80255871
submission
Blacklaw writes:
The BBC has announced that Robot Wars, the classic metal-mashing amateur robotics competition, is returning for a new series. New technologies have been promised, along with an all-new battle arena — following the sale of the original for scrap in 2005.
79261831
submission
Blacklaw writes:
The UK's National Crime Agency, formerly known as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, has published a list of warning signs that a child may be heading to a life of cyber-crime — including late nights and showing any kind of interest at all in programming, even as the UK government pushes coding into the national education curriculum.
24079904
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Nvidia has released a few technical details of its upcoming 'Kal-El' Tegra processor, including a secret it's done well to keep under its hat thus far: it's a five-core, not four-core, chip.
23016880
submission
Blacklaw writes:
The group behind the USB 3.0 specification has announced a tweak which could lead to impressive new devices, including large-format displays, printers, and even laptops that are powered entirely from a USB port.
21837070
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Today marks the 99th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing, a noted polymath and cryptanalyst who is regarded by many as being the grandfather of modern computing.
20131086
submission
Blacklaw writes:
The GNOME Desktop team has sent its latest creation into the wild, officially launching GNOME 3.0 — the biggest redesign the project has enjoyed in around nine years. "We've taken a pretty different approach in the GNOME 3 design that focuses on the desired experience and lets the interface design follow from that," designer Jon McCann explained during the launch. "With any luck you will feel more focused, aware, effective, capable, respected, delighted, and at ease."
20011080
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Google has publicly apologised for the mistakes it made during the launch of its Twitter-like social networking tool Buzz, and claims that it's learned its lesson — and will be undergoing independent privacy reviews to keep it on the straight and narrow.
19903108
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Duke Nukem Forever, the game that turned into the industry's longest running joke as it entered development hell, has encountered one last delay to its launch.
19887420
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Intel's ill-fated Itanium line has lost another supporter, with Oracle announcing that it is to immediately stop all software development on the platform. "After multiple conversations with Intel senior management Oracle has decided to discontinue all software development on the Intel Itanium microprocessor," a company spokesperson claimed. "Intel management made it clear that their strategic focus is on their x86 microprocessor and that Itanium was nearing the end of its life."
19266620
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Microsoft has raised the ire of the open source community with its Windows Marketplace licence by specifically refusing to allow software covered under an open licence to be distributed. The licence, which anyone wishing to distribute Windows, Windows Phone, or Xbox applications through the company's copy of Apple's App Store is required to agree to, is the usual torrent of legalese — but hides a nasty surprise for those who support open source ideals.
18955088
submission
Blacklaw writes:
UK GlobalScale distribution partner New IT has announced its latest ARM-based plug-top computer, the DreamPlug — and it's a major improvement over its predecessors, packing some serious hardware into a tiny case. The DreamPlug packs some serious power in its tiny case. The Marvell Sheeva ARM-based processor at its heart runs at 1.2GHz — a significant boost over the 800MHz version found in the SheevaPlug — and while 512MB of DDR2 memory might not sound very generous, if you need more then your project probably isn't suited to the plug computing model. Unlike the SheevaPlug, the DreamPlug goes all-out to impress, packing integral Bluetooth, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, a 3Gb/s eSATA port, two USB 2.0 ports, a pair of gigabit Ethernet ports, and even analogue and SP/DIF digital audio ouputs. ARM developers will be pleased to hear that the JTAG-over-USB feature of the SheevaPlug has been replaced with full hardware JTAG and UART connectivity — although the breakout board is an optional extra.
18791072
submission
Blacklaw writes:
A team of researchers comprised of members from the Semiconductor Research Corporation and Stanford University has developed a new thermal nanotape which it claims will lead to chips that run cooler and last longer.
The thermal nanotape, constructed of binder materials surrounding carbon nanotubes, promises to lead to the creation of semiconductors — including CPUs and GPUs — that don't suffer from the rigours of frequent temperature changes, known as thermal cycling.
18714450
submission
Blacklaw writes:
A team of security researchers has created a proof-of-concept Trojan for Android handsets that is capable of listening out for credit card numbers — typed or spoken — and relaying them back to the application's creator.
Once installed, Soundminder sits in the background and waits for a call to be placed — hence the access to the 'Phone calls' category. When triggered by a call, the application listens out for the user entering credit card information or a PIN and silently records the information, performing the necessary analysis to turn it from a sound recording into a number.
18471522
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Intel's Sandy Bridge line of processors is impressing the tech community with its power, but a sneaky little feature designed to appease Hollywood has some concerned about Intel's intentions: Intel Insider.
If a major video streaming service, such as Lovefilm or the US-based Hulu, were to implement Intel Insider technology on their movie streams — as a way of convincing Hollywood to release films sooner and in high definition without worrying about piracy — it would mean that only those who use Intel's very latest Sandy Bridge CPUs would be able to stream movies. Not only would those using older Intel chips that don't support the technology be cut off from the service, but those on systems featuring CPUs from rival manufacturers such as AMD and low-power specialist VIA would also be excluded.
17495228
submission
Blacklaw writes:
Auction house Christie's is planning to sell offprints of Alan Turing's early work for an estimated £500,000 — and the fight has begun to raise the money so UK codebreaking museum and charity Bletchley Park can house the documents in the building where Turing performed his war-winning work and birthed the concept of a modern 'universal computer.'
If the money isn't raised, the papers could disappear into a private archive, never to be seen again.
