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17th January 2011 Archive

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  • Stephen Fry chucks cash at hopeless browser plugin

    Wally profit? Not really...

    Stephen Fry's reputation as a technology expert has taken another dent. The ubiquitous luvvie has invested in Pushnote, a commenting system for websites. "Makes the web one big democratic comment platform," Fry tweeted. It's actually a social network – but one that's parasitic on other sites. There's just one catch. The …

    Music and Media 17 Jan 2011, 09:55

  • O2 chops away at middle-aged spread

    400 middle management and 40 shops to go

    Around 5 per cent of O2's UK workforce is to go, as the company rationalises its management structure in the hope of becoming more customer-focused. Quite where the operator has hitherto been focused we're not sure – on the shareholders perhaps – but now it is apparently going to target customers by getting rid of a few …

    Mobile 17 Jan 2011, 09:57

  • The Social Network scoops four Golden Globes

    Aaron Sorkin praises 'visionary' Zuckerberg

    The Social Network was honoured with four Golden Globes yesterday, suggesting the movie may be headed for Oscar glory. The fictional account of the rise of Facebook and its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, took the best drama award, best director for David Fincher, best screenplay for scribe Aaron Sorkin and best musical score. The …

    Music and Media 17 Jan 2011, 10:12

  • EMC revs motor for upcoming launch

    Rise again Evel Knievel

    A clearly briefed Barrons' guy says EMC will have a Harley Davidson motorcycle fly over storage arrays during its VNX launch-fest. Other stunts to be included in 18 January's "Records Will Be Broken" webcast include cramming more people into a Mini Cooper car than ever before. These cunning stunts are to emphasise that the new …

    Storage 17 Jan 2011, 10:13

  • Lane Fox promises sub-£100 PCs

    Refurbed Linux boxes for all

    Martha Lane Fox is promising £98 computers to tempt the last remaining digital refuseniks in UK to get online. The machines, refurbed by Remploy, will come complete with telephone support, monitor, mouse and Linux software. Lane Fox, David Cameron's Digital Champion, told the Financial Times (subscription link): "Motivation …

    Government 17 Jan 2011, 10:14

  • Raised res iPad 2 to sport four-core chip?

    2048 x 1536 graphics, anyone?

    First out of the starting gate this Monday morning: iPad 2 speculation has gone into overdrive, with talk of a dual-core processor and a quadrupling of the 10.1in display's pixel count. That would take the tablet's screen resolution to a whopping 2048 x 1536, higher than a full HD TV. The rumour started with a piece on …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 10:15

  • Apotheker to shake things up at HP

    Time to buy Rackspace Hosting

    Now that chief executive officer Leo Apotheker has made his worldwide tour of Hewlett-Packard's sites and big customers – and dodged the ongoing lawsuit between rival Oracle and former employer SAP – he is settling down to remaking HP into something more closely approximating his own image of the IT racket. According to a …

    Servers 17 Jan 2011, 10:55

  • DWP will make feuding parents pay

    Department to charge for use of child maintenance system

    The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that estranged parents using its statutory service for child maintenance will be subject to charges. The plan is included in a consultation document on the future of the system, which outlines the priorities for the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission as it replaces …

    Government 17 Jan 2011, 10:59

  • Online sync'n'store services

    Group Test Your files on the cloud to access from... anywhere

    For the last couple of years, I’ve been walking around with a tough, shock-resistant memory stick in my pocket . It contains an emergency back-up of all my current work files - and has prompted more than one comment along the lines of, "is that a memory stick in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?" However, 2011 …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 11:00

  • Volvo demos automobile auto-pilot tech

    Vehicle platooning project nears fruition

    Hell, said French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, is other people. If the EU has its way, it could be other motorists. Volvo today said it has successfully demonstrated technology behind Project Sartre, the EU's Safe Road Trains for the Environment scheme, which gathers groups of vehicles and has them proceeding down the …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 11:22

  • Cyberwar hype is obscuring real security threats

    The ill-informed leading the ill-informed...

    Cyberwar hype is inhibiting government attempts to develop an appropriate response to cybersecurity threats, say computer scientists. A heavyweight study by UK computer scientists for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concludes that it is "highly unlikely" there will ever be a "pure cyber war”, …

    Government 17 Jan 2011, 11:23

  • MSI tabulates WindPad Windows tablet

    Netbook sans keyboard?

    MSI has spec'd up its upcoming Windows-based tablet, the WindPad 100W. Think netbook minus keyboard and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. So, we're looking at 2GB of DDR 2 memory, a 32GB SSD, a 10.1in, 1024 x 600 screen, 2.4GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, one USB port, one SD card slot and one mini HDMI port. MSI simply …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 11:39

  • Symantec launches scale-out NAS using Chinese hardware

    The art of fighting without fighting

    Symantec is taking on NetApp and EMC with a scale-out NAS (network-attached storage) cluster using Chinese hardware. The FileStore N8300 is a 2 - 6 node active:active cluster offering CIFS and NFS access and up to 1.4PB of disk space. The product uses the clustered file system from Symantec's Veritas Storage Foundation …

    Storage 17 Jan 2011, 11:50

  • Boffins play 'Pac-Man' with tiny living organisms

    Insist they cannot feel pain

    Topflight boffins in America have well and truly gasted the world's flabber by building a sort of miniaturised live arena version of Pac-Man, in which players guide minuscule single-celled organisms to gobble up little balls. Definitely no tiny screams to be heard coming from this The game, dubbed PAC-mecium (the organisms …

    Biology 17 Jan 2011, 11:56

  • If it's on air, it's on sale, say majors

    One in the eye for radio

    Two major labels are giving up one of their most powerful marketing tools - because they say it's "out of date". Universal and Sony have said they'll give make digital songs legally available the day they're first played on radio - moving to an "on air, on sale" policy from next month. Traditionally, labels have created demand …

    Music and Media 17 Jan 2011, 11:58

  • Shale ignorance! Lords blast gov for ignoring cool new fuels

    And ... we've found John Selwyn Gummer

    Is it time to decouple "Climate Change" from the Department of Energy and Climate Change? If it was the plain old "Department of Energy" again, it might spend more time researching new fuel sources. Two peers last week took aim at the department because its latest energy blueprints are ignoring the potential impact of shale gas …

    Energy 17 Jan 2011, 12:13

  • Creepy as hell: Facebook developers get to know you better

    Home addresses and mobile numbers up for grabs

    Facebook has added APIs for developers to access the home address and mobile numbers of users, so FarmVille can see where, as well as who, you are. Permission to access such data must be given through the usual notification system, but with the vast majority of users simply agreeing with everything they're asked, the new …

    ID 17 Jan 2011, 12:21

  • Mozilla slings out 9th beta for Firefox 4

    How many fingers am I holding up?

    Mozilla has squirted out the ninth test build of the next iteration of its upcoming open-source browser. Firefox 4 beta 9 was pushed out on Friday, ahead of a planned Release Candidate build that is expected to be followed by the final code hitting the interwebs next month. Given that the test build is so close to being …

    Applications 17 Jan 2011, 12:26

  • Small biz would pay more for simpler tax

    Assuming competitors pay more too...

    Small business owners would pay more tax, if the system was simpler and it cracked down on tax avoidance by their competitors. Smaller firms believe they're at an unfair disadvantage compared to bigger companies. Most smaller companies also complained that the tax system deters them from hiring more staff. Phil Orford, chief …

    Small Biz 17 Jan 2011, 12:29

  • Orange salutes pub game with PAYG promo

    Ten pence top up launched

    It's all about change at UK telco Orange, which has launched a scheme to allow its Pay As You Go users top-ups from as little as ten pence a throw. Tiny Top Ups means PAYG customers can walk into any Orange store, as well as any shop that displays the Payzone sign, with a handful of pennies and boost their credit. A 10p top-up …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 12:52

  • Badness-browsing Belgian busted on Brit break

    Police pulled-in over public porn perusal

    A Belgian man last week week pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children while on a visit to Manchester. According to a spokeswoman for Manchester Magistrates Court, where Tim Verrydt appeared on Monday 10 January, the 23-year-old of Kappellestraat, Mol, Belgium, owned up to 21 separate charges. The majority of …

    Law 17 Jan 2011, 13:14

  • Nokia axes music bundle in 21 countries

    Stripey expensive flop nears end of life

    Nokia has confirmed that it's terminating the music service formerly known as Comes With Music in most of the territories in which it operates, including the UK, by the end of the year. Subscriptions will continue in six remaining nations Brazil, China and India. This contradicts an earlier wire service report that suggests the …

    Mobile 17 Jan 2011, 13:17

  • Oz pair in blow-up sex doll whitewater ride

    'Not recognised flotation devices', police warn

    Police Down Under are less than impressed with a couple of jokers who decided it would be a wizard wheeze to ride inflatable sex dolls down a swollen Yarra River, prompting emergency service intervention to haul them from the torrent. The male and female joyriders, both 19, mounted their blow-up transportation in the Melbourne …

    Bootnotes 17 Jan 2011, 13:19

  • M&S signs up to O2 location grab

    It's not pants, this time...

    High street stalwart Marks & Spencer has joined the O2 More service, pushing out free smoothies to O2 customers passing by their doors. O2 added location-based messaging to the opt-in service last October, offering to push SMS and MMS messages out to customers based on their location, which now includes being near an M&S …

    Mobile 17 Jan 2011, 13:25

  • US Eye-o-Sauron border scan tower project finally axed

    But huddled masses still unwelcome

    The USA's troubled SBInet border security programme appears to have finally been given a mercy bullet, according to reports. The long-delayed, overbudget effort was meant to ensure that nothing and nobody could move along the southern US border without detection, using a line of netted-up sensor towers to achieve this. The …

    Government 17 Jan 2011, 13:27

  • PlayStation Phone spied in China

    Gadget bought, photo'd ahead of launch

    Sony Ericsson's upcoming Xperia Play handset - aka the PlayStation Phone - has turned up for sale in China. Taiwanese website ePrice says it was tipped off to the fact by a reader on the mainland, and promptly sent one of its Shenzhen-based correspondents to go and have a look. Source: ePrice The result: a wealth of hi-res …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 13:50

  • Steve Jobs takes 'medical leave of absence' from Apple

    Cupertino boss hopes to return soon

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs told staff at the company today that he was taking a "medical leave of absence". He did not reveal specifics about why he had been given time off from the Mac and iPhone maker. "At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as …

    Financial News 17 Jan 2011, 14:13

  • Google flicks switch on video search results

    It's not YouTube, it's me

    Google has rejigged how video links appear in its search engine. The ad broker made the switch on Friday and stated that it had simply "improved" the way links to videos are organised, rather than explicitly pointing out that it currently has European Union regulators on its tail. "The feature scans the entire web for video …

    Applications 17 Jan 2011, 14:24

  • Cops break up Kinect Boxing bout

    Neighbour calls in domestic violence report

    Eight Swedish cops last week stormed a couple's home in Uddevalla after a neighbour reported five people beating up a woman. It was a false alarm - they were just playing Kinect Sports. One Robert Johansson, 25, was actually throwing punches in a virtual boxing match with his buddies and told Swedish-language tabloid …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 14:27

  • Tunisia: Goodbye Ben Ali, hello (internet) freedom

    How many must die to secure YouTube access

    The first glimmerings of internet liberalisation were evident in Tunisia this weekend. CNN reports that filters on popular sites such as Facebook and YouTube have been lifted, and this appears to have led to speedier access speeds across the local internet. Whether this is enough to placate a populace enraged by years of …

    Government 17 Jan 2011, 14:44

  • Israel and US fingered for Stuxnet attack on Iran

    Worm tested in secret desert nuclear complex, NYT claims

    The US and Israel jointly developed the infamous Stuxnet worm before using the sophisticated malware to sabotage key components of Iran's controversial nuclear program, according to an investigation by the New York Times. Stuxnet selectively infects industrial control (SCADA) systems from Siemens, establishing a backdoor that …

    Enterprise Security 17 Jan 2011, 14:52

  • Secure your departmental apps

    Hosted apps Underfunded and ignored: can SaaS help?

    Throughout this workshop, we’ve been looking at resiliency and security for hosted applications. The feedback we’ve had back from you is that a track record of security and privacy are at the heart of creating a feeling of trust towards a service provider. What’s also plain is many of you feel that these issues are not at all …

    Hosted Apps 17 Jan 2011, 15:20

  • Oh noes – they've stolen the internet!

    Entanet's East End exchange is burglarised

    Entanet customers relying on the firm's Stepney Green exchange are struggling without access today - thanks to thieves who got in over the weekend. Entanet engineers had to wait for police clearance before they could get inside and see what damage had been done, and what kit had been pinched. The company sent us the following …

    Data Networking 17 Jan 2011, 15:39

  • WikiLeaks gets Swiss bank info

    Assange goes after tax-dodging billionaire market

    A Swiss national, about to go on trial for breaking the country's strict secrecy laws, has handed Julian Assange two CDs containing names of 2,000 holders of secret Swiss bank accounts. Rudolf Elmer used to be chief operating officer for the Cayman Islands office of the private Swiss bank Julius Baer. Elmer is going on trial …

    Law 17 Jan 2011, 15:44

  • Nine per cent of gamer kids are 'addicted'

    Screenagers beware

    Videogaming is a normal activity for teenagers, but one in 10 are actually "addicted" to the activity, a recent study claims. A two-year study – details of which were published today in American journal Pediatrics – of more than 3,000 kids at a Singapore school claimed those rated as being addicted to games are also more …

    reghardware 17 Jan 2011, 16:30

  • Cray hits Q4 revenue target

    Bright Redmondian future promised

    Supercomputer maker Cray has met its fourth quarter revenue target, pulling in at least $305 million. Cray was at the Needham and Company Growth Conference in New York on Friday, and it unveiled some fourth quarter financial results so that chief financial officer Brian Henry would have something to talk about. Henry also gave …

    HPC 17 Jan 2011, 19:36

  • Interview: Give staff access to info on a need-to-know basis

    Australian Privacy Foundation chair discusses the Vodafone security breach

    In the wake of the mass breach of Vodafone security last week, The Register spoke to Roger Clarke, chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation and long-time privacy campaigner, about what the industry can learn from the incident. Staff and partners at Vodafone have logins that allow them access to customer data on that database …

    ID 17 Jan 2011, 20:57

  • Local facilities in NBN Co contract win

    All together, “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!”

    One Australian firm, and two internationals with local manufacturing facilities, will share a potential $1.2 billion in NBN Co contracts announced yesterday. The company rolling out out the government-backed fibre-to-most-premises network has anointed Corning and Prysmian to supply optical fibre cables, with local company …

    Telecoms 17 Jan 2011, 21:06

  • Shoden draws a blank with Avere

    We came, we saw, we departed

    UK systems integrator Shoden lucked out trying to sell Avere filer accelerator appliances. There was no interest, none. What does this mean for Avere's prospects? Avere's FXT appliance is a multitiered accelerator that caches direct kinds of filer I/O on different tiers of storage, ranging from RAM, through NVRAM, NAND and SAS …

    Blocks and Files 17 Jan 2011, 21:23

  • Sales troubles ahead for HP EVA?

    Competition time

    According to my contacts, as recently as last month (Dec 2010) HP planned to announce an EVA (Enterprise Virtual Array) refresh in mid-Feb. But at the very end of the year, HP surprisingly withdrew EVA clustering and allied thin provisioning. HP's 3PAR is supposed to fill the gaps. Add a refresh delay into the mix and …

    Blocks and Files 17 Jan 2011, 21:45

  • Facebook equity offer closed to US investors

    $1.5bn deal goes 'offshore'

    Goldman Sachs now says it will only offer Facebook equity to investors outside the US as the firm is apparently worried about scrutiny from regulators. Goldman recently acquired a $450m stake in the still-private social-networking giant, and it began offering equity to clients willing to invest at least $2m. But as reported by …

    Music and Media 17 Jan 2011, 23:01

  • Big Blue dons oven mitts for ARM wafer bake

    Samsung chip pact too

    IBM Microelectronics – the chip designing and wafer baking division of the IT giant – has inked a deal with ARM Holdings to help make sure those who license ARM chips have the processes and fabs to make them. ARM Holdings has been collaborating with IBM Microelectronics since 2008, and it has used IBM's 32 nanometer and 28 …

    PCs & Chips 17 Jan 2011, 23:02