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22nd June 2010 Archive

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  • HP embiggens ProLiant x64 server line

    Racks, blades, and the promise of more

    HP is not only launching two Xeon 7500 servers and three Opteron 6100 servers – as we told you it would - it's also previewing five other machines, which are due during the second half of the year. Some of these machines – particularly the high-end boxes using Intel's eight-core Xeon 7500 processors, which are the ProLiant …

    Servers 22 Jun 03:40

  • 100 Gigabit Ethernet standard ratified

    Oh, and 40Gb/s too

    It's official: the IEEE 802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet standard has been ratified by — who else? — the IEEE P802.3ba 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s Ethernet Task Force. "Ubiquitous adoption of bandwidth-intensive technologies and applications, such as converged network services, video-on-demand, and social networking, is producing …

    Networks 22 Jun 06:02

  • Ex-Amazon 'Master of Disaster' animates server Chef

    'Object oriented programming for sysadmins'

    Opscode — the Seattle-based startup lead by Amazon's former "Master of Disaster" — has introduced an online service for overseeing the use of its open source Chef framework, a means of juggling server configurations atop so-called infrastructure clouds such as Amazon EC2 and in good ol' private data centers. Distributed …

    Virtualization 22 Jun 06:02

  • Telespial Systems Trackstick Mini GPS

    Review I know what you did last summer

    If your business or pleasure activities can be enhanced by accurately recording where you have been and when, then a good passive GPS tracker can be a handy gadget to have. Of course, GPS trackers also have a slight whiff of the ignoble and sneaky about them and rightly so ,as one of their major advantage over a GPS tracking …

    reghardware 22 Jun 07:02

  • Sony Xperia X10 Competition – the winners

    Who got the prizes?

    Last month Reg Hardware ran a competition to win a Sony Xperia X10 handset. Almost 9,000 people entered the draw (a Reg Hardware record) and up popped two lucky winners. They are: Brett Pereria from Canterbury, UK, who says: "Thank you, I'm thrilled - I will certainly look forward to receiving this fabulous prize! Many thanks …

    reghardware 22 Jun 07:02

  • ISS 'naut snaps Aurora Australis

    Impressive photo of southern light show

    An astronaut aboard the International Space Station has captured an impressive snap of the Aurora Australis, while the orbiting outpost was over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350km: NASA explains: "This striking aurora image was taken during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass …

    Space 22 Jun 07:32

  • Hosted security: necessary, evil or necessary evil?

    Mini Poll Let us know your thoughts

    From previous conversations with Reg readers, we know that security is something that is often best left to others – many organisations lack either the expertise or the time to really do justice to securing their IT systems. One possible answer is to get others to manage it – for example, by using hosted security services from …

    Enterprise Security 22 Jun 08:02

  • Feds cuff man in ATM skimming case

    'You won't know what to do with the money'

    Federal authorities have arrested a Serbian national living in Chicago and charged him with attempting to buy an ATM skimming device. Louis Sokolovic, also known as Ljubisa Sokolovic, was taken into custody late last week after being charged with one count of attempting to obtain device-making equipment with intent to defraud …

    Crime 22 Jun 08:02

  • US freezes Intel monopoly probe

    Settlement likely

    Intel and the Federal Trade Commission look likely to reach an out-of-court settlement of competition charges brought against the chip giant. In late 2009 the FTC filed charges against Intel. It accused the company of illegally using its dominant market position to crush rivals like AMD and strengthen its monopoly. But …

    PCs & Chips 22 Jun 08:22

  • ThinkGeek trembles before Pork Board's pork sword

    Canned unicorn provokes 'best-ever' cease and desist

    The wags down at ThinkGeek have found themselves on the receiving end of the "best-ever cease and desist letter", after seriously treading on the National Pork Board's trotters. ThinkGeek's offence was committed in the marketing of its quite remarkable Canned Unicorn Meat, a truly magical product launched on 1 April and …

    Bootnotes 22 Jun 09:17

  • Old timer cleared of extreme porn charges

    Unclear when images were accessed

    Fresh confusion arose last week as to when an individual may be found guilty of possessing extreme porn, with the acquittal of a pensioner on the grounds that no one could be sure when he actually downloaded the images in question. While this may be heartening news for those with poor memories and ageing hard drives, The …

    Policing 22 Jun 09:21

  • Cyber cops want stronger domain rules

    Price increases on the cards

    International police have called for stricter rules on domain name registration, to help them track down online crooks, warning the industry that if it does not self-regulate, governments could legislate. The changes, which are still under discussion, would place more onerous requirements on ICANN-accredited domain name …

    Crime 22 Jun 09:23

  • Orange to offer granny phone

    Doro signs to network

    Orange is to offer granny friendly handset the Doro PhoneEasy 410s. The clamshell - a relative of the Doro 334gsm HandlePlus IUP we reviewed here, part of our Granny Friendly Phones round-up - features enlarged, backlit buttons and a clear, large-text display. The sound output is amplified beyond normal mobile phone levels …

    reghardware 22 Jun 09:30

  • Tom Stoppard: Tech is destroying the written word

    No Vids Schools do too much science & maths, dammit!

    Heavyweight luvvie Sir Tom Stoppard has said that new technology in the home is destroying children's - and thus society's - appetite for the written word. He also considers that today's educational system places too much emphasis on maths and the sciences at the expense of the humanities. Stoppard made the remarks while …

    Science 22 Jun 09:37

  • Dell rolls out Inspiron R range

    Latest laptops debut

    Dell has introduced its new laptop line, the Inspiron R. Available in 14in, 15in and 17in screen models, the R series is billed as an "ideal family computer". But then it would say that, wouldn't it? As with previous 2010 Dells, the series comes with Intel Core i3 and Core i5 processors and runs Windows 7. There is an …

    reghardware 22 Jun 09:39

  • Red Dead Redemption DLC out today

    'Yew killed mah pah'

    Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption gets its first downloadable content add-on today. The new levels, together called Outlaws to the End, will be availabe for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game - reviewed here. The download comes over Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network (PSN). Networking is key: Outlaws to the …

    reghardware 22 Jun 09:53

  • Premature ejaculation means fanbois get iPhones early

    Updated FedEx shaves off twitching time

    Fans who pre-ordered an iPhone 4 are getting them a day early, thanks to FedEx's efficiency, so now they only have to remember to breathe for 24 hours. An email sent out to those who pre-ordered makes it clear that delivery should be expected on June 23, a full day before the laggard retailers start putting handsets into hands …

    Mobile 22 Jun 10:01

  • Why group policy management works

    Blog Easier than scripts for tiny tots

    They give me a certain flexibility in writing the desktop management blog. The next six articles are marked in my calendar as “something to do with Group Policy Objects (GPOs).” The topics I write tend to line up with the research I am doing for my day job, and lo and behold, the next couple of weeks I will be deep into GPOs. I …

    Desktop Mgmt Blog 22 Jun 10:02

  • US attacks Europe's perv-scanners

    Pot pans kettle's jug-snoop

    A US security official has criticised European use of perv-scanners at airports, saying the technology is better regulated in the US. The arches were rushed into use at some UK airports earlier this year, following a failed liquid bomb plot. The measure was criticised by Interpol, European Commissioner Viviane Reding and the …

    Policing 22 Jun 10:03

  • HP converges on itself with bulked up storage offering

    EVA Clusters, mid-range dedupe and iSCSI box

    HP has upgraded its storage offerings as part of a Converged Infrastructure (CI) announcement, making EVAs clusterable, enhancing mid-range dedupe and introducing a new LeftHand iSCSI box. It's announced a raft of new servers as well as storage. CI is HP's integrated IT stack, its response to Cisco entering the server market …

    Storage 22 Jun 10:17

  • Getting on top of change management

    Lab Are you keeping up?

    One of the first articles I ever had to write as an analyst was about change management. In it, I suggested that major IT programmes tend to follow a similar path as the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Of course, this was no great insight: many managers will be familiar with the team- …

    Platform Evolution 22 Jun 10:23

  • Whitehall invites broadband subsidy goldrush

    'Superfast' still not a real word, however

    The government has invited internet firms to Whitehall to thrash out how taxpayers could help deliver "superfast broadband"* to rural areas. At a one-day conference next month civil servants will also hear pitches on how to connect parts of the country that still cannot get basic broadband. The coalition is committed to the …

    Telecoms 22 Jun 10:46

  • Apple iOS 4 update frustrates iPhone 3G owners

    Updated Our upgrade did not go smoothly - and we're not alone

    Unsurprisingly, there are reports of woes among iPhone users when upgrading to iOS 4 and we even have first hand experience of this here at Reg Hardware. On a 3GS, the upgrade was the "easiest yet" for our esteemed leader, yet in the foothills, there’s a rather sickly 16GB iPhone 3G that won’t run any of third party apps or sync …

    reghardware 22 Jun 10:50

  • Tape out: the cassette-styled USB hub

    Datahub meets mixtape

    This is the USB Cassette 4-Port Hub from Asian gadget seller Brando. As the name suggests, it features four USB ports and looks like a retro cassette tape. Tape those cables up There's no reason why a USB hub should be styled after a cassette tape, but who needs a reason? We just think it looks cool. Plug and play with …

    reghardware 22 Jun 10:53

  • Aussie pols want compulsory AV software and firewalls

    Police, business and lawyers consulted: consumers not

    As the Australian Government continues to grapple with the issue of how best to protect the nation from internet nastiness, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications has just lobbed a major new element into the debate in the form of a mega-report on cyber-crime. The report - entitled Hackers, Fraudsters …

    Government 22 Jun 11:11

  • Flash bursts onto Android

    Now iPhone users can start missing out

    Adobe has launched a final version of Flash 10.1 for Android, so iPhone users can now officially feel left out, though they'll be in good company for a while yet. Android users running version 2.2 will be able to download Flash 10.1 from the Android Marketplace, but everyone else will have to wait as Adobe is expecting …

    Mobile 22 Jun 11:29

  • Huge new airships for US Army: designed in Blighty

    Hybrid dyno/hover vessels to make 3-week flights

    British engineers are to partner with a major US defence contractor to build a large "optionally manned" robot spy airship, intended to lurk for three weeks at a time in the skies above Afghanistan. Now that's a big robot. American arms'n'aerospace goliath Northrop Grumman announced the deal last week, revealing that the US …

    Science 22 Jun 11:39

  • Apple iOS4 upgrade adds multitasking, folders... and pain

    Should have gotten a backup app first

    As usual, the latest Apple operating system upgrade is stranding quite a few unhappy users with broken machines. This time it's iOS4, which was released for some older iPhone models on Monday. Apple's products often appeal to non-technical users and some are getting bitten when they try to upgrade. Whereas any half-competent …

    Mobile 22 Jun 11:48

  • Dyson delivers new deskfan duo

    Fresh designs for airhead fans

    Appliance giants Dyson has announced two additions to its deskfan range. Stepping away from the original loop design, the AM02 Tower Fan, available in iron/blue and all-silver finishes stands at approximately a metre tall. Designed to take up minimal floor space, it amplifies air 16 times, drawing in 33 litres each second. …

    reghardware 22 Jun 11:49

  • Android application development

    Geeks Guide2 Save 40% on Android dev. titles

    With HTC & Sony Ericsson producing stylish phones that give the iPhone a run for its money, the development for Android applications has become one of the latest crazes in the developer's playground. Today GG2 gives you an insight to the newest books covering this subject. Beginning Android 2 To begin with we have Beginning …

    Developer 22 Jun 12:02

  • Osborne promises to curb deficit in five years

    Queen's child benefit frozen

    Chancellor George Osborne's emergency Budget today promised to increase tax allowances but also increase VAT in an effort to balance the need for huge cutbacks with protecting the nascent economic recovery. He promised decisive action to deal with the UK's record deficit, but also to protect the most vulnerable. He said …

    Financial News 22 Jun 12:04

  • Reg Hardware goes to the movies

    Mini-Poll Calling all readers

    From time to time we venture out to the movies. Admittedly, our palette is a tad limited - news of upcoming films involving James Bond, adaptations of comic books and computer games, and most things featuring Natalie Portman is about the sum of it. Now we are considering expanding our movie coverage - and you can help. We have …

    Entertainment 22 Jun 12:15

  • Salesforce releases Facebook for suits

    Chattering classes

    Salesforce.com is today expected to release its Facebook for businesses against established enterprise collaboration software from Microsoft and IBM. The software-as-a-service giant will announce its Chatter service is generally available for the 77,300 customers using other aspects of its hosted platform - the announcement …

    Applications 22 Jun 12:25

  • ToryDems add up bill for Labour's ID scheme

    What does £292m get you these days?

    The Labour government spent just under £300m to develop the ID card and biometric passport schemes unceremoniously dumped by the ToryDems this month. The figures came in a commons answer on Monday. Conservative MP Richard Harrington asked "what recent representations she has received on the cost of the identity cards scheme …

    Government 22 Jun 12:36

  • Samsung Wave smartphone

    Review Is the new Bada OS worth splashing out for?

    Samsung is one of those manufacturers that seems to grind out decent, capable handsets with great frequency, yet few of its many iterations tend to stick in the memory, or appear to set the pace. Samsung's Wave: New OS, but revamped TouchWiz UI Yet with the Wave, Samsung hopes to change all that. The Korean company appears …

    reghardware 22 Jun 12:39

  • Osborne hands out tax cuts - for companies

    VAT up 20% Higher rate tax threshold frozen

    ToryDem chancellor George Osborne handed a massive tax boost to business today in his first budget. But the move will be cold comfort for public sector suppliers, banks or video games developers. As expected VAT goes up from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent on 4 January next year. Corporation tax will be cut by a penny every …

    Small Biz 22 Jun 12:50

  • Opera stomps on 'extremely severe' security holes

    But won't say what they are

    Opera has unleashed a minor point upgrades for the Windows and Mac versions of its web browser - so minor it didn't merit a press release. But the 10.54 release fixes five security holes, four of which Opera won't fully disclose, but are rated "extremely severe", "highly severe", "moderately severe" and… "less severe". This …

    Enterprise Security 22 Jun 12:56

  • Poker money and the ethics professor

    Gaming the Commons

    What does an ethics professor do when a self-confessed felon bankrolls his favourite causes? Give the money back? Turn it into a case study for his students? We may soon find out. The professor is the director of Edmond J Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard, and he's no ordinary professor. It's Lawrence Lessig, the …

    Music and Media 22 Jun 13:01

  • Mobile: what they need - and what they want

    Workshop Will users ever be happy, safe and productive?

    Many years ago an IT manager, responding to one of our research studies, said one of the saddest and most pathetic sights he had ever seen was a 100Kg salesman coming into his office telling him that his 120g mobile phone was too heavy. He needed an upgrade to something smaller and lighter. That was back in the days when …

    Mobile Workshop 22 Jun 13:02

  • Brits are bored with mobile broadband

    But are sales plummeting?

    UK mobile broadband sales are tumbling as consumers have figured out that the technology does not live up to its billing. So says Broadband Expert, which notes a 57 per cent drop in the number of people signing up for mobile broadband via the price comparison site. Sales sank from 3000-ish in May 2009 to 1,300 in May 2010. …

    Telecoms 22 Jun 13:19

  • Microsoft launches MSN health application

    Keeping MSN relevant and saving the NHS money, maybe

    Microsoft has announced the availability of its brand new "health and wellness" HealthVault cloud platform in the UK. HealthVault is an MSN-hosted store for users to enter their data directly and to use applications or widgets developed by charity Nuffield Health. The announcement is full of well-meaning yadda yadda like …

    Applications 22 Jun 13:31

  • Chancellor cans planned game biz tax break

    And 20 per cent VAT hike won't help sales, either

    Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has scrapped a Labour plan to provide tax relief for the videogames industry. The subject of much lobbying by the games development business, the tax relief programme was announced by the previous Chancellor, Alistair Darling, during his March 2010 budget. "I will offer …

    reghardware 22 Jun 13:33

  • Google claims Wi-Fi slurp legal in the US

    Well if you leave your door open you can't complain when etc etc

    Google lawyers reckon its Wi-Fi data harvesting operation will be judged legit in the US. That's the latest message on the controversy from the firm - but it remains schtum on the legal brickbats being chucked its way in Europe. In a letter to Congressmen, Google's director of public policy Pablo Chavez said that harvesting …

    Law 22 Jun 14:10

  • Middle-aged sex is crap: Official

    Earth fails to move much for weary over-45s

    A study of 1,752 weary adults has shown that after the age of 45, it's downhill all the way when it comes to getting your end away. The rot actually sets in at 40, according to Kwai Garlic, which commissioned the survey. Three-quarters of those quizzed said that's the age at which sex started to become less of an earth-moving …

    Bootnotes 22 Jun 14:25

  • Big EU imports of Sahara sun-power coming soon?

    Headlines to which the answer is no

    The European Union might subsidise "interconnector" undersea power lines beneath the Mediterranean for the purpose of importing solar energy from the Sahara desert, according to reports. "I think some models starting in the next 5 years will bring some hundreds of megawatts to the European market," European Energy Commissioner …

    Environment 22 Jun 15:18

  • Nobody trusts anything - shock poll

    Big Media, Twitter vie for wooden spoon

    Facebook and Twitter are trusted as much as the professional media, according to a survey by Zogby - which reveals that nobody trusts anything at all. As readers often point out, a well-designed survey can lead the group to a desired conclusion. This one leaves pollster John Zogby with some egg on his face: clutching at …

    Music and Media 22 Jun 15:36

  • Bloody George's Budget: How bad is it really?

    Analysis Maybe not the end of the world after all

    Oooh, I do love a good budget. It's an opportunity to poke fun at all the nonsensical misunderstandings of economics that politicians are prey to. Even if someone proposes something sensible you can be sure that the opposition to it will be rooted in a misconception of reality. So, what does this budget have for us today? …

    Government 22 Jun 15:54

  • Windows 7 Backup gets users' backs up

    Worst. Thing. Ever.

    Windows 7 Backup is getting trashed in a Microsoft forum for being unbelievably bad and stupefyingly slow. Users are posting stories that should defy belief. Jon Hell posted on April 23 that he is backing up 900GB of data on a quad core PC with 7GB of RAM; "After twenty four hours Windows Backup had managed to complete 18 per …

    Storage 22 Jun 16:28

  • Tilera to stuff 200 cores onto single chip

    Plus memory, controllers, mesh network...

    Multicore chip upstart Tilera has announced an ambitious product roadmap for its TileGX systems-on-a-chip that will see the company plunk up to 200 cores – plus their memory and peripheral controllers and a mesh network linking the chips – onto a single die within the next few years. The company is also trotting out a new server …

    PCs & Chips 22 Jun 16:45

  • Dell 'in talks' with Google over Chrome OS netbooks

    Local-app-less chat

    Dell is "in talks" with Google over Mountain View's still-gestating Chrome OS, an operating system that limits itself to a Google web browser. "We have to have a point of view on the industry and technology direction two years, three years down the road, so we continuously work with Google on this," Amit Midha, Dell's …

    Operating Systems 22 Jun 17:23

  • Apple tweaks privacy policy to juice location tracking

    Your whereabouts shared with 'partners and licensees'

    Apple has updated its privacy policy to allow the company, its partners, and its licensees to keep close watch on your "precise location data." These new observational powers are detailed in both Cupertino's overall Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions to which you must agree before purchasing or downloading items from …

    ID 22 Jun 18:45

  • Google gives its Voice to all Americans

    'We are the ultimate in human communication'

    Google Voice — the new-age telephony thingy that lets you attach a single phone number to multiple phones, turn your voice mails into emails, and thumb your nose at AT&T — is now available to everyone in the US. Previously, the service was invite-only. "After lots of testing and tweaking, we’re excited to open up Google Voice …

    Telecoms 22 Jun 18:56

  • Ubuntu daddy in patent class of its own

    H.264 licensee's little reminder?

    Ubuntu creator Canonical has upgraded its membership in a Linux patent protection group – without any clear reason for the change. Canonical has become the Open Invention Network's first – and so far only – associate member, a newly created category of OIN membership. Previously, Canonical was just an OIN licensee. But it's …

    Music and Media 22 Jun 18:57

  • Man charged with malware 'sextortion' plot

    Sex, lies and video web cams

    Federal prosecutors have accused a man of hacking into scores of computers and using the personal information he found to extort sexually explicit videos from female victims, many of whom were juveniles. Luis Mijangos, 31, of Santa Ana, California, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with extortion, according to court …

    Crime 22 Jun 19:34

  • 'World's No. 1 hacker' tome rocks security world

    Plagiarism, racism, and fake Mitnickism alleged

    A recently published e-book penned by the self-proclaimed “world's No. 1 hacker” is rocking the security community with back-and-forth allegations of plagiarism, racism, and even threats against a security podcaster and his family. How to Become the World's No. 1 Hacker is purportedly written by Gregory D. Evans, an animated …

    Security 22 Jun 21:35

  • Red Hat revenues swell to $209.1m

    Getting fat on Linux

    Red Hat is not as precisely coupled to the economy as many other IT players. Throughout the Great Recession, Red Hat got its brim a little wet, but it never blew off Wall Street's head and got trampled in the mud like so many other companies. And as the economy recovers, the commercial Linux operating system and JBoss middleware …

    Financial News 22 Jun 22:29

  • Verizon iPhone due 'early 2011'

    Rumor du jour

    Stop us if you've heard this one before: there's a new report that Verizon may soon offer Apple's iPhone, ending AT&T's US exclusivity for the überpopular handset. The latest speculation comes from Barclays analyst James Ratcliffe in a Tuesday research note, in which he opined that the US's largest mobile carrier would " …

    Mobile 22 Jun 22:35

  • Domain registrars push back on law enforcement changes

    Changes through the backdoor?

    The companies that sell domain names have pushed back on proposals made by law enforcement yesterday to change their contracts to make cybercrime more difficult. Calling the proposals “policy by the back door”, the registrars complained to members of ICANN’s Board in Brussels that the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) …

    Networks 22 Jun 23:09

  • Firefox 3.6.4 debuts with Flash flak jacket

    OOPP it up (unless you're a fanboi)

    Mozilla has released a stable build of Firefox 3.6.4, the first incarnation of the open source browser that seeks to minimize crashes by running plug-ins as processes separate from the core browser. The processes-separate release is available for Windows and Linux. In a blog post, lead Firefox developer Mike Beltzner says …

    Applications 22 Jun 23:53