11th December 2011 Archive

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RIM execs chewed through restraints after in-flight fracas

Drunken fighting costs duo their jobs

Two drunken RIM executives on a flight to China fought staff and then chewed through their restraints after being subdued, forcing the pilots to divert the plane. The two boarded a flight from Toronto to Beijing already drunk, according to documents obtained by CBC News, and proceeded to badger attendants for more booze once …

Odds and Sods 11 Dec 18:48
YouTube takes music royalties seriously

Acquires RightsFlow to take it to the next level

New York music royalty outfit RightsFlow has been acquired by Google for integration into YouTube. YouTube will incorporate RightsFlow’s technology management system to help navigate the complex territory of music publishing royalties. RightsFlow CEO Patrick Sullivan said in a blog statement that YouTube “shares in our vision …

Business 11 Dec 21:42
Beeb rescues old Who episodes

Twisted path back to Blighty for ABC archival tapes

The BBC has announced that two of the “missing” 1960s-era Dr Who episodes have turned up and been added to the Beeb’s archives. The latest recoveries, the first since 2004, made their way somehow from Australia to the BBC via Southampton. Like most broadcasters, the BBC had trouble storing bulky pre-digital recordings of …

Entertainment 11 Dec 22:00
Swinburne Uni opens tech hub

Govt plumps up tech future

Melbourne’s Swinburne University has opened a new $AU140 million hub for technology and entrepreneurial innovation, the Advanced Technologies Centre. The ATC will facilitate research into manufacturing, high temperature processing, neurosciences, nano- and micro-fabrication, nanophotonics, product design engineering, robotics …

Government 11 Dec 22:30
Missing submarine washes up on Sunshine Coast beach

And yes, the submarine was yellow

A remote-control robot submarine lost by university researchers has washed up on a beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The Sydney University researchers were more than a little upset at losing track of the vehicle, which they were using for kelp and coral mapping on the sea floor east of Moreton Island. They were devastated …

Bootnotes 11 Dec 23:00
Optus, football codes get listing date

The next copyright battleground

The last big copyright-versus-the-Internet suit to be kicked off in December will be the battle between Optus and Australia’s dominant football codes, the National Rugby Leage (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL). As The Register reported in September, Optus’ launch of a service called TV Now put the football codes in a …

Law 11 Dec 23:30