The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

30th July 2010 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Google site fools interwebs into China blockage scare

    It's fully blocked!

    Google's China search is working just fine, despite breathless claims from countless news organizations that it's "fully blocked." On Thursday afternoon, everyone from The New York Times to Cnet reported that Google's search engine, online ad service, and mobile apps – as well as various other services – had been snuffed in …

    Music and Media 30 Jul 00:37

  • Pioneer BDP-330 Blu-ray player

    Review Pure and simple

    If a recent survey for HP is to be believed, Britons remain committed to packaged media, with 75 percent wanting hard copies of films in a box. So despite the advance of video streaming and downloading, perhaps it’s not yet time to write off conventional disc players, like Pioneer’s latest Blu-ray offering, the BDP-330. …

    reghardware 30 Jul 07:02

  • Data.gov.uk chief admits transparency concerns

    Raw info may be too confusing

    The head of the government's website for the release of public sector data has said it is a challenge to ensure that users can understand the statistics. Cabinet Office official Richard Stirling, who leads the team that runs Data.gov.uk, said that if he was at the Office for National Statistics he would have concerns about …

    Government 30 Jul 07:50

  • Hitachi details unified management

    Running the stack from one screen

    Hitachi's Unified Compute Platform (UCP) integrated IT stack idea is gathering momentum. An integrated stack consists of virtualised servers, storage and networking bought as an entity by enterprise and cloud-style data centres facing a need to scale up performance quickly and easily while reducing management and IT …

    Servers 30 Jul 08:03

  • Gaming sites bet on merger

    In time for US welcome?

    PartyGaming and Bwin have agreed to merge, just as moves to make online gambling legal in the US get a little closer. The merged company will be the world's largest listed online gaming company, with pro forma revenues for 2009 of €682m and earnings of €196m. The new company will be 48.36 per cent owned by PartyGaming's …

    Financial News 30 Jul 09:07

  • Street View spooked by 10 Rillington Place?

    Orwellian black Opel scoots past infamous murder site

    Until now, we at El Reg have assumed that Google's Street View spymobiles are as fearless as they are all-seeing, but it appears this may not be entirely true. We direct readers to strange and somewhat spooky goings-on at 10 Rillington Place - the infamous west London house where between 1943 and 1953 John Reginald Halliday …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 09:14

  • Beware the blizzard of torrents of Starcraft 2

    Expense accounts

    Starcraft 2 was released this week and at the hefty RRP of £45. Many games sites are hopping mad at this, although typically retailers are selling Blizzard's strategy game at £10 less than RRP. The price is of little consequence to gamers who download pirate versions of SC2 from the torrents. But beware, says Andrew Brandt of …

    reghardware 30 Jul 09:36

  • French operator pooh-poohs iOS4

    Updated Dismissed with a 'non' and a Gallic shrug

    French network operator SFR is thumbing its nose at Apple by telling customers to think carefully before upgrading to iOS 4. In a text message sent to subscribers the operator explains that upgrading to iOS 4 significantly slows down the menus of iPhone 3G and 3GS*, and that should they be tempted to go for it anyway the …

    Mobile 30 Jul 09:55

  • Nvidia and HPC's second act

    Sitting pretty - but for how long?

    In a lot of ways, Nvidia is the belle of the GPU/accelerator ball these days. (Make your reservations early for the upcoming "GPU Fancy Dress Cotillion" later on this year; tuxedo t-shirts encouraged.) Intel withdrew Larrabee, IBM isn't pushing Cell, FPGAs aren't gaining a lot of traction yet, and AMD is late to the party with …

    HPC Blog 30 Jul 09:57

  • Chaos surrounds New Zealand iPhone 4 day

    Launch? What launch!

    Apple's iPhone 4 went on sale today in New Zealand. But Vodafone NZ's handling of the launch left much to be desired, with hundreds of customers left in the lurch. Many had queued up overnight outside Vodafone NZ stores to told by staff that "no iPhones coming in today and they didn't know when they were coming in," Jacob …

    Mobile 30 Jul 10:18

  • Happy Sysadmin Day!

    Today's the day to pat yourselves on the back

    It’s the last Friday in July, so that can mean only one thing - happy SysAdmin Day! Yep, today is the celebration of all you lovely lot who spend half your lives chilling your socks in air-conditioned server rooms across the globe. System administrators may shy away from public life and occupy dark corners that are only …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 10:21

  • Fake Firefox update used to sling scareware

    Watch where you click

    Online con artists have developed a strain of scareware that poses as a Firefox update. The tactic is a change from the standard approach adopted by purveyors of rogue anti-virus scanners - tricking users into visiting scareware portals running fake security scans that report non-existent security problems to panic surfers …

    Enterprise Security 30 Jul 10:23

  • UK.gov drops £6m on Google

    Fat dollar spent on health advice sites

    Four Whitehall departments gave Google and similar search engines more than £6m in two years to encourage web users to do more exercise, emit less CO2 and stop smoking, among other initiatives. Figures released this week show the Department of Health has been the biggest search spender, paying £4.4m to promote websites …

    Government 30 Jul 10:44

  • Nexus One phone rockets to 28,000ft

    Android in spaaace

    If you've ever wondered what happens when you stick a Google Nexus One phone in a rocket and blast it to 28,000ft from the Nevada desert, then here's your answer: This fine piece of tomfoolery was the work of rocket fans down at the Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation, who provided a launch vehicle for the "Nexus One/ …

    Mobile 30 Jul 10:45

  • Nude trampolinist bounces free from court

    Hey, Mr Trampoline Man... what's that in your hand?

    A 55-year-old described by the BBC as a 'man' and by Scotland's Daily Record as a 'pervert' has avoided jail after being spotted by neighbours having too much fun with too few clothes on a trampoline. James Burden of Falkirk, a man of apparently hardy stock, was having a jolly good jump around on the apparatus in his back …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 10:47

  • Alleged expenses fiddlers to face justice

    Parliamentary privilege claim kicked out

    The four politicians facing fraud charges over their expenses today failed in their bid to avoid prosecution by using ancient Parliamentary privilege laws. Three former Labour MPs and a Tory peer will now face trial in a public court as any member of the public would. The Lord Chief Justice rejected their appeal against an …

    Law 30 Jul 11:05

  • YouTube ups video time limit

    Generosity knows no bounds

    YouTube has bumped its upload limit to 15 minutes for users of the Google-owned video sharing website. Previously only videos with the running time of 10 minutes or less could be added to the site, which was frustrating for any naughty individuals wanting to upload full-length feature films to YouTube. Still, jacking up the …

    Music and Media 30 Jul 11:21

  • NatWest dumps O2 Money

    So who gets the DVD collection?

    A year after leaping into bed with O2, NatWest is no longer backing the operator's pre-paid credit card offering, citing differences in strategic goals as the cause of the breakup. The split was first reported by NFC Times, and O2 told us that "following the hugely successful launch ... each companies' priorities and strategic …

    Mobile 30 Jul 11:53

  • Polaroid 300 instant print camera

    Review Fun retro-snapper revived

    The news that Polaroid has a new instant camera, after we thought it was done with all that frivolity, is likely to be greeted with squeals of nostalgic joy. While digital is superior in almost every sense there's a real warmth about those 80s prints that we remember adorning fridges and noticeboards. The Polaroid 300 (tsk, …

    reghardware 30 Jul 12:08

  • T-Mobile UK pumps out the iPhone 4

    Shaves tariffs

    Last month, we reported T-Mobile UK's price-plans for the iPhone 4. Today the telco start shipping the iphone, and has come in with lower tariffs . T-Mobile UK starts pumping out the iPhone 4 to customers, along with lower tariffs than originally planned. With the most tariffs, the handset is £50 cheaper than first announced …

    reghardware 30 Jul 12:19

  • UK.gov sticks to IE 6 cos it's more 'cost effective', innit

    Stunned web developers die a little inside

    Computers in Whitehall will largely continue to run Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6, which will make web coders spit out their cheese‘n’pickle sarnies this lunchtime. “It is not straightforward for HMG departments to upgrade IE versions on their systems. Upgrading these systems to IE 8 can be a very large operation, taking …

    Applications 30 Jul 12:23

  • TalkTalk talks up SIM only mobile deals

    Signs Voda UK for heavy lifting

    TalkTalk is to launch its own mobile phone service, thanks to a deal with Vodafone UK. The company is launching a range of SIM only voice and data tariffs later in the summer. Given its track record with home broadband and landlines, we anticipate highly competitive pricing. In cellco parlance, this tie-in makes TalkTalk an …

    reghardware 30 Jul 13:05

  • Cyber Security Challenge winner announced

    Quickest crypto off the mark

    The UK's Cyber Security Challenge has announced the winner of its prologue crypto puzzle, as well as the solution - for anyone still struggling to find an answer. Successful code crackers had to solve a three-stage puzzle of increasing complexity. The task tested basic cryptoanalysis skills, as well as the ability to apply …

    Security 30 Jul 13:07

  • Xiotech forging secret Katana project

    HDD & SSD hybrid craftsmanship?

    Word has reached us of a development project codenamed Katana inside Xiotech, with hints that the project involves HDD and SSD hybrid craftsmanship. Xiotech's ISE (Intelligent Storage Element) data pack bundles a set of hard disk drives inside a sealed 3U canister and turns them into a single super-drive. It has RAID inside …

    Storage 30 Jul 13:11

  • Czechs toast Bud-beating beer win

    Na zdraví!

    Beer drinkers in the Czech Republic, and that's most of country, will be raising a glass today to celebrate a local victory against Anheuser-Busch, the maker of US "beer" Budweiser. The problem was that one of the Czech Republic's most famous beers, and biggest exports after Škodas and Semtex, is called Budweiser Budvar. The …

    Bootnotes 30 Jul 13:15

  • Microsoft goes on the road with Kinect

    Try before you buy

    Microsoft is taking the Kinect for Xbox 360 to the Great British Unwashed, giving gamers an opportunity to try the upcoming hands-free motion sensor before its release on August 20. Starting tomomorrow, Microsoft has a summer base in Covent Garden called "the Kinect Galleries". To book a slot, sign up through Facebook. Demo …

    reghardware 30 Jul 14:05

  • Delegate hacks into Black Hat streaming video

    What happens in Vegas...

    Security shortcomings in Black Hat's newly established streaming media service allowed a security consultant to hack into the system and see presentations for free. Michael Coates, head of web security at Mozilla, discovered he was able to use an account on a test login page to view videos without paying. Normally the service …

    Enterprise Security 30 Jul 14:08

  • Mozy insists: It's not a bug...

    ...it's a... yes, one of those!

    Mozy says that the bugs reported by users concerning repeated full backups were not bugs at all, instead reflecting a feature of the product. An EMC spokesperson said: "Basically, we concluded that there was no bug. We just didn't explain clearly to our customers how Mozy works with external drives. We've reached out to …

    Storage 30 Jul 14:14

  • Microsoft should starve on radical penguin diet

    Open...and Shut Capitalism and open source

    When the mouthpiece of American capitalism calls a company a dog, it's time to re-evaluate that company's chances. In Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, columnist Holman Jenkins, Jr asks if "Steve Ballmer is a failed CEO?" then forecasts Microsoft's feeble future even as it banks record profits. Microsoft is a company stuck in …

    Operating Systems 30 Jul 14:28

  • UK supermarket starts contactless payments

    No touching

    Spar is going contactless, attracted by the four pence per transaction the company could save by not asking shoppers for their PINs. The supermarket chain will roll out contactless payment kit to its 2600 stores over the next couple of years at a cost of £700,000, which it intends to recoup from the lower transaction fees that …

    Financial News 30 Jul 15:01

  • US law to neuter libel tourism

    Render foreign beatdowns unenforceable

    The US House of Representatives has passed a law which will render libel rulings from the English courts unenforceable there. The bill has already been passed by the Senate and will go to US President Barack Obama to be signed into law. US politicians, journalism representatives and free speech activists have long condemned …

    Law 30 Jul 15:02

  • BlueArc gets extra greenbacks

    $20 million

    BlueArc, the hardware-accelerated NAS array supplier startup, has pocketed another $20m in a seventh funding round, taking total funding to around $225m. The company was started up in 1998 and, 12 years later, still isn't able to stand on its own feet and make profits. Its use of FPGA hardware to accelerate NAS (network- …

    Blocks and Files 30 Jul 15:13

  • Unisys floats mainframe cloud

    A ClearPath to the development skies

    A mainframe cloud may seem oxymoronic like a lead Zeppelin ("a" included on purpose), or intuitively obvious (given the virtualization and metering capabilities that have been in mainframes for decades). But Unisys has nonetheless fluffed up a mainframe cloud for its ClearPath mainframe customers. The ClearPath Cloud …

    Servers 30 Jul 15:23

  • Futurologist defends 'malevolent dust' warning

    Dust up over supposed evil particles

    A futurologist has defended his controversial warning that "smart dust" is liable to become a future information stealing threat. Ian Pearson outlined the supposed threat in a recent study Life and How We’ll Live It Futurizon report, commissioned by IT giant Fujitsu. "Tiny specks of smart dust dropped through ventilation …

    Enterprise Security 30 Jul 15:59

  • Microsoft Street Slide: Street View done properly

    Take a peep

    Leaving aside the creepy privacy aspects, Street View is one of Google's most valuable services. The ability to familiarise yourself with somewhere strange, before you arrive, is genuinely useful. Or rather, it is in theory. Unfortunately, unless you've got extremely lucky, Street View typically fails to plonk you down right …

    Music and Media 30 Jul 16:03

  • 3D Dot Game Heroes

    Review The closest you’ll get to Zelda without dusting off your NES?

    Feeling nostalgic for 8-bit gaming? Then 3D Dot Game Heroes will, no doubt, satisfy. There’s no need to drag out your NES as this square-edged upstart hails from the land of Sony and is exclusive to Playstation 3. With fervour for the 1980s increasingly present in popular culture (Hot Tub Time Machine, anyone?), 3D Dot Game …

    reghardware 30 Jul 16:04

  • Microsoft cries foul on Yahoo!-Google Japan deal

    Hunts down Japanese FTC

    Microsoft will try to stop Yahoo! from hooking up with Google in Japan. Bing daddy Microsoft told The Reg it will object to Yahoo! Japan's alliance with Google, announced this week, in a presentation to Japan's Fair Trade Commission. A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We plan to present evidence to the Japanese FTC explaining …

    Music and Media 30 Jul 19:06

  • MS preps emergency patch for Windows shortcut peril

    Attacks on rise

    Warning of an uptick in attacks, Microsoft plans to issue an emergency update to patch a critical Windows vulnerability that hackers are exploiting to seize control of PCs. The patch, which fixes the way Windows parses shortcut icons, will be released on Monday at around 10 a.m. California time. It comes two weeks after reports …

    Security 30 Jul 19:27

  • Boffins authenticate Apple 'Antennagate'

    Judas Phone 'death grip' proven fatal

    More evidence has surfaced that Apple's beleaguered Judas Phone does, indeed, have serious reception challenges — and today's facts and figures come from a sophisticated source. "Tests ... have indicated that Apple's iPhone4 does indeed suffer from connectivity problems compared to other smartphones," begins a report by the PA …

    Mobile 30 Jul 19:36

  • AMD, GlobalFoundries, and the Intel gap

    Gate not closing

    When AMD spin-off GlobalFoundries broke ground on its fab in upstate New York last year, the chip manufacturer boasted it was "closing the gap" on Intel. "We were a year behind Intel at the 45nm node, and that difference will be cut significantly at the 32nm generation," said vice president of manufacturing systems technology …

    PCs & Chips 30 Jul 19:47

  • RIM answers Apple iPad with...The BlackPad*

    * - offensive humor may vary

    BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is preparing to launch an iPad competitor in November, and it will be called the BlackPad, according to a report citing two people familiar with the company's plans. Bloomberg reports that the RIM tablet will have roughly the same dimensions as the iPad, offer WiFi and Bluetooth, and give …

    Mobile 30 Jul 22:21