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29th November 2010 Archive

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  • The Mac that saved Apple (and Steve Jobs)

    This Old Box Deep inside the Bondi Blue

    On May 6, 1998, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iMac at the Flint Center Theater in Apple's home town of Cupertino, California — the same venue where he had unveiled the original Macintosh back in 1984. "We think iMac is going to be a really big deal," he told the crowd. He was right. The iMac shipped at the stroke of …

    Vintage 29 Nov 2010, 04:00

  • WikiLeaked US cables link China to Google hack

    Clinton ordered surveillance of UN leadership

    A Chinese contact told the American Embassy in Beijing that China's Politburo "directed" last December's hack on Google's internal systems, according to the confidential US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and various news organizations on Sunday. As reported by The New York Times, an unnamed source told the American …

    Security 29 Nov 2010, 05:32

  • Monster iPad Case Test: The Rest

    Product Round-up Bags of... well... bags

    Lastly, we come to all the odds'n'sods - cases that don't quite follow the pattern, bags and other carry options. Be-Ez Le Rush En Ville The iPad equivalent of the laptop bag, this shoulder strap-carried nylon case has a lightly padded space inside for the tablet and pockets for cables and adaptors. There's a handy document …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 07:00

  • Monster iPad Case Test: Skins and Hard Cases

    Product Round-up Silicone specials

    Rubber skins and plastic hard cases may not provide your iPad with the all-encompasing protection of a folio or slipcase, but they'll certainly take the knocks - and bring some colour and individuality to your tablet. Belkin Grip Vue Case Belkin's skin sits somewhere between the hard clip-on-the-back cases and the floppy ones …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 07:02

  • Monster iPad Case Test: Slipcases

    Product Round-up Slide it in

    If you're after an iPad case that's not as bulky as a folio, but covers the tablet better than a skin can, look no further... Be-Ez La Robe Allure A cute designer zip-sealed sliipcase that appears to be made from two mousemats sandwiched together if the cloth sample dangling from the package is anything to go by. Who cares …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 07:04

  • Monster iPad Case Test: Folios

    Product Round-up Wallet keep my tablet protected?

    According to manufacturers, folios are the most popular iPad cases in Europe. With their book-like looks, the ability of many of them to double-up a stands and the extra drop protection they offer - all that extra padding at the corners - it's not hard to see why. Apple iPad Case Apple's offering has cover that folds back to …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 07:06

  • Yes! It's the Reg Hardware Mass iPad Case Test

    Product Round-up 46 cases reviewed and rated

    What do you buy the iPad owner who has everything? Another case of course, and to help you choose one - for yourself too, if you're a fan of the Apple tablet - Reg Hardware has gathered together, reviewed and rated dozens of the things. To help you navigate the sheer volume of cases we've checked out - all tried and tested …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 07:10

  • Aussies want compo for bank fail

    Computer says doh!

    Australian bank customers are demanding compensation after bank systems failure left thousands out of cash over the weekend as bank systems failed to update accounts. A corrupt file kiboshed payments on Wednesday night and the bank is still trying to sort out the backlog. The problem was variously described as a corrupt file …

    Servers 29 Nov 2010, 09:23

  • Epic fails

    Project management One in eight IT projects succeeds. What do we learn from the other seven?

    Remember this comment about a particular project somewhere in the Middle East? “There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t  know. But there are also unknown unknowns; there are things we do not know we don’t know.” You …

    Project Management 29 Nov 2010, 10:22

  • Pirate Bay appeal failure spawns more DoS attacks

    Revenge of Anonymous

    The failure of the Pirate Bay appeal has spawned reprisal denial of service attacks by the loosely banded Anonymous collective against the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Anonymous: 'Ummm. Nope.' Frances Moore: 'Pirate Bay should do the responsible thing and shut down.' Both the ifpi.org …

    Security 29 Nov 2010, 10:24

  • Symbian Foundation shuts up (virtual) shop

    Last one out, turn off the lights

    The slow death of Symbian continues, with the 'Foundation announcing that come 17 December it's pulling the plug on its websites and online presence. Over the weekend the Symbian Foundation, online home of the recently-open-sourced operating system, broke the news and said it's taking the source code offline, to be made …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2010, 10:26

  • Apple says no to Android-oriented iPad mag

    Rejected

    Apple has apparently banned an iPad-based magazine from its online store - because the titled focuses on Google's Android platform. The app comes from Danish tech publisher Mediaprovider, whose boss, Brian Dixen, told local newssite Digitale Medier this his app, Android Magasinet, had been rejected by Apple's App Store …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 10:27

  • Vodafone offers free mobile broadband in Europe

    All roads lead to roam

    Vodafone today said it has "simplified" its European data roaming charges. The operator will bundle a daily allowance of 25MB roaming data transfers - equivalent to roughly 750MB a month - with each contract costing £40 a month or more. If your monthly fee is less than £40, you can pay a £10 top-up to gain that small but free …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2010, 10:49

  • Oz bank meltdown due to file corruption cock-up

    IBM mainframe upgrade downer

    The five-day mainframe bank system meltdown at the National Bank of Australia (NAB) was due to a corrupted file on an IBM mainframe system that was being upgraded. It's reported that staff attempted a mainframe upgrade on Wednesday 25 November, and this failed to complete. It was reversed and this was when, it appears, ongoing …

    Developer 29 Nov 2010, 11:14

  • Leslie Nielsen dead at 84

    No longer at risk of being called Shirley

    Comic titan Leslie Nielsen, famed for his insistence on not being called Shirley and for his masterly portrayal of "Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant, Police Squad", has died aged 84. "With his friends and his wife by his side, he just fell asleep and passed away," his nephew Doug Nielsen told AFP. The veteran actor …

    Bootnotes 29 Nov 2010, 11:15

  • Lone hacker theory in Wikileaks DDoS attack

    Updated Well obviously it was TEH GOVERNMENTS etc

    A denial of service attack against Wikileaks that brought the whistleblower site to its knees on Sunday night, in the run up to its publication of classified State Department documents, may turn out to be the work of a lone hacker. The attack, which rendered the site inaccessible for several hours, might be blamed on an …

    Security 29 Nov 2010, 11:24

  • Phoenix on track for decent year

    Revenues and profits up

    Phoenix IT Group has grown revenues by 13.4 per cent in the first six months of the year, up to £138.4m from £122m last year. For the period ended 30 September 2010 Phoenix said underlying profit before tax was up two per cent to £15.1m but group underlying operating profit was down very slightly - from £17.4m to £17.3m. The …

    The Channel 29 Nov 2010, 11:28

  • I was timeboxed in a holistic scrum

    Stob More lithe than agile

    Do you suffer from unsatisfactory projectile climaxes? Is your software construction methodology previous generation? Do you require the predictable outcome of pre-planning with the flexibility of iteration and the lightness of touch of partially de-hierarchicalised management approaches? No need to say anything. I can tell …

    Verity Stob 29 Nov 2010, 11:30

  • An iPad for under 200 quid*

    *You'd be throwing in your soul, of course

    Orange has announced how much it is prepared to subsidise the Apple iPad, and it pushes the entry-level fondle slab down below £200 with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity. You'll have to agree to pay Orange £27 a month for the next couple of years, less a couple of quid if you're already indentured to Orange. So, including the £200 …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 11:35

  • Inventor only entitled to share of employer's actual patent earnings

    Court of Appeal rules on 1984 gadget case

    The inventor of a medical device is entitled to a 'fair share' of the actual benefit earned from that device by his employer, the Court of Appeal has ruled. An inventor cannot complain if his employer did not exploit the invention well or at all, it said. Professor Ian Shanks invented a device which drew precise amounts of …

    Developer 29 Nov 2010, 11:57

  • The Great iPad Case Giveaway

    Giveaway Dozens of cases, dozens of winners

    OK, so we've reviewed 40-odd iPad cases - now what do we do with them all? We give them away to Reg Hardware readers, that's what. We've got slipcases, sleeves, hard shells, folios and more from the leading manufacturers like Belkin, Proporta, Scosche, Griffin, Be-Ez, Otterbox, Exspect, Jivo and Incipio. They're all up for …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 12:00

  • FCO spends £39m with HP

    Fat slice of pie

    HP took nine per cent of the money spent by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with its 100 biggest suppliers in 2009-10. Figures released to Kable under Freedom of Information by the department show that the technology firm topped its supplier list, with Global Crossing coming third with £20m of spending in 2009-10. The …

    The Channel 29 Nov 2010, 12:20

  • Wikileaks exposes Clinton's cyberspy wish-list

    Ban Ki-moon-on-a-stick

    Hillary Clinton asked US diplomats to gather the passwords and encryption keys of top United Nations officials, as well as details of the private networks they use to communicate. In one of the most controversial of the first batch of embassy cables released by Wikileaks, she sought information that would be useful for cyber- …

    Government 29 Nov 2010, 12:24

  • Sharp launches Galapagos tablets

    Magical and evolutionary?

    Sharp has launched its Galapagos tablet family in Japan. Announced back in September, the range comprises 5.5in, 1024 x 600 and 10.8in, 1366 x 800 models, running an unspecified OS but linked to a range of online content shops. Sharp's Galapagos: Little... The emphasis is very much on media consumption and communications, …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 12:33

  • Mozilla rages at MS, Apple and Google's 'trojan horse' tactics

    Shove your plug-ins where the sun don't shine

    A well-respected Mozilla man has attacked Apple, Google and Microsoft for installing plug-ins without first asking for a web surfer’s permission. Open web advocate Asa Dotzler, who co-founded the Spread Firefox project for the open source browser outfit in 2004, slammed the three tech titans for making sneaky installs of plug- …

    Applications 29 Nov 2010, 12:36

  • US woman @theashes stumped by cricketing tweets

    What the hell is a wicket?

    A US woman, with no interest in cricket, came to regret picking the twitter handle @theashes after she was bombarded with messages about the test match in Brisbane over the weekend. The Massachusetts woman initially reacted with exasperation when her feed became overrun with talk of wickets, seamers and silly mid-offs. "This …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2010, 12:41

  • Overclocking for servers

    SC10 Appro feeds Wall Street greed for speed

    Bring up the topic of overclocking to the major system manufacturers and you hear a variety of responses ranging from ‘we’re plenty fast enough now – take a look at our _____ (insert benchmark here) that’s enabled by our use of ___________(insert techno feature here)” to “it’s just not safe, son, and our customers need to be …

    HPC 29 Nov 2010, 13:00

  • UK services still shrinking

    Some small hope for tech spending though

    Business and professional services have had a flat quarter with business volume and prices broadly unchanged, while consumer services have seen an unexpected decline. Consumer service companies were expecting modest growth in the quarter rather than a fall. Some 30 per cent of consumer firms said the value of business rose, …

    Small Biz 29 Nov 2010, 13:04

  • Has Wikileaks run out of secrets?

    Comment Julian - this lot's rubbish

    According to a story that's popular in Washington, after Bill Clinton held his first meeting with his intelligence chiefs as President, he pulled them aside. "Look, guys," he said. "There's really two things I want to know: Who killed the Kennedys? And have aliens landed?" The story is told with a kind of "Look who's just …

    Government 29 Nov 2010, 13:08

  • Symbian's Secret History: The battle for the company's soul

    Part Two How Nokia took charge, and never let go

    This is Part Two of a special report about the formation and early years of Symbian. It contains stories and plans that have never previously come to light. Part One dealt with the formation of the venture. Here’s the main course: how the decisions taken between 1999 and 2001 shaped not just the future of Symbian, but the course …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2010, 13:24

  • RIM recruits tester for NFC hardware

    Confirms its lack of foolishness

    BlackBerry maker RIM is advertising for an interoperability testing specialist, with a view to ensuring that BlackBerry devices work properly with NFC. RIM has revealed that such devices are in development. That shouldn't be surprising - when RIM's CEO was asked last week if Near Field Communications features in its future, he …

    Mobile 29 Nov 2010, 13:30

  • LaCie slips in Superspeed USB hub

    Four-porter

    With so few USB 3.0 add-ons out there - and fewer computers that support the SuperSpeed bus standard - is there really a need to for a four-port USB 3.0 hub? LaCie thinks so at least, and has put out the Hub 4 to prove it. The £45 device has a micro USB 3.0 input and four A-type USB ports into which you can plug your four …

    Hardware 29 Nov 2010, 14:04

  • Dubya to speak his mind at Facebook event

    'A leadership is someone who brings people together'

    The ex-US president of all our hearts, George W Bush, will be hanging out at Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters to field questions from the social network’s stalkers later today. However, the Mark Zuckerberg-run company has already yanked the page advertising the event following what we at Vulture Central can only assume …

    Bootnotes 29 Nov 2010, 14:21

  • Canada steps closer to legalising sex work

    While UK tiptoes a bit further away

    Diametrically opposed views on how to deal with sex workers were on display this weekend, with Canada teetering on the brink of legalising prostitution, and the UK’s Met warning media owners that they could face criminal charges if they carry ads for massage parlours and saunas. The federal government in Ontario is in a lather …

    Law 29 Nov 2010, 14:29

  • The A to B of building supercomputers

    SC10 Top500 here we come

    What does it take to design and build a supercomputer big enough to enter the Top500 list? We beamed live from the SC10 show in New Orleans two weeks ago with some people who explained what it takes to take a supercomputer from a glint in someone's eye into the Top500 list. Now, the recorded version of that particular treat is …

    HPC 29 Nov 2010, 14:30

  • LHC boffins turn lead into quarko-gluotic Big Bang incrediblo-stuff

    Particle-pummelling primordial plasma pulchritude

    International boffins are vying with one another in a race to topsy-turvinate the world of physics this week, with a flurry of results due in imminently from radical fabric-of-time-and-space-rending experiments at the Large Hadron Collider - most brutally powerful particle-pummeller ever assembled by the human race. “It …

    Science 29 Nov 2010, 14:36

  • Analyst cuts PC sales forecast, blames iPad

    Consumers buying tablets, making computers last longer

    Market watcher Gartner has pruned its forecast world personal computer sales growth this year and next, knocking nearly four percentage points off its 2010 prediction. The reason? The iPad. And, to be fair, other such media tablets, though the Apple offering has been the key seller in 2010. In September, Gartner forecast that …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 14:46

  • Wikileaks: Berlusconi useless, Pope Catholic

    Shock 'revelations' shake western democracies

    The release today of leaked US State Department cables is unlikely, despite some media claims, to shake western democracy to the very foundation of sub-prime mortgages on which it stands. Among the Wikileaks shockers are the descriptions of Silvio Berlusconi as "feckless, vain, and ineffective as a modern European leader", …

    Bootnotes 29 Nov 2010, 15:22

  • Asus prices up note-taking Eee reader

    £175 inc VAT, anyone?

    Asus' monochrome LCD tablet, the Eee Note, went on sale in the firm's native Taiwan today for a rather tasty Sterling equivalent price of £148. OK, so that's based on the current Taiwan New Dollar-Sterling exchange rate - the price is TWD6999 - and comes in minus VAT, which would take the price to £175, give or take. That …

    Tablets 29 Nov 2010, 15:47

  • What is the point of End Point Protection?

    How we should be protecting our PCs

    Security threats have existed for almost as long as computers have been around. Few interactive systems can claim to be immune – even venerable systems like the IBM mainframe, UNIVAC and VAX have had their share of malware. Then, the PC brought computing to the masses, but also brought a new environment for malware to bloom. …

    Desktop Management 29 Nov 2010, 15:50

  • Feds seize 70 'filesharing, dodgy goods' sites

    Updated Gimme that

    The US government has seized 70 sites allegedly offering counterfeit goods or links to copyright-infringing material. Among the domains seized was a BitTorrent meta-search engine Torrent-Finder.com, along with other music linking sites. Other sites on the hitlist allegedly sold fake designer clothes. Surfers visiting the …

    Government 29 Nov 2010, 15:52

  • Mellanox gobbles up Voltaire for $218m

    Network consolidation for fun and profit

    Mellanox Technologies will cough up $218m in cash to acquire networking rival Voltaire as it seeks to gain a larger footprint in data centre networks and a better chance to wring more profits out of the combined companies. Voltaire is a maker of InfiniBand switches that has expanded out into 10 Gigabit Ethernet products in the …

    HPC 29 Nov 2010, 16:14

  • Iran admits cyberattack hit nuke programme

    Imadinnerjacket's centrifuges unspun

    The Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today seemed to confirm speculation that the Stuxnet worm obstructed his regime's nuclear ambitions. "Several" uranium enrichment centrifuges were damaged by the virus, he told a press conference. "They were able to create problems on a limited basis for some of our centrifuges by …

    Security 29 Nov 2010, 17:01

  • Oracle erects mystery Sparc SuperCluster

    'World record database performance'

    It looks like Oracle chief executive officer Larry Ellison is getting ready to whip out his hardware again and measure it up against wares from IBM and Hewlett-Packard. While the United States was getting ready to stuff tens of millions of turkeys last week, Oracle put out a teaser saying that on December 2 it would announce …

    HPC 29 Nov 2010, 17:57

  • Empire Strikes Back director Kershner dies at 87

    A great disturbance in the Force

    Irvin Kershner, the man who directed what was arguably the best of the six Star Wars films — The Empire Strikes Back — died over the weekend at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87. "I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film," Kershner told Vanity Fair about Empire just …

    Bootnotes 29 Nov 2010, 18:58

  • Researcher warns of iPhone phishing peril

    Blame Mobile Safari's scrolling address bar

    Apple's iOS is vulnerable to web attacks that allow malicious websites to masquerade as trusted pages maintained by banks, stores, and other sensitive organizations, a researcher said on Monday. The weakness stems from the ability of web developers to display pages on iPhones that push the address bar out of view, researcher …

    Security 29 Nov 2010, 19:19

  • Supremes to hear Microsoft's Word appeal

    $290m and a franchise on the line

    America's top court will hear Microsoft defend claims that its Word software infringed on patens held by software maker i4i. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Microsoft's appeal against a 2009 court order that it must pay i4i $290m for infringements of patents by Word. A decision …

    Software 29 Nov 2010, 19:45

  • WikiLeaks re-taunts feds with US Amazon mirrors

    'Hey Pentagon, we're using your own software'

    WikiLeaks is hosting its cache of confidential US Statement Department cables on US-based Amazon servers, just as it did with with the classified Iraq War documents it released last month. According to NetCraft's records, the whistle-blowing website is mirroring the diplomatic cables on Amazon's US-based EC2 service and France …

    Networks 29 Nov 2010, 23:24