AMD/Radeon had a stellar 2017 for Linux most notably with delivering working Radeon RX Vega open-source driver support at launch, AMDGPU DC finally being merged to the mainline Linux kernel, and the official “AMDVLK” Vulkan driver now being open-source. Besides never-ending performance tuning, there’s really just one major feature/area where the Radeon Linux graphics driver support is missing…
Source: Phoronix – There’s One Big Feature Left For The Radeon Linux Driver Left To Tackle In 2018
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Facebook deletes accounts of Chechnya leader hit with US sanctions
Ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic and one of Vladimir Putin’s staunchest allies, was a frequent Facebook and Instagram user up until recently. The controversial leader found himself locked out of both social networks on December 23rd, leav…
Source: Engadget – Facebook deletes accounts of Chechnya leader hit with US sanctions
World's Tallest LEGO Tower Built In Tel Aviv To Honor Young Cancer Victim
A 36-meter (~118-foot), 500,000+ piece LEGO tower was recently constructed in Tel Aviv, Israel to honor and memorialize 8-year old cancer victim Omer Sayag. Omer passed away in 2014 and the project was started by his teachers, who say he liked to build towers with the blocks while battling his illness. Cry break!:
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said: “Building blocks were donated by residents, companies and some were purchased using municipality funds.”
There was no Guinness World Records adjudicator on site to measure Omer Tower, but drone pictures are being submitted to get the attempt verified.
The previous record for the tallest Lego tower was set at 35.05 metres in Milan in 2015.
Great job, everyone, I’m sure little Omer would be proud. Besides, it’s so tall he can probably reach down and touch it. *squinting up at top of tower* From one LEGO lover to another, rest in peace.
Keep going for several more shots and a video.
Source: Geekologie – World’s Tallest LEGO Tower Built In Tel Aviv To Honor Young Cancer Victim
The Nintendo Switch's GPU is key to installing unofficial games
Game console manufacturers don’t particularly like hackers, but Nintendo’s relationship with them has always been particularly tenuous. At a recent hacking conference in Germany a team presented their efforts at getting homebrew games on Nintendo’s l…
Source: Engadget – The Nintendo Switch’s GPU is key to installing unofficial games
Tesla Model 3 Owner On Cross-Country Road Trip Has Already Encountered Several Problems
Tesla has started delivering the first Model 3 sedans to early reservation holders, and one new owner of the all-electric car has documented his experience on a cross-country jaunt. Unfortunately, he found a number of issues with the car.
Source: Gizmodo – Tesla Model 3 Owner On Cross-Country Road Trip Has Already Encountered Several Problems
Kodi Lands on the Xbox One, Making It the Ultimate Set-Top Box
There are two things everyone should look for in a good set top box: ease of use and versatility. A set top box is terrible if the menus are a horror to navigate and you can’t just plunk down after dinner and watch a movie. But it’s also terrible if it can’t actually play the media you want it to play when you want it…
Source: Gizmodo – Kodi Lands on the Xbox One, Making It the Ultimate Set-Top Box
And the car of the year is… A Ford Megaraptor?
In which I learn how really out of touch this TreeHugger is with the reality of what people want in a car.
Source: TreeHugger – And the car of the year is… A Ford Megaraptor?
Apple Apologizes and Offers $29 Battery Changes
Apple has offered up an apology for the recent debacle of slowing down iPhone cpu’s in older model phones. They just wanted to make your phone last as long as possible. Also, in addition to this mea culpa, they are going to offer a $29 battery change out for your iPhones (6 and later) throughout the year of 2018. I don’t know about anyone else but that satisfies me and I’ll get a new battery next year for my iPhone 7.
We’ve always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. We’re proud that Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors’ devices.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Apple Apologizes and Offers Battery Changes
34 Other Times Donald Trump Tweeted His Ignorance About How Weather Works
I thought we were gonna make it a year without a Trump climate change tweet. But it wouldn’t be 2017 if our President didn’t fall back on his favorite terrible weather joke at the first sign of winter.
Source: Gizmodo – 34 Other Times Donald Trump Tweeted His Ignorance About How Weather Works
Facebook, Twitter and social media’s road to federal regulation
The extent of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election remains unclear, but it’s no secret that social media played a major role. This year brought with it a great deal of scrutiny for tech giants, particularly Facebook, Twitter and Goo…
Source: Engadget – Facebook, Twitter and social media’s road to federal regulation
How to Check Your iPhone’s Battery Life
Now that Apple’s admitted to slowing down iPhones with degraded batteries, you’re probably interested in figuring out whether your battery is losing its ability to hold a charge (and whether you should replace it). There are a few ways to do this, either with an app or by waiting a few weeks, when Apple says it will…
Source: LifeHacker – How to Check Your iPhone’s Battery Life
Oh snap: How a shrimp closes its claws fast enough to vaporize water
Enlarge (credit: Christian Gloor)
The mantis shrimp, which isn’t a shrimp, gets a lot of attention for its visual acuity and powerful punch. But there are actual shrimp that are equally impressive. There are various species of snapping shrimp that can close their claws fast enough that it produces a jet of water that undergoes cavitation, where the extreme turbulence creates pockets of low pressure where the water vaporizes. As these bubbles collapse, they reach temperatures above 5,000K and emit light along with a powerful snapping noise.
This, not surprisingly, can be valuable both on offense and defense, which is probably why there are over 500 known species of snapping shrimp. But how did this ability evolve in the first place? To find out, an international team of researchers obtained the claws of nearly 70 different species of snapping shrimp and subjected them to CT scans to identify their structure and musculature. After 3D printing models of what they found, they conclude that a surprisingly minor set of changes led to a big mechanical difference.
A shrimp causes cavitation with its claws.
The study gets at a common conundrum in evolution. It’s easy to see how generation after generation of small changes can refine a useful feature. It’s harder to understand how a feature shows up in the first place, since any antecedents to the feature wouldn’t be useful in the same way. So it is with snapping shrimp. Until the claws managed to produce powerful jets of water, it’s not clear what could possibly be refined.
Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Oh snap: How a shrimp closes its claws fast enough to vaporize water
Jezebel Dallas Woman Allegedly Destroyed Two Andy Warhol Paintings on First Date With Former Trump F
Jezebel Dallas Woman Allegedly Destroyed Two Andy Warhol Paintings on First Date With Former Trump Fundraiser | Splinter Consider That Trump Might Just Be Dumb | Deadspin Horse Loses Jockey Yards From The Wire, Costing Bettor $571,000 | Earther RIP Lil Snail | The Root New York State Couple, Kids, Brutally Murdered;…
Source: LifeHacker – Jezebel Dallas Woman Allegedly Destroyed Two Andy Warhol Paintings on First Date With Former Trump F
How Hotmail changed Microsoft (and email) forever
Enlarge / The many lives of Hotmail. (credit: Sean Gallagher)
Twenty years ago this week—on December 29, 1997— Bill Gates bought Microsoft a $450 million late Christmas present: a Sunnyvale-based outfit called Hotmail. With the buy—the largest all-cash Internet startup purchase of its day—Microsoft plunged into the nascent world of web-based email.
Originally launched in 1996 by Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia as “HoTMaiL” (referencing HTML, the language of the World Wide Web), Hotmail was initially folded into Microsoft’s MSN online service. Mistakes were made. Many dollars were spent. Branding was changed. Spam became legion. Many, many horrendous email signatures were spawned.
But over the years that followed, Hotmail would set the course for all the web-based email offerings that followed, launching the era of mass-consumer, free email services. Along the way, Hotmail drove changes in Windows itself (particularly in what would become Windows Server) that would lay the groundwork for the operating system to make its push into the data center. And the e-mail service would be Microsoft’s first step toward what is now the Azure cloud.
Read 28 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – How Hotmail changed Microsoft (and email) forever
Krita 4.0 Is Aiming For Release In March
The KDE-aligned Krita digital painting software has published a retrospective of 2017 and a look ahead to 2018…
Source: Phoronix – Krita 4.0 Is Aiming For Release In March
Friday's Best Deals: Digital Day Deals, Bluetooth Headphones, Kershaw Pocket Knife, and More
Stock your digital library with a ton of deals on digital books, music, movies, TV shows, and games, plus find discounts on Bluetooth headphones, a Kershaw pocket knife, and more.
Source: LifeHacker – Friday’s Best Deals: Digital Day Deals, Bluetooth Headphones, Kershaw Pocket Knife, and More
Two Romanians Charged With Hacking Washington DC Police Surveillance Cameras Days Before Trump's Inauguration
US prosecutors have charged two Romanians with hacking Washington DC police computers linked to surveillance cameras just days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. From a report on BBC: The pair are being held in Romania, having been arrested at Bucharest Otopeni airport on 15 December. Mihai Alexandru Isvanca, 25, and Eveline Cismaru, 28, allegedly accessed 123 outdoor surveillance cameras as part of a suspected ransomware scheme. Mr Trump was sworn in on 20 January. The US Department of Justice said the case was “of the highest priority” because of the security surrounding the presidential inauguration. The perpetrators intended to use the camera computers to send ransomware to more than 179,600 email addresses and extort money from victims, the justice department said in a statement.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Two Romanians Charged With Hacking Washington DC Police Surveillance Cameras Days Before Trump’s Inauguration
China's Shenzhen city electrifies all 16,359 of its public buses
If you ever see anyone crowing about how nobody’s taking the initiative on sustainable transport, point them in the direction of Shenzhen. The Chinese city has announced that it has successfully electrified its entire fleet of public buses, all 16,35…
Source: Engadget – China’s Shenzhen city electrifies all 16,359 of its public buses
Use Chargebacks Like an Insurance Policy for Internet Shopping
So you order something from eBay. Or Alibaba. Or some sketchy website you’ve never heard of, because it has the exact sneakers you want when nowhere else does. You know that’s probably a sign it’s too good to be true… but you really want the sneakers, so you foolishly type in your Visa number anyway.
Source: LifeHacker – Use Chargebacks Like an Insurance Policy for Internet Shopping
This Architectural Kaleidoscope Is Melting My Brain, But Not in a Fun Way
If you’ve ever caught yourself mindlessly staring out of the window while driving through a big city filled with endless buildings, you’ll understand the appeal of Lauren Pedrosa’s short film, perspective ǝʌᴉʇɔǝdsɹǝԀ. But Pedrosa takes the repetitive monotony one step further by turning footage of random buildings…
Source: Gizmodo – This Architectural Kaleidoscope Is Melting My Brain, But Not in a Fun Way