The Register

*Offer void where banned by local law Apple has posted a Human Rights Policy in an attempt to placate shareholders and quell criticism of its handling of censorship requests.…

Data mining of code commits and chat gives hackers a cunning edge Boffins affiliated with BMW, Siemens, and two German universities have found that they can detect Linux kernel security fixes before they get released, insight that could allow miscreants to develop and deploy exploit code for which there's no defense.…

If you received Oracle founder's support, tough. There's a pandemic on Larry Ellison's generous philanthropy is as famous as his bulging $78.2bn net worth and mahogany complexion. Well, almost.…

Everyone's looking to cash in on the race to next-gen network With 5G increasingly touted as an alternative to existing fixed-line broadband connections, Taiwanese semiconductor biz MediaTek has pushed out its latest chipset for next-generation routers.…

Animated Friday fun Microsoft has dropped a beta of Expressive Pixels, a delightfully retro editor aimed at flinging animated visuals at LED displays.…

New supply chains, brand new system, and ... oh dear, it's still not ready yet As the year-end Brexit transition deadline looms, the government risks having to introduce software designed to help keep 10,000 trucks crossing the English Channel each day without testing it first, according to industry associations.…

But CEO foresees 'significant upturn' as Jesus mobe release shifts to October Broadcom is factoring in a later "significant uplift" in wireless chip sales than is seasonal due to a certain phone vendor delaying the launch of their next-gen blower – ie Apple's new iPhone isn't being released in September like it usually is.…

Handing out ThinkAgile in Microsoft, VMware and Nutanix flavours Lenovo has whipped the covers from a range of server hardware and services that targets businesses finding themselves suddenly at the sharp end of a march to remote working.…

'Most developers are highly intelligent, but also highly stupid' Hard-working but naive developers are a little known but highly dangerous soft spot in an organisation that attackers can exploit.…

Startup idea: Depressed barbershop for depressed people Depending on your personality, a trip to the hairdresser or barber can be harrowing. Like any customer-facing role, it's expected of staff to take to the job with a wink and a smile – but then comes the dreaded "small talk".…

Reassuring... Fortunately, customers will be subject to ethical review Google has teased new bot technology aimed mainly at contact centres as part of its Cloud AI week in the seemingly unending Cloud Next OnAir videofest.…

TABMAX wants to be for productivity AND family, TABMID is smaller China's TCL, in the process of reinventing itself from white-goods producer to consumer tech contender, has emitted its first two tablet computers – the TCL 10 TABMAX and TABMID.…

Vega returns to service after 2019 failure and brings AI to spaaaaace The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully demonstrated its Small Spacecraft Mission Service dispenser by slinging 53 satellites from a single rocket.…

Eudora checking for emails how often? On Windows 3.1? On Call Remember when you wanted to be contactable at all times? No, neither do we. The subject of today's OnCall, however, was the kind of aspiring departmental head who was hellbent on impressing the bosses, no matter what he broke in the process.…

And reveals half a dozen WhatsApp bugs into the bargain Facebook has published its first Vulnerability Disclosure Policy and given itself grounds to blab the existence of bugs to the world if it thinks that’s the right thing to do.…

Just not very well Video Engineers have overhauled the classic handheld 8-bit Game Boy to include solar panels on the front and an internal electromagnetic coil to generate electrical energy from button presses. Not so much batteries not included as batteries not needed.…

Will vet even outbound investments under new rules Taiwan will screen proposals by local tech companies that plan to transfer technology to China or invest in mainland businesses.…

Anyone can make infosec mistakes, but Cisco isn't anyone Comment Cisco this week launched a version of WebEx Classrooms, a version of its online collaboration suite tweaked for educational purposes and promised to enable “secure hybrid learning”.…

Nice economy you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if the World Trade Organisation got involved China has expressed its displeasure with India’s decision to ban 118 apps that originate in the Middle Kingdom.…

We should be able to outlaw unauthorized inquiry, Voatz argues Voatz, the maker of a blockchain-based mobile election voting app pilloried for poor security earlier this year, has urged the US Supreme Court not to change the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a law that critics say inhibits security research because it's overly broad.…

Eight DDoS attacks targeted networks, virtual classrooms, say officials A teenager in America has apparently admitted knocking virtual learning classes offline with a string of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.…

Sites with WP File Manager should update ASAP – exploits in the wild A critical vulnerability in a popular WordPress plugin called WP File Manager was spotted on Tuesday and was quickly patched by the plugin's developers.…

50 per cent decrease in worldwide traffic when lockdowns started Machine-learning models used to direct the journeys of Google Maps users have been retrained to adapt to changing traffic conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.…

'Fundamental right to privacy' can wait – Facebook and others are annoyed Apple has delayed a rule change that requires apps on iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14 to request permission from the user before tracking them via a unique ID number.…

Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G will first appear on the Acer Spin 7 Two years after entering the PC market, Qualcomm has updated its Snapdragon 8cx platform.…

Digital services tax? You'll be paying that on top of VAT, developers told Apple is tweaking its App Store to enable vendors to offer subscription codes. It has also informed developers that new digital service taxes will be deducted from their proceeds.…

We talk to VMware VP and Kubernetes co-founder Craig McLuckie: 'Our ambition was to disrupt' - but not just for Google SpringOne Virtual SpringOne kicked off with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger declaring that the company's partnership with Microsoft – Azure Spring Cloud is generally available from today – has ended decades of "clawing and spitting and fighting with each other".…

Snowden, privacy campaigners cheer ruling 7 years in the making The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled [PDF] that the National Security Agency's phone-call slurping was indeed naughty, seven years after former contractor Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the tawdry affair.…

Yes, Cupertino appealed last time. It has been 7 years now A three-judge panel in California has ruled [PDF] that Apple Store staffers should be paid for time spent waiting to undergo the iGiant's bag checks.…

With auto-punctuation and all! Plus: Emojis... and more Edge-y nagging Microsoft took pity on those who like to yell at their PCs with an improved version of Windows dictation among other cosmetic tweaks in an updated Dev Channel build.…

Cancelled contract saw outsourcing giant paying back £700k The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) has begun tendering for a £10m administration system - rebooting a project previously awarded to Capita that was cancelled when the outsourcer missed all milestones.…

Concept demo fast enough to show movies and games apparently As the world's second largest TV manufacturer, Chinese tech conglomerate TCL is best known for its displays. In that vein, it has shown off its newest e-ink technology at IFA, dubbed NXTPAPER, which promises richer colour and a refresh rate comparable to that of a smartphone.…

And if it does, chalk a win for IBM Watson at last Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are turning to machine-learning models to predict the severity of incoming hurricanes.…

The Reg talks to the experts about how to manage spend Feature Spinning up services on public clouds is dead easy, but what about staying in control of the bill?…

Meanwhile, UK languishes in 47th according to Cable.co.uk rankings The UK has slipped down the global broadband speed rankings and now sits at 47th place, according to a new report from Cable.co.uk.…

Joint investigations imagined, complete with sharing of confidential info gleaned from local probes The nations of the five eyes alliance – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA – have started a new club that will see their respective competition agencies “share intelligence, case theories and investigative techniques to better coordinate investigations across international borders”.…

No one wants them – including all of Britain’s top brands Nominet is at it again: the .uk registry operator has emailed owners of .co.uk domain names to panic them into renewing .uk domains they never wanted in the first place.…

Takes its domestic standard for human/robot interactions to the ISO to get moving machines working with humans in hospitals and beyond Japan’s Ministry of the Economy and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have opened a conversation with the International Standards Organisation (ISO) with a view to setting new global standards for robots that work alongside humans.…

We're not talking about the programming language, either The Moon’s surface is peppered with flecks of rust, according to research published on Wednesday.…

IDC says 2020 will be a unique and beautiful snowflake as shipments pop three percent because you can't go to the movies PC sales will resume their long-term decline in 2021, says analyst firm IDC.…

PUBG, Alipay, Baidu and more exiled India has banned a further 118 Chinese apps, including AliPay, Baidu, and PUBG Mobile, on grounds that they "are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order."…

Great – and who will be the first responders? The US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday ordered US federal agencies outside the defense and intelligence communities to develop a working vulnerability disclosure policy.…

Astroturfing, political posturing, invective. Exactly what internet policy needs Comment A flawed consultation into Section 230 – America's safety blanket that shields online platforms like Google and Facebook – has already devolved into a mess dangerously reminiscent of the net neutrality debate.…

11th-gen Core processor family for portable computers announced Having celebrated the arrival of its 11th-generation Core technology last month, Intel on Wednesday held a virtual event to announce the official launch of what it has already discussed, its latest line of processors for laptops.…

South Carolina crook jailed for 2 years after flogging $340k of purloined Cisco kit A former IT security director was yesterday given a two-year prison sentence after he admitted to stealing and reselling dozens of networking switches from a county government.…

Five years after arrest at LAX, Broadcom secret snatcher sent down A Chinese professor who stole trade secrets from a Silicon Valley semiconductor company was yesterday sentenced to 18 months in jail and fined $476,835.…

El Reg speaks to those battling the dog-eat-dog regime in internet giant's warehouses Special report Palettes stacked 10 high when the old rules said a maximum of five; policies to thwart the spread of the COVID-19 virus not followed and co-workers only informed about positive tests a month later; punishing work rates that are constantly changed and used as a weapon; write-ups as retaliation for complaining about racist behavior; and serious injuries dismissed with a Tylenol and an ice-pack.…

Seems the only things being generated by Pentagon deal are legal arguments The ongoing JEDI pantomime took another turn today [PDF] as Oracle's challenges to the handling of the winner-takes-all $10bn cloud contract were rejected by a US appeals court.…

All the gamers NVMe Microsoft plans to bring the DirectStorage API developed for the forthcoming Xbox Series X to Windows PCs, and a development preview will be available next year.…

'Vision' platform to be 'cornerstone of our emerging asset intelligence strategy and programme' UK utility Severn Trent Water has offered £4.8m for a replacement of its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.…