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14th April 2010 Archive

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  • Amazon rains MySQL on Europe

    Floating relational database crosses Atlantic

    Amazon has floated its MySQL cloud across the Atlantic. Early Wednesday European time, the mega-retailer turned virtual-infrastructure-maven announced that its Amazon Relational Database Service - a version of MySQL running atop the its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) - can now be launched on server instances based in the EU. EC2 …

    Servers 14 Apr 2010, 05:14

  • Brokerage coughs up $375,000 for website breach

    Garden-variety exploit strikes again!

    US brokerage D.A. Davidson has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle charges that lax security practices allowed criminal hackers from Latvia to pilfer the confidential information of some 192,000 of its customers. The charges stem from an attack on December 25 and 25, 2007, in which the hackers downloaded the confidential data by …

    Security 14 Apr 2010, 06:02

  • Schooner adds DR to SQL and cache appliances

    MySQLectomy boosts query speeds

    Schooner Information Technology came out of stealth mode a year ago with its Memecached caching and MySQL acceleration appliances, which are tuned for multithreaded servers and which allow companies to consolidate anywhere from five to ten x64 servers running these workloads down to one Schooner appliance. The trouble is, …

    Servers 14 Apr 2010, 06:02

  • Emulex scores FCOE revenue win

    Eat your heart out, QLogic

    Emulex says it sold more FCoE kit than QLogic in 2009. That's unexpected, considering that QLogic had more design wins for its Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) converged network adapters (CNA) throughout 2009 than Emulex, and by a wide margin. Nevertheless Emulex cites Infonetics and says it had a 57 per cent share of the …

    Storage 14 Apr 2010, 07:02

  • Son of Nehalem due this year

    Sandy Bridge to the future

    It's now official: Intel's next-generation microarchitecture, dubbed Sandy Bridge, will appear in late 2010. As reported by ZDNet UK, the announcement was made by the co-general manager of Intel's architecture group, David "Dadi" Perlmutter, at the Intel Developer Forum currently underway in Beijing. Not that the release date …

    Servers 14 Apr 2010, 07:02

  • Offline Google Docs disappear on May 3

    Reappearance whenever

    Google's online document and spreadsheet editors will no longer offer offline access as of May 3, and it's unclear when it will return. On Monday, the company introduced updated versions of its Google Docs editors, and unlike previous versions they do not provide offline access through the Google Gears browser extension, which …

    Software 14 Apr 2010, 07:02

  • Ten Essential... iPhone Accessories

    Product Round-up There's an add-on for that

    Yes, there are hundreds - nay, thousands - of apps you can download and extend the functionality of your iPhone 3GS. But don't forget there are plenty of hardware add-ons too, from handset battery life boosters to kit to make the Apple phone more care friendly. Here are the ten we think are most deserving of your hard-earned …

    Top Ten 14 Apr 2010, 08:02

  • The right path to UC?

    Workshop There’s no such thing

    Picture this: the pros and cons of going down the Unified Communications (UC) route have been assessed and the benefits look promising. So far so good. But in a world where vendors flaunt their purchasing options almost as much as the solutions themselves, and where your capex budget is being squeezed to the point of suffocation …

    Unified Comms 14 Apr 2010, 08:02

  • Transport for London gobbles up Oyster

    How shellfish, etc etc

    London's Oyster Card system is now owned by Transport for London, which stumped up £1m for the brand as well as considerably more for the associated infrastructure. TranSys, which has been running the Oyster system since 1998 under a Private Finance Initiative, took on £190m of debt at the start. That debt was due to be paid …

    Applications 14 Apr 2010, 08:02

  • Palm opens for Chinese cash

    Cash-strapped smartphone maker looks to Huawei for help

    Palm has approached Huawei Technologies about the possibility of a takeover, reports suggest. Palm suggested it was up for sale at its last - poor - results conference. Earlier this week, Palm shares jumped on reports that Goldman Sachs and Qatalyst Partners were looking for possible bidders for the firm. The firm has …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 08:36

  • Confirmed: Apple's MacBook Pros not primed with Optimus

    Nvidia GPU but not Nvidia GPU switching tech

    The dual GPU system implemented in Apple's new MacBook Pro notebooks is not Nvidia's Optimus technology, it has emerged. Instead, Apple uses multiplexer (mux) hardware to switch the output to the screen between the processor-integrated graphics core and the discrete Nvidia GPU, we hear. Like Optimus, the switch is triggered …

    Laptops 14 Apr 2010, 08:51

  • Xiotech's CorteX to change the storage world

    Comment ISE NAS coming with Symantec

    Xiotech wants CorteX to be the door to a new storage world. CorteX is a REST-using API that lets an application access and manage Xiotech's storage brick, its ISE (Intelligent Stage Element), the sort of super disk drive with fail-in-place components, a five-year warranty and terrific performance from its multiple spindles. …

    Storage 14 Apr 2010, 09:03

  • Humax Freeview HD boxes to get Sky Player

    Augment free-to-air content with pay-to-view programming

    Humax set-top boxes will soon provide access to Sky's Sky Player service, the two companies said today. An upcoming firmware update for Humax's HD-Fox T2 Freeview HD receiver - reviewed here - will allow users to view live programmes and catch-up content transmitted by Sky through its answer to BBC iPlayer. The follow-up to …

    Media 14 Apr 2010, 09:06

  • Microsoft offshores its own IT

    Infosys wins help desk, infrastructure deal

    Microsoft is outsourcing its internal IT to Indian company Infosys. The worldwide deal covers offices and other facilities in 450 places in 104 countries. Infosys will provide help desk services and desktop, infrastructure and application support. Infosys is working with Unisys on the desktop support contract using a multi- …

    The Channel 14 Apr 2010, 09:20

  • Neil Armstrong slams 'devastating' Constellation cancellation

    US faces 'a long downhill slide to mediocrity'

    Veteran astronauts Neil Armstrong, Eugene Cernan and James Lovell have signed an open letter urging Barack Obama to reconsider the "devastating" cancellation of the Constellation programme. In the letter, obtained by NBC, the trio of Apollo commanders insist that in order to avoid "a long downhill slide to mediocrity", the US …

    Science 14 Apr 2010, 09:23

  • Gears of War 3 release date unveiled

    You have 12 months to prepare

    Epic Games has confirmed that Gears of War 3 will be coming to the Xbox 360 a year from now. The shooter will be based on Epic's Unreal Engine 3 and will appear exclusively on the Microsoft console. "When we released Gears of War more than three years ago, we set out to tell the world an unforgettable story of bravery and …

    Games 14 Apr 2010, 09:43

  • McAfee sued over third-party pop-up pitches

    Consumer pair take issue with 'deceptive' sales tactics

    Security software maker McAfee is being sued over alleged sneaky tactics in promoting third-party services to consumers buying its anti-virus technology. A lawsuit seeking class-action status and filed by two California women, Melissa Ferrington and Cheryl Schmidt, takes issue with pop-up ads for McAfee partners that appear …

    Software 14 Apr 2010, 10:01

  • Consumerisation and client computing

    Workshop More than just executive desktop bling?

    The Apple Mac is an appropriate candidate for the ‘I want one of those because he’s got one’ poster child. However, the creep of consumerism and its impact on the range of computing devices which find themselves inside organisations goes beyond mere executive envy. The consumerisation phenomenon is a little tricky to pin down …

    Desktop Management 14 Apr 2010, 10:02

  • Legal vultures swoop on Compellent

    Claim management misled the markets

    Compellent is being investigated by a law firm about potentially false and misleading statements that violated US federal securities laws. Compellent announced record third quarter 2009 results on October 28, 2009, sending its shares from nearly $18 per share to over $24 in January 2010. But on February 11 2010 it announced …

    Storage 14 Apr 2010, 10:05

  • Research In Motion drives away with QNX

    Embedded OS behind the wheel

    Research In Motion is buying QNX Software, with the intention of pushing the embedded OS into cars and using it for a new generation of "intelligent peripherals". RIM already has an OS for its mobile phones, but QNX has some architectural advantages as well as a foothold in the in-car entertainment business, which RIM would …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 10:09

  • Obama to backtrack on NASA Orion cancellation - reports

    Capsule to live on as ISS lifeboat, but still no Moonbase

    Barack Obama has decided to partially reverse his decision to cancel NASA's "Orion" manned space capsule, according to reports. However the US President will not reinstate Bush-era plans for manned space exploration beyond low orbit - starting with a permanent Moon base - in the near future. The Associated Press reports that …

    Science 14 Apr 2010, 10:15

  • Nintendo beats Wii patent infringement rap

    Appeals court slaps down Anascape

    Nintendo has claimed victory in its long-running legal battle with Anascape after the US Court of Appeals said it did not infringe a patent held by the little-known intellectual property owner. Anascape had alleged that the Wii and GameCube controllers used six-axis control techniques detailed in US patent 6,906,700 - 'A 3D …

    Games 14 Apr 2010, 10:20

  • Bulgarians cop an eyeful of Penthouse billboard filth

    No airbags, but some highly suggestive winking

    The ethics commission of Bulgaria's National Council for Self-regulation in Advertising has "suggested" that Penthouse pull a billboard ad campaign featuring the rather cunning stunt of making an eye look like, well, have a look here... According to local daily Dnevnik, one complainant thundered: "We understand that there is …

    Bootnotes 14 Apr 2010, 10:29

  • LSI gets 1 million IOPS from 1TB of flash

    Matches IBM and HP with Fusion-io

    LSI has recorded 1 million IOPS from a terabyte of Seagate flash, showing how you need less and less flash to achieve the magic million marker. Fusion-io and IBM famously achieved a million IOPS in IBM's Project Quicksilver which came to light in September 2008. This involved 41 Fusion ioDrives with 4TB of flash hooked up to a …

    Storage 14 Apr 2010, 10:52

  • Election algorithm gives Tories sunnier outlook

    Still short of a majority though

    As the election campaign hots up, could a model built to demonstrate the benefits of the Python programming language hold the key to a successful election forecast? The Tories almost certainly hope so, as one feature of VIPA - Voting Intentions Predictive Analysis – is that it consistently predicts a better outcome for that …

    Developer 14 Apr 2010, 11:02

  • Microsoft's Silverlight goes fourth tomorrow

    Steps outside box

    Microsoft will release Silverlight 4 tomorrow, less than a year after launching version 3 of the company’s wannabe Adobe Flash killer. The code is in fact set to land 48 hours after Microsoft "launched" Silverlight 4 on Tuesday. The firm’s .NET developer platform veep Scott Guthrie told The Register last week that the latest …

    Developer 14 Apr 2010, 11:02

  • Lib Dems demand niceness, ignore technology

    Appeal to the man on the Clapham night bus

    The Lib Dems unveiled a manifesto (pdf) this morning that was chock-full of bright ideas and sensible fair thinking, but lacking a unifying theme. The party appears to be pitching for the sort of person who's unhappy about fat cat salaries, rude people in hospitals and is likely to switch vote based on whether night buses stop …

    Government 14 Apr 2010, 11:21

  • DARPA, US Marines team on proper flying car project

    Blade Runner style sky-buggy Humvee/Jeep/Prius combo

    Big news for flying-car lovers today, as US military boffinry chiefs have unveiled full details of their plan to produce an excellent flying Humvee or sky-jeep type vehicle - and have a prototype flying by 2015. Plans for the so-called "Transformer TX" were revealed in Pentagon budget documents last year, but details were …

    Science 14 Apr 2010, 11:32

  • Primark pulls 'disgraceful' padded bikini for kiddies

    Causes an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny rumpus

    Cut-price clothes retailer Primark has pulled a "disgraceful" range of kids' bikinis featuring padded tops, following a barrage of criticism over the ill-considered apparel. According to the BBC, the bikinis for girls as young as seven came in "candy pink with gold stars and black with white polka dots" at four quid a pop, and …

    Bootnotes 14 Apr 2010, 11:47

  • Rutland Telecom offers local internet for local people

    Thanks Mr and Mrs Knapp

    Residents of Lyddington village, Rutland, are celebrating the arrival of decent broadband today, thanks to their very own telco. The residents gave up waiting for BT which declined to offer broadband in the Rutland village. So instead some 200 households raised £37,000 for the capital costs of installing fully unbundled …

    Broadband 14 Apr 2010, 11:57

  • Salesforce.com and VMware float mystery cloud project

    VMforce coming later this month

    Salesforce.com and VMware will debut a cloud computing product later this month. The two software makers have created a website to tease customers about their upcoming collaborative effort, however they are saying very little else until 27 April. "Join industry leaders Marc Benioff, chairman & CEO of salesforce.com, and Paul …

    Applications 14 Apr 2010, 12:03

  • Atom runs Android, Google plans tablet

    But Chrome to be key cloudbook OS

    With the iPad in the market and a host of Linux or Windows tablets to follow, all eyes are on Google's response. Its upcoming Chrome OS, which is entirely geared to mobile browsers, will be important in the new hybrid formats between phone and PC. But before those 'cloudbooks' debut later this year, Android is also expected to …

    Tablets 14 Apr 2010, 12:18

  • The coolest arse on the planet

    Plug and play!

    There's that word "pad" again - but for buttocks this time. Not an arse-wipe, this is a "plug and play" - yes, really, cooling device to stop your bum getting sweaty in marathon gaming sessions. Hot pink, but not sweaty Called the USB Cooling Seat Pad, this gaming peripheral costs 25 bucks and comes in hot pink and moist …

    Hardware 14 Apr 2010, 12:28

  • Ex-SAP boss goes west to join US biz software maker

    Léo Apotheker seeks California serenity

    Ex-SAP boss Léo Apotheker has taken on a director role at US firm GT Nexus, just two months after quitting his job at the German biz software company. "We are very excited and pleased to have Léo with us," said GT Nexus chairman and CEO Aaron Sasson. "His industry experience and knowledge will be huge assets for us as we …

    Applications 14 Apr 2010, 12:41

  • NFC? It might work says Department for Transport

    £355,000 in hard cash for wishy washy answer

    Following two years of study, and £355,000 in cash, the Department for Transport has concluded that NFC works OK for ticketing. Probably. The study, which was conducted by Consult Hyperion, included giving NFC handsets to 40 people for six months, and bench testing of Nokia's NFC handset as a payment terminal. The 52-page …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 12:58

  • Apple delays UK iPad launch

    USA 500,000; Rest of World 0

    Apple has delayed the UK release of the iPad to allow more Americans to buy the "magical" gadget. Eager buyers in Blighty will now have to wait until the end of May - or take a trip to the States. "Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week [on sale], demand is far higher than we predicted and …

    Tablets 14 Apr 2010, 12:59

  • 'Groom-a-Tory' iPhone app sparks privacy paranoia

    Blue rinse? There's an app for that

    Mobile developers have expressed privacy fears over a Conservative general election-related iPhone application. The app, launched in February, allows iPhone owners to keep tabs on the Tory election campaign, donate money and review policy areas. It also gives the "ability to telephone canvass friends and report their voting …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 13:21

  • Korea sends teen games players to their beds

    Curfew imposed on 19 MMORPGs

    This is what happens when you have the best broadband in the world: children stay up all night playing computer games online. Yes, we are talking about Korea, which aims to eradicate computer game addiction among teenagers by imposing a night time shut down on 19 popular "freemium" role-playing games. These account for 80 per …

    Games 14 Apr 2010, 13:22

  • French city in pedestrian-powered streetlight plan

    Plus rapide, Gaston! Je peux voir baise-toute

    French city authorities, according to reports, are considering plans to power streetlights using energy provided by pedestrians treading on special power-generating pavements. The Guardian reports that Toulouse, "France's technological and aeronautical hub", is carrying out trials of the so-called "pavement power" technology. …

    Science 14 Apr 2010, 13:57

  • Oxburgh blesses Climategate boffins

    Keep on keeping calm, and carry on

    All's well at CRU. The University of East Anglia's scientific enquiry into the Climategate affair, led by Lord Oxburgh, has exonerated the staff involved. After just 15 days on the job, Oxburgh has dismissed the charges in a brisk five-page report. The academics under fire were the IPCC's leading authorities on temperature …

    Science 14 Apr 2010, 14:36

  • Secret admirer goes after Double-Take

    Premium price offered by surprise bidder

    A secret bidder has made an unexpected high-value acquisition offer for data protection vendor Double-Take Software. Double-Take replicates a physical or virtual server's disk writes to a remote machine or the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud for disaster recovery purposes. The firm also has some server virtualisation management …

    Storage 14 Apr 2010, 14:54

  • Promoted tweet scheme ripe for abuse

    Fresh security threats in 140 chars or less

    Miscreants are highly likely to take advantage of Twitter's move towards making money through ad-supported micro-blogging updates, security watchers warn. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone announced on Tuesday that the micro-blogging service would begin selling advertising to select firms through a newly-established Promoted Tweet …

    Security 14 Apr 2010, 15:07

  • UK carriers cut and paste iPad statement

    Identical messages of support

    O2, Vodafone and Orange have made almost identical statements to the effect that they will offer the iPad at the end of May. Here's one: "Vodafone today announced that it will offer dedicated iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. The iPad lets users browse the web …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 15:34

  • Paramount movies tip up on MSN Video

    European first

    MSN UK is to carry full-length films from Paramount on the new MSN Video Player. Launched in the UK a month ago, MSN Video carries about 1,000 hours of TV programmes and clips, lots of clips, and trailers, lots of trailers, and music videos. Hardly a match then for BBC iPlayer - and probably it never will be. But Project …

    Hardware 14 Apr 2010, 16:03

  • Java code-execution vuln exploited in drive-by attack

    Trivial to exploit

    A popular song lyrics website has been found serving attack code that tries to exploit a critical vulnerability in Oracle's Java virtual machine, which is installed on hundreds of millions of computers worldwide. The site, songlyrics.com, is serving up javascript that invokes the weakness disclosed last week by security …

    Security 14 Apr 2010, 16:33

  • Adobe to sue Apple 'within weeks,' says report

    iPhone code translation ban 'the last straw'

    Adobe intends to sue Apple over the recent SDK change that bans iPhone and iPad applications translated from languages Steve Jobs doesn't like, according to a report citing sources close to Adobe. IT World reports that Adobe will sue Apple "within a few weeks," after the Jobsian cult not only barred native Flash from the …

    Developer 14 Apr 2010, 17:10

  • Internet abuzz with BitTorrent bypass code

    Draconian UK law gets SeedF**cked

    A block of 86 lines of C# code is creating a buzz online following claims it may make BitTorrent downloads untraceable. The code, sweetly named SeedFucker, is actually an exploit discovered last November that would allow a BitTorent user to fake the IP address of a server from where a file could be downloaded. It could also be …

    Broadband 14 Apr 2010, 19:02

  • iPad stuck in US for extra month

    Apple claims demand surprise

    Apple has delayed the international launch of the iPad by one month. The reason? According to an Apple media advisory, "demand is far higher than we predicted." Although iPad wannabes outside the US won't be able to get their hands on the "magical and revolutionary" device until the end of May, Apple will announce …

    Tablets 14 Apr 2010, 19:04

  • Intel expects server bump in Q2

    Comment No virtualization downdraft ahead

    With its expected reversal of fortunes from last year's awful first quarter, Intel has set its sights on having a second quarter of 2010 that is better than normal seasonal trends and perhaps a much better second half as all of its PC and server chips hit their market strides. In a conference call Tuesday with Intel execs …

    Servers 14 Apr 2010, 19:47

  • Israel confiscates visiting iPads

    Crackdown on Jobsian WiFi

    If you're planning a visit to Israel, don't bring along your new iPad - the Israeli government will confiscate it at entry. So says a report in Wednesday's Haaretz, a leading Israeli news service based in Tel Aviv. According to the report, the problem is the iPad's Wi-Fi implementation - and, no, it's not because the iPad's …

    Mobile 14 Apr 2010, 19:48

  • Google and friends back bid to block warrantless email search

    Reinforcements for Yahoo!

    A coalition of civil liberties groups has joined Yahoo! in its bid to block a government attempt to read messages in a Yahoo! email account without a search warrant. The Department of Justice is seeking the documents in a case that is under seal, and apparently, the agency hasn't notified the account holder of the request, …

    Security 14 Apr 2010, 23:09

  • MySQL fork duo tear down Oracle's Iron Man fantasy

    MySQL Con Widenius and Aker to convert the converted

    The battle to own MySQL is over and Oracle executives are fanning out to woo open sourcers, but MySQL luminaries have mobilized to win the hearts and minds of DBAs and developers. MySQL father Michael - Monty - Widenius and leading MySQL architect Brian Aker spoke separately at the annual MySQL Con in Santa Clara, California, …

    Applications 14 Apr 2010, 23:59