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8th February 2010 Archive

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  • Netezza taps NEC for data warehouse kit

    But still loves IBM

    Data warehouse appliance maker Netezza - which will be coming under pressure Oracle and IBM, who want a bigger slice of the data analytics hardware and software business - has inked a deal with Japanese server maker NEC that will see the two cooperate on creating a new line of Netezza hardware based on NEC's products. Netezza …

    Servers 8 Feb 03:40

  • Google doppelgänger casts riddle over interwebs

    Updated Why is Google routing the world through 'Googol'?

    Update: This story has been updated with comments from Google open source guru Chris DiBona and it has been revised accordingly. Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats from the site watchers at …

    HPC 8 Feb 05:02

  • Power7 - Big Blue eye on UNIX

    Four server preemptive launch

    The scuttlebutt is that IBM seemed perfectly content to wait until May to launch the Power7-based Power Systems servers, but something changed and compelled the company to move up the announcement of its first machines using the eight-core processor to today. Big Blue is not in a habit of explaining its motives or its timing for …

    Servers 8 Feb 05:02

  • Pupil database claimed to be breach-free

    No leaks here, says DCSF

    A government minister has claimed a clean record on security breaches for the National Pupil Database. Baroness Morgan, under-secretary of state at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said the stringent security procedures around the database have prevented any breaches since it was set up in 2002. Access is …

    Government 8 Feb 07:02

  • Power7 v Power6 - it's all about the cache

    Double the thread count

    IBM is launching the first of its Power7-based systems today, and the company thinks that the innovations inside the Power7 processor are going to give it a leg-up on the competition in terms of capacity, throughput, and energy-efficiency. But how do those Power7 processors stack up to the existing Power6 and Power6+ processors …

    Servers 8 Feb 08:02

  • Promise pops up in UK with Drobo-ish box

    Empty 4-bay NAS product with Appley flavour

    Promise Technology is setting out its stall in the UK with a product line that includes a Drobo-lookalike, the NS4600, which like the Drobo offers media serving functionality. Both boxes are curved edge black rectangles, with four empty drive bays, FireWire and USB connectivity, and can be upgraded with new disk drives as …

    Storage 8 Feb 08:02

  • Microscope-wielding boffins crack cordless phone crypto

    DECT vivisection

    Cryptographers have broken the proprietary encryption used to prevent eavesdropping on more than 800 million cordless phones worldwide, demonstrating once again the risks of relying on obscure technologies to remain secure. The attack is the first to crack the cipher at the heart of the DECT, or Digital Enhanced Cordless …

    Security 8 Feb 08:03

  • Surprise departure for SAP boss

    Nothing hurts like "Mutual agreement"

    The chief executive of SAP Leo Apotheker is leaving the top job, and the company board, after less than a year in the job. Apotheker has worked at SAP since 1988 when he joined as boss of SAP France. He was joint-CEO of the backoffice software group from April 2008 to May 2009, in order to ensure a smooth takeover from his …

    Applications 8 Feb 09:02

  • Endeavour en route to ISS

    'Brilliant nighttime liftoff'

    Endeavour is en route to the ISS following a 'brilliant nighttime liftoff' from the Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle finally got off the the ground at 09:14 GMT after a scrubbed launch yesterday. The 13-day STS-130 mission will deliver the US's Tranquility node and seven-windowed cupola to the International Space Station. …

    Space 8 Feb 09:39

  • State officials seize InPhase assets in lieu of taxes

    The lights are out - and for sale

    In a final emphatic demonstration that the money has run out, holographic storage developer InPhase's premises have been seized for non-payment of taxes by the Colorado Department of Revenue. According to local reports, the state has changed the locks on the doors and announced that everything owned by InPhase, including …

    Storage 8 Feb 09:57

  • Wales auditor arrested over indecent images allegations

    Quit job last week

    Jeremy Colman, the ex-Auditor General for Wales, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images. Colman quit his £170,000 a year job last week "following an internal review around matters of personal conduct". Reports suggested IT staff had found pornographic material on his laptop. South Wales Police told the …

    Policing 8 Feb 10:02

  • Drink beer not fizzy pop for pity's sake, say boffins

    Just two+ cans of soft drink a week = DEATH

    Splendid news on the health front this week, as it has emerged that drinking beer is good for you - and that soft drinks will kill you. First up the beer research, carried out by researchers in California. It seems that the nutritious, health-giving stuff is actually a key source of silicon in the diet, which (it turns out) is …

    Biology 8 Feb 10:19

  • China stomps cybercrook training outfit

    Black Hawk taken down

    Chinese authorities have closed down a firm that allegedly trained hackers to develop spyware and launch cyberattacks. Police in the central Chinese province of Hubei province arrested three people when they closed down Black Hawk Safety Net, described by the official Xinhua news agency as running the country's biggest hacker …

    Crime 8 Feb 10:32

  • MySQL handler Jacobs walks out on Oracle

    It's a terrific place to work - just not for me

    Oracle's open source strategy was looking a little fenced in this morning, after the database giant lost one of its most prominent voices and OpenOffice was snubbed by Ubuntu developers. Ken Jacobs resigned from Oracle late last week, according to reports. Jacobs was vice president of product strategy in Oracle's server …

    Developer 8 Feb 11:15

  • French poised to seize Port of Dover

    'Outrage' over privatisation plan

    A plan to privatise the government-owned Port of Dover has provoked "outrage", not least because the French are front-runners to take control of the facility. According to the Daily Mail, the port needs money to fund an expansion plan, and selling it off could net £350m for our cash-strapped government. The harbour board …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 11:16

  • Cloud firm wafts out white label ERP for small biz

    Seven years work for £30 a head

    Salesorder.com is offering a white label version of its online ERP software for resellers to sell on to their customers. UK operations director Nick Spooner told us the software came about when he was running a small business and looking for a cloud ERP product. Spooner said: "NetSuite wanted £30,000 and I couldn't find the …

    Small Biz 8 Feb 11:25

  • Gov tempts young London onto ID database with booze, 'games'

    Doesn't sound at all dodgy, does it

    London's yoof can now follow in the footsteps of their Mancunian counterparts and sign up for the government's ID card scheme. Youngsters between the ages of 16 and 24 are being tempted into the scheme - and therefore onto the National Identity Register - with the prospect of being able to buy "alcohol, computer games and DVDs …

    Government 8 Feb 11:27

  • Sony to demo 'world's first' in-box wireless tech

    Component shall speak unto component

    Sony has developed a wireless communications technology designed to replace the cabling within gadgets rather than connections between devices. The technology operates within the 30-300GHz band. It's called the 'millimetre wave' zone, thanks to a wavelength of 1-10mm, but it's the frequency that matters since it's high enough …

    reghardware 8 Feb 11:42

  • US scientists get free cloud on-ramp

    Microsoft and NSF plugging Azure

    Microsoft and the US National Science Foundation have announced an agreement that will provide free access to cloud computing resources for select NSF-funded researchers for the next three years. This was discussed by Microsoft's corporate VP for tech strategy and policy, Dan Reed, in a blog. Instead of buying supercomputers …

    Servers 8 Feb 11:42

  • Leaky anti-virus defences letting malware through

    Spanky new scanners no longer cutting it

    Even users running up-to-date anti-virus software still get infected with malware, according to stats from an online malware scanning service. Nearly a third (25,000 out of 78,800) of computers with up-to-date anti-virus software were discovered to be infected with malicious code when users scanned their PC using SurfRight's …

    Malware 8 Feb 11:44

  • Mandybill is mostly harmless, says MP watchdog

    But wants more detail

    A committee of MPs has surprisingly said that copyright infringement penalties for internet users proposed in the Digital Economy are justifiable. However, it wants the Government to explain them better, and publish more detail - particularly on the threshold for suspending the accounts of serial infringers. To the likely …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 11:50

  • Samsung preps Wacko Jacko movie hard drive

    Film pre-loaded on HDD

    Wacko Jacko fans, Samsung has the external hard drive for you. In just two weeks' time, the South Korean giant will release a 500GB 2.5in drive - the S2 Portable - pre-loaded with the Jackson film This is it. Gold coloured, the drive's top is styled with the star's sillhouette. Samsung's Jacko Drive: yes, this is it The …

    reghardware 8 Feb 12:00

  • Asus Eee PC 1005PE

    Review Intel's freshest Atom comes to netbooks

    Intel launched its latest generation of netbook-centric Atom processors right at the end of 2009. While the following weeks saw plenty of announcements heralding new machines based on the chips, those PCs have only now started to arrive on shop shelves. Asus is, of course, the genuine pioneer of the netbook arena, launching …

    reghardware 8 Feb 12:02

  • US gives Chinese man 2.5 years over fake Cisco kit

    Cisco no-no

    A Chinese man has been sentenced to a two and half year stretch in California for flogging counterfeit Cisco parts in the US. Yongcai Li will also have to repay $800,000 to Cisco Systems, for selling the kit, which carried fake Cisco trademarks. He had shipped the kit into the US in 2005 and 2006, prosecutors said. The US …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 12:24

  • FBI calls for two year retention for ISP data

    Origin and destination if you please sir

    FBI director Robert Mueller is still keen to get US internet service providers to keep their customers' web logs for up to two years. What is not clear is whether the director is talking about which websites are visited or the specific URL - which would require deep packet inspection and probably break US wiretap laws. Greg …

    Government 8 Feb 12:37

  • BAE broke bribery pledge, faked US arms-export applications

    'We will become as righteous as we are good value'(!)

    Further details have emerged regarding the US Department of Justice case against UK-headquartered arms globocorp BAE Systems. The feds - without argument from BAE - say that the company engaged in a "conspiracy" to violate several US laws in recent years. In particular, the Justice department alleges that BAE broke a promise …

    Government 8 Feb 13:07

  • Bishop Hill: Gonzo science and the Hockey Stick

    Interview Torturing the climate numbers until they confess

    In 2001 the IPCC published its Third Assessment report prominently featuring a graph that became "the logo of global warming". Previous historical reconstructions didn't show our modern warm climate as particularly anomalous. This was very different, and was hailed as a "call to action". Yet Michael Mann's studies were deeply …

    Environment 8 Feb 13:25

  • Archos posts 'full' Linux distro for Android tablet

    Developers only, please

    Media player maker Archos has posted a full Linux distro that will run on its Archos 5 machine. The 5 ships with Android as standard, but open sourcerers can download a special, emebedded build of Angstrom Linux and use it to replace the Google OS. Angstrom on Archos However, Archos said this is "special developer edition …

    reghardware 8 Feb 13:43

  • Online Kiwis maybe feeling Oz censor trickledown

    People of Walmart now counts as filth, apparently

    Australia’s drive to protect its own population from the horrors of the internet may be starting to have knock-on effects on the surfing habits of its neighbour, New Zealand - some websites are no longer accessible in NZ via Aussie ISPs. A Reg reader wrote to tell us: "NZ surfers being routed via Optus routers in Oz have been …

    Telecoms 8 Feb 13:55

  • Eidos confirms Championship Manager Online shutdown

    Season's end

    Publisher Eidos has confirmed that it has ordered the closure of Championship Manager Online, the web-based version of the long-running popular fantasy football franchise. “We can confirm that CM Online, a joint initiative with Jadestone in Sweden, will be closing from 30 April 2010," the company said in a statement today. …

    Music and Media 8 Feb 14:11

  • Vodafone tosses out idiot tweeter

    No more beavering for you

    Vodafone's Twitter-based stupidity on Friday was down to an unguarded terminal, it transpires, and the employee concerned is now kicking his heels at home. The tweet in question emanated from Vodafone UK's Stoke-based web team, but it wasn't one of that team who claimed to be "fed up of dirty homo's, going after some beaver". …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 14:33

  • Half a million PCs can access Schengen's 'secure' database

    Big network, big danger

    The number of computers with access to the Schengen Information System has doubled to 500,000 thanks to the extension of the EU. SIS is a shared information system used by police and border guards across Europe. Although the UK and Ireland declined to sign up fully, they still use the system. The figure of 500,000 computers …

    Government 8 Feb 14:46

  • El Reg reader assembles own iPad

    Click here for an iFul of low-cost DIY project

    The fanbois out there whose lives have become a meaningless succession of days to be crossed off the calendar until the release of Apple's paradigm-busting iPad will be delighted to learn that they can fill the void by assembling their very own future of computing. And here's the proof, courtesy of visibly-fulfilled reader …

    Bootnotes 8 Feb 15:25

  • LG eyes golden age of telly with retro CRT set

    Valve Doonican

    It's the telly Mad Men and Avengers fans will surely be craving: a 14in telly kitted out in true 1960s style. Yes, it's LG's Serie 1 14in TV, complete with telescopic set-top aerials, legs, and knobs for turning it on and changing channels. It has a 4:3 aspect ratio. You can set it to present programmes in colour, black and …

    reghardware 8 Feb 15:45

  • Phoenix recovers barbecued data in Europe

    Firey databird has new nest, but is it er, cheep?

    European data centres can recover data from data centres blown to smithereens by using Axxana's near-bomb proof Phoenix data recovery system MTI is now marketing Axxana's Phoenix RP hardened enterprise data recorder in Europe, but not the middle East and Africa. The story is that, even if a passenger jet flies into a data …

    Storage 8 Feb 15:58

  • Cheeky French hackers hijack Tata website

    Now you see it, maintenant... non

    Top flight outsourcing firm Tata Consulting Services appeared to have lost control of its website to hackers today, with the domain apparently being touted for sale. The Washington Post reported that the site had fallen prey to a DNS hijack over the weekend. A report in Times of India this morning said that hackers had …

    Enterprise Security 8 Feb 16:03

  • iPhone OS 3.1.3 unlock app posted

    Dev Team tool tweaked

    Owners of unlocked iPhones who want to upgrade to the recently released OS 3.1.3 and want to retain the ability to use whatever Sim meets their needs can now do so. The iPhone Dev Team have released a suitable version of its PwnageTool utility. The Team cautioned against updating. The iPhone OS update is claimed to improve the …

    reghardware 8 Feb 16:23

  • Dell snaps up crashed Exanet

    Update How to turn $70m into $12m

    Dell is buying failed clustered filer supplier Exanet for $12m. Exanet slid into bankruptcy last month. At the time, Dell was rumoured to be interested in buying it. That deal is now being done and if it completes Dell will gain intellectual property and possibly a research and development centre in Israel. A Dell statement …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 16:24

  • Canon intros entry-level DSLR

    EOS 550D debuts with features a-plenty

    Canon has introduced its latest EOS digital SLR, describing the 550D as a consumer-oriented camera packed with semi-pro features. Top of the list is an 18Mp APS-C sensor. It also has a nine-point autofocus system with one extra-sensitive cross–type point at the centre for f/2.8 or faster lenses, Canon said. It'll shoot …

    reghardware 8 Feb 16:54

  • Google (Voice) solves universal translation soonish

    Babel fishing for compliments

    Google has managed to get some decent press by announcing that, in a few years, it might be able to translate speech - something iPhone owners can already do. The Times picked up the story, and breathlessly reports that such a development could "transform communications among speakers of the world's 6,000-plus languages" - …

    Mobile 8 Feb 16:56

  • Sweden to prosecute alleged Cisco, NASA hacker

    Stakkato's abrupt transfer

    The prosecution of a Swedish man charged with breaching the computer networks of NASA and Cisco Systems and making off with sensitive source code will be transferred to Swedish authorities, US federal prosecutors said Monday. Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," was indicted last May and accused of hacking into Cisco and …

    Crime 8 Feb 18:50

  • Linus Torvalds doesn't hate the Googlephone

    I like your fork!

    Linus Torvalds hates cell phones. But that doesn't include the Googlephone. The Linux founder "broke down" last week and bought a Google Nexus One, and despite his enduring cell phone hatred, he calls it "a winner." In a weekend blog post, Linus tells the world that cell phones are "irritating" and that they "disturb you as …

    Mobile 8 Feb 18:57

  • Microsoft kills FAST's Linux and Unix search biz

    Values your business on Windows

    Customers of FAST's Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) on Linux or Unix better develop a taste for Windows or look elsewhere for their enterprise search. Microsoft- which bought FAST in 2008 - has announced it will stop development of FAST's ESP core on Linux and Unix after the release of Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 later …

    Applications 8 Feb 20:22

  • Microsoft tests show no Win 7 battery flaw

    Replace battery warnings correct, says Redmond

    Microsoft says that extensive testing and conversations with OEMs indicate that Windows 7 is handling notebook batteries exactly as intended - despite user claims that upgrades to the new OS have caused significant degradation to battery life. As we reported in late January, various laptop owners - including a string of …

    Operating Systems 8 Feb 22:00

  • Oracle issues emergency security patch for WebLogic

    'Full disclosure' yields results

    Oracle issued an emergency patch for its WebLogic Server almost two weeks after a white-hat hacker disclosed a vulnerability that allows criminals to remotely execute commands on the webserver with no authentication necessary. The vulnerability in the Node Manager component of Oracle WebLogic Server can be exploited by …

    Security 8 Feb 22:38

  • SourceForge reverses ban on US foes

    U-turn on 'blanket blocking'

    Open Source code repository SourceForge.net has pulled a U-turn on a widely unpopular decision to ban users from accessing its website from countries under US trade restrictions. In a blog post Sunday, SourceForge announced that it has instead handed over responsibility of navigating international trade laws to individual …

    Developer 8 Feb 22:42

  • Intel 'Tukwila' born after long and painful labor

    Blame it on marketing

    Intel officially unveiled its long-delayed Tukwila "mission-critical" server processor today - now dubbed the Itanium 9300 series - providing a few more details about the 2-billion transistor part and giving some color on why it was over three years late. Made in conjunction with this week's International Solid-State Circuits …

    Servers 8 Feb 23:05