11th February 2011 Archive

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Rackspace nears $1bn run rate

The would-be managed cloud giant

Rackspace Hosting is growing its cloud business like crazy. It's a key player in the development of the open source OpenStack cloud plarform. And it has a large installed base of managed hosting customers. But the company isn't satisfied. It wants more. According to Lanham Napier, president and chief executive officer at the …

Infrastructure 11 Feb 2011, 00:07
Microsoft sends IE9 'do-not-track' tech to W3C

Internet Explorer release candidate released

Microsoft has submitted its "do not track" browser technology to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for adoption as a industry standard. The software giant's Tracking Protection technology – unveiled in December and due in the next version of Internet Explorer – is designed to let users of IE decide what information …

Applications 11 Feb 2011, 00:51
PS3 jailbreak judge refuses to rescind GeoHot order

'That's the breaks'

The federal judge hearing Sony's copyright suit against PlayStation 3 jailbreakers declined to vacate a ruling that hacker George Hotz turn over his computer gear to the console maker, Wired.com reported. An attorney for Hotz, aka, GeoHot, argued during a hearing in San Francisco on Thursday that the ruling, issued two weeks …

Crime 11 Feb 2011, 04:00
Enough with the Apple App Store apathy

Open...and Shut Open sourcers unite!

Microsoft used to be the bête noire of open-source advocates, riling freedom-loving software developers with its sometimes anti-competitive behavior. But for those open-source evangelists wondering what to do now that open source has gone mainstream, and Microsoft has increasingly embraced the trend, here's a new machine …

Developer 11 Feb 2011, 05:00
RIM PlayBook fondleslab to 'run Google Android apps'

'Next generation' Java VM

Research in Motion – maker of the BlackBerry and the upcoming PlayBook tablet – is building software that will allow the PlayBook to run Google Android applications, according to a report citing people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that RIM plans to integrate the software with the PlayBook's QNX- …

Mobile 11 Feb 2011, 05:04
Geeky gifts for Valentine's Day

Product Round-up Ten ways to say I <3 U

Valentine's Day is almost here, which unfortunately means delving into pockets for the first time since Christmas in a bid to keep our other halves interested. A bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates used to be all it would take to lead to a touching embrace, but times have changed and while roses remain a nice sentiment, …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 07:00
It's official: Nokia bets on Microsoft for smartphones

15 years of rivalry ends with Losers Alliance

Nokia will adopt Windows Mobile as its main smartphone platform in a wide-ranging agreement with Microsoft. But it's not as wide-ranging as it might have been: the two giants won't formalise the relationship by forming a joint venture or spin-out, and there's no mention of exclusivity on any of the many areas touched on by the …

Operating Systems 11 Feb 2011, 08:39
Protecting users from themselves

Webcast Because yesterday's security doesn’t work

‘“The problem with making things foolproof is that we keep evolving a better class of fool”, as the old saying goes. And nowhere is this more true than in security where breaches remain regular and commonplace despite all the investment that has gone into it. Getting to grips with the security challenge is vital, because the …

Tech Panel 11 Feb 2011, 09:00
Rare metals found in Cornish tin mine

There's gold, and indium, in them thar hills

A Cornish tin mine hopes to be producing hundreds of kilos of valuable indium – used in iPads and other devices and costing up to £500 a kilo. The primary provider of the substance is Canada, where indium is associated with zinc mining. It used to be used for high performance metal bearings in aircraft but is now mostly used …

PCs & Chips 11 Feb 2011, 09:52
Overland's top tech guy: Great things ahead

Barrall talks tape

We had the chance to talk to Geoff Barrall, the founder of BlueArc and Data Robotics, about his work at Overland Storage, where he is charge of product engineering. He came into Overland after having been his own boss for two decades but "realised that the challenges are very similar and found my feet". CEO Eric Kelly and …

Storage 11 Feb 2011, 10:07
Street View to invade Israel?

Ministers mull security implications

An Israeli ministerial task force will next week begin to consider whether it's a good idea to allow Google's Street View spymobiles to prowl the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Google is apparently keen to add Israeli cities to its territory, and last year acquired local startup Quiksee as a prelude to a planned invasion. …

Government 11 Feb 2011, 10:58
Bluetooth Special Interest Group hands out cups

Low Energy, high aspirations

Bluetooth's Low Energy variant has been the subject of its annual developers' Innovation Cup, with three winners selected, though it is hard to say which will be the killer application for the technology. Wireless monitoring of LPG canisters, ear movements and head trauma beat off the wireless barbecue and keyfob multimeter to …

Mobile 11 Feb 2011, 11:05
Facebook tagged with $60bn valuation

Price soars as social network mulls $1bn staff share sale

Facebook is considering allowing its staff to sell up to $1bn of their shares to institutional investors, after the company got slapped with a $60bn valuation. According to All Things Digital, which cites sources close to the situation, Facebook's estimated valuation rocketed another $10bn yesterday. Brokerage Goldman Sachs …

Music and Media 11 Feb 2011, 11:22
Apple 'iPhone Nano' back in the game, says mole

Budget action against Android?

Apple is preparing a $200 compact iPhone in a bid to beat Android at the budget smartphone game, it has been claimed. It's possibly the 'mini iPhone' of rumours long past. One source, who told Bloomberg he or she had been briefed by Apple on the matter, said the handset, which will be smaller than the current iPhone, will be …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 11:26
World of StarCraft renamed

Starcraft Universe bound to keep Blizzard blissful

The fan-made MMO World of Starcraft has a new name - Starcraft Universe, and it won't cause friction over trademark issues this time, apparently. A video of the mod, created with the Starcraft II editing tools, was removed when Activision Blizzard complained to YouTube. The company later said it had no intention of damaging …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 11:39
Detroit citizens demand RoboCop statue

I'll buy that for a ~~dollar~~ $50,000

Fans of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic RoboCop have launched an online campaign to erect a statue in honour of their crimebusting hero. Via the inevitable Facebook presence, and a tin-rattling site, Brandon Walley and chums hope to raise the $50,000 necessary to make officer Murphy a permanent fixture on Detroit's streets. The …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2011, 11:50
Your mind's '.brain' jpeg-like picture file format probed

Cunning noggin algorithm favours curves over flatness

Top boffins say they have gained insights into one of the most amazing capabilities of the human brain – its ability to store and recognise visual images. They say that the noggin compresses pictures in a process roughly as efficient in terms of storage space as turning photos into jpegs – but one much superior for the purpose …

Biology 11 Feb 2011, 11:52
Evil grain-speculating OVERLORDS will starve us ALL

Sarkozy, food charities need to look at Adam Smith and DRAM

Darn those evil speculators in food! You know, them, those men in offices playing with futures and derivatives in wheat and corn: they're starving the poor you know! For there is evil in the marketplace and we know where evil comes from: men in offices playing with money. Therefore the evil must be caused by said playing with …

Financial News 11 Feb 2011, 11:53
Three touts tablets

Dell combo Duo and others

UK mobile operator Three will sell you Dell's Inspiron Duo netbook-cum-tablet for 50 quid - if you take out a two-year, £41.52-a-month contract. Dell sells the 3G-enabled combo machine - the display pivots within the lid's bezel to switch from netbook mode to tablet - for £499. That's rather more than the £50 Three wants, …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 12:03
Protection of Freedoms Bill is released

New Bill to curb Old Bill powers laid before Parliament

The long-awaited Protection of Freedoms Bill – aka "the great Repeal Bill" – has been published, to much trumpeting of liberties restored by the Coalition, and a sharp intake of breath from everyone else, who is rapidly reading the small print. Top of the list of freedoms restored is the right to volunteer without being …

Government 11 Feb 2011, 12:15
Vodafone squeezes internet into TV

Party like it's 1990

Vodafone believes the time is right for an internet-on-TV box, undaunted by the fact that everyone else has been trying to do the same thing for decades. Vodafone's new Webbox squeezes the technology into a battery-powered, keyboard-sized device, with an RCA connector and Opera Mini to deliver compressed pages over the mobile …

Mobile 11 Feb 2011, 12:27
Malware endemic even on protected PCs

More pox than a back-street Bangkok brothel

Many users remain infected with computer malware – despite the fact that the vast majority are running machines protected by anti-virus software. A study by European Union statistics agency EUROSTAT found that one third of PC users (31 per cent) had the pox even though the vast majority (84 per cent) were running security …

Malware 11 Feb 2011, 12:34
Card surcharges face super-complaint

Come in Ryanair, your time is up

Consumer lobby group Which? is making a so called super-complaint about the extra money charged to consumers who pay by card. Which? will push the Office of Fair Trading to investigate companies charging far more than they have to pay to process card payments. Ryanair is infamous for gouging customers in this way. Which? …

Channel Register 11 Feb 2011, 12:57
Albuquerque shopper samples free man oysters

Employee cuffed for creamy yoghurt surprise

A customer at a Sunflower Farmers Market store in Albuquerque got a real taste of healthy eating when an employee offered her a free sample of Greek yoghurt and semen. The unnamed woman was shopping with her daughter on 26 January when Anthony Garcia, 31, served up a generous helping of man oysters. The victim "tasted the …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2011, 12:59
Nail'd

Review Quad bore computing

There's something obvious missing from Nail'd. For grammarians, it will be the title's unnecessary contraction of a perfectly acceptable transitive verb. For Newtonians, it will be the game's flagrant disuse of the laws of motion. For everyone else, it will surely just be the total lack of challenge on offer in developer …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 13:00
O2 to raise broadband prices by up to 27%

Updated Ouch

O2 is putting up its broadband prices again, just a month after increasing them in line with the rise in VAT. Existing customers are particularly hard hit. A subscriber paying £7.66 a month after January's VAT rise will pay £9.50 after 31 March - an inflation busting increase of 24 per cent. Pay £10.21 a month now, and come …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 13:00
UK.gov's axing of school building plan 'unlawful'

Michael Gove abused power, says High Court judge

The government's decision to dump England's school building programme has been overthrown in the High Court, with a judge describing education Secretary Michael Gove's plans as "unlawful". Mr Justice Holman said today that the coalition's actions to end the scheme in July 2010 were "an abuse of power", reported the BBC. The …

Channel Register 11 Feb 2011, 13:02
Mysterious crypto-book dated to 15th century

Real life Da Vinci codex features nude ladies, too

A mysterious book written in a language or code that no cryptographer has ever managed to crack has been verified as being written in the early 15th century, which has upset some of the theories on its origin. People were making up garble-languages well before J R R Tolkien came along The "Voynich manuscript" was found in …

Science 11 Feb 2011, 13:18
Should Apple enter the flat TV market?

Comment Cupertino's way of doing business may put a stop to any plans ...

In February 2009, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said what we were all thinking: that if Apple is a part of the consumer electronics market, why doesn’t it produce a TV with Apple TV (and a DVR) incorporated? The first time Faultline predicted this was a full two years earlier, but we’re not followed quite as assiduously …

PCs & Chips 11 Feb 2011, 13:21
America spared Top Gear Mexican quips

Beeb cuts 'offensive' jibes for stateside broadcast

The BBC has announced that the episode of Top Gear featuring witty analysis of Mexicans will be diplomatically edited before its stateside broadcast next week. Auntie apologised last week for the controversial quippery of presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, which included a description of a Mexican …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2011, 13:22
Kournikova worm marks 10th anniversary

Game, set and match

Friday, 11 February, marks the 10th anniversary of the outbreak of the Anna Kournikova worm. The malware spread by tricking users into opening a mail message that supposedly contained a picture of the famous Russian tennis beauty. In reality, the malware harvested a victim's Outlook address book, forwarding fresh copies of …

Malware 11 Feb 2011, 13:46
Grief and disbelief greet Elop's Nokia revolution

Analysis Google becomes the one they all fear

There are times when you don't want to intrude on public grief, but Nokia has spent 15 years (or more) trying to avoid this day. New CEO Stephen Elop would argue otherwise, but giving up control of your platforms means giving up control over your destiny - and Elop has given Nokians not one twig of consolation around which a …

Mobile 11 Feb 2011, 14:10
English Defence League site pulled offline after defacement

'TriCk' shows mad skillz – vows to leak EDL members' details too

The website of the far right English Defence League remained unavailable on Friday following a hack attack on Wednesday. The defacement (captured here by Zone-h) criticises the EDL for campaigning to kick British-born Muslims out of the country. The hacker TriCk aka Saywhat?, a member of the hacking group TeaMp0isoN, sprayed a …

Enterprise Security 11 Feb 2011, 14:47
DEC: The best of systems, the worst of systems

Opinion Digital Equipment Corp's hits and misses

Which were the greatest DEC computers and why? Which were the worst - and why? Everyone has their own definition of greatest and worst, and exemplars of each, but I'm looking at the machines that had the most or the least influence. Since DEC under Olsen got a lot of things right, it's quicker and easier starting from the …

Servers 11 Feb 2011, 14:49
Joy Division get the Playmobil treatment

Dance, dance, dance to the radiooooo...

It's Friday, so before heading off to the boozer for the traditional end-of-week "editorial meeting", we at the El Reg Bootnotes department thought we'd sign out by pointing our beloved readers at this entertaining miniature interpretation of Joy Division's Transmission ... Suffice it to say, inspired by this piece of …

Bootnotes 11 Feb 2011, 15:16
Locking antlers with a network Nazi

Die! Symantec Endpoint Protection, Die!

Some contracting jobs are fun. I love the sexy ones that task me with rolling my own data center or spending a week’s worth of off hours poking holes in someone else’s network. Some contracting jobs are terrible; 14 consecutive hours of testing cables and ghosting workstations will leave me a gibbering mental wasteland. One …

Sysadmin blog 11 Feb 2011, 16:00
Coalition rejigs gov procurement to give SMEs an in

There's a website and everything

The government launched a new website this afternoon for contractors looking to win public sector jobs that cost over £10,000. It's hoped that more small businesses will get involved in the procurement process, said Prime Minister David Cameron. Stephen Allot has been tasked with improving dialogue between Whitehall and …

Channel Register 11 Feb 2011, 16:05
Now, Nokia, what about the hardware?

Comment Getting the OS right is only half of the story

If Symbian is Nokia's "burning platform", has the Finnish phone giant thrown itself into the frying pan to escape the fire? There's undoubtedly something desperate in the move. Nokia is spending way too much money promoting a platform, Symbian, that is commanding less and less market share. Where once it led, now Nokia has …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 16:18
The repeal bill: what's left in, what's left out

Analysis Would Sir like Daily Mail freedom or Guardian freedom?

Today’s Repeal Bill is likely to receive an enthusiastic welcome from Big Brother Watch and a lukewarm endorsement from the Lib Dems. But as the proposal is more closely analysed, a fair few of those cheering now may soon be a good deal more gloomy; in respect of what has been left out and the fine detail of how freedoms are to …

Government 11 Feb 2011, 16:32
Dutch develop world's largest touchscreen

Pinch to zooooom

Behold the largest touchscreen the world has ever seen, probably. Here's a video of it in action. To create the "Reality Touch Theatre", engineers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands combined 16 infrared lights and six cameras, along with the 3mm thick, 10 x 2.8m curved acrylic screen, which is the key …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 16:34
eHarmony plays down data breach on dating advice site

Cupid's slings and arrows

Online dating site eHarmony is asking some of its users to change their passwords following the discovery of a security breach. A SQL injection vulnerability on a secondary site created a possible means for screen names, email addresses and hashed passwords to be extracted. eHarmony is in the process of advising a small …

Enterprise Security 11 Feb 2011, 16:36
Sandy Bridge MacBook Airs inbound

Faster sub-notebooks in June, says mole

Apple will update its MacBook Air family of ultra-skinny laptops with Intel's second-generation Core i chips in Q2. A mole said to be familiar with Apple's plans whispered to Cnet that the update will come in June. The 11.6in and 13.3in Air currently contain Core 2 Duo CPUs and Nvidia chipsets. Switching to Sandy Bridge …

reghardware 11 Feb 2011, 17:03
Nokia's 15-year tango to avoid Microsoft

Analysis For want of a smart(er) phone, €50bn was lost

If you want to understand the existentialist despair of many Nokia staff today, then you need to understand how thoroughly its entire business has been about avoiding Microsoft. This is soaked into its identity, its culture, and its business model: Nokia has defined itself differently. But the economics underpinned everything. …

Mobile 11 Feb 2011, 17:13
Patent attack launched on Google's open video codec

Updated H.264 lord rallies troops against 'royalty free' WebM

MPEG LA – the patent pool organization that handles licensing for the H.264 video codec – is collecting patents for what can only be described as an attack on the competing VP8 codec. Last year, Google open sourced VP8 under a royalty-free license, hoping to create a completely free and open standard for HTML5 web video. Just …

Music and Media 11 Feb 2011, 19:02
Microsoft says exec took secret 'trove' to Salesforce

Claims 'immediate and substantial injury'

Microsoft is claiming a CRM executive who defected to Salesforce.com took hundreds sensitive documents to its cloudy competitor. The company has filed legal documents saying former Dynamics CRM general manager Matt Miszewski left Microsoft with a "trove of materials" on his PC. The "trove" amounted to 25,000 pages of …

Software 11 Feb 2011, 19:22
Intel defends MeeGo after Nokia defection

'Disappointment', not despair

Nokia may have run off with Microsoft, but Intel remains married to MeeGo. "While we are disappointed with Nokia's decision," Intel spokeswoman Suzy Ramirez tells The Reg, "Intel remains committed to MeeGo and welcomes Nokia's continued contribution to MeeGo open source." That disappointing decision, of course, was announced …

Software 11 Feb 2011, 19:38
Amazon threatens Texas exit over tax bill

Don't mess with Jeff

Cloud pioneer and webtailer Amazon is messin' with Texas, threatening to scrap a local depot thanks to a dispute over taxes owed to the Lone-Star state. Amazon has reportedly told employees by email that it will be closing down its Irving, Texas distribution facility and will cancel plans to hire up to 1,000 workers. Texas …

Channel Register 11 Feb 2011, 22:34