30th December 2009 Archive

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Googlephone debuts Jan. 5, says everyone but Google

Updated We will ~~not~~ compete with customers

A Tuesday press-conference invitation and a T-Mobile leak make it ninety-nine per cent certain that Google will announce its Android-based Googlephone Nexus One smartphone at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5, at its Mountain View Googleplex. This morning, a carefully selected slice of the tech press received a short but sweet …

Phones 30 Dec 2009, 00:18
Border Agency and Cardiff fail on FoI reviews

Keeping info in lock-down

The Information Commissioner's Office has ordered two public bodies to improve the way they deal with internal reviews It has issued practice recommendations to both the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and Cardiff Council over internal reviews, which someone refused data under Freedom of Information can require. Such reviews normally …

Government 30 Dec 2009, 10:01
Samsung's Galaxy stuck in history

Comment This isn't the Android I was looking for

It seems no one will be updating the Galaxy to Android 2, annoying customers whose purchase decision was based on what it would do rather than what it could do. The Galaxy was launched in September and has been updated a couple of times since, but it seems that the handset won't be getting an upgrade to Android version 2 …

Phones 30 Dec 2009, 10:52
English language falls to the Slashdot effect

Also bossnapped, defriended and redacted during 2009

A list of notable new additions to our beloved mother tongue reveals that the interwebs continued to enhance the lexicon during 2009, with hashtag, tweetup and the Slashdot effect featuring large on the manifest of neologisms. Out in the real world, English enjoyed the particularly French pastime of "bossnapping" (preventing …

Bootnotes 30 Dec 2009, 11:12
X-Box 360 theft suspect busted after online gaming sesh

From tagged to fragged

An alleged X-Box 360 thief was tracked down after he forgot to disable the game console's auto sign-in feature before hopping on the net. Jeremy Gilliam, 22, from the Bronx in New York City, was arrested after the victim of a theft noticed a gametag he had set up in a recently stolen console had appeared online. The victim …

Security 30 Dec 2009, 11:48
Jimbo asks online folk to play nice, be civil

Wiki one derides rude, abusive web surfers

The co-founder of Wikipedia is once again calling on internet surfers to adopt good manners online. Jimmy Wales co-wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal yesterday in which he griped about "carelessly rude to the intentionally abusive" behaviour on social networking sites, blogs and forums. And - for Jimmy and his …

Media 30 Dec 2009, 12:19
NASA eyes asteroid, Moon and Venus

Three candidates for future space mission

NASA has named the three finalists for a future New Frontiers mission, with competing teams eyeing an asteroid, the Moon and Venus as possible destinations. The agency describes its New Frontiers programme as "frequent, medium-class spacecraft missions that will conduct high-quality, focused scientific investigations designed …

Science 30 Dec 2009, 12:25
Apple ejects Dalai Lama from Chinese iTunes

Protects Great firewall of China from 'devil'

iPhone apps based on the teachings of the Dalai Lama don't exist on the Chinese incarnation of iTunes, it has emerged, demonstrating that even Apple has to bend to do business in China. Given the Chinese government's rejection of the Dalai Lama's authority it's no surprise that his only appearance in the Chinese iTunes store …

Mobile 30 Dec 2009, 12:58
MS dismisses IIS zero-day bug reports

It ain't vulnerable, just 'inconsistent'

Microsoft has dismissed reports that there's an unpatched critical flaw in the latest version of its webserver software. The software giant accepts there is an "inconsistency" in how IIS 6 handles semicolons in URLs . But it denies that this lends itself to hacking attacks, contrary to claims by security researchers shortly …

Security 30 Dec 2009, 13:15
They said what? Quotes of the Year

The urbane, the insane...

Back by popular demand, here is our Annual Hall of Stupid, leavened with a few moments of genuine wit. It's a Stephen Fry Free Zone. Almost. “The City Is A Leisuresuit For Surviving The Future” Ben Hammersley of WiReD magazine Tweets his Deepest Thorts. The Ham is now advising the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: your taxes …

Media 30 Dec 2009, 13:42
Kate Winslet sports top celeb bod

Brit women prefer a bit of meat on 'em

Thesp Kate Winslet has topped of "most desirable body" poll in which UK women voted wholeheartedly for traditional curves and kicked tanorexic stick insects firmly into touch. According to the Telegraph, the Titanic star polled 16 per cent of the votes from 2,000 mere mortal females, narrowly beating Kelly Brook into second …

Bootnotes 30 Dec 2009, 15:14
TJX kingpin pleads guilty to Heartland hack

Forest Gump of cybercrime face 17 years plus

TJX hacking mastermind Albert Gonzalez faces a minimum of 17 years behind bars after pleading guilty to further cybercrimes. Gonzalez, 28, of Miami, admitted hacking into the systems of card processor Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers as part of a plea bargain agreement on Tuesday. …

Security 30 Dec 2009, 15:35
Steve Jobs gets top dog Noughties honours

Yet another iDecade accolade

Apple boss Steve Jobs has been crowned the "Person of the Decade" by readers of the Wall Street Journal. Journal readers voted for the Jobsian one as their favourite person of the Noughties following his triumphant return to the role of CEO at the end of the last decade. The WSJ pointed out that Jobs had steered the Apple …

Financial News 30 Dec 2009, 15:42
Nuance scoops up Spinvox

Voice-to-text-to-human. Or something

US speech recognition outfit Nuance Communications has bought Spinvox for £64m ($102.5m). Massachusetts-based Nuance had made a $150m offer for Spinvox, which the British firm was said to be "close to accepting" in mid-December. Today Nuance confirmed it had bought Spinvox in a $66m cash and $36.5m, or 2.3m shares, stock deal …

Mobile 30 Dec 2009, 15:52
IT consultant freed after almost three years in Baghdad

'Absolutely delighted'

Kidnapped IT consultant Peter Moore is on his way home to the UK having been held hostage in Iraq since May 2007. The release of Moore follows long negotiations between the Iraqi government and the kidnappers, which apparently resulted in no "substantive concessions" but did lead to him being released to local authorities this …

Government 30 Dec 2009, 16:00
Brum DJ canned for cutting short Her Maj

Aborts Liz II's 'bo-ring' Xmas message

A Brum-based DJ has been given his marching orders after cutting Liz II's live Xmas broadcast and declaring: "Two words: Bor-ing." BRMB presenter Tom Binns was binned after listeners from the station, plus those tuning into Wyvern in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Mercia in Warwickshire, and Beacon Radio in the Black …

Bootnotes 30 Dec 2009, 16:02
Microsoft wants someone to turn Xbox into Xphone

Redmond recruits for mobile gaming

Microsoft is advertising for a program manager to drive the Xbox Live experience onto Windows Mobile, hoping to raise one brand with the application of another. The advert, which was posted just before Christmas and spotted by Engadget, states that Redmond is looking for someone who can "bring Xbox LIVE enabled games to …

Games 30 Dec 2009, 16:12
Hackintosher's new line: Linux and T-shirts

Psystar refuses to die

The irrepressible Hackintoshers that earlier this month were pronounced bleedin' demised, only to respond with a Pythonesque "I'm not dead yet!" cry of defiance, have reemerged with a new business model: T-shirts and Linux boxes. Mid-month, Florida's Psystar was slapped with an injunction by the US District Court for the …

Hardware 30 Dec 2009, 17:33
Google slapped in domain name spat

Groovle to remain groovy, arbitrators rule

Google is Google, and Groovle is Groovle - and as Rudyard Kipling might have put it, never the twain shall meet. In a decision dated December 24 but released on Wednesday, an independent arbitration board rejected Google's claim that Groovle, a website that provides what it calls "Your Groovy Custom Search Homepage" as a front …

Media 30 Dec 2009, 19:41
Court: iPod hearing loss your fault, not Apple's

'What? What??'

A US court has turned back an appeal of a 2008 ruling that declared that if you blow out your ears by listening to your iPod too loudly, it's your own damn fault. In a victory for common sense and personal responsibility, the court sided with the iPod manufacturer in the case of Birdsong v. Apple, Inc, originally filed in the …

Hardware 30 Dec 2009, 22:43
Redkneck Vampire Attacks Trailer Park

Google preserves Weekly World News for future Van Helsings

Google Books has saved for future generations the inimitable Weekly World News, which from 1979 to 2007 entertained the US with front page headlines such as "Aliens Settle In San Francisco", "Redkneck Vampire Attacks Trailer Park" and "Giant Polar Monster Attacks Cruise Ship!". The Weekly World News's most famous creation was …

Bootnotes 30 Dec 2009, 23:34