Top Twenty Stories

1. Swiss photographer sues Apple for pilfering her eyeball

   What is it with Apple and Swiss image larceny?

   A Swiss photographer has filed suit against Apple in a US District Court in New York, alleging that Cupertino's marketeers used one of her photos without her permission in its MacBook Pro with Retina Display flack attack. "Despite representing that it did not intend to use the photo and knowing that it had not obtained a …

2. Is Oracle squeezing the MySQL lemon too hard?

   Open ... and Shut If it hoards functionality, it could lose the community

   Despite what many feared, Oracle has not abandoned development of MySQL. Indeed, as announced at Oracle OpenWorld this week, Oracle just released MySQL Release Candidate 5.6 with a host of new features. Unfortunately, only paying customers are ever going to see the best of those features. Well before Oracle acquired Sun ( …

3. Übertroll firm bags DRM patent for 3D printing

   Patent hoarder Myhrvold & Co. could control nascent tech

   A division of Intellectual Ventures, the IP-holding company founded by Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft's former CTO, has been granted a patent on a system for introducing digital rights management (DRM) controls to 3D printing. Under the system described in the patent, files containing plans for printed objects would be encased in …

4. Google readying on-device malware scanner for Android

   Could block bad apps from any source

   Android malware is on the rise, but the good news is that Google isn't sitting still for it. The search giant is reportedly readying a comprehensive anti-malware system for its mobile OS that will soon be able to spot malicious apps not just in the Google Play store, but also on Android devices themselves. According to a …

5. HP says Gartner's wrong, IDC's right, on PC sales data

   Workstation sales matter, says HP, as Gartner awards Lenovo PC sales crown

   HP has taken the very unusual step of issuing commentary on IDC's latest PC sales data, which says the PC market is now nearly a tie between HP and Lenovo. That assessment is in marked contrast to Gartner's most recent effort on the same topic, which has Lenovo at number one. Both analysts' data make for ugly reading. IDC's …

6. NBN Co nests satellites in WA

   Three groundstations for regional networks

   West Australia will house three key ground stations for the National Broadband Network’s regional satellite deployment which will begin beaming in 2015. NBN Co is making a total investment of around $AU2bn in the Long Term Satellite Service. The ground stations will be built and operated in Moonyoonooka near Geraldton, Binduli …

7. Ubuntu 12.10: More to Um Bongo Linux than Amazon ads

   Review But as of Beta 2, y'all better get used to web apps

   A second beta of Ubuntu 12.10 has arrived and its biggest feature has proved its most controversial: the integration of Amazon.com search results on your desktop. A new Lens in the Unity Dash will poll Amazon to find results relevant to your search terms. And yes, if you click the link and buy the item Ubuntu-maker Canonical …

8. Pirate Bay site sinks, Swedish police raid its ISP

   Oddly, the two events aren't related

   Rumors are flying after the Pirate Bay's website took a dive on Monday just as news broke of a raid by Swedish police on its hosting company PRQ – but the group says the two facts are not related. "Dear internet. We have not been raided. We are not shutting down. We like turtles, waffles and you," the group said on its …

9. HDS's young HUS array gets BIG new brother

   HUS VM - not actually a VM. Ha!

   HDS has merged its high-end array code with its low-end HUS hardware. The unified file, block and object storage HUS 100 array is barely two months old and now has a larger brother. The HUS VM is the enterprise version of HUS, and combines microcode from HDS's enterprise VSP array with the HUS hardware platform to create a 3- …

10. The Register lands in Australia

    Meet the local team, sign up for email, win a fondleslab

    We took a while to make it official, but The Register has opened an Asia-Pacific bureau based in Australia. To celebrate – and drum up an email list worthy of our soon-to-launch all-Australian newsletter - we want to give our Australian readers a ‘New iPad’. Our new bureau has our first-ever full time APAC Editor, long-time …

11. Freetard-idol rock star Trent Reznor gives up, signs to major label

    Hey, man, The Man has his good points

    When Nine Inch Nails rock star Trent Reznor decided to go into DIY music publishing in 2008, he became a freetard poster child overnight. For the project, Reznor bypassed The Man to release a long instrumental album under the NIN banner in a variety of formats: some tracks were given away for free, $5 bought you a compressed …

12. Philippines pinches nose, averts eyes, bans cybersex

    And 12 years in the slammer for ‘comment trolls’

    The government of the Philippines – which presides over a population that’s a jewel in the Vatican crown – has passed a cybersecurity law which, among other things, outlaws cybersex. That country’s new “cybercrime act” – ostensibly a bill banning computer security attacks – also drops a maximum 12-year, no-parole prison …

13. Skydiver sets date for 'supersonic' edge-of-space PLUNGE

    Vid 'Like a parachuting Austrian tiger in a cage'

    Balls-of-steel skydiver Felix Baumgartner has set a date for his "supersonic" attempt to break the world's highest space jump record. The 43-year-old Austrian will fall out of a 22.7-mile-high capsule on the 8 October. His attempt to shatter the record was delayed after the capsule - a custom-made pressurised vehicle that …

14. Libs launch broadband poll

    Tell us what you want from NBN, says Turnbull, so we can target rollout

    Australia's federal coalition has launched a "Broadband Test" that shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told the ABC will help participants to understand the speed of the broadband service they receive. The test, available here, was launched by Turnbull today and offers the following statement before users are …

15. Chinese Nitol botnet host back up after Microsoft settles lawsuit

    Owner agrees to chuck nasties down the sinkhole

    Microsoft has reached a settlement with the Chinese site linked to the Nitol DDoS botnet. The emerging Nitol botnet was hosted by the 3322.org domain. In order to stem the threat, Microsoft filed a suit to take control of the 70,000 malicious subdomains hosted on 3322.org, gaining control of the domain in mid September. …

16. Mobe app makers doubt Windows 8 will be worth the hassle - poll

    Fears over Microsoft's promise of run-anywhere code

    Programmers are still ambivalent towards Windows 8, according to a new poll, piling pressure on Microsoft to win them over before it is too late. The survey found that although developers are optimistic about Redmond's promise to ensure that code written for Windows 8 will work across desktops, tablets and smartphones, there …

17. Speaking in Tech: We infiltrate Hitachi Data Systems' secret labs

    Podcast How to keep data doubloons out of Davy Jones' bitlocker

    It's that time again for the Speaking in Tech podcast hosted by Greg Knieriemen, Ed Saipetch and Sarah Vela - although she's taking the week off while Ed and Greg are live at the Hitachi Data Systems Day in Santa Clara, California. Our special guests this week are Ken Wood, director of technology and strategy at HDS, and The …

18. Key evidence in Assange case dissolves

    Intimate single-use garment doesn't contain white-haired one's DNA

    The case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may be on the brink of collapse following claims from the defence team that the central piece of evidence used in the case does not contain Assange’s DNA. According to details that have emerged in a 100-page police report submitted after witnesses were interviewed and forensic …

19. Op Tuleta officers cuff 2 more computer hacking suspects

    Scotland Yard sweeps homes of suspects

    Scotland Yard cops investigating criminal breaches of privacy manacled two men early this morning. A 58-year-old man - whose occupation was not revealed - was arrested at his home in Surrey and was expected to be interviewed at a south London police station later on Tuesday. The Met added that it had also cuffed a 61-year-old …

20. Turnbull upends bucket on data retention proposal

    Escaping the ‘digital dungeon’

    Australia’s opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has made his strongest statement yet against the proposed data retention regime, asking an audience in Melbourne whether people are casting themselves into a “digital dungeon”. Delivering the Alfred Deakin lecture, Turnbull has created a poser for Australia’s …