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11th March 2013 Archive

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  • Boy Scouts get Game Design badge

    Programming, animation, CAD and 'digital technology' also in the works

    The Boy Scouts of America have created a merit badge in Game Design. Unveiled at tech-and-culture-fest SXSW, the badge's premise appears to be that playing a game can be just as challenging as traditional scouting activities like camping and hiking. Playing games of all sorts, the Scouts say, “... challenges us to overcome …

    Games 11 Mar 00:42

  • IT sector needs to keep getting greener: Alcatel-Lucent study

    Without efficiency, tech could make a mess of greenhouse targets

    The IT industry needs to work on efficiency to curb its unrelenting demand for electricity – and even if it does, by 2020 it will be responsible for four per cent of the world's greenhouse gas output, according to an Alcatel-Lucent-funded study. The assessment, conducted by BIO Intelligence Services, suggests that the four per …

    Management 11 Mar 02:28

  • Australia's central Bank hoses down Chinese hack report

    Reserve Bank says attacks contained, no data lost

    Australia's Reserve Bank has confirmed it has been attacked, after a report in the Australian Financial Review claimed its “... computer networks have been repeatedly and successfully hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information, including by Chinese-developed malicious software”. The …

    Security 11 Mar 05:34

  • Era of the Pharaohs: Climate was HOTTER THAN NOW, without CO2

    And yet ... Alexandria was NOT a flooded island. Weird

    A new study has confirmed that at the time of the Pharaohs the world's climate was significantly hotter than it now is for thousands of years - and yet the seas don't appear to have risen, nor did the various other doomsday scenarios foretold by climate alarmists take place. The new research, funded by the US government's …

    Science 11 Mar 06:02

  • Cisco opens in Myanmar as US tech firms eye fresh territory

    USAID delegation grooming isolated state

    Networking giant Cisco looks set to be one of the first major Western tech firms to establish a presence in once-isolated Myanmar, after announcing two networking academies designed to train up locals for work in the country’s burgeoning IT sector. The collaborative project with the US Agency for International Development ( …

    Business 11 Mar 06:16

  • Microsoft exec selling his Surface tablet

    Not dumping, upgrading

    Just when you thought enthusiasm for Windows 8 and the Surface tablet could not possibly get any more tepid, a Microsoft New Zealand employee intends to sell one of the devices. Kiwi tech news site spotted Techday spotted a Tweet from Nigel Parker, leader of Microsoft New Zealand's Developer & Platform Group at Microsoft New …

    Hardware 11 Mar 06:32

  • There's cling-ons on the starboard bow! Trekkies' wallets under attack

    Pic Clip-on Star Trek comms badges lead crowd-funding projects

    Project fundraising websites - such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo - provide a wonderful array of dreams into which one can throw excess money. Between the desperate dance troupes and the technically optimistic, a few gems tread the fine line between genius and insanity. Begging for your money this week we have the brains behind …

    Hardware 11 Mar 07:02

  • Feeling lucky, punk? Storage biz crams virty PCs into RAM

    Still backs up over the network. Just in case, like

    Software house Atlantis has updated its ILIO product, which juggles the storage of virtual desktops in data centres, so that virtualised machines run entirely in a server's memory - sans a SAN or local drives. Atlantis ILIO Persistent VDI 4.0 lets Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View customers run persistent virtual desktops in- …

    Storage 11 Mar 08:02

  • Uni profs: Kids today could do with a bit of 'mind-crippling' COBOL

    Forget Lua, time go to old skool

    Want a guaranteed job in IT? Learn COBOL, even if it cripples you mentally – that’s the advice of university profs teaching tech. Ignore, for a second, the fact COBOL doesn’t feature in the top 20 of languages developers are using in anger today. Those in charge of setting university IT curricula reckon there’s no better …

    Developer 11 Mar 08:31

  • Six things a text editor must do - or it's a one-way trip to the trash

    Stob Does your source code editor pass the Verity test?

    When I heard, in a tutorial video, the multi-platform programmer's editor Sublime described as "the cool kids' code editor" (or possibly "the Cool Kid's code editor" - the speaker didn't enunciate his capitals and apostrophes very clearly) I was puzzled. As the goto (or, rather, the call-by-reference) consultant on Agile Harlem …

    Verity Stob 11 Mar 09:02

  • EU mulls almost-anonymisation of folks' data to cut biz some slack

    What does it matter if millions of 'Joe Bloggs' records are leaked?

    Officials from justice departments across the EU have been asked to explore to what extent the pseudonymisation of personal data can be used to "calibrate" businesses' obligations to data protection. Pseudonymisation (such as assigning fake names to people), as opposed to anonymisation (complete stripping of identity), allows …

    Government 11 Mar 09:34

  • SOD Big Data! Most of what you're keeping is digital landfill

    There'll NEVER be analytics good enough to sort through this dusty pile

    I've been an industry analyst a long time – and I have seen a lot of "the next big things" come and go. In fact our appetite as an industry for the next big thing rivals that of Simon Cowell in pursuit of the next big star. And just as Simon's "stars" are usually anything but, so too are we in the IT sector often deluded, and …

    The Channel 11 Mar 10:03

  • UK's £500m web dole queue project director replaced after JUST 4 months

    Exclusive DWP sidelines Universal Credit IT overseer Hilary Reynolds

    The Department for Work and Pensions has replaced the project director of Universal Credit, its £500m web-based benefits system, days after denying it's suffering an IT management crisis. Project director Hilary Reynolds will be moved sideways and her role filled by David Pitchford, Universal Credit's chief executive. …

    Government 11 Mar 10:13

  • Ethernet switch pitch less of a b*tch as 2012 comes to a close

    10GE starts to ramp and the 40GE shows some backbone

    The Ethernet switch market picked up a tiny bit as last year came to a close, according to various box counters, and the prognosticators at Infonetics Research and IDC were projecting that 2013 would see stronger growth as the move to 10 Gigabit Ethernet begins in earnest in the data center and companies start contemplating …

    Data Networking 11 Mar 10:35

  • Multimillionaire Brit games dev wants your cash for Shroud of the Avatar

    Lord British kickstarts new fantasy RPG

    Multimillionaire games developer, moon rover owner and space tourist Richard Garriott has taken to Kickstarter to try to get funding for his new video game. Garriott, aka Lord British, is looking for $1m to make Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, which gamers have been describing as the "spiritual successor" to his …

    Games 11 Mar 11:13

  • Tech fest 'net activists offer free 'Super Wi-Fi': Now go tell the FCC

    SXSW Spectrum's not just for mobile giants, yeah?

    A campaign against the selling off of TV spectrum by the national regulator is offering free Wi-Fi, backhauled over newly-released TV spectrum, in the hope that those using it will sign a petition for greater availability. The free wireless is available at the South by Southwest Festival which kicked off in Austin, Texas, on …

    Mobile 11 Mar 11:45

  • Ten serious sci-fi films for the sentient fan

    Feature In space, no one can hear you ponder the eternal verities

    Zap guns, robots, lightspeed-smashing spaceships and bikini-busting princesses do not real science fiction make. Just ask George Lucas. Star Wars defined movie SF in the mind of many a mainstream viewer. But while the film and its sequels and, er, prequels certainly provide the sci-fi enthusiast with thrills a-plenty - guilty …

    Top Ten 11 Mar 12:00

  • Cloud storage matters. Really matters...

    On demand Your hidden weak link?

    We've come to the end of our HP webcast series on building the right private cloud, so we've looped right back to look at why storage should be the beginning of your private cloud story. Previously we explored the vital role that your infrastructure, servers and network play in planning a successful private cloud deployment. …

    Storage 11 Mar 12:14

  • Ancient revellers came to party... and build Stonehenge - boffins

    Thousands of Brits feasted, caroused, erected massive stone circle

    Stonehenge was actually an ancient rave spot for Brits from all over the country, new research has suggested. There are more theories about the origins and reasons for Stonehenge than there are stones in the monument - Ancient clock? Wiccan ritual site? Alien-built technology? Secret location of the Pandorica? - but the …

    Science 11 Mar 12:19

  • Storage fan seeks 'mature' cash cow for 'something more'

    Storagebod blog Oh VMAX we love you...

    It may come as a surprise to some people, especially reading this, but I quite like the Symmetrix (VMAX) as a platform. Sure, it's a bit long in the tooth - in marketing speak, "a mature platform". It's also a bit arcane at times - Symmetrix administrators sometimes speak a different language and use acronyms when a simple word …

    Storage 11 Mar 12:32

  • New UK cyber-champ: Chemist's winning formula cracks 'F1 race hack'

    Updated Free radical beats year-long security challenge

    A 28-year-old chemist is the new UK Cyber Security Champion after triumphing in a year-long competition that tested computer defence skills. Stephen Miller, from Hertfordshire, beat thousands of other hopefuls after competing in several online and face-to-face heats. Miller, who works as a lab team manager at a major …

    Security 11 Mar 12:43

  • Keep calm and carry on flogging: Dell soothes troops as buyout looms

    Analysis Or unravels, depending on how you look at it

    While IT, finance and private-equity barons plot the fate of tech giant Dell, its employees have to get on with making, selling and supporting the company's myriad products. And in the past month, they have had to field a lot of questions from customers asking about the proposed $24.4bn leveraged buyout deal that company …

    Business 11 Mar 13:03

  • Amazon tries to shut .book in face of authors, publishers

    .READ it and weep: Online retailer bids for studious gTLDs

    Amazon's recent moves to gain ownership of certain new generic top-level domain names have caused anger among writers and publishers. The company wants to take control of addresses including ".book," ".author" and ".read". The move has upset the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), both of whom …

    Hosting 11 Mar 13:14

  • 'Wireless charging' in Galaxy S4 will betray Samsung's best pal

    Qualcomm thrown under a bus in Qi battery top-up rumour

    Samsung will embrace Qi wireless charging for its highly anticipated Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, due to emerge on Thursday, we're told. By plumping for Qi, Sammy will betray Qualcomm: both companies are founding members of the Alliance for Wireless Power, which touts an over-the-air charging system called A4WP. This rivals …

    Phones 11 Mar 13:37

  • Dell's having a fiddle with Violin Memory - but will it flash the cash?

    Blocks and Files It makes sense to El Reg's storage desk

    Last week was all about the flash - with Plextor, Violin Memory, EMC, Samsung and Seagate all involved in the action. But what do you think about Dell making its dalliance with Violin Memory into something a little more permanent? Let's construct a staircase and see where it takes us. Step 1: In November 2012, Dell's then …

    Storage 11 Mar 14:04

  • 1 in 7 WinXP-using biz bods DON'T KNOW Microsoft is pulling the plug

    Survey - Redmond so busy pushing Win 8, some IT directors didn't get the memo

    A large number of Microsoft customers are in for a rude awakening on 8 April 2014. With less than 400 days to go, 15 per cent of those running Windows XP are still unaware that that’s the date Microsoft finally turns off all support for its legacy PC operating system, according to a recent survey. After 8 April next year, …

    Management 11 Mar 14:34

  • Backup upstart Actifio flicks the safety off in storage standoff

    Another $50m bullet in the chamber. Who's going to buy it before it fires?

    Funding for data-battling upstart Actifio is mushrooming: it's just scooped another $50m from investors eager to take part in what looks likely to be a lucrative stock-market debut in a year or two. The company's technology, embodied in its PAS (Production and Availability System) appliance, takes a snapshot of your production …

    Storage 11 Mar 15:04

  • En Garde! Villagers FIGHT OFF FRENCH INVASION MENACE

    We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight in electromagnetic fields

    England's world-famous White Cliffs of Dover have squared up to invading forces for centuries - but visitors to the seafront are warned to expect a more modern-day incursion: French mobile networks armed with steep roaming charges. Tourists taking a walk along the cliff-tops or beaches at St Margaret-at-Cliffe and St Margaret' …

    Mobile 11 Mar 15:35

  • Apple finally flips switch on HTTPS by default in App Store

    Left mobile devices open to man-in-the-middle attacks for MONTHS

    Apple has finally enabled secure App Store logins for mobile users, months after the issue was first reported to the consumer electronics giant. Google researcher Elie Bursztein noticed that Apple's App Store protocols weren't secure back in July 2012, when he reported the issue to Cupertino. The App Store iOS app was running …

    Mobile 11 Mar 16:04

  • Deja vote: Iran blocks VPN use ahead of elections

    Crashes YouTube and Facebook at the same time - report

    Iranian authorities have blocked the use of most virtual private network (VPNs) to stop people in the country from circumventing the government's internet filter, three months before the country holds its presidential election. "Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," Ramezanali Sobhani- …

    Networks 11 Mar 16:33

  • Blighty's IT support services to decline in 2013, 2014, 2015....

    Break-fix market is broken, says TechMarketView

    2013 will be a "make or break year" for some IT firms in the declining UK support services space, according to the venerable beancounters at TechMarketView. In TMV estimates, the UK IT support and maintenance market declined 3.5 per cent in 2012 to £1.76bn, is set to fall 3.5 per cent again this year and by 2.5 per cent in the …

    The Channel 11 Mar 16:52

  • New Apple TV may hint at Apple-Samsung divorce

    One shrinking chip may have growing implications

    The latest iteration of the Apple TV – that "hobby" project first of Steve Jobs then later Tim Cook – includes a downsized A5 processor that may hint at progress in Cupertino's ongoing effort to distance itself from rival Samsung. Or not. On Sunday, MacRumors reported that they had popped open one of the new Apple TVs that …

    Hardware 11 Mar 20:03

  • Marvel: 'Come and get 'em! 700 first-issue comics! FREE!'

    SXSW But hurry: Downloads for the low, low price of zero end on Tuesday

    Comics-juggernaut Marvel's servers may be overheating at this very moment: it's currently giving away over 700 first issues of some of its most famous comics to anyone with an internet connection. The company announced the deal at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, on Sunday and downloaders have until Tuesday …

    Media 11 Mar 20:14

  • Self-healing chips survive repeated LASER BLASTS

    Terminator tech keeps running despite multiple faults

    Modern high-speed integrated circuits can be fragile things. Even a single fault can often render them completely inoperable. But a team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) says it has developed an "immune system" for chips that can allow circuits to route around problems and keep working in the …

    Hardware 11 Mar 21:18

  • Fujitsu makes Windows Server 2012 see double

    Double-stuffed and clustered Primergy racker aimed at SMBs

    Small and medium-sized businesses want high availability (HA) capability for their core applications, just like the largest enterprises do. But server clustering can be intimidating and expensive, so Fujitsu has rejiggered some of its Primergy hyperscale dense servers to support the clustering of Windows-based servers inside of …

    Servers 11 Mar 21:34

  • Tripwire buys nCircle

    Squaring the circle

    IT security firm Tripwire has agreed to acquire vulnerability management specialists nCircle. Terms of the deal, announced Monday, were undisclosed. Combining forces will allow the development of technologies that will enable senior security officers to make risk-based security decisions that align with business priorities and …

    Security 11 Mar 21:37

  • EMC rakes in more and more storage biz, followers fiddle feebly

    Big Blue in second place with less than half EMC's biz

    EMC continues its seemingly inexorable raking in of more and more storage business, according to the trackers at IDC, which also places most other mainstream players far behind the global juggernaut. IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker, to honor it with its full name, lists mainstream suppliers' revenue …

    Storage 11 Mar 22:04

  • Jennifer Lopez gets you more Facebook friends than Iron Maiden

    You are what you Like

    Liking Jennifer Lopez will get you more Facebook friends than Iron Maiden, straight men like professional wrestling more often than they like Glee, and Mormons are more agreeable than fans of Timmy from South Park. That's just a grab-bag from research just published at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, …

    Networks 11 Mar 22:18

  • Microsoft Flash FLIP-FLOP: it's now IE10 default for Win8, WinRT

    Updated Only 4% of sites still considered off-limits

    Microsoft has had an apparent change of heart with regard to Adobe Flash content on Windows 8 and Windows RT: it has announced that it will now allow most Flash content to run by default in Internet Explorer 10 on both operating systems. "We believe having more sites 'just work' in IE10 improves the experience for consumers, …

    Applications 11 Mar 22:31

  • Earth bombarded by interplanetary SLIME MONSTERS

    'We are not alone' is the message of Invasion of the Hystrichospheres

    Invaders from an unknown planet entered Earth's atmosphere on December 29 last year, riding in a fiery comet that burst 10km above Sri Lanka. Before Hollywood gears up for an orgy of CGI and bad plot lines, it should be pointed out that the invaders in question are microscopically small and flash-frozen – but the discovery …

    Science 11 Mar 22:58