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2nd November 2012 Archive

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  • Apple updates iOS 6, Safari

    Dreaming of a fix for the crap Maps app? Dream on

    Apple updated its iOS mobile operating system on Thursday – and no, it didn't fix the deservedly maligned Maps app – along with an update for its Safari web browser for OS X 10.7.5 Lion and OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion . The Safari update weighs in at a trim – for Apple, at least – 47MB, but the iOS update, downloading at this …

    Software 2 Nov 00:33

  • Singapore gov think tank plots SSD takedown

    1TB hybrid uses less power than SSD, could work in Ultrabooks and tablets

    The Data Storage Institute (DSI), one of the many research groups at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and research (A*STAR), has taken the wraps off a hybrid disk drive said to consume less power than a comparable solid state disk while also being small and light enough enough to satisfy Intel's specs for use in …

    Storage 2 Nov 02:01

  • Big Data lets CIOs go all CSI

    Bagged evidence in data stores can catch an insight, if you prepare now

    APAC IT leaders have been urged to begin their Big Data planning now to ensure they have the right technology, skills and processes in place to tap the business benefits of a market set to be worth over $1.7bn by 2016. Speaking at the MIG Data Centre Summit 2012 in Hong Kong on Wednesday, IT practitioners warned that …

    Datacenter 2 Nov 02:25

  • Google defamed Australian man with links to gangster

    Search results connected everyday punter with nasty drug dealer

    Antonios 'Tony' Sajih Mokbel is not, by many accounts including the Australian TV series Underbelly, a very nice chap. The show details how Mokbel was involved in a violent gang war in the Australian State of Victoria, which recently sent him down for 22 years and confiscated $AUD18million of assets said to have been generated …

    Law 2 Nov 03:19

  • iPad Mini's quite a handful

    First Fondle Accelerometer could use some extra speed

    Apple's iPad Mini is not easy to hold in one hand. The Reg's antipodean outpost took advantage of Australia's time zone and popped into a local Apple store to fondle the new slab. We found the mini is everything one would expect of an Apple product: sleek, pretty and simple. But a couple of issues quickly became apparent. …

    Hardware 2 Nov 04:18

  • Dolphin, Lion, Blue Magpie in Asian data centre battle

    Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan vie for foreign bit barn business

    Hong Kong (animal emblem: White Dolphin) could be losing its grip on the hearts, minds and wallets of multinationals looking for a suitable location to stick their main Asian bit barn, as continued restrictions make alternative locations more attractive. Speaking at the MIG Data Centre Summit 2012 in Hong Kong this week, …

    Datacenter 2 Nov 05:42

  • Nationwide to perform IT equivalent of 'replacing jet engine mid-flight'

    On my count: Pull it all off mainframes and onto SAP

    Nationwide Building Society will become the first big UK banking firm to pull its core computing functions off mainframe computers and run them on SAP servers in the next few weeks. It's an operation that an insider described as like replacing the engine on a jet plane, mid-flight. The launch of the five-year project is …

    Servers 2 Nov 06:00

  • It's official: No 10 mandates 'open systems' options for Sir Humphreys

    Whoops, there goes my budget

    Government IT projects must consider using open and interoperable software and data systems or face not receiving funding, under new Cabinet Office rules. The Cabinet Office said on Thursday that from now on, civil servants must consider open standards for software interoperability, data and document formats and they should …

    Government 2 Nov 06:29

  • Panasonic pulls Euro smartphone after just a year

    Horse, barn door scenario as losses mount

    Panasonic has become the latest Japanese tech giant to fall on hard times, announcing projected losses for 2012 of ¥765bn (£5.9bn) and a hasty decision to pull out of the European smartphone market after just a year. The firm persuaded four Japanese banks to loan it ¥600bn (£4.7bn) after announcing a record loss of ¥772.1bn (£ …

    Business 2 Nov 06:33

  • Gov cockup on £1bn mega buying framework slams SMEs in wallet

    Exclusive Government non-Procurement non-Services

    Cost-cutting in the public sector has serious implications for service delivery: just ask the SME IT suppliers counting the expense of bidding for a mega software and services agreement that may now be scrapped. Resellers were invited in June to tender for the Applications Development, Delivery and Support Services (ADDSS) …

    The Channel 2 Nov 07:00

  • Tape is sexy again - so why can't Quantum stop drowning?

    When the bathplug pops out you'd best get hold of the baby

    Quantum's share price is dropping, dropping and dropping, despite positive product announcements and a general swing in opinion about tape storage products. So what lies behind its loss of 62 per cent of share value and market capitalisation in nine months? We hear that, at EMC World in May 2011, the infamous "Tape Sucks" EMC …

    Storage 2 Nov 07:26

  • Sony Xperia T Android smartphone review

    Spy call – sounding out Bond's blower

    Featuring in that new James Bond film, the Sony Xperia T may not be 007’s most advanced piece of kit, but it is one piece of Skyfall hardware that you can actually buy. Sony is clearly throwing the kitchen sink at the publicity effort, plastering bill board ads with the device and paying what must surely be an awful lot to be …

    Phones 2 Nov 08:00

  • Windows Server 2012: We defluff Microsoft's 'cloud' OS

    Live Chat Reg readers had their say in a lunchtime chat

    Microsoft calls Windows Server 2012 part of its “cloud operating system”. In a field loaded with subjective and loaded terms, Microsoft is surely adding to the confusion. Say “cloud”, and you think Amazon, Google, VMware – but Microsoft? Yet Windows Server 2012 brings changes in scalability, management and flexibility that …

    Software 2 Nov 08:20

  • Lab mice drown in their THOUSANDS as Hurricane Sandy fills NYU basement

    Boffin: It's a tragedy - rodents are the culmination of years of work

    New York University's collection of thousands of laboratory mice and rats drowned during Hurricane Sandy's ferocious storms. The rodents were trapped in the basement of the institution's Kips Bay Smilow research centre, where they perished, the New York Times reported. Staff were unable to rescue the creatures, which had been …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 08:38

  • A history of personal computing in 20 objects part 2

    Feature The 1980s to the Present

    Personal computing may have originally been more ‘computing’ than ‘personal, but that changed in the late 1970s in the US and, in the UK, during the early 1980s. In the first part of ‘A History of Personal Computing on 20 Objects’, we saw how computing went from maths gadgets to first mechanical, then electromechanical and …

    Vintage 2 Nov 09:00

  • Big Data's big issue: Where are all the data scientists coming from?

    Analysis This personnel gap isn't just a job-title change

    Plug “data scientist” into Google and it is clear the job title has finally come of age and, suddenly there is a huge skills shortage. An oft-quoted source about this shortage is a McKinsey Global Institute study, here. This predicts a talent gap of 140,000 to 190,000 people by 2018 in the US alone. I am always sceptical of IT …

    Jobs 2 Nov 09:19

  • Pristine WWII German Enigma machine could be yours

    A lot cheaper than capturing a Nazi submarine, too

    A World War II German Enigma cipher machine is on the block at Bonhams, the London auction house, this month. The 1941 oak model, described as an "extremely rare example", is expected to go under the hammer on 14 November for an estimated £40,000-£60,000. In 2010, a 1939 Enigma fetched £67,250 at auction - that model was …

    Vintage 2 Nov 09:30

  • The iPhone 5 WILL do 4G magic on Three ... but not until next year

    Updated Well worth waiting, I think we'd all agree

    EE has filed notice with Ofcom of its intention to transfer 30MHz of spectrum to Three, but as expected it will be hanging onto the bands until the last possible moment. The notice, which still has to be formally approved by the regulator, puts the first 20MHz of spectrum into Three's hands on October 1 2013, with EE clinging …

    Mobile 2 Nov 09:44

  • Bond fans: Test your 007 trivia, now!

    Quiz Submit to The Reg's 50-question challenge

    As the dust settles on on our recent round of Bond polls - in which readers voted Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Sean Connery and Casino Royale the vilest Bond villain, the ultimate movie Bond and the best Bond film, respectively - we're offering fans the chance to see if they've really got what it takes to hold the coveted 00 number. …

    Bond, James Bond 2 Nov 09:49

  • BOFH: Tenacious B and the Printer of Destiny

    Episode 10 It's not a f*&%ing driver problem, mmm'kay?

    "The printer's jammed again," the Director's PA says, ducking into Mission Control for a brief status update. To be fair the PFY asked for this level of information when he suggested she notify him of any problems. As far as poorly thought-out pickup techniques this one has far outlasted his patience. The moment an orange …

    BOFH 2 Nov 10:00

  • EMC exec - we will not sell clouds direct

    Fat margins promised for loyal legworkers

    Half of the channel firms EMC expects to hoist into its cloud partner programme next year will be resellers, an exec at the storage giant has predicted. The 18 month-old Velocity Service Provider Programme (VSSP) has had more than lick of paint as EMC formalises engagement with channel partners to resell its two reference …

    The Channel 2 Nov 10:08

  • Greek journo who published list of Swiss bank account holders cleared

    Revealing IMF-supplied names didn't violate data privacy

    A Greek journalist who published the names of 2,000 suspected tax evaders has been cleared of privacy violations. Kostas Vaxevanis, 46, was found not guilty of breaking data privacy laws for publishing the details of 2,059 Greeks reckoned to have bank accounts in Switzerland in Hot Doc, the weekly magazine he edits. Tax …

    Security 2 Nov 10:29

  • Seagate eyes UltraViolet for cloud pie in the sky

    Please, please buy our drives for your content servers, download archives

    Storage specialist Seagate has joined the organisation behind the universal online movie locker service UltraViolet. A company focusing on local storage keen to get its foot in the door of a cloud-based service? That can’t be right surely? Don’t forget that for all Seagate’s promotion of external hard drives and network …

    Media 2 Nov 10:31

  • Red-soaked Systemax kills Euro jobs and US PC factory

    Killing spree also slays CompUSA and Circuit City brands

    US giant Systemax is shuttering its PC factory and axing the CompUSA and Circuit City brands. The reseller, which also runs Misco.co.uk, signalled it will cut its workforce in Europe after ploughing into the red in Q3 2012. The New York-listed biz delayed reporting its latest financial results on Monday as Hurricane Sandy …

    The Channel 2 Nov 10:44

  • TRULY sinister blond madman signed for Bond 24, whisper insiders

    'Makes Javier Bardem look like Rolf Harris'

    The Register has exclusively learned that the next James Bond movie outing will pit 007 against a truly sinister blond madman "who'll make Javier Bardem look like your kindly maiden aunt playing Mother Teresa for the benefit of kids in a Rwandan orphange", as our inside source put it. Producers hope Julian Assange, who …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 11:00

  • US gov advised to SUE GOOGLE by FTC over patent trade wars

    No decision until after election, say sources

    The US government has reportedly been advised by the Federal Trade Commission to sue Google for breaching competition law, because of the ad giant's requests to US courts to prevent the sale of goods it claims infringe its essential patents. According to Bloomberg, which cites anonymous sources, the five-member Federal Trade …

    Policy 2 Nov 11:13

  • 'This is Apple. It will take them 2 weeks to alter their website, will it?'

    QuotW Plus: 'A hacker told me how Hitler ties his shoes'

    This was the week when Hurricane Sandy barrelled into the US East Coast, killing more than 90 people, causing widespread flooding and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. Before the super-storm made landfall, buildings were closed, businesses went offline and folks were evacuated. The New York Stock Exchange and the …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 11:35

  • Asus pledges Android 4.2 update for Google Nexus 7

    Coming soon says slate's supplier

    Asus has confirmed that the Google Nexus 7 tablet will be getting Android 4.2 “in the very near future”. It’s no great surprise, the 7 being a Google-branded gadget an’ all, but the new will reassure Nexus 7 owners who noted that while the new Nexus 4 smartphone from LG and the Samsung-made Nexus 10 tablet, both announced a …

    Hardware 2 Nov 11:35

  • Captain Kirk does a Crapp on the iPhone: 'Shatoetry' for 'Shatisms'

    'Shat that!' - he certainly has

    William Shatner, the "world-renowned performer and writer", is offering the fanbois the chance to assemble pre-recorded words straight from Kirk's mouth into "Shatisms" - phrases "played out in Shatner's voice". The Star Trek thesp said of his $2.99 "Shatoetry" app: "People all over the world have been listening to my voice …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 11:43

  • UK iPad Mini FRENZY: Queues stretch SEVERAL FEET from till

    Reader tells of minutes-long ordeal amid sparse mob

    Astonishing queues at times reached as far as several feet from the tills in Glasgow's Apple store, as the Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini launched in the UK. Reader Joseph Heenan reported walking in to the Apple Store, buying the device and walking out "within a couple of minutes". Heenan added that "there were staff standing …

    Hardware 2 Nov 11:56

  • Debenhams cafes ban outré terms like 'espresso' and 'cappuccino'

    Are you a bit out of touch? Come and shop here

    The words "espresso" and "cappuccino" are too confusing for customers, says high-street retailer Debenhams. The department store chain will instead introduce moron-friendly descriptions, such as "frothy coffee", in its 160 cafes. Out go several descriptions it deems too "fancy" - even "tall" and "grande" have been slung out, …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 12:17

  • Google scoffs down Chinese domain name takeaway

    Registers 18 .中国 domains for the PRC

    Google may have a love-hate relationship with China, but local reports suggest it still sees huge potential in the People’s Republic, claiming that it recently snapped up 18 key domain names under the internationalised suffix ‘.中国’. Internet oversight body ICANN has been pushing its Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) …

    Hosting 2 Nov 12:27

  • LinkedIn SHOCK: Social-for-Suits ISN'T a flash in the pan

    Ads? They're OK, but there are other ways to make money

    LinkedIn has once again proved that a social network can make money, just as long as it's got more than one way for the cash to roll in. The network for professionals topped analysts' expectations for profit and revenue in the third quarter of 2012 as its advertising business continued to do very well and its job listings unit …

    Financial News 2 Nov 12:44

  • 'I'd buy that for a dollar': Apple on Moto phone patents

    Making Google an offer it can refuse. And will

    Apple is willing to pay to use Googorola's patented wireless technology - as long as it's no more than $1 per iPhone. The fruity firm made the offer in a filing to a Wisconsin court ahead of a patent licensing trial due to start next week. Google-owned Motorola Mobility is accused of breaking an agreement with Apple over the …

    Mobile 2 Nov 12:57

  • Oracle's mighty Sparc plug fries Fujitsu, bigs up new processor

    Analysis El Reg drills into database giant's decision to go it alone

    Oracle and Fujitsu may be partners when it comes to Solaris, but they are going their own separate ways when it comes to processor and system development. A year ago, a senior Oracle bod hinted to El Reg that the new Sparc M4 processor will be produced by Oracle rather than Fujitsu, which ordinarily builds the M-series of …

    Servers 2 Nov 13:17

  • We don’t talk any more... on the commute

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? Do gadgets really make us antisocial?

    “Is this the train to Faversham?” asks a woman as she boards. A regular commuter returning to the southeast London suburbs, I always get off at the first stop and have no idea where the trains eventually end up two hours later. “I’m afraid I don’t know,” I reply. “What?” she cries incredulously. “Don’t you know what train you …

    Bootnotes 2 Nov 13:20

  • Apple's iPad Mini released, analysts predict slow burner

    10in refresh hits stores too

    Apple's iPad Mini and the fourth-generation refresh of its bigger brother hit stores today as analysts forecast lower than usual sales - for the opening weekend, at least. In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he expects between 1 and 1.5 million iPad Minis will sell during the gadget's first weekend …

    Hardware 2 Nov 13:23

  • Microsoft building its own Phone hardware: Not 'If', but 'When'

    Analysis The hard route to 3rd place for Redmond

    Rumours refuse to die about a Surface-like smartphone coming from Microsoft. The Wall St Journal cites unnamed sources as (this time) saying Microsoft is working with component suppliers in Asia to test its own smartphone design. The paper reports Microsoft "is testing a smartphone design but isn't sure if a product will go …

    Phones 2 Nov 13:32

  • Gamma ray telescope uses 'blazars' to map GLOWING COSMIC FOG

    Boffins probe Light of the Dawn of Time Itself

    Scientists operating the Fermi gamma wave telescope have published the results of a four-year study into the light that shines in the universe from current and past stars. The experiment measures the light from the first stars formed after the Big Bang, the so-called extragalactic background light (EBL). This acts as a "fog" …

    Science 2 Nov 13:46

  • Facebook trial: Tell everyone where you are, have a Wi-Fi peanut

    You like selling yourself for peanuts, right ... bitch

    Facebook is still trying to work out how to convince more people to agree to having their locations tracked by the dominant free-content ad network, so that it can make even more piles of cash out of advertising. It has now begun testing a service in the US that offers "free" Wi-Fi access to Facebook users who use the company' …

    Media 2 Nov 13:56

  • What's new in Windows Server 2012

    Where do we begin...

    Windows Server 2012 – "Cloud OS" as Microsoft sometimes refers to it, and "WS2012" as we'll call it for short – is the result of the deepest and broadest developer effort in the history of Microsoft server products: 10,000 engineers working for four years. Comments from testers and early adopters have included "jaw-dropping", " …

    Servers 2 Nov 14:06

  • Even US generals have realised BlackBerries are uncool

    Did they say why, Willard, why they want to terminate my command?

    The Pentagon has joined the US Immigration and Customers in shifting away from RIM's BlackBerry as the aging platform becomes so uncool that even civil servants eschew it. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement said last week that it had spent $2.1m on iPhones as the BlackBerry device can't cut it any more, and this week it …

    Mobile 2 Nov 14:14

  • Elephant which speaks: Rare. One which speaks Korean: Even Rarer

    Seen a house fly, a horse fly, never seen an elephant so fly

    A captive Asian elephant called Koshik can do more with his trunk than just spray water at zoo visitors - he can use it to speak KOREAN. Boffins studied claims that Koshik's vocabulary extends to five words in the native tongue of his adoptive home and found they were true. The words, translated to English, are "hello", "sit …

    Science 2 Nov 14:29

  • Virgin offers unlimited action on the cheap

    Top-up temptation for data lovers?

    Virgin has updated its PAYG deals to - it claims - undercut all of its operator rivals by offering unlimited data for a mere £10 top up. The company rolled out two fresh tiers of tariff this week, one geared towards the natterer, the other prepped for surf addicts. One tariff, "Big Data and Texts", offers unlimited mobile …

    Mobile 2 Nov 14:34

  • Apple must apologise for its surly apology on its website on Saturday

    But you can read the mandatory frontpage text here, now

    Apple will have to apologise for its rubbish apology as well its patent infringement claims against Samsung when it publishes a statement on its UK website tomorrow. The three sentence statement that Apple will have to display on its homepage will say: On 25th October 2012, Apple Inc published a statement on its UK website …

    Law 2 Nov 14:42

  • Post-pub nosh deathmatch: Souse versus scrapple

    El Reg mixes it up with the Pennsylvania Dutch

    Our popular post-pub nosh deathmatch series takes a decidedly Pennsylvania Dutch turn this chilly November, as we present for your drunken dining pleasure two stateside dishes suggested by our gourmet readers. The contenders weighing in for this culinary clash are souse and scrapple, a couple of carnivore-friendly concoctions …

    SPB 2 Nov 15:00

  • Gay porn burglar must pay $150k for each grumble flick

    Golfing vids featuring short game action off the fairway

    A gay smut production company has won a $1.5m award against a bloke who shared ten of its movies via the Bittorrent protocol. It's a very rare example of an ordinary individual being whacked with full US statutory damages for copyright infringement - $150,000 per infringement. That's because the defendant Kywan Fisher failed …

    Law 2 Nov 15:24

  • Mexican Zetas ENSLAVING engineers to run crimelords' radio net

    Non-technicians simply shot as being useless

    Engineers are being kidnapped in Mexico, not for ransom but to build and maintain Los Zetas' radio network, as criminal gangs need reliable connectivity just like everyone else. InSight Crime reports on the spate of kidnappings, which haven't resulted in the usual ransom demands and do seem to have been targeting engineers …

    Mobile 2 Nov 15:38

  • SCC bulging with cash, plans acquisition spree

    Rigby clan wave bye to SDG arm, pocket £220m in cash

    SCC chief exec James Rigby has talked up a "programme of investment" for his company as it waves goodbye to its wholesale arm, Specialist Distribution Group, that was sold to Tech Data for £220m. The deal, announced in the summer, received the all clear from the European Commission's competition watchdog after it decided there …

    The Channel 2 Nov 15:51

  • Youngster backed by Yoko Ono and Stephen Fry launches 'Summly'

    Good lord, scraping news content - that's a new one!

    A 17-year-old Londoner has launched a new app that summarises news stories for smartphones after getting over $1m in funding. The Summly app started out life as TrimIt, getting 100,000 downloads last year before private equity firm Horizons Ventures spotted it. The firm, run by Li Ka-Shing - the eleventh wealthiest person in …

    Media 2 Nov 15:57

  • Cash rains DOWN on the Cloud - Nasuni trousers $20m

    Man, this tech is turning the world upside down

    Cash is raining down on cloud storage startups - and now Nasuni has netted a $20m wad of C-round funding. Nasuni provides a gateway to online storage with a local cache of files for branch offices. It recently added the capability for block data access - NAS plus unified storage, or Nasuni for short. The clouds can be private …

    Storage 2 Nov 16:17

  • Mars rover Curiosity snaps explicit selfies from ALL ANGLES

    This is me with red sand on my bottom LOL

    Nuclear Mars truck Curiosity has paused in its scientific exploration of the Martian environment to snap a little self-portrait. Click for hi-res. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems The rover is on a mission to discover if Mars has ever been home to microbial life, but Curiousity put that on the back …

    Science 2 Nov 16:44

  • Mexico to Apple: You WILL NOT use the name 'iPhone' here

    We don' need no stinkin' badge lawsuits

    Apple has lost the right to use the word "iPhone" in Mexico after its trademark lawsuit against Mexican telco iFone backfired. Judges sitting in Mexico's 18th District Appellate Court have ruled that iFone is the only company allowed to use the "iPhone" or "iFone" brands in the North American country. The decision marks the …

    Law 2 Nov 17:02

  • Where are all the open-source mobile projects?

    Open ... and Shut Beauty of Apple and Android not found on a server

    Open source used to be about copycatting popular proprietary products. In today's emerging markets of Big Data and cloud computing, however, open source drives innovation while proprietary products play catch-up. It is surprising, then, that the industry's other major market, mobile, is a comparative wasteland for open source …

    Software 2 Nov 17:20

  • MIT boffin's algorithm foresees Twitter's trendy future

    Predicts with 95% accuracy when a small trend will burst big

    An MIT professor has developed an algorithm to predict what's going to be big on Twitter before it's big on Twitter – for those that care about such things. Twitter will care, he predicts. Associate Professor Devavrat Shah and his student Stanislav Nikolov have created an algorithm that determines with 95% accuracy whether a …

    Software 2 Nov 17:35

  • One in seven North American home networks full of malware

    Claims the continent's Phorm-a-like packet sniffer

    One in seven home networks in North America are infected with malware, a recent study has revealed. Half the threats detected during Q3 2012 were made up of spam-spewing zombies or banking Trojans while the remainder were mostly adware and other lesser threats, according to a study by Kindsight Security Labs. The study was …

    Security 2 Nov 17:39

  • IT does its part for Obama US jobs creation in October

    More people found work than expected since August

    The economy in the United States added 171,000 net new jobs in October according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, higher than many economists had expected. Even better, more people were added to the payroll in August and September than the BLS had originally expected. With the economy improving by some …

    Jobs 2 Nov 18:05

  • Hactivist crew smacks down Russia.gov: Spies are RICH enough

    Pastebin dump revenge for 'wasting cash on espionage'

    A hactivist crew has launched a cyber-offensive against Russia with the leak of 2.5 million records, which it claims to have obtained from hacked government and corporate servers. Team GhostShell said it was leaking the data in protest against the Russian government's willingness to plough its revenues into espionage "even …

    Security 2 Nov 18:32

  • Windows Phone 8: Everything you need to know at a glance

    Comment Does it match up?

    There used to be a popular saying in the industry: "Microsoft doesn't get it right until version 3.0." I say used to because you don't hear it very much any more. It was arguably true of Windows, which first hit its stride with version 3.0, but not for much else. The Xbox sold from the first incarnation. Windows CE passed the …

    Windows 8 2 Nov 18:46

  • New iPad's innards: Good news for recent fondleslab buyers

    Teardown 'Meet the new iPad / Same as the old iPad' (almost)

    When the new fourth-generation iPad made its debut at the iPad mini roll-out event late last month, it was a surprise to many – especially those who had recently opened their wallets for "the new iPad" released just this March. Fret not, fanbois. The tools, parts, and repairs folks at iFixit have just torn apart Apple's latest …

    Hardware 2 Nov 18:57

  • Facebook joins Linaro Linux-on-ARM effort

    More ARM chippies, plus Red Hat and Canonical

    It has been more than two years since Freescale Semiconductor, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments formed a non-profit software company called Linaro to help focus the disparate efforts to get Linux running well on ARM processors and system-on-chip designs. A slew of companies, some new to the ARM racket, have …

    Servers 2 Nov 19:10

  • USS Enterprise sets out on its final mission

    To boldly go ... to the scrapheap

    The US Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, has set sail on her last mission before being consigned to the scrap heap. After 51 years as a serving warship, including multiple circumnavigations of the globe, the Enterprise's final trip will be a short one from its home port of Naval Station Norfolk …

    Science 2 Nov 19:23

  • Microsoft takes on GitHub with cloudy Team Foundation Service

    Build 2012 Not just for Windows developers, either

    Microsoft has announced general availability of Team Foundation Service (TFS), its new, cloud-based portal for code hosting and software development project management, along with a free subscription plan for small teams. In some ways, TFS competes with other web-based code sharing portals, such as GitHub and Google Code, but …

    Developer 2 Nov 20:17

  • Brain boffins: 'Yes, math CAN make your head hurt – LITERALLY'

    It's not math itself that causes pain – it's the anticipation

    When someone says that math makes their head hurt, they may not be speaking metaphorically. A new study has shown that math anxiety can cause actual, physical pain. "We show that, when anticipating an upcoming math-task," the researchers explain, "the higher one's math anxiety, the more one increases activity in regions …

    Science 2 Nov 22:36

  • Asteroid belts could be key to finding intelligent life

    Just enough bombardment does you good

    A new study suggests that having the right kind of asteroid belt in a solar system could be essential to finding intelligent life in the universe – including here on Earth. A team from NASA and the UK's Royal Astronomical Society has been studying the role of asteroid belts in the evolution of life on Earth and in the wider …

    Science 2 Nov 22:40

  • EPA likes clouds – as long as they're Microsoft's

    Redmond scores another government Office win, this one starting at $9.8m

    Microsoft's ongoing fight to transfer its lucrative government business from software to the cloud has received a major boost with a deal to sell 25,000 Office 365 licenses to the Environmental Protection Agency. The $9.8m contract to supply the EPA with cloudy applications for the next four years was won by Microsoft reseller …

    Software 2 Nov 23:50