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Worms

Submission + - Using lasers, researchers were able to take over the worm's brain (harvard.edu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold. Using precisely targeted lasers, researchers have been able to take over a tiny animal’s brain, instruct it to turn in any direction they wish, and even implant false sensory information, fooling the animal into thinking food was nearby.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - iOS 6 device users report baffling range of Wi-Fi problems (networkworld.com) 1

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Some number of iPhone and iPad users upgrading to iOS 6 are reporting a range of Wi-Fi problems, as are some iPhone 5 users. The solutions, when there are any, seems as baffling as the problems. The continuing posts at Apple's tech support site and at online forums show users with existing iPhone and iPads frustrated by a flurry of different problems, including a "grayed out" Wi-Fi option, dropped connections, slow connection speeds, and having to connect manually to a Wi-Fi access point. Separately, there are posts by some owners of the new iPhone 5, released last Friday, also about Wi-Fi problems. Confusedly, these are problems that are unrelated to the Wi-Fi glitch last week when iOS 6 was first released.
Apple

Submission + - Phil Schiller: iPhone 5 scratches and chips are normal (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For any brand new product that you’ve paid hundreds of dollars to purchase, damage out the box is totally unacceptable. But as far as Apple is concerned, it looks like you’re just going to have to accept the iPhone 5 is prone to damage.

That’s the view of Phil Schiller at least, Apple’s president of marketing. He’s probably been getting more than a few emails from iPhone 5 owners complaining about the damage to the aluminum casing, so he decided to respond to one of them. His explanation is not going to make many people very happy. Schiller briefly explains that aluminum will scratch or chip and “that is normal.” That’s all he had to say on the matter and it suggests he thinks iPhone 5 owners just need to accept it is going to happen.
Iphone

Submission + - Apple responds to iPhone 5 scuffs: Scratches and chips are "normal" (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "In an interesting twist to Scuffgate, Apple’s marketing boss Phil Schiller has admitted that the iPhone 5s susceptibility to scuffing is “normal.” Furthermore, it would seem that Apple is fully aware that the iPhone 5 is easy to scuff — and yet it knowingly proceeded to manufacture (and sell) record breaking numbers of the new device. Phil Schiller’s comments come from an email response to a customer, who had contacted the vice president to ask about some “scuffs, scratches and marks” on the chamfered edge that surrounds the phone. Schiller’s reply, in full: "Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal."

The problem with this, though, is that properly anodized aluminium doesn't scratch or chip with use — just as the military, who make extensive use of anodized aluminium. Let's not forget that Apple itself anodized most of its smaller iPods, but they didn't scuff as easily as the iPhone 5.

For the first official response from Apple, regarding the scuffing — and the fact that devices are even scuffed straight out of the box — Schiller sounds almost condescending or nonchalant."
Microsoft

Submission + - Intel CEO says Windows 8 is being released too early (techspot.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: During a recent company event in Taiwan, Intel CEO Paul Otellini stated that Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 before it’s fully ready and that improvements still need to be made to the software.
China

Google Stops Offering Free Music Service In China 67

Posted by timothy from the cows-go-begging-milk-is-free dept.
SquarePixel writes "Google has yanked its free music service in China after being unable to make it popular enough. The service offered Chinese people free licensed music downloads and was launched in 2009 to compete with the rival search engine Baidu. 'Once China's second largest search provider, Google has now fallen to fourth place, overtaken by other local companies. — Google's popularity in the country has waned ever since 2010, when the company pulled the plug on its China-based search engine following disputes with the government over censorship and hacking concerns. Google's market share is at 5 percent, while Baidu's is 74 percent.'"
Businesses

Can Microsoft Really Convince People To Subscribe To Software? 297

Posted by timothy from the file-formats-are-what-matter dept.
curtwoodward writes "For most consumers, monthly subscriptions are still something for magazines and cable TV. With Office 365, Microsoft is about to embark on a huge social experiment to see if they'll also pay that way for basic software. But in doing so, Microsoft has jacked up prices on its old fee structure to make subscriptions seem like a better deal. And that could really leave a bad impression with financially struggling consumers."
Cellphones

Verizon-Branded iPhone 5 Ships Unlocked, Works With Other Networks 100

Posted by timothy from the tab-a-slots-b-through-q dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this news from Geek.com: "If you're planning to get a new Verizon iPhone 5, there might be a little bonus feature included that neither Apple nor Verizon are keen to admit. As units have started making it out of the stores, it appears that the Verizon version of the device is fully unlocked out of the box and able to connect to any GSM network. Verizon support is apparently confirming to customers that the device is unlocked. At the very least, this doesn't appear to be a mistake. It likely has to do with the way the iPhone's radios are designed along with the implementation of LTE on Verizon. This might make the device a little more palatable to those on the fence about upgrading, especially for anyone that travels."

Comment Re:Cinnamon devs have opposite attitude to GNOME3' (Score 2) 74

by Yahma (#41390407) Attached to: Cinnamon 1.6 Brings New Features and Applets

I'll probably get modded down for this, but here goes...
People are trying hard to hang on to their old Win95 style workflow. Nothing wrong with that; however, for me, the old workflow with the start button and horizontal panels at the top and bottom of the screen worked better on the older 4:3 monitors. With today's 16:9 flat-panel displays being ubiquitous, having panels taking up vertical real-estate doesn't seem like such a great idea.

I personally like the way Unity and Gnome-Shell are doing things. Since today's flat panels have more horizontal real-estate, I'd prefer a DE that makes better use of it. This is what the panel in Unity and Gnome-Shell do. They get rid of the old top/bottom horizontal panel, and replace it with a vertical panel on the left. Sure, it can mess up people's work-flow, especially if they are used to the top/bottom panels from Gnome2, as I was; however, after using Gnome-Shell for a few months, I've re-worked my workflow, and actually feel more comfortable with the additional screen real estate afforded by ditching the old panels. Sure there are still issues. But I think people should try it out for themselves before complaining. Of course, it would have been nice for Gnome-Shell to at least give the option to users of having the old panel, even though, I now would never use such an option.
Google

Major Backlash Looms For Apple's New Maps App 466

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the the-all-embracing-googleplex dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Michael DeGusta writes that Apple's new Maps app is the very first item on their list of major new features in iOS 6, but for many iPhone and iPad users around the world Apple's new maps are going to be a major disappointment as the Transit function will be lost in 51 countries, the Traffic function will be lost in 24 countries, and the Street View function will be lost in 41 countries. 'In total, 63 countries with a combined population of 4.5 billion people will be without one or more of these features they previously had in iOS,' writes DeGusta. 'Apple is risking upsetting 65% of the world's population, seemingly without much greater purpose than speeding the removal of their rival Google from iOS. Few consumers care about such battles though, nor should they have to.' The biggest losers will be Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Thailand (population: 1.5 billion) which overnight will go from being countries with every maps feature (transit, traffic, and street view) to countries with none of those features, nor any of the new features, flyover and turn-by-turn directions. Apple's maps are clearly behind in some key areas, but they will presumably continue to improve over time. Google has committed to making their maps available everywhere, so it seems likely Google will release their own iOS maps app soon, as they did with YouTube, which has similarly been removed from iOS 6." But what percentage of people who actually buy iPhones lost these features?
Cellphones

Apple Confirms iPhone 5 Preorders Top 2 Million In 24 Hours 428

Posted by samzenpus from the got-to-have-one dept.
TheBoat writes "Apple announced on Monday that iPhone 5 preorders topped 2 million units in the smartphone's first 24 hours of pre-sale availability. That figure doubles Apple's first-day iPhone 4S sales last year, making the iPhone 5 Apple's fastest-selling smartphone ever. 'iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,' Apple marketing boss Philip Schiller said."
Android

Motorola Ordered To Recall Android Phones and Tablets In Germany 190

Posted by Soulskill from the continuing-to-go-thermonuclear dept.
puddingebola sends word of a German court decision yesterday which found that Google's Motorola Mobility must recall all of its Android tablets and phones that infringe on Apple's patent for "rubber-band" scrolling. From the Guardian: "The dramatic decision, the latest in an escalating war between Apple and the smartphone and set-top box company MMI, follows earlier cases in which Apple had to disable automatic "push" delivery of email to its iPhone and iPads after MMI won a separate patent fight in Germany. The recall will not take effect immediately because Apple will have to request a ban on specific products and provide a €25m (£20m) bond, while MMI can appeal. However, the court indicated that it was unlikely that an appeal against the validity of the patent would succeed. MMI, with Google's backing, is expected to continue the appeal. The court also ruled that MMI owed Apple damages for past infringement."
Android

Submission + - Dual Droid TV Stick based on Rockchip RK3066 with 2GB RAM & 16GB Flash (cnx-software.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "Lately, there seems to have been a fair amount of interest for a Rockchip RK3066 mini PC (aka UG802) running Android 4.0, and the first mini PC to feature a dual core processor. I’m often reading people complaining about the lack of RAM on those devices, and some others would rather run most things from flash than an SD card for performance reason.

Dual Droid TV Stick
http://www.indiegogo.com/dualdroidtv
But you might be able to get a more powerful mini PC soon, as deadhp1, a reader of this blog would left lots of feedback about Ug802, have been talking with manufacturer to design an HDMI TV stick based on UG802 platform, but with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB Flash, and the processor would be clocked at 1.6GHz instead of 1.2 GHz. The device is called “Dual Droid TV Stick” with the slogan: “Two brains are better than one”. The specifications would be as follows:

        OS – Android 4.04
        SoC – 1.6Ghz Dual Core Cortex A9 RK3066 SOC with Mali 400MP4 Quad Core GPU
        RAM – 2GB RAM
        Storage – 16GB NAND Flash+ microSD card slot
        Connectivity – Wifi b/g/n with Direct Connect
        Video output – Male HDMI 1.4
        USB – USB 2.0 host port + micro USB port for power

However, for this to happen, manufacturers would need a minimum order of around 1.000 pieces to cover the cost of development and bring the price to an acceptable level, which is why deadhp1 launched a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.com. The first 100 pieces would be sold for $115 and the subsequent sponsors would have to pay $125. You also need to add $10 to $15 for shipping.

It’s still unclear which accessories (cables, power adapter) will be provided with the stick from the Indiegogo page. You should get a pretty good Android experience on this stick, but you may not be able to get a proper Linux port due to Rockchip policies with regards to open source software.

This product is still at the development stage, and it should available sometimes in December 2012."
Software

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Career Advice- how much is a fun job worth? 4

Submitted by Nicros
Nicros writes: So I have the good fortune to be a lead software engineer in a really fun company. The culture and people are great, and while the position has some down sides (distance from home, future opportunities), in general I'm quite happy there, and I wasn't looking for a new job. Software is what this company does, and people are happy to get their solutions.

Now to make life more interesting, I have the even better fortune to have an offer to go be a software director for a new company. This company sought me out personally because of my background, which is very flattering. The pay is more than 10% better, the location is closer to home, and the people seem nice. I would get to grow a new group as I saw fit, following some regulatory guidelines.

Problem is, I just can't decide what to do, and I'm not even sure WHY I can't decide.

Maybe it has to do with leaving a job that I like (something I've never done) that just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's fear. I'm 40, so maybe it's just getting older and appreciating stability more.

Maybe I feel like I'm just trying to climb some corporate ladder and chasing a title, and I don't like that. But then again, I have my current position dialed in, and could use a change.

I have ambition, and my current company has made every effort to work with me to develop my career- probably more in the business development side, but that could be fun too. That career path is just more vague and longer term than jumping right into a director position, with no guarantee that it would even work out.

In the new company, software is -not- what this company does primarily, not many people would use the software, so the appreciation level would be much lower than my current position.

This is keeping me awake at night. Has anyone made a transition like this in software? How did it work out? Did you stay or did you go? Why? What's more important, the people and culture at a job, or the opportunities that job presents for future growth?

Advice?
Security

Submission + - Anonymous Hacks Cambodia Over The Pirate Bay Co-founder's Arrest

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: At the start of this month, news broke that The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm had been arrested in Cambodia, quickly followed by speculation that millions of dollars were exchanged for his capture. Svartholm was deported to Sweden today, and rather coincidentally, the Anonymous hacker collective announced that it had hacked Cambodia’s government sites and leaked over 5,000 documents.

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