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Robotron writes:

The hype around Swift is near non-existent by Apple standards, yet the language has attracted high praise since its release last year. Swift is essentially one of the very few Apple products representing a clear departure from the hardware-led approach Steve Jobs took to the business. If Stack Overflow's 2015 dev survey is anything to go by, it looks as if the Swift language might have potential to really shake things up.

Might the days of Apple programmers relying upon objective C be numbered?

Robotron writes:

The State of California took an unprecedented move today [June 14] by uniformly restricting water supplies across the entire state. Farms will be most affected, although food prices aren't anticipated to rise in any hurry: imports from out of state continue apace. It's notable that this is a problem Silicon Valley hasn't been helping to solve.

Will this move force some much-needed modernization upon the infrastructure supporting the state's 38 million residents? Or will things continue to be corn, corn, corn for the time being?

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Tolkien wrote the dark tale when he was but a 22 year old student. It is based on a character from Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, which he as a linguist studied. His biographer has said that the work was important for the creation of new languages. Tolkien himself has commented that it was then that he began writing legends of his own.

"gewg_" wrote in with the news that Softpedia reports:

The Linux Foundation partnership with edX platform is expanding, and users will now get the Essentials of Linux Systems Administration (LFS201) online course.

[The Linux Foundation's courses] that help people make a career out of Linux [...] are provided in different ways, but now they are also available on edX, which is a nonprofit online learning platform launched in 2012 by Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The first course was Introduction to Linux (LFS101) and the Linux Foundation says that it has been accessed by 400,000 students, which is actually a very big number. In fact, LFS101 is the biggest course on the edX platform and that says quite a lot.

"The new course, which is appropriate for those who have completed LFS101 and want to take the next step, as well as individuals who have worked in IT positions but not directly with Linux, will be offered for a fee of $499, which includes a Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator exam attempt, a $300 value which includes one free retake if not passed on the first attempt. The course will be offered at an introductory price of only $399 [until June 17]," reads the announcement for The Linux Foundation.

Related: New Linux Foundation Self-Paced Sysadmin Course to Prep you for Certification
"We Want Linux" Say 300,000 edX Students
Free Intro to Linux Course

Phoenix666 writes with a story from The Washington Post:

It's a sign that a much-needed procedure in South Africa is really working.

The recipient of the world's first successful penis transplant will soon be a father, according to the South African outlet News24. His surgeons were recently informed that his girlfriend is pregnant.

The surgery took place just six months ago, three years after the 21-year-old had lost his own organ after infection caused by a botched ceremonial circumcision. Stellenbosch University urologist, Prof. Andre van der Merwe, who led the historic surgical team, explained at a March news conference that South Africa has a particular need for such a surgery: Members of the Xhosa ethnic group often practice adult circumcision, and poor sanitation leads to some 250 amputations every year.

To get permission to use the penis that has now facilitated a pregnancy, van der Merwe's team had to fashion a new one out of abdominal skin for the deceased donor to be buried with. One day soon, we may not need donors at all: Last year, researchers reported progress in lab-grown penises built with the recipient's own cells to avoid organ rejection.

This is good news for men who lose their penises to cancer and accidents, too.

[Ed note: We recently ran a story about a woman who succeeded in having a Live Birth After Autograft of Ovarian Tissue Cryopreserved During Childhood.]

tonyPick writes:

According to the BBC the Philae lander has just re-established contact:

Philae was dropped on to the surface of Comet 67P by its mothership, Rosetta, last November.

It worked for 60 hours before going to sleep when its solar-powered battery ran flat.

BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos says the comet has since moved nearer to the sun and Philae has enough power to work again.

kaszz writes:

The European Space Agency (ESA) space mission to a Comet using the Rosetta spacecraft and it's comet lander Philae has awaken again now that it can absorb more sunlight. The European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany received a signal from Philae lander at 22:28 CEST on 2015-06-13. The status is currently 300 received data packets, operating temperature of -35 °C and 24 watts available. The lander is ready for operations. According to historical data inside the lander, it must have been awake earlier but had not been able to make contact. Another 8000 data packets await in Philae's mass memory which will give information on what happened to the lander in the past few days on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Philae worked for 60 hours the last time but shut down on 2014-11-15 at 01:15 CET because a lack of sunlight to run its electronics.

BBC also reports on this and the lander has supposedly tweeted too.

Phoenix666 writes in with a story from gizmag.com:

Researchers from the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have created a new combination material from graphene and diamonds that's able to almost entirely overcome friction. The property, known as superlubricity, is highly sought after for its potential use in a wide range of mechanical systems.

Zooming down to an atomic level, friction is caused by atoms locking together, making it difficult for them to pass over one another. It's like sliding the bases of two egg cartons over one another. They'll often get entangled together during the process.

In an attempt to create a material that all but eliminates this effect, the small team of researchers combined three key building blocks – diamond nanoparticles, a diamond-like carbon surface and numerous small patches of graphene.

[...] Combining the three materials, the Argonne National Laboratory researchers observed the graphene patches interacting with the diamond nanoparticles as they rubbed up against the diamond-like carbon surface. In essence, the graphene rolled itself around the diamond particles to create tiny ball bearing-like structures, which the researchers call nanoscrolls.

Is there anything graphene can't do?

takyon writes:

Microsoft has announced two Surface Hub products. They are gigantic touchscreen all-in-one computers intended for meeting rooms and other business purposes. The 84-inch model will cost $20,000, while the smaller 55-inch model will cost $7,000.

The specifications: The 55" Hub weighs 105 lbs, has a 1920×1080 resolution, and uses an Intel Core i5 Haswell CPU with integrated graphics. The 84" Hub weighs 280 lbs, has a 3840×2160 resolution, and uses an Intel Core i7 Haswell CPU alongside an NVIDIA Quadro K2200 GPU. Both models have a refresh rate of 120 Hz, 8 GB of RAM, a 128 GB SSD, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 2 front-facing 1080p cameras, and various sensors.

Microsoft will take orders for Surface Hub beginning July 1st, and shipments will begin in September. It will initially be available to customers in the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The products will be manufactured in the U.S., most likely due to exorbitant shipping costs.

Microsoft has a product page with all the details.

takyon writes:

Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera has spent $115 million for a 1.4% stake of music streaming service Spotify. In total, Spotify raised $526 million on the funding round that ended on June 9, valuing the company at $8.53 billion. Competitor Pandora Media is valued at $3.5 billion. The Jay Z owned Tidal recently launched but is reportedly struggling.

The announcement of Apple Music has led to speculation that Apple will use its deep pockets and user base to try to crush the existing music streaming services:

One advantage Apple does have is an installed base of 300 million iPhone users. Every iPhone user who upgrades to Apple iOS 8.4 will be able to get a taste of Apple Music for free for three months -- it'll be up to Apple to woo them enough during that period to stay and pay.

[Music industry blogger Bob] Lefsetz called Apple Music nothing more than a "better looking Spotify," however Apple's $9.99 monthly music-streaming subscription service, slated to be available on June 30, is actually a bit more than that. Several of its features are borrowed from Spotify, Pandora, Google Inc. Rhapsody and Jay Z's recently relaunched service Tidal. In a sense, Apple Music combines the best features of each. The app will enable users to stream music from the entire iTunes catalog (more than 30 million songs), download that music for offline listening (currently only an option available to Spotify Premium users paying $9.99 a month), and combine existing music libraries, including songs ripped from CDs, into a single app (Google Music also lets users do this, for $9.99 a month). It will also offer a 24/7 global radio station, curate playlists using a team of humans, rather than the industry-standard algorithms, and produce behind-the-scenes artist content.

Yet, skepticism remains regarding how successful Apple will be in getting people to pay. Only 30% of people in the U.S. indicated any interest in subscription music services in a January survey conducted by Morgan Stanley. Just a third of those people said they would consider paying for a streaming service priced at $10 or higher. Free streaming services have been outpacing digital downloads. "Our survey work, and history, suggests subscription music services will not achieve mass-market ubiquity," Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne said this week in a note to clients. "Free music will drive the lion's share of audio consumption over the long-term." Despite Apple's entry, Swinburne maintains a cautious view on the music streaming industry. His models suggest growth of digital streaming advertising will outpace subscriptions.

Phoenix666 writes:

Within a few years, every single student in the San Francisco Unified School District will be studying computer science, at all grade levels.

The city’s Board of Education unanimously approved the measure during its weekly meeting on Tuesday evening.

"Information technology is now the fastest growing job sector in San Francisco, but too few students currently have access to learn the Computer Science skills that are crucial for such careers," Board President Emily Murase said in a statement on Wednesday. "We are proud to be at the forefront of creating a curriculum that will build on the knowledge and skills students will need starting as early as preschool."

According to the district, computer science classes are relatively rare across the United States.

"Currently, no national, state, or local standards exist for Computer Science and the academic research in Computer Science education is quite limited," the board wrote. "As such, a cohesive progression of Computer Science knowledge and skills does not yet exist."

It's the year 2015. Why isn't CompSci a mandatory part of the curriculum everywhere in America? It was at my gymnasium (academic high school) in Germany, and that was 25 years ago.

"gewg_" writes:

Hackaday reports

Digging though a carpet or dirty shop floor [for a dropped part] usually results in frustration.

[...]The idea here is to suck up and contain the part without having it making [its] way into the vacuum. To do this there would have to be an intermediate chamber. For this, [Frank] used a multi-pack CD container. This was a great choice because it is clear, allowing him to see what enters the container, and it unscrews quickly making it easy to retrieve the tiny part.

The inlet and outlet connectors are made from PVC and are attached to the CD container's base with adhesive. To keep the debris from getting past the CD container, an old kitchen strainer was cut up and the screen material was used to only let air pass.

Phoenix666 wrote to inform us that Ars Technica reports:

[Ed note: Caution - spoilers!]

The teaser takes the form of an in-universe "video diary" showing Watney and the rest of the crew of the fictional Ares 3 mission preparing to leave for their trip to Mars on the spacecraft Hermes. Somewhat presciently, it starts out with Watney briefly struggling to set up a video camera—something he’ll likely be doing with great regularity once he finds himself marooned on Mars.

After a brief introduction, Watney introduces the other members of the Ares 3 mission, including mission commander Lewis (played by Jessica Chastain, who along with Damon recently starred in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar). The video is overlaid with pop-up factoids and Twitter-like interjections and trending topics from the public, some of which contain nods to other works of science fiction (when German astronaut Vogel first appears, played by Norwegian Aksel Hennie, one tweet asks "Vogel has to be the #synthetic right"—a reference to Ridley Scott’s Alien).

We've been fortunate to have a couple of decent Sci-Fi movies like Gravity and Interstellar the last couple years. Let's hope this follows in those footsteps.

"gewg_" writes:

The Center for American Progress reports

Democrats in the House dealt a stunning blow to the administration's trade agenda on [June 12], just hours after President Barack Obama personally lobbied lawmakers to grant him authority to negotiate several global trade deals that Congress could vote on without amending.

In the week leading up to Friday's vote, House leadership expressed optimism that it could muscle through the so-called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), despite loud objections from most Democrats and conservative Republicans. Under the rules, the House had to pass: 1) a provision to aid workers displaced by foreign imports--Trade Assistance Authority or TAA and 2) the TPA. But Democrats, who have historically supported providing federal assistance to workers displaced by trade agreements, led a campaign to torpedo the TAA in order to kill the full bill. The TAA failed in a vote of 302 -126 and the TPA passed 219-211 (with 28 Democratic votes), meaning the overall measure will not advance to the president's desk.

House leaders promised on Friday to bring both back for a vote early next week. The Senate approved the full package earlier this month.

[...]Democrats and their allies in the labor movement have objected to the secrecy surrounding the TPP negotiations and various provisions said to be included in the deal. One section allows companies to take governments before an arbitration tribunal and argue that certain regulations interfere with their bottom line. Another would would delay the introduction of generic versions of life-saving pharmaceuticals. Progressives have also criticized the deal for failing to adequately enforce labor and environmental standards and prohibit the Pacific Area countries from manipulating their currencies.

Additional coverage at The New York Times , The Washington Post , pbs.org, and C-SPAN.

Phoenix666 writes in with a story that appears to come from gizmag:

Transparent and reflective displays might look cool, but in terms of the home, their applications are limited. However, bricks and mortar shops looking for some technological wizardry to get shoppers through the door are a different proposition. So it should come as no surprise that Samsung chose this week's Retail Asia Expo 2015 in Hong Kong to unveil the first commercial use of its Mirror and Transparent OLEDs.

Transparent and reflective displays aren't new, with Samsung rolling out the first mass produced transparent LCD panels in 2011 and Philips' HomeLab R&D outfit unveiling its LCD Mirror TV in 2004, the latest evolution of which Philips still sells under its Reflex Mirror TV line, primarily targeted at hotels. But just like conventional TVs, reflective and transparent OLEDs promise superior performance to their LCD forebears.

Samsung Display claims its Mirror OLED panel boasts a reflectance level of greater than 75 percent and outdoes the reflectance of competitor Mirror LCDs by at least 50 percent. It also offers color gamut of over 100 percent of NTSC compared to around 70 percent of NTSC for Mirror LCDs, and a contrast ratio of over 100,000:1 compared to 4,000:1. Response rate is also faster at under 1 ms compared to 8 ms. Additionally, OLED doesn't require any ambient backlight as is the case with LCDs.

Cool to have this built in as interactive display cases.

Phoenix666 writes with an interesting anecdote posted on Ars Technica:

We put a lot of trust in big companies, so when they let us down it can have serious consequences.

I recently went shopping for a new computer. I wanted a low-end laptop for light work, and the HP Stream seemed like a good deal. That deal was made even sweeter when Best Buy offered to sell me a returned one for almost 20 percent off. The salesman assured me that it was in like-new condition and that they would honor all warranties. Sold.

I always get a little thrill opening a new gadget. The computer looked like it had never been touched and all the paperwork was still in sealed bags. There was even a slip of paper in the box with the ID of the tech who cleaned and certified the unit.

So it surprised me when I booted up and saw someone else's name and Hotmail address at the login prompt. So much for like-new!

As I stared at the full name and e-mail address of the previous owner—let's call him David—I wondered. Could I get into this computer another way? It was mine after all. And how much more could I learn about him? How bad of a mistake had the store made?

Any similar stories out there Soylentils care to share?