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The Week in Summary

  1. Wednesday, 10 February 2010

    'Clumsy' French cop tasers schoolkid

    Shocking demonstration of juice justice

    A "clumsy" French cop is facing discliplinary measures after accidentally tasering a 15-year-old schoolkid, TF1 News reports. The unnamed gendarme was demonstrating the electric enforcer to youngsters at a "career day" in Dole, Jura, on 28 January, when he zapped his victim's leg. The discharge earned the lad a night in …

    The Register 10 Feb 16:23

    Microsoft volume licensing site serves up customer details

    Time to enlist Beetle Juice?

    Microsoft’s woes over at its revamped but pretty flaky Volume Licensing Service Center website continued today, after the firm inadvertently let slip the wrong subscription information to at least one of its customers. Many MS volume licence users have complained about Redmond’s lacklustre efforts to get its VLSC website fully …

    Channel Register 10 Feb 15:49

    Real to lose Rhapsody

    Out, damned Spotify

    The new management at Real has lost little time in deciding what to do with Rhapsody, its well-regarded music service. It's getting shot of it. Real will spin it out to operate as a private company, and reduce its 51 per cent majority shareholding. Viacom owns the other 49 per cent via MTV. More details are expected in an …

    The Register 10 Feb 15:46

    Warner Music gives up on free streaming services

    Er, that's all folks

    Warner Music is to stop licensing its music to free streaming services. Streaming services like Spotify, last.fm and We7, which use adverts and subscriptions, were seen as a great way to wean freetards onto paid-for services. Edgar Bronfman Jr, chief executive at Warner Brothers, said: "Free streaming services are clearly not …

    The Register 10 Feb 15:21

    Toshiba tunes into TransferJet

    Near-field data-exchange tech coming to laptops

    Toshiba will bring Sony's TransferJet technology to its product range in the latter half of the year. The company today demo'd the near-field communications technology today, using it to transfer photos taken on a specially modified TG01 Windows Mobile smartphone to a similarly prototypical Qosmio laptop. TransferJet was …

    Reg Hardware 10 Feb 15:08

    NHS appraisal toolkit yanked offline

    This website is frail and weak

    The UK's Department of Health has taken the highly unusual step of suddenly taking a doctors' appraisal website offline for three weeks over concerns it was vulnerable to hacking attacks. The NHS Appraisal Toolkit was taken down on Tuesday (9 February) and is not expected to return until 3 March. The site provides an online …

    The Register 10 Feb 15:04

    Arab conned into marrying bearded lady

    Gets a nasty shock when missus lifts the veil

    A Dubai man whose fiancée kept her charms hidden under a niqab opted for a quick divorce after his first glimpse beneath the veil revealed she was cross-eyed and sported a beard. According to Gulf News, the unnamed "ambassador" never saw his intended's face on the few times they met, but was convinced all was well since the …

    The Register 10 Feb 14:27

    SONAS offering from IBM covers much ground

    Scale-Out NAS - again

    IBM has launched Scale-Out Network-Attached Storage (SONAS) from one of the far corners of its widespread storage empire - out of the (big) blue, you might say. News came via a tweet from an Ideas International analyst, Chris Ober: not your usual IBM product announcement method. There's an IBM web page here, but there's no …

    The Register 10 Feb 14:10

    BAA poo-poos Bollywood star's pervscan printout put-on

    Impossible, cry PRs

    BAA has been forced to deny that its security staff are circulating printouts of perv-scanned celebrities after a Bollywood comedian's late night riffing was taken at face value. Shahrukh Khan, currently touting his movie I am Khan, told Jonathan Ross that he had recently been scanty-scanned at Heathrow. He said that the …

    The Register 10 Feb 13:53

    Sony unwraps 3D Blu-ray player pair...

    ...which won't play 3D BDs until the summer

    Sony Europe today announced its intention to release 3D Blu-ray Disc players over here, though it was silent on two crucial details: when and how much they will cost. Sony took the wraps off the BDP-S470 at last month's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and today added the BDP-S570 to the line-up. They'll go on sale in the US …

    Reg Hardware 10 Feb 13:40

    Viking frogmen chase Street View spymobile

    Google enjoys a traditional Norwegian welcome

    Last weekend saw the launch of Google's privacy-busting Street View in Norway, and it didn't take long for locals to spot a traditional Viking welcome for the Great Satan of Mountain View's spymobile on the streets of Bergen: Luckily for the Google operative, he was able to outrun the belligerent, rubber-clad locals …

    The Register 10 Feb 13:19

    Toshiba commits to Freeview HD

    Updated DVR, TVs incoming

    Toshiba is preparing a Freeview HD set-top DVR. TVs with Freeview HD tuners are coming too. The HDR-5010 digital video recorder will contain a 500GB hard drive and a pair of tuners so you can record one channel while viewing another. Not that you'll be spoiled for channel choice on Freeview HD, of course, with just BBC HD and …

    Reg Hardware 10 Feb 12:56

    Play.com touts Nexus One with added price

    Turning grey into gold

    Customers who want a Nexus One but don't want to buy from Google can now pay an additional hundred and fifty quid to have one shipped through Play.com. The listing was spotted by Macworld, and prices the Nexus One at £599 when supplied by "mobilesNmore" though Play.com's marketplace. Anyone buying direct from Google can expect …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:50

    Apple bets on Mac-only photo land grab with Aperture 3

    Hopes to snare more professional snappers

    Apple launched Aperture 3 via its online store yesterday, following a brief self-imposed hiatus from the interwebs that led many to speculate that the Jobsian outfit might be announcing UK prices for the iPad. Sadly, for some at least, that didn’t come to pass. Nor did the company announce any fancy new Mac kit. Instead, …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:43

    India PayPal mess will take months to fix

    Cheers for letting us know

    PayPal India has used another blog post to update customers mystified as to why personal payments have been switched off. The payment service confirmed that the shutdown was because of questions over whether personal payments are remittances - payments from ex-pat Indian workers. The blog warned that personal payments would …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:22

    Cambridge Council denies iPad plan

    Little need for big iPhones

    Cambridge City Council has said press reports that it is planning to buy a batch of Apple iPads are incorrect. The council has issued a statement saying that the touchscreen computers, which were released by Apple in the US just last month, are not being considered as an option in its plan to reduce the volume of paper, …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:19

    Pioneer BDP-320 Blu-ray disc player

    Review No frills, quality AV performer

    Pioneer may be a well established name on the Blu-ray spinning circuit by now, but the company's deal with Sharp last year to pool their BD resources means that the BDP-320 is likely to be one of the last pure Pioneer Blu-ray players off the production line. End of an era: Pioneer's BDP-320 The BDP-320 sits in the lower …

    Reg Hardware 10 Feb 12:18

    Ladies face 'glass cliff' after breaking 'glass ceiling'

    Prof: Chaps only let women drive when disaster looms

    A trick-cyclist in Exeter says that women rising to high leaderships positions in business and politics - so having broken through the "glass ceiling" - are then faced by the additional menace of a "glass cliff". Dr Michelle Ryan and colleagues at Exeter Uni lay out their research in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:13

    ISA chairman assures nation: Your data is safe

    Comment Hasn't got any data, so hasn't lost any data

    Fears were growing this week over the safety of ultra-sensitive personal data, as the BBC - in the shape of Jeremy Vine - finally caught up with the new Independent Safeguarding Authority, and quizzed its chairman over their security procedures. On Monday night, Panorama took a close look at the new scheme that went live last …

    The Register 10 Feb 12:02

    5000 desktops and a virtualisation project

    Webcast Real world tales from a Reg reader

    If you’ve got ‘Virtualise Desktops’ on your to-do list for 2010, you might want to hold your horses a minute, because we’ve got something that might make that project a little more pleasant. On 18 Feb at 11am GMT we’ve got the project leads from a 5,000 strong desktop virtualisation project joining us in our studio. They come …

    The Register 10 Feb 11:47

    Activists unleash Operation Titstorm on Aussie.gov

    Critics slam DDoS attack as an enormous boob

    Cyberactivists have launched an distributed denial of service attack on Australian government servers, as part of a protest against proposed anti-porn and net censorship regulations. Operation Titstorm, launched on Wednesday, will also involve spam emails, junk faxes and prank phone calls. Spam emails will focus on small- …

    The Register 10 Feb 11:47

    Opera auditions for iPhone browser spot

    Much better for one-handed operation

    Opera Software will be demonstrating its eponymous browser on Apple's iPhone next week, but don't expect to see it popping up in iTunes any time soon. The announcement comes ahead of Mobile World Congress, the industry's annual shindig in Barcelona, where Opera Software will be demonstrating Opera Mini running on an iPhone to …

    The Register 10 Feb 11:25

    Seagate serves up 600GB Savvio 10K

    Three platters, Fibre Channel sets out enterprise stall

    Seagate has a fourth generation Savvio 2.5-inch drive boasting 600GB, three platters and both SAS and Fibre Channel interfaces. The Savvio 10K.4 is an enterprise drive for storage arrays that, like the preceding 10K.3, has a 6Gbit/s SAS interface, with dual-port communication. But it also has a 4GBit/s Fibre Channel one, a …

    The Register 10 Feb 11:14

    MTV Mexico pulls South Park episode

    Unauthorised flag-waving prompts auto-censorship

    MTV in Mexico pulled an episode of South Park on Monday night because it didn't have the necessary government permission to show the Mexican flag featured in the cartoon. According to the BBC, 'Pinewood Derby' provoked "keen interest" south of the border when it aired in the US in 2009. The episode has a Mexican president, …

    The Register 10 Feb 11:01

    Bumper Patch Tuesday tackles multiple Windows flaws

    Dirty baker's dozen

    Microsoft has released 13 bulletins, covering 26 vulnerabilities, as part of a bumper Patch Tuesday. All supported versions of Windows will need patching, though Vista and Win 7 (three critical updates) are less exposed than XP and Windows 2000 shops (five critical fixes). Three of the bulletins are particularly severe and …

    The Register 10 Feb 10:33

    Orange overshares in bcc blunder

    300 email addresses accidentally meet

    Orange accidentally shared the email addresses of more than 300 customers yesterday during a bid to find out what they think of the company. The email, passed on to us by several readers, suggests the recipient might like to reply with their thoughts about how customers keep in touch with the operator, along with any …

    The Register 10 Feb 10:29

    Microsoft genuinely chuffed as judge drops WGA case

    Advantage - Redmond

    Microsoft has claimed victory in a long-running lawsuit brought against the software giant over its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) scheme, after a US judge dismissed the case. Late last week the judge in the District Court for the Western District of Washington dropped the case with prejudice, which means both the defendant …

    Channel Register 10 Feb 10:26

    It's on: Micron is buying Numonyx

    He's bought everyone of us, NAND for everyone of us

    As NAND process geometries shrink, so too does the number of suppliers. That number is decreasing by another one as Micron agrees to buy Numonyx for $1.27bn in an all-stock deal. The deal has been speculated about for weeks as the two, in a flash parable of the talents, pursued their different courses. Micron has been getting …

    The Register 10 Feb 10:22

    China Mobile puts boot into NFC

    Orders three million competing chips

    China Mobile has placed an order for three million "RF SIM" devices, confirming that we won't be seeing NFC in China any time soon. Near Field Communications World reports that China Mobile has placed the order for RF SIM chips, which come from Directel and compete with the Nokia-backed Near Field Communications (NFC) standard …

    The Register 10 Feb 10:03

    Kaspersky defends false detection experiment

    Claws in copy cat dust-up

    Kaspersky Lab has defended its handling of a controversial experiment criticised by some as a marketing exercise of questionable technical value. The Russian anti-virus firm created 20 innocent executable files, adding fake malware detections for ten of the sample, before uploading the files to online online malware scanning …

    The Register 10 Feb 09:45

    Tech salaries up slightly

    Unless you include inflation...

    IT workers in the US can expect a slight pay rise this year - but not enough to offset inflation. After two years of job cuts it is unlikely anyone will complain - and front line staff look to have more chance of a rise than their bosses. The median raise is 1.8 per cent, while inflation for 2010 is expected to be 2.6 per cent …

    The Register 10 Feb 09:07

    Mandybill reaches milestone, teeth intact

    Radio haggling continues

    The Digital Economy Bill has reached the Report Stage in the Lords. It's survived intact, the Lords rejecting a clutch of last minute Google-friendly amendments. It may yet sprout more amendments before arriving in the Commons after a Third Reading. Proposals by Lord Lucas would have permitted any "search engine" to link to …

    The Register 10 Feb 09:02

    Morse ups profits on flat sales

    Not all bad

    Morse Group failed to grow revenue in the six months ended 31 December, but did manage a big jump in profits. Revenue was £107.6m versus £107.5m last year. But profit before tax was £4.1m compared to £2.2m in the second half of 2008. Ebitda was up 94 per cent to £4.6m. Morse made an operating profit of £4.1m against a £2.7m …

    Channel Register 10 Feb 08:51

    Boffins spy liquid water on Saturn's moon

    Enceladus is a hydrated mistress

    There's little doubt now that the Saturn moon Enceladus hides a vast, liquid ocean beneath its icy surface. Massive plumes of water vapor discovered by Cassini in 2005 sparked speculation of sub-surface liquid water within the tiny moon. Later, fly-bys found that the massive geysers - whose jet steams supply the material for …

    The Register 10 Feb 08:02

    Google stock shunned by China

    It's no Apple

    China has released its first public disclosure of its US stock investments, and there's one profitable, fast-growing company that's conspicuous by its absence: Google. The list of US companies in which the China Investment Corporation (CIC) holds stock totals 68, adds up to a cool $9.63bn, and is spread across a wide swath of …

    The Register 10 Feb 08:02

    DoH splurges £2.72m on Adwords

    No shortage of hospital bids

    The Department of Health has been promoting its online services through the use of the Google Adwords bidding systems. Health minister Phil Hope said that the department spent £2,720,457.11 between 1 February 2009 and 31 January 2010, running 21,939 active search terms on Google's Adwords service, through which users bid for …

    The Register 10 Feb 07:02

    Govt inserts battery take-back scheme

    Battery sellers must collect them

    Can't decide what to do with all those old batteries you've got lying around? Got a box full of them? Or have you simply been binning them as they've run out? Properly disposing of flat AAAs, AAs,Cs, Ds and 9Vs should now be a more easy process thanks to legislation which came into force this month. The new law, part of the …

    Reg Hardware 10 Feb 07:02

    USB hack connects Droid to printers, video cams, and more

    Any device Linux can tap...

    A reverse engineering expert has disclosed a way to make his Motorola Droid host USB-enabled devices, a hack that allows the smartphone for the first time to directly connect to printers, video cameras, TV tuners, and a wide variety of other peripherals. The modification was devised by Mike Kershaw from Kismet and Mike Baker …

    The Register 10 Feb 06:13

    Big Blue says Power7 will make world smarter

    It's not a chip. It's a system

    If you believe that putting sensors on all manner of infrastructure systems, gathering telemetry on them in real time, and automating how they perform to the nth degree will all make the world a better place, you're well suited to a job at IBM selling its vision of a Smarter Planet - and some Power7 servers. The top brass of …

    The Register 10 Feb 06:02

    Microsoft drops open-source birthday gift with FAST

    Lucidly imaginative?

    As birthdays go, it's not a bad present. Microsoft's decision to sacrifice FAST's Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) development on Linux and Unix for Windows potentially gives open-source search providers like Lucid Imagination a free pass. In announcing the news Monday, FAST chief technology officer Bjørn Olstad was clearly …

    The Register 10 Feb 06:02

    Webhost in five day server FAIL

    Updated HostV's virtual private servers go very private

    New York-based webhost HostV - a division of Cirtex - is five days into an infrastructure outage that has left an untold number of customer websites completely inaccessible. London-based Register reader Alan Ayoub says the outage has brought down 10 of his sites, and many others are complaining of downed sites in the HostV …

    The Register 10 Feb 01:03

    Open sourcers pump Eucalyptus clouds with data

    Terracotta caches in

    Eucalyptus Systems - the operation offering an open source platform meant to mimic Amazon EC2 inside private data centers - has partnered with fellow open-sourcer Terracotta to help customers upload and then access their data in private clouds. On Tuesday, the two companies promised tighter integration between Terracotta's …

    The Register 10 Feb 00:56

  2. Tuesday, 09 February 2010

    Hitachi inks Xsigo pact for server I/O virt

    Be like Dell

    Xsigo Systems, which peddles an in-band I/O virtualization appliance for servers and their storage and networks, has inked a partnership deal with Japanese server and storage maker Hitachi. Hitachi is looking for some kind of leverage for pushing its storage and servers, and Xsigo's VP780 I/O Director helps fill in some gaps …

    The Register 9 Feb 22:54

    IBM chills sealed data center with outside air

    Ambient air water tank cooling

    If you want to be a player in cloud computing, you have to build data centers. Server maker IBM probably thinks it will sell a lot more internal cloud than external cloud, but it realized that customers will want a mix of public and hosted cloud infrastructure to run their workloads. Hence, IBM has shelled out $362m to build a …

    The Register 9 Feb 22:21

    Feds say dev's 'cookie-stuffer' app fleeced eBay

    'Saucekit' milked referral program

    A Las Vegas web developer has been charged with fleecing eBay out of tens of thousands of dollars by selling a program that planted fraudulent web cookies on the PCs of people visiting the online auctioneer. Dubbed saucekit, the program deposited a cookie on end users' hard drives that contained a unique code identifying …

    The Register 9 Feb 22:05

    IBM gives birth to 'wire-speed' processor

    ISSCC Neither server fish nor network fowl

    IBM has introduced a new chip design that sits somewhere between a network processor and server processor. Dubbed the Wire-Speed Power Processor, the chip is aimed at what IBM calls "new, evolving markets in the system industry." Applications include edge-of-network processing, intelligent I/O for servers and network attached …

    The Register 9 Feb 21:17

    Google Buzz - Gmail mod for the Tweetbook set

    Looking for relevance in Web2.0rhea

    Google has updated Gmail with a "social networking" add-on dubbed Google Buzz, a tool for sharing personal info with others à la Facebook and Twitter. The company has also introduced a mobile version at buzz.google.com - available on the iPhone and Google's own Android platform - and it provides hooks into service from the …

    The Register 9 Feb 21:11

    Cisco and Juniper armed for wireless showdown

    The Falcon has (kinda) landed

    The industry's two largest network vendors will be dueling on wireless with competing wares on display at the Mobile World Congress in Spain next week. Juniper Networks will demonstrate some fruits of its Project Falcon mobile push announced in late 2009, while Cisco will burn its brand on a 4G LTE gateway obtained from its $2 …

    The Register 9 Feb 20:25

    Upstart crimeware wages turf war on mighty Zeus bot

    All your bots belong to us

    Purveyors of a new botnet toolkit are touting a feature aimed at aspiring cybercriminals: the opportunity to commandeer computers already compromised by an established crimeware package known as Zeus. The SpyEye toolkit made its debut in December on Russian underground forums with a retail price of $500. It comes with usual …

    The Register 9 Feb 19:48

    Riverbed WAN optimizers get SSDs, 10 GE

    3X throughput, 2X connections

    WAN optimization appliance maker Riverbed Technology has taken the wraps off its Steelhead 7050 boxes, which sport the first solid state disks used in such an appliance as well as 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports on the data center side and over 1 Gb/sec of WAN bandwidth on the wide side. The Steelhead 7050s come in two flavors. Both …

    The Register 9 Feb 19:46

    PayPal suspends India service

    Why? Mind your own business

    PayPal, eBay's payment system, has suspended all payments to personal accounts in India. In fact the online payment service took the action on Saturday, but its UK arm still doesn't know how long the suspension is likely to last. A blog post says personal payments and transfers to Indian banks have been suspended "while we …

    The Register 9 Feb 16:16

    Nasuni provides cloud-based filer

    Just add storage

    Startup Nasuni says it has cracked the problem of storing files directly in the cloud with a software virtual NAS appliance. The Nasuni filer is software that provides a CIFS and NFS gateway interface to files stored in the cloud and looks like a regular network-attached storage (NAS) filer to applications and servers. It …

    The Register 9 Feb 16:15

    Avatar whups Confucius's sorry ass

    Eastern philosophy no match for 3-D wizardry

    Sci-fi epic Avatar has administered a righteous kicking at the Chinese box office to a locally-produced film about the life of Confucius - despite the authorities' reported attempt to ensure the home-grown product's success. Historical drama Confucius has taken a mere 97 million yuan ($14m) since its release on 22 January, and …

    The Register 9 Feb 16:12

    Buster's World gives Guardian Professional balloon-sized headache

    Supplier coughs to DirectgovKids porno branding blunder

    The website supplier responsible for the DirectgovKids porno brand name gaffe that we first reported late last week has admitted it failed to spot the clanger when searching for the name via Google. Guardian Professional, which currently supplies the DirectgovKids site and its content, created an unfortunate brand name - …

    The Register 9 Feb 15:55

    Canadian cops taser 'naked and agitated' man

    Baton, dog and pepper spray fail to do the trick

    Cops in Victoria, British Columbia, were obliged to taser a "naked and extremely agitated" man after a baton, a dog and pepper spray failed to subdue the belligerent perp. Police responded to a call on Saturday night reporting a male in his 20s "yelling at a woman trying to park her car in her driveway", the Victoria Times …

    The Register 9 Feb 15:40

    PureDepth grabs no-specs 3D OLED tech

    Looking beyond the active-shutter era

    PureDepth, a US company that holds a stack of intellectual property covering multi-layer displays, has added the use of OLED technology to its roster of patents. The company this week said it has acquired - how much for, it didn't say - US patent 6,720,961, which details how two or more OLED panels can be placed one on top of …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 15:39

    YouTube use makes up 10% of mobile data

    FTP heading the same way as GOPHER

    Analysis of mobile traffic during the second half of 2009 shows YouTube accounting for a tenth of all data consumed on the move, but P2P is still clogging cells. Analysis from Allot Communications, providers of network optimisation for operators, shows that streaming over HTTP is the application of choice for today's mobile …

    The Register 9 Feb 15:14

    Labour Party told to stop spam-calls

    While Tory MP hunts for missing emails

    The Information Commissioner's Office has told the Labour Party to stop using automated telephone diallers to contact people without their permission. In 2007 the party used a recorded message from Corrie's Vera Duckworth - or rather Liz Dawn, the actress who played her - to rally voters for the elections. The ICO received …

    The Register 9 Feb 14:40

    Street View spymobile snowmobile prowls Winter Olympics

    All-seeing eye takes to the pistes

    Google has unveiled some fetching views of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics sites, courtesy of a snowmobile equipped with Street View's all-seeing eye. The games kick off on Friday, but those of you who prefer to experience snow from the comfort of your PC can enjoy the sights including the snowmobile's sinister shadow …

    The Register 9 Feb 14:35

    Mobile games developers shift to iPhone

    Not good news for PSP or DS

    More games developers are working on content for mobile phones - and a big majority are targeting the iPhone. There are twice as many developers working on iPhone games as there are creators of titles for the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. So says market watcher Game Developer Research, an off-shoot of Games Developer magazine …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 14:07

    Nvidia launches dual-GPU tech for notebooks

    Hybrid graphics done properly

    Nvidia reckons it has finally cracked the problem of smoothly swapping between graphics chips in notebooks that have more than one GPU. Today, it launched its solution, which it has branded Optimus. Now, we're not talking two or more GPUs configured in SLI mode for greater graphics performance. Optimus addresses the use of a …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 14:02

    Global gov's shrugging lets cybercrims frolic

    Comment Sex and drugs and Rickrolling in Madrid

    Someone will have to die before governments take cybercrime as seriously as they take digital piracy, a panel on cybercrime and internet security was told last week. US-based investigative journalists met local industry representatives for a debate in Madrid last Thursday evening. Brian Krebs, investigative journalist and …

    The Register 9 Feb 13:56

    Cultists aquiver as Applestore goes into hibernation

    Rumour mill grinds out video iPad, 'taller' iPhone

    The Applestore went dead this morning, sending Mac cultists into a frenzy of speculation over what goodies Saint Steve might shower upon them later today. The store's petit mort came as just ahead of the opening of Macworld 2010 in San Francisco - not that Steve or anyone else from Apple plans to make an appearance there this …

    The Register 9 Feb 13:31

    Iranian net slows to a crawl before planned protests

    Shipping tests immoral fibre

    Iranian authorities have blamed fibre-optic network damage for a convenient slow-down in net connection speeds in the country this week. The slow-down comes suspiciously close to planned opposition demos, timed to coincide with the 11 February anniversary of the Iranian revolution. Opposition groups, supported by many in the …

    The Register 9 Feb 13:27

    Gmail to get realtime with Web2.0rhea makeover?

    Plans to turn email service into Twitter, Facebook wannabe

    Google is reportedly readying social networking features for Gmail in an effort to imitate Web2.0rhea vanguards Facebook and Twitter. Pushing aside Google Wave, which Mountain View is apparently beavering away at separately, the firm plans to slot a stream of status updates from online chums directly into Gmail. According to …

    The Register 9 Feb 13:26

    Battlefield skyhook robocopter 'passes US Marines' test'

    Intermesh droidchopper can deliver supplies hands-off

    The deadline for makers to bring forward unmanned skyhook robocopters - intended to move battlefield supplies in Afghanistan as soon as this year - is upon us, and one team at least is claiming a successful demonstration. Now available without that heavy, expensive, moaning pilot US defence colossus Lockheed, teamed with …

    The Register 9 Feb 13:24

    Jedi chapter seeks leader after master resigns

    Surrey feels a great disturbance in the force

    Surrey's nascent Jedi community is looking for a new leader after the incumbent, Master Ajac, was forced to step down for health reasons. The Surrey Advertiser reports that the 25 strong group is looking for someone with "a background in martial arts and a deep understanding of the teachings of the Jedi, the religion featured …

    The Register 9 Feb 12:27

    Touchscreens take lead in smartphone biz

    Bumper year for finger-friendly phones

    The world's smartphone makers shipped more touchscreen models in Q4 2009 than at any time in the past - and more touchphones than devices with buttons. During the quarter, 55 per cent of all smartphones shipped had touchscreens. That's just under 30m touchscreen handsets altogether, market watcher Canalys said today. …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 12:22

    Samsung Omnia Pro

    Review For business and pleasure?

    Samsung clearly has high hopes for its latest round of Windows Mobile-powered Omnia smartphones. The Omnia II was a significant improvement over last year's original, due in no small part to Windows Mobile 6.5, which offers a big leap in usability over previous editions of WinMo. The Omnia Pro maintains a high level of …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 12:16

    iPad launch raises awareness, boosts disinterest

    Not a must-have, but still a shift-loads

    A follow-up survey from Retrevo has found that while a lot more people have heard of the iPad since the launch, fewer of those people are planning to buy one. Just prior to the launch of the iPad Retrevo randomly asked a thousand of its users if they'd heard of Apple's new tablet thing, and if they thought they'd be buying one …

    The Register 9 Feb 12:14

    Server virtualisation beyond the x86 environment

    Lab Is the virtual life outside of x86?

    Register readers have told us (pdf) that the virtualisation of significant portions of your x86 server estates are major project areas in which you plan to invest both money and, much more importantly, your time. This is all well and good, but as everyone in IT understands, x86 servers are not the only platforms in town. So …

    The Register 9 Feb 12:11

    LG preps 'smallest, thinnest' touchphone

    Mini very pocketable, apparently

    LG made a big deal last year about how small its Pop touchphone is despite featuring a 3in display. Now it's trying again. It has announced the Mini, a similarly svelte device but this time boast a 3.2in, 16:9 aspect ratio screen. LG's Mini: 3.2in, 16:9 touchscreen to the fore The Mini - aka the GD880 - is the "the smallest …

    Reg Hardware 9 Feb 11:53

    Safer Internet Day fights online foolhardiness

    Kids get CEOP IE - rest of you can look after yourselves

    Young surfers are being encouraged to practise safe computing and use common sense online on Safer Internet Day today. Safer Internet Day is a worldwide user education initiative designed to "promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people". The …

    The Register 9 Feb 11:50

    SAP serenely promises to be less bad

    You know all that stuff we did? We won't do that again

    German software giant SAP has promised to be less bad under its new leadership after losing its chief executive on Sunday. SAP's chairman Hasso Plattner admitted the company had made mistakes, especially in ramping up maintenance fees. The rises started in 2008, for new customers, despite user anger and the company failing to …

    The Register 9 Feb 11:44

    Mozilla becomes latest to dump Mac OS X 10.4 support

    Tiger, tiger, losing fight

    Mozilla will ditch support for Apple’s aged Mac OSX 10.4 - AKA Tiger - when it releases the next version of its Gecko rendering engine. The open source browser maker plans to push out Gecko 1.9.3 later this year, and at the same time support for Tiger will be dropped altogether, even though the Mozilla Foundation estimates …

    The Register 9 Feb 11:29

    Tories will force BT to open up ducts to rivals

    BT already prepping for broadband colonoscopy

    The Tories continued their 21st Century bread and circuses election campaign yesterday, pledging once again to jack-up broadband speeds in the UK. This time, Jeremy Hunt, the party's culture spokesman, told the FT that a Tory government would force BT to open its cable ducts to rivals to speed the rollout of new networks - a …

    The Register 9 Feb 11:20

    Google forced to use humans to support Nexus One

    Cuts get out fee for T-Mobile contract too

    Google has opened up a US support number that will be answered by a human being, as well as tweaking the small print to make its mobile phone more attractive. Not that Mountain View will be providing technical support as such, only enquiries into the ordering and shipping process will be dealt with by Google - everything else …

    The Register 9 Feb 10:53

    Heathrow 777 crash: Ice to blame

    Final AAIB report confirms earlier fuel feed conclusion

    The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has released its final report into the 17 January 2008 crash-landing of a Boeing 777 at London's Heathrow, confirming its earlier interim conclusion that ice in the fuel feed system caused the incident. BA038 (G-YMMM), flying in after a routine flight from Beijing, suffered reduced …

    The Register 9 Feb 10:42

    IPS's double IT has risks, says commissioner

    Doing a good job nevertheless, he controversially adds

    Identity commissioner Sir Joseph Pilling has expressed concerns about the Identity and Passport Service's two-stage approach to its core technology. "The IPS have gone for what they call a tactical and a strategic solution to the IT demands of running an ID scheme in this country," he told the Security Document World …

    The Register 9 Feb 10:09

    China jails porn-monger

    Crackdown continues

    China's aggressive crackdown on internet smut and dissent continues - yesterday a man was sentenced to 13 years prison for renting a US server for distributing pornographic material Huang Yizhong, from Jiangmen, was fined 100,000 yuan (£9,400) and sentenced to 13 years for copying and distributing pornographic material. He …

    The Register 9 Feb 09:17

    New cig peril: Third-hand smoke coats puffers in poison

    Deadly 'electronic gaspers' fingered, too

    US federal boffins in Berkeley, California say they have discovered yet another deadly hazard associated with smoking. They also raise warnings regarding the perils associated with electronic cigarettes. The dangers of actually smoking a cigarette, and those from breathing a smoker's "second hand" smoke were well-known: but …

    The Register 9 Feb 08:42

    Shopping sites boost customer savvy

    And improve legal compliance, says OFT

    Internet shoppers are more aware of their rights and more online retailers are complying with consumer protection laws than previously, according to studies by consumer protection regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT has carried out a survey of online shoppers and a study of online retail sites in a follow up to …

    The Register 9 Feb 08:02

    Intel's 'Tukwila' Itaniums - hot n' pricey

    Analysis How much for an upgrade?

    As El Reg duly reported earlier today, Intel took the wraps off its long awaited and many times tweaked "Tukwila" quad-core Itanium 9300 processors for midrange and high-end servers. But let's take a look at the feeds and speeds of the chip itself and how the lineup compared to the prior Itanium 9100 series. There are five …

    The Register 9 Feb 08:02

    OpenOffice is the new David Hasselhoff

    Big in Germany. Not so big in Blighty

    A new study from German web analytics firm Webmasterpro.de shows that adoption rates of open source productivity software suites swings wildly between different countries. According to the study, over 20 per cent of Germans, Czechs, and Poles run OpenOffice or other open-source productivity suites, while the UK and US lag …

    The Register 9 Feb 07:02

    Delayed Visual Studio 2010 RC due this week

    Trimmer fit

    The delayed next edition of Microsoft's Visual Studio is due as a release candidate by the end of this week. The release of Visual Studio 2010 was announced on the Visual Studio Lab Management team blog here, with the news the Lab Management RC would also be available later this week. According to the blog: "We have taken a …

    The Register 9 Feb 07:02

    AMD talks energy with 'Llano' cores

    Ceepie-geepie cold Fusion

    While Intel is talking up its "Westmere" CPUs and their graphics co-processing, which puts a 45 nanometer graphics chip and memory controller inside the same chip package as a two-core Core processor implemented using 32 nanometer processes, rival AMD wants to change the subject to a truly integrated, single-chip CPU/GPU …

    The Register 9 Feb 06:02

    Sun's cloud and gaming execs leave Oracle

    Kenai reprieved

    Oracle's chief Larry Ellison recently promised he'll be hiring more staff than he'll be letting go from Sun Microsystems. But he is letting Sun staff go, and now that the Sunacle deal has closed, it's becoming clear just where Oracle's priorities lie. Among the departed is chief technology officer for Sun's relatively new …

    The Register 9 Feb 05:45

    Ex-Intel exec pleads guilty to insider trading

    Admits outing Intel earnings, WiMAX plans

    Former Intel executive Rajiv Goel has pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy and securities fraud in connection with the Galleon insider trading case. Goel is the tenth person to plead guilty in the case, which the FBI and the US attorney's office in Manhattan call the largest hedge fund inside trading case in US history …

    The Register 9 Feb 00:35

    Adobe apologizes for festering Flash crash bug

    16 months...and counting

    An Adobe product manager has apologized for allowing a potentially serious bug in Flash Player to remain unfixed for more than 16 months. The admission, by Emmy Huang, product manager for Flash, came a week after Apple CEO Steve Jobs lambasted Adobe engineers as "lazy" and said when Macs crash, "more often than not it’s because …

    The Register 9 Feb 00:33

    Conficker outbreak infects Leeds hospital servers

    Updated Sicko

    Servers on the network of NHS Leeds were struck down by the Conficker worm late last week. The malware infection struck on Friday and forced administrators to take a handful of infected servers offline, in phases, in order to apply deworming tools. Trust PCs were not infected by the attack, which a leaked memo (extract below) …

    The Register 9 Feb 00:25

  3. Monday, 08 February 2010

    Intel 'Tukwila' born after long and painful labor

    Blame it on marketing

    Intel officially unveiled its long-delayed Tukwila "mission-critical" server processor today - now dubbed the Itanium 9300 series - providing a few more details about the 2-billion transistor part and giving some color on why it was over three years late. Made in conjunction with this week's International Solid-State Circuits …

    The Register 8 Feb 23:05

    SourceForge reverses ban on US foes

    U-turn on 'blanket blocking'

    Open Source code repository SourceForge.net has pulled a U-turn on a widely unpopular decision to ban users from accessing its website from countries under US trade restrictions. In a blog post Sunday, SourceForge announced that it has instead handed over responsibility of navigating international trade laws to individual …

    The Register 8 Feb 22:42

    Oracle issues emergency security patch for WebLogic

    'Full disclosure' yields results

    Oracle issued an emergency patch for its WebLogic Server almost two weeks after a white-hat hacker disclosed a vulnerability that allows criminals to remotely execute commands on the webserver with no authentication necessary. The vulnerability in the Node Manager component of Oracle WebLogic Server can be exploited by …

    The Register 8 Feb 22:38

    Microsoft tests show no Win 7 battery flaw

    Replace battery warnings correct, says Redmond

    Microsoft says that extensive testing and conversations with OEMs indicate that Windows 7 is handling notebook batteries exactly as intended - despite user claims that upgrades to the new OS have caused significant degradation to battery life. As we reported in late January, various laptop owners - including a string of …

    The Register 8 Feb 22:00

    Microsoft kills FAST's Linux and Unix search biz

    Values your business on Windows

    Customers of FAST's Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) on Linux or Unix better develop a taste for Windows or look elsewhere for their enterprise search. Microsoft- which bought FAST in 2008 - has announced it will stop development of FAST's ESP core on Linux and Unix after the release of Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 later …

    The Register 8 Feb 20:22

    Linus Torvalds doesn't hate the Googlephone

    I like your fork!

    Linus Torvalds hates cell phones. But that doesn't include the Googlephone. The Linux founder "broke down" last week and bought a Google Nexus One, and despite his enduring cell phone hatred, he calls it "a winner." In a weekend blog post, Linus tells the world that cell phones are "irritating" and that they "disturb you as …

    The Register 8 Feb 18:57

    Sweden to prosecute alleged Cisco, NASA hacker

    Stakkato's abrupt transfer

    The prosecution of a Swedish man charged with breaching the computer networks of NASA and Cisco Systems and making off with sensitive source code will be transferred to Swedish authorities, US federal prosecutors said Monday. Philip Gabriel Pettersson, aka "Stakkato," was indicted last May and accused of hacking into Cisco and …

    The Register 8 Feb 18:50

    Google (Voice) solves universal translation soonish

    Babel fishing for compliments

    Google has managed to get some decent press by announcing that, in a few years, it might be able to translate speech - something iPhone owners can already do. The Times picked up the story, and breathlessly reports that such a development could "transform communications among speakers of the world's 6,000-plus languages" - …

    The Register 8 Feb 16:56

    Canon intros entry-level DSLR

    EOS 550D debuts with features a-plenty

    Canon has introduced its latest EOS digital SLR, describing the 550D as a consumer-oriented camera packed with semi-pro features. Top of the list is an 18Mp APS-C sensor. It also has a nine-point autofocus system with one extra-sensitive cross–type point at the centre for f/2.8 or faster lenses, Canon said. It'll shoot …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 16:54

    Dell snaps up crashed Exanet

    Update How to turn $70m into $12m

    Dell is buying failed clustered filer supplier Exanet for $12m. Exanet slid into bankruptcy last month. At the time, Dell was rumoured to be interested in buying it. That deal is now being done and if it completes Dell will gain intellectual property and possibly a research and development centre in Israel. A Dell statement …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 16:24

    iPhone OS 3.1.3 unlock app posted

    Dev Team tool tweaked

    Owners of unlocked iPhones who want to upgrade to the recently released OS 3.1.3 and want to retain the ability to use whatever Sim meets their needs can now do so. The iPhone Dev Team have released a suitable version of its PwnageTool utility. The Team cautioned against updating. The iPhone OS update is claimed to improve the …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 16:23

    Cheeky French hackers hijack Tata website

    Now you see it, maintenant... non

    Top flight outsourcing firm Tata Consulting Services appeared to have lost control of its website to hackers today, with the domain apparently being touted for sale. The Washington Post reported that the site had fallen prey to a DNS hijack over the weekend. A report in Times of India this morning said that hackers had …

    The Register 8 Feb 16:03

    Phoenix recovers barbecued data in Europe

    Firey databird has new nest, but is it er, cheep?

    European data centres can recover data from data centres blown to smithereens by using Axxana's near-bomb proof Phoenix data recovery system MTI is now marketing Axxana's Phoenix RP hardened enterprise data recorder in Europe, but not the middle East and Africa. The story is that, even if a passenger jet flies into a data …

    The Register 8 Feb 15:58

    LG eyes golden age of telly with retro CRT set

    Valve Doonican

    It's the telly Mad Men and Avengers fans will surely be craving: a 14in telly kitted out in true 1960s style. Yes, it's LG's Serie 1 14in TV, complete with telescopic set-top aerials, legs, and knobs for turning it on and changing channels. It has a 4:3 aspect ratio. You can set it to present programmes in colour, black and …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 15:45

    El Reg reader assembles own iPad

    Click here for an iFul of low-cost DIY project

    The fanbois out there whose lives have become a meaningless succession of days to be crossed off the calendar until the release of Apple's paradigm-busting iPad will be delighted to learn that they can fill the void by assembling their very own future of computing. And here's the proof, courtesy of visibly-fulfilled reader …

    The Register 8 Feb 15:25

    Half a million PCs can access Schengen's 'secure' database

    Big network, big danger

    The number of computers with access to the Schengen Information System has doubled to 500,000 thanks to the extension of the EU. SIS is a shared information system used by police and border guards across Europe. Although the UK and Ireland declined to sign up fully, they still use the system. The figure of 500,000 computers …

    The Register 8 Feb 14:46

    Vodafone tosses out idiot tweeter

    No more beavering for you

    Vodafone's Twitter-based stupidity on Friday was down to an unguarded terminal, it transpires, and the employee concerned is now kicking his heels at home. The tweet in question emanated from Vodafone UK's Stoke-based web team, but it wasn't one of that team who claimed to be "fed up of dirty homo's, going after some beaver". …

    The Register 8 Feb 14:33

    Eidos confirms Championship Manager Online shutdown

    Season's end

    Publisher Eidos has confirmed that it has ordered the closure of Championship Manager Online, the web-based version of the long-running popular fantasy football franchise. “We can confirm that CM Online, a joint initiative with Jadestone in Sweden, will be closing from 30 April 2010," the company said in a statement today. …

    The Register 8 Feb 14:11

    Online Kiwis maybe feeling Oz censor trickledown

    People of Walmart now counts as filth, apparently

    Australia’s drive to protect its own population from the horrors of the internet may be starting to have knock-on effects on the surfing habits of its neighbour, New Zealand - some websites are no longer accessible in NZ via Aussie ISPs. A Reg reader wrote to tell us: "NZ surfers being routed via Optus routers in Oz have been …

    The Register 8 Feb 13:55

    Archos posts 'full' Linux distro for Android tablet

    Developers only, please

    Media player maker Archos has posted a full Linux distro that will run on its Archos 5 machine. The 5 ships with Android as standard, but open sourcerers can download a special, emebedded build of Angstrom Linux and use it to replace the Google OS. Angstrom on Archos However, Archos said this is "special developer edition …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 13:43

    Bishop Hill: Gonzo science and the Hockey Stick

    Interview Torturing the climate numbers until they confess

    In 2001 the IPCC published its Third Assessment report prominently featuring a graph that became "the logo of global warming". Previous historical reconstructions didn't show our modern warm climate as particularly anomalous. This was very different, and was hailed as a "call to action". Yet Michael Mann's studies were deeply …

    The Register 8 Feb 13:25

    BAE broke bribery pledge, faked US arms-export applications

    'We will become as righteous as we are good value'(!)

    Further details have emerged regarding the US Department of Justice case against UK-headquartered arms globocorp BAE Systems. The feds - without argument from BAE - say that the company engaged in a "conspiracy" to violate several US laws in recent years. In particular, the Justice department alleges that BAE broke a promise …

    The Register 8 Feb 13:07

    FBI calls for two year retention for ISP data

    Origin and destination if you please sir

    FBI director Robert Mueller is still keen to get US internet service providers to keep their customers' web logs for up to two years. What is not clear is whether the director is talking about which websites are visited or the specific URL - which would require deep packet inspection and probably break US wiretap laws. Greg …

    The Register 8 Feb 12:37

    US gives Chinese man 2.5 years over fake Cisco kit

    Cisco no-no

    A Chinese man has been sentenced to a two and half year stretch in California for flogging counterfeit Cisco parts in the US. Yongcai Li will also have to repay $800,000 to Cisco Systems, for selling the kit, which carried fake Cisco trademarks. He had shipped the kit into the US in 2005 and 2006, prosecutors said. The US …

    Channel Register 8 Feb 12:24

    Asus Eee PC 1005PE

    Review Intel's freshest Atom comes to netbooks

    Intel launched its latest generation of netbook-centric Atom processors right at the end of 2009. While the following weeks saw plenty of announcements heralding new machines based on the chips, those PCs have only now started to arrive on shop shelves. Asus is, of course, the genuine pioneer of the netbook arena, launching …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 12:02

    Samsung preps Wacko Jacko movie hard drive

    Film pre-loaded on HDD

    Wacko Jacko fans, Samsung has the external hard drive for you. In just two weeks' time, the South Korean giant will release a 500GB 2.5in drive - the S2 Portable - pre-loaded with the Jackson film This is it. Gold coloured, the drive's top is styled with the star's sillhouette. Samsung's Jacko Drive: yes, this is it The …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 12:00

    Mandybill is mostly harmless, says MP watchdog

    But wants more detail

    A committee of MPs has surprisingly said that copyright infringement penalties for internet users proposed in the Digital Economy are justifiable. However, it wants the Government to explain them better, and publish more detail - particularly on the threshold for suspending the accounts of serial infringers. To the likely …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:50

    Leaky anti-virus defences letting malware through

    Spanky new scanners no longer cutting it

    Even users running up-to-date anti-virus software still get infected with malware, according to stats from an online malware scanning service. Nearly a third (25,000 out of 78,800) of computers with up-to-date anti-virus software were discovered to be infected with malicious code when users scanned their PC using SurfRight's …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:44

    US scientists get free cloud on-ramp

    Microsoft and NSF plugging Azure

    Microsoft and the US National Science Foundation have announced an agreement that will provide free access to cloud computing resources for select NSF-funded researchers for the next three years. This was discussed by Microsoft's corporate VP for tech strategy and policy, Dan Reed, in a blog. Instead of buying supercomputers …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:42

    Sony to demo 'world's first' in-box wireless tech

    Component shall speak unto component

    Sony has developed a wireless communications technology designed to replace the cabling within gadgets rather than connections between devices. The technology operates within the 30-300GHz band. It's called the 'millimetre wave' zone, thanks to a wavelength of 1-10mm, but it's the frequency that matters since it's high enough …

    Reg Hardware 8 Feb 11:42

    Gov tempts young London onto ID database with booze, 'games'

    Doesn't sound at all dodgy, does it

    London's yoof can now follow in the footsteps of their Mancunian counterparts and sign up for the government's ID card scheme. Youngsters between the ages of 16 and 24 are being tempted into the scheme - and therefore onto the National Identity Register - with the prospect of being able to buy "alcohol, computer games and DVDs …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:27

    Cloud firm wafts out white label ERP for small biz

    Seven years work for £30 a head

    Salesorder.com is offering a white label version of its online ERP software for resellers to sell on to their customers. UK operations director Nick Spooner told us the software came about when he was running a small business and looking for a cloud ERP product. Spooner said: "NetSuite wanted £30,000 and I couldn't find the …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:25

    French poised to seize Port of Dover

    'Outrage' over privatisation plan

    A plan to privatise the government-owned Port of Dover has provoked "outrage", not least because the French are front-runners to take control of the facility. According to the Daily Mail, the port needs money to fund an expansion plan, and selling it off could net £350m for our cash-strapped government. The harbour board …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:16

    MySQL handler Jacobs walks out on Oracle

    It's a terrific place to work - just not for me

    Oracle's open source strategy was looking a little fenced in this morning, after the database giant lost one of its most prominent voices and OpenOffice was snubbed by Ubuntu developers. Ken Jacobs resigned from Oracle late last week, according to reports. Jacobs was vice president of product strategy in Oracle's server …

    The Register 8 Feb 11:15

    China stomps cybercrook training outfit

    Black Hawk taken down

    Chinese authorities have closed down a firm that allegedly trained hackers to develop spyware and launch cyberattacks. Police in the central Chinese province of Hubei province arrested three people when they closed down Black Hawk Safety Net, described by the official Xinhua news agency as running the country's biggest hacker …

    The Register 8 Feb 10:32

    Drink beer not fizzy pop for pity's sake, say boffins

    Just two+ cans of soft drink a week = DEATH

    Splendid news on the health front this week, as it has emerged that drinking beer is good for you - and that soft drinks will kill you. First up the beer research, carried out by researchers in California. It seems that the nutritious, health-giving stuff is actually a key source of silicon in the diet, which (it turns out) is …

    The Register 8 Feb 10:19

    Wales auditor arrested over indecent images allegations

    Quit job last week

    Jeremy Colman, the ex-Auditor General for Wales, has been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images. Colman quit his £170,000 a year job last week "following an internal review around matters of personal conduct". Reports suggested IT staff had found pornographic material on his laptop. South Wales Police told the …

    The Register 8 Feb 10:02

    State officials seize InPhase assets in lieu of taxes

    The lights are out - and for sale

    In a final emphatic demonstration that the money has run out, holographic storage developer InPhase's premises have been seized for non-payment of taxes by the Colorado Department of Revenue. According to local reports, the state has changed the locks on the doors and announced that everything owned by InPhase, including …

    The Register 8 Feb 09:57

    Endeavour en route to ISS

    'Brilliant nighttime liftoff'

    Endeavour is en route to the ISS following a 'brilliant nighttime liftoff' from the Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle finally got off the the ground at 09:14 GMT after a scrubbed launch yesterday. The 13-day STS-130 mission will deliver the US's Tranquility node and seven-windowed cupola to the International Space Station. …

    The Register 8 Feb 09:39

    Surprise departure for SAP boss

    Nothing hurts like "Mutual agreement"

    The chief executive of SAP Leo Apotheker is leaving the top job, and the company board, after less than a year in the job. Apotheker has worked at SAP since 1988 when he joined as boss of SAP France. He was joint-CEO of the backoffice software group from April 2008 to May 2009, in order to ensure a smooth takeover from his …

    The Register 8 Feb 09:02

    Microscope-wielding boffins crack cordless phone crypto

    DECT vivisection

    Cryptographers have broken the proprietary encryption used to prevent eavesdropping on more than 800 million cordless phones worldwide, demonstrating once again the risks of relying on obscure technologies to remain secure. The attack is the first to crack the cipher at the heart of the DECT, or Digital Enhanced Cordless …

    The Register 8 Feb 08:03

    Promise pops up in UK with Drobo-ish box

    Empty 4-bay NAS product with Appley flavour

    Promise Technology is setting out its stall in the UK with a product line that includes a Drobo-lookalike, the NS4600, which like the Drobo offers media serving functionality. Both boxes are curved edge black rectangles, with four empty drive bays, FireWire and USB connectivity, and can be upgraded with new disk drives as …

    The Register 8 Feb 08:02

    Power7 v Power6 - it's all about the cache

    Double the thread count

    IBM is launching the first of its Power7-based systems today, and the company thinks that the innovations inside the Power7 processor are going to give it a leg-up on the competition in terms of capacity, throughput, and energy-efficiency. But how do those Power7 processors stack up to the existing Power6 and Power6+ processors …

    The Register 8 Feb 08:02

    Pupil database claimed to be breach-free

    No leaks here, says DCSF

    A government minister has claimed a clean record on security breaches for the National Pupil Database. Baroness Morgan, under-secretary of state at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, said the stringent security procedures around the database have prevented any breaches since it was set up in 2002. Access is …

    The Register 8 Feb 07:02

    Power7 - Big Blue eye on UNIX

    Four server preemptive launch

    The scuttlebutt is that IBM seemed perfectly content to wait until May to launch the Power7-based Power Systems servers, but something changed and compelled the company to move up the announcement of its first machines using the eight-core processor to today. Big Blue is not in a habit of explaining its motives or its timing for …

    The Register 8 Feb 05:02

    Google doppelgänger casts riddle over interwebs

    Updated Why is Google routing the world through 'Googol'?

    Update: This story has been updated with comments from Google open source guru Chris DiBona and it has been revised accordingly. Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats from the site watchers at …

    The Register 8 Feb 05:02

    Netezza taps NEC for data warehouse kit

    But still loves IBM

    Data warehouse appliance maker Netezza - which will be coming under pressure Oracle and IBM, who want a bigger slice of the data analytics hardware and software business - has inked a deal with Japanese server maker NEC that will see the two cooperate on creating a new line of Netezza hardware based on NEC's products. Netezza …

    The Register 8 Feb 03:40

  4. Sunday, 07 February 2010

    NASA scrubs Endeavour launch

    Low cloud ceiling grounds shuttle

    NASA has scrubbed today's planned lift-off of space shuttle Endeavour due to a "low cloud ceiling" at Kennedy Space Center. The agency says the next launch opportunity is tomorrow (Monday) at 09:14 GMT. Endeavour's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station will be the last nighttime shuttle launch. The 13-day …

    The Register 7 Feb 10:23

    World finally using unified communications

    Aggressive projects more successful

    It seems that Unified Communications (UC) has at last started to move beyond the ‘what is it’ stage and hit the mainstream world of real users with real implementations and real experiences. As we found in our poll (full report available here) at the end of last year with Reg readers, which looked at advanced business …

    The Register 7 Feb 09:02

    Restructured Ruby-on-Rails hits beta

    Added Merb

    The beta of the third, and restructured, edition of Ruby on Rails has been delivered. Rails founder David Heinemeier blogged that Ruby on Rails 3.0 "feels lighter, more agile, and easier to understand" in spite of the changes. This update is the result of almost 4,000 commits by more than 250 code authors. Completed code is …

    The Register 7 Feb 07:36

  5. Saturday, 06 February 2010

    Dell ordered back to court in laptop dustup

    'Unconscionable' arbitration overruled

    Dell has been ordered back into court to face claims it knowingly sold defective Inspiron 5160 and 1150 laptops. In October 2006, three Inspiron owners - Michael Omstead, Melissa Malloy, and Lisa Smith - filed suit against the PC maker, charging the company with "misconduct in connection with the design, manufacture, …

    Channel Register 6 Feb 16:46

    OpenSUSE 11.3 hits milestone numero uno

    LXDE debuts for small, cheap screens

    The openSUSE Project has reached its first milestone for the upcoming 11.3 release, due in July. Milestone 1 is the first of seven planned between now and late May. The development team said its primary goal is to test build interactions between newly-added features. The first milestone features version 2.6.32 of the Linux …

    The Register 6 Feb 00:56

  6. Friday, 05 February 2010

    Shuttle Endeavour 'go' for Sunday blastoff

    Tranquility and tweets

    NASA's space shuttle Endeavour is ready for a pre-dawn launch this Sunday, carrying a new room and seven-window observation dome to the International Space Station. Officials at Kennedy Space Center said liftoff is go for 4:39 AM EST (9:39 AM GMT, 1:39 AM PST), with an 80 per cent chance of good weather. "The team is …

    The Register 5 Feb 23:36

    Canonical scoops Alfresco man for operations

    Ubuntu execution

    Open-source evangelist and überblogger Matt Asay has been named as chief operating officer of Canonical, Ubuntu's commercial sponsor. Asay will align strategic goals and operational activities, optimize day-to-day operations, and lead Canonical's marketing and back-office functions, Canonical said Friday. He joins Canonical …

    The Register 5 Feb 22:04

    Google's Nexus One sales still sluggish

    But that's just fine with Mountain View

    As Google's Nexus One smartphone celebrates its one-month birthday, word comes that Mountain View has sold a mere 80,000 of the devices. But if you believe Google's mobility chief Andy Rubin, that number is just fine with him. When Google's self-described superphone was released, Rubin told GigaOM's Om Malik that he thought …

    The Register 5 Feb 21:48

    Microsoft banner ads vanish from Facebook

    Search only for social network sugardaddy

    Microsoft will no longer handle display ads on Facebook, as the companies rejiggered the advertising pact they announced in 2007 when Redmond stuffed $240m into the social-networking site. "We made the mutual decision that Facebook would take over responsibility for selling display advertisements on its own site," reads a blog …

    The Register 5 Feb 21:21

    City supe slaps bank for account compromise

    $378,000 Ukraine transfer

    A supervisor for the town of Poughkeepsie, New York lashed out at a local bank after someone siphoned $378,000 out of municipal coffers and transferred it to Ukraine. Supervisor Patricia Myers, who waited more than three weeks to disclose details of the heist, didn't question whether any of the responsibility rested with …

    The Register 5 Feb 21:18

    Cisco preps data center interconnect

    Switch upgrade for workload shifting

    Cisco is reportedly prepping a software upgrade for its flagship Nexus 7000 switches designed to ease the movement of loads and virtual machines across multiple data centers. Dubbed Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV), the technology essentially encapsulates and forwards Layer 2 Ethernet LAN traffic across disparate data …

    The Register 5 Feb 20:40

    Big Blue demos 100GHz chip

    Updated One atom thin

    IBM reseachers have made a breakthrough in the development of ultra-high-speed transistor design, creating a 100GHz graphene-based wafer-scale device. And that's just for starters. The transistor that the researchers have developed is a relatively large one, with a gate length of 240 nanometers - speeds should increase as the …

    The Register 5 Feb 19:30

    Mozilla overlooked malware-laced Firefox add-ons

    Feels like the first time. But it's not

    Two Firefox add-ons available for months on Mozilla's website infected users with malware that stole passwords and opened a backdoor on Windows machines, the open-source browser maker has confirmed. The add-ons, available on an experimental section of Mozilla's official add-on download site carried trojans that have been …

    The Register 5 Feb 18:09

    Vodafone Twitterer takes aim at some beaver

    Tells world he needs something for the weekend

    Vodafone had a burst of Friday-afternoon fever with a tweet informing the world that its weekend plans involved purely heterosexual attractions. The tweet in question was sent just before four this afternoon, and was followed by a rush of apologies that are still swamping the VodafoneUK twitter channel. The offending tweet has …

    The Register 5 Feb 17:29

    Climategate witchhunt fingers scientist

    Police quiz tests the faith

    Police have questioned a scientist at the University of East Anglia in connection with the leak of emails from the University's Climatic Research Unit. Paul Dennis, Head of Stable Isotope and Noble Gas Geochemistry Laboratories at UEA, has produced studies in support of Global Warming, but this didn't stop him falling under …

    The Register 5 Feb 17:23

    BAE cops to arms-deal violation, pays $400m US fine

    Also £30m in UK over shady Tanzanian radar deal

    UK-headquartered but nowadays US-centred arms globocorp BAE Systems has confessed to corporate wrongdoing and will pay hefty fines on both sides of the Atlantic. Most of today's revelations in the case are unsurprising - BAE has reportedly confessed to violations under US law with respect to aspects of the vast, highly …

    The Register 5 Feb 17:14

    Sci-fi and fantasy authors wade into Amazon spat

    Blasters and enchanted swords at the ready

    The writers' group Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America has cut links to Amazon after the retailer removed, and then reinstated, titles from Macmillan publishing. The spat is all about ebook pricing - Amazon claims that $9.99 is all punters will pay for the ethereal presence of an electronic book, but Macmillan reckons …

    The Register 5 Feb 16:30

    Lotus Symphony 3 beta goes OOo

    IBM clambers onto Microsoft, Google coattails

    IBM flung out a second beta of Lotus Symphony 3 yesterday, that brings the free productivity suite closer to Microsoft Office. The software, which is based on current OpenOffice.org 3 code stream, comes loaded with support for Visual Basic macros, OLE Objects and embedded audio/video. The company has tweaked the user …

    The Register 5 Feb 16:20

    Nokia C6: is the 'C' for Centro?

    New Nokia resembles old Palm

    The removal of the Palm Centro from the company's prime website can't have come too soon for Nokia. The following snap of what's said to be the Finnish phone giant's upcoming C6 mid-range Qwerty keyboard handset has been doing the rounds of the handset blogs: There's nothing particularly special about the spec: HSPDA 3G, S60 …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 16:19

    Europe moves to curtail US data snooping rights

    Free access to financial data may end

    The European Commission has opened a public consultation on whether the US government should continue to get free access to European bank and financial data under the SWIFT agreement. The US claims it needs access to our bank accounts in order to fight terrorism - it has had free access since shortly after 11 September 2001. …

    The Register 5 Feb 15:56

    European Commission pays IDC to take a hard look at HPC

    Acorn RISC United

    The European Commission has commissioned IT market researchers and analysts at IDC to work with some of the top European supercomputing labs to rationalize and coordinate the efforts to push into petascale and exascale computing within Europe. HPC experts from Teratec, in France, Daresbury Laboratory, in the United Kingdom, …

    The Register 5 Feb 15:53

    Boom foreseen for LED backlight backers

    Quote of the Week Chuck out your CCFLs

    “Without a doubt, LED backlights will be the dominant light source in all applications in 2011 — representing a significant business and technology evolution for the entire backlight and panel supply chain.” Kevin Kwak, DisplaySearch, Director of LED Backlight Unit Research

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 15:53

    US economy sheds 20,000 jobs in January

    IT-related companies cut staff

    Through the magic of a large number of Americans giving up on finding a job and removing themselves from the official calculations, the unemployment rate in the United States dropped by three-tenths of a per cent to 9.7 per cent, even as the economy shed 20,000 jobs in January. This employment level is what the US Department …

    The Register 5 Feb 15:24

    Tweets are free on 3

    Gossip, gratis

    Mobile network 3 has said its customers can Tweet for free for the rest of the month and March too. Tell the world you're eating chips for dinner, and the message sent from your 3 phone to Twitter - whether you use the social network's website or a dedicated app - will not count toward your monthly data allowance, 3 said. …

    The Register 5 Feb 15:10

    Carly Fiorina unleashes 'demon sheep'

    US Senate bid becoming 'increasingly bizarre'

    Former HP supremo Carly Fiorina is not sparing the horses in her bid to become Republican senator for California. Or rather, she's not sparing the sheep, as this subtle attack on rival Tom Campbell proves: Well, you really wouldn't want to watch that while under the influence of mind-expanding drugs. Campbell's camp …

    The Register 5 Feb 15:02

    Sony to revamp movie classics for 3D era

    Citizen Kane cubed?

    Sony is planning to take old movies, convert them into 3D and bung them out on Blu-ray Disc, all in a bid to boost consumer interest in 3D TV technology. The move - which to many film buffs will recall media companies' past efforts to colourise black-and-white classics - could kick off as early as April. "We'll probably be …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 14:56

    3G networks appeal for power boost

    Turning it up to eleven

    Ofcom is considering allowing UK's mobile operators to quadruple the power of their 3G transmissions, to improve coverage and maybe roast a few more brain cells. The request came from Vodafone, but when Ofcom consulted the other operators they all wanted in, so now the regulator has published a consultation (pdf) with plans to …

    The Register 5 Feb 14:43

    US gov's emptying of vast Texan helium-tank dome 'wrong'

    Vital for LHC, rockets, airships - and the entire IT biz

    A hefty sci/tech body has said that the USA's current policy of selling off its enormous reserves of helium gas - which it keeps stored in a gigantic subterranean dome reservoir in Texas - is all wrong. This is partly because the plan is cocking up the global helium market, and partly because helium is vital for many activities …

    The Register 5 Feb 14:10

    Spooks scour gambling sites in terror finance probe

    Money laundering with a poker face

    The security services are running 23 ongoing investigations into the exploitation of gambling websites to finance terrorism. The revelation shows the online gaming industry is still vulnerable, and a prime target for criminals and terrorists, even after being at the centre of the conviction of the man described as the " …

    The Register 5 Feb 13:23

    Brits take iTablet moniker for 12in iPad rival

    Camera? Check. Multi-tasking? Check. Flash? Check

    Apple may have decided against the appellation 'iTablet' - one of the rumoured names for the product now known as the iPad - but that hasn't stopped UK computer supplier X2 claiming the name for its own. The iTablet range comprises at least two models: one with a 12in, 1024 x 768 display, the other with a 10.2in screen of the …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 13:14

    Directgov kids' site apes explosive gay porn brand

    Updated When Buster gonads Worlds collide

    The homepage of the children’s section of Directgov currently sports an unfortunate banner by the name of Buster’s World, which just so happens to be the name of a gay porn fetish site. The Register has contacted the Department for Children, Schools and Families to ask if it was aware that youngsters could innocently search …

    The Register 5 Feb 13:07

    ZeuS tracker shrinks takedowns from days to minutes

    Search and destroy

    A site dedicated to tracking the infamous ZeuS botnet is celebrating its first birthday. In the twelve months since the ZeuS Tracker was born, on 2 February 2009, the site has tracked more then 2,800 malicious botnet command and control servers associated with ZeuS. The site has logged around 360MB ZeuS config files and 330MB …

    The Register 5 Feb 13:01

    Four UK politicians charged for dodgy expenses

    Three MPs and a Lord

    The Crown Prosecution Service has informed the Metropolitan Police that it intends to charge four politicians with accounting offences after the investigation into the expenses scandal. The police passed files on six individuals to the CPS which chose four that it believed had sufficient evidence for a successful prosecution …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:58

    Steve Jobs in secret NYT meet

    Cat in hat flashed iPad under the table

    Apple boss Steve Jobs had a secret meeting with New York Times' publisher Arthur Sulzberger and other executives to show off the iPad and explain what he thinks it means for publishing. Jobs ordered a mango lassi and penne pasta, neither of which are on the Pranna restaurant menu, New York magazine reported. Jobs, apparently …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:46

    Betting sites balance fraudster nab and customer loss

    Tricky job? You bet

    Online gambling sites are fighting ever-sharper fraudsters, forcing them to balance stricter anti-cheat measures against the risk of alienating some of their best customers. Last week's Betting and Gaming 2010 Conference ran just days after it was revealed bookmakers Ladbrokes was investigating the loss of thousands of …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:30

    Microsoft to end Live support for old-school Xbox

    Promises big things for Xbox 360 owners instead

    Microsoft has announced it will soon no longer support the original Xbox console on its Live online service. From 15 April, Microsoft will "discontinue Xbox Live service for original Xbox consoles and games", according to the software giant’s Major Nelson blog. The decision will also impact Xbox 360 owners - specifically, …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 12:29

    Intel pours vPro sauce on latest Core chips

    Promises sysadmins remote viewing power

    Intel yesterday unveiled a raft of vPro products based on the Core designs it debuted last month, showing the oft overlooked business desktop market a rare bit of love. The vendor unveiled its 2010 client chip lineup at CES last month, in the shape of the Core i5 and Core i7 parts. The parts are built on Nehalem and have been …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:28

    Netbook shipments surge

    Industry-beating growth in 2009

    Last year was a good 12 months for netbook makers: together they shipped 30.2 million of the mini laptops. That, market watcher Strategy Analytics said this week, is 79 per cent more than they managed in 2008. To put that into context, fellow researcher IDC earlier this year put 2009's total PC shipments at 294.2m units. IDC …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 12:17

    Hubble peers closely at Pluto

    Pics reveal ice and molasses

    NASA has released "the most detailed and dramatic images ever taken of the distant dwarf planet Pluto", captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, which reveal an "icy, mottled, dark molasses-colored world": NASA explains that Pluto's overall hue is "believed to be a result of ultraviolet radiation from the distant sun breaking …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:13

    Oracle puts the squeeze on Sun channel

    Comment 'The right call'

    Oracle has come out with a firm message regarding Sun’s sales strategy: it will change. In 2008, a flailing Sun announced it would service its top 300 accounts directly and push the rest to the channel. We thought it was a terrible idea at the time, and at analyst conferences, we questioned company management about it. The …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:06

    Fujifilm Finepix Real 3D W1

    Review First 3D compact digital camera

    The world seems to have gone 3D crazy. Crowds are flocking to see the 3D movie Avatar; consumer electronics companies are promising 3DTVs and Blu-ray Disc players, and broadcasters, such as Sky, are set to launch 3DTV services. Fujifilm has also got in on the act with the Finepix Real 3D W1, a camera for the masses that captures …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 12:02

    El Reg space bureau firms up PARIS kit list

    Paper plane project acquires gadgetry

    Our Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) programme is moving briskly along, and we've now put together an initial kit list for both the main payloads and Vulture 1 vehicle. First up, after mulling the main payload, and just what we need it to do, we decided that we didn't really want to get bogged down in complex …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:02

    Stats boss slams Tory use of crime figures

    There's lies, then there's what you said

    The head of the UK Statistics Authority has slammed shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling for misleading use of crime figures. Sir Michael Scholar pulls few punches in the letter to Grayling, which said his comments were likely to undermine public trust in official statistics. Grayling's comparison of numbers of violent …

    The Register 5 Feb 12:01

    MS hits Office 2010 upgrade program button prematurely

    Office 2007 purchasers to get free update from 5 March?

    Microsoft let slip details about its Office 2010 “technology guarantee” plan yesterday. The apparent PR gaffe revealed that the software vendor would kick off the program on 5 March. Office 2010 is expected to hit retail in June this year, but Microsoft hasn’t yet confirmed an official date for its next big consumer product …

    The Register 5 Feb 11:34

    Quantum superclock will be accurate past end of life on Earth

    Huge can of whup-ass opened on erratic caesium tech

    US government boffins say they have built a clock so precise that it will still be accurate to within one second when life on Earth has ceased. The "quantum logic clock" will neither gain nor lose a second over the next 3.7 billion years, according to its makers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). …

    The Register 5 Feb 11:33

    London Sperm Bank whips out its wedding tackle

    NSFW LogoWatch Comedy cock-up

    It's Friday, so as we nip off to the nearest boozer for a few pre-weekend liveners, let's consider raising a hearty pint to the London Sperm Bank whose splendid logo was recently spotted by a Reg reader: The man oyster repository in question is apparently hosted by the London Women's Clinic, and its logo too deserves a toast …

    The Register 5 Feb 11:19

    Nokia's free Ovi Maps scores a download every second

    Finnish firm continues 2010 mojo reclaimation

    Nokia is on a roll after its stagnant 2009, with strong quarterly results and rising smartphone share. Now it says its recent decision to make its Ovi Maps navigation service entirely free, in an aggressive shot at Google, has already been fully justified, with downloads hitting over 1.4m in just a couple of weeks. "We're …

    The Register 5 Feb 11:18

    Baker's dozen for bumper February MS Patch Tuesday

    Get them while they're hot

    Microsoft is planning a bumper patch Tuesday, with 13 bulletins that collectively fix 26 difference vulnerabilities. Five of the bulletins are rated critical, seven as important, and one as moderate risk. Eleven of the baker's dozen of notices affect Windows, while two involve Office. All versions of Windows will need …

    The Register 5 Feb 10:55

    Miranda Kerr backs Oz porn-surf banker

    Macquarie shows mercy following net campaign

    Internet users have over the last few days mobilised in support of the Oz banker caught copping an eyeful of shapely local lass MIranda Kerr during a live TV broadcast, amid speculation that Sydney's Macquarie Bank was poised to give him his marching orders: Since the outrage spilled onto the interwebs earlier this week, …

    The Register 5 Feb 10:46

    Air Marshal: RAF may not have to be disbanded

    It's 'plausible' that slug-balancers will be kept

    Yesterday, reporting on the Ministry of Defence green paper issued this week, we referenced a news item in which the UK's top serviceman, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, reportedly said it was "plausible" that Britain might in future have just two armed services rather than three. It has now emerged that this was in error …

    The Register 5 Feb 10:18

    Bruce Almighty drives Coraid AoE plan after $10m investment

    Comment Ten-year startup gets VC funding jolt

    Meet Coraid. This ten year-old startup has got its first venture capital funding and a new CEO who wants us all to understand that its AoE storage protocol is just terrific. Its product stores data in Ethernet-connected arrays using AoE - ATA over Ethernet - a block storage protocol, which, unlike Fibre Channel over Ethernet ( …

    The Register 5 Feb 09:59

    Apple offers hush money for dodgy iMacs

    Happy now?

    Apple is offering cash payments to customers still having grief with their 27-inch iMacs, which have been plagued with various screen problems. In the UK there are no 27-inch LCDs screens available to fix the iMacs so instead Apple is offering full refunds plus 15 per cent, Gizmodo reports. Some of the machines have suffered …

    The Register 5 Feb 09:25

    Inside Microsoft's innovation crisis

    Ideas not a problem

    The debate on how Microsoft is losing its innovative edge is as perennial and comfortable as how the summers were warmer and drier when you were growing up. In recent years, that debate was set in the context of the rise of the Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Phyton (LAMP), JavaScript and the web - specifically Google - that …

    The Register 5 Feb 09:02

    Apple bans geo loco ads on iPhone, iPad*

    * - may exclude Apple ads

    Apple has warned developers that they can't use location-based services such as the Core Location framework to deliver ads to iPhone, iPod touch, and - come March - iPad owners based on where they are. Interestingly, this ban appears to run counter to Apple's own intents as hinted at in recent patent filings. Thanks to Macnn …

    The Register 5 Feb 08:02

    Cambridge Uni to probe games' impact on kids

    Reading or gaming - which is better for junior?

    Some people believe videogames affect a child’s physical and mental behaviour, while others will swear blind that they don’t. Now Cambridge University hopes to discover the truth and has created a department dedicated to studying the messages kids absorb from “cultural sources”. The university’s Centre for Children's …

    Reg Hardware 5 Feb 08:02

    Defra tenders for sheep tracking database

    We know where ewes live

    The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will pay £6m over five years for an animal movements reporting service. The electronic identification (EID) database will be used to track sheep and will link to an animal movement licensing system. According to the notice published in the Official Journal of the European …

    The Register 5 Feb 07:02

    InPhase succumbs to the darkness

    Holographic light at end of tunnel was an oncoming train

    Holographic storage company InPhase Technologies has paid off all its employees but is still looking for a venture capital white knight. The dream still flickers, it's just temporarily out of phase. According to a report in the Longmont Times-Call, the last 60 employees have been paid off after working for a year on minimum …

    The Register 5 Feb 07:02

    NetApp deduping virtual tape in limbo

    Updated with NetApp response Walks away from development

    NetApp is halting further development of its deduplicating NearStore product following its failed attempt to buy Data Domain. It is walking away from any development of deduplicating nearline storage products. At a top level, NetApp divides data into hot to not-so-hot primary data, secondary storage, and then virtual tape …

    The Register 5 Feb 06:02

    CloudLinux promises virtual benefits for high rollers

    Red Hat and Ubuntu de-fluffed

    When it comes to the cloud, there's Linux and then there's Linux, and Igor Seletskiy believes he's built a Linux better than the current generation of distros for service providers serving up tens of thousands of sites. Seletskiy's CloudLinux is a Red-Hat based distribution that builds in Linux virtualization technology and …

    The Register 5 Feb 06:02

    Dear Adobe: It's time for security rehab

    Comment This is an intervention

    The stories about Adobe software keep coming, and the news hasn't been good. Critical bugs in Reader and Flash have come under real-world, zero-day attacks so many times in the past year that the exploits almost seem routine. Security researchers such as Mike Bailey, Dan Kaminsky and Jeremiah Grossman and Robert "RSnake" Hansen …

    The Register 5 Feb 05:48

    iPhone App Store bars mention of Google Android

    You are not rejected. But you can't come in

    Apple has told a tiny mobile software developer that its application cannot be included in the iPhone App Store if it mentions Google Android. Flash of Genius offers a mobile app aimed at students preparing for their college entrance exams. "Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab" debuted on the iPhone, and at the end of last year, a …

    The Register 5 Feb 02:03

    DoJ objects to (revised) Googlebooks pact

    Um, you didn't fix our problems

    The US Department of Justice is still concerned that Google's $125m book-scanning settlement conflicts with class-action, copyright, and antitrust law, even after Google and American authors and publishers negotiated changes to the pact meant to appease its critics. "Despite the commendable efforts of the parties to improve …

    The Register 5 Feb 01:59

  7. Thursday, 04 February 2010

    AT&T lets 3G Sling TV onto iPhone

    Updated Timing is everything

    AT&T has reversed an earlier stand, allowing Sling Media's player for the iPhone touch to stream live or recorded television over 3G. As we reported last spring, AT&T originally restricted SlingPlayer Mobile to Wi-Fi connections - even though it allowed 3G streaming rights for Major League Baseball's MLB.com At Bat app. At …

    The Register 4 Feb 23:22

    Domain auction house wrestles with alleged shill

    SnapNames in legal action against ex-exec

    Oversee.net CEO Jeff Kupietzky has revealed that the company is in active but pending legal action against the former executive who allegedly fixed tens of thousands of its domain-name auctions under the pseudonym “halvarez." Last week, at the company's Domainfest conference, Kupietzky refused to be drawn on the company’s …

    The Register 4 Feb 22:37

    US bill seeks cybersecurity scholarships

    Send your kid to hacker school

    The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would direct almost $400m toward research designed to shore up the nation's cybersecurity defenses. The Cybersecurity Enhancement Act would approve $108.7m over five years to establish continue a cybersecurity scholarship program. In return, students would …

    The Register 4 Feb 21:13

    Adobe to Jobs: 'What the Flash do you know?'

    Flash never ships with bugs we're aware of

    Adobe has fired back at Steve Jobs after the Apple boss allegedly attacked Adobe Flash for being "buggy" and referred to the Flashmakers as "lazy." "I can tell you that we don't ship Flash with any known crash bugs," Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch wrote today in a back-and-forth with commenters on an Adobe corporate blog, "and if there …

    The Register 4 Feb 21:12

    Do Google's search warrant police run IE6?

    The Not Quite Anti-Microsoft

    According to popular perception, Google is the anti-Microsoft: a new-age outfit bent on re-architecting a flawed interwebs using nothing but open source software. The company runs its own flavor of Linux. It funded the rise of Firefox. And it eventually fashioned its own open source browser, Google Chrome. But the reality is …

    The Register 4 Feb 19:55

    Apache terminates 'outdated' web server

    We, and the world, move on

    An increasingly creaky version of the web's most popular web server has finally been retired after twelve years serving billions of pages. The Apache Software Foundation has released HTTP Sever 1.3.42, saying this is the final release of the 1.3 branch, and there will be no more updates except for critical security fixes. …

    The Register 4 Feb 19:41

    Juniper bakes 250Gbps core router chip

    Preemptive Cisco strike

    Juniper Networks has said it has new silicon in the oven that will soon let its T Series core routers reach a full duplex per-slot capacity of 250 gigabits per second. On Thursday, the company said trials with products using the chipset, an in-house affair fabbed at 45nm, are penned for the second half of 2010 and will be …

    Channel Register 4 Feb 19:35

    Cisco's California sales on the double

    400 sees gold in them thar servers

    With business brewing again over at networking giant Cisco Systems and poised for a recovery in spending on networking, the company's competitors in the server racket - mainly Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Oracle - were perhaps annoyed to see that Cisco's "California" Unified Computing System blade and rack servers are continuing to …

    The Register 4 Feb 19:11

    Kit cracks iPhone backup passwords

    Download, point, click

    Password cracking of iPhone backups has become a point-and-click exercise thanks to software unveiled Thursday by a computer forensics tools provider. The Elcomsoft iPhone Password Breaker, which was released for free into beta, recovers passwords for iPhones and iPod Touches by trying thousands of phrases per second. It …

    The Register 4 Feb 18:09

    Big iron bolsters Q4 at Unisys

    Mainframes make money

    The rebound in spending on two upgraded mainframe lines and aggressive costcutting helped swing Unisys to a profit in the final quarter of 2009, despite ongoing revenue declines. Overall sales for Unisys in Q4 were down 5.5 per cent to $1.21bn, and services revenues fell by 9 per cent to just over $1bn. But thanks to a big …

    The Register 4 Feb 17:11

    E-book readers are a satisfied lot

    Or were before the iPad was announced

    Owners of e-book readers - well, US-based ones at least - are very happy with their purchases, local market watcher NPD has revealed. We say 'are' because NPD made its announcement this week. But 'were' might be a more 'accurate' term since the research that led to this conclusion was carried out more than two months ago, in …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 16:21

    Chinese e-tailer lights up ciggie-lighter phone for smokers

    Puff piece

    Online gadget retailer Chinavasion has launched a mobile phone with integrated... cigarette lighter. Chinavasion's Machismo: puff while you chat The Machismo is supposedly “the world’s hottest cigarette lighter mobile phone”. Actually, it's probably the world's only cigarette lighter mobile phone. A “safety latch” on the …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 15:58

    Extreme pr0n suspect has his internet access suspended

    Heard not seen, at least not online

    A new threat for those suspected of ogling extreme porn arrives today in the shape of an internet ban pending trial. This is what lawyers might term "an interesting idea", and one that could come to cause grief far more widely if it catches on. Phillip Heard, aged 57, of Coed Fedwen, Birchgrove, in Swansea, faces 19 charges of …

    The Register 4 Feb 15:57

    Google turns to NSA for help in cyberattack defences

    Worm belatedly turns

    Google is detailing a new data-sharing agreement with the US National Security Agency in order to better protect itself against apparent attacks from China. Back in 2006, Google claimed lots of positive press coverage for briefly resisting requests for its search data from the Department of Justice. The firm has generally …

    The Register 4 Feb 15:24

    NASA develops spaceship work robot called 'R2'

    Definitely the droid we're looking for, say space chiefs

    NASA, in partnership with motor globo-mammoth GM, says it has taken a "giant leap in robotic technology", having developed a robot intended to operate alongside humans in space and called - really - R2. Ha - your obscure widget is no match for my krenon-ray pistol. As you can see, though, the machine - full name Robonaut 2 …

    The Register 4 Feb 15:18

    Does Apple patent claim show iPad with built-in camera?

    Cupertino drops heavy clues

    A strong hint that Apple will indeed include a camera in subsequent versions of the super-hyped iPad was revealed in an “image capturing device” patent application submitted by the company late last month, The Register has learned. USPTO patent application 20100020222 strongly alludes to the inclusion of a camera - not just in …

    The Register 4 Feb 14:37

    Amazon fingers touch tech firm

    Kindle goes to the feelies?

    Amazon is reportedly buying a company specialising in touch technologies, and recruiting hard to keep the Kindle at the front of the shelf. Touchco is a New York startup spun out of New York University to exploit "interpolating force-sensitive resistance" to create cheap multi-touch surfaces, which, according to the New York …

    The Register 4 Feb 14:32

    Motorola Devours el cheapo Androidphone market

    Calling all Web2.0rheics

    Verizon Wireless will bring another Android-based Motorola smartphone to the US market next month. A glance at its specs indicates that it should be less expensive than Moto's flagship Droid. That's the good news. The bad news is two-pronged. First, the new phone will run Android 1.6, and not the more-capable Android 2.0 that …

    The Register 4 Feb 14:02

    Wales Audit Office boss sacked amidst laptop smut claims

    Bowtied beancounter's bawdy bookmarks...

    Jeremy Colman, Auditor General for Wales has resigned from his £170,000 a year post after porn material was allegedly found on his laptop. In fact, the post is in the gift of the Queen, so his resignation has been forwarded on to her. The National Assembly is now looking for an interim successor. His laptop was seized, The …

    The Register 4 Feb 13:50

    Teen blogging is sick! (and not in a good way)

    The unbearable pointlessness of blogging

    Teenagers are bored with blogging and are moving onto other public confessionals forms. In 2006 28 per cent of US teen internet users were bloggers. Now only 14 per cent blog today, with 52 per cent commenting on friends' blogs, down from 76 per cent in 2006 (source: Pew Research Center, Feb'10). Is this such a surprise? …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 13:41

    H.264 video codec stays royalty-free for HTML5 testers

    Patent granted 5-year amnesty, Mozilla still no-likey

    Freetards stand down - MPEG LA has decided to slash royalties to zero for anyone wishing to use the H.264 codec for free streaming of internet video until the end of 2016. The MPEG licensing outfit confirmed earlier this week that its AVC patent portfolio licence won’t charge royalties for internet video that is free to end …

    The Register 4 Feb 13:39

    Blighty gets DARPA cash to put sat-phones in satellites

    Inmarsat space BGAN mobe for 'fractionated' cluster-swarm

    Pentagon crazytech chiefs have hit upon a new plan: they will equip future US military satellites with satellite phones. British firm Inmarsat has got the job. It's not as barmy a scheme as it sounds right off. The idea is to make it much easier to communicate with a satellite, even when it's on the wrong side of the world …

    The Register 4 Feb 13:27

    Blacklisted UK colleges take Border Agency to court

    Exclusive Student visa systems overhaul gets legal

    Several UK colleges are taking the UK Border Agency to court after they were suspended from approving student visa applications. Since that action, which hit 142 institutions, the Border Agency has gone further - it has suspended all applications from northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Colleges include both private and …

    The Register 4 Feb 13:03

    Sonos ZonePlayer S5

    Review Sonic boon?

    US firm Sonos first debuted its first products back in 2006, and it offered just about the best example of a self-contained, multi-zone wireless music system that had yet been seen. It featured an iPod-like hand-held controller and used the company's proprietary wireless technology – rather than Wi-Fi – to connect your PC to a …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 13:02

    MS probes bug that turns PCs into 'public file servers'

    Unwanted promotion for older Windows boxes

    Microsoft has begun investigating a flaw in IE that most affects older versions of Windows, and turns vulnerable systems into a "public file server". The vulnerability means that hackers might be able to access files with an already known filename and location, providing they can trick users into visiting a maliciously …

    The Register 4 Feb 12:44

    Sony 'actively thinking' about PSN access fee

    Time to cough up?

    The possibility that PlayStation owners could be forced to pay for access the console’s online network has reared its ugly head again, following comments by a Sony executive. In a recent interview, Peter Dille, Senior VP of marketing and PlayStation Network at Sony Computer Entertainment America, admitted that the company is …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 12:38

    Politico sues politico

    Cease and desist nonsense du jour

    UK right-wing blog Tory-Politico.com has been hit with a cease and desist order from US site politico.com. The lawyer's letter claims the domain name is "confusingly similar to the POLITICO mark in that it wholly incorporates the "Politico" mark and merely adds the descriptive word 'tory' to the Domain Name." Even stranger, …

    The Register 4 Feb 12:36

    Iran launches rat, two turtles, some worms into space

    Tiny space ark 'entirely peaceful', says general

    The Iranian government says it has launched its third spacecraft, this time carrying "a rat, two turtles," and an unspecified number of "worms" on a one-way trip into space. The rat, according to reports, is named "Helmz 1". Press TV, the state-controlled Iranian English-language channel, reports that the "Kavoshgar 3" ( …

    The Register 4 Feb 12:08

    Sony, Vodafone vie for X10 UK launch first

    Manufacturer to sell online ahead of operator

    Sony Ericsson intends to beat Vodafone to the launch of its first Android-based smartphone, the Xperia X10. Vodafone has updated its X10 webpage to say that the smartphone is “coming soon”, with April named as the specific month. Vodafone will launch the X10 in April However, staff from Sony Ericsson’s online store …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 12:04

    Men at Work swiped Down Under riff

    Oz classic plagiarised Girl Guides' ditty, court rules

    Australian band Men at Work could be substantially out of pocket after Sydney federal court ruled that the flute riff from Down Under was ripped off from Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree. The latter was penned in 1934 by Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides Jamboree, and "has since been sung by generations of Australian …

    The Register 4 Feb 12:01

    Acer punts Windows server for your stuff

    Atom-powered Nas

    Acer has introduced a Nas box based on Intel's old desktop Atom processor. The Aspire EasyStore H340 has room for four 3.5in Sata hard drives - hot-swappable, too; well all the but the drive with the OS on it - on which to keep your content. Acer's Aspire EasyStore H340: runs Windows Home Server The box uses Windows Home …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 12:00

    Symbian shares the source

    Go open source early

    The Symbian Foundation has announced it will be sharing the last of its source code today, putting the most widespread mobile OS under the Eclipse licence. The Foundation reckons there are 330 million handsets out there running Symbian, and it's been working for the last couple of years to get ^3 (as version 3 is termed) …

    The Register 4 Feb 11:59

    The long and winding road to server virtualisation

    Reader feedback It’s all about Tetris and the price of fish

    "Move along, nothing to see here," said Reg reader Joshua 1, a self-confessed "old timer on the virtualisation front," in response to the question of whether server virtualisation was ready for prime time. Indeed it is difficult to read anything about virtualisation without getting the impression that it is inevitable. But …

    The Register 4 Feb 11:49

    Webcam saves stranded man

    Cameras! Lights! Reaction!

    This is nice. A German man stranded on sea ice was saved by a woman sitting at her PC 500km away. The man had gone for a stroll on the beach at St. Peter-Ording, on the North Sea, near Denmark, to watch the sunset, when he got disorientated, walked onto the ice, and could not find his way back. Facing almost certain death, he …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 11:34

    Vodafone signs up 410k UK customers for Christmas

    It's the thought that counts

    Vodafone's trading statement for the last three months of 2009 shows a steady shift from voice to data, though data still isn't bringing in enough money. Overall, Vodafone had a good quarter - these aren't full accounts but we can see that Vodafone now has 333 million customers, adding just over 10 million during the period, …

    The Register 4 Feb 11:25

    PS3 sales up, says Sony

    Console boosts Q3 results

    Sony recorded a strong rise in PlayStation 3 hardware and software sales during its third 2009 fiscal quarter. During the three-month period ended 31 December 2009, Sony shifted 6.5m PS3s – up from 4.5m units of the console during the same period in 2008. Sony also saw a rise in PS3 software sales, from 40.8m units in Q3 2008 …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 11:12

    Carbon trade phish scam disrupts exchanges

    Complex fraud lies behind emissions permissions attack

    Phishing fraudsters have extended their net beyond harvesting e-banking credentials via a scam that resulted in the theft of 250,000 carbon permits worth over €3m. The outbreak of fraud resulted in the suspension of trading in several EU registries on 2 February. The crooks are thought to have created fake emission registries …

    The Register 4 Feb 10:59

    ARM boss forecasts mass migration to netbooks

    Desktops, laptops out - small, cheap computers in

    ARM CEO Warren East believes that netbooks will come to dominate the PC market - and it won't be that long before it happens. "Although netbooks are small today – maybe ten per cent of the PC market at most – we believe over the next several years that could completely change around and that could be 90 per cent of the PC …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 10:57

    HP ordered to pay £200m in interim damages ruling

    Sky is the limit for total figure

    The High Court has ordered Hewlett-Packard to pay BSkyB £200 million in interim damages, according to press reports. The interim award follows a ruling last week over a contract tendering process. Computer Weekly reports that the damages must be paid within 14 days, by 17th February. "[HP] shall make an interim payment on …

    Channel Register 4 Feb 10:51

    DNA pioneer lambasts government database policy

    Declares himself 'astonished, perplexed and deeply worried'

    The developer of DNA fingerprinting and profiling has said the government is wrong in retaining profiles of innocent people. Geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys told MPs that he was "astonished, perplexed and deeply worried" about the existing management policy of the National DNA Database. He was providing evidence to the House of …

    The Register 4 Feb 10:43

    BBC 'to chop DAB radio flops'

    Sent to bubbling mudbath

    The BBC may axe some of its digital-only radio stations, including 6Music and the Asian Network, according to a report. The Asian Network costs £25m but attracts only 360,000 listeners. It's reckoned to be as expensive per-minute as prime-time TV costume drama. Radio6Music is also under threat as part of a separate review, and …

    The Register 4 Feb 10:37

    Aussie ISP beats Hollywood on 'copyright' rap

    Providing net access not same as OK-ing copyright theft

    The Australian Federal Court has found an Aussie ISP not responsible for copyright offences committed by its customers. The Australian Federation against Copyright Theft claimed that iiNet authorised copyright theft by its customers. Judge J Cowdroy accepted that iiNet users had used BitTorrent to infringe copyright, but that …

    The Register 4 Feb 10:25

    Schwartz goes all of a Twitter

    He goes in style - oddly

    Jonathan Schwartz, now the ex-CEO of Oracle-owned Sun, went in the same way as he ran the company, oddly: he tweeted a haiku to his followers. With an impish sense of humour he wrote: Today's my last day at Sun. I'll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/ Stalled too many customers/ CEO no more He' …

    The Register 4 Feb 10:20

    Singer wears ‘Twitter dress’ to Grammys

    Imogen Heap models hi-tech glad rags

    A British singer-songwriter was spotted at the US Grammy Awards this week wearing a hi-tech dress that displays Twitter posts. Solo electro-pop artist and erstwhile Frou Frou vocalist Imogen Heap – her 1998 debut album was called iMegaphone – wore a customised dress to the music industry awards night in Los Angeles that …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 10:10

    MoD turns to bloggers for advice on UK defence policy

    Labour, Tories: We won't reveal plans until we're in charge

    With the major parties agreed that a full defence review is to be carried out after the election - thus avoiding any need to let the public vote for what it wants - one wouldn't expect yesterday's MoD green paper to say much, and indeed it mostly doesn't. However there are a few snippets of mild interest: an admission that the …

    The Register 4 Feb 09:56

    IBM preps biz info flow sniffer

    Plus auto-redaction software

    Next month, IBM will demonstrate new business software designed to track how information flows across different systems and squeal when it spots potential flaws or alterations. Based on its own research along with technology from the $225m acquisition of Guardium in 2009, IBM's InfoSphere Business Information Monitor will be …

    The Register 4 Feb 09:02

    Monster grabs Yahoo! jobs

    Carol Bartz cuts continue

    Giant jobs site Monster.com is about to get bigger - it has bought Yahoo!'s HotJobs. In return, Yahoo! gets $225m and a three year traffic deal which will see Monster supply it with job adverts for its US and Canadian sites. The deal also gives Monster an exclusive right to negotiate with Yahoo! for similar deals in Europe and …

    The Register 4 Feb 08:58

    Wikileaks finds cash to continue

    Don't (whistle)blow it all at once

    Whistle-blowing site Wikileaks has secured enough money in donations to resume operations. The site stopped publishing leaked documents in December in order to concentrate on a pledge drive, aimed at raising a minimum of $200,000 to keep the lights on, and $600,000 if staff were to be paid. Wikileaks also canvassed for …

    The Register 4 Feb 08:52

    Appeal Court: TV menu decision was irrational, but not unfair

    Since when have shopping channels been rational, anyway?

    A broadcasting platform did not break the rules on the placing of stations in its electronic programme guide (EPG) even though its decision was partly irrationally based and it used criteria not specifically listed in its policy. The Freesat platform is a satellite service broadcasting free to air stations. Television shopping …

    The Register 4 Feb 08:02

    Huawei E5 3G modem and Wi-Fi hotspot

    Review Better known as the 3 MiFi

    Huawei's E5 is one of a growing line of compact, standalone HSDPA 3G modems that double-up as impromptu Wi-Fi hotspots. You may have heard of it as 3's MiFi. Rather than hook the E5 up to a single device - your laptop, typically - the built-in access point means you can share its 3G link among all your gadgets: phones, tablets …

    Reg Hardware 4 Feb 08:02

    Open-source Silverlight project drops early third code

    Microsoft mirror

    The open-source project shadowing Silverlight has come a step closer to mirroring the latest edition of Microsoft's challenger to Flash. Moonlight leader Miguel de Icaza said a preview of Moonlight 3.0 has been delivered for early testing. Features include early work on UI virtualization to handle large sets of data, and a …

    The Register 4 Feb 07:02

    TPC adds power suckage to benchmarks

    Performance (per watt) anxiety

    If server makers are already anxious about how big their iron is, they'll now also need to start worrying about how cool they are. The Transaction Processing Council is a consortium of server, operating system, and database software makers that steers the development, running, auditing, and reporting of a suite of online …

    The Register 4 Feb 06:02

    Oracle: destroyer of virtual worlds

    Lights out for Sun's Project Darkstar

    Another of Sun Microsystem's almost-practical projects for Java has been shuttered now that Oracle holds the purse strings. Project Darkstar, an open-source application server catered specifically for massively multiplayer online games, will no longer receive Snoracle funding. The news was announced yesterday with a post to …

    The Register 4 Feb 06:02