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14th March 2012 Archive

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  • Telstra straps onto James Cameron’s deep sea ride

    Each your heart out Jules Verne

    Telstra will provide the technology behind director James Cameron's bid to capture what lies at the deepest point of the ocean. Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge expedition is a joint scientific project backed by Cameron, the National Geographic Society and Rolex to conduct deep-ocean research and exploration - eleven kilometres …

    Networks 14 Mar 00:11

  • Indian web censorship court date moved to May

    Web giants will have their day in court

    The controversial Indian legal imbroglio over censorship of web content and involving twenty companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft has been deferred until May 23. Top executives from al subpoenaed companies were originally scheduled to make a court appearance yesterday but executives of all companies have been …

    Security 14 Mar 00:15

  • NASA orders study for all astronauts over vision concerns

    Fiddling with orbit might make you go blind

    NASA has ordered a baseline study for all of its future astronauts after research showed that exposure to zero gravity can cause eyesight distortion. Scientists at the University of Texas Medical School used magnetic resonance imaging scans to look at the eyeballs and optic nerves of astronauts who'd spent an average of 108 …

    Space 14 Mar 00:22

  • Chip forecast upped by Gartner

    On the rebound after inventory glut

    The market watching wizards at Gartner have taken another gaze in the crystal ball, and after some buffing and polishing have decided that the outlook for the semiconductor industry in 2012 is a bit better than they had expected as 2011 came to a close. According to the latest forecast, Gartner now expects for global chip …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 00:41

  • AU Optronics convicted of price-fixing

    Two execs guilty says San Francisco court

    Federal jurors in San Francisco have written the latest chapter in the ongoing AU Optronics LCD price-fixing case, delivering a guilty verdict on the company and two of its executives. The Taiwanese company, its US subsidiary, and executives Hsuan Bin Chen and Hui Hsiung were found guilty of violating US anti-trust laws. …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 02:01

  • Optus hits LTE switch in Newcastle

    Puts Huawei on LTE leader board

    Huawei Australia is inching closer to securing the national tender for Optus’ LTE rollout following its placement as technology partner for the commercial rollout of an LTE network in Newcastle and surrounding areas. The commercial contract follows extensive trails between the Chinese vendor and the carrier for LTE deployment …

    Networks 14 Mar 02:09

  • Three millionth Aussie LinkedIn today

    Thank you note shows off people finder beta

    LinkedIn has emailed its Australian members to let them know that, as of today, they are one of three million local users. The brief missive from Cliff Rosenberg, the site's Managing Director, LinkedIn Australia, New Zealand & South East Asia, thanks members for their support and suggests readers continue to use the service. …

    Business 14 Mar 03:42

  • Galaxies to get the Pluto treatment?

    Galactic status on the line for newly-found star groups

    Science has no standard definition of a galaxy, and a good one is needed because recent observations have found objects in space that “challenge traditional notions of both galaxies and star clusters.” So say researchers Beth Willman and Jay Strader in a new draft paper, “'Galaxy', Defined” which says that the terms “galaxy” …

    Science 14 Mar 04:04

  • Apple slams hard-up Proview for conning the courts

    Fruity missive claims ailing monitor biz misled customers

    Apple has decided to up the ante on trademark dispute foe and failed Asian monitor vendor Proview, accusing the firm of misleading the courts and of trying to milk the iPad maker for more money in order to pay off its creditors. The two have been locked in a long running legal battle over who owns the IPAD trademark in China …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 06:48

  • Lav-less Indians can't get enough of their mobiles

    Indoor toilets are a luxury for many, not so their phones

    India’s rapid technological ascent in the 21st century appears to have left the nation wanting in a few basic areas after the country’s newly released 2011 Census revealed that more households own a mobile phone than an indoor toilet. The stats show that 46.9 per cent of Indian households have latrine facilities inside and …

    Networks 14 Mar 07:11

  • EU runs to WTO again over China's mineral hoarding

    Protests throttled supply for tech-friendly rare earths

    The European Union has joined the United States and Japan in complaining to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over China’s continued export restrictions on a range of rare earths which are vital to the production of hi-tech kit. The EU said in a press release that despite the WTO ruling in its favour when it mounted a similar …

    Business 14 Mar 07:35

  • Euro wonks lay SMACKDOWN on draft data protection rules

    Little love for proposed privacy regulation

    DAPIX is the Working Party on Information Exchange and Data Protection, where delegations of civil servants from the European Union's member states discuss the Commission’s Data Protection Regulation. But the minutes of the meeting held on 23 and 24 February reveal that there are deep divisions as to the content of the …

    Law 14 Mar 08:03

  • Pub landlady's footie sat-TV battle moves law's goal posts

    Analysis High Court quashes conviction after Prem League row

    The pub landlady who was fined for screening FA Premier League (FAPL) football matches using a foreign satellite decoder has had her criminal conviction overturned by the High Court. The court said that Karen Murphy had been wrongly found guilty of violating UK copyright laws. This is because Murphy had paid for a service …

    Law 14 Mar 09:01

  • 4G hobonet stunt was riddled with flaws, doomed to ridicule

    Surely we can do better than penniless Wi-Fi porters?

    People have criticised the the Homeless Hotspots concept for reducing homeless people to moving bits of network infrastructure, but the idea has some practical flaws too. Presented as an update to the model that puts homeless people to work selling street newspapers and magazines like The Big Issue, ad agency BBH was at tech …

    Wireless 14 Mar 09:30

  • Underwater Greek volcano brewing Lara Croft style earthquake

    IT angle? No. Angelina Jolie flooded temple angle? Yes.

    Angelina-Jolie-inna-wetsuit related news on the science wires this morning, as boffins in America announce that the underwater volcano off the shore of the famous, beautiful Greek island of Santorini is showing signs of trouble coming. “If the caldera erupts underwater, it could cause local tsunamis and affect boat traffic, …

    Science 14 Mar 09:30

  • HP UK veep tells gov: Soothe economic woes with IT balm

    Swallow tech spending pill and call me in the morning

    HP UK boss Nick Wilson told resellers at its Gold Partner 2012 event yesterday that he'd given the government his prescription for curing the ailing UK economy: spend more on tech. The bigwig said he'd met with economic analysts and nine Cabinet ministers in the past couple of months and the consensus was that the economy will …

    Channel Register 14 Mar 09:48

  • Waking Mars

    iGamer Cerebral sci-fi gaming

    An exquisitely mature and thought-provoking iOS adventure, Waking Mars is a love letter to late-1970s and early-1980s sci-fi films such as Silent Running, Solaris and Alien. Just as those movies contrasted the space opera of Star Trek and Star Wars with more believable, melancholic depictions of man's cosmological …

    reghardware 14 Mar 10:00

  • LOHAN's fantastical flying truss takes to the air

    Video Experimental structure last seen heading for Africa

    We're pleased to report that last weekend the Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) fantastical flying truss finally got off the ground, and we've got some video of the test for your viewing pleasure. The plan, as regular readers will recall, was to see just how a triangular truss performed as a potential launch platform …

    SPB 14 Mar 10:22

  • Walmart offers $2 digital copies of your DVDs

    HD will cost you more

    US retail giant Walmart is to offer punters digital copies of each of their DVDs and Blu-rays for $2 (£1.27) a pop. Converting a standard definition title to HD will cost $5 (£3.18), the firm said. Every digital copy is delivered through Walmart's online streaming service, Vudu. Discs don't have to have been bought at Walmart …

    reghardware 14 Mar 10:29

  • Paper pictures failed hostage rescue with Call of Duty shot

    Fair game?

    The Sunday Times' use of a Call of Duty character to illustrate an article about a real-life military operation has left bloggers up in arms. Some claim the use of such an image is not ethically right. Alongside an article this past Sunday about the failed rescue mission in Nigeria, the Sunday Times published an image of John …

    reghardware 14 Mar 10:42

  • Death Star SUCKS PLASMA FROM SUN in NASA riddle vid

    Vid Solar belch sparks refuelling UFO, black hole conspiracies

    Keen-eyed skywatchers have spotted a mysterious object emerging from the Sun that, according to the tinfoil-hatted YouTube majority, can only be a UFO, a small black hole, a world-destroying weapon or maybe a new planet. Images show a shadowy spherical object apparently tethered to home world's star by a dark string. After …

    Space 14 Mar 10:58

  • Samsung staffer says 7.85in 'iPad Mini' in the works

    Korean firm's better-than-IPS LCD tech to be used

    Apple is indeed making a 7.85in 'iPad Mini' an executive from Samsung - of all companies - has claimed. The unnamed official was commenting on component supply contracts worth almost $10bn signed by Apple and Samsung, the Korea Times reports. The contracts cover Flash storage chips, computer memory, LTE 4G communications …

    reghardware 14 Mar 11:03

  • UK kids' art project is 'biggest copyright blag ever' – photographer

    Updated Today's lesson: give up your rights

    A nationwide school arts project that commercialises children's artwork has been branded "the biggest blag in the history of the UK". Face Britain, a world-record breaking attempt supported by the Prince Charles's Foundation for Children and the Arts, has gathered some 70,000 self portraits from youngsters since it was …

    Media 14 Mar 11:14

  • Xbox Live glitch resets players' scores

    Microsoft probes problem

    Microsoft is investigating grumbles from across the Xbox community that players' Achievements and Gamerscores have been wiped. Gamers posting on the Xbox.com forums are pulling hair out in frustration after Tweeted advice from @Xboxsupport - which told gamers to re-download profiles from the Xbox menu - failed to resolve the …

    reghardware 14 Mar 11:27

  • Ex-Google man laments Larry Page's 'single corporate-mandated focus'

    That ads+faces conundrum turns sour at Chocolate Factory

    A software engineer who has bounced between Microsoft and Google over the past few years is very disappointed indeed with his one-time boss Larry Page. James Whittaker took to his blog to moan about the current state of play over at the Chocolate Factory and complained that Google is killing its business by obsessing over its …

    Media 14 Mar 11:44

  • Thunderbolt to go optical in 2012, says Intel

    Up to a point, Lord Copper

    Optical Thunderbolt cabling will become available this year, Intel, the chip maker behind the high-speed bus technology, has said. Thunderbolt - aka 'Light Peak' - links are currently limited to copper cables, but the spec has always presented optical as an option. As is stands, the technology offers data transfer speeds of up …

    reghardware 14 Mar 11:46

  • Toshiba outs 'world's fastest' SDXC card

    Enter Exceria

    Toshiba will release what it claims is the world's fastest SD card this summer. Branded Exceria, the card will use the UHS-I specification that's part of the SD Card 3.01 standard. This will give the card a Class 10 speed rating. That means minimum read and write speed of 10MBps in a UHS-compatible reader, but Toshiba claimed …

    reghardware 14 Mar 11:52

  • Ten... FireWire 800 hard drives

    Product round-up i.Linked in

    FireWire interfacing has been around since the mid-1990s and, as far as Apple is concerned, looks set to be ousted by its new Thunderbolt technology in due course. However, it still features on most new Macs, is available for PCs and remains popular in desktop audio and video environments. It's also a convenient option for …

    reghardware 14 Mar 12:00

  • Cameron denies personal Trident missile firing iPad app

    UK PM will not be getting The Button onna fondleslab

    Prime Minister David Cameron has denied that he will be getting a personalised iPad app for firing Trident missiles styled after his beloved Angry Birds game. Cameron loves to rock the fondleslab so much that he has often mentioned how he likes to sit back at Number 10, playing Angry Birds or watching TV shows like The Killing …

    Government 14 Mar 12:14

  • FTC subpoenas Apple in Google antitrust case

    US watchdog to grill Cupertino on mobile search deal with Choc Factory

    Apple has reportedly been subpoenaed by the US Federal Trade Commission, which has asked Cupertino to explain how the Chocolate Factory's search engine is slotted into the iPhone and iPad. News wire Bloomberg, which cites two anonymous sources "familiar with the matter", said that the FTC had requested the relevant documents …

    Law 14 Mar 12:28

  • Android clobbers Siri in Japanese... and English

    Apple babe smacked down by DoCoMo's Syabette Concier

    Apple's attempts to get its natural-language assistant to speak Japanese haven't gone down well locally, getting itself trounced by the Android-based Syabette Concier. We're grateful to Kotaku for the translation, which demonstrates how Siri fails to provide directions to the hospital when told of that the user has a stomach …

    Mobile 14 Mar 12:47

  • TV market stalls as LCD sales slow

    Brakes on in the demand cycle

    World TV shipments slipped last year - for the first time since 2004, said market watcher NPD DisplaySearch - presenting a picture of a business that's stalling. The number of sets shipped during the year totalled some 247.7m units. That represents an overall decline of just a third of a percentage point on 2010's total - only …

    reghardware 14 Mar 12:57

  • Encyclopaedia Britannica nukes print edition, goes digital-only

    Citation not needed

    Encyclopaedia Britannica is ending its hefty 32-volume print run after 244 years as it shifts its business entirely over to the digital publishing market. Sales of the world's oldest English-language encyclopaedia will continue until the company's remaining stock of 4,000 sets is depleted. A new edition of the collection is …

    Media 14 Mar 13:16

  • Tesco blunder prices 64GB 4G iPad at 50 quid

    Buyers' orders spiked

    Tesco tantalised online shoppers yesterday after a pricing error left punters thinking they'd snapped up Apple's latest iPad for just £50. The Twitterscape was alight last night with braggers who thought they'd got the bargain of the century. The Tesco Direct website was offering advance orders for the new Apple iPad Wi-Fi 4G …

    reghardware 14 Mar 13:21

  • EC: Apple claimed Motorola demanded ALL ITS PATENTS

    Euro wonks say it wouldn't hand over standards-essential stuff without 'em

    Motorola Mobility said it would only hand over licences for its standards-essential patents to Apple if the fruity firm licensed all of its patent portfolio in return, Apple apparently revealed to the European Commission. Eagle-eyed Reg readers pointed out that in the European Commission's report [PDF, relevant information is …

    Law 14 Mar 13:43

  • Apple hands iPad screen contract to rival Samsung

    Sharp not up to scratch in churning out its own design

    Apple has handed the manufacturing deal for iPad screens to its patent spat rival – Samsung – after LG Display and Sharp failed to deliver on the ultra-high-res screens needed for the new tablet. The new iPad's 3.1 million pixel screen is its biggest selling point. But it seems as if Samsung is the only company capable of …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 13:51

  • Layoffs at Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems over... for now

    'Majority' of leavers took voluntary redundancy package

    T-Systems claims to have concluded its voluntary redundancy (VR) programme and has initiated some compulsory lay-offs under a cost-cutting programme. The IT arm of Deutsche Telekom providing desktop services, system integration and computing and network services kicked off the process a month ago. It employs 40,000 bods …

    Channel Register 14 Mar 14:01

  • Euro Android devs: Google's hanging on to our pay

    Still waiting for February paycheck

    Android developers across Europe are up in arms as Google hasn't processed their March payments, which should have arrived more than a week ago. Google pays developers their 70 per cent share every calendar month, normally in the first few days of the month, with the money then taking a few days to clear. But this month dozens …

    Developer 14 Mar 14:27

  • Why Windows 8 server is a game-changer

    Sysadmin blog More than just a few tweaks...

    Windows Server "8" beta is out, and everyone reading this should sit up and take notice. This isn't a boring iteration on a previous server operating system wherein a few tweaks have been achieved and nothing really changes. Server 8 - along with the suite of associated 2012-ish server applications - is nothing short of a …

    Servers 14 Mar 15:02

  • BBC links Iran to cyber-war against Persian telly service

    'Jammed satellite link, phone lines and networks'

    The BBC is linking a "sophisticated cyber-attack" against its Persian service to intimidation from the Iranian authorities. BBC Director-General Mark Thompson will reveal today that a run of digital assaults accompanied the jamming of the Beeb's satellite feeds into Iran and automated calls against phone lines in London used …

    Media 14 Mar 15:27

  • Competition officials snap on fresh glove after 4-year Sky Movies probe

    Netflix, LOVEFiLM and unbundling give 'crats a reality check

    The UK Competition Commission's four-year probe into Sky Movies has shifted gear, with the agency acknowledging that the market has changed significantly since it produced its interim judgment last summer. Back then, the Commission decreed that Sky's "first-window" deals (technically referred to as the FSPTW or 'First …

    Media 14 Mar 16:03

  • Android to pwn iPad market share by 2016

    Microsoft no bother to either

    Android isn't going to overtake iOS until 2015, but at least Apple doesn't have to worry about Microsoft, RIM and others. That's the outcome forecast by market watcher IDC based on its latest take on the state of the tablet arena. Apple's tablet market share isn't going to dip below 50 per cent for five years, and even come …

    reghardware 14 Mar 16:04

  • NASA's 5-rocket mission to blast off tonight

    Cloudy jet stream test will be webcast live

    Tonight's the night for NASA's five rockets in five minutes plan, providing the skies stay clear, with the first launch scheduled for sometime between midnight and 1.30am EST (5am to 6.30am on 15 March GMT). The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) is hoping to gather the information needed to understand the high- …

    Space 14 Mar 16:22

  • Cisco partners: Services programme revamp will hit us in the wallet

    Shared Support replacement - with 'retro-rebate' - set for October

    Cisco is to overhaul the Shared Support programme from October in a move that is expected to strike a blow to the cash flow of incumbent partners. The Cisco Services Partner Programme (SPP) framework applies broadly the same discount structure, but rather than making it available at the point of purchase dealers will need to …

    Channel Register 14 Mar 16:27

  • Lightsquared cries dyslexic Havoc, unleashes 'gods of law'

    These Godzilla lawyers will crumple the FCC like paper cups!

    LightSquared has hired two top litigators in what appears to be a prelude to a all out war over the FCC's decision to block deployment of its 4G network. The litigators concerned have considerable form. Bloomberg quotes Washington lawyer Lawrence Kaplan describing the recruits as "one of the best teams available", and one of …

    Wireless 14 Mar 16:36

  • EMC climbs software storage cash mountain, taunts rivals below

    Sleepwalking Symantec trips up in 2011 Q4 sales

    IDC reports that storage software sales boomed in Q4 2011, reaching an all-time record of almost $3.8bn. Full-year revenue hit a record high of $14.16bn. EMC was the top vendor with a 25.7 per cent revenue share, followed by Symantec with 15.4 per cent, and IBM at 14.2 per cent. IDC's press release quoted the wrong figures for …

    Storage 14 Mar 16:44

  • American pies are cooling on the windowsill ahead of Pi Day

    Time to celebrate with your inner circle!

    Today in the US, home of the crazily backward (if you're not American) date arrangement, it's Pi day because its March 14 or 3.14. This is the day that Americans (but not Europeans, obviously) celebrate the mathematical constant that frames our science and maths along with the birthday of Albert Einstein. A mathematical …

    Science 14 Mar 17:04

  • Apple iPad sales slip as cheap Android tablet tsunami looms

    But top earner Cupertino to stay flooded with cash for YEARS

    Apple's iPad share of the fondleslab market slipped slightly in the last quarter from 61.5 per cent to 54.6 per cent. But with the demand for tablets booming and Apple selling 15.4 million units in the last quarter of 2011, it's unlikely anyone will shed tears over these results in Cupertino. The 2011 Q4 stats from IDC show a …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 17:05

  • HTC slaps Ice Cream Sandwich on 16 handsets

    Droid and Desire to get upgrade, Flyer owners left out

    HTC has started updating its devices with the next wave of Android - version 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich - but only sixteen devices are in line for the upgrade. As listed on the manufacturer's website, they include the HTC Droid Incredible 2, the Desire S and Desire HD, two EVO phones and four Sensation phones. Devices that don …

    Operating Systems 14 Mar 17:10

  • Seafaring robots shatter unmanned crossing record

    Gosling's machines plough on

    Four ocean-going robots from James Gosling’s employer Liquid Robotics have succeeded in securing a Guinness world record. The Wave Gliders have broken the record for an unmanned wave-powered vehicle by crossing 3,200 miles (5,150km) of Pacific water, breaking the previous record of 2,500 miles (4,023km). The Gliders achieved …

    Rise of the Machines 14 Mar 17:31

  • HP revamps server support for Gen8 iron

    Ninjas replaced by big red Batphone

    Twenty-first century cloudy infrastructure doesn't require the traditional break-fix maintenance of 20th century server and storage infrastructure. And so Hewlett-Packard's Technology Services division is rejigging its support services to reflect what customers actually need – and will pay for. HP has equipped its ProLiant …

    Servers 14 Mar 18:01

  • Super-boffin Stephen Hawking to star in Big Bang Theory

    UK prof to drop in on Dr Sheldon Cooper

    British boffinry supremo Stephen Hawking will guest star in US hit comedy show The Big Bang Theory next month. The programme's maker CBS confirmed it had signed up the famed theoretical physicist, well known for writing bestseller A Brief History of Time. The broadcaster said Hawking, 70, will appear in an episode that airs …

    Entertainment 14 Mar 18:25

  • Nekkid Tech: The Social Enterprise

    Podcast To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations...

    This week, Greg Knieriemen and trusty sidekicks Ed Saipetch (@edasi) and Sarah Vela (@orchid8) host guest Tom Petrocelli (@tompetrocelli), analyst for the Enterprise Strategy Group. The terrible trio chat to Petrocelli about all things enterprise ... and about how tech hipster fest SXSW is a place where you can really let your …

    Media 14 Mar 19:07

  • Shuttleworth: Ubuntu rockets up at enterprises

    Canonical looks for a higher OpenStack uplift

    If data presented in a in a blog post by Ubuntu project founder and "benevolent dictator" Mark Shuttleworth is any indication, then Canonical's Ubuntu variant of the Debian strain of Linux is waxing on public web services while Red Hat's Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is waning. "A remarkable thing happened this year: companies …

    Servers 14 Mar 19:15

  • Cambridge boffins build laser 'unprinter' to burn pages clean

    Works with standard paper and toners

    A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge has published plans for a laser "unprinter", which vaporizes toner used in printing to leave a clean sheet of paper. The idea of reusing printed paper has been around for a while, and it's not too difficult provided you use expensive coated paper. Toshiba has recently been …

    Science 14 Mar 20:13

  • 90% of AU net users want 'do not track'

    Punters do care about privacy says Queensland University study

    Australian Internet users are turned off by overly-intrusive personal data collection, according to a study conducted by Queensland University, and we want more information about how information is collected and used. The 1,100-sample survey into Australians’ attitudes to the collection and use of personal information also …

    Science 14 Mar 22:03

  • Cheeky SalesCrunch flips Cisco $1 for WebEx biz

    Will give a 15 per cent stake as deal sweetener

    A serial entrepreneur with a penchant for sales has made Cisco Systems an offer that it most certainly can refuse and also snicker at: $1, plus a 15 per cent equity stake, in rival SalesCrunch if Cisco hands over its WebEx online meeting biz. In a statement, New York-based SalesCrunch tried to make the case that the online …

    Cloud Business 14 Mar 22:16

  • Boffins render fibre obsolete

    Just point your neutrino gun and say hello

    Even if they don’t travel faster than light, neutrinos have one killer advantage over other physical layer transmission systems: you don’t need to lay fibre or wires to carry messages. Working at Fermilab, a research team from the North Carolina State University and the University of Rochester have sent one word – “neutrino …

    Networks 14 Mar 22:25

  • Chinese fossil analysis suggests new hominid species

    Chinless wonders walked 12,000 years ago

    Details on what could be a new species of human based in East Asia have been discovered by archeologists, and could alter our understanding of the spread of humanity across the planet. Scientists have published an open paper detailing the analysis of the remains of three individuals discovered at the Maludong (or Red Deer Cave …

    Biology 14 Mar 23:18

  • Voice prints at risk from impostors

    Up to 20% of voice biometric samples could be fooled by ‘wolves’

    Ten to twenty per cent of utterances collected by voice biometrics systems are not strong identifiers of the individual that spoke them, according to Dr. Clive Summerfield, the founder of Australian voice biometrics outfit Armorvox. Voice biometrics systems could therefore wrongly identify users under some circumstances. Most …

    Security 14 Mar 23:21

  • iPad queue hog doesn’t want it, won’t be first

    Sponsored squatter trumped by telcos

    The man who queued in the hope of becoming the first person on earth to buy a New iPad doesn't want a new fondleslab and has spent days pavement-surfing in vain. He just wants the $AUD950 a crowdsourcing service is paying him to queue while wearing one of its logo-emblazoned t-shirts. According to news.com.au, former truck …

    PCs & Chips 14 Mar 23:50

  • Startup slices solar panels using ion gun

    Promises thin film panels at half the cost

    After keeping a low profile for some years, a startup called Twin Creeks Technologies has gone public with an interesting approach to making solar panels: it uses an ion gun to slice ultra-thin leaves from a wafer. Its approach is to fire hydrogen ions at a substrate, a technique the company says produces very thin wafers …

    Science 14 Mar 23:51