The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

21st March 2012 Archive

Browse by publication date, or search the site.

  • HP pushes social collaboration dev tools for mobile

    Got a smartphone? Then you're still at work

    HP has announced a raft of products and services aimed at speeding up application-development lifecycles, with an emphasis on mobile and cloud code. The company is looking to use the tools provided by social media to allow better collaboration within teams, and has added features designed to appeal to mobile application …

    Developer 21 Mar 00:14

  • South Australian Department formalises Apple procurement

    TAFE colleges want iPads

    Apples seem to be invading the South Australian Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology’s (DFEEST) colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE). Exhibit A for the invasion is a tender which says “As there is currently no across Government arrangement for the supply of Apple Computers, DFEEST …

    Data Centre 21 Mar 00:56

  • Facebook tracking makes for non-angry birds

    Research takes off as cockatoos “Like” no-nets scheme

    Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden is using Facebook to track its population of sulphur-crested cockatoos. John Martin, Wildlife Officer at the Garden and Ph.D candidate at the University of Wollongong, explained to The Register that he hopes to study the birds, which are infamously loud and destructive, the better to understand …

    Science 21 Mar 02:41

  • New supernova pops up just over there

    Grab your telescope and look for SN 2012aw in M95

    It probably won’t get to a point where we’ll see it with the naked eye, but even amateur astronomers should be able to get set for a fairly unusual treat: an emerging supernova. At the moment, it only rates as a “possible” supernova – although the well-known Bad Astronomy blog says it’s nearly certain – but the possibility of …

    Space 21 Mar 04:22

  • Optus to shed around 700 staff

    Restructure rears its ugly head

    Optus is poised to shed up to 700 jobs as part of a company wide restructure, according to reports. Optus officials confirmed that there would be job erosion but would not confirm the number, claiming the figure of 700 was “pure speculation.” "Over the past few months we have been undertaking a review of our business aimed at …

    Networks 21 Mar 04:46

  • Australian IT imports plunge

    Second-lowest spend since 2005

    That grumbling you hear in channel-land and retail-land about no-one buying IT right now? New data shows it is justified, as Australia imported just $569m of what the Australian Bureau of Statistics calls “Office machines and automatic data processing machines” in February 2012. That’s a big fall compared to January, when …

    Business 21 Mar 05:00

  • Tree-hugging Chinese throttle rare earth production

    Think of the planet, man…

    Bad news for the technology supply chain – China has decided to cut back on its mining of the rare earth minerals essential to the production of a vast range of hi-tech kit. Deputy IT minister, Su Bo, reportedly told an industry seminar in Xiamen that the decision was taken because China now wants to promote sustainability in …

    Business 21 Mar 05:00

  • Apple scores China store patent wins

    Cupertino moves to lock down IP

    Apple has taken another small step towards protecting its intellectual property in China by successfully registering 11 design patents for the iPad display cases on show at its bricks and mortar retail stores, as well as the design for its Shanghai Apple Store. The Hong Kong Intellectual Property Office is reported to have …

    Business 21 Mar 06:58

  • Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A 15in notebook

    Review Computing for the cost-conscious

    Samsung’s NP300E5A-A01DX is the Core i3 model in its Series 3 family of notebooks and is priced accordingly, at around £400. Unashamedly aimed at the cost conscious end of market it has plenty of company including Acer’s Aspire 5749 that Reg Hardware reviewed late last year. Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A Both systems utilise an …

    reghardware 21 Mar 07:00

  • NHS trust mops up after electronic patient records mess

    Cerner Millennium system caused treatment delays, data problems

    Oxford University hospitals NHS trust is dealing with patient contact and data quality issues following a major project to implement Cerner Millennium. A roll-out of the Cerner Millennium electronic patient record (EPR) system caused delays in treating patients at Oxford University hospitals NHS, its board has found. There …

    Government 21 Mar 08:01

  • Microsoft tosses Simpana Azure salad, feeds it to cloud punters

    Adds bundled CommVault feeder for added cloudy goodness

    Microsoft is offering a CommVault Simpana data feed and access portal as an Azure cloud storage bundle. On its side CommVault is now offering its customers cloud compute and storage facilities using Redmond's Azure cloud. Simpana is CommVault's data protection and archiving software which supports block-level and app-aware …

    Cloud Business 21 Mar 08:27

  • German court: Rapidshare must HUNT for dodgy pirate links

    Site expected to be 'proactive' in preventing copyright infringement

    The operators of a file-hosting website must search for and pro-actively prevent material identified as copyright-infringing from being uploaded by users, a court in Germany has ruled. A Higher Regional Court in Hamburg said Rapidshare had not done enough to tackle piracy and said the company should delete "infringing download …

    Law 21 Mar 09:03

  • 'Now we understand what's required to explode a supernova' - NASA

    Fortunately it isn't anything we've got lying about

    Top space boffins say that the latest readings from an orbiting science instrument have unlocked the secrets of mighty "Type Ia" supernovae, events in which stars blow up with such violence that they destroy solar systems and outshine entire galaxies. The new data come from NASA's Swift satellite, orbiting the Earth and …

    Space 21 Mar 09:22

  • Nokia invents teeny throbbing tattoos to make your skin crawl

    Vibrating message alerts you can't ignore

    Nokia has filed a patent covering magnetically induced vibrating particles to be embedded in clothing or, more interestingly, under the skin in the form of a tattoo. The idea behind US Patent Application number 20120062371, spotted by Unwired View, is to use an induction coil on the phone to excite the vibrating particles, …

    Mobile 21 Mar 09:33

  • Slapdash staff blamed for third of UK's data leak balls-ups

    But we're getting better at tackling breach damage

    Careless workers and sloppy contractors caused more than a third of biz data breaches last year, proving that crap staff pose the biggest risk to organisations. An annual study of data cock-ups found that the average cost of a breach in the UK decreased from £1.9 million in 2010 to £1.75 million in 2011. Improved security to …

    Small Biz 21 Mar 10:02

  • BoJo backpedals on Twitter hijack in mayoral glory bid

    @MayorofLondon renamed BorisJohnson in re-election war

    Boris Johnson came under fire yesterday after his minions changed the name of the official Mayor of London Twitter account – which has around 250,000 followers – to promote his campaign to win another term at City Hall. However, BoJo was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on what was the first day of his bid to be re-elected …

    Government 21 Mar 10:22

  • Man FLIES with Android-powered homemade bird wings

    Updated Muscle-boosting motors, Wii controller and a Wildfire S mobe

    A Dutch bloke has taken to the air by flapping his arms, proving that humans can fly with the right technology, plenty of time and friends to help with the build. Jarno Smeets flew using wings of his own design, built over the course of a year, and managed to spend a decent minute in the air – longer than the Wright Brothers …

    Science 21 Mar 10:38

  • Reading plays host to live ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

    Gun down the undead for 119 quid

    Ever wondered what a Walking Dead-style apocalypse would be like? Well, now you have the opportunity through an immersive "zombie experience", which lets the brave take on undead in an abandoned shopping centre. Those of you who failed to get an invite to Capcom's AR hunt this week will be pleased to know there's an even more …

    reghardware 21 Mar 10:56

  • Game Group shares halted, 'no value left' admits board

    Game over for high street chain?

    Retailer Game Group has inched closer to administration after requesting that its shares be suspended from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as there is "no equity" left in the business. Europe's largest seller of video games, which has 1,300 stores, also revealed it remains locked in discussions with suppliers and lenders over …

    Channel Register 21 Mar 11:01

  • iPad subsidies axed for Microsoft S&M fanbois

    Whose side are you on, guys?

    Microsoft’s sales and marketing people can no longer buy iPads or Macs on the company’s dollar. Staff in Microsoft’s sales, marketing and services group are reported to have been told they cannot, as of mid-March, expense the Apple gear. The policy was outlined in an allegedly leaked internal memo from SMSG chief financial …

    Business 21 Mar 11:17

  • Windows 8 on ARM vs iPad: Has Microsoft lost already?

    MicroBite 34 Facts from fiction in a fanboi world

    Steve Ballmer’s company has released a consumer preview of Windows 8, something Microsoft’s chief executive has called his company’s riskiest bet. After some rowdy Apple-style rah-rah fanboidom, it has quickly become apparent that the focus on tablets makes Microsoft’s Windows 8 difficult and frustrating to use for those …

    Windows 8 21 Mar 11:37

  • Japan's once-proud semis learn size DOES matter

    Struggling chip fabs refused to go sub-28nm

    Japan’s creaking semiconductor industry is struggling to stay relevant on the world stage and may face extinction if it can’t make a name for itself in the cutting-edge sub-28 nanometer manufacturing space, according to analysts. Market watcher IHS iSuppli is arguing that the damage was done to the country’s once proud …

    PCs & Chips 21 Mar 11:46

  • Rock'n'Roll Racing

    Antique Code Show Driving you insane

    Having just reviewed the Steelseries SRW-S1 steering wheel on some pretty serious racing games, I was reminded that I have had a soft spot for a certain genre of racing game but it was a long time ago and involved some particularly severe riffs. In my humble opinion - and yes I did go to Download and Sonisphere last year - …

    reghardware 21 Mar 12:00

  • Geeks seek cubits for Battlestar flight sim

    Take the Viper for a spin

    A group of students plan to build a motion-controlled flight simulator based on the Viper fighter from the TV series Battlestar Galactica, in an ambitious project to mount a real plane's fuselage on a platform capable of complete rotation. Five high schoolers and various mentors from the US have taken to Kickstarter to raise …

    reghardware 21 Mar 12:09

  • Microsoft! scoops! Yahoo!'s big! data! brain!

    Plugging Windows into the web

    Microsoft has dipped into Yahoo!’s diminishing employee pool to land a big-data expert working across server and tools and the web. The company has hired Raghu Ramakrishnan, who will work as a technical fellow in the server and tools business (STB) and focus on big-data integration between that unit’s cloud offerings and …

    Infrastructure 21 Mar 12:21

  • Game files for administration

    Stores could still be saved

    High street retailer Game has officially filed for administration, although trade will continue while the process is finalised. "Further to this morning's announcement of the suspension of trading in shares of Game Group Plc, the board has concluded that its discussions with all stakeholders and other parties have not made …

    reghardware 21 Mar 12:25

  • Former fax salesman made head of Brother's UK ops

    Jones Brother done good

    Brother has promoted former fax machine salesman Phil Jones to head of UK operations. Jones, who started at the company 18 years ago and was most recently sales and marketing director, replaces previous UK bigwig of more than four years Hiroshi Miura. As UK country head and deputy MD, Jones will report to Yuji Ishiguro, …

    Channel Register 21 Mar 12:36

  • You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

    A recruiter's guide on how to get mo' money...

    You’re not getting paid as well as you should. I know this not only because you’re bothering to read this, but also because most techies are crap at extracting cash from their employers. It shouldn’t shock you too much to learn that I, as a City headhunter and former contractor, focus quite hard on money - so here's a few ideas …

    Jobs 21 Mar 12:45

  • Cameron's 'Google Review' sparked by killer quote that never was

    Special report No one can source UK bashing that launched law overhaul

    Prime Minister David Cameron launched a sweeping review of UK intellectual property law based on an assertion – that the founders of Google believed they could "never have started their company in Britain" – he can't support, from a source nobody can find. We know this because new information released by No 10 in response to …

    Government 21 Mar 13:01

  • Fast Forward to Big Data

    Broadcast Structured approach to an unstructured world

    On April 19th at 12:30 BST , The Register’s Jon Collins is your host for our latest live broadcast ‘Fast Forward to Big Data - Make information fit for business’. Joining Jon on the couch is Günter Richter from the Information Management Group, Martha Bennett from Freeform Dynamics and Microsoft’s Anthony Howcroft. Between …

    Business 21 Mar 13:18

  • The Facebook job test: Now interviewers want your logins

    HPC blog Need work? Better hand over that password

    When I wrote this blog about how a recent research study correlated social network behavior with employee success, I speculated that we’d soon see employers trying to circumvent Facebook’s privacy policies in order to get a good look at your Facebook pages. Well, it turns out that some employers aren’t happy with just seeing …

    HPC 21 Mar 13:42

  • The Beatles' Yellow Submarine set to sail in 4K by 2K

    Blu-ray Meanies inbound too

    The Beatles' Yellow Submarine is set to return in HD, with a digitally-restored Blu-ray Disc version of the 1968 animated classic set to hit the shelves this May. Pepperland will appear on screens like never before after specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque cleaned up the film's artwork by hand, frame by …

    reghardware 21 Mar 13:45

  • AJ Electronics goes titsup after etailers snatch punters' wallets

    Retailer placed into administration after 28 years

    London-based AJ Electronics has bowed out after 28 years in business, and has called in administrator RSM Tenon due to pressure from the High Street giants. The retailer called in the receivers, who are currently looking for buyers for its assets, on 14 March. Weeks earlier El Reg's Channel desk had already caught wind that …

    Channel Register 21 Mar 14:03

  • Public borrowing hike overshadows Osborne's tax breaks

    Budget Day 2012 Growth forecast stuck on 0.8 per cent

    Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivered his Budget statement to the House of Commons today, which he claimed was about supporting working families and helping those seeking employment. He reaffirmed his "unwavering commitment to deal with debt" and described it as a "fiscally neutral Budget". But the growth …

    Government 21 Mar 14:14

  • Devs cheer as Osborne okays game coding tax relief

    Budget Day 2012 Level of relief TBD

    Chancellor George Osborne has heeded calls from the videogame industry and agreed to provide it with tax breaks. Announced in today's Budget, the scheme will commence in April 2013, giving time for civil servants and stakeholders to thrash out the details - "subject to State Aid approval and following consultation", as …

    reghardware 21 Mar 14:15

  • HP finally decides the future of the PC: It's a printer accessory

    Suddenly it all makes sense!

    HP has confirmed the rumours anent the future of its Personal Systems Group - the globocorp's PC-making arm, which at one point seemed likely to be sold off - by announcing that it will merge with the company's printer tentacle. According to a corporate announcement issued today: HP’s Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) and its …

    Channel Register 21 Mar 14:21

  • Osborne names UK cities to land £100m broadband bonanza

    Budget Day 2012 Plus another £50m earmarked for 10 other areas

    The Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne confirmed today exactly which cities in the UK will get their hands on a cash pile set aside to speed up broadband. Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle will be dubbed "super-connected cities" by the government at least, …

    Small Biz 21 Mar 14:39

  • Chancellor lands paper cuts on Blighty's small biz

    Budget Day 2012 Red tape slashed

    George Osborne has promised small businesses that their tax returns in 2012 will be simpler. The admin-slash is one of several measures in today's Budget speech intended to make things easier for small and medium businesses. The new return will simply ask businesses to report the cash passing through them rather than more …

    Small Biz 21 Mar 14:56

  • Wannabe Murdochs crash Ofcom's local telly party

    Student hacks quiver under pressure, frolicking vixens still banned

    Ofcom's consultation on Local TV has now closed, and the responses offer a slightly worrying insight into what to expect from the new tiny telly stations. The UK government is completely committed to launching local broadcast television in White Space frequencies. Ofcom is therefore obliged to define what that means and how it …

    Small Biz 21 Mar 15:31

  • Privacy worth piffling pennies to polled punters

    Film fans will pay up to 41p extra to prevent data gobbling

    Consumers are prepared to pay more for goods in exchange for more privacy but the difference comes down to pennies rather than pounds. A lab study sponsored by ENISA, the European Union security agency, confronted participants with a choice of whether to buy identical goods from two online vendors, one of which offered a lower …

    ID 21 Mar 16:02

  • Google locks up cloud apps and throws away the keys

    Psst, wanna secure connection? Get a certificate

    Google has introduced certificate-based authentication for developers requiring secure connections to the advertising broker's cloud. Google Service Accounts - announced today in a post in a blog post - will validate web apps' access to the company's servers with a certificate rather than passwords or shared keys. This …

    Developer 21 Mar 16:33

  • Microsoft cuts back on Windows keys after pirates grab booty

    Yarr: Significant profit margins ahoy

    Microsoft has blamed Windows giveaways and pirates plundering subscriptions for its decision to cut back the number of Windows activation keys it issues. The company told The Reg on Wednesday that its TechNet Subscriptions, Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), Software Assurance (SA) and Open …

    Channel Register 21 Mar 17:02

  • US rent-a-room biz swallows Blighty's Crashpadder

    Hopes to grab some of the London Olympics rental moolah

    American rent-a-room service AirBnB is hoping to grab a slice of the lucrative London Olympic-time rentals by buying out smaller British rival CrashPadder. AirBnB bought out the British company yesterday for an undisclosed sum. Both sites provide a social network cum advertising service for short-term and holiday rentals. A …

    Small Biz 21 Mar 18:01

  • Dr Who scores new companion from Emmerdale

    TARDIS needs a new welly rack

    Former Emmerdale actress Jenna-Louise Coleman has been selected to play the latest assistant to Gallifreyan Time Lord Dr Who, beginning with the 50th anniversary Christmas special at the end of the year. Coleman is best known for her four-year stint as Jasmine Thomas, the recalcitrant school-girl turned journalist who battered …

    Entertainment 21 Mar 19:07

  • Vodafone swaps in new VHA boss, denies sellout rumours

    The difficult third carrier

    Vodafone has moved to settle its troubled Australian joint venture with Hutchison, Vodafone Hutchison Australia, installing Bill Morrow as CEO while denying rumours that the business is for sale. In addition, Hutchison Whampoa GMD Canning Fok has been named chairman of VHA. The venture has had difficulties in the Australian …

    Business 21 Mar 22:21

  • Oz Senate signs off USO legislation

    NBN legislative jigsaw complete

    The last important legislative component of the Australian government’s National Broadband Network is in place, with the Senate yesterday passing legislation needed to put new universal service arrangements in place. The legislation establishes a new agency, TUSMA (the Telecommunications Universal Services Management Agency), …

    Networks 21 Mar 22:25

  • Queensland Police go war driving

    No evidence of Pringles deployment as force says remain silent

    The Hi Tech Crime Investigation Unit* of Queensland's ever-vigilant Police force will shortly spend some of its valuable time driving around Brisbane, the fair tropical state's Capital, looking for open WiFi connections, the better to inform citizens about the terrible dangers that may flow from signal slurping. Detective …

    Security 21 Mar 22:40

  • US scientists demo hydrogen-powered robo-jellyfish

    Our underwater overlords?

    If you remember Niven’s Down and Out*, then here’s a concept that will sound familiar: a machine powering itself by harvesting hydrogen from its environment. The jellyfish-like robot jellyfish demonstrated by researchers from Virginia Tech and the University of Texas, Dallas isn’t quite up to the task of gathering its own …

    Science 21 Mar 23:00

  • Musk muses on middle-class Mars colony

    Technology ready for $500,000 round trip

    SpaceX boss Elon Musk has said that later this year or in early 2013 he will announce a plan to offer flights to Mars and back for half a million dollars, hopefully within the next decade. In an interview with the BBC, Musk said that the final pieces of the plan had now been sorted out, and he was confident SpaceX could set up …

    Space 21 Mar 23:02

  • Former Yahoo! Hadoop honcho uncloaks from stealth

    Structure Data 2012 Making elephants dance in real-time

    Yet another big data startup has uncloaked which traces its roots in the Hadoop MapReduce project started by, and open sourced by, Yahoo! At the Structure Data 2012 conference in New York on Wednesday, Todd Papaioannou, formerly vice president of cloud architecture at the internet media company and the head honcho through the …

    Storage 21 Mar 23:31