The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

29th September 2011 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • Aussie parrots hit the sauce and hit the deck

    What shall we do with the drunken lorikeet?

    Spring is sprung, the grass is rizz, and the little birdies is dropping out of the sky, drunk. It’s actually a regular event in the Northern Territory, at least: the beginning of the northern wet season also coincides with parrots like the Red-Collared Lorikeet somehow hitting the sauce and staggering into animal shelters to …

    Bootnotes 29 Sep 00:01

  • Stars say relativity still works

    Einstein defibrillated, CERN silicon questioned

    The Special Theory of Relativity may be under re-evaluation following CERN’s astonishing neutrino observations, but over in the world of astronomy, general relativity has had another reconfirmation from the Neils Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. Radek Wojtak, Steen Hansen and Jens Hjorth have published in Nature …

    Physics 29 Sep 00:55

  • Google cries foul, Feds dump Microsoft cloud monopoly

    Let the Google Apps, Office 365 cage fight begin

    Google is dropping its case against the US Department of the Interior over that organization’s refusal to consider any cloud-applications provider apart from Microsoft. Google brought the case after it was excluded from bidding for the contract to provide cloud-app services to the DoI, which determined that only Microsoft’s …

    SaaS 29 Sep 01:00

  • Firefox devs mull dumping Java to stop BEAST attacks

    'Horrible user experience' for your own good

    Firefox developers searching for a way to protect users against a new attack that decrypts sensitive web traffic are seriously considering an update that stops the open-source browser from working with Oracle's Java software framework. The move, which would prevent Firefox from working with scores of popular websites and …

    Enterprise Security 29 Sep 01:02

  • If Google builds it, will the applications come?

    Chocolate Factory's Kevin Lo at the Broadband World Forum

    Forget the public vs private infrastructure debate, when Google need a high-speed broadband network, Google just builds it. Addressing Broadband World Forum in Paris this week, Google Access GM Kevin Lo revealed that Google’s fiber network ambitions were forged when he and Chocolate Factory co-founder Sergey Brin discussed the …

    Telecoms 29 Sep 04:30

  • Acer Timeline X 5830T

    Review The boy in blue

    Acer has ploughed itself a nice furrow over the last few years, building nice-looking, well-made laptops. The 5830T might lack the instant recognition and wow-factor of the Apple MacBook Pro, but there’s no arguing that it’s a nice-looking system. The wrist-rest is finished in a light metallic blue, and while the metal strip …

    reghardware 29 Sep 07:00

  • Leatherman style multifunctional network device offered

    QLogic delves in trousers, whips out impressive tool

    QLogic has a new FlexSuite adapter that can function as either 10 gig Ethernet or 16 gig Fibre Channel. The card is an Ethernet NIC, a Converged Network Adapter (CNA) and a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (FC HBA) in one, with a single controller capable of linking servers to a filer, an iSCSI SAN or a Fibre Channel SAN via …

    Data Networking 29 Sep 07:29

  • PlayBook stock mountain: RIM slashes prices

    Unloved fondle-slab is 'a dog with fleas'

    RIM has started to slash prices for its little-loved BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in the US amid channel talk on this side of the pond that the fondleslabs are shifting more slowly than expected and inventory levels are out of control. The troubled Canadian firm is taking a lead from HP which saw demand for its TouchPad go …

    Channel Register 29 Sep 07:56

  • China's patent EXPLOSION could leave West behind

    Analysis Five Year Plan for 400,000-strong patent thicket

    No one should be in any doubt that patents are a key part - if not the key part - of any strategy to gain or hold market share in tech industry. Google is scrambling to cover its arse with hauls of patents from IBM and Motorola Mobility, as the smartphone and fondleslab patent wars scale new heights in courts in Europe and the …

    Business 29 Sep 08:28

  • El Reg drives Cloud Summit

    You can join us too

    In December, the increasingly popular annual Business Cloud Summit will feature a Technology and Developer stream that is driven by The Register’s own Tim Phillips. Why, you might ask, does that matter? Well, it virtually guarantees the tech stream will be largely guff free and that, if nothing else, it will be a perfectly tuned …

    Cloud Business 29 Sep 08:37

  • Lovefilm debuts movie streaming app

    Takes the flicks to the iPad

    Disc rental and streaming service Lovefilm has uploaded a fresh iPad app that will play streamed movies. You'll need to be a Lovefilm subscriber, of course, paying the UK's answer to Netflix at leasy £6 a month for the privilege. Hopefully, Lovefilm will learn from Netflix's example and not separate disc rental from …

    reghardware 29 Sep 08:40

  • Murdoch organ intrudes into readers' private places

    Wall Street Journal 'simplifies' user data policy

    It's been a few short months since Murdoch rag-for-suits the Wall Street Journal perplexed the world by releasing a flawed whistle-blower website for people wanting to leak tasty secrets to the newspaper. Now the WSJ has tweaked its privacy policy and switched on creepy browser-tracking by default. It brazenly confirmed …

    Music and Media 29 Sep 08:42

  • Does Gove’s webmail policy breach Data Protection Act too?

    FOI-fudging foolery might've been the least of Mrs Blurt's boo-boos

    Does the use of Gmail or Hotmail by a Minister's Private Office (in order to evade Freedom of Information (FOI) obligations) also lead to breaches in the Data Protection Act? Well, I can see how this could be the case. The press has raised this issue only in the context of FOI. Yesterday's Sunday Times, for example, noted that …

    Government 29 Sep 09:02

  • Faustian descent into backup hell: A play in two acts

    In which a Reg reader wrestles demons and Ghosts

    A laptop user wanting to remove the backup software Acronis True Image found himself in a Kafkaesque world: the vendor's own clean-up software could potentially render his laptop unbootable. But then a Ghost came to the rescue. The sequence of events played out like an Elizabethan play, so that's how we've treated it. …

    Storage 29 Sep 09:18

  • Slab-fondling e-shoppers spend more

    Link found between tablet-touchers, overpriced sportswear

    The Wall Street Journal has found proof that e-shoppers on tablets are more likely to buy the things they see on their shiny touch screens than people looking at the same sites on traditional computers. On desktops or laptops 3 to 4 per cent of browsers viewing a shop website go on to make a purchase, but for tablets the …

    Financial News 29 Sep 09:38

  • Android tablet growth outpaces market down under

    But Apple's iPad is still very dominant

    The iPad commands three-quarters of the Australia and New Zealand tablet market, so Apple doesn't have to worry about Android growth rates just yet. Market watcher IDC released its local tablet sales figures this week. The numbers cover Q2. Android tablet shipments into the region went up threefold quarter on quarter, while …

    PCs & Chips 29 Sep 09:44

  • Star Trek TNG revamped for Blu-ray in 2012

    Remastered for 1080p HD

    Captain's log 65209.2, CBS has officially confirmed Star Trek: The Next Generation will be heading to Blu-Ray in 2012. And, in celebration of the show's 25th anniversary, each of the 178 episodes throughout TNG's seven series will be remastered in 1080p HD. TNG will be available from January, starting with a sampler of …

    reghardware 29 Sep 09:50

  • Meter Readings

    iOS App of the Week Lovely Rita, meter maid... you’re fired!

    With energy prices going through the roof, I recently decided that it was time to pay a bit more attention to my meter readings. There are a few apps for reading gas and and electricity meters, but most of these seem to come from individual energy companies, such as EDF and npower, and only let you take one reading for your …

    reghardware 29 Sep 10:00

  • Oracle accuses Autonomy chief of telling 'whopper'

    'Either Mr Lynch has a very poor memory or he’s lying'

    Autonomy boss Mike Lynch has continued to deny trying to flog his company to Oracle before the recent controversial deal with HP - despite the database giant's blunt claims that he is telling "whoppers". Lynch was responding to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's previous remarks to the effect that Autonomy was shopped to Oracle before …

    Financial News 29 Sep 10:10

  • Googorola deal stalled by Feds

    Probe punts acquisition into 2012

    The US Department of Justice has asked for more time to consider Google's $12.5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility, putting paid to any hopes of closing out the deal before the end of the year. Most of Google's acquisitions are scrutinised very closely because of the Chocolate Factory's sprawling empire across the net and its …

    Business 29 Sep 10:21

  • ISPs get flimsy self-help leaflet on net speed ads

    'Up to' and 'unlimited' claims lightly poked

    A so-called "Help Note" has been published this morning that offers guidance to advertisers when flogging broadband based on attractive speed claims. However, the set of recommendations (12-page PDF/41KB) do not form a self-regulatory framework as some ISPs such as Virgin Media might have liked. Instead the Advertising …

    Networks 29 Sep 10:31

  • Firms are RUBBISH at payment security

    One in five bothered to meet standards

    Most retailers and other businesses are continuing to struggle with payment card industry standards, placing confidential customer data at a heightened risk of exposure as a result. A Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance Report from Verizon found that just one in five (21 per cent) organisations achieved compliance during …

    Enterprise Security 29 Sep 10:40

  • Ultrabooks vs tablets: tablet demise greatly exaggerated

    Makers spin skinny laptops as tablet killers. Wrong.

    If you read stories on the interweb, almost all of them sourced from a DigiTimes article, that tablet sales will be whammed next year by Ultrabooks, consider. The claim is primarily made by Acer VP Scott Lin who, not at all coincidentally, announced Acer's Aspire S3 Ultrabook in Taiwan the day before the Digitimes article …

    reghardware 29 Sep 10:42

  • HP recruits Goldman Sachs to grapple activist investors

    Collapsed share price makes IT tanker vulnerable

    HP has rented the services of Goldman Sachs Group to fend off any potential activist investors seeking to rock the boat. The WSJ says the investment bank will man the battlements against corporate raiders that could exploit the fallen share price – down by a fifth last month after HP made public its PSG review, canned WebOS …

    Channel Register 29 Sep 10:51

  • Boffins prove Queen ballad 'world's most catchy song'

    We are the Champions hits right note

    Enterprising "music scientists" have declared Queen's 1977 cheesy power ballad We are the Champions as the world's catchiest song after thoroughly analysing it. Certain features of Freddie Mercury's voice stir a primal urge in us, gush the boffins, and make us more likely to raise our voices in a chant and then, er, follow him …

    Music and Media 29 Sep 11:00

  • Rise of Nightmares

    Review Kinect's first frightfest?

    A spine-tingling unease, an oppressive sense of dread, an irrepressible fear – dusting off and firing up the Kinect sensor can fill any self respecting gamer with a profound foreboding. Since its release almost a year ago, Child of Eden stands as the only hardcore game to shine its - admittedly brilliant - light through the …

    reghardware 29 Sep 11:00

  • T-Mobile: Samsung ban really not in the public interest

    US telcos line up in front of rumbling legal Applenaut

    T-Mobile USA has joined Verizon Wireless on the Samsung side of the Apple patent suit in the US, which at the moment is looking for a preliminary injunction on selected devices from the Korean firm's factories. The telco has filed its own amicus brief* with the court, claiming that granting the injunction on Samsung products …

    Networks 29 Sep 11:09

  • RM flogging or axing units in painful shake-up

    Nearly one in five jobs to go

    Education supplier RM - faced with no uplift in market conditions on the horizon - is laying off staff, and flogging or shuttering some of its loss-making subsidiaries. The move plunged its share price by nearly a quarter. The LSE-listed firm today revealed it will axe more than one-fifth of the workforce as it restructures …

    Channel Register 29 Sep 11:19

  • Anonymous hacktivists turn rapper on YouTube, iTunes

    Hip hop flop still beats hack wack cack

    Hacktivist groups TeaMp0isoN and Anonymous have teamed up with an independent artist to release a rap song which they hope will storm the music charts. Proceeds from the ‪#OpCensorThis‬ digital activism project, a collaboration between TeaMp0isoN and ‪Lyricist Jinn – ‬will go to the East Africa Crisis Appeal. A slick …

    Music and Media 29 Sep 11:29

  • Nokia axes another 3,500 jobs

    Glum Finns spurned by Redmond

    Nokia is cutting a further 3,500 jobs in Europe as part of its restructuring plan to save the company €1bn in operating expenses by 2013. The Finnish phone company axed 7,000 jobs in April, with 4,000 people going from Britain, Denmark and Finland and 3,000 Symbian jobs moving from the firm to Accenture. Today, Nokia …

    Networks 29 Sep 11:41

  • Microsoft woos open-sourcers to float Hyper-V clouds

    Getting on the OpenNebula Linux list

    Microsoft is working with an Apache-licensed open-source project to make Hyper-V and Windows Servers an integral part of cloud-computing infrastructure. The software giant is providing support and technical guidance to OpenNebula to put Hyper-V on a list of hypervisors that the project officially supports. Prototype …

    Cloud 29 Sep 11:49

  • Amazon's Silk looks creepily Phorm-ulaic

    Analysis Data-hoarding by proxy

    A trick question for you... What's the difference between Phorm's controversial WebWise system, and the kind of giant web proxy unveiled by Amazon yesterday? Technically, there isn't one. WebWise and Silk are doing exactly the same thing. Both intercept private web traffic – and massage it. Both also aggregate enormous amounts …

    Music and Media 29 Sep 12:00

  • HTC sprouts smartphone for shoppers on a shoe-string

    Budget buzzer

    HTC has confirmed the launch of its latest budget smartphone, the HTC Explorer, set to hit the UK in the coming months. The Explorer runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread with HTC's Sense UI on a 600MHz processor. There's a 3.2in touchscreen and 3Mp camera too. All pretty basic stuff, but the Explorer should be easy on the wallet and …

    reghardware 29 Sep 12:10

  • Crazy pot smokers get high on wireless power

    'Turn on the radio, man'. 'Hey radio, I love you'

    The Wireless Power Consortium is promising to demonstrate more than 60 new products next week, heralding a new wave of battery charging for people too stoned to plug in their phones. That's according to the makers of one of the products to be shown, the eponymous GetPowerPad, who recently announced it was in the last stages of …

    Networks 29 Sep 12:15

  • Samsung's Galaxy Tab bicycle could be dangerous

    Watch the roadslab

    Samsung has taken its Galaxy Tab on the road, promoting its fondleslab through a custom-built road bike with built-in slate holder. The company says the odd cycling accessory means the Galaxy Tab 10.1 can be "easily used while on the move", although it's a struggle to see how. In fact, it's difficult to see why anyone would …

    reghardware 29 Sep 12:19

  • Journo register gaffe a boon for media overlords

    Opinion Labour's half-baked plan backfires

    New Labour showed both its technological illiteracy and authoritarian streak by floating plans to establish an official register of journalists from which miscreants might be struck off. Shadow culture secretary Ivan Lewis suggested the idea as a sanction against rogue reporters in the wake of the ongoing News International …

    Public Sector 29 Sep 12:29

  • Amazon accepts Kindle Fire will be rooted

    Not raising barriers against hardware hackers?

    Amazon has confirmed that its Kindle Fire 7in Android tablet can be rooted - and that it expects it will be soon enough. The retailer will apparently do nothing to prevent hardware hackers getting into the gadget's software innards, Jon Jenkins, director of Amazon's Silk browser project, suggested to PC Mag. "It's going to …

    reghardware 29 Sep 12:38

  • Brands stiffed by .xxx briefs' cock-ups

    Hard-up firms can't afford to waste cash...

    Half of all attempts to protect trademarks from the new .xxx internet extension could be failing due to lawyers' inability to RTFM*. That appears to be the conclusion of one company handling applications to prevent trademark-infringing use of the new adults-only top-level domain. The .xxx extension, operated by ICM Registry, …

    Hosting 29 Sep 12:44

  • Autonomy slams Oracle's 'Lynch tells whoppers' claim

    'They seem a little confused'

    Autonomy has firmly rejected Oracle's claims it really was shopping itself to Oracle, saying Oracle needs help with its unstructured data, and Autonomy could help. We can't say it any better than Autonomy's statement so here it is for your enjoyment: Last week in response to a question about unstructured information Oracle …

    Financial News 29 Sep 12:54

  • Go Daddy flogs 50 MILLION domains

    One bought every second

    Go Daddy's installed base of domain name registrations has swollen to 50 million, dwarfing all of its closest competitors. The 50 millionth name, dbakit.com, was registered by Indian punter Kranthi Kumar Kukkala over the weekend, according to the company. Go Daddy's closest competitor is eNom, owned by publicly traded Demand …

    Hosting 29 Sep 13:20

  • Groupon moves into online retailing in US

    All products made of 'bonded molecules and stardust'

    Groupon has launched a retail unit in the US, putting the daily deals website in competition with etailing leaders like Amazon. The US website currently has an FAQ list on the new service here, that enthuses: Groupon Goods features really good deals on great products. To get airspace on Groupon Goods, a product has to be …

    Financial News 29 Sep 13:38

  • Dead FalconStor CEO 'was set to plead guilty'

    Huai faced multi-million dollar bribe charges

    Newsday is alleging that FalconStor CEO Reijane Huai was going to plead guilty to a multi-million dollar bribery scheme. Reijane Huai died on Monday in an apparent suicide – the day before he was due to face charges in a US District Court on 27 September at 11.30am. Newsday claims records show he was intending to plead guilty …

    Business 29 Sep 14:01

  • Defence firm Ultra goes cyber with AEP buy

    Slings military might into cyberwarfare

    UK-based defence conglomerate Ultra Electronics has acquired security appliance firm AEP Networks in a deal valued at up to $75m. Ultra Electronics agreed to pay $57.5m plus a further $17.5m, depending on sales figures, for the remote appliance firm. AEP Networks specialises in SSL VPN appliances that allow workers to securely …

    Enterprise Security 29 Sep 14:21

  • Spotify adds 'temporary' private listening mode after Facebook backlash

    We're not Zuckerberg's bitch... bitch

    Spotify tried to placate its unhappy users today after they were herded into Facebook's reservation in a deal between the two companies. Users of Spotify's service suddenly started seeing their music playlists and history shared with their stalkerbase on Facebook. The onus was placed on individuals to then manually turn the …

    Music and Media 29 Sep 14:41

  • HTC reckons 'WinPho will give Android a run for its money'

    Analysts agree?

    HTC has expressed its love for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, stating it believes the OS will "eventually be better than other platforms and will give Android a run for its money". The remark was made by HTC manager Melvin Chua at the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango launch in Singapore yesterday, ZDNet Asia reports. The statement has …

    reghardware 29 Sep 14:42

  • Be steps back from fibre broadband in 2011 pledge

    Potential network partners not up to snuff, says ISP

    Be Broadband will not be implementing fibre optic connectivity any time soon, the ISP admitted yesterday, it's plans taking "longer than hoped" to put in place. In a blog post, the company said: "We’re sorry that our initial goal of fibre products this year might not be possible." Rather than establish its own fibre network …

    reghardware 29 Sep 14:54

  • NetApp perks up FAS2000, bigs up Vegas gig

    Entry-level needs a kick up the pants

    NetApp is set to refresh its FAS 2000 line with a FAS 2240 system – needing the much-anticipated Data ONTAP 8.1 software. We understand there will be a FAS 2240-2 and and 2240-4, both rack-mounted systems. The 2240-2 uses a DS2246 shelf with the 2240-4 requiring the DS4243 shelf. The latter will support 3TB drives as will a …

    Storage 29 Sep 15:01

  • Gibson revisits Firebird range with robotic refresh

    Classic axe gets new-age polish

    Gibson Guitar has taken its classic 1960s Firebird axe into the 21st Century with the launch of a limited edition hi-tech guitar system, the Firebird X. The Gibson Firebird X rocks up with features such as fourth-generation Robot tuners for automatic tuning, on-board effects and wireless bluetooth pedals. It even allows for …

    reghardware 29 Sep 15:15

  • Boffins invent miracle pill that counteracts effects of booze

    Drunk test mice could drive a car, if they could drive

    Biology boffins have turned their hand to something useful: a pill to stop you acting drunk no matter how many pints you put away. It's your mutinous immune system that gives you that sozzled feeling after a boozy session, scientists claim in a paper published today in the British Journal of Pharmacology. Conk out certain …

    Science 29 Sep 15:29

  • iPhone 5 to support 21Mb/s HSPA+ not LTE

    Chinese telco outs handset's data spec

    A China Unicom executive has let slip that the iPhone 5 - or, at least, the 2011 edition of the Apple handset - will support HSPA+ 3G technology with download speeds of up to 21Mb/s. That would seem to scupper the hopes of fanboys hoping their next handset will support LTE '4G' technology. At the Macworld Asia show, the …

    reghardware 29 Sep 15:45

  • Logitech fined for bogus bug-busting keyboard ad

    Won't actually kill bacteria, software bugs etc

    Misleading adverts for a biological bug killing keyboard violated federal law and earned its maker a six-figure fine. Claims that the USB keyboard protected users from microbes and bacteria have landed manufacturer Logitech a $261,000 fine, after the US Environmental Protection Agency ruled that Logi's promotional material …

    PCs & Chips 29 Sep 16:01

  • Cops probe £500k hole in reseller's books

    Accumuli discovered irregularity after Boxing Orange buy

    Police are investigating financial irregularities that Accumuli management discovered in the books of Boxing Orange, a managed security services provider it acquired for £5.48m last spring. LSE-listed Accumuli confirmed today that while integrating the business into its fold, a review of the internal financial control system …

    Channel Register 29 Sep 16:13

  • Man who blasted five million text spams gets wrist slap

    Gummed by toothless attack dog

    Federal authorities have issued a token wrist slap to a California man for sending at least 5 million text-message spams and harvesting the personal information of recipients against their wishes. Phil Flora of Huntington Beach, California, agreed to pay $32,000 to settle charges brought in February by the Federal Trade …

    Law 29 Sep 17:27

  • Oracle revs up Sparc, speeds up roadmap

    Years to go before Larry dumps x86 and Sparc64

    How long will it be until Oracle stops selling systems that are based on Intel's Xeon processors? Or servers that use Fujitsu's Sparc64 line of processors, for that matter? To hear Oracle cofounder and CEO Larry Ellison tell it, tomorrow would be just fine to cease and desist making and selling x86-based machinery. The only …

    Servers 29 Sep 19:30

  • Microsoft's Android patent ransom to 'total $444m' next year

    Goldman Sachs guestimate shows peanuts for patents

    A report from the technology analysis team at Goldman Sachs estimates that Microsoft will suck up $444 million in Android royalties over the coming financial year. The group estimates that Microsoft will make between three and six dollars per device, after signing patent-protection deals with smartphone and tablet …

    Mobile 29 Sep 19:44

  • Heroku floats heavenly Python into platform cloud

    Engine Yard adds JRuby to fluffy JVMs

    The polyglotting of platform clouds continues apace, with the Heroku platform-as-a-service cloud, owned by Salesforce.com, announcing support for PHP, and with PaaS competitor Engine Yard adding support for JRuby. Heroku, which deploys its PaaS layer on top of Amazon's EC2 compute cloud, already supports Ruby, Node.js, Clojure …

    Platform 29 Sep 21:16

  • Apple victorious: Courts deny hackintosher's final plea

    Psystar case grinds to grisly conclusion – alllmost...

    The long-running legal imbroglio between Apple and hackintosh-maker Psystar has – almost – been brought to an end: a federal appeals court has affirmed Apple's 2009 injunction of death that prevents Psystar from selling Mac products from now until eternity. This case has traveled a long and bumpy road, one filled with …

    PCs & Chips 29 Sep 21:20

  • Apple to Oz court: ‘Our products are lame, really’

    Can’t let people taste the forbidden Android fruit

    Lawyers, it seems, don’t have to clear the things they say to judges with the corporate PR department. So it is that in the Apple vs Samsung hearing in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday, Apple in effect told the court its iPad is too lame to withstand competition. If that statement sounds a little strong, here’s what Apple …

    Business 29 Sep 21:30

  • RIM defends PlayBook as more execs bail

    Reports of tablet's demise 'pure fiction'

    Research in Motion is fighting back against rumors that it's abandoning its PlayBook tablet effort, just as word arrives that two more execs have jumped ship from the Canadian Titanic-emulator. "Rumors suggesting that the BlackBerry PlayBook is being discontinued are pure fiction," a RIM spokeswoman emailed Reuters. "RIM …

    Business 29 Sep 23:16

  • Chinese fuzz bust faux iPhone racket

    Shanghai gang shanghaied

    Police in Shanghai have arrested five suspects in a phony iPhone case that is thought to have netted over three quarters of a million dollars. According to the Shanghai Daily, police raided an underground workshop in July in the city’s Zhabei district, not far from the Shanghai Multimedia Valley technology zone, and found that …

    Crime 29 Sep 23:30