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26th July 2010 Archive

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  • IBM splits with Solaris 10 on x64

    Oracle severs another OEM deal?

    IBM will soon cease to sell Solaris 10 on x64 machines. Oracle, it seems, has decided that companies who have their own Unix iron can't peddle Solaris on their x64 tin. Oracle yanked Hewlett-Packard's Solaris OEM contract, which allows it to distribute Solaris 10 and sell support contracts for it on its ProLiant servers, and …

    Servers 26 Jul 02:57

  • Before the iPad, there was the Newton

    This Old Box MessagePad 120 – it didn't suck

    If any old-tech devotees are more rabid than Amiga amigos, the Newtonians are. So, for those lovers of Apple's pioneering handheld, here's an up-close-and-personal visual caressing of the Newton MessagePad 120, circa 1995. The MessagePad 120 had the longest lifespan of any device based on Apple's Newton platform: from its …

    Mobile 26 Jul 04:16

  • Lite-on iHBS112 internal Blu-ray writer

    Review Cheap and fast - cheerful too?

    Lite-On is certainly pushing the boundaries of optical disc burning at aggressive prices. The iHBS112 is an internal drive that goes beyond the combo by letting you read and write Blu-ray, DVD and CD media in one unit. Its Blu-ray writing speed, 12x, matches the current fastest on the market. That's not bad for £123. As a …

    reghardware 26 Jul 07:02

  • NASA unveils global Martian map

    Odyssey view offers plenty of detail, but no roadsigns

    NASA has unveiled "the most accurate global Martian map ever" - a 21,000 image mosaic from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard its Mars Odyssey spacecraft. According to the agency, the snaps have been "smoothed, matched, blended and cartographically controlled" to produce the final result, which at full zoom …

    Space 26 Jul 08:02

  • Wikileaks creaks under demand for Afghan war logs

    Thousands of front line reports released

    Tens of thousands of US Army documents revealing details of the war in Afghanistan were published by Wikileaks late last night and interest is almost bringing the website to a halt. The "War Logs" were also given to newspapers and reveal far more civilian casualties than previously admitted and deep concerns about the role of …

    Government 26 Jul 08:08

  • Lord Peter views the logfile

    Stob Top hole, Bunter

    "What is design? Dorothy Sayers (English writer and dramatist - quoted by Brooks) suggests that design has three phases" - InfoQ reviewing Fred 'Mythical Man' Brook's latest tome. I had never realised that the famous crime writer Dorothy L Sayers was one of us - VS. The morning sunshine, filtered, as it were, through London's …

    Verity Stob 26 Jul 09:02

  • Her Maj gets Flickred up

    Gawd bless yer Ma'am 2.0

    Buck House today launched its very own Flickr page, featuring lots of lovely snaps of the British Monarchy. Currently on offer are 682 photos in 36 sets, with each member of the Royals given his or her own corner, so fans of Chaz of Wales can get straight down to it. We're glad to see that the Queen of Hearts™, the sainted …

    Bootnotes 26 Jul 09:21

  • TalkTalk turns StalkStalk to build malware blocker

    Unheralded system shadows browsers round the web

    It's less TalkTalk, more StalkStalk: the UK's second largest ISP has quietly begun following its customers around the web and scanning what they look at for a new anti-malware system it is developing. Without telling customers, the firm has switched on the compulsory first part of the system, which is harvesting lists of the …

    Telecoms 26 Jul 09:25

  • Firefox update fixes plug-in snafu

    Stabilising patch rushed out

    Mozilla has responded to plugin stability issues with a new version of Firefox. Firefox 3.6.8 was published on Friday just three days after the release of 3.6.7, a far more substantial update that addressed eight critical flaws and six less serious bugs Most of the reported problems involved an Adobe Flash player plugin for …

    Enterprise Security 26 Jul 09:46

  • NHS spunks £7.5k on porn room

    Fertility clinic bins jazz mags for hi-tech smutmongery

    Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust has incurred the wrath of the Sun by spunking £7,500 on a "special room" kitted out to help chaps deliver vital supplies of man oysters. The trust's fertility centre shared the cost of "computer equipment worth £4,625, flat screen TVs costing £2,225 - plus £500 of blue movies" with …

    Bootnotes 26 Jul 09:48

  • How effective is your security monitoring?

    Workshop Poll Can you police the policing?

    For many organisations, the litmus test for IT security effectiveness is whether or not security breaches are reduced as a result. Security monitoring should help, but modern environments are complex and multi-faceted, and it can be difficult to determine how much is down to the tools, and how much is down to other factors such …

    Security that Fits 26 Jul 10:03

  • SanDisk CEO to ride off into the sunset

    Goodbye Eli Harari. Hello Sanjay

    SanDisk founder, CEO and chairman Eli Harari is to retire at the end of 2010, after 22 years with the firm. It's a planned event with the replacement CEO being Harari's co-founder, Sanjay Mehrotra, who is currently SanDisk's president and chief operating officer. He gets the CEO's office on January 1, 2011 and was promoted to …

    Storage 26 Jul 10:19

  • Firefox 4 second beta hits minor delay

    All good things comes to those who bait?

    Mozilla has delayed the second beta release of Firefox 4 by about a week. The open source browser maker had tentatively planned to sling out Firefox 4 beta 2 late last week. However, Mozilla has now pushed that release back to Thursday, 29 July. “Hi! We're glad you're interested in Firefox 4 Beta 2 - it's not quite ready yet …

    Applications 26 Jul 10:49

  • DMA sets rules on kids' data and 'greenwashing'

    Gotta earn those green credentials

    Companies engaged in direct marketing to consumers must not use the internet to gather data about children under 12 and must be able to back up any green claims they make, according to a new code of practice for the industry. The Direct Marketing Association has published a new version of its Code of Practice, the set of rules …

    Law 26 Jul 10:53

  • The basics of app management

    Workshop A case of diminishing returns

    IT may be complex, but from the perspective of the business, it is just a lot of technical gubbins that sits between the screen and the data. Users access applications and systems with no real clue about what goes on behind the scenes, nor any desire to understand more than how to change a toner cartridge. We can rail at their …

    IT at the coalface 26 Jul 11:08

  • Evidence mounts for iMac, Mac Pro Revamp

    Rumour mill churns furiously

    Rumours are doing the rounds that Apple is about to refresh its two key desktop lines: the iMac and the Mac Pro. That conclusion comes from claims that US distributors are running low on their stock of these items as supply of current models is winnowed, it is presumed, ahead of the release of new models. Incidentally, Apple …

    reghardware 26 Jul 11:11

  • Cutbacks strip speed cameras from Blighty's roads

    Crash test imminent

    The proposition that speed cameras improve road safety looks likely to be severely crash-tested this summer, as government cutbacks make the likelihood of some counties becoming camera-free zones a near certainty. According to the Guardian, all 72 fixed speeding cameras in Oxfordshire are likely to disappear as the county …

    Policing 26 Jul 11:30

  • iPad pitches Apple onto world PC top table

    Vendor Number Five

    Fellow market watchers may not include the iPad in Apple's computer sales figures, but Canalys does, and it reckons doing so puts the Mac maker into world's top five. Looking back at Q2, the three million or more tablets Apple shipped during the quarter amounted to six per cent of the portable computer segment, Canalys said. …

    reghardware 26 Jul 11:31

  • SOCA 'faces axe'

    'British FBI' to replace 'British FBI'

    The Serious and Organised Crime Agency, created just four years ago and presented as Britain's answer to the FBI, is to be scrapped by coalition ministers, it's reported. A Home Office consultation to be published today will propose replacing the secretive organisation with a National Crime Agency, which would include a new …

    Policing 26 Jul 11:37

  • TomTom update breaks satnav live links

    Older GPS boxes borked

    TomTom has posted an update to its old Go x40 Live satnav range - now superseded by the Go x50 Live line that has broken the devices' ability to access online data sources. Users have reported that after the company released version 9.054 of the satnav's firmware, the devices stopped receiving Live - the name TomTom gives to …

    reghardware 26 Jul 11:47

  • 3D films fall flat

    Audiences abandon 'a waste of a perfectly good dimension'

    There are indications that Hollywood's rush to extract extra cash from cinemagoers in return for an extra visual dimension might be doomed to follow previous 3D initiatives into the cutting room bin. The release of Avatar last December - the James Cameron epic which grossed $2.7bn - had movie execs licking their lips at the …

    Music and Media 26 Jul 11:55

  • Samsung UE46C8000 3D TV

    Review Picture perfect?

    Samsung got the 3D ball rolling earlier this year when its C7000 became the first 3D TV to hit the shops in the UK. However, the more expensive C8000 is the one that really turned my head. Even if you dismiss the 3D option as a novelty the C8000 is simply a superb flat-screen TV. Samsung's UE46C8000: a great viewing …

    reghardware 26 Jul 12:02

  • CTIA claims SF phone radiation law unconstitutional

    Take my emissions figures from my cold, dead hands

    Cellular trade body The CTIA is challenging a San Francisco ordinance that requires radiation labels on every mobile phone sold, claiming that such a rule breaches the US constitution. The ordinance, passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in June, requires buyers to be informed "at the point of sale" about the …

    Mobile 26 Jul 12:02

  • LAPD questions Google Apps security credentials

    Huge roll out hits delay

    Google has reportedly missed a deadline to fully implement Google Apps into the city of Los Angeles' various departments by the end of last month. As a result, the ad broker might have to shell out $135,000 to complete the upgrade of LA's computer system from Novell tech to its email and collaboration software. MarketWatch, …

    Applications 26 Jul 12:22

  • 3G at 2G frequencies edges closer in UK

    One more consultation, and we're there

    Ofcom has laid out the legal changes that will permit 3G technology at 2G frequencies, along with allowing radar-equipped level crossings, and radio for scuba divers, all by November. The changes come as part of a general tidying up of legislation that clarifies licence-free deployments of radar at level crossings, and two-way …

    Mobile 26 Jul 12:34

  • HMV takes on mighty iTunes with 40p promo

    Probably better than last effort

    HMV has a new music download site and lots of offers to tempt punters away from iTunes. The UK music retailer kicks off hmvdigital today by selling any song in the top 40 for 40p a pop. Chart albums are retailing for as little as £4.99. The service has some 10 million DRM-free MP3 songs in its catalogue - and users can …

    reghardware 26 Jul 12:46

  • Daily Star is sorry for Grand Theft Auto Raoul Moat blunder

    Journalism at its best

    Last week the Daily Star published the sensational scoop that Rockstar Games was prepping Grand Theft Auto Rothbury, inspired by the murderer Raoul Moat. It was a hoax of course, but it would be much too kind to describe the Star as a victim. The paper compounded its error by mocking up a fake cover (see here) and by …

    reghardware 26 Jul 13:45

  • Successful desktop virtualization

    Regcast Difficult, but not impossible

    Desktop virtualization: it's complex, it's controversial, it's hard to budget. It is, however, easy to make a mess of it. And if you do get it wrong, every single person in your company will want to know why. Mess this one up and you’ll be lucky if they let you project manage buying toner cartridges for the rest of your career …

    Virtualization 26 Jul 14:01

  • Hitachi Data Systems: A storage giant lost in translation

    I just don't know what I'm supposed to be

    Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) is the only world-class Japanese storage company, with its USP-V high-end enterprise arrays and AMS mid-range systems. Its fellow Japanese corporations, Fujitsu and NEC, are under-performers in comparison. In fact, the USP-V arrays are so good that HP OEMs them and Sun did resell them. Acer OEMs a …

    Storage 26 Jul 14:05

  • Hitachi GST SVP takes a punt on STT-RAM

    Joins Grandis

    The general manager and VP of Engineering at Hitachi GST has left to join a NAND and DRAM replacement technology company, Grandis. That seems like a risky move. Said GM and VP Mohamad Krounbi is joining Grandis to be its SVP for engineering, taking on responsibility for "all STT-RAM technology and product development at …

    Blocks and Files 26 Jul 14:09

  • Europe must cut duties on US gadgets

    Set-top box and printer tax illegal, reports

    The World Trade Organisation has ruled that EU import duties on certain gadgets imported from the US, Japan and Taiwan are illegal. An agreement reached in 1996 removed import tariffs on 72 different products in order to boost trade in technology goods. But the European Union later moved some of these items into a taxable …

    PCs & Chips 26 Jul 14:10

  • EU climate exchange website hit by green-hat hacker

    APB for Neil from The Young Ones

    An EU Climate Exchange website was hacked as part of a political protest against carbon credits by a green-hat defacement crew. The front page of the ECX.eu website was sprayed with digital graffiti lampooning the concept of applying a market-based approach to tackling carbon emissions. An anonymous group of hacktivists called …

    Enterprise Security 26 Jul 14:13

  • EC launches formal probes into IBM's mainframe biz

    Emulators and maintenance services

    Antitrust authorities at the European Commission have been listening to clone mainframe seller T3 Technologies' cries after IBM ate and killed clone mainframe maker Platform Solutions a few years back. Complaints from TurboHercules, a supplier of a mainframe hardware emulator for x64 servers that IBM refuses to license software …

    Servers 26 Jul 14:33

  • Dell's fraud settlement explodes PC market myths

    Analysis Getting sick on cookie jars and bags of chips

    Even us jaded hacks, who think we've seen everything in the business, can find our chins hitting the trackpad. So it is with the Dell legal settlement last week. It may have a familiar ring to it, as it concerns a kind of business arrangement almost 20 years old - but don't let that fool you. It's the scale of the amounts …

    PCs & Chips 26 Jul 15:09

  • Canadian flyboy prangs CF-18 Hornet

    Dramatic last-second ejection caught on camera

    Canadian flyboy Captain Brian Bews had a narrow escape last Friday when his CF-18 Hornet decided to give up the ghost during a practice run at an airshow at Lethbridge airport in Alberta. Bews' injuries following his low-level ejection were described as "non-life threatening", although he's probably lost his no-claims …

    Science 26 Jul 15:09

  • Apple reminds Aussies they can buy iPhone 4s on Friday

    Citizens of 16 other countries will be able to too

    By the weekend, the iPhone Flaw - sorry, iPhone 4* - will be avilable to buy in 17 countries in addition to the five it's currently available in. On Friday, 30 July, the handset will go on sale in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, …

    reghardware 26 Jul 15:20

  • Android terms point to operator billing

    The killer feature customers won't care about

    Changes to the small print of the Android Developers' agreement show Google's plan to hand over application revenue collection to network operators - a task they'll be glad to take on. The changes, highlighted in a post on the Android Developers' blog, adds "authorized carriers" to the list of indemnified parties and creates a …

    Mobile 26 Jul 15:50

  • Google Apps rubber-stamped for use by US gov

    Data center segregation

    Google has introduced a version of Google Apps certified for use by the US government. Announced today during a press event at the company's Mountain View headquarters, Google Apps for Government offers the same applications as the existing Premiere Edition of the online application suite, and it carries the same price tag: $ …

    Applications 26 Jul 18:03

  • US legalizes jailbroken iPhones

    Updated Unlockers shielded from Jobsian storm

    US citizens can legally jailbreak and unlock their smartphones — notably Apple's iPhone — and videographers can circumvent copy protection to use short movie snippets for "criticism or comment". This rulemaking decision by the US Copyright Office's Librarian of Congress to grant exceptions to the Digital Milleneium Copyright …

    Mobile 26 Jul 19:47

  • Windows Phone 7 misses big-business support tools

    Marketplace for your important apps

    Microsoft's re-reinvention of Windows Mobile risks hurting Windows Phone 7's widespread adoption by large companies. Phones from HTC, Dell, LG, and Samsung won't work out of the gate in October with standard Microsoft technologies used by corporations to deploy and manage their apps. That's because Windows Phone 7 won't work …

    Mobile 26 Jul 20:31

  • AT&T delivers iPhone data choke relief

    And Big Phone finds love beyond the bright lights

    AT&T has begun rolling out a fix for the glitch choking two per cent of its wireless customers' uplink speeds. The bug-squashing is scheduled to take two to three weeks. The data-strangling gremlin resides, according to an AT&T statement of July 7, in Alcatel-Lucent equipment employed by Big Phone in its HSUPA service, and …

    Mobile 26 Jul 21:32

  • Peer 1 launches GPU compute cloud

    Rise of the fluffy ceepie-geepies

    Peer 1 Hosting, an IT service provider that does traditional hosting as well as selling virtual, cloudy infrastructure, is claiming to be the first to fluff up a CPU-GPU hybrid cloud that supports supercomputing workloads. The company announced its GPU Cloud service at the annual Siggraph International Conference in Los …

    HPC 26 Jul 22:21

  • Cray ships first massively parallel XE6

    Baby super exec exits

    Cray has staked most of its financial 2010 on the Baker XE6 massively parallel supercomputers and their Gemini XE interconnect. With the first of a wave of multi-cabinet systems now out the door, Cray - and its investors - have some hope of making the numbers for 2010. Cray launched the XE interconnect in May, and shipped a …

    HPC 26 Jul 22:51

  • Google Apps for Gov battles fear of floating data

    Analysis Here's your certification. And your comfort blanket

    Google Apps for Government is designed to meet the information-security laws that bind federal agencies. But it's also meant to provide a kind of comfort blanket for any government agency — from the federal level down to the local — that's wary of moving their data onto third-party servers in the so-called cloud. "There is a …

    Applications 26 Jul 23:05