The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

21st October 2010 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Man cops to botnet-fueled pump-and-dump scheme

    Securities fraud in the digital age

    An Arizona computer specialist has admitted taking part in a conspiracy that used large networks of compromised computers to inflate the value of stocks so they could later be sold at a profit. James Bragg, 41, of Chandler, Arizona, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and fraud, prosecutors …

    Crime 21 Oct 00:07

  • Mozilla man accuses Jobs of 'bypass the web' scheme

    Apple.com busts Firefox 4

    On Wednesday, as Steve Jobs went "Back to the Mac", the fanbois of the world enjoyed their usual collective orgasm. But for Mozilla director of Firefox development Mike Beltzner, the reaction was decidedly different. "I wonder when Apple will stop shipping Safari," Beltzner tweeted in the wake of Jobs' press event. "It's …

    Developer 21 Oct 05:25

  • European Parliament: If you don't pay, you will pay

    New late payments rules directive passed by EU members

    Public authorities must pay their bills within 30 days and companies within 60 days, according to a new European Union Directive that has been approved by the European Parliament. Organisations that do not pay invoices within those deadlines will face set penalties and punitive interest rates that they cannot change regardless …

    Small Biz 21 Oct 06:00

  • iDapt i4 multi-purpose charger

    Review Does 'em all, apparently

    Charging cables inevitably get knotted, misplaced or mistaken, yet appear a necessary evil to keep mobile devices going. So many proprietary connections are in circulation nowadays and, with most people owning at least two devices, cables soon become a mess and families fight over plug sockets. On multiple charges: iDapt's i4 …

    reghardware 21 Oct 07:00

  • Apple signals disk free notebooks way to go

    Hard disk drive vendors watch out

    Apple's new MacBook Air is as cheap as the MacBook at £849, signalling the end of premium pricing for Apple's slim hinged flash slab. When it was introduced two years ago the MacBook Air was priced pretty high but it had a great spec. It still does but the smaller 11-inch screen model is now priced like the entry level MacBook …

    Storage 21 Oct 09:08

  • EA takes Angry Birds publisher under its wing

    $20m you say? Chickenfeed

    Electronic Arts has purchased Angry Birds publisher Chillingo, thus buying up a significant part of the mobile gaming industry. Reuters puts the price of Chillingo just shy of $20m, though neither company is prepared to provide details. As well as Angry Birds, which was developed by Rovio, Chillingo owns the distribution …

    Mobile 21 Oct 09:09

  • Geeks Guide 2... Great Video Game Design

    GG2 Save 40% at Reg Books

    This week we are offering 40% off Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design by Scott Rogers, Creative Manager for THQ and the game designer behind hits such as Pac-Man World, Maximo, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Whether you are new to games design or looking to put the final touches to your project, Level Up! is a light- …

    Site News 21 Oct 09:18

  • Intel broaches fresh barrel-o-Linux

    Because you can't use Android in a jet fighter - yet

    Intel is not just a chip maker, but also a peddler of Linux and VxWorks operating systems for embedded devices thanks to its $884m acquisition last year of Wind River. This week, the semiconductor giant's Wind River subsidiary rolled out Wind River Linux, which has a Linux kernel that is so fresh that the heat from Linus Torvald …

    Virtualization 21 Oct 09:33

  • MS to unveil fresh Flash challenge next week?

    Silverlight MIA - for now

    Microsoft may next week detail the next instalment in its Silverlight challenge to Adobe Systems' Flash. It has finally published details of sessions for its Professional Developers' Conference (PDC), and of the 34 sessions two have place-holders instead of abstracts. One of those sessions covers Silverlight, and comes with …

    Developer 21 Oct 09:38

  • Phone 7: Another Vista or another XP?

    Review We scratch beneath the surface and find a bit of both

    We've been playing with a Windows Phone 7 device for a week or so now, and have been surprisingly impressed with the detail, though sadly disappointed with the bigger picture. Microsoft has put a lot into Windows Phone 7, and plans to spend a fortune developing it, but while the interface and functionality has a host of …

    Mobile 21 Oct 10:11

  • Beeb pulls in Yank to direct Auntie's online digital opera

    Ex-AOLer steps in as operation shrinks

    The BBC has hired an AOL veteran as the Corporation’s new digital, future media and technology director. Ralph Rivera will report directly to the BBC’s FM&T boss Erik Huggers and will start the job on 8 November. He had worked at AOL for more than 10 years where he ran the company’s games business and its Latino division. …

    Music and Media 21 Oct 10:54

  • Easynet axes 1 in 20 staff

    55 will get boot

    Easynet's new private equity owners plan to make one in 20 staff redundant, they announced this week. Some 55 jobs are to go as the firm aims to focus on corporate networking customers. Insiders fear more roles are yet to be cut. They said the first casualties include the UK hosting team, the global marketing director and …

    Telecoms 21 Oct 10:56

  • HTC HD7

    Review WinPho 7 gets the big-screen treatment

    Once the anonymous creator of white-label handsets for the networks, HTC has moved firmly centre stage with its own-brand Android and Windows Mobile handsets. The HD7 is the first of a plethora - seven of them actually, hmm, coincidence? - of new Windows Phone 7 handsets, part of a major push to relaunch the not-much-loved OS …

    reghardware 21 Oct 11:00

  • Penthouse founder Guccione dead at 79

    It is fate that rules us, Little Boots, not any god

    Bob Guccione, the man who founded Penthouse and brought full frontal nudity close to the mainstream, if not firmly into it, has died at the age of 79. Guccione lost a long fight with cancer yesterday, Adult Video News reports, and died at the Plano Specialty Hospital in Texas. AVN recounts that the American-born Guccione was …

    Music and Media 21 Oct 11:01

  • BBC-led RadioPlayer may spark radio revival

    A modest start, but doing it right

    A new RadioPlayer for the UK could be the start of the biggest change in radio listening since Marconi. Essentially, it's YouView for radio. It's a very modest-looking start, but RadioPlayer will bring time-shifting features such as catch-up and pause - as well as familiar names and a selection of internet radio stations from …

    Music and Media 21 Oct 11:03

  • Vulture 1 sprouts wings and a tail

    Lots of lovely construction snaps for your viewing pleasure

    The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space team is assembling for the imminent launch of our Vulture 1 aircraft into the blue yonder, and here for your viewing pleasure are some further constructional details of our advanced all-paper vehicle. Before getting stuck into the snaps, those of you who aren't up to speed on the Vulture …

    PARIS 21 Oct 11:11

  • X2 triplex super-copter to be offered as Army 'Raider' craft

    Actively damp chopper - a soldier's dream?

    US whirlycraft firm Sikorsky, having successfully flown its revolutionary (cough) X2 triplex sprint-chopper to an impressive 250 knots, says that it will now look to put the same technology into a prototype armed scouting craft aimed at the US Army. However, the company seems keen not to spend too much more of its own cash on …

    Science 21 Oct 11:25

  • BBC One HD launch date revealed

    Updated Freesat for sure - Freeview HD too?

    The BBC will begin simulcasting BBC One in HD on 3 November, the Corporation has revealed. No formal announcement has been made, but the BBC's technical website shows the channel will begin transmitting on that date on the free-to-air satellite service, Freesat. Last May, the BBC said the channel would debut in the autumn, on …

    reghardware 21 Oct 12:06

  • Somali rebels threaten mobile banking group

    Mobile money is, apparently, unIslamic

    Network operators in Somalia have been given three months to pull the plug on money transfers by mobile phone, or face the consequences. The threat was made in a statement by al-Shabaab, a group apparently inspired by al-Qaida, and gives the three network operators in the region three months to block transactions over the Zaad …

    Mobile 21 Oct 12:10

  • Acer upgrades Aspire One netbook

    Dual-core CPU for the dual-boot D255

    Acer has added Intel's new dual-core netbook processor, the 1.5GHz Atom N550, to its Aspire One D250 mini-laptop and re-released it as the D255. The 10in machine includes 1GB of 667MHz DDR 3 memory and relies on the GMA 3150 graphics engine built into the CPU to drive its glossy 1024 x 600 display. The D255 has 2.4GHz 802. …

    reghardware 21 Oct 12:27

  • Dell takes aim at Apple with upmarket pledge

    Never mind the prices, feel the screen width

    Dell will spend "hundreds of millions" to upscale its image and stop majoring on its cheapness, after years of slithering down the brand pole. If that wasn't ambitious enough, the PC vendor has trained its sights on Apple, accusing it of dictating to customers. The direct PC vendor's chief marketing officer for consumer and …

    Channel Register 21 Oct 12:42

  • EU privacy watchdog pans passenger data plans

    Still not good enough

    The European Commission's rules for transferring air passengers' details to destination countries are still not entirely justified, according to EU privacy watchdog Peter Hustinx. Hustinx is the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and has published an official opinion calling into question the need to transfer passenger …

    Government 21 Oct 12:43

  • DARPA orders miracle motor for its flying car

    Lo-maintenance superdiesel boasts poke of a jet engine

    Intriguing news today on the flying-car front - and indeed many other fronts. A Californian space-rocket company says it has received US government funding to develop a miraculous engine that would offer as much power-for-weight as a gas turbine, but would be much cheaper and simpler to make and maintain. Diesel reliability …

    Science 21 Oct 12:55

  • Crown Paint probed by ICO for 'possible' online data breach

    Exclusive Crazed database reveals customers to world

    A website owned by Crown Paint is being investigated for a “possible data breach”, after Register readers spotted that the company’s customer database was published in full online. We contacted the firm this morning to alert it to the major data protection snafu on its crowndecoratingcentre.co.uk site, but at time of writing …

    IT Director 21 Oct 13:19

  • Google says hardly any Germans opt out of Street View

    Says (nearly) all opt-outs accommodated

    Google has said that just 2.89 per cent of German households have asked for their homes to be taken off Street View - but sadly it will not be able to oblige all of them when it launches in the country next month. Street View has unaccountably gotten up the noses of privacy groups, householders and random street drunks …

    Law 21 Oct 13:21

  • Bechtolsheim races Arista to zero latency

    Every microsecond counts for Bechtolsheim's bolshy switches

    Arista Networks, Andy Bechtolsheim's creation, is in a race to zero network latency. That's the situation he presented at IP Expo in a keynote pitch today. Andy Bechtolsheim is a heavyweight IT industry maverick who has consistently punched far above his weight. He was a co-founder of Sun, has been credited with inventing the …

    Data Networking 21 Oct 14:19

  • Nokia to cut 1,800 jobs

    But is making money for a change

    Nokia is to lay off 1,800 people even as it reports increasing earnings and good profits. Net sales, for the last quarter, are up to €10.3bn, with profit jumping to €403m compared to a loss of €426m in the same period last year. But that's not good enough, so the company is shaking down its smartphone business by axing 1,800 …

    Mobile 21 Oct 14:34

  • OpenStack unfurls first full cloud fluffer

    Compute and storage launch control, NASA style

    The OpenStack project, which has NASA and Rackspace Hosting and now 35 other organizations co-developing computing and storage controllers for cloudy infrastructure, has launched its first release, codenamed Austin, right on schedule. While OpenStack warns that the product is not yet ready for primetime - think of it as a …

    Servers 21 Oct 14:54

  • Inside Opera 11: extensions and benchmarks

    Take a peek at the nifty new alpha

    Opera issued a feature-incomplete alpha version of its desktop browser today. The two aspects introduced in 11.00 are the revised JavaScript engine and Extensions. More features will follow - sometimes these are introduced late in the release cycle. Opera releases are always worth a look. It's the testing ground for new …

    Applications 21 Oct 15:05

  • Apple's FaceTime for Mac debuts with security holes

    Beta puts iTunes accounts at risk

    This article is being updated to note that, according to Apple Insider, this bug is no longer reproducible. Apple has provided no comment, and no update for the beta was released to effect the change. Apple's recently released FaceTime for Mac beta allows users to make important iTunes account changes without first entering …

    ID 21 Oct 17:38

  • Adobe Shockwave bitten by code execution bug

    Browse-and-get-pwned vuln confirmed

    Security researchers have disclosed an unpatched vulnerability in the latest version of Adobe Shockwave that allows attackers to remotely execute malicious code on end user machines. The memory corruption vulnerability can be exploited by booby-trapped movie files, making it possible for attackers to take full control of …

    Security 21 Oct 19:41

  • Cisco eats own cloud food

    Mmmm, Vblocks

    Server wannabe Cisco Systems is trying to drive server and storage network convergence and benefit from the inevitable shift to virtualised servers, storage and networks. And the best way to sell a new architecture is to use it. It was this shift towards virtualisation that compelled Cisco to take on its partners and enter the …

    Servers 21 Oct 20:11

  • Apple threatens Java with death on the Mac

    World of Android devs face Jobsian boot

    Apple has "deprecated" Java on Mac OS X, meaning it will pay even less attention to upkeep of the platform, and it may kill the platform entirely on a future version of its operating system. Many seem to think this is minor news. But if Steve Jobs is booting Java from the Mac, he's also booting Java developers, including all …

    Developer 21 Oct 20:49

  • Linux bug bestows attackers with 'superuser' powers

    Fix coming

    Security researchers have disclosed a vulnerability in the Linux operating system that allows unprivileged users to gain “superuser” rights on target systems. The bug in the Linux implementation of RDS, or reliable datagram sockets, protocol can be exploited by local users by sending specially manipulated packets that write …

    Security 21 Oct 23:55