That’s a wrap for 2018 with Phoronix this year having published 3,693 original Linux/open-source related news articles and 314 featured articles comprising of our Linux hardware reviews and multi-page benchmark specials. 2019 will bring us into the 15th calendar year since I started Phoronix and now around 4,000 featured articles in its time and more than 27,300 original news articles…
Source: Phoronix – That’s A Wrap For 2018 With 3,693 News Articles, 314 Linux Hardware Reviews/Benchmarks
Monthly Archives: December 2018
We Have Some Sweet Images From the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Art Book
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is our favorite movie of the year. It’s so amazing in so many ways that we simply can’t stop thinking about it. Thankfully, Titan Books is here to help, with their newest title, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed. And io9 has some exclusive images…
Source: Gizmodo – We Have Some Sweet Images From the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Art Book
The Linux Kernel Ends 2018 With Almost 75k Commits This Year
As of this New Year’s Eve afternoon, the Linux kernel saw 74,974 commits this year that added 3,385,121 lines of code and removed 2,512,040 lines…
Source: Phoronix – The Linux Kernel Ends 2018 With Almost 75k Commits This Year
U.S. Strategic Command Helpfully Reminds World It Could Still Annihilate Everyone Before Midnight
The United States Strategic Command—a high-level U.S. military unified command that oversees everything from nuclear deterrence, command, control, and communications to intelligence, cyber warfare, and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction—helpfully reminded the world on New Year’s Eve that it has…
Source: Gizmodo – U.S. Strategic Command Helpfully Reminds World It Could Still Annihilate Everyone Before Midnight
Artist's intricate newspaper papercuts carve out a deeper story
These delicate works of art are made out of current and vintage newspaper broadsheets, and prompt us to look beyond the daily news cycle.
Source: TreeHugger – Artist’s intricate newspaper papercuts carve out a deeper story
FCC To Suspend Most Operations Thursday if the Partial Government Shutdown Continues
The Federal Communications Commission will suspend most operations in the middle of the day January 3 if the partial government shutdown continues, the agency has announced [PDF]. In a statement, it said: In the event of a continued partial lapse in federal government funding, the Federal Communications Commission will suspend most operations in the middle of the day on Thursday, January 3. At that time, employees will have up to four hours to complete an orderly shutdown of operations. However, work required for the protection of life and property will continue, as will any work related to spectrum auctions, which is funded by auction proceeds. In addition, the Office of the Inspector General will continue operations until further notice. The Commission on Wednesday will release a Public Notice detailing the effects the suspension of operations will have, including on electronic filing and database systems, filing deadlines, regulatory and application fee payments, transaction shot clocks, and more. The Public Notice will be available on the Commission’s website, www.fcc.gov.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – FCC To Suspend Most Operations Thursday if the Partial Government Shutdown Continues
Nokia's five-camera phone will include an in-screen fingerprint reader
Thanks to some leaks, Nokia’s five-camera smartphone is no longer a mystery — and it might just be one of the more intriguing handsets of 2019. Well-known leaker Evan Blass and MySmartPrice have posted stills and videos of the Android One phone, no…
Source: Engadget – Nokia’s five-camera phone will include an in-screen fingerprint reader
Don't Store Your Leftover Champagne in the Fridge
If you have champagne leftover from tonight’s festivities, do you yourself a favor and take it out of the fridge in the morning.
Source: LifeHacker – Don’t Store Your Leftover Champagne in the Fridge
Report: Tesla has more than 3,300 Model 3s remaining in US inventory
On Sunday, auto blog Electrek reported that there were more than 3,300 Model 3 vehicles sitting in Tesla’s US inventory, according to an unnamed source familiar with the matter. The source added that, although Tesla has been working to sell every last vehicle before the end of December 31, when the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit for the company’s customers expires, it has still built up an inventory.
Ars contacted Tesla to confirm this information, but we did not receive an immediate response.
Tesla sold its 200,000th electric vehicle in Q2 2018, leaving the company with two remaining quarters to sell vehicles that would receive the full tax credit. Starting January 1, all newly delivered Teslas will only qualify for a $3,750 Federal Tax Credit.
Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – Report: Tesla has more than 3,300 Model 3s remaining in US inventory
Chris Chibnall Calls Doctor Who's Political Stories 'Fundamental'
The latest season of Doctor Who has been breaking ground in a number of ways. Not only has it performed well in ratings with the biggest season opening since the series reboot, but it’s also done a number of episodes focusing on important social and political issues. Showrunner Chris Chibnall says this is vital, as it…
Source: io9 – Chris Chibnall Calls Doctor Who’s Political Stories ‘Fundamental’
See if You're Using These Popular Android Apps That Overshare Info to Facebook
A recent Privacy International study found that 42.55% of the free apps in Google Play could share data with Facebook, and many popular apps share data with Facebook the second they’re opened.
Source: LifeHacker – See if You’re Using These Popular Android Apps That Overshare Info to Facebook
If Chrome OS Tablet Mode Lag Has You Down, Google Has A Fix On The Way
Devices running Google’s Chrome OS have quickly gained traction in the marketplace, and have become staples in the classroom thanks to easy device management and low cost of entry. Despite its rising fame, there are still a few areas where Chrome OS could use a bit more polish, one of which involves performance in tablet mode.
This laggy
Source: Hot Hardware – If Chrome OS Tablet Mode Lag Has You Down, Google Has A Fix On The Way
Okaaaaay: Skydiver Paints During Freefall
This is some helmet-cam footage of professional skydiver and artist Michelle Nirumandrad creating part of her ‘Captured Sky’ series of paintings by splattering paint on canvases strapped to her body as she’s in freefall. Some more info while I make the official announcement that I have seen it all now:
Michelle Nirumandrad takes paints and canvases up during freefall skydives releasing the paints into the air and allowing the winds of the sky to paint the canvas. She crafts in this manner in an effort to create a tangible from an intangible, to claim a souvenir from above, a piece of the heavens, Captured Sky. The artwork is crafted entirely above ground either in freefall or under canopy combining gestural abstraction with the winds of flight to create impressions of the sky, her fingerpaintings if you will. In this video, you can see the freefall portion of the process as Nirumandrad exits a twin otter at 13,500ft and paints with the winds until approximately 5,000ft when she deploys her canopy.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? “Maybe bird shit isn’t bird shit after all.” Exactly! You just THINK it is, but in reality there’s some unseen skydiver thousands of feet above your head splattering paint into the air all willy-willy. I mean, unless you actually see the bird shit on you, then it’s definitely bird shit. Or is it? Dum dum dum!
Keep going for the video.
Source: Geekologie – Okaaaaay: Skydiver Paints During Freefall
15 resolutions you could make for a happier, lower-impact 2019
Reducing your carbon footprint and building community go hand-in-hand toward creating a better planet.
Source: TreeHugger – 15 resolutions you could make for a happier, lower-impact 2019
FCC to suspend operations January 3rd unless funding resumes
It looks like the FCC will be joining the list of government offices that will shut down in light of the ongoing funding lapse. The commission released a statement today saying that if the partial funding lapse continues into January 3rd, it will ini…
Source: Engadget – FCC to suspend operations January 3rd unless funding resumes
Desperately Horny Australian Cane Toads Ride Snake Train to Sex Town
Are these invasive cane toads waterlogged, or just really, really thirsty? The below photo, captured by one Andrew Mock of Kununurra in northern Australia, shows 10 cane toads riding out a storm that dumped nearly 70mm of rain by hitching themselves to the back of an approximately 3.5-meter python, the Guardian…
Source: Gizmodo – Desperately Horny Australian Cane Toads Ride Snake Train to Sex Town
Google is Working on a Fix For Laggy Tablet Mode on Chrome OS Devices
An anonymous reader shares a report: Chrome OS was originally a laptop platform, but slowly it’s being reworked for tablet form factors. However, as that goes on, there have been some hiccups. Most recently, many have noted the poor performance of tablet mode especially on Chrome OS products like the Pixel Slate, but it seems a fix for that lag is incoming. If you tuned into any hands-on or review coverage of Google’s Pixel Slate, you’re likely familiar with the performance issues many have described. In tablet mode, Chrome OS has a lot of issues with lag. This is especially evident in the multitasking screen, and it seems that is the first thing Google is looking at to fix these problems. ChromeUnboxed notes a recent bug tracker which reveals how Google plans to start fixing Chrome OS tablet mode lag in the multitasking screen. Somewhat hilariously, it seems a big reason for the poor frame rates in the animations on this screen actually comes down to how the OS renders the rounded corners on this screen.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Google is Working on a Fix For Laggy Tablet Mode on Chrome OS Devices
Popsugar's Twinning Selfie App Springs A Leak And Exposes Users' Photos
It’s 10pm. Do you know where your selfies are? It was recently revealed that Popsugar’s Twinning app has been accidentally leaking users’ photos. It is believed that hundreds of thousands of photos were available to anyone who knew how to access them.
Popsugar is a media company that focuses on trends, fashion, beauty, fitness, and food.
Source: Hot Hardware – Popsugar’s Twinning Selfie App Springs A Leak And Exposes Users’ Photos
The secret to champagne’s universal appeal is the physics of bubbles
Enlarge / Making champagne is fairly simple, but the physics behind its bubbly delights is surprisingly complex. (credit: Jon Bucklel/EMPICS/PA/Getty Images)
It’s New Year’s Eve, and revelers around the globe will be breaking out the bubbly in massive quantities to usher in 2019. Why do humans love champagne and other fizzy beverages so much, when most animals turn up their noses when it’s offered? Roberto Zenit, a physicist at Mexico’s National Autonomous University of Mexico, and Javier Rodriguez-Rodriguez of the Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain, posit in the November issue of Physics Today that carbonation triggers the same pain receptors in our deep brains that are activated when we eat spicy food.
“This bubbly sensation you have when you drink a carbonated beverage basically triggers similar taste buds,” said Zenit. “Champagne is just wine; what makes it special is the carbonation. It’s a sad day when you drink flat champagne.”
He and Rodriguez-Rodriguez study the behavior of various fluids (including paints), and carbonation is a particularly fascinating topic within that discipline. When the bubbles in champagne burst, they produce droplets that release aromatic compounds believed to enhance the flavor further. (When bubbles in a carbonated beverage like beer don’t burst, the result is a nice thick head of foam.) And here’s another interesting fact: the bubbles in champagne “ring” at specific resonant frequencies, depending on their size. So it’s possible to “hear” the size distribution of bubbles as they rise to the surface in a glass of champagne.
Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments
Source: Ars Technica – The secret to champagne’s universal appeal is the physics of bubbles
How to Prepare for a No-Spend Month
If you’re planning to follow along with the handful of Lifehacker staffers participating in a No-Spend January, you’ll want to do a bit of preparation before you dive in.
Source: LifeHacker – How to Prepare for a No-Spend Month