Biting the hand that feeds IT
- Tame the gas monster with sensors, suckers and a spiffy new fan
More performance-tuning for your home and office
Part 3 I'm pleased to say that what with the relatively warm 2011 and our conservation efforts we had the lowest consumption of electricity and gas at home of any year yet, a bit over 1,500kWh ('units') of electricity and under 4,000kWh of gas. (A typical UK household is nearer 3,300kWh 'leccy and 18,000kWh gas.) With our solar PV exports we were just carbon-negative for power by my calculations.Б─╕
- Eight... HD camera smartphones
Sharp shooters for parties and protests
Product round-up You know that really annoying person who is videoing the gig with their camera phone to stick on Facebook when they get home? That's me. These days my TV is HD and my games console is HD, so it only makes sense that my phone Б─⌠ the device I use the most, day in and day out Б─⌠ should be HD too. Luckily, HD on smartphones is becoming more commonplace and so rather than judge these handsets on their mobile merits, this round-up focuses on their HD video camera performance.Б─╕
- Zuckerberg's 2012 personal income tax bill: $1.5 billion
That's 'billion', with a 'b'
If all goes according to plan, Facebook founder, chairman, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's share of the profit in his company's upcoming initial public offering will result in him facing a tax bill of around $1.5bn for 2012.Б─╕
- Study links dimwits to conservative ideology
US, UK research: Thick kids more likely to become bigots
British and American children who are less intelligent are more likely to grow up to be conservative and/or bigots, according to new research published in Physiological Science.Б─╕
- Micron CEO Appleton dies in plane crash
Expert pilot, experimental aircraft
Steven Appleton, the long-time CEO at memory chip maker Micron Technology, died this morning in a crash of an experimental plane in the company's hometown of Boise, Idaho. He was 51 years old and one of the youngest CEOs and chairman in the Fortune 500.Б─╕
- Opinion poll: Anti-regulatory 'hype' unwarranted
Rival small-business boosters, Obama foes disagree
One advocacy group has published a survey it says proves that US small-business owners aren't unduly concerned with government regulations. Another group says that the first group's opinion poll is tainted by bogosity.Б─╕
- Facebook post-IPO: Free not fee will make Zuck a buck
Dam friction-less sharing and the company is toast
Open ... and Shut No sooner did Facebook file its S-1 in preparation for an IPO than speculation kicked into high gear on how Facebook could possibly sustain its $75bn to $100bn valuation. After all, despite its hugely impressive revenue and profit numbers, key components of its revenue model Б─⌠ like advertising revenue Б─⌠ are decelerating. So should we expect Facebook to impose a paywall on some or all of its users, as MyLife.com chief executive Jeff Tinsley suggests it could?Б─╕
- European revolt over ACTA treaty gains ground
Poles stall, Slovenian ambassador calls for protests
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) treaty, signed by most European countries last week, may not be a done deal after all, as governments across the continent face a storm of protest.Б─╕
- US adds more jobs than expected in January
Lots of IT workers get pink slips
The US economy added 243,000 net new jobs in January and the unemployment rate has ticked down two-tenths of a point, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.Б─╕
- Apple iPhones, iPad back in German online store
Take 'em down, put 'em back Б─⌠ a busy morning for Apple IT
A German court has suspended the injunction that required Apple to remove its iPhone 4 and 3Gs, and iPad Wi-Fi + 3G from its online store in that country.Б─╕
- Biz urged to blast DNSChanger Trojans before safety net comes down
8 March cutoff following Operation Ghost Click
Half of all Fortune 500 companies still contain computers infected with the DNSChanger Trojan, weeks after a FBI-led takedown operations targeting the botnet's command-and-control infrastructure.Б─╕
- Dead gamer sat unnoticed for nine hours in net cafe
Stiff competition
A Taiwanese gamer sat dead in a chair at an Internet cafe for up to nine hours before fellow players noticed the poor guy had popped his clogs.Б─╕
- Mother charged with selling fake Facebook stock
Bogus shares also allegedly given out as Christmas presents
A Wisconsin woman has been charged over claims she tried to sell $1m worth of Facebook shares that she didn't own.Б─╕
- Steve Jobs sighted in Taiwan flogging Android tablets
Rumours of PlayBook Elvis discounted
In the cut-throat tablet market, a Taiwanese company has found one way to make its product stand out: paying an actor to dress up as Steve Jobs and make tasteless jokes about how he's dead.Б─╕
- Anonymous hackers leak Scotland Yard-FBI conference call
Were you talking about us?
Members of Anonymous have released an intercept of a conference call between investigators at the FBI and Scotland Yard during which operations against hacktivist group were discussed.Б─╕
- IBM snatches back SPC-1 benchmark crown
SVC does the business
IBM's SAN Volume Controller has done the benchmark business, again, and passed the half million SPC-1 IOPS mark using Storwize V7000 storage.Б─╕
- US tweet deportation: Chilling behind-the-scenes photos
The shock truth of what really went down at LAX
The story earlier this week on the deportation from the US of A of two Brits who ill-advisedly tweeted they were off to "destroy America" left a few readers pretty shaken up at the way the Department of Homeland Security handles potential terrorist threats.Б─╕
- Gun controlled lamp hits the spotlight
Taking the pistol
One Taiwanese manufacturer took aim at traditional light switches this week and unveiled a lamp that can be turned on and off with the shot of a gun-shaped remote.Б─╕
- Sysadmins: Don't get in your own way
Be prepared to try new and irritating things
Sysadmin blog I remember the first time I saw these automated supermarket tills. They intrigued me. Yet I was also afraid of the things. I was afraid that despite all of my knowledge and training I wouldn't be able to figure it out and I would end up looking like a fool. I avoided them for three years; the basis of this avoidance nothing more than irrational fear of that which I might not understand.Б─╕
- ARM rains on x86 as smartphones outship PCs
Netbooks cop a hiding
Netbooks are so yesterday's technology. Shipments of the small, not-so-cheap computers plunged during 2011 by 25 per cent, figures from market watcher Canalys show.Б─╕
- IBM bit-twiddlers want point releases for big iron
Software gurus to 'refactor' Big Blue's systems
The bit-twiddlers took over IBM's server business a year and a half ago, and it appears that they are starting to think about systems as if they were code, as if they could do dot releases in a nearly steady stream and keep their revenues from spiking up and crashing down all the time.Б─╕
- Sony throws smartphone party with Billabong
Blower out the water
Sony has gone surf-tastic, announcing a partnership with Aussie outdoors outfitter Billabong, which sees its Xperia Active handset branded with the extreme-sports logo and pitched towards the cool-dude generation.Б─╕
- Troubled Game wins reprieve on debt, mulls axing more stores
High street chain told to shape up
Game Group has been given a reprieve by its lenders, but the retailer may have to sell its overseas stores to secure it.Б─╕
- iPhones yanked from German shelves in Motorola patent war
Apple takes down 4 and 3G models - for now
Apple has removed the iPhone 4 and 3Gs from its stores in Germany, almost certainly in response to Motorola's December action rather than today's patent win.Б─╕
- BT reveals ultra-fast cable blowing plan for homes, biz
'Fibre-to-the-premise on demand' in 2013
BT is talking up plans to bring its ultra-fast fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband network to more of its customers in early 2013.Б─╕
- Apple FileVault cracked in under an hour by forensics biz
Passware scratches Lion's belly, penetrates fruity disk
Apple's FileVault disk encryption can be circumvented in less than an hour, according to a computer forensics firm.Б─╕
- Nokia pours oil on burning Symbian
Rips up roadmap, axes development
Exclusive Nokia is said to be hastening the demise of its legacy Symbian platform, cancelling the development of all but one new Symbian-based device. Although Nokia Belle updates will continue to ship to existing customers, only one new model Б─⌠ a successor to the N8 high-end camera phone Б─⌠ will reach the market, the Register understands.Б─╕
- Boffins crack superconducting graphene's melting mystery
Next-gen high-speed transistors go 3D to slash leaks
Scientists in Manchester appear to have solved a problem with graphene that has plagued the super-material's fans since it was sliced into being in 2004.Б─╕
- Fibre-gobbling punters help BT deposit solid profit
Cuts also counter revenue dip in Q3
BT reported this morning that its sales had fallen 5 per cent for the three months ended 31 December, however earnings and cash generation remained steady, the company added.Б─╕
- Understanding the make-up of information management
Time to stop beating up IT
On demand On January 25th, Regcast presenter Jon Collins was joined by Freeform DynamicsБ─≥ Martha Bennett, Jason Frost from Blueprint, and Will Thompson from Microsoft for our very first live event of 2012.Б─╕
- Euro watchdog asks Google to HALT privacy tweak
Take a pause while French DP officers frisk you, Larry
A European Union watchdog has written to Google boss Larry Page asking him to explain how personal data will be safeguarded when the search giant puts its revised privacy policy into effect on 1 March.Б─╕
- Apple iPad beats Amazon Kindle Fire in satisfaction survey
Fanboys happier than Fireboys?
iPad owners are happier with their tablets than folk with other fondleslabs are with theirs, recent research reveals.Б─╕
- Satellite phones lift skirt, flash cipher secrets at boffins
Security though obscurity fails yet again
Researchers at the Ruhr-University Bochum have managed to extract the secret encryption algorithmns used by satellite phones, and discovered that it's a lot less secure than one might hope.Б─╕
- Toshiba Regza 40RL858 40in LED TV
Smart, but no mortarboard
Review Toshiba is a bit of a wild card when it comes to TVs. While some of its screens are genuinely exciting, others are merely bargain bin fillers. Buying a cheaper Tosh is a classic case of caveat emptor.Б─╕
- RIM shot at Android: Free PlayBooks for devs
Knock up an app before Valentine's, get 16GB love-slab
RIM is offering a free PlayBook tablet to developers who submit an Android application to RIM's App World before Valentine's Day, though the T&Cs have yet to be revealed.Б─╕
- TV tuner maker intros mobile Freeview pick-up
Streams digital telly over its own Wi-Fi
TV tuner maker Hauppauge has introduced a mobile gadget that streams Freeview content to you phone, tablet or computer over its own wireless network.Б─╕
- Apple Europe poaches Xbox PR mastermind
Prepares for battle against Microsoft's 'everything' boxes
Apple has poached Microsoft's top product marketing bod in the UK to front up its app store in Europe.Б─╕
- Samsung 'Galaxy 4S' pic posted
Is S III stand-in snap real or Photoshop?
The Samsung Galaxy S II Plus, the smartphone the South Korean giant is said to be unveiling at this month's Mobile World Congress (MWC) show in place of the Galaxy S III, will be a skinny white boy.Б─╕
- Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 DNA splice is on - report
Apple-flavoured future features leaked
Windows 8 and Microsoft's next major phone operating system will merge, if reports are correct.Б─╕
- Next-gen Asus Eee Pad Transformer spied
TF300T snapped
A previously unseen Asus tablet has surfaced on the web prompting speculation that the Taiwanese company is working on the successor to the Eee Pad Transformer Prime.Б─╕
- 100 MEEELLION .com domains now registered
Ready for those new gTLDs yet?
There are now over 100 million .com domain names on the internet.Б─╕
- Brit space agency sends up 1st satellite
Yes, this is news
So far, the UK space agency hasn't gone in for any of that headline-grabbing stuff like landing people on the Moon or launching Martian probes that get stranded in orbit before plummeting back to Earth Б─⌠ it leaves that sort of stuff to NASA and Roscosmos.Б─╕
- Fujitsu out bog standard 7in tab for big biz
Gingerbread do you?
Fujitsu has outed a non-descript 7in Android tablet that it'll be pitching at big business when the gadget goes on sale later this month.Б─╕
- 'We're totally in LA pissing people off'
Plus 'The horror!'
Quotw This was the week when Facebook finally filed for its IPO.Б─╕
- Second 'Blue Marble' NASA sat pic apes Apollo 17's stunner
Earth-snapping Suomi gets its kit out for the labs
After popular demand NASA's Suomi NPP satellite has beamed down another "Blue Marble" vision of the Earth in high definition.Б─╕
- Facebook's Googly IPO delivers on Sun man's vision
Selling data ain't like shiftin' boxes, boy
History may record Scott McNealy as a straight-dealing leader of a major Silicon Valley tech company.Б─╕
- BT Vision throws Microsoft Mediaroom under a bus for Linux
Set-top box software to be torn out and replaced over the net
UK hybrid TV service BT Vision plans to be the first customer to discard Microsoft's Mediaroom software, almost imminently, after at least a year-long effort to put in completely new software building blocks to rejuvenate the service.Б─╕
- Orange San Francisco 2
More hails of the city
Review The Orange San Francisco was the smartphone bargain of 2011. For бё99 you got a solid little handset with a 3.5in 480 x 800 screen, Android 2.1 and a 3.2Mp camera. The fact it was falling-off-a-wet-log easy to root and change ROMs Б─⌠ even I managed it Б─⌠ was the icing on the cake.Б─╕
- Judges retire to consider AssangeБ─≥s last chance on extradition
Supreme Court is final shot for WikiLeaker-in-chief
The UK Supreme Court judges have retired to consider their verdict in Julian AssangeБ─≥s last shot at escaping extradition to Sweden, with a final verdict possible within weeks.Б─╕
- SpaceX successfully tests SuperDraco rescue rockets
Aims to build the safest spacecraft ever
SpaceX has confirmed the successful test of its SuperDraco rocket engine, which will form the backbone of safety and landing systems for its Dragon spacecraft.Б─╕