12th March 2010 Archive

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Steve Jobs Flash rant put to the test

~~CPU hog~~ Adobe v HTML5

When Steve Jobs badmouthed Adobe Flash to The Wall Street Journal, he said it was buggy, littered with security holes, and a "CPU hog". It's hard to argue with the first two, but a new study claims the Apple cult leader was wrong about the hog bit. According to tests from the Streaming Learning Center - an online media …

Applications 12 Mar 2010, 00:00
Sarah Palin to testify in email hack trial

After Yahoo! breach 'paralyzed' Veep campaign

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will testify in person against the college student accused of breaching her Yahoo mail account and leaking some of its contents online, according to published reports. Palin’s lawyer, Thomas V Van Flein, told multiple news outlets that the former Alaska governor will be …

Security 12 Mar 2010, 06:02
Mozilla births first Thunderbird 3.1 beta

Pushes Firefox update

Mozilla has released the first Thunderbird 3.1 beta for Windows, Mac and Linux. Codenamed Lanikai, version 3.1 of Mozilla's open source email and news client is built atop Gecko 1.9.2, the same rendering engine at the heart of the new Firefox 3.6. According to a Mozilla blog post, the first "stable" Lanikai release includes …

Applications 12 Mar 2010, 07:02
Nikon D3s

Review A shot in the dark?

Since the launch of the D3, Nikon has released a studio version, the D3x with its unsurpassed full frame resolution of 24Mp, and now comes the D3s intended for the photojournalist, sports and wildlife photographer. Full-frame feast: Nikon's D3s Like the original D3, the D3s features a 12.1Mp, 36 x 23.9 mm FX-format sensor. …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 08:02
Euro Parliament threatens court action over ACTA secrecy

Demands to be kept in the loop

The European Parliament has threatened to take the European Commission to the EU's highest court if it does not disclose the details of a secret international copyright treaty. The Parliament has voted by an overwhelming majority to adopt a resolution demanding that the Commission limit the scope of the proposed treaty and …

Law 12 Mar 2010, 08:21
Clinton report warns human rights are online too

Repression now includes the web

An annual report by the US State Department has found dictators and repressive governments around the world are making sure they have as much control over their citizens when they're online as they do the rest of the time. The United States annual report on human rights might include a look at internet access and censorship …

Government 12 Mar 2010, 09:45
Vodafone hands out free books

If you have the right kind of phone

Vodafone customers can get free books today, assuming they've got the right kind of handset and can find the download page. The five titles include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, This Bleeding City and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but you'll have to have a recent Sony Ericsson, Nokia or '360 handset (or a Blackberry …

Mobile 12 Mar 2010, 09:46
Turkey cuffs 23 'militant' hacker suspects

PKK s'kiddies

Turkey has arrested 23 hackers suspected of links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and attacks on government websites. The suspects allegedly attacked government web sites under direction of PKK leaders in Iraq and Europe, UPI reports. Reports of activities of the so-called Code Attack Team are sketchy, so it's …

Enterprise Security 12 Mar 2010, 10:03
HMRC may get hands on missing bank data

Poacher turns gamekeeper

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs may be well known in the UK for losing files on every family but it's not above turning corporate data losses to its own advantage. The Revenue is in the market for details of thousands of Swiss bank accounts which have gone missing. HSBC has admitted losing account details for 24,000 accounts …

Policing 12 Mar 2010, 10:16
Elon Musk's Falcon 9 suffers rocketus interruptus in pad test

Backfires, blows cloud of soot, but won't start

The Falcon 9 rocket made by famed tech hecamillionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX has suffered a test-firing failure on the pad in Florida. Bloody thing must be flooded. Flames and black smoke belched briefly from the bottom of the rocket as the test commenced earlier this week at Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral, but …

Space 12 Mar 2010, 10:22
Light bulbs inspire boffins to find fast data transfer trick

Many lights make bytes work

Switch a lightbulb on and off fast enough, and you can transmit data without giving everyone in the room a headache. So say boffins from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute who have managed to get data-transfer rates of up to 230Mb/s out of a flashing light, in a paper to be published by the Optical Society of America. Regular …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 10:37
Buffalo brings blingy bullion-branded drive

Goldfinger's favourite?

Buffalo has taken a leaf out of rival storage specialist LaCie's book and released an shiny gold-look hard drive. It's part of the existing MiniStation Lite range of 2.5in portable drives, and it comes with a 500GB capacity. The drive comes weeks after Samsung released a gold-coloured 2.5in drive tied into the Michael Jackson …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 10:55
Mozilla gives passive-aggressive missive to pre-Firefox 3.6 hold-outs

Upgrade now, thankyouplease

Mozilla has begun shepherding Firefox fans through the browser door marked 3.6, in a move to encourage users to upgrade to the open source outfit's latest surfing tool. As of yesterday, Mozilla claimed that Firefox 3.6 had been downloaded by over 100 million people since it landed in January this year. That milestone was …

Applications 12 Mar 2010, 11:12
Police issue lock-up-your-chihuahuas killer owl warning

European flying beast threatens Wiltshire

Wiltshire police have warned locals "not to approach" an escaped European eagle owl which could, if it felt a bit peckish, make off with cats and diminutive dogs. The animal flew its coop in Lower Stratton on Sunday. A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman summarised: “The owner went into the enclosure and the owl flew at him. He …

Biology 12 Mar 2010, 11:19
Hold onto your pants it's iPad pre-order day

Early adopters get up early

Apple's US online store is currently being updated, ahead of opening for pre-orders of iPads. Lucky US punters can sign up to pre-order the giant Jesusphones from 5.30AM Pacific Time. The actual device should be ready for collection from retail stores on 3 April - although a legal disclaimer on the site warns it still has to …

Mobile 12 Mar 2010, 11:30
UK shoppers ignorant of online rights

But Brits busiest e-shoppers in Europe

UK web users are Europe's biggest online shoppers but are not aware of their consumer rights when it comes to e-commerce, a government survey has found. UK shoppers spent £38bn online in 2009, 10 per cent of the total amount spent overall, making them the European Union's biggest online spenders, according to figures from the …

Channel Register 12 Mar 2010, 11:32
AMD to pitch Fusion chip at netbooks, ultrathins

'Bobcat'-based CPUs out in 2011

Claims that AMD has a some kind of Damascene conversion and is to finally target the netbook sector directly are, frankly, nonsense. An old slide showing the chip maker's notebook roadmap re-appeared this week, and pundits rushed with 'AMD targets netbook' stories after spotting 'Ontario', a dual-core chip that contains AMD's …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 11:33
Former model sues Universal over 'x-rated prop' outrage

Couples Retreat actor cracks one off to bikini-clad Russian

A Russian former model is suing Universal Pictures for allowing actor Jon Favreau to crack one off to a picture of her in a bikini in the film Couples Retreat. According to the New York Daily News, Irina Krupnik got a bit of shock when she found out a 2001 snap of her taken when she was 21 had resurfaced as "an X-rated prop" …

Bootnotes 12 Mar 2010, 11:51
BOFH: The PFY Chronicles part 2

Episode 2 A poisoned chalice

Things are quiet at Mission Control. No, quiet would be an understatement. The room seems unnaturally large and cavernous, and there's an echo that just shouldn't be there... I could swear I heard the words "sleep no more" coming from the PC speaker, but I'm sure I'm imagining it. My contemplations are interrupted by two …

BOFH 12 Mar 2010, 11:56
McAfee inadvertently speeds creation of Metaploit IE exploit pack

Unsanitised blog laid exploit hunt clues

A security researcher has credited McAfee for helping him to develop exploit code that cracks open an unpatched flaw in older versions of Internet Explorer. Moshe Ben Abu (AKA Trancer00t) used the flaw in IE 6 and 7 in knocking-up a module for the open-source Metasploit exploit database. "I didn't find the vuln', just found …

Enterprise Security 12 Mar 2010, 12:09
Ofcom smears 3G across spectrum

900, 1800MHz approval in August

Ofcom has finally proposed the use of 3G technologies at 2G frequencies, slipping the amendment into a bundle of updates and tweaks that should get approval come August. The bundle includes updates to rules on Ultra Wide Band and permitting radar installations at level crossings, but also permits the deployment of 3G …

Mobile 12 Mar 2010, 12:13
Microsoft offers SMEs cash to use Dynamics ERP software

Claims NetSuite not so

Microsoft has responded to NetSuite's recent reseller commissions sweetener by offering an MS Dynamics honey pot to customers of its ERP (enterprise resource planning) rival. Earlier this month NetSuite, which is a web-based biz accounting applications vendor majority-owned by Oracle, offered US channel partners commissions …

Channel Register 12 Mar 2010, 12:26
Barclaycard and Orange plot NFC Christmas

But not saying how, or when

Barclaycard has let slip plans to deploy NFC-enabled mobile phones, along with Orange, before the end of 2010. The details were spotted by NFC World, which reported on a presentation given by Barclaycard's Head of Innovation Marketing, Sarah Mansfield, during which she stated that by the end of 2010 Orange customers will be …

Mobile 12 Mar 2010, 12:32
IPCC Rainforest eco-tastrophe claim confirmed as bunk

Official UN website still shows it as fact, though

More bad news today for the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as another of its extravangant ecopocalypse predictions, sourced from green campaigners, has been confirmed as bunk by scientists. The UN body came under attack earlier this year for suggesting that 40 per cent of the Amazonian rainforests - dubbed the " …

Environment 12 Mar 2010, 12:47
Sony PlayStation Move: your questions answered

What you need to know about the Wii-style PS3 accessory

Sony this week formally announced its long-awaited Wii-style motion controller system for the PlayStation 3. Once thought to be called Arc, the add-on is now officially Move. And here is all you need to know about it. What is it? PlayStation Move is a stick-like handheld game controller that's able to detect its orientation …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 12:51
GCHQ loses Top Secret laptops

And struggles to recruit net experts

It is the secretive heart of government information security, dispensing advice and setting standards throughout officialdom, but GCHQ's "cavalier" in-house policies have come under fire in a report revealing it lost 35 laptops. Three of the missing machines were certified to hold Top Secret material, according to the annual …

Government 12 Mar 2010, 12:58
NZ internet filter goes live - gov forgets to tell public

The rise of the secret censor

New Zealand’s internet filtering system went live last month – but the government forgot to mention this to its electorate until its hand was forced by online freedom campaign, Tech Liberty. Thomas Beagle, a spokesman for the group, said he was "very disappointed that the filter is now running" and that its launch had been …

Government 12 Mar 2010, 13:09
Virtualisation and vendor support

Lab What happens when you have a problem?

You may be playing around with virtualisation on the edges of your IT environment or be well down the road to making it part of the furniture. But what happens when something goes wrong and it’s not immediately obvious what the problem is? If the issue looks as though it is related to a software application provided by a third …

Virtualisation Lab 12 Mar 2010, 13:36
'Health and safety killjoys' kill cheese-rolling race

Traditional Gloucester hill stampede canned

In grim news for those who think it's a bit of a wheeze to chase an 8lb Double Gloucester cheese for 200 yards down a near-vertical hillside, the organisers of the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake have announced that this year's event is cancelled. The Daily Mail points the finger firmly at "health and safety killjoys" …

Bootnotes 12 Mar 2010, 13:40
OCZ's low price Onyx SSD

Slips under $100 price point

OCZ has a sub-$100 SSD offered as a netbook, laptop and desktop hard drive replacement. It only comes in a 32GB capacity for now, using multi-level cell (MLC) NAND, and has a SATA II interface, TRIM support so it works better with Windows, and poor-to-respectable performance. The read speed is up to 125MB/sec with writing …

Storage 12 Mar 2010, 14:39
Info Commissioner pleads with Tories to jail data thieves

Third time lucky

The data protection watchdog has strongly urged an incoming Tory government to quickly bring in jail sentences for data thieves, after the current government reneged on the idea. Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, campaigned last year for custodial powers already on the statute books under the Data Protection …

Law 12 Mar 2010, 14:41
SSD tools crack passwords 100 times faster

Ultra brute force attack

Password-cracking tools optimised to work with SSDs have achieved speeds up to 100 times quicker than previously possible. After optimising its rainbow tables of password hashes to make use of SSDs Swiss security firm Objectif Sécurité was able to crack 14-digit WinXP passwords with special characters in just 5.3 seconds. …

Enterprise Security 12 Mar 2010, 14:42
Hedge fund suitor denies Novell asset sale rumors

Elliott wants it all - especially the cash

As the week was ending, rumors were swirling that the hedge fund suitor of Novell, Elliott Associates, which last week offered $1bn net of cash to take over the perennially struggling software maker, was going to start selling off its target's assets if it clinches a deal. This may mean the NetWare operating system biz, and …

Applications 12 Mar 2010, 15:00
Currys claims 3D TV 'first'

'We're taking orders,' chirps retailer

DSG chain Currys was today keen to tell World+Dog that it not only has "the first 3D TV in the UK" at on of its biggest shops, but that it's the "only" chain taking orders. Taking orders, yes, but handing out product, no. And Currys didn't say when ordered tellies, transmitters and glasses will ship. Not that we anticipate …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 15:02
Female porn director turned pol grabs Kent by the ballots

Opinion Lib Dem wants X’s in the box

The citizens of Tunbridge Wells may not have been disgusted, but a few will quite possibly have been spluttering into their cornflakes Friday morning at the news that a well-known director of adult films will be standing as a parliamentary candidate for a nearby Kent constituency. Anna Arrowsmith – better known to …

Government 12 Mar 2010, 15:12
Virgin contractors grip up for more cuts

Another 15 per cent off

Virgin Media contractors earning more than £300 a day have been told to accept a 15 per cent cut in rates or leave the company. Virgin lopped ten per cent off day rates last year - when such a policy was widespread and usually spun as a way to avoid job cuts. But with the first signs of economic improvement many contractors …

Channel Register 12 Mar 2010, 15:21
Body of James Brown disappears from family tomb

The hardest working corpse in show business

Update: Other members of James Brown's family have now denied the his body has gone missing. This story has been updated to reflect this. The body of soul legend James Brown has been stolen from a family crypt, according to one of his daughters. Other members of his family, however, have denied the allegation. The self- …

Bootnotes 12 Mar 2010, 15:25
Sharp prices up Freeview HD set-tops

Bring-your-own-storage DVR too

Sharp has revealed what it plans to charge for its upcoming Freeview HD receiver and the 320GB DVR that will also tune in to the terrestrially broadcast HD service. The TU-T2, a Freeview HD receiver with HDMI output, is due to ship in late April, as we reported earlier this week. It will retail for around £180. Early in May …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 15:57
Safari update cages numerous security bugs

Code inject and info flaws fixed

Apple published an update of its Safari browser on Thursday that plugs 16 security vulnerabilities. Safari 4.0.5, available for Mac OS X and Windows, fixes a slew of critical code injection and information disclosure bugs. Unpatched Windows boxes running Safari are more exposed than their Mac counterparts by flaws that mean …

Enterprise Security 12 Mar 2010, 16:11
Doctor Who to materialise on Wii this Autumn

Geronimo!

The BBC's first Doctor Who game in years will be released in October and will be released for Nintendo's Wii, moles have claimed. The title is said to feature new Doctor Matt Smith who will be placed against the Daleks and the Silurians - both due to make return appearances in the new series, which kicks off next month. The …

reghardware 12 Mar 2010, 16:29
Giant flying pliers menace West Bromwich

Street View captures transdimensional DIY moment

We're obliged to all those readers who've sent us new Street View sightings gleaned from the pretty-well nationwide coverage now enjoyed by the UK, especially those involving surveillance feedback loops. We'll be doing something on your spots next week, but in the meantime we invite you to ponder the disturbing case of the …

Bootnotes 12 Mar 2010, 16:35
'Twitter gives voice to the voiceless' - eg the US President

Twitter sensation follows Chief Twit's amazing claims

Blabbertastic palmtop chunter-casting service Twitter* has received another massive hype injection from the BBC, which has published an interview - already causing a Twitter sensation - on how important Twitter is, given by Twitter's co-founder. The Beeb managed to worm many important indiscretions out of Evan Williams. "Our …

Music and Media 12 Mar 2010, 16:50
China warns Google over uncensored search threat

Stop filtering and 'you will bear the consequences'

China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology has warned Google that if it stops censoring search results in the country, it will "have to bear the consequences". In mid-January, after alleged Chinese hackers pilfered unspecified intellectual property from its internal systems, Google announced it had made the …

Music and Media 12 Mar 2010, 18:13
Google Wave opens extensions gallery

Beefs 'robot' API

The Mountain View Chocolate Factory has unveiled an extensions gallery for Google Wave, the still-gestating browser-based app that crossbreeds email with IM and document sharing. First unveiled at a Google developer conference last May, Wave offers APIs for developing extensions to the platform and embedding its conversations …

Applications 12 Mar 2010, 19:45
Ford preps anti-hacking tech for in-car WiFi

Sync My Ride

Ford is developing anti-hacking technology in a bid to make upcoming in-car Wi-Fi systems resistant against drive-by downloads and other forms of computer security attacks. The next generation of Ford SYNC, a built-in vehicle comms and entertainment system developed by Ford and Microsoft, will come with secure Wi-Fi access and …

Wireless 12 Mar 2010, 20:15
Trojan armed with hardware-based anti-piracy control

Zeus borrows page from Microsoft

The latest version of the Zeus do-it-yourself crimeware kit goes to great lengths to thwart would-be pirates by introducing a hardware-based product activation scheme similar to what's found in Microsoft Windows. The newest version with bare-bones capabilities starts at $4,000 and additional features can fetch as much as $10, …

Security 12 Mar 2010, 20:27
Netflix cancels recommendation contest over privacy

Not as anonymous as you think

Netflix has canceled a contest designed to improve its movie recommendation system out of concern it might compromise the privacy of its customers. The decision was announced in a blog post, published Friday, by Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt. A previous competition that handed over anonymous user data to more than 50 …

ID 12 Mar 2010, 22:20
ICANN delays decision on pornography domain

.xxx must wait. Yet again

ICANN has delayed its ruling on the proposed .xxx internet porn domain until this summer. Today, at its meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, the ICANN board voted to push a decision to its next get-together in Brussels this June, while giving its CEO and chief counsel two weeks to prepare recommendations on how to proceed with the .xxx …

Music and Media 12 Mar 2010, 22:21
Programmer gets 4 years in TJX hack case

Dirty laundry delivered via FedEx

A former Barclays Bank programmer received 46 months in prison for helping TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez launder as much as $800,000, according to news reports. Humza Zaman, 33, was also fined $75,000 and ordered to undergo three years of court supervision once he's released. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy last …

Crime 12 Mar 2010, 23:21