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15th February 2013 Archive

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  • Former co-CEO Balsillie has cashed out all his BlackBerry stock

    Unloaded his entire stake in just 12 months

    Whatever happens to BlackBerry from here on out, it won't make any difference to Jim Balsillie. As of Thursday, the onetime co-CEO of the mobile maker formerly known as Research in Motion no longer has any stake in the company he helped lead for 20 years. According to an SEC filing on Thursday, Balsillie now owns zero shares …

    Business 15 Feb 00:04

  • Traceroute reveals Star Wars Episode IV 'crawl' text

    'It is a period of civil war. A rebel network admin, striking from an IP address … '

    A bored, snowbound network admin has made something lovely: a traceroute that produces the text of the opening crawl to Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope. Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Ryan Werber, who blogs at Beagle Networks, says that during Boston's recent blizzards he decided to have some fun with DNS. The result, …

    Data Networking 15 Feb 00:14

  • Heroku tech change leaves customer with bill-shock

    PaaS clouds not easy to run if you don't RTFM

    The cloud is not as easy or as simple as its providers' marketing departments may want you to believe – that's the moral of the story of a startup and its platform provider Heroku. Web-startup Rap Genius, which pays Heroku $20,000 a month in fees, alleged in a forceful blog post published on Tuesday that the Salesforce-owned …

    Cloud 15 Feb 00:23

  • Cray readies XC30 supers for Ivy Bridge and coprocessors

    Turns in slightly better 2012 than expected, looks forward to 2013

    Supercomputer maker Cray has trotted out its financial results for 2012, and used the occasion to talk about its plans for its current year after closing out one of the best four quarters it has put together in many seasons. On a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Cray CEO Peter Ungaro talked generally about Cray's …

    HPC 15 Feb 00:54

  • IDC: Android, iOS now own 91.1% of global smartphone sales

    Two systems to rule them all

    The latest data on smartphone sales from analyst house IDC shows an increase in the reach of the global Android/iOS operating system duopoly, with RIM and Microsoft left squabbling over the scraps. "The dominance of Android and Apple reached a new watermark in the fourth quarter," said Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's …

    Business 15 Feb 01:43

  • Microsoft exec: No 'Plan B' despite mobile stumbles

    Then how about Plan A version 2.0, Mr. CFO?

    Should Microsoft's tablet and phone efforts continue to inspire little interest among the buying public, don't expect a radical shift in strategy – according to one senior Redmond exec, the company has no "Plan B". "It's less 'Plan B' than how you execute on the current plan," CFO Peter Klein told investors at Goldman Sachs' …

    Business 15 Feb 02:15

  • Tesla's Elon Musk v The New York Times, Round 2

    'Is this the right room for an argument?'

    There's no love lost between Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and New York Times reporter John Broder this Valentine's Day, with the debate over the accuracy of Broder's recent review of the Tesla Model S having devolved into a bitter display of online "he said, she said." The public spat first erupted on Monday, when the paper …

    Hardware 15 Feb 02:19

  • Arista wants to DANZ for high freaky traders

    Transmuting switches to tap aggregators to tap into a new source of revenues

    Arista Networks, the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Andy Bechtolsheim, is chasing a new market by reversing the polarity on its Ethernet switches, turning them into packet sniffers that feed into network analyzer equipment instead of packet shufflers. As is the case with most hardware these days, the trick is all in the …

    Data Networking 15 Feb 02:34

  • iOS 6.x hack allows personal data export, free calls

    Find phone, press buttons in weird sequence, invade privacy, call anyone

    Hackers can access iPhones running iOS 6.x without passcodes, and will then be able to access and export the address book, send emails and make phone calls. Jailbreak Nation has discovered the method for doing so and The Reg can confirm the method works after a sequence of swipes and key presses. It worked for us on an iPhone …

    Security 15 Feb 03:04

  • Kiwi cops to buy 6,500 iPhones, 3,900 iPads

    Smartphones and fondleslabs will do the work of 345 officers

    New Zealand Police will acquire 6,500 smartphones and 3,900 fondleslabs to improve the force's efficiency. The force says using the devices will mean each cop gains 30 minutes of time a day, which when will add up 520,000 hours of time savings or the equivalent of putting an extra 345 officers on the street. The Police's …

    Government 15 Feb 03:42

  • Pop's Chubby Checker condemns use of Palm to check pocket-chubby

    Twist star 'stiffed' by app, sues HP

    Yesteryear popstar Chubby Checker is suing HP for selling todger tool The Chubby Checker from its webOS app store. Checker, who topped the charts in 1960 with The Twist, is taking the tech titan and its subsidiary Palm to task over the software, which claimed to predict a man's penis size from his shoe size. It was available …

    Law 15 Feb 06:03

  • Silicon Roundabout worthies in £2m UK.gov cash battle royale

    Spread peace and joy, get £15,000 a year. Maybe

    The UK Cabinet Office has handed out two slices of its £10m Social Incubator fund to bankroll more macchiato-sipping big dreamers on East London's Silicon Roundabout. Telefonica's venture capital outfit Wayra will get £1.2m of money from the public purse and, with the help of UnLtd, is expected to dish the cash out to startups …

    Government 15 Feb 07:02

  • ICO: How 'sensitive' is personal data? Depends what it's used for...

    It's all about context, says the data protection watchdog

    The sensitivity of personal information should be determined by the reasons behind why the information is to be processed, the UK's data protection watchdog has said. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) outlined its view in a new paper in which it analysed the European Commission's proposed new EU Data Protection …

    Law 15 Feb 08:07

  • Virty giant VMware drags upstart Hortonworks to court over 'unfair practices'

    Exclusive Who's hooked all the juiciest Spring fish?

    VMware has taken Hortonworks to court along with four ex-VMers who now work at the startup - and among them is VMWare's former global sales chief. Virtualisation juggernaut VMware is taking on the little elephant Hortonworks over claims that the Hadoop vendor committed "unfair practices" - the details of which were not …

    Law 15 Feb 09:04

  • Apple tech FOUND ON ANDROID: Passbook gets pay-by-bonk

    It's what Steve Jobs would have wanted

    While Apple and its Android rivals fight like cat and dog over smartphones, one piece of mobile technology from the iPhone maker has wound up on Google-powered devices. Apple's Passbook app can store money-off vouchers, gift tokens, flight boarding passes and such paperwork, and flashes barcode-ish QR codes on iThing screens …

    Applications 15 Feb 09:27

  • Array-flogger NetApp: Don't worry sir, we'll look after your data

    Storage kit maker reports better-than-expected Q3 results

    NetApp has recorded recession-proof results with increased revenues and profits, and it sees more coming as it develops a strategy of becoming a data manager for its customers, wherever that data resides. Revenues for NetApp's third fiscal 2013 quarter, ended 25 January 2013, were $1.63bn, 4 per cent higher than a year ago. …

    Storage 15 Feb 10:03

  • Why virtual network application

    Live today Needs the whole stack to participate

    According to readers of The Register, Private Cloud is low-moving towards being a central plank of IT with more than 30% of them estimating their IT will be based on such a dynamic infrastructure within the next three years. This isn’t a project that can be done at server level in isolation of course. Rather, it’s a project that …

    Cloud 15 Feb 10:23

  • CEO Tim Cook: Apple retail stores are 'like Prozac' to me

    Quotw Plus: 'There have been no sightings of dead bodies rising'

    This was the week when some of the titans of tech hung out at Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference talking about their problems. First up was Tim Cook, who was pooh-poohing a lawsuit filed by Greenlight Capital hedge-fund honcho David Einhorn. The suit is attempting to stop Apple from amending its charter to …

    Bootnotes 15 Feb 10:28

  • 'Bah, this Apple Shop is full of APPLES'

    Enraged fanbois lead fruit emporium to rebrand

    A cider shop in Norfolk has had to change its name after receiving up to 24 phone calls a week from fanbois with computer problems. Since an Apple Store opened in Norwich, locals have been calling mistakenly phoning the Apple Shop in Wroxham Barns, with their iPhone and Apple-related woes. Apple Shop owner Geoff Fisher told …

    Bootnotes 15 Feb 11:03

  • 2e2 rescue deal: Daisy swoops in, grabs data centre ops

    Oakley Capital owner slurps

    Acquisitive telco player Daisy Group is taking control of defunct 2e2's data centre operations. Under the terms of the deal, Peter Dubens, owner of Oakley Capital and chairman at Daisy Group has created a special purpose vehicle Daisy Data Centre Solutions to buy the business and assets which include server farms in Gateshead …

    The Channel 15 Feb 11:46

  • WTF is... IEEE 1905.1?

    Feature Hybrid, multi-media home networking made easy

    It sounds like a solution looking for a problem. A technology that allows networked devices in the home connected by different network media to operate as if they were connected across a single medium. Surely TCP/IP already allows you to do that, routing packets from, say, network attached storage linked to a router over an …

    Hardware 15 Feb 12:03

  • BlackBerry booster Alicia Keys blames hacker for iPhone Twitter update

    '1-tweet hacker' posts, er, Drake song lyrics...

    BlackBerry's recently appointed Global Creative Director Alicia Keys has blamed a hacker for posting an update to her Twitter account using an iPhone. This is all a bit awkward because the musician was hired to plug BlackBerry’s new smartphone model, Z10, less than three weeks ago. She said she had been tempted away from …

    Media 15 Feb 12:16

  • Reg readers scuffle over the ultimate cuppa

    Poll Brews for all tastes, with a nasty dash of 'cofftea'

    We weren't much surprised that last week's call for readers to explain just what makes the ultimate cuppa resulted in a rush of experts eager to chip in their two bits' worth, offering some strong opinions, and even stronger brews, as evidenced by tales of billy-can-boiled industrial-strength infusions sweetened with condensed …

    SPB 15 Feb 12:39

  • Facebook in futile attempt to block perverts from Graph Searching for teens

    Flawed system relies on kids - and adults - being honest about their age

    Facebook has attempted to flatten fears about perverts using the company's Graph Search function to prey on teenagers on the network, by saying that controls would be in place to protect young people. The Graph Search feature, which is currently in beta, was announced by Facebook in January. It is only available to a small …

    Applications 15 Feb 13:04

  • Any storm in a port

    Something for the Weekend, Sir? I keep on pushing but it won’t go in

    Consider this column to be a virtual pub. I raise my glass to all time-wasters out there. It’s customary for this column to ignore the big news items of the week and instead focus on things that don’t really matter. So permit me to avoid wasting your Friday afternoon fruitlessly on conjecture about the inexplicably popular …

    Laptops 15 Feb 13:06

  • Ready or not: Microsoft preps early delivery of IE10 for Windows 7

    Try Windows 8 without the Windows 8

    Get ready for Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 – it’s coming sooner than you might expect and faster than Microsoft had planned. Microsoft’s IE team has accelerated its ship date for IE10 on Windows 7 and is now targeting “end of February/beginning of March”, sources tell The Reg. According to the insiders, the IE unit had …

    Applications 15 Feb 13:31

  • HYPERSONIC METEOR smashes into Russia, injuring hundreds

    Updated Mighty strike appears to register on Earthquake detector

    Up to 500 people* are believed to be injured after a meteorite blazed through the sky and smashed into central Russia this morning. The space rock, estimated by the Russian Academy of Sciences to weigh 10 tonnes, hit the atmosphere at a speed of at least 54,000km/h and is believed to have shattered around 30 to 50 km above …

    Science 15 Feb 14:00

  • Insight Enterprises operating profits tumble down back of sofa

    Costs, sales blamed as execs grope beneath cushions

    Tech reselling monster Insight Enterprises saw operating profits dive on this side of the Atlantic due to a spike in operational costs and enterprise customers delaying or shelving purchases. Sales at the EMEA operation grew two per cent year-on-year to $378.4m but earnings from operations dropped by 53 per cent to $3.98m. …

    The Channel 15 Feb 14:05

  • Satanic Renault takes hapless French bloke on 200km/h joyride

    'Insane' car's victim 'saw life flash before eyes'

    A disabled French driver was taken on a 200km/h white-knuckle ride by his "insane" Renault, as a quick shopping trip turned into a high-speed, 210 km jaunt to Belgium. Frank Lecerf, 36, left Pont-de-Metz, close to Amiens, in his Renault Laguna 3 to hit the shops in nearby Dury. His route took in a short section of the A16 …

    Bootnotes 15 Feb 14:28

  • Opera gulps Skyfire, takes aim at mobile data applecarts

    You want unlimited data with that?

    Opera has bought one-time competitor Skyfire, for $50m down with another $100m in performance-related bonus on the table. The idea is to get into cell-operator racks with a view to making mobile pay. Under the deal, which should complete in a month or so, Skyfire will continue to exist as an independent product but as a …

    Cloud 15 Feb 14:53

  • Roast entrepreneur: Mmm, tastes Just Like Chicken

    ¡Bong! Google Glasses and The MIRACLE of the ALPS

    "Thousands upon thousands of martyrs have heroically laid down their lives for the people; let us hold their banner high and march ahead along the path crimson with their blood!" Mao Tse Tung - "On Coalition Government" (April 24, 1945), Selected Works, Vol. III, p. 318. When I last filed an update with you, I was taking off …

    Bootnotes 15 Feb 15:27

  • Ousted Apple Store chief Browett is back selling shiny tat for ladies

    This time with sequins on though

    The former head of Apple Retail has found a new job, selling handbags and scarves at the head of Monsoon's Accessorize chain. John Browett only lasted seven months at Cupertino, before Tim Cook edged him out in a reshuffle in September that also saw the end of Apple's software chief Scott Forstall. Browett is credited with …

    The Channel 15 Feb 16:03

  • IDC: Outsourcing sector needs rescue fund for cloudy customers

    2e2 collapse to hit channel, customers, investors

    The outsourcing industry should develop a voluntary crisis fund to give protection to customers should their services provider hit the wall. This was proposed by IDC in light of 2e2's recent high profile collapse that left some customers scrambling for alternative suppliers, and highlighted the pitfalls of outsourcing. One …

    The Channel 15 Feb 16:29

  • Sprosty leaps from Systemax TPG hot seat after 18 months

    Tech Products CEO leaves amid restructure

    Systemax has confirmed that David Sprosty, CEO of its Technology Products Group, has left after less than 18 months in the hot seat. Sprosty was made CEO at the unit in October 2011 replacing disgraced former exec Gilbert Fiorentino, who the SEC latterly barred from ever serving again as a corporate officer or director in a …

    The Channel 15 Feb 16:52

  • Firm moves to trademark 'Python' name out from under the language

    Open-sourcers struggle against hostile snake snatch

    A trademark battle has erupted following a company’s bid to stake a Europe-wide claim to the name "Python" - that of many devs’ favourite scripting language. The Python Software Foundation has said it’s wrestling UK-based web host Veber for its own name after the company informed the software people it was applying for …

    Hosting 15 Feb 16:52

  • Brocade: California taxman took off with our profits

    Never mind, revenues are up ... plus fibre is sexy again

    Storage networking and Ethernet supplier Brocade has grown its latest quarter's revenues but swung from profit to loss after changes to the state of California's tax code. It reckons it will soon be doing even better now on the back of its 16GBit/s Fibre Channel kit and added that software-defined networking has opened up a …

    Financial News 15 Feb 17:39

  • Daisy Group battles to keep 2e2 managed services user base

    150 staff given future, thoughts now turn to customers

    Daisy Group has been locked in conversations with 2e2's managed services customers after taking charge of the integrator's data centres, to reassure them there is no need to jump ship. On Friday morning, Peter Dubens, owner of Oakley Capital and chairman of Daisy Group, took over the Reading and Gateshead server farms and …

    The Channel 15 Feb 17:51

  • Amazon opens Redshift data warehouse to Joe Public

    Traditional IT companies nervously stare at ground

    Amazon's Redshift cloudy data warehousing service is now available for general consumption after a trial among blessed customers. The pay-as-you-go technology, which scales from around 200GB into the petabyte range, represents a direct threat to the warehousing divisions of IBM, Oracle, Teradata, and EMC (Greenplum). Redshift …

    Cloud 15 Feb 18:30

  • Dev preview of Ubuntu for phones touching down February 21

    Get it for your Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4

    Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, has confirmed that the initial testing version of Ubuntu for phones, dubbed the Touch Developer Preview, will be available on February 21, with rolling updates to be released thereafter. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth first mentioned a February release for the …

    Operating Systems 15 Feb 20:04

  • Civilization peaks: BEER-dispensing arcade game created

    Alcohol and fighting games – what could go wrong?

    Western civilization is taking a drunken step forward with a what's claimed to be a unique conjunction of one of mankind's most basic forms of entertainment and the video game that provides one of its latest ones. The Beercade, aka The Last Barfighter, is a full-sized cabinet arcade game (for younger readers that's six feet of …

    Games 15 Feb 20:36

  • Microsoft still reviving Azure SQL Reporting after MONDAY FAIL

    'Procedural operations error' leads to lengthy cloud cleanup

    Four days have passed since a "procedural operations error" downed Azure SQL Reporting in Microsoft's East US data center, and Redmond is still trying to restore customer data. After saying on Thursday that full restoration from Monday's fail would have occurred by Friday, the recovery date has slipped again, according to …

    Cloud 15 Feb 22:06

  • Facebook devs HACKED in 'sophisticated' Java zero-day attack

    Company laptops impounded, no evidence user data compromised

    Facebook has been hacked, but the company has found no evidence that user data was affected. Facebook's systems were "targeted in a sophisticated attack" in January after some of the company's developers visited a mobile-developer website that had been compromised, the company wrote on Friday afternoon. Malware was installed …

    Security 15 Feb 22:43

  • Earth escapes asteroid flyby, boffins want lasers aimed at next one

    DE-STAR lasers proposed to vaporize incoming space invaders

    The largest recorded asteroid to enter Earth's elbow-room has passed by safely, with 2012 DA14 skimming through the geostationary orbit of our satellites at 17,450 miles per hour without leaving a scratch. The asteroid was observable with binoculars as it reached its closest point to Earth at 11:25am PST (7:25pm UTC) over …

    Science 15 Feb 22:54

  • IBM forges Power7+ PureApplication appliance

    Cranks up CPUs and FPGAs on PureData, formerly known as Netezza

    IBM hosted a briefing earlier this week to talk about some new members of its PureSystems offerings, but only one of the lineup they introduced was truly new – and it took The Reg a couple of days of digging to uncover pricing information. The "Troy" Flex System modular servers from Big Blue and their PureSystems stacks for …

    Servers 15 Feb 23:10