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15th March 2013 Archive

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  • Nelson Mandela's island prison hell to become game

    Win and you become the boss

    Computer game violence continues to raise hackles around the world, having been fingered as a cause of gun violence in the USA and suggested as an underminer of civility just about everywhere else. What to make, therefore, of an imminent game that will simulate nearly two decades of imprisonment and mind-numbing labour on a …

    Games 15 Mar 00:35

  • Police accuse Reuters hack of helping Anonymous hackers

    Social media editor aided Tribune defacement

    The Department of Justice has charged the deputy social media editor of Reuters with helping hackers from Anonymous gain access to the main servers of the Tribune Company in 2010 so that they could deface news sites. Matthew Keys, 26, is accused of conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, transmitting …

    Law 15 Mar 00:38

  • Google makes BigQuery easier to question

    SQL commands let devs probe BigQuery AaaS

    Google has updated its BigQuery cloud analytic service to make it attractive to people familiar with SQL. The new features for the analytics-as-a-service (AaaS) – Big JOIN, Big Group Aggregations, and support for the TIMESTAMP data type – were released by Google on Thursday. They are designed to cut the steps developers need …

    Cloud 15 Mar 00:56

  • Microsoft Surface Pro sales CANNIBALIZING Surface RT

    Redmond's slab slump continues despite Windows 8 model

    The bad news just keeps coming for Microsoft's vaunted line of Surface fondleslabs, with sources reporting that sales of the devices continue to disappoint. Redmond has sold just around 1.5 million of the devices to date, Bloomberg reports, citing sources who claim knowledge of the company's sales figures. That's a little …

    Tablets 15 Mar 01:08

  • Don't buy a Google car: They might stop it while you're driving

    Reader removal rage spreads far and wide

    Google's decision to shut down its RSS Reader product has set the internet alight with protest and migration plans. One of the more interesting ripostes to the Chocolate Factory's decision appeared in the Tweet below. I'm not going to buy a Google car. I can see them shutting down the self drive service when I'm overtaking a …

    Networks 15 Mar 01:43

  • Apple tears itself away from iThings to squash Mac OS X bugs

    Mountain Lion v10.8.3 lands with 20+ security fixes

    Apple may be more interested in phones and watches these days than the 20th century legacy product that is the PC, but has nonetheless issued a new update for the operating system it still offers for the antediluvian machines. OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.3, to give the update its full name, slipped down the skids today promising …

    Operating Systems 15 Mar 03:16

  • Samsung's new Galaxy S 4: iPhone assassin or Android also-ran?

    Software distinguishes 'a life companion for richer, simpler life'

    After weeks of hypegasmic drum-beating at a level unusual for the South Korean consumer-electronics giant, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S 4 at an embarassingly over-the-top, show-biz–infused gala on Thursday evening. Held in New York City, the extravaganza overshadowed the fact that the Galaxy S 4 appears to be a fine Android …

    Phones 15 Mar 03:37

  • NORKS says USA attack took it offline ... as if anyone could tell

    US blamed for 'despicable and base acts' on its interwebs

    North Korea is warning that the US and its allies “should be held wholly accountable” after claiming that a massive cyber attack has taken the country offline over the past two days, despite virtually no one in the secretive state being allowed on the interwebs. The axis of evil state’s Korean Central News Agency blamed the US …

    Government 15 Mar 05:19

  • Boeing outlines fix for 787 batteries

    Venting batteries produced 'smoke' that wasn't, no fire, performed as planned

    Boeing has outlined plans to improve the performance and safety features of the batteries used in its 787 aircraft, after two of the planes infamously experienced on-board incidents at Takamatsu and Boston, but has stopped short of offering a thorough explanation for just what went wrong. What is known is that something caused …

    Hardware 15 Mar 05:36

  • Drunk driving: No more dangerous than talking on handsfree mobe

    'Should be allowed', advise researchers

    Driving with an illegal or almost-illegal level of blood alcohol is often no more dangerous than taking a call using a hands-free device at the wheel, according to new research by scientists in Australia and Spain. Sumie Leung Shuk Man of Barcelona uni carried out the study in cooperation with colleagues Down Under. He and his …

    Bootnotes 15 Mar 06:03

  • LG: Oi! Samsung's not the only one with eyeball-tracking smartphones

    Little Brother is watching you

    LG announced that its Optimus G Pro smartphone will pause video playback when it detects that its owner has stopped looking at it - just hours before Samsung unveiled the same feature for the Galaxy S4. Eyeball tracking, using the mobile's built-in camera to scroll pages and notice when the user is no longer staring, is set to …

    Phones 15 Mar 07:06

  • Crack Bombe squad dismantles Reg encryption in an hour

    It's no Enigma. Plus GCHQ seeks apprentice SPIES

    Crack codebreakers from the Bombe squad took just over an hour to decipher a Reg message encoded on an Enigma machine yesterday. The rather unimaginative text, "Reg readers say hi" (sorry, your hack was put on the spot) was sent via Twitter from the Big Bang Fair in London on a real German Enigma machine and then deciphered at …

    Government 15 Mar 07:33

  • Reg readers reveal MIGHTY DOMESTIC DATA CENTRES

    Servers’n’sofas challenge reveals racks and stacks in the oddest places

    A few weeks back VMware’s Mike Laverick told this hack about his home lab and how he used it to further his career. Plenty of you revealed your own home labs in response, so we launched the servers’n’sofas challenge to report on the very best domestic data centres. We’ve sifted through the responses and can now bring you the …

    Servers 15 Mar 08:02

  • Who's riddling Windows PCs with gaping holes? It's your crApps

    New study: Microsoft slashes bugs, Java and Adobe bring up the rear

    Nearly nine out of ten security vulnerabilities in Windows computers last year were the fault of popular third-party applications, as opposed to Microsoft's own software. That's according to security biz Secunia, which analysed flaws found in the most-used 50 Windows programs - 29 from Microsoft (including its operating system …

    Security 15 Mar 08:36

  • Private billion buck HPC player? You're going to have to go public - and SOON

    Comment Hey, DataDirect: You can only hold off for so long...

    We heard a whisper that Big Data player DataDirect Networks (DDN) was thinking of going public, although marketing CEO and co-founder [Alex Bouzari recently batted the suggestion away, saying merely that it would "probably make sense at some point in the future". But regardless of the company's intentions, the question remains …

    Storage 15 Mar 09:06

  • Reader slain? 'Even the Google apologists on G+ are p****d off'

    Quotw Plus: 'How many more hours are your servers going to be down?'

    This was the week in which the internet discovered that, astonishingly, everybody on the planet is a fan of Google Reader after Google announced it was switching off the service because no one wanted it. At least, it seemed everybody is a fan of it, judging by the outpouring of rage across the web at the news. The Chocolate …

    Hosting 15 Mar 09:31

  • Trip the fight fantastic

    Game Theory Tomb Raider, Aliens Colonial Marines, Crysis 3, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and more…

    After a gap of five weeks or so since my last column the games industry has suddenly become a whole new animal. The next generation - well, Sony’s at least - has been revealed, and games publishers are finally able to talk about developing for a new breed of consoles without resorting to coded, barely voiced communications. It …

    Games 15 Mar 10:04

  • Watch out, office bods: A backdoor daemon lurks in HP LaserJets

    Aah, telnet. We meet again

    A range of HP LaserJet printers suffer a security flaw that can leak data and passwords, the US Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) warns. Users have been told to apply the firmware patches issued by HP that resolve the issue. HP says the security risk arose after it was discovered that several models of HP LaserJets …

    Security 15 Mar 10:29

  • LOHAN hooks up with top-flight rocketeer

    Spaceplane team welcomes aboard new member

    The Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) team is delighted to announce our audacious ballocket mission now has a top-flight rocketeer on board to handle the power plant for our Vulture 2 spaceplane. So, ladies and gentlemen, raise your glasses to welcome Paul Shackleton, who answered our call for someone with the Right …

    SPB 15 Mar 11:03

  • OpenSUSE 12.3: Proof not all Linux PCs are Um Bongo-grade bonkers

    Review KDE looks slick, stuff works, no Ubuntu-style ad-ware

    The openSUSE project is back on track. This week version 12.3 of the Linux operating system distribution was unleashed, right on time, as a free download. This will be seen as good news after the organisational restructuring and delays that plagued the release of openSUSE 12.2 last year. While 12.2 was delayed, it was worth …

    Operating Systems 15 Mar 11:24

  • Googlification of Britain: Forget 'IT worker', we're all just 'digital' now

    Brit public sector 'must be imbued by culture of web generation'

    The central government CIO job vacated by Andy Nelson will not be filled, according to the Cabinet Office. Nelson was cut loose from the decision-making centre and plonked into the same role at the Department for Work and Pensions. The Cabinet Office confirmed on Thursday that there was no longer a need for a CIO-to-rule-them- …

    Management 15 Mar 11:44

  • German reselling giant Bechtle breaks €2bn sales barrier

    Profit engine not so efficient

    Bechtle leaped the €2bn sales barrier for the first time last year but soaring staff costs and weakened trade in southern Europe caused a decline in profits. Turnover at the efficient German-HQ'd reselling engine was up 5.1 per cent in calendar 2012 to €2.09bn. Sales in its home market grew nine per cent to €1.43bn but fell …

    The Channel 15 Mar 11:50

  • BOFH: My HELPDESK HELL - lies, phones lines and statistics

    Episode 2 Support call numbers are PLOTTING against me

    "I'm just a bit worried about these statistics," the Boss says, lurching into Mission Control with yet another swadge of meaningless numbers. "Told you so," I respond. [FLASHBACK TO A WEEK AGO] "I'm a bit worried about these weekly statistics," the Boss says, lurching into Mission Control with a swadge of meaningless numbers …

    BOFH 15 Mar 12:03

  • UK cops, boffins to crack out war plan against cyber-crims

    Shock find: Hackers not just title of an Angelina Jolie flick

    UK ministers have discovered that computer hacking is no longer the preserve of awkward teens tapping away in their bedrooms - and will now wage war on gangs raiding Brits' online accounts. The government has formed a new Cyber Crime Reduction Partnership to bring together top cops, security experts and boffins to come up with …

    Government 15 Mar 12:28

  • EU red-tape slash shock: New tool defuses web shop argy-bargies

    Bad luck, lawyers, shopping gripe site approved

    Online traders will be able to resolve contractual disputes with consumers based in other EU countries through a new online dispute resolution (ODR) framework after MEPs voted to back the new regime earlier this week. The European Parliament approved a new ODR Regulation and a new Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Directive …

    Government 15 Mar 12:44

  • Touch screens and greasy mitts: All you need is glove

    Something for the weekend, sir? Giving Will.I.Am the finger

    Currently, my most generous client has conspired to have me surrounded by shiny glass and plastic rectangles between the hours of 6pm and 6am. Working night shifts always seems a little exotic at first for namby-pampy light-lubbers like myself but the novelty eventually wears off as vitamin D levels decline. Monolithic …

    Tablets 15 Mar 12:44

  • Samsung Galaxy S 4: A slim stripper with palms hovering over its body

    South Koreans tout THESE killer features you can't live without, probably

    Modern smartphones are little more than promotional vehicles for manufacturer services, and the Galaxy S4 is a perfect example, arriving heavily laden with all the things Samsung thinks we should be doing with them. Like a respectable lapdancer, the Galaxy S4 responds to a roving eye and fingertips hovering over its slim body …

    Phones 15 Mar 13:08

  • Beijing IT biz taunts Microsoft: Show us your licence for Office 365

    If papers aren't in order, it could end up on China's block list

    Microsoft Office 365 customers could be in for a tricky time in China after a Beijing IT company called on Redmond to prove it has the legal authority to operate in the country or risk being blocked. Enterprise IT service provider and Microsoft customer Baihui Zongheng Technology made the calls at a press conference at the …

    Cloud Infrastructure 15 Mar 14:04

  • MIT crypto pioneers scoop Turing Award

    Nobel Prize of computing goes to Goldwasser and Micali

    Two professors from MIT have won the Turing Award for their pioneering cryptography work. Shafi Goldwasser, the RSA Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and a professor at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, and Silvio Micali, the MIT Ford Professor of Engineering, secured the award for " …

    Security 15 Mar 15:04

  • HTTPS cookie crypto CRUMBLES AGAIN in hands of stats boffins

    Keep calm and carry on ciphering with RC4 - for now

    Fresh cryptographic weaknesses have been found in the technology used by Google and other internet giants to encrypt online shopping, banking and web browsing. The attack, developed by security researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London and University of Illinois at Chicago, targets weaknesses in the ageing but …

    Security 15 Mar 16:06

  • Report: EMC, IBM sniffing around hoster SoftLayer

    A quick and virty hybrid cloud for VMware?

    SoftLayer's public cloud business has IBM and EMC sniffing around for a reported $2bn buyout as both companies look to bolster their own networks. IBM has made no secret of its plans to build up its cloud computing and storage business. And EMC's server virtualization and cloud controller minion VMware said earlier this week …

    Cloud 15 Mar 17:07

  • Google+ architect: What was so great about Reader anyway?

    Google pumps users for info to take Reader features to the "modern world"

    The chief architect for Google+ is asking Google Reader users what they liked about the due-for-execution RSS service. The request for information comes after Google said it would kill the popular web-based RSS reader on 1 July 2013 as part of a round of "spring cleaning". Google is now pumping the community for information …

    Networks 15 Mar 18:45

  • CCTV hack takes casino for $33 MILLION in poker losses

    Australian Ocean's 11 crew rigs high-stakes poker tourney

    A sophisticated scheme to use a casino's own security systems against it has netted scammers $33m in a high-stakes poker game after they were able to gain a crucial advantage by seeing the opposition's cards. The team used a high-rolling accomplice from overseas who was known to spend large amounts while gambling at Australia' …

    Security 15 Mar 18:48

  • Can VMware boost profits by expanding from data centers to clouds?

    Analysis Gelsinger & Co. think so – and thus Virtzilla is born

    Big cloudy startups build their infrastructure on custom – or, at the very least, cheap – iron, and they use open source software because they like to – and often need to – tweak the systems software to make their workloads hum. And that's a problem for VMware. And it's a big problem, one that makes the company irrelevant …

    Cloud 15 Mar 19:43

  • Samsung's new co-CEO: 'Windows isn't selling very well'

    Claims Android, Tizen, innovation will beat Apple

    Samsung says it will continue to produce Android phones even as it puts its weight behind the competing Tizen OS, but there's one software partner the South Korean mobile maker isn't so bullish on: Microsoft. "Smartphones and tablets based on Microsoft's Windows operating system aren't selling very well," Samsung mobile chief …

    Phones 15 Mar 22:04

  • Schmidt still scanning the skies 50 years after defining the quasar

    Interview El Reg talks with legendary astronomer about gamma rays, GPS, and Hitler

    Fifty years ago this Friday Dutch astronomer Maarten Schmidt revolutionized his field with a paper on quasars, the energy sources that now act as terrestrial guide points in our exploration of the cosmos. His initial 1963 paper was disputed by some of the biggest names in astronomy, got him on the cover of Time magazine ( …

    Science 15 Mar 22:37