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21st December 2009 Archive

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  • A decade to forget - how Microsoft lost its mojo

    So not the 1990s

    It was a confident - some might say complacent - Microsoft that entered the decade. Microsoft was the PC. Such was its grip on the desktop and laptop ecosystem that it could force OEMs to ship its browser by threatening to cut off access to its operating system. In quick succession between 2000 and 2001, Microsoft shipped …

    Operating Systems 21 Dec 2009, 03:07

  • Intel's Atomic 'Pine Trail' arrives early

    Nettops? Fuggedaboutem

    Intel's new-and-slightly-improved Atom processors and support chips met the waiting world Monday morning, a couple of weeks earlier than their oft-rumored rollout at the upcoming Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their early appearance is one of the only surprises about the new Atom platform, code-named Pine …

    Hardware 21 Dec 2009, 05:02

  • IT recession is no more, says study

    Growth in 2010

    We're coming into the home stretch of 2009, and this is the time when the IT prognosticators come out of the woodwork to make their predictions and projections for the new year. The wizards at Computer Economics - which makes a business out of measuring IT spending, salaries, and other technology trends - is calling an end to …

    Management 21 Dec 2009, 07:02

  • Toshiba MK6465GSX 640GB laptop hard drive

    Review Notebook storage booster

    Toshiba is the first manufacturer to deliver a 2.5in laptop hard drive that packs more than 500GB of storage. Its new MK6465GSX sports 640GB on two platters, and while we are aware that the Western Digital Scorpio Blue and Seagate Momentus 5400.7 are also available in 640GB models we haven’t seen either drive to date. Toshiba …

    Hardware 21 Dec 2009, 08:02

  • BBC looks to grab internet TV market

    Project Canvas is go

    The BBC Trust has given the go-ahead for the corporation to push on with providing internet access to the TV, via a set-top box. The project has already been heavily criticised by rival broadcasters like Sky, which of course has a decent-sized broadband internet access business of its own. But it was further bolstered last …

    Media 21 Dec 2009, 09:38

  • GSMA recruits a bit of Fry and Duran Duran

    We must be working for the SIM trade

    Stephen Fry and Duran Duran will be headlining February's mobile industry bash, as the GSMA tries to drag some sex appeal into the increasingly-dull Barcelona proceedings. Rather than listening to company executives or industry experts, attendees making the annual pilgrimage to Barcelona will instead get a Duran Duran gig and …

    Mobile 21 Dec 2009, 09:40

  • UK retail Wi-Fi security still patchy

    War walk on the wild side

    Wi-Fi security in UK retail environments is improving, but shops remain vulnerable to the sorts of attacks carried out as part of the infamous TJX credit card heist. The cybercrooks, who lifted more than 21 million credit card records, leapfrogged onto the retailer's credit card database after first breaking into the wireless …

    Security 21 Dec 2009, 10:38

  • Oz anti-censorship site is censored

    What's that Skippy? A satirical website's been taken down?

    The Australian company that runs the .com.au domain registry has been accused of abandoning its own procedures to censor a website satirising communications minister Stephen Conroy's ISP filtering regime. On Friday afternoon, Sapia Pty Ltd, the company behind stephenconroy.com.au, was told by auDA that they had three hours to …

    Government 21 Dec 2009, 11:01

  • Data Robotics CEO change no big deal

    Former chief exec insists there 'isn't any drama here'

    The surprise CEO transition at Data Robotics shouldn't have been a surprise, according to the man who should know - the now ex-CEO Geoff Barrall. Data Robotics abruptly changed its CEO from founder Geoff Barrall to newcomer Tom Buiocchi on Monday last week, in an announcement that left out reasons for the CEO change and …

    Storage 21 Dec 2009, 11:02

  • Google: Do no evil, pay no tax

    Well, not much, anyway

    Google has been accused of swerving UK tax on the £1.6bn it makes in Britain. To be fair, Google does pay some tax - about £140,000 on interest on cash in the bank held here. But its offshore status means it, quite legally, avoids paying £450m in corporation tax. Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable accused Google of not playing …

    Financial News 21 Dec 2009, 11:10

  • Samsung tunes into musical yoof with touchphone

    What the kids want?

    Ladies and gentlemen, will you please welcome Samsung's latest touchscreen music phone. Now please depart - you're not the favoured audience. Samsung's M5650: yoof oriented No, Samsung said it's targeting the handset - it's called the M5650 - at "young mobile users", who want one-touch music controls and all the social …

    Phones 21 Dec 2009, 11:16

  • Panasonic releases more capacious, less explosive laptop battery

    Can't overheat, apparently

    Panasonic has begun mass-producing a lithium-ion battery for laptops that's rather more capacious charge-wise than current offerings. The battery is built to the so-called "18650" form-factor, which is the standard size - 65mm in length, 18mm in diameter - for the cylindrical cells laptop power pack makers build into the box- …

    Hardware 21 Dec 2009, 11:45

  • Faster BT broadband on starting blocks for Olympics - maybe

    Limbers up for record-breaking fibre installations

    BT is hoping to complete roll out of its faster broadband network by June 2012, to ensure the framework is finalised in time for the London Olympic Games. The Financial Times reports today that the telecom giant's project, which it originally planned to implement by March 2013, has been hurried along by the Labour government …

    Broadband 21 Dec 2009, 12:03

  • Plod to retain personal data from DNA innocents

    Council of Europe hunts for slapping gloves

    Police will continue to retain the personal details of everyone they arrest, despite a human rights ruling meaning the DNA profiles they are linked to must be deleted. The European Court of Human Rights said last year that DNA data should not be indefinitely retained from those who have not been charged or convicted. The …

    Law 21 Dec 2009, 12:23

  • Vodafone to start selling iPhone on 14 January

    Prices up monthly packages

    Vodafone will begin selling the iPhone on 14 January 2010 The 3G will cost you nothing, provided you sign up for a two-year, £35-a-month contract, or you can have it for £59 if you're only willing to pay £30 a month. The 16GB iPhone 3GS is free on a £45-a-month package, rising to £59 (£40 a month), £89 (£35 a month) and £149 …

    Phones 21 Dec 2009, 12:26

  • British troops to get new all-terrain camouflage kit

    Afghanistan annoyingly not all the same colour

    The British armed forces, in a bid to stop criticism regarding uniforms supplied to troops in combat, have introduced a new field camouflage pattern intended to be suitable for use in both desert and vegetated terrain. A thin MTP line of heroes. The new pattern is based on the "multicam" developed for the US Army in recent …

    Science 21 Dec 2009, 12:27

  • Twitter hack linked to internal security breach

    Cyber-reprisal for Iranian election support

    Twitter's login credentials were used to make DNS changes that redirected surfers to a protest site last Friday, according to site admins. Surfers visiting the micro-blogging website for about an hour early on Friday morning were instead redirected to a page on another site, boasting that Twitter had been pwned by a previously …

    Security 21 Dec 2009, 12:34

  • UK ID card project descends into muddle

    Expansion to London yoof planned, despite funding doubts

    Further confusion has broken out over the UK government's controversial ID scheme, after it emerged that the Home Office was announcing an extension to the scheme, days after Chancellor Alistair Darling questioned the future of the project. Home Secretary Alan Johnson is set to announce that young people of between 16 to 24- …

    Government 21 Dec 2009, 14:22

  • O2 takes a Christmas break

    IP addresses snowed in

    O2 is again struggling to get IP addresses to its customers, leaving many of them without data connectivity since yesterday lunchtime. Anyone who held open a session is fine, but lose your IP address and the operator admits they can't promise you another one - but engineers are working on it. The same thing happened back in …

    Phones 21 Dec 2009, 14:25

  • Hungary mandates open standards

    Competition in the software game? We've heard of it

    The Hungarian government has mandated the use of open standards in its departments in a move to help "foster" competition in the software market. The Open Standards Alliance said that the Hungarian Parliament amended Act LX of 2009 on electronic public services last week. It issued a 10-point amendment that makes the use of …

    Applications 21 Dec 2009, 14:28

  • Scareware scammers exploit Brittany Murphy's death

    Cyber footpads poison more interweb searches

    Actress Brittany Murphy's sudden death, just like Michael Jackson's untimely demise before her, has quickly been exploited by scareware scammers. A spike in searches on Murphy's death has been taken as a theme for Black Hat SEO attacks, designed to push sites that have been hacked to redirect surfers to scareware portals into …

    Security 21 Dec 2009, 14:41

  • Dan O’Bannon dies at 63

    Alien scribe succumbs to Crohn’s disease

    Dan O'Bannon, the man who gave the world Alien and Total Recall, has died aged 63, the New York Times reports. O'Bannon passed away at his home in Santa Monica, California, last Thursday, as a result of the gastrointestinal disorder Crohn’s disease, which he'd suffered for 30 years. O'Bannon's sci-fi screenwriting career …

    Bootnotes 21 Dec 2009, 15:08

  • DARPA scientists demand lightning on tap

    'Live, my beauty! Live! Ah-hahaha! They said I was mad. Etc'

    Sometimes it's not so easy being a mad scientist. Narrow-minded colleagues disparage your theories using harsh terms like "crackpot" and "ethically dubious". Persons in charge of critical supplies vital to your experiments - morticians, gravediggers, the people who run the brain depositary* - refuse to cooperate. Even once these …

    Science 21 Dec 2009, 15:10

  • Privacy group sues DoJ over 'digital strip search' data

    The law sees your a*s

    A privacy group has filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice for allegedly failing to disclose information about the use of devices that capture black 'n' white images of people stripped naked. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) brought the suit against the DoJ in the US District Court of Columbia …

    Law 21 Dec 2009, 15:19

  • Asus, Dell, MSI announce next-gen Atom netbooks

    'Pine Trail' product now official

    The 'Pine Trail' netbook announcements are coming thick and fast, following Intel's announcement of its next-gen Atom platform last night. First up, Dell, MSI and Asus. Asus today admitted it has been working on Eee PC 1005P, 1005PE and 1001P netbooks, all members of its slimline Seashell family. Asus said they'll deliver up …

    Hardware 21 Dec 2009, 15:35

  • Volvo: C30 e-car coming as fleet not one-off prototype

    Leccy Tech Govt cash fuels expansion plan

    When Volvo first unveiled its C30 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) back in September 2009, it stressed that the handful of cars produced would be one-off prototypes. That's now officially no longer the case, as the Swedish car maker has announced it is building a fleet of 50 of the things for serious evaluation. Volvo's C30 …

    Science 21 Dec 2009, 15:43

  • France gets a fourth third generation network

    Free aims to spark price war

    The French regulator has awarded its fourth 3G licence, with Illiad-owned Free winning the beauty contest to get the spectrum at a knock-down price. Second prize would have been difficult in this particular beauty contest as there was only one entrant, but the result means that Illiad will pay €240m for its licence, compared …

    Mobile 21 Dec 2009, 16:03

  • Aliens more likely to live on moons than planets, say boffins

    Spacegoing exomoononauts voyage around ringed primaries?

    Noted US boffins have stated that habitable conditions in far-flung star systems may be more commonly found on moons in orbit around planets than on the planets themselves. This of course suggests that space travel may be very common elsewhere in the galaxy, among aliens who are not unfortunate enough - like the human race - to …

    Science 21 Dec 2009, 16:22

  • WinAmp update fades out critical media player flaws

    This one goes up to 5.57

    WinAmp users ought to upgrade following the discovery of multiple security vulns affecting the popular media player. Four flaws each involving module decoder plug-ins to the media player can be used to trigger heap-based buffer overflows, a handy mechanism for injecting hostile code onto vulnerable systems. In addition, an …

    Security 21 Dec 2009, 16:35

  • Secret neo-Nazi documents published

    Exclusive 11 membership lists about to go online

    Wikileaks is in the process of making a cache of documents and files from eleven different neo-Nazi organisations readable, and readily available, online. The membership records and private messages are currently being formatted to make them easy for non-techies to read and will be released on the Wikileaks site shortly. The …

    Law 21 Dec 2009, 16:44

  • Vatican awards self 'unique copyright' on Pope

    No one gets Pontifical but us

    The Vatican has awarded itself a "unique copyright" on the Pope's name, image, coat of arms, and any other symbol or logo related to the Holy Father. "The use of anything referring directly to the person or office of the Supreme Pontiff...and/or the use of the title 'Pontifical,' must receive previous and express authorization …

    Bootnotes 21 Dec 2009, 18:30

  • ISS gets Soyuz visitors for the holidays

    Space Station preps for construction job

    Three fresh crew members for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan on Sunday to staff an orbital construction team over the holidays. NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi launched at 5:52 pm ET (10:52 pm GMT) from the …

    Science 21 Dec 2009, 18:52

  • Stella Artois augments iPhone reality

    I need a drink? There's an app for that

    iPhone users looking for a lager can now find one via Stella Artois augmented reality. Lager has long been known to augment reality, normally lending sex appeal to nearby members of the opposite gender (or the same gender, depending on the amount of lager). But Stella has gone better with an iPhone application that paints the …

    Mobile 21 Dec 2009, 19:02

  • The Avatar storage effect

    Comment Aspera feeds 3D flick

    Avatar - James Cameron's 3D-enhanced sci-fi CGI space-western movie - is set to be a stunning success, and the storage industry is jumping on the bandwagon carrying its 10 feet tall, blue-skinned aliens. Avatar is being produced by California-based LightStorm Entertainment, which has contracted out much of the CGI (Computer- …

    Storage 21 Dec 2009, 19:05

  • Closeted lesbian sues Netflix for privacy invasion

    'Brokeback Mountain factor'

    An in-the-closet lesbian mother has sued Netflix for publishing data that she believes could be used to out her. The unnamed Ohio woman claims her privacy was invaded when the movie rental company disclosed insufficiently anonymous information on the viewing habits of 480,000 customers as part of a $1m contest to improve its …

    Security 21 Dec 2009, 20:21

  • Harvard smarties name Steve Jobs 'world's best CEO'

    Redmond's Steve? Not so much

    The prestigious Harvard Business Review has published its ranking of the world's best-performing CEOs, and we'll give you one guess who is El Numero Uno. You're right. As the report succinctly puts it, "It may come as no shock that Steve Jobs of Apple tops the list." What may come as a surprise - or not - it that one other …

    Business 21 Dec 2009, 21:08

  • Inside Google, data drives 'everything'

    Ex-Microsoft Startup Whisperer speaks from Chocolate Factory

    Newly-appointed Google evangelist Don Dodge has confirmed that inside the Mountain View Chocolate Factory, decisions - big and small - are driven almost entirely by data analysis. "Everything is data driven," reads a recent blog post from Dodge, the former Microsoft Startup Whisperer who entered the Chocolate Factory last …

    Applications 21 Dec 2009, 22:11