64278239
submission
jones_supa writes:
According to a bug report, a recent Ubuntu 14.04 LTS update broke the desktop for some Nvidia Optimus users. Right now is known that a regression is introduced by either version 0.2.91.5 or 0.2.91.6 of package 'ubuntu-drivers-common'. Users of the Optimus platform might want to hold the package at 0.2.91.4 until the bug is fixed, especially if they are Lenovo ThinkPad users. The bug manifests itself as the desktop not being usable and the user is stuck at a purple screen.
64262723
submission
StartsWithABang writes:
Hydroelectric dams are one of the best and oldest sources of green, renewable energy, but — as the Three Gorges Dam in China exemplifies — they often cause a host of environmental and ecological problems and challenges. One of the more interesting ones is how to coax fish upstream in the face of these herculean walls that can often span more than 500 feet in height. While fish ladders might be a solution for some of the smaller dams, they're limited in application and success. Could Whooshh Innovations' Salmon Cannon, a pneumatic tube capable of launching fish up-and-over these dams, finally restore the Columbia River salmon to their original habitats?
64252481
submission
64002743
submission
NGOHQ writes:
The latest version (37) of Google Chrome uses DirectWrite for font rendering on Windows PCs. DirectWrite is a DirectX API made for the purpose of high-quality, resolution-independent text rendering. On paper it sounds great, but some people might not like the new fonts appearance (blurry text on some websites). This guide will show you how to disable DirectWrite.
63998237
submission
brokenin2 writes:
Hal Finney, the number two programmer for PGP and the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction has passed away. From the article on Coindesk: "Shortly after collaborating with Nakamoto on early bitcoin code in 2009, Finney announced he was suffering from ALS. Increasing paralysis, which eventually became near-total, forced him to retire from work in early 2011."
63972315
submission
__aajbyc7391 writes:
In a bid to harness the energy and enthusiasm swirling around today’s open, hackable single board computers, Imagination Technologies, licensor of the MIPS ISA, has unveiled the Creator C120 development board, the ISA's counter to ARM's popular Raspberry Pi and BeagleBone Black SBCs. The MIPS dev board is based on a 1.2GHz dual-core MIPS32 system-on-chip and has 1GB RAM and 8GB flash, and there's also an SD card slot for expansion. Ports include video, audio, Ethernet, both WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, and a bunch more. OS images are already available for Debian 7, Gentoo, Yocto, and Arch Linux, and Android v4.4 is expected to be available soon. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the board is that there's no pricing listed yet, because the company is starting out by giving the boards away free to developers who submit the most interesting projects.
63877497
submission
MrBingoBoingo writes:
Recently a Bitcoin user reports being interviewed over their past use of a now defuct exchange service by agents from the FBI and Treasury Department. This encounter raises concerns that earlier Bitcoin users who entered the space inocuously and without ties to Dark Markets or The Silk Road might need to prepare for Law Enforcement questioning about their early Bitcoin related activities.
63877043
submission
onproton writes:
The Intercept reported today on classified documents revealing that the NSA has built its own "Google-like" search engine to provide over 850 billion collected records directly to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the DEA. Reporter Ryan Gallagher explains, "The documents provide the first definitive evidence that the NSA has for years made massive amounts of surveillance data directly accessible to domestic law enforcement agencies." The search engine, called ICREACH, allows analysts to search an array of databases, some of which contain metadata collected on innocent American citizens, for the purposes of "foreign intelligence." However, questions have been raised over its potential for abuse in what is known as "parallel construction," a process in which agencies use surveillance resources in domestic investigations, and then later cover it up by creating a different evidence trail to use in court.
61590983
submission
sfcrazy writes:
The Gnome team has announced the release of version 3.13.3, which is now available for download and testing. There are many major enhancements and features in this release. According to Mathias Clasen of Gnome, “Highlights in this release include Adwaita as the default GTK+ theme, network awareness in our sharing infrastructure, a new design for yelp and add-on support in gnome-software.” The developers are aiming to have Gnome 3.14 available in Fedora 21. Fedora users can try out the release by using a repository created by Richard Hughess.
61587541
submission
thermowax writes:
Massachusetts SWAT teams claim they’re private corporations, immune from open records laws. Kind of amusing this is in arch-Liberal Mass, but enough editorializing: I don't even know where to start here. No FOIA demands, no investigations, or reviews... the police state gets more real on a daily basis.
61584653
submission
pankkake writes:
Jackson Palmer, one of the founders of Dogecoin, announced he was leaving because the "movement" felt "cultlike", after being involved in a public argument over Dogecoin's trademark.
Not that people were not warned abundantly.
Dogecoin has been steadily losing value and it is anticipated that it will lose more. The author points that altcoins attract increasingly homogeneous groups, confirming Palmer's statements.
61577515
submission
theodp writes:
Code.org's Corporate and Founding Donors page reads like a Who's Who of the world's wealthiest corporations and individuals. But a job posting entitled Marketing / Communications Intern (Seattle only, part-time, unpaid, Sept-Dec) (screenshot) makes it clear that no portion of the tax-deductible donations will trickle down to the successful candidate, who will be required to put in an unpaid 10-20 hours/week "under pressure" in a "fast-paced environment" for four months "assisting marketing efforts for December’s global Hour of Code campaign, coordinating prize packages, managing partner commitments and events in databases and researching media prospects." So, does this count as one of the "high-paying jobs" provided by the computing revolution that Code.org supporters told California Governor Jerry Brown about last May in a letter touting the Hour of Code? Perhaps Code.org is just trying to be frugal — after all, it's requiring K-12 teachers from school districts in Chicago, New York City, Boston, and Seattle to report to the presumably rent-free offices of Corporate Donors Google, Microsoft, and Amazon to be re-educated on how Computer Science should be taught.
61491339
submission
MrBingoBoingo writes:
A lot has changed and continued to change in the world of Linux and Unix desktop environments. A stong case though can be made that Xfce is the best direction to point new desktop Linix and *nix users towards. With rapid change happening in the world of desktop environments, what direction is really the best to point aspiring Linux users towards?
61489481
submission
stephendavion writes:
Researchers at North Dakota State University (NDSU) are working with the university's Carrington Research Extension Center to evaluate the use of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to monitor crop and livestock research projects. As part of the study, researchers are using UAS-mounted thermal, infrared sensors and cameras that capture images at specific frequencies to gather data from fields and livestock at specified times. NDSU Extension Service agricultural machine systems specialist and the project lead John Nowatzki said: "There is currently much interest in using UAS in agriculture.
61489247
submission
dotarray writes:
It's been a while since we've heard from the team at Linden Lab, but the company's been secretly preparing to make a major comeback. CEO Ebbe Altberg has confirmed that a sequel to Second Life is in development, scheduled to hit public beta testing in 2015 — and it'll use the Oculus Rift VR headset.
