation set-top boxes due to arrive in Blighty at some point next year. Neil Berkett, CEO of Virgin Media, said: “Our fibre-optic …

    Hardware 25 Nov 2009, 10:24

  • Xiotech definitely not using SSDs in near future

    Are we clear on that?

    A Xiotech blog post says unequivocally that Xiotech will not be using solid state drives (SSDs) in its Emprise arrays in the near future. The post, made to rebut a Techopsguys blog, is written as though it comes from someone like Jim MacDonald, Xiotech's new Chief Strategy Officer, although it is not attributed to any …

    Storage 25 Nov 2009, 10:37

  • EMC stages $100m international reorganisation

    One holding company to bind them all

    EMC is reorganising its various international operations into a single holding company and repatriating $4bn to EMC USA at a cost of $100m in taxes. The bare details are laid out in a November 18 SEC filing. This says EMC will transfer: Certain assets of its RSA and Data Domain entities and legacy foreign corporations owned …

    Storage 25 Nov 2009, 10:41

  • Advertisers say new cookie law met by browser settings

    Implied consent innit

    Advertising trade bodies have claimed that a new law passed this week by the European Parliament will not require website publishers to ask permission to put cookies on a user's computer. They argue that browser settings will imply consent. The European Parliament today voted to approve the European Commission's Telecoms …

    Law 25 Nov 2009, 10:49

  • iPhone comes to Tesco

    Do Tesco do Finest mobiles?

    Tesco is planning to offer the iPhone 3G and 3GS, hopefully before Christmas, proving that Apple's status symbol is now the phone of the people. Tesco will be selling both models of iPhone, on-line and in stores, but they're not promising to have them available before Christmas as there are logistical issues to sort out, …

    Mobile 25 Nov 2009, 10:51

  • Fault tolerance in virtualised environments

    You the Expert Doesn’t get much more exciting than this

    In this, our final Experts column in the current server series, our reader experts look at fault tolerance in Virtualised environments. As ever, we’re grateful to Reg reader experts Adam and Trevor for sharing their experience. They are joined by Intel’s Iain Beckingham and Freeform Dynamics’ Martin Atherton. Server …

    Server Management 25 Nov 2009, 11:02

  • MSI preps slim laptop with AMD Neo X2 chippery

    Thin'n'light not an Intel-only game

    MSI has rolled out a new member of its X family of skinny notebooks. This one has a AMD Neo X2 dual-core processor, proving that Intel won't have the thin'n'light laptop market all to itself. The X430 is based around a 13in, 1366 x 768 display - that's a 16:9 widescreen TV aspect ratio, hence the shorter-than-you-might-expect …

    Hardware 25 Nov 2009, 11:05

  • Apple adds Tesco as iPhone partner

    Every retailer helps

    It already sells milk, bread, booze, car insurance and furniture. Now supermarket behemoth Tesco is to add the Apple iPhone to its growing inventory. Tesco today confirmed a joint venture with O2, enabling the supermarket to introduce the iPhone 3G and 3GS into its retail operation "shortly". The handset will be sold through …

    Phones 25 Nov 2009, 11:10

  • RIPA III: A legislative turkey comes home to roost

    Comment The tragic consequences of anti-crypto law

    The first conviction of a man under the draconian powers of RIPA Part III tragically bears out a prediction I made at the time: that these powers would do little or nothing to tackle serious crime or terror, but would create a power the police could use to harass people and undermine their right to remain silent. After all, a …

    Law 25 Nov 2009, 11:19

  • The rise of targeted attacks

    Webcast Expert musings that hit the spot

    Earlier this month Paul Wood of MessageLabs joined Freeform Dynamics’ Jon Collins in the Reg studio to discuss targeted attacks and their affect on the modern business. This thirty minute audio webcast with accompanying slides is now available to watch free of charge from the Reg Archives. Volumes of targeted attacks are on …

    Security 25 Nov 2009, 11:31

  • HP rolls out business-friendly smartphone

    The iPaq is baq

    We haven’t heard much about HP’s iPaq 'once PDA, now smartphone' range for a while, but now it’s back – as a “feature-rich...world phone”, whatever that means. HP's iPaq Glisten: for business types, mostly According to its technical specifications, the iPaq Glisten shimmers with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity – that latter can …

    Phones 25 Nov 2009, 11:42

  • Beeb storm cockup: Wrong day's shipping forecast read

    But sailors shouldn't really be using Radio 4 anymore

    Proof, if it were needed, that voice in general and the BBC in particular are foolish ways to transmit important information was provided by Radio 4 earlier this month when an announcer read out the shipping forecast for the wrong day - during one of the stormiest weekends of the year. Parts of the first shipping forecast …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 11:49

  • Mozilla glares at Microsoft, chews on Direct2D graphics cud

    Harden up, people

    Mozilla has proclaimed that the race is on to beat Microsoft to the post in its efforts to insert Direct2D support into the next version of its Internet Explorer browser. Over the weekend, Mozilla programmer Bas Schouten wrote a lengthy blog post about how he had successfully loaded Direct2D support into an alpha build of …

    Applications 25 Nov 2009, 12:00

  • Fring brings Skype video calls to mobile

    Will you use video if it's free? Ah g'wan

    Skype-gateway-to-mobile providers Fring have added support for a selection of S60 devices, bringing free video calling to Symbian handsets. Fring is an identity-aggregating app that also gateways into Skype's voice network, providing Skype connectivity on the move. That's been voice-only until now, but the latest release …

    Mobile 25 Nov 2009, 12:16

  • Apple wants life ban for clone maker

    No sequel for Psystar

    Apple is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Psystar ever again selling cloned Mac software or hardware. Apple won a recent injunction but wants this to be extended to cover Snow Leopard, because otherwise Psystar will not stop copying its intellectual property. The company is also seeking damages and attorney fees. It is …

    Hardware 25 Nov 2009, 12:18

  • Superconductor forcefield to shield re-entering spacecraft?

    Euro/Russian plan for submarine missile test mulled

    Space boffins have hatched a plan to test their radical new superconductor magnet forcefield re-entry heatshield technology by firing it into space from a Russian submarine. Flight International reported on the scheme yesterday, describing cooperative efforts by German space agency DLR (Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 12:34

  • UK.gov rejects calls to open up on ContactPoint security

    Report on child database kept under wraps

    The UK government has turned down an opposition request to explain why it has refused to publish a full security report into ContactPoint, the controversial child protection database. Deloitte carried out of a security audit of the scheme but the government only published an executive summary, rather than the whole report, …

    Government 25 Nov 2009, 12:41

  • Offline Gmail kisses up to attachments - at last

    I'm in an igloo, look at my ice cold face

    Google has sat up and listened to users griping about the lack of an attachments feature in its offline version of Gmail by finally adding the option. Users who have Offline Gmail enabled (it’s not a default feature) will now see all their mail flowing through the outbox whether on or offline, said Google. The only thing …

    Applications 25 Nov 2009, 12:45

  • OCZ promising USB 3 desktop SSD

    Partnering with Symwave

    The dreary wait for slow desktop and notebook booting could be halted in its tracks for those with USB 3 interfaces and and cash, as OCZ is developing a fast and large capacity USB 3 SSD. What's happening is that OCZ is getting together with Symwave, a supplier of USB 3.0 silicon, to add a USB 3 interface to a desktop solid …

    Storage 25 Nov 2009, 12:46

  • US senators tell EC: Butt out of Oracle-Sun

    Damn foreigners unfairly impeding US business

    John Kerry, Orrin Hatch and 57 other senators have written to the European Commission accusing it of taking too long to approve Oracle's takeover of Sun in order to deliberately damage US business. In an open letter Senator John Kerry (Mass) said: "The EC is within its sovereign rights to set the rules for operation in its …

    The Channel 25 Nov 2009, 12:50

  • Responding to change in the server room

    Mini Poll How 'dynamic' is your server environment?

    When talking about managing the server environment, we hear all kinds of words bandied around to suggest how organisations might benefit from enhanced levels of flexibility, adaptability, agility, you name it. But resource allocation, that is, how well existing or new server capacity meets new or changing requirements, is where …

    Server Management 25 Nov 2009, 13:02

  • Nokia E72 smartphone

    Review BlackBerry liquidiser?

    The E72 is the latest in Nokia’s line of Qwerty handsets, beefing up the popular E71 with a slightly sleeker look, improved software and some interface tweaks. It’s very slim – only just over 1cm thick, 58.3mm wide, and 114 tall, weighing 128g. The 2.36in screen is only QVGA, though arguably on a unit this size, a higher …

    Phones 25 Nov 2009, 13:02

  • US Air Force orders 2200 Sony PS3s

    Extending supercomputing Linux cluster

    The US Air Force plans to buy a whopping 2200 PlayStation 3 games consoles which it will use to expand an existing PS3-based supercomputer. The current cluster of consoles contains 336 PS3s, each connected by their RJ45 ports to a common 24-port Gigabit Ethernet hub, Air Force online documentation states. The entire set-up …

    Games 25 Nov 2009, 13:19

  • Cathay Pacific clobbered by kaput khazis

    Engineers 'looking into' clogged Airbus crappers

    Airbus and Cathay Pacific engineers are "looking into" a series of blocked lav incidents on the airline's A330 and A340 aircraft - the worst of which saw one flight diverted with all its toilets out of commission. Cathay Pacific has been hit three times in 11 days by choked crappers. Two flights - one from Rome on 9 November …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2009, 13:32

  • Police Intelligence may be a thing of the past

    *Insert your own joke here.*

    The days of police unlawfully collecting and holding personal information on individuals exercising their legal right to protest may be drawing to a close. That, at least, is the conclusion of protest groups who have themselves been the object of police surveillance in the past – and judging by the response from the …

    Law 25 Nov 2009, 13:41

  • Freesat to get BBC iPlayer on 7 December

    Freeview HD spoiler?

    Freesat, the free-to-air satellite TV service, has said BBC iPlayer support will be introduced on 7 December. That's just five days after the Freeview HD begins transmitting, and the Freesat iPlayer is arguably no more of a full launch that the terrestrial hi-def service is. What's coming on 7 December is the beta release, …

    Media 25 Nov 2009, 13:45

  • 'Whales can't even hear naval sonar' says Navy boffin

    Enormous CT scanner used to probe spermwhale's noggin

    A boffin funded by the US Navy has used a gigantic CT scanner, normally employed for inspecting space rockets, to X-ray the head of a whale. The results apparently indicate that naval sonars can't be the cause of whale beachings, as the mighty cetaceans are unable to hear the relevant frequencies. The boffin in question is Dr …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 13:54

  • Nigel Lawson: Climate science has turned into religion

    Interview Why a think tank? Why now?

    One thing is missing from the Global Warming Policy Foundation, launched at Westminster on Monday, chairman Lord Lawson admitted. Mrs Thatcher's Chancellor for six years acknowledged that there aren't many young people on board. The average age of the Trustees is 74. You could almost say it pits the Old Aged vs the New Agers. …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 14:25

  • iPhone anti-malware stuck in state of denial

    Not needed, says Apple. Won't run, say developers

    The blaze of publicity that accompanied the release of the first iPhone worms this month has sparked interest in selling anti-malware products for the device. However no such security products currently exist and Apple shows little inclination in licensing any that do get developed. Antivirus products for Symbian smartphones …

    Security 25 Nov 2009, 14:53

  • Man guilty of selling fake chips to US Navy

    Go tell it to the Marines fella

    A 32-year-old California man has pleaded guilty to selling thousands of counterfeit computer processors to the US Navy. Neil Felahy of Newport Coast, California pleaded guilty to conspiracy and trafficking in counterfeit goods charges. As part of a plea bargain Felahy has agreed to co-operate with the US authorities. He faces …

    The Channel 25 Nov 2009, 15:34

  • Satyam investigation jacks up fraud bill by 40 per cent

    Money was funnelled into land, houses

    The Satyam Computer Services scandal has flared back into life with allegations that the fraud perpetuated at the firm was 40 per cent bigger than previously thought. India's Central Bureau of Investigation released a supplementary charge sheet today which claims that the ten people it says were behind the scam inflated …

    The Channel 25 Nov 2009, 15:37

  • 'Black box for buses' datachip survives 900° conflag

    Tech so secret, even DHS project chief knows naught

    Dastardly terrorists and/or incompetent drivers can no longer hope that the evidence of their catastrophic misdeeds, recorded by security cameras aboard public transport, will be erased in the hellish conflagrations following train wrecks and bus crashes. That's because the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has …

    Storage 25 Nov 2009, 15:52

  • 9/11 pager messages released on Wikileaks

    Of course the government sent most of them

    Over half a million intercepted pager messages sent on 11 September 2001 are being released by Wikileaks. The messages began appearing at 3am and will continue being released in order until 3am tomorrow. Early messages were mostly server status updates and the likes of "NATALIE NEEDS SOME HELP ON HER SLIDE...THANKS IN ADVANCE …

    Mobile 25 Nov 2009, 16:24

  • Strap-on jetwing birdman does an Icarus into Straits of Gibraltar

    Yves Rossy flies, undone

    Renowned backpack birdman Yves Rossy has suffered yet another mishap during an attempt to fly across the Straits of Gibraltar. Windy conditions were blamed by organisers after the Swiss daredevil plunged into the sea minutes after leaping from a small aircraft above Morocco, having intended to land in Spain. Jetboy Rossy in …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 16:27

  • New York to beam disaster alerts to Xbox gamers

    'Liberty City' to test emergency broadcasts via consoles

    Evading terrorists and nuclear attacks on your Xbox 360 looks set to become a real-world challenge as well as a virtual one. New York State (NYS) has begun trialling use of the console as an emergency broadcast system for disasters. NYS’ Emergency Management Office (EMO) has opted to use the Xbox 360 as a test bed for console- …

    Games 25 Nov 2009, 16:55

  • Evaluating enterprise application software

    Is IT's input really necessary nowadays?

    A seasoned ERP salesman coaching a junior colleague once said: “The trick, my boy, is to avoid the IT department like the plague for as long as possible, as they’ll just make your life complicated by asking lots of irrelevant geeky questions. Win the hearts and minds of the business people first by convincing them the software …

    Evolving Apps 25 Nov 2009, 17:09

  • Wikipedia bans Volvo's IT over racist rants

    Swedish vandalism

    Wikipedia has banned editing from machines inside Volvo Information Technology - the outfit that operates the Swedish auto maker's IT infrastructure - after someone in the organization vandalized the free encyclopedia with a pair of profanity-laden racist rants. Yesterday, an anonymous Wikifiddler sitting behind the IP address …

    The Channel 25 Nov 2009, 17:46

  • Reg readers reveal their holiday toilet texting plans

    Beats staring at the walls

    As our US readers get ready to head home for the holidays and our UK readers face up to the fact that Christmas/Yule/2010 is just around the corner, it's time to deliver the final word on the issue of toilet texting. Last month, Intel claimed that research showed that three quarters of Americans feel it is "perfectly …

    Bootnotes 25 Nov 2009, 18:00

  • Mozilla hatches Thunderbird 3 release candidate

    Almost out of the nest

    Thunderbird 3 is nearly ready to leave the nest. Mozilla Messaging on Wednesday conjured up the first release candidate for version 3.0 of their popular open source email and news client. What's that mean to you, the reader who doesn't like plunking fledgling code on their system? Only that portentous feeling that the final …

    Applications 25 Nov 2009, 19:29

  • Apple sues over knock-off power bricks

    Imitation not flattery

    Apple has sued a California company for alleging infringing a laptop AC-adapter patent granted to Cupertino in 2003. And they may have already won. Filed in federal court on Monday, the suit alleges that the California company, Media Solutions Holdings, infringes on Apple design patent entitled simply "Power adapter" which …

    The Channel 25 Nov 2009, 20:45

  • Why can't Google be more like Microsoft?

    Chrome OS and the wonders of closed open source

    Jeff Haynie has a wish. He wishes that when building an operating system, Google was as open as Microsoft. Or at least as open as Apple. He's well aware that Google likes to open source Android code. He realizes the company just freed code for an early version of its netbook-happy Chrome OS. And, yes, he heard über-Googler …

    Operating Systems 25 Nov 2009, 20:53

  • ICANN condemns registry DNS redirection

    No typo-squatting for SiteFinder set

    The group that oversees the internet's address system is taking a hard stance against domain name registries that redirect internet users to third-party sites when a non-existent URL is typed. Earlier this week, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said the practice - known as NXDOMAIN substitution …

    Networks 25 Nov 2009, 21:28

  • Atlantis glides home with choked pee nozzle

    No more dumps before terra firma?

    Space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the International Space Station today for its three-day return voyage to terra firma. All systems are clear for the STS-129 mission's planned landing at Kennedy Space Center on Friday morning — with the small exception of a blockage in the craft's waste water dump line. During a purge of …

    Science 25 Nov 2009, 21:43