ICANN under fire as Verisign warns of rushed domain-name expansion
gTLD activation unlikely before August, ICANN confirms
ICANN's big generic top-level domain (gTLD) rollout, planned for April 23, needs to be delayed because the system isn't ready, Verisign and others are warning – and ICANN itself has told The Register that the first gTLD domains won't come online until at least August.
"April is a launch date in the sense that it's a public …
Playboy submits to Apple with nudity-free 'Pornography 2.0' app
Now you can prove you really do read it just for the articles
Playboy has finally produced an iOS app that gets around Apple's rather prudish attitude to things even mildly pornographic: an online edition that excludes the long-standing grumble mag's main selling point.
"We're taking everything that has made Playboy great and re-imagining it for the iPhone, while reinventing our aesthetic …
Court refuses to block Aereo's personal streaming TV service
Networks seek to stifle Big Apple sapling
The New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals has refused a request by the big networks to shutter the TV streaming service Aereo set up by billionaire media mogul Barry Diller.
Aereo used thousands of tiny antennas at its base station in Brooklyn to pick up TV signals and either store or stream them directly to subscribers in …
Veiny green 'scum' meteorite may be first visitor from Mercury
Four billion year-old Moroccan mystery explained
A mysterious green meteorite with a unique geological signature may have arrived on Earth thanks to an explosion on the surface of the Solar System's smallest planet, Mercury*.
The meteorite, dubbed NWA 7325, is actually a 345g package of 35 extraterrestrial stones formed around 4.56 billion years ago that were found in the …
Second International Cat Video Festival coming to Oakland CA
Somewhere Tim Berners-Lee is questioning his legacy
The second international festival celebrating cat videos will be held in Oakland, California, this May, an event at which grimalkins and their bipedal slaves will spend a day reveling in the art of filméd felines.
No, it's not yet April Fool's Day; there really is an International Cat Video Festival. The inaugural bash was …
Boffins birth man-sized military ROBOT JELLYFISH
Video Your tax dollars at work at Virginia Tech
A team of robotics researchers at Virginia Tech (VT) are using a university swimming pool to show off their latest creation, an autonomous robotic jellyfish developed for the US Navy that's capable of swimming a payload of technology into position off enemy shores.
Dubbed Cryo, the jumbo jellyfish weighs 170lb (77 kg) and …
Gartner forecasts pro 3D printer prices below $2,000 by 2016
Roving printing vans predicted for every shopping mall
Analyst house Gartner has caught the 3D printing bug with its latest forecast on the future of the industry, and predicts enterprise-quality printers being cheap and plentiful by 2016.
"3D printing is a technology accelerating to mainstream adoption," said Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner. "The hype leads many people …
FBI on trial for warrantless Stingray mobile spying
Cellphone spying made easy – and sloppy – by electronic signal slurper
In an Arizona court case, the FBI has been forced to defend its use of a phony cellphone tower dubbed Stingray that it's using to analyse mobile phone traffic and identify suspects.
The Stingray system came to light in the case of Daniel David Rigmaiden, who stands accused of reaping millions of dollars from filing phony tax …
Google Shopping Express dips toe in same-day home delivery
Wants to ape Amazon and eBay, not Webvan or Kozmo
Google will try to beat Amazon and eBay at their own games with a trial same-day home delivery service for online shoppers that will see Google-branded vans dropping off goods down the length of Silicon Valley.
Dubbed Shopping Express, the service will allow consumers to order goods from national retailers such as Target, …
Congress plans to make computer crime law much, much worse
Comment Learning the wrong lesson from Swartz suicide
In the wake of the tragic suicide of Aaron Swartz, there have been many calls to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act used to prosecute him.
Work is currently afoot for "Aarons Law" legislation, which simplifies and brings a measure of sense to the law, but now the House Judiciary Committee has begun circulating an update to …
Egyptian navy captures divers trying to cut undersea internet cables
Telecom Egypt connections targeted for termination
A spokesman for the Egyptian military has reported that three scuba divers have been arrested in the Mediterranean as they tried to cut a submarine data cable owned by local telco Telecom Egypt.
Egyptian submarine cable saboteurs Looks like a pretty low-tech operation
Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said on his Facebook page that the …
Apple in Chinese court over patent rights for Siri
Cupertino's troubles worsen in China
A Chinese court has heard claims that Apple's Siri personal assistant infringes a patent owned by a local firm that makes similar voice-activated software for both iOS and Android, in just the latest setback for Cupertino in the country.
Shanghai's Zhizhen Network Technology Co. first patented its "Xiao i Robot" software in 2004 …
Tibetan and Uyghur activists targeted with Android malware
Hmm ... who'd want to do that?
Researchers at Kaspersky Lab are reporting that Tibetan activists are being hit by a highly targeted form of Android malware that seeks to record their contacts, call logs, SMS messages, geolocation, and phone data.
The attack started with the March 24 hacking of an email account belonging to an activist seeking national …
Foundry Networks CIO charged in $29m insider trading scam
Loose lips sink careers
The chief information officer of Foundry Networks, along with two other alleged perps, has been charged with both civil and criminal charges stemming from insider trading during the $3bn buyout of the company by Brocade in 2008.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil charges state that David Riley – who has since …
Dragon capsule makes fiery entrance, safe splashdown
Second SpaceX mission ends well
The second Dragon capsule to visit the International Space Station has landed safely in the Pacific around 250 miles off the California coast and has been picked up by the SpaceX rescue ship.
SpaceX Dragon capsule release 'So long, see you later'
Over the last week the astronauts on the ISS, including Strummin' Chris Hadfield …
Florida fisherman bags two-headed MUTANT SHARK
Updated Pix Zaphod Beeblebrox's worst nightmare
A Florida fisherman found an unpleasant-looking surprise in the belly of a bull shark he had just caught; a two-headed fetus ready to be born.
Two-headed Bull Shark Double the bite (credit: Journal of Fish Biology)
The specimen, described in the latest Journal of Fish Biology, has two heads side-by-side, each with its own …
NASDAQ's $62m apology for Facebook snafu approved by SEC
Payoff for market FAIL around IPO
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a $63m settlement by NASDAQ OMX Group for the downtime its exchange suffered during the Facebook IPO which left traders unsure if their requested trades had gone through.
"Nasdaq proposes to compensate market participants for certain claims related to system difficulties in the …
Apple pulls iForgot password recovery system over security bug
Updated Two-factors forward, one step back
Don't get too hammered this Friday night in case you wake up to find you've forgotten your Apple password, as Cupertino has been forced to pull down its iForget service due to an embarrassing new security flaw.
This was supposed to be a good week for Apple on the security front. On Tuesday the company fixed a password-bypass …
PayPal glitch stalling Admob payments to developers
Updated 'The check is in the mail'
Google has admitted it's having problems paying developers using its AdMob mobile app advertising platform, owing to problems with PayPal.
El Reg's inbox has been filling up with messages from developers having problems with getting payments sorted this week, and there have been claims that the Chocolate Factory is censoring …
Google patent filing suggests Glass will be ULTIMATE REMOTE
Headset computing to control your life
Google's Project Glass computing specs could solve one of technology's most enduring problems – finding where you put the remote control.
A patent filing from the Chocolate Factory shows that the firm wants to build control of everyday objects into its head-mounted hardware so that the wearer can use voice commands to order …
Hoboken CTO admits bugging boss for political leverage
Faction-fighting among Bridge and Tunnelers
The IT boss for the city of Hoboken, New Jersey – one of New York's closest and most underrated neighbors – is facing 15 years in the Big House after pleading guilty to harvesting the emails of the mayor and her staff to inform their political rivals.
In 2009, Peter J. Cammarano III was elected major of Hoboken, beating his …
Microsoft reports on how often it helps police with their enquiries
Promises half-yearly reviews going forward
Microsoft has joined the list of companies opening up about its cooperation with THE MAN with its own report on how often it helped out the police last year, and says it'll issue updates on the situation every six months.
Redmond came in for some stick in January when a coalition of activists, privacy organizations, and …
Schmidt calls China's attempts to take over internet 'egregious'
After all, that's Google's job
Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has told an audience in India that China is the worst example of a nation trying to take over and censor the internet.
"As the internet has emerged in many of these different countries, there's quite a few countries that have no laws that pertain to the internet at all and those internets …
GoPro accused of using DMCA to take down product review
Company insists it's all a big misunderstanding
This was supposed to be a great week for extreme camera manufacturer GoPro but instead it has stumbled into a PR nightmare.
On Wednesday the Winter X Games kicked off in the French skiing haven of Tignes and with GoPro involved the company was expecting lots of favorable views of its products. Now thanks to the actions of some …
Microsoft starts to roll out Windows 8 in embedded flavors
Full and cut-down Windows for dumber devices
Microsoft has announced the general availability of two flavors of Windows 8 for embedded systems; the Standard and Pro editions.
"Edge devices connected and working in unison with an enterprise's broader IT infrastructure unleash the potential of the Internet of Things by yielding the actionable data and operational …
Amazon boss salvages Apollo engines from watery grave
Bezos bags historic rockets from 3 miles down
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and his deep-sea salvage crew have successfully raised enough wreckage from the seabed off Florida to rebuild two of the massive F-1 rocket engines that once powered NASA's Apollo missions.
F-1 rocket from an Apollo engine A fixer-upper in mechanical terms
"We found so much," Bezos said in a blog post …
Adobe reports great re$ult$ but loses CTO Kevin Lynch to Apple
Harry Potter and the Contract of Cupertino
It's been a mixed day for Adobe – exceeding analyst's expectations for its first quarter financial results but having this overshadowed by the news that its long-standing CTO Kevin Lynch handed in his notice on Monday and will gone by the end of the week .
"Kevin Lynch resigned from his position as Executive Vice President, …
Researcher sets up illegal 420,000 node botnet for IPv4 internet map
Potentially risks thousands of years in jail
An anonymous researcher has taken an unorthodox approach to achieve the dream of mapping out the entire remaining IPv4 internet - and in doing so broken enough laws around the world to potentially put him or her behind bars for thousands of years.
To scan the IPv4 address space, billions of pings must be sent to discover all the …
Apple fixes iOS passcode-bypass hack with 6.1.3 update
New code should be big in Japan
It has taken Apple a little over a month and two updates to do it, but the latest iOS 6.1.3 update means your beloved iDevice can now be safe again from nimble-fingered thieves.
In February, an iPhone user discovered that a certain pattern of swipes and key presses would allow the password locking screen to be bypassed on …
World's largest solar collection plant opened in Abu Dhabi
100MW system testing commercial viability
Shams 1, the 100MW solar collector plant that's a cooperative venture between energy investor Masdar, French oil firm Total, Abengoa Solar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has officially opened for business.
The 2.5 square kilometer Shams facility (named after the Arabic word for Sun) is technically the world's largest for …
Supreme Court silence seals Thomas-Rasset's file sharing fate
$220,000 slap for 24 songs shared stands
The Supreme Court has once again declined to hear a file-sharing case appeal, leaving Jammie Thomas-Rasset facing a $220,000 fine for sharing 24 MP3 files nearly a decade ago.
Thomas-Rasset, a Minnesotan single mother of four, was the first person to challenge a legal claim by the Recording Industry Ass. of America back in 2007 …
Weev gets 41 months in prison for exposing iPad strokers' privates
'Internet will topple governments,' defendant proclaims
Andrew Auernheimer, a member of the grey-hat hacking collective Goatse Security, has been sent down for three years and five months in the slammer after he helped leak users' private email addresses via a flaw in AT&T's servers.
Auernheimer, known online as Weev, received his sentence wearing shackles after he tried to bring a …
FCC waves big fines at political robocallers
Stop mobile spam or face $16,000-per-call bill
The US Federal Communications Commission has cited two robocalling operations used for political calls and says the companies have 15 days to stop or they will get fined $4.8m and/or $16,000 per call.
"Consumers have increasingly been sounding the alarm on robocalls, rightly complaining about unwanted, intrusive cell phone calls …
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 (joining …
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's …
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 …
New nuke could POWER WORLD UNTIL 2083
Salt reactor runs on nuclear waste
A company spun off from MIT is claiming it has cracked the holy grail of nuclear technology: a reactor design that runs on materials the industry currently discards as waste and which could meet all of the world's power demands for the next 70 years. It's also "walk-away safe," the designers claim, making it immune to the kind …
Aaron Swartz prosecutor accused of 'professional misconduct'
Lawyers claim he hid evidence and abused plea bargaining
The legal team acting for now-deceased internet activist Aaron Swartz has filed an official complaint with the Department of Justice alleging two counts of professional misconduct by Assistant US Attorney Stephen Heymann in his handling of the case.
Heymann knowingly suppressed evidence that could have been used to dismiss the …
Father of Android Andy Rubin steps down for Chrome OS boss
Pichai building one OS to rule them all?
It's all change at Google as Andy Rubin, the man who shepherded Android into becoming the world's biggest mobile operating system, is stepping down in favor of Chrome OS boss Sundar Pichai.
"Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android – and with a really strong leadership team in place – Andy’s …
Boffins build robo-CHIMP for DARPA challenge
Four hands, four tracks, and big iron inside
The latest entrant to DARPA's $2m Robotics Challenge is a four-limbed robot with near-human strength and the dexterity to climb ladders or use tools.
CHIMP robot Don't try and feed it a banana
The CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform (CHIMP) from Carnegie Mellon University uses mounted tracks on each triple-jointed limb to …
Curiosity succeeds – Mars was wet enough for life!
David Bowie still waiting for an answer
Test results from NASA's Curiosity rover's drilling and chemical analysis of Martian rock show that the Red Planet could have supported life as we know it.
"A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program …
BlackBerry stock spikes on Lenovo buyout mumble
Chinese CEO says deal 'makes sense'
Shares in BlackBerry, the company formerly known as both RIM and a world leader in smartphone shipments, jumped up ten per cent on Monday after Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing said that a buyout "could possibly make sense."
"External growth is all about opportunities," Yang told French financial newspaper Les Echos. "You can not rely …
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 could …
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 11pm …
On International Woman's Day we remember Grace Hopper
Feature The Rear Admiral who changed the world of computing
Once again some of the world is celebrating International Woman's Day (IWD), and it's time to reflect on great female role models. Ada Lovelace usually grabs most of the attention but I'd like to use IWD as an excuse to pay a tribute to a personal female hero of computing: US Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.
Amazing Grace was in at …
Microsoft backs law banning Google Apps from schools
For God's sake, think of the children!
Microsoft is backing a bill in Massachusetts that would effectively force schools to stop using Google Apps, or any other service that uses students' data.
"Any person who provides a cloud computing service to an educational institution operating within the State shall process data of a student enrolled in kindergarten through …
Study: Megaupload closure boosted Hollywood sales 10%
Based on Tinseltown's figures, that is
A new study claims that the revenues of two anonymous Hollywood studios rose between 6 to 10 per cent in countries where digital sales are available, after the cyberlocker site Megaupload was shut down.
"Our analysis shows that the shutdown of a major online piracy site can increase digital media sales, and by extension we …
Pwn2Own: IE10, Firefox, Chrome, Reader, Java hacks land $500k
Google's Chrome OS withstands attack in security contest
It's back to the drawing board for coders at Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Mozilla, and Oracle after entrants in the annual Pwn2Own contest waltzed off with over half a million dollars in prizes for exploiting security holes in popular software.
At this year's CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, contestants had a choice of …
Safety authorities to hold hearings into Boeing 787's battery woes
Investigators still stumped, fleet still grounded
There's no end in sight for Boeing's woes with its combustible 787 Dreamliner: the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its interim report about a fire on one of the aircraft, and announced that a full investigation into the 787's batteries will begin next month.
"The information developed through the …
LIVE BLOG: Facebook News Feed revamp press conference
Catching eyeballs in the future
So, another month, another Facebook press conference. After the sort-of launch of Graph Search just over a month ago, Facebook is about to revamp another facet of its network: the News Feed.
El Reg is expecting some tough questions on this one. The News Feed is coming under increasing scrutiny at the moment, after Facebook began …
