The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

22nd July 2011 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • 'Green' trans-Atlantic cable set to launch in 2012

    Iceland landing to promote data centre biz

    The Wellcome Trust charitable foundation has stepped outside the world of healthcare research funding and taken a stake in a new trans-Atlantic cable system. The Emerald Atlantis submarine cable system has been given the green light after securing vendor TE SubCom to deploy the 5,200 km sub-sea network. The first phase of the …

    Broadband 22 Jul 2011, 00:01

  • Sony insurer says it's not liable for costs of data breach

    Sues game maker for saying otherwise

    Sony has been sued by its insurance company, which says the policy it issued doesn't cover a series of high-profile security breaches that exposed personal information associated with more than 100 million accounts. A complaint filed Wednesday by the Zurich American Insurance Company (ZAIC) and the Zurich Insurance Company said …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 00:01

  • AMD readies Bulldozers to ship next month

    Profitable, but desperately seeking chipper CEO

    The hybrid CPU-GPU chips for mobile PCs gave Advanced Micro Devices some breathing room in the second quarter, but it's going to take continued ramping of these APU processors and an upswing in Opteron server sales to get the company back to the profit levels it should be enjoying during a retooling phase in the IT market – and …

    Financial News 22 Jul 2011, 00:06

  • On first day, Apple sells 50 Lions for every lion

    Panthera leo leo outrun by one million Mac OS X sales

    During its first day of availability, Apple sold 50 copies of its new Mac OS X Lion operating system for every living copy of the actual African Lion for which it is named. Or over 160 copies. Or 25 copies. Or somewhere in between. It depends on who's counting the lions – the Panthera leo leo, that is. As for Mac OS X version …

    Operating Systems 22 Jul 2011, 00:29

  • TSA to revise nudie scanner software

    Security theatre gets a ‘G’ rating

    America’s Transport Security Administration has decided it doesn’t need full nude outlines to work out whether or not someone is carrying a bomb under their clothing. Since their introduction, the voyeuristic millimeter-wave scanners have been defended by the TSA as indispensable, in spite of failing to detect guns in tests, …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 01:30

  • NSW stalls on R18+ games classification: report

    New classification may yet arrive, however

    The meeting of Australian attorneys-general came within one voice of deciding to add an R18+ games classification to Australia’s censorship regime. Australia has been the subject of intense lobbying by gamers and game vendors to add the classification, so that games like Mortal Kombat can be legally sold in this country. …

    Government 22 Jul 2011, 02:14

  • Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Part One

    Review The mane event?

    There was a time when I’d be excited about the launch of a new version of Apple’s Mac operating system. I’d count the days leading up to the launch with the same fervour as opening the windows on a yuletide advent calendar. Installing the big cat The day of arrival was never a disappointment. The drama of it all – breaking …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 06:00

  • Phishers target frequent flyer schemes in Brazil

    Phly-phishing phreebooters pillage air miles

    Phishing fraudsters have latched on to a new target, with attacks designed to gain compromised access to frequent flyer accounts. The well-established class of scam, which normally involves attempts to trick victims into handing over online banking login credentials to a bogus site, often as part of a supposed security check, …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 08:00

  • Heathrow to get new facial recognition scanners

    If your face doesn't fit ...

    Passengers going through terminals one and five at Heathrow will have their faces scanned from September before they board their planes, airport operator BAA has announced. Travellers will be enrolled into a facial recognition system and the biometrics linked with the boarding pass on entry into the common user lounges at the …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 08:24

  • Japanese judge jails serial malware author

    VXer riddled P2P with 'squid-octopus' download zapper

    Japanese authorities have jailed a serial malware writer for two-and-a-half years over his latest creation. Masato Nakatsuji, 28, was found responsible for writing a strain of malware that spread across the locally popular Winny peer-to-peer file-sharing network last summer, replacing infected files on victims' computers with …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 08:56

  • Corporates love iPhone, iPad more than Android kit

    True, says Good

    Good Technology makes BlackBerry-style infrastructure and client software for big businesses. Good is popular with a fair few corporates, and it released some interesting data last night about the mobile platforms these giants are implementing. The bottom line: they favour iOS over Android, by a very big margin. Data for the …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 09:01

  • HTC to fit Flyer fondleslabs with 3D

    Body parts exposed

    3D tablet talk has intensified following whispers that HTC is preparing a dual-camera 3D version of its Flyer, leaked through factory-line snaps today. The pictures surfaced from a factory in China and show a familiar part of the Flyer body with two cameras instead of one. The 2D HTC Flyer has only been on shelves a few …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 09:05

  • Big Blue boffins scan 10 billion files in Flash in a flash

    Enticing developments at the lab

    IBM and Violin have announced a great big GPFS numbers record: the software scanned 10 billion files in a flash – well, 43 minutes – using four Violin flash memory arrays. This was 37 times faster than a previous GPFS record of scanning one billion files in three hours, but that was with the file system metadata stored, like …

    Storage 22 Jul 2011, 09:08

  • Four illegal ways to sort out the Euro finance crisis

    Comment And one of them is about to be used

    Saving the euro isn't the easiest of things: solving the current problems actually would be quite easy, if expensive, except for all the laws and regulations that rule out all of the easy ways. The basic problem is well explained here. Don't worry too much about what the Taylor Rule is: just accept that if you're going to have …

    Government 22 Jul 2011, 09:53

  • Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate G2 USB 3.0 Flash drive

    Accessory of the Week SuperSpeed file swapper

    If Apple won't go USB 3.0, at least almost every other computer maker has. While eSata, Firewire 800 and Thunderbolt are certainly better for desktop drives, SuperSpeed is the only choice when you want to copy files quickly onto a stick and go. Kingston's DataTraveler Ultimate G2 is its latest USB 3.0 Flash drive, replacing …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 10:00

  • BOFH: Axe handles - occasionally quite slippery

    Episode 11 Just a sleeper bot programmed to murder us all

    12:34:56am. Company Stores Wakeup trigger. . . 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... SELFTEST: OK 2 ... 1 Peripheral test ... USB Boot Media ... OK Panel ... OK Cameras ... Std:OK,Infra:OK,UV:OK 3D Directional Mic OK Hi Speed Steppers 1:OK,2:OK,3:OK,4:OK SERVOS 1:OK,2:OK,3:OK,4:OK Battery OK, level 67% Servo Saw OK …

    BOFH 22 Jul 2011, 10:04

  • Go Daddy spokes-totty: I'm on the elephants' side

    Tusky chums should be free to roam - and get shot by my boss

    Celebrity Go Daddy spokesmodel Jillian Michaels has led a protest against circuses' unethical treatment of elephants, just a few months after company chairman Bob Parsons came under fire for shooting one dead while on holiday. Fitness trainer Michaels attended a demo against the Ringling Brothers' Circus outside the Los …

    Hosting 22 Jul 2011, 10:23

  • Pfizer's Facebook page jacked by script kiddies

    Viagra firm not hard enough to beat

    Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's Facebook page has been defaced by mischief makers. The rudimentary hack, carried out by a group calling itself The Script Kiddies, resulted in the dissemination of a message saying Pfizer should be stopped because "they're corrupt and the damage they create is senseless". The hack was captured by …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 10:29

  • Ofcom posts broadband, mobile punter satisfaction scores

    'Are you happy with your wash?'

    Orange has topped Ofcom's latest broadband customer satisfaction poll, though it remains some way behind the lead in the regulator's equivalent survey of mobile networks. Ofcom annually samples punters to see whether they're satisified, dissatisfied, or don't care one way t'other with the service provided by their service …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 10:36

  • Speaking Clock to celebrate diamond anniversary on Sunday

    At the thaird strairke, I will be - beep, beep, beeeep - 75 yairs earld

    At the third stroke - or this Sunday, to be precise - Britain's famous Speaking Clock will be 75 years old. The Speaking Clock was one of the first pre-recorded information services available to UK telephones. Designed and constructed at the Post Office Engineering Research Station in North London, the machine was made from a …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 10:52

  • Copyright Kitemark plan flutters aloft

    Just click the skull and crossbones icon for free tunes

    We first revealed a cunning plan to persuade search engines to "kitemark" serial pirate music websites back in April. Now the Performing Rights Society, which hatched the idea, has talked about it publicly for the first time. The PRS calls it "traffic lights", and the idea is that search engines flag known and persistent …

    Media 22 Jul 2011, 10:59

  • The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Blu-ray extended edition

    Review Precious

    26 Hours of extras, 15 discs, 3 movies, one ring. Finally, the extended Blu-ray version of Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy has been released. Time to finally Orc-up and buy. Long player: The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy – Extended Edition Like many, I steered clear of The Rings first hi-def appearance; it was …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 11:00

  • RM shares take a caning following Board warning

    When will somebody think of the children

    Specialist education IT supplier RM has issued a warning that results for the year ending September may fall below expectations as market conditions remain challenging on both sides of the pond. The market reacted badly to the interim management statement for the trading period from April Fools' Day to 21 July, sending the …

    Business 22 Jul 2011, 11:27

  • Cameron: Murdoch son of Murdoch needs another grilling

    Princeling tries to get behind himself

    Prime Minister David Cameron has called on News Corp chairman James Murdoch to face further questions from MPs about the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed his family media empire. The PM's comments follow Labour MP Tom Watson's formal request that police look into evidence Murdoch gave to the media select committee …

    Media 22 Jul 2011, 11:48

  • Phone-hack backlash BBC in embarrassing headline gaffes

    Updated Auntie can't get mouth around clock

    We at Vulture Central know only too well that it has been an extremely busy week in the world of phone-hacking for reporters across the land, but that's surely no excuse for this worrisome piece of sloppy copy from none other than Auntie this morning. The BBC news magazine has thankfully now corrected its "Phone-hacking: The …

    Media 22 Jul 2011, 12:09

  • Angry Birds, other iPhone games shotgunned by Lodsys

    Furious feathered Finnish Android version also cited

    Rovio, makers of crack-like mobile game Angry Birds, is facing a patent claim from Lodsys – the patent-holder suing* Apple – and its third-party developers for alleged infringements. The Finnish firm is not replying to our emails, but told the BBC it had yet to hear from Lodsys. Part of the Lodsys' claims against Apple and …

    Law 22 Jul 2011, 12:27

  • Murdoch parliamentary pandemonium: Shock snap

    Exclusive What really went down at the faceful-of-pie hearing

    We gather there's an isolated tribe of Papuan headhunters who have not yet caught up with the News of the World mobe-tapping outrage, but it's surely just a matter of time before the scandal reaches even the remotest pockets of humanity. Among the 17.4 trillion column inches dedicated to the Biggest Story Ever™, however, no …

    Bootnotes 22 Jul 2011, 12:46

  • Activision: Guitar Hero to re-form

    Plucking marvellous

    Less than a year since Activision announced the franchise had performed its final farewell gig, Guitar Hero is to make an unexpected comeback. In fact, Activision never planned to kill it off in the first place, apparently. The publisher's CEO, Bobby Kotick, admitted the company had only pulled Guitar Hero from the market in …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 12:50

  • Microsoft shakes up Office 365 channel payments

    Redmond needs you

    Microsoft is trying to talk to resellers about Office 365 in a language they understand: cold hard cash ... but the message is still failing to resonate with some. Redmond is paying dealers three months upfront for selling its cloud services instead of just one month as had been the case with the Business Producivity Online …

    Channel Register 22 Jul 2011, 12:53

  • Feds investigate $17m of missing kit at CompUSA

    CEO out, SEC and FBI in as gear disappears in Miami

    The FBI have taken charge of investigations into the reported theft of $17m (£10.4m) worth of electronics allegedly stolen from Systemax-owned CompUSA by two brothers of fired exec Gilbert Fiorentino and other former employees. Only last month, the SEC confirmed it was looking into matters surrounding the departure of …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 13:02

  • Sony calls time on 8mm video format

    And... cut

    Sony has pulled the plug on another iconic format from yesteryear, calling time on the 8mm video format. While it will continue to produce 8mm tapes for the time being, from September, Sony will cease production of 8mm digital VCR recorders, the GV-D800 and the GV-D200, Japanese-language AVWatch reports. It stopped making 8mm …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 13:24

  • Nokia reaps the Dilbert years

    Analysis Margin on the ridiculous

    Nokia took a long, long time to turn consistent profits into a gigantic quarterly loss, but nobody can be surprised by yesterday's results. With so few (and such lacklustre) products in the pipeline for the past two years, it is remarkable how well it has done for so long, with so little. Last summer I was window-shopping in …

    Business 22 Jul 2011, 13:57

  • Acer to deliver ARM notebook within nine days

    Tegra 2 ousts Intel, Android ousts Windows

    Acer needs to hurry. Apparently, it's going to launch the first ever notebook based on an Nvidia Tegra 2 chip this month, and there only nine more days to go. The - we suppose we have to say "smartbook", the moniker once given to ARM-based netbooks but sadly much out of favour in these tablet-centric times - will run Android 3 …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 13:58

  • Evil '666' auto-whaler tool is even eviler than it seems

    Robs the robbers who rob the robbers

    Hackers have created a fake tool especially designed to exploit the laziness of the most clueless and unskilled phishing fraudsters. The fake tool poses as a utility that scours the net for fraudulent sites and pilfers any login credentials that victims might have entered, making them available to crooks who had nothing to do …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 14:03

  • Anonymous hackers hacked by young Turks

    'Snobby, arrogant, IGNORANT little f*cking children'

    AnonPlus, the social network set up by anarcho-hacktivista collective Anonymous, has itself been hacked. Affiliates of the group began to set up the site after profiles established by its members on Google+ were turfed out last week. Days later the pre-beta site was defaced by rival hackers in Turkey, who replaced the site's …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 14:25

  • HP board gives Leo $10bn more funny money

    Financial engineering 101

    The board of directors at IT giant Hewlett-Packard think that HP's stock is undervalued and that the company needs to bolster the earnings per share that the company will report in future quarters. Thus the board has given CEO Leo Apotheker an additional $10bn in funny money to send in truckloads encrypted packets down to Wall …

    Financial News 22 Jul 2011, 15:10

  • Nuclear Mars tank to roam imposing crater

    Red planet 'firmly in our sights', declares NASA boss

    NASA has announced that its Mars Science Laboratory, aka Curiosity, will touch down in Mars' Gale crater, described as boffins' "top choice to pursue the ambitious goals of this new rover mission". Gale crater is a depression 96 miles (154km) in diameter – covering "about the combined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island" – …

    Science 22 Jul 2011, 15:39

  • Toyota tech to steer cars round jaywalkers

    'These aren't accidents. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly.'

    Toyota has taken automatic collision-avoidance a step further by allowing a car to steer itself around an obstacle if it can't slow down in time. The Japanese car maker has been showing off the prang-prevention tech at its West Tokyo test facility, AP reports. The Toyota tech uses a millimetre wave scanning system and regular …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 15:41

  • Mac Lion's breath causes Celerra NAS storage to die

    Get the patch, don't fear the pussy

    When the Lion roars, Celerra bleats and plays dead. El Reg has been told there is a problem with Mac OS X Lion clients accessing the Celerra filer array. The NAS head goes offline and failover doesn't kick in. An EMC patch is available and fixes the problem. What am I supposed to do with this then? There was a posting on …

    Storage 22 Jul 2011, 15:48

  • Hitachi goes lenticular with 720p smartphone display

    Takes a shine to 3D

    3D displays appear set for immediate improvement, after Hitachi unveiled a fresh 4.5in IPS screen for smartphones. Unlike the Nintendo 3DS and HTC Evo 3D which both use parallax barriers to view a 3D effect, the Hitachi display touts a lenticular lens system. According to the company, this means brighter images and wider …

    reghardware 22 Jul 2011, 15:50

  • Rescue privacy before it vanishes forever

    Open...and Shut The architecture of forced participation

    I used to be able to bowl alone on the internet. Now I'm constantly forced into social interaction. I blame Tim O'Reilly. Or, rather, the misinterpretation of one of his core principles: "architectures of participation" – meaning systems that default to user participation. O'Reilly didn't argue that users should be forced to …

    Media 22 Jul 2011, 18:07

  • RIM PlayBook nabs first US gov't tablet certification

    Lifeline tossed to floundering fondleslab

    Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook has received a much-needed shot in the arm by becoming the first tablet to earn US government security certification. "RIM is pleased to announce that the BlackBerry PlayBook is the first tablet approved under FIPS for use within the US federal government," said BlackBerry Security …

    Mobile 22 Jul 2011, 19:05

  • Marketer taps browser flaw to see if you're pregnant

    A gaffe of Epic proportions

    A prominent online marketer that helps websites deliver targeted ads has been exploiting a decade-old browser flaw that leaks the history of websites that users visit, a researcher from Stanford University reported. Epic Marketplace doesn't use the well-documented browser history leak to track specific websites a user has …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 19:06

  • Apple eyeing Hulu acquisition, insiders say

    Just a tiny nibble from $76.2bn Jobsian nest egg

    Apple is in talks to acquire video-streaming and subscription service Hulu, according to sources speaking with both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal The rumor is in no way far-fetched. Earlier this month, Robert Iger, CEO of Walt Disney, one of Hulu's owners, confirmed that Disney and the other owners – News Corporation, …

    Media 22 Jul 2011, 21:37

  • MacBook batteries susceptible to hack attacks

    Default passwords raise bricking threat, maybe more

    Now that Apple has endowed the Mac operating system with state-of-the-art security protections, a researcher has devised new attacks that target the machine's battery. Charlie Miller, well known for his numerous attacks on iPhones and Macs, may not have achieved his ultimate objective of making a Mac spontaneously combust, but …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 22:16

  • TSA officer accused of stealing from passenger luggage

    For sale on eBay: $15,000 IWC watch

    A US Transportation Security Administration officer has been charged with theft after he allegedly stole a passenger's luxury watch that wound up for sale on eBay. Paul Yashou, 38, of Torrance, California, was indicted Friday on two felony and three misdemeanor theft counts. Federal prosecutors allege he stole four watches and …

    Security 22 Jul 2011, 23:05

  • Oracle buys Ksplice

    Hot Linux patch action

    With 7,000 companies paying for support contracts for Oracle's Enterprise Linux clone, the software giant is, whether anyone likes it or not, a player in the Linux racket. And Oracle just made its competitive position in the Linux space a lot more interesting with the acquisition of a startup called Ksplice. Ksplice is short …

    Software 22 Jul 2011, 23:12