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4th May 2012 Archive

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  • LinkedIn buys SlideShare

    Suits want all their stuff in one place

    LinkedIn will spend US$118.75m to upload SlideShare into its portfolio of offerings. CEO Jeff Weiner says, in a press release, that the reason for the buy is that “Presentations are one of the main ways in which professionals capture and share their experiences and knowledge, which in turn helps shape their professional …

    Business 4 May 00:00

  • Can Amazon become the biggest platform peddler in the world?

    Comment Crazy, but not impossible

    How long will it be before Amazon Web Services is the largest provider of raw server capacity in the world, outselling the tier one server makers who actually peddle boxes directly or through the channel to customers? Look, I think I know how you feel about this, with a server close enough to my feet right this second to kick …

    Cloud 4 May 00:01

  • Yahoo! investor! accuses! CEO! of! embellishing! resume!

    Be careful to check your references

    A major investor in troubled internet portal Yahoo! has accused the CEO Scott Thompson of padding his resume by falsely claiming a degree in computer science. Daniel Loeb, of investment group Third Point, issued a public letter to Yahoo! calling foul on Thompson's claim to have a degree in accounting and computer science. …

    Business 4 May 00:49

  • Chinese passports to get chipped

    Great wall of biometrics for international travellers

    China has updated the technology it uses to secure its passports, with chip-equipped documents to be issued from March 15th. People’s Daily reports that the nation’s Ministry of Public Security has noted the 90-odd other nations to have adopted chip-equipped travel documents and decided China needed to play at the same level. …

    Security 4 May 03:46

  • Oz asks how much personal data should telcos keep?

    Obligations for carrier security, spook access also up for disucssion

    Australia’s government will consult with its citizenry to determine how much data telcos should retain about their activities, and how long it should be retained for. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has asked the nation’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to conduct public hearings on the topic. The …

    Public Sector 4 May 04:55

  • Teufel Audio iTeufel Air

    Accessory of the Week Golden age of stream

    As AirPlay speakers go, the iTeufel Air is big. Placed next to, say Audyssey’s Audio Dock Air, it dwarfs its rival — though it’s marginally less wide than B&W’s Zeppelin Air. The glossy white wedge houses two 80mm mid-range drivers, a 25mm tweeter, and a 130mm woofer, and pumps out a total of 100W. On top there are three …

    reghardware 4 May 06:00

  • China considers energy cap

    Climate change makes energy reductions “inevitable”, say officials

    China may attempt to cap the amount of energy the nation uses, to address reliance on foreign energy sources and address its carbon dioxide emissions. The plan has apparently been nutted out over the last two years and provincial governments are aboard. All that the remains is for the State Council, China’s “highest executive …

    Science 4 May 06:38

  • NAO: 1 in 5 of Whitehall's mega projects at risk of failure

    £89bn at stake from 39 programmes with 'high or fairly high' chance of tanking

    With nearly one in five major government projects in danger of failure, there are still significant gaps in how Whitehall oversees the delivery of such schemes, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). There are currently 205 major projects being undertaken across government, costing £376bn in total over their lifetimes, …

    Government 4 May 07:02

  • Canada failing to sufficiently protect IP rights – US report

    True pirate love in all thy sons command

    Canada has been listed on a US 'priority watchlist' after concerns were raised about the measures the country has taken to combat online copyright infringement and the trade of counterfeit goods. In a report into the approach 77 "trading partners" to the US have to the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), the …

    Law 4 May 07:28

  • Engineer Doe thought people's private info 'might be useful'

    Quotw Plus: 'Apple, please don't make stupid assumptions'

    This was the week when, in technology's ongoing mission to look like saving the world is its number one priority and all that money stuff is just incidental, Facebook launched its option to let the world know that you're an organ donor. The social network's "life-saving initiative" slots into your Timeline's health-relate life …

    Business 4 May 08:02

  • Printed electronics: Not just blinking beer bottles

    Flexible innovation, in every sense of the word

    "Printed electronics" is one of those terms one sees being bandied about without really knowing what it means or why it's important. The premise of using printing techniques to create electrical circuits isn't hard to comprehend, but not everyone agrees on what comprises a "printing technique" or why you might want to use one, …

    PCs & Chips 4 May 08:34

  • Jolly rogered

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? How The Pirate Bay ban was hijacked by the anti-smut brigade

    I note with dismay that the recent High Court ruling to force some ISPs to ban access to The Pirate Bay has been hijacked by lobbyists who are confused about what the interweb does. A classic example was heard on Radio 4's Today on Tuesday, which devoted eight minutes to John Humphrys inexpertly tying himself into a mesh of …

    reghardware 4 May 09:00

  • Chair-tossing Steve flings surfer Steve onto Microsoft board

    Sporty Seagate CEO is lord of the boards

    Snowboarder, surfer, documentary filmmaker and sports team investor Steve Luczo has joined Microsoft's board... there are two Steves on it now. He also runs Seagate, by the way. Shy and retiring Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a canned quote: "As the leader of a global company with more than 50,000 employees, with deep …

    Business 4 May 09:17

  • Megan Fox fingers fondleslab in sexy store promo

    Trousers off, tablet out

    Sharper Image, the US gadget shop – a sort of Maplins but with a more regular bathing schedule – is promoting its wares with pictures of curvy starlet Megan Fox in her pants. Noted fondleslab fan Fox can be seen after a hard day's acting, relaxing in her boudoir, trousers off, preparing to tuck herself in for the night. Un- …

    reghardware 4 May 09:22

  • Black Ops II pulps previous pre-order performance

    Haul of duty, again

    Amazon says interest in Black Ops II has already gone ballistic, as the number of gamers who have placed orders for the game in the first 24 hours outnumbers the equivalent figure for its 2010 predecessor three to one. The minute Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops II was announced this week, it was always expected to smash the …

    reghardware 4 May 09:44

  • Behold the TPC-DS, a new weapon in the global Big Data war

    Seeking the 'game-proof' benchmark

    There isn’t anything inherently evil about industry standard benchmarks, just as there isn’t anything inherently evil about guns. You know the saying: “Guns don’t kill people – people kill people.” (What about bullets? No, they’re not inherently evil either.) But in the hands of motivated vendors, benchmarks are weapons to be …

    HPC Blog 4 May 09:46

  • Sage thrusts small biz tool into Microsoft Azure

    Cloudy rivals threaten to gobble UK firm's lunch

    Sage is to hitch its SME enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to Microsoft's Azure in a bid to speed up customer migration to subscription-based products. The development work has begun on the software – dubbed Sage 200 in the UK and Sage Murano in Spain –  to integrate it with Microsoft's cloud platform and the result …

    Channel Register 4 May 10:02

  • O2 to serve up free Wi-Fi to coffee chain

    Won't Costa penny, arf, arf

    O2 is to equip the Costa chain of coffee shops with free Wi-Fi. But the cellco said the service, which is gratis no matter what mobile operator you use, is limited to 30 minutes' access. Costa said that's typically how much time punters spend over their lattes and and pain aux raisins, but folk who want to surf for longer can …

    reghardware 4 May 10:03

  • Germans hail Vulture 1 spaceplane

    Die Zeit gets cosy with PARIS

    Our German readers might like to nip out today and grab a copy of this week's Die Zeit, which has a handy guide on how to make the ultimate paper plane. We're obliged to Thorsten Winterer for whipping out his camera this morning to record part of Die Zeit's comprehensive coverage (see right, click on snap for a big version). …

    SPB 4 May 10:18

  • US, Euro e-car makers back 'standard' AC/DC jack

    Ladies and Gentlemen, will you please welcome the J1772 Combo Connector

    Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen have joined Ford, Chrysler and General Motors to back a standard fast-charge connector and jack for e-cars. The system combines a multi-pin AC port with a two-pin DC inlet. Slow, but cheap, overnight charging is handled by the AC lines, but drivers will be able to use the same …

    reghardware 4 May 10:24

  • Yahoo! board! probes! CEO's! CompSci! CV! blunder!

    Thompson's bio and SEC doc gaffe spirals

    Yahoo! has decided to take the revelation that its CEO Scott Thompson padded his CV a tad more seriously, The Register understands, promising that the board would look into the situation. The web firm's initial response to accusations yesterday from activist investor Third Point that Thompson did not in fact possess a degree …

    Business 4 May 10:42

  • Apple sneaks iPad 2 with 32nm chip into retail

    Big battery life boost for mystery machine

    Apple has quietly begun shipping a revamped version of the iPad 2 that delivers better battery life than its predecessor, thanks to the use of 32nm chippery in place of a 45nm part. The new iPad 2 goes by the model name 'iPad2,4'. It's a Wi-Fi only device, its predecessor being the 'iPad 2,1' released in March 2011. The …

    reghardware 4 May 10:48

  • Microsoft ejects DVD playback from Windows 8

    Netflix and licensing killed the video star

    Digital media playback in Windows 8 has fallen casualty to the savage economics of the PC industry and changing tastes in consumer viewing. We knew Windows Media Center would be sold at extra cost in Windows 8, but Microsoft now says you won’t be able to play DVDs on Windows Media Player in Windows 8. If you do want DVD …

    Operating Systems 4 May 11:01

  • Greenland glaciers not set to cause disastrous sea level rises - study

    Another blow for hippy doomsayers

    US government funded scientists have measured the speed of glaciers in Greenland as they move down to the sea over the past ten years, and discovered that - while the glaciers have speeded up somewhat - there's no indication that this will mean major sea level rises. "Observed acceleration indicates that sea level rise from …

    Science 4 May 11:24

  • Channel defies gloom, ships £400m kit in Q1

    Analyst: Revenues jump by 10%

    The UK channel raised a metaphorical middle finger to economists talking up the recession by shipping £400m worth of computing kit in Q1. This represents almost a 10 per cent jump in revenues on last year, with fondleslabs up 174.5 per cent, notebooks up 8.6 per cent and desktops up 11.5 per cent, channel number-cruncher …

    Channel Register 4 May 11:25

  • Google took a bath on Android in 2010, judge reveals

    Net loss in every quarter, Oracle's Java trial court told

    Android gave Google nothing but a net loss for every quarter of 2010, despite making about $97m in revenue in the first quarter of the year. Google doesn't release specific financial information about Android, but the numbers came out in the Oracle v Google trial over the Chocolate Factory's use of Java in its mobile operating …

    Financial News 4 May 11:37

  • Hands on with the Samsung Galaxy S III

    First look The one to beat?

    Samsung took to the stage last night to unveil its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, before opening the doors for us hacks to give it a go. Samsung claimed the S III is "designed for humans", which is a shame because my dog has been drooling for weeks with excitement. It does tap into both our connections to nature …

    reghardware 4 May 11:40

  • UK Border Agency servers go titsup, thousands grounded

    Good thing there's no Olympics coming up

    A computer crash yesterday left hundreds of UK workers, students and visitors without valid residence permits, creating a month-long backlog for Blighty's immigration staff to clear. IT systems at the Border Agency have reportedly suffered outages for the past few weeks, but on Thursday the organisation's Croydon office …

    Government 4 May 12:02

  • Cameron hardens stance on UK web filth block

    PM to hold talks with broadband barons on 'default' smut filters

    Prime Minister David Cameron has again waded into the debate about protecting kids from pornography online by personally stepping up pressure on ISPs to block smut websites by default. His intervention comes during a torrid time for the Tories, with the party suffering heavy loses in local elections across the UK today. The …

    Government 4 May 12:28

  • Chip alchemists 'turn cheap silicon into longer-lasting flash'

    Fusion-io sources whisper NAND witchcraft

    It's rumoured that Fusion-io has become a NAND alchemist and can turn low-cost MLC flash into faster and longer-lived SLC flash. But why, oh why, would it want to do it? SLC, or single-level cell, flash stores one binary bit per cell and is the fastest form of flash with the longest working life; think 10,000 raw program-erase …

    Storage 4 May 12:46

  • Copyfighters jumpstart MPs' probe into Blighty's IP law

    Comment Google man tells Parliament what small businesses need

    A Westminster investigation into the machinations of the UK's copyright bureaucracy and the government's intellectual property policy opened very gently this week. The All Parliamentary Group on Intellectual Property is headed by heavyweight backbench MP John Whittingdale, and while members are pro-IP, they have plenty of …

    Government 4 May 13:05

  • Prototype 2

    Review Heller damnation

    In my mind’s eye I see the original Prototype in murky black and white, not because the game was without colour per se, but more because everything about it, from the repetitive use of textures through to the monotonous mission structure was somehow muddied and just, well, uninspired. High blood pressure In a way, it could …

    reghardware 4 May 13:05

  • Clouds of Sushi?

    Yo!

    When the on-site tin comes creaking and wheezing to the end of its life, overburdened by inboxes that were never supposed to get that big, its the IT department that has to decide what to do next. Upgrade? Outsource? Go into the cloud? Billy Waters, who is the whole of the IT function at the YoSushi restaurant chain, had to …

    Small Biz 4 May 13:16

  • Samsung Galaxy S III: A Swiss army knife of wireless tech

    Forget the moon-sized screen, the innovation's in the airwaves

    Samsung's new flagship smartphone is being admired for its big screen and voice control, which make for easy headlines and pretty photographs, but more interesting are the wireless capabilities of the S III, even if they take a little longer to appreciate. As well as sporting an enormous 4.8" screen which looks so shiny, and …

    Wireless 4 May 13:32

  • MP blasts 'ineffective' games regulation

    Vaz plays the Brievik card

    Violent videogames opponent and Labour MP Keith Vaz has once again asked Parliament to tighten videogames regulation, this time following Anders Breivik's admission that he used a popular first-person shooter to prepare for his murderous rampage in Norway. This is the fifth time 'Vendetta Vaz' has tabled an early day motion …

    reghardware 4 May 13:34

  • Lockheed bags $454m to tool up Pentagon's Cyber Crime Center

    Fending off web terrorists isn't cheap, you know

    Lockheed Martin has won a contract worth up to $454m to help the Pentagon with its Cyber Crime Center. The company will provide support to the Department of Defense's centre, known as DC3, which investigates criminal, counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases and will also offer security support to Defense Industrial Base …

    Financial News 4 May 14:01

  • Syrian secret police endorse male hair remover

    'Most prisoners confessed within five minutes of the first application'

    The excessively hirsute among you looking to derug yourselves are pointed in the direction of Veet for Men Hair Removal Gel Creme, which is attracting some enthusiastic reviews down at Amazon. You are, however, advised to read the instructions before applying, especially the bit about the gel not being suitable for "intimate …

    Bootnotes 4 May 14:33

  • Hunt tosses 27 cities into broadband cash bunfight

    Only 10 will be selected to receive paltry £50m

    Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has laid down the gauntlet for 27 cities to bid for £50m government funds to be in with a chance of gaining "ultrafast" broadband networks by 2014. A strict set of criteria was laid out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) today. The cash pile was allocated by Chancellor George …

    Government 4 May 15:02

  • SK Hynix drops bid to buy bankrupt Elpida

    Joins Toshiba in abandoning DRAMurai warrior's corpse

    South Korean firm SK Hynix said today that it won't be going ahead with a bid for bankrupt Japanese firm Elpida Memory because the deal would have been too expensive. "The Elpida deal would have been a huge financial investment," an SK Hynix spokesman told the Wall Street Journal. "To ease the financial burden, we had …

    Business 4 May 15:27

  • Ten... alternatives to Samsung's Galaxy S III

    Product round-up Something completely different?

    With the Galaxy S III unveiled at last night's Samsung event, the next generation of smartphones now has consumer eyebrows permanently raised as if the wind just changed direction. Feel like defying the herd? Here are ten current or upcoming smartphones that may be worth considering, should you wish to avoid the Galaxy S III …

    reghardware 4 May 15:44

  • Microsoft's dumpster-diver partner strategy is rubbish

    Open ... and Shut Redmond should buy big or go home

    Microsoft is not the worst corporate investor on the planet. But it's clearly not the best either, and threatens to undermine its own attempts to be relevant in growth markets like mobile and internet by continuing to buy buy stakes in or partner with also-rans like Barnes & Noble, Yahoo! and Nokia. Of course, it may be that …

    Business 4 May 16:00

  • German education minister accused of copying in class

    Yet another Teutonic politico fingered for PhD plagiarism

    Yet another German politician has fallen victim to the increasingly common accusation of academic plagiarism. The German Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan has been accused of plagiarising parts of her research in the PhD thesis she wrote in 1980. The claims were made by an anonymous website – Schavanplag – set up …

    Bootnotes 4 May 16:45

  • US economy not eager to create jobs in April

    15,000 more system designers get work

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job-counting arm of the US Department of Labor, says that job creation in April was lower than economists had been expecting, but went back and revised its figures for February and March, saying that more workers found jobs than it originally thought. The latest jobs report (PDF) shows the …

    Jobs 4 May 17:31

  • Nokia dinged with shareholder lawsuit over poor Lumia sales

    Finns: Allegations are 'without merit', we will defend ourselves

    As sure as rain follows a Met Office drought warning, we can expect a share price crash to be followed by a shareholder lawsuit. Now it's Nokia's turn. A class action suit naming Nokia's CEO Steve Elop, and CFO Timo Ihamuotila has been filed by New York law firm, and serial class action rottweilers, Robbins, Geller, Rudman & …

    Financial News 4 May 17:59

  • McAfee founder raided in Belize by gang-busting police

    Claims political persecution and dog murder

    John McAfee, retired founder of McAfee Antivirus, has had his Belize laboratory raided and his dog shot during a dawn raid by thirty officers of the local police Gang Suppression Unit. At 6am on Monday morning the officers with a warrant stormed McAfee's laboratory, which researches ways to use bacterial communication to fight …

    Business 4 May 18:31