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18th January 2013 Archive

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  • Intel: Everything is absolutely fab-u-lous, particularly in servers

    The chip fab edge will buy Chipzilla time in smartphones, tablets

    Paul Otellini may be stepping down in a few months as president and CEO at Chipzilla, but you wouldn't know it by listening to him talk about the company, its strategies to take on a slew of new competition, and evolve to serve new kinds of customers with devices that are largely not Intel Inside. During the conference call …

    Financial News 18 Jan 00:43

  • Black holes bigger than first thought

    Boffins ready to ditch linear galaxy size = black hole size assumption

    A bit of “astronomical shorthand” applied to make galactic mathematics easier to deal with might have to be abandoned, according to researchers from Swinburne University. According to Professor Alister Graham from Swinburne’s Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, the decade-old assumption that black holes account for a …

    Science 18 Jan 01:20

  • Lenovo offers Chrome OS ThinkPad for well-heeled schools

    Toughens up laptops for schoolyard survival

    Google has won over another convert to the Chrome OS cause, signing up Lenovo to sell a ThinkPad X131e Chromebook into the education market – albeit at a very high price. The new Chromebook uses an unspecified Intel chipset and has Wi-Fi, HDMI and VGA, three USB ports, and a 1366x768 HD LED anti-glare screen. Lenovo says its …

    Laptops 18 Jan 01:30

  • Cisco takes stake in virtualiser Parallels

    If VMware's Nicira is no threat, why does Cisco need another virtual friend?

    Cisco has taken an one per cent equity stake in Parallels, a minor virtualisation software vendor. Best known for desktop virtualisation wares, especially the Parallels desktop for Mac which offers a way to run Windows on Apple PCs, the company also offers a range of data centre virtualisation tools. Most are aimed at service …

    Virtualization 18 Jan 01:44

  • You're not cool enough for some malware

    Nightclub logic: If you're not hackers' lists, you don't get pwned

    As part of a review of phishing in 2012, RSA has outlined how phishers are now using “whitelists” to narrow down their attacks. In what the company calls “bouncer list” phishing, RSA writes that attackers are now using “black hat whitelists”. Only those on the target list will see the malware page crafted by the attackers ( …

    Security 18 Jan 02:08

  • Office 2013 now available for some home users

    If your boss offers you cheap software, say 'yes'

    Office 2013 is still a few weeks away from release, but Microsoft has made it available to certain customers as part of its Home Use Program (HUP), a scheme it uses to sell cheap software to folks whose employers have a Software Assurance deal. Office 2013 has just been added to the HUP, at very reasonable prices: the UK page …

    Software 18 Jan 03:45

  • Dotcom's Mega to launch with mini call centre

    50GB accounts for all!

    The new mega.co.nz will launch with 50 gigabytes of cloud storage for all comers and a global customer support line, but just 15 to 20 staff to handle calls. Kim Dotcom has announced the 50GB allowance on Twitter, and Australian-based domain name registrar Instra has put up its hand as the new service's call centre. Instra's …

    Networks 18 Jan 04:51

  • Wikimedia gets the travel bug with Wikivoyage

    Just what the world needs: another travel site in search results

    The Wikimedia foundation has extended its “mission is to empower a global volunteer community to collect and develop the world's knowledge” by adding a travel site to its portfolio of online services. Wikivoyage, as the new site is called, is billed as a non-commercial source of traveller-penned travel advice and already …

    Networks 18 Jan 06:12

  • PR people 'put duty to the public ahead of employers' interests'

    Says press release based on what PRs said in interviews

    Public relations professionals, often thought generally to lie on a spectrum somewhere between Edina Monsoon (Ab Fab) and Malcolm Tucker (The Thick Of It) are actually "fervent about serving the public interest", and typically place their duty to the public above any loyalty to their employers. We learn this from a press …

    Media 18 Jan 07:03

  • Did ZDI snub your 0-day attack? Packet Storm will buy it for $7k

    Assuming Google didn't offer $20,000 for it, either

    Long-running computer security website Packet Storm has launched a bug bounty scheme to reward folks who find and report holes in software. Details of qualifying flaws will eventually be publicly disclosed. Under the new scheme, contributors will be typically paid anywhere between a few hundred dollars and $7,000 for exploits …

    Security 18 Jan 07:34

  • Use your loaf, Europe! Eat more fibre - high-speed web lobbyists

    Interview Don't swallow BT's excuses, demand fast net access NOW

    Lobbyists demanding superfast web access in Europe fear the continent's economy could suffer if nations fail to hook fibre-optic broadband directly into homes. Hartwig Tauber, the director general of the European wing of the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council, told The Register that high-speed broadband uptake is sluggish …

    Broadband 18 Jan 08:01

  • 'Like most convoluted theories, it was an incorrect one'

    All Hail Bob the Dev... Plus: 'A Death Star isn't on the horizon'

    This was the week when Aaron Swartz's suicide called into question the blanket severity of maximum sentences faced by those accused of crimes under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Angry supporters of Swartz partially blamed the pressure he was under as the subject of 13 different counts that could have resulted in over 30 …

    Bootnotes 18 Jan 08:33

  • Cybercrooks send in Bouncer to guide marks to phishing sites

    Website for one, monsieur?

    Cybercrooks have begun bundling whitelisting technology with phishing kits in a bid to restrict access to phishing sites to only their intended victims. The tactic of blacklisting IP addresses associated with security firms from accessing banking fraud sites has been in play for at least a few months now, but a new phishing …

    Security 18 Jan 09:02

  • Record numbers of you are reading this headline right now

    Another year, another 700,000 readers

    It's that time of year when we at The Register get our annual letter from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, confirming just how well we did during our regular November audit. The scores on the doors are these: 7,326,907 unique users visited the site that month, up from 6,657,164 in 2011 - a climb of just over 10 per cent and …

    Site News 18 Jan 09:32

  • Happy birthday, Lisa: Apple's slow but heavy workhorse turns 30

    The story of the machine the Mac maker would rather you forgot

    Read a press release from Apple in the 1990s and it'll end with something along the lines of: “Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.” All of which is true up to a point, but the statement does overlook the product …

    Vintage 18 Jan 10:02

  • McDonalds burger app gives it to you straight from the horse's mouth

    We're not flogging you dead horse, etc

    As Britain spits out its dinner in disgust after admissions that “beef” burgers sold in some UK supermarkets contain horse DNA, down under in Australia punters can relax because there's now an app for that. Or rather for proving that there's no horse cantering about beneath the golden arches. Stung by criticism it is a …

    Applications 18 Jan 10:34

  • Google's JavaScript assassin: Web languages are harder than VMs

    Dart daddy Lars Bak: JavaScript? I have no problem with it

    The problem with programming languages is that everybody’s got an opinion - just ask Lars Bak, the Virtual Machine guru who is building Google’s planned (by Google at least) replacement for JavaScript. Bak has spent 15 years working on object-oriented VMs (virtual machines) at Google and Sun Microsystems and notched up 50 …

    Developer 18 Jan 11:00

  • LIVE TODAY: Windows 8 licensing - Speak your brains, believe your eyes

    The fine print explained: today at 14:00 GMT, 9.00 Eastern, 6.00 PT

    Taking a snow day today? You might want to join your fellow Reg readers in assessing what Windows 8 actually costs. We don’t mean in the sense of estimating the financial fallout of poor Q4 sales for Microsoft and the PC makers, but rather: what do you get for your money? Putting Metro aside and forgetting the fact you must …

    Cloud 18 Jan 11:19

  • Brits' privates furtled in TWO-THIRDS of UK fraud cases

    Keep your wallet close, keep your personal data closer

    Two out of three fraud cases in the UK involved identity theft, according to Blighty's Fraud Prevention Service, CIFAS. Brits are reminded to guard their private data as closely as they guard their wallets and purses. The new figures suggest fraud rose to a record level in the UK in 2012 as more and more crooks obtained …

    Security 18 Jan 11:38

  • Hark! Mark McHale hailed as new Arrow ECS UK boss man

    Exclusive Steve Pearce moves to Euro role

    Arrow Electronic Computing Solutions has hoisted sales director Mark McHale to the UK manager's office as industry vet Steve Pearce moves to a European role. Pearce will remain as UK veep but drops country manager from his title as he takes on a bunch of project work including the development of the ArrowSphere cloud portfolio …

    The Channel 18 Jan 11:38

  • What’s a computer? Eat yourself fitter!

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? Best tech of the year is forking crap

    Despite the saturation of oh-so-hilarious pre-Christmas comedy TV shows summing up the year before it has actually finished, January strikes me as the more logical time to do like Antony Worrall Thompson: have a good look around, take stock and move on. In December, we wallowed in the Olympics and something to do with Sgt Pepper …

    Hardware 18 Jan 12:00

  • EMC fires anti-Dropbox torpedo to sink off-site biz clouds

    In Syn'city, the IT bosses rule the data

    Data centre haunter EMC is testing its Isilon and Atmos storage systems with Syncplicity - the corporate-friendly Dropbox contender it bought in May. EMC gobbled Syncplicity specifically for its ability to share content and synchronise files in businesses' private clouds. It's hoped workers will be able to pass around …

    Storage 18 Jan 12:17

  • VXers exploit users' confusion over Java to punt fake update

    Cheers, dears, I'll just pop through that backdoor...

    Cybercrooks have begun distributing an item of malware that poses as a Java security update. Oracle released a new version of Java 7 (Java 7u11) on Sunday (13 January) to addresses zero-day vulnerability that has been exploited in the wild. The update was important because the underlying exploit had been "weaponised" and …

    Security 18 Jan 12:32

  • Google sinks millions into plush new £1bn London HQ

    Plus: Someone tell Choc Factory veep the web was born on Franco-Swiss border

    Google's new digs in Blighty's capital - as widely expected - are being built in Kings Cross, London, the company has confirmed. The world's biggest ad broker is reportedly sinking £650m into its new home. The company's UK headquarters are currently in Victoria, but the lease for that building runs out in 2016. It's been …

    Management 18 Jan 12:47

  • UK.gov told to get a brain in wake of £1bn IT deals collapse

    Small biz blasts ministers for cockup that cost them £££££s

    IT suppliers who wasted thousands of pounds bidding for public-sector work that never materialised have urged the government to rethink the way it tenders technology contracts. Firms were left with a financial hangover when the website for the the Application Development Delivery Support Services (ADDSS) framework collapsed …

    The Channel 18 Jan 13:02

  • Why no one wants to Joyn GSMA's Skype-killing expedition

    Global agreement for each tiny step turns deadly hunt into slow-mo joke

    Operators are bleeding revenue to over-the-top players, and pinning their hopes on the GSMA-based Joyn standard, but a year after launch platform developer OpenCloud thinks the GSMA might be the problem rather than the solution. Not that the GMSA is deliberately frustrating innovation, but OpenCloud's Mark Windle reckons the …

    Mobile 18 Jan 13:19

  • Google's Larry Page: MY SECRET TO VAST WEALTH, SUCCESS

    Yeah, I don't see Facebook cars driving themselves, bitch

    Google chief Larry Page has shared the secret to his success: the billionaire search engine nerd reckons companies must make their products TEN times better than their rivals to be successful. The grinning geek, worth about $20bn, also believes his fellow biz barons should hardly ever think about their opponents when coming up …

    Management 18 Jan 13:38

  • Facebook's sexy pick 'n' mix OCP model is great... for Facebook

    Blocks and Files Chris Mellor discerns cunning plan behind open-source generosity

    Facebook's Open Compute Project (OCP) could potentially destroy the business models of the mainstream server, storage and networking vendors. It is an attempt to turn back time and return to a pick-'n'-mix server, storage and networking world where suppliers happily build to common interfaces, and component sets aren't …

    Storage 18 Jan 14:03

  • Top Gear isn't TV, not when it's on YouTube

    Ofcom overrules streaming regulator

    Ofcom has overruled its appointed VOD regulator in deciding that chunks of Top Gear and BBC Food channel programmes found on YouTube don't constitute TV-like services and thus fall outside regulation. ATVOD, Ofcom-appointed regulator of UK video-on-demand, decided that clips circulated by BBC Worldwide constitute TV content …

    Media 18 Jan 14:33

  • US general: Beware of Iran's Revolutionary Cyber-Guard

    Stuxnet and other attacks have turned country into 'force to be reckoned with'

    Cyber-attacks on Iran have forced the country to beef up its defences, with the result that the country's cyberwar capabilities have become far more complex, a US general has said. General William Shelton, who heads up the US cyber ops, told reporters during a briefing that Iran had responded to repeated computer virus attacks …

    Government 18 Jan 15:02

  • Microsoft promises big shiny tool to cheer glum Windows resellers

    'It is painful, not easiest thing' flogging Redmond kit

    Microsoft has vowed to end its reseller partners' woes by fixing the unstable website used to register customer sales: by the end of next month Redmond's deal-registration website will be upgraded and will include a new business intelligence and analytics tool. The online system for inputting deals with IT buyers was launched …

    The Channel 18 Jan 15:18

  • Cash-ravenous Sony will flog Manhattan HQ for $1.1 BEELLION

    Something the Japanese biz will actually make a profit on

    Sony is ready to flog its sky-scraping US HQ in Manhattan for $1.1bn to get hold of some much-needed cash. After debts on the building have been settled up, the entertainment giant expects to walk away with $770m - that's $685m more than it paid for it in 2002. However, by way of comparison, the firm recorded a $5.7bn net loss …

    Financial News 18 Jan 15:44

  • Software Box banks double-digit profit spike in fiscal 2012

    Who said there's no money in the channel?

    Microsoft Large Account Reseller Software Box Ltd (SBL) tucked away a decent set of financials in fiscal 2012 with profits pumping out healthy double digits. The York-based purveyor of hard and soft tech goods saw sales rise 4 per cent to £87.9m, operating profit jump 25 per cent to £2.2m and net profit climb 31 per cent to £1 …

    The Channel 18 Jan 15:56

  • Fujitsu Tech Solutions boss: I am an industry 'insurgent'

    Badboy Michael Keegan plans to upset rivals, pilfer biggest partners

    Fujitsu UK and Ireland bigwig Michael Keegan is trying to highlight and exploit any uncertainty surrounding Dell and HP to win over distribution partners sitting at those vendors' top tables. Keegan, executive director of the Technology Product Group is clearly in self-licking mode, armed with growth stats that reveal the …

    The Channel 18 Jan 16:02

  • Smarm-bot Siri seeks side-splitting script-writer for charm transplant

    Forget an Oscar or Bafta, Apple's offering the hottest writing gig in town

    A witty writer is being sought to make Apple's voice-activated personal assistant software Siri spout super-scintillating backchat. The chatty iOS app, which attempts to answer any questions and obey commands spoken into Cupertino's latest iThings, is famous for its whimsical responses to fanbois. Examples of that sparkling …

    Applications 18 Jan 16:33

  • Paging Dr Evil: Philips medical device control kit 'easily hacked'

    Homeland Security 'taking an interest'

    Researchers have discovered security problems in management systems used to control X-ray machines and other medical devices. Terry McCorkle and Billy Rios of security start-up Cylance used fuzzing approaches previously applied to unearth security holes in industrial control systems to find a way into the Xper Information …

    Security 18 Jan 17:03

  • GridIron gobbled up by Violin Memory

    SAN acceleration added to Violin's string

    All-flash array startup Violin Memory has bought GridIron Systems, a startup supplying the TurboCharger SAN accelerating flash cache. Violin supplies shared 6000-series all-flash arrays to enterprises and the public sector as well as having single server PCIe-connected appliances and Fujitsu resells its array. It filed for an …

    Storage 18 Jan 18:16

  • Google files patent for eyewear that SHOOTS LASERS

    Burn a keyboard on your arm

    Google has filed a patent for mounting twin lasers on the sides of a pair of glasses to display a keyboard on a user's body parts and use a camera to track a hand's gestures for control. "A pattern for a virtual input device can be projected onto a 'display hand' of a user, and the camera may be able to detect when the user …

    Hardware 18 Jan 22:02

  • Microsoft to end Windows 8 discounts on January 31

    Here's what it will really cost

    Say what you will about Windows 8; at least the upgrade from Windows 7 is cheap. Or it is for now. After January 31 will be a different story. Ever since Windows 8's October 26, 2012 launch, Microsoft has been offering retail Windows 8 Pro upgrade DVDs for $69.99. Online upgrades have been even cheaper, at $39.99. And …

    Operating Systems 18 Jan 22:32

  • Microsoft's ARM blunder: 7 reasons why Windows RT was DOA

    Analysis Redmond's low-rent tablet OS was doomed from the start

    Industry doomsayers were circling Windows 8 like buzzards before it even launched, but they picked the wrong carcass. Microsoft's real 2012 roadkill was Win8's ARM-powered cousin, Windows RT. The chattering class's comparisons of Windows 8 and Windows Vista are premature – it will take several more quarters before we can gauge …

    Operating Systems 18 Jan 23:14