Comment Re:Huge vulnerability (Score 1) 564
Especially if those automated software deployment packages like SCCM are Microsoft products.
Comment Re:Ready for mainline? (Score 1) 121
Thanks for the bug report
Comment Re:Waste of time and effort (Score 1) 121
Those shiny distributed file systems run on top of boring local filesystems.
Comment Re:parent delays (Score 3, Informative) 121
So tux2 was ready in 2000, and it took 14 years to rewrite it to avoid parents? Oh how much patents help innovation!
Few more years and those patents will expire and we can use both!
Tux3 is a better design. Tux2 was more along the lines of ZFS and Btrfs, that is, multiply-rooted trees sharing subtrees. Tux3 is a single tree with exactly one pointer to each extent. Considerably easier to check and repair. Of course we need to see if it turns out that way so please stay tuned.
Comment Re:Ambitious but not much has happened in 6 yrs (Score 1) 121
Indeed, different aims. Tux3 has the modest goal of being a light, tight and fast filesystem without ambition of also being a volume manager.
Ask Nathan Myhrvold What You Will, Live Q&A April 3 124
He was the CTO at Microsoft, is an accomplished nature and wildlife photographer, and his cookbook Modernist Cuisine won a James Beard award, but Nathan Myhrvold is probably best known for being co-founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures. In 2009 the company launched a prototyping and research laboratory called Intellectual Ventures Lab. The lab has hired many prominent scientists to work on a variety of inventions including safer nuclear reactor designs and vaccine research. Under Myhrvold's direction Intellectual Ventures has purchased 40,000 patents and applications and internally developed over 2000 inventions, but not without controversy. Nathan has agreed to take some time to answer your questions but please limit yourself to one question per post. As a bonus on Wed. April 3, Nathan will be doing a live Q&A from 12-12:30pm PDT.
Comment Re:God wants to see us once a week (Score 2) 455
As a manager, I can tell you that I need to spend some hi-bandwidth time with my people on a regular basis
As a verteran engineer, I can tell you you're an idiot and a liability for whichever unlucky company you work for.
Nikon Buckles To Microsoft, Will Pay "Android Tax" For Smart Cameras 272
walterbyrd writes with news that Nikon is the latest company to agree to pay Microsoft for the privilege of using Android on its devices — as you might expect from Nikon, the devices in this case are cameras. (Microsoft's press release.)
Comment Re:Hmmmm .... (Score 1) 152
Lower res pictures with bigger pixels?
Yes. My 20D with 8 megapixels takes much higher quality pictures that any known cell phone, or any point and shoot with 50% more nominal pixels. It's not just the vastly better optics, it's also the quality of the sensor.
Comment Re:Non removable battery, no memory card slot. (Score 1) 152
I have never had any issues with any Li-ion batteries as long as they are properly maintained. That means do not let it run below 20% (yes, it means stop yakking on the phone and stop playing games on the phone if it is that low).
In which universe does that qualify as acceptable usability for a consumer device? Especially considering that typical high end smart phones don't even last a day, just running maps or other moderate loads.
Comment Re:Non removable battery, no memory card slot. (Score 1) 152
SD cards are going away on phones
Sounds like wishful thinking from someone who doesn't have one. SD cards are plenty fast enough for me. I would far rather have an SD card than be forced to futz around with USB cables, dongles, adapters etc. I have some Android devices with SD card and some without. I have a strong preference for the devices with SD cards. That's one of the big annoyances of the Nexus 4, no SD card. Plus, needing a special tool or a pin (problematic on an airplane) to get the SIM card out is just plain idiotic. But I digress. I note that Samsung has begun to see the error of their ways in that regard.
Facebook Employees' Laptops Compromised; User Data Believed Safe 75
Trailrunner7 writes "Laptops belonging to several Facebook employees were compromised recently and infected with malware that the company said was installed through the use of a Java zero-day exploit that bypassed the software's sandbox. Facebook claims that no user data was affected by the attack and says that it has been working with law enforcement to investigate the attack, which also affected other unnamed companies. Facebook officials did not identify the specific kind of malware that the attackers installed on the compromised laptops, but said that the employee's machines were infected when they visited a mobile developer Web site that was hosting the Java exploit. When the employees visited the site, the exploit attacked a zero-day vulnerability in Java that was able to bypass the software's sandbox and enable the attackers to install malware. The company said it reported the vulnerability to Oracle, which then patched the Java bug on Feb. 1."
Moving the Linux Kernel Console To User-Space 311
jones_supa sends this quote from Phoronix:
"David Herrmann has provided an update on his ambitious initiative to kill off the Linux kernel console. Herrmann has long been working on making the Linux kernel CONFIG_VT option unnecessary for providing a Linux console by punting it off to user-space. The Linux kernel VT console hasn't been changed much in the past two decades and Herrmann is hoping to see it replaced with a user-space solution he's been developing that would allow for multi-seat support, a hardware-accelerated console, full internalization, and other features."
Microsoft Surface Pro Reviews Arrive 320
The release date is approaching for Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet, and reviews for the new device have started appearing. The Surface Pro differs from the Surface in that it runs a full version of Windows 8 Pro, rather than the tablet-centric Windows RT. It also has much beefier hardware specs: 4GB RAM, an Intel Core i5 CPU, and a full HD display with 10-point multitouch. Ars describes it as having the expected good performance at the expected costs of heat, noise, and battery life. "This is not an all-day machine. Surface RT probably is. But Surface Pro is not." The review praises the screen and the stylus, but points out some odd scaling issues as well. The Verge's review also mentions the scaling, and notes the strangeness of dealing with issues inherent to a Windows desktop OS — like antivirus — on a tablet. BGR looks at the big picture, calling the Surface Pro Microsoft's "declaration of war" on its hardware partners. All three reviews dwell on how the Surface Pro exists at the intersection of laptop and tablet, and doesn't quite fulfill either role. Ars says, "From the tablet perspective, Surface Pro is not acceptable. It gets too hot for a hand-held device, its battery life is woefully inadequate, and it's too thick and heavy to be comfortable to hand hold for long sessions. ... From a laptop perspective, Surface Pro falls down too. The traditional laptop has a stiff hinge to hold the screen at an angle of your choosing. ... In practice, the Surface RT and Surface Pro have a bigger footprint on my lap even than my old 15-inch MacBook Pro. And if I move a little, whomp, the screen drops off the back of my knees and folds out of sight." The Verge adds, "The real dealbreaker for me was that it's just unusable in my most common position — sitting on my couch, feet on the coffee table, with the computer on my lap."
Python Gets a Big Data Boost From DARPA 180
itwbennett writes "DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has awarded $3 million to software provider Continuum Analytics to help fund the development of Python's data processing and visualization capabilities for big data jobs. The money will go toward developing new techniques for data analysis and for visually portraying large, multi-dimensional data sets. The work aims to extend beyond the capabilities offered by the NumPy and SciPy Python libraries, which are widely used by programmers for mathematical and scientific calculations, respectively. The work is part of DARPA's XData research program, a four-year, $100 million effort to give the Defense Department and other U.S. government agencies tools to work with large amounts of sensor data and other forms of big data."
