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A high-tech art installation, the closest-ever look at a black hole, and more of our favorite images from this week.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Mageia Linux: A Delightful OS for Work or Play
By Jack M. Germain
LinuxInsider
09/26/12 5:00 AM PT
Mageia Linux is a distro brought to you by the same people who previously produced Mandriva Linux. The new distro, first released in September 2010, provides an easy to use environment for Linux newcomers or experts. It is particularly suited for game play and works well with various processors, sound and graphics cards.
If you fancy game playing, the latest release of the Mageia Linux OS will be a fun experience. Even if you never open a game, Mageia 2 is a solid distribution well suited to newcomers and seasoned Linux users alike.
Mageia is a fork of the now defunct Mandriva distro. It was developed by a team of former employees of the France-based company that folded Mandriva. It comes in KDE4 SC 4.8.2, GNOME 3.4, XFCE 4.9, LXDE, Razor-Qt and E17.
The first version was released in September 2010. Version 2 took flight in May of this year. However, do not discount Mageia because of its newness.
Mageia performs well using traditional desktops. It does not overlay shells to avoid the real Gnome by diluting the desktop with gimmicks. If you want a desktop loaded with bells and whistles, give the KDE version a spin.
Lots of Power
I am always looking for stable and reliable Linux distros that Microsoft Windows converts can quickly learn to use on legacy hardware. Mageia meets that test and then some.
It runs on a reasonably low-powered set of hardware requirements. For example, it is impartial to most any processor. I have not had issues running Mageia on AMD, Intel or VIA processors. It is far from a memory hog as well. It needs a minimum of 512MB of RAM but is very happy in 2GB.
Ideally, it only needs 1 GB of storage space for a minimal installation. A full setup takes just 6 GB.
Mageia is also impartial to most graphics cards. For instance, it works fine with any ATI, Intel, Matrox, nVidia, SiS or VIA graphic card. It is fairly compliant with any sound card as well. I have used it on AC97, HDA and Sound Blaster sound cards.
Non Standard Install
Mageia installs using the DrakX installation system. This method has the look and feel of a Microsoft Windows installation disk.
It offers a choice of a base installation, a repaired installation, memory test, a hardware detection tool and an option to boot from hard disk. Once you begin the process, the graphical screens are fairly traditional.
You also might have to manually select numerous hardware options from choices on the screens. On a few of my installation attempts on legacy computers, DrakX incorrectly detected some hardware components.
On a more positive note, you can install Mageia to a USB drive. That is a handy way to run the OS in a live environment by bypassing the optical drive. It also is an efficient way to run Mageia on netbooks without having to attach an external optical drive.
Choosy Customizing
Depending on the ISO you download, you will need either a CD or DVD. Be careful in selecting the download ISO from the website. The installer offers an impressive variety of options, features and customization. But again, the choices are dependent on the ISO choice you make in downloading. So read the download page carefully.
The upper section is install-only files. The live session versions are in the center of the download page. You also have to select a 32-bit or 64-bit version as well as a section of the world for the mirror site and language options.
The splash page for Mageia Linux
(click image to enlarge)
On the other hand, the install DVD -- not the live session version -- provides a full range of desktop environments to install. If you already have Mageia 1 installed, you can use it to upgrade to version 2.
Classic Gnome Desktop
What you see with the standard Gnome installation is the new user interface of Gnome 3. That includes the non-functional panel at the top of the screen and the favorites bar along the left edge of the screen.
You see the virtual desktop display on the right edge of the screen and the Windows and Applications switches at the top of the screen. These are all activated by moving the mouse pointer to the hot spot in the upper left corner of the screen.
Staying with this desktop is largely a matter of user preference. Newcomers to Linux will not know the difference. If you are familiar already with the new Gnome and like it, Mageia makes that experience pleasant.
Classic KDE
This desktop option in Mageia offers the best combination of graphical features in my view. It works as expected with lots of eye candy and windows customizations.
Mageia's developers chose the KDE classic menu style rather than the application launcher style, but it is relatively easy to change from this default style by accessing System Settings.
KDE might be too overpowering for new users. So if you otherwise like what you see in Mageia, try one of the lighter fare desktops available.
Games Galore
Most Linux distros either ignore games or force you to do the heavy lifting to add them to your system. Not so with Mageia Linux.
Do not look for the games array on the live session DVD. But you will be pleasantly surprised with what is available after you complete the installation to the hard disk.
Mageia seems to have the most recent editions of most of the popular games. The variety includes strategy, arcade, board, card and adventure games. It includes support for emulator systems as well.
A Few Quirks
Mageia requires two passwords. One is for separate root access. The other is for user passwords. I like the use of small indicators that appear when setting up both passwords. This makes me more aware of security when setting up user passwords.
Speaking of security, Mageia activates the firewall by default with no open ports. It also uses most if not all of the security features built into Mandriva from the MSEC security audit and monitoring application.
Mageia does not install Java by default on some of the ISO combinations. You must manually search for "java-1.7.0-openJDK" and install it.
Bottom Line
Mageia is a very capable newcomer to the large list of Linux distros. Setting it up may be a bit challenging for new users. But the results are well worth the effort.
This distro is a solid performer and offers more than enough desktop environments to please even the most picky Linux user. 
Jack M. Germain has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the PC. He still has his original IBM PC-Jr and a few other legacy DOS and Windows boxes. He left shareware programs behind for the open source world of the Linux desktop. He runs several versions of Windows and Linux OSes and often cannot decide whether to grab his tablet, netbook or Android smartphone instead of using his desktop or laptop gear.
Women display growing clout in mobile video games
Models hold Samsung's Galaxy Note II smartphones during a Sept. 26 unveiling ceremony in Seoul.(Photo: Ahn Young-joon, AP)
Story Highlights
- Women are more likely to play with others and use Facebook game invites
- Women are also more likely to play mobile games with family members
- Touch screens have made video games more accessible
3:52PM EST September 30. 2012 - Women have become major players when it comes to mobile games.
That's because they make up nearly 60% of players on mobile devices and are more likely than men to play mobile games, especially multiplayer games that involve social engagement such as Words With Friends and Draw Something. More than six out of 10, or 63%, of female mobile gamers play social multiplayer games, compared with about half, or 52%, of men who play mobile games, according to a new survey by EEDAR, a research firm based in Carlsbad, Calif.
But this only begins to hint at the growing clout of women in the $1 billion U.S. mobile wireless games industry, according to the survey of 2,491 active mobile gamers aged 15-64. Women it turns out also have a strong influence over what games are played at home. The reasoning is that they are more likely to play multiplayer games with family members and are more likely to send and accept Facebook game invitations.
"What we are finding is tapping into that female client is more important than ever before," says EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. "It really is changing the face of gaming."
Back in 2002, men made up nearly three-fourths, or 72%, of video game players. That has nearly leveled out a decade later to a 53%-47% split of male as compared with female console and PC gamers, according to the Entertainment Software Association.
Console and PC games were dominated by men, especially young males, as video games evolved into the PlayStation and Xbox era. "Maybe it was because of the nature of the adoption of technology … what you saw was the growth of a big base of male players. The games catered to them," says Travis Boatman, senior vice president of mobile at Zynga, which scooped up Draw Something in its March acquisition of publisher OMGPOP for a reported $200 million. "But what has changed with these new touch-screen devices is that it has made (games) much more accessible to everybody."
The social nature of the doodle-sharing Draw Something and Scrabblesque Words With Friends -- you play with another person but can have multiple games going simultaneously -- leads to a female majority, Boatman says. "And women gravitate to games that were designed for the (mobile) platform because they are much more intuitive to them."
Women are even dominating mobile titles such as Big Fish Casino, a Vegas-style game that includes Texas Hold'Em Poker and blackjack, says Paul Thelen, CEO and founder of Big Fish Games. "You would think Texas Hold'Em would skew male," he says, "but we are seeing 65% of the revenue coming from females."
Big Fish started in 2002 as a PC game company but since it released its first iPhone game four years ago has become a top ten iOS publisher, with games on Android devices, too. "If you are building for mobile and you want to scale to the broadest possible audience of purchasers, you do need to absolutely focus on the female."
Even mobile device makers have their eyes on the female audience. Even though early marketing efforts for the upcoming Wikipad tablet have been aimed at "the serious gamer," Wikipad's messages as the Oct. 31 release date nears for the Android-based device will skew toward women, says CEO James Bower.
The company's market research for the launch of a 10-inch gamer-centric tablet with an attachable controller with joysticks and buttons revealed, Bower says, "how much of influencers (women) actually are on these type of devices, whether it be for buying gifts for the members or actually buying it to play games themselves."
Apple Doesn't Call Maps App Most 'Powerful Mapping Service Ever' Anymore
It goes without saying: Apple's Maps app has been a bit of a disaster since its launch with iOS 6 earlier this month.
Although Tim Cook said it anyway in a note recently posted to Apple's website — "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better." — those words didn't exactly gel with how Apple described its Maps app elsewhere on the site.
Specifically, Apple referred to Maps as, "the most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever."
We use the past tense when reporting that, however, as Apple has since updated its website to indicate that Maps is, in fact, not that. Don't let it be said that Apple doesn't care about the details (unless you're referring to Maps itself, we suppose).
As reported by Amit Agarwal, at his Digital Inspiration blog, Apple has since updated its description of its Maps app to omit any mention of Maps being amazing, awesome, or any hint that it's the top dog on the mapping market right now. In fact, the entire sentence praising Maps has been replaced with a new sentence that has nothing to do with the app's quality, but rather, its interface.
In total, the new paragraph reads:
"Designed by Apple from the ground up, Maps gives you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D views, and the stunning Flyover feature. All in a beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease."
Of course, Apple fans might not even notice Maps' "beautiful" interface if they take Cook's advice for dealing with an app that "fell short" of the company's stereotypically high standards. In his letter, Cook advises users to check out alternative mapping apps, including Bing (!), MapQuest, and Waze, if they don't want to just slap a link to Google Maps as a shortcut on the home screen of their iPhones.
Nevertheless, Apple's mea culpa over its Maps application appears to have finally come full circle. Until Apple fixes up the app — and there's no direct ETA for that one just yet — even the company itself appears to be shying away from calling its solution the best-in-class, a rare move for Apple.
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
Archive Gallery: PopSci's Arctic Adventures
Stories of reindeer, walruses, and Mars simulations
Posted 09.28.2012 at 5:00 pm
The Floating Lab PopSci archives
In spite of its harsh environment and dangerous terrain, we just can’t help but be drawn to the Arctic. Scientists and settlers alike have made the trek (or sent their tech) up to and over the far North and PopSci has chronicled many of their wildest stories.
What once began as journeys to mine its gold, hunt its animals, and traverse its skies have evolved into missions to unlock the Arctic’s secrets and understand its demise. From riding caribou to living on an ice float, humankind has had many unusual adventures at the top of the world, and I doubt we’ll stop anytime soon.
See the gallery.Power Nap With This Head-Consuming Ostrich Pillow
With the hectic 24-7 pace of modern life, many people may yearn to emulate the well-worn myth of ostriches when frightened or scared: that is, bury their heads in the sand.
A new product called the “Ostrich Pillow” claims to help users do just that. While it won’t transport you to Maui, the pillow’s unique design offers a comfy “micro environment” for power naps, according to its Kickstarter page.
The grey pillow completely surrounds the head, and has two holes for hands. The company recommends using the Ostrich Pillow while in the office or traveling, without the trouble of leaving your desk or chair.
“Seeing as we all spend more and more time at work, in front of a computer screen or in transit, we thought: Why not create a device that helps you disconnect and dream for short periods of time?” it says. “It is simple, straightforward and just intuitive; you just need to slip it on your head and voila!”
Designed by U.K.-based architecture and design studio Kawamura-Ganjavian, the pillow was created and released on the web last year. Since then, the studio has been testing its dimensions and materials to create “the best possible experience” for napping. Its current goal? To bring the pillow to market.
The Ostrich Pillow debuted to rave reviews, and has also received a warm reception on Kickstarter. Kawamura-Ganjavian surpassed its goal of $70,000, raising more than $100,000, with 18 days left in the campaign.
Would you use the Ostrich pillow? Tell us in the comments below.
Ubuntu Made Easy Shortens the Learning Curve
By Jack M. Germain
LinuxInsider
09/25/12 5:00 AM PT
Written by two open source software experts, Ubuntu Made Easy is a guide that will walk you through all steps of installation and use of one of the most popular Linux distros out there. The book is available in print or various Ebook formats and is filled with tips, tricks and explanations.
Ubuntu Made Easy: A Project-Based Introduction to Linux
By Rickford Grant with Phil Bull
July 2012, 480 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-59327-425-2
$34.95 Print Book with free Ebook
$27.95 Ebook (PDF, Mobi, and ePub)
Ubuntu is one of the most popular and user-friendly Linux operating systems you will find. That said, Ubuntu can be intimidating and frustrating to computer users just stepping out of the World of Windows.
Nothing beats learning how to use the Linux operating system like hands-on discovery. Having someone to coach you through the questions does a lot to remove frustrations and shorten the learning curve. One learning tool most Linux distributions lack is a detailed start-up guide. A simple-to-read set of explanations jump starts your ability to really use and enjoy open source software.
Without your own personal Linux Guru to help you over the rough spots, Ubuntu Made Easy, published by No Starch Press, is filled with tips, tricks and helpful pointers to get you up and running with the Ubuntu OS and keep a smile on your face.
Ubuntu Made Easy is a project-based introduction to using Linux. Written by Rickford Grant and Phil Bull, the book is loaded with straightforward explanations and step-by-step projects designed to remove the discomfort and insecurity associated with learning a new operating system. Both authors bring their computing expertise to making Ubuntu easy to learn.
Rickford Grant authored Ubuntu for Non-Geeks and has more than 20 years' experience with operating systems. He is the international student advisor at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. Phil Bull, an open source contributor since 2005, wrote the official Ubuntu documentation and is a member of the GNOME documentation project. He is studying astrophysics in Oxford, UK.
Together, the two team up to walk you through common tasks in Ubuntu. These include installing and playing games, accessing social networks, troubleshooting hardware issues and solving software problems. They also focus on ow to better interact with Ubuntu's user interface.
Target Audience
Ubuntu Made Easy is not your typical idiot's guidebook to computing. Yes, it targets newcomers. But those newbies might be seasoned Microsoft Windows users looking to cross over to the Linux side. If so, this book is just what they need.
The authors take a reassuring tone in walking you through the steps to gaining confidence in using Linux in general and Ubuntu version 12.04, aka (Precise Pangolin) in particular. The book is an interesting as well as informative read. If you are expecting a condescending tone or lots of techie talk, you will not find it in Ubuntu Made Easy.
What you will find is 22 well written chapters and several very useful appendices that focus step-by-step on mastering Linux and the Ubuntu desktop. If you have been waiting for an open door to make your way to Linux, this book is your doorway.
Compelling Content
Ubuntu Made Easy comes with an installation CD and directions that put each step of the journey to Linux into clear focus. For example, Chapter Two spells out in non-technical terms how to decide which installation option to pursue. Then you learn how to install Ubuntu from inside Windows using the Wubi Installer on the Ubuntu CD.
The authors also take you through the options of installing Ubuntu from outside the Windows OS. Whichever path you take, you can follow what you see on the screen with matching screen shots.
Partitioning the hard drive to create a dual-boot with Linux and Windows on one computer can be a scary process for the uninitiated. Grant and Bull take what can be frightful steps into a no-sweat process.
Project Process
You can read Ubuntu Made Easy either as a handy reference or a dynamic learning tool. Either way, you will get hands-on experience. The text is laid out progressively. So you learn the basic skills before taking on the more advanced procedures.
A series of exercises and projects lets you apply what you read to actually begin getting Ubuntu working for you. You can use the detailed index in the back of the book or the chapter summaries in the Introduction at the front of the book to zero in on the specific information and skills you need.
In Ubuntu Made Easy the thrust is on understanding how to install, configure and use the latest edition of this popular Linux Open Source operating system. You can take much of what the authors tell you to comfortably learn about Linux and adopt another Linux distro if you find a better fit.
Jack M. Germain has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the PC. He still has his original IBM PC-Jr and a few other legacy DOS and Windows boxes. He left shareware programs behind for the open source world of the Linux desktop. He runs several versions of Windows and Linux OSes and often cannot decide whether to grab his tablet, netbook or Android smartphone instead of using his desktop or laptop gear.
9 Of The Most Amazing Infographics Of 2012
Popular Science+ For iPad
Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page
September 2012: The Future of the Car
How a small group of engineers built the most efficient racecar in history, five technologies that will transform how you drive, and more amazing auto coverage.
Plus: Never-before-seen images of space, incredible labs that go boom, high school inventors, how to secure your bike, the hunt for dark energy, the month's hottest gadgets and more!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Gates tried out the Win8 and said the system performance is exciting
According to media reports, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said after using the company latest Windows 8 operating system which is scheduled to launch next month, “Windows 8 is a very exciting product and its release has a vital role for Microsoft. ”
Gates revealed in an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, he has begun to use Windows 8, and it is very satisfying.
Windows 8 system is the product which Microsoft has made the biggest changes over the past decade on Windows system. The company is trying to continue to maintain its leading position today’s world where mobile devices have begun to fully beyond the PCs through this product.
“Company hardware partners are trying to take advantage of the new features of our products, which is a very important point,” Gates said.
Microsoft previously announced that Windows 8 operating system, as well as the new version Internet Explorer browser will be released on October 26.
Industry insiders estimate that Windows 8 will completely replace Windows 7 in almost all personal computers sold to consumers to become the flagship operating system, this system has had tremendous change in the user-machine interaction. Windows 8 has multiple versions, and in addition to the PCs, it can also run on the tablet PC and smartphone platforms.
Microsoft has become more than just a company who only develops computer operating system, Microsoft’s business scope also includes providing computer services for the enterprise and selling Xbox consoles for the gaming enthusiasts, but the Windows business is always the most important part in Microsoft business segments, and it also occupies Microsoft’s a large part revenue.
In 2011, Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live department received a total of $19 billion in revenue, accounting for 27% of total revenues of $69.9 billion.
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Steve Jobs (Action Figure) Returns From the Dead
Creepy or counter-culture? You decide.
A Los Angeles artist is preparing to give new life to the Steve Jobs action figures that were popular for a brief flash of time in late 2010, before Apple lawyers got involved and ordered Hong Kong's M.I.C. Gadget Store to stop making and marketing the figurines of Apple's CEO.
To note: M.I.C. Gadget Store ended up releasing a disguised Steve Jobs figure dressed as a ninja and marketed as "Pineapple CEO" in January of 2011, and Apple's lawyers came a-calling once again.
We'll have to wait and see if the third time's a charm, as the Los Angeles-based Cory Allen Contemporary Art has announced that artist XVALA — Jeff Hamilton — will be debuting a new series of Steve Jobs figures based on the look and feel of M.I.C. Gadget Store's banned models.
While XVALA's using the M.I.C. Gadget Store figures as the mold for his own, his twist on his "Think Different" figurines involves building them out of a mix of plastic porcelain and a recycled resin that consists of trash taken from Steve Jobs' Palo Alto, California residence.
Yes, XVALA collected bits and pieces of Steve Jobs' actual trash and mixed them into the process of recreating a banned likeness of him in the form of an action figure.
"The 'Jobs' sculpture represents the pros and cons in pursuing the quality of life," said Cory Allen in a statement. "Unfortunately, there are adverse effects bestowed on a global population when supporting a vision."
The sculpture will allegedly cost anywhere from $150 to $200 when it makes its debut later next month, and Allen maintains that the piece will be built and showcased regardless of Apple's feelings on the matter.
"He famously said that real artists ship," said XVALA in an interview with ReadWriteWeb's Adam Popescu. "We're going to make this Think Different sculpture and ship it. He would like that."
Additionally, a limited number of all-black versions of the Jobs figurine will be on display as, "a motif for the past suicides at the Foxconn factories that continue to grow," according to a statement by Cory Allen Contemporary Art.
The new Steve Jobs sculptures will be officially unveiled on October 13 at the Los Angeles Brewery Arts Complex.
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
FinderCodes Uses QR Codes to Find Lost Phones
Losing something is not a unique experience, though it happens in a variety of ways. Maybe you were out and about and being carefree when you dropped your phone, or in a hurry and left a camera behind. Whatever the situation or what you lost, it can be worrisome, frustrating and time consuming to locate your precious thing — and there’s always the chance you won’t find it again.
A company called FinderCodes offers a solution in the form of QR codes on keychains and stickers, which you put on your possessions. The video for the company shows the codes on cellphones, cameras and even your dog’s collar (smart thinking). FinderCodes does rely on a good Samaritan finding the object and deciding to return it. If someone does pick it up, it’s a simple matter to just scan the QR code to contact you. If the person who found your lost item doesn’t have a smartphone, he can enter the numeric code found on the sticker into the website to contact you.
Users may add rewards to their items, so whoever scans them can see what returning them will mean for them. If the person with the FinderCode doesn’t offer a reward, the company invites you to email FinderCodes the story of how you found and returned an item and it’ll send you a reward, although it’s not specified how much you’ll get.
FinderCodes cost $24.99 for a package of one medium tag, one small tag and five adhesive tags.
Would you use FinderCodes? Tell us in the comments.
NZ Prime Minister apologizes to MegaUpload's Kim DotCom
Today New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key issued an apology to Kim DotCom for failing to protect him against illegal surveillance performed by NZ authorities. DotCom is the brains behind the long defunct MegaUpload, a file sharing service shut down due to International copyright concerns.
The Prime Minister's apology stems from an inquiry which unveiled the Government Communications Security Bureau mistakenly believed it could legally spy on DotCom -- a concerted effort between NZ authorities and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"I apologise to Mr Dotcom, I apologise to New Zealanders because every New Zealander that sits within the category of having permanent residency or is a New Zealand citizen is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him,"
Source: tvnz.co.nz, John Key - New Zealand Prime Minister
The case against MegaUpload's founders has grown increasingly controversial since the initial bust. A New Zealand judge determined the warrants supposedly allowing authorities to raid DotCom's mansion were invalid. DotCom himself also had trouble receiving "fair" legal representation while there continue to be concerns of excessive force and jurisdiction issues, all factors coalescing into a less-than-perfect trial.
The GCSB's confusion was caused by Kim DotCom's German origins. As a foreign national, the bureau maintains legal authority to monitor and surveil Kim DotCom to their liking. The former MegaUpload Kim DotCom has dual citizenship: he is both a German and New Zealand citizen. By law, the GCSB is only allowed to spy on foreign nationals while ordinary citizens are protected under other NZ laws.
Prime Minister Key attempted to explain the legal convolution:
"Mr. Dotcom applied under the old legislation. He was granted a visa under the old legislation and had he come into New Zealand at that time he would have not have been protected and therefore the agency would have been able to spy on him,"
"But in the interim period he came in, the legislation changed and at the point the NZ Government, through the GSCB, got it completely wrong."
Source: John Key - New Zealand Prime Minister
The GCSB's director Ian Fletching admitted the agency's blunder, taking responsibility for the error. He said that the case highlights flaws found in the bureau -- flaws which will be corrected in the future.
Despite his many months of legal troubles, DotCom is still eye-balling future online endeavors like MegaBox, a cloud-based music service which aims reward artists 90 percent of the revenue their music generates.
Python 3.3.0 Released
An anonymous reader writes "After just over a month of release candidates, the final version of Python 3.3 launched today. This version includes new syntax, including the yield from expression for generator delegation; new library modules, including fault handler (for debugging crashes), ipaddress, and lzma (for data compression using the XZ/LZMA algorithm); a reworked OS and I/O exception hierarchy; the venv module for programmatic access to Python virtual environments; and a host of API changes. The full list of features and the change log are both available."
Here Are The Singers Competing In Next Week’s ‘American Idol For The Geek Set’
Earlier this month, I wrote about Silicon Valley Voice, a karaoke competition for the tech world hosted by Silicon Valley Bank and Coverflow (a cover band made up of techies, including Mayfield Fund’s Tim Chang, Facebook’s Ethan Beard, and Fandalism’s Philip Kaplan). Now, the finalists have been selected, and you don’t even have to wait until next week’s event to hear them sing.
Coverflow member (and Mayfield managing director) Raj Kapoor tells me that all of the regular tickets have sold out, with 800 RSVPs. But the organizers convinced Silicon Valley Bank to expand the budget, which means there’s room for another 200 people. You can apply to attend the event here. The application, Kapoor says, is just to confirm that you work in tech.
The event (described in an invite as “American Idol for the geek set”) will be held on Oct. 3 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and the winner will be chosen by judges including Mike Arrington, August Capital’s David Hornik, and Soundtracking founder Steve Jang.
Are the contestants actually going to be good? Well, despite some of my initial skepticism, it looks like these guys are, for the most part, serious musicians, and some of these videos are actually pretty rad. But hey, you can judge for yourself — here are they are:
Christina Dunham, VP marketing/business development, Froomz
Sara Oliver, executive assistant, Electronic Arts
Madhu Punjabi, strategic partner development manager, Google: Couldn’t find any public videos, but his Fandalism profile is here.
Ian Brown, VP marketing, PagerDuty
Allen Mask, product specialist, Google
Andy Barton, tech recruiter, self-employed
Andrew Chung, partner, Khosla Ventures
Here Are The Singers Competing In Next Week’s ‘American Idol For The Geek Set’
Earlier this month, I wrote about Silicon Valley Voice, a karaoke competition for the tech world hosted by Silicon Valley Bank and Coverflow (a cover band made up of techies, including Mayfield Fund’s Tim Chang, Facebook’s Ethan Beard, and Fandalism’s Philip Kaplan). Now, the finalists have been selected, and you don’t even have to wait until next week’s event to hear them sing.
Coverflow member (and Mayfield managing director) Raj Kapoor tells me that all of the regular tickets have sold out, with 800 RSVPs. But the organizers convinced Silicon Valley Bank to expand the budget, which means there’s room for another 200 people. You can apply to attend the event here. The application, Kapoor says, is just to confirm that you work in tech.
The event (described in an invite as “American Idol for the geek set”) will be held on Oct. 3 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, and the winner will be chosen by judges including Mike Arrington, August Capital’s David Hornik, and Soundtracking founder Steve Jang.
Are the contestants actually going to be good? Well, despite some of my initial skepticism, it looks like these guys are, for the most part, serious musicians, and some of these videos are actually pretty rad. But hey, you can judge for yourself — here are they are:
Christina Dunham, VP marketing/business development, Froomz
Sara Oliver, executive assistant, Electronic Arts
Madhu Punjabi, strategic partner development manager, Google: Couldn’t find any public videos, but his Fandalism profile is here.
Ian Brown, VP marketing, PagerDuty
Allen Mask, product specialist, Google
Andy Barton, tech recruiter, self-employed
Andrew Chung, partner, Khosla Ventures
AMD, BlueStacks Partnership Will Bring Android Apps to Windows 8
AMD will use BlueStacks’ App Player technology for its new AppZone, which will open AMD-based Windows PC to more than 500,000 Android apps.
Advanced Micro Devices is teaming up with software startup BlueStacks on a solution that will optimize the performance of Android apps on AMD-powered Windows PCs.
AMD and BlueStacks announced Sept. 27 that BlueStacks’ App Player software, which enables Android apps to run on PCs and Apple’s Macs, will be the engine driving AMD’s new AMD AppZone, an online marketplace that gives PC desktop and notebook players access to more than 500,000 Android apps.
BlueStacks’ solution already enables users to run the Android apps normally used on smartphones and tablets on PCs running x86 chips from AMD and Intel or on Macs from Apple running OS X. However, by leveraging BlueStacks’ LayerCake technology to run the AMD AppZone Player, AMD is able to give users a better and faster experience on AMD-based Windows PCs, according to Gabe Gravning, head of app ecosystem marketing at AMD.
“There are many challenges with running apps that were originally designed for phones or tablets on a PC that in most cases has a larger screen and higher-resolution display,” Gravning wrote in a Sept. 27 post on the AMD Fusion blog. “To solve this, BlueStacks has designed and optimized the player for AMD Radeon graphics and in particular, our OpenGL drivers found in our APUs [accelerated processing units] and GPUs [graphics processing units] so you get a great ‘big-screen’ experience. Additionally, the apps are integrated into AppZone, our online showcase and one-stop-shop for apps accelerated by AMD technology.”
Included in BlueStacks’ technology is a feature called Cloud Connect, a server that enables users to sync their apps and Short Message Service (SMS) communications with an Android device. Users will be able to get the app player either by directly downloading it or downloading one of the apps, which will automatically download the player onto the PC, according to Gravning.
AMD, which a year ago announced it was investing in BlueStacks, will leverage the new BlueStacks capabilities in PCs running Windows 7 and Windows 8, which is optimized to run on tablets and is scheduled for release Oct. 26.
A key advantage to the BlueStacks App Player software is that it gives Windows PC users access to more than 500,000 Android apps. With Windows 8 being optimized for tablets, Microsoft has been urging programmers to develop apps for the operating system. The software giant made the final version of Windows 8 available to developers in August, giving them more than two months to create apps before the OS is launched.
However, according to some reports, with a month left before the launch, there are just a little more than 2,000 apps in the Windows Store apps store. BlueStacks’ technology also could make that situation dicier for Microsoft by taking away incentives for developers to create apps specifically for Windows. It might make more sense for the developers to create an Android app that, thanks to BlueStacks’ App Player solution, also could find its way onto Windows PCs.
According to AMD’s Gravning, making all those Android apps available will make the lives of AMD-based Windows PCs better.
“The Android app ecosystem is huge, boasting more than 500,000,” he wrote. “And, increasingly, consumers have a mix of platforms across their devices, for example, an Android phone and a Windows-based PC. Maybe you like the Android version of the app better than the alternatives, or maybe there isn’t an alternative available at all.”
Friday, September 28, 2012
Curiosity Rover is First to Witness Martian Streambed
While the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) human-manned space-travel efforts have stalled in recent years, the agency has enjoyed a relatively strong string of successes with unmanned exploration of Mars.
I. Take me to the River
The latest in a string of robotic explorers has achieved an important milestone -- NASA's Curiosity rover has observed first had one of the dried up stream beds that NASA scientists long speculated existed.
While past NASA rovers had found signs of water, they did not observe a definitive streambed -- until now.
By imaging the pebbles in the streambed, which were smoothed by the current and cemented into conglomerate rocks, researchers were able to derive in startling detail how the Martian stream likely looked.
University of California, Berkley professor and Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich elaborates, "From the size of gravels it carried, we can interpret the water was moving about 3 feet per second, with a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep. Plenty of papers have been written about channels on Mars with many different hypotheses about the flows in them. This is the first time we're actually seeing water-transported gravel on Mars. This is a transition from speculation about the size of streambed material to direct observation of it."
II. An Odd Location
The streambed lies within the floor of the Gale Crater, in which Curiosity is currently puttering about. The rover's find lies on the north rim, the deepest part of the unusual crater; with elevation reach over 4,000 ft. below Martian "sea level" (defined as the average elevation around the equator).
What makes the crater so unusual -- and a key reason why NASA landed Curiosity nearby -- is the presence of a massive mountain at the crater's center, named Mount Sharp (formally Aeolis Mons). Mount Sharp is 5.5 km (18,000 ft.) high -- make it three times as tall as the Grand Canyon is deep.
Most craters are created by collisions with extraplanetary objects. But the presence of the inner mountain suggests some sort of erosion process gave birth to the crater, making a promising target for water.
And indeed, stretching down the northern rim towards the central mountain was a streambed. Images indicate that a channel named Peace Vallis brought water from outside the crater into a so-called "alluvial-fan" -- a fan shape arrangement of smaller streams. NASA said the presence of the fan indicates the stream was active for a long period of time.
Rebecca Williams a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona and member of the Curiosity team, comments, "The shapes tell you they were transported and the sizes tell you they couldn't be transported by wind. They were transported by water flow."
III. Rover Prepares to Dig for Water, Organics
The success comes after the NASA rover used its telephoto camera to examine a couple of outcroppings -- "Hottah" and "Link" during the first 40 days of its mission. Remarks Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) in Pasadena, Calif., "Hottah looks like someone jack-hammered up a slab of city sidewalk, but it's really a tilted block of an ancient streambed."
Now the rover gets to use its 10 instruments to try to examine the chemical composition of the sediment that binds the pebbles together. The rover is equipped with four spectrometers, including an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) and an X-ray powder diffraction and fluorescence module dubbed Chemical and Mineralogy (CheMin).
The best may yet lie ahead for the rover, though. It is equipped with Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) device to try to spot hydrogen or ice/water at the surface of the streambed. Researchers also hope to possibly find carbon-rich organic molecules on the lower slopes of the mountain.
Images showed the mountain to be rich in sulfate and clay deposits, which researchers hypothesize could preserve organic molecules in the harsh Martin climate. Potential organics will be examined with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) package, which consists of a Quadruple Mass Spectrometer (QMS) and a gas chromatograph (GC).
Prof. Grotzinger hints at his team's hope of discovering signs of life, commenting, "A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment. It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We're still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment."
The discovery is also useful as it offers evidence reaffirming the long-held notion that Mars could be made habitable/semi-habitable if its ice caps were melted and its atmosphere rebuilt.
IV. A Third Generation Design
The Curiosity mission was preceded by the 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) -- a mission which featured the six-wheeled solar-powered robots Spirit and Opportunity. The 1997 Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner rover, a far tinier six-wheeled solar-powered design, preceded that mission. Sojourner was the first rover to operate on Mars.
Curiosity is bigger than the mid-size MER rovers and the tiny Sojourner rover. NASA used the lessons learned from its predecessors' malfunctions, along with modern electronics to produce a more rugged, robust, and function design, the third time around.
NASA first reached Martian orbit with the Mariner probes in the mid-1960s, as did the Soviets with their Mars series of fly-by probes. The first spacecraft to land on Mars was NASA's 1975 Viking lander.
It took Curiosity just under 9 months to reach the red planet, slightly longer than its predecessor MER, which took seven months. Reaching the red planet isn't cheap, despite NASA's experience.
The Pathfinder mission cost around $150M USD, the MER cost roughly $950M USD of which roughly eight-ninths went towards the construction, launch, with the remainder going towards operating the twin rovers. Curiosity was even more of a pricier beast. NASA spent $2.5B USD, struggling with cost overruns before it finally launched the ambitious design to the skies.
Source: JPL
Mageia Linux: A Delightful OS for Work or Play
By Jack M. Germain
LinuxInsider
09/26/12 5:00 AM PT
Mageia Linux is a distro brought to you by the same people who previously produced Mandriva Linux. The new distro, first released in September 2010, provides an easy to use environment for Linux newcomers or experts. It is particularly suited for game play and works well with various processors, sound and graphics cards.
If you fancy game playing, the latest release of the Mageia Linux OS will be a fun experience. Even if you never open a game, Mageia 2 is a solid distribution well suited to newcomers and seasoned Linux users alike.
Mageia is a fork of the now defunct Mandriva distro. It was developed by a team of former employees of the France-based company that folded Mandriva. It comes in KDE4 SC 4.8.2, GNOME 3.4, XFCE 4.9, LXDE, Razor-Qt and E17.
The first version was released in September 2010. Version 2 took flight in May of this year. However, do not discount Mageia because of its newness.
Mageia performs well using traditional desktops. It does not overlay shells to avoid the real Gnome by diluting the desktop with gimmicks. If you want a desktop loaded with bells and whistles, give the KDE version a spin.
Lots of Power
I am always looking for stable and reliable Linux distros that Microsoft Windows converts can quickly learn to use on legacy hardware. Mageia meets that test and then some.
It runs on a reasonably low-powered set of hardware requirements. For example, it is impartial to most any processor. I have not had issues running Mageia on AMD, Intel or VIA processors. It is far from a memory hog as well. It needs a minimum of 512MB of RAM but is very happy in 2GB.
Ideally, it only needs 1 GB of storage space for a minimal installation. A full setup takes just 6 GB.
Mageia is also impartial to most graphics cards. For instance, it works fine with any ATI, Intel, Matrox, nVidia, SiS or VIA graphic card. It is fairly compliant with any sound card as well. I have used it on AC97, HDA and Sound Blaster sound cards.
Non Standard Install
Mageia installs using the DrakX installation system. This method has the look and feel of a Microsoft Windows installation disk.
It offers a choice of a base installation, a repaired installation, memory test, a hardware detection tool and an option to boot from hard disk. Once you begin the process, the graphical screens are fairly traditional.
You also might have to manually select numerous hardware options from choices on the screens. On a few of my installation attempts on legacy computers, DrakX incorrectly detected some hardware components.
On a more positive note, you can install Mageia to a USB drive. That is a handy way to run the OS in a live environment by bypassing the optical drive. It also is an efficient way to run Mageia on netbooks without having to attach an external optical drive.
Choosy Customizing
Depending on the ISO you download, you will need either a CD or DVD. Be careful in selecting the download ISO from the website. The installer offers an impressive variety of options, features and customization. But again, the choices are dependent on the ISO choice you make in downloading. So read the download page carefully.
The upper section is install-only files. The live session versions are in the center of the download page. You also have to select a 32-bit or 64-bit version as well as a section of the world for the mirror site and language options.
The splash page for Mageia Linux
(click image to enlarge)
On the other hand, the install DVD -- not the live session version -- provides a full range of desktop environments to install. If you already have Mageia 1 installed, you can use it to upgrade to version 2.
Classic Gnome Desktop
What you see with the standard Gnome installation is the new user interface of Gnome 3. That includes the non-functional panel at the top of the screen and the favorites bar along the left edge of the screen.
You see the virtual desktop display on the right edge of the screen and the Windows and Applications switches at the top of the screen. These are all activated by moving the mouse pointer to the hot spot in the upper left corner of the screen.
Staying with this desktop is largely a matter of user preference. Newcomers to Linux will not know the difference. If you are familiar already with the new Gnome and like it, Mageia makes that experience pleasant.
Classic KDE
This desktop option in Mageia offers the best combination of graphical features in my view. It works as expected with lots of eye candy and windows customizations.
Mageia's developers chose the KDE classic menu style rather than the application launcher style, but it is relatively easy to change from this default style by accessing System Settings.
KDE might be too overpowering for new users. So if you otherwise like what you see in Mageia, try one of the lighter fare desktops available.
Games Galore
Most Linux distros either ignore games or force you to do the heavy lifting to add them to your system. Not so with Mageia Linux.
Do not look for the games array on the live session DVD. But you will be pleasantly surprised with what is available after you complete the installation to the hard disk.
Mageia seems to have the most recent editions of most of the popular games. The variety includes strategy, arcade, board, card and adventure games. It includes support for emulator systems as well.
A Few Quirks
Mageia requires two passwords. One is for separate root access. The other is for user passwords. I like the use of small indicators that appear when setting up both passwords. This makes me more aware of security when setting up user passwords.
Speaking of security, Mageia activates the firewall by default with no open ports. It also uses most if not all of the security features built into Mandriva from the MSEC security audit and monitoring application.
Mageia does not install Java by default on some of the ISO combinations. You must manually search for "java-1.7.0-openJDK" and install it.
Bottom Line
Mageia is a very capable newcomer to the large list of Linux distros. Setting it up may be a bit challenging for new users. But the results are well worth the effort.
This distro is a solid performer and offers more than enough desktop environments to please even the most picky Linux user.
Jack M. Germain has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the PC. He still has his original IBM PC-Jr and a few other legacy DOS and Windows boxes. He left shareware programs behind for the open source world of the Linux desktop. He runs several versions of Windows and Linux OSes and often cannot decide whether to grab his tablet, netbook or Android smartphone instead of using his desktop or laptop gear.
Iranian News Agency Cites Fake ‘Onion’ Article
America’s Finest News Source strikes again.
An Iranian media outlet, the Fars News Agency, published an article Friday morning that claimed the majority of white Americans prefer Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Barack Obama. The only issue? The poll was from a fake article by satirical news organization the Onion.
The article, which has since been taken off Fars’ website, quoted an ersatz poll from the Onion article — almost word-for-word — in saying that “77% of rural Caucasian voters … would much rather go to a baseball game or have a drink with Ahmadinejad than spend time with Obama.”
It went on to say that 60% of rural whites at least respect that “Ahmadinejad doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s Muslim.”
Here’s a screenshot of the story before it was taken down:
The original article from the Onion, which went up on Monday, was titled “Rural Whites Prefer Ahmadinejad to Obama.” It’s not clear whether Fars cited the satirical article intentionally or not.
If Fars did indeed mistake the Onion article for the real deal, it’s not the first, and probably not the last, to be bested by the site. Earlier this month, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith went on a Twitter rant after an Onion article published a story about him and a fictional son.
Tumblr page Literally Unbelievable archives the Onion‘s top stories that get wrongly interpreted.
Have you ever been fooled by the Onion? Let us know.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Daniella Zalcman.
Lost+Found: iPhone crashes, malware families and a Firefox hack
Too short for news, too good to lose; Lost+Found is a roundup of useful security news. This time: crashing iPhones, dumping network traffic from iOS devices, ZeroAccess botnet distribution, visualising malware and its variants, silently installing malicious Firefox extensions, and Gamma International suggests someone is trying to torpedo its trojan business.
- Even the iPhone has problems with tel: URLs. When they are too long – more than 4MB – it causes iOS to crash the phone, reports Secure Coding.
- F-Secure's images of the distribution of the ZeroAccess botnet leaves a sinking feeling.
- SARVAM (Search And RetrieVAl of Malware) provides a method of graphical representation and classification of (malicious) programs. A series of videos on the Sarvam Blog shows malware families, such as Zeus, and their variants; each frame of the video is a variant.
- A researcher from Zscaler has found an amazingly easy way to bypass security features in Firefox in order to silently install a malicious browser extension to any Firefox profile: the add-on just needs to be added to an SQLite 3 database named extensions.sqlite for the profile in question.
- Gamma International's Managing Director Martin J. Muench suggests that FinSpy samples were stolen by "a pressure group" to disrupt its business. However, he has no evidence of this.
(crve)
Rumored Apple is in the development of wide-screen iPad with a screen aspect ratio of 16:9
According to media reports, technology news site examiner quoted analyst Paul Mueller reporter and said that Apple may be developing a screen aspect ratio of 16:9 iPad prototype.
Muller said he had communicated with three independent sources close to Apple, these three individuals agreed that Apple is developing widescreen iPad, and it will not be the rumored iPad mini, but a full-size next-generation iPad. Mueller also said within the next few weeks he will disclose more news about the widescreen iPad.
In view that the iPhone 5 has already been configured with widescreen display, it will be reasonable for Apple to use widescreen display in the iPad, but this idea is also problematic. The Tech blog site Gizmodo editor Jesus Diaz pointed out that, due to close to the paper, the 4:3 screen aspect ratio is more suitable for most tasks. The 16:9 screen aspect ratio is more suitable for video, but the video is not the most common use for iPad. However, since Apple launched the Airplay Mirroring, if the iPad screen aspect ratio is consistent with the user’s television, there will be a better performance.
The screen aspect ratio changes also face technical challenges, as it will affect the end-user experience. To increase the iPad size is unlike to increase iPhone size which is attractive, because its screen size has reached 10 inches, continuing to increase the size does not match most people’s expectations. Because the Lightning interface required space is less than the 30-pin connector, the feasibility to produce Widescreen is higher, but widescreen display means that the available display area decreases, the user experience will be affected.
Examiner reported that its sources said there is possibility that the Apple is developing the widescreen iPad, but the news can not be confirmed. It is worth noticing that Muller and Diaz have made mistakes in predicting the products of Apple and other companies.
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Xbox Kinect system helps autistic children play music
KAP uses gestures and symbols to trigger musical notes
The system, called the Kinect Audio Project, uses Microsoft’s camera and motion sensor with a PC to fit children with virtual gloves that allow them to play notes by moving their hands around the screen to “touch” virtual symbols.
It was developed by Patricia Afari as part of her computing masters at Goldsmiths in London, and is now being trialled with disabled children at South Downs Community Special School in Eastbourne.
“The idea is to allow everyone to be included in these lessons,” she said.
“I would compare the system to a xylophone with seven notes, but some of the children are have such profound problems they can’t hold the beater on their own, which can be frustrating for them. This way they can join in independently, which is really important.”
"By enabling children to interact and recognise their own movements, we hope to encourage independence."
Miss Afari combined the Kinect controller with free audio and graphics software to build and refine the system during her studies.
Tom Smurthwaite, an interaction designer who supervised the project, said its use of relatively cheap technology was a major advantage.
“Being based on budget consumer technology and free downloadable software, KAP has the potential to be a required tool in special education,” he said.
Miss Afari, who first trained as a sound engineer and digital designer, is now considering how the system could be adapted to address more complicated problems for children with profound learning difficulties such as verbal communication, she said. She said she was fascinated with the idea of exploiting Kinect-style gesture technologies outside video gaming.
Her system is one of hundreds of Kinect “hacks” that have emerged since Microsoft introduced the ground-breaking Xbox 360 peripheral in 2010. A thriving community of hobbyists has adapted the device to work as a 3D scanner, and robotics controller and among many other applications.
The technology has even colonised hospitals, with doctors experimenting with new ways to control operating theatre equipment without the need to touch and potentially contaminate it.
Report: The Internet Is a Language Killer
Today in international tech news: A report suggests that a handful of European languages could face Internet extinction. Also: Foxconn brings in armed guards after last weekend's violence, Kenya prepares for a massive counterfeit phone crackdown, and a credit card fraud operation is busted up in Australia.
A number of European languages could eventually vanish from the Internet, suggests a new study conducted by European nonprofit META-NET.
As Mashable reports, languages such as Icelandic, Latvian and Lithuanian don't have enough speakers to gain traction as popular languages on the Web. The report goes so far as to say that German, Italian, Spanish and French could be at risk, too, because of a dearth of resources to power translation tools, speech-to-text technology and voice-controlled devices.
The META-NET study assessed language technology software such as spell-check and grammar-check; virtual personal assistants such as Siri; navigation systems; and online translators like Google Translate. The report concludes that because some languages have so few speakers -- not a lot of people other than Iceland's 300,000 residents speak Icelandic -- the gap between big and small languages on the Web is widening all the time.
In a related story, the UN Broadband Commission issued a report saying the number of people accessing the Internet in China will overtake English language users by 2015.
Riot Police Descend on Foxconn Factory
Donning riot helmets and toting plastic shields, security forces descended upon the Foxconn electronics factory that was the site of recent violence.
According to Bloomberg, there were still signs of damage at the Tiayuan, China, Foxconn campus following last weekend's riot that hospitalized an estimated 40 people.
Bloomberg reports that despite Foxconn's recent emphasis on improving working conditions and increasing salaries, some of the changes have not yet reached factories like the one in Tiayuan, which employs some 79,000 people.
Foxconn, based in Taiwan, reportedly isn't hiring additional security but has nonetheless asked Chinese government officials to assist in monitoring the situation.
Kenya Targets Counterfeit Mobiles
Kenya will take sweeping actions at the end of September to disable counterfeit mobile phones, according to the BBC.
Quoting Kenyan officials, the BBC says that the anti-counterfeit measures -- which include prohibiting networks from activating fake devices -- are designed to safeguard mobile payment systems and protect users from hazardous materials that could emit not-so-safe levels of radiation.
The counterfeit crackdown is reportedly also designed to limit violence ahead of next March's general election by helping authorities track users. Violence resulting from the disputed 2007 election resulted in an estimated 1,300 deaths and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
These steps were originally planned for late 2011 but were delayed, twice, to give people a chance to switch devices. The Ministry of Information and Communications said that there will be no more delays, meaning the estimated 3 million people using counterfeit phones will be cut off within days.
"Carding" Scheme Shut Down in Australia
Australian authorities have -- at long last -- shut down the largest known "carding" operation in the nation's history, according to ZDNet.
The Sydney-based "identity fraud syndicate" could have netted the perpetrators some $35 million, according to the Australian Federal Police.
Using information obtained over the Internet and through illegal card-skimming devices -- and with the aid of illegally obtained equipment -- the syndicate was reportedly producing fraudulent credit cards that were worth millions.
Authorities had been trying to thwart the scheme since 2011. In November, they seized 12,000 cards but were apparently unable to weed out the operation entirely. According to the Australian Federal Police, however, recent arrests have "cemented" the disruption of the fraud ring.
Intel, Partners Showcase Windows 8 Tablets and More
Would you pay $650 for a Wintel tablet? That's the price Samsung will charge for its upcoming Windows 8-based Series 5 Slate powered by Intel's newly unveiled Atom Z2760 chip.
Samsung and several other Intel and Microsoft partners were on hand at an Intel-hosted event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Thursday to showcase upcoming Windows 8 tablets and hybrid laptops that use Intel's dual-core, 1.8GHz System-on-a-Chip (SoC) formerly code named Clover Trail. The Atom Z2760 (pictured) will be released on Oct. 26 alongside Microsoft's next-generation, touch-optimized operating system, with hardware manufacturers like Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and others coming out with tablets and hybrid tablet-laptops built around the x86 SoC and running Windows 8.
Before getting started, Intel Mobile and Communications Group executive Erik Reid tried to clear up a bit of a PR mess over reported comments made by CEO Paul Otellini in Asia earlier in the week.
"We could not be more excited about Windows 8 and what it brings to the market ... and that's the message Paul delivered to the employees this week," Reid said, referring to and dismissing reports that Otellini described Windows 8 as not being ready for release.
Samsung was the only Wintel partner at the SFMOMA showcase to name a price for its upcoming product. The Series 5 Slate will sell for $649 as a tablet and for $749 with its dockable keyboard attached, the South Korean tech giant said.
Other products on display included hybrid laptops with detachable tablets like the Acer Iconia W510, Asus Vivo Tab, Dell Latitude 10, and HP Envy x2, all due out in the Windows 8 release timeframe, as well as a standalone tablet Lenovo called the ThinkPad 2 that could also be ready by Oct. 26 and another standalone from ZTE called the V98 that won't be made available until January.
One notable party missing from the event was Microsoft itself, which has its own Intel-based version of its self-produced, Windows 8-based Surface tablet on tap as well. Fujitsu and LG Electronics are also readying Windows 8 tablets and hybrids running on Atom chips, according to Intel.
Other than Samsung's, Lenovo's, and ZTE's offerings, these Clover Trail laptop-tablet hybrids are all being sold as a package deal, so the $749 Samsung will charge for both its tablet and keyboard set-up might be the benchmark for prices we can expect for the other manufacturer's devices.
For consumers, the new Wintel hybrids from Acer, Asus, HP, and Samsung are probably the best bets for a holiday purchase. Dell's Latitude 10 and Lenovo's ThinkPad 2 are being targeted at the enterprise, according to those companies.
All of the tablets and detachable tablets showcased at SFMOMA were in the 10-inch to 11-inch range, weighed in at as little as 1.5 pounds, and were in the 9-millimeter range for thinness. Some thicker Windows 8 tablets sporting more powerful and more power hungry Intel Core chips were on display at the event but ultimately this was a day for Clover Trail.
The Atom Z2760 is a 32-nanometer chip with hyperthreading that affords four-way processing on its two CPU cores, plus a built-in graphics engine that Intel pitched as delivering better graphics and video performance than ever before. You'll get more than 10 hours of battery life on a system packing the Clover Trail SoC, according to Intel, plus better than three weeks of connected standby.
Because it's built on the x86 architecture, the Atom Z2760 is basically tailor-made for Windows, Reid said. He and a colleague demonstrated a Clover Trail slate running such core Microsoft productivity apps as Word and Excel without a hitch, as well as showing a brief snippet of a shoot-em-up video game and a deejay application.
"Intel has made a lot of progress on their tablet SoC. If you look back just a year ago, Windows-based Intel tablets were high performance, but also were thick, heavy, had a fan, and got around four hours of battery life," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst for Moor Insights & Strategies.
"With the Atom Z2760, Intel now has tablets as thin as 9mm, light, fanless, and with all day battery life. That's a huge change and was driven as much by hardware design as it was software integration."
Intel spent a lot of time talking up voice recognition and gesture-based interfaces for future-generation ultrabooks, tablets, and hybrids at the recent Intel Developer Forum. None of that technology will be in the first wave of Wintel tablets and hybrids, it appears, but what you will be getting in systems like the HP Envy x2 and the Samsung Series 5 is a device that functions like both a standard Windows laptop PC and a pretty nifty tablet to boot.
Will that make a dent in the holiday market with popular products already out there like the Android-based Nexus 7 from Google and Asus, the new Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble, and the rumored iPad Mini from Apple— to mention Microsoft's own Surface and tablets running the ARM-optimized Windows RT version of Windows 8?
Moorhead said it looks like Intel's play in the consumer tablet space may take a bit longer to gain steam than the traction it stands to get in the enterprise with the release of Windows 8.
"Tablets from HP and Dell will initially play very well in the enterprise space, a market which Apple is trying hard to penetrate. Intel-based tablets provide a much stronger value proposition than an iPad to enterprise IT, in that to the enterprise, they 'look' like a Windows PC. They're deployed, managed, and have the security that IT is already familiar with," the analyst said.
"As for the consumer space, while nothing keeps Intel from attacking that now, it looks like Microsoft and its ARM partners Nvidia and Qualcomm are more focused there right now."
For more from Damon, follow him on Twitter @dpoeter.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Instagram beats Twitter for mobile visitors
Microblogging site, Twitter, is the UK's fourth coolest brand. Photo: REX FEATURES
Across mobile phones in the US during August, Instagram received an average of 7.3 million daily visitors, while Twitter attracted 6.9 million users, the report by internet analytics company ComScore said.
Users also spent more time on the photo-sharing site than those who visited Twitter. Instagram visitors spent an average of 257 minutes on the site via mobile phones in August, while those logging on to Twitter spent an average of 170 minutes viewing the site.
It is the first time that Instagram has pulled ahead of rival Twitter, which has more than 500 million users, across all platforms, worldwide. Instagram, which was only developed two years ago, has 80 million worldwide.
The figures will be good news for Instagram's parent company Facebook, which bought the social network for $715 million.
However, the number of unique visitors to Twitter across the whole of August was higher than for Instagram, meaning visitors to the photo-sharing website are likely returning on a more frequent basis and spending more time on the site than Twitter users.
Twitter recorded 29 million unique visitors to the site over the course of the month, with Instagram received almost 22 million.
While Instagram's growth is good news for Facebook, doubts remain over the mobile strategy of Mark Zuckerberg's company.
Shortly before Facebook was floated, Facebook said the number people using its apps for smartphones and tablets is growing at a faster rate than the number of adverts it is delivering because it has not sufficiently developed its mobile advertising strategy.
At the time, Facebook said: “We believe this increased usage of Facebook on mobile devices has contributed to the recent trend of our daily active users increasing more rapidly than the increase in the number of ads delivered."
Even as more people use mobile devices to chat to friends and post pictures, Facebook said it was unable to make money from them. "Our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected”, the dominant social network admitted.
Steam for Linux limited beta launching in October
Valve's efforts to port Steam over to Linux is still a work in progress, but apparently it’s far along enough that the company is ready to start beta testing its digital distribution platform on the open-source operating system. According to a blog post by the Valve Linux Team, an internal beta will begin sometime next week, with an external beta limited to 1,000 participants set to open its doors as soon as October.
The private external beta will include support for Ubuntu 12.04 and above as well as access to one Valve game. There was no mention of which game will be featured in the beta, although it’s most likely Left 4 Dead 2. The company has been using that game to test out Steam for Linux internally and has actually found the game to run a bit faster on Linux with OpenGL than on Windows with either OpenGL or DirectX.
Valve will provide a sign up page for the external beta in the coming weeks and select participants based on the hardware they’re running -- the idea is to test Steam for Linux on as many different hardware configurations as possible. Owning a copy of Left 4 Dead 2 will not affect eligibility for the external beta.
The company first confirmed it was working on a Linux port of both the Steam service and Source engine back in April. Apparently, the project had been in the works for way longer than that, but only recently Valve CEO Gabe Newell decided to throw more resources into it. The thinking is that the company might be looking into Linux to power its "open hardware platforms", which they recently expressed an interest in.
Google executive detained, released by Brazilian police
Google could not be immediately reached for comment, but the company confirmed to the BBC that Coelho was released.
On Tuesday, a Brazilian court ruled that a YouTube video about a mayoral candidate violated election laws that prohibit disparaging personal remarks about candidates in an election. The order called for Coelho’s arrest, as well as s 24-hour blackout of Google and YouTube in Brazil.
In a statement Wednesday to The Washington Post, Google said it will appeal the decision.
Google has argued in the past that it is not responsible for content hosted on its YouTube video service. In cases of reported copyright infringement — Google has reacted to government requests to take videos down. But the company has also affirmed strong support for free speech, and has stuck closely to its community guideline requirements when deciding whether or not to remove videos.
Google and YouTube have blocked access to videos in certain countries, even when it could be argued they adhere to community guidelines, in exceptional circumstances. For example, YouTube did block access in Libya and Egypt to a preview of an anti-Muslim video clip that sparked protests across the Middle East — and after the White House asked the company to review the clip. In that case, although the clip was “clearly within our guidelines,” the company said, it believed the “very difficult situation” warranted the restriction.
Related stories:
Brazilian court orders arrest of Google official over YouTube video
Google’s restricting of anti-Muslim video shows role of Web firms as free-speech arbiters
Court in Sao Paulo orders YouTube to take down anti-Islam film or face $5,000 a day fine
Judge denies actress’ request to take down YouTube clip for anti-Muslim film blamed for deaths
Android OS Updates: Who's the Decider?
Unlike an iOS update, which targets only three devices all made by Apple, releasing a new version of the Android operating system is a more complex process. There are different, often competing interests at play, from the software maker to the handset manufacturer to the mobile carrier. Often the result is a delay of weeks or even months.
Samsung has rolled out the first official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates for its Galaxy S III smartphone.
Customers in Poland are reportedly getting the update first. Samsung will apparently roll out the update to customers in other countries later this month.
A slew of Android devices that are ready for Jelly Bean are being released before the end of the year.
However, rolling out an update to Android isn't a smooth process because "it's business and politics and everyone has a certain power play," Michael Morgan, a senior analyst at ABI Research, told LinuxInsider.
The Long, Convoluted Route to Android Updates
The problem is that three parties, all with different agendas, are involved when an update to Android is planned -- Google, which writes the software, handset manufacturers whose devices will run the software, and the carriers.
"All three parties have to agree," Carl Howe, a vice president of research at the Yankee Group, told LinuxInsider. "Three companies can rarely decide when to schedule a joint press release, so it's not surprising they'd struggle to coordinate software updates."
The economic incentives for hardware makers and carriers are to sell new phones rather than update older ones, so "the consumer gets left with obsolete software," Howe continued.
Samsung "is going to politely decline to comment to your story," company spokesperson Makenzie Blythe told LinuxInsider.
It's the Technology
Google can't just create a new version of Android, offer it to its hardware partners and be sure they'll plunk it into their devices. In fact, Google can't even begin working on a new OS without holding discussions with hardware partners.
Makers of mobile devices running Android all customize the OS with their own user interfaces. "Google has to make sure what's going into the new OS isn't going to break or mess up the hardware makers' customization," ABI's Morgan said.
Google also has to notify its partners in advance so they can make sure their devices can indeed be updated to the latest version of the OS. "There's no doubt the Android ecosystem has struggled with updates, partly due to Google's pushing them out faster than product update cycles," Morgan remarked.
The carriers also have to be consulted. Google "have to make sure the new OS doesn't break any networks," Morgan stated. "It could be something as simple as the update creating extra messaging loads and the carriers not being comfortable with that, to things I haven't even heard of."
Who's Got The Power?
As the creator of the Android OS, Google has some leverage over smartphone manufacturers.
"OEMs have the least amount of power in this scenario," ABI's Morgan said. "They need the carriers to sell their devices, and the Google OHA [Open Handset Alliance] agreement to make sure they have access to technology and support."
In fact, Google reportedly used the terms of the OHA agreement to prevent Acer from launching a smartphone in China that ran Alibaba's Aliyun Linux-based operating system.
The operators often slow things down to the point where emotions get quite heated. For example, Google engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru in April blasted carriers over delays in approving the release of the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade to owners of mobile devices.
Operators do have considerable clout. For example, Verizon last year refused to include the Google Wallet mobile payment feature in its Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. That was to be expected, as the carrier was working on the rival ISIS mobile payments system jointly with AT&T and T-Mobile.
While Verizon nixed Google Wallet for competitive reasons, carriers often move cautiously on approving updates to Android for other reasons.
"Operators will get a lot of customer service support calls if things don't go right," ABI's Morgan pointed out. "That's a cost. Things can go wrong quickly."
Bump Up Your Carrier's Lousy Signal With a Femtocell
Qualify yourself for a Femtocell by threatening to close your account. Your phone company knows that spotty service -- particularly at home -- is a deal breaker, and that you're quite capable of ponying up the $150 or so contract cancellation fee, and buying phone service from someone who will do what they say they will do -- in this case, provide audible phone calls.
If you've been experiencing choppy voice quality or dropped calls from your mobile provider at your home or workplace, there are steps you can take to correct the problem.
Cellular phones use radio signals to communicate, and like any other radio, signal propagation issues -- including topography, obstructions, distance to tower and interference -- affect quality.
One method you can use for improving signal is to boost it with an amplifier and external antenna, and I've written about that before.
Another technique is to forget all about attempting to hit the carrier's mast, and squirt the call over your own miniature cell tower and broadband Internet connection. This is called a "Femtocell" connection.
What Is It?
Femtocells are low-power cellular radio base stations that interface with the Internet -- a bit like a Voice over IP application.
The router-sized base station provides a better signal for your existing mobile phone than the neighborhood cell tower. This results in better voice and data quality at your level.
Femtocell advantages include better phone battery life -- the phone doesn't have to work as hard finding a signal -- and a break on call charges, because the calls are sent over your own connection.
Femtocell Prerequisites
Verify that you have a broadband Internet connection and not a dial-up connection. Broadband is an always-on connection. Sprint's devices, for example, need a minimum of 300 kbps up and down for voice, and 3 Mbps down and 1.8 Mbps up for data.
Don't worry too much if your data-side broadband bandwidth isn't sufficient. Just bypass the phone's mobile data and set your phone to its WiFi radio when at home.
How to Get a Femtocell
Kick and scream until your mobile phone service provider gives you one. The devices can cost north of a hundred dollars, or you can "qualify" for a free one. Try to qualify yourself by threatening to close your account with the carrier.
Your phone company knows that spotty service -- particularly at home -- is a deal breaker, and that you're quite capable of ponying up the US$150 or so contract cancellation fee, and buying phone service from someone who will do what they say they will do -- in this case, provide audible phone calls.
The carrier is also painfully aware that its marketing department and engineering department are located on different planets, and just because the marketing department says the carrier provides the best calls known to man, that may not be the case per the engineering department.
Installing Your Femtocell
Unplug any router and modem power supplies.
Disconnect the existing router's Ethernet cable from the modem, and plug a Femtocell-package included Ethernet cable into the modem. Plug the other end of that cable into the Femtocell's WAN port. It may be labeled "Internet."
Power the modem and allow it to stabilize. This can take a few minutes.
Power the Femtocell device with the included power supply. This can also take a few minutes. Look for stabilizing lights on the Femtocell.
Plug any supplied external GPS antenna into the Femtocell. The GPS antenna lets the carrier verify you're in a service area. The GPS antenna may need to be placed closer to a window if the GPS light doesn't illuminate green on the Femtocell. A GPS lock can take up to 30 minutes.
Connect an Ethernet cable from the existing router's WAN port, sometimes labeled "Internet" to a LAN port on the Femtocell. Power the router.
Tip: On Sprint setups, the router is behind the Femtocell, which is behind the modem. The wiring diagram is in that case is modem-to-Femtocell-to-router. Check your Femtocell's quick start guide.
Allow a few hours for the Femtocell to stabilize. The LED lights on the Femtocell should become steady.
Tip: Check your Internet services. In my case, Sprint's Airave product hosed my YouTube on Android delivered via the WiFi router. I used elimination to identify the culprit -- the Femtocell.
In a case like that, try installing the Femtocell behind the router, and the router behind the modem. Then test the Femtocell for calling stability.
In my case, there wasn't a Femtocell stability problem despite Sprint advising against that wiring diagram for stability reasons.
Operating the Femtocell
Follow the instructions that came with the Femtocell to verify your phone is provisioned on the network.
Sprint requests you initially dial "*99" and listen for a message that says you are within Airave coverage. "Airave" is Sprint's Femtocell product name. Call the carrier if the phone isn't provisioned.
Making Calls
Make calls normally. Sprint's Airave product sounds three short beeps to let you know that the call is being handled by the Femtocell radio. Check your quick start guide for carrier-specific notifications.
Tip: Toggle the phone between Air Safe modes on and off to force the phone to look for the Femtocell if, when arriving home, the phone is lethargic locking on the Femtocell radio.
Want to Ask a Tech Question?
Is there a piece of tech you'd like to know how to operate properly? Is there a gadget that's got you confounded? Please send your tech questions to me, and I'll try to answer as many as possible in this column.
And use the Talkback feature below to add your comments!
Patrick Nelson has been a professional writer since 1992. He was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson studied design at Hornsey Art School and wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism. His introduction to technology was as a nomadic talent scout in the eighties, where regular scrabbling around under hotel room beds was necessary to connect modems with alligator clips to hotel telephone wiring to get a fax out. He tasted down and dirty technology, and never looked back.
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