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4th April 2012 Archive

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  • Amazon shops for content to fuel international Kindle Fire

    Tablet coming to Europe real soonish now

    Amazon is hustling for content, rights and product on all platforms as it gears up to launch the new video friendly Kindle Fire to international markets. Amazon’s head of global video Anthony Bay delivered a MipTv keynote with the message, “if you not talking to us, you should be.” With digital ruling the roost at the online …

    Hardware 4 Apr 00:12

  • Corny conversations prove plants 'talk'

    I talk to the trees, that’s why they put me away

    Setting aside any jokes about Prince Charles and talking to plants, an Australian scientist has turned up evidence that plants can use sound for rudeimentary communication. In a wonderful example of “why not test it” science, a University of Western Australia researcher decided to listen to growing corn plants – and yes, they …

    Science 4 Apr 00:30

  • Condom compartment hidden in iPhone case

    Tough as trojans shell beats the bulge

    Australian Company Annex Products has unveiled* an iPhone case with a sliding compartment designed to store two condoms without revealing the popular prophylactics' telltale bulge. The idea for the product, according to a promotional video, came after a young Australian man visited his girlfriend's home for the first time, …

    Odds and Sods 4 Apr 00:37

  • Linux boss: We're number one where it counts

    Collaboration Summit 2012 Jim Zemlin buoyant on open source success

    At the start of the 6th annual Linux Foundation's Collaboration Summit, chief executive Jim Zemlin is in buoyant mood. Attendance has never been better, open source code is becoming more popular in new areas of the industry, and Linux is number one in all the sectors that count. "We want to continue our trajectory in every …

    Operating Systems 4 Apr 00:40

  • 30-year-old global temperature predictions close to spot-on

    A bit optimistic, actually

    In the ongoing debate over climate change, it's at times a good idea to check in with historial predictions made by climate modelers and see how well they have been able to predict global warming – which is exactly what a pair of researchers at the Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut (KNMI) have done. Geert Jan van …

    Science 4 Apr 00:44

  • General Dynamics, HP fluff up $249.8m Army cloud

    Private cloud, Sir!

    The US Army has signed a $249.8m deal with primary contractor General Dynamics to manage the creation of something called APC2, and, no it's not a new armored personnel carrier, but rather the next-generation Army Private Cloud. (Sir!) The contract, which covers the next five years, is what is called an "indefinite delivery, …

    Cloud Business 4 Apr 00:47

  • Shock jocks take NBNCo cash, then trash its ads

    UPDATED WITH MP3s:Live reads pulled after DJs criticise NBN

    NBNCo's plans to win over the hearts and minds of middle Australia have taken a hit, after two prominent radio announcers editorialised before reading paid ads which explained the company's role as a wholesaler. Fairfax media reports Ray Hadley and Andrew Moore both prefaced paid ads with their opinions that the NBN is a waste …

    Networks 4 Apr 00:48

  • ATO to refresh developer website

    Seeks Drupal, MySQL help for "additional complex functionality"

    The Australian Taxation Office (ATO)needs help with open source software. In a new tender, the agency reveals that its website for software developers is built on Drupal 5.7, MySQL 5.077 and Apache. The developers' site is very important as it provides information accounting software developers require to ensure their …

    Public Sector 4 Apr 01:00

  • NJ lab claims plasma fusion breakthrough

    Confined reaction close to a couple of billion degrees

    A private laboratory in New Jersey is claiming to have fulfilled two key conditions of a workable fusion energy system: it’s confined atomic nuclei in an ion “bottle”, and heated them to 1.8 billion degrees Celsius. The Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Inc work, published in the American Institute of Physics’ Physics of Plasmas …

    Science 4 Apr 01:30

  • China and India to power global enterprise software market

    Asia Pac is where it's all happening ...

    China and India are set to lead worldwide enterprise software growth over the next four years as Asia Pacific cements itself as the powerhouse of the global IT industry, according to Gartner. The analyst’s Q1 2012 update to its Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009-2016 report revealed that China will have the fastest …

    Software 4 Apr 04:30

  • Crowdsource yourself a new job

    Don't just sell yourself by the hour, says freelancer.com CEO

    Crowdsourcing is a chance to create yourself a new job, rather than just raise some cash between gigs or while slacking, according to Matt Barrie, CEO of boom site freelancer.com. While many users of crowdsourcing sites like freelancer use them to find low-cost labor, Barrie says the site works best when workers use it as a …

    Jobs 4 Apr 05:40

  • Ten... ADF-based inkjet all-in-one printers

    Product Round-up Feed me, feed me now

    Inkjet all-in-one printers have two different focuses: photos and documents. Those aimed at document handling often forsake things like card readers and twin paper trays, in favour of fax and Automatic Document Feeders (ADFs). With an ADF you can scan or copy multi-page documents unattended, giving you extra time to drink hot …

    reghardware 4 Apr 06:00

  • Chinese social sites lift post-coup controls

    Comment is free ... but could get you in a lot of bother

    The Chinese authorities have as promised allowed social media giants Tencent and Sina to re-open their popular micro-blogging platforms to comments, although these firms could face a tough time going forward as government censors increase their scrutiny. Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo were singled out by the Party after …

    Public Sector 4 Apr 06:16

  • China puts the boot up ISPs to close digital divide

    Faster speeds and lower prices please ... or else!

    China has pledged to increase broadband speeds and reduce the price of internet services in the country, which can be up to four times more expensive than those in rival countries including the UK and US. AFP reported that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology wants to close the digital divide in the west of the …

    Networks 4 Apr 06:30

  • UK net super-snooping clashes with Euro privacy law - expert

    Real-time surveillance won't wash with Brussels says lawyer

    New legislation that would enable a UK intelligence agency to monitor data from internet communications in real time without a warrant could be challenged at EU level unless other privacy safeguards limit the scope of that monitoring, an expert has said. The Government confirmed its intention to introduce new laws on the use …

    Law 4 Apr 07:02

  • BT slurps from first govt broadband cash pot in Lancs deal

    Fights off absolutely no one

    The first round of the government's public broadband funding has been awarded to Lancashire County Council, after the local authority agreed to a £62.5m project with national telco BT. It's early days in the bid for BDUK investment, but BT is the only one to have secured such a contract. Many other ISPs have pulled out of …

    Telecoms 4 Apr 07:32

  • Blighty's new top supercomputer bagged by software boffins

    Blue Big beast equivalent to 1 million iPads

    The UK government is buying an IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer and iDataplex [PDF] servers, with DDN storage, to use in its Daresbury laboratory. The lab is used for developing software for next-generation supercomputers, presumably the exascale thingies needed for chewing through Really Big Data. The funding and authorisation …

    HPC 4 Apr 08:01

  • Nuke plant owners to pay out up to £1bn per balls-up

    UK.gov hikes liability limit over next five years

    Nuclear operators are to be liable for damages amounting up to seven times the current limit in the event of a nuclear incident, the Government has confirmed. A phased increase to a limit of €1.2bn (£999m) will be introduced over five years following the coming into force of an international treaty on nuclear third party …

    Energy 4 Apr 08:29

  • Prehistoric monster snake crushed prey under 1.5 Brooklyn Bridges

    BBC gets the measure of South American monster

    The BBC's improbable measurement unit is on top form this week, in this report on a monster snake which terrorised the prehistoric South American jungle. The Titanoboa - a distant relative of the feared anaconda - weighed in at over a tonne and measured 14m (46ft) from snout to tail. In common with its venomless modern cousin …

    Biology 4 Apr 09:00

  • Xbox 360 credit card slurp alert under fire

    Sniffing wiped privates not possible says Microsoft

    Doubts have arisen over claims that credit card numbers and other personal information can be recovered from used Xbox 360 consoles - even after users take the precaution of restoring their kit to its factory settings. Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia bought a refurbished Xbox 360 from a Microsoft-authorised …

    ID 4 Apr 09:17

  • Ctera rocks up at BYOD party with big boy's cloud storage

    Need to access your biz files? There's an app for that

    Employees using their own laptops, tablets and smartphones under bring-your-own-device policies at work can securely access enterprise cloud storage facilities through gateway supplier Ctera. Ctera sells a Cloud Storage Gateway appliance through which an enterprise's servers can send files and backups to the cloud. This …

    Cloud Business 4 Apr 09:42

  • Analogue switch-off hits London today

    Farewell, snow-filled pictures

    Londoners: don't forget to retune your Freeview kit today, be it a set-top box, a telly with an integrated digital tuner, or a tuner dongle or card hooked up to a PC. Ditto, if you own a BTVision or TopUp TV box. The Crystal Palace transmitter, for years the capital's main source of TV signals, will begin cutting off stations …

    reghardware 4 Apr 09:51

  • RIM should focus on BBM, find a human CEO

    Analysis Social's where the money is... bitch

    RIM ended last week in more self-inflicted disarray. It announced a huge write-down of unsold fondleslabs, a sizeable operating loss, waved goodbye to its co-founder and its CTO, and then had to spend the next two days clarifying that it wasn’t deserting its most loyal users. All in all, that’s quite a bad run. And everybody …

    CIO 4 Apr 10:02

  • Watchdog sniffs David Beckham's wedding tackle

    Goldenballs in his undies ruled not offside

    The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a poster campaign featuring David Beckham in his undies and displaying a fine pair of goldenballs is unlikely to traumatise wide-eyed kiddies. Earlier this year, Becks got most of his kit off for the launch of his "Bodywear" range for H&M. Three concerned citizens took …

    Music and Media 4 Apr 10:16

  • Yahoo! countersued! by! Facebook! in patent! spat!

    The tables are turned ... bitch

    Facebook has launched a patent counterattack on agitator Yahoo! The social networking giant has not taken kindly to its web rival's patent volley in the final weeks before its IPO: it has denied any infringement of Yahoo!'s intellectual property and is counter-suing using ten of its own patents. "From the outset, we said we …

    Law 4 Apr 10:28

  • Fans fly to forums to signal iPad 3 Wi-Fi woes

    Genius Bar confirmation?

    Apple's iPad 3 is drawing fire for its wireless performance, with many an owner complaining about poor Wi-Fi reception. Tests performed by staff in Apple's own stores allegedly show it too. Numerous reports on the Apple support forum highlight the hitch, claiming the New iPad has a much weaker Wi-Fi pick-up than its …

    reghardware 4 Apr 10:36

  • Google plonks reCAPTCHA on Street View, makes users ID your house

    Exclusive Human brains tapped for more accurate maps

    Google is getting the public to identify house numbers and signs from Street View photos as part of its reCAPTCHA anti-spam technology - and feeding the data into its online mapping service. Reg reader Jim Allen was first to notice that photos began appearing in the reCAPTCHA tests over the last week or so. These images are …

    Spam 4 Apr 10:44

  • SHOCK! FIFA 12 goalie does it doggy style with striker

    Man oh man

    We don't usually report glitches in games unless it has unintentionally hilarious results - think dragons flying backwards in Skyrim. But when it involves a goalkeeper appearing to get down and dirty with a striker in FIFA 12, we thought it too rib-tickling a mishap not to pass on. Check it out below. Certainly tops Vinnie …

    reghardware 4 Apr 10:55

  • Red Hat, VMware and Eucalyptus in cloud boast bluff-off

    Open... and Shut Openness is a matter of need

    No matter how you define it, cloud computing is big. The 451 Group forecasts the cloud computing market to hit $16.7bn in revenue by 2013, while Forrester more aggressively projects it to top $241bn by 2020. A variety of vendors are angling to own a significant chunk of that revenue, with "open" displacing "cheap" as the …

    CIO 4 Apr 11:01

  • Shareholder flings class action lawsuit at Groupon

    Alleges site tricked investors into buying stock

    The hits keep on coming for Groupon, as it now faces a shareholder lawsuit on top of another day of falling stocks, all over its materially weak accounting. Groupon shares dropped another few per cent in New York trading yesterday and now sit at their lowest point ever: $15.02. The stocks have been losing ground since the …

    Law 4 Apr 11:16

  • UK hacker jailed for nicking PayPal, banking data from MILLIONS

    But York-based cybercrook only made £2.4k, court hears

    A UK cybercrook has been jailed for 26 months following his conviction for stealing millions of banking and PayPal identities, the Southwark Crown court confirmed to the Reg. Edward Pearson, 23, from York, used information-stealing malware to harvest eight million personal identities between January 2010 and August 2011, the …

    ID 4 Apr 11:29

  • Dutch firm slams limping RIM with patent lawsuit

    BlackBerry-maker gets kicked while it's down

    Dutch semiconductor firm NXP has filed a patent lawsuit against BlackBerry-maker RIM alleging infringement of six of its patents. NXP claims that RIM used its intellectual property in the development and manufacture of its BlackBerry phones and PlayBook tablets. The Dutch firm wants actual damages of lost profits and royalties …

    Law 4 Apr 11:44

  • Speaking in Tech: Creepy apps, big data and toasty iPads

    Podcast Why hot fondleslabs are still, er, hot ...

    It's week two of Speaking in Tech, the enterprise and consumer tech-cast hosted by The Dude of enterprise tech, Greg Knieriemen, master of all that is cloud and storage Ed Saipetch and web2.0 and social media chess player Sarah Vela. This week they discuss: The creepy "Girls Around Me" app being pulled from the Apple App …

    Applications 4 Apr 12:01

  • Man stabbed at BlackBerry bash

    Aggro at RIM party

    Research in Motion's latest BlackBerry promotional shindig ended in bloodshed last night after a man was stabbed in the neck at the London event, which was attended by pop singer Jessie J. Police were called to a Bankside Vaults, Southwark nightclub in Southwalk shortly after midnight after a 30-year-old man was allegedly …

    reghardware 4 Apr 12:14

  • iPhone fanbois enraged by Instagram's Android triumph

    So 'app' isn't short for Apple then?

    Photo-bleaching camera app Instagram has notched up more than a million downloads in its first 24 hours on sale in the Android store. But the rush of new fandroids posting sepia-toned snaps of their breakfast has pissed off Apple fanbois, who have moaned that the pic-sharing side of the app is becoming too crowded. Named …

    Applications 4 Apr 12:19

  • Nature ISN'T fragile nor a bossy mother-in-law - top eco boffin

    Comment Get rid of hippies, save the planet

    The Green movement needs to rethink its philosophy from the ground-up. That's according to Peter Kareiva, a leading conservation expert and chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy, the world's biggest environmental group. It must abandon the idea that nature is "feminine" and in particular that it's "fragile", he said, …

    Energy 4 Apr 12:42

  • Publisher hails CS Lewis 'space trilogy' e-book debut

    Forgets it had already released it over here

    Fans of CS Lewis' other sequence of novels - the 'Perelandra' trilogy, not all that stuff with furniture and leonine Christ metaphors - will be pleased to hear they're now out in e-book form. Almost 50 years after Lewis' death, in 1963, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength can be purchased from …

    reghardware 4 Apr 13:06

  • Microsoft parts private cloud to reveal its infrastructure

    Review Join the MVA

    Brightly coloured videos with a cast of improbably good looking people and some upbeat music don't shift data-centre gear. Instead of the endless merriment of terrible marketing videos, Microsoft has focused on education. Given that the vendor wants you to know about its private cloud technologies, it was just a matter of time …

    Jobs 4 Apr 13:21

  • Browsium rescues HMRC from IE6 – and multimillion-pound bill

    Updated Undercuts Capgemini-Fujitsu dream team

    A browser startup has undercut some of government's biggest IT suppliers to win its largest deal: shifting HM Revenue & Customs from Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP to IE8 and Windows 7. Browsium has moved 85,000 PC users from Microsoft’s hated browser and dated Windows XP, out-bidding computing stalwarts Capgemini and …

    Government 4 Apr 13:35

  • TripAdvisor chucks antitrust complaint on Google's pile

    Follows Expedia flight path to land in Brussels commissioners' laps

    Online travel reviews outfit TripAdvisor has followed in the footsteps of Expedia by filing an antitrust complaint with the European Commission about Google. The Massachusetts, US-based company submitted its gripe to Euro regulators on Monday, a spokesman confirmed to The Register. It gave us this statement: TripAdvisor …

    Law 4 Apr 14:03

  • Brit pockets £100k in Samsung Bada dev compo

    Flying-game-for-mobes bags prize

    Samsung has announced the winner of its Bada Developer Day UK Challenge, a "futuristic" flying game for mobile phones. The Korean chaebol wanted developers to come up with an idea for an application, programming of course on the Bada platform. The competition, which carried a prize of £100,000, was won by Marc Fontin for his …

    Developer 4 Apr 14:32

  • Yahoo! axes! 2,000! workers!

    Jobs cut to save troubled web biz $375m a year

    Yahoo has said that it is laying off about 2,000 employees as it struggles to regain its web crown. The firm said those at risk would be told of their "job elimination or phased transition" as part of its restructuring, which will save the company $375m every year. "Today's actions are an important next step toward a bold, …

    CIO 4 Apr 15:07

  • RIM begs app devs to fish it out of BlackBerry jam

    Coders set 'unconference' agenda in May

    RIM's app-makers will be treated to an "unconference" at their yearly "BlackBerry Jam" held in Orlando, Florida, between 1 and 3 May. The third day of the 10th developer bash will ditch normal conventions and put the agenda to a vote in a "participant-driven" attempt to generate great new ideas - or so the announcement on the …

    Developer 4 Apr 15:29

  • Samsung slips on Ice Cream Sandwich

    Tricky Android snack sets back Tab 2 release

    Samsung's two Galaxy Tab 2s, the (7.0) and the (10.1) - the South Korean company's brackets, not ours - will arrive at the end of the month. The two tablets were due to have gone on sale at the end of last week. They didn't, and they'll now ship at the end of April, Samsung has admitted. The reason for the delay? Getting …

    reghardware 4 Apr 15:50

  • Apple plugs Java hole after Flashback Trojan intrusion

    6 weeks after Microsoft machines are patched...

    Apple released a security update for OS X Java on Tuesday, plugging a security vulnerability exploited by the latest Flashback Trojan. The latest variant of the Mac-specific malware appeared on Monday and targeted a vulnerability in Java (CVE-2012-0507) which was patched on Windows machines more than six weeks ago. Apple's …

    Malware 4 Apr 16:17

  • Ubuntu hammers out Metal-as-a-Service tool for microservers

    When virtualisation isn't enough

    Canonical has unveiled a Metal-as-a-Service (MaaS) offering to provision and manage high-density Ubuntu microservers running hyper-scale computing centres and clouds. The Linux shop claimed MaaS would allow administrators to set up and allocate thousands of tightly packed racks to different groups of users, adding the latest …

    Servers 4 Apr 16:35

  • Dell guns for IBM mainframes with Clerity gobble

    Have UniKix, will travel

    Dell is hungry for more server revenues while building out a portfolio of software at the same time - and the acquisition of mainframe application rehosting company Clerity Solutions hits both targets with the same bullet. The PC and server maker has been in an acquisitive mood lately, snapping up security software and …

    Servers 4 Apr 16:49

  • OCZ's new Vertex 4 SSD: Faster... and slower

    You win some, you lose some

    OCZ has a new SSD that's both faster and slower than the previous model. That's what can happen when you swap controllers on an SSD. A year ago the hustling and bustling SSD supplier introduced its Vertex 3 with a bought-in SandForce SF-2281 controller inside. Since then LSI has bought SandForce and OCZ has bought its own …

    Storage 4 Apr 17:01

  • SanDisk shares tumble as chip-maker lowers Q1 forecast

    Flash shares fall 10%

    Flash memory maker SanDisk haS suffered a 9.47 per cent dip in its share price in trading today, after they announced a summary of results for the first quarter of 2012. Blaming weaker than expected demand and pricing, SanDisk said that its revenues for the three months ending 1 April were 8 to 11 per cent lower than expected …

    Financial News 4 Apr 17:29

  • Arizona bill makes it illegal to 'annoy or offend' online

    Updated Rough-and-ready westerners or dainty shrinking violets?

    The Arizona legislature has passed a bill that makes it illegal to annoy anyone over the internet. You think we're joking? The Reg – solid and stolid defender of all that is right and true – does not joke about matters of such import. Check it out: It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, …

    Law 4 Apr 17:38

  • Google shows off Project Glass augmented reality specs

    Nerdy but nice

    Google has been showing off the expected capabilities of the augmented reality spectacles that it is calling Project Glass. The early concept designs show wire-framed glasses with a display above the right eye which shows off personal schedules and location-based information. Also included is a camera, a microphone for calls …

    Hardware 4 Apr 19:13

  • Fujitsu wins another big super deal in Japan

    Sparc-x86 hybrid, with GPUs later this year

    Japanese IT conglomerate Fujitsu has been pushing hard to peddle its Sparc and x86 supercomputer clusters to take on IBM, Cray, Silicon Graphics, and others, and not surprisingly Fujitsu it has scored some big deals in the home country. The company just took down a big hybrid Sparc-x86 cluster deal at Kyushu University, which is …

    HPC 4 Apr 19:23

  • Square kilometre array decision delayed again

    Board may consider joint Oz-South Africa operation

    The board deciding on the location for the Square Kilometer Array has once again delayed choosing between Australia and South Africa as the host nation. Whether because the two proposed sites are so close as to present a nearly-impossible decision, or whether the political lobbying surrounding the SKA bids is has evenly …

    Science 4 Apr 21:28

  • Microsoft opens betas on virtual app control and App-V update

    Free add-ons for MDOP customers

    Microsoft has released a pair of beta applications for its virtualization customers aimed at improving the access and control of its virtual applications. The first beta is a new function dubbed Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V), which lets users, or IT managers, select application settings and synchronize them …

    Virtualization 4 Apr 21:49

  • Oracle gives away updated Ops Center control freak

    Solaris 11 under its thumb

    Software giant and now engineered systems player Oracle bought Sun for its Java and Solaris software, but in taking on hardware it also needed a management tools. Thus Ops Center is one of the more important bits of code for the company and Oracle has announced new enhancements to it on Wednesday. With the launch of Oracle …

    Servers 4 Apr 21:56

  • Feathered Tyrannosaurus uncovered in China

    Try getting this one into the air

    Chinese and Canadian paleontologists have announced a new find in the world of feathery dinosaurs: a ten-meter, 1½ ton distant relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex called Yutyrannus huali. The discovery considerably ups the ante for feathered dinosaurs: Yutyrannus is more than 40 times as heavy as the previously-largest known …

    Science 4 Apr 22:42

  • The tech jobs headhunters just can't fill

    Project pipeline strong, but scarce skills and big pay packets frustrate employers

    Recuitment professionals just can't fill some jobs and sometimes it's your fault for wanting too much money. So says Tenille Emmett, Head of Talent2's ICT Practice in Victoria, who told The Register “The jobs that are most challenging to fill at the moment are ones that require niche technical skill sets such as: Oracle Fusion …

    Jobs 4 Apr 23:15

  • Twitter bulks up in Ireland

    Set to hit Europa with gusto

    Twitter is beefing up its fire power in its new international HQ Dublin and the supporting UK office. Since announcing in September that Dublin would be the locus on its international efforts the company has been looking to increase its headcount and has now posted over seventeennew gigs in the Irish and UK posts. The Irish …

    Business 4 Apr 23:20