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16th September 2010 Archive

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  • Craigslist: no plans to revive adult ads in US

    Rest of world a different story

    Craigslist has no plans to reopen its adult services section in the United States amid pressure from law enforcement and prostitution opponents. The world's biggest classified website finally broke that news to the world on Wednesday, almost two weeks after it shuttered the category on pages served to US-based visitors. For a …

    Music and Media 16 Sep 04:06

  • IE9 strips to win Chrome fans

    Review Beta snuggles with Windows 7

    Microsoft took an unusual approach with Internet Explorer 9, first releasing "Platform previews" that showed off the new rendering engine but with little user interface, before finally issuing a beta that shows off its full features. The engine is the big story, with its implementation of a significant chunk of HTML5, hardware …

    Applications 16 Sep 04:11

  • Revolution links R stats package to apps

    Analytics mashup

    In the knowledge economy (and boy are we using that term loosely), there are far too many people who need to use analytics than there are people who can create algorithms to crunch data in the open source R programming language. This is one of the reasons why Revolution Analytics, which wants to be the Red Hat for stats, has …

    Software 16 Sep 04:20

  • Google sued by ex-iPhone location outfit

    Motorola threatened with Android removal, claims Skyhook

    Google has been sued by Skyhook Wireless, the Boston-based outfit that offers a service for pinpointing a mobile device's location via nearby Wi-Fi signals. On Wednesday, Skyhook filed two complaints against Google, one in US District Court claiming patent infringement. The other was filed in Massachusetts state court alleging …

    Mobile 16 Sep 05:49

  • Microsoft: IE9 will never run on Windows XP

    Chrome and Firefox always an option

    Microsoft has ruled out putting Internet Explorer 9 on Windows XP, leaving millions of PCs open to Mozilla and Google browsers providing hardware-accelerated rich-internet. Ryan Gavin, senior director of IE business and marketing, said Microsoft would not put IE9 hardware acceleration features in the current version of its …

    Applications 16 Sep 05:58

  • GoPro HD Hero camera

    Review Water sports action star

    For show-offs and general posers outdoor enthusiasts everywhere, GoPro devices tap neatly into all sorts of extreme sports where cameras have previously been off-limits. Indeed, the Hero range can be stuck, worn, twisted and clipped in numerous tricky places. GoPro's HD Hero: one camera, several guises The latest …

    reghardware 16 Sep 07:00

  • In-house lawyers have no right to secrecy in EU competition cases, rules ECJ

    Conflict of interest threatens

    In-house lawyers at companies being investigated for competition law offences do not enjoy the same privacy rights for communications with their companies as lawyers from external firms, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said. The ECJ has ruled that in-house lawyers are in danger of suffering a conflict of interest …

    Law 16 Sep 08:02

  • Firefox fixes stability bug

    Now with less crashing

    Mozilla has pushed out a new version of its Firefox browser designed to fix a stability issue with the previous version of the open source application. Some users of Firefox 3.6.9, released on 7 September, experienced crash problems, particularly on start-up. In response, Mozilla suspended the automatic rollout of the browser …

    Applications 16 Sep 08:10

  • Big Blue bets on risk

    IBM buys MA firm

    IBM has bought OpenPages - which makes software to help companies manage risk and ensure compliance with regulations. OpenPages claims to provide a full compliance and risk management product which allows CEOs and CFOs to view data from different systems to get an idea of a business's total exposure to danger. This covers …

    Applications 16 Sep 08:13

  • Boeing inks second space tourism deal

    Offers up capsule for low Earth orbit jaunts

    Boeing has announced it's inked a deal with Space Adventures to provide its Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) capsule for low Earth orbit jaunts for those with deep pockets and lofty travel ambitions. The aerospace giant unveiled the CST-100 at Farnborough back in July, when it trumpeted a similar deal with inflatable …

    Space 16 Sep 09:16

  • Devil manifests in Hungarian bathroom

    Exorcist to scrub clean satanic ceramic

    A Hungarian couple have been reduced to washing in the downstairs sink after the Lord of the Flies' terrifying visage appeared in their bathroom. Poor old Laszlo Csrefko, 52, blew a "fortune" doing up the room, but no sooner had he slapped in a new bath, shower and ceramics then Satan decided to pay a visit. According to the …

    Bootnotes 16 Sep 09:18

  • Custom superchippery pulls 3D from 2D images like humans

    Self-driving cars, 360°-vision hats ... much better CCTV

    Computing brainboxes believe they have found a method which would allow robotic systems to perceive the 3D world around them by analysing 2D images as the human brain does - which would, among other things, allow the affordable development of cars able to drive themselves safely. For a normal computer, or even a normal …

    HPC 16 Sep 09:21

  • You don't have to be crazy to work here

    Sysadmin blog Webmin saves sysadmins from the loony bin

    Webmin’s (see my last post if you don’t know what I’m talking about) strength flows from a plethora of modules which allow you to configure and control most elements of the underlying operating system. Common applications - for example, Apache - also have officially-supported modules that ship with the main Webmin installer. …

    Desktop Mgmt Blog 16 Sep 10:26

  • Documents To Go not gone yet

    What did RIM get for its money?

    BlackBerry maker RIM might have swallowed company assets and the majority of the staff for its forthcoming tablet, but DataViz reckons there's enough left to keep Documents To Go on multiple platforms. RIM admitted acquiring the majority of DataViz staff and some of its assets ten days ago, in a deal reported to have cost $50m …

    Mobile 16 Sep 10:33

  • Virgin Media set-top box modder gets 5 years

    Jail for free-channel fraudster

    A man from Birmingham has been jailed for five and a half years for his role in a cable TV fraud. Mohammed Ali, 35, was sentenced last week for selling modified set-top boxes that can receive free channels. Three other men were also convicted of involvement in the fraud. Umar Manir, 28, was handed 18 months' jail and ordered …

    Telecoms 16 Sep 11:08

  • Basketball megastar accused of phone hacking

    Shaq hack is wack

    Basketball star Shaquille O'Neal has been accused of hacking into the phone of a former employee and mistress as well as destroying evidence by throwing a laptop into a lake next to his home, accusations the NBA star denies. Shawn Darling alleges that the NBA star hacked into the voicemail boxes of Darling and Vanessa Lopez, …

    Crime 16 Sep 11:15

  • Google pops warning on Popbitch

    Malicious gossip

    Google has slapped a viral warning on popular UK gossip website Popbitch. Surfers attempting to visit the site were warned by Google's Safe Browsing tool on Thursday that the site may harm their computer. The warning followed the detection by Google's automated tools of attempts to download malicious software onto their PCs. …

    Enterprise Security 16 Sep 11:17

  • 1 in 10 Americans prefer colonoscopies to PC security

    Don't even ask what they get up to on honeymoon

    A third of Americans see nothing wrong with being connected to the web while on honeymoon, but would balk at hooking up during a wedding, a security firm has claimed. The survey, sponsored by PCTools, also found that more than one in 10 Americans would rather get a colonoscopy that spend time cleaning up their computer. The …

    Malware 16 Sep 11:18

  • South African police hunt Twittering speedcam spy

    Not much on lads?

    Police in Johannesburg are investigating a man who's been using Twitter to warn motorists about speed traps and other police activity. PigSpotter, as he calls himself, has now agreed to stop tweeting the location of road blocks but vowed to continue posting speed trap information. He also posts traffic congestion reports, and …

    Mobile 16 Sep 11:35

  • Geeks Guide 2... Microsoft Training 365

    Geeks Guide 2 Save over £500 at Reg Books

    This week on Geek’s Guide we’re offering you the chance to save over £500. Simply put, if you’re one of the first 365 Reg readers to demo a Microsoft Training 365 subscription this month, you will be entitled to a 50 per cent discount on a Microsoft Training 365 Technical Subscription worth £1,173.83. This offer is limited and …

    Site News 16 Sep 11:53

  • eBay boss outbids everyone in election spending

    Hits Buy It Now for governor race

    Meg Whitman threw another $15m at her campaign spending chest on Tuesday, making her the biggest-spending electoral candidate in US history. The ex-boss of online tat bazaar eBay has now backed herself to a total of $119m - beating previous top spender Michael Bloomberg who spent $110m to get himself elected mayor of New York …

    Government 16 Sep 12:04

  • A quarter of Americans using mobile apps

    But 35 per cent have them

    The Pew Internet & American Live Project has been examining mobile apps, revealing the shocking news that rich people buy more applications, while the elderly poor buy fewer. To be fair to Pew, which interviewed almost two thousand Americans for the study, the report does have some insight into how and when Americans download …

    Mobile 16 Sep 12:15

  • Trident delay by the Coalition: Cunning plan, or bad idea?

    Analysis Depends whether you pay taxes or spend them

    The Coalition government, as part of its ongoing strategic review of UK defence, may decide to postpone replacement of the Trident nuclear deterrent by five years. What would that mean? Immediately in practical terms it would mean that spending on the replacement systems would be pushed mostly back out of the ten-year …

    Government 16 Sep 12:16

  • Mobile phones for minimalists

    Dear John's phone

    John's Phone, from the designer firm John Doe Amsterdam, could be the greatest grandparent phone of all time. It is certainly an interesting minimalist experiment in usability. Ten centimetres tall and weighing 95g, John's Phone cuts the crap so pretty much all that remains is a basic box with a standard keypad. A screen …

    reghardware 16 Sep 12:29

  • Project Canvas becomes YouView

    And gets a CEO

    Project Canvas has a CEO and a name now - it’s YouView™. BBC insider Richard Halton, a veteran of the corporation’s Strategy Boutique, will lead the venture, reporting to chairman Kip Meek. Canvas is an attempt to create a reference specification for IP-connected TVs. The joint venture is supported by the established public …

    Music and Media 16 Sep 12:56

  • Nikon points D7000 camera at high-end enthusiasts

    More focus, less noise

    Nikon hauled in London's camera and tech press corps yesterday to show off its latest DSLR, the Nikon D7000. We shall post a review soon enough, but for now, here's a run down of the spec. Positioned between the Nikon D90 and the D300s, this 16.2mp camera is aimed at enthusiasts who are willing to pay £1100 for a body only or …

    reghardware 16 Sep 12:57

  • What Nokia (and everyone else) needs to learn about smartphones

    Lessons from Star Trek

    When Gene Roddenberry was devising the original Star Trek in 1965, he predicted humans would make common use of teleportation and faster-than-lightspeed travel. But one 23rd century innovation was either missing, or absent because nobody wanted it: converged electronic devices. Cosmonauts who needed a data device got a …

    Mobile 16 Sep 13:38

  • HP buffs up its new big iron

    VMworld Video Blog Eight sockets, you say?

    To round out our visits with the major hardware vendors, we stopped by Hewlett-Packard’s booth. We had our new pal Steven give us a walk-through on their newest big x86 iron – an eight-socket monster (64 cores total max). The system is composed of two 4-socket chassis, each of which sports up to 64 DIMM slots – meaning that …

    Servers 16 Sep 14:12

  • Popbitch blames tainted ad server for Google malware warning

    Shamed popstar hackers out of the frame

    Popbitch has confirmed that tainted ads were to blame for the classification of the site as a potential security risk on Thursday. Goggle's Safe Browsing tool flagged up problems with sections of the popular celebrity gossip site, and marked the whole site as potentially unsafe, on Thursday. Popbitch attributed the problem to …

    Malware 16 Sep 14:13

  • Adobe urges 'caution' for 64-bit Flash player beta

    Go on, live dangerously

    Adobe is offering a beta version of its Flash player which includes support for 64-bit chips and Internet Explorer 9. The beta, called Square, is not stable, the company warns in a blog post, and punters are urged to "use caution" in production environments. The app is available for Macs, Windows and Linux machines. While …

    Applications 16 Sep 14:45

  • Facebook follows papal line on censorship

    The whole internet is one giant penis room

    What do the Pope and Facebook have in common? They both abhor public displays of nudity. Facebook though may not go to quite the lengths of one medieval pope, who allegedly sponsored the mass removal of every penis (of the statuary sort) in the Vatican - thereby giving rise to the legend of the papal penis room, where the …

    Bootnotes 16 Sep 14:53

  • Vote for your fave in Vodafone mobe app compo

    Mobile Clicks Cricket: Click it to pick it

    Four finalists remain vying for Vodafone's €150,000 Mobile Clicks prize money, with the public being invited to contribute their votes to help decide who gets the cash. The competition started in July and received 160 entries from mobile startups both planned and launched. Those 160 were whittled down to 20 last week, and now …

    Applications 16 Sep 15:37

  • Group recommends joint NATO-Russia 'cyber' war games

    Rules of engagement in the digital age

    The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russia should undertake joint information-warfare exercises so the two countries can better protect critical digital infrastructure, policy wonks at an international group said. The proposal, which was included in a 32-page report released Wednesday by the EastWest Institute, would …

    Security 16 Sep 19:22

  • Apple said to prep iPad news sub service

    Saving trees, one failing rag at a time

    Apple is preparing to throw an iPad lifeline to the rapidly sinking news biz by offering to host a newspaper subscription service on its "magical and revolutionary" device. That's the word from the San Jose Mercury News, which notes that an announcement of the service is expected "soon". This lifeline would not be a …

    Music and Media 16 Sep 19:42

  • Oracle offers Java distraction to Google fisticuffs

    We're just like Sun, except when we're not

    Oracle has promised to follow Sun and continue working on open-source Java in an apparent attempt to create a distraction from the damaging spectacle of its legal showdown with Google. Director of Java platform management Henrik Ståhl has promised that Oracle will be like just Sun Microsystems, working with the OpenJDK code …

    Developer 16 Sep 19:49

  • Yahoo! 'handicaps' its search ad auctions

    Exclusive Does Google 'squash' too?

    Search ad systems such as Google's AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing are billed as auctions. But the line between auction and non-auction is more blurred than the average netizen might think. According to Yahoo!'s chief economist, Preston McAfee, the company is "handicapping" its auctions using an algorithmic method it calls …

    Music and Media 16 Sep 20:14

  • Yahoo! sneak peeks revamped Mail

    'Completely re-architected'

    Yahoo! has unveiled new incarnations of its Mail, Search, and News services, each due to reach US users sometime this fall. Speaking Wednesday morning at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, new chief product officer and former Microsoftee Blake Irving said the company has resolved to update its vast array of …

    Applications 16 Sep 22:37

  • Ellison: 'We can double Oracle's hardware biz'

    Tennis buddy Hurd to serve up engineered systems

    Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive officer and cofounder, ain't messing around with systems. In fact, he is playing doubles with tennis partner and now Oracle co-president, Mark Hurd. Ellison will handle the creation of so-called "engineered systems," which stack up Oracle hardware and software, and Hurd will peddle them …

    Financial News 16 Sep 23:13

  • Yahoo! boffin scores pi's two quadrillionth bit

    Just Hadoop it

    A Yahoo! engineer has calculated pi's two quadrillionth bit using Hadoop, the open source distributed number-crunching platform based on Google's proprietary MapReduce technology. When pi is in binary, the two quadrillionth bit is 0. Hadoop-happy Yahooligan Tsz Wo (Nicholas) Sze set this pi world record on a cluster spanning …

    HPC 16 Sep 23:23

  • Intel Sandy Bridge many-core secret sauce

    IDF One ring to rule them all

    During the coming-out party for Intel's Sandy Bridge microarchitecture at Chipzilla's developer shindig in San Francisco this week, two magic words were repeatedly invoked in tech session after tech session: "modular" and "scalable". Key to those Holy Grails of architectural flexibility is the architecture's ring interconnect …

    PCs & Chips 16 Sep 23:27

  • Code for open-source Facebook littered with landmines

    Diaspora release not for noobs

    Four New York University students who raised a bundle of cash to build a privacy-preserving alternative to Facebook sure have their work cut out for them. The release of pre-alpha source code for their Diaspora social Website was only a few hours old on Wednesday when hackers began identifying flaws they said could seriously …

    Security 16 Sep 23:32