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30th November 2010 Archive

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  • Google antitrust? Ask the one man who can (almost) answer

    Exclusive To know the unknowable

    Outside of Google, no one really knows how the company makes its money. We know that most of Google's billions come from AdWords, its search advertising system. But no one really knows how AdWords works. By design, AdWords is a black box. If the world knew how it worked, Google says, unscrupulous advertisers would game the thing …

    Music and Media 30 Nov 00:10

  • Big iron, x64 refresh goose server sales

    Cookie sheet racks gain, RISC/Unix wanes

    The server racket returned to something resembling normalcy in the third quarter, according to the box counters at IT market-watcher Gartner. The company reckons that global server revenues in Q3 rose by 15.3 per cent to $12.29bn, while the number of machines kicked out of the world's server factories rose by 14.2 per cent to …

    Channel Register 30 Nov 00:44

  • US cable giant Comcast accused of internet video 'toll booth'

    Backbone cries foul over 'net movie delivery fee'

    Internet backbone provider Level 3 Communications says that US cable outfit Comcast is demanding a recurring fee for transmitting internet movies and "other content" to Comcast customers who request the content, accusing the cable provider of violating the Federal Communications Commission's "net neutrality" principles. But …

    Networks 30 Nov 01:37

  • Olympians threaten ICANN with lawsuit

    New domain name plan under fire

    The International Olympic Committee is threatening to sue the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers if they don't receive protection for IOC trademarks in ICANN's upcoming revisions to its generic top-level domains (gTLD) guidelines. "If these critical issues are not fully resolved and ICANN chooses not to place …

    Networks 30 Nov 05:00

  • Governance bodies offer help to small firm directors

    14 'guiding principles' for directors in unlisted companies published

    Fourteen guiding principles to be used by directors in unlisted companies have been published to address the "neglected" needs of those firms. Trade bodies representing directors are behind the publication. The European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) and the UK's Institute of Directors (IoD) have published …

    Small Biz 30 Nov 07:00

  • Arcam rCube portable iPod speaker system

    Review Top of the docks

    Following in the footsteps of Bowers & Wilkins, Cambridge-based Arcam is the latest top-end British hi-fi maker to start a dalliance with the dark forces of the iPod, iPad and iPhone by producing a one-box music system to complement Apple's handheld devices. Boom box: Arcam's rCube At 200mm square, the rCube is small for a …

    reghardware 30 Nov 07:00

  • Seagate ends talks to go private

    Comment No go ho ho

    Seagate has ended discussions with interested parties about going private. The discussions failed to agree on how much the firm was worth with the private equity buyer – understood to be TGP Capital – placing a lower value on Seagate shares than Seagate's board. But the world's largest hard drive maker did have some good news …

    Financial News 30 Nov 09:41

  • Infrastructure overheated? Take a dip in the resource pool

    Webcast Tender steps to a private cloud

    IT departments are coming under pressure from the business to have more responsive and flexible IT service provisioning. So what benefits can adopting dynamic IT wholesale bring, and what are the challenges and pitfalls to look out for along the way? On December 7th at 11am we’re going to be talking about this very issue and …

    Tech Panel 30 Nov 10:12

  • US orders data lock down in wake of Wikileaks release

    Shuts stable door on 'largest data spillage in American history'

    The US government on Monday enacted new policies designed to prevent mass leaks similar to one rolled out over the weekend, when Wikileaks released thousands of classified diplomatic cables. On Sunday, the Pentagon announced new procedures for the use of thumb drives. Computers that store classified data will no longer be able …

    Government 30 Nov 10:22

  • Microsoft waves arms, signals 2.5m Kinect sales

    Sony keeping mum

    Microsoft has claimed to have sold more than 2.5m Kinect Xbox add-ons since the gadget went on sale earlier this month. It reckons it'll sell the same volume again before the year is out, most of them in the next 25 days or so, we'd say. Sony's alternative offering, Move, which requires the player wave a rather phallic …

    reghardware 30 Nov 10:42

  • Activists say consultation on RIPA was 'secretive and short'

    Home Office's changes to e-comm intercept law 'hard to find'

    Digital rights activists have criticised a Home Office consultation on the UK's main interception law that they say is shorter and more secret than it should be. The consultation (10-page / 37KB PDF) is into proposed changes to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), the law which controls the interception of …

    Government 30 Nov 10:43

  • Becta agrees £400m ICT framework

    Agency includes over 20 suppliers in services framework agreement

    More than 20 suppliers have been included in a services framework agreement set up by the soon to be abolished education ICT agency. Becta has divided the framework into two lots. The first covers network technologies, which will incorporate infrastructure services and mobile connectivity services, and the second covers ICT …

    Channel Register 30 Nov 10:48

  • US rejected Brown's McKinnon case plea

    Gordon got short shrift on extradition, Wikileaked files show

    The US authorities spurned a personal plea by former prime minister Gordon Brown to allow Gary McKinnon to serve any sentence in the UK, according to Wikileaks files. MPs on the Home Affairs select committee are to once again consider the McKinnon extradition case today. Brown proposed the deal in a meeting with the US …

    Government 30 Nov 10:54

  • How to kill your computer

    When the kernel panics once too often...

    Many people simply ignore the rule "if it aint broke, don't fix it" and end up annihilating their computer through a burst of static electricity or dodgy DIY. Back in 2002, El Reg ran a few pieces on the obscurer ways to kill a computer. Most of the links are dead, so we thought we'd have an updated look into this wacky world …

    reghardware 30 Nov 11:00

  • Windows Phone 7 gets unlocked

    Side loading without Microsoft's say-so

    The first jailbreaking app is out for Windows Phone 7, enabling the installation of unsigned applications, which can now be developed in Visual Basic too. The VB addition is from Microsoft, and means developers can create Silverlight apps using Visual Basic, get them signed and run them on a phone. But developers can also now …

    Mobile 30 Nov 11:22

  • Trend Micro buys encryption firm

    Scrambling to satisfy regulatory compliance push

    Trend Micro has agreed to buy encryption specialist Mobile Armor. Financial terms of the deal, announced on Tuesday, were not disclosed. St Louis, Missouri-based Mobile Armor markets data-protection software that offers full-disk, file/folder, and removable media encryption for endpoints (laptops, tablet PCs, and smartphones …

    Enterprise Security 30 Nov 11:24

  • Google Earth steps 'seamlessly' into Street View

    Version 6 with fully-integrated snooping

    Google has announced the release of Google Earth 6 - now with fully-integrated Street View allowing amazed netizens to "journey from outer space right to your doorstep in one seamless flight". It is sort-of seamless, too, with Street View's pegman "docked right alongside the navigation controls", and available for dragging …

    Applications 30 Nov 11:26

  • SanDisk, Sony pitch über CompactFlash spec

    PCIe in, ATA out

    Nikon, SanDisk and Sony want to revive the CompactFlash card as the default memory card technology for pro users. CompactFlash, once found on almost every high-end camera, has faded from the scene somewhat, primarily thanks to the more convenient - read 'smaller' - SD card standard, which is now ubiquitous. CF lives on in some …

    reghardware 30 Nov 11:31

  • EXPLODING GARBAGE TERROR hits Florida

    Rubbish truck 'goes kaboom' in bin blast incident

    Terror struck the Floridian city of Orlando this week as a garbage lorry exploded in a blast heard across the neighbourhood after a refuse operative tossed unidentified rubbish into its compactor. Local cops, firemen and bomb-disposal experts rushed to the scene and surrounding homes were evacuated, with other residents warned …

    Bootnotes 30 Nov 11:32

  • Europe opens full probe into Google

    Accused of 'gaming' its own search results

    The European Commission has opened a formal probe into allegations that Google has abused its dominant position in online search by illegally favouring its own services. Formal proceedings follow complaints from search providers that Google's sponsored and unpaid search results showed preference to Google's own services. …

    Government 30 Nov 11:40

  • Acer leans on Pisa in HPC market bid

    Uni gets Gateway competency centre

    Acer has cut the tape on a Gateway HPC Competence Centre at the University of Pisa IT Centre as it ramps up its effort to become a serious play in top-drawer computing. Gateway is Acer's high-performance computing (HPC) brand in Europe. Intel is part of the project, and naturally the Gateway systems involved use Xeon …

    HPC 30 Nov 11:54

  • Apple Mac Mini with Snow Leopard Server

    Review The Xserve alternative?

    With Apple’s Xserve now discontinued, the only two Mac servers available are the Mini and the Mac Pro Server. The Mac Mini is Apple’s lowest-cost computer yet in its more expensive server incarnation it dispenses with the optical drive of its desktop sibling, instead opting for a second 2.5in hard disk. Apple's Mac Mini …

    reghardware 30 Nov 12:00

  • Ransomware Trojan is back and badder than ever

    Hextually transmitted pathogen encrypts files

    A ransomware Trojan threat is back – in an even more noxious form – two years after it last appeared. A new variant of the GpCode ransomware encrypts user files on infected Windows PCs using theAES 256 and RSA 1024 encryption algorithms. The malware only encrypts the start of media or Office files, but that's enough to make …

    Crime 30 Nov 12:03

  • NASA to make MAJOR ALIENS REVELATION this week

    Secret White House briefing rumours stoke SETI speculation

    NASA has set the interwebs a-tremble with a teasing announcement to the global media that a news conference will be held in Washington DC on Thursday "to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life". The space agency's routine ploy of trailing major briefings in advance has …

    Space 30 Nov 12:32

  • How I saved the Macintosh

    Memoirs of a Salesman After getting the idea from a Clamshell Orgy

    Today, Apple seems unstoppable - its new products dominate their markets or create entirely new ones. But there was a time, 20 years ago, when Apple seemed to have lost everything. In 1984 I was caught in the middle of all this: I was a sales rep for ComputerLand Los Angeles; the top Macintosh salesman at the largest computer …

    Applications 30 Nov 12:33

  • Me, myself and Eric: Google delays social network effort, says report

    Gonna be a cold, lonely Christmas for Googley devs

    Google has reportedly delayed the official launch of a social network it’s understood to be quietly mothering until spring next year. According to Mashable, the so-called “Google Me” virtual playground – which the Mountain View Chocolate Factory has declined to directly comment on – will land in March or April of 2011. …

    Applications 30 Nov 12:36

  • Irish chap romps off with Bad Sex award

    'Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect...'

    Irish author Rowan Somerville has seen off former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell in the race to secure the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award 2010. Somerville deservedly took the honours for excerpts from his second novel The Shape of Her, including: “Like a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect with a …

    Bootnotes 30 Nov 13:17

  • Wikileaks hit by second DDoS

    It gets knocked down. But it gets up again. You're never going to keep it down

    Wikileaks was hit by a second denial of service attack on Tuesday. The assault followed attempts to blitz the site off the web on Sunday night in the run-up to the controversial release of hundreds of thousands of US diplomatic cables. The whistleblowing site confirmed the latest attack in an update to its Twitter feed on …

    Government 30 Nov 13:44

  • Tron Evolution

    Review Glowing nowhere?

    The original movie Tron was something of an irony. Considered by many as a landmark in computer animated cinema, the movie actually owed more to traditional animation techniques than CGI. I'll punch your lights out As the technology to mix computer animation and live action didn't exist in the early 1980s, of Tron's 96- …

    reghardware 30 Nov 14:00

  • Microsoft reaches for remote control in crowded US TV market

    Wake up, little snoozy. Smell the smelling salts

    Microsoft is readying itself for a battle in the crowded TV space and reportedly plans to bring a subscription-based television service to its Xbox gaming console. According to Reuters, which cites sources familiar with the matter, the software giant wants to enter the US TV market alongside rivals Google, Apple and Netflix. …

    Music and Media 30 Nov 14:15

  • British computer pioneer Wilkes reaches EOL

    /etc/init.d/halt for time sharing pioneer

    Maurice Wilkes, British computer pioneer, has died at the age of 96. Wilkes was head of Cambridge University's computer lab from 1945, when it was known as the Mathematical Laboratory, to his retirement 1980. In recent years he published his memoirs and consulted for DEC and the Oracle-Olivetti lab in Cambridge. In 1949, …

    Bootnotes 30 Nov 14:30

  • Councils 'spend shedloads on CCTV'

    Report shows costly cost of local snoopage

    Local authority spend on CCTV may be nearing the £500m mark according to The Cost of CCTV, a report by Big Brother Watch, published today. The report reveals the results of surveys carried out across Britain, and collates FOI responses from some 336 of the country’s 418 local authorities. The actual figure, from those who …

    Government 30 Nov 14:46

  • iPhone 4 keyboard case anyone?

    Leather and Bluetooth

    Another day, another iPhone 4 case with a built-in Qwerty keyboard. This one's from Hong Kong gadget seller Brando. It's a small, leather folio. The iPhone clips in on one side, the keyboard on the other. Simples. The two talk to each other over a Bluetooth link. It's clearly designed to be used on a flat surface: the case …

    reghardware 30 Nov 15:24

  • 'Smear agricultural land with human poo'

    Fight 'peak phosphorus' with ass soil, urges Soil Ass.

    Aptly named UK organic farming organisation The Soil Association has called for the human race to use much more of its own poo to assist food production - in an effort to stave off a new eco menace that the charity has dubbed "peak phosphorus". According to the organics group, "peak phosphorus" represents nothing less than a " …

    Biology 30 Nov 15:31

  • Apple Facetime flings out frightening random calls

    No, I did not order a wake-up for 2am

    Apple's FaceTime application has been fingered for randomly placing calls, identified as coming from friends and causing more than a little concern when the call fails to connect. The calls are reportedly happening at roughly the same time first thing this morning - waking up Brits around 2.30 in the morning by all accounts - …

    Mobile 30 Nov 15:43

  • Tesco takes Apple tablet

    Buy an iPad, get Clubcard points

    Tesco has begun selling the Apple iPad, allowing you to gain Clubcard points for your pricey fondleslab. Well, every little helps, we suppose, though we'd have preferred to see more of a discount than Tesco is actually offering: not a bean. Tesco's prices match Apple's exactly: £429 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model up to £699 for …

    reghardware 30 Nov 15:53

  • Who said anything about green?

    Desktop virtualisation gets you part way there anyway

    Green and sustainability initiatives might be interesting discussion points for some, but really only matter to most companies when they deliver tangible benefits to the business. Being green for green’s sake is unlikely to get sign-off at budget commitment time unless the organisation can see some form of material benefit, …

    Desktop Management 30 Nov 16:03

  • Sony pips MS with 4.1m motion controller sales

    Nah, nah, na-nah, nah

    Sony has said that it has sold 4.1m PlayStation Move controllers around the world. The claim comes hot on the heels of an announcement from Microsoft this morning that it has sold 2.5m Xbox Kinect add-ons. The Move was launched in September, a couple of months ahead of the Kinect introduction, so it would be surprising indeed …

    reghardware 30 Nov 16:07

  • Telegraph to charge for online news

    Tories face tariffs

    The Telegraph will begin charging for news online from next year, according to a report. The newspaper, which was the first UK national to publish on the web, will join The Times in requiring payment for access, The FT - which itself charges for online business news - reports. The move will leave liberal-leaners The Guardian …

    Music and Media 30 Nov 16:52

  • Red Hat snaps up Makara

    Better to eat than be beaten

    As El Reg reported back in September, Makara was shopping itself to various potential suitors, and today Linux, virtualization, and middleware juggernaut Red Hat snapped up the startup to pad out its platform as a service products to better compete against Microsoft, VMware, and others. Makara was founded two years ago and …

    Channel Register 30 Nov 18:49

  • Cryptographers crack system for verifying digital images

    Have you seen my signing key?

    Cryptographers have cracked software used to verify that images taken with Canon cameras haven't been altered. Russian password-cracking company ElcomSoft said on Tuesday that it's able to extract the original signing key from the Canon Original Data Security Kit and use it to validate fake photos. Canon has billed the service …

    Security 30 Nov 19:39

  • Calling Australia's IT Pros: Optus wants to kick your sporting arse

    Man up for the ultimate IT Support Challenge

    Australian readers of The Reg may have already noticed that Optus wants IT teams to Take the Ultimate IT Challenge. It was launched last month, and ads are all over the shop. We have just noticed that we are a media sponsor of this exceedingly fine competition...so here's the drill. Optus is running a compo with $100,000 of …

    Site News 30 Nov 22:00