25th November 2011 Archive
Browse by publication date, or search the site.
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Microsoft to Aussie gov: Privacy rules stifle e-Health
Shows the WTO pistol in the drawer
Microsoft has told the Australian government that its focus on storing electronic health records within Australia’s borders “could have a detrimental effect” on security. The Microsoft statements come in a submission to the government’s inquiry into the legislation needed to introduce PCEHRs – personally controllable …
Government 25 Nov 00:01
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Oz ISPs propose copyright enforcement trial
Easing the gorilla out of the kitchen
Australia’s Communications Alliance has released a discussion paper covering a proposed scheme for dealing with copyright infringement on the Internet. The scheme is designed to try and balance the increasingly-aggressive stance taken by groups such as AFACT with ISPs’ and consumers’ rights. The proposal is for an 18-month …
Law 25 Nov 03:01
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Amazon Kindle Fire
Review Content consumption kit
You might think it odd for a UK-based publication to review a product only available in the US, but such is Amazon's global reach that it's only a matter of time before the Kindle Fire is officially released over here. Less a tablet more an Amazon content reader In the meantime, if you have a chum living in the States who …
reghardware 25 Nov 07:00
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Ex-NASA space shuttle to touch down on aircraft carrier
Enterprise to make Intrepid landing in 2012
In a move sure to delight aerospace fans everywhere, it has been announced that one of NASA's retired space shuttles will make a landing in the harbour of New York City next year – onto the deck of an aircraft carrier. The only sort of launch Enterprise ever made. The orbiter Enterprise will arrive in the harbour by barge, …
Space 25 Nov 08:01
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Shock: Council dumps data wad - doesn't break any laws
Everything you wanted to know about Surrey, but were afraid to search
Surrey county council has launched a website which brings together a wide range of information on the area. Named Surrey-i, the local authority said that the website will provide residents with data on issues such as roads covered by gritting trucks in severe winter weather, care homes offering places for the elderly and crime …
Government 25 Nov 08:33
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Our roving reporter snaps Tenerife sex dangle
Randy Brit tourist caught hanging from stairs
Our shock report earlier this week into the middle-aged Brit tourist who ended up dangling naked from the stairs of a Tenerife apartment block after a sex-based mishap prompted several readers to admit they were having trouble picturing just what a naked middle-aged Brit tourist dangling from the stairs of a Tenerife apartment …
Bootnotes 25 Nov 09:01
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Apple iPhone owners are the most loyal smartphone buyers
RIM shot by wavering BlackBerry owners
iPhone owners are more loyal to their chosen handset than Android fans are to theirs. So says GfK, a market watcher, after interviewing 4,500 folk across Europe, the US, Brazil, China and Japan. It found that 84 per cent of iPhone users will buy another Apple handset when they upgrade, the company told Reuters. Only 60 per …
reghardware 25 Nov 09:07
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Rock star physicist Cox: Neutrinos won't help us cheat time
Don't fire up the faster-than-light DeLorean. Boo!
Fire up the DeLorean and grab the almanac, time travel is here... or maybe not. Atom-smashers at CERN's subterranean Alpine lab seized the headlines recently when they found a set of subatomic particles once obscure outside the world of boffinry had turned scientific convention on its head by travelling faster than light. …
Enterprise Tech 25 Nov 09:17
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Cabinet Secretary: Freedom of Info law stifles policy confabs
I can't advise ministers in private, huffs Sir Gus
Sir Gus O'Donnell told a committee of MPs on Wednesday that FOI laws had a "very negative impact on the freedom of policy discussions". "The problem with the Freedom of Information Act is that virtually everything is subject to a public interest test," Sir Gus told the Public Administration Select Committee. "When I give …
Government 25 Nov 09:31
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LOHAN fondles substantial concrete buttocks
'J-Lo' structure to protect El Reg rocket test operatives
We're obliged to the many readers who offered to suggestions as to how to put together a home-made vacuum pump for our forthcoming Rocketry Experimental High Altitude Barosimulator (REHAB) test. For those of you not yet down with the kids on our Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) project, we're going to strap our …
SPB 25 Nov 09:46
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PS Vita will play all PS3 games remotely
Existing titles supported at PSP resolution
Sony's PS Vita will be able to play PS3 games remotely. Install any existing game on the PS3, and the Vita will operate as controller and screen, initially at 480 x 272 resolution, upscaled to fill the Vita's 960 x 544 LCD. Future releases can be specified to run at 960 x 480 when played remotely on the Vita. So says …
reghardware 25 Nov 09:54
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Thumbs Up Desktop Phone
Accessory of the Week Cheap and cheerful handset for the iPhone
I use a USB handset with Skype on my Mac, and I’ve been looking for something similar to use with my iPhone when I’m in the office. Bluetooth headsets just make me feel silly, so I’ve opted for the distinctly low-tech and unpretentious Desktop Phone from Thumbs Up instead. The Desktop Phone is a simple dock for your iPhone, …
reghardware 25 Nov 10:00
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Capita seeks 99 heads for chopping block
Pink slips dished out at Xmas
Capita IT services biz is bowing to economic pressures by seeking voluntary redundancies just weeks before Christmas. The integrator wants 99 staff members across six operating units to place their heads on the chopping block. A spokeswoman at Capita told El Reg that following numerous acquisitions it has made, the business …
Channel Register 25 Nov 10:11
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Hot pixelated Mac action to stuff fanbois' Xmas stockings
Icon artist Susan Kare publishes coffee table book
The woman behind the Mac icons that once decorated the desktop of every Apple computer around the world has published a book of her pixel art designs. Susan Kare has put out 80 of her favourite creations in a book – Icons – featuring everything from the paint bucket button and the smiling Mac to 32x32 pixel portraits of Steve …
Music and Media 25 Nov 10:22
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First third-party app to get Siri support demo'd
Proxy hack
Coders are beginning to take advantage of the Siri proxy server released last week to hijack Apple's voice assistant for other apps. First out the gate: FastPdfKit developer MobFarm. The MobFarm team have used software writer @plamoni's Siri Proxy code to allow Siri running on an iPhone 4S to enable their app to be voice …
reghardware 25 Nov 10:25
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ISP outcry halts cybercops' automatic .UK takedown plan
Telcos troubled by domain cut-offs without court orders
Plans to allow Blighty cops to "switch off" websites used by criminals have been delayed following pressure from internet firms and campaigners, who claimed such a move would hamper freedom of expression online. "We had hoped to submit a proposed policy to the [Nominet] Board in December, but following some recent public …
Hosting 25 Nov 10:32
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T-Mobile boasts budget smartphone for less than £100
Viva la city
T-Mobile officially unveiled a fresh self-branded blower this morning, putting Android smartphones in pockets for under £100. The T-Mobile Vivacity rocks up with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, a 3.5in capacitive display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 5Mp camera and an iPhone-esque - silver band around the sides, I ask you - design. There's …
reghardware 25 Nov 10:38
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ALL US pro basketball to be played by topless strippers
As NBA lockout continues, NYC team names its ball-handler
A former NBA superstar was been tugged in by a bunch of hoop-shooting strippers as their head coach ahead of the launch of a basketball league comprised entirely of topless dancers. The 23-strong Rick's Cabaret International chain of "upscale adult night clubs" set up its league after spotting a hole in the market – due to an …
Entertainment 25 Nov 10:46
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It's the ALL NEW FUTURISTIC WEAPONS Black Friday Roundup!
Suitcase assassin drone, electric stun rockets and more
It's Thanksgiving again, the time of year when denizens of our former American colonies - alas, still in a distressingly successful and prolonged state of rebellion against their rightful sovereign - like to assemble as families and fortify themselves for a punishing day of shopping by scoffing a mountain of tuck while watching …
Security 25 Nov 11:00
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Global warming much less serious than thought - new science
We're looking at just a couple of degrees with double CO2
Climate scientists funded by the US government have announced new research in which they have established that the various doomsday global warming scenarios are in fact extremely unlikely to occur, and that the scenarios considered likeliest - and used for planning by the world's governments - are overly pessimistic. The new …
Energy 25 Nov 11:07
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Cheap-as-chips kit smashes Intel's HD video encryption
German boffins crack HDCP with $200 gear
German boffins have pulled off a successful attack on HDCP copy protection – using cheap hardware and a lot of clever coding. Intel's HDCP (high-bandwidth digital content protection) allows the encrypted transfer of high definition video signals via DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and other connectors and between TVs and Blue-ray discs …
Developer 25 Nov 11:17
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Europe: warning, these Angry Birds CAN KILL KIDS
Rip-off plushies trigger alert
The Europan Commission has issued a stern warning: some Angry Birds could kill a child. No, we're not talking about the insanely popular videogame but a set of knock-off plush toys loosely based on the argumentative avians and being catapulted into Europe from China. Nothing to do with Rovio's mobile game Say the toy- …
reghardware 25 Nov 11:22
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Punters even more dissatisfied by Virgin Media's package
Ofcom survey Not our fault rivals have 'upped their game', says VM
Ofcom's latest customer satisfaction report is out and it doesn't look good for Virgin Media, which languished at the bottom of two lists representing its core business. The communications watchdog placed the telco in last place for landlines and pay TV. Meanwhile, it was second worst in the fixed broadband stakes, where …
Telecoms 25 Nov 11:32
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Bloke claims ex swiped his sperm to make twins
'She would take the condom and run out of the room'
A Texas man claims his ex-girlfriend stole his sperm to inseminate herself three months after they broke up. Joe Pressil, a 36-year-old telecoms manager, is suing Advanced Fertility Center and Omni-Med Laboratories in Houston, saying they used his misappropriated man oysters to produce a brace of bouncing babies without his …
Bootnotes 25 Nov 11:43
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Wonder tonic keeps mobiles pumping web for longer
Battery-draining surfing offloaded by proxy
Finnish boffins have developed a proxy to reduce the power required for mobile web access by up to 74 per cent, taking that consumption of power into the cloud instead. The proxy works in much the same way as Opera Turbo, or Amazon's Silk, in that it gathers the required content and pre-renders it before delivery. But by …
Cloud 25 Nov 11:53
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Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1
Review The cheapest Micro Four Thirds camera money can buy
The Olympus PEN Mini is a no-fuss, interchangeable lens camera created for the casual photographer that wants the respectable image quality of a Micro Four Thirds system at the price and size of a compact. Affordable mirrorless marvel: Olympus PEN Mini E-PM1 Also known as the E-PM1, this camera is not only the smallest PEN …
reghardware 25 Nov 12:00
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Will Mars rover Curiosity be the last of its nuclear kind?
Politicos bicker over peanuts for plutonium production
When the Mars rover Curiosity takes off tomorrow, it'll be packing a plutonium battery to power its myriad scientific instruments, but it could be one of the last to do so if NASA's next budget doesn't get approved. The space agency and the US Department of Energy are swiftly running out of plutonium-238, a radioactive isotope …
Government 25 Nov 12:11
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Samsung to 'exit netbooks'
Ultrabook focus, apparently
That's it for netbooks then - so far as Samsung is concerned. The South Korean giant is to phase them out next year in favour of 11.6in laptops and Ultrabooks, French-language site Blogeee.net claims. In an email purportedly sent by Samsung to its retail partners, the manufacturer said: "Following the introduction of our new …
reghardware 25 Nov 12:18
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Bone boffins find remains of ancient tuna dinner
Humans were 'trolling' the deep seas 42,000 years ago, says prof
Bone-bothering boffins have discovered that Man's taste for tuna sarnies may have developed a lot earlier than previously thought. The archaeologists found the 42,000-year-old bones of tuna and sharks in a cave on East Timor near Australia, providing strong evidence that people were deep-sea fishing back then, according to …
Biology 25 Nov 12:23
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Demon Currys iPad showered kids with HARD-CORE smut
Bosses very, very sorry after shop web filter fail
Dixons Retail has issued a grovelling apology after a demon fondleslab possessed with porn beamed smut directly into the eyes of children at a Currys store in Surrey. According to a report in the Surrey Comet, a distressed mother, who asked to remain nameless, said her three children were confronted with the filth on entering …
Security 25 Nov 12:32
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AT&T poised to kick T-Mobile USA out of bed
Proposed merger on the rocks as firms give up on FCC for now
AT&T and Deutsche Telekom have given the first signal that they might give up on the marriage proposal for T-Mobile USA after heavy opposition from the US government. The companies have withdrawn their application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and will focus on handling the flak they face over the merger from …
Financial News 25 Nov 12:38
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Shock claim: Playing Elder Scrolls WILL MAKE YOU GAY
Skyrim jobs for all
Many of you will take to the pad this weekend, bashing away at fantasies, wiggling the necromancer, whacking demons and enjoying all else that Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has to offer. But since playing the game, have any of you noticed feeling more inclined to turn the other cheek? Have you been spotting euphemisms for …
reghardware 25 Nov 12:47
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'That is the best tattoo of James May on a leg I have ever seen'
Quotw Plus: 'Buffy' - vampire slayer or Facebook smartphone?
This was the week when Apple's plans for a Black Friday sale on pretty much everything except its iPhone were leaked to the web and speaking of iPhones, rumours were once more circulating about the elusive number 5 and how well-endowed it will be. The fruity firm was also getting a ribbing from a new US advert for the Samsung …
Bootnotes 25 Nov 12:53
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How Apple beat IBM in Steve Jobs' first retail war
A Christmas, PoS tale
The Golden Age of Computer Sales surely must have been Christmas 1984. The Macintosh had just been released, Compaq and IBM offered powerful new CPUs, but the real action was a massive Christmas sales battle between the Apple//c and the IBM PCjr. I remember it well, I was working at ComputerLand in Los Angeles, and I was at the …
Business 25 Nov 13:00
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London Fire Brigade issues voracious tambourine warning
'You wouldn’t believe the incidents we’re called to'
The London Fire Brigade is asking the public to be a bit more careful around letterboxes, shredders and tambourines as it issues a breakdown of 417 incidents where it was obliged to "release people, or body parts, which had become trapped in objects or machinery". The list of last year's mishaps features "a woman with her foot …
Bootnotes 25 Nov 13:11
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Anonymous: 'We hacked cybercop's email'
Forensic 'secrets' in F*ckFBIFriday dump
The Anonymous hacking collective's AntiSec group has launched a fresh assault on law enforcement agencies with the release of what they claim are personal emails stolen from a Californian cybercrime investigator. The cache of emails – which according to AntiSec are from the account of Fred Baclagan, a retired special agent …
Crime 25 Nov 13:22
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Max Mosley sues Google to block 'orgy' vid searches
Ex-F1 boss declares search bots 'dangerous'
Max Mosley is suing Google after it snubbed requests from the ex-Formula One boss to pull content about his sex life from the company's search engine results. He told the Leveson inquiry into press standards yesterday that he was in the process of taking legal action against Google in France and Germany. The former FIA …
Music and Media 25 Nov 13:32
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Cruel new punishment for hackers: Twitter, Facebook bans
Nooooo, anything but that!
Fraudsters and hackers could soon get slapped with social media bans as the government plans to encourage judges to dish out online punishments for online crime. The online tagging system is one of several recommendations announced today in the 2011 Cyber Security Strategy. Intended to protect Britain and Britain's web …
Crime 25 Nov 13:43
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Ubuntu tells dumped CouchDB: It's not you, it's me
Cloud storage dalliance is over
NoSQL contender CouchDB's been dropped by Ubuntu's ambitious cloud synchronisation service. The Linux distro said it has given up on the open-source CouchDB in Ubuntu One after three years trying and failing to make the document store scale to millions of users and databases. Canonical's John Rowland Lenton said here: "Our …
Developer 25 Nov 13:52
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Need for Speed: The Run
Review Step on it
Releasing a driving game into an already congested market is a risky endeavour for any developer. So it follows that releasing two within six months could be considered careless. But to release three within a year, as EA has now done, seems at best illogical and, at worst, pure cannibalistic folly. Downhill tussle EA's …
reghardware 25 Nov 14:01
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Boffins find new 2012 glyph on 'secret' Mayan brick
Cryptic 1300-yr-old inscription ≠ doomsday, they insist
The Mexican archaeology institute says that a second possible reference has been found to a date in December 2012 as the end of a 5,200-year Mayan calendar cycle after which "the cosmos is regenerated". Reportedly the glyph in question is carved into the back of a brick found in ancient temple ruins - suggesting that it was a …
Science 25 Nov 14:13
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Climategate: A symptom of driving science off a cliff
Analysis You just couldn't make it up
I got some pushback from readers on the more skeptical side of the climate issue for describing Climategate as 'a tragedy'. There was clear evidence of cynicism and dishonesty, they argue - doesn't this let them off the hook? Not at all. But we need the bigger picture. Let's try this as a thought exercise. Demonising or …
Energy 25 Nov 14:41
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Disk drive prices swell 5% every DAY in floods aftermath
Dealers accused of profiteering from Thai disaster
Price comparison site Idealo.co.uk has revealed that disk drive prices were rising by more than 5 per cent a day in the aftermath of the crisis in Thailand that sent supply chains into a tailspin. The worst flooding in the country for more than half a century led to panic buying in the channel and subsequent accusations that …
Channel Register 25 Nov 14:51
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Judge tosses Netflix, Walmart conspiracy claim
Firms did not partner to control DVD rentals and sales
Netflix and Walmart did not conspire to dominate the DVD-by-post market, a US judge has ruled. Earlier this week, US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said that Walmart's share of that market was so small that its exit from the business, alleged in a class action lawsuit to have been made in agreement with Netflix, would not …
reghardware 25 Nov 15:02
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Scareware slingers stumped by Google secure search
Scam sites can't game search results
Last month Google made secure search the default option for logged in users – mostly to improve privacy protection. But there is a beneficial side-effect - it is harder for fraudsters to manipulate the search engine rankings of scam sites. Users signed into Google are now offered the ability to send search queries over secure …
Malware 25 Nov 15:16
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Penguin e-books back in libraries – but no new titles
Publisher in talks with Amazon, Overdrive
Penguin's e-books have been put back on the virtual shelves of America's libraries, a week after they were yanked for unexplained "security" reasons. Penguin pulled its titles from e-book libraries last week after a kerfuffle between the publishers, library e-book suppliers Overdrive and Kindle-makers Amazon. The precise cause …
Music and Media 25 Nov 15:32
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Falklands, Cardiff lie beneath track of rogue Phobos-Grunt
'Debris will probably hit remote unpopulated area' - UKSA
The UK space agency has warned that Russia and Kazakhstan will be responsible for any damage resulting from the probe Phobos-Grunt plummeting to Earth, and outlined in detail those locations at risk: that is, most of the inhabited world apart from remote northern and southern regions. Space boffins from Roscosmos and the …
Space 25 Nov 15:44
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Office 15 beta ready for fondling by early 2012
Touch it and you'll break it - but that's the point
Microsoft will spin out its first test build of Office 15 in January next year. WinRumors discovered that Microsoft is in the process of preparing the beta, after sources familiar with the vendor's plans tipped off the website. Office 15 is the codename for Redmond's upcoming version of its productivity suite. It's understood …
Applications 25 Nov 16:03
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NASA's nuclear laser tank will hunt down any life on Mars
Seriously though: How excellent if there was some
While tales of UFOs and alien abductions are still being greeted with snorts of derision, NASA really is searching the skies for signs of extraterrestrial life, though it's not little green (or grey) men the agency is looking for, it's signs of life - most probably not above the microbial level - on Mars. The Red Planet has …
Space 25 Nov 16:15
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Huge mob swarms phone launch – but it's a BLACKBERRY
Punters fainted - and not at the price
The global launch of a new smartphone brought a huge mob of thousands of desperate punters to the doors of a shopping centre on Thursday night - ahead of Friday's grand unveiling. By the time staff unlocked the doors there was a 3,000-strong crowd, a huge crush surged forward and several people fainted. The Indonesian crowd …
Mobile 25 Nov 16:37
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Flinging Facebook insults at Thai monarchy earns fat jail terms
Bhummer! Ministry asks social network to delete rude comments
Facebook users in Thailand, who take to the site to grumble about the Thai monarchy, have been warned that tough lese majeste laws will be brought against them. The country's Information and Communications Technology minister, Anudith Nakornthap, said that if such users "share" or "like" articles on Facebook that are …
Networks 25 Nov 16:47
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Tablets need permanent Black Friday price slash to triumph
Fondleslab costs must tumble, says analyst
Punters could be tempted to buy a non-Apple fondleslabs, but only if prices tumble – and that could be about to happen, say analysts. The iPad remains pretty much unchallenged and although Samsung, Asus and Acer have made the best stab at taking on the US tab titan, Amazon's loss-leading Kindle Fire (our review) is the device …
Channel Register 25 Nov 17:02
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Beware the software security scare silly season
Open ... and Shut Don't let touts cloud your judgement
The software risk silly season is upon us again. Every so often a big trend washes over the industry, and soon afterwards well-intentioned people start telling us why we should be afraid to dip our toes into the water. Or perhaps they are not so well-intentioned... Even as cloud computing takes off in the enterprise and …
Developer 25 Nov 17:31
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Slip of a lad to play James Bond's Q
Youthful gadgetmeister joins Skyfall cast
Brit thesp Ben Whishaw will play Q in forthcoming Bond outing Skyfall, the BBC reports. At 31, Whishaw will be the first head of Q Branch to be younger than 007, since the character first appeared in 1962's Dr No, played by Peter Burton. Burton's small role was actually as "Major Boothroyd" – Ian Fleming's service armourer* …
Entertainment 25 Nov 18:29
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Amazon cloud rival adds object storage service
Joyent: Expect petabytes and petabytes of storage
Amazon cloud competitor Joyent is going to add an object storage service which will be a good testbed to see if the cloud could be an object storage launch ramp. Joyent, which has no relationship to Sun veteran Bill Joy whatsoever, broadly offers cloud computer and storage services – like Amazon – but with service level …
Storage 25 Nov 19:32
