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5th December 2012 Archive

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  • Twitter’s deathless spoofing bug gets the heart-stake again

    Facebook, Venmo also plug SMS vuln

    Twitter says it has plugged its years-old SMS spoofing vulnerability after yet-another disclosure, this time by security consultant Jonathan Rudenberg. Facebook and social payments outfit Venmo have also blocked the vulnerability. In the case of Twitter, users with SMS-posting enabled weren't forced to use any kind of …

    Security 5 Dec 00:32

  • Microsoft’s so.cl network now open to all

    Sign up now, once you update Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, Foursquare, MySpace …

    Microsoft’s “experiment in open search”, so.cl, is now open to anyone. Launched back in May amidst very little fanfare, so.cl (pronounced “social “) was initially offered only to students and billed as an experiment in learning. Redmond has recanted those restrictions, today telling world+dog they’re free to pile in and enjoy …

    Networks 5 Dec 01:16

  • Red Hat pushes out RHEL 6.4 beta

    Looking ahead to Fedora 18 hardened as RHEL 7 in 2013

    A day ahead of a set of announcements around optimizing IT operations that is scheduled for Wednesday, commercial Linux distributor Red Hat is rolling out the beta for its Enterprise Linux 6.X distro for servers and workstations. The RHEL 6.4 beta previews what is coming in the next point release of the current branch of …

    Servers 5 Dec 01:43

  • Facebook takes aim at SMS with new Messenger app

    Mobile-to-mobile chat, no Facebook account required

    Facebook has unveiled an update to its Messenger app for Android aimed at getting mobile users off SMS and onto the social network's own messaging service. Beginning on Tuesday, users no longer need a full Facebook account to access Messenger. Instead, they can sign up for the service using nothing more than their names and …

    Applications 5 Dec 01:49

  • NASA planning Curiosity v2.0 for Mars touchdown in 2020

    It's going to be a busy decade for Red Planet

    NASA has been laying out its plans to send a second rover to Mars based on the Curiosity platform that's currently trundling across, and burrowing into, the planet's surface. "The Obama administration is committed to a robust Mars exploration program," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "With this next mission, we're …

    Science 5 Dec 01:51

  • Einstein almost tagged dark energy in the early 1920s

    Letter to Schrödinger was oh-so-close

    It’s of historical interest only, at this point, but an analysis of an exchange between Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger seems to show how close Einstein came to predicting the dark energy problem. In this paper, submitted to Arxiv and described at the Arxiv Blog here, Alex Harvey of City University, New York, examines a …

    Science 5 Dec 02:04

  • AWS to ISVs: Let us vaporise your Windows apps

    Will Azure get the blues?

    Hot on the heels of its announcement that cloudy Widows Server instances are now available in its EC2 service, Amazon Web Services has started to court developers whose applications run on Microsoft’s servers. The cloudy company’s pitch is that if an ISV’s app is in the AWS marketplace, ISVs can get into the software-as-a- …

    Cloud 5 Dec 02:41

  • Nokia Siemens slim-down continues

    Optical sold, German services unit to close

    On the heels of its decision to exit the optical networking business, Nokia Siemens Networks looks like it’s in further trouble, with a contract loss blamed for more job cuts at the company. On December 3, NSN announced that its optical networking division is to land in the hands of a private equity group, Marlin Equity …

    Business 5 Dec 02:50

  • ZTE gets $5bn Chinese government cash injection

    State handout won't play well abroad as SEC clamps down on Chinese firms

    Struggling telecoms kit maker ZTE received a timely boost on Tuesday when the Chinese government effectively stepped in to increase its financing of the firm by $US5bn, although the future of China’s tech giants abroad is looking less certain after an SEC clampdown on accounting practices. Shenzhen-based ZTE announced that the …

    Networks 5 Dec 04:34

  • China wants mobile app approval, tracking powers

    Smartphone makers may need to have apps pre-approved before release

    China's latest plans to regulate its domestic mobile apps industry could force smartphone manufacturers to conduct costly and time-consuming extra testing, as well as help the government track users. The new regulations have been filed with the World Trade Organisation to notify it on potential barriers to trade and match a …

    Government 5 Dec 04:51

  • First pic of Ashton Kutcher as the great Steve 'jOBS'

    Good beard but ... where is his TURTLENECK?

    The first official pic of Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs in the Apply-titled jOBS has been unveiled by Sundance. The Aaron Sorkin-scripted biopic will be premiering at the Sundance Festival next year, when legions of fanbois will be prepared to vilify any and all attempts to chronicle the great man's life or chant Steve's name …

    Bootnotes 5 Dec 06:00

  • AI boffins take on Angry Birds

    Sydney competition pits programmers against pigs

    Sydney, Australia, today hosted the first day of a competition to pit humans against artificial intelligence, with the two sources of reasoning competing in rampantly-popular game Angry Birds. The challenge was hosted by the Australian National University's Artificial Intelligence Group, where Associate Professor Jochen Renz …

    Science 5 Dec 06:13

  • McAfee seeks asylum in Guatemala

    EXIF data was right

    Fugitive software millionaire John McAfee is in Guatemala, as was accidentally revealed yesterday by stray EXIF metadata in an image posted at lifestyle magazine Vice (first denied by McAfee who claimed he’d faked the data). McAfee has spoken to journalists in Guatemala City, reiterating his belief that the government of …

    Law 5 Dec 06:47

  • 2013: No sign of flying cars, but Orange mobes will get black ice

    Sci-fi got a lot less interesting really, didn't it

    Orange will install freebie mobile security suite Lookout on every Android handset it sells and bundle premium access with selected tariffs. As part of the deal, the EE-owned mobile operator will sink some cash into Lookout, but both companies are adamant there's more to this deal than bundling software. From early next year, …

    Mobile 5 Dec 06:56

  • China plans astro-farms on Mars

    Researches sustainable ecosystem to provide air, water and food

    A leading light of China’s rapidly accelerating space program has hinted that the country’s taikonauts could in time be able to grow their own food and generate oxygen from plants in bases on the Moon or Mars. Deng Yibing, deputy director of the Beijing-based Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center, told state-run …

    Science 5 Dec 07:11

  • Elon Musk jumps overboard from Paul Allen's GIANT MOTHERSHIP

    Titanic plane will now fire Orbital Sciences rocket

    Stratolaunch Systems has turned to Orbital Sciences to get the world's largest air-launch-to-orbit system off the ground. Giant jumbo-jet style heavy lifter Backed by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the firm originally wanted to build an enormous craft capable of lifting 6,100kg to low Earth orbit or 2,300kg …

    Science 5 Dec 07:51

  • NAND then something new came along: Nanotube men get $10m

    But can they stand out among the New Flash contenders?

    Nantero, a start-up developing carbon nanotube-based memory, has gained more than $10 million in a Series D funding round to help commercialise its NRAM technology and get licensees bringing products to market. NRAM is one of several candidates identified as potential successors to NAND, with others including Phase Change …

    Storage 5 Dec 09:02

  • Start the clock! Public sector web MUST be disabled-friendly by 2015

    Latest proposal from European Commission to benefit '100 million' people

    Public sector organisations will be required to ensure that disabled users of their websites have the same access to certain content and services as other internet users by the end of 2015 under new European Commission proposals. The Commission said that more than 100 million EU residents would benefit from the rules it has …

    Law 5 Dec 09:28

  • Google puts Nexus 4 back on sale, sells out pronto

    Hot cake impersonation continues

    Google’s Nexus 4 smartphone is back on the UK Google Play store, but you’ll have to wait until the new year to get hold of one should you place an order. The LG-made handset has been much in demand and after its launch quickly sold out. Early reports suggested the initial allocation of the secretly 4G smartphone sold out …

    Mobile 5 Dec 09:52

  • Google's ethics, cosy UK.gov chats under Westminster scrutiny

    Music industry honchos speak out in copyright inquiry

    Google's ethics and its close relationship with the British government came under scrutiny in Parliament yesterday. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee is conducting an inquiry into the creative industries. When a small indie label, which happens to have Adele on its roster, is paying more tax than Google and Amazon …

    Government 5 Dec 10:01

  • EU, US launch biggest ever global fight against online child sex abuse

    Worldwide teamwork to tackle 1m vile images

    Some 48 countries have agreed to join forces to halt the spread of online child sex abuse videos and images. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström will team up with US Attorney General Eric Holder to launch the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online at a conference held today in Brussels, Belgium. The …

    Security 5 Dec 10:32

  • Use a Mac? For actual work? Evernote Business has arrived

    Windows, iOS and Android still on the to-do list

    Cloud-based notepad Evernote has gone professional: it now boasts an office package with shared notebooks and smart searching for only twice the cost of a Google Docs account. Evernote Business is priced at $10 a month per employee for which staff get access to Business Notebooks that sit alongside their existing Evernote …

    Cloud 5 Dec 11:03

  • Storage veteran Murphy returns to HDS after HP fling

    Sniffed Hewlett-Packard, didn't like what he smelled

    Storage tech veteran Steve Murphy has returned Hitachi Data Systems as a vice-president following a brief flirtation with rival HP. Murphy rocked up at HDS in early 2007 and spent four years in various senior positions in the UK and elsewhere. Then in April 2011, he was persuaded to work for HP to oversee its major accounts …

    The Channel 5 Dec 11:03

  • Yahoo! slurps! teeny! video! chat! upstart!

    Second gobble in Mayer's march to mobile domination

    Yahoo! has acquired tiny video chat firm OnTheAir, which will join the web firm's mobile division. The web giant's new chief Marissa Mayer made mobile a priority for reviving her company's flagging fortunes; the firm has already bought Stamped, a mobile startup that lets folks share information about restaurants and music on …

    Media 5 Dec 11:27

  • Copying Wikipedia's lies is not just for hacks, right Lord Leveson?

    Prankster nobbles judge's report on press ethics

    Last week, the judge tasked with cleaning up the British press was caught indulging in one of its filthiest habits: copying unreliable factoids from Wikipedia, the “encyclopedia anyone can edit”. Lord Justice Leveson’s report on UK press ethics last week featured the statement: The Independent [newspaper] was founded in 1986 …

    Media 5 Dec 11:43

  • 2012: an epoch-defining year for home entertainment

    Analogue telly out, 4K Ultra HD in... and more besides

    2012 may have confounded Mayan predictions of global catastrophe, but it certainly proved an epochal year for home entertainment technology. The past 12 months have seen seismic changes to the living room landscape, with analogue TV finally running out of steam, the first sighting of a higher resolution future and a wholesale …

    Hardware 5 Dec 12:00

  • BT to rent cheaper FTTP lines to ISPs - if they stump up £1k a go

    Hefty one-off fees demanded for 330Mbps broadband

    BT will demand pricey one-off construction and installation fees from ISP providers that want to offer blistering fast fibre products to their customers. The national telco said it was up to those companies to decide whether to pass on the costs, which are expected to start at about £500 and could climb to well above £1,000 in …

    Broadband 5 Dec 12:29

  • Netflix wins first-show TV rights to Disney flicks

    IPTV deal puts future Star Wars movies on Xboxes, PS3s, TVs, tablets

    Netflix is to become Disney’s exclusive pay-television partner from 2016 in a deal that gives it first pick of all of the studio’s new films, from future Pixar and Marvel hits to the second and third instalments of the new Star Wars trilogy. Terms of the deal, which only covers the US, were not disclosed, but the Financial …

    Media 5 Dec 12:38

  • Fred Flintstone may not have been real but his pet Dino WAS - boffins

    'Labrador sized' oldest 'saur ever discovered

    Scientists believe they have found the world's oldest dinosaur after fully analysing a fossil unearthed 80 years ago. The ten-foot-long dorky-looking Nyasasaurus parringtoni scuttled over the Earth 10 to 15 million years earlier than the previously oldest known dinosaurs, palaeontologists claimed in an article published in the …

    Science 5 Dec 13:05

  • Slash A THIRD off Surface RT price or it's toast, Microsoft told

    And actually sell it through the shops - who are you? Apple?

    Microsoft needs to hack a third off Surface RT prices and widen distribution to give the fondleslab a fighting chance to compete, said equities analyst Detwiler Fenton Group (DFG). The ARM-powered device isn't winning many friends apart from the software giant's rank and file. Only last week the firm was reported to have …

    The Channel 5 Dec 13:26

  • Samsung anoints chairman's son and heir as vice-chairman

    Set to be third generation of family to run giant chaebol

    Samsung Electronics has promoted the son and heir apparent of its chairman to the job of vice chairman. Jay Y Lee, son of chairman Lee Kun-hee, is already chief operating officer and president and is widely expected to be his father's successor. "The promotion of Jay Y. Lee recognises his outstanding achievements as a leader …

    Business 5 Dec 14:02

  • Nokia uncloaks Lumia 620: A 'budget' $249 Windows 8 mobe

    Smaller screen, less RAM, smaller battery - you get the picture (which is smaller too)

    Nokia has announced its third Windows Phone 8 mobile, the sixth from any manufacturer to use Microsoft’s new operating system. Priced at $249 (£154) SIM-free, the Lumia 620 is a diminutive "budget" model with a 3.8in screen, parking it at the rather pricey end of where the budget market it is today. The 620 includes a microSD …

    Apps 5 Dec 14:29

  • Dozen more cities to get ultrafast broadband cash in gloomy UK budget

    Autumn Statement 2012 Osbo dreams of £1bn savings once UK.gov goes fully online

    George Osborne promised 12 more UK cities £50m in funding to roll out ultrafast broadband during his mini-budget speech this lunchtime. He added that £1bn could be saved if public services were shifted online. The chancellor admitted to Parliament that he had fallen short of his deficit and debt cutting targets, but insisted …

    Broadband 5 Dec 14:30

  • Apple share dive scuppers trader's alleged get-rich-quick fraud scam

    Fruity FAIL leaves accused with $1bn of duff stock

    A US trader has been charged with fraud by the Feds over a get-rich-quick scheme involving over 2 million Apple shares and $1bn. The trader, David Miller, bought 1.625m shares in Apple on October 25 this year, the day that the fruity firm was scheduled to announce its earnings for the quarter. Miller told his bosses at …

    Business 5 Dec 14:57

  • Record €1.47 BEELLION EC fine for price-fixing display cartels

    CRT monitors - more evil than we knew

    The EC has fined screen-makers including Samsung and LG €1.47bn for joining in one or both of two different CRT cartels running between 1996 and 2006. The European Commission's antitrust division said that eight different companies fixed prices, shared markets, divvied out customers between them and restricted their output in …

    Government 5 Dec 15:57

  • MySQL founders launch MariaDB Foundation at Oracle

    Too important to let Larry have control of it

    MySQL’s co-founders are combining forces against Oracle with an independent organization to further the MariaDB fork started by Monty Widenius. The MariaDB Foundation has been announced by David Axmark, Allan Larsson and Widenius with founding members also including SkySQL chief executive Patrik Sallner, the co-founder of …

    Software 5 Dec 16:32

  • Schmidt: Microsoft will never be as cool as the Gang of Four

    Fondle your tool as much as you like, it'll never get big

    Tablet-friendly Windows 8 won't allow Microsoft into Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google's cosy clique, said Google’s executive chairman. Quoted in a rather thin Wall Street Journal Q&A, Eric Schmidt maintained his belief that Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook comprise a consumer-pleasing web-conquering “gang of four”. And …

    Business 5 Dec 16:51

  • Cloudy storage new-kid Nirvanix loses CEO Genereux to Oracle

    To lose one CEO may be regarded as misfortune. Two ...

    Enterprise cloud storage supplying start-up Nirvanix has appointed Dru Borden as its CEO, replacing Scott Genereux who has left to join Oracle. Dru Borden became Nirvanix' chief strategy officer in July this year. A new VP of worldwide sales, Tina Gravel, was appointed recently and has caused some turmoil in the sales ranks as …

    Cloud 5 Dec 17:34

  • Instagram starts filtering out hipster pics on Twitter

    Wasn't that into tweeting anyway

    Instagram has disabled the ability of Twitter users to view its photo-futzed images in full, and CEO Kevin Systrom says he eventually wants people to come to his site rather than any other platform. Systrom says the move is because Instagram has made a number of improvements in its own site and apps, and it thinks users will …

    Business 5 Dec 19:55

  • Red Hat marries RHEV 3.1 hypervisor to Gluster storage

    New CloudForms control freak and virty bundles for cloud builders

    Red Hat rules Linux and has its fifth of the server racket, and it wants to rule clouds and get more than that share. In fact, Red Hat needs to do that if it hopes to compete against Microsoft and VMware and remain relevant in the data center and the public cloud alike. To that end, Red Hat has put out updates to its KVM-based …

    Virtualization 5 Dec 20:38

  • Microsoft's anti-Android Twitter campaign draws ire, irony

    Wags take Redmond to task on malware issue

    Microsoft has launched a repeat of a Twitter-based anti-Android marketing stunt that it first tried last year, but this year's campaign seems to have netted the software giant more than it bargained for. On Wednesday, Redmond's official Windows Phone Twitter feed at @WindowsPhone laid into Google's mobile OS for being …

    Mobile 5 Dec 21:21

  • HP's public cloud open for compute business

    Discover 2012, Updated Adds KVM hypervisor to CloudSystem box-o-private-cloud

    Hewlett-Packard is finally ready to make some money peddling infrastructure on its public cloud and to give Amazon Web Services a little competition. As part of the Discover 2012 customer and partner extravaganza in Frankfurt, Germany on Wednesday, the compute portion of the HP Cloud is coming out of public beta testing and …

    Cloud 5 Dec 23:11

  • Entire US Congress votes against ITU control of internet

    Unanimously against thing nobody has proposed

    The US House of Representatives has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to keep the internet "free from government control," in a move clearly aimed at the United Nations' World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), currently taking place in Dubai. In a display of bipartisanship rarely seen on Capitol …

    Government 5 Dec 23:57