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21st June 2011 Archive

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  • Mellanox uncloaks future InfiniBand switches

    ISC'11 FDR afterburners

    Mellanox is previewing its next-generation InfiniBand switches with FDR afterburners that boost bandwidth up to 56Gb/sec. Two new InfiniBand switches made their debut on Monday at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC) in Hamburg, Germany. The switchmaker is the result of the merger of the old Mellanox – which makes …

    HPC 21 Jun 2011, 00:18

  • Web authentication authority suffers security breach

    Counterfeit certificates sought for high-profile sites

    Yet another web authentication authority has been attacked by hackers intent on minting counterfeit certificates that would allow them to spoof the authenticated pages of high-profile sites. Israel-based StartCom, which operates StartSSL, suffered a security breach that occurred last Wednesday, the company said in a tersely …

    Hosting 21 Jun 2011, 00:22

  • Google bypasses admin controls with latest Chrome IE

    'Screw your BOFH. Install our plug-in'

    Google has released a new version of Chrome Frame – the Internet Explorer plug-in that turns Microsoft's browser into a Google browser – letting users install the plug-in even when they don't have administrator privileges on their machines. The new version runs a "helper process" when IE starts up that can then load the Chrome …

    Applications 21 Jun 2011, 00:53

  • Upstairs, downstairs: IT goes into service

    Everything on a tray

    It seems as though everything these days is being provided as a service. Software, security, storage, platforms and infrastructures are all being rented by the seat, MIP or gigabyte. And now it's desktops. Virtualisation transforms the desktop from an item of personal jewellery into a service. Your users’ PCs cease being …

    Desktop Virtualisation 21 Jun 2011, 01:00

  • CSIRO opens Cape Grim pollution data

    Also opens new solar power demonstrator

    Amid Australia’s acrimonious debate over climate science, the country’s peak science body, CSIRO, has taken the bold step of making 35 years’ worth of atmospheric CO2 data directly available to the public. It comes in a debate so inflamed that even a call for more reasoned debate was enough to bring death threats directed …

    Science 21 Jun 2011, 01:30

  • Open barbarians poised to storm Apple's gate

    Open...and Shut Steve Jobs in denial?

    Open source has a tendency to cannibalize and commoditize – and not just surrounding proprietary projects. As described by researcher Dirk Riehle, open source involves a process of continuous innovation and commoditization as communities form to wring inefficiencies from software markets. Interestingly, this same phenomenon …

    Developer 21 Jun 2011, 04:00

  • WTF are... connected appliances?

    I want my automated kitchen, and I want it now

    The ‘internet fridge’ is a much-loved staple of futurologists. In some rosy and not-too-far-off future, many kitchens will have one, magically replenishing itself so that you never need run out of black pudding or milk. When you’re low on such essentials, the fridge will automatically order new ones from the supermarket, and …

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 06:00

  • Elite UK police agency website downed by Lulzsec

    SOCA left eggfaced by DDoS

    The Serious Organised Crime Agency is facing serious embarrassment this morning - it was forced to take its website offline last night after an attack by LulzSec hackers. The Metropolitan Police is still suffering big computer problems of its own and Soca's website doesn't include operational functions but this is still …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 07:40

  • US air passenger cuffed over low-flying pants

    'So low his genitals were almost showing'

    A University of New Mexico football player was hauled off a US Airways flight last week after refusing to hitch up his sagging pants. San Francisco native DeShon Marman, 20, hoped to fly from his home city to Phoenix with his kecks at half-mast, but cabin crew objected to his low flying. When he declined to pull up his …

    Bootnotes 21 Jun 2011, 08:27

  • Apple MacBook Air reportedly back... in black

    iPod-like multi-coloured Macs in the offing?

    An interesting snippet of recent Mac history: Apple experimented with a black coating for the MacBook Air, which, according to current whispers, may be made available in that colour when it's refreshed shortly. According to an alleged Apple employee corresponding with MacRumors, CEO Steve Jobs said no to a black Air after …

    Laptops 21 Jun 2011, 08:55

  • Nokia unveils Contractual Obligation Meego Phone

    No dates for Windows as burning-platform orphan debuts

    Nokia announced four new phones at an event in Singapore today, three aimed at emerging markets and one at collectors of esoteric dead-end mobile hardware. Nokia's long awaited debut Meego phone, the N9, was finally unveiled. Meego was Nokia's high-end future platform until four months ago. No new Symbian phones were announced, …

    Mobile 21 Jun 2011, 09:02

  • Chinese official's affair goes very public

    You mean tweets aren't private?

    A Chinese official and his lover decided the best place to conduct their affair was over a micro-blogging service, blissfully unaware of the public nature of tweeted messages. The couple, both of whom are married to other people, set up micro blogging accounts and followed each other, unaware that every message was being …

    Bootnotes 21 Jun 2011, 09:08

  • Bangalore orders Street View spy cars to stop it

    City cops halt Google image-trawlers

    Bangalore police have asked Google to ground their fleet of Street View cars which had started taking pictures of the city. The search giant received a letter from police even though it claims to have contacted local authorities before setting the fleet in motion. A Google spokesdroid told the Times of India: "We can confirm …

    Government 21 Jun 2011, 09:13

  • Brussels to banks: Prepare for tougher data breach rules

    Shocked commissioner hopes to improve consumer confidence online

    European Commissioner Viviane Reding has warned banks that they will be required to notify customers about data security breaches. A new bill which is expected to arrive in the autumn will be "very solid on rules", the Brussels Justice Minister and vice president of the European Commission told The Register yesterday. Earlier …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 09:16

  • CSC's iSoft takeover cleared

    Green light for key NHS supplier

    The European Commission has cleared CSC's takeover of iSoft - the key NHS supplier. Aussie health provider iSoft has had a chequered past - it was bailed out with £82m of taxpayer cash, removed a co-founder, and is still going through a Financial Services Authority probe which led to four former directors facing criminal …

    The Channel 21 Jun 2011, 09:19

  • Formula 1

    Android App of the Week Petrolhead paradise

    If you’re not a fan or motor sport and specifically that cavalcade of howling V8s, prima donna drivers, politics and general lunacy that is Formula 1 then this weeks app is not for you. View the chaos on the pit lane (left) while you track the laps (right) If you are, the Formula1.com app relays live FIA track and race …

    Phones 21 Jun 2011, 10:00

  • The KILLER MUTANT FUNGUS in YOUR DISHWASHER

    Don't approach without a biohaz suit and a flamethrower

    Malign fungal entities may be breeding and evolving in your dishwasher, boffins warn, saying that the deadly toadstool-esque kitchen triffid yeast creatures have already become almost unkillable and may soon mutate into frightful blobominations able to launch out their deadly spores to "colonise" unwary nearby humans with …

    Science 21 Jun 2011, 10:15

  • BMW intros revamped Mini as sporty MG-alike

    Coup-eh?

    Has BMW lost the plot? We have to wonder, given what it's been doing to the Mini of late. It's newsest attempt to extend the acme of small cars: a coupé model, introduced today. OK, so it hasn't been as hit as hard with the ugly stick as its stablemate, the Countryman - a vehicle that's just plain wrong - but the Coupé is …

    Science 21 Jun 2011, 10:23

  • MIPS chip slips through Android compliance

    Green robot no longer an ARM exclusive

    A processor based on MIPS architecture has passed the Android Compatibility Test Suite, providing a welcome lifeline to the company whose share price has been in freefall lately. The chip comes from Beijing-based Ingenic Semiconductor, whose MIPS32-based SoC (System on a Chip) XBurst has passed the 24,000 tests required before …

    Mobile 21 Jun 2011, 10:24

  • Intel HPC plans need exascale I/O and storage

    ISC'11 Balancing HPC compute, networking and storage

    Intel set itself an exascale computing target at ISC Hamburg, with radical implications for HPC networking and storage. Kirk Skaugen, VP of Intel's architecture group, said: "We're going to build computers 100 times more capable than they are today… moving to exaflop computing." By 2018, he said, Intel will provide 125X the …

    HPC 21 Jun 2011, 10:32

  • Mobile providers less trustworthy than bankers, say punters

    And another thing...

    New research shows that when it comes to establishing trust and customer satisfaction, the mobile industry is judged less favourably than both the banking and insurance industries. Could it be any worse? The study, conducted by ECSP Europe Business School in partnership with Pitney Bowes Business Insight, asked a thousand …

    Mobile 21 Jun 2011, 10:50

  • Has UK gov lost the census to Lulzsec?

    Updated They've got form, let's be honest

    The UK's Office for National Statistics and Lockheed Martin are racing to check if hacker group LulzSec has got its hands on this year's census data. Such a massive data loss would be embarrassing even for a government with such an amazing record of data protection failures. LulzSec's Twitter page has no mention of the …

    Government 21 Jun 2011, 11:01

  • Sony Ericsson delays X10 Android update

    Gingerbread still cooking

    Sony Ericsson has restated its intention to bring Gingerbread to the Xperia X10 phone. If your memory stretches back to March you’ll have heard a similar promise of “end Q2/early Q3” for this update to version 2.3 of the Android OS. In this latest missive, on the Sony Ericsson product blog, the company states that “Development …

    Phones 21 Jun 2011, 11:25

  • They shoot mainframes, don't they?

    Rethinking big iron for the data centre

    What does two and two make? The answer: a myth. It’s a joke, but not a very funny one, for IBM’s System z team: when they talk to customers who refuse to consider a move to a mainframe environment, two and two is their objection: "it will take me two years to do it, and I’m going to spend two million dollars in the struggle," …

    HPC 21 Jun 2011, 11:30

  • Dropbox security fubar infuriates customers

    Code update calamity compounded by closed mouth

    Storage and file-sharing vendor Dropbox made a huge cock-up during last weekend's upgrade leaving all of its user accounts unlocked. Encryption is not performed by the cloud provider's client, meaning that all customer information was there for the taking on Sunday between 1.54pm and 5.46pm. Dropbox issued no official comment …

    Cloud 21 Jun 2011, 11:30

  • Miracle Aliens-style indoor comms built for firefighters

    Trail of relay routers auto-laid from belt dispensers

    So you're a firefighter of the near future. Your fire truck pulls up outside a burning building, and sure enough it turns out there are people still inside needing rescue. Firing up your breathing apparatus and unlimbering your axe, you charge in like generations of heroes before you. Here's where it gets different, though. In …

    Broadband 21 Jun 2011, 11:33

  • Alice: The Madness Returns

    Review Jabberwonky?

    I have been waiting 11 years to be reunited with American McGee’s Alice and strangely enough, Alice: Madness Returns parallels this as we join our unbalanced heroine 11 years after her defeat of the Queen of Hearts and discharge from Rutledge Asylum. Who are you calling a pussy? Alice Liddell has spent the past decade in …

    Games 21 Jun 2011, 12:00

  • Met arrest alleged Lulz hacker

    Essex boy picked up

    Th Met's e-Crime unit has arrested a 19-year old alleged hacker in Essex on suspicion of involvement with network attacks and denial of service attacks. The statement in full: Officers from the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) have arrested a 19-year-old man in a pre-planned intelligence-led operation. The …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 12:14

  • LightSquared shuffles away from GPS bands

    Slides into Inmarsat for the sake of sat nav

    LightSquared's national rollout has shifted frequencies to avoid interfering with GPS kit, taking early advantage of a deal with Inmarsat for 10MHz of bandwidth further down the dial. The wannabe operator, which aspires to cover the USA in an LTE network for wholesale leasing, has also offered to cut its permitted transmission …

    Mobile 21 Jun 2011, 12:46

  • Bloke pissing in reservoir prompts 8m gallon flush

    'Do you want to drink pee?' asks Portland water official

    A young man who relieved himself in a Portland reservoir prompted the local water authority to flush 7.8 million gallons of drinking water down the toilet. The 21-year-old was spotted by officials in the early hours of last Wednesday walking with four chums close to the Mount Tabor H2O repository. While some of his pals "threw …

    Bootnotes 21 Jun 2011, 12:47

  • Sputnik retro PC puts bureau back on the desktop

    Part of the furniture

    Some mod-jobs are too cool to overlook and this old school PC set-up certainly qualifies giving a welcome return to the desktop bureau of old. The Sputnik 0667 from Swedish designer Love Hultén is an homage to old wooden hi-fis and looks as if it was spawned from the bonding of a Commodore PET with a Marconi telly. The …

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 12:51

  • Tilera throws gauntlet at Intel's feet

    36-core Tile-Gx server chip crosses Sandy Bridge

    Upstart mega-multicore chip maker Tilera has not yet started sampling its future Tile-Gx 3000 series of server processors, and companies have already locked in orders for the chips. That is how eagerly hyperscale data center operators are anticipating some alternative to power-hungry Xeon processors from Intel and Opteron …

    Servers 21 Jun 2011, 12:52

  • Euro commissioner tells Facebook it has nowhere to hide

    Interview Offshore servers no defence, Reding tells El Reg

    European Commissioner Viviane Reding was in the UK on Monday to warn banks that they will be required to immediately notify customers about data security breaches. The Register visited the Brussels justice minister and vice president at the Commission's London office yesterday lunchtime to learn more about her seemingly personal …

    Government 21 Jun 2011, 13:03

  • Police probe Twitter child abuse images

    Micro-blogging gets nastier

    The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is investigating a Twitter account displaying child sex abuse images. Twitter has made much of not bowing to the UK courts when it comes to coverage of super-injunctions, but abuse images normally get less support from freedom of speech advocates. The mini-blog site has been …

    Law 21 Jun 2011, 13:46

  • Apple lets slip Time Capsule update

    Buy now? Buy later

    Apple has inadvertently confirmed the arrival of a rumoured update to its Time Capsule network storage device. The company’s web site touts the 2TB and 3TB models but the 'Buy now' links on the US web site take you to the older 1TB and 2TB versions. Recent US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filings - not to mention …

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 13:52

  • Network Solutions battered by DDoS and period features

    Sporadic service since yesterday

    Network Solutions has been hit by a DDoS attack which has left customers complaining they are unable to access the domain giant's servers. Reg reader Chris told us: "Multiple worldnic.com DNS servers are currently unavailable. Recorded message on the Network Solutions helpline (+1 570 708 8788) is putting the blame on a DDoS …

    Hosting 21 Jun 2011, 14:05

  • LulzSec disavows alleged Census hack

    And denies leader's arrested

    While the UK government might still be checking systems, it seems that LulzSec themselves have denied hacking the UK census. A recent Twat from LulzSec's Twitter feed said: "Not sure we claimed to hack the UK census or where that rumour started, but we assume it's because people are stupider than you and I." This is followed …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 14:16

  • Mink coat thief conceals booty down knickers

    Hides mock muff from cops for a sensational three days

    A Minnesota woman who swiped a mink coat and stuffed it down her knickers managed to pull off probably the greatest merkin stunt in criminal history by concealing her substantial booty from cops for a full three days. Stephanie Moreland, 46, was cuffed on New Year's Eve after swiping the $6,500 short coat from the Alaskan Fur …

    Bootnotes 21 Jun 2011, 14:21

  • BT, TalkTalk refused appeal against Digital Economy Act

    Judicial review judgment remains intact

    BT And TalkTalk won't get another day in court against the Digital Economy Act, after the telcos were denied permission to appeal against the failure of their legal challenge to the Act earlier this year. "I can confirm that we've been refused permission to appeal the JR [judicial review] judgment by the Court of Appeal. We …

    Law 21 Jun 2011, 14:33

  • Apple dealers hit with Lion bar

    Resellers overlooked as next gen OS is released

    Apple is bypassing the channel to sell the forthcoming Lion OS directly to biz customers in yet another blow to its beleaguered partner base, resellers have claimed. Corporate enterprises and education users will be able to purchase a minimum of 20 volume licenses for Lion directly at the Mac App Store via iTunes, in a move …

    Small Biz 21 Jun 2011, 14:40

  • iTablet Bluetooth Thumb-Keyboard

    Txt Take Touched from behind

    Daily product reviews in 140 characters... Want our Txt Take on your gadget? Just send it in to Reg Hardware - details here. ®

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 15:00

  • Back to gaslight, coal and steam power - it's the future

    Boffins unveil self-decoking steampunk fuel cell

    Boffins in the States say they've come up with a way of making fuel cells run on coal gas - the fuel of Victorian streetlights - and steam. Their plans would, they say, offer much lower carbon emissions than normal coal power: and much easier sequestration of exhaust gases as their technology would emit nearly pure CO2. "This …

    Science 21 Jun 2011, 15:14

  • Toshiba joins all-in-one PC fray

    The iMac effect?

    Toshiba has launched its first all in one PC, an unusual move for the company more readily associated with laptop computers. Laptop tech is becoming increasingly common in domestic PCs and it seems that Toshiba couldn't pass this opportunity by any longer. Described as an all-purpose entertainment hub, the DX1215 features a …

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 15:28

  • Apple will 'own games industry'

    Content delivery is king

    Apple is set to increase its dominance in the games industry and could own the whole shebang in ten year's time. Well, that's what former PlayStation Veep Phil Harrison reckons. In an interview with Edge, Harrison said, "At this trajectory, if you extrapolate the market-share gains that they are making, forward for ten years …

    Games 21 Jun 2011, 15:45

  • Mozilla cranks out Firefox 5 with cross-platform 'Do Not Track' feature

    Get off my cloud

    Just three months after Mozilla pushed out what was its final big beast of a browser release in the form of the long-awaited Firefox 4, the next iteration of its popular surfing tool is now available online. Firefox 5, as it has been sensibly named, can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android platforms. Few major …

    Applications 21 Jun 2011, 15:46

  • New Cassini pics of Saturnian 'Ice Queen' Helene

    Pics Moon face that launched rather fewer than a thousand ships

    NASA has released new pictures taken by the space probe Cassini in orbit around Saturn, ringed titan of the Outer System. The pictures show the small trojan ice moon Helene in close up. Interesting, but not enough to get more than a few spaceships launched so far. This is the second close pass Cassini has made past Helene, …

    Science 21 Jun 2011, 16:01

  • HP lures SMBs with tweaked servers, switches

    Debuts AppSystem analytics appliances

    HP has released new – well, "tweaked" might be more accurate – entry-level servers and switches, and rolled out two appliances to run data warehousing and analytics applications. Although HP likes to boast about its prowess in the largest data centers of the world, it lives and dies on the purchasing whims of small and medium …

    Servers 21 Jun 2011, 17:51

  • Apple, Google, Microsoft seek gargantuan tax break

    Congress debates jobs and Jobs

    Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and a host of US megacorps are lobbying hard for a massive tax break – and they're gaining powerful friends in business, government, and labor in support of that effort. "This is about creating jobs, expanding US businesses and strengthening American companies," representative Kevin Brady (Rep- …

    Government 21 Jun 2011, 19:06

  • Chip sales prognosis better than expected

    Tablet, smartphone boom offsets PC bust

    Global semiconductor sales are rising despite the supply-change challenges poised by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the disruption of the PC market caused by tablets and smartphones. The market-watchers at iSuppli goosed their April forecast on Tuesday, saying that things are looking brighter than previously thought. …

    The Channel 21 Jun 2011, 19:34

  • Programmers urged to code with their tootsies

    'Feets, don't fail me now!'

    You can now employ two woefully underutilized parts of your body to speed your PC workflow: your tootsies. Keith McMillen Instruments of Berkeley, California, has released the SoftStep KeyWorx, a USB foot-operated input device that combines the company's SoftStep USB/MIDI foot controller – a musician's stomp-pad – with KeyWorx …

    Hardware 21 Jun 2011, 21:13

  • Hack attack kills thousands of Aussie websites

    AFP investigates potential industrial espionage

    Thousands of Australian websites have irretrievably lost their data and email files following a malicious security hack on Australian domain registrar and web host Distribute.IT. The company has been scrambling to save data and get customers back online or moved to safe servers since the security breach occurred over a week …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 22:00

  • Google Chrome extension detects dangerous websites

    'DOM Snitch' observes web apps in realtime

    Google has released an extension for its Chrome browser that helps developers and security testers identify websites that execute unsafe code on end user computers. The release of DOM Snitch, as the experimental extension is known, comes five weeks after application security provider Mind Security published a Firefox extension …

    Security 21 Jun 2011, 22:01

  • Fujitsu bounces back after Japanese tsunami

    Fair weather forecast

    In March, IT conglomerate Fujitsu was unable and unwilling to make any projections about how its fiscal 2011 would turn out in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. But the situation has resolved itself enough for Fujitsu's top brass to make some prognostications. Fujitsu's fiscal 2011 year ends in March 2012 …

    The Channel 21 Jun 2011, 22:50

  • WA duo rock Apple apps

    Discovr how to make app store less broken

    West Australian tech start-up, Filter Squad, is behind two of the hottest discovery apps on the Apple market. Since its release last Tuesday, Discovr Apps has made it to iTunes’ top app in 16 countries including the US, Japan, Canada and Australia. The developer’s earlier Discovr Music app launched in January, reached 150,000 …

    Applications 21 Jun 2011, 23:00