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11th October 2010 Archive

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  • QLogic's 3G CNA does three things at once

    FCoE, iSCSI and IP at same time

    QLogic now has a third-generation network adapter that can run three network protocols at once, do virtual machine commas in a server, and deploy 1gigabit and 10 gigabit Ethernet ports from its single chip. This chip with the chops is its third generation CNA (Converged Network Adaptor), built to handle both storage and …

    Storage 11 Oct 2010, 05:00

  • Ubuntu 10.10: date with destiny missed

    Review Cosmetic polish ignores partition pain

    Canonical delivered the latest version of its Ubuntu Linux distribution on October 10. Releasing Ubuntu 10.10 on 10/10/10 might seem an auspicious idea, but after the overhaul that was Ubuntu 10.04, the latest release looks tame by comparison. While there is little in Ubuntu 10.10 that will knock anyone's socks, it makes for a …

    Operating Systems 11 Oct 2010, 06:00

  • Branson 'spaceship' successfully falls off mothership

    Surly bonds of Earth still in place for Virgin

    Virgin Galactic, the nascent suborbital joyride company backed by bearded biz-lord Richard Branson, has announced a further milestone on its road to dominance in the exoatmospheric-excursion market. In a test yesterday, one of the firm's passenger rocketplanes was successfully dropped from a jet "mothership" at 45,000 feet to …

    Space 11 Oct 2010, 07:34

  • Men suffer most in recession

    But women are still paid less

    Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission found men are suffering more than women from the recession. Young people are getting it worse than older people - the over-50s seem to dealing with the downturn better, maybe because they're prepared to be more flexible. But if you're a disabled man with few …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 08:35

  • Cambridge chap's todger topiary gets the chop

    Keen gardener 'stunned' by police hard line

    A keen Cambridge gardener was "stunned" by killjoy coppers who ordered him to take the shears to a novelty todger topiary - or face an £80 fine for the outrage against public order. Haddenham chap Ian Ashmeade lovingly coaxed a phallus from a bush back in 2002 "after noticing the plant was growing into a similar shape …

    Bootnotes 11 Oct 2010, 08:36

  • Zork goes native on the Kindle

    Avoiding the Grue on the plane

    A web interface might be the easy way to get text adventures onto the Kindle, but those on the plane can now go native too. Last week we celebrated the availability of Zork (I, II & III) on Amazon‘s Kindle, but lamented the fact that it was a web interface when a local application would be so much more elegant - well, we …

    Mobile 11 Oct 2010, 09:27

  • Quantum's DXi big box boost

    Hopes to outpace DD's 880

    Quantum's latest deduplication product, the DXi8500, is twice as fast as the previous DXi7500 big box, but holds slightly less data. The DXi8500 offers from 20 to 200TB of usable capacity, which it can fill up at a rate of 6.4TB/hr. The effectively-replaced DXi7500 offered up to 220TB of usable capacity and a maximum ingest …

    Storage 11 Oct 2010, 09:38

  • Doctor Who touches down in US of A

    New series to open in Utah

    Doctor Who will touch down on US soil for the first time in the opener of Matt Smith's second outing as the Time Lord, the BBC reports. When Smith re-emerges from the Tardis in spring 2011, it will be in the Utah desert "for a story set in the late '60s in which the Doctor, Amy and Rory find themselves on a secret summons to …

    Entertainment 11 Oct 2010, 09:40

  • Red Wii, DS coming to UK this month

    Mario Bros anniversary editions

    Nintendo's red Wii, coloured to commemorate the 25th anniversary of release of Super Mario Bros will be coming to the UK on 29 October. The pack will contain red console and a suitably hued Wii Remote Plus - it has built-in Motion Plus circuitry - and Nunchuk. You'll also get a copy of New Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong, …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 09:53

  • Commission proposes new EU cybercrime law

    Unified botnet bamboozle

    The European Commission wants to harmonise the laws of EU member states dealing with cyber-attacks. It wants to create a new Directive on attacks on information systems, it said in a statement. The European Commission adopted a 'framework decision' in 2005 that attempted to coordinate laws across Europe on hacking, viruses and …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 10:13

  • Ballerina canned for flashing her assets

    NSFW Vienna State opera shocked by men's mag exposure

    The Vienna State opera has given ballerina Karina Sarkissova her marching orders after she failed to heed a warning not to pose nude for men's mags. The footloose terpsichorean copped an earful in May for appearing in the German edition of Penthouse, in a spread shot without permission in the opera house. She then popped up …

    Bootnotes 11 Oct 2010, 10:15

  • Malware forces Firefox to save passwords

    Prompt schmompt

    Miscreants have developed a strain of malware that makes sure website passwords are recorded by a victim's browser. Saving website logic credentials is a user controlled option in all browsers, often enabled by default. But the practice is frowned upon by security researchers, who point to the risk that passwords left in …

    Malware 11 Oct 2010, 10:29

  • Unlimited CRB checks may fall away

    'Non-conviction' information doesn't clarify much, says Equalities Minister

    The end of nanny state checking is imminent. Or is it? Last week, Coalition Equalities Minister and Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone treated local constituents to an intriguing insight into her own and presumably Coalition thinking, on just how far the state should intrude into child-care arrangements. Writing in her …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 10:35

  • Flexi E Ink screen finds home in curved world time watch

    Phosphor says 'no' to flat faces

    E Ink isn't just for e-book readers, you know. Phosphor watches uses the low-power screen tech in its range of timepieces - which today got a new family member. The World Time based around an "ultra-slim" - it's just 9.3mm thick - curved casing made possible by E Ink's Surf flexible display panel and which gives the watch a …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 10:41

  • One For All SV9380 Freeview HD indoor aerial

    Review Well received?

    Most indoor aerials are priced between £10 and £20 but the One For All SV9380 is a different beast to most indoor aerials, selling for between £40 and £50. Whatever you pay, this boy needs to really deliver to justify its premium price. The first note of caution is that the packaging boasts of Full HD compatibility, a spurious …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 10:44

  • Hitachi GST catch up with 10K drive

    600GB and a power-miser but late in the game

    Hitachi GST has caught up with its competitors, announcing a 600GB, 2.5-inch enterprise drive and claiming better power-efficiency than anyone else. The Ultrastar C10K600 spins at 10,000rpm and is a 3-platter drive, with a 341Gbit/in2 areal density drive and comes in 300, 450 and 600GB capacity points. Hitachi GST claims its …

    Storage 11 Oct 2010, 10:54

  • LG UK blog lets slip Windows Phone 7 details

    Optimus 7 outed

    Windows Phone 7 gets its formal public launch this afternoon, but dear old LG has already - and accidentally - outed its Optimus 7 handset. Said the company in its blog this morning - the entry has since been pulled - "Utilising Microsoft’s brand new operating system, the LG Optimus 7 heralds a new era for smartphones and …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 11:04

  • Angry Birds tweet fury at Redmond

    Microsoft lifted our IP to flog new handset, say developers

    Microsoft has upset Rovio, developer of Angry Birds, by throwing the game's icon into a list of upcoming software for Windows Phone 7 - a platform with which few brands want to be associated. Redmond showed the scowling icon for the game in screen shots of upcoming software titles, where it was spotted by WMPowerUser. This …

    Applications 11 Oct 2010, 11:07

  • Another huge ice discovery made in Asteroid Belt

    Stake your claims before the space Water Rush sets in

    Top space boffins say that they have discovered signs of ice on a second asteroid, indicating that water may be commonly found throughout the asteroid belt - which would be good news indeed for humanity's future in space, as well as offering an intriguing insight into the remote past of Earth. It was announced in April that …

    Space 11 Oct 2010, 11:10

  • Microsoft says US staff must chip in for healthcare

    A life more ordinary for MS workers

    Microsoft told its US staff on Friday that from 2013 they would have to pay contributions toward their healthcare costs. The company’s compensations and benefits veep J. Ritchie told MS employees at a 'Town Hall' meeting in Redmond that Microsoft was “not immune” to the “rising costs” of US healthcare. "We needed to evolve …

    Operating Systems 11 Oct 2010, 11:13

  • WinPatrol blames McAfee for lost business

    'False alarm scared off customers'

    Security software firm WinPatrol has criticised McAfee for a tardy response to a false positive problem that it claims might have lost it business. McAfee wrongly identified the set-up program of a new version of WinPatrol's system monitoring software as malign from around 2 October. WinPatrol complained but McAfee said its …

    Malware 11 Oct 2010, 11:25

  • Kensington revamps laptop lock

    ClickSafe easier to use, more secure, claims firm

    Kensington has introduced a new laptop locking mechanism it hopes will ensure fewer of us lose our computers to the light-fingered. Dubbed ClickSafe, the system uses the famous "Kensington Slot" - found on almost all portable computers these days - into which you fit a new "anchor unit". The ClickSafe lock simply clips …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 11:32

  • Navigon 70 Plus satnav

    Review Street cred

    These days PND makers are having to offer more to keep the smartphone wolf from the door. Yet as dedicated devices they maintain appeal by delivering a superior range of navigation functions and a screen size that no phone can match. The Navigon's 70 series with a 5in screen is a case in point. Revolutionary road? Navigon's …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 12:11

  • Blackhat SEO 'cheats' Reddit

    Shill vote scheme cooks up upvotes

    A London-based "blackhat SEO" has demonstrated a means of gaming the popular link-exchange site Reddit, using fake accounts to artificially boost voting on selected stories. In a blog post, the blackhat known only as Esrun – who also claims to work for a London-based search marketing agency – offers up a video in which he …

    Applications 11 Oct 2010, 12:30

  • Redmond rumours over Massive kill

    Updated Game over for in-game ads unit?

    Microsoft is reportedly set to close its in-game ad wing Massive Inc before the month is out. However, the company has declined to comment on a Mediaweek story published late last week that cited sources close to Massive who claimed the shutters would come down by the end of October. The website claimed that Massive’s general …

    Applications 11 Oct 2010, 12:32

  • Where is your data?

    Sysadmin blog That bloke with the VPN on his mobile had it last

    For the past 20 years, computing resources have been available via three approaches: client/server, Software as a Service (SaaS) and thin client. Organisations typically chose one approach, and did not tend to provide services using multiple different techniques. This is changing. In the client/server world, the bulk of the …

    Sysadmin blog 11 Oct 2010, 12:36

  • Symantec dips toe into hardware water

    Product range set to grow through Huawei-Symantec JV

    Symantec is almost in the hardware business; the Huawei-Symantec joint-venture is launching one networking and two storage boxes today. Huawei-Symantec (HS) was set up in 2008 and has established a presence in north America. General manager for their North American operations, Jane Li, said: "We are committed to helping North …

    Storage 11 Oct 2010, 13:14

  • Royal Navy running-jump method confirmed for F-35B

    Supersonic stealth jumpjet to learn Brit trick

    A US military contract announcement suggests that the UK Ministry of Defence still plans to purchase the F-35B stealth jumpjet for operations from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. Lockheed, maker of the aircraft, has received an $18m deal to integrate the UK-developed "Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landing" (SRVL) method …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 13:36

  • The changing face of branch offices

    Workshop Hot workers, hot desks, stressed IT?

    It is not only data centres and computer rooms that have started down the path of the “strategic consolidation” of resources. Whilst organisations rightly rate their people as amongst their most valuable assets, many have also begun to optimise the accommodation that they make available to their workers. The shift to “hot …

    Desktop Management 11 Oct 2010, 13:40

  • Health records get clean bill of health

    'Awareness campaigns' planned for unsuspecting patients

    A government review of the controversial Summary Care Records (SCR) scheme has found no compelling reason to abolish the project. But the coalition government has accepted the need to limit what information is held on the files. Health Minister Simon Burns is also asking that in future letters sent to patients warning them …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 14:17

  • Correction

    Norman Wisdom and Wikipedia

    On Wednesday, 6 October, we reported that a Wikipedia admin, RodHullandEmu, had added erroneous information to the Wikipedia entry on Norman Wisdom. In a revised version of the story we reported that RodHullandEmu had not added the erroneous information, but had "preserved" it. We accept that both of these statements are …

    Site News 11 Oct 2010, 15:00

  • Telcos don't tell about disabled policies

    Mystery callers kept in dark

    Telecoms companies do not do enough to tell users with disabilities what facilities are available for them, research by regulator Ofcom has found. The telecoms and media regulator conducted 'mystery shopper' tests and found UK networks lacking. Mystery shoppers contacted providers on behalf of invented relatives with various …

    Telecoms 11 Oct 2010, 15:01

  • UK gov could not procure its way out of a paper bag

    Green finds gruesome inefficiency shock

    Sir Philip Green's review of government efficiency has found... no evidence of efficiency. Green reviewed how government buys IT services, travel, phone and print services as well as how it manages its property portfolio. Green's researchers got access to department accounts and got information on government contracts and …

    Government 11 Oct 2010, 15:05

  • 'Big Four' lose filesharing case against Irish ISP

    UPC throws 'three strikes' hot potato at 'native industry'

    A major ISP in Ireland has won a landmark illegal music downloads case against the ‘Big Four’ record labels today. UPC defeated Warner Music, Universal Music, Sony BMG and EMI Records in Dublin’s High Court, which decided that a “three strikes and you’re out” ruling could not be enforced in Ireland. The record companies had …

    Music and Media 11 Oct 2010, 15:14

  • Stephen Fry eats humble pie for Windows Phone 7

    New phones, operator partners announced

    "I'm not being paid to be here," said voiceover artist Stephen Fry, a guest at the London launch of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7*. Microsoft is relaunching its mobile phone efforts, this time as an underdog - nobody has lost more market share in the past three years as Windows Mobile. The new version is incompatible with earlier …

    Mobile 11 Oct 2010, 15:42

  • Windows Phone 7: 'Different, delightful'... and unfinished

    Updated The sound of one phone shipping

    Microsoft has unveiled Windows Phone 7, stressing the phone's difference from other touchscreen devices, such as the iPhone and Android handsets. Company chief executive Steve Ballmer called Windows Phone 7 "different" no less than five times during his remarks at a company event in New York where Microsoft joined number-two …

    Mobile 11 Oct 2010, 15:44

  • Hefty physicist: Global warming is 'pseudoscientific fraud'

    Updated 'Academia corrupted' by flow of green greenbacks

    A heavyweight American boffin has dubbed the global warming movement "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist", and resigned in protest from the American Physical Society, saying that the society has deliberately stifled debate on the subject. The prof's resignation …

    Energy 11 Oct 2010, 15:58

  • Microsoft shows Venue Pro smartphone for Dell

    Only WinPho 7 handset with microkeyboard

    Say hello to the Dell Venue Pro, and oddly named handset but one the PC giant hopes will win it business thanks to the slide down BlackBerry-style Qwerty microkeyboard. Of all the vendors directly or indirectly participatign in the Windows Phone 7 launch - to Dell's name add HTC, Samsung, LG and... er... that's it - Dell was …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 16:09

  • MS pledges Windows Phone 7 '1.1' update early 2011

    Cut'n'paste coming

    Microsoft's WinPho 7 isn't even out yet - handsets go on sale in ten days' time over here - but the company has already announced the OS' first update. The version number is unknown, but the patch will be pushed out early in 2011 and bring copy, cut and paste to the smartphone operating system. There's no word yet on the …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 16:14

  • Stratus adds Hyper-V virt to fault tolerant servers

    A new Westmere-EP box, too

    While server virtualisation and live migration give customers flexibility and a certain amount of disaster recovery and high availability, some customers - particularly in financial services and healthcare - still need fault tolerance. And that is why Stratus Technologies still exists. This is also why the company must support …

    Servers 11 Oct 2010, 16:25

  • Hands on with Windows Phone 7

    Analysis More a re-skin than a re-invention

    Will Windows Phone 7 succeed? That's difficult to say, but Microsoft can at least claim that it has come up with something different. Not very different, mind. WinPho 7 isn't the radical departure Microsoft might want us to think it is, but it is a refreshing alternative to the apps'n'icons approach its rivals have taken. In …

    reghardware 11 Oct 2010, 18:02

  • Marathon everRun MX: 'major' multicore virty breakthrough

    VMware, Citrix, or Microsoft should snap 'em up

    Marathon Technologies, the clustering spinout founded by some ex-DECers back in 1993, continues to tweak its everRun line of high-availability and fault-tolerant clustering products for x64 physical and virtual servers. And with the new everRun MX release, the fault tolerance for XenServer-based virtual machines can now span …

    Servers 11 Oct 2010, 18:44

  • HP cutting 1,300 (more) UK jobs, union claims

    'Hell bent' on Blighty workforce 'butchery'

    Unite, the UK's largest labor union, says that Hewlett-Packard plans to axe an additional 1,300 British jobs — a move that Unite decries as "butchery". "Despite significant profits HP appears hell-bent on continuing to butcher its highly skilled UK workforce," said Unite national officer Peter Skyte in a Monday statement. …

    Business 11 Oct 2010, 21:16

  • IBM backs Oracle against Apache and Google's Android

    Takes power and progress over frustration

    Oracle is no longer totally isolated on Java — IBM now stands with the giant, in a move that potentially stymies Google's Android. IBM said Monday that it's putting its efforts into the OpenJDK project, run by Oracle, and switching away from the Apache Software Foundation's (ASF's) Project Harmony on Java Standard Edition ( …

    Developer 11 Oct 2010, 23:13

  • Microsoft plays favorites in Windows Phone 7 cloud picks

    Beats a big calculator

    Microsoft is betting its future on the cloud, we‘re told, and using Windows Phone 7 to lure customers in for their business, as well as personal, lives. The focus of the Windows Phone 7 launch has been on consumer use: XBOX Live, integrated Facebook and an address book that considers a contact‘s last Tweet as important as …

    Mobile 11 Oct 2010, 23:24

  • TV numbers sink as iOS usage rises

    Ow My Balls beats Fox's Idol — just

    Prime-time television is shedding audience at an increasing clip, with the most recent decline due not to crap shows such as High Society or The Marriage Ref, but to Apple. "A new entertainment force is once again driving disruption: the iPhone," blogs Peter Farago, marketing veep at Flurry, the app-tracker self-described as " …

    Music and Media 11 Oct 2010, 23:38