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Comment Been there, done that.... (Score 5, Insightful) 53

I wonder why this is hot news even. Identical deployments are found in multiple places around the world, with the one mentioned in the linked article from here in India, for example, being over a decade old.

Ref : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

They've also done this at scale, achieving identical objectives, and with great unit economics for the generated power. It also helps that many Indian irrigation canal systems are designed to pass through many villages along their run, so you don't really need to carry that generated power for very long before you can plug it into a grid point with load. The ground reality of the Indian solar project is quite different from way the linked article describes it, as being a failed project that bankrupted the company executing it. In fact, all the photographs used in the article are from the same Indian solar canal pilot... Go figure.

https://www.bbc.com/future/art...

https://groundreport.in/solar-...

The truth is, multiple projects have started being deployed post the initial pilot, and SunEdison's bankruptcy is all about aggressive M & A shenanigans in the US markets. Way to downplay an idea originating elsewhere as not really done... Until we do it.

But hey, nothing is really done right until it is done in the West, especially in THE US of A.... ðY"

P.s. : great job in the summary, projecting it as an innovation breakthrough, and not at all pointing out that it is an evolution, not a revolution.

Submission + - Lotus 1-2-3 ported to Linux (techradar.com)

drewsup writes: As reported by The Register, a Lotus 1-2-3 enthusiast called Tavis Ormandy (who is also a bug-hunter for Google Project Zero), managed to successfully port the program onto Linux, which seems to be quite the feat of reverse engineering.

Itâ(TM)s important to stress that this isnâ(TM)t an emulated program, but rather the original 1990 Lotus 1-2-- for x86 Unix running natively on modern x86 Linux.
Ormandy also developed an entirely new display driver for the program, which can now be run on more than just the 80x25 window.

Piracy

Submission + - GCSB illegally intercepted data in Dotcom case (scoop.co.nz)

karit writes: Prime Minister John Key today announced he has requested an inquiry by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security into the circumstances of unlawful interception of communications of certain individuals by the Government Communications Security Bureau. Mr Key says the Crown has filed a memorandum in the High Court in the Megaupload case advising the Court and affected parties that the GCSB had acted unlawfully while assisting the Police to locate certain individuals subject to arrest warrants issued in the case. The Bureau had acquired communications in some instances without statutory authority.
AMD

Submission + - AMD Trinity A10-4600M Processor Launched, Tested (hothardware.com) 3

MojoKid writes: "AMD lifted the veil on their new Trinity A-Series mobile processor architecture today. Trinity has been reported as offering much-needed CPU performance enhancements in IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) but also more of AMD's strength in gaming and multimedia horsepower, with an enhanced second generation integrated Radeon HD graphics engine. AMD's A10-4600M quad-core chip is comprised of 1.3B transistors with a CPU base core clock of 2.3GHz and Turbo Core speeds of up to 3.2GHz. The on-board Radeon HD 7660G graphics core is comprised of 384 Radeon Stream Processor cores clocked at 497MHz base and 686Mhz Turbo. In the benchmarks, AMD's new Trinity A10 chip outpaces Intel's Ivy Bridge for gamingbut can't hold a candle to it for standard compute workloads or video transcoding."

Comment Follow The Money.... (Score 5, Interesting) 424

Why dont the top 100 odd tech firms just get their boards together and buy out the entertainment industry, Fire all the old chaff, then figure out what do do with whats left. Even if they end up writing off the entire investment, the savings in reduced interference from a dying industry(Lawsuits, Trusted Computing, SOPA/PIPA etc.) will justify the few hundred billion. Plus, the innovation it will unleash when all those rent-seeking collaboration-killing laws become irrelevant will bring soo much new life into the dying(yes DYING!!) economies of the developed world.

Sadly, i dont have any hope that such a scenario will ever come to pass, especially when most tech firms behaving more like a pot of lobsters...

(sigh...)

Canada

Submission + - US Copyright Lobby Wants Canada Out of TPP Until D (michaelgeist.ca)

An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. government just concluded a consultation on whether it should support Canada's entry into the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations. The TPP raises significant concerns about extension of copyright and digital locks, so that might be a good thing. However, Michael Geist reports that the IIPA, which represents the major movie, music, and software lobby associations, sees this as an opportunity to force Canada to enact a Canadian DMCA and to implement ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Comment Tweak the tiger by the tail, Only to find a mouse! (Score 0) 75

Call it vain hope, but i keep expecting some company to finally get pissed with the army of gnats(i.e. NPE IP Trolls) and throw some serious cash behind reforming the system, making it better for everyone. But i guess they're more like a bunch of crabs, with all of the companies making sure that no-one climbs out of the cooking pot, getting communally boiled!

Seriously, does it need a economics professor to figure out that the patent system has not given any significant incentive to innovate for quite a while, and scrapping the whole system might be just the thing to kickstart the economy. Remember, the intent is to make the *Entire Economy* grow, not protect the future profits of the incumbents. If they want more money, let them innovate and then grow their riches. They're anyway starting with the advantage of piles of cash to spend on researching the Next-Big-Thing(tm).

All in all, most of the big companies appear so scared to take a stand on such lawsuits, they actually look like elephants running like mice :)

P.S. : It should tell you how crazy the situation has gotten when i can use such outlandish language, and still have it fit reality perfectly ;)

RkR

GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - Linus Torvalds Looks To End Linux 2.6 Kernel (phoronix.com)

An anonymous reader writes: With the Linux 2.6 kernel set to begin its 40th development cycle and the Linux kernel nearing its 20th anniversary, Linus Torvalds has expressed interest today in moving away from the Linux 2.6.x kernel version. Instead he's looking to change things up by releasing the next kernel as Linux version 2.8 or 3.0. "The voices in my head also tell me that the numbers are getting too big. I may just call the thing 2.8.0...So I'm toying with 3.0 (and in that case, it really would be "3.0", not "3.0.0" — the stable team would get the third digit rather than the fourth one."

Comment Re:bean counts screw us again! (Score 1) 247

Cheesus Xist! Backup generators taken out again?!! After Chernobyl and Fukashima, I'm starting to thing these " nuclear engineers " aren't rocket surgeons .

Rocket Surgeons!!! Now they are real men... Nothing compares with having to run up to the launch platform at T-2mins with a blowtorch and wire cutters to *nurse* a sputtering fuel nozzle back to white-hot health. Be a real man, operate on your first rocket today, at the NASA Rocket Surgeons Training Institute, The only institute in the world with a 50% passing rate and only a 35% fatality rate! Contact your nearest Space cowboy recruiter TODAY!!!!

Seriously even :D

Comment Re:Regulatory Capture at Work (Score 5, Insightful) 74

Yet another example of regulatory capture at work.

Isnt it so much fun when the Industry shills get into policy positions? They make a lot of noise, and formulate some of the most arcane policies that just happen to fall right into the lap of the same industry groups that the policies are supposed to police :P can there be no end to the constant churn of people between lobbying groups and the lobbied groups?

P.S. - HTTPS on a wikipedia link! dont think i've seen that too often ;)

RkR

Comment Re:Breaking news! (Score 1) 231

You'll need to nack and see how many iPad-specific apps were ready when the iPad 1 launched, a fair few, I seem to recall, including Apple's iWork stuff.

Hmmm.... now i wonder, if apple gets to count the apple provided and or sponsored apps at launch time, why dont we do the same for google? Obviously, outside apps wont be ready as fast as the google apps. Also, correct me if i am wrong, but isnt honeycomb still in the final stages before official release, and most manufacturers are able to get it onto devices only because the development is happening out in the open?

Just my 2 cents here....

RkR

Privacy

Submission + - Employer Demands Facebook Login from Job Applicant 2

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Alex Madrigal reports in the Atlantic that the ACLU has taken up the case of Maryland corrections officer Robert Collins who was required to provide his Facebook login and password to the Maryland Division of Corrections (DOC) during a recertification interview so the interviewer could log on to his account and read not only his postings, but those of his family and friends too. "We live in a time when national security is the highest priority, but it must be delicately balanced with personal privacy," says Collins. "My fellow officers and I should not have to allow the government to view our personal Facebook posts and those of our friends, just to keep our jobs." The ACLU of Maryland has sent a letter to Public Safety Secretary Gary Maynard (PDF) concerning the Division of Correction's blanket requirement that applicants for employment with the division, as well as current employees undergoing recertification, provide the government with their social media account usernames and personal passwords for use in employee background checks. After three weeks the ACLU has received no response."

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