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26th July 2011 Archive

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  • Adobe InMarket out of market

    AirMarketplace also suffocates

    If anybody had the reach and brand needed to carve out a place in apps markets in competition with Apple and Google, Adobe would have looked like a good candidate. Instead, it’s abandoning the field of battle, announcing that it will close down both the Air Marketplace and InMarket. Instead, the company says it will help …

    Applications 26 Jul 00:30

  • Sorry, time travelers, you’re still just fiction

    If a photon can’t outrun light, none of us can

    Time to start crying in your beer, people: according to researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, not only is it impossible to break the speed of light, it will always be that way. Forget time travel, forget trips to distant galaxies, and ditch the idea that there’s a more advanced civilization than …

    Physics 26 Jul 02:30

  • Crypto shocker: 'Perfect cipher' dates back to telegraphs

    35 years prior to being invented

    A computer scientist has unearthed evidence that a theoretically unbreakable form of cryptography was in use by telegraph operators as early as 1882, 35 years before its supposed invention by a duo from Bell Labs and the US Army. The one-time pad, which is also known as the perfect cipher, uses a random key that is shared by …

    Security 26 Jul 05:12

  • HTC Salsa Android smartphone

    Review Facebook fandango

    HTC has released two 'Facebook phones' of late – the Qwerty-packing ChaCha and the Salsa, the latter being a compact bundle of fun, which wears its dedicated Facebook button just beneath its screen. HTC's Salsa: spiced with Facebook favours While the designers of the ChaCha had obviously looked over the shoulder of a …

    reghardware 26 Jul 06:00

  • Why should storage arrays manage server flash?

    One butt to kick if it all goes, erm, pear-shaped

    EMC's Project Lightning has a storage array managing flash cache in servers networked to the storage array. Dell is thinking along similar lines. This is supposed to provide better storage service to the servers. Really? How? An enterprise infrastructure architect working in the insurance area got in touch to give me a use …

    Storage 26 Jul 08:00

  • Hague promises Foreign Office cyber confab in London

    Bringing down governments online. Not us, obviously

    Foreign Secretary Wee Willie Hague is hosting a cybersecurity conference later this year. The two-day event will be held on 1 and 2 November and more than 80 organisations have been invited to attend. Hague said international cooperation was vital to ensure that cyberspace "remains a safe and trusted environment in which to …

    Government 26 Jul 08:27

  • Utah cops baffled in case of mysterious anonymous cuffee

    'Well-spoken ... just doesn't want to be found'

    Utah cops are attempting to identify a man who's unnecessarily spent over three weeks in jail on three minor misdemeanor charges because he refuses to reveal his name. The 60-something, "fairly well spoken and educated" John Doe was cuffed on 1 July for "trespassing in a parking garage", Reuters explains. He could have secured …

    Bootnotes 26 Jul 08:53

  • Mystery data centre snag floors LiveJournal

    Eyes crossed out, tongue protruding

    Community and blogging site LiveJournal is continuing to suffer a prolonged outage. The service has been down since Monday due to unspecified data centre problems. Russian media firm SUP bought LiveJournal from original developers Six Apart back in 2007 before moving product development and design functions to Russia. …

    Networks 26 Jul 09:05

  • EMC boss Tucci in lucky escape from poverty

    $1m here, $1m there, soon you're talking real money

    EMC boss Joe Tucci has managed to escape poverty by the skin of 8.2 million teeth; he has just cashed in his stock options for a cool $8.2m. The Boston Business Journal notes that Tucci exercised stock option rights and bought 575,000 EMC shares for $12.85 to $13.18 and then, what a wheeze, sold them at once for $27.46 each, …

    Storage 26 Jul 09:17

  • Lost 1967 spacecraft FOUND CRASHED ON MOON

    Probe wrecked on farside snapped 'the pic of the century'

    NASA scientists believe they may have found the final resting place of a 1960s space probe which took "the picture of the [last] century" before crashlanding on the far side of the Moon. A snapshot from the past... (click to enlarge) The information comes in new imagery from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), sent up …

    Science 26 Jul 09:30

  • Historypin

    Android App of the Week ...and over there by the gas works used to be the leper colony

    If you’ve ever wondered what your environment looked like in the past, or just like looking at old photographs of places you know, then Historypin is well worth a download. Searching for pictures couldn't be more easy. The app shows them pinned to Google Maps so you just pan around to any places of interest. Tap on the pic …

    reghardware 26 Jul 10:00

  • Ofcom told to use 4G auctions to complete UK coverage

    Bring voice if not data to the unconnected, says CCP

    Ofcom should look beyond revenue generation for the government and seek firm commitments to the extension of mobile coverage into today's "not-spots" when it holds the 4G spectrum auctions next year. So says the Communications Consumer Panel, an advisory board founded by the comms watchdog but independent of it. The CCP …

    reghardware 26 Jul 10:01

  • Ofcom extends deadline for interferers, those who fear them

    4G vs granny-alarm deathmatch rumbles on

    Ofcom is extending the deadline for feedback on potential interference from, and to, 4G services ahead of next year's mega auction. Ofcom has been speaking to manufacturers and retailers of kit using nearby frequencies, including personal alarms and monitoring keyfobs, and has now extended the window for their comment to match …

    Wireless 26 Jul 10:02

  • Mozilla moots open source web OS for mobiles

    Chrome for phones?

    Mozilla has revealed plans to create an open-source web-centric operating system along the lines of Google's Chrome OS but designed to compete with Android on phones and tablets. The Boot to Gecko project will "pursue the goal of building a complete, standalone operating system for the open web" in a bid to "displace …

    reghardware 26 Jul 10:14

  • Songwriters bite Grooveshark

    Been a load of compromisin' on the road to my horizon ...

    Partially licensed music site Grooveshark has now been sued by composers, including the author of Rhinestone Cowboy, Mark Weiss, for copyright infringement, CNet reports. The Florida-based outfit has struck a curious stance, saying it doesn't need licences but has been getting them here and there – it now claims to have deals …

    Music and Media 26 Jul 10:21

  • Rogue kangaroo floors broom-wielding 94-year-old

    Berserk marsupial takes on cops, cops a peppering

    A 94-year-old Queensland woman came off worst in an encounter with a rogue kangaroo which piled into her in the garden of her Queensland home. According the the Courier Mail, Phyllis Johnson was hanging out washing at her Charleville granny flat when the battling beast bowled her over and gave a her a few kicks. She recounted …

    Bootnotes 26 Jul 10:38

  • OS X Lion paves way for "Retina Display" monitors

    Jaggies-be-gone

    Mac OS X Lion incorporates support for displays packing four times as many pixels as they do today. Right now, the so-called "HiDPI" mode remains inaccessible unless you've downloaded Apple's Xcode software development tool. It contains a graphics test application called Quartz Debug and it enables HiDPI modes in Lion's …

    reghardware 26 Jul 10:56

  • Tactile feedback suit interacts with Kinect

    Good vibrations

    With Sony testing VR goggles and augmented reality technology improving at an ever-increasing rate, the world is forever finding new ways to tap into our senses and improve the virtual reality experience. Interactive clothing was therefore somewhat inevitable, and has now started to appear with the help of a certain Johnny-5 …

    reghardware 26 Jul 10:59

  • IT boss jailed for plundering Scottish library

    Of money, not books

    The technology boss of the National Library of Scotland has been jailed for two years for embezzling money. David Dinham, a 33-year-old Australian, was chief information officer for the library and in charge of a £1.8m budget to digitise the collection. After making a small purchase on his company credit card, Dinham realised …

    CIO 26 Jul 11:02

  • Dead bloke reanimates in mortuary

    Terrified attendants flee ghostly screaming

    A 50-year-old South African man, whose relatives had prematurely packed him off to the local mortuary, proved very much alive when he woke up screaming, prompting two terrified attendants to take to their heels. The poor bloke was declared dead by his own family on Saturday night when they couldn't wake him, the BBC reports. …

    Bootnotes 26 Jul 11:19

  • PC mountain accumulates in Blighty

    Biz-crushing computer avalanches feared

    PC vendors' shipments into the UK channel slid by more than a fifth in Q2 as distributors wrestled with high inventory levels, particularly on Acer. Sales into wholesalers fell 22 per cent year-on-year to 2.23 million units, according to IDC data with declines seen across all market segments. "The channel thinks it will take …

    Channel Register 26 Jul 11:28

  • Dongling P2P downloaders 2nd-biggest mobe data users

    Operators seeking to charge by content type

    Almost 90 per cent of operators now charge for data by volume, but billing by content is growing, with free access to social networking and partner sites becoming commonplace. The figures come from Allot Mobile, providers of caching and content delivery for mobile operators around the world. The company reports annually using …

    Mobile 26 Jul 11:32

  • Phishers go after your Google AdWords account

    Clone website slurps Chocolate logins

    Cybercrooks have launched a "Google AdWords" phishing campaign in an attempt to trick marks into handing over sensitive login credentials to a bogus, newly registered, website. Spam messages promoting the ruse falsely claim that a recipient's campaign has been stopped and they need to login to their "Adwords account" in order …

    ID 26 Jul 11:43

  • Ex-Microsoft bigwig Bob Muglia joins Juniper Networks

    Ballmer's reject - or Ballmer's point man?

    Erstwhile Microsoft server and tools biz boss Bob Muglia has taken a job at Juniper Networks – a company headed up by Redmond's one-time platforms and services division Kevin Johnson. Muglia, a veteran of the software giant, was pushed out of MS by CEO Steve Ballmer in January after 23 years of service. Although his departure …

    Cloud Business 26 Jul 12:01

  • ARM scooping in cash but remains cautious

    From iPhone A4 and rivals' Snapdragon to washing machines

    ARM has outperformed estimates for the second quarter, increasing revenue by 18 per cent as its chips continue to be embedded in everything from mobile phones to washing machines. More than a billion chips, based on licensed ARM designs, shipped during the second quarter of 2011. That pushed the company's pre-tax profits up to …

    PCs & Chips 26 Jul 12:19

  • Hacking scandal starts to spread beyond News Corp

    Uneasy faces and sweaty palms all along Fleet Street

    Trinity Mirror Group Plc – owner of the Daily Mirror, Daily Record and The People, is opening an internal investigation into ethics and editorial procedures. The company, which also owns 160 regional papers, has struggled to move its papers online and has watched its share price drop from 571 pence in 2007 to 43 pence today. …

    Music and Media 26 Jul 12:19

  • Space scope spies soggy, stupendous Saturnian doughnut

    Incontinent moon squirts wetly onto ringed giant

    The European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory has discovered just where the water in Saturn's upper atmosphere comes from: a giant aqueous doughnut surrounding the planet, formed by H2O hosing from the moon Enceladus. NASA's Cassini spacecraft previously spied the water plumes of Enceladus (see pic*), but until now …

    Space 26 Jul 12:54

  • Legal expert: Letters can be evidence, so can Facebook

    Opinion As stalksite-using forklift driver finds ...

    Private things turn up in court cases. This has always been the case, and there are many people in jail, paying fines or out of a job because of what they have said or done in private. Yet when a court wants to use material from a social networking page in a case, there is a web-wide sharp intake of breath. There are …

    Law 26 Jul 13:25

  • Departing Acer chief Lanci will not go to Samsung

    Rumours not worth the electrons they're printed on

    Talk of former Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci joining Samsung to head up its channel business or notebook biz is wide of the mark, The Register understands. Rumours emanating from the Far East over the weekend place Lanci at the Korean giant from next month, but the speculation will amount to nothing, say European sources familiar …

    Channel Register 26 Jul 13:31

  • BET24 warns over data breach – 19 months later

    Update Don't look back in anger, begs bookie

    BET24.com warned customers on Monday that their personal data may have been exposed by a breach that took place in December 2009. The gambling site is only warning clients 19 months after the breach, although it said it had taken other measures, including resetting passwords, at the time of the breach. The warning follows the …

    Enterprise Security 26 Jul 13:57

  • Apple MacBook Air 13in Core i5 laptop

    Review Pricey, but nifty

    The lightweight, streamlined design of the MacBook Air is undeniably attractive, and still leaves most of its ultraportable PC rivals looking like a chaotic collision metal and plastic. However, that sleek design has always come with something of a premium price – especially given the relatively modest specification of its …

    reghardware 26 Jul 14:30

  • Amazon recruiting for Indian conquest campaign

    Can it subdue the subcontinent?

    Amazon is gearing up to launch an Indian version of its site. The bookseller and cloud provider is already recruiting and is aiming for a team of 200 people. The company is talking to Flipkart.com, LetsBuy.com and Exclusively.in, according to The Times of India. The paper saw the first clue in the hiring of Madhu M, a senior …

    Business 26 Jul 14:44

  • NAB digs in to fight Congressional land grab

    Pry mah spectrum from m'cold dead fingers

    The National Association of Broadcasters is calling upon its members – US television channels – to warn the public that the White House, and Senate, are eyeing up television's most-valuable asset. The FCC has already drawn up plans allowing TV stations to sell off some of their excess spectrum inventory, and is hoping to …

    Wireless 26 Jul 15:27

  • Xbox update sets Avatar Kinect in motion

    Quite a gesture

    Microsoft has released Avatar Kinect, an add-on to the Kinect Fun Labs that lets users record videos as their avatar and share them with the online community. Avatar Kinect captures expressions and voice so when you smile, nod or speak, your avatar does the same. "See your facial expressions and gestures on your Xbox avatar …

    reghardware 26 Jul 15:55

  • UK Govt refuses to ban shale gas 'fracking'

    Flaming tapwater risks 'hypothetical and unproven'

    The UK government has welcomed new developments in "unconventional" gas resources. It is largely a let's-wait-and-see response, which acknowledges the economic, environmental and security benefits of shale gas. Calls from environmentalist campaigners to freeze exploration in the UK have been given the bum's rush. France, which …

    Environment 26 Jul 16:20

  • Note to Apple: Be more like Microsoft

    Open...and Shut One (astronomically successful) company is not an ecosystem

    Despite challenges from Google Android, the Apple train continues to roar forward at an incredible pace. The Cupertino company smashed analyst estimates in its most recent quarter, with revenue up 82 per cent to $28.57bn and profits up 125 per cent. Apple is minting money. It's just too bad that Apple isn't sharing that money …

    Business 26 Jul 16:57

  • Kit steals Mac login passwords through FireWire port

    OS X vulnerable even when locked, FileVaulted

    A California software maker has released a program that quickly recovers login passwords from Macs, even when running Apple's completely overhauled OS X Lion, that have been locked, put into sleep mode, or have FileVault disk encryption turned on. Passware Kit Forensic v11 works by capturing a Mac's computer memory over …

    Security 26 Jul 18:19

  • One-third of US consumers will buy an iPhone 5

    Touchdown in first week of September?

    According to a new survey, over one third of US consumers plan to buy an iPhone 5, and a new rumor suggests that they'll only need to wait until the first week of September to assuage their aching desire. "Our survey data confirms the strong following Apple has built around its iPhone, with more than one-third of consumers …

    Mobile 26 Jul 19:26

  • Suspects in PayPal web attack not so anonymous after all

    DDoS as civil disobedience

    Some of the suspects accused of participating in a December attack organized by the Anonymous hacker collective that caused numerous service disruptions on PayPal were shocked to learn that the net isn't all that anonymous, or that it's illegal to impair other people's computers. According to The New York Times, some of the 14 …

    Crime 26 Jul 20:33

  • 'Evil' truckie charged with NBN provider attack

    Media falls into NBN security-gasm; did AFP also nab Distribute.IT attacker?

    A 25 year old self-taught hacker has been arrested by federal police in Australia over 50 malicious attacks on Platform Networks, a trial service provider for NBN Co. The unemployed truck driver from regional NSW, known in hacking circles as the notorious ‘Evil’ or ‘Evil from eftel’, was in control of Platform Networks for six …

    Security 26 Jul 21:07

  • Dell puffs up OpenStack clouds

    Rackspace providing backstop support

    Dell has announced an OpenStack-based suite of hardware, software, and services as the core of its new cloud-in-a-box strategy, and released a software tool, appropriately called Crowbar, to help its customers pry their way into their cloudy futures. Dell was once enamored with Canonical's Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud for helping …

    Cloud 26 Jul 21:34

  • WorldTradeCenter.com on the block

    Domain name sale just weeks before 9/11 anniversary

    The owner of the internet domain name WorldTradeCenter.com is planning to sell it, just weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Aftermarket.com, a domain brokerage firm, announced today that it is looking for an "appropriate" buyer for the address, on behalf of its current owner. Potential buyers …

    Hosting 26 Jul 22:12

  • Aussie online shoppers take $AU6 billion offshore

    PWC report says the devil is in the etail

    Australia shopper’s enchantment with offshore online purchases is expected to rise by $AU1.2 billion to $AU6 billion this year, according to new research from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report predicts that online shopping will grow 13 percent this year and is valued at $AU13.6 billion. Around 44 percent of those online sales …

    Business 26 Jul 23:05

  • Juniper profits pinched by economy, product transitions

    Pulling back on 2011's prospects

    The choppiness in the network equipment racket continues, with Juniper Networks barely hitting the low end of its profit guidance for the second quarter of 2011. The Silicon Valley networker also lowered its revenue and profit expectations for the full year, thanks to a slowdown in service-provider spending and jumpiness on …

    Financial News 26 Jul 23:10

  • Intel gives former CFO Bryant the chair

    Well, the vice chair, for starters

    Chip giant Intel has named Andy Bryant – its former CFO and current executive vice president in charge of its technology, manufacturing, and services operation – as vice chairman, and tapped him to become chairman of the board next May. Bryant came to Intel in 1981 after stints at Ford Motor Company and Chrysler – and I know …

    Business 26 Jul 23:29