71948353
submission
itwbennett writes:
AMD has pulled out of the market for high-density servers, reversing a strategy it embarked on three years ago with its $334 million acquisition of SeaMicro. AMD delivered the news Thursday as it announced financial results for the quarter. Its revenue slumped 26 percent from this time last year to $1.03 billion, and its net loss increased to $180 million.
71943405
submission
itwbennett writes:
The Los Angeles Unified School District is seeking a multimillion dollar refund from Apple over a failed project to provide 650,000 students with iPads they could use at home. Apple hired Pearson Education as a subcontractor to develop software for the iPads, but according to a letter the school district sent to Apple this week, a 'vast majority' of the students have been unable to use the software.
71941929
submission
itwbennett writes:
Called NailO, the prototype trackpad is similar to the stick-on nails sometimes used as a fashion accessory. It attaches to the user’s thumb and can be controlled by running a finger over its surface. The processor, battery, sensing chip and Bluetooth radio are included on a circuit board that sits under the capacitive trackpad. The two are connected via a small ribbon cable, which means the trackpad is not quite as thin as a stick-on nail, but reducing the size is one of the aims of the researchers.
71939707
submission
itwbennett writes:
Wikileaks has published a searchable database of thousands of emails and documents from Sony Pictures Entertainment that were leaked in late 2014 after the studio was attacked by hackers. Some of the 173,132 emails and 30,287 documents contain highly personal information about Sony employees including home addresses, personal phone numbers and social security numbers, a fact which is likely to raise new concerns about the use of stolen information online.
71899855
submission
itwbennett writes:
The list of products designed to be security enhanced that turned out to be anything but seems to get longer by the day. In just the latest instance, reported by Wired last week, the crowd-funded privacy-enhancing home router Anonabox had to be recalled after an independent researcher discovered serious security flaws in the product. But security experts caution that the real problem may be bigger than vulnerabilities hidden in application code: 'Designed for security products don't just have to be good. They have to be beyond reproach,' explains John Dickson, a Principal at the Denim Group. 'All it takes is one guy with a grudge to undo you.'
71896891
submission
itwbennett writes:
One of the main arguments for the trade groups and ISPs that have filed six — yes, six — lawsuits against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules is that the agency violated a 69-year-old administrative procedure law in crafting the new regulations. A second argument: the agency violated ISPs’ Fifth Amendment rights by taking their private property for public use without paying 'just compensation.'
71868009
submission
itwbennett writes:
MIT researchers are working on a new programming language, called Picture, that could radically reduce the amount of coding needed to help computers recognize objects in images and video. It is a prototype of how a relatively novel form of programming, called probabilistic programming, could reduce the amount of code needed for such complex tasks. In one test of the new language, the researchers were able to cut thousands of lines of code in one image recognition program down to fewer than 50.
71837593
submission
itwbennett writes:
A 56-page notebook manuscript by Alan Turing, the English mathematician considered to be the father of modern computer science, was sold at auction Monday for $1.025 million. Turing apparently wrote in the notebook in 1942 when he was working in Bletchley Park, England, trying to break German military code.
71836505
submission
itwbennett writes:
Sprint is now offering to deliver and set up phones, tablets and other connected devices for free at homes, offices and other locations chosen by the customer. The offer is currently limited to eligible upgrade customers, but starting September, new customers in selected markets will be able to choose the new Direct 2 You option, when buying online or through call centers.
71836413
submission
itwbennett writes:
The Dutch police, as part of an investigation, recently obtained a database from a CoinVault command-and-control server containing decryption keys. The information obtained from that database allowed Kaspersky to build a decryption tool that you can now get for free.
71828825
submission
itwbennett writes:
On Friday, Tokyo Electric Power sent a robot into the primary containment vessel (PCV) of reactor No. 1 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. The pipe-crawling, snake-like robot, which can transform itself into several configurations depending on the terrain, was deployed to determine the state and location of melted-down fuel in the reactor. Unfortunately, the ability to change shape didn't wasn't enough to keep it from getting stuck.
71828605
submission
itwbennett writes:
An otherwise unremarkable hacking group likely aligned with China appears to be one of the first to have targeted so-called air-gapped networks that are not directly connected to the Internet, according to FireEye, which released a 69-page technical report on Sunday on the group. FireEye picked up on it after some of the malware used by the group was found to have infected defense-related clients in the U.S., said Jen Weedon, manager of strategic analysis with FireEye.
71753347
submission
itwbennett writes:
U.S. government agencies have stopped Intel from selling microprocessors for China’s supercomputers, apparently reflecting concern about their use in nuclear tests. In February, four supercomputing institutions in China were placed on a U.S. government list that effectively bans them from receiving certain U.S. exports. The institutions were involved in building Tianhe-2 and Tianhe-1A, both of which have allegedly been used for 'nuclear explosive activities,' according to a notice (PDF) posted by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Intel has been selling its Xeon chips to Chinese supercomputers for years, so the ban represents a blow to its business.
71751559
submission
itwbennett writes:
Doing a Google Image search for 'CEO' reveals just one female face in the top results: CEO Barbie. The doll (which may not even be a real Barbie product) appears way down in the results, under a sea of male, mostly white faces, a stark reminder of how under-represented woman are at the top of the corporate ladder. Nor is Google alone in its results, noticed earlier by The Verge. Search for 'CEO' on Bing and the service offers to refine your search to 'women CEO'—using the same picture of Barbie.
71726963
submission
itwbennett writes:
Last year, Intel convinced small, little-known Chinese tablet makers to use its chips instead of only ARM’s. Now it wants those companies to churn out PCs, potentially upsetting a market that has been dominated by Taiwanese manufacturers. Over time, Intel is hopeful that this army of Chinese vendors can join their big brother Lenovo in developing convertible PCs. These companies will want to make a change, given that PCs are generally higher-end products with better profit margins over low-end tablets, said Kirk Skaugen, Intel senior vice president on Thursday. 'It’s no fun selling $59 and $99 solutions to the market,' he added.
