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NWS Announces Big Computer Upgrade 117

Posted by timothy
from the in-these-troubled-economic-times dept.
riverat1 writes "After being embarrassed when the Europeans did a better job forecasting Sandy than the National Weather Service Congress allocated $25 million ($23.7 after sequestration) in the Sandy relief bill for upgrades to forecasting and supercomputer resources. The NWS announced that their main forecasting computer will be upgraded from the current 213 TeraFlops to 2,600 TFlops by fiscal year 2015, over a twelve-fold increase. The upgrade is expected to increase the horizontal grid scale by a factor of 3 allowing more precise forecasting of local features of weather. The some of the allocated funds will also be used to hire some contract scientists to improve the forecast model physics and enhance the collection and assimilation of data."

+ - Least used key on your keyboard?->

Submitted by AmiMoJo
AmiMoJo writes "Over on Slashdot Japan (between discussions of the price of beef bowl and Linux kernel vulnerabilities) there has been some discussion over which key is least used on a PC keyboard. According to a small survey conducted by Yahoo Japan it is unsurprisingly the Pause/Break key. More interesting are the next three keys in descending order of unpopularity: F3, F6 and F12. No mention of the "multimedia" keys found on many keyboards these days, or Num Lock.

Which key do you use the least? What, if anything, would you replace it with?"
Link to Original Source

+ - NWS Announces Big Computer Upgrade->

Submitted by riverat1
riverat1 writes "After being embarrassed when the Europeans did a better job forecasting Sandy than the National Weather Service Congress allocated $25 million ($23.7 after sequestration) in the Sandy relief bill for upgrades to forecasting and supercomputer resources. The NWS announced that their main forecasting computer will be upgraded from the current 213 TeraFlops to 2,600 TFlops by fiscal year 2015, over a twelve-fold increase. The upgrade is expected to increase the horizontal grid scale by a factor of 3 allowing more precise forecasting of local features of weather. The some of the allocated funds will also be used to hire some contract scientists to improve the forecast model physics and enhance the collection and assimilation of data."
Link to Original Source
Mandriva

Mageia 3 Released 68

Posted by timothy
from the linux-mandrake-back-to-the-future dept.
Freshly Exhumed writes "Forked from Mandriva Linux back in 2010, Mageia Linux has hit a new release milestone. Trish at the Mageia blog announces: 'All grown up and ready to go dancing: Mageia 3's out! We still can't believe how much fun it is to make Mageia together, and we've been doing it for two and a half years. For people who can't wait, get it here; release notes are here. To upgrade from Mageia 2, see here.'" Adds reader hduff: "It offers cutting edge and stable versions of your favorite applications and desktop environments as well as a version of the STEAM gaming software."

+ - Mageia 3 Released

Submitted by Freshly Exhumed
Freshly Exhumed writes "Forked from Mandriva Linux back in 2010, Mageia Linux has hit a new release milestone. Trish at the Mageia blog announces: 'All grown up and ready to go dancing: Mageia 3 's out! We still can’t believe how much fun it is to make Mageia together, and we’ve been doing it for two and a half years. For people who can’t wait, get it here; release notes are here. To upgrade from Mageia 2, see here. Before we get to the rest of the information: we dedicate this release to the memory of Eugeni Dodonov, our friend, our colleague and a great inspiration to those he left behind. We miss his brilliance, his courtesy and his dedication.' Major features: Kernel 3.8, systemd 195, GRUB is the default bootloader; GRUB2 is available to test, KDE 4.10.2, GNOME 3.6., Xfce 4.10, Libreoffice 4.0.3 as well as improvements to Mageia's own rpm-based urpmi package management system."
Security

Music and Movies Could Trigger Mobile Malware 78

Posted by timothy
from the seeds-of-your-own-destruction dept.
mask.of.sanity writes "Lights, sounds and magnetic fields can be used to activate malware on phones, new research has found. The lab-style attacks defined in a paper (PDF) used pre-defined signals hidden in songs and TV programmes as a trigger to activate embedded malware. Malware once activated would carry out programmed attacks either by itself or as part of a wider botnet of mobile devices."

+ - Windows Phone Takes Third, but There's More to the Story->

Submitted by janit
janit writes "Rob Cabb argues that Windows Phone will enter a rapid growth state:

"While some may consider it a "hollow victory" in light of Blackberry's recent struggles and some may claim 3.2% is 10 times smaller than Samsung's Android sales alone, there are more signs that Windows Phone is finally gaining traction.

"
Link to Original Source

+ - Music and movies could trigger mobile malware->

Submitted by mask.of.sanity
mask.of.sanity writes "Lights, sounds and magnetic fields can be used to activate malware on phones, new research has found.

The lab-style attacks defined in a paper (pdf) used pre-defined signals hidden in songs and TV programmes as a trigger to activate embedded malware.

Malware once activated would carry out programmed attacks either by itself or as part of a wider botnet of mobile devices."
Link to Original Source
Hardware Hacking

Ask Slashdot: Wiring Home Furniture? 210

Posted by timothy
from the for-a-couch-that-seats-1 dept.
b1tbkt writes "So it seems that furniture manufacturers have not yet acknowledged the realities of modern life. Kitchen tables could benefit greatly from built-in concealable receptacles. Even more obvious is the need for electrical wiring in couches and coffee tables. I realize that there are safety (fire) concerns but as it stands most families that I know already have power cords for laptops, tables and phones draped over, under and through their couches at any given point. If someone wanted to wire their furniture with AC or some type of standardized LV DC system, what are some dangers to watch for and what, if any, specialized hardware exists for the purpose?"

+ - Wiring Home Furniture

Submitted by b1tbkt
b1tbkt writes "So it seems that furniture manufacturers have not yet acknowledged the realities of modern life. Kitchen tables could benefit greatly from built-in concealable receptacles. Even more obvious is the need for electrical wiring in couches and coffee tables. I realize that there are safety (fire) concerns but as it stands most families that I know already have power cords for laptops, tables and phones draped over, under and through their couches at any given point. If someone wanted to wire their furniture with AC or some type of standardized LV DC system, what are some dangers to watch for and what, if any, specialized hardware exists for the purpose?"
Government

Medical Firm Sues IRS For 4th Amendment Violation In Records Seizure 291

Posted by timothy
from the tell-me-again-why-you-hate-all-that-is-good dept.
cold fjord writes "A healthcare provider has sued the Internal Revenue Service and 15 of its agents, charging they wrongfully seized 60 million medical records from 10 million Americans ... [The unnamed company alleges] the agency violated the Fourth Amendment in 2011, when agents executed a search warrant for financial data on one employee – and that led to the seizure of information on 10 million, including state judges. The search warrant did not specify that the IRS could take medical information, UPI said. And information technology officials warned the IRS about the potential to violate medical privacy laws before agents executed the warrant, the complaint said." Also at Nextgov.com.

+ - US Gov Sued Over Massive Data Breach / 4th Amendment Violation->

Submitted by cold fjord
cold fjord writes "They had a warrant, they just took a few things that that warrant didn't permit (allegedly). According to the report, IRS agents: . . threatened to ‘rip’ the servers containing . . medical data out of the building if IT personnel would not voluntarily hand them over,” . . ." More: "A healthcare provider has sued the Internal Revenue Service and 15 of its agents, charging they wrongfully seized 60 million medical records from 10 million Americans. . . the agency violated the Fourth Amendment in 2011, when agents executed a search warrant for financial data on one employee – and that led to the seizure of information on 10 million, including state judges. The search warrant did not specify that the IRS could take medical information, UPI said. And information technology officials warned the IRS about the potential to violate medical privacy laws before agents executed the warrant, the complaint said, ..." More here."
Link to Original Source
The Military

Military Dolphins Discover 1800s Torpedo 84

Posted by timothy
from the dolphins-what-can't-they-do? dept.
First time accepted submitter The0retical writes "A couple of mine-sweeping dolphins dredged up what is known as a 'Howell torpedo' dating from 1870 to 1889. Only 50 were ever produced, this being the second example known to exist. The 11-foot-long brass torpedo had a maximum range and speed of 400 yards at 25 knots. The new example will be displayed at Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Wash. alongside the only other example."

+ - Military Dolphins Discover 1800s Torpedo->

Submitted by The0retical
The0retical writes "A couple of mine-sweeping dolphins dredged up what is known as a "Howell torpedo" dating from 1870 to 1889. Only 50 were ever produced this being the second example known to exist. The 11 foot long brass torpedo had a maximum range and speed of 400 yards at 25 knots. The new example will be displayed at Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Wash. along side the only other example."
Link to Original Source
The Military

Apple Mobile Devices Cleared For Use On US Military Networks 82

Posted by timothy
from the siri-what's-the-best-way-to-launch-a-nuclear-missile? dept.
puddingebola writes with this excerpt from a Bloomberg report: "The Pentagon cleared Apple Inc. (AAPL) devices for use on its networks, setting the stage for the maker of iPhones and iPads to compete with Samsung Electronics Co. and BlackBerry for military sales. The Defense Department said in a statement [Friday] that it has approved the use of Cupertino, California-based Apple's products running a version of the iOS 6 mobile platform. The decision eventually may spur a three-way fight for a market long dominated by Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry.'" Also, Apple devices are best for uploading viruses to alien craft.

Abstainer, n.: A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"

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