Windows Phone 7: Microsoft's exercise in self restraint

Mix10 The key difference between Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile is not Silverlight, the Windows Marketplace lock-in, nor the disallowing of native-code applications.

Rather, Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's best effort at creating a user-centric device, something that is actually a pleasure to use. Its existence has everything to do with Apple and the way it has stolen Microsoft's market - in music downloads, in high-end laptops, soon in tablet computers, and of course in smartphones themselves.And why has Apple succeeded? As Microsoft Research principal researcher Bill Buxton told The Reg three years ago, two words: industrial design. His mission in joining the company was to reform it into one that understood the importance of user experience.

It does not come easy. Intellectually, Microsoft gets this message, but its culture and legacy is against it. The company's annual Mix conference held last week in Las Vegas, Nevada, is meant to be design-focused, but there was just as much developer content, such as detailed sessions on the OData protocol. Some attendees complained that it was too much like the Professional Developers Conference held four months earlier. Adobe has a design community, Microsoft has a developer community - and a transition is hard to pull off.

Further, Microsoft has a problem with its core software products such as Office. There is no more hope of Outlook becoming user-centric than there was for the old Windows Mobile. It does not need a dollop of Office Ribbon, it needs complete reconstruction.

Microsoft's dependency on OEM partners, the engine of its growth, also works against its design efforts. I was reminded of this recently when starting a Windows 7 Toshiba Netbook for the first time, fresh out of its box. Windows 7 is meant to be quieter, but the screen soon filled with ugly dialogs competing for attention, mostly from third-parties. It's this kind of thing that drives users to the Mac.

Lip service to innovation

Here's what Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said during the February press launch for Windows Phone 7: "We want to lead and take complete accountability for the end user experience ... have more consistency in the hardware platform, more consistency in the user experience, but still enable [partner] innovation."

"Partner innovation" is generally a disaster for Microsoft.

Ballmer makes a nod towards it as a matter of good public relations, but by locking down both hardware and software, the company is trying to minimize the extent to which OEMs can spoil the design effort.
During Mix10 last week I asked Buxton what influence he had on the design of Windows Phone 7. He said it was mostly the work of others, but it does show the ascendancy of design at Microsoft. "We kinda changed the water that we drink, in the sense that all through the design community within the company we talk, and we have a common goal in terms of trying to bring a certain change of sensibility," he said.


"For me it's not even about the phone, but what's interesting is that it's the first product in the company with critical mass that's embraced this ... it will have an impact on other parts of the company."

Whether or not he was directly involved, Windows Phone 7 does seem to embody many of Buxton's principles, such as the attention given to transitions between states, with attractive flowing animations. "If you don't have as much detail in the transition as you do in the state, you're going to get it wrong," Buxton said at Mix09.

The priority of design is one reason for the limited features in this release, and for that Microsoft is taking heat from developers. No native code, no multi-tasking, no socket support, no local SQL, no communication between applications - the list goes on. Such features may be opened up gradually in future versions, but only if resource usage and user control are protected.

If users love the phone, these limitations will be forgiven. Microsoft is coming from behind though, and rivals including Apple and makers of Android phones will not be standing still while the company tries to catch up.




Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/20/windows_phone_7_design/

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Firefox zero-day fix set up for 30 March release

Mozilla confirmed the presence of an unpatched flaw in its browser on Thursday, with a post promising to release a fix at the end of the month.

The flaw, discovered by security researcher Evgeny Legerov and reported by The Reg last month, creates a means to inject hostile code on vulnerable systems. The vulnerability is due to be fixed in version 3.6 of Firefox on 30 March.

In the meantime, the more technically adept or security-conscious user can update to the beta version of the 3.6.2 release, which already plugs the security flaw.

In other browser security news, Google updated the Windows version of its Chrome browser on Wednesday, addressing nine vulnerabilities of varying seriousness.

Left unfixed the flaws created a possible mechanism to run spoofing attacks or bypass security restrictions, such as sandboxing. Users are advised to update to version 4.1.249.1036.

A flaw in the WebKit engine used by Chrome earned its finder, Sergey Glazunov, the first $1,337 pay-out from Google's bug bounty program.

The release also adds features and fixes stability bugs as explained in an advisory here. Google's update comes just days before the much-watched pwn2own hacking contest at the CanSecWest security conference.


Source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/19/firefox_chrome_security_updates/

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2016 bug hits Windows phones

Y 2.01K spreads

The date bug which is interfering with Aussie point of sale transactions has spread to some Windows mobile phones.

The glitch means that text messages received since New Year's Eve will appear with a 2016 date. Card scanners in thousands of Australian shops have also been hit, as we reported yesterday. Bank of Queensland systems, believing it was 2016, rejected most payment cards because they'd passed their expiry date.

The bank introduced a manual workaround which effectively tells systems to ignore the date.

Windows Mobile users, running versions 6.1 and 6.5, may have noticed text messages from the future - all messages received since New Year's Eve will have a 2016 dateline, according to Techradar.com.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/05/windows_mobe_bug/

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Apple ejects Dalai Lama from Chinese iTunes

Protects Great firewall of China from 'devil'

iPhone apps based on the teachings of the Dalai Lama don't exist on the Chinese incarnation of iTunes, it has emerged, demonstrating that even Apple has to bend to do business in China.

Given the Chinese government's rejection of the Dalai Lama's authority it's no surprise that his only appearance in the Chinese iTunes store is a passing mention in the Buddhist Glossary. In the UK store there are half a dozen apps presenting his quotes and teachings, but it's hard to imagine an Al Qaeda application lasting long over here given our own government's thoughts on radicalisation.

Comparing the Dalai Lama with Al Qaeda might seem insane, but while we might view the Lama as an intelligent and rather amiable chap with a reasonable argument, the Chinese government has very different ideas.

In covering the lack of Lama applications PC World quotes the Chinese government's opinion of him as a "devil with a human face". Cupertino is obliged to follow local laws if it wants to do business locally (and everyone wants to do business in China) and that means Apples and devils remain segregated.

The approval process for iPhone applications is notoriously secretive, and Apple recently dropped one application for not having enough naked flesh (OK - it was called "Tits and Boobies" and consisted of photographs of birds, which is funny, but cheating, so it's been removed along with its companion "Pussy Lovers").

Refusing applications for political reasons might seem overly compliant, but it's not Apple's fault the Chinese don't like the Dalai Lama.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/apple_china/

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Kate Winslet sports top celeb bod

Thesp Kate Winslet has topped of "most desirable body" poll in which UK women voted wholeheartedly for traditional curves and kicked tanorexic stick insects firmly into touch.

According to the Telegraph, the Titanic star polled 16 per cent of the votes from 2,000 mere mortal females, narrowly beating Kelly Brook into second spot on 15 per cent. The US's assets were well represented by Halle Berry, who took third place with 12 per cent.

Bottoming out the list were Victoria Beckham, Jordan and Kate Moss, each attracting a lean 1 per cent.

The YouGov poll was commissioned by Slimming World, which wheeled out its woman of the year, Rebecca Wheatley, to celebrate the result. The former Casualty actress - who shifted a whopping 12 stone to slim down to a healthy size 12, enthused: "It is fantastic to see that finally women seem to be aspiring towards a healthy body shape that is realistic and achievable. Kate Winslet has always spoken out about the importance of accepting your body. After all, healthy women come in all sizes."

She concluded: "It is definitely a step forward that rather than persuading women to set their sights on being super thin, which can lead to misery when they fail to achieve their target, more celebrities are encouraging inner confidence and a positive body image and showing women how they can be happy with their shape."

Interestingly, a quarter of the women polled didn't pick a "perfect celebrity body" at all, and the fact that topless model Keeley Hazell's 100 per cent natural and ample charms merited just 2 per cent of the vote suggest other factors are at play.

Jordan is hardly lacking a bit of meat, either, but her airbags are strictly Bulgarian, and that may have counted against her.

Here's the full list, and if you don't know who some of these people are, you've got no business hanging around Bootnotes:

Kate Winslet - 16 per cent
Kelly Brook - 15
Halle Berry - 12
Cheryl Cole - 10
Beyoncé - 6
Megan Fox - 5
Lily Allen - 4
Keeley Hazell - 2
Kate Moss - 1
Jordan - 1
Victoria Beckham - 1

And here, purely for scientific reasons, are those gals' rankings in AskMen.com's "Top 99 Women for 2009":

Kate Winslet - 99
Kelly Brook - Unplaced
Halle Berry - 13
Cheryl Cole - 20
Beyoncé - 50
Megan Fox - 2
Lily Allen - Unplaced
Keeley Hazell - 4
Kate Moss - Unplaced
Jordan - Unplaced
Victoria Beckham - Unplaced

Eva Mendes took top spot, in case you're wondering.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/top_bod/
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Steve Jobs gets top dog Noughties honours

Yet another iDecade accolade

Apple boss Steve Jobs has been crowned the "Person of the Decade" by readers of the Wall Street Journal.

Journal readers voted for the Jobsian one as their favourite person of the Noughties following his triumphant return to the role of CEO at the end of the last decade.

The WSJ pointed out that Jobs had steered the Apple ship around by helping the company's stock rise 700 per cent in value after returning as boss of the Cupertino-based computer maker.

Jobs garnered 30 per cent of the vote to grab the Person of the Decade moniker, for changing "the way people buy and listen to music," with Apple's ubiquitous iPod MP3 player and its online songs and albums store, iTunes.

Holding up the rear in the tech world was Microsoft's Bill Gates, with a total of nine per cent of those polled saying that the software giant's co-founder should take top person of the decade honours.

Of course Gates hung up his Redmond management boots for good in June 2008, since when he has worked full-time with his wife at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - which is a charity that currently boasts a $35bn endowment.

However, Gates's best chum, Warren Buffett, fared better in the poll, pulling in 17 per cent of the vote. The investor was rewarded by WSJ readers for his solid financial prowess when the economy nosedived last year.

Google also jumped ahead of Microsoft's tricky decade with 12 per cent of readers voting for the world's largest ad broker's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in the poll. While Google's IPO secured the "Smartest Financial Move of the Decade" and the "Smartest Investment of the Decade" accolades.

Over the past few weeks Jobs has been earning "top dog CEO" points all over the shop from the likes of Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Sadly, that other well-known Steve of the Noughties - y'know, the one who has a penchant for chair-throwing and monkey-dancing - remains notably absent from all the back-slapping.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/steve_jobs_person_of_decade_wsj/

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IT consultant freed after almost three years in Baghdad

'Absolutely delighted'

Kidnapped IT consultant Peter Moore is on his way home to the UK having been held hostage in Iraq since May 2007.

The release of Moore follows long negotiations between the Iraqi government and the kidnappers, which apparently resulted in no "substantive concessions" but did lead to him being released to local authorities this morning. He's now at the British embassy, and is reportedly in good spirits.

The bodies of three of the other four Britons kidnapped at the same time have already been returned to the British authorities and the fourth is thought to have shared their fate.

Moore is described as being "absolutely delighted" at being released, despite having an "very moving" conversation with Foreign Secretary David Miliband.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/moore_iraq_hostage/

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Court: iPod hearing loss your fault, not Apple's

'What? What??'

A US court has turned back an appeal of a 2008 ruling that declared that if you blow out your ears by listening to your iPod too loudly, it's your own damn fault.

In a victory for common sense and personal responsibility, the court sided with the iPod manufacturer in the case of Birdsong v. Apple, Inc, originally filed in the Western District of Louisiana by one Joseph Birdsong, who was later joined by Californian Bruce Waggoner.

Both plaintiffs sought to elevate the case to nationwide class-action status. Instead, the US District Court of Northern California, to which the case had been transferred, dismissed their complaint. Birdsong and Waggoner appealed.

In Wednesday's ruling (PDF), Judge David R. Thompson of the Ninth Circuit notes that: "The plaintiffs argue the district court erred... They alleged that the iPod (1) comes with 'stock ear buds...designed to be placed deep into the ear canal rather than over the ears, which increases the danger of hearing damage,' (2) lacks 'noise isolating or cancelling properties,' and (3) lacks any volume meter."

Ignoring the mischaracterization of iPod earbuds as being "designed to be placed deep into the ear canal," Judge Thompson's ruling gets right to the point: "The district court did not err."

Thompson's reasoning is straightforward: "The plaintiffs recognize that iPods play music, have an adjustable volume, and transmit sound through earbuds," he writes, adding that their complaint states that - and the italics are Judge Thompson's: "(1) the iPod is capable of playing 115 decibels of sound; (2) consumers may listen at unsafe levels; and (3) iPod batteries can last 12 to 14 hours and are rechargeable, giving users the opportunity to listen for long periods of time."

Summing up his argument, Thompson writes: "Taken as true, such statements suggest only that users have the option of using an iPod in a risky manner..."

In other words, the law isn't responsible for stopping an idiot from being an idiot.

Thompson goes on to write that "the plaintiffs make no allegations of any history of malfunction, but merely suggest possible changes to the iPod which they believe would make the product safer," such as noise-reducing earbuds, warnings beyond the Apple's existing 60-word Avoid Hearing Damage tips, a digital decibel meter, and "volume-control software" - whatever that might entail.

"The plaintiffs fail to allege, however, how the absence of their suggested changes caused any user an injury," Thompson writes,

In fact, he writes, the plaintiffs didn't even claim to have been injured, nor did they cite any injuries to other. "The plaintiffs simply do not plead facts showing that hearing loss from iPod use is actual or imminent."

Judge Thompson's ruling is akin to the commonsense understanding that if you put your hand down a garbage disposal, then turn it on, you can't blame the disposal's manufacturer if your new nickname is "Stumpy" - especially if that manufacturer had warned you not to be such a thorough chowderhead.

Apple is off the hook, and the nanny state takes one in the teeth thanks to the levelheadedness of one Northern California judge.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/ipod_hearing_loss_appeal/

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They said what? Quotes of the Year

The urbane, the insane...

Back by popular demand, here is our Annual Hall of Stupid, leavened with a few moments of genuine wit. It's a Stephen Fry Free Zone. Almost.

“The City Is A Leisuresuit For Surviving The Future”

Ben Hammersley of WiReD magazine Tweets his Deepest Thorts. The Ham is now advising the Foreign and Commonwealth Office: your taxes have never been used more wisely.

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“Everybody loves the BBC and it doesn't cost anything, Murdoch should learn a thing or two”

Expert punditry from reader 'peter 3' at The Register. More on Murdoch vs. The Chocolate Factory here and here.

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"As an anarchoautonomist I need something really different, but my prediction is that green (and non-securitarian) regulation of informationalism is probably the best we can achieve through our struggles."

Climate activist Alex Foti tries to channel the revolutionary spirit of Tom Paine, Martin Luther King...but doesn't quite manage it. Found on the mailing list.

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“I genuinely felt proud and excited when I was finally handed my card. I loved seeing my name, face and the words British citizen on this tiny piece of plastic. That’s who I am, and why shouldn’t anyone know?”

Local newspaper columnist Angela 'Memento' Epstein, founder and sole member of the YesToID is thrilled to be the first in the UK to receive her tag. Perhaps she regularly forgets who she is?

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"In digital media, as in fortune-telling, the future is pretty much treated as part of the present. "

Guardian discovery Mercedes Bunz helped fill the gaping chasm caused by the absence of Jemima Kiss. In digital media, as in fortune-telling, the predictions are a load of horsecock from an expensive charlatan. Funny that.

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“algorithm-aided human writing will meet human-aided algorithmic curation; quality will rise.”

Jeff Jarvis - a Business Thought Leader & Worldwide Media Leader - predicts a bright future for journalism. He was so proud of this cybernetic wedding, he Tweeted it, then Blogged that he'd Tweeted. (Number of successful internet businesses founded by Jarvis to date? Zero). More Jarvis here, wherein we review his book.

“Functionally an ad-banner trolling site who will publish any rubbish if it'll get clicks, and best ignored”

Senior Wikipedia weirdo David Gerard has had enough... of El Reg. Amongst other things we've been called recently include "an internet scandal-sheet" (BBC), "an online lesbian magazine" (The Independent) and "The Media Mouthpiece" by Phorm founder and CEO Kent Ertugrul - last seen shouting at the bins,

“Look on the bright side. We have the potential to become micro-celebrities in our very own day time infomercial”

One-man strategy boutique Jan Chipchase in a blog post called "You Are a Walking Advertorial". Mr Chipchase works for Nokia.

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“These are published images: delivered to the public - public domain - public property...”

Tireless copyright campaigner Crosbie Fitch explains what's his is his, and what's yours is his, too. He was describing the National Portrait Gallery's decision to protect its digital rights, against a landgrab by Wikipedia. See that Porsche over there? It's on a public road. It must be public property...

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“The trade off is that we got a huge (and 95 per cent positive) press hit - and that's all part of the game too.”

The 'new economics foundation' (which hates capital letters) admits it had to make up numbers for its Happy Planet survey, where poor countries are rated the happiest. To be honest, we just wanted to print that picture of the report's author, Citizen Saamah Abadallah, again. Thank you, Facebook.

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“Swans

Champagne flutes

Christmas parties

Organic food

Anyone Scottish

Non-Russians with Russian girlfriends

Film stars

Complaining about the smoking ban

Celebrity chefs

Pronouncing the last ‘e’ in furore

Coloured bathtowels

Cappuchinos after 11am

The Caribbean

Art Deco

Suicide

Scented candles

Garlic on your breath

Saying ‘My garden has its own microclimate’

Framed photographs of anyone non-Royal

Morocco

Bottled water

Not knowing the words of hymns

St. Tropez

David Walliams”

Nicky Haslam's list of "things he hates". Where's the IT angle? There isn't one.

“The last thing anyone wants is to be thought of as the sort of person Stephen wouldn't invite to his lovely Norfolk home for the weekend along with Richard Dawkins, Emma Thompson and Alan Davies”

Satire site Daily Mash has the measure of Twitter's most-followed bully, Stephen Fry. Twitter cemented its reputation as the No.1 social network where has-been celebs enforce forelock-tugging respect, and marketing consultants and nontrepreneurs can wash their consciences clean.

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“ We know with certainty that we know fuck-all ”

Peer-review in action: climatologist Ed Cook writing to CRU's Diviner of Treemometers, Ed Briffa, in 2003. He was referring to trends over 100 years - but for critics, it sums up the state of the "science". More on Briffa here [bonus mailbag goodness here], and the Climategate scandal here.

“It can accumulate a cash hoard of tens of millions of dollars while charging companies to buy back their own names and then listing everything in exactly the order it would have been had no one bid at all.”

Analyst Eric Clemons has the measure of Google's business strategy. Or as Fake Steve put it, "Google has become what Microsoft used to be — the evil dicks who look around, find some area where people are making money, and say, Hey, fuck it, we’re bored, so let’s do the same thing for free and put those guys out of business."

“Lets say now we're off Weymouth in 2012 and we're doing the Olympic games, and we suddenly find a boat... [carrying] a bunch of topless lovelies, heading around having had too much to drink”

Lord Alan West, the security minister, AKA Lord Bournemouth (West of Spithead), AKA the former head of the Royal Navy, explaining the applications of a net-flinging "futuristic bazooka", developed by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch.

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“It’s just that I can never work up the energy to be interested in other people. Male or female. I just can’t stand them. Not. At. All. Also, with sex, there’s the touching thing, and with that the germ thing.”

Fake Steve explains why Bimbo Eruptions never happen to Steve Jobs.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/quotes_of_the_year/

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Googlephone debuts Jan. 5, says everyone but Google

Updated A Tuesday press-conference invitation and a T-Mobile leak make it ninety-nine per cent certain that Google will announce its Android-based Googlephone Nexus One smartphone at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5, at its Mountain View Googleplex.

This morning, a carefully selected slice of the tech press received a short but sweet invitation to the announcement event. In the long-standing tradition of milking product announcements for every drop of suspense, the invitation doesn't mention the Nexus One specifically, but merely reads:

With the launch of the first Android-powered device just over a year ago, we’ve seen how a powerful, open platform can spur mobile product innovation. And this is just the beginning of what’s possible.

What seals the Nexus One deal is a T-Mobile intranet posting obtained by TmoNews entitled "Google Android Phone" that straightforwardly states:

Google, with support from T-Mobile, is scheduled to launch a new Android device in early January. The Google Android phone will be sold solely by Google via the Web.

• Support for this device including troubleshooting and exchanges will be managed by Google and HTC.
• T-Mobile will offer service support, including billing, coverage, features and rate plans.

Both of today's developments jibe with last week's tip that the Nexus One's coming-out party was going to be held on January 5.

You'll note that the T-Mobile intranet posting says that the phone will be "sold solely by Google via the Web" - T-Mobile is merely along for the ride as a service provider and monthly billing-meister. How well a software and services provider such as Google will handle hardware fulfillment as well as "support ... including troubleshooting and exchanges" remains to be seen.

Perhaps Google has a fulfillment and support partner that it will announce on January 5, as well.

After perviously denying that it would be "making hardware" and that it wouldn't "compete with its customers" by offering its own phone, Google confirmed the existence of the Nexus One on December 12.

It can be argued, seeing as how the Nexus One is reportedly being manufactured by HTC, that Google was merely stretching but not snapping the truth when it denied that it was "making hardware."

We'll be interested, however, to see how it justifies its previous denials that it would not "compete with its customers" by launching its own phone. Perhaps Google's notion of "customer" is you and me, and not Android-phone developers such as Motorola, Acer, and HTC.

But Google's seeming duplicity isn't the central question for phone geeks. What they want to know is "How good is the Nexus One?" Well, at least one lucky HD camera–wielding geek with a poor understanding of depth-of-field is mightily impressed. He got his hands on a Nexus One running Android 2.1, and posted the following video review:

The answer appears to be that Google's Nexus One may shape up to be a formidable challenger to the current Cupertinian king of the smartphone hill.

Of course, there are small matters such as price, battery life, reliability, build quality, coverage, service, and support that are still unknowns. One certainty that we won't need to wait until January 5 for confirmation is that expectations and sales projections are busily being reset at Palm.




source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/30/android_event_january_5/

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Microsoft IIS vuln leaves users open to remote attack

Beware of the 'semicolon bug'

Updated A researcher has identified a vulnerability in the most recent version of Microsoft's Internet Information Services that allows attackers to execute malicious code on machines running the popular webserver.

The bug stems from the way IIS parses file names with colons or semicolons in them, according to researcher Soroush Dalili. Many web applications are configured to reject uploads that contain executable files, such as active server pages, which often carry the extension ".asp." By appending ";.jpg" or other benign file extensions to a malicious file, attackers can bypass such filters and potentially trick a server into running the malware.

There appears to be some disagreement over the severity of the bug, which Dalili said affects all versions of IIS. While he rated it "highly critical," vulnerability tracker Secunia classified it as "less critical," which is only the second notch on its five-tier severity rating scale.

"Impact of this vulnerability is absolutely high as an attacker can bypass file extension protections by using a semicolon after an executable extension such as '.asp,' '.cer,' '.asa' and so on," Dalili wrote. "Many web applications are vulnerable against file uploading attacks because of this weakness of IIS."

In an email to El Reg, Dalili offered the following attack scenario:

"Assume a website which only accepts JPG files as the users’ avatars. And the users can upload their avatars on the server. Now an attacker tries to upload "Avatar.asp;.jpg" on the server. Web application considers this file as a JPG file. So, this file has the permission to be uploaded on the server. But when the attacker opens the uploaded file, IIS considers this file as an ASP file and tries to execute it by 'asp.dll.'

"So, the attacker can upload a web-shell on the server by using this method. Most of the uploaders only control the last part of the files as their extensions, and by using this method, their protection will be bypassed."

Secunia didn't explain how it arrived at its assessment, but it did confirm the bug on a machine running a fully patched version of Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 with Microsoft IIS version 6.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said company researchers are investigating the report. They are not aware of attacks targeting the reported vulnerability, she said.

In the absence of any official guidance, webmasters who want to workaround the potential problem should make sure that upload directories don't have execute permissions. And web developers should ensure their applications never accept the user's input as a file name.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/25/microsoft_iis_semicolon_bug/

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Inmate gets 18 months for thin client prison hack

HR network jailbreak

A former prison inmate has been ordered to serve 18 months for hacking the facility's computer network, stealing personal details of more than 1,100 of its employees and making them available to other inmates.

Francis G. Janosko, 44, received the sentence earlier this week in federal court in Boston after pleading guilty to the hacking offenses in September.

In 2006, Janosko hacked a thin client that was connected to a prison server to access the employee database for the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts, prosecutors alleged. After obtaining the names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and telephone numbers of the employees, he made them accessible to other inmates.

Although the machine was configured only to run a legal research program, the prisoner managed to use it to get free rein over a variety of unauthorized services. In addition to the employee database, Janosko was also able to access the internet to download videos and photographs of prison employees, inmates and aerial shots of the prison, according to court papers. The hacking took place between October 2006 and February 2007.

Janosko was imprisoned in 2006 for a parole violation following a conviction on child pornography charges. He was convicted of harassing an underage girl and taking pictures of her in a public library the year before.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/inmate_prison_hack/

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Nominet legal boss quits

Emily Taylor, Nominet's long-serving legal and policy director, has resigned.

The non-profit company in charge of the .uk domain registry declined to explain her departure.

It sent this statement: "We can confirm that Emily Taylor has resigned from Nominet. We thank Emily for her long and loyal service to company and the ccNSO and wish her well for the future."

The ccNSO is an ICANN policy body.

Taylor joined Nominet in 2000. She launched its dispute resolution service and went on to represent the UK at international internet governance meetings.

She was also company secretary, and managed Nominet's Policy Advisory Body, a part elected, part appointed group designed to give internet users outside the domain business a voice.

Taylor's resignation follows a turbulent period for the firm, involving a boardroom dispute and legal back-biting. As a result, the government announced legislation granting it powers to take control if it believes the interests of all UK internet users are not being looked after.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/nominet_taylor/

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UK government considers open source Ordnance Survey data

Can you tell me how to get from A to B, please?

The government has released a 91-page consultation paper on how UK citizens could get more access to Ordnance Survey mapping data from next year.

"We are now consulting on proposals to make certain products from Ordnance Survey freely available so it can be used for digital innovation and to support democratic accountability," said Communities Minister Ian Austin.

As we reported last month, UK.gov announced proposals to get the Ordnance Survey to open up some postcode data from April next year. However, the plans appeared to fall short of getting the Royal Mail to allow its contentious Postcode Address File (PAF) database opened up for free access on the internet.

In November, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the government would grant the British public more access to some OS data from 2010.

At the time, it was unclear if such a move would lead free and open access to the Royal Mail’s PAF database, which in 2007 pulled in £1.6m in licensing fees for the state-owned company.

The Royal Mail was resolute about its data and who owns it in a statement to The Register last month.

"Royal Mail invests significantly in collating and maintaining the Postcode Address File (PAF) and this cost is recovered in an independently regulated licensing [system]," it said.

According to the consultation papers on the OS, the government is mulling three options regarding the data.

Option 1: Maintain current business strategy - continued delivery of the strategy outlined in April 2009, plus consideration of release of OS Free.

Option 2: Release of licensing constraints on large-scale data and release of Ordnance Survey Free.

Option 3: Staged transition from the current strategy - to a model based on more open geographic information, including release of Ordnance Survey Free.

UK.gov currently favours the third option, and said that convincing the likes of the Royal Mail to get on board with its free data proposals was proving to be a challenge, especially as the PAF remains a source of cash for the postal service.

"Several barriers exist to movement from the status quo. First, there is no clear sponsor in government for a solution to this problem. Secondly, the parties involved have been concerned to maintain independent revenue streams," noted the consultation paper.

Anyone interested in wading into the debate about what OS data should be set free, has until 17 March 2010 to do so.

source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/ordnance_survey_data_consultation/

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Micron's near billion dollar turnaround

Sails serenely into profit after restructuring

DRAM and NAND flash manufacturer Micron recorded a $204m million profit in its first fiscal 2010 quarter, contrasting vividly with a $718m loss in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues were higher at $1.74bn, compared to $1.4bn in the first fiscal 2009 quarter but costs were sharply down as well. The cost of goods sold went from $1.85bn a year ago to $1.3bn, and selling and general administrative expense improved from $102m to $97m over the same period.

The first quarter of fiscal 2009 saw a lot of restructuring to lower costs, followed by the closure of 200nm wafer manufacturing at Micron's Boise plant in the next quarter. The latest quarter also saw sales improvements, compared to the preceding fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

Revenue from DRAM product sales increased 50 per cent in the first financial 2010 quarter compared to the fourth quarter due to a 25 per cent increase in sales volume and a 21 per cent increase in average selling prices.

Revenue from sales of NAND Flash products increased 21 per cent in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter due to a 16 per cent increase in sales volume and a five per cent increase in average selling prices. The company’s gross margin on sales of memory products improved from 12 per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 to 27 per cent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 due primarily to the increases in average selling prices.

As well as the market improving, Micron is also strengthening its technology. This month it introduced a very fast solid state drive (SSD) using the 6Gbit/s SAS interface, and moved to a 34nm process earlier in the year. The company also introduced new DDR3 DRAM technology and has said it will produce a PCIe-connected SSD for servers.

What does Micron CEO and chairman Steve Appleton think this portends: "Our technology, cost competitiveness and strong balance sheet will provide a great foundation for taking advantage of improving market conditions.”

According to iSuppli, Micron ranked fourth in the global NAND flash market in the third calendar quarter of 2009 with its $305m, after Samsung (1 with $1.55bn), Toshiba (2 with $1.36bn) and Hynix (3 with $394m). Its partner in IMTF, Intel, was fifth with $240m revenues. Numonyx was sixth with just $90m. At one point this year, it was speculated that Micron might even acquire Numonyx.

Flash supplier consolidation would help the industry better prepare for the next downturn and control its manufacturing capacity better. We might end 2010 with fewer suppliers in the iSuppli rankings than there are now.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/micron_q1fy10/

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Tiny TV could make billions for FCC

It's a seasonal miracle

The CTIA and CES have produced a white paper outlining how to extract 180MHz of TV-broadcast spectrum without impacting TV quality or coverage, and it's worth reading.

The Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) and Consumer Electronics Association (CES) co-authored the paper (pdf) which proposes replacing centralised TV transmitters with a network of small, low power stations which would work with existing set-top boxes and free up between 100 and 180MHz of spectrum - spectrum which the CTIA's members would love to get their hands on.

Proposals from the CTIA often verge on the hysterical - such as predicting the downfall of American industry if more radio spectrum isn't allocated post haste. Even this one can't help pointing out that only ten per cent of Americans rely (exclusively) on broadcast TV. But after the usual rant, the document sets out a surprisingly reasonable plan for shrinking TV spectrum usage, though a few technical barriers do remain.

Broadcast TV is based around huge transmitters, normally atop massive towers, which pump out enormous signals that can be picked up 40 miles away. Frequencies can be reused, but only for transmitters at least 80 miles apart - actually much further due to variability in signal propagation. So in the USA there are around 1800 towers, which blanket the country with between 15 and 20 6MHz-wide channels (to carry one analogue channel or a digital multiplex) despite the fact that there are 49 slots available.

That disparity is down to the "near-far problem", whereby the strength of signal necessary to reach 40 miles or more, causes the channel to leak into neighbouring channels for users sitting beside the transmitter. That reduces the channels which can be used, and the CTIA reckons it's using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The new plan has lots of little transmitters, working on the same frequency to provide the same coverage and with synchronised transmissions. The significant problem here is "ghosting", whereby the TV receives the same signal twice with a tiny time delay between the two based on differing distances to the transmitters. Analogue TV has always had this problem, which literally results in a ghost image appearing slightly offset from the desired picture. But this is generally down to reflected signals bouncing off walls and suchlike, rather than picking up two signals at the same time.

The CTIA argues that modern set-top boxes are so armoured against receiving bounced ghost signals that they can cope with one coming from a different transmitter. Modern boxes accept the strongest signal and are capable of disregarding the others.

That assertion is the weak point, but if the CTIA has its sums right then there's little reason why the system wouldn't work. The group reckons it will cost less than $2bn to built the new transmitter network (based on 15-20 new transmitters for each one currently operating), while it estimates the value of the frequencies released at between $36bn and $65bn. We'd lean towards the lower estimate, but even if it's half that the plan makes economic sense.

Not that access to more spectrum is the only advantage CTIA members would see from the plan. All those new transmitters will need homes, and could easily be bolted onto cellular towers - reducing costs if not providing revenue for the operator. Let's also not forget that that plan would substantially reduce the available White Space which can be used without paying network operators a penny - so it's good news all round.

The technical issues around ghosting need examination, but this proposal certainly merits more attention and not just in America - the same model could equally well apply in the rest of the world too.



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/ctia_ces_spectrum_plan/

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Twitter buys geo-firm

We know where, just need a why

Twitter has bought Mixer Labs - the makers of GeoAPI - a tool kit for developers of geographically-aware applications.

The over-hyped micro-blogging firm said: "When current location is added to tweets, new and valuable services emerge — everything from breaking news to finding friends or local businesses can be dramatically enhanced."

The example used was a tweet saying "Earthquake!". This would be a lot more useful and informative if it came with some information about where the bleeding earthquake was.

The idea is to integrate the GeoAPI into Twitter's API. Mixer Labs will work from Twitter's San Francisco, Folsom Street HQ.


source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/twitter_geo/

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Top Gear tops iPlayer hit list

Streaming success

The Beeb's Top Gear was the most watched show on the corporation's iPlayer during 2009, with the first episodes of series 13 and 14 clocking up 1.7m and 1.3m hits, respectively.

According to the BBC, the year's total "requests for content" was 729.2m, with November marking "a record 88.2m requests for BBC TV and radio programmes."

Auntie's data provocatively reveals that "Mac and PS3 users prefer comedy shows like Mock The Week, while PC and Virgin Media users are more keen on drama, with EastEnders and Waking The Dead proving more popular."

Peak times for streaming are "after 9pm and on Saturday and Sunday mornings", the Beeb adds.

Erik Huggers, the BBC's director of future media and technology, said: "These figures show people are making the most of the choice they now have. Whether it's watching EastEnders on your PC during your lunch break, listening to Desert Island Discs on the bus or watching Mock The Week in bed, viewing patterns change depending on the time and location of the audience."



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/iplayer_ratings/

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Santa sticks up bank to 'pay elves'

Nashville cops hunt rogue Saint Nick

Nashville cops are hunting a rogue Saint Nick who on Tuesday robbed a SunTrust Bank because "Santa needed to pay his elves", as the perp explained to staff.

According to AP, a bank clerk asked the seasonally-costumed customer to take off his sunglasses, but instead he "reached into his sack and pulled out his gun". Santa then demanded money and informed staff that if they put dye sacks in the cash he'd return and "kill everyone".

He then made good his escape with an undisclosed booty.

Police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford admitted it was "the first time a Santa suit has been used to pull off a robbery in the area in recent years", explaining that the clothing of choice is usually "sweatshirts and sunglasses or a Halloween mask".



source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/santa_stick_up/

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Software fraudster 'fooled CIA' into terror alert

Spooks 'f*cking livid' over links to gambling, lying fraudster

A con man fooled US spooks into grounding international flights by selling them "technology" to decode al-Qaeda messages hidden in TV broadcasts, it's claimed.

A long and highly entertaining Playboy article explains that in 2003, 50-year-old Dennis Montgomery was chief technology officer at Reno, Nevada-based eTreppid Technologies. The firm began as a video compression developer, but Montgomery took it in new and bizarre directions.

He reportedly convinced the CIA that he had software that could detect and decrypt "barcodes" in broadcasts by Al Jazeera, the Qatari news station.

The Company was apparently impressed enough to set up its own secure room at the firm to do what Montgomery called "noise filtering". He somehow produced "reams of data" consisting of geographic coordinates and flight numbers.

In December 2003, it's claimed CIA director George Tenet was sufficiently sold on Montgomery's data to ground transatlantic flights, deploy heavily armed police on the streets of Manhattan and evacuate 5,000 people from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge told the press the terror alert was the result of "credible sources - about near-term attacks that could either rival or exceed what we experienced on September 11".

In fact, according to evidence from his former lawyer, Montgomery, the "credible source", was a "habitual liar engaged in fraud".

Montgomery worked with the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology - its Q Branch - engaged in exotic research and intelligence gathering. According to Playboy, one counter-intelligence official briefed on the programme said: "We were fucking livid. I was told to shut up. I was saying, 'This is crazy. This is embarrassing.'"

Eventually a branch of French intelligence helped the CIA prove that the Al Jazeera "messages" never existed. Files were handed over to counter-intelligence to investigate the scam.

The FBI uncovered a series of frauds by Montgomery, who was a compulsive gambler. As well as his "noise filtering" technology, he had rigged video software to convince officials it could detect weapons.

Following a dispute with eTreppid's financial backer, Montgomery took off with his "technology" and tried to win more government contracts alone. By now though, the officials he was trying to sell to were part of the FBI investigation. It reportedly "went nowhere", however.

By 2008, the financial dispute had come to court. Montgomery said he was still doing classified government work, for $3m. In June this year however, his gambling led to personal bankruptcy, listing his still-classified "technology" as a $10m asset.

Frances Townsend, a homeland security adviser to Bush, said she did not regret having relied on Montgomery's mysterious intelligence. "It didn't seem beyond the realm of possibility. We were relying on technical people to tell us whether or not it was feasible," she said.


source:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/24/cia_montgomery/

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