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15th November 2011 Archive

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  • NetApp adds Lustre to Big Data line-up

    SC11 Benchmark bonanza

    NetApp gunning for HPC and Big Data business with two product bundles combining its E arrays with Lustre, the open source supercomputer file system. At the same time the company has teamed up with Whamcloud, a VC-backed firm "formed from a worldwide network of HPC storage industry veterans," to promote the Open Benchmark for …

    HPC 15 Nov 2011, 00:18

  • Hackers port iPhone 4S' Siri to rival devices

    Apple's personal assistant cracked open

    Hackers say they've reverse engineered the Siri personal assistant that debuted in last month's release of the iPhone 4S, a feat that allows them to make it work from virtually any device. To back up their claim, the hackers – from the mobile-application developer Applidium – released a collection of tools on Monday that they …

    Mobile 15 Nov 2011, 00:19

  • US anti-hacking law turns computer users into criminals

    Former prosecutor calls for change to CFAA

    A commonly invoked anti-hacking law is so overbroad that it criminalizes conduct as innocuous as using a fake user name on Facebook or fibbing about your weight in a Match.com profile, one of the nation's most respected legal authorities has said. George Washington University Law School Professor Orin S. Kerr said he hopes the …

    Law 15 Nov 2011, 02:17

  • Converge or be damned – Lord Carter’s new world order

    Ex-Ofcom chief tells Oz how to do it

    The Australian media, communications and technology industries have been urged to act as a united front in the creation of a new public policy framework by former UK communications minister, OFCOM's founding CEO and current Alcatel Lucent President and MD for Europe Middle East & Africa, Lord Stephen Carter. “The …

    Government 15 Nov 2011, 06:27

  • Motorola Razr Android smartphone

    Review The best a man can get?

    Razr, now there's a name for Motorola to conjure with. In its first two years the hugely popular V3 clamshell sold over 50 million units but then Motorola became so dependent on it that when it stopped selling, the company's market share collapsed. Bristling with features: Motorola's Razr It’s due to its timely embrace of …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 07:00

  • Happy 40th birthday, Intel 4004!

    The first of the bricks that built the IT world

    On November 15, 1971, 40 years ago this Tuesday, an advertisment appeared in Electronic News for a new kind of chip – one that could perform different operations by obeying instructions given to it. That first microprocessor was the Intel 4004, a 4-bit chip developed in 1970 by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and …

    Vintage 15 Nov 2011, 08:00

  • Sony to boost image sensor capacity... again

    Japanese firm puts more chips in the smartphone and camera barrel

    Sony is planning to boost its image sensor production capacity by 50 per cent in the next two to three years, starting in the new year, the company said. The Japanese firm had already been aiming to boost capacity of the chips used in digital cameras and smartphones to 50,000 a month by the end of March 2012, with an …

    Hardware 15 Nov 2011, 08:01

  • Facebook boss-lady is up the pole on the glass ceiling

    Opinion Stock options or seeing little faces light up? Easy

    In one fell swoop, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg set back the women's movement. By declaring an "ambition gap" between men and women, suggesting that "until women are as ambitious as men, they’re not going to achieve as much as men," Sandberg defined 'success' in such a narrow way that most women (and men) can never attain it. …

    Business 15 Nov 2011, 08:29

  • Skinny 15in MacBook Pro launch tied to Intel 'Ivy Bridge'

    Awaiting next-gen Ultrabook chippery

    Apple may release the previously rumoured ultra-thin 15in MacBook Pro in Q2 2012, if claims that component makers have begun sending it sample parts for the machine are true. Air or Pro? The machine's branding isn't known, and since the kit will be same no matter what it's called, the moniker doesn't really matter. Expect an …

    Laptops 15 Nov 2011, 08:42

  • Kent county council stages developer compo

    Wants complaints app, virtual bumwad-money scheme

    Kent county council has launched a competition for local IT experts to develop new solutions for delivering public services. It is offering £1,000 to each winner for the best innovations based on two ideas: using virtual tokens in a reward scheme for those helping others to get advice and support to take better care of …

    Government 15 Nov 2011, 09:01

  • Coders crack iPhone 4S Siri

    Protocol probed

    French software developer Applidium claims to have reverse engineered the protocol by which the iPhone 4S' Siri voice assistant talks to Apple's voice recognition and analysis servers. But don't expect a flood of superior Siri clones on other platforms, or even on other iPhones. Each communication is tied to the sending 4S' …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 09:15

  • 'Right to be forgotten' may not be enforceable - Vaizey

    We don't yet have a Men in Black flashy thing

    Ed Vaizey said that introducing a "right to be forgotten" into a revised EU Data Protection Directive might give "false expectations" to people who would seek to have their personal data deleted under the new regime. "We support the idea that consumers should have more control over the processing of their data. And of course …

    Government 15 Nov 2011, 09:16

  • Security researchers break out of Apple's sandbox

    Apple not fussed

    Researchers claim to have discovered a vulnerability with the sandbox security mechanism used by Apple. The sandbox, which is baked into the kernel of Mac OS X, is designed to apply application restrictions, so that code that has no reason to access a network isn't able to access a corporate LAN or the internet, for example. …

    Security 15 Nov 2011, 09:31

  • Welsh factions clash over .cymru and .wales bids

    English cash required? Oh, cym on now

    A grassroots move to create .cymru as a new top-level internet domain has hit a roadblock after the Welsh government backed a .wales bid managed by an English company. Oxford-based Nominet, which runs the .uk registry, has been mulling a new Welsh extension for the last few months, according to director of finance Glenn …

    Hosting 15 Nov 2011, 09:46

  • NASA working on nuclear rocket for manned Mars trips

    Should result in 'nauts receiving less radiation

    Since being redirected away from Bush-era plans for a base on the Moon towards a manned Mars mission, NASA has realigned its nuclear-tech-in-space efforts away from a Moonbase powerplant and towards an atomic-powered rocket able to get astronauts to the red planet quickly, without receiving dangerous exposure to cosmic radiation …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 10:02

  • Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba merge, sell phone display businesses

    Newly formed Japan Display gets Panasonic factory too

    Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba are to sell off their respective mobile display production operations. The three companies' mobile display businesses will be merged into a new entity, Japan Display, to be majority owned by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ). INCJ is also buying one of Panasonic's factories for producing …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 10:03

  • LOHAN gets hands on mighty thruster

    Much fondling of stiff tubes down at El Reg

    We're very pleased to report that El Reg's Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) team has taken delivery of a mighty thruster in the form of an AeroTech RC 32/60-100NS rocket motor. As you can imagine, there was much excited fondling of stiff tubes down at the Special Projects Bureau, as we got a first shufti at the …

    SPB 15 Nov 2011, 10:11

  • Ex-Amazon EC2 wizard pinpoints where your cloud is crap

    Open ... And Shut New tool to boost your app's performance

    Even as the world goes cloud/SaaS, monitoring tools have stayed doggedly old school. With the rise of complex web applications, the cloud, DevOps, agile computing, and continuous integration, application changes are rolled out much more frequently than the one or two times a year of old enterprise software updates, with multiple …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 10:24

  • Beheaded man wasn't one of us, say anti-drug cartel bloggers

    Identity of slaughtered scapegoat remains unclear

    A man tortured, beheaded and dumped close to Mexico's border with the US in a gruesome cartel-style murder was not the moderator of a local online discussion forum, contrary the earlier reports. The still unidentified victim was abused and decapitated before his body was left beside a statue of Christopher Columbus outside the …

    Security 15 Nov 2011, 10:31

  • Computer sports cluster war: Day of reckoning

    SC11 Texas and Taiwan top punter picks

    Here are the latest odds on the Student Cluster Competition online betting as of 10am SC11 time (Pacific). Betting will close out on LINPACK late this afternoon, since the teams will be turning in those results at 17.30 Pacific on the dot (1.30 GMT 16 November). Texas is still the crowd favorite on both LINPACK and the …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 10:42

  • Computers are so middle class – Mark E Smith

    Stop Mithering. And Tweeting

    Computers are middle class and tweeting is for morons, reckons shout-at-the-bins Northerner Mark E Smith of The Fall, favourite band of the late John Peel. "I can never understand computers. It's a very middle-class thing", Smith tells Mojo magazine in an interview. Smith also berates people for using online banking and for …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 10:51

  • My home is bugged ... with temp sensors to save me cash

    Part 1 Monitoring benefits of insulation

    In the past, I've eulogised on the joy of metering and tuning my house, being money and carbon-neutral for gas and electricity at home, and my homegrown solar power. This time I scout out new tech, describe upgrading the insulation in my boy's bedroom with aerogel and how I'm monitoring its performance with spiffy iButtons, …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 11:00

  • JustPictures

    Android App of the Week Snap happy

    JustPictures has been my preferred app for managing photo galleries for nearly a year but a recent slew of upgrades - some cosmetic, some more fundamental - have elevated it to a level were it now deserves a strong recommendation. The app's key attraction is its ability to pull all your photo libraries together no matter where …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 11:01

  • Salman Rushdie hissy-fit forces Facebook name U-turn

    Site run by 'morons', huffs Satanic Verses writer

    Facebook has upset Salman Rushdie after the company initially refused to let the controversial author use his common name rather than his first name when signing up to the network. The writer, who is a newcomer to the Web2.0 game, explained on Twitter that his full name is Ahmed Salman Rushdie. "Amazing. 2 days ago FB …

    Networks 15 Nov 2011, 11:12

  • World Bank, Intel pump dosh into developing world's IT

    Kickstart for broadband and data centres

    Intel is teaming up with the World Bank to work on joint IT investments in developing countries. The World Bank's private-sector lender – the International Finance Corporation – and Intel Capital – Intel's global investment organisation – will be handing out cash together "to accelerate innovation and nurture entrepreneurship …

    Business 15 Nov 2011, 11:23

  • Mail Online is broken

    Updated How will we ever know why Nigella's looking thin?

    The website of the Mail Online – the most read online newspaper in the world - appears to have broken this morning with users finding it impossible to get past the homepage. All page links have been reset to direct to the home page: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Clicking on a story from the homepage only results …

    Media 15 Nov 2011, 11:32

  • Leaked blower sports RIM's prospective OS, BBX

    BlackBerry looks edgy

    Research in Motion's upcoming BBX OS has been spotted on an unreleased handset, said to be called the BlackBerry London. The BlackBerry London is said to pack a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB of Ram and 16GB of Flahs storage, according to The Verge. There are also 8Mp rear-facing and 2Mp front-facing cameras. The London is said …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 11:34

  • Phone hacking victims' QC hit by trojan infection

    Leveson Inquiry halted by malware probe

    The opening day of a judicial inquiry into phone hacking and other privacy-invading skullduggery by the British media was briefly interrupted on Monday - by a suspected Trojan horse infection. David Sherborne, a QC representing phone hacking victims during the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, was called back to his …

    Security 15 Nov 2011, 11:43

  • Cuba accuses US of sneaky Wi-Fi imperialism

    America blocks, and yet pays for, Cuban surfing

    The Cuban government has accused America of supporting the illicit Wi-Fi networks which are proliferating in the country, despite Americans also preventing proper internet access reaching the island. The official government mouthpiece, Granma*, translated by the AFP, reports the arrest of several unnamed individuals who have …

    Broadband 15 Nov 2011, 11:52

  • Jim Westwood, home micro revolutionary

    Unsung Heroes of Tech We salute Sinclair's chief geek

    We all know Sir Clive Sinclair, the sometimes eccentric British boffin whose early simple, cheap and often kit-assembled devices helped usher in the UK's home computer revolution. You may also have seen the irreverent 2009 BBC drama Micro Men, which chronicled Sir Clive's failed battle with his own ex-employee and Acorn co- …

    Vintage 15 Nov 2011, 12:00

  • Naked vegans target Prince Harry over meaty 12-incher

    Exclusive Activists offer royal chopper ace spicy veggie free night out

    Animal rights group Peta has despatched a brace of near-naked operatives to Arizona in a bid to lure Prince Harry away from the delights of meat. The less-than-covert insertion of the pair of barely covered activists will cause yet more distraction for right royal playboy and his retinue, as Harry attempts to complete his …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 12:11

  • Google serves up Ice Cream Sandwich code

    Galaxy Nexus source available now

    The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code is out. Google announced the release last night, noting that the code actually on offer is version 4.0.1 of the combined tablet and smartphone OS. That's the release that will be pre-loaded onto the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which is due to go on sale tomorrow. Google coder Jean- …

    Operating Systems 15 Nov 2011, 12:13

  • Britain's Harrier jump-jets reprieved to fly and fight again

    With the US Marines, though. They're not stupid

    Blighty's famous force of Harrier jump-jets, controversially disposed of during last year's defence review along with the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, have been reprieved: the radical vectored-thrust jets, believed by many to have been the best strike planes in Britain's arsenal, will fly (and almost certainly, fight) again …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 12:23

  • Samsung demands a quickie in iPhone 4S Oz ban bid

    Permanent injunction hearing in March

    Samsung has agreed to waive its request for a preliminary banning order in Australia against the iPhone 4S in exchange for a fast-tracked hearing for a final injunction next year. Instead of trying to get the new Jesus mobe off the shelves now, the Korean firm has opted to take the case quickly to a hearing that could get them …

    Mobile 15 Nov 2011, 12:32

  • BT axes staff amid reseller biz shake-up

    Bosses insist they're recruiting

    BT is making a round of redundancies amid the integration of its three reseller operations – Engage IT, Business Direct and dabs.com – and has parted with former bigwig Martin Balaam. The circa £400m turnover supplier insists that only 20 positions are to go where there is an overlap: IT, logistics and pre and specialist sales …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 12:42

  • Irish woman doesn't go down after scrotum ripping assault

    Man wishes to put extruded testicle incident behind him

    A Dublin woman who ripped her boyfriend's scrotum, leaving him with an extruded left testicle, has been spared jail. There was a gasp in the public gallery on Monday as the prosecution read out the injuries sustained by Eamon Desmond at the hands of Lisa Moran, 42, of Devaney Gardens, Dublin, in the assault, The Irish …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 12:53

  • Google will ignore your Wi-Fi router ... if you rename it

    robots.txt for hotspots

    Google has magnanimously offered to ignore Wi-Fi hotspots that have been renamed with a trailing "_nomap" to let the snoops know what you don't want them to know. Google logs the location of Wi-Fi routers to aid its location pinpointing services, as knowing the nearest router can provide a coarse location as well as making it …

    Hardware 15 Nov 2011, 13:02

  • TalkTalk bleeds punters, revenue in Q2

    Not so happy-clappy web blockers

    TalkTalk lost 43,000 subscribers during its second quarter as punters disconnected from the telco - which has been hampered by its poor customer service record. The company, which in August was slapped with a huge £3m fine by watchdog Ofcom for failing to clean up its billing systems, reported second quarter revenue of £421m …

    Broadband 15 Nov 2011, 13:11

  • 'Leccy car plug map keeps greenies juiced up

    Never let your battery buggy run down again

    The UK Ministry of Transport is drawing up a map of plug-in points for electric cars in order to make it easier for the drivers of battery-buggies to charge up their vehicles. The database of charge locations will be developed by POD Point – a UK-based chargepoint manufacturer – and will be whizzed up into a map, the Ministry …

    Government 15 Nov 2011, 13:22

  • Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition

    Review Bark of the Covenant

    Love it or hate it, it's impossible to ignore Halo's legacy. With the exception of Super Mario, no other videogame series has been as critical to the success of its target platform - or as influential on the videogames industry as a whole. Urban jungle Arguably the most important launch title ever, Halo: Combat Evolved …

    Hardware 15 Nov 2011, 13:25

  • Red Hat: Let OpenShift cloud compile your Java apps

    Compile code from a crap laptop at the beach bar

    Red Hat doesn't just want to run your apps on its OpenShift cloud. It wants you to code, compile, tweak, and repeat the process on its cloud until you get the applications just right and get rid of that workstation or heavy laptop you lug around. OpenShift is the platform-as-a-service cloud that Red Hat announced back in May …

    Cloud 15 Nov 2011, 13:32

  • Apple's cloud music service 'WIPES your iPHONE'

    Actually just threatens to, but is lying - reports

    Apple's cloud music subscription service iTunes Match has gone live – for Americans only, at first. Announced in June, the $24.99 service allows subscribers to stream their music collections back from Apple's servers. Unlike other "locker" music services, Apple scans your iTunes library so that much, if not most, of your music …

    Media 15 Nov 2011, 13:43

  • New anonymity rule on Euro airport body scanners

    Nudie-watching staff kept away from passengers

    The European Commission has adopted new rules for the use of body scanners at airports. From now on, any European Union country that wants to use the controversial technology with have to do so "under strict operational and technical conditions", the EC said in a statement. "Security scanners are not a panacea but they do …

    Law 15 Nov 2011, 13:52

  • A pint a day keeps the doctor away - scientific FACT

    Latest study shows beer as beneficial as wine

    The latest boffinry news brings good news for beer lovers: statistics have shown that moderate quaffing confers a significant benefit to cardiovascular health. You will actually be noticeably healthier than a teetotaller if you down a little more than a pint a day on average, and as healthy as a teetotaller if you drink a bit …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 14:02

  • Harry Potter director takes on Doctor Who movie

    Tardis to spin into theatres, but who will be the Doctor?

    Boy wizard director David Yates is planning to take Doctor Who onto the big screen in conjunction with the BBC. Yates, who directed the last four Harry Potter films, has told Variety that he's about to start developing a Doctor Who movie with Jane Tranter, the head of LA-based BBC Worldwide Productions. Tranter was the BBC's …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 14:14

  • BT poaches TV wizard from Virgin Media

    Joins at 'pivotal moment'

    BT beefed up its TV business today, after it poached Virgin Media wonk Alex Green. UK's national telco threw more weight behind its plans to embrace IPTV in May when it confirmed it would change the bulk of its broadband network to use multicast routers as from next year. And now it has hired the exec behind Virgin Media's …

    Media 15 Nov 2011, 14:24

  • Mystery malware poisons NZ ambulance system

    Dispatch staff forced to call medics' mobiles

    A computer virus infection affecting the New Zealand Ambulance service last week forced dispatchers to resort to manual backup systems, according to local media reports. Unnamed malware left the communications network supporting the St John Ambulance service hobbled. Mobile data and paging services were worst affected by the …

    Security 15 Nov 2011, 14:38

  • Rackspace: OpenStack beds Disney, NASA, Sony

    VMware not invited to cloud love shack

    The OpenStack cloud operating system is emerging as the main alternative to VMware because of its frenetic pace of development. So says Rackspace, OpenStack backer and internet hosting giant. OpenStack is an open-source cloud operating system platform that manages pools of virtualised server, storage and network resources for …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 14:47

  • C&W Worldwide boss out after 4 months

    Ailing carrier also files some nasty first half year numbers

    Cable & Wireless Worldwide is swapping boss John Pluthero with Vodafone exec Gavin Darby after exceptional charges pushed the firm into the red for the first half of 2011. The move comes less than five months after former chairman Pluthero replaced Jim Marsh in the CEO chair in June following the third profit warning in the …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 15:01

  • PETA riled by Mario's raccoon skin suit

    Bloody outrage

    PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has launched a scathing campaign against Nintendo's mascot, Mario, claiming his use of the tanooki suit is unethical. The protesters reckon the fact the fur brings the plump plumber special powers sends kids the wrong message. Won't somebody think of the children... er... …

    Games 15 Nov 2011, 15:09

  • Voyager 2 finally agrees to a long hard thrust

    Probe takes light-ages to return boffins' calls

    Voyager 2 has finally gotten back to NASA to let engineers know that its switch to back-up thrusters was successful. Artist's impression of Voyager 1 and 2 in the heliosheath Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The space agency sent the signal last week to advise the old explorer to switch to back-up thrusters in order to conserve …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 15:16

  • LHC results may solve riddle of how universe can exist

    Antimatter bombshell set to explode physics applecart

    Top boffins at the Large Hadron Collider – mightiest particle-punisher and largest machine of any kind ever assembled by humanity – say that they may have uncovered a vital clue explaining one of the greatest mysteries of physics: namely, how is it that matter itself can exist? This is a mystery because the so-called Standard …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 15:28

  • Engineer sues Huawei for axing him 'because he's a Brit'

    Chinese giant hauled before tribunal

    A British software engineer is suing Chinese company Huawei for racial discrimination after they made him redundant but allegedly employed new Chinese staff in the Basingstoke office where he worked. Judeson Peter, 39, who had a £48,000-per-year job as a customer support engineer specialising in fibre optics for Huawei, was …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 15:42

  • 'Hands free' pissing contest games installed in boozer

    Bin the Wii, play with wee

    Drunks can now piss away hours playing games while at the urinals after the gents at The Exhibit Bar in south London was kitted out with a hands-free gaming cistern system. Confident men can test out their skills on one of three games including the quiz game Clever Dick by adjusting their stream to the left or right section of …

    Games 15 Nov 2011, 15:51

  • Visa to tell shops where their punters' wallets went next

    Spending habits data touted

    Visa has become a minority partner in Beyond Analysis in order to better exploit the 11 billion transaction records it has knocking around on its servers. Visa handles a quarter of the money we spend in the UK, and has detailed records of what we spend it on, which it reckons is ripe for better exploitation. The company isn't …

    Business 15 Nov 2011, 16:02

  • Ultimate flight-sim crashes into living rooms for 36 grand

    Reach for the clouds

    Flight-sim enthusiasts often spend fortunes building mock-up cockpits in their homes. But who needs to construct anything when you could simply buy one of these badass bubbles? The OVO-4 Home Flight Simulator might sting the wallet - and then some - but it is, it's claimed, a fully enclosed flight simultator that moves and a …

    Hardware 15 Nov 2011, 16:07

  • SCC11: Meet the Boston U Terriers

    Team vid More cores, more better

    Boston U has brought more than a taste for clam chowder to the 2011 Student Cluster Competition in Seattle; they also brought more hardware heft than anyone else. Their four-node, dual-socket AMD Interlagos-based cluster has a grand total of 336 cores – 80 more than the next two teams. But they didn’t stop there. They also …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 16:19

  • Step forward the chief information security officer

    Leader of the pack

    What does the modern chief information security officer (Ciso) look like? The role used to be little more than acting as a glorified sysadmin but things have changed. These days, Cisos must be all-rounders, concentrating not just on technology but on business too. “In recent years, the role of the Ciso has become more …

    Compliance 15 Nov 2011, 16:22

  • SCC11: Meet Team China

    Team Vid Does Tianhe legacy spell SCC win?

    China’s NUDT (National University of Defense Technology) shocked the world in 2010 when it unveiled the fastest supercomputer known to man, the 1.86 Pflop Tianhe-1A. It came out of nowhere and caught the entire industry by surprise. Team China, sponsored by NUDT, is hoping to do much the same thing at this year’s SC11 Student …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 16:33

  • IKEA cuts ribbon on 'I've Got A Screw Loose Street'

    Facebook vote names new Spanish thoroughfare

    Flatpack monolith IKEA has announced that its new tentacle in Valladolid, Spain, will sit on "I've Got A Screw Loose Street". According to Spanish national ABC, Facebook fans of the Scandie particle board botherer selected "Calle me falta un tornillo" as option A for the new thoroughfare on the site at Arroyo de la Encomienda …

    Bootnotes 15 Nov 2011, 16:44

  • Samsung's Bada outshipped WinPho 7 in Q3

    Android ahead of all; Symbian ahead of Apple

    Poor old Microsoft. Even Samsung's Bada smartphone OS is more popular than yours. So the latest figures from market watcher Gartner reveal. In Q3, just under 2.5m Bada smartphones shipped around the globe, it said today. But only fractionally more than 1.7m handsets with a Microsoft OS shipped during the same period. It'll …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 16:47

  • US student to fill heavens with Sprites

    You too can have your own miniature satellite

    A Cornell University postgrad student is offering enthusiasts the chance to get their own diminutive bit of kit into space, in the form of a miniature satellite. Zac Manchester's Sprite is a solar-powered board "about the size of a couple of postage stamps", which packs a "microcontroller and a radio for communicating with …

    SPB 15 Nov 2011, 17:03

  • SCC11: Meet Team Costa Rica

    Team vid Can Rainforest Eagles soar to cluster glory?

    Team Costa Rica is another first-time entrant in the 2011 Student Cluster Competition in Seattle. Their official name is Tecnológico de Costa Rica, but to me they’re the Rainforest Eagles, and they’ve earned respect for not only representing their entire region but for the hardships they overcame to make it to the SCC. The …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 17:15

  • SCC11: Meet Team Russia

    Second time the charm for Russian Bear?

    Team Russia, representing the State University of Nizhny Novgorod, is returning to the Student Cluster Competition for the second time. The team is again going with a hybrid approach, mixing Xeon CPUs (84 cores) and as many as 12 NVIDIA Tesla GPUs. I use the term ‘as many as’ due to the fact that they’ll probably end up …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 17:19

  • Facebook filth flood – Fawkes Virus to blame?

    Objectionable tsunami surges up Walls

    The newsfeeds of numerous Facebook users have become flooded with filth – specifically violent and pornographic images – as the result of an attack against the social network over the last day or so. Objectionable content such as photoshopped images of celebrities such as Justin Bieber in sexual situations, violent pictures …

    Cloud 15 Nov 2011, 17:28

  • SCC11: Meet Team Taiwan

    Team vid ’10 Champs look for repeat

    The team from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University is on a mission: to become the first university to repeat as Student Cluster Competition champions. The team in Seattle this year is almost entirely new, but they have the same coach and have been mentored by their predecessors from the 2010 championship team. They've added a …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 17:29

  • SCC11: Meet Team Texas

    Team vid Adds mineral oil in bid for cluster crown

    What can you say about the University of Texas Longhorns that they haven’t already said about themselves? They’ve got swagger for sure, and their LINPACK-topping success in 2010 showed that they can back up at least part of it. The Longhorns have brought the most attention-grabbing entry in Student Cluster Competition history …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 17:33

  • SCC11: Meet the Colorado Buffaloes

    Team vid Sixth time the charm?

    The University of Colorado Buffalo team has competed at every Student Cluster Competition – this is year six. The 2011 team is packed with veterans; almost every member has been to the big cluster dance before. Team Buffalo is driving 16-core AMD Interlagos processors perched on four Dell quad-socket server chassis. Their 256 …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 17:45

  • AT&T LTE hits Vegas and five other slots

    Telco keeps next-gen mobe broadband promise

    US carrier AT&T has announced six new markets for its LTE network, which is currently spreading like wildfire across the country, in an attempt to catch up with rivals Verizon Wireless and Sprint. Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Charlotte and San Juan in Puerto Rico will all see the launch of LTE on 20 …

    Mobile 15 Nov 2011, 18:02

  • Assange takes extradition fight to Supreme Court

    Supping in last-chance saloon

    Lawyers acting for Julian Assange have filed appeal papers with the UK Supreme Court to fight his extradition to Sweden. This is Assange’s last chance under UK law to block his deportation to Sweden to face an investigation into alleged rape and sexual molestation, after failing to win his case in the High Court earlier this …

    Law 15 Nov 2011, 18:03

  • SCC11: Meet the Purdue Boilermakers

    Team vid Have sledgehammer, will cluster

    Purdue is one of two teams that’s participated in the SC11 Student Cluster Competition (SCC) since its inception. They’re a solid team with a half-n-half mixture of rookies and SCC veterans. This year they’re bringing the typical workmanlike Purdue attitude to the competition – along with a plethora of traditional HPC gear. …

    SC 2011 15 Nov 2011, 18:15

  • Angry Bird rockets into spa-a-a-a-ce!

    Soyuz orbital insertion confirmation office on duty

    When the Russian Soyuz TMA-22 successfully launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome on Monday morning, its crew manifest listed NASA's Dan Burbank and Roscosmos' Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin. There was, however, a fourth passenger on board: George, the Red Angry Bird. George, however, is not a mere stowaway, …

    Phones 15 Nov 2011, 18:17

  • Petaflop = Top500 table stakes by 2016

    HPC to rocket ahead

    InsideHPC's Rich Brueckner and I sat down yesterday with Jack Dongarra and Hans Meuer from Top500.org, the guys who put together the twice yearly list of the 500 largest supercomputers. The resulting webcast revealed a number of interesting tidbits – and a shocking prediction. Let’s start with an interesting tidbit: While the …

    HPC 15 Nov 2011, 18:30

  • Enormous orbiting solar raygun power plants touted

    Trusty scientifiction staple gets another outing

    Many years ago, in Galaxy magazine, Jerry Pournelle devoted his A Step Farther Out column to describing how satellites could be used to harvest solar energy on a scale impossible underneath Earth’s atmosphere. The idea never really went away, but it’s been mostly out of the spotlight. Now, Reuters is reporting a study by the …

    Science 15 Nov 2011, 18:58

  • 'Do Not Track' standard edges towards daylight

    First draft of spybuster deal released by W3C

    An internet standard on online privacy is expected to be published by the middle of next year. In the meantime, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has released a first draft of the so-called "Do Not Track" (DNT) mechanism, with input from the major browser makers. Google, Mozilla, Apple and Microsoft have been debating with …

    Cloud 15 Nov 2011, 19:27

  • OpenCL ratchets up to version 1.2

    Open source heterogeneous standard adds new capabilities

    OpenCL, the open-source standard for programming heterogeneous computing systems – aka CPU/GPU mashups – has reached version 1.2 with the ratification and public release of its latest specification documentation. "The OpenCL working group is listening carefully to feedback from the developer and middleware community to provide …

    Developer 15 Nov 2011, 19:51

  • Ballmer shoots down Microsoft breakup advice

    Shareholders fractious over investment returns

    Steve Ballmer has scotched suggestions from investors at Microsoft's annual shareholders meeting that his company should spin off some of its divisions Ballmer and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates faced a fractious audience, with many stockholders expressing their displeasure at the company’s poor stock price and returns. One …

    The Channel 15 Nov 2011, 19:59

  • Nvidia: An unintended exascale-super innovator

    SC11 CEO just wanted to play 3D video games

    Jen-Hsun Huang, one of the cofounders of graphics-chip maker Nvidia, never intended to be a player in the supercomputing racket. But his company is now at the forefront of the CPU-GPU hybrid computing revolution that is taking the HPC arena by storm as supercomputing centers try to cram as much math into as small a power budget …

    HPC 15 Nov 2011, 20:33

  • Adobe Flex SDK bombshell STUNS developers

    Open source group takes control

    Adobe is to hand over its Flex SDK, which lets you develop applications for the Flash runtime using XML and ActionScript code, to an open source foundation. The company is committing to HTML 5 as the “best technology for enterprise application development”, according to a statement issued on Friday, November 11 by two Adobe …

    Developer 15 Nov 2011, 20:59

  • 'Devastating' protocol flaw could paralyze Bitcoin system

    Scientists propose 'Red Balloon' incentive solution

    Computer scientists say they've identified a fundamental flaw in the Bitcoin electronic currency system that could eventually stunt its development unless developers change the way users are rewarded for their participation. With about 7.5 million Bitcoins in circulation, the highly decentralized system relies on public-key …

    Security 15 Nov 2011, 21:39

  • SingTel launches e-reader

    Skoob-y snacks for publishing

    Singapore Telecommunications has launched Singapore’s first e-book service, branded skoob. The platform is aimed at servicing the local publishing market which SingTel claims has been overlooked by international e-book services. The skoob service is available on Apple and Android tablets and smartphones via a free app. It can …

    Business 15 Nov 2011, 21:43

  • Is iiNet about to spend a bob on TransACT?

    Updated: iiNet in trading halt

    Talk of a sale of Canberra-based ISP and pay TV company TransACT is back on the agenda, with reports that iiNet is a front-runner to buy the carrier. Speculation that TransACT is for sale has popped up on a fairly regular basis as far back as 2004, and in 2009, but this time, the Australian Financial Review is reporting “final …

    Business 15 Nov 2011, 22:30

  • Intel unveils $100m plan to juice AppUp Center devs

    Mucho mazuma for 'application developer-centric equity deals'

    Intel Capital has unveiled a new $100m AppUp Fund to jumpstart companies developing content for its online Intel AppUp Center store, which is currently limited to software running on Windows XP, Windows 7, and MeeGo devices based on the Atom processor. "The Intel Capital AppUp Fund will help encourage the creation of companies …

    Developer 15 Nov 2011, 22:35

  • Opposition to SOPA mounting as Google, Facebook link arms

    Tech giants and freedom fighters friend each other

    An MPAA-backed bill designed to let rights-holders block Websites on the accusation of copyright infringement has drawn the ire of Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, eBay, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zynga and others. According to Bloomberg, AFP, and others, the Stop Online Piracy Act would expose “law-abiding” US tech firms to “uncertain …

    Media 15 Nov 2011, 23:00