2nd December 2010 Archive

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Feds propose 'do not track' option for net surfers

'Privacy by design'

The Federal Trade Commission recommended consumers be given a “do not track” option that prevents websites and advertisers from compiling data about their web-browsing habits. In a report published Wednesday, the consumer watchdog agency said the privacy mechanism should come in the form of a cookie or other persistent web …

ID 2 Dec 01:29
US politician: 'homosexual agenda' behind TSA groin grope

Pleasure from 'your submission'

A US politician says he's uncovered the real reason for the recently introduced groin-grabbing TSA patdowns. He claims they're part of the dreaded, morals-sapping, country-destroying homosexual agenda. "The next TSA official that gives you an 'enhanced pat down' could be a practicing homosexual secretly getting pleasure from …

Odds and Sods 2 Dec 04:39
Microsoft pumps cash into IBM bete noire

'Openness and choice' for Big Blue mainframe shops

Microsoft has pumped an undisclosed sum into TurboHercules, a French outfit that seeks to undercut IBM's mainframe business. The cash infusion, which happened last week, comes hot on the heels of Microsoft's orchestration of a $450m purchase of 882 patents from Novell as part of Attachmate's acquisition of that software maker …

HPC 2 Dec 05:00
Silverlighters committed despite Microsoft's HTML5 love

Finding a place in Redmond's heart

The "future of Silverlight starts now" — or, more accurately, it starts on December 2 according to Microsoft, with a day of webcasts from the company. Microsoft has promised a keynote from the chief geek synonymous with Silverlight, vice president for the .Net developer platform Scott Guthrie, who'll talk about what's in the …

Developer 2 Dec 06:00
Imagin IMEB-5 colour e-book reader

Review Crude awakening

When so much of the cheap, no-brand electronics kit coming out of China is junk, it's nice to find something that, for once, works better than you expect it to. Imagin IMEB-5: right size for an e-book reader Case in point: the Imagin IMEB-5 colour e-book reader, produced by that household name Tivolli which is so well known …

reghardware 2 Dec 07:00
Linux and Windows iron power Q3 server revenues

Unix is a drag

The server market got a first opinion about its health from Gartner earlier this week, and now, IDC dons the white coat and snaps on the rubber gloves to give the third quarter server racket a full checkup and a second opinion. By IDC's count, server peddlers moved $11.81bn in machinery in the third quarter, a 13.2 per cent …

Channel Register 2 Dec 07:00
BlueArc wants IPO for ~~Christmas~~ next year

Comment It's like engines and cars, see

BlueArc is hoping to have an IPO in early next year, and wants it to be known that no one reseller represents anything like half of its revenues. We suggested BlueArc reseller HDS, which says it has sold more BlueArc products than BlueArc itself, might account for more than half of BlueArc's revenue. But this isn't the case. …

Storage 2 Dec 09:30
Gates: Nothing really new in ~~Wikileaks~~ Bradley Manning leak storm

Wild claims as endless drip-leakage drags on 'significantly overwrought'

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has issued a stinging poohpooh to the idea that the ongoing, long-drawn out release by Wikileaks of data allegedly supplied to it by a low-ranking American soldier will have any significant effect on the operations of the US government. During a briefing earlier this week, Mr Gates offered the …

Enterprise Security 2 Dec 09:46
Gov to resellers: Glory bonanza secrecy days are over. For real

Train smash scatters gravy everywhere

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude continues to talk the talk - warning big resellers that the days of massive contracts with even bigger margins are over. Maude said both suppliers and civil servants would need to change. Maude said: "The days of the mega IT contracts are over. We will need you to rethink the way you …

Channel Register 2 Dec 10:06
Self-correcting memory arrives at last

Sadly we speak here of NAND Flash, not one's brain

Micron is putting error correction code (ECC) in its NAND chips to combat increased error rates as NAND process sizes shrink. The company says that as NAND process sizes decrease to 20nm and then become even smaller, the bit error rates will rise, requiring NAND controllers in mobile phones and other flash-using devices to …

Storage 2 Dec 10:33
More Christmas Savings at Reg Books

Site news Geeks Guide₂ Christmas 2010

Welcome to the second part of our Christmas trilogy. This week we have a variety of books for you to indulge in, from public speaking to photography, mobiles & tablets, and even gaming. Don’t forget we are offering up to 40% savings on each of these titles. Confessions of a Public Speaker Bestselling author Scott Berkun …

Site News 2 Dec 10:37
Toshiba unwraps rubber-clad dual-core netbook

Not for Xmas

Toshiba is the latest laptop maker to pitch a netbook based on Intel's dual-core Atom, the 1.5GHz N550. The NB520 adds a pair of integrated Harman Kardon speakers and Dolby Advanced Audio to the basic netbook spec, to whit Windows 7 Stater; 10in, 1024 x 600 screen; 1GB of DDR 3 memory; 500GB 5400rpm hard drive; 10/100Mb/s …

reghardware 2 Dec 10:41
'ALIEN' LIFE FOUND in California

Well, that's the gist

Once the internets noticed NASA had scheduled a press conference on astrobiology later today, they wasted no time in speculating what the announcement could be. NASA said the press conference would discuss a "finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life". Enough grist for any conspiraloons fed up …

Space 2 Dec 10:54
2G Apple TV hack tool goes public

aTV Flash beta released

FireCore has issued the first beta release of its second-generation Apple TV hacking tool, aTV Flash. Dubbed aTV Flash (black), the tool opens up the Apple TV to install extra apps and remote access tools. The beta release slots in a web browser, Last.fm support, a Plex client and an Apple TV-hosted updater. FireCore charges …

reghardware 2 Dec 11:13
Wikileaks DDoSser 'Jester' in phantom cop raid tomfoolery

Updated Spartacus tweet fake twat row

The hacker suspected of involvement in the first denial of service attacks against Wikileaks has disowned blog posts that reported a raid on him by local police as the work of an imposter. A patriot-hacker called The Jester, who previously used an XerXeS application layer attack tool he developed to assault jihadist sites, …

Security 2 Dec 11:22
Rumbustious Rambus rampaging rebarbatively, again

Punchy patent pugilism

It will be no surprise to hear that Rambus has set out on the IP infringement legal highway again. What is it this time? Rambus wants Broadcom, Freescale Semiconductor, LSI, MediaTek, NVIDIA and STMicroelectronics barred from importing products which allegedly infringe Rambus-owned patents known as the Dally and Barth …

Storage 2 Dec 11:39
HP builds touchscreen Linux PC for India

And only India

HP will this month begin selling an 18.5in touchscreen all-in-one PC running what it almost certainly Linux. The snag: it's only available in India. The DreamScreen 400 was "developed in India for India", HP said, adding that the custom UI and spec was inspired by interviews with 2,600 Indians. The company put 200 prototypes …

reghardware 2 Dec 11:41
US TV spectrum sale ploy gets OK from FCC

Pipes to be squeezed into tighter slots

The FCC has approved its own cunning plan of letting TV broadcasters sell off their unused spectrum for a slice of the future pie. The hope is that TV companies can release 120MHz of radio space by rearranging their channels and squeezing some digital pipes into smaller slots. In turn they'll be rewarded with a cut of revenue …

Wireless 2 Dec 11:56
Moving to Windows 7: What to watch out for

Webcast Knee deep in the migration? Tune in

According to you (pdf), dear reader, you're probably thinking about shifting to Windows 7 in the not too distant future. For some of you it’s imminent, while some of you are already knee-deep in the migration. Others are trying to figure out where and when to start. On 9 December at 11am we have a live broadcast where we’re …

Tech Panel 2 Dec 12:10
Prince Wills and Cameron push England World Cup bid

Are all the fish sold?

Fifa's suits have gathered in Zurich to vote on the hosts of the 2018 World Cup later on Thursday. On Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince William and David Beckham flew into Switzerland to pitch the benefits of bringing football's greatest tournament back home to the country that invented the game. England's …

Odds and Sods 2 Dec 12:33
Renta-spook: GCHQ commercialisation 'is a live issue'

Stuff you thought was yours? We did it secretly ages ago

GCHQ could be turned into a technology incubator under plans being discussed by the government, it's been revealed. The security minister Baroness Neville-Jones told MPs that commercialisation of the Cheltenham spy agency's technology and services is a "live issue". She appeared yesterday before the Science and Technology …

Government 2 Dec 12:37
Selling Apples to Japan: Complicated as a Nipponese typewriter

One day, a surprising market walked in the door

I'm an artist who's always been fascinated by computers - ever since junior high math club. My first computer was a plastic toy cogwork Turing machine called the DigiComp 1. I ran a mailing list on punchcards for the school newspaper. I used a PLATO IV - a PC before the era of microprocessors, whose storage ran on compressed …

Channel Register 2 Dec 12:44
SMOKIN' HOT BABE gets job as computer geek

It's true! Sadly she is 6 inches tall and plastic

Parents who want to inspire their daughters to aspire to something more than make-up, fashion and interior design can now opt for Computer Engineer Barbie, the latest edition to Mattel's plastic figurine. Who said that Barbies were all bimbos? This particular version is the result of the 2009 Barbie Global Career Survey, …

reghardware 2 Dec 12:47
Western Digital WD TV Live Hub

Review Torrent on TV

Western Digital’s WD TV has always been one of the better streaming media players. It has an attractive graphical interface, supports an extensive range of audio and video file formats, and – with no internal hard disk – proved much cheaper than disk-based rivals such as the AppleTV. Local store: Western Digital's WD TV Live …

reghardware 2 Dec 13:00
Three cops spanking in mobile user ranking

O2 scores in Which?-u-like ethereal pollage

O2 rates more than twice as high as Three in customer service, according to readers of Which? Magazine, who rated the country's smallest operator as worst of a piss-poor bunch. The survey asked more than 10,000 Which? readers to rate 75 companies providing ethereal services, and found that First Direct Bank was the most …

Mobile 2 Dec 13:27
Frenchies, Germans wave fat pipes at embarrassed Brits

Blighty languishing in cellar with slender Chinese

UK homes are less likely to have superfast broadband than anywhere else in the world except China. Ofcom's annual international communications report reveals that 0.2 per cent of UK homes have superfast broadband - the same as China. By comparison France has 1.1 per cent of homes linked up, Germany 2.0 per cent and Italy 1.4 …

Telecoms 2 Dec 13:30
iOS upgrade cocks up iPad USB connections

Slabber jabber flabber well and truly gasted

Apple's iOS 4.2 upgrade has prevented data being read from some USB devices because the fondle slab puts out five times less power than before. The iPad has a camera connection kit enabling pictures on SD cards in digital cameras to be transferred to the iPad. This works well with the previous iPAD O/S, iOS 3, but that has …

Operating Systems 2 Dec 13:46
WordPress swiss cheese vuln situation sorted

Bug-beset blogware chucks up buck-up notice

WordPress has published a new version of its popular open-source blogging platform to address multiple security bugs. Version 3.0.2 of the software corrects a loophole that creates a means for ordinary authors to gain admin-level privileges on a site, among a slew of other bugs. The update also removes a "pingback/trackback …

Security 2 Dec 14:21
WinPho7 jailbreak kit locked down by Redmond 'dev mojo' man

Backscratch confab at pirate cutlass toolshop

The Windows Phone 7 jailbreak software, which debuted earlier this week, has been pulled while the developers talk to Microsoft about how best to distribute such a thing. The developers of ChevronWP7 have apparently been chatting to Microsoft about how to encourage the kind of home-brew development their jailbreaking tool …

Operating Systems 2 Dec 14:35
Xiotech grasps hilt of Katana, prepares to unsheath

Iaijutsu flash slash aimed at ISE gap

We understand Xiotech is getting to ready to announce its Katana product, an ISE storage brick using solid state drives. Chief strategy officer Jim McDonald said in a briefing call today that there is a gap in the market between traditional storage arrays with tiers of hard disk drives and maybe a top tier of solid state …

Storage 2 Dec 14:54
Horror AVG update ballsup bricks Windows 7

Even safe mode cannot end devil-spawned reboot loop

An update from AVG on Wednesday night rendered 64 bit Windows 7 systems unstable after it was applied. Several Register readers have been affected by the problem, which leaves machines in a continuous reboot loop. AVG has pulled the problem update (3292) and published an advisory apologising for the cock-up and providing …

Security 2 Dec 15:09
Google ends 'do be evil, if you want a top ranking' policy

No such thing as bad publicity at the Chocolate Factory

Google has responded to a New York Times story which revealed the search engine was rewarding websites that have dozens of complaints and negative reviews with high rankings. This is because of the way the search engine rates sites according to how many other sites link to them. First the back story: the paper followed the …

Software 2 Dec 15:52
Russia wins World Cup bid in parrot-sickening travesty

Updated Beeb Blatter bung blab bungle blamed

The 2018 World Cup has been awarded to Russia. Rival bids from Spain/Portugal, England, and the Netherlands/Belgium were rejected in favour of bringing football home to the world's largest country. Disappointed crowds would be thronging Piccadilly Square and Trafalgar Square if it were not for snow-related transport …

Entertainment 2 Dec 15:57
US iPad to get BBC pay app - with 'handcrafted British feel'

Made by a surly, brown-toothed man in a cloth cap?

The US, followed by the rest of the world, will be offered the pleasure of paying for BBC content when the broadcaster launches a subscription-based application for the iPad next year. The US is likely to get its hands on the app first, some time in the middle of next year. If successful, BBC Worldwide - the broadcaster's …

Music and Media 2 Dec 16:14
Crazed buy-a-satellite-for-the-poor scheme raises $16k

Only a $hitload and a clue to find now

An online appeal to raise $150,000 to buy Terrestar-1 and rain bandwidth down on the Third World has already topped $16,000, despite the obstacles ahead of the project. The plan is to buy Terrestar-1 off the bankrupt TerreStar satellite phone operation, then drive it round to somewhere over the developing world and offer …

Mobile 2 Dec 16:57
Microsoft arranges 'safe' Silverlight and HTML marriage

Trusted mode spans PC and web worlds

Microsoft is marrying HTML and Silverlight in a roadmap, due today, that blurs the lines between Windows PCs and the web. On Thursday, the company announced the next version of its browser-based media player will feature a new class of trusted applications that let you run authorized HTML apps in the browser, launch Office and …

Developer 2 Dec 17:52
THE TRUTH on the Californian NASA POISON ALIENS

Arsenic-gobbler weirdlife sets ET boffins on 'grail' trail

The discovery of a previously unknown lifeform in California that lives on arsenic is prompting astrobiologists to broaden their hunt for alien life. The new bacterium - GFAJ-1, part of the class Gammaproteobacteria, which also includes E.coli - was discovered in samples taken from Mono Lake. The lake is naturally high in …

Space 2 Dec 19:00
Hackers poison well of open-source FTP app

Updated ProFTPD backdoored for 3 days

Hackers breached the main server hosting ProFTPD and remained undetected for three days, causing anyone who downloaded the popular open-source file transfer application during that time to be infected with a backdoor that grants unauthorized access to their systems. The unknown attackers gained entry to ProFTPD's main …

Security 2 Dec 19:37
Microsoft badmouths Google over fed contract win

Redmond in sour grapes Apps rant

Google has landed a major contract with the US government, convincing the 17,000-worker strong US General Services Administration to use Google Apps. And Microsoft has taken this as an opportunity to badmouth Google's suite of online business applications. "There's no doubt that businesses are talking to Google, and hearing …

Channel Register 2 Dec 19:42