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19th April 2012 Archive

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  • Swiss, German physicists split the electron

    Spin here, orbit there

    An international research team has observed an electron being split into two “quasi particles”, one carrying the original particle’s spin, the other carrying its orbital movement. Spin (giving rise to magnetism) and angular momentum (the path the electron follows around the nucleus of an atom) are two out of the electron’s …

    Science 19 Apr 2012, 00:01

  • Mahindra Group seizes on Aus opportunities

    Super sizes HQ in NSW

    Australia’s telecommunications, mining and financial services markets have proven to be a key lure for India’s Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra to significantly ramp up their local operations. In March, Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra announced the finalisation of the merger between the two companies. 12% of global revenue …

    Business 19 Apr 2012, 03:21

  • NBNCo shoots down Turnbull's satellite argument

    Quotes ITU to prove all's well

    Refutes Turnbull's assertion of unusual risk NBNCo has moved to extinguish Malcolm Turnbull's argument, raised at a Public Hearing of the Joint Committee into the National Broadband Network, that its decision to commission satellites before securing an orbit for them represents an unconventional and risky practice. NBNCo has …

    Networks 19 Apr 2012, 03:22

  • Australian IT imports rebound

    Out of the doghouse but spending still sluggish

    Australia's IT imports rebounded in March, reaching $AUD789m. February's imports were just $569m, only the fourth time since 2005 that imports started with a 5. But the March figure is not cause for celebration, because $789m is down on March 2011's $844m. The new figure is also higher than only three months from 2011, but it …

    Business 19 Apr 2012, 03:50

  • Insatiable China to gobble up 84 MILLION PCs in 2012

    Ultrabooks, Windows 8 and Ivy Bridge to fuel 13 per cent growth

    China has cemented its position not only as the global leader in PC production but also an avid consumer, with sales set to surge 13 per cent in 2012 - more than twice the worldwide average. The latest stats from market watcher IHS iSuppli predict shipments of 83.6 million units this year, up from 73.9 million units in 2011 …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 04:12

  • CA launches new global partner program

    Promises “expanded set of benefits “, including architects dedicated to channel

    CA Technologies has announced a new “CA Global Partner Program” that it says “provides an expanded set of benefits” designed to help “solution providers, service providers, alliance partners and resellers to enable customers to deliver innovative business services.” Klasie Holtzhausen, the company's Senior Director, for …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 04:33

  • Pakistanis revolt over Great Firewall plans

    Censorship is illegal, claim activists

    Several Pakistanis are taking their government to court in a bid to stop the ‘illegal’ blocking of sites for political purposes and to force the authorities to shelve current plans for a nation wide web filtering system similar to the so-called Great Firewall of China. Local newspaper The News International reported that the …

    Policy 19 Apr 2012, 04:45

  • Intel swoops for Korean face recog start-up - reports

    In your FACE ARM!

    Intel has reportedly swooped for Korean face recognition firm Olaworks in a 35 billion won (£19.3m) deal which could be useful for the chip giant in its continuing efforts to break into the smartphone space with its Medfield platform. Although Intel told The Reg it refuses to comment on speculation, The Korea Herald claimed it …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 04:55

  • HTC One S Android smartphone

    Review Meet the bridesmaid

    Playing Tonto to the One X’s Lone Ranger in HTC’s new model line-up is the One S. I’ll get to Silver, the One V, when it arrives in a few weeks. For now though, we can see if HTC’s much vaunted One series makes sense from a technical, as well as a marketing perspective. Tonto's talker: HTC's One S In all areas, the One S is …

    Phones 19 Apr 2012, 06:00

  • Fast Forward to Big Data

    Live today Make information fit for business

    Today at 12:30 BST, our host Jon Collins will be joined by a band of experts to discuss the current state of data management, and how new approaches work with old principles to solve the business problems of today. The studio band are Günter Richter from the Information Management Group, Xander Friedländer, from Retail Insight …

    Site News 19 Apr 2012, 07:00

  • BYOD is a ticking time bomb for B2B resellers

    Own kit boom means 'significant disruption'

    The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend among organisations will mean a £2bn sales boon for UK service providers within five years but will "significantly disrupt" the B2B hardware channel, says the analyst firm TechMarketView. Senior management within firms and younger employees, particularly those under 30, expect to use …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 07:18

  • Trojan sneaks into hotel, slurps guests' credit card data

    No reservation required

    Cyberooks are selling malware through underground forums which they claim offers the ability to steal credit card information from a hotel point of sale (POS) applications. The ruse, detected by transaction security firm Trusteer, shows how criminals are using malware on enterprise machines to collect financial information in …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 07:27

  • Met issues mug-shot gallery mobe app to finger wanted crooks

    Curtain-twitchers tap CCTV trove

    The Metropolitan Police is pushing a mug-shot gallery smartphone app so Londoners can help nab petty criminals across the capital. New software called Facewatch ID displays police-issued images of unnamed suspects and sought-after witnesses for citizens to identify. Punters pop their postcode into the app to get photos of …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 08:02

  • NetApp offers system check-up from iPads, smartphones

    Support-call monitoring on IOS and Android

    NetApp has endorsed tablet and smartphone access to its support system and users can now monitor support case status from their iPad, iPhone or Android phone. NetApp support case status monitoring app There's been no formal announcement but if you point your web browser here you'll find a page entitled AutoSupport at your …

    Storage 19 Apr 2012, 08:34

  • Shale gas fracking ruled safe, but must stop at drop of a hat

    Boffins' findings at odds with Dept of Climate Change

    Is shale exploration in the UK on stop or go? On Monday the Department for Energy and Climate Change released a geological report into the impact of hydraulic fracturing, a key technique in releasing gas from shale rock deep beneath the Earth's surface. But, as befits the department with the schizophrenic identity, its findings …

    Science 19 Apr 2012, 09:02

  • Office 365: Win a 25 seat, 12 mth license

    Compo All from the cloud and with extra support

    You’ve heard of Microsoft’s Office 365 by now, with its cloud based delivery of office based classics. But have you tried it yet? We’ve teamed up with Microsoft to offer you the chance to bag a free 25 seat, 12 month licence with additional free support from Perspicuity – a Microsoft Partner. There’s no catch, it’s a prize …

    Small Biz 19 Apr 2012, 09:16

  • Ex-army bloke, 2 other bods cuffed after News Corp tip-off

    Dawn raid in Op Elveden bung probe

    Three more suspects were arrested this morning by officers investigating allegations of illegal payments to police and public officials in relation to the phone hacking scandal at News International. Scotland Yard cops are currently searching two addresses in Lancashire and Kent. The Met said in a statement that a 36-year-old …

    Law 19 Apr 2012, 09:29

  • Hands on with the Nikon D3200 DSLR

    First look Entry-level 24.2Mp shooter, anyone?

    The great and the good were out in force at Nikon’s London press launch this week of its latest entry-level DSLR, the D3200. Boasting a new 24.2Mp DX format CMOS sensor, the camera also bags an Expeed 3 processor – the same imaging engine featured on the Nikon D4, the company’s flagship shooter. Indeed, with that kind of spec …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 09:38

  • Beefy Fedora could use a dash of miracle whip

    Chunky between the buns, Btrfs-free

    If you’re called Beefy Miracle, you better pack a punch. And when the Fedora crew christened their next Linux desktop, that was certainly the plan. On the menu was “over and under the bun improvements that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software.” While Fedora 17 is certainly beefy, what's …

    Operating Systems 19 Apr 2012, 09:41

  • PlayStation Suite SDK beta opens today

    Sony calls for content

    Sony's PlayStation Suite software development kit has been launched in beta form, opening doors for developers to craft games for PlayStation-certified devices. As promised last month, the SDK rolls out in open beta, allowing users to create content that utilises both physical buttons and a touchscreen input within a PC-hosted …

    Games 19 Apr 2012, 09:55

  • TMS and DataCore peddle flashy support for virtual servers

    Bundle supercharges virty environments

    TMS flash arrays are being bundled with SANsymphony-V software from DataCore to provide fast flash-based SAN array support to virtualised servers. The combination of RamSan flash appliances from TMS with the DataCore storage hypervisor software is aimed at VMware servers and accelerating hem by adding an automatically tiered …

    Virtualization 19 Apr 2012, 10:03

  • Fusion-io shoves OS aside, lets apps drill straight into flash

    There's a party in the PCIe cache and your kernel isn't invited

    Fusion-io is wooing programmers with a software development kit loaded with interfaces so apps can directly access a flash cache as a memory tier. Fusion-io ioMemory OS subsystem technologies like Auto Commit Memory and Atomic Writes, which were used in the billion IOPS demo, are available through the SDK. Developers can use …

    Developer 19 Apr 2012, 10:19

  • Punters want BBC iPlayer in TVs, not 3D

    Consumers rank their favoured telly technologies

    Brits want catch-up services from their tellies, not 3D, a survey carried out by Freeview has found. The digital TV brand asked 2000 punters to rank the telly technology they most want to see in their sets. Top of the list, appealing to 62 per cent of respondents: catch-up services like BBC iPlayer and 4oD. Compare that to …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 10:26

  • 'Perfect storm' drives electronics stores to EXTINCTION

    Supermarket and web rivals will eat retailers alive - analyst

    The window of opportunity for traditional bricks-and-mortar consumer electronics retailers to catch up with web-based and supermarket rivals has closed and many more will go the way of the dinosaur. So says channel beancounter Canalys, which predicts others will follow in the footsteps of monolithic consumer outlets such as …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 10:42

  • Propellerhead Figure

    iOS App of the Week Finger-tapping music-making fun

    Propellerhead’s ReBirth app brought some powerful sequencer tools to iOS last year, but made a fatal mistake by simply transplanting the complex interface of the original PC software onto the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPad. Clear hints help you get started laying down your two-bar loop The developers obviously …

    Phones 19 Apr 2012, 11:00

  • Integrator Redstone's accounts back in the black

    But CEO says slow project work means cost-cutting will continue

    The boss at network integrator Redstone reckons the turnaround plan initiated a couple of years ago is finally paying dividends as accounts returned to the black. The company had stumbled and looked likely to fall over in 2010 before biz rescue specialists Tony Weaver and Ian Smith pitched up in September that year. Smith and …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 11:12

  • Barclaycard slaps pay-by-bonk plasters on mobes

    And anything else that moves

    Barclaycard has launched a proximity-payment token embedded in a sticker, ideally sized for affixing to the back of a mobile phone, as a stop gap until the handsets catch up. The Barclaycard PayTag is a sticker about a third of the size of a credit card, but does not have the chip contacts or magnetic stripe. It is linked to …

    Small Biz 19 Apr 2012, 11:21

  • Huawei reveals Ascend P1 launch plans

    Thinnest ICS handset yet?

    Huawei has announced the availability of its forthcoming super-thin Android smartphone, the Ascend P1, which the company plans to roll out across Europe this summer. The Ascend P1 will touch down with a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor running Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich. The 7.7mm-thick device features a 4.3in touchscreen …

    Phones 19 Apr 2012, 11:34

  • CompSci boffins tout file encryption for Google Docs

    Plugin scrambles data en route to Chocolate Factory cloud

    Computer scientists in Ireland have developed a technology for Google Docs that allows for the "real-time" encryption of data before it is uploaded to the Google servers. The CipherDocs system, developed by computer scientists at Trinity College, Dublin, is designed so that Google would not have access to the keys necessary to …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 11:42

  • Microsoft tears the wraps off Windows 8 Enterprise

    USB boot from your own device

    Remember the enterprise? Despite what has become a fanatical focus on consumers to beat Apple with Windows 8 tablets and Windows phones, Microsoft does – just about. Microsoft on Monday revealed three main editions of Windows 8, due later this year: two for tablets and Windows Pro for “business/technical professionals”, which …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 12:02

  • Cosmic ray source riddle mystery now even more mysterious

    Eggheads stumped after killer gamma rays ruled out. Probably

    Boffins are now even more puzzled about where high-energy cosmic rays come from after a new study showed that gamma ray bursts are probably not to blame. Cosmic rays hitting Earth. Credit: NSF/J. Yang Astroboffins only had two theories about what causes cosmic rays, which regularly penetrate Earth's atmosphere: huge …

    Science 19 Apr 2012, 12:18

  • ISPs torch UK.gov's smut-blocking master plan

    Network-level filters won't better protect kids – broadband firms

    Telcos have clobbered an independent Parliamentary inquiry into online child safety by saying that its recommendations are unworkable. Prime Minister David Cameron indicated in the House of Commons yesterday that he welcomed the plans, but the broadband industry's lobby group, the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA …

    Hosting 19 Apr 2012, 12:27

  • Mayor Boris' Chinese vote master stroke backfires on twit clone

    Making as much sense on Weibo as he does in Blighty

    Bouffant-topped bigwig Boris Johnson hopes to ingratiate himself with the capital's Chinese community by climbing aboard Twitter-clone Sina Weibo - although putting the same yattering on both is just silly. But that's not stopped the Mayor of London from copying randomly selected Twitter posts directly into his Sina Weibo …

    Networks 19 Apr 2012, 12:42

  • Cycle fires up 50,000-core HPC cluster on Amazon EC2

    Looking for drugs in all the right places

    Cycle Computing is at it again, pushing the envelope on setting up HPC clusters that ride atop Amazon's EC2 compute clusters. This time, Cycle Computing has been tapped by protein simulation software-maker Schrödinger and drug-hunter Nimbus Discovery, which is in hot pursuit of drugs to cure Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and obesity …

    HPC 19 Apr 2012, 13:00

  • Gemini outs trio of budget Android 4 tablets

    Ice Cream Sarnie at sub-sub-iPad prices

    Gemini Devices has brought its cheap Android 4 JoyTab tablets to Blighty. There are three fondleslabs in the set: 7in, 8in and 10in models, with resolutions of 480 x 800, 600 x 800 and 768 x 1024. They all use ARM Cortex A8-class processors, the 7in and 10in running at 1GHz, the eight-incher at 1.2GHz. 8in and 7in On-board …

    Tablets 19 Apr 2012, 13:05

  • Nokia loses $1.7bn in Q1, sales chief falls overboard

    That sales collapse in full

    Nokia's sales chief Colin Giles will depart in a shake-up of the company's commercial operation, the mobe maker announced in its earnings call today. After he clears his desk in June, 20-year veteran Giles won't be replaced, with the four regional senior VPs now reporting directly to head of markets Niklaus Savander. As the …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 13:21

  • Fake Instagram app slings SMS Trojan onto Android gear

    Russian site rather than irate Apple fanboi fingered

    Virus lynchpins are distributing an Android Trojan under the guise of popular photo-sharing app Instagram. The fake version of the Instagram Android app is being distributed via unapproved sources, rather than official sites such as the Google Play Android marketplace. The rogue app has been published on a Russian website …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 13:40

  • Irish national telco gets 100 days to escape €4bn debt hell

    Eircom made a few corporates very rich, says judge

    The Irish courts have stepped in to protect the country's largest telco from creditors after the firm careered €4bn into debt. A judge yesterday granted Eircom 100 days' grace to restructure its balance-sheet busting debts. This is the biggest such move in Irish corporate history. Eircom, the country's biggest broadband, …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 14:01

  • Sony 3D PlayStation TV to hit UK at last

    Dual-view gaming inbound

    It has been a long time coming, but Sony's 3D PlayStation telly has finally touched down in the UK, wetting the mouths of multiplayer gamers keen to get hands on the set's SimulView tech. The function allows two users to play on the same monitor without the need for splitscreen. The 3D TV automatically grabs the top half of …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 14:09

  • Ebook price-fix trial showdown? Bring it on, say Apple and pals

    Europe reckons fruity firm may settle

    Apple wants to go to trial in the US over allegations of price-fixing in the ebook market, the company's lawyer said yesterday, but it may end up settling with the EU. The fruity firm and fellow defendants Penguin and Macmillan were in court yesterday for the first hearing in the US government-led case against them. According …

    Tablets 19 Apr 2012, 14:33

  • eBay beats Q1 forecasts with PayPal mobe cash mountain

    Money-swap site boosts its revenue by a third

    eBay has seen its revenues and income rise in the first quarter this year, boosted by PayPal's moves in the mobile payments sector. The web marketplace reported a 29 per cent lift in revenue from the same quarter last year, rising to $3.3bn (£2bn), while net income was up 17 per cent to $725m (£450m), beating analysts' …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 15:01

  • Apple throws free Snow Leopard bone at MobileMe punters

    Hopes OS upgrade will get them hooked on iCloud

    Apple is now giving away an OS upgrade to as a ploy to wean punters off its MobileMe service and onto its iCloud storage offering. Cupertino's older OSes do not support iCloud. Cupertino has informed MobileMe customers still using the 2007 Mac operating system Leopard that they can have the next version of the OS – the 2009 …

    Operating Systems 19 Apr 2012, 15:28

  • India's new Atom-powered Xolo X900 ISN'T Intel's first smartphone

    Despite the hype, Lava's Android offering ain't Chipzilla's mobile debut

    Intel is providing the Medfield Atom processor for the Xolo X900, an Android phone being launched in India - but despite the headlines it's a long way from the Intel's first smartphone. Not that the X900 isn't a competent Android handset. Outsiders might rate India as a developing market but local brand Lava reckons there's a …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 16:06

  • Amazon, Salesforce 'expected to join UK.gov's G-Cloud 2.0'

    Blighty reckons earlier legal fears ironed out

    Amazon and Salesforce are odds-on to join the UK government’s G-Cloud and start serving civil servants with hosted computing, storage and ERP from May. The celebrated US cloud pin-ups have been in talks to join G-Cloud with the government officials driving the programme having to reassure the firms' legal people on their …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 16:28

  • Metallic Glass iPhone 5 to battle pottery Samsung Galaxy S3

    Rumours from Korean tech industry

    The next iPhone will be cased in "Liquidmetal" says a Korean news outlet quoting "industry sources". The talkative Korean rumour-mongers have also repeated predictions that Samsung's upcoming S3, their next Galaxy smartphone, will be made of high-tech ceramics. Liquidmetal is the trade name for metal alloy with the structure …

    Mobile 19 Apr 2012, 16:44

  • Tumblr CEO realises ads don't make him sick after all

    Two years after renouncing all ads, Karp's stomach settles

    Just two years after Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp said that advertising on sites like his made him physically sick, Karp has announced that Tumblr will start offering paid advertising. In 2010, Karp told The LA Times that the blogging site was "pretty opposed to advertising" and "it really turns our stomachs". Today at …

    Small Biz 19 Apr 2012, 17:08

  • EMC rides storage sales wave as cash keeps pouring in

    Tucci's tower looking impregnable after strong Q1

    It was another stonking quarter for EMC. The storage giant reported an impressive $5.09bn in sales for the first quarter of its fiscal 2012 year, with profits of $587m, up 23 per cent on a year ago – ker-ching! EMC execs were, well, very pleased indeed, with CFO David Goulden saying in canned remarks: "We are well on our way …

    The Channel 19 Apr 2012, 18:02

  • Samsung smacks Apple back with 8-patent knuckleduster

    Keep your FRANDs close, keep your enemies closer... in court

    Samsung has responded to Apple's California-filed patent suit with a fat bundle of its own patents, including a couple that fall under the much-discussed FRAND rules. The countersuit accuses Apple of infringing eight Samsung patents, including two which Samsung claims are "essential" to the telephony standards laid done by …

    Management 19 Apr 2012, 19:01

  • Google I/O snafu greenlights crap code, angers devs

    Will 100 ugly step programmers go to the ball?

    There are red faces across Mountain View today after angry developers pointed out a flaw in the Chocolate Factory's Code Jam competition for tickets to the Google I/O conference in June. Tickets for the event sold out in 20 minutes after they went on sale last month, and prices on eBay hit $4,500 before the auctions were taken …

    Developer 19 Apr 2012, 19:21

  • Amazon to all data centers: Keep up, if you can

    End is nigh for private server fleets

    It's no secret that the utility computing offshoot of online retailer Amazon thinks that it can build a better data center for running Web applications than you can. But the news today, along with the launch of an online store for buying apps and deploying them on the Amazon Web Services cloud, is that the company thinks you …

    Cloud 19 Apr 2012, 20:01

  • Cray taps Microsoft parallel guru as CTO

    FPGAs on the exascale roadmap?

    Supercomputer maker Cray has been looking around for a new CTO since last August, and has now decided that the best candidate for the job was right there at the company, and has chosen William Blake for the role. No, not the English poet and painter, but the former general manager of the Parallel Computing Group at Microsoft, …

    HPC 19 Apr 2012, 20:39

  • Microsoft revenues up as PC market recovers

    Soft games sales sole black spot

    Microsoft has reported strong financial for its latest quarter, with all divisions showing growth apart from its gaming division. Revenues for the quarter were $17.41bn, up six per cent on this time last year, and income grew 12 per cent over the same period to reach $6.37bn. Redmond reported it has also paid out $461m to …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 21:00

  • Amazon throws open doors to AWS apps marketplace

    Want to be partner? Hand over your cash, now

    One new service announced today at the AWS Summit in New York is a blatantly obvious one for an online retailer: an online marketplace to shop for, compare, buy, and install applications from third parties to run on the AWS cloud services. The Amazon Marketplace, which you can visit here, has over 250 system and application …

    Cloud 19 Apr 2012, 21:23

  • AMD bleeds red in Q1 after GlobalFoundries deal rejig

    But sales not as bad as expected

    PC and server chip maker Advanced Micro Devices didn't do as badly as expected in the first quarter, with revenues only down 1.7 per cent to $1.59bn. But the red ink was deeper than usual in the wake of its restructuring of its relationship with fab partner GlobalFoundries, which cost AMD a $703m writeoff in the quarter. And …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 22:37

  • Open Government Partnership talks tech-led transparency

    Open government ideas shared at global gabfest

    The Open Government Partnership has met in Brasilia, and discussed several technology-enabled openness initiatives. The Partnership has over members and bills itself as “a new multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and …

    Policy 19 Apr 2012, 23:00

  • 'Attitudes to robot sex will change'

    Boffins say pleasure-bots here in 30 years

    In Steven Spielberg’s AI (Artificial Intelligence), Jude Law plays smoking hot Gigolo Joe, a male prostitute “mecha” – a new class robot humanoids of the 22nd century. But according to New Zealand based academics, Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars, a Gigolo Joe could be at our disposal in less than 30 years. In their paper Robots …

    Hardware 19 Apr 2012, 23:03

  • Kiwi three strikes law closes on first victims

    Telstra Clear and Vodafone issue enforcements

    New Zealand’s controversial ‘three strikes’ copyright crackdown law may be eliciting its first hefty fines from downloading culprits, since being introduced in September last year. The Skynet law, which gives illegal downloaders two chances to cease and desist before issuing a third and final notice that attracts fines of up …

    Policy 19 Apr 2012, 23:15

  • Oracle v Google: Lindholm takes the stand in Java trial

    Insists 'smoking email' has been misinterpreted

    The Google engineer who wrote a contentious email that Oracle is hinging part of its Java patent case on has said that his words are being misconstrued. Timothy Lindhom, a former Sun engineer who joined Google in 2005, wrote an email in 2010 to Andy Rubin, head of the Android team, saying he had been asked to look into …

    Financial News 19 Apr 2012, 23:36

  • FBI seizes Mixmaster servers

    Pittsburgh Uni threat investigation heating up

    Non-profit Riseup claims the FBI has seized a Mixmaster server from a colo shared by Riseup Networks in New York City. The organization has issued a media release linking the siezure to investigations into Mixmaster as part of its investigation into ongoing bomb threats against the University of Pittsburgh. The university has …

    Security 19 Apr 2012, 23:40