The Register

Lidar-equipped spherical probes or solar panel-powered cranes, perhaps? The European Space Agency is investigating sending an army of autonomous rovers into underground caves and lava tubes on the Moon.…

Engineers write off GC abuse because Spectre broke everything anyway In early November, a developer contributing to Google's open-source Chromium project reported a problem with Oilpan, the garbage collector for the browser's Blink rendering engine: it can be used to break a memory defense known as address space layout randomization (ASLR).…

Well, Brexit meant Brexit One of the consequences of Brexit came back to bite a Seagate customer in the UK who was forced to pay import VAT and brokerage fees on a replacement drive still under warranty that was this month shipped from the Netherlands.…

A bitter pill best swallowed with eight gallons of swimming pool water Something for the Weekend, Sir? Those files I promised you? Oh, I'm sorry, they accidentally got taken out with the recycling. A gull swooped down and snatched them out of my hands. They were lost in a tsunami. No, a forest fire. An earthquake. Actually, to tell the truth, my mum put them in the washing machine.…

A matte-black terminal? Neat! Where can I get one? On Call Dark Mode is all the rage nowadays, but screens of the blackest black go back further than you might think, as we'll discover in another episode of On Call.…

And this machine will be used to *check notes* study climate change. Study it or cause it? Computer scientists attempting to build computational replicas of Earth to tackle climate change and environmental disasters reckon they will need a 20MW supercomputer with 20,000 GPUs to run a full-scale simulation.…

Is The Social Network™ finally declaring a stance in democracy and politics In the latest instalment of Myanmar vs. the internet, Myanmar's military junta has been banned from both Facebook and Instagram. Businesses affiliated with military personnel were also banned.…

Containerised Tanzu portfolio starts to make serious sales progress VMware has closed its 2021 financial year with $11.8bn of annual revenue, $3.3bn of it earned in Q4.…

And reckons subscription acceleration means flat revenue is nothing to worry about Nutanix’s new CEO Rajiv Ramaswami has teased new bundles that make it easier to buy and implement more of the company’s products at once.…

That's what's on offer in new 'supervised' YouTube mode for tweens and teens YouTube has introduced features that allow for "supervision" of tweens and teenagers, but it only works if kids use their parent or guardian’s Google account and only offers pre-programmed filters.…

Announced rules also require fast takedowns of content, online profile verification, and more After a three-year review process, India has announced strict regulations for instant chat services, social network operators, and video-streaming companies.…

Approved open-source projects to get no-cost subscriptions (if they haven't already got one) Red Hat today further extended its olive branch to open-source groups with another freebie of sorts: this time, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) for Open Source Infrastructure.…

Remedies to gatekeepers range from nothing to an antitrust breakup US antitrust legislators held a hearing on Thursday to consider how to limit the power of technology gatekeepers like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook in order to promote competition.…

Redmond taking a leaf out of the enterprise app makers' book Microsoft has followed enterprise application vendors' lead and put together a bunched of pre-packaged software to be hosted in the cloud for specific vertical industries.…

Third-party code in security-critical apps is obviously suboptimal, but company says you can opt out A security researcher has recommended against using the LastPass password manager Android app after noting seven embedded trackers. The software's maker says users can opt out if they want.…

More expensive, less flexible, but easier and safer to use Google has recognised that users struggle to configure Kubernetes correctly and introduced a new Autopilot service in an attempt to simplify deployment and management.…

It seems people are OK with paying more for faster internet, though Comparison site Compare Fibre reckons consumer choice will halve and prices will "as much as double" in areas where Openreach is to stop selling copper services.…

You again! That uninvited guest that just keeps turning up... Microsoft has updated TypeScript to version 4.2 and a flag has been added to answer the age-old question: "just why is that file there?"…

Deposits $1bn+ real world greenbacks into digital dosh, may borrow to buy more MicroStrategy, a company once well known for making enterprise software, has extended its investment in Bitcoin, buying 19,452 units of the cryptocurrency for around $1.026bn in cash at an average price of about $52,765 per coin, including fees and expenses.…

AT&T and T-Mobile also have to write enormous cheques before March 24 Radio spectrum doesn’t come cheap. Just ask America's communications regulator, the FCC, which just announced the winning bidders in its long-awaited auction of C-band spectrum, which hauled in a cool $81bn*.…

Plus: User passwords were stored in plain text after all The UK's National Cyber Security Centre is now helping IoT gadget firm FootfallCam Ltd secure product lines following the recent digital burglary of its nursery webcam operation.…

Experimental blocking of sites that load resources from four big companies makes the web unusable A new extension for Google Chrome has made explicit how most popular sites on the internet load resources from one or more of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon.…

EFF bod slams effort 'to silence a critic' as $50k+ raised to challenge lawsuit Analysis A copyright-infringement lawsuit brought against a university staffer by Proctorio – a maker of software that monitors students during online exams – was this week dubbed "meritless" by an EFF analyst.…

Which? rides to the rescue of consumers and... er... Apple and Samsung? The UK Consumer's Association has kicked off a claim against chipmaker Qualcomm, alleging that its licensing activities have resulted in UK 4G smartphone owners being overcharged.…

Public outcry over access – all because £450m agency doesn't have school-grade web skills The Government Digital Service (GDS) has mounted its assault on the last standalone UK.gov department website – triggering two ministerial interventions to halt the damage amid a public outcry over access to justice.…

What it’s like managing code running at 200 KPH? Find out here Promo Managing corporate software is a significant challenge in today’s marketplace. Consider what it’s like keeping 250,000 lines of code up-to-speed when the system it’s running on literally races at 200 KPH and generates a stream of data spanning 700 different parameters.…

Contract was clear and trying to backdate changes was naughty, rules Australian court HP’s Australia tentacle has lost an appeal in which it sought to deny a top salesperson a colossal commission.…

Boffins find those developing apps for the chatty AI assistant can bypass security measures Computer security bods based in Germany and the US have analyzed the security measures protecting Amazon's Alexa voice assistant ecosystem and found them wanting.…

And managed to pull it at speed, despite the menace of quantum noise Researchers at the Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) claim they've invented the first high-speed quantum random number generator built on realistic quantum devices.…

CEO Jensen Huang admitted his wunder-biz is 'constrained' Nvidia continues to grow and beat Wall Street's expectations amid a global chip shortage. On Wednesday, it revealed bumper figures for the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2021, the three months to January 31, and full-year results.…

Just the sort of thing you’d do if you want your national cryptocurrency to be broadly accepted China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates have signed up yo participate in a a “Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge” (m-CBDC Bridge) to explore how they might conduct cross-border transactions using cryptocurrencies.…

And pledges to 'push' for $37bn in funding to increase chip manufacturing capacity President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday to do something about the semiconductor supply-chain woes that have left folks unable to obtain computer parts, system builders unable to ship PCs and game consoles, and automakers unable to manufacture vehicles.…

Island nation may become tech goliath's destination for 5G and edge research Dell has opened what it says is its first innovation hub of its kind outside of America, in Singapore.…

Tablets also sought with call for top builders to diversify operations India has added servers, laptops, tablets, and all-in-one PCs to the list of kit it is willing to pay to have made on its soil.…

End of an era for iconic electronics shop chain Store chain Fry’s Electronics announced on Wednesday it was shutting down for good, saying the internet and the coronavirus pandemic together sounded the death knell for the Silicon Valley institution.…

Judge Mendez also suggests trying to use 1934 law in 2021 is... sub-optimal California’s net neutrality rules will finally kick in this year after a judge rejected an effort by the cable industry to stop it.…

Few details beyond 'operational error' The US Federal Reserve's money-transfer systems failed on Wednesday for a number of hours, likely halting the electronic movement of billions of dollars.…

Not a great day for Bombardier, Leonardo and Seaspray customers A CAD drawing of a radar antenna stolen and leaked online by criminals is of a military radar system produced by defense contractor Leonardo and fitted to a number of US and UAE aircraft, The Register has learned.…

They say 'NASA' and 'ESA', not 'You tried' NASA took its mind off ongoing problems with the testing of its monster Space Launch System by slapping stickers on the fairings.…

Should be with carriers in the second quarter HPE is getting into the OpenRAN game, with the newly minted Communications Technology Group today launching the OpenRAN Solution Stack, which combines network functionality with a suite of management tools.…

Yet more woes for embattled industry As Taiwan grapples with a major drought, local chipmaker TSMC has started ordering water by the truckload to supply its fabrication plants.…

Tiny $4 computer meets tiny OS Those pondering what to do with the latest Raspberry Pi gizmo, the $4 Pico, have a new option in the form of a FUZIX port.…

Plus: Why the Chocolate Factory only uses code it builds from source Interview Worried about the security of Linux and open-source code, Google is sponsoring a pair of full-time developers to work on the kernel's security.…

Single-piece blend of metals to help get company into Prime time A 12 metric tonne 3D printer - one of the largest in Europe - has been commissioned by Orbex, intended to allow the Scottish space launch biz to "print" 35 rocket engines each year.…

Report says CEO sipped watermelon cocktails with NHS England chief at cosy party Campaign groups are seeking a judicial review of the UK government's decision to award a £23m NHS contract to controversial AI company Palantir.…

AMD or Intel flavours, Wi-Fi 6, and... an antimicrobial component? Lenovo is refreshing a large chunk of its ThinkPad line, upgrading specs for its mobile workstations-class devices and redesigning the X13 and X13 Yoga portables.…

Trial date set for February 2022 The multimillionaire former boss of UKFast, Britain's largest homegrown web hosting business, has denied allegations of rape and sexual assault.…

Opted for 128GB? Better hope that software bloat doesn't bite you Microsoft has dashed fanboy hopes that the swappable SSD in its new Surface Pro 7+ might lead to an upgrade or two in the future.…

It wanted £128m in wasted spending – but customer wasn't blameless for debacle, rules UK High Court Co-Op Insurance has won £13m from IBM in a High Court lawsuit brought over a £175m Agile software platform contract which collapsed in 2017 after a litany of failures by Big Blue and its subcontractor 1insurer.…

That's an expensive reimplementation Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won a £4m contract to bump up the University of Manchester from Oracle Financials version 12.1.3 to 12.2.8 or later.…