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22nd December 2009 Archive

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  • Intel patches critical security bug in vPro software

    Silicon-based bypass

    Intel has released a patch for its series of silicon-based security protections after researchers from Poland identified flaws that allowed them to completely bypass the extensions. The implementation errors in Intel's TXT, or trusted execution technology, mean the feature can't be counted on as advertised to protect sensitive …

    Security 22 Dec 2009, 00:03

  • UK etailer calls self 'the last place you want to go'

    Dixons does a Ratner

    Dixons, the UK electronics etailer, has a new tagline. "Dixons," its homepage reads, "the last place you want to go." See for yourself: Countless Reg readers are questioning whether the site has been hacked - or defaced by a disgruntled employee. But the company insists the change is intentional. "It is a tongue in cheek …

    Bootnotes 22 Dec 2009, 00:08

  • US politico calls for cancer warning on cell phones

    This is your child's brain on who knows what

    There's no consensus among scientists whether mobile phones actually slow-cook human brains, but one US legislator is hoping her state will be the first frightened enough to assume they do. Maine state legislator Andrea Boland plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would require mobile handsets in …

    Government 22 Dec 2009, 00:13

  • Microsoft AV advice may aid attackers, researcher warns

    Better performance. But at what cost?

    A security researcher is taking Microsoft to task for advising customers to exclude certain files and folders from anti-virus scanning, arguing the practice could be exploited by pushers of malware. Microsoft issued the recommendations in October, as a way of improving system performance. They suggested administrators exclude …

    Security 22 Dec 2009, 06:02

  • Doing the maths on Copenhagen

    It's my party and I'll fly in the face of common sense

    Copenhagen is dead. Hurrah! And I say that as someone convinced that climate change is happening, we're causing it, and we need to do something about it. However, what we don't need to do is the ghastly mess that was being cooked up in Denmark. They've essentially agreed to, um, well, try - and they'll think a little bit more …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 07:02

  • Can anyone explain the chunnel fiasco?

    Comment Five trains in, none out

    During the weekend channel tunnel fiasco, Eurostar sent five trains into the tunnel and not one came out. Only then did it stop sending trains. Okay. Imagine you're Eurostar's fat controller in charge of despatching trains. Two have gone into the tunnel and not come out. Do you send in trains number three, four, and five? Not …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 07:02

  • Devolo dLan AVplus

    Review Now with mains power pass-through socketry

    It has taken Devolo a while to come up with a set of powerline Ethernet adaptors with pass-through power sockets in them, but here, at last, they are. Devolo's dLan AVplus: powerline with pass-through power The dLan 200 AVplus is essentially Devolo's dLan 200 AVeasy adaptor stretched to accommodate the power socket that's …

    Broadband 22 Dec 2009, 08:02

  • Another Overland Nasdaq delisting threat

    Company now not worth enough

    Overland Storage was told by Nasdaq on December 15 that its stock would be delisted because its share value was below Nasdaq's $15m minimum. Overland shares are currently trading at $2.0, giving the company a market capitalisation of $12.68m. Delisting from Nasdaq would affect Overland's creditworthiness, potentially …

    Financial News 22 Dec 2009, 10:17

  • Samsung not-quite-DSLR surfaces on web

    Latest 'hybrid' design spied

    Samsung's upcoming 14.6Mp NX10 "hybrid" digital SLR has made an unscheduled appearance on the web. Why 'hybrid'? Because it's smaller than a regular DSLR but has a DSLR-size sensor. It's not as small as a Micro Four-Thirds job, though. Speaking of MFT, Samsung's hybrids use the same 'skip the single-lens reflex' approach, …

    Hardware 22 Dec 2009, 10:55

  • HP probes 'racist' webcams

    Facial tracking stalks whites, ignores blacks

    Hewlett Packard is looking into claims that some of its TouchSmart webcams demonstrate an unwillingness to interface with black people, as shown in this YouTube vid: Tony Welch, described by PCWorld as "lead social media strategist for HP's Personal Systems Group", explained in a blog post over the weekend: "The technology …

    Hardware 22 Dec 2009, 11:07

  • iPhone gets a decent keyboard

    But no Apple approval

    Developers have managed to hack together a Human Interface driver for the iPhone, allowing any Bluetooth keyboard to be used on jailbroken iPhones. The software doesn't work in all applications, but does connect most applications to the kind of travel keyboard which is making laptops redundant, even if it can't do copy and …

    Phones 22 Dec 2009, 11:09

  • Existence of 'Sea of Krakens' on Titan confirmed

    Vast 19-Wales sized* lake of liquid patio gas sighted

    International boffins are chuffed as ninepence this week to announce that they have confirmed the existence of the "Sea of Krakens", a 150,000-square-mile* lake of liquefied patio gas near the north pole of Titan, ice moon of Saturn. Sunlight glinting from the Sea of Krakens in the Titanian arctic. It was fairly certain …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 11:22

  • Scientist proposes quantum über-battery

    Ten times the energy density of lithium-ion

    Boffins in Illinois believe they have figured out how to design a battery with ten times the energy density of the best of today's lithium-ion batteries. Their challenge now: work out how to make the thing. The design is called a "digital quantum battery" and it comes from University of Illinois Director of the Center for …

    Hardware 22 Dec 2009, 11:22

  • Acer to ship lots of smartphones, many of them Android, claims mole

    Astonishing, Holmes. How ever did you work that out?

    Acer intends to release ten smartphones in 2010. Or possibly only eight. Whatever the total, more of them will run Android than Windows Mobile. Maybe. You just can't get quality rumours these days... So says someone from within Taiwan's handset manufacturing community - well, from within Acer, presumably - according to a …

    Phones 22 Dec 2009, 11:44

  • Angels can't fly: Official

    UK prof shoots down heavenly beings

    A UK academic has some very bad news for those who believe they'll one day be fluttering through the pearly gates, because unless they're carrying some form of heavenly jet pack, their appointment with Saint Peter is definitely cancelled. The reason? Angels can't actually fly, according to University College London's Roger …

    Bootnotes 22 Dec 2009, 12:00

  • Ferry giant refuses ID card

    'You're not going anywhere without a passport'

    An early adopter of the UK's controversial ID card was refused passage when he tried to board a ferry to Rotterdam. Norman Eastwood, from Salford, and his wife Jeanette had booked a passage from Hull with P&O Ferries on Saturday. The ID card, which has been offered on a voluntary basis to the public in Greater Manchester as …

    Government 22 Dec 2009, 12:21

  • Firefox 3.5 wins top dog browser crown - sort of

    All versions of Internet Explorer still reign supreme, however

    Firefox 3.5 trundled passed Internet Explorer 7 in the past few days to become, temporarily at least, the world's most popular web browser. According to analysis outfit StatCounter, Mozilla's latest browser just slipped ahead of Microsoft's surfing tool in the week commencing 7 December by grabbing 21.93 per cent of the global …

    Applications 22 Dec 2009, 12:25

  • Chinese villager jailed for eating tiger

    Stiff sentence for shooting last wild Indochinese cat

    A Chinese villager has been jailed for 12 years for shooting and eating the country's last known wild Indochinese tiger, China Daily reports. Kang Wannian and Gao Zuqiao, from Mengla, Yunnan Province, encountered the animal in February while gathering freshwater mussels in a nature reserve near China's border with Laos. Kang …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 12:30

  • Mobile networks line up to bash net snooping plan

    Exclusive 'Wholly disproportionate' and 'cannot possibly work'

    Every UK mobile network has serious objections to plans to intercept and store details of every communication via the internet, Home Office documents reveal. Submissions to a government consultation from 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone highlight the strength of industry concern over the Interception Modernisation …

    Law 22 Dec 2009, 13:03

  • iPhone worms can create mobile botnets

    Paranoid, and not just about Android

    A detailed analysis of the most malign in a recent spate of iPhone worms points to future mobile botnet risks. The IKee-B (Duh) iPhone worm, released in late November, exploited default root passwords on jailbroken iPhones to turn the smartphones into botnet clients under the control of a server based in Lithuania. The worm …

    Phones 22 Dec 2009, 13:32

  • China moves closer to a smut-free internet

    Now also free of political dissent and annoying Tibetans

    China, which last week effectively ended its citizens' right to register a .cn web address, will now only allow access to websites which have been fully registered with the authorities. Individuals will now need a business licence to register a web address. The Ministry of Industry and Information released more details of …

    Government 22 Dec 2009, 13:42

  • BBC Trust kicks out IP Vision appeal

    Confirms 'provisional approval' of Project Canvas

    The BBC Trust has thrown out a fair trading appeal brought by set top maker IP Vision. The firm had planned to offer syndication of the Beeb's on-demand content via its own bespoke version of the extremely popular iPlayer platform. The Corporation's governing body said yesterday it had rejected "the main substantive points" …

    Media 22 Dec 2009, 14:36

  • German strato-sperm airship prototype flies

    Robot tadpole zeppelins aim for the wind bucket

    A 111-foot unmanned, sperm-like airship prototype - which uses long-forgotten tech from the 1930s golden age of the zeppelin - has completed initial flight testing, according to its makers. Cutting-edge German wriggleblimp technology in action. Sanswire-TAO, a partnership between Sanswire of Florida and TAO Technologies …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 14:41

  • Italian project examines data centre energy use

    Energ-IT goes down, you better be ready

    A Milan-based project, Energ-IT, has been set up by Milan Polytechnic and Neptuny to develop ways of reducing data centre power consumption. The project's aims are to identify so-called green re-engineering actions that can be applied to legacy systems in a data centre and assess the resulting energy savings. It will set up a …

    Storage 22 Dec 2009, 14:50

  • Schmidt named Obama cybersecurity czar

    Months long wait finally over

    Howard Schmidt was confirmed as President Obama's cybersecurity czar on Tuesday, confirming an earlier prediction by AP that the long vacant role was about to be filled. Schmidt is a former White House security advisor to George W. Bush with extensive career spells at eBay and Microsoft. He certainly has the diplomatic skills …

    Security 22 Dec 2009, 15:17

  • Essex leaps into bed with IBM

    The future's bright and the future's blue, say Tories

    Essex County Council has confirmed it is outsourcing a big slice of services to IBM in a massive deal, despite union fears that this will cost jobs. Big Blue was named as preferred bidder for the multi-billion pound contract back in June and confirmed in early December. The story has hit the news today with a puff piece in The …

    The Channel 22 Dec 2009, 15:36

  • Ofcom sets 60GHz free

    No licence required, indoors or out

    UK regulator Ofcom has announced it will make 6.8GHz of spectrum - from 57GHz up - licence exempt for fixed-wireless links, unless you're too near the MoD. The statement (pdf) follows a consultation on the subject which ran up until September, and generated a few responses that Ofcom has considered, and rejected. Anyone will …

    Broadband 22 Dec 2009, 15:38

  • Traffic reports for the wrong country? There's an iPhone app for that

    Reg uncovers weird Navigon 'feature', doesn't get money back

    It's central London and it's time to go home. So you just fire up Navigon MobileNavigator before you go, to check Traffic Live for potential bottlenecks. Hmm, looks like there's congestion around the port of Dunkerque, so we'd best rule out that short cut to Hackney via Dover and Lille. But on the other hand, there are no …

    Phones 22 Dec 2009, 15:57

  • Extra dates added to e-bike race calendar

    Leccy Tech The e-cars that ate Paris

    More good news for anyone who likes their motor sport mean, green and clean. TTxGP has added four Italian dates to the 2010 e-bike GP series: Magione on 27 June, Franciacorta on 25 July and 5 September, and Mugello on 26 September. A further date has also been confirmed for the 2010 British championship, which will now …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 16:14

  • UK air-traffic offers flying-car-style safety gizmo

    Gadget keeps map'n'compass oldtimers clear of airliners

    More news on the flying-car front this week, as the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has announced that it will provide an affordable auto-warning gadget - supported by free downloadable updates - to prevent private pilots infringing controlled airspace and/or crashing into obstacles such as factory chimneys or …

    Science 22 Dec 2009, 16:26

  • Real-time web searcher in ad du jour pitch

    Automatic Brittany Murphy ads

    There's no shortage of folk looking to exploit the web topic du jour. In June, as Iran teetered on the brink of revolution, UK furniture retailer Habitat started Tweeting houseware ads tagged with words like "Iran" and "Mousavi." Just this week, Black Hat SEOs leapt at the chance to push scareware sites onto the wave of searches …

    Media 22 Dec 2009, 17:23

  • AMD revs up Stream SDK

    GPUs get OpenCL 1.0 support

    With Nvidia getting most of the attention when it comes to the use of graphics cards and GPU co-processors to boost the number-crunching capability of workstations and servers, it's hard for Advanced Micro Devices to get a word in edgewise. Perhaps that's why AMD waited until the holiday news dead zone to push out the second …

    Software 22 Dec 2009, 17:38

  • Microsoft loses appeal on Word injunction

    Must remove XML tech by January 11

    Microsoft must remove custom-XML editing from Word or face a permanent injunction barring the company from selling recent versions of the software, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a $290m patent infringement judgment against Microsoft, won by Toronto-based …

    Applications 22 Dec 2009, 19:10

  • Serious web vuln found in 8 million Flash files

    XSS R Us

    A security researcher has identified more than 8 million Adobe Flash files that make the websites hosting them vulnerable to attacks that target visitors with malicious code. The Flash files are contained on a wide variety of sites operated by online casinos, news organizations, banks, and professional sports teams. They make …

    Security 22 Dec 2009, 20:51

  • Apple angling to transform TV?

    Talks with CBS, Disney

    Apple is reportedly talking with CBS and Disney in its search for content partners for a planned US subscription-based television service. Word of the discussions comes from "people familiar with the matter," according to a report (subscription required) in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. Details of the much-rumored service …

    Media 22 Dec 2009, 20:58

  • Red Hat has a jolly Q3

    Except for that lawsuit settlement

    Commercial Linux distributor and platform wannabe Red Hat ended the year with a peachy quarter. For the third quarter of fiscal 2010, ended November 30, sales jumped 17.5 per cent to $194.3m. But the company is having trouble growing its profits, and even if you want to be kind and ignore an $8.75m charge to settle a class …

    Software 22 Dec 2009, 22:50