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3rd November 2011 Archive

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  • Notorious eBay hacker gets 3-year suspended sentence

    'Vladuz' repeatedly impaled auctioneer's defenses

    Vladuz, the Romanian hacker who repeatedly accessed off-limits parts of eBay's website and then publicly taunted company officials over the security lapses, has been handed a suspended three-year sentence, according to news reports. The Bucharest appeal court issued the sentence on Wednesday to 23-year-old Vlad Duiculescu, AFP …

    Security 3 Nov 00:09

  • Aussie scientists develop radioactivity-trapping nanofibers

    One gram of fiber cleans a ton of water

    Scientists from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed a new material for cleaning up contaminated water from radioactive leaks and medical processes. The team mixed titanate nanofiber and nanotubes into a powder that, it says, will clean the radioactive particles in a ton of water with a single gram, …

    Energy 3 Nov 00:23

  • Google releases, quickly recalls native iOS Gmail app

    'Unfortunately, it contained a bug...'

    Was it only yesterday that we told you that a native Gmail app was coming to iOS? Well, today it came – and today it left. "Earlier today we launched a new Gmail app for iOS," Googler Matthew Izatt wrote in a Tuesday blog post. "Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error …

    Mobile 3 Nov 00:25

  • Better multithreading offered by Columbia U researchers

    Reducing the bugs, improving the execution

    Since world+dog uses multithreaded software, it’s nice to know that someone cares about what goes wrong with it. A computer science group from Columbia University says it has a solution to “data races” in multithreaded programs, a common source of bugs and crashes. Its offering, called Peregrine, is the result of work at the …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 00:30

  • Lenovo ThinkPad X1 13.3in Core i5 notebook

    Review A computer of habit?

    There’s something very strange going on in ThinkPadland. Reports of two-headed calves, even flocks of birds flying backwards – these are nothing compared to some of the design changes wrought on ThinkPad users in recent times. Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 combines new and familiar features Since it was launched 11 years ago, the X- …

    reghardware 3 Nov 07:00

  • Cabinet Office publishes open source procurement toolkit

    Using document format that was proprietary until 2008

    The Cabinet Office has published an open source procurement toolkit for the public sector on its website. It said the purpose is to ensure that there is a level playing field for open source and proprietary software and that some of the myths associated with open source are dispelled. The toolkit includes six documents: All …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 07:58

  • Nintendo pwns notion Wii was only for casual gaming

    Call of Duty: Mario Warfare 3, anyone?

    The Nintendo Wii is often associated with family entertainment and the softcore games market, but the firm's boss insists it wasn't the company's intentions to focus on casual gaming. In a Q&A with investors, Satoru Iwata insisted Nintendo would "keep pursuing 'gaming population expansion' as our fundamental goal for the …

    reghardware 3 Nov 08:10

  • Premium-rate calls watchdog to join battle against pirates

    Copyright cop pledges total British intolerance

    The UK's regulator of premium rate services (PRS) will pass on details of copyright infringing websites to service providers under a new "proactive" arrangement with police and music industry representatives, it has announced. PhonepayPlus said that PRS providers notified of copyright infringing sites could be charged under …

    Policing 3 Nov 08:18

  • British Library defends flogging of orphaned artwork

    MPs told of collateral damage to photographers

    MPs heard a spirited debate about digital rights this week – including the digital rights you might or might not have as an amateur creator. Big media companies would like the freedom to use artwork they find on the web without having to worry about lawsuits or negotiating market rates with creators. The web is awash with …

    Media 3 Nov 08:30

  • Swiss boffins produce working cloth made of GOLD

    Fairytale fabric used in ties, hankies: no parachutes yet

    Swiss government boffins, perhaps confirming certain views on the prime preoccupation of many in Switzerland, are overjoyed to announce that they have finally developed a way of making practicably useful textiles out of gold. Thin gold wires and thread have of course been used as ornamentation on clothing and other textiles …

    Odds and Sods 3 Nov 08:44

  • The boom and bust challenge of storage management

    Live today Better management = better bang per buck?

    Today at 11:00 GMT we're broadcasting live from our St Paul's studio with a program, and some experts, that look at the challenges of storage management. You can join us for free from the comfort of your desk – just make sure you bring your questions along because we've got a top drawer set of presenters for you. Jon Collins …

    Storage 3 Nov 08:45

  • Google pushes out pretty mobile stats interface

    It's for ad-pushers, but you can use it too...

    Ever wondered how many internet-using young men in Denmark watch TV while using their smartphone? No? Oh. Well, anyway, now you can find out, thanks to a new survey and analysis service from Google. The data comes from Ipsos, and was gathered using online polls and personal interviews, but it’s the presentation and quantity of …

    Mobile 3 Nov 09:01

  • Disk prices double after flood - and could 'double again'

    Platter chatter says Thai flood will affect us all

    Hard disk prices doubled in the past fortnight following the severe flooding in Thailand and could potentially rise by the same amount again, channel sources have warned. The world's second largest producer of drives behind China, Thailand, is dealing with the aftermath of flooding that has killed 380 people, inundated 14,000 …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 09:13

  • Hague refuses to name nations which cyberattack Britain

    LCC 'Vigorous private discussions' shall be theirs, though

    The London Conference on Cyberspace wasn't a forum for outing the states that had launched cyberattacks in the UK, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday. One of William Hague's "messages" from the conference, outlined in his closing remarks, was that "state-sponsored attacks are not in the interests of any country long-term, …

    Government 3 Nov 09:27

  • Apple confirms iPhone 4S battery bashing bugs

    'Several' glitches uncovered

    Apple has coughed to the battery drain problem plaguing iPhone 4S owners and has promised to flatten the bug. Insisting the issue was being experienced only by "a small number" of punters, Apple nonetheless said it had uncovered "several" battery bashing bugs and will update iOS 5.0 to fix them "in a few weeks". iOS 5.0.1 - …

    reghardware 3 Nov 09:39

  • Shale gas operations triggered Blackpool tremors

    Deep-level drilling caused two minor earthquakes

    Shale consortium Cuadrilla says deep-level drilling caused two minor earthquakes in Lancashire, but they were so small hardly anyone felt them. The group's report, a Geomechanical Study of Bowland Shale Seismicity, which coughed to the tiny tremors, was published on Wednesday. Cuadrilla says a quake of magnitude 2.3 on 1 April …

    Science 3 Nov 09:41

  • iPad 3 to debut Q3 2012 as iPad 4

    Unless February's iPad 3 is the iPad 2S

    Take the latest whispers from Taiwan as gospel and you won't have to sacrifice your earnings to the Church of Jobs for an iPad 3 until Q3 2012. That's the latest Apple supply chain scuttlebutt, which now has it that the "retina display" equipped fondleslab won't be out for ages. No great surprise there: LG and Samsung, the …

    reghardware 3 Nov 09:54

  • The Google Review, explained...

    Immense wealth awaits. Email Ian Hargreaves with bank details, statute book

    Now we know why what was widely called the "Google Review" into intellectual property came to the conclusions it did. And we have it from the horse's mouth: not Google, but Professor Ian Hargreaves and his team at the IPO, who "guided" him. If you recall, a year ago the Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that the Google …

    Government 3 Nov 10:03

  • Cyberattack Blighty and we'll use 'military means' - UK gov

    LCC Once we've sent a letter and had a chat, naturally

    Any British response to a foreign state’s cyberattack would be proportionate, a Foreign Office official told The Register yesterday. On Monday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told the London Conference on Cyberspace (LCC) that threats of electronic attacks were “a real and pressing concern” for the country. “This summer a …

    Government 3 Nov 10:14

  • HP downgrades Slate Windows tab

    Slower Atom, less Flash

    Employees in big business can soon look forward to HP's latest tablet: the Windows-running, Intel Atom-based Slate 2. Despite the numbering, the Slate 2 is an follow-up to the Slate 500, dropping the latter's 1.9GHz Atom Z540 for the more modern, but seemingly slower - the the specs are anything to go by - 1.5GHz Z670. As …

    reghardware 3 Nov 10:16

  • BT profits climb on brisk broadband sales

    Total sales slide 2% for Q2, wholesale wing remains flabby

    BT reported second quarter sales of £4.89bn, a 2 per cent drop, while pre-tax profits rose 15 per cent to £570m for the period ended 31 September. Earnings per share rose from 5.1 pence to 5.6 pence and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were up 3 per cent at BT, with the company reporting £1.49bn …

    Financial News 3 Nov 10:32

  • RM threatens to axe 300 staff

    Education IT budgets collapse blamed

    RM has told up to 300 staff that their necks are on the line following the completion of last month's strategic review. The cost-cutting programme is in response to plummeting education ICT budgets, which sources estimate are down in some cases by as much as 50 per cent. Specialist education supplier RM has already parted …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 10:42

  • Facebook denies silent stalking of punters (again)

    Hamburg watchdog pokes 'suspicious' cookies

    Facebook has once again been forced to defend its use of cookies after a German watchdog said it was "suspicious" that the dominant social network was creating tracking profiles of its users without seeking their consent to do so. The company denied it was slurping such data from its stalkerbase as claimed by the Hamburg data …

    Networks 3 Nov 10:53

  • Adobe Reader

    iOS App of the Week Proper PDF perusal on't 'Pad?

    It’s hard to believe that it has taken Adobe so long to release a PDF reader for iDevices, especially since the Android version has been available for more than a year now. And with so many other apps already available for reading PDF files, including Apple’s own iBooks, I could barely muster the enthusiasm to download Adobe …

    reghardware 3 Nov 11:00

  • The trials and tribulations of data centre networking

    Reg Research Survey results: No easy answers

    For much of the last decade data centre networking, along with networking in general, has become accepted as part of the glue that is invisible to business users. End users now take for granted that networking ‘works’, but with new services placing greater stress on data centre networks, what do organisations think about the …

    Network Futures 3 Nov 11:15

  • Apple was OK to fire man for private Facebook comments

    'Image is so central to Apple's success', says tribunal

    Apple was right to fire an employee of one of its UK stores for saying rude things about the company on his Facebook wall, an employment tribunal in Bury St Edmunds ruled.* The tribunal judge upheld Apple's dismissal of the man for gross misconduct in a case which sets another precedent for social network users who like to …

    Networks 3 Nov 11:26

  • Toshiba prices up Portégé Ultrabook

    Pro, consumer models on offer

    Toshiba's first Ultrabook - the Portégé Z830; see our eyes-on, launched during September's IFA consumer electronics show - will finally go on sale this month. The skinny machine will come with a choice of low-voltage Intel Core i3 and i5 processors, up to 6GB of DDR 3 memory, Intel's integrated HD GMA 3000 graphics core, and …

    reghardware 3 Nov 11:33

  • Sony's PlayStation Home given complete overhaul

    Care in the online community

    Sony has revamped its PlayStation Home design with a fresh virtual world featuring new games and social content for those who like to mingle with their avatars. For starters, there's new social spaces to meet with other virtual virtuosos, including The Boardwalk and a retouched Home Square. However, it's the four pristine …

    reghardware 3 Nov 11:35

  • Maggie Philbin on tech, teens and cardigan fear

    Interview Tomorrow's World icon was first to say 'I'm on a train'

    It could all have been so different. Thanks to a lack of sound career guidance, techie icon Maggie Philbin didn't become an engineer and instead co-presented the BBC's Tomorrow's World. Philbin wowed a generation of tweens regularly for half an hour a week between 1982 and 1989 with demos of the first fax machine, mobile phone …

    Entertainment 3 Nov 11:36

  • Gadget 'bouncers' hired to patrol biz clouds

    If your name's not down, you're not connecting in

    Security appliance firms are using the big industry push towards cloud services, and the trend of allowing staff to bring their own devices into work, to sell technology that attempts to fix the resulting security mess. ForeScout Technologies launched a scheme to sell its CounterACT Network Access Control (NAC) technology as a …

    Cloud 3 Nov 11:46

  • Mobile case brings glasses-free 3D to iPhone

    Extended dimensions

    While 3D has hardly lit up the world of tech, iPhone users hoping to enjoy the extra dimension will be pleased to know the capability is now available thanks to a case with a lenticular screen cover. Glasses not required. The 3D Movie Viewer Case from Deal Extreme might rock up in a baby-pink and black design, but it'll mount …

    reghardware 3 Nov 11:49

  • Trevor works out on VDI roll-outs

    Stories from the trenches

    Deploying virtual desktop integration may save you lots of money (or not). It may increase your employees' mobility (or not). But if you stream the footie match in high definition on 30 virtual machines, it will definitely do a number on a single Gig-E interface. In this webcast systems administrator Trevor Pott reveals some …

    Enterprise Tech 3 Nov 12:00

  • Americans' right to hang fake balls on trucks left dangling

    Truck nuts case not seen as low-hanging fruit by court

    Americans on the horns of a constitutional dilemma over their right to hang simulated, over-sized testicles from the back of their pickups will have to wait even longer for the issue to be decided. Virginia Tice, of Bonneau, South Carolina, was hit with a $445 ticket back in July for hanging a pair of the "truck nuts" off the …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 12:09

  • Dixons knocks £200 off laptops before Xmas...

    ...but angles to get it back in the new year

    Dixons chains Currys and PC World will knock £200 off the price of a new notebook, provided you buy it this month. And when you hand over your cash, the two DSG brands will also give you a £50 voucher to spend on software and accessories, Dixons said today. You'll also get £15 toward apps sold through its KnowHow App Centre, …

    reghardware 3 Nov 12:15

  • Apple iOS 5's hidden 3D revealed

    Aussie dev's tweak could mean spinning teapots for all

    iOS 5, the latest OS for Apple trinkets, has hidden depths in the form of support for 3D objects embedded in web pages though the use of WebGL, and not just for paying customers. At first it seemed that WebGL would only be available for advertisements using Apple's iAd framework, but Aussie developer Nathan de Vries has worked …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 12:18

  • Smart meters: Nothing can possibly go wrong, says gov

    Sky box in charge of your house is a tip-top notion

    A UK government minister has reassured Parliament that upcoming deployments of smart meters will be secure. The assurances by junior energy minister Charles Hendry follow admissions by a senior civil servant at a House of Commons Public Accounts committee on Monday that the government's £12bn plan to roll out smart energy …

    Enterprise Security 3 Nov 12:27

  • Yamaha RX-V471 5.1 AV receiver

    Review Ridiculously good value?

    Yamaha’s RX-V471 is more than just a budget 5.1 AV receiver with 3D-friendly HDMIs. It represents something of a reboot for the celebrated hi-fi brand. Despite having a heritage with AV that can be traced back to the very first surround sound decoder, the past few years have seen the company floundering. For some reason it just …

    reghardware 3 Nov 12:30

  • Kindle users can 'borrow' an extra book - forever

    That's not what 'library' and 'lend' mean, say publishers

    Amazon will lend Kindle owners a book every month as part of a new ebook borrowing scheme known as the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. The digi-library will only be available to owners of a Kindle device who also subscribe to the £49-a-year Amazon Prime programme. It is not available via the Kindle apps for Android and iPad. …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 12:36

  • Universal Music sued by its artists over downloads dosh

    Wrinkly rockers want their Eminem iTunes slice of pie

    A class-action lawsuit by artists against the world’s largest record company has been given the green light by a judge. The dispute, which pits Universal Music against a number of its featured artists, sounds arcane – but an estimated $2bn (£1.25bn) in royalties is at stake. Universal treats a digital download or ringtone as a …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 12:45

  • Amazon on Facebook: 'la la la we're not listening'

    Ann Summers deliciously responsive, however

    The Facebook Pages for some of the UK's biggest retailers are awash with marketing messages, but often ignore questions and complaints from their customers, a new study has found. Amazon was the worst performing among the 10 UK retailers with the largest Facebook footprint – taken from Econsultancy's top 10 retailers rated by …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 12:54

  • Want to avoid all private-data breaches, ever? Here's how

    Interview Wilderness guru speaks, world listens

    As information and privacy commissioner of Ontario, Ann Cavoukian's jurisdiction is limited to the Canadian province. But that doesn't mean the effects of her post don't extend into territories across the globe. “What I always say is privacy transcends jurisdiction,” she says. “It knows no boundaries. So if I'm going to protect …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 13:13

  • Google and co join gov's identity marketplace

    Midata: A lucrative ID trade-off

    Google is among 26 companies that have signed up to the government's latest effort to create a British business sector out of the handling of private data and an individual's online identity. The logo depicts the comforting eye of Sauron midata... UK.gov prefers to cast this agenda as part of its push to make the …

    ID 3 Nov 13:24

  • Brit boffins print blinking booze bottle labels

    Now that's a light beer

    A Cambridge-based printing biz has managed to print little lights onto beer bottle labels that flash as you grab your favourite tipple. Boffins at PragmatIC have been able to print working electronic circuits onto biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), which detect pressure from fingers and run the lights to create the …

    Small Biz 3 Nov 13:33

  • Shock movie upset - Daniel Craig still James Bond 007

    Showbiz insiders predict shooting, babes in Skyfall

    Daniel Craig is back as James Bond 007, blond-haired ball-busting hero of new film Skyfall that will start filming today. As Craig brings his sculptured abs and sea-blue eyes back to the role, fans of the Bond franchise can look forward to the introduction of amber-eyed French beauty Bérénice Marlohe who will play a "glamorous …

    Entertainment 3 Nov 13:42

  • Moto rolls out Xoom 2 Android fondleslabs

    Little and large tablets to swallow

    Motorola officially announced its fondleslab followups today, launching the anticipated Xoom 2 and a smaller sibling, the Xoom 2 Media Edition. The Motorola Xoom 2 boasts a 10.1in display made from super-tough Corning Gorilla glass. It sports a 1.2GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor running Android 3.2 …

    reghardware 3 Nov 13:50

  • Welsh gov splashes its cash on 10 lucky resellers

    Cymru names IT suppliers in two-year deal

    Ten resellers have won a place on the Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) two-year framework for PCs and peripherals. Following a tender for the IT Equipment and Associated Services agreement, Computacenter, Computerworld Wales, Kelway, Misco, Gaia Technologies, Viglen, Stone Computers, Softcat, XMA Computer Products and Desk …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 13:52

  • Fixing Android mobes costs telcos millions

    Punters confused by versions and broken kit

    Keeping up with repairs and returns on Android mobes is costing operators up to £1.25bn ($2bn) a year, according to a new study. The very factor that's making the platform such a success - its openness - is also what's making its phones so expensive to support, wireless services firm WDS claims (PDF) in a report. "One thing …

    Operating Systems 3 Nov 14:03

  • Fujitsu boffins send DAN into storage fight

    Disk Area Network tightly trusses disks to CPUs

    Has Fujitsu issued a DAN dare to the networked storage industry, challenging its entire existence? Fujitsu Laboratories in Kawasaki, Japan, has re-envisioned network storage by implementing it as a disk-area network co-located with CPUs and memory to make multiple configurable servers out of compute and storage pools. The …

    Storage 3 Nov 14:17

  • Beijing to get free Wi-Fi with obvious strings attached

    Mobile number needed to access 480,000 hotspots

    Over the next five years Beijing will get 480,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots, but using them will require a mobile number and an agreement to have your activities tracked and monitored. The network is being put together by China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, and will be free to use for least the next three years. However, …

    Wireless 3 Nov 14:34

  • UN set to dump GMT for tech-friendly Atomic Time

    Just a minute...

    Greenwich could lose its place at the centre of global time if a move to "atomic time" is voted in by the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva in January 2012. Time scientists are discussing the implications of the change today in pre-vote meeting organised by the Royal Society. British newspapers are mulling how …

    Government 3 Nov 14:44

  • Nude lady recreates Star Wars tauntaun scene in dead horse

    Beast killed with .300 magnum, not light-sabre

    An Oregon woman who posted photos of herself reclining nude and spattered with equine bodily fluids in the carcass of a dead horse has declared she was partly inspired by Star Wars. Jasha Lottin and her friend John Frost came to the attention of authorities in Oregon after an animal lover in South Carolina took exception to a …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 15:02

  • LG seeks cash to save its smartphone biz

    Massive shares issue to pump mobes, workforce

    LG Electronics is planning to raise 1.0621 trillion won (£588m) in a shares issue so it can pour funds into core businesses like smartphones and take on new staff, its board said today. The 19 million new shares will be issued at 55,900 won (£30.96) each, a 9 per cent discount to their closing price on Thursday of 61,600 won …

    Financial News 3 Nov 15:16

  • All 4G telcos must hit 98% coverage, Ofcom told

    MPs not happy with EE flogging free frequencies, either

    Ofcom should demand 98 per cent coverage from all 4G operators, rather than 95 per cent from one, and claw back some cash from EE for the spectrum it was given. So says The Ministry of Fun, which took governance over Ofcom earlier this year. A committee of MPs has been looking at the 4G auction plans and concluded that the …

    Wireless 3 Nov 15:33

  • Hands on with the Motorola Xoom 2 10.1in Android tablet

    First Look And the 8.2in Xoom 2 Media Edition too

    Motorola will be selling its new Xoom 2 tablets - a 10.1in model and the 8.2in "Media Edition", both unveiled today - primarily through Dixons' stores and Carphone Warehouse. Those are both consumer-oriented outlets, so why will so many business apps - Citrix, GoToMeeting and QuickOffice, for instance - be pre-loaded onto the …

    reghardware 3 Nov 15:40

  • Has your account been pwned? New website will tell you

    If you trust it with your email address

    Security researchers have set up a website that allows punters to check whether or not their email addresses have appeared in data dumps slurped from compromised databases. Hacking attacks on sites including Gawker and the network of Sony's gaming division have led on to the publication of hundreds of thousands of users' …

    Security 3 Nov 15:47

  • Computer sports battle in Seattle: A punter's guide

    SC11 Who takes cluster crown? You tell us

    The 2011 Student Cluster Challenge (SCC), the premier event in computer sports, is heading toward Seattle like an out-of-control, rocket-powered freight train. Eight teams of university students are getting ready to travel to SC11 to prove that their clusters can wring more processing out of 26 amps than those of their rivals …

    SC 2011 3 Nov 16:01

  • Some signs of life detected in gov IT spend

    But it's mid-market sales that cheer Insight in Q3

    Insight Enterprises says the public sector is starting to show some signs of life again but it was the mid-market and services wins that fuelled modest growth in Q3. The US-owned reseller giant recorded a 6 per cent year-on-year rise in sales to $1.24bn (£775m) for the three months ended 30 September, operating profits climbed …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 16:19

  • Flood recedes at Toshiba's Thai fabs

    Not the ones that makes disk drives, though

    Toshiba Corp expects to crank up Thai production lines early next year at a number of plants on one industrial park as the waters have started to recede. The nine fabs in the Bangkadi Industrial Park build home appliances, semiconductors and lighting products, but Toshiba disk drives are made in the Navanakorn Industrial …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 16:32

  • Crime-fighting Seattle superhero unmasked, fired

    Phoenix Jones banned from working with children

    Seattle’s self-styled superhero has been fired from his job after getting involved in a fracas outside a Washington nightclub. Phoenix Jones was arrested last month for intervening in a fight, and charged with assault. At a court hearing he revealed his identity by removing his mask and giving his actual name as Ben Fodor, a …

    Odds and Sods 3 Nov 16:35

  • China, Russia called out as cyberspy hotbeds

    The spy who hacked me

    Russia and China are using cyber-espionage to steal the US's tech and economic secrets, according to a government report. COLD WAR INTELLIGENCE REPORT (click to enlarge) The Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (ONCIX) presented the report (PDF) to Congress on Thursday, which claimed that both "adversaries" …

    Enterprise Security 3 Nov 16:41

  • RIM is now worth less than its assets

    Troubled BlackBerry maker's shares dip

    A fall in the share price of battered BlackBerry maker RIM puts the firm's market value below the value of all its stuff today. With a share price of $18.59 at 12.21 EDT, Research in Motion's total stock added up to less than what its property, patents and other assets are worth, according to the book value of $18.92 a share …

    Financial News 3 Nov 16:56

  • Robot cop tackles mystery tinfoil poo-bomb bandit

    Plods feared massive turd explosion, evacuated large area

    Toronto residents were hastily evacuated from homes and businesses in the city yesterday as police feared that tinfoil-wrapped packages of human excrement found beneath a car might explode, flattening an entire neighbourhood in a devastating poo-based blast horror incident of some type. Understandably reluctant to tackle the …

    Policing 3 Nov 17:11

  • HP plonks Boeing bigwig into global biz hot seat

    Meg taps Hinshaw, promotes Flower

    Meg Whitman has made her first senior appointment as HP CEO by creating a new role - exec veep for global tech and biz processes - and giving it to former Boeing bigwig John Hinshaw. Hinshaw will oversee IT and shared and admin services, including indirect and services procurement. He will report to Whitman and is set to …

    Channel Register 3 Nov 17:21

  • Apple assails mobile porn purveyor's URLs

    'iPhoneporn4s.com ... hmmm, what might that site contain?'

    Apple has reportedly filed a complaint against a porn-purveying website that has glommed onto a gaggle of iPhone-related domain names that redirect unwary users to their hardcore smut service. According to Domain Name Wire, the complaint was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against the alleged …

    Mobile 3 Nov 17:22

  • Oracle gives Solaris 11 final spit and polish

    A shiny new Unix bows next week

    Systems maker Oracle is getting out the dogs and ponies and hauling them to New York City for the official launch of the long-awaited Solaris 11 operating system next week. The operating system, formerly known by the internal code-name "Nevada" when it was under development at the former Sun Microsystems, is not coming out at …

    Cloud 3 Nov 17:39

  • US Army orders more Judge Dredd smartgun ammo

    Shoots-round-corners computer rifle gets another $24m

    The US Army has assigned an extra $24m of funding to the futuristic XM-25, a high tech personal weapon which can hit and kill an enemy even if he is hiding behind a rock, in a trench or round a corner. Just shoot him, Kowalski, stop waiting for him to hide first The XM-25 can do this because it doesn't fire ordinary bullets …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 18:02

  • Apple requires Mac App Store candidates to be sandboxed

    Protection for your own good

    Developers submitting applications to Apple's Mac App Store will soon be required to add an extra layer of security for their wares to be accepted. Beginning in March, all apps submitted must implement sandboxing, a protection that tightly restricts the way applications can interact with other parts of the operating system. By …

    Developer 3 Nov 19:26

  • eBay boss declares era of e-commerce is over

    Open Mobile Summit Consumers don’t care, it’s all just shopping

    John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, has said that the concept of e-commerce is dead and buried, since consumers really don’t care about where they buy, so long as they get the cheapest price. Speaking at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, Donahoe said that the increasing use of mobile technology had blurred the barrier between e- …

    Business 3 Nov 19:31

  • NASA: Martians likely lived underground

    Surface water fleeting, subsurface flows enduring

    If life ever existed on Mars, it's likely that its longest-lasting enclaves would be underground. "If surface habitats were short-term, that doesn't mean we should be glum about prospects for life on Mars," says Bethany Ehlmann, the lead author of a new NASA report on the Red Planet, "but it says something about what type of …

    Space 3 Nov 21:12

  • Court forces bisexual budgie smuggling blogger to go down

    Downunder Speedo is a sacred domain

    Bisexual blogger, Dave Evans, has been ordered by an Australian Federal Court to shut down his websites because they featured swimwear manufacturer Speedo’s swimming costumes and domain names using the company's trademark. The manufacturer took Evans to the Federal Court, claiming his websites infringed trademarks and …

    Bootnotes 3 Nov 21:30

  • Virtualization market faces shake-up

    The hypervisors, they are a-changing

    Server virtualization is perhaps not as pervasive as many believe, and customers are not as locked into any particular hypervisor as many companies peddling this magic software layer might hope. This info comes from the latest V-Index survey from Veeam Software, a maker of add-on management tools for VMware's ESXi hypervisor, …

    Virtualization 3 Nov 21:41

  • Web credential authority rebuked for 'poor' security

    Digicert Malaysia banished from Chrome, IE, Firefox

    Microsoft, Google, and Mozilla will banish yet another web authentication authority from their software after learning that it issued secure sockets layer certificates that could be used to attack people visiting Malaysian government websites. Digicert Malaysia, an intermediate certificate authority that was certified by parent …

    Enterprise Security 3 Nov 21:46

  • Ninefold ties up with Australian incubators

    Cloudy outlook for startups

    Fledgling cloud provider Ninefold has announced tie-ups with Australian startup hubs Pollenizer and Startmate, as it tries to attract new companies to its cloud services. The “Cloud Booster Program” means that companies in the two hubs’ startup communities can get free cloud computing – up to $AU2,000 worth per month – for up …

    Cloud Business 3 Nov 22:00

  • Google gets fresh with search algorithm tweak

    Results come quicker for breaking news

    Google has tweaked its search algorithm to give more up-to-the-minute results for searches, improving the likelihood of more recent news and reviews. The changes are an extension of last year’s integration of Google’s Caffeine technology, which has been designed to bring more recent results for specific types of searches. The …

    Media 3 Nov 22:12

  • AMD sacks 1,400 to chase 'emerging markets'

    Caught between a Xeon and an ARM

    Chip maker AMD has had its share of woes in the past year, and now it will cut its workforce by 11.6 per cent to save enough money to invest in low-power chips and cloud computing. As the market closed on Thursday, AMD announced that it was cutting approximately 1,400 people from its workforce, which stood at 12,019 people at …

    Business 3 Nov 22:29

  • Kaggle gets a gaggle of VC cash

    Australian uber geek crowdsourcers hiring

    Australian data analytics crowdsourcing start-up Kaggle has raised $US11 million in Series A funding from a glittering array of technorati. The financing round was led by Index Ventures and Khosla Ventures with participation from PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, Google chief economist Hal Varian and Applied Semantics’ (now …

    Business 3 Nov 23:00

  • CityFibre raises £500m for UK gigabit rollout

    Targets ‘one million homes’

    CityFibre has announced an aggressive expansion of its network plans, saying that starting next year it hopes to build out a network covering local authorities, 50,000 businesses, and a million homes. The company has appointed Macquarie Capital as advisor in the capital raisings that will be needed to create its network. …

    Networks 3 Nov 23:30

  • Bill Gates drops $1m on laser-based malaria fighter

    Mosquitoes repelled by 'light wall'

    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $1m grant to an astrophysicist developing a laser-based solution to a decidedly terrestrial problem: malaria-spreading mosquitoes. "I wanted to apply my astrophysics, optics, laser expertise towards some humanitarian goal that can help people," says Columbia University …

    Biology 3 Nov 23:42

  • Mobile industry needs Windows, handset vendors warn

    Open Mobile Summit Android, iOS need competition

    Senior mobile hardware executives have largely agreed that the mobile operating system market needs a strong offering from Windows Phone 7 to keep the market competitive. Speaking during a forum at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, executives said that Microsoft may be coming late to the sector with a serious operating …

    Mobile 3 Nov 23:44