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An Anonymous Coward writes:

The Free Software Foundation's blog has notified readers that:

There have been several attempts at 4-Freedom respecting hardware, there is a notable lack of modern, high-end and even desktop-class options.

See also:

• Express interest and be notified
• Preliminary Specifications
• Tyan's OpenPower Systems for comparison.
• OpenPOWER
• Stallman's explanation of his computing.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

On Wednesday, the ITC issued a general exclusion order banning several types of the self-balancing devices, often called "hoverboards." The case could affect the whole market, since a general exclusion order is the commission's most powerful remedy and can affect even parties not involved in the investigation.

There's also a limited exclusion order issued directly against the products of several Chinese companies sued by Segway. Only one of those companies responded and fought the case at all, while the others were in default.

The general ban applies to any device infringing US Patent No. 8,830,048, which could be a whole lot of products. The first claim of that patent describes a transporter with a drive, wheels, a "sensor for sensing the pitch of the user support," "yaw input," and a "control loop" for determining torque. Claim 2, also included in the exclusion order, describes the same thing, where the "user support" includes a handlebar.

[...] In an odd reversal, one of the companies Segway sued in 2014, Beijing-based Ninebot, actually purchased Segway in 2015. The merged company then apparently pushed ahead with this case against its rivals.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/03/segway-uses-patents-to-win-an-import-ban-on-competing-hoverboards/

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A highly parallelized simulation of blood flow in the human body uses data from full-body scans of a patient and compares well to a 3D-printed replica:

A new supercomputer simulation of blood moving around the entire human body compares extremely well with real-world flow measurements, researchers say. The software uses a 3D representation of every artery that is 1mm across or wider, scanned from a single person.

Its accuracy passed a first key test when physicists compared blood flow in the virtual aorta with the that of real fluid in a 3D-printed replica. Flow patterns seen in the physical copy were a good match for the simulation. This was the case even when the fluid passing through the plastic aorta - and the virtual blood passing through the simulated aorta - was moving in pulses, to simulate the way blood is pumped by the heart.

"We're getting extremely close results both in the steady flow and the pulsatile, which is very exciting," lead researcher Amanda Randles, from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, told BBC News. She presented the findings - including the comparison with a 3D-printed aorta - this week at the American Physical Society's March Meeting in Baltimore. The whole-body simulation itself was first unveiled at a computer science conference [DOI: 10.1145/2807591.2807676] in November. It is called "Harvey" - a tribute to the 17th-century physician William Harvey who first discovered that blood is pumped in a loop around the body. At the core of Harvey's computer code is a 3D framework, built up from full-body CT and MRI scans of a single patient.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

President Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to block the nomination until after the 2016 elections, President Obama is attempting to portray Garland as a centrist who has achieved bipartisan support in the past and should be given a fair hearing:

President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court is already making telephone calls to senators, hoping to win a confirmation hearing. Merrick Garland will start making in-person visits to the Capitol on Thursday. That's the normal order of business for a high-court nominee. But with many Senate Republicans insisting they won't consider Garland's nomination, the White House is also taking its case to the American public.

The PR campaign for Garland includes a dedicated Twitter handle (@scotusnom), a feel-good biographical video and a litany of details designed to humanize the well-regarded appellate judge. Not only did Garland graduate with honors from Harvard, the White House noted, he sold his comic book collection to help pay the tuition.

"I'd like to take a minute to introduce Merrick to the American people," the president said in the Rose Garden. He highlighted Garland's record as a prosecutor who helped bring Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols to justice, and a jurist who's won praise from conservatives including John Roberts and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight argues that the Republican Senate may be passing up an opportunity with the relatively center-left nominee Merrick Garland. If betting markets are to be believed, a Democrat (likely Hillary Clinton) has a much better chance of becoming President than a Republican (likely Donald Trump), possibly with a Democratic-controlled Senate in tow. Blocking the nomination could also hurt the Republican Party politically in November, at least according to wishful Democratic strategists as well as polls showing that a majority of Americans want the nominee to be considered. If the Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings now, they could ultimately vote in a more liberal justice in 2017, and more down the line.

Profile at NYT. Article II, Section II of the U.S. Constitution.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Automatic emergency braking, utilizing sensors including cameras and LIDAR, will be coming standard to almost all new U.S. vehicles within the next six years:

Nearly all auto makers have pledged to make automatic emergency braking standard on vehicles within six years, said people familiar with the matter, adding to safety breakthroughs, such as air bags, that have become mainstays on cars and trucks.

Auto makers representing 99% of U.S. light-vehicle sales will pledge to car-safety regulators and the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday that the technology will be on nearly all their cars and trucks by September 2022, the people said.

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG are among the car makers making the pledge, the person said. Others doing so include luxury car manufacturers BMW AG, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen's Audi, the person said.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Researchers from the University of Oxford have used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in conjunction with a motor rehabilitation program in stroke victims. The group that received tDCS showed improved long-term outcomes (although the sample size was small):

The study, published in the Journal of Science Translational Medicine, involved 24 people who had had strokes at least six months before the trial began and still experienced difficulties while moving their arms or hands. Each volunteer had nine sessions of intensive rehabilitation where they were encouraged to move their affected limbs. And for the first twenty minutes of each session 11 had additional therapy - known as transcranial direct current stimulation - where electrodes were placed on the participant's scalp above the affected area of the brain, and a low current was applied. The others had a dummy treatment - with just seconds of electrical stimulation before the machine was switched off.

Researchers found all patients had improved - but the biggest improvements were seen in patients who had prolonged electrical stimulation. And improvements persisted three months after rehab stopped. One patient, for example, found he could feed himself more easily after the treatment and others were better able to lift, grasp or reach for objects. But improvements varied, partly depending on the severity of the initial stroke. According to brain scans, the group that had electrical stimulation also showed increased activity in regions of the brain related to movement.

Ipsilesional anodal tDCS enhances the functional benefits of rehabilitation in patients after stroke (DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aad5651)

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A recent discussion on the official Pale Moon forum indicates that the team considers to create a new browser product that they plan to develop alongside Pale Moon for the time being until it is stable enough to replace the aging browser.

The main idea here is to use a newer version of Firefox's code base for that (Pale Moon's core code base is Firefox 24) but without sacrificing the user interface or the majority of features that make Pale Moon different from Firefox.

The step would resolve several issues the team is facing mid- to long-term not only compatibility wise with new web technologies but also with Mozilla planning to integrate major changes to Firefox (multi-process, WebExtensions, Servo).

On the plus side of things, Pale Moon would improve in regards to Web compatibility and be in a position where adopting changes from Mozilla code would be less problematic than it currently is.

The team would pick a code base that would support all the features Pale Moon should retain including support for XPCOM and XUL, complete theme support and Sync 1.1 support among others. This would set it apart from future versions of Firefox which won't support these among others.

http://www.ghacks.net/2016/03/16/the-future-of-pale-moon/

Is Pale Moon "aging", or are there more and more questionable features being loaded onto already burdened webpages that some users enjoy? Has anyone here noticed a problem?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

A woman who helped establish a self-proclaimed independent state on a former military platform off the Suffolk and Essex coast has died aged 86. Joan Bates and her late husband Major Roy Bates moved to an anti-aircraft fortress just outside British territorial waters almost 50 years ago. They declared it an independent state and gave themselves the titles "Prince" Roy and "Princess" Joan of Sealand.

She is survived by their son, Michael. Known as the "Prince" of Sealand, he has controlled Sealand, seven miles off the coast, since the death of his father in 2012. Over the years, Sealand, a 10,000 sq ft platform, has encountered armed attacks by pirates and government bids to shut it down.

Sealand was in the news in the early days of the web because HavenCo came to host servers there to escape the RIAA's machinations.

takyon: Sealand is one of the most famous examples of a "micronation".

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Although Google releases updated Android firmware when there are major security issues, mobile users have to wait until their vendor uses the fixes to create new firmware and make it available. This rarely happens and creates something of a security nightmare. Why do vendors do this?

As manufacturers have taken up Android, each has customised it in order to try and make it attractive to the consumer. The most extreme example is Cyanogenmod.

Thus, although Google releases updated firmware when there are major security issues, mobile users have to wait until their vendor uses the fixes to create new firmware and make it available. This rarely happens and creates something of a security nightmare.

Creating and releasing new firmware with security fixes incorporated is a costly and lengthy exercise; a company need specialised staff and also needs to carry out testing before release. Given that lots of companies which have Android devices are small entities, they tend to avoid issuing updates, concentrating instead on the next generation of their device to keep up with the competition.

Here are some reasons.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

A broadband bill that would have allowed the expansion of municipal networks such as the one in Chattanooga to other counties has been blocked:

Despite a last-ditch effort, Tennessee Rep. Kevin Brooks' effort on Tuesday to salvage his municipal broadband expansion bill by scaling it down to a demonstration project failed to win support in a key House panel. Brooks, R-Cleveland, and other proponents later blasted powerful investor-owned telecommunication providers such as AT&T and Comcast for the loss. And conceding defeat this year, they vowed to return in 2017.

"It's a testament to the power of lobbying against this bill and not listening to our electorate," Brooks told reporters after leaving the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee, where his effort to narrow the original bill failed on a 5-3 vote. Brooks charged that "the voice of the people today was not heard. And that's unfortunate."

The proposal's failure comes with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday in the state of Tennessee's appeal of last year's broadband decision by the Federal Communications Commission. In response to complaints filed by Chattanooga's EPB and another municipal electric service in Wilson, N.C., the FCC decided 3-2 last March to set aside state laws it said have interfered with expansion of fast-speed broadband.

[...] Brooks' original bill sought to let EPB and other municipal electric services expand their broadband Internet and video offerings to willing electric co-operatives across Tennessee. In the end, his amendment would have set up a demonstration project in which the state comptroller would select a municipal service headquartered in a county and allow it to offer broadband to a rural electric cooperative located in the same county as well as an adjoining county.

Also at The Register .

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

The CyanogenMod project has made a new release, CM13, based on Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow."

From International Business Times:

CyanogenMod finally rolled out Tuesday the long-overdue CM 13.0 Release 1 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, adding several new features to a wide range of supported devices. This is the first non-nightly release for CM13, which means it is stable enough for the general public, after the first CM13 nightlies were released in November last year.

The Snapshot build of CM 13.0 custom ROM brings all the features of Android Marshmallow along with additional features from Cyanogen. The prominent custom ROM-maker released a list of 39 smartphones in their codenames that are compatible with the CM 13.0 flash, which include the Nexus 6P, OnePlus One, LG G2, ZUK Z1 and Nexus 5X.

Coverage:

• CyanogenMod blog (non-Cloudflare copy)
• Android Police
• Android Central
• International Business Times
• Slashgear
• phandroid.com

Original Submission

butthurt writes:

Concomitant with its demonstration of a limited-feature test version for Linux of its Microsoft SQL Server RDBMS, and in an advertising campaign, Microsoft has offered complimentary licensing and technical support to customers of Oracle who change over to Microsoft SQL Server 2016, which is available only as a release candidate. Prospective recipients, however, must subscribe to the company's Software Assurance service.

Other coverage:

• The Register (non-Cloudflare copy)
• Tech Crunch
• Redmond Online

Original Submission

takyon writes:

An Advocate General has told the EU Court of Justice that Wi-Fi operators are not liable for the infringement committed by users, in a case that pits Sony vs. a Pirate Party member:

Restaurants, bars and shops that offer their customers free and open Wi-Fi are not liable for pirating users. This is the advice Advocate General Szpunar has sent to the EU Court of Justice in what may turn out to be a landmark case. While there's no direct liability, the AG notes that local courts may issue injunctions against Wi-Fi operators and long as they are fair and balanced.

[...] In 2010, a music pirate on McFadden's network was flagged by Sony, who took the owner of the shop to court. While the local German court was inclined to hold the shop operator responsible for indirect copyright infringement, EU Advocate General Szpunar disagrees.

In a lengthy advisory opinion to the EU Court of Justice, which will issue a final ruling later, Szpunar concludes that much like general ISPs, operators of commercial establishments with free Wi-Fi are not liable for pirating users. This means that the safe harbor Internet providers enjoy also apply to members of the public who offer free Wi-Fi as part of their business.

"In his view, it is not necessary for the person in question to present himself to the public as a service provider or that he should expressly promote his activity to potential customers," the EU Court of Justice clarifies in a press release today.

The Advocate General does leave room for local courts to impose injunctions on network operators to stop the copyright infringements. However, these should be fair and balanced, without any requirements to monitor users. Also, the operators of free Wi-Fi should not be forced to secure their connections. This requirement would prioritize the interests of copyright holders above the public's right to freedom of expression and information, which would not be appropriate.

Also at The Register , and German Pirate Party activist Patrick Breyer's site (German).

Original Submission

bitstream writes:

A study on environmental factors on disk reliability in free-cooled datacenters by Rutgers University, GoDaddy and Microsoft has found that hard drives are more likely to fail because of high levels of humidity [PDF] than high temperature. The paper notes that humidity related malfunctions of the driver controller / adapter are the dominant cause of drive failure. Software availability techniques can however mask this problem and enable free-cooled operation that saves costs.

Put a tube from the filter hole to somewhere hot and dry?

Free cooling - The use of low external air temperature for cooling to save power.

In a ZDNet article on it, it states they reached three conclusions:

*Relative humidity, not higher or more variable temperatures, has a dominant impact on disk failures.

*High relative humidity causes disk failures largely due to controller/adapter malfunction.

*Despite the higher failure rates, software to mask failures and enable free-cooling is a huge money-saver.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Following the recent patching of Diablo II to improve compatibility with modern PCs, Blizzard Entertainment has done the same for Warcraft III:

Perhaps there is a hint of nostalgia in the air over at Blizzard Entertainment, which just released an update for another one of its classic PC games, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. The patch comes on the heels of a similar update to another of Blizzard's back-in-the-day blockbusters, Diablo II.

Last November, Blizzard quietly announced the creation of a classic games division with the intent of bringing its original core game titles, including StarCraft, Warcraft III and Diablo II up to speed with modern computer systems. Diablo II got its recent patch 16 years after its release, and now Warcraft III is getting the same treatment 14 years after its debut.

Patch 1.27a improves compatibility for Warcraft III in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 in addition to adding a new installer for Mac 10.10 and 10.11. To put it into perspective, the game debuted with compatibility for Windows 98, ME (shudder), 2000 and XP. Those operating systems are long gone, save the declining population of users clinging to unsupported software and hardware, likely so they can play their favorite classic PC games. Blizzard says now you don't have to, because Warcraft III lives on.

Patch 1.27a changelog.

Original Submission