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27th July 2011 Archive

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  • Yet more cloud launches

    Cloud Sherpas, Digital Realty Trust open Oz operations

    Australia could soon be suffering a case of “too many cloud providers”, with another two companies entering an already-crowded market. Earlier this week, the Digital Realty Trust opened its doors downunder, and today, Cloud Sherpas, which first came to antipodean attention with its acquisition of New Zealand’s WaveAdept …

    Business 27 Jul 00:01

  • Stuxnet clones may target critical US systems, DHS warns

    Code samples raise concerns of variants

    Officials with the US Department of Homeland Security warned that hackers could attack the country's power generation plants, water treatment facilities, and other critical infrastructure with clones of the Stuxnet computer worm, which was used to disrupt Iran's nuclear-enrichment operations. Stuxnet was first detected last …

    Security 27 Jul 00:15

  • iiNet signs with Pacific Fibre for future capacity

    Plan to build it and they will come

    Pacific Fibre has secured another pre-build customer, with major Australian ISP iiNet signing on for capacity in 2014. The New Zealand-based company is planning a submarine cable network with two 5 Tbps-capable fibres connecting Australia, New Zealand and America via the Pacific, a route currently connected by the Southern …

    Business 27 Jul 00:30

  • More on the ‘NBN hack’ that wasn’t

    The Au Fed Police press conference, response from Platform Networks

    More details have emerged on the “NBN hacker” story, in which a 25-year-old truck driver using the handle “Evil” penetrated a company called Platform Networks. The association with the National Broadband Network was both tenuous and irresistible. Even though Platform isn’t yet offering services, and although the attack took …

    Security 27 Jul 01:08

  • Microsoft's MS-DOS is 30 today

    Kudos to QDOS

    MS-DOS is 30 years old today. Well, kind of. On 27 July 1981, Microsoft gave the name MS-DOS to the disk operating system it acquired on that day from Seattle Computer Products (SCP), a hardware company owned and run by a fellow called Rod Brock. SCP developed what it at various times called QDOS and 86-DOS to run on a CPU …

    reghardware 27 Jul 06:00

  • 'Up to' broadband claims out of control, says Ofcom

    Speeds rise, but advertised speeds rise a lot faster

    Ofcom is still fretting over ISPs who punt services using the "up to" speeds rhetoric in their advertising campaigns. The communications watchdog once again called on self-regulatory ad bodies to change their guidance to give customers "more informed decisions based on the adverts they see". New research into fixed-line …

    Networks 27 Jul 07:02

  • Mozy puffs out pocket cloud for iPad, Android et al

    Mozying along to a showdown with iCloud, Dropbox

    Mozy has built iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android apps so UK users can access their backed up data stored in the Mozy cloud. Using the apps on these handheld devices, or logging on securely to www.mozy.co.uk from any internet-connected device, users can access their MozyHome/MozyPro backed up data from anywhere with a mobile …

    Infrastructure 27 Jul 07:24

  • Freesat ITV Player out of beta

    Service goes official on Humax boxes

    Freesat has added ITV Player to its selection of catch-up viewing services. Freesat set-top boxes with an Ethernet port that's hooked up to a user's broadband connection can access ITV Player on Channel 903. From there, users can view previously broadcast shows from ITV, ITV 2, ITV 3 and ITV 4. Well, we say 'Freesat set-top …

    reghardware 27 Jul 07:24

  • Next 15in, 17in MacBook Pros to be MacBook Air skinny

    Stand out by slimming down

    Apple has completed development work in a 15in MacBook Air-skinny notebook, it has been claimed. Little is known about the laptop's specification, reports MacRumours, which was first out with the news. But given its slimline design and Apple's current strategy, it's safe to say the thing won't sport an optical drive, absent …

    reghardware 27 Jul 07:46

  • Councils dole out social-care payment smartcards

    Making sure the customer doesn't get out of control

    Three councils have begun to issue smart cards for social care recipients to pay for services under the personalised budget agenda. Merton, Nottinghamshire and Bury councils have done deals with Advanced Payment Solutions (APS) to supply the cards. Merton introduced the cards at the beginning of July under a three-year …

    Public Sector 27 Jul 08:02

  • SanDisk attacks PC hard disks

    Wants you to rip and replace with flash

    SanDisk has a new Ultra line, a cruise flash missile aimed at taking out PC and notebook hard drives and replacing them with much faster SanDisk SSDs. These are 2.5-inch format, 2-bit multi-level cell flash drives, coming in 60, 120 and 240GB capacity points. The Ultra brand is used by SanDisk for consumer flash products such …

    Storage 27 Jul 08:22

  • Punters favour Amazon to block Apple tablet flood

    But it had better come up with something cheap

    So you don't want an iPad, but you are keen on taking hold of a tablet. Which one are you going to go for? If a survey of fondleslab-fond shoppers is anything to go by, it'll be an Amazon job. US price comparison site Retrevo asked a thousand website browsers about their tablet buying plans. Beyond Apple, Amazon was the clear …

    reghardware 27 Jul 08:24

  • US Navy orders laser machine guns

    But keeps option to fire regular, enormous bullets

    US Navy warships will soon be equipped with fearful combination weapons mounts boasting both heavy machine-guns and high powered laser rayguns, it has been announced. Manufacturer Boeing says it has inked a teaming agreement with the US operations of arms globo-mammoth BAE Systems to build the Mk 38 Mod 2 Tactical Laser System …

    Physics 27 Jul 08:27

  • Market rationalist pigs get the best choice of totty

    Opinion Online dating means more choice - this is bad?

    One of the joys of The Guardian, or at least what I find to be one of the joys of the paper, is the clearly, obviously, bonkers insane stuff that sometimes manages to get in between those sheets of newsprint. You can be reading along and thinking, yes, OK, this might turn into something interesting, and then you're faced with …

    Biology 27 Jul 09:02

  • 'Directory traversal' attack becomes premier hack tool

    Formerly little-known method now tops rankings

    A lesser-known attack called directory traversal is the single most commonly used technique in real-world web application attacks. Directory traversal cropped up in 37 per cent of attacks, almost the same as cross-site scripting (36 per cent), and a fair bit ahead of SQL injection (23 per cent). Remote file inclusion figured …

    Security 27 Jul 09:21

  • Let's talk about OpenFlow

    Software defined networks, Oh yes

    Where they can, data networking equipment vendors like to arrange their proprietary products into vertically integrated stacks, with complex functions often "baked" into the hardware. Furthermore, a sometimes tortuous standardisation process makes it hard to implement changes and raises the barriers of entry to new equipment …

    Network Fabric 27 Jul 09:25

  • Quantum mid-range DXi crushes Data Domain

    We rule in entry-level open protocol appliance

    Quantum has a new mid-range DXi deduplicating disk backup box that crushes speed king Data Domain. Quantum has four product groups in its DXi range: the 4500 entry-level for small and medium business and remote office/branch office (ROBO) needs; the 6500 mid-range; the 7500 enterprise; and the high-end 8500. The mid-range also …

    Storage 27 Jul 09:34

  • Microsoft pushes Windows Phone Mango out to Japan

    Rest of world gets to shout into fruit around Xmas

    The next version of Windows Phone, codenamed Mango, is with device manufacturers and looks like it will hit Japanese shelves in September, with the rest of the world having to wait a little longer. Version 7.5 of Windows Phone is being touted as a proper version 1, a grown-up version that finally brings multi-tasking to the …

    Operating Systems 27 Jul 09:38

  • Power out again at Telecity

    It has been ... 2 ... weeks since we tripped over a cable

    Telecity's Docklands hosting and back-up centre, Meridian Gate, is suffering a power outage. We've had emails from several customers currently twiddling their thumbs waiting for services to be restored. No official word from the company yet, but we'll update this story should they return our phone calls. Reg readers told us …

    Hosting 27 Jul 09:42

  • Oi, Android, get gaming sorted out NOW

    iGamer Reg Hardware's resident gamer vents spleen

    On Christmas Day 2011 I'll pass a significant milestone. This year's baby-Jesus-knees-up will mark the thirtieth anniversary of my love affair with gaming. That's thirty trips around the Sun since I unwrapped, unboxed and played my first videogame - Fire on Game & Watch, if you're interested. Or some 10,957 sunsets and …

    reghardware 27 Jul 10:00

  • UK data watchdog 'looking into' Google+ mission creep

    Updated: Exclusive Google + Profiles – pseudonyms = privacy headache?

    Blighty's Information Commissioner's Office is currently "looking into" Google's recent ID verification rejig, The Register has learned. A spokeswoman confirmed to us yesterday that no formal investigation is yet underway, but the ICO is nonetheless using official man-hours probing Mountain View's recent changes to its …

    ID 27 Jul 10:01

  • Canon crossbreeds mouse with adder

    Calculated risk?

    Canon has been busy genetically splicing technology and has released a computer mouse that doubles up as a calculator. Behold the X Mark I Mouse. While the Bluetooth 2.0 device includes three mouse buttons and laser tracking, this one can also be used for calculations - as well as providing a numeric keypad, eliminating need …

    reghardware 27 Jul 10:05

  • Fingerprint scans learn to spot chopped-off fingers

    Also Gummi Bears, zombies, other common fakes

    What do Gummi Bears and amputated fingers have in common? They’ve both been demonstrated as techniques for defeating fingerprint scanners. Now, a German company called Dermalog Identification Systems is using the way skin changes colour under pressure to block both the soft sweet and the dead hand of the zombie from accessing …

    Security 27 Jul 10:18

  • 4G-auction rural notspot scheme would actually be illegal

    Comment Would mean lockout, massive subsidy

    The Consumer Communications Panel has called for 4G money to be used to help build rural networks, which sounds eminently sensible but, as BT pointed out last month, would almost certainly be illegal too. The CCP got huge amounts of publicity for its public response to Ofcom's ongoing consultation on the best way to sell off …

    Mobile 27 Jul 10:26

  • Apple top of the tablet totem pole through 2015

    Android to topple iPad the following year

    Android tablets won't outsell the iPad until 2016, one market watcher has claimed. Informa's forecast for tablet sales in 2015 has Apple shipping 90m tablets, just ahead of combined sales from Motorola, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Toshiba et al of 87m units. By the following year, Android unit shipments will have surpassed Apple's. …

    reghardware 27 Jul 10:35

  • George Lucas defeated by Stormtrooper helmet man

    Beardy billionaire beaten by brave Brit

    Andrew Ainsworth, the man who designed the Imperial Stormtrooper uniforms, has won the right to sell replicas. George Lucas has been suing Ainsworth since at least 2008 and the case finally ended up in London's Supreme Court. Ainsworth made the original helmets in 1977 – the legal action treated the helmets as the paradigm …

    Entertainment 27 Jul 10:36

  • Digital singles all the rage in Europe

    Still don't make much dosh, though

    Sales of digital singles across Europe rose 13 per cent in the first half of 2011 – although in many cases it is simply younger local markets playing catch-up. Almost 170 million were sold in all, Nielsen has reported. In Germany, singles sales were up 20 per cent, but the most mature market – the UK – still accounts for …

    Music and Media 27 Jul 10:42

  • Sony Walkman refresh signals wireless streaming

    'Bluetooth, I saw you standing alone...'

    Sony has touched up its Walkman series, tweaking its line of PMPs in a refresh that introduces wireless Bluetooth streaming. The Walkman NWZ-A860 becomes the company's premium PMP, benefitting from a 2.8in touchscreen display and the new Bluetooth transmission function. The Walkman NWZ-S760 series also features Bluetooth …

    reghardware 27 Jul 10:50

  • Dragon-owned Expansys bemoans weak UK gadget lust

    Peter Jones' etailer restructures

    Expansys' fiscal 2011 numbers were boosted by several acquisitions and cost-cutting efforts, the firm has claimed. Sales at the London Stock Exchange listed firm for the year ended 30 April climbed more than 60 per cent on 12 months earlier to £81.8m, operating losses narrowed to £725,000 from £2.7m and underlying pre-tax …

    Channel Register 27 Jul 10:58

  • Paypal chums with City cops against naughty music sites

    We're not tools of the rights-holders!

    Paypal will cut funding to websites deemed 'illegal' by the music industry and the City of London Police, according to trade body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The IFPI will identify sites that it believes are selling music without having the right to do so and has said in a statement that …

    Policing 27 Jul 11:19

  • Developer fury as Google makes Android apps vanish

    Thirty pages of rages as Market goes haywire

    Android developers are furious about Google's changes to the way search works in the Android application marketplace. The changes were put into place on 1 July, and since then, a lot of previously very popular applications have now effectively disappeared. The anger on the Android forums is partly financial – one developer …

    Applications 27 Jul 11:36

  • Koreans produce $3m glow-in-the-dark dog

    Effulgent blacklight beagle can be switched on and off

    It's been five long years since Taiwanese boffins brewed up a glow-in-the-dark pig, but one Reg reader's prayers* for the ultimate pet have finally appear to have been answered in the form of a fluorescent mutt. According to Reuters, a Seoul National University team led by Lee Byeong-chun has sucessfully bred a GM beagle …

    Biology 27 Jul 11:38

  • Dell Streak 7 Android tablet

    Review Affordable dual-core fondleslab, anyone?

    Despite the original Streak being one of the first devices of its type on the market, Dell’s Android tablet didn’t really set the word alight. A less than fresh version of Android, a high price tag and a distance between the screen corners too close to many a smartphone, all counted against it. Clean slate? Dell's Streak 7 …

    reghardware 27 Jul 12:00

  • Anonymous, LulzSec go legit with PayPal boycott

    Free the DDoS fourteen! Hm. Bored now, need more lulz

    Hactivist collective Anonymous has called for a boycott of PayPal. The group wants supporters to empty their accounts and avoid using the payment service in protest against the prosecution of a university student who allegedly participated in denial of service attacks against PayPal last year. Mercedes Haefer, a 20-year-old …

    Security 27 Jul 12:01

  • Getronics sharpens chopper, eyes 2,500 of its people

    Time for some of you to be in India

    Dutch IT services provider Getronics is firing up to 2,500 staff to counter effects of the market slowdown in its homeland, but refused to be drawn on potential cuts to the UK workforce. Telco parent KPN has reported a drop in second calendar quarter results showing a near 2 per cent drop in sales to €3.29bn as EBITDA fell …

    Business 27 Jul 12:18

  • Post Office banking collapses in computer fail

    Only cardboard cards for now, thanks

    Anyone hoping to access their Post Office bank accounts today is out of luck – a computer failure has blocked access at all 11,820 branches. Pin devices on counters are out of action, along with any other transactions using card accounts. A spokesman for the Post Office said: The Post Office today apologised to its customers …

    Financial News 27 Jul 12:21

  • Grassroots Brit project plans .app top-level domain bid

    Having to call itself DotAppApp.com for now

    A British-based community project has emerged with the aim of applying to run ".app" as a new top-level internet domain. But the budding organisation, which currently has about 75 paid-up members, faces a funding challenge if it wants to win what is expected to be a highly competitive bidding process. The project, at …

    Hosting 27 Jul 12:42

  • Bonkers MacBook Air shipment route revealed

    Global gathering

    Stories of weird iPad shipping routes have been cropping up a while on the web and there's usually a perfectly logical explanation for why our precious tech takes so many diversions en route to our homes. This one regarding a MacBook Air is really strange, though. One bewildered Reg reader sent us shots of his tracking …

    reghardware 27 Jul 13:04

  • Avisen reports losses 3 times higher than sales

    Who says there's no biz innovation in old Blighty?

    Reseller minnow Avison managed to pull an unusual set of results out of the bag today, reporting operating losses that are nearly three times higher than its sales. The LSE-listed firm, which flogged its IBM Cognos business Inca Software to Logicalis earlier this year for £7.3m in cash, filed losses of £7.8m on sales of £2.6m …

    SaaS 27 Jul 13:33

  • Military chip crypto cracked with power-analysis probe

    Akin to listening to safe tumblers, but with 'leccy

    German computer scientists have taken advantage of the powerful number-crunching abilities of graphics chips to demonstrate a practical attack on the encryption scheme in programmable chips. Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips of the type used in embedded systems belonging to the military and the aerospace industry are …

    Enterprise Security 27 Jul 13:54

  • Adobe revs online forms and survey creator

    Dead simple FormsCentral gets 'evolutionary' makeover

    Hot on the heels of its acquisition of digital-signature firm EchoSign last week, Adobe's Acrobat Solutions team popped another piece into its online-documents puzzle with an upgrade to its fledgling web-form creator, FormsCentral. The online tool was launched on Valentine's Day – that's February 14 to you readers living in …

    Applications 27 Jul 14:00

  • Sony Ericsson signals Xperia X10 Gingerbread update

    Latest smartphone Android, at last

    Sony Ericsson has posted Android 2.3 Gingerbread for last year's Xperia X10 smartphone. The phone maker promised the much sought after upgrade back in March, saying the software would arrive "late Q2/early Q3". Later, it revised that timeframe to early August. But we're still in late July, and here's Gingerbread. According …

    reghardware 27 Jul 14:04

  • Virgin Media sees 36,000 cable customers scarper in Q2

    That's OK, they were only 'low-value' rabble

    Virgin Media lost 36,000 customers in the three months ended 30 June, but the ISP isn't that bothered about what it described as "lower-value single and dual-play" punters. The company claimed it was happy to shed such customers in favour of tailoring "superior services" to those willing to shell out more cash in return. "The …

    Telecoms 27 Jul 14:23

  • Apple Flash buying clout will give it the ultrabook edge

    MacBook Airs set to be CHEAPER than rival kit

    Apple may well have the price advantage when so-called "ultrabooks" debut later this year. Intel announced the ultrabook notion - a very, very skinny laptop based on its chip tech - in June. Computer makers were quick to say they'll be delivering such machines later this year. They will arrive effectively a year after Apple …

    reghardware 27 Jul 14:39

  • Fraud a growth sector as UK economy stalls

    Firmjacking, clone websites boom

    Fraud is staging a come back in the channel as crims gamble on the desperation of some fretful business owners in the harsh economic climate. Stats from credit reference agency Graydon UK reveal a massive spike in fraud attempts, up 130 per cent for the first five months of 2011 to 214 cases, with company hijacking and cloned …

    Channel Register 27 Jul 14:43

  • LightSquared promises to replace satellite push-to-talk kit

    You're our only customers, please don't go

    Aspirational network operator LightSquared has promised to replace customers' Push To Talk kit for free as it migrates them from a bankrupt satellite to one owned by the marginally-insane wannabe national network. LightSquared says it will support the existing Push To Talk kit, which uses the TerreStar 1 satellite, until at …

    Wireless 27 Jul 15:02

  • ITV eyes micropayments for Corrie specials

    Because viewers are sure to love paying over and over

    ITV says it will introduce micropayments for some web shows viewed through ITV Player, with January 2012 the most likely launch date. The idea is to show specials, or (pardon the jargon) "webisodes" of popular programmes such as Coronation Street. You can see why ITV would want to, with advertising sure to continue a long-term …

    Music and Media 27 Jul 15:23

  • Arrow warns on tightening component sales

    Hefty distie reports bumper Q2, looks ahead with worry

    Global distributor Arrow Electronics has warned Q3 forecasts will fall short of analyst expectations as it is anticipating a slowdown in components shipments. The distribution heavyweight today reported a 20 per cent hike in sales to $5.54bn, up 6 per cent sequentially for Q2 ended 2 July, but excluding the currency headwind …

    Channel Register 27 Jul 15:57

  • Police arrest alleged LulzSec hacker 'topiary' in Scotland

    Suspected of links to shear hackery

    UK police have arrested a teenager suspected of being a central figure in the infamous LulzSec hacking crew. The unnamed 19 year-old allegedly had been acting as a spokesman of both LulzSec and Anonymous, using the online handle Topiary. He was arrested at a residential address in the Shetland Islands earlier today and …

    Crime 27 Jul 17:07

  • SecurID breach cost RSA $66m

    In 2nd quarter alone

    The security breach that targeted sensitive data relating to RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication product has cost parent company EMC $66m in the second quarter, The Washington Post has reported. The king's ransom was spent after RSA issued a vaguely worded letter in March warning that undisclosed information had been stolen …

    Enterprise Security 27 Jul 17:17

  • Fed budget cuts, lower mainframe sales hit Unisys

    Swinging to a loss in Q2

    Lower overall spending by Uncle Sam and a slowdown in ClearPath mainframe purchases combined to push Unisys to a loss in the second quarter. Sales were off 9.6 per cent in Q2 to $937.2m, and the company posted a net loss of $11.6m compared to a gain of $120.2m in the year-ago period. For the first six months of 2011, revenues …

    Servers 27 Jul 19:16

  • Colleges prep joint plan for 1Gbps internet

    Not ready for prime time

    More than two-dozen US universities are banding together to bring one-gigabit internet connections to their surrounding communities in the hope of attracting new startups and innovation. The project, dubbed Gig.U, is little more than a work in progress. Witness the official press release announcing the project, which offers …

    Cloud Business 27 Jul 19:45

  • Russia: 'We'll dump the ISS into the sea after 2020'

    US: 'Not so fast, Ivan'

    The deputy director of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, says that the International Space Station will be knocked out of orbit and dumped into the sea after its mission is completed in 2020. "We will be forced to sink the ISS. We cannot leave it in orbit as it is a very complicated and a heavy object," Vitaly Davydov said a …

    Space 27 Jul 19:55

  • Facebook upgrades 'Operation Developer Love'

    Invisible friends now easier to create

    Facebook has made it easier for developers to test apps they create for the ginormous social-networking mega-site. "Today we are announcing the ability to create and add Test Users to your apps from the Developer Site," writes software engineering intern Chris Dentel on Facebook's Developer Blog. Devs have been able to create …

    Developer 27 Jul 20:13

  • 'Evil' Aussie hacker 'named', refused bail

    Infrastructure screwed by hacking trucker

    The unemployed truck driver allegedly behind some of Australia's most aggressive corporate network hacking attacks in recent months has been refused bail after being charged with 49 counts of accessing restricted data and one count of an unauthorised change of data. David Cecil, a 25 year old from Cowra, is alleged to be the …

    Crime 27 Jul 22:28

  • Cloud fluffs Citrix numbers in Q2

    So long PC era

    Citrix Systems turned in record-breaking financials in the second quarter. Revenues at the application, server, and desktop virtualization software specialist hit $530.8m, up 15.8 per cent, and net income was $81.9m, up an impressive 72.3 per cent from the year-ago period. In the quarter, product license sales rose by 15.2 …

    Cloud Business 27 Jul 22:33

  • Optus slices fat from management ranks

    250 jobs set to go

    Optus is tightening up its middle and senior management ranks, confirming that it is shedding 250 positions. The carrier said that the redundancies were the result of a wide ranging business review which assessed the structure and capability mix to support its ongoing business transformation. An Optus spokesperson confirmed …

    Telecoms 27 Jul 22:45

  • CA refreshes cloud code in 'cloud choice' suite

    Management, security focus

    CA Technologies has announced a refresh of a chunk of its cloud-management software, in what it says is an effort designed to help customers manage the confusing and heterogeneous environment that confronts enterprises moving into the cloud. Tagging the problem “cloud choice”, the company says cloud adopters find themselves …

    Cloud 27 Jul 22:51

  • 'War texting' hacks car systems and possibly much more

    Remotely start cars, attack SCADA, through GSM

    Software that allows drivers to remotely unlock and start automobiles using cell phones is vulnerable to hacks that allow attackers to do the same thing, sometimes from thousands of miles away, it was widely reported Wednesday. The exploit affecting an undisclosed product used to remotely control cars was developed by iSec …

    Enterprise Security 27 Jul 23:08

  • LiveJournal groans under 'immense' DDos attack

    Service disruptions for past 48 hours

    LiveJournal is weathering a massive web attack that has meant service disruptions for people who read and write the more than 16 million journals hosted on the community and blogging service. El Reg reported Tuesday that LiveJournal was suffering a prolonged outage that started the previous day. On Wednesday, the site's status …

    Enterprise Security 27 Jul 23:25

  • NASA's former CTO launches Nebula cloud controller

    One giant leap for OpenStack

    All of the IT vendors who thought they were going to be able to make some money peddling cloudware based on the open source OpenStack cloud controller just got some pretty serious competition. Chris Kemp, the former CTO at NASA and one of the founders of the OpenStack project, got some big backers in April and founded a company …

    Infrastructure 27 Jul 23:26