17th > November > 2009 Archive
Intel tunes Nehalem for HPC
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Chip maker Intel is tweaking its future eight-core Beckton Nehalem EX processors, making a special version aimed just at HPC customers.
US regulators eye HPCom trade surge
A spike in 3Com options trading just hours before HP's $2.7bn cash takeover bid has caught the eye of US regulators, according to reports.
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Sputnik, spaghetti and the IBM SPACE machine
The fall of 1957 was a low point not only for the United States, but for another high-minded world power: IBM.
Adobe debuts full mobile Flash (minus the mobile)
The full version of Adobe Systems' Flash Player especially turned for mobiles is now in beta, just don't expect it running on any handsets yet.
Mark Cuban counsels Google-busting bribery
A famous loose-cannon/American billionaire has a plan for unseating Google from its search-engine throne - and at a mere $1bn, his idea is significantly less expensive than the billions Microsoft is sinking into that Bing thing.
Becta strikes Home Access deal
The government's education technology agency has struck a deal for the supply of adapted hardware devices for recipients of the Home Access programme.
Oxford American Dictionary dubs 'unfriend' Word of the Year
Blame social networking for the latest cutesy-pie neologism tapped as the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 Word of the Year: unfriend.
Samsung N510 Nvidia Ion-based netbook
Review
You don't have to dig too deep to see that the diversity of Samsung's netbook range is a case of flattering to deceive. Sure, there are plenty of them, but the differences are essentially peripheral and cosmetic with all bar the NC20 having 10.1in screens and the usual netbook-norm Intel Atom chippery.
EC forms industry body to probe behavioural ad issues
The European Commission has formed a new group in an attempt to regulate companies' growing gathering and use of customers' personal data. The group has been formed to address problems the Commission says are eroding consumer trust.
ARM pitches for Android developers
ARM has launched an online forum it hopes will encourage device manufacturers, component suppliers and software developers to co-operate on the development of devices based on its chippery and the Android OS.
Time Warner names day for AOL spin-off
Time Warner has detailed the departure date for its troubled internet business AOL.
Office 2010 beta lands in laps of MSDN, TechNet coders
Microsoft has begun pumping the Office 2010 beta out to members of its MSDN and TechNet developer groups, ahead of the code’s imminent arrival later this week.
Official Bruce Schneier action figure steps onto market
Good news for devotees of ponytailed crypto guru of all our hearts Bruce Schneier: it's now possible to buy an officially endorsed "Bruce Schneier action figure".
Microsoft opens Marketplace to the masses
Microsoft's on-device marketplace is now available for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1, allowing older phones to download the very latest in farting applications.
'Ave a desktop says Avamar
EMC's fifth version of Avamar has extended its capability from servers to desktop and notebooks, increased Data Store capacity by over 60 per cent and can write deduplicated data directly to tape.
Firefox syncing tool Weaves its way into beta status
Mozilla’s experimental app that syncs up the "Firefox experience" across multiple browsers has been promoted to beta status.
Is there any such thing as ‘The Business’?
Reader Workshop
A seasoned CIO of a large multinational once remarked: “All of these vendors keep telling me that IT must be aligned with the needs of ‘the business’, as if I just had one customer.
Nintendo exec reignites Wii HD speculation
Despite only recently stating that “there is no Wii HD” in development, the President of Nintendo America has since hinted that HD support isn’t the only new feature that may be added to a next-generation Wii.
Cable and Wireless borrows big to finance split
Cable and Wireless has today settled on the details of its long-planned split, which has been delayed by the recession.
What upcoming plans do you have for your server estate?
Mini Poll
It's coming up to budget setting time again. As many of you are likely to be making changes to your server estates, we would like to know what plans you have for the coming year. Do you intend splashing out on new kit or will you be carrying on with what you have? Of course, if you are buying new stuff, the question arises of what will you do with the existing kit?
UK.gov hoovers up data on five-year-olds
The government obsession with collecting data has now extended to five-year-olds, as local Community Health Services get ready to arm-twist parents into revealing the most intimate details of their own and their child’s personal, behavioural and eating habits.
Sony unveils Mills & Boon Reader
Sony has come over all amorous in the run-up to Christmas, launching a version of its Reader e-book viewer inspired by romance publisher Mills & Boon (M&B).
Web manhunt child abuser gets 20 years
A US child abuser who became the target of an internet manhunt last year has been jailed for nearly 20 years after abusing boys as young as six.
EU sweeps up dodgy ringtone companies
An EU investigation found that 70 per cent of the 554 ringtone sites examined were breaking the rules, resulting in 54 of them disappearing.
BeautifulPeople shun hairy Reg hack
It's with a heavy heart that I today report I've been given the elbow by BeautifulPeople.com - the exclusive lovely-people-only website which invites potential members to prove themselves worthy of entry to the elite club by posting a fetching snap and short profile.
MoD redefines 'public' with online poll
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is holding an online poll to get the views of the public on the massive reorganisation of the nation's armed forces - for which read cuts - expected next year.
Making Muvizu: DIY animation is here
Even though it's in the alpha stage, Digimania's Muvizu is one of the most impressive new technologies I've seen in the past few years. But don't take my word for it. You're going to be annoyed by Muvizu output pretty soon.
Can the UK have its identity strategy back, Mr President?
There was a lot of razzmatazz and back-slapping in the US in early September as President Obama's team announced a partnership with ten leading companies to provide federated digital identities acceptable for use with online government services.
Sky talks up subscription 3D merits
Channel 4’s week-long 3D TV spectacular only started last night, but rival broadcaster Sky has already chipped in with its opinion on how viewers should experience 3D in their living rooms.
Parascale ups its cloud storage game
Parascale has integrated its private cloud NAS with virtual servers meaning you can boot backed-up VMs straight from the cloud.
Orange touts free tweets
UK operator Orange has signed a deal to push out tweets for free, though sending them will cost as usual.
Appeal Court: Mod chips infringe game copyright after all
A man who sold computer chips that enabled pirated video games to be played on consoles was rightly convicted of copyright offences, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Sony Reader PRS-300 Pocket Edition
Review
With the price of the Reader PRS-600 Touch Edition having been hiked up by 25 per cent over the original PRS-505, Sony clearly thinks there's room for a cheaper alternative. Hence the launch of the Reader PRS-300 Pocket Edition which does without a touchscreen and has a 5in rather than 6in screen.
Murdoch: Google is mortal and together we can kill it
"Everybody loves the BBC and it doesn't cost anything, Murdoch should learn a thing or two." - Comment by reader 'peter 3' at The Register
Riverbed looking to expand by buying Expand
Riverbed is looking to develop its WAN optimisation product line by buying its competitor, Expand Networks.
Microsoft co-founder battles cancer
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Trojans likely to follow Win 7 activation hack
Trojan attacks are likely in the wake of the Windows 7 product activation system cracks developed last week, less than a month after the release of Microsoft's latest operating system.
If I wanted to get there, I wouldn’t start from here!
Webcast
The Register’s panel of experts are discussing alternative perspectives to business productivity in a live webcast from 10am on 3 December. Share your opinions and put questions to the panel, all from the comfort of your desk - register your interest today.
Mobile phones - fighting cancer, causing car crashes
Boffin Watch
New research has shown that people who receive text messages reminding them to use sunscreen are more likely to use sunscreen. However, worrying results from a separate study implies that this positive effect could be negated by an increased likelihood of you being hit by a car.
Cardiff Airport gets more security theatre
Cardiff Airport is joining Manchester in using facial recognition technology to automate passport checks for inbound passengers.
Pirate Bay says tracker tech is so yesterday, man
The Pirate Bay has kyboshed its tracker technology and replaced it with a decentralised peer-to-peer network that all modern clients can hook up to.
Guide names mass e-car adoption potholes
Leccy Tech
A US-based pro leccy vehicle organisation has recommended that 25 per cent of the country’s new car sales be for battery-electric or plug-in hybrid cars by the year 2020.
Latest Navy carrier madness: 'Sell 'em to India'
Analysis
Yet another scheme by the MoD for cutting costs on the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers has surfaced in the media, with claims now being aired that one of the two ships might be sold to India.
Swindon council promises townsfolk free Wi-Fi XTC
Swindon council has bought into the municipal Wi-Fi dream, taking a 35 per cent stake in a firm that will build a mesh network to give the Wiltshire town's citizens free net access.
Clove confirms Acer Liquid Android phone launch
Acer’s Liquid A1 smartphone will hit Blighty this month, it has emerged.
UK2 email migration still not finished
Hosting company UK2 has still not finished migrating customer emails across to a new system.
V-22 Osprey, stealth jumpjet 'need refrigerated landing pads'
It's now official. The new generation of high-tech hovering aircraft - namely the famous V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor and the upcoming F-35B supersonic stealth jump-jet - have an unforeseen flaw. Their exhaust downwash is so hot as to melt the flight decks of US warships, leading Pentagon boffins to look into refrigerated landing pads.
Staff at UK mobile co sold customer records
Updated
Staff at an unnamed mobile operator have been selling customer details to the competition, and the Information Commissioner reckons that it will take a spell in chokey to stop the leaks.
IT workers top UK inertia league
Personal training outfit Fat Free Fitness has shockingly revealed that the UK's IT workers top the nation's inertia league - drinking too much coffee and doing way too little exercise.
Activision denies Modern Warfare 2 Russian ban
The publisher behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has dismissed claims that the videogame has been banned in Russia because of a violent level set within a Russian airport.
Most security products not up to scratch
Only four per cent (one in 25) information security products pass muster when first tested under a widely-used industry kitemark scheme.
Japan gov poised to cancel 10 petaflops Keisoku super
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Rumours were circulating around late last week ahead of the SC09 supercomputing trade show in Portland, Oregon, that the Japanese government might severely curtail its funding of HPC projects. This comes after a panel of axe-wielding government bureaucrats charged with removing waste from the Japanese government budget recommended cancelling.
Northamber warns things still rough in UK channel
UK distie Northamber updated the markets on its first quarter performance to 30 September and sales are down nine per cent on the same period last year.
HELL-beam project now one step from jet-fighter raygun
US military boffinry chiefs have stated that they will shortly issue a brace of contracts for "refrigerator sized" laser blaster cannons. One of the deals will see a full-power ground prototype built which will be the final stage prior to America's first raygun-equipped jet fighter.
€2m iPhone bounty stolen
The iPhone could be in short supply across Belgium this Christmas, because thieves have stolen some 4000 units of the smartphone worth an estimated €2m (£1.7m/$2.9m).
Romanian cops to $150k ATM skimming spree
A Romanian national has admitted he defrauded Bank of America of about $150,000 in a scheme that secretly recorded customer information as it was entered into automatic teller machines.
ARM opens Android happy place
ARM has unveiled a place where Android developers can help each other be Android developers.
Google target slips ads into iPhone apps
AdMob - the self-described "world's largest mobile advertising marketplace" that was recently snapped up by Google for tidy $750m - is introducing a new in-app advert and product-purchasing system for the iPhone.
Microsoft 'Dallas' muscles Google data crusade
PDC
Microsoft is hoping to out-Google Google by unlocking the world's information and slapping a GUI on the front end.
Intel brass sued over antitrust wrangle
Intel CEO Paul Otellni and a host of other top Intel brass past and present have been fingered by a shareholder lawsuit, accused of ignoring and pandering to antitrust misconduct that resulted in record fines for the company.
T-Mobile raises Sidekick from the dead
T-Mobile resumed sales of its benighted Sidekick smart(ish)phone on Tuesday morning, six weeks after a cloudburst swamped the once-popular status symbol.
Intel: 3D Web to save HPC
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Intel CTO Justin Rattner has a stark warning for the HPC community: Come up with a killer application or the business will stagnate.
Microsoft ordered to halt Win XP sales in China
Microsoft has been ordered to stop selling Windows XP in China after a court ruled that certain fonts in the operating system infringe on a Chinese firm's intellectual property.
Fedora 12 debuts after Halloween slippage
Fedora 12 made its official debut today, after a two-week slippage in its release schedule.
Hacktivists ransack Hitler defender's email
Self-proclaimed anti-fascist hackers have struck a major blow at controversial World War II historian David Irving by taking down two of his websites and publishing scores of his emails and private information.
Microsoft delivers 'almost ready' Azure cloud
PDC
Microsoft is fiddling around with the launch dates of the highly anticipated Windows Azure while showing off the cloud service's latest advances.
