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mi writes: Though loudly resisting the American government's attempts to make it help break into the phone of a dead scumbag, Apple is very accommodating of the Chinese government's attempts to keep tabs on the citizenry's communications. Apple has censored apps that wouldn't pass muster with the Chinese government, moved local user data onto servers operated by the state-owned China Telecom, and submitted to Chinese audits. According to James Lewis, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, "I can't imagine the Chinese would tolerate end-to-end encryption or a refusal to cooperate with their police, particularly in a terrorism case." Why the accommodation there?

An anonymous reader writes: Louisville was one of the cities identified in 2015 as a potential Google fiber location? Since then, Louisville has completed the pre-work Google requires and, most recently, unamiously passed an ordinance to remove legacy bureaucratic speed bumps to installing fiber on existing utility poles. This applies to any telco wanting to add infrastructure, so that's good, right? Well, not according to AT&T. They are suing the city to block this ordinance and prohibit the city from using its infrastructure as it sees fit to provide better broadband to its citizens.

An anonymous reader writes: Ever since LIGO first announced the direct detection of gravitational waves from two merging black holes, the physics and astronomy community has been struggling to understand an unexpected phenomenon that appears to have come along with it: a short-period gamma ray burst. Arriving just 0.4 seconds after the gravitational waves did, the Fermi satellite's detection doesn't line up with models of black hole mergers. It's thought that short-period GRBs originate from neutron star-neutron star mergers, and so seeing this has led to speculation of new physics, including from Avi Loeb at Harvard that perhaps LIGO's twin black holes came from inside the same star. However, this explanation is exceedingly unlikely, and there are a number of astrophysical explanations that don't require new physics like Loeb's explanation would.

An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has announced that it will donate 25 high-end GPU servers to institutions in the European Union which are engaged in research on artificial intelligence. The first recipient will be a professor researching image analysis of breast cancer and the chemical modelling of molecules. The initiative, which is currently inviting suitable applicants from the EU, comes through the Facebook AI Research (FAIR) program, and the GPU donations will come with technical support and on-site collaboration. Though no specifications on the machines involved have been revealed, it seems likely that they will be some variant on Big Sur.

An anonymous reader writes: According to a Reuters insider, France is seeking 1.6 billion euros in back taxes from Google, dwarfing what the United Kingdom recently agreed to pay. France apparently has no interest in striking the same 'sweetheart tax' deal that put the UK into a critical light when it revealed that the search giant would pay only 130 million pounds of tax, a $181.18 million settlement, for over 10 years in multi-billion dollar trade in the UK.

An anonymous reader writes: On February 20th, a hacker working under the handle 'Peace' took control of the website of Linux Mint, a popular Linux distribution derived from Ubuntu (and Debian) targeted toward non-technical users and power users unhappy with modern desktop environments. While these attacks are regrettable, and part of an infrastructure problem rather than a problem with the distribution itself, it increasingly appears that the Linux Mint team is spread too thin when it comes to security. The distribution itself blacklists updates that work perfectly in Ubuntu and Debian, and the graphical utilities don't update the kernel. Because the value added by Linux Mint is in Cinnamon, why do the developers need to distribute a broken version of Ubuntu when the Cinnamon DE could be distributed as an Ubuntu spin?

Boston Dynamics' ATLAS robot has been featured here a few times before. An anonymous reader points out that the company has just posted a video of the newest version of the ATLAS, "and it's absolutely incredible." The video shows ATLAS walk, open a door, maintain its balance while it walks through snow and semi-rough terrain, squat and pick up 10-pound boxes and much more. And it does everything without a tether. The new version is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain and help with navigation. This version of Atlas is about 5' 9" tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

Boston Dynamics' ATLAS robot has been featured here a few times before. An anonymous reader points out that the company has just posted a video of the newest version of the ATLAS, "and it's absolutely incredible." The video shows ATLAS walk, open a door, maintain its balance while it walks through snow and semi-rough terrain, squat and pick up 10-pound boxes and much more. And it does everything without a tether. The new version is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain and help with navigation. This version of Atlas is about 5' 9" tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

Boston Dynamics' ATLAS robot has been featured here a few times before. An anonymous reader points out that the company has just posted a video of the newest version of the ATLAS, "and it's absolutely incredible." The video shows ATLAS walk, open a door, maintain its balance while it walks through snow and semi-rough terrain, squat and pick up 10-pound boxes and much more. And it does everything without a tether. The new version is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated. It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain and help with navigation. This version of Atlas is about 5' 9" tall (about a head shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

David Rothman writes: Back in 2003, Slashdot ran TeleRead's call for a brick-and-mortar international e-book museum at the Library of Congress. The proposed museum would focus on the devices and other technology rather than the content. It still isn't too late for such a project, and TeleRead is again advocating the idea. Content, too, actually would benefit -- considering that proprietary formats and DRM can imperil the future readability of e-books. Meanwhile, a small-scale e-book museum is about to open in Paris and is looking for donations. A worthy cause!

An anonymous reader writes: Google Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy has discovered that one of Comodo's tech support tools packed with many of the company's security products leaves the door open for attackers to connect with admin privileges on the user's PC. He discovered that to blame for this problem was a remote desktop tool called GeekBuddy, which Comodo was bundling with its security software. This tool either used no password, or used a simple system to create the password which tech support staff would use to connect to user PCs. Ormandy previously discovered a similar issue in Comodo software, related to the company's Chromodo browser.

Martin S. writes: The Tor project is reporting an unprecedented rise in unique .Onion nodes, rising from around 40k to 60k in just a few days, says security researcher Professor Woodward. I wonder is this could possible be related to Shari Steel plan to push Tor mainstream, as reported on /. a few days ago.

An anonymous reader writes: A Facebook post depicting a man apparently stealing from commuters by tapping a POS reader against them unobserved on public transport caused a sensation on Facebook before being removed earlier today. The provenance of the photo is uncertain, but unnamed authorities have said that it was taken in Russia. Since this type of opportunistic street theft requires a merchant business account through which any transactions would be easily traceable, the question arises as to how such acts of fraud are being made profitable. Comments on the matter have brought up anew the topic of RFID-blocking wallets as necessary everyday security.

Los Angeles' Presbyterian Medical Center, the target of a successful ransomware attack (successful from the thieves' point of view, that is) has buckled under: to regain control of its network, the hospital has paid a 40-bitcoin ransom (about $17,000) to the gang responsible. That, at least, is a far cry from the much higher ransom widely reported to have been initially demanded: 9,000 bitcoin. (That would have meant a payment of $3.6-3.9 million.)

An anonymous reader writes: Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has revealed that the ride-sharing company is writing off $1 billion a year in order to consolidate its place in the Chinese ride-sharing app market. Kalanick said in a speech at the Vancouver Launch Academy that Uber is deeply engaged in a fight for customers in the Chinese market, and that an unnamed competitor is "buying up market share." Uber's main rival in China is Didi Kuaidi, which invested $100 million in Lyft and Ola to last year in a consolidation effort against Uber's incursion into the market — which many believe to have occurred too late into the development of ride-share schemes in China.

Vigile writes: Even with Samsung pushing forward into 3D NAND with 32-layer technologies used in SSDs like the 850 Pro and the recently released M.2 PCIe NVMe 950 Pro, there is still plenty of traditional 2D planar memory being fabbed on production lines. To utilize that inventory, Samsung is shifting its low-capacity SSDs back to it, announcing the 750 EVO drives today available in 120GB and 250GB capacities. Though based largely on the very popular, but sometimes troubled, 840 EVO specs, the new drives are faster and start with some impressively low prices. The starting MSRP for the 250GB 750 EVO will be just $75.

Vigile writes: Even with Samsung pushing forward into 3D NAND with 32-layer technologies used in SSDs like the 850 Pro and the recently released M.2 PCIe NVMe 950 Pro, there is still plenty of traditional 2D planar memory being fabbed on production lines. To utilize that inventory, Samsung is shifting its low-capacity SSDs back to it, announcing the 750 EVO drives today available in 120GB and 250GB capacities. Though based largely on the very popular, but sometimes troubled, 840 EVO specs, the new drives are faster and start with some impressively low prices. The starting MSRP for the 250GB 750 EVO will be just $75.

Vigile writes: Even with Samsung pushing forward into 3D NAND with 32-layer technologies used in SSDs like the 850 Pro and the recently released M.2 PCIe NVMe 950 Pro, there is still plenty of traditional 2D planar memory being fabbed on production lines. To utilize that inventory, Samsung is shifting its low-capacity SSDs back to it, announcing the 750 EVO drives today available in 120GB and 250GB capacities. Though based largely on the very popular, but sometimes troubled, 840 EVO specs, the new drives are faster and start with some impressively low prices. The starting MSRP for the 250GB 750 EVO will be just $75.

MojoKid writes: Cox Communications is standing up for its subscribers by so far refusing to spy on their online activities and take legal action against those who download copyrighted material. That stand has already cost the ISP $25 million (the amount a Virginia federal jury recently came up with when it ruled that Cox was responsible for the activities of those using its service), and it could cost Cox even more. The ruling against Cox took place last December. Since then, music publisher BMG has followed up by asking a court to issue a permanent injunction against Cox. BMG also wants the ISP to boot customers who have pirated content and share the details of those subscribers with copyright holders. The topic of deep packet inspection has also come up. Despite all this, Cox is holding firm in its position. "To the extent the injunction requires either termination or surveillance, it imposes undue hardships on Cox, both because the order is vague and because it imposes disproportionate, intrusive, and punitive measures against households and businesses with no due process," Cox stated in its reply.

v3rgEz writes: Want to see the future of interoffice communications? Lady Gaga might be a surprising muse, but her tribute to David Bowie last night at the Grammys showcased the increasing sophistication of augmented reality dash - technology that might soon find its way into an office near you. In fact, just a few days ago, JPL opened up a little bit about how they were using the augmented reality, via HoloLens, to build virtual prototypes for engineers to kick around and play test, without having to physically fabricate a thing.

Last week you asked questions of Ubuntu Unleashed author Matthew Helmke, about everything from system D to the future of Ubuntu and Canonical; he's responded, at length. Read on for Matthew's answers. Books?
by edittard

The Unleashed books are still going? Correction: Books are still going?

Do you use Free software writing tools?
by Anonymous Coward

Publishing is notorious (well, semi-notorious -- based on the rants of a few friends who have had books published, technical as well as non-technical) for requiring authors to submit their work in formats friendly for their internal systems, which is understandable from their perspective but I imagine could be annoying to authors. (Not all publishing is the same, I know --- math journals for instance seem to go in for LaTex and similar.) But for you as an author writing for a mainstream publisher about open source and Free software, how do you find the tools that are available out of the box on a Linux system (Ubuntu specifically, since that's your bailliwick)? Are there any tasks you find are complicated by that, such that you have to keep a Windows or OS X system up? Does Pearson want you to use Word, for tracking / editing purposes, say?

MH: For Ubuntu Unleashed and The Official Ubuntu Book, the publisher uses DOC files. This is fine because LibreOffice reads and writes them well. I used LibreOffice on Ubuntu for the last several editions (and before that OpenOffice on Ubuntu) and have had no problems at all doing so. I do not have any computer systems at home that run anything other than Ubuntu. I'm not a purist, I just prefer it and haven't needed anything different.

A book I coauthored for another company, VMware Cookbook which was published several years ago by O'Reilly, was written using DocBook. That was really cool because the files were all text files and we used a version control system to check in each chapter, changes, edits, and it worked the whole way through the process. Their tool chain processed that DocBook out to all of the various output formats. Again, I did all of this on Ubuntu, frequently from the command line and my favorite text editor (I won't mention which because I don't want to start a VIM vs Emacs flame war).

Your compliance with systemd
by Anonymous Coward

Why do you support a distro that ships with such a lousy piece of garbage software?

Another one on systemd:
by Anonymous Coward

Is there a way to get systemd to not throw away... stderr? This is driving us nuts when we have about six hundred Ubuntu servers, and simple problems are harder to solve because stderr is not displayed in the terminal or saved in the journal.

MH: First question first: regardless of what anyone thinks about systemd, it is becoming the ex officio standard. I used to complain loudly when windowed desktops became the norm and I was "forced" to use them. That was a losing battle. I learned something from that. Pick your battles.

Regarding systemd and stderr, I haven't had any cause to look into this. However, a quick Google search brought up this page from StackOverflow that might help you: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/32968506/how-to-pipe-output-to-a-file-when-running-as-a-systemd-service . Even if it isn't the exact same problem, it might help you direct your thinking and find a creative, hopefully simple, solution.

Future of Linux on the Desktop
by Anonymous Coward

I'm curious as to your thoughts on the future of Linux on the desktop. With SecureBoot and UEFI, the formerly simple process of trying out distros like Ubuntu has become something of a PITA. Do you think we have a future for Linux on the desktop, or are PC's going the way of locked-down bootloaders like many cell phones?

MH: I think the only way any Linux distro becomes viable on the desktop beyond us computer geeks and technology lovers is to see more OEMs offering it pre-installed. There are several companies out there doing this. I have personal experience buying Ubuntu preinstalled on systems from Dell www.dell.com, System76 www.system76.com, and ZaReason www.zareason.com and have had a very good experience with each one. I know there are others out there and I prefer to encourage as many as possible to buy from companies willing to do this. I always think of someone like an uncle or aunt who only needs a computer to read and write email, browse the web, and maybe write a letter. Steering people like this to machines with Linux preinstalled is the only way I expect they would be willing to use it...well, then there is my friend's mother who allowed me to install Ubuntu on her laptop after a Windows virus required either a reinstall or a new operating system. Then again, she didn't perform the installation. I did.

Ultimately, I think the answer lies with us. If we can vote with our wallets and make Linux machines financially viable for OEMs, I think we will see more of them. I know many people who use Android tablets and Chromebooks, so it isn't the fear of learning something new that keeps people away, it is the non-existence of the easy option. Most people don't want to do what we do: open up their operating system and play with it until we accidentally break something and then learn how to fix it. They want to buy something something that works off of the shelf for a good price and use it for simple purposes. Let's solve that and I think we may actually someday see the mythical "Year of the Linux Desktop" happen.

Oh, I nearly forgot. The Ubuntu help site has some pretty good information about UEFI that you may appreciate: https://help.Ubuntu.com/community/UEFI .

3D graphics fanciness for the new now?
by Anonymous Coward

When they were brand new, I laughed at things like Compiz as silly eye-candy. Then I watched a lot of the demos anyhow, and eventually installed it (slightly painful at first -- had to wait until I had a graphics card that would work) and came to really like the feeling of wobbly windows that moved with some interesting physics that made them feel more like "real" objects rather than just rectangles on a screen. My mind was changed, and I always enjoyed showing people the famous rotating cube desktop. Some people like the command line, and that's fine -- terminals are still around! -- but I liked windows that moved in a way that seemed more intuitive to me.

Fast forward almost 10 years (sheesh!), and after a lot of platform switching for school, for work, or just because, I realize that I've been back for a few years on boring old 2-D desktops. Looking at Wikipedia, it seems like Compiz itself (speaking generically, and not wanting to get into a nomenclature war) doesn't seem to be a good match for Ubuntu these days [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compiz].

So: what's your advice if I want to have a modern, supported, open-source, 3D desktop that plays well with the rest of an Ubuntu system? Ease of install is just as important as ease of use -- without the first, I might not get to the second. Bonus points it if works with Ubuntu derivatives like Mint and Elementary.



MH: Sadly, Compiz never really seemed to get enough traction among developers and contributors. As a result, for a long time there were few to no updates. While that has changed a bit, there still doesn't seem to be enough activity with the project for it to continue to be a viable option. I'm sure someone will argue that and I sincerely hope to be proved wrong in the comments.

I don't know of a great replacement for the flash and flair the Compiz brought to Ubuntu. I am still using it on 14.04LTS (LOVE me some wobbly windows), but I know its days are numbered. So, here is something else that I hope to be proved wrong about in the comments.

Support channels for new users?
by rgbe (310525)

I have been using Linux since the good old days of the late '90s. I was using Debian until Ubuntu came around in 2004 and switched. Ubuntu was amazing in terms of how it made Linux more usable. However, as time went along Ubuntu was no longer so cutting edge and no longer resonated with me, so I have switched back to Debian. Anyway, all this time as a Linux user it's been a rough ride, every laptop I have purchased (I haven't had a desktop for 15 years) has had issues with Linux. Most common issues for me are that wi-fi drivers don't work and graphics card drivers are unstable. I choose Laptops that are going to give me the least problems by researching them thoroughly beforehand. The most recent laptop (HP ProBook) came with the option of having SUSE Linux installed by default, I thought this would be perfect, but the wi-fi did not work unless you had the correct version of SUSE installed. I am experienced at debugging and resolving issues, a new user would require a lot of patience, technical no-how just to get Linux functioning before they can use their PC. Although you can use Linux without the console, it is difficult to never have to go to the console. The console requires a paradigm shift for many users. In a nutshell the first hurdle for Linux is a massive jump, and only few are brave/curious enough to take it.

So my question is: What support channels would you recommend for new Linux users?

Are there solutions out there that simplify Linux?

And are there any solutions / techniques out there that simplify driver installation and configuration in Linux / Ubuntu? I am ask just in-case I am missing it.

MH: I agree with you. The reason I ended up using Ubuntu back in April 2005 was because it was the first Linux distro that would actually boot on a laptop I owned at the time. I still had to compile an Intel ipw2200 driver for the kernel because it had only been released as a 0.19 release and was not yet considered stable enough to be included in the 2.6.10 Linux kernel. Not for the faint of heart. LOL.

My primary recommendation is what I said earlier: buy preinstalled, especially from a vendor who specializes in Linux machines and offers real support. The two who have been best at that for me personally are ZaReason and System76. Others may recommend still other vendors.

For online help, I like both the Ubuntu Forums Ubuntuforums.org (disclosure: I was the head admin on the forums for some time) as well as AskUbuntu askUbuntu.com. The latter tends to be preferred by more technical users, the former by newer users. Honestly, I use Google for most questions.

[Regarding drivers:] It depends on the driver. For example, the Linux drivers for my Brother DCP-L2540DW printer are available from the manufacturer's website and downloadable as DEB files, which means all I needed to do was use my software package manager. (Side note: all of them were available already in Ubuntu, I only sought them out because there is one additional driver/step that allows me to push a button on the printer and have it scan a document and send it to my computer directly.)

Some manufacturers provide lovely packages like these or RPMs that you can install using your package manager. I salute and appreciate these companies. Others provide binary files you must install/run from the command line, which isn't terrible. Some only provide source code that you must compile yourself, although these are becoming less common.

The truth is, ultimately, drivers should be provided by the original equipment manufacturer and it is up to them to make our lives as simple or complex as they think is appropriate for their users who run Linux. Some care very deeply about us as customers, others do not. My way of simplifying my life is by voting with my wallet and buying from companies that value Linux users' time by making what we must do as simple as possible. I don't do that because I must, but because I want to thank them and encourage them to continue.

I'm not upgrading Windows beyond 7...
by Anonymous Coward

Since I'm not upgrading Windows beyond 7, due exclusively to Microsoft's new explicit policy of tracking every little thing I do on my computer, what distribution would you recommend? I am a long-time Linux user and enthusiast admin, but the problems I have encountered using Ubuntu Desktop have been simply silly, including my AMD Radeon HD 4
card completely losing driver support (believe me when I say the card is completely unsupported by all projects), a Linksys Wi-Fi card completely losing driver support (these last two happened after an update, not version upgrade), monitors not being recognized and having to manually configure Ubuntu to support the resolution settings, plus Wine being a crazy-klunky glob of instability for running MS Office, which is still far superior to Office alternatives for my usage.

Windows 7 expires in 2020 and I'm still unclear as to which direction I am going to end up going. And, omg, I'm even looking at Apple.



MH: I'm partial to Ubuntu, but really, most distros are very much the same underneath. The majority of differences fall into these categories: package management (such as DEB vs RPM), the desktop, and software installed by default.

I completely understand the frustration you are describing. I have had very poor success with ATI/AMD video cards, even as I have had friends who swore by them (not lately, though; I'm not sure why). I have had excellent experiences with Intel video, but not for gaming or serious 3D video stuff. I have an nVidia card in the two machines I use most these days, both a desktop and a laptop, and most of the time things are smooth. Occasionally, I have had a driver flip out on me and need to be reinstalled. Now, I know what to do from the command line to deal with it, so a boot to a flashing cursor is a frustration, but not a terror to me. For many, that is not the case.

The only good solution I have found is research. I research the hell out of everything before I buy any new piece of hardware. That is annoying.

The only other solution I recommend is to buy a system with Linux preinstalled, hopefully with a release that will be supported throughout the lifespan of the hardware. That, or start reading and learning.

Why Ubuntu?
by frovingslosh (582462)

I'm a life long computer user and have been considered very knowledgeable in some operating systems, but so far I can't claim to be knowledgeable or even comfortable with Linux, although I would like to gain that knowledge. I'm leaning towards Debian. Is there any reason that I should try to learn and use Ubuntu over Debian? If something has been dumbed down at the loss of flexibility or usefulness I would not consider that a "feature".



MH: Nothing has been dumbed down and no flexibility or usefulness has been lost. Those are not concerns. I love Debian! Truly. The only reasons I would and do choose Ubuntu over Debian is ease of installation and set up, especially when using hardware that requires non-open-source binary drivers, and because outsiders tend to make their Linux software available in two package forms: RPM and DEB, and the DEBs are without fail packaged for and tested on Ubuntu.

What would you change about Canonical? (Or Ubuntu?)
by KGIII (973947)

If you could change any one thing about Canonical, the organization, what would it be? For me, I'd probably change the clique nature that we see in some of the mailing lists, on the forum, or even at live events. It's great that they've an official @Ubuntu.com email address but, really, they've not actually done much in the way of contributing - ever. It's seemingly more a pissing match and a popularity contest than it is about the benefit that some provide to the community.

If I could change anything, I'd change that. However, if you can snap your fingers and make any change to Canonical, what would that change be - and why? If that question is difficult to answer due to politics or any other reason, you can change Canonical to Ubuntu itself. I'm interested in both, if you want to go that far but I'm limited to one question per post.



MH: Over the last 11 years I have met many Canonical employees, both past and present. The people I have met have been reasonable, smart, and work hard to do the right thing to the best of their ability. The company exists because of one man's generosity, but really wants to be profitable on its own merits. That is an interesting task, especially if you want to do it without stealing anyone else's business. The belief among the Canonical employees I have met is that Linux is not a zero sum game and there is enough potential business out there for all the current players and others as well. How to do that is an interesting problem to solve. I like what they are pursuing with the idea of "convergence," where they envision computing and mobile devices being distilled down into one, where your mobile phone has the power to run as and replace your desktop or laptop and serve as both your information and media consumption device as well as your number crunching, content creation, main computing device. We have been "on the cusp" of this happening for several years and Canonical has put significant money and resources toward this task.

I think the one thing I would change is to help Canonical find a way to better, more clearly communicate to the wider community what the goals and vision are. If you read their press releases, website, listen to their developer discussion, you can learn this, but somehow there is a disconnect in the wider technology community. Sometimes, this has been or at least seemed warranted, as in the complaints about Ubuntu/Canonical creating their own rather than using existing software solutions (desktop, compositing system, etc.). There were technical explanations much of the time for the choices made, but sometimes it sounded like "well, we like this thing we have envisioned better than contributing to that thing we don't control." I don't know if there is an answer to that problem, though, because I can see both sides of the argument and in the end, sometimes we just have to do what we feel is best, and I think that is what Canonical is doing.



Do you think Canonical will get huge?
by LichtSpektren (4201985)

Do you foresee that one day Canonical will be up there with Google, Apple, and Microsoft in terms of being perceived as a software tech giant?

MH: In what field? I don't see Canonical competing with Amazon in cloud hosting, but they are winning the competition for the most used operating system in the cloud. I don't see Canonical growing into one of the world's two largest companies (Google and Apple), but I do see it being an industry leader in some powerful and interesting behind-the-scenes niche markets. I think Canonical is already seen as a leader in the nascent market for alternative OS options on mobile devices, a market that Microsoft has already conceded does not want their option. I guess my ultimate answer is a qualified "yes," but perhaps not in the most obvious ways to the non-tech-savvy.

Why Ubuntu
by KGIII (973947)

As a second question, I've been tasked with writing a book about business management. I've actually been taking this project a little more serious than I'd expected. Yet, it comes down to actually doing the work, examining the structure, working on the layout, figuring out the goals, and deciding on things like verbiage - I end up getting stuck and just meandering off to do something else.

What motivates you to write? That's pretty much it. In my case, the result will be "open source" and free (as in beer) so finances aren't actually a concern. Money just isn't going to motivate me, I've got enough. It just reaches the point where it's somewhere between overwhelming and just a ton of work. It seems insurmountable at times and some method of motivation might help.



MH: Every writer struggles with what you describe. Every one of us. Ultimately, motivation gets us started, but discipline and habit are what enable us to finish. Sometimes I create little subtasks and goals that may motivate me for a day (write 1000 words today and I'll treat myself to a bit of dark chocolate and a dram of tasty scotch), but that only works occasionally. Most days while I am in the middle of a project and I know I have a looming deadline I wake up dreading "chapter 6" or whatever today's scheduled task is, but I just force myself to get up and do it. If you learn of something better or more effective, please tell the rest of us!

An anonymous reader writes: In late 2014 NVIDIA announced their GPUs would begin requiring signed firmware images before the open-source driver could enable hardware acceleration. That led the Nouveau developers to call the latest GPUs "very open-source unfriendly", but that criticism can now be laid to rest as NVIDIA has finally released the signed firmware and basic open-source driver code. The open-source driver can now move on with its open-source 3D enablement for Maxwell GPUs and the NVIDIA developer is hoping it will be ready for the next kernel cycle (Linux 4.6).

An anonymous reader writes: In late 2014 NVIDIA announced their GPUs would begin requiring signed firmware images before the open-source driver could enable hardware acceleration. That led the Nouveau developers to call the latest GPUs "very open-source unfriendly", but that criticism can now be laid to rest as NVIDIA has finally released the signed firmware and basic open-source driver code. The open-source driver can now move on with its open-source 3D enablement for Maxwell GPUs and the NVIDIA developer is hoping it will be ready for the next kernel cycle (Linux 4.6).

theodp writes: Brown University's Department of Computer Science is seeking to hire student advocates for diversity and inclusion as part of its new action plan to increase diversity. The new hires, who will also serve as members of the CS Diversity Committee, will support students, plan inclusion activities, and educate TAs on issues of diversity. Also on the diversity front, Brown touted last weekend's Hack@Brown, the school's annual student hackathon, as being "unlike any other hackathon" -- welcoming, inclusive, and inviting to students of all experience levels." A cynic might point out that Hack@Brown's tech giant sponsors boast track records that are quite the opposite. By the way, Brown@Hackathon certainly upped the ante on conference Codes of Conduct, warning that those anonymously-charged with making others feel uncomfortable on the basis of "gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion (or lack thereof)" will be "expelled from the event without travel reimbursement at the discretion of the event organizers." Brown explained that travel reimbursements were provided to promote "economic diversity", ensuring that students who couldn't otherwise afford to get to and from Providence could attend the Ivy League event. Hey, what "economically diverse" kid wouldn't want to go to a conference where rubbing someone the wrong way could leave them stranded in Rhode Island!

An anonymous reader writes: Last week the Pirate Bay added support for streaming video torrents inside the browser in real-time. Kickass Torrents followed the next week. The technology they used is called Torrents Time. A security researcher has discovered that this technology which is a mix of client and server side code is actually a security and user privacy disaster. Attackers can carry out XSS attacks on TPB and KAT, the app runs on Mac as root, attackers can hijack downloads and force malicious code on the user's PC, and advertisers can collect info on any user that has Torrents Time installed.

The Internet Archive has made it possible for you to make a virtual visit to the wide, wide world of Windows 3.1 games (and other apps, too), via a collection of virtualized images. Jason Scott is the game collector and digital archivist behind the online museum of malware mentioned here a few days ago. "Now," Ars Technica reports, "Scott and his crew have done it again with the Windows 3.X Showcase, made up of a whopping 1,523 downloads (and counting), all running in a surprisingly robust, browser-based JavaScript emulation of Windows 3.1. You'll recognize offerings like WinRisk and SkiFree, but the vast majority of the collection sticks to a particularly wild world of Windows shareware history, one in which burgeoning developers seemed to throw everything imaginable against 3.1's GUI wall to see what stuck." Says the article: A volunteer "really did the hard work" of getting the Windows files required for each DOSBOX instance down to 1.8 MB, and in the process came up with a more centralized version of those files on his server's side, as opposed to kinds that would require optimizations for every single emulated app.

Andy Nicholls has been an R programmer and consultant for Mango Solutions since 2011 (where he currently manages the R consultancy team), after a long stint as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry. He has a serious background in mathematics, too, with a Masters in math and another in Statistics with Applications in Medicine. Andy has taught more than 50 on-site R training courses and has been involved in the development of more than 30 R packages; he's also a regular contributor to events at LondonR, the largest R user group in the UK. But since not everyone can get to London for a user group meeting, you can get some of the insights he's gained as an R expert in Sams Teach Yourself R In 24 Hours (available in print or at Safari), of which he is the lead author. Today, though, you can ask Andy about the much-lauded statistics-oriented free software (GPL) language directly -- Why to use it, how to get started, how to get things done, and where those intriguing release names come from. (The about page is helpful, too.) As usual, please ask as many questions as you'd like, but one question at a time, please. Note: Slashdot is always looking for interesting interview guests. Who do you want to ask? Let us know!

Andy Nicholls has been an R programmer and consultant for Mango Solutions since 2011 (where he currently manages the R consultancy team), after a long stint as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry. He has a serious background in mathematics, too, with a Masters in math and another in Statistics with Applications in Medicine. Andy has taught more than 50 on-site R training courses and has been involved in the development of more than 30 R packages; he's also a regular contributor to events at LondonR, the largest R user group in the UK. But since not everyone can get to London for a user group meeting, you can get some of the insights he's gained as an R expert in Sams Teach Yourself R In 24 Hours (available in print or at Safari), of which he is the lead author. Today, though, you can ask Andy about the much-lauded statistics-oriented free software (GPL) language directly -- Why to use it, how to get started, how to get things done, and where those intriguing release names come from. (The about page is helpful, too.) As usual, please ask as many questions as you'd like, but one question at a time, please. Note: Slashdot is always looking for interesting interview guests. Who do you want to ask? Let us know!

jones_supa writes: Gordon F. Kelly of Forbes whipped up a frenzy over Windows 10 when a Voat user found out in a little experiment that the operating system phones home thousands of times a day. ZDNet's Ed Bott has written a follow-up where he points out how the experiment should not be taken too dramatically. 602 connection attempts were to 192.168.1.255 using UDP port 137, which means local NetBIOS broadcasts. Another 630 were DNS requests. Next up was 1,619 dropped connection attempts to address 94.245.121.253, which is a Microsoft Teredo server. The list goes on with NTP, random HTTP requests, and various cloud hosts which probably are reached by UWP apps. He summarizes by saying that a lot of connections are not at all about telemetry. However, what kind of telemetry and data-mined information Windows specifically sends still remains largely a mystery; hopefully curious people will do analysis on the operating system and network traffic sent by it.

A few days ago, we posted reports that a major finding -- the discovery of the long-predicted gravity waves -- was expected to be formally announced today, and reader universe520 is the first to note this coverage in the Economist : It is 1.3 billion years after two black holes merged and sent out gravitational waves. On Earth in September 2015, the faintest slice of those waves was caught. That slice, called GW150914 and announced to the world on February 11th, is the first gravitational wave to be detected directly by human scientists. It is a triumph that has been a century in the making, opening a new window onto the universe and giving researchers a means to peer at hitherto inaccessible happenings, perhaps as far back in time as the Big Bang. Reader DudeTheMath adds: NPR has a nice write-up of the newly-published results: "[R]esearchers say they have detected rumblings from that cataclysmic collision as ripples in the very fabric of space-time itself. The discovery comes a century after Albert Einstein first predicted such ripples should exist. ... The signal in the detector matches well with what's predicted by Einstein's original theory, according to [Saul] Teukolsky [of Cornell], who was briefed on the results." Update: 02/11 18:08 GMT by T : Worth reading: this letter, inspirational and informative, from MIT president L. Rafael Reif, about the discovery. (Hat tip to Brian Kulak.)

David Rothman writes: Props to Amazon. The Helvetica font will be restored to a more readable weight than the anorexic one in the latest update for E Ink Kindles. Let's hope that an all-bold switch—or, better, a font weight adjuster of the kind that Kobo now offers—will also happen. I've queried Amazon about that possibility. Meanwhile thanks to Slashdot community members who spoke up against the anorexic Helvetica!

Eunuchswear writes: After Mondays decision by the French CNIL (National Center for Computers and Freedom) that Facebook must stop tracking non-users, the DGCCRF (General Direction for Competition, Consumption and Repression of Fraud), has ruled that Facebooks terms of use are abusive and must be changed within 60 days." The linked story is in French, but for those of us who don't speak the language, Google translate works. Here's the DGCCRF's Facebook page.

MojoKid writes: To look at the Dell Precision 15 5510, you wouldn't know that it sits in the middle of Dell's workstation lineup. The laptop is thinner and sleeker than you might expect a workstation-class laptop to be and the premium carbon fiber palm rest gives the system a decidedly high-end vibe. Not to mention, like the XPS 15, Dell equipped this machine with its 4K IGZO Infinity Edge display that has almost no bezel on three of its sides. However, the Precision 15 5510 is actually Dell's mid-range mobile workstation that also supports Intel Xeon E3 processors and NVIDIA's Quadro M1000 series GPUs. It's essentially a mobile workstation version of Dell's XPS 15 line but along with an NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive, delivers professional grade performance and the pro app certifications that go with it. Compared to Lenovo's ThinkPad W550 line, the Precision 15 is a more sleek, stylish machine and in testing it packs more punch as well. Lenovo may already have their Skylake Xeon refresh in the works for the ThinkPad W series, however.

SourceForge has officially eliminated its DevShare program. The DevShare program delivered installer bundles as part of the download for participating projects. We want to restore our reputation as a trusted home for open source software, and this was a clear first step towards that. We are more interested in doing the right thing than making extra short-term profit. This is just the first step in a number of improvements we will outline in the coming weeks. SourceForge and Slashdot were acquired in late January by BIZX.

An anonymous reader writes: A week ago, Google suddenly removed Adblock Fast from its Android app store. Today, the ad blocker has been reinstated, enabling Samsung users to download it once again from Google Play. Late last month, the browser preinstalled on Samsung's Android phones gained support for content-blocking plugins, and the first plugin to support the functionality was a free and open-source solution called Adblock Fast. Rocketship Apps, the maker of Adblock Fast, uploaded the Android plugin on January 29, but Google rejected an app update on February 1. The app hit Google Play's top spot for free, new productivity apps on February 2, and was pulled by Google on the same day.

AthanasiusKircher writes: The Atlantic has an >extended article on the recent surge in advanced math education at the primary and secondary levels in the U.S., arguing that last year's victory for the U.S. in the Math Olympiad was not a random anomaly. Participation in math camps, after-school or weekend math "academies," and math competitions has surged in recent years, with many programs having long wait lists. Inessa Rifkin, co-founder of one of these math academies, argues that the problems with math education begin in the 2nd and 3rd grades: ""The youngest ones, very naturally, their minds see math differently.... It is common that they can ask simple questions and then, in the next minute, a very complicated one. But if the teacher doesn't know enough mathematics, she will answer the simple question and shut down the other, more difficult one." These alternative math programs put a greater focus on problem-solving: "Unlike most math classes, where teachers struggle to impart knowledge to students—who must passively absorb it and then regurgitate it on a test—problem-solving classes demand that the pupils execute the cognitive bench press: investigating, conjecturing, predicting, analyzing, and finally verifying their own mathematical strategy. The point is not to accurately execute algorithms, although there is, of course, a right answer... Truly thinking the problem through—creatively applying what you know about math and puzzling out possible solutions—is more important."

The article concludes by noting that programs like No Child Left Behind have focused on minimal standards, rather than enrichment activities for advanced students. The result is a disparity in economic backgrounds for students in pricey math activities; many middle-class Americans investigate summer camps or sports programs for younger kids, but they don't realize how important a math program could be for a curious child. As Daniel Zaharopol, founder of a related non-profit initiative, noted in his searches to recruit low-income students: "Actually doing math should bring them joy."

An anonymous reader writes: Not even a week has gone by since Torrents Time appeared on the scene, and the site has already been served with a cease-and-desist letter. Anti-piracy group BREIN, based in the Netherlands, has deemed the streaming tool an "illegal application" and demands the administrators "cease and desist the distribution of Torrents Time immediately."

Jason Koebler writes: Two and a half years after Elon Musk pitched the technology, actually traveling on a hyperloop is still theoretical, but its effect on business is not. There is a very real, bonafide industry of people whose job description is, broadly speaking "make the hyperloop into a tangible thing." The SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Design Weekend at Texas A&M University earlier this weekend was the coming out party for people in that industry.

New submitter isisilik writes: For those working in the 'aaS' business the Parse shutdown was the main topic of conversation this weekend. So why did Facebook decide to shut down their developer platform? The author claims that Facebook never wanted to host apps to begin with, they just wanted developers to use Facebook login. And he builds up a good case.

An anonymous reader writes with Yahoo's report that the makers of Adblock Plus are "looking to reach out to advertisers and identify an 'acceptable' level and form of advertising on the net." That involves convincing advertisers to conform to the company's own guidelines for advertising, or an alternative path much disliked by some of the software's users — to pay the company to ignore ads that don't meet those guidelines. From the article: Big websites can pay a fee not to be blocked. And it is these proceeds that finance the Cologne-based company and its 49-strong workforce. While Google and Amazon have paid up, others refuse. Axel Springer, which publishers Germany's best-selling daily Bild, accuses [Adblock Plus maker] Eyeo of racketeering. "We believe Eyeo's business model is against the law," a spokesman for Springer told AFP. "Clearly, Eyeo's primary aim is to get its hands on a share of the advertising revenues." Ultimately, such practices posed a threat to the professional journalism on the web, he suggested, an argument Eyeo rejects.

New submitter Iamthecheese points to an article which says that a patch published on the Linux Kernel Mailing List indicates that AMD's forthcoming Zen processors will have as many as 32 cores per socket, but notes that while the article's headline says "Confirms," "the article text doesn't bear that out." Still, he writes, There are hints of such from last year. A leaked patch for the 14 nanometer AMD Zeppelin (Family 17h, Model 00h) reveals support for up to 32 cores. Another blog says pretty much the same thing. We recently discussed an announced 4+8 core AMD chip, but nothing like this.

An anonymous reader writes: After years of its backers of doing everything the state of Hawaii demanded in order to get permission to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, a state judge today ordered that the whole process should start over again. Since this order was instigated by the protesters, and that it appears the government favors those protesters, it appears that there is no chance TMT will ever get approval to build in Hawaii. We've been following the back and forth, back and forth story of this telescope for a while.

An anonymous reader writes: After years of its backers of doing everything the state of Hawaii demanded in order to get permission to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, a state judge today ordered that the whole process should start over again. Since this order was instigated by the protesters, and that it appears the government favors those protesters, it appears that there is no chance TMT will ever get approval to build in Hawaii. We've been following the back and forth, back and forth story of this telescope for a while.

An anonymous reader writes: After years of its backers of doing everything the state of Hawaii demanded in order to get permission to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, a state judge today ordered that the whole process should start over again. Since this order was instigated by the protesters, and that it appears the government favors those protesters, it appears that there is no chance TMT will ever get approval to build in Hawaii. We've been following the back and forth, back and forth story of this telescope for a while.

An anonymous reader writes: After years of its backers of doing everything the state of Hawaii demanded in order to get permission to build the Thirty Meter Telescope, a state judge today ordered that the whole process should start over again. Since this order was instigated by the protesters, and that it appears the government favors those protesters, it appears that there is no chance TMT will ever get approval to build in Hawaii. We've been following the back and forth, back and forth story of this telescope for a while.

jones_supa writes: University of Copenhagen is cutting deep into its staff to cut operation costs. Even though a great deal of the savings are aimed at administration and service, they are expected to affect the quality of education and research many years ahead. More than 500 teachers, researchers and employees in service and administrative jobs will be leaving. This corresponds to 7% of all staff. 209 employees can anticipate being laid off, while 323 jobs are either discontinued or terminated via voluntary redundancy. In addition to this, the university will have to reduce its PhD intake by 10% in the coming years. This is the outcome of the government's 2016 budget which imposes huge savings on research and education. As you might remember, we just heard about a similar situation in University of Helsinki in Finland.

An esteemed reader writes: Curious about the various telemetry and personal information being collected by Windows 10, one user installed Windows 10 Enterprise and disabled all of the telemetry and reporting options. Then he configured his router to log all the connections that happened anyway. Even after opting out wherever possible, his firewall captured Windows making around 4,000 connection attempts to 93 different IP addresses during an 8 hour period, with most of those IPs controlled by Microsoft. Even the enterprise version of Windows 10 is checking in with Redmond when you tell it not to — and it's doing so frequently.

New submitter Tenebrousedge writes: Docker container sizes continue a race to the bottom with a couple of environments weighing in at less than 10MB. Following on the heels of this week's story regarding small images based on Alpine Linux, it appears that the official Docker images will be moving from Debian/Ubuntu to Alpine Linux in the near future. How low will they go?

An anonymous reader writes: Just two days after Comodo's Chromodo browser was publicly shamed by Google Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy, it's now Avast's turn to be publicly scorned for failing to provide a "secure" browser for its users. Called SafeZone, and also known as Avastium, Avast's custom browser is offered as a bundled download for all who purchase or upgrade to a paid version of Avast Antivirus 2016. This poor excuse of a browser was allowing attackers to access files on the user's filesystem just by clicking on malicious links. The browser wouldn't even have to be opened, and the malicious link could be clicked in "any" browser.

An anonymous reader writes: On Tuesday, a new simple solution for streaming torrents directly in your browser showed up on the Web. By Friday, infamous torrent site The Pirate Bay had already adopted it. The Pirate Bay now features "Stream It!" links next to all its video torrents. As a result, you can play movies, TV shows, and any other video content directly in the same window you use to browse the torrent site.