The Week in Summary

1. Sunday, 08 November 2009

   Deja vu in Adobe's Flash fight with Microsoft

   Give us the tools

   At times I had to pinch myself at Adobe Systems' Max conference last month In Los Angeles, California. Was this an Adobe, or a Microsoft event? First there were the case studies, like the MLB.com - Major League Baseball - web video, originally seen at Microsoft's Mix 2007 when it used Silverlight, and now at Adobe Max as a …

   The Register 8 Nov 06:02

   'World-mode' iPhone due next year, says fanboi rumor

   CDMA meets Jobsian cult

   The Jobsian cult is hard at work on a "world-mode" iPhone capable of tapping both CDMA and GSM/UMTS wireless networks, according to the fanboi rumor mill. Citing a report from investment research firm OTR Global - which cites unnamed sources in the Taiwanese handset supply chain - Apple Insider says this dual-standard Jobsian …

   The Register 8 Nov 05:51

   Sun files $120m loss on the hush

   Only $120m. Well done

   It was a week later than El Reg expected, but the behavior was the same. After the stock market closed on Friday and everyone was heading home for the weekend, server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems snuck out its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Revenues fell 25 per cent to $2.24bn. Sale have …

   The Register 8 Nov 03:43

2. Saturday, 07 November 2009

   Elgato DTT Deluxe world's smallest USB TV tuner

   Review Digital telly from a unit the size of a postage stamp

   Elgato's previous EyeTV DTT Deluxe, which we reviewed in September 2008, was heralded as the world's smallest USB TV tuner. Just over a year on, and the company has launched a second record breaking tuner - one that's about half the size of its predecessor. Elgato's EyeTV DTT Deluxe: ridiculously small And there's another …

   Reg Hardware 7 Nov 09:02

   Mozilla aborted IE in Firefox clothing

   Google we're not

   At one point, Mozilla considered building a plug-in that would turn Microsoft's Internet Explorer into a decent browser. But unlike Google, it quickly abandoned the idea. Mozilla Corp.'s director of community developer Asa Dotzler tells The Reg that during its Firefox Summit two summers ago, developers discussed a plug-in …

   The Register 7 Nov 07:18

   El Reg shrinks seven days into webpage

   Week in Review Attention span not required

   As a service to our with readers with (particularly) short attention spans, we at The Reg have squeezed the week that was into a single webpage. Or at least most of it. Before your attention drifts elsewhere, we should get to it: Jimmy Wales is awarded a €10,000 prize, Carly Fiorina stands for US Senate, Esther Dyson gets NASA …

   The Register 7 Nov 05:22

   Vint Cerf: 'Google doesn't know who you are'

   Identifiers don't identify

   Interwebs founding father and Google evangelist Vint Cerf has insisted that when you search Google, the company doesn't know who you are. Thursday morning, at a mini-conference in San Francisco, the always entertaining Cerf sat down with Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg and other tech luminaries to discuss "open" …

   The Register 7 Nov 00:17

   Animal lovers say no to radioactive NASA monkeys

   Appeal irradiated monkeyshines

   Animal rights groups are apparently not pleased with NASA's plan to zap squirrel monkeys with repeated doses of radiation for science. The US space agency will expose between 18 to 28 of the moneys to low doses of radiation daily to better understand the effects of long-term exposure outside Earth's protective magnetic shield …

   The Register 7 Nov 00:07

   Sun's surviving staff hit with 'motivation' missive

   Exclusive Code: Your solace, our savior

   Sun Microsystems has set software engineers seven goals in the wake of new layoffs, hoping to keep them focused amid uncertainty but to also hit existing corporate objectives. Among the targets: focus all their efforts on Sun's Kenai hosting and collaboration service, and deliver a "solid, scalable internal proof-of-concept" …

   The Register 7 Nov 00:04

3. Friday, 06 November 2009

   Intel lampooned by Nvidia toons

   Graphic ridicule

   If anyone needs any further proof that there's no love lost between chipmakers Nvidia and Intel, they need look no further than a cartoon collection linked from Nvidia's corporate blog, nTersect The small but growing compendium of anti-Intel funnies, snarkily titled "Intel's Insides", seems specifically intended to boil blood …

   The Register 6 Nov 21:03

   Doctor sentenced for massive online Rx factory

   Over 100,000 served

   A Virginia doctor has been sentenced to serve a year in prison on charges he wrote as many as 100,000 internet prescriptions over a three-year span. Torrino Jennings of Mechanicsville, Virginia, received the sentence after pleading guilty in July to 11 felony counts, including introducing misbranded drugs into interstate …

   The Register 6 Nov 19:17

   Boinkfest clicks 'Delete' on woman's memory

   Orgasmic amnesia

   If your weekend plans include a frisky horizontal mambo, you might want to first tape your ID card to the bedstead. After a rousing ride on the baloney pony, you may need a bit of help rediscovering who you are - as was the case for one American woman. As reported by the Telegraph, a woman identified only as Alice - no last …

   The Register 6 Nov 18:57

   Mossad hacked Syrian laptop to steal nuke plant secrets

   Evil Maid attack led to air raid

   Mossad reportedly used a Trojan to hack into a Syrian official's laptop while he stayed in a London hotel. The information extracted was used to plan a bombing raid at a suspected nuclear reactor facility in Syria, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. The air raid on the partly-constructed Syrian nuclear facility in September …

   The Register 6 Nov 16:38

   T-Orange puts names on dotted lines

   Very nearly on schedule, too

   T-Mobile and Orange have signed their merger agreement, paving the way for the new operator to come into existence next year. After spending a mere two months in due diligence T-Mobile and Orange have put their names to the merger contract that will see the operators combine operations into a new entity to be jointly owned by …

   The Register 6 Nov 16:38

   Eat my dust - it's time for Comment of the Week

   CoTW Bring your conjecture to the slaughter

   Good afternoon, parasites. I expect after a long hard week of aggravating wittering on the Reg threads you'd like nothing better than to sit back and enjoy a nice hot drink and a bit of a blowback of said burblings, eh? Well, don't say I never do anything for you. Here is the inaugural Comment of the Week, with the promised …

   The Register 6 Nov 16:33

   Sony to bring Risk to the big screen

   Coming soon... Ludo: The Motion Picture

   Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired the rights to produce a movie based on Hasbro's classic strategy boardgame Risk, offering the delicious possibility that the company might follow it up with Ludo: The Motion Picture and Mahjong: Tiles of Destiny. Those of you wishing to object to the plan are directed to /FILM, which …

   The Register 6 Nov 15:22

   Google countersues in Android Specht-spat

   Punitive damages and attorney's fees, please

   Google has come out fighting against Erich Specht who sued the search giant over the Android name, launching a countersuit demanding damages and "disgorgement of ill-gotten gains". Google has filed suit against Specht asking the Illinois court to order a dismissal of the plaintiff's trademark registration of "Android", and …

   The Register 6 Nov 15:21

   Skype founders drop licence threat against eBay

   Bluff pays off for European duo

   A legal row that threatened the existence of Skype has been settled, with the free net phone service's founders regaining a significant portion of the firm from eBay. Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis will get 14 per cent of Skype and seats on its board under the deal, announced today. In return the pair will make a " …

   The Register 6 Nov 15:11

   Legendary McLaren F1 designer talks up e-car plan

   Leccy Tech And gets £4.5m of Govt money to build it

   Mention the phrases 'Gordon Murray' and 'electric car' in the same sentence and images of gold-plated battery powered hypercars probably spring to mind. But you couldn't be more wrong, because Murray - designer of the McLaren F1 - has come over all environmentally conscientious as his latest brainchild, the T.27 electric city …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 14:57

   EMI saves world from unauthorised Beatles downloads

   Takes Old Brown Shoe and kicks BlueBox with it

   EMI appears to have recleansed the internet of Beatles music, forcing Bluebeat.com to ditch the 25 cents per Fab Four song offer it launched this week. The music giant's US arm, Capital Records, hit BlueBeat with a copyright infringement suit yesterday and the Beatles tracks swiftly disappeared from the service, the LA Times …

   The Register 6 Nov 14:32

   Three critical fixes in store for MS November Patch Tuesday

   Has another crack at some October uberpatch flaws

   Microsoft plans to deliver six updates - three critical - as part of its November Patch Tuesday cycle. All three of the critical updates due on 10 November involve patches for Windows. Tuesday is also due to bring two "important" (ie. slightly lower risk) updates for Office and another "important" Windows-related security fix …

   The Register 6 Nov 14:30

   US unemployment rate breaks ten per cent

   Telcos and IT services add jobs

   There may be signs that the Great Recession in the US is on the wane, but employers didn't get the memo and another 190,000 people lost their jobs in October. According to this morning's jobs report (pdf) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the States rose to 10.2 per cent through the end of October, …

   The Register 6 Nov 14:26

   Anna Friel spectator brings up his Breakfast at Tiffany's

   Pukes from upper balcony during musical number

   Plucky* Anna Friel has proved she got the thesp Right Stuff by battling on with a performance of Breakfast at Tiffany's, despite the fact that a punter puked over six fellow Haymarket Theatre audience members. Poor old Friel (pictured, as Holly Golightly) was halfway through a musical number when the spectator discharged a …

   The Register 6 Nov 14:11

   Non-Intels rally 'round LTE spec

   Speaking with 'One Voice'

   A gaggle of LTE proponents have released a tech spec for voice and SMS over that 4G wireless standard, moving LTE one more step ahead of its Intel-championed competitor, WiMAX. Mobile providers and handset manufacturers AT&T, Verizon, Orange, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, and others announced the technical profile in a joint statement …

   The Register 6 Nov 14:02

   The Desktop refresh

   On demand Should I? Shouldn't I?

   For those of you who missed our recent live webcast on refreshing the desktop estate, the panic is over. Here it is, recorded it in full colour, for your viewing pleasure. The webcast is, as alway, hosted by Reg front man and all round good egg, Tim Phillips. He’s joined by desktop gurus from Intel and Freeform Dynamics. The …

   The Register 6 Nov 13:28

   Web host lunches clients' emails for a week

   Hardware blamed for snafu

   British web hosting company UK2.net is still trying to restore emails to customers almost a week after it first reported problems. Currently its live support service is offline too, and customers are still waiting to get their messages back. Apart from losing incoming messages customers are also struggling to send messages out …

   The Register 6 Nov 13:26

   Net hasn't isolated Yanks - they've just misplaced their friends

   Net chums replace some neighbours

   Americans have not become more isolated thanks to the advent of mobile phones and the internet - it's just that they've mislaid a third of their closest friends in the last few years. A study by the Pew Internet and American Life project countered findings earlier this decade, which declared that Americans were becoming more …

   The Register 6 Nov 13:20

   Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ6 compact camera

   Review Super-zoom for the cost-conscious

   Panasonic’s DMC-TZ6 could be considered the little brother or, if you want to be a little less charitable, a stripped-down version of the DMC-TZ7 we looked at in August. Both models are super-zoom compacts or Travel-cams, designed for the person who wants a big optical zoom in a pocket-sized camera. The DMC-TZ6 is around £60 …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 13:02

   LibDem backs IBM staff in pension row...

   ...with call for mass firings

   Hampshire MP Sandra Gidley has intervened in the row over IBM closing its final salary pension scheme, but hers is a confusing brand of support staff might rather do without. The Liberal Democrat has called on the government to boycott the firm, a move that would guarantee thousands of job cuts. "I have written to the …

   The Register 6 Nov 12:16

   Memory maker to sell films on Flash

   Kingston Technology partners with Paramount

   Memory specialist Kingston Technology is to sell movies on memory cards. In a deal announced with Paramount last night, the company will pre-load the cards with full-length films. The devil will surely be in the detail, and that's probably why neither Kingston nor Paramount provided any. Which movies will be included? When …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 12:12

   Firefox and Chrome updates spike stability bugs

   Bonfire Night alternative browser fixes

   Mozilla has pushed out a new version of Firefox that fixes a number of stability bugs that pose possible security concerns. Firefox 3.5.5, which comes only a week after the release of 3.5.4, addressed a start-up crash problem and crashes in the GIF image decoder of the open source browser, among other bugs (as explained here …

   The Register 6 Nov 12:03

   'Something may come through' dimensional 'doors' at LHC

   Attack of the Hyperdimensional Juggernaut-Men

   A top boffin at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) says that the titanic machine may possibly create or discover previously unimagined scientific phenomena, or "unknown unknowns" - for instance "an extra dimension". "Out of this door might come something, or we might send something through it," said Sergio Bertolucci, who is …

   The Register 6 Nov 12:02

   HP plans a trillion-sensor global stethoscope

   Hearing the heartbeat of the Earth

   Getting the vision thing right is important for technology announcements and HP has it nailed, twinning a great vision with advances in its sensing technology. Here's Peter Hartwell, a senior researcher at HP Labs: "With a trillion sensors embedded in the environment, all connected by computing systems, software and services, …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:53

   H Ross Perot Jr fails to grab rhino by the horns

   Denied hunting trophy following 'bungled' shot

   H Ross Perot Jr, the son of former US presidential hopeful and EDS founder H Ross Perot, has been told he can't after all have the head and skin of a white rhino he shot back in July in KwaZulu-Natal's Mkhuze game reserve, after the beast made good his escape from the hunter's "bungled" attempt to down him. According to SA's …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:49

   Sun's Facebook-slapping hits wrong target

   Comment Paedo-threat coverage risks more restrictions for all

   A series of negative stories about Facebook by The Sun newspaper could lead to yet more government intervention directing how individuals are allowed to interact with the internet. The Sun has seen a host of anti-Facebook stories run over the last 12 months, paralleled by positive coverage of near-rival, MySpace. Last week, …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:40

   US woman to drop sprog live on internet

   Promises 'tasteful' birthing coverage

   A 23-year-old US teacher has decided to broadcast the drop of her first sprog live on the internet, thereby becoming a human "textbook" for those seeking birthing enlightenment. Minnesota mum-to-be Lynsee (pictured), will share the experience with registered members of MomsLikeMe, where she's been blogging like a good 'un as …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:27

   The decentralisation effect

   Workshop Server architectures and their impact in operations

   This week’s poll spawned some very interesting responses. We asked you where you keep your servers, and how these relate to the kinds of issues you face. Looking at locations first of all, you told us that in the majority of your organisations the machines that form the backbone of IT operations now reside in one or a small …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:23

   Booze shops get ID card lessons

   More shops than cards

   Government workers have hit the streets of Manchester to promote the ID cards scheme to shop owners, who currently outnumber members of the public who have volunteered for a card. The city is the first place in the country the public can apply for an ID card, which requires a fingerprinting session. This week Identity and …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:12

   Controversial email blocklist SORBS sold

   GFI confirms purchase of reputation service

   GFI Software has confirmed the purchase of sometimes controversial spam blocklist provider SORBS for a reported $451,000. Spam and Open Relay Blocking System (SORBS) has maintained a list of email servers suspected of sending or relaying spam since 2002. Inefficiencies in its spam blocklist database removal procedure, a …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:05

   Is this the world's dirtiest PC?

   Reader snap reveals Quatermass-style horror

   We're obliged to reader Danny Lee for forwarding evidence of what appears to be a Quatermass-style lifeform, which has attached itself to a PC and pretty well explains why the thing had ceased to function: Chilling stuff indeed. Anyone out there who has experienced The Invasion of the Ventblockers is urged not to approach …

   The Register 6 Nov 11:02

   Intel replicates 'bricked SSD' bug, pledges fix

   Says solution a 'high priority'

   Intel has once again promised a fix for the glitchy firmware update tool it released for its 34nm solid-state drives last month. But it still can't say when the new version will arrive. The chip giant released new firmware for the drives on 26 October. The following day it pulled the software after a number of users running 64 …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 10:50

   Dell details 'world's thinnest' laptop

   Adamo XPS debuts

   Dell has been teasing us for months with spy shots of a super-thin laptop. But now the firm has decided it’s time to officially spill the beans about the latest addition to its Adamo line. Dell's Adamo XPS: measures just 9.7mm top to bottom The Adamo XPS – actually the third machine in the Adamo series – is, judging by its …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 10:09

   Red-faced Times abandons fishy eco ad

   Another bogus scare, another re-Greta-ble cockup

   The Times newspaper says it won't be repeating an advertisement that contained a false and misleading piece of environmental alarmism. The advert, part of a series boasting its eco-credentials, claimed that the world's oceans would be free of fish by 2048. But the prediction was debunked when it was made three years ago, and the …

   The Register 6 Nov 09:57

   Florida flasher deploys 'explosive diarrhoea' defence

   Cops find 'no evidence of uncontrolled bowels', however

   A Florida flasher who allegedly exposed himself to two women explained to cops that his state of undress was due to an "explosive diarrhoea" incident. Collier County deputies responded to a call on Monday that painter Todd Napodano, 42, stood up inside his white Chevrolet box-truck van in a Naples parking lot and "shook his …

   The Register 6 Nov 09:55

   Nutt sacking row deepens

   Scientists want maximum respect

   The row over the sacking of Professor David Nutt is deepening, with a bevy of boffins calling for scientific government advisers to be treated with respect and allowed to speak as they see fit. The group of former and current advisers has sent the "Statement of Principles for the Treatment of Independent Scientific Advice" to …

   The Register 6 Nov 09:47

   Don't panic over the secret copyright treaty

   Opinion At least, not until we know what's in it

   Secret gatherings of the world's governments are usually the stuff of fevered imaginings, but just one such gathering is this week generating its own fair share of paranoia. Some of the world's biggest economies are gathered in South Korea this week to discuss copyright law in secret. The plans they are coming up with are …

   The Register 6 Nov 08:02

   Sony PRS-600 Reader Touch Edition

   Review Real page turner?

   When we reviewed Sony's original PRS-505 Reader a little over 12 months ago, our only real criticism was that the plethora of buttons and switches that festooned the device would be better replaced by a touchscreen. Revised edition: Sony's PRS-600 Reader Touch Now Sony has released its next-generation Reader, the PRS-600, …

   Reg Hardware 6 Nov 08:02

   Texas snatches voter system from $863m IBM contract

   Fears for lost data

   Texas has pulled its voter registration system from a $863m data center consolidation project being overseen by IBM, saying it distrusts the giant's ability to recover lost data. IBM is merging separate data centers from 27 Texas state agencies into two facilities under a seven-year outsourcing contract, to cut costs and …

   The Register 6 Nov 07:02

   Liquid Computing to float slushy Intel servers

   x64-commodity drip effect

   Liquid Computing is moving further away from its home-grown server design and more towards commodity x64 iron as it tries to ride the unified computing wave. At this month's Supercomputing 09 in Portland, Oregon, Liquid Computing will launch a cluster of rack servers using its variation on the unified server and storage fabric …

   The Register 6 Nov 07:02

   Fujitsu union confirms strike next week

   Outsourcer walkout imminent

   Fujitsu workers will walk out next week in what's billed as the first ever national strike at a UK IT company, following a dispute over pensions, pay and job cuts. Unite members voted by a three-quarters majority for a strike, and yesterday union bosses confirmed action on 12, 13 and 16 November. Fujitsu staff who are members …

   Channel Register 6 Nov 07:02

   Backdoor in top iPhone games stole user data, suit claims

   Storm8's iSpy

   A maker of some of the most popular games for the iPhone has been surreptitiously collecting users' cell numbers without their permission, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. The complaint claims best-selling games made by Storm8 contained secret code that bypassed safeguards built into the iPhone to prevent the …

   The Register 6 Nov 06:02

   Domain auction house says top exec juiced bids

   SnapNames dates alleged shill to 2005

   Snapnames - the net's largest domain name reseller - has told its customers that for the last four years, one of its own employees used a fake online identity to boost bidding on its online auctions. "Recently, SnapNames discovered that an employee had set up an account on the SnapNames system under a false name and, under …

   The Register 6 Nov 06:02

   Apple under Jobs: from muck to mountaintop

   Fortune's CEO of the Decade

   Steve Jobs has been crowned CEO of the Decade by the preeminent house organ of US corporate shillery, Fortune magazine. Love him or hate him - or both - Jobs has earned the honor. Fortune's panting panegyric covers the now-familiar saga of Jobs's rescue of Apple from the jaws of disaster, spiced with details of how he …

   The Register 6 Nov 01:00

   Google unleashes internal JavaScript tools

   Channel the power of Gmail

   Google's critical mass online, combined with recent years' Web 2.0 fever, have helped consolidate 14-year-old JavaScript in the field of web development. Now Google has released some of the tools it used to build Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Maps that helped in that process of establishing JavaScript as a central player in …

   The Register 6 Nov 00:06

4. Thursday, 05 November 2009

   Opera in top secret iPhone talks?

   OpenMobileSummit We did not approach Apple...'at that time'

   Opera boss Jon von Tetzchner says that one day Apple's iPhone will run third-party browsers. But he won't be drawn on whether the company is poised to offer a Jobsian version of Opera itself. Von Tetzchner and company have already admitted to building an Opera incarnation for Steve Jobs's mobile status symbol in the the Opera …

   The Register 5 Nov 23:39

   IBM parks beta cloud on development and test servers

   Big-Blue software diet

   IBM on Thursday kicked off a free public beta of a new cloud computing development and test environment that's hosted on Big Blue's machines. The company also added new tools and services made special for testing cloud-based apps in a private cloud. IBM Smart Business Development and Test on IBM Cloud (yes, they put the …

   The Register 5 Nov 21:52

   Google demi-god backs shared mobile airwaves

   OpenMobileSummit Raises fist at 'Soviet Ministries'

   After plugging Google's open source Android OS into the interplanetary interwebs, net demi-god Vint Cerf has called for a mobile world where the airwaves are shared by multiple wireless outfits. But he's well aware that the mobile industry's "Soviet Ministries" - aka the incumbent carriers - are less than likely to leap at the …

   The Register 5 Nov 21:23

   Facebook, MySpace backdoor exposed user accounts

   Bit drafty in here

   Facebook and MySpace have closed gaping security holes in their sites that gave attackers full access to accounts that had automatic-login features enabled. The vulnerabilities, documented here by a Facebook application developer, were significant. Because the unauthorized access would be mapped to the victim's IP address and …

   The Register 5 Nov 20:11

   Spain won't disconnect illegal file sharers

   Rejects Mandy and Sarko approaches

   Spain doesn't plan on unplugging internet users accused of illegal file-sharing, despite strong government support for "three-strikes" disconnection laws in the UK and France. Culture Minister, Angeles González-Sinde, told the morning television news program, TVE Breakfast, Thursday the Spanish government "is not considering …

   The Register 5 Nov 20:09

   Windows 7 sales leave Microsoft coffers unstuffed

   Beats Windows Vista - at a price

   Sales of boxed copies of Windows 7 are thrashing Windows Vista's early history, but at a price - the money that Microsoft is making on them isn't keeping up. Windows 7 unit sales were 234 per cent higher than Windows Vista's during the first few days of both operating systems' release, according to analyst NPD Group's weekly …

   The Register 5 Nov 20:03

   Latest Moblin Linux polished for netbooks

   3G, Bluetooth, and browser boost

   The effort putting Linux on Intel's mobile Atom processor has seen its latest release, with an across-the-board polish for Moblin. The steering committee of the Moblin Project, the Intel-initiated effort that was spun off to the Linux Foundation earlier this year, proudly announced a raft of capabilities new to version 2.1. …

   The Register 5 Nov 20:03

   Vint Cerf mods Android for interplanetary interwebs

   OpenMobileSummit 'Hot dead birds' protocol comes to earth

   Internet founding father cum Google evangelist Vint Cerf is working to bring his interplanetary interwebs protocol to mobile networks here on earth. In 1998, working in tandem with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the (co-)father of the seminal TCP protocol launched an effort to create an "interplanetary extension to the …

   The Register 5 Nov 18:40

   NY insider trading scandal widens, 14 more charged

   String of deals since 2006 involved

   Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said this morning they are bringing charges against 14 people it claims were involved in yet another insider trading network. The US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York is hosting a press conference today outlining the charges, but prior to this, the office supplied El Reg …

   The Register 5 Nov 18:05

   Murdoch admits delays on paywall scheme

   How's never? Is never good for you?

   Rupert Murdoch has confirmed that his company is unlikely to hit its June deadline for putting up paywalls around its newspaper websites. Murdoch also seemed to confirm that the move to charging for online content would not be made by News Corp alone but with several major publishers acting together (not as a cartel, of course …

   The Register 5 Nov 16:28

   Gwen Stefani in Band Hero avatar argument

   Ain't No Doubt about it

   US ska-pop band No Doubt - best know for its 1996 hit Don't Speak - has become the latest group to throw a hissy fit over the use of its lead singer’s likeness in a videogame. The band agreed to lead singer Gwen Stefani’s likeness being used alongside three No Doubt songs included in Activision's videogame Band Hero, but they …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 16:19

   Sony upscales PS3's PlayTV to HD

   Also adds Aino 'PlayStation phone' support

   Sony has released an update for the PlayStation 3 Play TV tuner unit enabling it to better serve the needs of HD buffs and mobile maniacs. Version 1.21 of the unit's software lets you watch, pause and record HD TV over a DVB-T standard broadcast, Sony said, and makes it possible to simultaneously watch and record free digital …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 16:12

   IBM gives big discounts on Power engines

   Latent capacity a go-go

   The U.S. economy may look like it is coming out of the Great Recession, at least according to the economists who work for Uncle Sam, who said recently that gross domestic product in the States rose by a 3.5 per cent annualized rate in the third quarter. That is better than the 2.7, 5.4, 6.4, and 0.70 per cent declines that …

   Channel Register 5 Nov 15:59

   Travel agents accused of shilling for ID cards

   Fun with glove puppets

   Lobby group NO2ID has told the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) to stop acting as a propagandist for the government's doomed ID card project. Sean Tipton, senior spokesman for ABTA, has been quoted in various publications banging the drum for the card that no one wants. Tipton claimed the card would encourage people …

   The Register 5 Nov 15:30

   Swedish spooks knocked offline by hack attack

   DDoS attack follows intro of new monitoring powers

   The website of the Swedish Signals Intelligence agency (Försvarets Radioanstalt, or FRA) was taken offline by a massive DDoS attack this week. Fra.se was intermittently inaccessible from Monday night until Thursday morning, when full service was restored. The agency was in the news recently after Swedish legislators passed a …

   The Register 5 Nov 15:24

   T-Mobile backs into Android Marketplace

   One bill to rule them all

   T-Mobile USA is to integrate Android application purchases into its billing platform, proving there's still value in the operator-customer relationship. In his speech at the OpenMobile Summit Cole Brodman, CTO of T-Mobile USA, told the assembled crowd that from November 17th they'll be able to browse a T-Mobile-branded section …

   The Register 5 Nov 15:20

   Olympus intros E-P1's successor

   Second-gen Micro Two-Thirds camera announced

   Olympus has launched the follow-up to first Micro Four-Thirds format camera, the E-P1, called, unsurprisingly, the E-P2. The E-P2 is Olympus' second go at Micro Four-Thirds tech Both models share the same 12.3Mp sensor, but E-P2 buyers will be rewarded with a port that'll take an electronic viewfinder or an external …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 15:08

   China says there's no such thing as net addiction

   Then warns on 'inappropriate use of internet'

   China's health ministry has turned down the country's rhetoric on internet addiction, and has warned against "boot camp" style approaches for habitual web abusers. The ministry has issued guidelines for "inappropriate use of internet" saying there was no precise definition of internet addiction, state news agency Xinhua …

   The Register 5 Nov 14:40

   You too can become a Taoist Mao Shan master

   Handy Reg step-by-step guide to achieving enlightenment

   The shock news earlier this week that a Chinese truck driver had persuaded an 18-year-old aspiring model that he was a Taoist Mao Shan master with the power to grant her catwalk success - providing she indulged in ritual sex - prompted many readers to enquire how they too might achieve the same kind of spiritual enlightenment …

   The Register 5 Nov 14:37

   US carrier in shock 'wireless pipes make money' claim

   OpenMobileSummit T-Google's open lovefest

   A US wireless carrier has admitted that it can make a very good living as a wireless carrier. This week, at a mobile-centric get-together in downtown San Francisco, T-Mobile USA chief technology officer Cole Brodman was asked how the company planned to avoid becoming nothing more than a - gasp! - network service provider in an …

   The Register 5 Nov 14:02

   Large Hadron Collider scuttled by birdy baguette-bomber

   Bread on the busbars could have seen 'dump caverns' used

   A bird dropping a piece of bread onto outdoor machinery has been blamed for a technical fault at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this week which saw significant overheating in sections of the mighty particle-punisher's subterranean 27-km supercooled magnetic doughnut. According to scientists at the project, had the LHC been …

   The Register 5 Nov 13:23

   Could a hard drive dedupe data?

   Comment Manufacturers start looking for the next big thing

   Hitachi GST president Steve Milligan says one of the drivers affecting the hard drive industry is the need for efficient storage with technologies like virtualisation and deduplication. What is he on about? He presented at a recent Needham conference for HDD investors and said that the storage market was driven by three things …

   The Register 5 Nov 13:11

   Brown declines to resign

   Democracy 2.0 inaction

   Shocking news from the home of 10 Downing Street's e-petitions site, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is not going to resign. Reg reader Kalvis posted a petition calling for Gordy to go back in April, when to be fair it was looking quite likely. Well over 72,000 people agreed with this sentiment and added their support to the …

   The Register 5 Nov 13:07

   Samsung Galaxy i7500 Android smartphone

   Review Stellar performance?

   HTC may have done it first, but now the Androids are starting to come thick and fast. Motorola got in early with the Dext, and all the major manufacturers are planning their own entry into Android land. Samsung's Galaxy: Android for the mainstream? The Samsung Galaxy is the Korean giant's first attempt and turns out to be a …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 13:02

   Google launches privacy Dashboard service

   What does Google know about me?

   Google has launched a Dashboard service that's designed to show how much the search engine giant knows about its users online activities. The service provides a summary of data associated with a specified Google account. Users gain the ability to view and manage data, which ranges from search engine queries and emails sent …

   The Register 5 Nov 12:30

   Asus delays 'smartbook' release

   Android implementation slows down release?

   Asus has push back scheduled plans to launch its first "smartbook" early next year. Asus confirmed in October 2009 that it would launch such a machine during Q1 2010. However, Judy Wu, a market specialist at Asus, today told Register Hardware that the company will now not unveil the netbook until Q2 2010. She didn't give any …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 12:26

   Spotify: The Sutton Coldfield challenge

   Exclusive Fifty Quid Bloke replaced by small cluster of Spotifans?

   New Spotify figures obtained by El Reg shed some new light on the progress of the music phenomenon. Back in June, we revealed the subscriber and revenue numbers for the startup, which showed that Spotify had exceeded half a million UK users, but was gaining just 14p of advertising revenue per user - not enough to keep the …

   The Register 5 Nov 12:06

   Fifth of iPhone users watching porn

   Quarter have left physical partner over mobile use

   Shopping site Retrevo has been talking to iPhone users and has discovered that they prefer cool gadgets to degrees, but still consider themselves intellectual. The "study" involved polling 445 iPhone and Blackberry users about their relationships with other people and their kit, and discovered that iPhone users consider …

   The Register 5 Nov 12:06

   Ex-HP boss confirms political move

   California gets tech Senate bid

   The former boss of HP, Carly Fiorina, is to stand as a Republican candidate for Senate for California. Writing in the Orange County Register (no relation), Fiorina said: "Our most pressing problems today are too few jobs for Americans and too much spending in Washington. As California's senator, economic recovery and fiscal …

   The Register 5 Nov 12:05

   Fat Reg slims down for spanking new mobile phone version

   Bookmarks at the ready!

   We’ve had a few goes with various technology partners at pumping out a mobile version of The Register over the years. But for reasons too dull to dwell on, each attempt foundered on the shores of irrelevance and indifference. Undaunted, we are back, this time with our own try-out at Register Mobile. [We won’t call it the …

   The Register 5 Nov 12:02

   Orb goes Mac - at last

   Photos, music via little fluffy cloud

   Orb, the Slingbox-in-software app that allows you to access your music, TV and photos on any device, has finally unleashed its long-awaited Mac version. Once installed, the software will scan your iPhoto or iTunes library, and selected folders, allowing Playlists and Photo Albums to be enjoyed on another PC, a Xbox 360 or Wii …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:50

   Mandriva flashes its small aggressive penguin

   It's Linux for 2010

   The end of year race to update product names has begun in earnest, with Mandriva becoming one of the first to launch a product with 2010 in its moniker. The Paris-based Linux outfit flagged up Mandriva Linux 2010 last night. If that's too much of a mouthful for you, you can just stick with the codename, Adelie. The big push …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:39

   EU block to Mandelson's filesharing laws removed

   Consumer campaign defeated

   A plan by the European Parliament to restrict the power of national governments to disconnect illegal filesharers has been dumped to win agreement on new telecoms competition laws. Long-running negotiations over the EU Telecoms Package were completed last night when MEPs agreed to drop amendments that would have made internet …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:38

   BBC website now unbroked

   Auntie fell asleep during the night

   BBC Online is mostly back online now, after serious problems overnight and early this morning. Reg readers emailed to report problems from 3am UK time until just before 9am this morning. For most the site was either unavailable, or loading extremely slowly. A BBC spokeswoman said: "Some people have been experiencing problems …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:34

   Mozilla plots Firefox interface overhaul

   'Dated' UI gets cross-platform makeover

   Mozilla has detailed plans to revamp and simplify the user interface of Firefox. The visual update for the Windows version of the open source browser will occur in two phases, coinciding with the release of Firefox 3.7 and 4.0, with early changes set to include hiding the menu bar and merging the "stop" and "reload" buttons. …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:12

   The state of the x86 server estate

   Proper webcast Your peers are telling you

   If you’re running a data centre, or just a moderate server room, chances are you’ve got an awful lot on your plate. Day to day; new demands, new apps, new kit, new pressures and more than likely, you only have partial visibility on these matters. No more. The mighty readers of The Register are here to help. On 26 November at …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:02

   Wikipedia's founder gets €10K coolness credit

   Nokia Foundation rewards cult Foundation leader

   Jimmy Wales can add "Nokia Foundation scholarship" winner to his list of achievements, having received €10,000 for his sterling work as Maximum Leader of the Wiki. The award was made to Jimmy on the basis of his "unique contribution to accelerating online collaboration... effectively democratizing information sharing" …

   The Register 5 Nov 11:00

   Cybercriminals down five British police forces in a year

   For more than three days each

   In the last year five British police forces have suffered major computer failures lasting three days or more as a result of malicious internet attacks. The spate of intrusions by cybercriminals and the resulting outages was revealed recently by a senior authoritative source, who can't be identified because the disclosure was …

   The Register 5 Nov 10:39

   'Searched' web info hits harder than 'surfed' - shock

   Stuff you're interested in is more interesting

   Journalism academics have published a study asserting that people are more likely to "understand, remember and emotionally respond" to web news and information which they have searched for than stuff they have "surfed". In this case, "surfing" means looking at content selected for the user by others, as when going to a news …

   The Register 5 Nov 10:38

   All-in-one PCs to replace desktops, claims Asus

   Three years and counting?

   Asus has forecast that sales of all-in-one PCs will soon overtake those of traditional desktop PCs. Eric Lee, Manager of Asus’ Eee Top all-in-one PC range, told Register Hardware today that the “all-in-one PC will replace the traditional desktop within the coming years”. Asus' Eee Top 2002: pushing aside mini-towers …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 10:28

   Pirates get extra seat in Euro Parliament

   22-year old Swedish woman goes to Brussels

   Now that the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified by Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the European Parliament gets an extra 18 members, and one of those will be from Sweden's Pirate Party. Currently there are 736 Members of the European Parliament, this will temporarily go up to 754, because Germany, which is losing three seats, keeps …

   The Register 5 Nov 10:16

   Toshiba attacks 2.5-inch drives from below

   320 gigs on 1.8-inch HDD

   By putting 320GB of capacity on a 1.8-inch drive, Toshiba has signalled its confidence in this micro-drive form factor. The new 2-platter MK3233GSG stores 160GB per platter and spins at 5,400rpm, optimising capacity over performance. The platters have an areal density of 516Gbit/sq in - impressive, given that most high- …

   The Register 5 Nov 10:15

   At what point do servers become HPC beasts?

   Tech Panel El Reg barometer survey. Your input needed

   From time to time, The Register commissions its own "barometer surveys", to gauge the impact of technologies on our readers' working lives Today, we launch a new barometer survey, to track high-end servers and HPC, or high performance computers, the name by which low- and mid-range supercomputers go by these days. We will run …

   The Register 5 Nov 09:44

   Asus ups ante on Acer with two 3D laptops

   Gamers targeted

   Watch out, Acer. Rival PC manufacturer Asus has crafted not one, but two laptops with 3D displays, both designed to tempt gamers and film fans into parting with their cash. Asus' G51J3D: one of two 3D laptops the firm will launch over coming months Both models sit within Asus’ G series of gaming-focused laptops and come in …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 09:02

   Hisense 1080p Media Player

   Review Link hard drives, Nas boxes to your TV on the cheap

   The world isn't exactly short of devices designed to get audio-visual content from your Nas box, USB stick or external hard drive and onto your telly. The trouble is, many of them are three-legged nags let down either by grim UIs, lacklustre codec support, cheap and nasty remote controls, a simple lack of expected functionality …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 08:02

   Tech titans meet in secret to plug SSL hole

   Web authentication busted on Apache, IIS

   Researchers say they've uncovered a flaw in the secure sockets layer protocol that allows attackers to inject text into encrypted traffic passing between two endpoints. The vulnerability in the transport layer security protocol allows man-in-the-middle attackers to surreptitiously introduce text at the beginning of an SSL …

   The Register 5 Nov 07:51

   115,000 nabbed for in-car calling

   Drivers get the message, but only after pulling over

   More than 115,000 people in England and Wales got fixed penalties for being on the blower whilst driving in 2007, dropping off from the 2006 peak of almost 160,000. Figures are only available up until 2007, but according to a parliamentary answer the number of drivers caught talking on the phone peaked in 2006, and is dropping …

   The Register 5 Nov 07:02

   Open-sourcers promise cloud elephant won't trample your code

   ApacheCon 09 Hadoop buffed for 2010 'completion'

   Popular grid computing platform Hadoop could grow up next year, with network authentication and features to stop brand-new code breaking users' existing applications. Also on the roadmap for the open-source architecture - used by Yahoo!, eHarmony, LinkedIn, and Fox Interactive Media among others - is support for dynamic …

   The Register 5 Nov 06:02

   Second-gen TTxGP e-bike unveiled

   Leccy Tech 'Laptop on wheels' available to buy

   The organisers of the TTxGP e-bike Grand Prix series have revealed their off-the-shelf electric superbike at the annual Speciality Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. Called the Mavizen TTx02, the bike is based on the Agni X01 machine that won the inaugural TTxGP at the Isle of Man TT races in June 2009 and …

   Reg Hardware 5 Nov 06:02

   Sun and Apache: the Java scars that endure

   ApacheCon 09 Neutrality gets you so far

   Apache Software Foundation (ASF) pioneers have toasted 10 years of independence and successful code development at their annual conference in California. Speakers who spun-up the project in its early days celebrated building a community that has stayed (mostly) friendly and dedicated to the ideal of building open-source code. …

   The Register 5 Nov 04:40

   Linden Lab unveils Sadville: Enterprise Edition

   A private Second Life in a $55,000 box

   Some companies like IBM have an uncanny attraction to Linden Lab's virtual world, Second Life. They claim the software provides a 3-D collaboration space that's viscerally superior to what traditional mediums such as teleconferencing, instant messaging, or video conferencing can provide. Trouble is, hapless employees ushered …

   The Register 5 Nov 01:14

   Google: Android fragmentation not 'bad thing'

   OpenMobileSummit It's what devs want

   Google has defended its decision to allow unfettered Android tweaking, saying that although this may fragment the Googlephone market, it's what's best for developers. "Everybody talks about fragmentation as a bad thing, but I think you need to look at it from the perspective of the developer," Eric Chu, Google's group manager …

   The Register 5 Nov 01:04

   Judge spanks lawyer for leaking personal details in brief

   'Negligent, inattentive electronic filing'

   A judge has chastised a lawyer for including the social security numbers and birthdays of 179 individuals in an electronic court brief, ordering him to pay a $5,000 sanction and provide credit monitoring. US District Judge Michael J. Davis said he was meting out the penalty under his "inherent power," meaning no one in the …

   The Register 5 Nov 00:51

   Men allegedly broke into computers of former employer

   Poor password hygiene indictment

   Federal authorities on Wednesday filed intrusion charges against two men accused of accessing the computer systems of their former employer. Scott R. Burgess, 45, of Jasper, Indiana, and Walter D. Puckett, 39, of Williamstown, Kentucky, both worked as managers for Indiana-based Stens Corporation until taking jobs with a …

   The Register 5 Nov 00:12

5. Wednesday, 04 November 2009

   Cisco profits slip 19%, but pass 'tipping point'

   Signs of recovery sighted

   Cisco's fiscal first quarter profit dropped 19 per cent based on lower sales, but the networking equipment giant believes it had already hit the recession's bottom in Q3 and is optimistic about the overall economic outlook. Chief executive John Chambers said results in Cisco's fiscal Q1 2010, which ended October 24, "continue …

   The Register 4 Nov 23:36

   Apple not plotting to slay netbook hackintoshes after all

   Breakage unbroke again, move along...

   Remember how a report recently zipped around the blogosphere about Apple disabling support for Intel's Atom processor in its most recent build of the soon-to-be-released Mac OS 10.6.2? Well, fuggedaboutit. As The Reg noted on Monday, Apple's deAtomization of the Snow Leopard OS was reported by a blogger named Stell. If true, …

   The Register 4 Nov 23:30

   SGI-Rackable combo posts big revenue gains

   And a whopping loss

   On the revenue front, the acquisition of the carcass of supercomputer maker Silicon Graphics by niche hyperscale server maker Rackable Systems looks like it was a good idea as the combination, now known as Silicon Graphics, closed out its first quarter of fiscal 2010. But in terms of profits - or the lack thereof - it doesn't …

   The Register 4 Nov 22:56

   ScaleMP cuts InfiniBand out of virtual SMP clusters

   Fake SMPs for SMBs and clouds

   ScaleMP, a maker of virtualization and aggregation software that allows a cluster of x64 servers to look like a big, bad, symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) shared-memory system to operating systems and selected classes of applications, is going downstream to target SMBs and upstream to chase cloud infrastructure providers. While …

   The Register 4 Nov 21:35

   iPhone apps top 100,000

   Android, Palm lag far behind

   Less than six weeks after announcing that downloads from its iTunes App store had topped two billion, Apple on Wednesday let it be known that its online collection has now topped one hundred thousand apps. In a statement, Apple SVP of marketing Phil Schiller tossed a not-so-subtle jab at Cupertino's Palm Prē and Android …

   The Register 4 Nov 21:19

   Microsoft axes another 800 jobs

   More 'headcount adjustments' still possible

   The bloodletting at Microsoft continues, as the software behemoth said Wednesday it would eliminate 800 jobs in addition to the 5,000 positions it has already pared this year. A Microsoft spokesman said the cuts will be broadly "spread across multiple businesses and locations," and added that the company will continue to hire …

   The Register 4 Nov 20:32

   Google embraces Wave's permission chaos

   Enterprise 2.0 It's for your own good

   Google is embracing complete user-access anarchy in its new-age collaboration tool, Google Wave, so that early testers won't be tempted to fall into their old emailing habits. A puzzling attribute of Google's new open-communication sandbox is the complete lack of permissions. As it stands today, if a person is invited to a …

   The Register 4 Nov 20:28

   Ericsson calls on carriers to out-app-store Google

   OpenMobileSummit The Everything Marketplace

   Ericsson senior vp Jan Uddenfeldt has called on the wireless industry to build its own "horizontal" mobile app stores that span operating systems and devices. Speaking this morning at an open-happy mobile conference in downtown San Francisco, Uddenfeldt hailed Google's momentum-building Android setup, but he urged carriers to …

   The Register 4 Nov 19:42

   Twitter fanatic glimpses dark side of OAuth

   'Secure' authentication can be anything but

   A mobile enthusiast and professional internet strategist got a glimpse of OAuth's dark side recently when he received an urgent advisory from Twitter. The dispatch, generated when Terence Eden tried to log in, said his Twitter account may have been compromised and advised he change his password. After making sure the alert was …

   The Register 4 Nov 19:03

   New York's top lawman slaps Intel with lawsuit

   Charged with 'bribery and coercion'

   Intel's ongoing legal troubles increased markedly Wednesday morning when New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit alleging that the world's largest microprocessor manufacturer conducted "an illegal campaign to deprive AMD of distribution channels." The exceptionally detailed 83-page complaint (PDF) alleges that …

   The Register 4 Nov 18:41

   Mac art project game destroys aliens files

   Lose / Lose

   A Mac game that deletes users' files has sparked a debate about whether it's malware or not. The Space Invaders-style game deletes a file from the Mac home directory every time a user destroys an alien ship. The application, released as part of an art project, clearly warns this is what it does... in big red letters (link to …

   The Register 4 Nov 17:50

   Asus waves farewell to (laptop) fans

   'Thermal holes' demoed on concept 'folding' notebook

   Asus may launch a laptop able to cool its technical innards without a fan, if the firm’s latest concept is anything to go by. Can't see the video? Download Flash Player from Adobe.com Peter Clark, a Senior Designer at Asus, today demoed a prototype notebook to Register Hardware that he said could “potentially” run without …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 17:42

   Asus talks up turbo-charged thin'n'light laptops

   A 33 per cent boost at the flick of a switch

   Asus has outlined the main benefits of Turbo 33 - an overclocking technology it has installed on its new UL netbook series. Each of the seven less-than-an-inch-thick 12in to 15in UL laptops are based on Intel CULV processors. However, Asus has claimed that its proprietary Turbo 33 technology provides performance-related …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 17:19

   HP to throw Matrix tech beyond x64 blades

   Neoview data warehouse ported to Unix blades

   Like the rest of the IT industry, Hewlett-Packard was apparently expecting Cisco Systems and EMC to announce their Acadia joint venture and Vblock virtualized data center infrastructure on Wednesday. Hence the timing of a hodge-podge of system announcements that HP is stacking up against the Vblock stacks and whatever …

   The Register 4 Nov 16:50

   Woman rings cops to decry daughter's superior BJ skills

   Both blew pop, as is the Ohio custom

   The local paper covering Findlay, Ohio, has secured its place in journalistic history by printing a brief report of a woman who rang cops to complain that her daughter boasted superior oral relief skills. TheCourier.com explained on Monday: "A woman called the police early Saturday morning during an argument with her husband …

   The Register 4 Nov 16:50

   Sacked drugs advisor pledges new expert body

   Reckons more resignations are to come

   Professor David Nutt, sacked last week by Home Secretary Alan Johnson for disagreeing with government policy, is considering setting up a new drugs advisory body. Quite how this would work, when the government seems unwilling to listen to the independent advice it is already being given, is not clear. Nutt said the current …

   The Register 4 Nov 16:08

   Google opens up OAuth to tackle password chores

   Cleverness to dispose of onerous task of logging in

   Google has opened up a technology designed to cut back on the number of passwords users need to access multiple websites to web developers, effectively moving the technology into the mainstream after a restricted beta lasting almost a year. Plaxo, Facebook and Yahoo! signed up to support so-called "hybrid onboarding" …

   The Register 4 Nov 15:54

   Feds bust cable modem modder kit maker

   Faces 20 years for showing how to bust speed caps

   An Oregon man faces up to to 20 years in prison for allegedly selling modding tools that allowed his customers to swipe high-speed internet access without paying. The US attorney's office for Massachusetts revealed the arrest yesterday, when charges were unsealed. The federal authorities and the FBI said they had nabbed 26 …

   The Register 4 Nov 15:11

   T-Mobile back up after US outage

   Five-hour fubar fixed

   T-Mobile's US network is back on its feet after yesterday's five-hour outage that left customers disconnected. In a statement posted to the T-Mobile forum discussing the outage the company apologised for "intermittent service disruptions" that affected "About five percent of our customers across various geographies" and …

   The Register 4 Nov 14:32

   The Beatles go digital, sort of

   USB outprices box set? We can't work it out either

   The Beatles are releasing their whole back catalogue on a USB stick. It's a limited edition release, with just 100 sticks available to UK punters out of a total release of 30,000. The group has attempted to keep its music off the internet and have refused to have anything to do with Apple's iTunes malarkey. Of course that …

   The Register 4 Nov 14:26

   BT squares up to Google Voice with Ribbit Mobile

   Industry comment It's all internetty but also very telecommy

   Carriers may be watching Google Voice with trepidation, especially as it goes mobile, but one unlikely telco is determined to make sure the search giant does not have it all its own way. British Telecom has extended its Ribbit internet telephony platform to cellphones (despite having no mobile network of its own) with the …

   The Register 4 Nov 14:20

   Blade servers are hot!

   That's a good thing, right?

   Whitepapers Against a backdrop of awful server revenues and shipments, Blade server sales continue to grow, accounting for 20 per cent of server shipments today, according to the industry body Blade.org. The blade server is the 'pile 'em high , sell 'em cheap' box du jour for all those penguin-killing data centres popping up …

   The Register 4 Nov 14:02

   STEC booms but shares are falling

   Wall Street worries low hanging disk fruit plucked

   A twenty-fold profit increase for solid state drive supplier STEC in its third 2009 quarter was followed by a share price drop on worries that its golden growth years are coming to a close. STEC recorded revenues of $98.3m in the quarter, 13.8 per cent up on the second quarter and a solidly satisfying 54.3 per cent higher than …

   The Register 4 Nov 14:00

   BBC iPlayer to hit Freesat boxes by month's end

   MHEG implementation paves way for Freeview HD release too

   The BBC's iPlayer will be coming to Freesat later this month, finally giving free-to-air satellite television set-top boxes' Ethernet ports something to do. Rahul Chakkara, BBC Future Media & Technology's head of TV Platforms, this week wrote on his blog that the service could be introduced before the month is out. The …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 13:23

   Naked Win 7 still vulnerable to most viruses

   User Account Control easily bypassed

   Out-of-the-box Windows 7 machines are still vulnerable to eight out of ten viruses, according to a test by security firm Sophos. The experiment proves that the improved User Account Control (UAC) features built into Windows 7 are not enough and that additional anti-virus protection is still required. In fairness to Redmond, …

   The Register 4 Nov 13:22

   HP launches Acadia counterattack

   Returns fire at Cisco/EMC/VMware alliance

   Just one day after Cisco and EMC's love-in with VMware, HP is going to answer that blast with one of its own, one with integrated components from just one company and not three. According to an early report, which has appeared before HP's announcement, HP is announcing an Infrastructure Operating Environment which puts apps …

   The Register 4 Nov 13:22

   Sony Bravia KDL-46Z5500 200Hz 46in LCD TV

   Review Striking picture quality

   Remember how flatscreen TVs used to look: dominated by huge side- or bottom-mounted speakers and with large silver or grey bezel frames? The latest models are positively anorexic in comparison, shaving centimetres off every dimension except the display itself. Sony's Bravia KDL-46Z5500: handsome So this handsome 1080p model …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 13:02

   Whitehall plans 'White Noise' phone network collapse

   Unjoined-up government, coming next week

   The government will simulate a shutdown of the national phone network next week in an exercise involving hundreds of government and industry players. The exercise - codenamed "White Noise" - is designed to simulate a catastrophic nationwide communications failure, will take place over Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 November. It …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:50

   US start-up punts family friendly netbook appliance

   Litl launches foldable Webbook

   It's not a tablet, it's something new, claims manufactuer Litl, developer of the Webbook, a 12in machine designed to be used not only like a laptop but also be mounted on its side like a touch-operated all-on-one desktop. Lilt's Webbook: 12in cloud appliance for all the family? OK, so it's essentially a laptop you can fold …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 12:48

   X-rays beat computer as best invention ever

   Science Museum poll looks backwards

   As part of its centenary celebrations the Science Museum's curators chose ten objects from its collection and asked the public to vote on their favourite. From a list which included a Pilot ACE Computer, based on Alan Turing's work, the Apollo 10 Capsule, a Model T Ford, penicillin and the DNA double helix the public chose the …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:39

   BAE mounts the Last Charge of the Light Cavalry

   British Swedish tank to slip through MoD's closing door?

   Global arms multinational BAE Systems has announced its bid to squeeze a last bit of cash out of the Ministry of Defence before next year's probable change of government and certain major reorganisation of MoD procurement plans. The company says that it will put forward an offer tomorrow (Thursday) to supply a version of its …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:31

   Large Hadron Collider team flicks switch on Xeon grid

   But hurry up with octo? We switch on tomorrow

   CERN today unveiled the upgraded grid that will support the Large Hadron Collider when the titanic particle-punisher finally kicks back into life. Sverre Jarp, CTO at CERN OpenLab supporting the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) buried beneath the Franco-Swiss border outside Geneva, described the network, powered by Intel Xeons, as …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:30

   Chinese store exposes iPhone 4's midriff

   Metal plate gets fans hot and bothered

   Parts supplier China Ontrade has posted what appears to be the middle of the next-generation iPhone, revealing almost nothing about the product beyond its existence. The plate, described as an "Apple iPhone 4 Generation Midboard", has a hole for a camera and a dock connector at the bottom. Fansites have interpreted this …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:13

   You can't sack me, I'm with Gaia

   "Message: I care"

   Sacked employees can play the 'Green Card', and make wrongful dismissal claims against their former employers on grounds of their belief, a judge has ruled. Paradoxically, this could also protect non-believers - such as climate skeptics and atheist vicars, the latter being the norm in the Church of England, which we'll come to …

   The Register 4 Nov 12:09

   Lords want help on cyber attacks

   Give the learned gents a hand

   A Lords Committee is investigating European Union policy on cyber attacks and is calling for evidence from industry and other interested parties. The ermine-clad gents, and two ladies, are particularly interested in how vulnerable the internet is to a widespread failure because of an attack such as those previously aimed at …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:51

   Parallels 5 skins Windows

   Win7 support added

   Parallels' annual update to its eponymous virtual machine software is out today, looking a bit smarter, and promising to be even more seamless than before. A new Coherence mode sees Windows applications skinned with a Mac-like scheme. Dialogues look like Windows dialogues, and there's easier keyboard mapping - so your Windows …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:42

   PrevX piles in against bank Trojans, phishing

   Plugging gaps in traditional anti-malware

   The fight against banking Trojans and phishing attacks has stepped up a gear with the launch of a new product on Wednesday targeted at securing online transactions. PrevX SafeOnline, a client-side security software package that isolates transactions from everything else on a user's Windows PC, is designed as an added layer of …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:42

   Orange coughs up cash for old kit

   Any, any, any old iron

   Orange is offering to value any mobile tech you've got lying around, and will send a cheque within seven days if you leave it with them. Orange's Recycle & Reward deal is supposed to underline its green credentials, but should be good for everyone with kit staying out of landfill and Orange getting you into its stores. While …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:34

   AMD dual-Radeon HD 5870 card spied on web

   What all were expecting, surfaces

   AMD is no stranger to banging a couple of its high-end GPUs onto a single graphics card, connecting them in CrossFire mode, and offering the result as a top-of-the-line gaming card. World+Dog expects it do the same with its Radeon HD 5870 chip - reviewed here - and here it is. Unofficially, mind, courtesy of a card leaked to …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 11:20

   Wallace and Gromit get the Google doodle treatment

   Search monolith celebrates pair's 20th anniversary

   Google's UK search tentacle has decided to ignore the fact that 4 November marks the day in 1890 that Edward, Prince of Wales, inaugurated the City & South London Railway* and instead is currently flourishing a Wallace and Gromit "doodle" to celebrate the pair's 20th anniversary. Yes indeed, it's 20 years since the lads …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:18

   Number of local council snoopers clipped

   RIPA abuse curtailed

   The number of local officials who can authorise access to communications records and order surveillance operations will be cut under changes to snooping regulations announced today. The Home Office's move follows repeated controversy over the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by local authorities probing …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:14

   Conservatives promise 'lights on, lights off' IT policy

   Budgets to go from 100w to 40w

   Government systems spend is about to be seriously slashed, with future emphasis being on small, open source, user-friendly projects. That was the message from key speakers at the Conservative Technology Forum on Monday, with a warning to consultancies and major systems developers grown fat on over-complex and excessive IT …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:02

   What does a server environment look like anyway?

   Workshop And how well do things function as a result?

   Stock photo companies have got a lot to answer for. For most people, the phrase ‘server environment’ generally conjures images of sleek racks of equipment, all glistening chrome and black with just the suggestion that the equipment requires no management at all, or if it does, it will be conducted in some place far away like the …

   The Register 4 Nov 11:02

   STRONG REAL SEX? That's not porn, rules ASA

   The kids'll never notice

   British parents can be reassured that a newspaper picture of a man and woman having sex at the base of tree to advertise a film which "CONTAINS STRONG REAL SEX, BLOODY VIOLENCE AND SELF-MUTILATION" is not pornographic. The Advertising Standards Authority made the ruling after seven complainants turned to it in horror after …

   The Register 4 Nov 10:58

   Nvidia taps Transmeta team for x86 chip, claims analyst

   Shoring up, not quitting chipset biz

   Nvidia has taken on staff from one-time star of low-power processor design Transmeta, an analyst has claimed, to drive its own x86 core development programme. In a note sent to investment clients yesterday, Doug Freedman of research house AmTech said Nvidia has to be considering a move into the x86 CPU market "by necessity to …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 10:56

   Hands on with Asus' redesigned Eee Keyboard

   But launch delayed - again

   Despite promising to launch its Eee keyboard last month, Asus has demoed a revised version of the computer-in-a-keyboard, which is now due to ship early next year. Asus has revised the Eee keyboard's features and launch date Among the changes Asus has made to the device are the replacement of its 5in resistive touchscreen …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 10:24

   Brussels readies full investigation of Oracle Sun

   Larry's stubbornness backfiring?

   Oracle has resigned itself to the likelihood of a full European competition investigation into its takeover of Sun Microsystems. Although the deal has already been approved by US regulators, the European Competition Commission is less happy with the deal. Larry Ellison's high-handed strategy of refusing any compromise seems …

   The Register 4 Nov 10:22

   Messenger beams back colour snap of Mercury

   NASA releases new data from third fly-by

   NASA has released a fetching composite colour snap of Mercury, captured by the Messenger spacecraft on its third and final fly-by of the planet prior to orbital insertion in 2011: The agency explains that the photograph was obtained by Messenger's Wide Angle Camera using three separate images captured through 1000, 700, and …

   The Register 4 Nov 10:19

   USB 3.0 thumb drive pops up

   Super Talent goes SuperSpeed

   Flash vendor Super Talent is leading the pack again and has come up with a USB 3.0 thumb drive. Its SuperSpeed USB 3.0 RAIDDRive comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities and works with current USB 2.0 ports, but obviously at USB 2.0 speed. Plug it into a proper USB 3.0 port and it transfers data much, much faster, at up to a …

   The Register 4 Nov 09:56

   The x-texting Metrotextual comes out of the closet

   C u in pub x

   It's time for the chaps out there who commonly end their text messages to chums with an affectionate "x" to come out of the closet - because demonstrating your "metrotextuality" is apparently nothing to be ashamed of. That's according to T-Mobile, which found that a shocking 22 per cent of blokes "regularly include a kiss on …

   The Register 4 Nov 09:13

   Jobs go at Novell

   And pensions suspended

   Novell is cutting jobs in various departments and in various countries. The Linux vendor, which has spent recent weeks cutting its UK distributors, will trim between 100 and 130 jobs from its total headcount of 3,900. The cuts come across geographies and departments and staff are getting severance packages based on length of …

   Channel Register 4 Nov 09:11

   Open University talks clouds with MS and Google

   It's a learning process

   The Open University is in negotiations with Microsoft and Google about cloud computing services for students and staff. Niall Sclater, the OU's director of learning innovation, told GC News that the university will shortly be taking a decision about whether to deploy Google Apps or Microsoft Live@edu. He said that not only …

   The Register 4 Nov 08:02

   Bookeen Cybook Opus

   Review Kindle who?

   While the Amazon Kindle’s appearance in the UK may help nudge the e-book reader closer to the mainstream, there are plenty of other devices to measure it against. Sony’s Reader variants are the best know, but Interead's oddly named Cool-er and iRex's DR1000S are also in the running. To that list we can now add Bookeen's latest, …

   Reg Hardware 4 Nov 08:02

   New EU rules force telcos to 'fess up for data breaches

   Non-telcos can still lose data whenever they want

   The European Council has approved a data breach notification rule for Europe's telecoms firms. The amendment to an EU Directive will force telcos to tell customers if they lose their data. The European Parliament and Commission have already approved the amendments, which will become law after it has been published in the EU's …

   The Register 4 Nov 07:02

   Dell schools net 'dolphins' in ways of Microsoft 'whale'

   Lessons in custom iron

   Cloud computing has helped Dell carve out a healthy business building customized servers for the biggest and most fashionable web properties. Feeding services like Bing and Azure, outfits like Microsoft have had Dell build them machines for their data centers that are smaller, faster, more powerful and consume less power then …

   The Register 4 Nov 06:37

   Coming soon: Freetard, The Movie

   Music biz rise and fall hits the, um, small screen

   You've read all about music labels screwing the pooch. Now see the motion picture! US premium cable network HBO is making a movie based on the Recording Industry Ass. of America's impudent and decades-long battle with freetards and the internet, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The flick is based on the book, Appetite for …

   The Register 4 Nov 06:02

   Hacker frees iPhone from Jobsian tyranny (again)

   $10,000 worth of integrity

   Would-be iPhone jailbreakers and unlockers around the globe can breathe a sigh of relief today. Not only has the latest iPhone baseband update been unlocked, but the hack's young developer is determined that it can be accessed for free. Since the iPhone was first released in June 2007, many iPhone owners have argued that after …

   The Register 4 Nov 06:02

   (Galway) Baywatch - IBM monitors Ireland's beaches

   Teams with EPA to log water quality

   IBM and Ireland's Environmental Protection Agency are helping Irish bathers avoid floundering into a warm pool of industrial sludge with a website that tracks water quality and conditions across more than 130 beaches and lakes in the country. Along with An Taisce (AKA the National Trust for Ireland), the organizations are now …

   The Register 4 Nov 06:02

   PayPal to embed X apps in self

   PayPal X Innovate iPhone meets Facebook meets 'all of ecommerce'

   In Facebook-like fashion, PayPal will open its own website to third-party applications as it continues its quest to "power all of ecommerce." At its inaugural developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday - PayPal X Innovate 09 - the eBay-owned outfit took the beta tag off its PayPal X developer platform, a set of APIs for …

   The Register 4 Nov 01:01

   Data-gobbling, dollar-munching iPhone bug unearthed

   The $15,000 download

   The reason why you found an enormous but unexpected iPhone data-connection charge on your phone bill may have been discovered in Estonia. From Cult of Mac comes word that Estonian blogger Oliver K. has discovered a bug in Safari for iPhone that will leave open a Motion JPEG video stream even if you close the Safari app. The …

   The Register 4 Nov 00:52

   Newfangled cookie attack steals/poisons website creds

   Google, Facebook risk

   A security researcher has discovered a weakness in a core browser protocol that compromises the security of Google, Facebook, and other websites by allowing an attacker to tamper with the cookies they set. The weakness stems from RFC 2965, which dictates that browsers must allow subdomains (think www.google.com) to set and …

   The Register 4 Nov 00:24

6. Tuesday, 03 November 2009

   Microsoft adds higher price to SQL Server's new features

   The rising cost of data

   Microsoft is bumping up the price of its SQL Server database for the first time in four years. The company said Tuesday that the Standard and Enterprise editions of SQL Server 2008 R2, coming next year, will see increases in the price you pay per processor. SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition will be available at a price per …

   The Register 3 Nov 23:17

   IBM hurls defiance at Microsoft after communications pitch flop

   Enterprise 2.0 'Trust me, this stuff works'

   IBM suffered through an extremely glitchy demo of its unified communications software at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference today, but it still preserved enough bravado to challenge Microsoft to a throw-down. Live demo goblins nibbled mightily at Big Blue's pitch of its communication tools at their conference keynote today in San …

   The Register 3 Nov 22:26

   Inside Acadia: the Cisco, EMC, VMware love child explained

   A chip of the old vBlocks

   As El Reg reported earlier Tuesday, Cisco Systems, EMC and VMware announced a partnership to peddle integrated server, storage, and networking stacks to data centers that want to buy preconfigured and integrated x64 servers running VMware's vSphere 4.0 software. Cisco and EMC had already let the cat out of the bag before the …

   The Register 3 Nov 22:15

   Red Hat pitches x64 virtualization with KVM rollout

   RHEVing up server hypervisors

   Commercial Linux distributor Red Hat today got its freestanding, bare-metal Enterprise Virtualization hypervisor, a hardened version of the KVM hypervisor it took control of last summer, to market. That makes Red Hat a player as x64 servers the world over are set for a massive wave of virtualization. Red Hat announced its …

   The Register 3 Nov 21:42

   Bug in latest Linux gives untrusted users root access

   Protections for some, but not all

   A software developer has uncovered a bug in most versions of Linux that could allow untrusted users to gain complete control over the open-source operating system. The null pointer dereference flaw was only fixed in the upcoming 2.6.32 release candidate of the Linux kernel, making virtually all production versions in use at …

   The Register 3 Nov 20:55

   Turkey whacks Google with £28.7m fine, claims tax dodging

   Doubts over Dublin domicile

   Google has run afoul of Turkish tax laws to the tune of 71m Turkish Lira ($47m, £28.7m). That's the amount of a fine levied by the Turkish government against the Mountain View ad broker cum search giant, as reported by Turkish-language news sites here and here, reporting on Google's vergi cezası, or tax fine. According to …

   The Register 3 Nov 20:40

   ChiPhone fails to ignite consumer frenzy

   But betting against Apple still inadvisable

   Legal iPhones have been available in China since last Friday, but Chinese consumers aren't falling over themselves to buy the pricey smartphones. But don't let the low sales figures fool you. According to a report by Reuters, China Unicom has sold a mere 5,000 iPhones since their release last week. That's approximately one …

   The Register 3 Nov 20:17

   PayPal opens 'embed everywhere' APIs to world+dog

   PayPal X Innovate X marks the 'we're bigger than eBay' play

   PayPal and eBay have opened their PayPal X developer platform to world+dog. Named with a nod to PayPal's original url, this new collection of APIs is pitched as a way for developers to embedded payment processing in everything from third-party web apps to online app stores to outside dev platforms. "Working together, we will …

   The Register 3 Nov 19:39

   Dell hit by $12.8m camera conspiracy verdict

   Not so big and easy now

   A New Orleans jury has found Dell liable for $12.8m in damages on conspiracy and unfair competition charges in a lawsuit about the city's problem-plagued crime camera program. The eponymous computer vendor was sued by local CCTV vendors, Southern Electronics Supply and Active Solutions, in a hideously complex lawsuit alleging …

   The Register 3 Nov 19:21

   VIA intros Nano 3000 netbook, notebook CPUs

   Takes aim at Intel's Atom and CULV chips

   VIA has introduced out its latest Nano CPUs, pitching the new 3000 family of low-power processors at makers of thin'n'light laptops and of all-in-one desktops. The Nano 3000 series runs to six processors, clock at between 1GHz and 2GHz. They all sit on an 800MHz system bus. Four U3x00 models consume just 100mW of power when …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 17:22

   Can Darwin help us find little green men?

   Astrobiologist celebrates Origins bday

   Life as we know it on Earth is mostly ugly, sometimes monstrous, and to a statistically small but nevertheless disquieting magnitude, it's composed of wandering packs of ravaging blood-thirsty wolves. Curiously, this beastly menagerie comes from what is essentially the same biological recipe that also spawned Academy Award- …

   The Register 3 Nov 17:17

   Microsoft's SQL Server gets appliance of iron

   Test code challenges Oracle

   Near-final code for Microsoft's next SQL Server database is due today, wrapping in hardware from partners to help counter Oracle's proprietary Exadata appliance. A second SQL Server 2008 R2 community technology preview will be delivered for testing at Microsoft's Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in …

   The Register 3 Nov 17:02

   Buffalo adds add-in card adaptor to USB 3.0 line-up

   PCI Express to the rescue

   Storage specialist Buffalo has re-announced its first USB 3.0 hard drive and this time it's also offering punters stuck in the USB 2.0 era - all of them, in other words - a PCI Express Card containing a pair of SuperSpeed ports. The USB 3.0 hard drive is the DriveStation HD-HXU3, a desktop unit that will ship in 1, 1.5 and 2TB …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 16:51

   Barnes & Noble nobbled for 'nicking' Nook-e Reader notion

   Sued for 'stealing idea' from business partner

   Spring Design is suing Barnes & Noble for allegedly stealing its e-book reader designs. The Cupertino-based company announced its own dual-screen viewer, the Alex, in October, but claims that since the beginning of the year it's been in conversation with Barnes & Noble under a mutual non-disclosure agreement, during which time …

   The Register 3 Nov 16:40

   US sees 'hot-tub related injuries' increase triplefold

   Horrific 'body part entanglement' <cough> bloodbath

   According to a recent study, those US citizens who manage to survive swine flu, terrorists, meteor strikes, guvmint agents fixin' to pry their guns from their cold dead fingers and other such perils of the modern age are still doomed. They will almost certainly be killed - or anyway badly injured - in some kind of horrific hot- …

   The Register 3 Nov 16:33

   Peugeot's bulbous BB1 e-car bound for Blighty

   Leccy Tech Your chance to kick the types, etc.

   Following its official unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Peugeot's visually arresting BB1 e-car has been sent on a European Grand Tour to drum up interest and give the masses a chance to kick the tyres. The tour kicked off at Berlin's Potsdamer Platz at the weekend and the following stop is London where the car will be on …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 16:28

   Cisco, EMC, and VMware join hands and plunge into cloud

   Acadia, the power of three

   Cisco Systems, EMC, and VMware this morning announced the formation of a new joint venture called Acadia and a stack of data centre servers, storage, networking. The venture will peddle the stacks, called Vblocks, for companies who want to buy preconfigured virtual and cloudy infrastructure. The three companies have been …

   The Register 3 Nov 16:27

   Trojan pokes Facebook for zombie commands

   Anti-social networking

   Crimeware distributors have begun using Facebook as a command and control channel for a Trojan that turns compromised Windows PCs into zombie drones. Zombie clients poll the Notes section of the mobile version of Facebook for instructions. Compromised clients might be instructed to download further code from a specified web …

   The Register 3 Nov 16:01

   Arkeia digs deep for dedupe technology

   Pockets Kadena Systems

   Backup supplier Arkeia is buying Kadena Systems and its deduplication technology for an undisclosed amount. Kadena is a startup which has developed block-level deduplication, using what it calls sliding-window technology. The size of this window can be adjusted to match the type of content in a file and, to that extent, the …

   The Register 3 Nov 15:56

   Americans promised all you can eat Twittering for $99

   Hail the unsmart phone

   Millions more Americans will now be able to engage in SMS inane babble and update the world on their lunch habits with the official launch of the TwitterPeek, a handheld device that does nothing but let you Twitter. Unfortunately, UK Twitterers standing by to defend the honour of Stephen Fry and/or the baboon genus will have …

   The Register 3 Nov 15:34

   Microsoft chops cloud costs

   Hosted biz services cheaper

   Microsoft is cutting the cost of its hosted cloud business productivity bundle. This includes Exchange Online, which falls from $10 per user, per month, to $5. The business productivity bundle of Sharepoint Online and Office Communications Online falls from $15 to $10. In public the company is insisting this has nothing to do …

   Channel Register 3 Nov 15:31

   Reg hack pursues Street View spymobile

   Orwellian black Opel flees from chance encounter in rural Spain

   You know how it is: you pop out in the morning to buy some milk and before you know it you've been recorded for posterity by a prowling spymobile from Google's Street View. Well, that's what happens in the big city, at least, but it's the last thing this Spanish rural hack expected when he nipped to the shops this morning to …

   The Register 3 Nov 15:21

   Who does what in the server room?

   Workshop Servers and service delivery

   The “architectures” deployed in server rooms are beginning to change dramatically. Organisations are seeking to increase service delivery to their customers while keeping a strong hold on costs, both in terms of acquisition and, increasingly, operation. This trend in turn is shaping the skills required to run the datacentre and …

   The Register 3 Nov 15:20

   Volcanic African 'unzipping' could see continent divided

   Mighty cleft suddenly appears in 'mega dyke intrusion'

   An enormous 35-mile-long rift which "unzipped" in "just days" across the face of Ethiopia has now been confirmed by boffins as the beginning of a process which will see Africa split in two by a new ocean. Geologists around the world, including some at Leeds Uni in the UK, came together to analyse the startling event in which a …

   The Register 3 Nov 15:14

   3Leaf makes big SMPs out of x64 clusters

   Shared memory trumps virtualization

   Everybody is looking to shake up the server business this days, it seems. But everyone had better get in line behind 3Leaf Systems, which is launching its much awaited "Aqua" system pooling and virtualization chipset and an intriguing x64 system to match. A little more than two years ago, 3Leaf Systems came out of stealth mode …

   The Register 3 Nov 14:33

   Adaptec CEO on the ropes after dreadful results

   Company steels itself for doomed proxy fight

   Adaptec's November 10th AGM runup has been bespoiled by dreadful quarterly results and the company is facing the likely ejection of its CEO from the board. The results for its second 2010 quarter showed a 42 per cent revenue decline year-on-year and a $3.8m loss, compared to a $3.3m profit a year ago. To increase Adaptec …

   The Register 3 Nov 14:21

   FBI techs shy away from facial recognition

   Spends 40 years losing face

   A senior FBI technologist declared last month that after decades of evaluation, the agency sees no point in facial recognition. Speaking at last month's Biometrics 2009 conference in London, James A Loudermilk II, a senior level technologist at the FBI, outlined the agency's future biometrics' strategy. He said that 18,000 …

   The Register 3 Nov 13:58

   BetOnSports founder Kaplan jailed for four years

   Racket rumbled

   The founder of BetOnSports.com was imprisoned for four years and three months on Monday after pleading guilty to violating the Wire Wager Act and racketeering offences. Gary Kaplan, 50, pleaded guilty to the offences and agreed to pay $43.6m as part of a plea bargaining agreement. The huge fine reportedly amounts to around …

   The Register 3 Nov 13:51

   Nokia Siemens Networks to slash almost 6,000 jobs

   No omelette without strategic workforce rebalancing

   Nokia Siemens Networks is planning to shave €500m off annual running costs over the next 26 months, with cuts that could include six thousand jobs. The plan is to cut €500m from annual expenses by the end of 2011, and includes a new company structure as well as greater emphasis on 'partnerships' and savings from purchasing. …

   The Register 3 Nov 13:22

   Tories will scrap 'pre-crime' vetting

   Won't assess dodginess by beliefs, fave films

   An incoming Conservative government would take steps to cut the vetting database down to size and would balk at 'pre-crime' behavioural vetting techniques. Tory opposition to key elements of the Vetting and Barring process proposed by the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) emerged last night at a meeting of the …

   The Register 3 Nov 13:10

   Cisco plays hardball over Tandberg buy

   But snaffles Chinese TV box business in the meantime

   Cisco is warning shareholders of Tandberg - the video conferencing firm it is buying for $3bn - that it will not pursue the takeover at any price. Last month some large shareholders made noises that Cisco's offer for the firm was too small - despite offering a 38 per cent premium. Cisco issued a tough statement warning: "no …

   The Register 3 Nov 13:02

   T-Mobile Pulse pay-as-you-go Android smartphone

   Review The Googlephone for everyone?

   There haven’t been that many Android smartphones in the UK yet, but T-Mobile is already looking to capitalise on the burgeoning demand Google's operating system by releasing the Pulse, the first pay-as-you-go Android handset. T-Mobile's Pulse: Android goes PAYG Running Android 1.5 - aka Cupcake - the Pulse is the lowest- …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 13:02

   Employers to take fingerprints for CRB checks

   In place of plod

   Private companies will take fingerprints from job applicants as part of a trial to improve the accuracy of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) background checks. The trial, disclosed to The Register in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, will see employment agencies gather biometric data from some applicants to …

   The Register 3 Nov 12:40

   Google wheels out Chrome, Wave updates

   Bookmark that, federate this

   Google's developers clearly missed all the Halloween fun, with both the Chrome and Wave teams slinging out updates yesterday. The Wave team has pushed out a "developer instance" of the messaging everything platform. "One of the fundamental concepts we discussed was the vision for wave as an open communications protocol. We …

   The Register 3 Nov 12:36

   Friends Reunited reunited with ITV?

   Regulator kicks deal into full investigation

   The Office of Fair Trading has sent the proposed takeover of Friends Reunited by DC Thomson to the Competition Commission. Dennis the Menace's publisher was to pay £25m for the websites. But it is not Friends Reunited's tiny slice of the social networking pie that worries regulators. As part of the deal, DC Thomson subsidiary …

   The Register 3 Nov 12:34

   3M shows 9in naked-eye 3D display

   No specs please, we're British

   Three-dimensional displays that don't rely on polarised or active-shutter glasses could be coming to handheld devices soon ther than you think. 3M's Japanese subsidiary this week showed off 9in and 2.8in LCD panels that generate a 3D image viewable with the naked eye, Japanese newssite Tech-On reports. The secret lies in a …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 12:19

   Extortionist targets jailbroken iPhones

   But then relents and offers free fix

   A Dutch hacker who threatened iPhone jailbreakers has relented on their threat to abuse unlocked handsets unless users pay €5. Some Dutch users of jailbroken iPhones got a shock when greeted with a message from a Dutch hacker claiming to have complete control of their beloved handset. The miscreant threatened to use that …

   The Register 3 Nov 12:10

   MPs give offender system drubbing in scathing report

   Government cannot explain where the millions went

   The Public Accounts Commitee, the funding watchdog, has reported back on its investigation into the failed National Offender Management System - which was abandoned in 2007 after wasting millions of pounds - without pulling any punches. The EDS-run project was effectively gutted two years ago - it will now, hopefully, provide …

   The Register 3 Nov 12:08

   Granada to start losing analog telly tomorrow

   BBC 2 first, all the rest later

   The Granada TV region will lose part of its analog signal tomorrow, paving the way for stronger Freeview digital broadcasts. The region, which stretches North of Lancaster down to into Cheshire, taking in Manchester and Liverpool on the way, is served by the Winter Hill transmitter. A mountainous neck of the woods, the …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 12:02

   Boffins working on biodegradable flexi LED implants

   Silky hand-tattoo displays to replace watches, PDAs?

   Boffins in America are working on biodegradable, flexible electronic devices printed on silk, which could be implanted in the human body and would decay naturally over time. Applications could include LED displays inlaid beneath the skin, or direct nerve-controlled interfaces. MIT Tech Review reports on the new in-body tech, …

   The Register 3 Nov 11:50

   M86 picks up Finjan to tackle web-based threats

   Doubling up on behaviour-based protection

   Content security firm M86 Security has acquired web security appliance firm Finjan in a deal designed to allow it to offer better protection against both email and web-based threats. Terms of the agreement, announced Tuesday, were undisclosed. The deal adds Finjan’s line of secure web gateway and security as a service products …

   The Register 3 Nov 11:45

   Atheros touts 802.11n chip for phones, handhelds

   1-stream coming

   We may at last be soon able to see handheld gadgets equipped with 802.11n Wi-Fi. WLAN chipmaker Atheros has introduced a part aimed at just such devices, but don't expect full 802.11n speeds. The AR6003 series of chips comprise single-band (2.4GHz) and dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) offerings. All of them, however, use a single …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 11:28

   EMC/Cisco's V-Block faces the hard Cell from HP

   Comment Integrated stacks to face off

   EMC and Cisco have announced a plan to sell virtual blocks - or V-Blocks - likely to be integrated stacks of virtualised servers, storage and switches, either as products or services. HP's Cell technology could achieve the same end: IT stacks provisioned on demand in private or public clouds. A V-Block is, El Reg reckons, a …

   The Register 3 Nov 11:21

   Nintendo hints at free DSi 3G connectivity

   WhisperNet-style service coming to handheld?

   Recent comments by Nintendo’s CEO have sparked speculation that the gaming giant’s upcoming Nintendo DSi XL will offer free game downloads over an integrated 3G connection. Satoru Iwata reportedly told the Financial Times that he’s “interested” in Amazon’s Kindle model. The online retailer provides free 3G access to the …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 11:06

   WD dives into SAS enterprise drive pool

   And then there were three

   Western Digital has jumped into the enterprise-class hard drive market with a 10,000rpm, 300GB capacity drive. The WD S25 is built on WD's popular Velociraptor drive base, having a similar 2.5-inch form factor, spinning at 10K and with a capacity of up to 300GB. The capacity points are 150GB, with one platter, and 300GB with …

   The Register 3 Nov 11:02

   Creative back on Apple's case with iPad-style media tablet

   E-book readers? PMPs? Pah! says firm

   Creative Labs, one-time maker of major iPod challengers, is to take on Apple again - if the Mac maker releases its eagerly anticipated 'iPad' tablet, that is. Creative has just held its latest AGM. At the event, Willie Png, the company's head of strategy, revealed that Creative will shortly enter the e-book reader market, …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 11:01

   Opera Mobile sings out new Symbian version

   Mini features, mobile capabilities

   Opera's latest Mobile version is out in beta for Symbian, providing the best mobile browsing experience with an interface borrowed from Opera Mini. Opera Mobile has been starting to look a little tired when compared to its little sibling, Opera Mini, which has been sporting a shiny new interface since September, so the Symbian …

   The Register 3 Nov 10:38

   Sony Ericsson confirms Android Xperia

   Kimono opened, Rachael revealed

   Sony Ericsson has finally undressed 'Rachael' – its latest flagship smartphone known for ages only by its sexy pseudonym. Leaked images, pictures and specifications have been doing to rounds for months. But today marks SE’s first official confirmation that the X10 smartphone will launch during “the first half of 2010”. Can …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 10:06

   Airwave cop-comms to be 'brought to life' for Olympics

   'U-turn' West coughs up £39m for Games upgrades

   The Home Office has announced a £39m deal to upgrade its Airwave emergency-services comms net in and around the 2012 Olympics venues, allowing it to handle "several thousand users within confined geographical locations". Contractors described the requirement as "challenging", but anticipated meeting it by Games time. The …

   The Register 3 Nov 10:02

   Big business bullies EU into open source U-turn

   Definition replaced with dubious vagueness

   The European Union has long promoted open source software, but it seems that years of expensive lobbying by big software companies has finally worn down the bureaucrats' resistance. The latest version of the European Interoperability Framework - which aims to offer governments and businesses guidance on using open source …

   The Register 3 Nov 09:58

   Irish brogue voted world's sexiest accent

   'Have you got any Irish in you..?'

   There's some good news this morning for our readers from the Emerald Isle: their Irish brogue has topped a poll of 5,000 women worldwide to emerge as the world's sexiest accent. The result of the www.OnePoll.com survey demonstrated that our sweet-talking Irish cousins boast the most mellifluous tones, pipping the smooth- …

   The Register 3 Nov 09:53

   Devious decryption scam rides ransomware Trojan

   We can remember it for you wholesale

   Devious virus writers have come up with a new twist on ransomware-style malware. A new strain of Trojan encrypts recently-opened files on compromised Windows PCs. But instead of demanding a ransom for a decryption key to unlock files, the malware relies on users to search the web for a possible way-out. Hackers have cleverly …

   The Register 3 Nov 09:50

   Bono serenades fellow fader, Bill Gates

   "Happy Birthday' to Bill(ionaire)

   Bill Gates' fortune may have slipped by $18bn in the past year or so, but pop oldster Bono apparently thinks that the leftover $40bn still deserves a royal salute. The final performance of U2's 360° Tour took place on October 28 at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia - which also just happened to have been the …

   The Register 3 Nov 09:02

   T-Mobile: Google to open Android Market to Win Mo apps

   Surely some mistake?

   Google has extended the reach of the Android Market online app store to Windows Mobile devies... if T-Mobile UK is to be believed. The carrier this week put up a page on its website for the upcoming HTC Touch HD2. T-Mobile's HD2 page: Android and Windows, together at last The handset, due this month, numbers, says T-Mobile …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 09:02

   Google not normal for Norfolk

   Search engine too taxing for web-footed web surfers

   Good news for Microsoft's Bing today - Google does not have the whole search market sewn up and nor is it easy to use. At least one English county is apparently unable to fathom its mysteries. Somewhere in Norfolk an extremely dull argument is raging over Liz Truss - a potential Tory candidate for a safe seat - and whether she …

   The Register 3 Nov 09:02

   Big Blue red-faced over Congestion charge crash

   First day fumble of new systems

   Things did not go entirely smoothly for IBM on its first day in control of Transport for London's Congestion Charge systems yesterday. Capita set up the system and ran it for five years before TfL handed the contract to IBM in October 2007. Some staff were moved across and new systems put in place. But sources told The …

   The Register 3 Nov 08:02

   Sony Ericsson S312

   Review Cut-price Cyber-shot?

   Sony Ericsson tends to get the most publicity from its Cyber-shot cameraphones and Walkman music phones. Not unusual, that, but the company also has a large array of mid-range and lower end mobiles. A case in point: the S312. At £100 Sim-free or £69 from T-Mobile on pay-as-you-go, it fits right into that lower price bracket. …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 08:02

   SpiderCloud weaves 3G into enterprise

   Fattened-up Femtocell

   Networking startup SpiderCloud wants to bring 3G networks into the enterprise, and hopes that network operators will pay for them. Running your own cellular network is all the rage these days, with femtocells spreading the 3G goodness into homes beyond the macro network, but enterprise users need a more centrally-managed …

   The Register 3 Nov 07:02

   Motorola to boost smartphone range

   Promises 20 models for 2010

   Motorola was slow to join the smartphone bandwagon, but that’s all about to change. The firm has promised to launch no fewer than 20 top-end mobile phones next year. During the launchof Motorola’s most prominent smartphone of recent months, the Droid, Sanjay Jha, Motorola’s CEO, announced that the firm will launch “multiple …

   Reg Hardware 3 Nov 06:02

   Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

   Smooth Windows upgrade it ain't

   Ubuntu 9.10 is causing outrage and frustration, with early adopters wishing they'd stuck with previous versions of the Linux distro. Blank and flickering screens, failure to recognize hard drives, defaulting to the old 2.6.28 Linux kernel, and failure to get encryption running are taking their toll, as early adopters turn to …

   The Register 3 Nov 03:36

   Yahoo! open sources uber web server

   '400-terabytes-a-day' Traffic Server lands at Apache

   Yahoo! has open sourced the back-end software platform that underpins the company's webmail client and countless other applications offered up across its sweeping web portal. Known as Traffic Server, the platform handles general edge caching, edge processing, and load balancing at Yahoo!, but it's also used to manage traffic …

   The Register 3 Nov 01:12

   AMD desktop rejig: six-core 'Thuban' set for Q2 2010?

   Phenom IIs out, Phenom IIs in

   AMD is reported to have rejiggered its phase-out and phase-in plans for various members of its Phenom II and Athlon II processor lines. According to a report on Monday by the Taiwanese market-watchers at DigiTimes, "sources at motherboard makers" say that AMD has stopped taking orders for the 2.6GHz Phenom II X4 910 and 3.0GHz …

   The Register 3 Nov 01:09

   Hacker charged in $1m cable ISP customer cloning scheme

   MAC spoofing biz flourished for six years

   Federal prosecutors have charged a California man with earning $1m over a six-year period by illegally selling products that allowed customers to get high-speed internet service for free. Ryan Harris, 26, of San Diego sold software and hardware that were designed to fool Charter Communications and other internet service …

   The Register 3 Nov 00:20

7. Monday, 02 November 2009

   Skype for Linux set for open source

   'In the nearest future'

   Skype for Linux will be open sourced at some point in "the nearest future." Word of the open sourcing first arrived from French blogger Olivier Faurax, and it's now been confirmed by Skype itself. In a back-and-forth to Skype Customer Support about the possibility of a Skype-supporting RPM package manager for the Mandriva …

   The Register 2 Nov 23:23

   Amazon's EC2 brings new might to password cracking

   Cloudonomics and the art of black-hat hacking

   Forget what you've learned about password security. A simple pass code with nothing more than lower-case letters may be all you need - provided you use 12 characters. That's the conclusion of security consultant David Campbell, who calculated the cost of waging a brute-force attack on various types of passwords using cloud …

   The Register 2 Nov 23:03

   The Meta Cloud gets more meta

   RightScale and the floating UNIX analogy

   RightScale has renewed its quest for The Meta Cloud. On Monday the Santa Barbara, California startup unveiled a new version of its Cloud Management Platform, an online service meant to grease the use of Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and other so-called infrastructure clouds, including GoGrid and Rackspace's Cloud …

   The Register 2 Nov 22:57

   Unisys takes Secure Cloud private

   A chip off the virtual x64 block

   Server and services company Unisys launched its homegrown cloud computing service in the summer, and now it wants to sell companies a chip off the Secure Cloud block and let them install local versions of the Unisys cloud inside their own data centers. The Secure Cloud that debuted in late June can be thought of as a test bed …

   The Register 2 Nov 22:30

   Novell tongue-lashes LA for Google cloud switch

   What savings? What security?

   Los Angeles has broken a lot of hearts in its history. You're on top of the world one day, then tossed into the heap the next when the new big thing arrives. That Sunset Boulevard moment came for Novell last week after the LA City Council unanimously voted to replace its existing Novell communications systems with the …

   The Register 2 Nov 20:58

   Chip sales upgrade from terrible to bad

   Still down from 2008

   Global semiconductor sales have improved from terrible to bad in the third quarter, as the industry continues to recover from its massive slide a year ago. Chip sales in Q3 jumped 19.7 per cent to $61.9bn compared to the second quarter when sales were $51.7bn, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. But Q3 sales …

   The Register 2 Nov 19:13

   Google retrieves coder's Microsoft badge from rubbish bin

   Gifts still on the heap

   Jon Skeet - the Microsoft-happy Google developer whose Mountain View overlords "advised" him to give up his Microsoft MVP badge - has now regained this Ballmerian status symbol after a compromise with Google's "Code of Conduct" police. "I'm delighted to be able to announce that I'm now an MVP again," Skeet announced Friday on …

   The Register 2 Nov 19:10

   ZFS gets inline dedupe

   Switch it on and off at the dataset level

   Sun's Zettabyte File System (ZFS) now has built-in deduplication, making it probably the most space-efficient file system there is. There's a discussion of ZFS deduplication in a Sun blog, which says that chunks of data, such as a byte range or blocks or files, are checksummed with a hash function and any duplicate chunks will …

   The Register 2 Nov 18:37

   US gov warns banks on money mules

   More dough in the laundry

   The government agency that insures US banks has warned its members to be on the lookout for an increase in money mules used to launder money that's been electronically stolen from deposit accounts. In a memo issued last week, the federal deposit insurance corporation told member banks the mules can often be spotted by common …

   The Register 2 Nov 18:32

   Marvel Comics open on iPhone

   Stateside Jobsian X-Men

   US comics fans can now use their iPhones' in-app purchase capability to download Marvel comics onto Apple's überpopular smartphones. iPhone users in the UK and elsewhere? Not so lucky. Three popular free iPhone apps support in-app Marvel downloads: Comixology, iVerse, and Panelfly Comics (App Store links). Comixology has …

   The Register 2 Nov 18:28

   Apple said to have axed Atom support from OS X 10.6.2

   Hackintosh netbook builders worried by lone blogger's claim

   Apple has axed support for Intel's Atom processor from the as-yet-unreleased Mac OS X 10.6.2, it has been claimed. If true, the move will hinder anyone keen to create a micro Mac laptop from any of the many netbooks on sale today. The claim comes from a blogger called Stell who posts on matters pertinent to the hackintosh …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 18:11

   Vonage drops off the net

   From VoIP to NoIP

   VoIP service Vonage has reportedly dropped off the net, with UK customers complaining that their voice service has disappeared since lunchtime today. Vonage customers have been complaining that the service disappeared around lunchtime today, and that once they manage to get through to technical support they are told that there …

   The Register 2 Nov 17:01

   Esther '1st lady of internet' Dyson appointed NASA advisor

   'I'm dying to get into space but can't afford it'

   Famed techbiz journo and investor Esther Dyson has been named as chairperson of a new "Technology and Innovation Committee" formed to help advise the senior management of NASA. The space agency has announced a "restructuring" of its Advisory Council, featuring four new committees looking into "key areas of importance to the …

   The Register 2 Nov 16:36

   Scots slam Germans for 'tight-arsed' slur

   Schotten Preise a cheap jibe, says SNP

   The Scottish National Party has decided to take the Germans to task for commonly insinuating that our Caledonian cousins are a bit tight, The Telegraph reports. Those from the land of Lederhosen, Bratwurst and Sauerkraut apparently associate the Scots with thrift - something reflected in the term Schotten Preise, which they …

   The Register 2 Nov 16:26

   Ruiz out as Global Foundries chairman

   Another casualty of Galleon-New Castle insider trading?

   GlobalFoundries, the wafer baking spinout of Advanced Micro Devices, announced this morning that chairman Hector Ruiz has taken a voluntary leave of absence from the company, effective immediately. Ruiz is rumored to be one of the executives who spoke out of turn about that spinout, with the information subsequently finding …

   The Register 2 Nov 16:01

   Notorious Kiwi pill spammers slapped with fine

   Herbal King dethroned

   A gang of notorious spammers from Christchurch, New Zealand have been hit with fines in the first prosecution under the country's anti-spam laws. Shane Atkinson was fined $71,870 (NZ$100,000) while his partner-in-spam Roland Smits was ordered to hand over $35,915 (NZ$50,000) after the duo were convicted of sending out millions …

   The Register 2 Nov 15:43

   More than half of touchphone users will go back to buttons

   Survey reveals disappointment with technology, experience

   World+Dog wants a touchscreen phone, survey results from market watcher Canalys suggest, but vendors still have work to do to prevent users going back to buttons. According to Canalys' figures, 38 per cent of some 3000 mobile phone users questioned in the UK, France and Germany said their next phone will have a finger-oriented …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 15:41

   Orange saves callers pennies with iPhone tariffs

   The future's bright, the future's 11p cheaper

   Orange will launch its iPhone offering on 10 November, at a price almost indistinguishable from O2's existing one. Anyone expecting that the end of O2's monopoly would lead to some sort of price war will be disappointed to hear that Orange will be offering the top-end iPhone at exactly the same (two-year) tariff as O2, though …

   The Register 2 Nov 15:27

   Tandberg bigs up removable media capacity

   Frankfurt gets first peek at DAT 320

   Tandberg Data showed off a 320GB DAT drive at SNW in Frankfurt and has upped its RDX removable drive capacity to 640GB. This is the first public sighting of a DAT 320 drive, the 7th DAT generation, and drives should write 43GB of raw data an hour to a DAT320 cartridge, that's 11.9MB/sec. Storage Newsletter reports that it's a …

   The Register 2 Nov 15:02

   US military tracker-droids to 'consider humans as fluid'

   Traffic algorithm upgrade for airborne spyeyes

   Pentagon propellerhead chiefs have hatched another sinister surveillance scheme. The plan is to add "flow based" theories of urban traffic movement - which assume that humans en masse behave like fluid moving through a network of pipes or channels - to conventional radar/camera based tracking of vehicles. One need hardly say …

   The Register 2 Nov 14:56

   Fujitsu UK workers vote to strike

   Government IT services could be hit

   Union members at Fujitsu Services have voted for strike action over pensions, pay and job cuts. The action is not yet decided. Senior Unite union reps are meeting today to decide the next move after 74 per cent of members who voted called for a walk out. Some 92 per cent agreed to industrial action short of a strike. A …

   The Register 2 Nov 14:33

   UTIT IT touts titillation

   LogoWatch Logo walks tit like it talks tit

   We're much obliged to the reader (who's wisely chosen to remain anonymous because he really doesn't want to to end up dangling by his 'nads in a Saudi jail) for a fine example of branding wrongness from Riyadh-based UTIT. Let's face it, the name's a cracker, and no messing, but check out the logo for extra jubtastic merriment …

   The Register 2 Nov 14:13

   Virgin America dumps servers, flies for the clouds

   Open-source payload

   For a start-up, Virgin America is acting pretty big these days. In the spring of 2007, the low-price airline wasn't even flying. It was still struggling for US regulatory clearance. But suddenly, Washington DC gave it the green light, and on August 8 that year, Virgin's first commercial flight took off from its base at San …

   The Register 2 Nov 14:02

   Microsoft security report shows worms are returning

   UK holding its own in cyber security

   Microsoft's latest security intelligence report shows a resurgence in worms, although rogue security software also remains a big issue. Rogue security software was found and removed from 13.4m machines, compared to 16.8m last time. It is still an issue but numbers are falling. Worm figures doubled in the first six months of …

   The Register 2 Nov 14:02

   Storage firm Drobo gets mysterious cash injection

   Ten million greenbacks for what exactly?

   Drobo, the supplier of stylish 4- or 8-bay add your own drives external storage boxes, has raised $10m in an E-round funding exercise. Quite why is not obvious, since the company is shipping product like a tropical storm. It had 100 per cent worldwide sales growth in the second quarter of 2008, and has had double-digit growth …

   The Register 2 Nov 13:48

   Windows 7 busts the 3 per cent share barrier

   And that's not counting copies not installed yet...

   Microsoft's kind of make or break Windows 7 launch pushed the OS to a stonking 3.48 per cent market share by the end of last month, figures from tracker firm Net Applications show. The firm's figures showed Windows 7 popping up on 3.67 per cent of PCs it encountered on the 31st. While the figure might appear minuscule, it …

   Channel Register 2 Nov 13:32

   Pirate Bay clampdown prompted file sharing site spike

   A true 'cloud computing' effort, reports McAfee

   Attempts to shut down notorious torrent tracker site The Pirate Bay have spurred a four-fold increase in the number of file sharing websites during the third quarter of 2009. At least some of these sites are primarily designed to distribute scareware and other types of malware rather than pirated content. Net security firm …

   The Register 2 Nov 13:23

   Aspiring model pleasures Taoist master

   Actually administers ritual BJ to truck driver, HK court hears

   A Hong Kong model, whose career was evidently not going too well, was told by her agent that he happened to know a Taoist Mao Shan master with the power to grant her success - providing she had ritual sex with him. Unfortunately, the guru in question was actually 55-year-old truck driver Au Yeung Kwok-fu, and the unnamed 19- …

   The Register 2 Nov 13:10

   Southwark council sues IBM

   Pays public cash to lawyers to get it back from Big Blue

   A London local authority is taking legal action against IBM over a software solution it claims is not fit for purpose. The London Borough of Southwark has issued a writ against the company over the performance of a master data management system, developed by another company, for the cleaning up of information on several …

   The Register 2 Nov 13:08

   Apple MacBook Late 2009

   Review Plastic phoenix rises

   Just a year ago, in October 2008, it looked like the white plastic-cased MacBook was headed for the scrap heap. Apple had just introduced a new and more expensive model sculpted out of aluminium, and although the plastic version was kept on sale to provide a less-expensive option for the budget-conscious education market, it was …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 13:02

   Agincourt: The sensational truth

   El Reg calculates the true strength of Henry's forces

   The news last week that a group of historians had calculated that Henry V's forces at Agincourt weren't actually outnumbered four to one by the French caused a certain amount of dismay here at Vulture Central. Well, we weren't going to take this highly suspect piece of revisionism lying down, and immediately set about re- …

   The Register 2 Nov 12:40

   Chronically ill people 'happier if they abandon hope', say docs

   Promises to 'reconnect bowels' make people sad

   Health researchers in America have suggested that it is better for people suffering from severe illness to give up any hope that their condition might improve. “Hope is an important part of happiness,” said Dr Peter A Ubel, one of the authors of the "happily hopeless" study, “but there’s a dark side of hope". Essentially, …

   The Register 2 Nov 12:26

   Nokia to shut down N-Gage

   A brief history of fail

   First it was a phone, then an online service. Now, Nokia's N-Gage will soon be nothing at all. The Finnish phone giant is going to shut it down. The N-Gage site will continue through 2010, but it will feature no new games. Instead, they'll be sold through Nokia's Ovi online store. It's hard to see the move is coincidental to …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 12:22

   TalkTalk steps up attack on government

   Dunstone claims broadband tax will disconnect 100,000

   Charles Dunstone, the boss of TalkTalk and a Conservative Party donor, has launched an attack on the government's plan for a 50 pence per month tax on every landline to fund rural fibre rollout. He claimed today the £6 per year levy will mean 100,000 low income households will be forced to disconnect their broadband. "This is …

   The Register 2 Nov 12:20

   BT Tower restaurant reborn for Olympics

   Top chef for top of the tower

   BT is considering reopening the revolving restaurant at the top of its eponymous Tower in central London. The London landmark has a ten foot ring around the edge which slowly rotates giving amazing views of the city below. It used to have a restaurant, bizarrely run by Butlins, but it was closed down. Reports today suggest BT …

   The Register 2 Nov 12:19

   Creative whips out e-reader at AGM

   More than a reader. Or a tablet

   Creative Labs is hoping to grab a piece of the expanding e-reader pie with a net-enabled device it will also pitch as a social networking and general media tablet. According to the Epizenter blog, Creative Labs unveiled the Mediabook at the Singapore firm's annual general meeting last week. The device will feature a …

   The Register 2 Nov 12:14

   LG OLED TV roadmap forecasts 40-inchers for 2012

   But they won't become as cheap as LCDs until 2016

   LG has reaffirmed its OLED TV roadmap, but warned that the price of tellies based on the technology won’t match those of LCDs for at least seven more years. The company first outlined its OLED TV roadmap back in April 2008, when it promised to have 32in models in volume production by 2011. LG still seems keen to keeping to …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 11:37

   Firefox 3.6 beta promises speed injection

   Fox on the run

   Mozilla pushed out a first beta version of Firefox 3.6 on Friday, ahead of a planned release by the end of the year. The delayed release promises improved JavaScript performance and faster load-up, addressing a sluggish start problem that has become an issue with recent builds of the open source browser. Firefox 3.6 will also …

   The Register 2 Nov 11:33

   Female fruitbat fellatio frenzy: 70% give head

   As do 100% of males - to themselves, naturally

   The scientific world is electrified today by one of the most significant discoveries of our times: the great majority of female short-nosed fruit bats love to give head. Possibly even more significantly, the nimble lust-crazed chiropterines are able to perform fellatio on a male bat who is taking them from behind at the time. …

   The Register 2 Nov 11:31

   Motorola Android 2.0 phone Europe-bound

   With new name and multi-touch screen missing from US version?

   Motorola's Android 2.0-based Droid handset will be called the Milestone over here, the phone maker has revealed. In addition to a new, name the European incarnation will get HSDPA 3G and multi-touch technology, it has emerged. Milestone will have quad-band GSM/GPRS and dual-band - 900MHz and 2100MHz - WCDMA support. It has Wi- …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 11:24

   Quanta opens servers to 100-core Tilera

   Snipping out the Linux middlemen

   Upstart multicore, Linux-compatible chip maker Tilera don't need no stinking tier one server makers. That means no IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, or Sun Microsystems. At least not yet. The company has just lined up $25m in its C round of funding, which includes $10m from Quanta Computer, the Taiwanese PC maker that is the volume …

   The Register 2 Nov 11:00

   A short poll about server architectures

   Tech Panel Readers, we need you

   Reg readers, we're interested in finding out what your server architecture looks like, and how this might map onto what we have uncovered as some of the core challenges. Is it hub-and-spoke, all in one place or highly distributed? Let us know. READER POLL 1. If you add up everything in the boxes, racks and blade chassis, …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:57

   Scientists flee Home Office after adviser sacking

   Nutt up or shut up

   The Home Office faces mass resignations by its consulting scientists after its clumsy gagging attempt on top drug adviser David Nutt. Home Secretary Alan Johnson sacked Nutt on Friday apparently for disagreeing with government policy, which has effectively ignored the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:47

   Unigen plans enterprise flash by the bucket

   May the SandForce be with you

   Another vendor is chancing its arm in the enterprise flash drive stakes, and betting on SandForce's controller to turn flash chips into solid state drive gold. Unigen, headquartered in Fremont, Califormia, is the new entrant. It designs and builds OEM memory, DC-DC power converters, wired and wireless communication, and flash …

   Channel Register 2 Nov 10:45

   HTC to launch WinMo phone with Android-oriented UI

   HD2 official debut this week

   HTC will formally launch its Windows Mobile - not Android, alas - HD2 smartphone in Taipei on Wednesday, the company said today. Why WM not Android? HTC needs to "take care" of the Microsoft OS, HTC CEO Peter Chou said last week. Maybe, but that hasn't stopped the company burying the WM 6.5 user interface - which hasn't …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 10:36

   'Internet Age' means egalitarian 'hunter-gatherer' society

   Inherited cattle = unfairness, apparently

   Federal brainboxes in New Mexico, analysing the many types of human society in terms of inequality between rich and poor, have suggested that the modern "internet age" of knowledge and technology-based economies may lead to substantially fairer wealth distribution - perhaps as fair as that seen in primitive hunter-gatherer …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:11

   IBM facelifts i/OS for midrange gear

   Power system nip and tuck

   It might have come out with a slightly different name and a little later than expected, but Big Blue has tweaked its proprietary midrange operating system for Power-based systems with the i 6.1.1 release. The word on the street a little more than a year ago was that Big Blue would be packaging up some feature enhancements and …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:02

   Olympic ticket scams already starting, says top e-cop

   Beijing Games was proof of concept

   Organised criminal gangs are snapping up domain names, ready to launch rip-off ticket sites for the 2012 Olympic Games. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, the national lead on e-crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said specialist officers are seeing precursor activity they believe is from …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:02

   Europe plots black boxes for cars

   Project Veronica not a privacy problem

   The European Commission's study into feasibility of fitting black box recorders to cars to record 20 types of data in case of accidents looks set to recommend the devices are fitted to all European cars. Project Veronica, which began in 2003 and cost £2.4m, has dismissed privacy concerns because the boxes only record data in …

   The Register 2 Nov 10:00

   Belkin Powerline HD Gigabit mains Ethernet adaptor

   Review High-speed networking through a three-pin plug?

   Belkin's Gigabit Powerline HD mains-wiring network adaptor is the first we've seen to claim to be able to delivery data transfer rates of up to 1000Mb/s. We stress the word 'claim' and the phrase 'up to'. Makers of powerline kit also market adaptors that, they say, deliver bandwidth of up to 200Mb/s. But no one who uses one …

   Reg Hardware 2 Nov 08:02

   UK gov squeezes copyright law into cheat sheets

   Contracts for dummies

   The UK Government will produce 'model contracts' to be used in copyright dealings in an attempt to make copyright law more useful and understandable. It will also standardise the way copyright exceptions to copyright law are dealt with in contracts. The Government has published a paper outlining new policies on copyright. It …

   The Register 2 Nov 07:02

   TalkTalk to fight net disconnection plan

   Speak to you in court

   A major ISP has promised a court challenge to Government plans to allow the cutting off of internet connections used by people accused of unlawful file sharing. TalkTalk said it will challenge the plans in the courts. The Government commissioned a report on digital policy, Digital Britain, which did not recommend the cutting …

   The Register 2 Nov 06:02

   Cisco and EMC in joint venture blitz

   vBlock and tackle

   The long rumored partnership between networking giant and server wannabe Cisco Systems, server virtualization juggernaut VMware, and storage powerhouse (and VMware owner) EMC will be announced this week, according to various reports. The three companies have been rumored to be working on some sort of formal joint venture to …

   The Register 2 Nov 05:17