Tuesday 31 July 2012

Europe looks to Greenland to extract gems and minerals



Greenland

The European Commission's vice president, Antonio Tajani, has said that he is "working very hard with the prime minister of Greenland" to open up mining operations across the Arctic island.


Europe plans to get at the natural resources, rare earth minerals and gemstones, by taking advantage of the island's rapidly melting ice sheets. This July, three Nasa satellites observed as an estimated 97 percent of Greenland's ice sheet thawed.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/31/greenland-mining

Cloudy emails up in smoke for FIVE days after fire knackers Giacom



Data centre offline, MessageStream dried up on Friday


UK cloudy firm Giacom's data centre has been knocked offline by a fire at a nearby electricity substation.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/giacom_messagestream_outage/

Google+ mission creep continues with Hangouts slotted into Gmail



You can still use it with pals on Google+! If any


Google's social networking mission creep continued with Gmail on Monday when the ad giant slotted its Google+ Hangouts function into its web email service.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/google_plus_mission_creep_hangouts_in_gmail/

Pirelli confirm tyre allocations for Spa and beyond



Official tyre suppliers Pirelli have revealed which of their P Zero compounds will be taken to the next three rounds of the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship in Belgium, Italy and Singapore. At the Spa-Francorchamps race the hard and medium rubber will be used to allow the drivers to meet the demands of a circuit that puts plenty of energy through the tyres. The same two nominations will used for the manufacturer's home Grand Prix in Italy in September.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13670.html

Coders wanted for two-month tropical island hackathon



Tropical

Programmers wanting a change of scenery, listen up: a hackathon is recruiting coders to live on a tropical island for two months.


Come Hack With Us is seeking 12 individuals to work on a range of projects in a remote location, where there are few distractions. Cooking and cleaning will be taken care of -- all you'd need to do is sit and code.


By: Duncan Geere, Edited by: Olivia Solon


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/31/tropical-coding

Century Media has a change of heart, reinstates Spotify catalogue



Napalm Death on Spotify

Metal music label Century Media Records has returned to Spotify, after pulling its entire catalogue from the streaming service in 2011.


The record company, and its associated labels InsideOut Music, Superball Music and People Like You Records has put its entire repertoire back on Spotify, citing "fan sentiment" as a leading reason in reversing its decision.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/31/century-media-spotify

Boy cuffed after Twitter troll's drown threat to Olympic diver Tom Daley



Arrested on suspicion of malicious communication


A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications after Brit Olympic diver Tom Daley was swamped by abusive tweets.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/tom_daley_troll_arrested/

Google Earth's time-lapse tool shows 13 years of planetary change



Google Earth Timelapse

Want to watch deforestation spread across the Amazon, or witness Las Vegas conquering the deserts of Nevada? A feature on Google Earth lets you explore time-lapse footage from 13 years of satellite data.


The tool -- built by Google, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's robotics institute, and the US Geological Survey (USGS) -- lets you view imagery collected by Nasa's Landsat program between 1999 and 2011.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/31/google-earth-timelapse

Virgin Media nukes downloads after SuperHub 'upgrade'



But it's OK, only a few punters are spitting blood


Virgin Media has dismissed claims that a software update for its SuperHub kit is at fault after punters complained their downloads are being damaged.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/virgin_media_download_corruption_glitch_after_superhub_update/

Go Daddy big daddy gone



Adelman legs it, new owners grab the wheel


Warren Adelman has quit as chief executive of market-leading domain names and hosting company Go Daddy after less than eight months on the job.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/go_daddy_ceo_quits/

Lords blast UK.gov's fixation on broadband speed over reach



Hook up every community, light the dark fibres


The British government's broadband policy is failing to create a built-to-last national network because it is too fixated on speed, a House of Lords committee has concluded.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/lords_communications_committee_broadband_report/

IBM crashes, Cisco soars, at Brisbane airport



VCE deemed too expensive en route to destination VDI


IBM has been deported from Brisbane Airport’s data centre, with its X-series servers shoved on a flight to oblivion as the red carpet was rolled out for the triumvirate of VMware, EMC and Cisco.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/brisbane-airport-virtualisation/

HTC leaves South Korea to Samsung, LG et al



Exits quietly, but not very brilliantly ...


Mobile device biz HTC has abandoned its operations from Samsung’s home market of South Korea, in yet another blow to the beleaguered Taiwanese handset giant.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/31/htc_pulls_out_south_korea/

Jury selection delays start of Apple/Samsung patent showdown



'When did you last see your iPhone?'


The jury has been picked for the forthcoming patent trial between Apple and Samsung to determine who has the rights to produce a rectangular fondleslab with rounded corners, among other things.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/apple_samsung_jury_selection/

Monday 30 July 2012

LinkedIn shuts down online tricks



Bans anti-sex trafficking site


The long arm of the LinkedIn law has shut down and indefinitely banned a Singaporean anti-sex trafficking profile, claiming it violated user agreement terms.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/linkiedin_locks_out_nfp_crusade/

Oracle chugs down I/O virtualising Xsigo



Any server, any network, to any storage


Oracle has bought data centre fabric virtualisation start-up Xsigo for who knows how many bucks.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/oracle_buys_xsigo/

New iPhone, possible iPad mini, could launch sooner than expected



iPhone 5 case

This year's iPhone refresh may come slightly earlier than last year's, but still within the general autumn timeframe. Not one, but two publications cited sources claiming the device could launch as early as mid-September, with a special Apple event happening earlier in the month.


But it wouldn't just be the iPhone that would see a refresh at that time -- the rumored "iPad mini" is also supposedly nearing launch, not to mention the first major iPod touch bump in two years.


By: Jacqui Cheng, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/30/ipad-mini-iphone-5-release-date

More reports that Apple plans iPhone 5 September surprise



Steve Jobs could reach 45prm over iPad Mini


With another report naming September as the likely release date of the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, it now looks likely that Apple may be planning an earlier-than-normal release for its latest iOS kit.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/apple_iphone5_ipad_september_launch/

Netflix punters told of privacy change, get 3 months to object



Accept, and you opt in to class-action settlement


Netflix is alerting customers to changes in its privacy policy under a proposed legal settlement that would put an end to a class action suit launched against the company last year.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/netflix_data_privacy/

Microsoft sets release date for Surface tablet



Microsoft Surface

Microsoft has let slip the release date of its upcoming tablet device, in paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Surface will go on sale on 26 October -- the same day as Windows 8.


"The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012," the company writes. "At that time, we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices."


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/30/microsoft-surface

O2 dropped the ball in Olympic cycle race Twitter fiasco



Twits blamed for network's inadequacies


O2's mobile network is to blame after a surge in tweets from spectators' smartphones scuppered the live reporting of an Olympic cycling road race.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/o2_network_olympic_outage/

Google snaps bird's eye view of Olympic Village



Forget relying on realtime GPS data. Look at this pretty picture instead


Twitter fanatics and texting-obsessed supporters of Team GB may have hampered the GPS units of competitors taking part in the Men’s Olympic Cycling Road Race on Saturday, but no bother as Google has added a pretty picture of the London 2012 village to its Maps service.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/google_london_2012_olympic_village_satellite_image/

Japanese fanboi builds FrankenPhone from 'bits of iPhone 5'



You have created a monster, and it will destroy you!


A Japanese Apple fan has created a proto-iPhone 5 by fixing together parts of the screen and casing which he claims were sourced from the iPhone supply chain.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/iphone_5_prototype_japanese_blog/

UK adopts Pegi as single age-rating system for videogames



Pegi rating on Super Smash Bros. Brawl

All videogames in the UK will now be classified by the Pan European Game Information (Pegi) scheme, meaning that the BBFC will no longer put its iconic red badges on game boxes.


The change is designed to solve a problem where certain innapropriate games can be sold to children under the age of 12.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/30/uk-adopts-pegi

Nasa to show off its latest toy, the Morpheus lander



Morpheus lander

Nasa will unveil the prototype of a remarkable new landing vehicle this week that is set to form the basis of new space probes to explore the Solar System.


Named Morpheus, the lander is designed to fly to a variety of destinations including Mars, planetary moons or asteroids. It will incorporate intelligent technology that allows it to register the presence of surface hazards such as boulders and avoid them.


By: Paul Sutherland, Sen.com, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/30/nasa-morpheus-lander

Cloudy punters can't rely on 'certified' CSPs for data protection



ICO: Certification of service providers is great, but it won't help you in court


A new online platform that enables prospective users of cloud computing services to assess the security features of registered cloud providers is to be welcomed, the UK's data protection watchdog has said.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/cloudcertified_csps_no_legal_defence_under_dpa/

International Space Station gets aquarium to study see-through fish



Aquatic Habitat on the International Space Station

The Japanese Space Agency (Jaxa) has sent an aquarium to the International Space Station. It's not for relaxation, mind: the fish tank will be used to see how microgravity impacts marine life, including a transparent fish.


The Aquatic Habitat, or AQH, was sent to the space station on 20 July, with the third Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. It will reside in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), and uses LED lights to simulate day and night cycles.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/30/aquarium-iss

Orange adjust data roaming prices



Day rate's better value than the bundles


Orange has introduced new mobile broadband roaming prices that penalise bulk-buying.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.reghardware.com/2012/07/30/orange_adjusts_data_roaming_prices/

OAuth 2.0 leader resigns, says standard is 'bad'


OAuth 2.0 promised to improve authentication on the Net, but its author has resigned from the project after concluding the standard "is a bad protocol."
"When compared with OAuth 1.0...


http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-57481166-2/oauth-2.0-leader-resigns-says-standard-is-bad/

CloudFlare condenses in Australia



Claims bandwidth prices are causing data drain


San Francisco-based content delivery network aspirant CloudFlare has rolled out a data centre in Sydney as part of the first phase of a global rollout.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/30/cloudflare_datacentre_sydneyside/

South Korean crackers arrested



Yet another data leak at KT


South Korean police say they have arrested two malicious hackers that obtained personal details of 8.7 million KT mobile customers and on-selling the data to telemarketing firms.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/29/kt_hackers_arrested/

IOC asks Olympic spectators to cut back TXTs and tweets



Network congestion blamed for Beeb’s bike bungles


The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has blamed spectators’ twitchy thumbs for the infamously spotty television coverage of the Men’s Olympic Cycling Road Race.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/29/tweets_texts_blamed_for_olympic_bike_race_bungles/

Sunday 29 July 2012

FIA post-race press conference - Hungary



Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), 3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus) Q: Lewis, a fantastic race for you, absolutely fantastic, under pressure all the time it seemed. Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, these are the kind of grands prix, the races you win like this, where you're under

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13666.html

Race - Hamilton soaks up Lotus pressure for Hungary win



It may have been a slow-burning affair, but Sunday's Hungarian race didn't lack drama with Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton expertly resisting pressure throughout from the Lotuses of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean to win from the front. On a day when the best that title contenders Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel could muster was fifth, eighth and fourth respectively, the McLaren driver's result was the perfect success as Formula One racing heads into its summer break.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13665.html

Race - selected team and driver quotes



Mercedes' Michael Schumacher on his pit-lane start and subsequent retirement; Force India's Paul Di Resta and Williams' Pastor Maldonado on their clash; McLaren's Jenson Button on his flawed strategy; Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen on his KERS trouble; and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on converting his team's 150th pole position into his 19th victory. All the drivers and senior team personnel report back on Sunday's action

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13664.html

Netflix scores $1bn own goal after company shoots off mouth



Throwaway comment ruins investor confidence depsite solid results


A throwaway comment in the Netflix results (PDF) – suggesting that the Olympics will impact everyone's TV watching, including Netflix customers – has the company in PR trouble once again, with deeply suspicious investors, ready to jump at anything. After an innocuous set of results which looked like it had almost done enough to keep Netflix out of trouble, this comment has now shaved $1.1bn off the share price, taking its value to $3.3bn in a single day.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/29/netflix_scores_own_goal/

Saturday 28 July 2012

FIA post-qualifying press conference - Hungary



Drivers: 1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 2 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus), 3 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) Q: Lewis you looked like that was fully under control at all times, apart maybe from that first run in Q3? Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, it's been a really positive

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13658.html

Qualifying - selected team and driver quotes



Jenson Button on struggling for balance in his McLaren; Red Bulll's Mark Webber and Mercedes team mates Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg on failing to make it through to the top-ten shootout; Williams' Bruno Senna on making the Q3 grade for the first time this season; and Lewis Hamilton on taking his first pole position since March and McLaren's 150th. All 24 drivers and senior team personnel report back on Saturday's action…

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13657.html

Qualifying - Hamilton takes dominant pole in Budapest



Having dominated every practice and qualifying session bar FP3, Lewis Hamilton took a superb pole position - McLaren's 150th - at the Hungaroring on Saturday afternoon. Hamilton set the pace throughout and saw Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel fail to beat his 1m 21.260s lap. Vettel managed 1m 21.416s, but in the final seconds Romain Grosjean thrust his Lotus round in 1m 21.366s to push the German down to third

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13656.html

Final practice - Webber puts Red Bull ahead in Hungary



Red Bull jumped to the top of the timesheets in the final free practice session in Budapest on Saturday morning, as Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel sandwiched Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. Webber lapped in 1m 21.550s on the soft Pirelli, with Vettel on 1m 21.671s. When they did that Hamilton had been fastest in 1m 21.706s on the medium tyre, but his subsequent switch to the soft yielded only a small improvement

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13654.html

Friday 27 July 2012

Google taking orders for Kansas City home fiber network



But they have to really, really want it


Google is ready to flip the switch on its new gigabit residential fiber network in Kansas City – that is, provided the locals can rally enough of their neighbors to pre-register to justify wiring up the houses.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/27/google_kansas_fiber_prereg/

FIA Friday press conference - Hungary



Team representatives - Andrew Green (Force India), Remi Taffin (Renault Sport), Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren), Toto Wolff (Williams), Luiz Perez-Sala (HRT). Q: Andrew, if I can start with you. First of all, who does Force India see as its rivals and where do you hope to be at the end of the season? What position? What are you targets?

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13652.html

Army blast sensors measure an explosion's effect on the entire body



army

One thousand soldiers are due to start carrying blast sensors in Afghanistan that measure the effects of explosions on a victim's entire body.


The four sensors will be fitted into a nearly one-kilogram Soldier Body Unit (SBU) pack worn by the soldier across their armour plate from August, 2012. Each sensor sends signals to the other and records the data needed to better understand the cause of concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The plan is to gather as much data as possible about how the whole body is affected and send it to the Joint Trauma Analysis and Prevention of Injury in Combat centre so that medical staff can learn how to better treat soldiers in the aftermath of an explosion.


By: Liat Clark, Edited by: Olivia Solon


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/army-blast-sensors

Pigeons 'play' jazz in Johannesburg





To coincide with Johannesburg's annual Joy of Jazz festival, an ad agency set up a bunch of musical instruments in a pigeon-populated square and lured the birds to "play" them with their beaks and feet using seeds and popcorn.


A number of different instruments, including a drum kit, a keyboard and a couple of guitars were set up in a square in Johannesburg known as Pigeon Square. These were rigged up with microphones and linked to speakers and recording equipment.


By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/pigeon-jazz

Microsoft to open Xbox development studio in London





Microsoft has announced that it's planning to open an Xbox development studio in London and is currently recruiting to fill various roles.


A Microsoft spokesperson told Wired.co.uk that Microsoft Studios is hiring to fill a "variety of UK-based positions" that are indicative of "the continued expansion of our Microsoft Studios business across Europe, Middle East and Africa".


By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/xbox-studio-london

Crowdfunded Ouya console will get OnLive support at launch



Ouya

Ouya, the crowdfunded micro console that's been funded on Kickstarter, will have access to streaming game service OnLive from day one.


Ouya is a pint-sized console that runs on Android and costs just $99 (£62). It smashed through its Kickstarter goal of $950,000 (£600k) and currently has over $5.5 million (£3.5m) in pledges with 12 more days to go.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/ouya-onlive

Geekdad considers Skylanders' massively expanded product line



Skylanders Giants

It used to be that films were the propagators of branded plastic tat, now videogames that are spawning all manner of spin off products. Skylanders proves its worth in this space with an ever growing list of products to suplement your gaming pleasure.


As readers of GeekDad will know, I like to keep tabs on the Skylanders phenomenon. Today I stumbled across some trademark applications online for a whole range of Skylanders products. Not games, peripherals or toys but an almost never ending list of video game branded products.


By: Andy Robertson, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/skylanders-soap-horns-and-dehydrated-fruit-snacks

Google: Oops, we've STILL got Street View's slurped Wi-Fi data



'Fesses up to UK info watchdog, other authorities


Google has apologised after discovering it still has some payload data slurped from unsecured Wi-Fi networks via its controversial Street View spycars.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/27/google_still_holding_streetview_data_ico_discovers/

Friday practice - selected team and driver quotes



In the morning McLaren team mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button led their nearest rival, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, by half a second, whilst after lunch Hamilton remained on top of the timesheets, besting Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen by less than two-tenths of a second. The drivers and senior team personnel report on the early running at the Hungaroring

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13649.html

Practice Two - Hamilton heads rain-hit Hungary session



A heavy shower with 42 minutes of the second free practice session still to run ended an entertaining battle for supremacy at the Hungaroring on Friday afternoon. But though the times were as tight as ever it was interesting that Lewis Hamilton still had the upper hand for McLaren. Hamilton lapped in 1m 21.995s, for the second time in the day being in a time bracket all on his own, while Kimi Raikkonen got closest with 1m 22.180s for dark horse Lotus. Bruno Senna made up for the time lost handing his Williams FW34 over to Valtteri Bottas to run third with 1m 22.253s, with the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso next up on 1m 22.417s and 1m 22.582s.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13648.html

Wired.co.uk Podcast 86: Salt shotgun, Mountain Lion, Morse code in space



Wired podcast

On the show this week we discus the man who built a shotgun that fires salt at bugs, Japan's mission to put a satellite in space that blinks Morse code back to Earth, the launch of OS X Mountain Lion and the rest of the week in Wired news.


By: Nate Lanxon,


Continue reading...



via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/podcast/episode-86

Twitter titsup: Our failover was actually just FAIL ALL OVER



Double trouble after data centre double-whammy


Twitter fell offline last night for several hours because - the company has now confirmed - redundancy in the micro-blogging site's data centres failed to kick in.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/27/twitter_outage_explained/

Tokyo bakery trials food recognition system, calculates the bill in a second



tokyo bakery

A Tokyo bakery is trialling a visual recognition system that knows its maple twists from its croissants and can ring up a bill total in a second.


The system, installed at Tokyo's Dominique Geulin bakery up until 28 July, identifies the goods by registering different shapes and colours. Customers simply need to place their tray of goods under an installed camera and the system will record the image, process the data via an algorithm and display the total bill at the till. If you want it to spot the difference between your ham sandwiches and your cheese ones, you'll have to make sure it faces the camera directly (it needs to get a good look at the filling).


By: Liat Clark, Edited by: Olivia Solon


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/tokyo-food-recognition-till

Superhydrophobic robot can jump on the surface of water



Jumping water strider robot

Roboticists from China's Harbin Institute of Technology have built a bio-inspired robot that can leap on the surface of water without sinking -- just like a water strider bug.


"Bionic microrobots mimicking the horizontal skating motions of aquatic insects have been fabricated in the past years," explains Qinmin Pan and colleagues in the paper's abstract.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/water-strider-robot

Practice One - McLaren dominate in Budapest



McLaren bounced back at the Hungaroring on Friday morning as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button set the pace. 2008 world champion Hamilton was 0.101s faster than his 2009 title-winning team mate Button as they lapped half a second faster than points leader Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. Hamilton was in command throughout the final hour, lapping his further updated MP4-27 in 1m 22.821s compared to Button's 1m 22.922s and Alonso's 1m 23.397s.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13647.html

Lunar swirls offer clues to protecting astronauts from radiation



Lunar swirl

Scientists in the UK have solved a long-standing mystery on the Moon -- and their solution could help develop a shield to protect astronauts against deadly radiation.

A team from RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire looked at so-called lunar swirls -- patches of pale soil on the Moon, some several tens of kms across, for which there had been no ready explanation before.

By: Paul Sutherland, Sen.com, Edited by: Ian Steadman

via Wired.co.uk

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/lunar-swirl

Volkswagen's next roadster could be an electric Beetle



E-Bugster

Volkswagen has all its product bases covered. Small, medium and large; micro and retro; gasoline, diesel and hybrid, even electric. But according to Christian Buhlmann of Volkswagen AG, it's missing something.


"We still don't have a two-seat convertible or roadster," Buhlmann tells me on the side of the winding, mountain road that leads to Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.


By: Damon Lavrinc, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/electric-beetle

Paul Chambers wins Twitter joke trial appeal at the High Court



High Court

Paul Chambers, the man who was found guilty of sending a menacing tweet in 2010, has won his High Court appeal against conviction, and has been acquitted of the crime.


Back In January 2010, Chambers joked that he would blow up Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire airport if it was not reopened in time for him to travel to Northern Ireland and see a friend.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/twitter-joke-win

EU wants drones to spot illegal migrants crossing the Mediterranean



Migrants

The European Union wants robotic eyes on incoming immigrants.


As part of a $410 million (£261 million) proposal to improve border security, the European Commission is considering a deployment of drones above the Mediterranean Sea to keep an eye on illegal immigrants. Alongside increased satellite activity, "sensors mounted on any platforms, including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles" would keep a close watch on unauthorised immigration activity in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the European agency in charge of the EU's borders.


By: Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/europe-immigrant-drones

Genetic cat ancestry test separates the show pets from the masses



cats

Ever wondered whether your feline hails from eastern Asia or the eastern Mediterranean? No need to rack your brain anymore -- a geneticist has developed a cat ancestry test that will reveal your pet's lineage.


Leslie Lyons, who heads up Lyons' Feline Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, promises that her cat genome test will uncover whether your pet's parents or grandparents belong to one of 29 "major fancy breeds". So you can finally say for certain if yours really is a pure Abyssinian, or hold off on the bragging if its mother engaged in a relationship with the local alley cat.


By: Liat Clark, Edited by: Olivia Solon


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/27/cat-ancestry

Thursday 26 July 2012

FIA Thursday press conference - Hungary



Drivers - Narain Karthikeyan (HRT), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams). Q: Narain, tell us how HRT has changed in the last six months. How much has it changed and developed?

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13642.html

Google Talk goes dumb in massive global outage



Users left speechless


The Google Talk IM and video chat service suffered a massive global outage beginning early on Thursday, leaving users mum for more than four hours.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/google_talk_goes_dumb/

Oops: Nokia reinstates 'terminated' star app developer



Keep your friends close, kick your good friends out the door


You may think Nokia needs to keep all the app developers it can muster loyal to the company - but last week it terminated VIP privileges for a star Symbian programmer. Nokia has since changed its mind.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/nokia_champion_go_stay/

Microsoft Azure goes titsup across Western Europe



Clouds blown away


Microsoft Azure is having an up-and-down kind of day as the cloud platform struggles to get any work done.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/azure_europe_downtime/

De Villota leaves hospital as recovery continues



Injured Marussia test driver Maria de Villota has been discharged from Madrid's La Paz University Hospital to continue her recovery at home. De Villota, who was transferred from the UK to her native Spain less than week ago, sustained serious head and facial injuries in a testing accident at Duxford Airfield earlier this month. “The patient's general conditions are good, which allowed to release her,” explained a statement on the Spaniard's website. “In the last six days, she has been treated by specialists of the plastic and neurological surgery services, and the ophthalmology department, who will continue to follow her, as she will need to undergo periodical checks and treatments.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13641.html

Dimension Data puffs up cloud partners



Chasing telcos, SPs, and governments through the channel


South Africa systems integrator Dimension Data launched a wide array of cloudy infrastructure services back in February, and now it is enlisting a service providers to help push the products.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/dimension_data_onecloud_channel/

UK ISPs promise punters 'full and open internet access'



Except when pirates choke our pipes


A number of UK internet service providers (ISPs) have signed up to a voluntary code of practice that generally requires them to ensure that they are offering "full and open internet access" to their customers.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/ten_uk_isps_commit_to_new_open_internet_code/

Amazon crimps free Kindle 3G surfing



Exercises option to restrict browsing after 50MB of web access


The free ride is over: owners of early Amazon Kindles that included free global access to 3G networks will now have their ability to surf the net crimped.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/kindle_3g_crimped/

Wednesday 25 July 2012

MIT algorithm measures your pulse by looking at your face



Eulerian Video Magnification

How can you measure someone's pulse, just by pointing a camera at their face? MIT computer scientists have created an algorithm that can do just that, by amplifying the subtle changes in motion and colour in a video.


The algorithm analyses a video and looks for temporal variations -- or elements of the video that change over time -- and then dramatically amplifies those motions.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/25/mit-algorithm

London 2012 will see the most stringent anti-doping tests in history



More than 1,000 people, including 150 doctors, will collect and analyze some 6,250 blood and urine samples over the course of the 2012 Summer Olympics during the most aggressive anti-doping campaign the Olympics has ever seen.

More than 10,000 athletes will compete in the 2012 Summer Games, and nearly half of them -- including every medal winner -- will be tested for 240 banned substances under the most aggressive anti-doping campaign in Olympics history.


Collecting and analysing those blood and urine samples, some 6,250 in all, will fall to a team of 1,000 people working in a nondescript laboratory north of London. The lab, provided by the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and run by King's College London, will run 24/7 as it processes as many as 400 samples daily.


By: Beth Carter, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/25/london-2012-anti-doping

FIA press conference schedule - Hungary



Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen are among the six drivers answering the media's questions on Thursday, whilst McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh and Williams' Toto Wolff are two of the five leading team personnel taking to the stage on Friday. The line-up in full…

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13639.html

Virgin Media's 'bye-bye to buffering' beardy Bolt boast BANNED



False start: Olympic champ ad ruled misleading


Virgin Media is banned from suggesting that its broadband is fast enough to spare punters from "buffering" delays online after rival BT complained.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/virgin_media_asa_buffering_claim/

Nearly half what Google spanked on Moto gobble was for patents



A cool $5.5bn to line Googorola's legal war chest


Google has finally put a price tag of $5.5bn on the patents it snaffled in its $12.4bn purchase of Motorola Mobility.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/motorola_acquisition_patent_amount/

Network upgrading punches Everything Everywhere in the wallet



Cellco's losses widen, eagerly awaits 4G dominance


Mashed-up mobile operator Everything Everywhere is still losing money as it merges its Orange legacy systems with its T-Mobile systems, invests in its network and taps its foot impatiently for Ofcom's 4G nod.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/everthing_everywhere_loss/

BT shares droop as sales go limp at hard-up Europe



Wholesale wing also hit by rules on fleecing 'regulatory price cuts' in Q1


BT revenues fell some 6 per cent in the national telco's first quarter as the company coughed to "tough conditions" in the financial sector as well as in Europe hampering its global services division.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/bt_q1_results/

Apple announces imminent release of OS X Mountain Lion for Mac



Mountain Lion

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed the release date of OS X Mountain Lion during the company's regular financial results conference call. It's 25 July.


OS X Mountain Lion will be released on all current Mac laptops and desktops, and include a number of headline features that will be familiar to anyone who owns an iPhone or iPad.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/25/mountain-lion-released

Solar Impulse returns to Switzerland after making first solar-powered flight to Africa



Solar Impulse

The solar-powered Solar Impulse aircraft is set to return home to Switzerland after flying more than 5,700 kilometres during the past two months. The team's accomplishments, including the first solar-powered flight to Africa, comes as the next Solar Impulse airplane suffered a setback in its plans for an around-the-world flight. While the first aircraft, known as HB-SIA was flying across Europe earlier this month, the wing spar for the second aircraft, HB-SIB, literally cracked under pressure during testing.


HB-SIA departed Switzerland back on May 24 on a trip that included eight legs, landing in four countries and two continents. The Solar Impulse team was invited by the Kingdom of Morocco and the country's Agency for Solar Energy as a demonstration of the Solar Impulse aircraft. The airplane was met with high winds on a few occasions while visiting north Africa, causing a few delays during the flight for the rather large but lightweight aircraft.


By: Jason Paur, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/25/solar-impulse

Commission to Euro biz: Show us your breaches



Draft EU cyber-laws will ask firms to 'fess up about violations


EU businesses could be required to flag up any breaches of their "network and information systems" under a new "strategic" action plan to combat cyber security problems across the trading bloc.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/eu_draft_laws_to_force_reporting_of_network_system_braches/

Google launches partner program for Cloud Platform



Tools, training, and support for building cloudy apps


It's official: Google's collection of cloud services is now known as the Google Cloud Platform, and to get everyone used to the idea, the search giant has kicked off a partner program for companies that can help customers use the cloudy offerings.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/25/google_cloud_platform_partner_program/

iiNet buys up more bandwidth on Southern Cross



Need for speed behind deal, not TPG/PPC1 hookup


iiNet has boosted its international cable capacity reserves by securing a new supply agreement with Southern Cross Cables, which will upgrade the ISP's bandwidth from 20Gbps to 200Gbps.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/iinet_pumps_global_connection/

Tuesday 24 July 2012

Apple seeks whopping $2.525bn Samsung patent payout



Could start tablet tax on anyone using rounded rectangles


It looks as though scheduled talks between Apple and Samsung CEOs to discuss damages for patent infringement were doomed to failure from the start, as court filings show Apple is demanding $2.525bn in costs and penalties for the use of its fondleslab and smartphone designs.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/apple_damages_samsung_tablet_design/

First team enters the race to sequence DNA of 100 centenarians



DNA

Californian biotech firm Life Technologies is the first team to register for the $10 million (£6.4m) Archon Genomics X Prize, which will be a race to sequence the genomes of 100 centenarians.


The prize was first announced in 2006, and is a joint effort between the X Prize Foundation and geneticist J. Craig Venter. It's supposed to stimulate the development of less expensive sequencing technologies, and establish a clinical standard for DNA research.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/24/first-team-for-x-prize-genomics

Virgin Media staves off cable punter seepage



14,700 subscribers fled, sales still above £1bn in Q2


Virgin Media told the City this morning that it lost 14,700 cable punters during its second quarter ended 30 June.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/virgin_media_q2/

Ofcom saves piece of 4G spectrum pie for '4th operator'



Three could disturb Big 3's threesome when auction starts at end of 2012


UK regulator Ofcom said today that the spectrum auction for 4G services would start on time at the end of this year, although actual bidding won't start until early in 2013, and it's holding back a chunk of the spectrum from the big three operators.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/ofcom_announces_4g_auction/

Wolff becomes an executive director at Williams



Williams have announced that Toto Wolff will become an executive director of Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC with immediate effect, stepping up his role within the company from that of non-executive director. In his new role Wolff will assist Sir Frank Williams in his continuing position as team principal. “It's a great honour for me to be assisting and supporting Sir Frank in his role as team principal at Williams,” said the Austrian. “I have been a shareholder in the business since 2009 and I am really looking forward to being able to take my responsibilities to a new level. I know that together we will work tirelessly to make the Group and team as successful as it can be.”

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13635.html

Noisy, copulating flies attract hungry bats



Natterer's bats

"Sex kills" says ecologist Stefan Greif -- if you're a fly, that is. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have found that bats are able to find and kill copulating flies by listening out for their noisy wing movements.


Researchers have long hypothesised that most animals have adapted to mate very quickly because copulating critters are at a higher risk of being discovered and eaten. Animals in the act have decreased attention, a reduced flight response and are more conspicuous.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Olivia Solon


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/24/fly-sex

From virtualisation to private cloud



Small steps to big results


There is an assumption, which has been repeated over and over, that private cloud naturally follows on from virtualisation activities. As such it has almost become accepted as inevitable, particularly amongst the IT vendors, that the way to improve IT effectiveness, agility and efficiency is to implement a private cloud. To top it off, the discussion is often airbrushed to make it seem like it’s a no-brainer and that it is all smooth sailing.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/private_cloud_study/

4G? Pah! Boffins charge up the dial to 5G data EXTREME-band kit



The wide open bands where a man can breathe free


A project headed by New York University has scored $2m to fund research into 80GHz radio, as a potential home for 5G in the spectrum land rush up the dial.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/80ghz/

Vodafone Oz pulls claim of Android 4.1 emergency call problems



Blog post down, eyebrows up


A blog post from Vodafone Australia alleging a bug in the latest version of Android has been pulled, casting doubt on its claims that emergency calls may not work on the new Jelly Bean edition of Google's mobile OS.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/jelly_bean_emergency_calls/

Vodafone drops 178k customers in 6 months



Hard to shake the Vodafail saga


The Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) union continues to be plagued by customer leakage, after the company's recent results saw it admit 178,000 users abandoned the carrier in the last six months.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/24/vha_still_struggling/

Monday 23 July 2012

Buzz: iPhone 5 arrives September 21, demand 'unprecedented'



New connector? Check. Larger display? Well, sort of...


Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 5 – or whatever the marketeers at Cupertino choose to call it – will be released on September 21, according to the iPhone rumor du jour. In addition, a new survey shows the pent-up demand for it to be "unprecedented."…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/iphone_5_release_date/

Flatworm species with 60 eyes discovered in Britain



Flatworm

A flatworm with 50 to 60 eyes has been discovered at a nature reserve in Cambridgeshire. The odd little critter is potentially a new, undescribed species.


Brian Eversham, chief executive of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, found the flatworm in the Shepreth L nature reserve. "I was taking wildlife pictures one Sunday morning and turned over a log to reveal this rather cute flatworm," said Eversham.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/23/flatworm-with-60-eyes

Amazon erects 'digital hub' near Silicon Roundabout



Mega media centre draws staffers from Pushbutton, LoveFilm


Amazon is opening a new eight-storey office in London just west of Shoreditch's Silicon Roundabout to house design teams, software devs and engineers from its July 2011 acquisition Pushbutton and its video-on-demand subsidiary LoveFilm.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/amazon_lovefilm_pushbutton_london_office/

Nokia woos networks with 'exclusive Windows 8 mobe deals'



Microsoft's Finnish friend chases iPhone effect - report


Nokia is keeping schtum amid claims it hopes to sign exclusive deals with European mobile operators for its planned Windows 8 smartphones.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/nokia_carrier_exclusives/

Samsung flogs 10 million Galaxy S IIIs in 7 weeks



Not quite keeping up with the iPhone 4S


Samsung has sold more than 10 million of its flagship Galaxy S III phones worldwide in seven weeks, according to Shin Jong-kyun, the company's mobile tech top dog.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/samsung_galaxy_s3_sales/

Brit holidaymakers forced to surf in the sea, not online



Three international roaming goes titsup


Holidaymakers hoping to surreptitiously surf the net from the beach with their Three mobiles were stranded when an outage killed their signal.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/international_roaming_outage_3/

Transparent solar cells allow for infrared-harvesting windows



Transparent solar cell

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have created a solar cell that's nearly 70 percent transparent. It could one day give rise to windows that generate enough electricity to power the building.


A team produced a polymer solar cell that makes energy by absorbing infrared -- and not visible -- light. That makes the cell about 66 percent transparent to the human eye, while also being able to achieve four percent efficiency.


By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/23/transparent-solar

Microsoft adds sexist Big Boobs to Linux kernel



Microsoft

Microsoft has contributed thousands of lines of code to the Linux kernel, the open source software at the heart of the widely used Linux operating system. And now, the software giant has contributed some controversy too.


Sometime over the past few years, as Microsoft beefed up the Linux kernel with code related to its Hyper-V virtualisation software, one unidentified developer needed a name for a piece of code used by the software, and for some unknown reason, he went with this: 0xB16B00B5.


By: Robert McMillan, Edited by: Ian Steadman


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via Wired.co.uk



http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/23/microsoft-big-boobs

Scottish cloud abacus gobbled by control freak RightScale



Need a job in Scotland?


If you think keeping track of the technical differences between cloud systems is hard, try figuring out what compute, storage, and network capacity on various platforms can cost. It's enough to give you migraine, which is why cloud control freak RightScale, which spans multiple public and private systems, has acquired small Scottish startup ShopForCloud.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/rightscale_buys_shopforcloud/

Hungary preview quotes - Caterham, Sauber on Budapest



The Formula One paddock heads directly from Germany to Hungary this weekend for the second Grand Prix in a back-to-back doubleheader and the championship's final round before the August summer break. Budapest's Hungaroring circuit poses a high-downforce challenge, likened by some to a faster version of Monaco. Those involved in the Formula 1 Eni Magyar Nagydij 2012 discuss their prospects

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13631.html

China's broadband population is SHRINKING



More get their mobiles out to get online


China’s internet population reached a whopping 530 million over the past six months, but its broadband subscriber base actually shrank as mobile became the most popular way for users to get online for the first time.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/china_broadband_numbers_shrinking/

Coles signs up for Office 365



Down, down, staff administration costs are down, for 100,000 staff


Insistently non-rapacious supermarket chain Coles has become the latest company to sign off on a press release declaring it has adopted Microsoft's cloudy productivity suite Office 365.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/23/office_365_coles/

Sunday 22 July 2012

FIA post-race press conference - Germany



Drivers: 1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), 3 - Jenson Button (Mclaren) Podium Interviews (by Niki Lauda) Q: Congratulations Fernando, your third win, what go you think of a Spaniard in an Italian car, to win the German Grand Prix in front of all these German people here?

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13630.html

Vettel receives time penalty, demoted to fifth



Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel has been handed a 20-second time penalty by the stewards in Germany for his pass on McLaren's Jenson Button during the closing stages of Sunday's race. Vettel had finished the Hockenheim event in second, but the addition of the penalty leaves him fifth in the results. The stewards decided the German gained an advantage after leaving the track at the exit of the hairpin as he attempted to overtake Button on Lap 66, in breach of article 20.2 of the sporting regulations. They elected to give him a drive-through penalty which, when imposed after the race, means 20 seconds is added to the penalised driver's finishing time.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13629.html

Race - selected team and driver quotes



Ferrari's Felipe Massa on the losing his front wing on the opening lap; McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on his early puncture and eventual retirement; Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on his late pass on the McLaren of Jenson Button; and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on converting his pole position into victory. All 24 drivers and senior team personnel report back on Sunday at Hockenheim…

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13628.html

Race - masterful Alonso triumphs at Hockenheim



Ferrari's Fernando Alonso drove an absolutely faultless race in Germany on Sunday afternoon to become the first three-time winner of 2012. Alonso was under consistent pressure, first from Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and later from McLaren's Jenson Button, both of whom got within less than a second of the Ferrari at times. But the Spaniard never put a wheel wrong nor lost his nerve and pulled away in the closing stages as Button faded and was repassed by Vettel.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13627.html

No action over Red Bull engine map investigation



After a hearing in Hockenheim on Sunday morning by stewards Derek Warwick, Tim Mayer and Paul Gutjahr, no further action will be taken against Red Bull following FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer's report this morning regarding the legality of the team's engine maps. Bauer had told the stewards that he felt the engine torque maps of the RB8's of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber breached

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13625.html

Red Bull under investigation over engine maps



The Hockenheim stewards are investigating Red Bull after FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported that after examining the engine torque maps of the RB8s of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber after qualifying, “it became apparent that the maximum torque output of both engines is significantly less in the mid rpm range than previously seen for these engines at other events. “In my opinion this is therefore in breach of Article 5.5.3 of the Technical regulations as the engines are able to deliver more torque at a given engine speed in the mid rpm range. Furthermore this new torque map will artificially alter the aerodynamic characteristics of both cars which is also in contravention of Technical Directive 036-11.”

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13623.html

Saturday 21 July 2012

FIA post-qualifying press conference - Germany



Drivers: 1 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 2 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing), 3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) Q: Well Fernando, give us some idea what it was like to be out there: fun? Difficult? Incredibly difficult? Fernando Alonso: Not fun, that's for sure. I think the problem is that you don't know the conditions. It was similar in

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13617.html

Perez handed five-place grid penalty for impeding



Sauber's Sergio Perez has been handed a five-place grid penalty by the German stewards for blocking other cars during Saturday's qualifying session for the Hockenheim race. Perez had qualified in 12th. After reviewing evidence, the stewards decided the Mexican had impeded both the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen in Q2. He will now start Sunday's race from 17th on the grid.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13616.html

Qualifying - selected team and driver quotes



Mercedes' Michael Schumacher on only just managing to sneak through Q1 before eventually claiming third on the grid; Ferrari's Felipe Massa on failing to adjust to the change of conditions when the rain arrived in Q2; Lotus's Romain Grosjean on losing KERS on his car during the session; and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on taking his second successive pole of the season. All 24 drivers and senior team personnel report back on Saturday's action…

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13615.html

Qualifying - Alonso on pole after rain-hit session



Ferrari's Fernando Alonso took pole position twice for Sunday's German round at Hockenheim. First he lapped his Ferrari in 1m 40.904s in soaking conditions in Q3 that required Pirelli's extreme wet tyres. Then, after Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber had come up short with 1m 41.026s and 1m 41.496s for Red Bull, Alonso banged in a lap of 1m 40.621s just to rub it in. The rain had come in Q2 and never really let up, though its intensity ebbed and flowed. And it is likely that some teams may have steered closer to dry set-ups in expectation of better weather for the race.

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13614.html

Marussia's De Villota returns home to Spain



Seventeen days after sustaining serious head and facial injuries in a testing accident at the UK's Duxford Airfield, Marussia test driver Maria De Villota has returned home to her native Spain. In a statement released by Marussia, the team confirmed that De Villota left Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on Friday

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13612.html

Final practice - Alonso edges Hamilton in Germany



Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton renewed their old rivalry at Hockenheim on Saturday morning and were separated at the top of the timesheets by just 0.077s before the heavens opened in the final minutes and prevented any improvements. Hamilton languished down in 18th place for a long time as Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and then Alonso set the pace

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13611.html

Gearbox penalty for Webber



Mark Webber is set to take a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's Hockenheim race after Red Bull decided to change the gearbox on his car ahead of Saturday's final practice session. The team investigated a transmission issue overnight

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13610.html

Office Web App upgrade adds long-needed features



And – for better or worse – the apps look like Office 2013


Coming on the heels of Microsoft's Office 2013 announcement, Redmond has launched a new version of its browser-based Office Web Apps, which are available now to SkyDrive users who join the preview program.…






via The Register - Cloud

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/21/office_2013_web_apps_preview/

Office Web App upgrade adds long-needed features



And – for better or worse – the apps look like Office 2013


Coming on the heels of Microsoft's Office 2013 announcement, Redmond has launched a new version of its browser-based Office Web Apps, which are available now to SkyDrive users who join the preview program.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/21/office_2013_web_apps_preview/

Qantas to provide wireless iPad entertainment on 767s



Freebie flicks 'n' more for business class, economy class


Australia's premier airline, Qantas, will provide an iPad to each and every passenger on its fleet of Boeing 767s, beaming free in-flight entertainment using what it dubs its "QStreaming" technology.…




via The Register - Networks

http://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/21/qantas_in_flight_ipads/

Friday 20 July 2012

FIA Friday press conference - Germany



Team representatives - Mark Smith (Caterham), John Booth (Marussia), Franz Tost (Toro Rosso), Norbert Haug (Mercedes), Peter Sauber (Sauber). Q: Mark, if I can start with you. First of all, we've seen a certain number of developments over the last couple of races. How promising were those?

via Formula1.com - Latest Headlines http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/7/13606.html