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Submission + - Check Into A Robot-Staffed Japanese Hotel (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: The front desk is staffed by a female android in a white tunic. The bellhop is a mechanical velociraptor. A giant robot arm put luggage into cubbyholes. It's the Henn-na Hotel in Nagasaki and it's opening this Friday, and it's a place where 'basically guests will see only robots, not humans,' according to general manager Masahiko Hayasaka.

Submission + - Google To Reopen Maps To User Edits, With An Anti-Abuse Plan (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: When Google opened up its Maps to user edits, a lot of useful information got added — along with plenty of spam and outright abuse, some of it obscene, which led to the program being shut down. Now the company is planning to reopen things to user input, recruiting local mappers that they're calling "regional leads" to filter out problematic content.

Submission + - Cell Phone Radiation Emission Tests Assume Use Of Belt Clip (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Most Slashdotters rightfully roll their eyes when people panic about the "radiation" put out by cell phone. But there is a germ of truth to some of the nervous talk: when the FCC assesses how much radio-frequency radiation a phone user will absorb, they work on the assumption you'll be wearing it in a belt clip, rather than putting it in your pocket as most people do.

Submission + - Microsoft Becomes First 2015 'Gold' Contributor To OpenBSD Foundation

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: OpenBSD Journal on Tuesday announced that Microsoft has become the OpenBSD Foundation's first-ever Gold contributor (Google and Facebook are both Silver contributors). The move makes good on an earlier comment by Angel Calvo in a post on the Windows PowerShell Blog that they won't be just adopting the openSSH, they will also be contributing to it. (OpenSSH is an OpenBSD Foundation project.) The dollar amount of the contribution won't blow you away, though: $25,000-$50,000 will get you the Gold.

Submission + - Why Are There So Many Gaps In Google Street View? (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Google Street View keeps going to all sorts of exotic places — up the sheer cliff wall of El Capitan, for example. So why are there so many gaps in, for instance, the streets of the Sunset District, an easily accessible residential neighborhood in San Francisco, just a few miles from Google HQ? The answer may be a combination of privacy requests and technical glitches, but Google is talking. Observers noted in one case on an island road, the Street View car apparently stopped its journey right next to a bar.

Submission + - Richard Stallman 'Basically' Fine With NSA Using GNU/Linux (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: GNU project founder Richard Stallman can seem a little (if you'll forgive the turn of phrase) proprietary at times over open source software, to the point of insisting on calling Linux "GNU/Linux." But one thing he'll always admit is that nobody can control how properly licensed open source software can be used — even if it's being used by government agencies for purposes he opposes. That was his take on the recent intra-open source debate that arose upon revelations of the NSA's extensive use of free and open source software.

Submission + - Baby, I'm Worth It: 13% of CompSci Grads Have Starting Salaries Over $100K (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: That was one of the findings of a survey of 50,000 U.S. college students and recent graduates by Looksharp, a marketplace for internships and entry-level jobs. For general findings across all majors, check out Looksharp's State of College Hiring Report 2015. But the company shared some more computer science-specific findings with ITworld's Phil Johnson. Among them: 'Of all majors, students studying in CS had the highest average starting salary, $66,161.' And, what's more, they know the value of their degree: 'On average, they expected a starting salary of $68,120, slightly above the actual average starting salary of $66,161.'

Submission + - United's Woes Show What's Hard About Networking

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: A router failure is reportedly to blame for yesterday's grounding of United Airlines planes. 'While it might seem like redundant routers and cables could keep that kind of problem from having a nationwide impact on an airline, networking problems are rarely as simple as routing around a failure,' writes Stephen Lawson. And that's because a router failure can mean a lot of things besides a total shutdown, and simple failover mechanisms only work for total failures that can be immediately detected, says Gartner analyst Joe Skorupa.

Submission + - Hacker Group That Hit Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft Intensifies Attacks (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: The hacker group, which security researchers from Kaspersky Lab and Symantec call Wild Neutron or Morpho, has broken into the networks of over 45 large companies since 2012. After the 2013 attacks against Twitter, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft were highly publicized, the group went underground and temporarily halted its activity. However, its attacks resumed in 2014 and have since intensified, according to separate reports released Wednesday by Kaspersky Lab and Symantec.

Submission + - Intel's Software Chief Out; Botched McAfee Deal To Blame? (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Renee James, Intel's president and head of the company's software group has departed, supposedly to "pursue other opportunities." But a high-profile heir apparent doesn't just leave voluntarily, and it seems likely that she is in part taking the fall for Intel's acquisition of McAfee, the promised synergies of which have failed to materialize. Then again, Intel is a traditionally very stable company, but there's been a lot of churn in the uper ranks lately: is something wrong?

Submission + - Nvidia Hopes To Sell More Chips By Bringing AI Programming To The Masses (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: Artificial intelligence typically requires heavy computing power, which can only help manufacturers of specialized chip manufacturers like Nvidia. That's why the company is pushing its Digits software, which helps users design and experiment with neural networks. Version 2 of digits moves out of the command line and comes with a GUI interface in an attempt to move interest beyond the current academic market; it also makes programming for multichip configurations possible.

Submission + - Chinese Consumer Group Sues Samsung Over Phone Crapware (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: For everyone who's created a folder on their phone called "dumb apps I can't remove" or the like, a ray of hope has come from China. The Shanghai Consumer Council has filed a suit against Samsung for not only placing so much bloatware on their phones, but also making it impossible for the user to easily remove the apps. The lawsuit is meant to discourage smartphone vendors from weighing their products down with pre-installed software

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