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8th December 2010 Archive

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  • Apache and Google airbrushed from Oracle's Java victory

    Independents register Ellison disgust

    If you haven't heard of Google or the Apache Software Foundation, don't worry. It seems the flacks writing Oracle's press releases haven't heard of them either. On Tuesday, Oracle blasted out a press release announcing the Java Community Process vote in favor of Oracle's Java 7 and 8 plan, saying its Java roadmap has been …

    Developer 8 Dec 2010, 01:05

  • Google backs 'Chromoting' remote access for web-bound OS

    'Yes, unlike Android, Chrome OS is open source'

    Google has confirmed that it will offer remote access software with Chrome OS, the browser-based operating system now due for official release in the middle of next year. Code for this service – currently dubbed "Chromoting" – is already part of the company's open source Chromium OS project, and speaking with The Reg on …

    Operating Systems 8 Dec 2010, 02:36

  • US DoD plumps for Appro CPU-GPU hybrids

    147 teraflops of power

    Supercomputer maker Appro International today announced that it has landed its first contract with the US Department of Defense and will build and install hybrid CPU-GPU machines that will be deployed in five supercomputer centers that have recently bought quite a lot of gear from Cray. Technically speaking, Appro is a …

    HPC 8 Dec 2010, 04:00

  • Google Books spanked by Amazon Kindle

    First Look Only the basics — for now

    On Monday, Google announced its semi-eponymous Google eBooks offering — its effort to challenge competitor Apple and chip away at the ebook dominance of Amazon. We installed the Google Books app on our iPad, played with it for a couple of hours, and came to the conclusion that Amazon and its Kindle (and Kindle app) have little …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 05:00

  • SGI puts modular data centers on ICE

    ICE Cube Air: containerized compute, take three

    In the past, Silicon Graphics didn't sell containerized data centers — but the company that swallowed it and took its name nearly two years ago, Rackable Systems, did. And the new SGI is now taking its third stab at the idea. The new ICE Cube Air modular data centers, which SGI is showing off at the Gartner Data Center …

    Servers 8 Dec 2010, 06:00

  • NASA sells PC with restricted Space Shuttle data

    Disk wiping? We've heard of it

    NASA officials failed to wipe sensitive agency data from computers before releasing them to the public, a violation of procedures that are part of the plan to securely end the Space Shuttle program, an audit released on Tuesday said. Kennedy Space Center in Florida – one of four NASA sites with reported weaknesses in the …

    Security 8 Dec 2010, 07:00

  • The year's best... console games

    2010: It's a Wrap Shooting to stand out

    How was your gaming in 2010? Which console games will you remember most when you're through overindulging and it's time to carelessly box up the tangle of Christmas lights and decorations? Which stand-out moments will you recount as you drunkenly belt out Auld Lang Syne and resolve to make these New Year's resolutions your …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 07:00

  • Reg Hardware competition winners

    The lucky ones

    iPad Case Giveaway Winners All the following folk entered and won our recent Mass iPad Case GIveaway - your cases and Reg goodie bags are on their way to you: Jimmy Aitken, Chris Biddle, Tom Bray, Sue Brett, Julie Bristow, Andrew Burrows, Jo Byworth, Chris Danks, Caroline Davison, Chris Eagles, James Fordham, Adam Fyfe, Ian …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 08:00

  • How to improve your information management

    Webcast Today And keep everyone happy

    Everyone is expected to be responsible for making informed decisions. IT is no exception. But it usually has the additional task of decking out the entire company with the info they need too – wherever they are and whenever they think they might need it. Sounds fun. Today at 11am we’ve got a room of experts to help you do this …

    Tech Panel 8 Dec 2010, 08:31

  • Storage shop ships storage for storage

    Tanks for the memories

    Storage specialist LaCie's latest offering is storage in the broadest sense of the word. It's certainly solid state, too - but it's not a drive. No, the new Tank, as it's called, is a "resilient" hard drive case into which you slot a 2.5in drive - HDD or SSD - should you want your data storage to be "shock-resistant and tested …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 10:01

  • EU will change e-signatures laws to boost electronic invoice usage

    Commission says Europe-wide standard will save time and cash

    The European Commission will revise the E-Signatures Directive in 2011 in a bid to encourage businesses to make more use of electronic invoices. The Directive will be changed to make it easier for electronic signatures from different EU member states to be read, recognised and accepted. The change is one of a number planned …

    Channel Register 8 Dec 2010, 10:04

  • Vodafone scores soapy company deal

    Telco snags Unilever for the cost of a couple of graduates

    Vodafone will be supplying 50,000 mobile phones, equipping around a third of Unilever's staff, as part of a deal to make the company more mobile as well as more communicative. As well as providing mobile phones, and management tools to let the company see exactly how much its spending and where, Vodafone will be providing …

    Channel Register 8 Dec 2010, 10:14

  • Massive online database of bird calls unveiled

    Extensive contributions from the 'Brown Thrasher'

    Twitchers among the Reg readership – and there must be a few of you, it's a hobby based on obsessive knowledge of minutiae and enhanced by gadgets – take heed. A massive online database of bird calls has been made available free online for your listening enjoyment. Are you looking at my bird? We speak here of the Avian …

    Biology 8 Dec 2010, 10:22

  • Rim tempts tablet coders with freebie PlayBooks

    Carrot and stack

    Want a free Rim BlackBerry PlayBook? Then develop an app for it. You'll need to be registered with Rim, too. The company yesterday said it is now accepting PlayBook-oriented submissions to the BlackBerry app store, undoubtedly with a view to having plenty available when the tablet goes on sale in the US and Canada during Q1 …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 10:26

  • Personalised power cuts and pricey meat: Grey Britain in 2030

    We read the Carbon Budget - so you don't have to

    It's full steam ahead for a low carbon Britain, the UK Committee on Climate Change says in its fourth report, published today. The CCC is the Government's primary advisory panel on cutting CO2 and was established in the 2008 Climate Change Act. But there will be a price to pay for this utopia. The CCC recommends a carbon tax …

    Energy 8 Dec 2010, 10:39

  • Police appeal for missing Taser

    Shocking loss, but stunning Christmas present

    The Metropolitan Police ia appealing for the return of a Taser and four cartridges that were left on the roof of a police car, which was then driven away... A Met firearms officer attended an early morning briefing at Norfolk Row, Lambeth. After the briefing, possibly focussed on coffee and a bacon sandwich, the copper put the …

    Bootnotes 8 Dec 2010, 10:40

  • Geeks Guide2 Christmas 2010 - Part III

    GG2 Vegas, Apps, Vader and Cheese

    Welcome to the third part of our trilogy of Christmas goodies. This week we’ll expose the best smartphone Apps on the market and visit the origins of Monkey Island, before arriving at the Mojave Wasteland. Oh and there’s some cheese thrown in too. Best… Apps If you’re like me, the chances are that your downloaded apps are …

    Site News 8 Dec 2010, 11:41

  • Orange overhauls app store

    Web submissions welcome, but only Android. And just for France

    Orange's Partner Connect is promising a 48-hour response for developers submitting applications, though for the moment they'll need to be using Android, and only interested in selling to the French. The idea is that the web-driven service will eventually include BlackBerry and Java applications, and provide a 70/30 split with …

    Mobile 8 Dec 2010, 11:44

  • Microsoft spins out Visual Studio SP1 beta

    'Go live' licence, but the thing still breaks stuff

    Microsoft began pushing out the first test service pack for its Visual Studio 2010 software product yesterday. Subscribers to the company’s Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) can now download the beta of the updates package. General availability of the Visual Studio 2010 SP1 test build will kick off tomorrow, said MS. The …

    Developer 8 Dec 2010, 11:51

  • Eircom launches streaming and MP3s bundle

    Exclusive Irish ISP offers tasty deals

    Sky Songs may have failed, but ISPs are apparently undeterred from having a dabble with streaming music services. Irish ISP Eircom will today launch a range of music bundles starting with free Spotify-style streaming for all of Eircom's broadband subscribers, up to a paid-for option that includes a bundle of 40 MP3s for €12.99 …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 12:21

  • Pro-Wikileaks hacktivistas in DDoS dustup with patriot contras

    Anyone from Anonymous using a name is a 'CHARLOTEN'!

    Online hacktivist collective Anonymous, operating under the banners Operation:Payback and "Operation Avenge Assange" have launched a series of DDoS attacks against organisations and people seen as being opposed to Wikileaks and its spokesman Julian Assange. Meanwhile, Operation:Payback itself has been subjected to counter-DDoS …

    Enterprise Security 8 Dec 2010, 12:25

  • Ad man offers fine drugs and finer print to Macbook thief

    Fabulous stash probably a pipe dream

    A Philadelphia ad exec is offering a "fabulous drug stash" reward in a bid to get back the Macbook he foolishly left in his unlocked car. Kurt Shore was leaving his office car park in early November when he realised he'd left something inside. He rushed back in, leaving the lights on, but not the central locking. On his …

    Bootnotes 8 Dec 2010, 12:28

  • Gartner hands out end of year grades to ECB storage market

    Three fliers, five sluggards

    Gartner has fingered three storage fliers and five followers in its latest quarterly report on the external controller-based (ECB) storage market. In the third 2010 quarter, the market grew 16 per cent to $4.64bn from a year ago. Gartner reckons that modular arrays were much more popular than the high-end monolithic arrays, …

    Channel Register 8 Dec 2010, 12:45

  • Windows Phone 7 unlockers let off with a warning

    Long pokey finger of Microsoft will not hurt you

    Windows Phone 7 devices that have been jailbroken using the ChevronWP7 aren't getting locked up again by Microsoft - at least not yet. Despite reports to the contrary Microsoft is not reaching out a sinister finger and locking up phones that have been opened up by their owners; but it is pushing out an error message pointing …

    Mobile 8 Dec 2010, 12:51

  • Google Docs offline feature to return wearing HTML5 overcoat

    Insert saucy picture of Martini Girl here

    In among Google's underwelming announcements about its delayed Chrome OS platform the company also confirmed yesterday that its Docs 'offline' feature was making a comeback. Mountain View said in a brief statement on its Docs blog that offline support would return to the cloudy word processing and spreadsheet editors in early …

    Applications 8 Dec 2010, 12:53

  • DAB traffic info axed

    Sole listener reportedly distraught

    The DAB-only Traffic Radio service is to be shut down, leaving literally dozens of drivers stranded. The Highways Agency quango said the UK government will no longer fund the service once the contract expires in August 2011, RadioToday reports. The service is broadcast over 30 multiplexes, and costs the taxpayer £1m to …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 13:01

  • Salesforce gets super chatty with Heroku buy

    When a Web2.0 hero comes along, with the strength to carry on...

    Salesforce.com has agreed to buy Ruby-hosting giant Heroku for $212m in cash. San Francisco-based Heroku, which was founded in 2007, is home to more than 100,000 Ruby applications, and developers of all sizes use its system, which runs on Amazon’s EC2 with a bespoke simplified management interface twist. Its eclectic mix of …

    Applications 8 Dec 2010, 13:13

  • Samsung dangles £200 lure at iPad-eyeing punters

    Buy a Galaxy Tab and get free stuff

    Samsung is giving away £200 worth of digital content in a bid to tempt tablet buyers to take its 7in Galaxy Tab this Christmas. All you have to do is find a Tab's IMEI number, Samsung said today. Type it into the Tab website and you'll be granted gratis access to 50 eMusic MP3 files - odd, this, since the Tab's main music …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 13:17

  • New NASA model: Doubled CO2 means just 1.64°C warming

    'Important to get these things right', says scientist

    A group of top NASA boffins says that current climate models predicting global warming are far too gloomy, and have failed to properly account for an important cooling factor which will come into play as CO2 levels rise. According to Lahouari Bounoua of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and other scientists from NASA and the …

    Energy 8 Dec 2010, 13:24

  • Flatscreen makers fined €649m for price fixing

    Squealer Samsung gets off, but others must cough up

    The European Commission has fined six LCD panel makers €649m for fixing the price of their screens. The six companies must pay €648.9m for fixing prices for LCD screens between October 2001 and February 2006. The six cartel members are: Samsung Electronics, LG Display, AU Optronics, Chimei InnoLux Corporation, Chunghwa Picture …

    reghardware 8 Dec 2010, 13:54

  • Anthony Rose leaves YouView

    iPlayer techie moves on

    The man who revived the BBC's new media fortunes, Anthony Rose, is to step down as CTO of the YouView venture, formerly known as Project Canvas. It's a surprise move. Rose is well respected throughout the industry and inspires great loyalty from his team. Rose joined the BBC from P2P company Kazaa and gave the bureaucratic …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 13:56

  • Walmart falls in with Washington's war on terror

    Is that bin Laden? Ooh look, DVDs for a buck

    The US Department of Homeland Security has joined forces with the most relentless and observant patrol force available in the US - Walmart shoppers. The Washington anti-terror agency will call on the cut-price chain's army of aisle-plodding bargain spotters to apply those same skills to spotting the enemies of the United …

    Government 8 Dec 2010, 14:56

  • NetApp sympathetic to CommVault's Simpana

    Blog OEM or reseller deal next year

    There is talk of a possible OEM or reseller deal between NetApp and CommVault next year. CommVault's Simpana data management software suite was recently upgraded to version 9, which has an end-to-end deduplication capability. NetApp has also shown itself interested in expanding its deduplication offerings – witness its October …

    Blocks and Files 8 Dec 2010, 15:05

  • Google sees printing in the cloud

    Every cloud should have a smudgy black lining

    While demonstrating Chrome OS, Google also slipped out its cloud printing solution, which might be the future, though for the moment you can't print anything other than a test page. Google Cloud Print is the chocolate factory's answer to the lack of printer drivers in Chrome OS, but should provide a printing solution for …

    Platform 8 Dec 2010, 15:27

  • Mastercard downed by Anon-Assange-fans

    Website gone for a burton, payment systems too?

    Mastercard is feeling the wrath of the internet this afternoon - its website and at least part of its payment systems have apparently been brought down by a denial of service attack. The credit card company is being typically cryptic - its most recent statement said only that it is "is experiencing heavy traffic on its …

    Enterprise Security 8 Dec 2010, 15:46

  • Elon Musk's Dragon capsule reaches orbit successfully

    SpaceX control - not NASA - calls the plays

    The Dragon space capsule built by SpaceX, the American private space company bankrolled and directed by famous PayPal nerdwealth tycoon Elon Musk, launched successfully from Cape Canaveral today. Don't need no NASA launch controller The Dragon, designed to carry cargo and then perhaps astronauts to the International Space …

    Space 8 Dec 2010, 16:13

  • French woman chased up tree by wild pigs, rescued by copter

    Animals turn on humanity: sharks, reindeer, now boar

    A French woman was set upon by a herd of wild pigs on Monday, only escaping from them by clambering up a tree, from which she was later plucked by a rescue helicopter. The woman was walking near the town of Bagnères-de-Luchon in the southwest of the country, The Telegraph reports, when she was startled by the pack of snuffling …

    Bootnotes 8 Dec 2010, 16:30

  • US Air Force studies fruit-flies to build killer insect swarm drones

    Tiny droid lands on your neck and BLAM - you're dead

    The US Air Force is engaged in wacky research on fruit flies manoeuvring within a heavily instrumented "simulation tunnel" in order to develop tiny, potentially murderous insect-sized flying robots. According to a statement issued yesterday by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), research underway at in …

    Rise of the Machines 8 Dec 2010, 17:00

  • Diary of a server failure

    Sysadmin blog Uh oh. There go my RAID arrays

    I recently experienced a major server failure. This article is my post-mortem. First, the environment in question: I have various ESXi servers using 300GB Velociraptors in RAID 5 as local storage. One server that hosted 27 user VMs had two disks in a six-disk RAID 5 fail simultaneously. When I rebooted the server the RAID …

    Sysadmin blog 8 Dec 2010, 18:30

  • PayPal banned WikiLeaks after US gov intervention

    Updated Unspecified criminal activity cited

    A PayPal executive said his company's decision to suspend payments to Wikileaks came after the US State Department said the whistle-blower site was engaged in illegal activity. The comment came shortly before PayPal agreed to release the remaining funds in the WikiLeaks fund-raising account. Press accounts from The Guardian and …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 19:05

  • SpaceX Dragon bathes in the Pacific

    'Mission is a success!'

    The Dragon has landed. Multi-entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX Dragon capsule, launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket, splashed down successfuly in the Pacific after completing its two-orbit circumnavigation of Planet Earth. In a subtly understated tweet early Wednesday afternoon …

    Space 8 Dec 2010, 20:14

  • EMEA server market grows some legs

    'I can walk!'

    Selling servers in Europe is no easy task these days, and probably not just because some of the economies in the region are wobbly or crashing. EMEA server buyers have always reacted a little differently when recessions hit, often getting out on the vanguard of where the rest of the world eventually follows. Such was the case …

    Channel Register 8 Dec 2010, 20:24

  • EU telecoms to Apple, Google: 'Pay up!"

    You break, you pay

    European telecoms want Apple, Google, and bandwidth-sucking service providers such as video streamers to help pay for improvements needed to support steadily increasing loads on their networks. Phone companies' infrastructures are straining under the demands of data, video, music, and other bandwidth munchers, and Bloomberg …

    Networks 8 Dec 2010, 21:51

  • Bashing the bandwidth bandits

    Also: WTF is SSL?

    Off we trot to the Reg Library for our occasional shufti through the whitepaper section. This week we present a couple of security reports, the first inspired by our own difficulty in researching SSL certs. Beginners Guide to Digital SSL Certificates Recently, we explored the introduction of SSL certificates for reader …

    Enterprise Security 8 Dec 2010, 22:00

  • WikiLeaks payment service threatens to sue Visa, MasterCard

    Visa.com crushed by Operation Payback

    WikiLeaks' Iceland-based payment processor says it will take immediate legal action against Visa and MasterCard for suspending service to the renegade whistle-blowing website, according to ZDNet UK. DataCell EHF, which facilitates credit card-based donations to WikiLeaks, said it will file suit in the UK against Visa Europe, …

    Music and Media 8 Dec 2010, 22:19

  • Google defends native code Chrome play

    'Don't ditch The Good for The Perfect'

    Google has defended its decision to run native code inside its Chrome browser, while calling its Native Client plug-in a "very important part" of the company's Chrome OS strategy. In unveiling its Cr-48 beta Chrome OS machine on Tuesday in San Francisco, Google did not mention Native Client. But when we asked what role the …

    Developer 8 Dec 2010, 23:53