For those abiding by Mesa stable releases, Mesa 18.1.4 is now available — in time for updating prior to any weekend Linux gaming or other activities — for these open-source OpenGL/Vulkan driver components…
Source: Phoronix – Mesa 18.1.4 Released With Fixes For Intel & Radeon Drivers
Monthly Archives: July 2018
Instagram is Down [Updated]
According to thousands of users, Instagram website and app are facing technical issues. Users attempting to visit the website are seeing a “5xx Server Error”, while on the app, they are getting “Couldn’t refresh feed.” According to DownDetector, a service which monitors outages on the web, more than 2,000 people have reported issues with Facebook-owned Instagram in the last 10 minutes. Update: As of 19:20 GMT, Instagram appears to have resolved the issue.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Instagram is Down [Updated]
Instagram is Down
According to thousands of users, Instagram website and app are facing technical issues. Users attempting to visit the website are seeing a “5xx Server Error”, while on the app, they are getting “Couldn’t refresh feed.” According to DownDetector, a service which monitors outages on the web, more than 2,000 people have reported issues with Facebook-owned Instagram in the last 10 minutes.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Instagram is Down
The Perfect Temperature Is 74 Degrees
Everything is stupid, and so are we. Welcome to Jezebel’s Stupidest Summer Ever, a season-long celebration of our worst, most idiotic thoughts and opinions.
Source: LifeHacker – The Perfect Temperature Is 74 Degrees
Defending InfoWars, Facebook declines to stop fake news
This week, we learned in concrete terms that Facebook, like the Trump administration, has no bottom when it comes to hypocrisy and catering to neo-fascist conservatives. The hole has since been dug so deep by the company that its usual tactic of trad…
Source: Engadget – Defending InfoWars, Facebook declines to stop fake news
Isn't it Time You Bought Yourself a Boat?
When we last rounded up our staff’s Weekly Upgrades, our editors were ramping up our workout routines, recovering from injuries, using vacation time (somewhat) productively, and tweaking our technique in the kitchen.
Source: LifeHacker – Isn’t it Time You Bought Yourself a Boat?
Wayland 1.16 & Weston 5.0 Reach Alpha
Samsung’s Derek Foreman has announced the alpha release of Wayland 1.16 as well as the Weston 5.0 reference compositor…
Source: Phoronix – Wayland 1.16 & Weston 5.0 Reach Alpha
Amazon Plans To Challenge Cisco in Networking Market With Much Cheaper Switches, Report Says
Amazon Web Services already dominates the market for cloud services. Now, reports The Information, it is eyeing a part of the cloud business it doesn’t already control: the $14 billion global market for data center switches [Editor’s note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source]. From the report: AWS is considering selling its own networking switches for business customers — hardware devices that move traffic around networks, according to a person with direct knowledge of the cloud unit’s plans and another person who has been briefed on the project. The plan could plunge Amazon more deeply into the lucrative enterprise computing market, posing a direct challenge to incumbents in the business like Cisco, along with Arista Networks and Juniper Networks. As it does in many other categories, Amazon plans to use price to undercut rivals. The company could price its white-box switches between 70% and 80% less than comparable switches from Cisco, one of the people with knowledge of the program estimated.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Amazon Plans To Challenge Cisco in Networking Market With Much Cheaper Switches, Report Says
Instacart gets grocery delivery help from Postmates at busy times
What do you do if your internet-based grocery delivery service is straining to keep up with demand at its busiest periods? Why, ask another delivery service for help, of course. Instacart is launching a pilot program in San Francisco that will have…
Source: Engadget – Instacart gets grocery delivery help from Postmates at busy times
People Are Getting Sick With a Parasite After Eating McDonald's Salads
Even under the best of circumstances, getting salad at McDonald’s is a dicey endeavor. But now an outbreak of the foodborne parasite cyclospora has sickened over 100 people in Iowa and Illinois since May, and several cases are tied to salads purchased at the fast food giant.
Source: Gizmodo – People Are Getting Sick With a Parasite After Eating McDonald’s Salads
An Earthquake Damaged a Pyramid in Mexico—and Exposed an Aztec Temple Hidden Below
On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck central Mexico, killing nearly 370 people. But something good has come from this tragic event: The quake damaged an ancient pyramid, revealing a previously unknown Aztec temple underneath.
Source: Gizmodo – An Earthquake Damaged a Pyramid in Mexico—and Exposed an Aztec Temple Hidden Below
All Your Sunscreen Questions, Answered
Sunscreen is a wonder of technology. It’s the closest thing we have to an anti-aging miracle, and it makes the outdoors safe for pale folks like me who would otherwise fry to a bright pink crisp. But we know you have questions about how to use it, and even whether you really need to use it. Here’s our primer on all…
Source: LifeHacker – All Your Sunscreen Questions, Answered
Alaska’s last two Blockbusters are shutting down, leaving one in US
On Thursday, Blockbuster Alaska announced that the rental chain’s last two Alaskan stores will shut down on Monday, with liquidation sales to follow. The news means that only one Blockbuster store will remain in the United States, in Bend, Oregon.
“We hope to see you at our stores during the closing, even if it’s just to say ‘Hello,'” the final two shops’ managers posted in a Facebook announcement on Thursday. “What a great time to build your media library and share some Blockbuster memories with us.”
In its report, the Anchorage Daily News confirmed with Border Entertainment, a Texas-based holding company that operated all of Alaska’s Blockbuster stores, that closure plans had been in the works since before the end of 2017. At that time, Border decided to stop renewing any Blockbuster store leases, resulting in a series of closures across the state over the past nine months.
Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Alaska’s last two Blockbusters are shutting down, leaving one in US
How a Superheroic Breed of Coral Could Help Save the Reefs
Ravaged by the effects of climate change, the world’s corals are on the brink of catastrophic decline, and time is running out. At the Gates Coral Lab in Hawaii, however, scientists are searching for the magic recipe to breed a more resilient “super coral” with a better chance of surviving.
Source: Gizmodo – How a Superheroic Breed of Coral Could Help Save the Reefs
Microsoft Andromeda Dual-Screen Surface Device Lives, But May Receive Snapdragon 850 Overhaul
It seems as though many enthusiasts have Andromeda fever. And by Andromeda, we mean Microsoft’s supposed upcoming ARM-powered dual-screen Surface device. Andromeda has been rumored for quite some time, and Surface Chief Panos Panay even fueled the rumormill with a cryptic tweet late last month.
However, enthusiasts also know that Microsoft
Source: Hot Hardware – Microsoft Andromeda Dual-Screen Surface Device Lives, But May Receive Snapdragon 850 Overhaul
Uber is reportedly testing continuous background checks for drivers
Background checks have been a problem for ride sharing companies for quite some time. Colorado fined Uber $8.9 million for hiring drivers with criminal records, while more than 8,000 Lyft and Uber drivers failed a Massachusetts background check last…
Source: Engadget – Uber is reportedly testing continuous background checks for drivers
No, 'Shit-Post' Does Not Appear in Mueller's New Russia Indictment
As you know by now, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team at the U.S. Justice Department issued an indictment against more Russian operatives believed to be involved in tampering with the 2016 election. The 29-page document names 12 such Russian military intelligence (GRU) operatives, details exploits involving…
Source: Gizmodo – No, ‘Shit-Post’ Does Not Appear in Mueller’s New Russia Indictment
In open offices, workers chat 70% less, are less productive, and email more
Enlarge / Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays. (credit: Getty | Ian Nicholson)
Tearing down walls and cubicles in offices may actually build up more barriers to productivity and collaboration, according to a new study.
Employees at two Fortune 500 multinational companies saw face-to-face interaction time drop by about 70 percent, the use of email increase between 22 percent and 56 percent, and productivity slip after their traditional office spaces were converted to open floor plans—that is, ones without walls or cubicles that ostensibly create barriers to interaction. The findings, published recently in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, suggest that removing physical dividers may, in fact, make it harder for employers to foster collaboration and collective intelligence among their employees.
Many companies have waged a so-called “war on walls” to try to create such vibrant workspaces, the authors Ethan Bernstein and Stephen Turban of Harvard wrote. But, “what they often get—as captured by a steady stream of news articles professing the death of the open office—is an open expanse of proximal employees choosing to isolate themselves as best they can (e.g. by wearing large headphones) while appearing to be as busy as possible (since everyone can see them).”
Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – In open offices, workers chat 70% less, are less productive, and email more
Tesla Drops $35,000 Price From Model 3 Page
As of today you will no longer find the $35,000 price listed for the Model 3. Ars Technica contacted Tesla about this change and all they could get out of Tesla is they plan to offer one for that price in the future. That future time frame wasn’t provided. I think most of us that have followed the Model 3 debacle know why they removed the price and that’s because they can’t build them in great enough numbers yet. I believe they’re going to make the more expensive models for a while so they can make a profit and dig the company out of the debt hole that it’s in. Once that occurs we might see $35,000 Model 3’s for sale.
Tesla reached a “5k/wk” production rate for the Model 3 at the end of June, so that would have implied that $35,000 Model 3’s would become available some time in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the new “6-9 month” guidance for the standard battery version of the Model 3 suggests that it will now be early 2019 at the earliest before anyone can buy the low-end model.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Tesla Drops ,000 Price From Model 3 Page
Joss Whedon Lands a New HBO Series About Fancy Victorian Women With Superpowers
HBO’s still the name to beat when it comes to prestige genre television and apparently, it has no intentions of losing that title. The network’s teaming up with Joss Whedon for a new series set in a fanciful world of social norms and secret powers.
Source: Gizmodo – Joss Whedon Lands a New HBO Series About Fancy Victorian Women With Superpowers