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Ubuntu

Submission + - nVidia: new linux driver doubles performance, hints at imminent steam beta (nvidia.com)

Submitted by Tribaal_ch
Tribaal_ch writes: "With this release, NVIDIA has managed to increase the overall gaming performance under Linux," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "NVIDIA took an unquestioned leadership position developing R310 drivers with us and other studios to provide an absolutely unequalled solution for Linux gamers."

For the number hungry, the press release goes on to say:

"Comparing 304.51 driver performance of 142.7 fps versus 310.14 driver performance of 301.4 fps in beta build of Left for Dead 2. All tests run on the same system using Intel Core i7-3930K CPU @ 3.20GHz with 8 GB memory, GeForce GTX 680 and Ubuntu 12.04 32-bit"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Sponsors Linux Foundation Event (internetnews.com)

Submitted by darthcamaro
darthcamaro writes: There was a time when the Linux Foundation wouldn't take money from Microsoft. That time is not today — Microsoft is listed as a Gold Sponsor of the LinuxCon Europe event, paying $20,000 for the privilege and also getting a guaranteed speaking slot as a result.
Data Storage

Submission + - Should a successful teenage entrepreneur sell out to Facebook? (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Andrew Mayhall is 19 years old and is running a server company, called Evtron, whose product has reportedly set the world record for data density (4.6 petabytes per server rack) and has begun attracting attention from investors.

One of those interested parties is reportedly Facebook, with whom the young CEO claims to have had casual discussions about a potential acquisition/hire agreement (Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on the talks). He says the opportunity to speak with Facebook was simply one he couldn't pass up, and seems more impassioned by entrepreneurship. He speaks often of building his company into an EMC or NetApp, and could very well compete with them soon.

But if an offer from Facebook ever comes, should he accept, or try to build something on his own?
Apple

Submission + - iPad Mini costs $24 more to make than Kindle Fire HD (techworld.com)

Submitted by sweetpea86
sweetpea86 writes: ... but retails for $130 more. Teardowns of the Apple iPad Mini and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD have revealed that the two devices cost almost the same amount to manufacture, despite the retail prices being significantly different. Andrew Rassweiler, senior principal analyst of teardown services for IHS iSuppli, explains that Apple is sticking to the premium brand strategy it has always used for its media tablet and smartphone products, whereas Amazon is banking on content. Could Amazon's strategy pose a competitive challenge to Apple’s media tablet dominance?
Cloud

Submission + - What It's Like to Work for a Cloud Service Provider (computerworld.com)

Submitted by Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: As enterprises increasingly consider moving their computing infrastructure to the cloud, IT professionals wonder whether they should follow the migration. Jake Robinson said he remembers the day he really understood what it means to work on "the other side of the cloud." It was Thanksgiving, a couple of years ago. A customer posted an iPhone app designed to give users access to coupons and discounts the following day, Black Friday. The retailer had vastly underestimated demand for the app, and the ASP's database crashed. A solutions architect, Robinson was called in and spent most of the holiday tuning the client's database server to handle the traffic. Computerworld spoke to a half-dozen IT professionals who worked for cloud service providers to get their their experiences.
Businesses

Submission + - Apple Said to Be Exploring Switch From Intel for Mac (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "Apple Inc. (AAPL) is exploring ways to replace Intel Corp. (INTC) processors in its Mac personal computers with a version of the chip technology it uses in the iPhone and iPad, according to people familiar with the company’s research.

Apple engineers have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its desktops and laptops, said three people with knowledge of the work, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans are confidential. Apple began using Intel chips for Macs in 2005."
Verizon

Submission + - Verizon to shut down app store by January (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Verizon Wireless is closing down its app store by January next year, it said in a notice on its developer community portal. The operator said it will start removing in January the Verizon Apps application from all compatible Android and Research In Motion devices. It anticipates completing the process by March 27. The carrier's app store, launched in March 2010, has been overtaken by popular online app stores from tech companies like Google and RIM.

Submission + - David Braben Kickstarts an Elite reboot (bbc.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC report that David Braben has launched a Kickstarter for a remake of Elite, the classic space trading game that he co-wrote in the 1980s. It has already received £122,000 in less than a day. Can it reach its goal of £1,250,000?
The Internet

Submission + - Welsh Scientists Develop 2,000 Times Faster Fibre Optic Broadband (ispreview.co.uk)

Submitted by
Mark.JUK
Mark.JUK writes: "Scientists working under an EU funded (3 Million Euros) project out of Bangor University in Wales (United Kingdom) have developed a commercially-exploitable way of boosting broadband speeds over end-user fibre optic lines by using Optical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OOFDM) technology, which splits a laser down to multiple different optical frequencies (each of which can be used to carry data), and low-cost off-the-shelf components.

The scientists claim that their solution has the ability to "increase broadband transmission by up to two thousand times the current speed and capacity" (most UK Fibre-to-the-Home or similar services currently offer less than 100 Megabits per second) and it can do this alongside a “significant reduction in electrical power consumption“."

Submission + - Elite to return after all these years? (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by nickrjsmith
nickrjsmith writes: Finally they are seriously looking at getting this project off the ground. I loved this as a kid and I can't wait... but will the entire thing just seem outdated now?
Government

Submission + - Portuguese Government wants to put its data in the cloud

Submitted by
NecroMancer
NecroMancer writes: "The Portuguese Government is studying the possibility of storing its data in a privately-operated cloud, even the most secret data, in order to cut costs. Politicians are already asking the Minister of State Miguel Relvas about this and Freitas do Amaral is even saying he is perpelxed at the possibility. The Minister of Defense already stated that this study does not include Defense data, classified or otherwise. Meanwhile, the National Commission of Data Protection (CNPD, Comissão Nacional de Protecção de Dados, in Portuguese) is already analyzing the matter."
The Military

Submission + - New Technology May Cut Risk of Giving Syrian Rebels Stinger Missiles (honorponcacity.com) 2

Submitted by Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: PBS reports on a proposal of arm Syrian rebels with a force equalizer to make a decisive blow against Bashar al-Assad’s ruling regime — an idea that has so far failed to take hold inside the Obama administration because of serious concerns about flooding a troubled region with dangerous weapons that someday might fall into the wrong hands an be used against the US or its allies. Could sophisticated weapons, such as anti-aircraft missile systems, be outfitted with mechanisms that would disable them if they fell into the wrong hands? According to military analyst Anthony Cordesman the US could modify Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and anti-tank weapons with batteries that cease functioning in a few weeks or months or the weapons could be built to require authentication codes before they are enabled to work. “I think it would be relatively decisive,” says Cordesman. “You could probably quickly develop a device which would inactivate the weapon through two sources: one is a limited-life power supply; and the other is a fail-safe mechanism that would make it inactive or would require a code to activate it.” Another idea is to install GPS-disabling devices so that Stinger missiles only worked in a designated geographic area, such as only in Syria. Such weapons, it is believed, might tip the balance in favor of the rebels in the same way that Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, provided by the United States to the Afghan Mujahedeen, helped expel the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. Cordesman stressed that this type of weapon would have to be thoroughly tested to make sure the controls work and could not be undone. “You could not transfer these types of weapons without these types of protections. You simply have no way to know where they would end up, how they would be transferred, what would happen to them.”
Earth

Submission + - 3M's first LED bulb uses TV tech to appeal to lighting Luddites (extremetech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: One of the most exciting aspects of the advent of LED lighting has been the chance for companies to take unique approaches to how they want to solve the challenges presented by the shift in technology. Now 3M, a company not generally associated with light bulbs, has entered the LED market with its own novel design. The company developed an LED bulb that was able to take advantage of its experience in edge-lit TVs and LED backlighting. Rather than using a more conventional design, the Advanced Light — the company’s first home bulb — uses lightguides in order to distribute the light generated inside. This comes with some interesting advantages, most importantly a design that looks a lot like a conventional incandescent bulb and one that casts a similar light pattern.

Submission + - How to spot a crap tech job (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by absolovon
absolovon writes: All jobs are crap but some are worse than others, The Register has got a developer turned headhunter to come clean on how to dodge some of the bullets.
Politics

Submission + - New Jersey to Allow Voting by Email (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by sl4shd0rk
sl4shd0rk writes: In what could be quite possibly the most epic disaster outside of hurricane Sandy, New Jersey has decided to allow email voting in Tuesday's elections. With experts listing many of the ways this could possibly go wrong, it looks like email voting "may be the best of some bad options.". In TFA, it's mentioned voters may also opt to go to an alternative voting place in lieu of email voting.
Google

Submission + - Apple suit vs. Google over patent rates dismissed (computerworld.com)

Submitted by chill
chill writes: A suit by Apple claiming that Motorola Mobility, now owned by Google, is seeking unreasonably high license fees for the use of patents on wireless technology has been thrown out by a judge in Madison, Wis.

Last week, Apple told the court it would pay up to $1 per device for a license to Motorola patents covering cellular and Wi-Fi technologies. Motorola Mobility was arguing for a royalty payment of 2.25 percent on each device.

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