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10th August 2012 Archive

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  • Glaswegian scientists snap entangled particles

    Next: the Schrödinger's LOL-cat blog?

    A group of physicists at the University of Glasgow is claiming a first: taking photos of entangled photons. In this paper in Nature (hooray for free access!), they explain that their 201 x 201 pixel images captured around 2,500 different entangled quantum states. The entangled photons were imaged using different lens …

    Science 10 Aug 00:15

  • NASA’s new lander CRASHES AND BURNS

    Vid Curiosity’s potential sucessor, Morpheus, explodes after hardware failure

    NASA’s prototype landing craft of the future, Morpheus, has crashed and burned in its latest launch test. Morpheus is designed to become a general-purpose lander capable of setting down payloads wherever NASA wants them. The Moon, Mars and even asteroids are mentioned in its design brief. The craft has undergone several tests …

    Science 10 Aug 00:43

  • Fujitsu trials anti-phone fraudster tech

    Hopes to scuttle scammers who prey on elderly

    Fujitsu and Nagoya University have kicked off a month-long trial of new technology designed to raise the alarm when it thinks the recipient of a phone call is being scammed by a fraudster. The trials will take place in Okayama Prefecture in collaboration with local and regional police and the Chugoku Bank, according to Fujitsu …

    Security 10 Aug 04:04

  • Chinese Twitter shuttered during murder trial

    Wife of party official 'plied Brit with booze and poison' after deal went south

    One of China’s largest Twitter-like platforms, Sina Weibo, suffered widespread problems on Thursday afternoon leaving users unable to post or comment on the site just as the high profile murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Politburo member Bo Xilai, kicked off. Users across the platform complained that they couldn’t post …

    Networks 10 Aug 04:10

  • Australia on path to social media regulation

    Hate speech slips beneath Facebook’s attention threshold

    Australian MPs have started to call for legislative powers to compel social networks to swiftly remove offensive content, after Facebook failed to act decisively to remove a page containing numerous racist stereotypes of Australian aboriginals. Facebook initially did nothing about the page, which disappeared briefly and then …

    Networks 10 Aug 05:21

  • Chinese man's six-ton balls save lives

    Four-metre spheres promise to survive floods, heat, radiation

    Wacky Chinese inventor Yang Zongfu has unveiled his answer to Noah’s Ark – a radiation-proof, six ton steel-encased ball designed to protect a family of three from disaster. The bizarre bubble took eccentric businessman Yang two years to build and cost a whopping 1.5 million yuan (£150,868), according to China Daily. The …

    Bootnotes 10 Aug 06:32

  • Plextor joins titans of MLC flash at the 90,000 plus club

    Champagne and speedy SSDs

    Plextor has joined OCZ and SMART in the 90,000+ club, the providers of elite MLC SSDs that exceed 90,000 random read IOPs per second. Fast single-level cell (SLC) flash is used to drive SSDs at speeds beyond 100,000 IOPS doing random reads of 4K data blocks. Multi-level cell (MLC) flash, with 2 bits per cell, is slower, …

    Storage 10 Aug 06:59

  • Huawei Ascend P1 Android review

    HTC worrier

    Huawei’s entry level Ascend G300 smartphone has already been favourably reviewed in these pages and the eagerly awaited Ascend D quad is only a few months away. Between those two devices sits the new Ascend P1 – a handset aimed not at the impecunious or the power-mad but at Joe Average. Evidently, it’s a phone designed to steal …

    reghardware 10 Aug 07:10

  • London Fire Brigade: This time we'll send the NEAREST fire truck

    Inks deal with Capita for improved control room services

    The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has signed a £19.6m control room contract intended to deliver improvements including better call identification and data sharing with other emergency services. A replacement for the LFB's existing control centre IT contract with Motorola, which expires in 2014, was due to have been delivered …

    Government 10 Aug 07:32

  • Wannabe reckons it can broadcast local telly for free

    Someone else will pay, we're sure of it

    One of the contenders for the licence to run the transmission network for the UK's Local TV stations has publicly boasted it can do it for nothing. Media biz Canis set up Comux to bid for the licence and will hand it over to small telly stations, once Ofcom has chosen them, enabling the business to run as a cooperative. Local …

    Broadband 10 Aug 08:02

  • Tosh unzips 3.5incher for video, cloud, anyone with a wallet

    All those photos and films need to be stored somewhere

    Toshiba is rolling a line of 1TB-per-platter drives off the 3.5-inch assembly line Western Digital had to offload to get approval for its Hitachi GST acquisition. Tosh has now joined Seagate and Western Digital in the 3.5-inch disk drive market. It has three products. The DT01ACA desktop range comes with 1.5TB, 2TB and 3TB …

    Storage 10 Aug 08:21

  • Biz bosses 'to save £400m' as UK.gov axes green red-tape

    Rules for power lines, pipelines and more shown the door

    More than 100 energy and climate change regulations are to be scrapped or improved in a bid to cut "red tape" for businesses, the government has announced. Energy Minister Charles Hendry said that, following a review, 86 regulations would be dropped completely while a further 48 regimes would be "improved". The full package of …

    Science 10 Aug 08:40

  • BOFH: Our Excel-lent new boss and the diagram plan

    Episode 8 I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was going to blame it on you...

    "Okay, I get what you're saying, but what does it mean precisely?" the Boss asks. "It means that we're giving the app support people a VPN connection so they can login remotely, and we'll put them on their own VLAN with firewall pinholes to permit them to access the App server and Database server, as well as having limited …

    BOFH 10 Aug 09:01

  • 'It is not something you are good at, so please think twice'

    Quotw Acer CEO Wang chides misguided Microsoft over Surface launch...

    This was the week when Apple was not having fun in the cloud, with its own co-founder dissing the whole concept and its iCloud easy ID recovery contributing to a very public hack. Woz couldn't have been more clear about his lack of faith in the cloud, saying: I really worry about everything going to the cloud. I think it's …

    Storage 10 Aug 09:17

  • BrightPoint bosses steer biz to Q2 losses

    Subject of Ingram Micro's $850m bid hit by one-off charges

    BrightPoint recorded significant losses for calendar Q2 just as Ingram Micro was preparing to table an offer of $850m for the wireless device and services distie. In results filed last night, the firm turned over $1.27bn (£814m), up three per cent year-on-year for the period ended 30 June. This included $1.14bn from product …

    Channel Register 10 Aug 09:22

  • NHS IT blunder biz CSC wilts as profit bleeds, costs staunched

    Still needs to pay back millions to Blighty

    Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which bungled building a central patient database for the NHS, suffered a 78 per cent drop in profits year-on-year in its last quarter. CSC reported a net income of $42m for Q1 of fiscal year 2013 [PDF], down from $185m banked in the same period last year. Revenue stayed roughly the same as …

    Channel Register 10 Aug 09:41

  • Apple Mountain Lion file points to Mac Pro update

    Optical drive excised?

    Mac model information recorded in Apple's Boot Camp Assistant install-Windows-on-a-Mac app reveals what appears to be upcoming Mac Pro and iMac updates. The references, spotted by AppleInsider, 'IM130' and 'MP60' are said to be shorthand for 'iMac13,0' and 'MacPro6,0', which will be Apple's model numbers for two machines, if …

    reghardware 10 Aug 09:57

  • Face the the future with a private cloud

    Coping with demand

    You run an enterprise data centre, you are facing hardware refreshes and thinking maybe private cloud is the way to go. But is it? And if it is, how do you get there? The private cloud in this sense is a data centre feeding its resources on demand and via a monitor or chargeback-for-use business model to users inside the …

    Cloud 10 Aug 10:00

  • IBM sniffs RIM, winks at BlackBerry big biz unit

    Enterprise services interests Big Blue, mobes not so much

    IBM is reportedly interested in snapping up the enterprise services division of troubled BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion. Well-placed sources whispered to Bloomberg that Big Blue could help Canadian mobile biz RIM by taking the unit off its hands, and has already made an informal approach about it. The enterprise services …

    Business 10 Aug 10:11

  • Ex-Goldman Sachs coder cuffed on fresh 'source theft' charges

    Programmer cleared of wrongdoing faces new charges

    A Goldman Sachs programmer cleared six months ago of stealing the source code to the bank’s high-frequency trading system has been re-arrested and charged. The Manhattan district attorney has now accused Sergey Aleynikov, 42, of unlawfully using secret scientific material and unlawfully duplicating computer-related material. …

    Security 10 Aug 10:29

  • Sony Xperia tablet snaps spied on web

    Fresh pics have surfaced showing Sony's upcoming Xperia-branded Android tablet refresh following the machine's unofficial outing last month. The Xperia is said to contain an Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU, pack in a 6000mAh battery, and sport front- and rear-facing cameras of one and eight million pixels, respectively. The body is cast in …

    reghardware 10 Aug 10:37

  • Blizzard pwned: Gamers' email, encrypted passwords slurped

    Millions of World of Warcraft players raided

    Blizzard Entertainment, which makes World of Warcraft, Diablo III and other games, has coughed to a security breach of its internal network. Email addresses, answers to security questions and encrypted passwords linked to player accounts are believed to have been lifted by hackers. The gaming outfit said in a lengthy statement …

    Security 10 Aug 10:46

  • Microsoft job ad advises 'Xbox 720' out by Feb 2014

    Situations vacant

    Waiting for the next generation of Microsoft's Xbox games console? You won't be kept more than 18 months, it seems. A job vacancy posted on Microsoft's website revealed: "Over the next 18 months, Microsoft will release new versions of all of our most significant products including Windows (Client, Server, Phone and Azure), …

    reghardware 10 Aug 10:50

  • Apple, Samsung whip out mobe sales in patent trial showdown

    iPads, iPhones utterly trounce South Korean effort

    Apple and Samsung's courtroom patent melee had outed sales figures for the two companies' mobile devices. Both firms have been trying to hold back as much of their performance data as possible from the public during the legal scuffle, in which Samsung is accused of copying the Apple iPhone design for its own products. But …

    Business 10 Aug 11:14

  • Not a Cloud in my holiday sky

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? So how am I supposed to work without t'internet?

    As I type this, the cloudless sky is a deep azure, while the bright green, sprinkler-assisted lawn offsets the ochre of the sunburnt wild grass beyond the untidy hedge of rhododendrons. Dabbsy spies out his nearest Wi-Fi hotspot Evidently, Toto, I am not in Britain any more. I am on vacation. The bottom two-thirds of me - I …

    reghardware 10 Aug 11:21

  • Greens wage war on clean low-carbon renewable energy

    Geothermal: what the frack is wrong with that?

    The most promising renewable energy of all is making pro-renewable Greens frightened and angry. It’s geothermal energy, which taps into the natural warmth below Earth's surface, providing an abundant heat source. Geothermal exploitation used to be about finding and retrieving hot water – but new technology allows water to be …

    Science 10 Aug 11:45

  • Dixons bigwig dispatched to salvage gadget souk PIXmania

    Updated Retail chain coughs up €10m for larger stake in loss-making arm

    Dixons Retail is understood to have placed Equanet boss Phil Birbeck in charge of its loss-making online operation PIXmania after coughing €10m (£7.86m) to buy the founders' remaining shareholding. Birbeck took control of Equanet, the IT reseller arm of the consumer giant, at the start of 2010 having previously headed up the …

    Channel Register 10 Aug 12:06

  • Hello nasty, don't use my music: Deceased Beastie Boy to admen

    Adam Yauch's ban revealed in will

    Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who died aged 47 in May after a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer, left a will that barred the use of his music and artwork by advertising outfits. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the New York hip-hop star whose band rocked the world with albums Licensed to Ill in 1986, Ill Communication …

    Media 10 Aug 12:29

  • Sick of juggling apps on biz PCs? This install tool will save your sanity

    Sysadmin blog And how I got to buy the author a beer too

    I've spent most of the past week in the San Francisco bay area. I've visited Nerd Mecca (Xerox PARC), various universities and Big Tech campuses. I've seen the Golden Gate Bridge, cursed San Francisco drivers, and discovered why Americans loathe AT&T. I've had a fantastic time down here, but the highlight of the trip has been …

    Servers 10 Aug 12:56

  • Foxconn daddy's cheap Sharp stake slurp still news to Sharp

    Hon Hai to announce deal breakthrough despite TV biz's protests

    Foxconn parent Hon Hai is drawing up a joint statement on its deal to buy a cheaper stake in Sharp this month, although Sharp is still insisting there's no need for any renegotiation. Taiwanese Hon Hai told Reuters that the two firms were working to agree on a "better version" of the March deal, when Hon Hai agreed to pay ¥66. …

    Financial News 10 Aug 13:44

  • OK, hands up: Who hasn't sold an iPad to a big biz?

    UK channel pumps thousands of Apple slabs into enterprises

    The UK channel is tapping into enterprise demand for fondleslabs - well, iPads - with business-to-business sales going through the roof, figures from market watcher Context show. Approximately 136,000 tabs were shipped in Blighty by distributors in Q2, up from just 26,000 a year earlier, and of these 63.5 per cent were sold to …

    Channel Register 10 Aug 14:17

  • Reg readers scrap over ultimate bacon sarnie

    Butter and brown sauce? Are you INSANE?

    Our post-pub nosh deathmatches are proving highly popular with Reg reader gourmets, but we should have known better than to stray into that most hazardous of culinary minefields: just how to make the ultimate bacon sarnie. Last week's clash of titans featured our version of said butty, featuring hand-sliced white bread, bacon …

    SPB 10 Aug 14:28

  • Vodafone and pals can't kick the habit of cheap mobe prices

    Networks shake off phone subsidies, shed subscribers

    Three Spanish operators have been trying to get rid of handset subsidies, which reduce the upfront prices of mobiles provided punters take out not-inexpensive contracts. But according to Strategy Analytics, the telcos' resolve is weakening in the face of falling subscriptions. Based on retail pricing, which Strategy Analytics …

    Business 10 Aug 15:03

  • Unstoppable JBoss 'mafia' has big biz tech in its crosshairs

    Open ... and Shut Welcome to the hits factory

    PayPal was the first Silicon Valley titan to get its own self-styled "mafia": a cadre of successful executives who left to create a range of great businesses like LinkedIn, Tesla and YouTube. Google now has its own "mafia", albeit one stronger in management expertise than product prowess, and no doubt Facebook, Twitter, Square …

    CIO 10 Aug 15:40

  • Nvidia rides the Kepler wave, proves bean counters wrong

    Gamers and bosses, start your credit cards

    The "Kepler" family of graphics processors are finally lifting Nvidia, which turned in better-than-expected financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2013 ended in July. And the first Quadro workstation graphics card using the Kepler GPU was launched, setting up a revenue bump in the third quarter. In the quarter, …

    Financial News 10 Aug 16:03

  • Google, PayPal, banks, mobile networks in pay-by-bonk peace summit

    Now we all we need are some actual customers

    The Electronic Transactions Association, a US body that promotes online business, has managed to get everyone involved in mobile payments round the same table, if only to serve their common interests. The new "Mobile Payments Committee" will meet monthly, starting later in August, and the ETA has done a sterling job getting …

    Business 10 Aug 17:03

  • Emulex hopes 16Gbps Fibre Channel will give it the kiss of life

    Q4 sales flat line, records $28.8m loss

    Emulex is pinning hopes on 16Gbps Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) growth after Q4 sales flatlined and it recorded a $28.8m (£18.37m) loss. And with Broadcom's legal fangs still fastened to its ankles, it's just no fun at all for the firm in the storage networking adapter business. Let's briefly set the scene: the company …

    Storage 10 Aug 18:00

  • Fusion-io eyes software, vows it's not a flash in the pan

    Revenue up, net income still in the red

    Fusion-io's server flash products are selling like hotcakes and quarterly revenues are rising like a high-speed elevator - 49 per cent growth over the year while annual revenues rose 82 per cent. Its revenues for its fourth 2012 quarter were $106.6m, up 13 per cent sequentially, and beating the Street's expectations, with a …

    Storage 10 Aug 19:05

  • Microsoft: It was never 'Metro,' it was always 'Modern UI'

    A bit of search and replace should sort this out

    After another long night at the whiteboard, the deep thinkers at Microsoft's marketing department have come up with a new replacement for the verboten word "Metro." From now on, it seems, the blocky, touch-centric user interface of Windows 8's new Start Menu will be known as the "Modern UI." Apps written to take advantage of …

    Windows 8 10 Aug 19:19

  • Middle Eastern Gauss malware could be state sponsored

    Code linked to Flame and Stuxnet attacks

    Security firms are investigating what looks to be another piece of state-sponsored malware, which has been targeting banks in the Middle East and distributing an unknown payload. Dubbed Gauss by Kaspersky Labs, the malware first seemed to be a module of the highly sophisticated Flame virus but has now been recognized as a …

    Security 10 Aug 19:35

  • SHOCK: Poll shows Americans think TSA is highly effective

    Support high from youngsters used to groping

    Forget what you've heard in the news. According to a new Gallup poll, the majority of Americans think the Transportation Security Administration, which handles security screening at US airports, is doing just fine, "despite recent negative press." The survey, which was published on Wednesday, asked a sample of 1,014 randomly …

    Government 10 Aug 22:54