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1st June 2011 Archive

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  • Twitpic T&Cs spark teacup storm

    Your pics are our pics: so what's new?

    Twitpic has sparked outrage among the Twitter user community by changing its terms and conditions. Sometime early in May, the photo-sharing site replaced its broad (and ill-defined) copyright statement with a new, more detailed policy. Formerly, the heart of Twitpic’s copyright was a single sentence: “By uploading your photos …

    Odds and Sods 1 Jun 00:07

  • Australia launches digital blueprint

    'NBN the only solution'

    Australia is gunning to be ranked in the top five OECD countries by 2020 for broadband connections to the home and for the number of businesses using online opportunities as part of the Government's freshly launched National Digital Economy Strategy. Australia currently ranks 18th in OECD broadband connection rankings with 23. …

    Telecoms 1 Jun 00:30

  • US Supremes add 'willful blindness' to patent law

    Deep fryer leads to higher standard of proof

    In a case supported by HP, eBay, Red Hat, Yahoo!, and General Motors, the US Supreme Court has issued a ruling that may make it more difficult for a company to be sued for inducing another company to infringe a patent. According to the ruling, a defendent accused of inducing patent infringement must be proven to have either …

    Law 1 Jun 03:28

  • Server makers wrap iron around Nvidia GPUs

    How many Teslas can you screw into a chassis?

    Supercomputer buyers don't want to spend months building hybrid CPU-GPU clusters. They want to buy them pre-integrated and ready to start flopping within a matter In the wake of the announcement of the Nvidia Tesla M2090 GPU coprocessor for servers two weeks ago, Marc Hamilton, vice president of high performance computing at …

    HPC 1 Jun 04:00

  • IPO finally begins peer review pilot to test patent applications

    Getting experts to wade in on invention claims

    The UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is finally opening its patent process up to a collaborative internet project, after four long years of chin-stroking. The Peer To Patent scheme, which is already being tested in the US, Japan and Australia, was officially launched in Blighty this morning by Baroness Wilcox, who is …

    Small Biz 1 Jun 06:00

  • Logitech Z906 5.1 surround speakers kit

    Review A blast for PCs and consoles

    Thinking of upgrading your PC’s speakers or just want a low cost surround sound set up for use with a TV and games console? Then Logitech might have what you’re after with the Z906, the follow up to the company’s popular Z-5500 system. Making connections: Logitech's Z906 The Z906 is a THX-certified 5.1 set up that includes …

    reghardware 1 Jun 06:00

  • Space shuttle Endeavour's long journey is over

    Touches down at end of final mission

    Space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 06:34 GMT today, at the end of its final mission. The venerable vehicle wrapped its 25th flight at Kennedy Space Center, having successfully delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. NASA notes that during its long career, Endeavour "spent 299 days in …

    Space 1 Jun 07:20

  • Seagate, WD should put a gun to Brussels' head

    Opinion How can the EC meddle in acquisitions beyond its borders?

    What if the European Commission's competition authority finds against Seagate and Western Digital in its acquisition investigations? Could it ban their products from Europe? The EC thinks it possible that both acquisitions run the risk of reducing competition in the hard disk drive market, and that this is "likely to harm …

    Storage 1 Jun 08:06

  • EMC and NetApp on a roll

    Storage pure plays kicking ass

    Pure play storage suppliers EMC and NetApp are outpacing the server and storage system players Dell, HP and IBM, with Compellent, 3PAR, Storwize and XIV the main catch-up bets for the three followers. Dell bought Compellent to expand its enterprise storage business in roughly the same way that HP bought 3PAR. We can fit IBM's …

    Storage 1 Jun 09:08

  • 3D printer produces working house keys

    Bolt from the blueprint

    3D printing tools have been used to roll out working house keys, meaning trips to the hardware store could soon be replaced by a straightforward PC set-up. Apple software engineer Nirav Patel generates a key's blueprint with the manufacturer's lock code, which contains all the relevant bit dimensions. This information is fed …

    reghardware 1 Jun 09:29

  • Tru unveils iPad local rate data-pricing for UK, US and Oz

    'Local anywhere' outfit does fondleslabs

    Multi-country "local anywhere" mobile operator Tru is launching a £20-a-month iPad bundle that currently provides local rate broadband in the UK, US and Australia. A similar package will be available in the US "shortly", according to the company, which also intends to add Spain, Hong Kong and the Netherlands to its roster of …

    Mobile 1 Jun 09:33

  • Canadian prof: Wikipedia makes kids study harder

    Provided you use it as an exam, not an info source

    A Canadian English prof says that the use of Wikipedia, in defiance of accepted wisdom, makes students produce better work. This is achieved, however, not by the kids finding stuff out on the notoriously unreliable site, but rather by getting them to write material for it. Fear of criticism by the obsessive Wiki-fiddler …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 10:06

  • El Reg pays by phone – mmmm, free cookies!

    Slow tap dance for UK's first contactless payments

    The UK's first pay-by-phone retail service launched last week, but based on our experience we won't be dumping our coins and notes any day soon. Orange kindly sent us a Samsung Tocco Quick Tap – a spin-off of the feature-phone Tocco with added NFC to handle the payments. But before we could use Quick Tap to pay for something …

    Mobile 1 Jun 10:15

  • Boeing reveals partners for MoD logistics

    Seven companies join defence business in military IT programme

    Boeing Defence has announced that seven IT companies will share in its contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as delivery partner for the Logistics Network Enabled Capability (LNEC). The defence and security business, which is a unit of the Boeing Company, was awarded the £800m, 11 year Future Logistics Information …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 10:18

  • Verity Stob and the super subjunction

    Stob Excuse me, Miss, but your pronouns need upgrading

    Just downloaded the beta version of English V3.31, and I have to say I am very excited about it. This is definitely going to be a feather in the cap of Anglophones everywhere, and way better than the notorious V2.99 release of French (or the 'deux point neufty-neuf' as it has become known). There's a ton of new features to talk …

    Verity Stob 1 Jun 10:28

  • Speck ToughSkin iPhone 4 case

    Txt Take True grip

    Daily Product reviews in 140 characters... Speck ToughSkin Pictures Want our Txt Take on your gadget? Just send it in to Reg Hardware - details here.

    reghardware 1 Jun 11:00

  • Notorious Russian spammer 'admits child abuse'

    Used basement of his St Petersburg office as 'dungeon', say cops

    A notorious Russian spammer faces a long prison sentence after he admitted to sexually abusing underage girls. Leonid "Leo" Kuvayev, 39, named by security firms as the distributor of spam messages promoting unlicensed pharmaceutical websites, has reportedly confessed to molesting youngsters as young as 13 in the seedy basement …

    Crime 1 Jun 11:03

  • FCC demands AT&T prove spectrum scarcity claims

    Emperor's clothes looking a little sheer

    The US regulator has asked AT&T to provide documented proof of the forthcoming spectrum crunch, given that shortage justifies provides much of the justification for its merger with T-Mobile. As part of its investigation into the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA the FCC has requested "all plans, analyses, and reports" …

    Mobile 1 Jun 11:06

  • Google's Eric Schmidt 'screwed up' over social network FAIL

    Facebook do evil, we don't do evil, but we know evil. Ergo, we're evil, right?

    Google's Eric Schmidt has shouldered the blame for the company's lack of effort in nailing a successful social networking strategy to compete with rival Facebook. "I clearly knew I had to do something and I failed to do it. The CEO should take responsibility. I screwed up," said Schmidt, who was speaking at the All Things …

    Applications 1 Jun 11:12

  • Engineering students design tent for camping on Mars

    Meteor and radiation proof, less need to drink own urine

    Student engineers in the States say they've built the perfect tent for camping on Mars. The inflatable habitat podule is apparently radiation-proof and tough enough that pesky meteors simply bounce off it: and it features a lightweight Sabatier reactor capable of producing water from the Martian atmosphere. "One of the big …

    Space 1 Jun 11:41

  • Acer tweaks tablet with MeeGo move

    Mobile Linux fondleslab joins Iconia ranks

    Acer has revealed the first product in its forthcoming M Series - a 10in tablet that runs on MeeGo, the mobile-centric version of Linux. The Iconia M500 - unveiled by Acer's Asst VP David Lee at Computex this week - is a doppleganger of Acer's android alternative, the A500, sharing similar dimensions and an identical screen …

    reghardware 1 Jun 11:46

  • Mesh Computers goes titsup

    Chill wind blows up North Circular

    Components distribution minnow PC Peripherals has snapped up the brand of MESH Computers – along with certain assets – after the recession and the market shift to tablets forced the traditional system builder to call in the administrators. London-based MacIntyre Hudson LLP were appointed yesterday and having punted the …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 11:55

  • Acer Iconia Tab A500 10in Android tablet

    Review Well-connected Honeycomb fondleslab

    PC manufacturers clearly haven’t been reading the script. They were supposed to over-hype their forthcoming Android 3.0 tablets as iPad-killers (check!), miss their initial launch dates (check!) and then let us all down by delivering a hunk of poorly designed, obsolete tat (er…). Acer's Iconia Tab A500: lighter than a Xoom, …

    reghardware 1 Jun 12:00

  • Privacy group wins $500k from Google Buzz settlement

    That's a whole lotta wholesome, EPIC beans

    The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is to be awarded $500,000 in a class action settlement over Google's Buzz social network. EPIC brought the original complaint against Buzz to the US Federal Trade Commission in 2010, but failed to win settlement funds dished out by Google in March this year to a variety of …

    Law 1 Jun 12:11

  • Stealth-cam software snaps laptop looter

    What a mug

    A laptop thief has been busted after a security application activated the computer's built-in camera, snapped shots of the crook and sent them back to the original owner. A few months ago, Joshua Kaufman had his Macbook nicked from his apartment in Oakland, CA. Instead of wallowing in despair, though, he started to blog images …

    reghardware 1 Jun 12:15

  • Space shuttle Endeavour: 'An incredible ship'

    25 missions and 122 million miles for 'amazing vehicle'

    Space shuttle Endeavour flew into retirement yesterday when it touched down at Kennedy Space Center at the end of its 25th and final flight. Speaking from Mission Control in Houston, astronaut Barry Wilmore told commander Mark Kelly: "Your landing ends a vibrant legacy for this amazing vehicle that will long be remembered. …

    Space 1 Jun 12:23

  • Biodegradable products are often worse for the planet

    Maybe choose a plastic cup, not a cardboard one

    Stateside boffins say that, contrary to popular perception, it would often be better for the planet if people avoided using biodegradable products compliant with the recommended US government guidelines. This is because biodegradable wastes – for instance cardboard cups, "eco friendly" disposable nappies, various kinds of …

    Environment 1 Jun 12:55

  • IBM guns down Neon's mainframe accelerator in Texas

    SET zPrime SHUTDOWN

    The hired legal guns were blazing, and when the smoke cleared, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, located in Austin, granted a permanent injunction in favor of IBM in a long-running lawsuit Neon Enterprise Software, killing the controversial zPrime mainframe acceleration program. The zPrime tool was …

    HPC 1 Jun 13:06

  • Wave of Trojans breaks over Android

    Fake security updates and other Windows malware-style trickery

    Fraudsters have cranked up production of malware targeting Android devices with with a rash of Trojans, many of which apply tricks long used against Windows PCs. F-Secure reports that a rogue developer has modified a harmless app that displays pictures of bikini-clad babes into a tool that secretly establishes a rudimentary …

    Malware 1 Jun 13:24

  • Barnsley clamps down on foul-mouthed fu*king locals

    On-the-spot fines for verbal miscreants

    The good burghers of Barnsley had better watch their mouths for the next month, because anyone caught effing and blinding in an intimidatory fashion could be slapped with an 80 quid on-the-spot fine. The month of June promises to be relatively fu*k-free in the town centre after South Yorkshire Police and community organisation …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 13:40

  • Twitter bags internet advertising outfit

    Micro-blogging site buys AdGrok, tightens loose screws

    Twitter is trying to unlock its advertising conundrum with the buyout of an internet ad company for an undisclosed sum. "When Twitter approached us and asked if we’d be interested in working on their monetisation platform, we realised that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we just couldn’t pass up," said AdGrok in …

    Financial News 1 Jun 14:07

  • Nokia betas some DLNA love

    Throw it up onto the big screen

    Users of Nokia's Symbian handsets can now get some DLNA action. With Nokia Play To, from the company's BetaLabs, they can throw content onto the TV screen like everyone else. The software is only a beta release, but adds DLNA functionality to all of Nokia's Symbian^3 devices so they can stream video, audio and slide shows onto …

    Mobile 1 Jun 14:18

  • What is UltraViolet™ and why should you care?

    Tesco buys into Hollywood's masterplan

    UltraViolet is the most important media service you've probably never heard of – a grand plan for Hollywood to get everything right that the music business has got wrong. All the major studios are members of the DECE consortium behind UV, apart from Disney (You can probably guess why). Cable companies and telcos are already …

    Entertainment 1 Jun 14:33

  • Google open sources $68.2m realtime comm platform

    Audio and video chatter inside the browser

    Google has open sourced a framework for realtime video and audio inside the browser. Known as WebRTC, the framework is based on technology the company acquired with its $68.2 million purchase of Global IP Solutions (GIPS) last year. "We’d like to make the browser the home for innovation in real time communications," Google …

    Software 1 Jun 14:46

  • Earth receives picture postcard of Milky Way

    Spiral galaxy bears uncanny resemblance to our own home

    Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have agreeably given we Earthlings a pretty good idea of what our Milky Way galaxy would look like, were we looking at it from the depths of intergalactic space. The ESO describes its snap of NGC 6744 as "almost a picture postcard" of our home, featuring "striking spiral …

    Space 1 Jun 14:57

  • Remastered Broken Sword slides onto iOS

    Point and tap

    The sequel to the classic point-and-click adventure game Broken Sword has been remastered and is now available on both PC and iOS. George Stobbart and Nico return in improved versions of the game, featuring refined hi-res graphics, music and animation as well as a polished hint system – ideal for those frustrating goat moments …

    reghardware 1 Jun 15:07

  • Second defence contractor targeted in RSA SecurID-based hack

    L-3 Communications also blames token-based attack...

    Defence giant L-3 Communications has become the second victim of an attempted hack attack that relied on the RSA SecurID hack that took place earlier this year. A leaked internal memo, obtained by Wired, said that L-3's Stratus group had been actively targeted with attacks based on "leveraging compromised information" from the …

    Enterprise Security 1 Jun 15:20

  • Police ROBOT attacks and BURNS DOWN HOUSE

    Fugitive tracked by heat sensors escapes in conflag

    A mobile home in Tennessee was left a smoking ruin last month after it was attacked by a heavily armed police robot firing advanced triple-warhead gas grenades. Despite the uncompromising tactics employed by the no-nonsense tin cop, and the fact that satellite and heat-sensing technology had apparently confirmed that the …

    Bootnotes 1 Jun 15:32

  • Acer writes off $150m as audit finds 'abnormalities'

    EMEA warehouses bulging with kit

    Acer CEO and Chairman JT Wang has relinquished his remuneration package including bonuses from 2010 after the firm unearthed "abnormalities" in channel inventory across EMEA that will cost it US $150m (£91m) to write off. The Taiwanese giant will also cut board directors' pay packages by 50 per cent, ask staff to take a 40 per …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 15:33

  • Yahoo! downs! mail! servers! for! essential! and extensive! work!

    Some users frozen out of inboxes due to 'scheduled maintenance'

    Yahoo! has bewildered some of its email users by freezing them out of their accounts for what it has described as "scheduled maintenance" to the system. "We are undertaking some essential, but extensive maintenance to improve Yahoo! Mail. During the maintenance period, some users may experience problems accessing Yahoo! Mail …

    Telecoms 1 Jun 16:01

  • Mac trojan evades Apple's brand new security fix

    Welcome to the mass market, Cupertino

    Just hours after Apple issued a security update to protect Mac users against a rash of scareware attacks, a new variant began circulating that completely bypasses the malware-blocking measure. The trojan arrives in a file called mdinstall.pkg and installs MacGuard, a malicious application that masquerades as security software …

    Malware 1 Jun 16:53

  • Google rolls its Facebook mimic onto rest of web

    Zuckerberg envy extended

    Google has rolled its Facebook-mimicking "+1" button onto third-party websites. Mountain View debuted the button on its own search engine this past March, describing it as a way for Google users to recommend search results to other users. The button appeared beside weblinks as well as ads, and if you clicked on it, Google …

    Music and Media 1 Jun 19:14

  • Google Apps end love for Firefox 3.5, IE7, and Safari 3

    Only newest (and next to newest) browsers

    Beginning August 1, Google's online Apps suite will only support the current stable version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer and the previous major release of each of these browsers. This means that on that date, the suite will no longer support Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, and Safari 3 or any older …

    Channel Register 1 Jun 19:48

  • Marathon Facebook scam targets Mac, Windows users

    Social network slow to kill equal opportunity attack

    Facebook users have been under a sustained attack that attempts to install malware on their Mac- or Windows-based machines by luring them to salacious videos. According to a blog post published early Wednesday by an F-Secure researcher, the attack spreads virally using the Facebook “Like” feature, in which users register their …

    Security 1 Jun 21:11

  • NYSE Euronext fluffs financial cloud

    Amazon for hedge funds

    NYSE Technologies – the research, development, and IT operations arm of the NYSE Euronext exchanges in New York and London – has fluffed up a cloud specifically for trading firms. Saying so won't generate much sympathy among the proles, but trading volumes on Wall Street and in the City are down, and profits for brokerage …

    Cloud 1 Jun 21:23

  • Oracle drops OpenOffice on Apache, shuns forkers

    LibreOffice re-unification rejected

    Oracle is shunting OpenOffice onto the Apache Software Foundation, sidelining the original OpenOffice community that forked off the project as LibreOffice last year. On Wednesday, Oracle said that its contribution demonstrates Oracle's commitment to the developer and open source communities. "Donating OpenOffice.org to Apache …

    Applications 1 Jun 21:55