31st December 2012 Archive

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Build a BONKERS test lab: Everything you need before you deploy

Part one Trevor Pott reveals his server room's crash-test dummies

Every systems administrator needs a test lab and over the course of the next month I am going to share with you the details of my latest. In part one of The Register's Build a Bonkers Test Lab, we look at getting the best bang for your buck and doing it all on the cheap. Here is a look at my “Eris 3” test lab nodes; I have …

Datacenter 31 Dec 06:03
China turns the screws on netizens with real-name registration plans

Want internet access? Just sign here please…

Any hopes that the recent change in Communist Party leadership would signal a relaxing of online restrictions in China appear to have been dashed after state media revealed plans for the roll-out of real-name registration for all internet users. The nation’s top policymakers on the Standing Committee of the National People's …

Hosting 31 Dec 07:05
2012 in tech: Apple up the Cook without a paddle, ARM, slab wars... and MORE

Review of 2012 Navigate the year safely, without Google Maps

Great Britain reminded the world who invented the web at London 2012 Olympics, Apple cocked up its maps, Microsoft returned to hardware with Surface, we saw a rise of the machines on Wall Street and many of us rubbed our hands with glee as Facebook IPO's deflated. This was the last 12 months in technology. So put the in-laws on …

Software 31 Dec 08:51
Tibetan monks lose their TVs as China's censors raid monasteries

Crackdown on tellies, satellite kit

It’s been a tough year for Tibetan monks and things have just gotten tougher after Chinese authorities confiscated TVs in 300 monasteries and wrecked satellite gear that Beijing claimed was broadcasting "anti-China" content. An article from the state-run Qinghai news agency spotted by Reuters claimed that the local government …

Media 31 Dec 09:04
Yes, hundreds upon hundreds of websites CAN all be wrong

Not this one though. Well, not about this, anyway

One day a couple of years ago I happened to hear an old song called “The Endless Enigma,” by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, that I remembered from when I was a teenager. Listening to it again reminded me that there was a line in the lyrics that I’d never been able to understand: I’m tired of ________, with tongues in their cheeks… This …

Media 31 Dec 11:12
ANOTHER Huawei partner accused of slipping US tech to Iran

HP tech 'priced and specced' in embargo breach - report

Documents offering to supply embargoed technology to Iran have been unearthed by Reuters, showing Huawei partner Skycom Tech Co Ltd bidding to provide HP servers to an Iranian mobile network - in breach of sanctions. The bid, seen by Reuters, was submitted in 2010 by Skycom to Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran (MCI) and …

Government 31 Dec 11:42
US, UK probe HP claims of accounting mischief at Autonomy

Tech titan reveals fraud investigation, lawsuits

The US Department of Justice is investigating Hewlett Packard's allegations that British software company Autonomy cooked its books before it was bought up by HP. Hewlett Packard claimed accounting irregularities and financial misrepresentation at Autonomy led to HP's $8.8bn loss in the fourth quarter of 2012. HP paid $11bn …

Financial News 31 Dec 12:25
Hm, nice idea that. But somebody's already doing it less well

So you can push off and take your economic growth with you

We know there's massive amounts of invention going on. Innovations are popping up all over the place. And while this should be increasing economic growth, none of this invention and innovation is being reflected in our economies. My own diagnosis: when it comes to the "creative destruction" that capitalism is supposed to be good …

Government 31 Dec 12:51