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14th January 2013 Archive

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  • Cisco sued by East Carolina University

    Apparently tomorrow starts in Greenville, not San Jose

    East Carolina University (ECU), which is based in the rural town of Greenville on the hatchet face of North Carolina, is probably the last organization you would expect to pick a legal fight with networking giant and server wannabe Cisco Systems. But late last week ECU, whose football team is pretty good and goes by the name the …

    Law 14 Jan 00:59

  • Unbelievably vast quasar cluster forces universe-sized rethink

    Hiding in plain sight: discovery came from public data

    It’s there, but it shouldn’t be: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has found a quasar cluster so large that it demands a re-assessment of theories about the universe. The problem with the Large Quasar Group is this: it’s too big. One of the assumptions astronomers draw from Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity is that at the …

    Science 14 Jan 01:07

  • Brit robojet ‘Taranis’ set for Oz test flight

    Report says drone will finally fly in Spring

    Taranis, the British robojet unveiled in 2010, will reportedly fly in Australia during 2013. Taranis is designed to operate autonomously, but cannot attack without orders from a human. The UK Daily Telegraph reports with the craft will take to the skies in Australia sometime during the (presumably) northern spring. An MoD …

    Government 14 Jan 04:57

  • India's tough hacker crackdown: IT security leaflets with every device

    Vendors cry foul over packaging problems

    India has reportedly concocted a plan to cut down on IT security problems: forcing hardware vendors to include a security awareness brochure with all desktop PCs, mobile phones and USB modems. The plans were dreamt up to improve the country’s cyber security preparedness, in response to the increasing volume of online threats …

    Government 14 Jan 05:49

  • Sorry for the censorship says Chinese chat service

    Tencent blames technical glitch for WeChat foreign censorship incident

    Chinese web giant Tencent has released a statement blaming a “technical glitch” for problems that last week led to disruptions for international users of its popular WeChat app last week. The popular Whatsapp-like application is approaching 300 million global users and although most of these are still located in the People’s …

    Networks 14 Jan 06:38

  • With a few tweaks to 3PAR, HP might crash all-flash array party

    Blocks and Files StorFlashServery

    Taking HP statements at face value, it would seem its flash array storage strategy is to extend its StorServe (3PAR InServ) disk-based storage arrays into the all-flash array world. This would mean taking on flash array start-ups like Pure Storage, SolidFire and Whiptail and facing down tech giant EMC - with its coming XtremIO …

    Storage 14 Jan 07:02

  • Biz barons jumpy over EU draft data protection reforms

    Might they be wanting their pre-ticked boxes back?

    An MEP's suggested reforms to EU data protection laws, which are to be put to a vote before the European Parliament, would damage the interests of businesses, an alliance of business groups has said. In a statement, the Industry Coalition for Data Protection (ICDP) criticised the draft report that Jan-Phillip Albrecht …

    Law 14 Jan 08:02

  • Hey, open sourcers: Who's your code's daddy?

    Open... and shut VMware's dealings with Vert.x founder should serve as a warning

    So-called "pre-invention assignment agreements" are a rite of passage when joining a company. For an open-source developer, they may also be giving away the keys to an open-source project, as VMware's recent legal action against the founder of the Vert.x project shows. While there are compelling reasons (warning: PDF) to think …

    Developer 14 Jan 08:58

  • Xyratex bleeds money, flogs HPC and Big Data arrays to survive

    But major OEM wants 'traditional' storage, insists hard-pressed firm

    DataDirect Networks and Panasas, watch out: disk enclosure and test equipment supplier Xyratex has swung into a loss due to reduced demand from NetApp for Xyratex enclosures and the contraction of the HDD industry to just three manufacturers. Xyratex is climbing out of this revenue fall by selling HPC and Big Data arrays to OEMs …

    Storage 14 Jan 09:33

  • Apple raids Xerox YET AGAIN - for its chief beancounter

    Cupertino's latest hotshot named

    Xerox has announced that Apple has snaffled its chief financial officer Luca Maestri to be the new Cupertino corporate controller from the end of February. The firm synonymous with photocopying said Maestri was a "stellar finance executive" and that it had started a search to replace him. Maestri will take over from ex-Appler …

    Financial News 14 Jan 10:02

  • Microsoft flings out emergency patch for Iatest gaping IE hole

    Monday 'fun' for sysadmins

    Microsoft has announced plans to release an out-of-band patch today tackling a critical zero-day hole in Internet Explorer. The update will almost certainly tackle an unpatched remote-code execution flaw in earlier versions of IE (detailed in Microsoft Security Advisory 2794220) that has become the target of hacker attacks …

    Security 14 Jan 10:29

  • You know flash is king when disk giant Seagate grows its SSD line

    Plus: Might elbow its way into PCIe server flash card market

    Seagate is going to expand its solid state drive (SSD) line this year using co-developed Samsung controller technology and introducing its first multi-level cell drive. Seagate and Samsung have a flash chip supply and controller partnership. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Aaron Rakers has talked to Seagate execs and gleaned that: …

    Storage 14 Jan 10:58

  • CIOs: Don't listen to tech vendors on ICT skills, listen to US

    Computer Science should count as an actual science

    An alliance of CIOs at some of the biggest companies and organisations operating in Britain has issued a call to action, saying that it's time the government stops listening to technology firms on IT issues and starts paying attention to the people that actually use the technology. A new report from the Education and Skills …

    Management 14 Jan 11:18

  • Disney World slaps pay-by-bonk stalker cuffs on grown-ups

    Cashless payments mean parents cough more cash

    Disney World is going RFID, replacing tickets and wallets with pay-by-bonk wrist bands, and offering an enhanced service for those who want to be greeted by name around the park. The basic service, MyMagic+, is an RFID wristband which identifies each punter, allowing them to store FastPasses and upload credit card details so …

    Mobile 14 Jan 11:42

  • Review: Google Nexus 4 low-cost Android 4.2 smartphone

    At last, we got one

    There are two numbers you need to keep in mind as you read this review. Firstly, 239, the remarkably small number of beer tokens Google wants in return for an unlocked, Sim-free 8GB example of the latest Nexus phone. And 2, which is the number of months it has taken me to actually get hold of one for a long-term test. The …

    Hardware 14 Jan 12:02

  • YOUR Cisco VoIP phone is easily TAPPED, warns CompSci prof

    Eavesdrop on calls using kernel security bug

    Computer scientists claim security vulnerabilities in Cisco VoIP phones allowed them to eavesdrop on calls and turn devices into bugging equipment. Ang Cui has demonstrated how malicious code injected into 14 of the networking vendor's Unified IP Phone models could be used to record private conversations - and not just those …

    Security 14 Jan 12:22

  • Anonymous hacks MIT websites after Aaron Swartz's death

    Calls for law reform after suicide of indicted net activist

    Hactivist collective Anonymous briefly took over some of MIT's websites earlier this morning to protest against the role computer crime laws may have played in the death of Aaron Swartz. Reddit co-founder and internet activist Swartz was found hanged in his apartment in New York on Friday, having taken his own life at the age …

    Security 14 Jan 12:42

  • Twitter's Tweetdeck must 'file accounts or be struck off'

    Failure to file finances puts outfit in hot water - report

    Tweetdeck Ltd could be closed down after repeatedly failing to file its financial accounts with the UK's Companies House, Sky News is reporting. The Blighty-based outfit - which bills itself as "an app that brings more flexibility and insight to power users" - was bought by US social media firm Twitter in May 2011 for $40m. It …

    Developer 14 Jan 12:58

  • Now Microsoft 'actively investigates' Surface slab jailbreak tool

    'Appropriate action taken as necessary' against Windows RT hack

    Microsoft is suddenly serious about tackling RT Jailbreak, a slick tool that unlocks Surface tablets using a hack publicised just days earlier. A spokesperson for Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, tasked with Windows security, told The Register that Redmond is “actively investigating” the RT Jailbreak Tool v1 cooked up …

    Developer 14 Jan 13:24

  • FTC chief fends off critics over THAT Google decision

    'A win for consumers', Jon Leibowitz insists

    The propriety of the US Federal Trade Commission's decision not to take action against Google over allegations of search bias has repeatedly been questioned, after FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz recently confirmed that the multi-billion dollar corporation would not face anti-trust charges. He has now defended that finding by …

    Policy 14 Jan 13:59

  • Apple 'slashes iPhone 5 screen orders', tight-fisted fanbois blamed

    Shares dip after supply chain whispers of weak sales

    Demand for iPhones is plummeting, according to two supply-chain sources. The suggestion of weak sales knocked about three per cent off Apple's pre-trading stock to just above $500 a share. Orders for iPhone 5 touchscreens for January to March 2013 have been cut in half by Cupertino bosses, reports Japanese news service Nikkei …

    Mobile 14 Jan 14:32

  • Zuck on that! Instagram loses HALF its hipsters in a month

    People do care about copyright - when it's their own

    Think users don't care about copyright? Time to think again. The spectacular fallout from Instagram's photo landgrab continues. Shortly before Christmas, the Facebook-owned social network proposed changing its terms of use so it could exploit members' photographs for profit - without compensating the owners. This prompted a …

    Mobile 14 Jan 14:57

  • Bubble baron treats Space Station crew to blowup model

    Bigelow to build $17.8m tent for SCIENCE

    NASA has enlisted Bigelow Aerospace to build an inflatable module for the International Space Station. Behold, the proposed orbiting balloon thing Bigelow Aerospace (BA), founded by space baron Robert Bigelow in 1999, will get $17.8m to put together the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module - a blowup space habitat. The …

    Science 14 Jan 15:27

  • Adobe's Flex grabs top project slot at Apache

    Shrinking future ahoy

    Adobe’s Flash-friendly Flex application development framework is now a grown-up Apache Software Foundation (ASF) project. Flex has been granted Top-Level Project (TLP) status by the ASF open-source group, "signifying that the Project's community and products have been well-governed under the ASF's meritocratic process and …

    Developer 14 Jan 16:01

  • How to build a perfect private cloud with Windows Server 2012

    Microsoft's handy kit

    So you want to build a Microsoft-based private cloud. While using the latest software is not always the best move (never use version 1.0 of anything) Microsoft's 2012 stack of products is mature, stable and capable of meeting all your cloudy needs. Let's take a look at what's required for a private cloud in Microsoft's world …

    Datacenter 14 Jan 16:09

  • Stroppy investor to Xyratex: Pah... research! Who spends money on THAT?

    Insists storage firm's strategy is 'flawed', board changes needed

    So that's why Xyratex management erected a poison pill defence against hostile take-over attempts. The company's largest shareholder, activist investor Baker Street, which owns 23 per cent of the common stock, wants board changes to correct Xyratex's "flawed" HPC and Big Data array strategy. Xyratex makes disk drive drawers …

    Storage 14 Jan 16:58

  • HP maintains seat atop wheezing, spavined PC market

    Windows 8 whip fails to get weary donkey galloping

    Hewlett-Packard has stayed at the top of the PC industry, fending off competition from Lenovo to remain the biggest PC vendor in the world with 16.2 percent market share. But the industry as a whole is shrinking, and new stats from research firm Gartner confirm the gloomy prognosis from IHS last week. Dell performed badly, …

    The Channel 14 Jan 17:26

  • 'Red October' has been spying on WORLD LEADERS for 5 years - researchers

    New flavour of cyberespionage malware uncovered by security bods

    Security watchers have discovered a malware-based cyber-espionage campaign targeting diplomats, governments and scientific research institutions worldwide. Operation Red October has targeted Eastern Europe, former Soviet republics, and countries in Central Asia for the past five years, according to Kaspersky Lab. The attack …

    Security 14 Jan 18:04

  • Lenovo said to release Intel and ARM Android convertibles

    Hmm... which will prove more popular?

    Lenovo will reportedly release Android-based convertibles in the first half of this year, and they'll be powered by your choice of either Intel or ARM processors. Convertibles – clamshell laptops that can be converted to tablets – were one of the most talked about items at last week's CES 2013. Intel, for its part, sees them …

    Laptops 14 Jan 19:38

  • Scientists spin carbon nanotube threads on industrial scale

    Stronger than steel, conductive as copper, thinner than human hair

    An international team of scientists has successfully found a way to spin tens of millions of carbon nanotubes into a flexible conductive thread that's a quarter of the thickness of human hair. "We finally have a nanotube fiber with properties that don't exist in any other material," said lead researcher Matteo Pasquali of Rice …

    Science 14 Jan 19:41

  • Rumors say Dell again thinking of going private

    A merger with Samsung would probably be a lot less stupid

    IT supplier Dell is rumored to be thinking about taking itself private, getting out from under the expectations of Wall Street and going under the thumbs of the private equity firms that would fund the self-acquisition. According to a report at Bloomberg, which claims to have talked to two people "with knowledge of the matter …

    Business 14 Jan 21:28

  • Computers are 'electronic cocaine' that make you MANIC

    Curse you, reptile brain stem!

    Some human brains just can't handle the constant stimulation produced by computers and the internet thanks to our evolutionary history, a respected psychologist has warned. "The computer is electronic cocaine for many people," Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of the Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of …

    Science 14 Jan 21:55

  • John McAfee goes Hollywood with Warner Bros. movie deal

    Just one of many irons in the fire

    The story of antivirus pioneer–cum–blogging fugitive John McAfee could soon hit the big screen, with Warner Bros. reportedly having optioned the tale for a possible feature film. This isn't the first time McAfee has been approached about a movie based on his exploits. In December, he inked a deal for the rights to his story …

    Security 14 Jan 22:26

  • DefenseCode turns up Linksys zero-day

    World awaits patch

    With more than 70 million home networking devices in service, a zero-day for Linksys has a very wide reach. According to DefenseCode, an information security consultancy that’s just what turned up in a recent product evaluation for a client. The company has not released full details of the root access vulnerability yet, but …

    Security 14 Jan 23:22

  • Dell PowerEdge boots up after Hurricane Sandy acid bath

    Keep bags of rice handy – and dry – ahead of superstorms

    It is not clear how many servers Hurricane Sandy wiped out, but at least one Dell PowerEdge box in the Maspeth neighborhood of Queens not only survived the flood sufficiently to allow for the company to boot up the box to get its data off, it managed to do that after being soaked in acid-laced salt water. The server in …

    Servers 14 Jan 23:44