Comment: Re:Singing the Blues (Score 1, Informative) 492
That was never the case, ever.
GNU/Linux Running On An 8-Bit Processor 361
Posted
by
Unknown Lamer
from the some-people-have-lots-of-free-time dept.
from the some-people-have-lots-of-free-time dept.
dartttt writes, quoting Ubuntu Vibe: "Dmitry Grinberg has successfully booted Ubuntu 9.04 on an 8 bit micro machine with 6.5 KHz CPU and 16 MB RAM. Grinberg did this experiment on a ATmega1284p, 8-bit RISC microcontroller clocked at 24MHz and equipped with 16KB of SRAM and 128KB of flash storage. Since the RAM was too low, he added 30-pin 16MB SIMM to the machine and a 1 GB SD card to host Ubuntu image. ... To get the world's slowest Linux Computer running, he had to write an ARMv5 emulator which supports a 32bit processor and MMU. A similar machine can be made very easily and everything should come in about $20."
There is source code available, but it's under a non-commercial use only license. Just how slow is it? "It takes about 2 hours to boot to bash prompt ('init=/bin/bash' kernel command line). Then 4 more hours to boot up the entire Ubuntu ('exec init' and then login). Starting X takes a lot longer. The effective emulated CPU speed is about 6.5KHz, which is on par with what you'd expect emulating a 32-bit CPU & MMU on a measly 8-bit micro. Curiously enough, once booted, the system is somewhat usable. You can type a command and get a reply within a minute." If you like watching a whole lot of nothing, there's a video of the boot process below the fold.
Hard Drive Shortage Relief Coming In Q1 2012 205
Posted
by
timothy
from the better-than-alka-seltzer dept.
from the better-than-alka-seltzer dept.
MojoKid writes "According to new reports [note: source article at DigiTimes], global HDD production capacity is getting ready to increase to 140-145 million units in the first quarter of 2012, or about 80 percent of where it was prior to when the floods hit Thailand manufacturing plants. HDD production was sitting around 175 million units in the third quarter of 2011 before the floods, after which time it quickly dropped to 120-125 million units. Since then, there's been a concerted effort to restore operations to pre-flood levels."
San Francisco Enlists Bus Cameras For Traffic Law Enforcement 151
Posted
by
timothy
from the move-along-citizen-and-watch-your-mail dept.
from the move-along-citizen-and-watch-your-mail dept.
Lashat writes with news that San Francisco's Muni bus system has outfitted 30 buses so far with "cameras capable of snapping photos of vehicles illegally traveling or parking in The City's transit-only lanes," and that 15 months from now, all of Muni's 819 buses will be equipped with the cameras: drivers caught on tape violating the bus lanes will be subject to fines of up to $115. 'The cameras have been instrumental in changing driver behavior. When cars see a bus coming, they get the hell out of the way now,' said John Haley, transit director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni. Now for the scary part: 'We're starting to get a lot of experience with cameras,' said Haley. 'With all the footage, I'm starting to feel a bit like Cecil B. Demille.'"
A5 Mystery Solved (Why Siri Won't Run On iPhone 4) 239
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the can't-do-it-no-siree dept.
from the can't-do-it-no-siree dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Anna Leach reports that Siri support has been a contentious issue for owners of earlier iPhones, but a recent filing from Audience shows that Siri won't run on the iPhone 4 because the phone's chip can't handle it. Linley Gwennap of the Linley Group cracked one of the secrets of the new iPhone's A5 chip after working out that it packs some serious audio cleaning power not available on the iPhone 4's A4 chip. Audience has developed technology that removes most or all of the background noise when someone places a cell-phone call from a restaurant, airport, or other noisy location. The iPhone 4S integrates Audience's 'EarSmart' technology directly into the A5 processor, improving its technology to handle 'far-field speech,' which means holding the device at arm's length rather than directly in front of the mouth. Apple has also licensed the Audience technology for a 'new generation of processor IP,' which may mean that the forthcoming A6 processor will appear in the iPad 3 and iPhone 5. 'Why Apple has not simply purchased Audience is unclear. An acquisition would prevent Audience's other major customer, Samsung, from using the technology to compete with Apple,' says Gwennap. 'The company may be hedging its bets, as it could switch to Qualcomm's Fluence noise-reduction technology in the future.'"
Comment: bah (Score 4, Insightful) 312
As I expected, there is at least one comment about how "Not everyone is obsessed with amassing property."
That comment was, of course, made in response to someone talking about how large their bed is. Yes, owning a bed is now considered "amassing property" by some nutjobs.
Regardless, my whole point is different than that. Property size can correlate directly to where you live.
As an example, merely by living in a colder climate -- one requires an entire array of winter gear that someone without ice, snow, and -40C temperatures does. This expands to more than merely coats, boots, and portable heaters. It also includes things such as snowblowers or snow shovels, skis and snow shoes (instead of just a bicycle for summer exercise).
I can think of many tools I own, merely because of the climate I live in. Tools such as booster cables, battery booster packs, extension cords with lights (to show that they are working, when you plug them into your block heater for your car).
This sort of logic expands to what type of dwelling you live in. If you live in a house, instead of an apartment -- well then, you're going to likely want some form of lawn mowing device. Rakes, shovels, work gloves. Soon, the list expands, a variety of tools to repair your dwelling -- unless you want to throw money at contractors merely to paint your house and the like.
My point? Well, clearly the comment I mocked at the starting of this post was thrown by someone that doesn't comprehend these things.. and likely there are others as silly as well.
Don't even get me started on what is required if you own a farm. Or your own business. Such things are your "belongings" as well, but to be inane enough to pull the "greed" card -- well, small minded indeed.
Google blacklisting rooted devices from Android Ma->
Submitted
by
Blymie
Blymie writes "For more than 2 months now, Google has been having issues with their Android Market. Users have had apps disappearing from the 'My Apps' section of the Market app, many being presented with a blank screen.
This makes it extremely difficult to manually update apps, and it appears that for some users auto-update functionality is broken as well... which is a possible security risk.
The astonishing part is that not only has Google dragged their feet on this simple problem for the last 2 months, but that they are also starting to label the issue as a 'root' issue. That is, if you've rooted your phone, ever — even if you revert back to stock — your once rooted device is now invisibly 'tainted'.
The only possible conclusion is that Google may be blacklisting rooted device IMEIs... as there is no other way a device reverted to stock could be the source of a mysterious "rooted device" issue.
This is astonishing, and clearly an outright attack on rooted devices. There is absolutely no way, what so ever, that a rooted device once reverted to stock could somehow 'break' the Market app.
Is the start of Google attacking and trying to destroy the rooted device community?"
Link to Original Source
This makes it extremely difficult to manually update apps, and it appears that for some users auto-update functionality is broken as well... which is a possible security risk.
The astonishing part is that not only has Google dragged their feet on this simple problem for the last 2 months, but that they are also starting to label the issue as a 'root' issue. That is, if you've rooted your phone, ever — even if you revert back to stock — your once rooted device is now invisibly 'tainted'.
The only possible conclusion is that Google may be blacklisting rooted device IMEIs... as there is no other way a device reverted to stock could be the source of a mysterious "rooted device" issue.
This is astonishing, and clearly an outright attack on rooted devices. There is absolutely no way, what so ever, that a rooted device once reverted to stock could somehow 'break' the Market app.
Is the start of Google attacking and trying to destroy the rooted device community?"
Link to Original Source
Android Market issues has Google labelling rooted ->
Submitted
by
Blymie
Blymie writes "For more than 2 months now, Google has been having issues with their Android Market. Users have had apps disappearing from the 'My Apps' section of the Market app, many being presented with a blank screen.
This makes it extremely difficult to manually update apps, and it appears that for some users auto-update functionality is broken as well... which is a possible security risk.
The astonishing part is that not only has Google dragged their feet on this simple problem for the last 2 months, but that they are also starting to label the issue as a 'root' issue. That is, if you've rooted your phone, ever — even if you revert back to stock — your once rooted device is now invisibly 'tainted'.
The only possible conclusion is that Google may be blacklisting rooted device IMEIs... as there is no other way a device reverted to stock could be the source of a mysterious "rooted device" issue.
This is astonishing, and clearly an outright attack on rooted devices. There is absolutely no way, what so ever, that a rooted device once reverted to stock could somehow 'break' the Market app.
Is the start of Google attacking and trying to destroy the rooted device community?"
Link to Original Source
This makes it extremely difficult to manually update apps, and it appears that for some users auto-update functionality is broken as well... which is a possible security risk.
The astonishing part is that not only has Google dragged their feet on this simple problem for the last 2 months, but that they are also starting to label the issue as a 'root' issue. That is, if you've rooted your phone, ever — even if you revert back to stock — your once rooted device is now invisibly 'tainted'.
The only possible conclusion is that Google may be blacklisting rooted device IMEIs... as there is no other way a device reverted to stock could be the source of a mysterious "rooted device" issue.
This is astonishing, and clearly an outright attack on rooted devices. There is absolutely no way, what so ever, that a rooted device once reverted to stock could somehow 'break' the Market app.
Is the start of Google attacking and trying to destroy the rooted device community?"
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score 1) 411
There are many areas of Quebec that are very unilingual friendly. I live in an area that has almost a 50%/50% split of english/french language, and it is very rare to go to a store where you can't get service in english.
Of course, by some odd and strange course of events, this is also the poorest municipality in Quebec.
Comment: Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score 4, Insightful) 411
I'm Canadian too, and I have no idea what you mean when you say "We really hate the French".
Perhaps you shouldn't speak for a whole nation, when you're merely speaking for yourself, or your peer group?
I grew up in Southern Ontario, in a small community without a single Quebecer or French person around for hundreds of miles. I now live in Quebec, and (clearly) have no problem with "the french". I moved here because I live in the Capital region, and I can get an acre of land, 20 minutes from downtown Ottawa, surrounded by farmland, for 1/2 the price of a home on the Ontario side!
I do have issues with *some* french people, but I also have issues with *some* people from a broad spectrum of society.
I think what you really hate are 1) mostly quebec politicians and 2) dumbasses that happen to be french.
Suck it up buddy. #1 and #2 exist in every culture group, and language group, and genetic group, worldwide.