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11th August 2011 Archive

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  • NSW buckles: R18+ game rating clear for take-off

    Not before time

    After abstaining from voting at a meeting of Australia’s attorneys-general over whether the country should introduce an R18+ rating for computer games, the government of NSW has decided to support the move. The NSW government has released a statement saying that cabinet has given in-principle support for the new rating. "Few …

    Government 11 Aug 00:01

  • Google Chromebooks molt, grow fresh browser

    Two month olds get new lease on life

    Google has released a new version of Chrome OS – the browser-based operating system that first arrived less than two months ago – offering VPN hooks, 802.1x secure Wi-Fi , and what the company claims is a 32 per cent faster resume time. The new stable release is based on Chrome 13, so it also includes "Instant Pages" – a …

    Cloud 11 Aug 00:21

  • Deakin Uni promises safe three-wheeler

    Not your Reliant Robin

    Fans of Mr Bean are familiar with the set-piece gag of the three-wheeler Reliant Robin falling over. A group of Deakin University boffins believe they’ve solved the problem, and are looking for manufacturing partners to put a safe motorcycle-car crossover into production. According to Frank Will of Deakin’s School of …

    Science 11 Aug 01:00

  • LinkedIn pulls Facebook-style stunt

    Privacy invasion by default

    LinkedIn has become the latest social networking site to decide that new features can be added and switched on by default, and users don’t have to be notified. The feature allows LinkedIn to use profile information like names and photos in third-party advertising, and seems to have been first noticed by blogger Steve Woodruff …

    Security 11 Aug 02:00

  • Q: Why do defenders keep losing to smaller cyberwarriors?

    A: 'Ant smarts' not 'asymmetry'

    Forget everything you've read on The Reg or anywhere else about wars that target computer networks, power grids and other essential electronic infrastructure because it's loaded with fallacies, a prominent security consultant said Wednesday. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the damage from cyberwar can kill people, and those …

    Security 11 Aug 04:00

  • British Library 19th Century Books

    iOS App of the Week Padding through the archives

    The British Library already has a ‘Treasures’ app that is a kind of ‘greatest hits’ romp through the Library’s archives. However, this new iPad-only app specifically focuses on books and documents from the 19th century – the era of Dickens and the great Victorian explorers and travel writers.   Home screen and collections …

    reghardware 11 Aug 06:00

  • Google told to delete people from search results

    90 complaints, including victim of domestic violence

    The Spanish government has ordered Google to delete information about 90 individuals from its search engine indexes, according to media reports. Spain said it believes that the individuals have a right to be forgotten, but Google has said that requiring search engines to ignore some information would negatively impinge on free …

    Government 11 Aug 08:00

  • Kelway gunning to break £320m sales barrier

    Bumper year for IT supplier

    Kelway is forecasting sales of £320m for the current fiscal year at the end of next March as it edges closer to the half year point. The London-based reseller's holding company closed off fiscal 2011 with revenues of £261m, up 46 per cent. That includes three months of sales, or £16.4m, from ISC, which it acquired for £15m …

    Channel Register 11 Aug 08:07

  • Will the looters 'loose' their benefits?

    World waits, government website fails

    The coalition government's e-petitions website is having a bit of a fail again today. Presumably everyone is trying to sign up to the petition calling for all convicted rioters to "loose all benefits", including use of spell-check we assume. We did manage to sneak in earlier and the vote stood at just short of 95,000. Should …

    Government 11 Aug 09:07

  • Amazon paints the Kindle cloudy

    Proving Steve Jobs right?

    Amazon has created a web-based Kindle app that does everything the desktop version can do, letting Chromebook users read on the plane but also bypassing Apple's cut on the iPad. The Kindle Cloud Reader only works on Safari and Google's Chrome, and uses HTML5 to download books for offline reading. It also links directly to the …

    Cloud Business 11 Aug 09:18

  • Geeks Guide2... Badass Lego Guns

    GG2 Save 40% at Reg Books

    This week we take a look at Martin Hüdepohl's step-by-step guide to creating five Badass Lego Guns. There is a simple, pint-sized rubber band shooting marvel, a nine-brick magazine semi-automatic pistol, a fully-automatic submachine gun and two different types of crossbow pistols. You can see the guns in action below: …

    Music and Media 11 Aug 09:20

  • Nexsan plays catchup with flash-cached storage controller

    E5000 with added flash stash

    Nexsan has introduced an E5000 NAS storage array family with two tiers of solid state controller storage to boost performance, following in the footsteps of NetApp, with its Flash Cache, and Oracle. Nexsan's E-Series fits alongside the existing E-Series Fibre Channel and iSCSI block access arrays, and the Assureon archive …

    Storage 11 Aug 09:30

  • OnLive streams towards Blighty

    Gaming cloud cover in autumn

    Cloud-gaming service OnLive has finally announced its official UK opening, with a launch set for this September's Eurogamer Expo. The service, which gives gamers instant access to a range of titles, has been active Stateside since June 2010. Those of us in the UK have been able to access it, but only through US servers, which …

    reghardware 11 Aug 09:45

  • Network switches look different in the cloud

    Adapting to changing patterns

    Cloud computing takes more than just a philosophical shift. It requires new skills, processes and architectures. In particular, traffic patterns in cloud networks can be quite different from those of the familiar enterprise network and the scale of operation can be significantly higher. That, according to experts in the field …

    Network Fabric 11 Aug 10:01

  • MySpace vanishes $254m from News Corp coffers

    Sale of has-been social network undervalues stock

    Television and film continue to be News Corp's core area of sales growth, even as other aspects of Rupert Murdoch's empire – including recently-sold MySpace and scandal-ridden News International – unsurprisingly had a bumpy Q4. The company rolled out Murdoch at its conference call in New York to personally anoint the results ( …

    Financial News 11 Aug 10:09

  • Samsung and STEC flash their sizzling SSDs

    Storage action remains flashy

    The summer weather may be crap, but Samsung and STEC are sizzling: they have both announced new solid state drives at the Flash Memory Summit. Samsung's PM830 is a 6Gbit/s SATA interface SSD with 18GB, 256GB , and 512GB capacities. It uses toggle DDR mode and ships out sequential data reads at 500MB/sec and ships in sequential …

    Storage 11 Aug 10:25

  • Love lure malware turns up at Android marketplace

    History repeating

    Android Trojan writers are trying more tricks to fool the unwary into downloading rogue applications with a new set of rogue applications. The rogue apps – available via third-party app stores in China – pose as a "love test" application, an ebook reader, and a location tracker. Clued-up users should notice that the dodgy apps …

    Malware 11 Aug 10:45

  • Cabinet Office allocates £1.6m for single government domain

    Alpha.gov.uk team nervously awaits 2012 sign-off

    The Cabinet Office is spending a further £1.6m on a single government domain that has yet to be signed off by the government. A rough-around-the-edges test of the Alpha.gov.uk project ended last week, after the Cabinet Office injected an initial £261,000 into the test build website that is intended as a would-be successor to …

    Government 11 Aug 10:49

  • Pacific island mints Star Wars coinage

    'Tell Jabba I've got his money...'

    The Pacific island of Niue is hoping to drum up some cash from Star Wars fans by issuing two sets of coins commemorating the sci-fi franchise. For NZ$469 (£238) a pop, you can choose from either a Darth Vader-themed collection (pictured), or a Millennium Falcon boxed set featuring duets of Luke Skywalker / Princess Leia, Obi …

    Bootnotes 11 Aug 11:20

  • $25 toy radio used to knock out feds

    Thousand dollar radio can track them too

    Researchers looking at the security of the US Project 25 radio network, used by federal agents and local police, have discovered that it's easily jammed, and almost as easily compromised. During a two-year study, the researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found that encryption on the police network was routinely …

    Policing 11 Aug 11:22

  • Cisco lifts axe again, chops nearly one in five execs

    Under fire networking Goliath clarifies changes

    Cisco has given marching orders to nearly one in five of its senior execs included in its massive cost-cutting drive and now plans to hand 1,200 contract workers their pink slips too. The networking Goliath last night revealed a 3 per cent rise in Q4 sales to $11.2bn but a 37.5 per cent collapse in operating profits to $1.45bn …

    Data Networking 11 Aug 12:01

  • David Cameron turns water cannons on social networks

    PM shoots Web2.0 messenger, but what about the Sky 'copter, Dave?

    David Cameron picked on social networks in Parliament this morning, when he told MPs – who were forced to cut short their holidays following four nights of looting, arson and violence in England – that he was considering such tech being barred when used by baddies. "Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be …

    Government 11 Aug 12:03

  • Ten... Desktop USB 3.0 HDDs

    Product Round-up SuperSpeed storehouses

    Despite somewhat lacklustre adoption of the interface in the last 18 months, USB 3.0 is starting to gain a foothold in the consumer market as availability increases and prices fall down to more reasonable levels. The current offerings of USB 3.0 portable hard drives in our recent round-up turned out to be a pleasant surprise …

    reghardware 11 Aug 12:11

  • HTC sinks $309m into audio tech from Dr Dre

    Can you hear me now?

    Handset maker HTC is buying a majority share of upmarket audio kit manufacturer Beats Electronics, promising to incorporate the Dr Dre-backed technology into handsets by the end of the year. The deal gives HTC just over half of the audio-technology supplier, which promises to deliver an improved sound experience, but the beats …

    Mobile 11 Aug 12:27

  • HTC taps Beats for mobile music

    Sound thinking?

    HTC has announced a partnership with Beats Electronics which'll see the company incorporate the Dr Dre audio tech into its range of mobile products. Beats Electronics - which currently includes its tech in HP computers as well as the HP TouchPad - now has a mobile-phone platform to show off its "high-performance" sound. HTC …

    reghardware 11 Aug 12:34

  • Anonymous and TeaMp0isoN promise songs but no Facebook hack

    Factions forming within hack group

    Politically motivated hacking crew TeaMp0isoN has teamed up with Anonymous in an attempt to storm the music charts. The hacktivists fancy themselves as music moguls with plans to release a song by an unspecified artist that they are nonetheless convinced is bound to storm the charts. Proceeds of the unknown song – due to …

    Enterprise Security 11 Aug 12:48

  • Fujifilm puts augmented reality in the frame

    Points to where the action is

    GPS tagging has been a widely adopted feature in digital cameras, but now Fujifilm has pushed the boat out further by including an Augmented Reality function. The FujiFilm F600 EXR makes use of the GPS and automatically locates places of interest, displaying where and how far away they are through the camera's 3in display. It …

    reghardware 11 Aug 12:49

  • Indie labels launch post-riot emergency fund

    Dig deep

    Indie trade association AIM and distributor PIAS have created an emergency fund to help small record labels devastated by the loss of stock. An act of arson during the London riots on Sunday night destroyed the stock of over 150 small labels. It is much-needed. Most of the businesses affected are tiny and face three problems: …

    Music and Media 11 Aug 13:46

  • Cops tweet about cuffed twits who incited violence via Twitter

    Police and thieves in the social network streets

    As the Prime Minister condemned social networks for being "used for ill" this morning, police forces across the country sent a steady stream of tweets confirming arrests connected with inciting violence via the likes of Twitter and Facebook. "Three people have been arrested on suspicion of using Twitter and Blackberry …

    Government 11 Aug 15:08

  • Grow up, Google: You're threatening IT growth

    Comment The Montessori School of screwing-up-your-IP-strategy

    Google's stroppy-teenager ethos to intellectual property has been noted here before. But the company's truculent and immature approach is having really serious consequences on its home turf. Google now poses a serious threat to the future of the most explosive new sector in IT hardware: the consumer tablet. And if Google doesn't …

    PCs & Chips 11 Aug 15:13

  • Amazon web outage not caused by lightning

    Energy supplier questions web firm claims

    Dublin-based energy supplier ESB Networks has dismissed Amazon's claim that a bolt of lightning caused the chain of events that led to its web outage last weekend. The US giant today entered the sixth day of trying to resolve issues created by the crash at its Dublin data centre. First it blamed a lightning striking on a …

    Platform 11 Aug 15:19

  • Samsung Galaxy Fit Android smartphone

    Review Cheap talker, sharp shooter

    Full marks to Samsung’s marketing folk for the Galaxy Fit’s go-getting name, but it’s actually a fairly low-end Android smart phone with an outdated OS, low resolution screen and less than speedy processor. That said, it has a few good points too, including a surprisingly good 5Mp camera. Exercise equipment? Samsung's Galaxy …

    reghardware 11 Aug 15:37

  • Apple patent disputes Xoom towards Motorola

    Slates the competition

    Motorola could be next on the chopping board for Apple, after the Cupertino giant filed complaint against Moto's Xoom tablet design. Apple struck out at Samsung this week for patent infringement regarding its recently launched Galaxy Tab 10.1. According to Foss Patents, the buck doesn't stop there, though, with Apple also …

    reghardware 11 Aug 15:47

  • 3DS discount sparks retail price war

    Supermarket cheap

    The Nintendo 3DS price war kicked off today in anticipation of tomorrow's global trade price reduction, with the handheld now being offered as low as £115. The company has slashed the 3DS price by around a third, after a failure to meet initial sales targets. While the cuts have already come into effect in Japan, the rest of …

    reghardware 11 Aug 16:10

  • Intel dangles $300m bait in 'ultrabook' partner hunt

    Svelte laptops for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus

    Intel's investment arm has created a $300m fund to support the adoption of the slim, always-on, always-connected laptop platform it calls the ultrabook – or now, with the protection of the US Patent and Trademark office, the Ultrabook™. "The Intel Capital Ultrabook Fund aims to invest in companies building hardware and …

    PCs & Chips 11 Aug 16:57

  • Carbonite IPO raises over $62 million

    Cloud backup bucks the bucking market

    Cloud IT–anything is sexy, and cloud backup–service company Carbonite has proved it by raising $62.5m in a market that's supposed to be hostile to IPOs right now. The company originally wanted to raise $100m or more, and had to scale back its desired stock price from the $15 to $17 per share area to a much more modest $10. …

    Financial News 11 Aug 17:10

  • Titan Unveiled

    10-20 Petaflops in 2012?

    The “Fastest Supercomputer” title may move 6,940 miles (11,167km) eastward in 2012 from Kobe, Japan to a small Tennessee town. That’s if the folks at the Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL), along with Cray and AMD, can pull off a massive upgrade of the existing Jaguar system. They’ll replace existing nodes with the new Cray XK6 …

    HPC Blog 11 Aug 17:15

  • New DVD discs claim 1,000 year life

    Archive your holiday snaps 'til 3011

    The recording surface of Millenniata's M-DISC is virtually indestructible. The company claims that its DVD drive–readable discs will last for ... wait for it ... 1,000 years. That's what the Provo, Utah, firm says, anyway. The deal is that the disc has a different recording medium and method than the lasers and dyes used by …

    Storage 11 Aug 17:52

  • Cloudera rallies tech troops behind Hadoop

    Stuffed elephants get certified

    Cloudera – the all-star Silicon Valley startup that first commercialized Hadoop – has announced a partner program designed to further push the open source distributed number-crunching platform into the enterprise. "In order to present a comprehensive solution for the customer, with Hadoop as the underpinning new technology, …

    Cloud 11 Aug 17:58

  • Spear phishers renew attack on feds' Gmail

    Gov officials (still) stalked

    A targeted campaign to collect Gmail passwords from senior US government officials and military personnel is showing no signs of letting up more than two months after Google first warned it had already snared hundreds of victims. According to independent security researcher Mila Parkour, the same attackers sent a new round of …

    ID 11 Aug 18:51

  • iPhone 4 prototype journo off the hook

    Curtain comes down on Der Ring des Gizmodophonelungen

    The saga of the Gizmodophone – the iPhone 4 prototype found in a bar and exposed on the web – is nearing its end: prosecutors have decided that Gizmodo's Jason Chen won't be charged with wrongdoing in the long-running phone follies. "The difficulty we faced is that Mr. Chen and Gizmodo were primarily, in their view, engaged in …

    Mobile 11 Aug 19:53

  • Smartphone images can hijack BlackBerry servers

    RIM squashes high-severity bug

    Research in Motion has squashed a nasty bug in its BlackBerry server software that allowed it to be commandeered when handset users received messages containing booby-trapped images. The flaw in various versions of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server carried a Common Vulnerability Scoring System rating of 10, the most severe score …

    Enterprise Security 11 Aug 19:57

  • Kabam! Facebook gamers fume after script deletes fake stuff

    Anatomy of a social snafu

    On August 4, Kabam turned up in The Los Angeles Times, lauded as a small social gaming company "quietly gaining momentum" in an arena dominated by giants like Zynga, Electronic Arts, and Disney. But that same day, engineers pushed out an update to one of its massively multiplayer Facebook games that would challenge the tiny …

    Music and Media 11 Aug 21:21

  • Video CAPTCHAs target cyberbaddies

    Animated Turing tests

    NuCaptcha has extended its video-based CAPTCHA service that it claims will make things easier for users while making life more difficult for spammers and other cyber-baddies. The technology, which is customisable, involves asking users to identify moving text in an animation against a video background. NuCaptcha is positioned …

    Spam 11 Aug 22:31

  • Telstra pumps up mobile war chest

    Tidies up VHA mess

    Telstra has swept up the fragmenting mobile market taking on a record 1.66 million new mobile users during the year, pushing mobile revenue growth by 10.7 percent to $AU8.1 billion. The carrier posted a full-year net profit that was above market forecasts, of $AU3.2 billion, although still down 17 percent on last year. “We …

    Business 11 Aug 22:34

  • Google+ succumbs to Facebook game envy

    Invaded by Zombies, Angry Birds, and Bubble 2.0 posterchild

    Google has launched a gaming platform atop its Google+ social networking service, predictably expanding its efforts to turn itself into Facebook. The platform debuted with sixteen games from a handful of Google partners, including Zynga, the Facebook game-king that's set for a $11.5bn IPO; Rovio, maker of mobile phenomenon …

    Music and Media 11 Aug 22:36

  • We buy online punters: Sportsbet

    Commissions under attack in Australian inquiry

    Illegal bookmakers have always relied on “referral marketing”, but it’s now emerged that recruitment commissions cost Australian online betting agency Sportsbet as much as $AU4 million each year. According to The Age, the online agency’s CEO Cormac Barry also conceded that new punters aren’t told about the commissions paid to …

    Business 11 Aug 22:50

  • Mobile gains fail to offset Optus profit dip

    Readies for competition

    Mobile competition is set to intensify in the year ahead with renewed network investment and significant discounting across the market, claimed Optus chief executive, Paul O'Sullivan. Optus posted a 5 percent fall in quarterly profit, while its mobile revenue rose 5 percent in the quarter to $AU1.49 billion. Revenue across …

    Business 11 Aug 23:00

  • Apple pictures iOS on your wall

    Tag team pico projectors

    Apple has filed a patent application for an entirely new type of user interface that combines pico projectors, inter-device communications, and gesture recognition. The filing, "Projected display shared workspaces", envisions users interacting with displays projected by pico projector–equipped devices such as iPhones and iPads …

    Mobile 11 Aug 23:41