27th December 2011 Archive

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Inventor flames Reg, HP in memristor brouhaha

Empties flammenwerfer tank over hapless hack, boffins

Here is some Christmas holiday reading. HP's claim that RRAM, PCM, and MRAM are all memristor technologies is bullshit, the memristor is not a fourth fundamental circuit element, HP didn't find it, and its developing memristor product is a not a memristor - really. The flame from Blaise So says ex-USPTO patent examiner and …

Storage 27 Dec 10:00
What you can do to enforce endpoint security

A strategic roundup

Thirty years after the PC was launched, security and management problems for the endpoint seem to be getting worse rather than better. PCs have become more functional, creating a greater surface area for attack. And the number of endpoint devices has proliferated, as tablets, netbooks and smartphones have entered the fray. …

Compliance 27 Dec 12:00
Chinese confirm Beidou satnav system is operational

GPS rival plans world domination by 2020

Chinese officials have confirmed that the country’s Beidou satellite navigation system is operational, albeit mainly in China, and say they plan to have free, global coverage in place by 2020. At a press conference the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said that Beidou – which translates as Big Dipper - is …

Space 27 Dec 18:06
Spire crack brings Siri to jailbroken iPhones

Chpwn workaround needs Apple’s OK

Siri, Apple’s much loved or otherwise personal assistant, can be accessed by jailbroken iPhones using an application dubbed Spire, says noted cracker Chpwn. The Spire crack, posted on Cyndia, enables the download of Siri code from Apple’s servers - which takes around 100MB so Chpwn recommends Wi-Fi use. Once installed, the …

Software 27 Dec 20:08
Japanese boffins crack arse-based ID recognizer

For two per cent it’s a bum rap

Researchers at Japan’s Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology have developed a seat that can identify the user by the shape and heft of their buttocks. The seat, currently designed for use in the car industry, contains 360 sensors measuring pressure points, on a scale of one to 256, and uses the data to build a US-style …

Security 27 Dec 21:08
Internode itching to leverage iiNet scale in NBN battle

Hackett readies to kick ass

The founder of Internode, Simon Hackett has promised not to go “riding off into the sunset” following the completion of iiNet’s acquisition of his company, but will instead be kicking “some serious ass” as he works directly with iiNet CEO Michael Malone. In an extensive blog post explaining the acquisition, Hackett stresses …

Business 27 Dec 21:30
LCD cartel case claims seven more scalps

Samsung, Sharp lead half-billion settlement

Seven LCD screen makers have joined together to offer $US553 million to settle charges that the screen industry has acted as a price-fixing cartel. The case has dragged on since 2006, when authorities in Japan, Korea, the EU and the USA first began investigating the LCD industry for anti-competitive conduct. So far, Reuters …

Law 27 Dec 22:00
Foxconn beefs up iPhone output to 400k units a day

Apple’s iPhone maker Foxconn is doubling production capacity to 400,000 units a day. The move will cost $1.1bn and will see the company's facility at Foxconn Science Park in Zhengzhou, China, become the world's biggest phone factory, accounting for $20bn in sales revenue in 2012. China Daily reports that the Zhengzhou factory …

Business 27 Dec 22:30
New ATLAS particle part of 'everyday mass'

This boson isn’t the Higgs

While we’ve been paying all our attention to the elusive Higgs boson, the ATLAS experiment has turned up another particle which researchers say could be responsible for shed light on* much of the mass of “everyday objects”. The new object, known as chi-b(3P), is the first confirmed brand-new particle discovered at the Large …

Physics 27 Dec 23:00