AT&T boss: we're innovating way too fast for regulation!
AT&T now has its headquarters in Dallas, and there's something about the Texas air that appeals to CEO Randall Stephenson. Perhaps it's the scent of low taxes and deregulation carried on the breeze.
"The environment for doing business in Dallas is really, really strong," Stephenson told a reporter from the Dallas Morning News this week. "What I like about it is this is a community that not only is it not resentful of business, it likes business. People recognize that profitable companies are companies that hire and help cities grow. And that's not the case around the country."
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NVIDIA ports its CUDA GPU-programming architecture to x86
In a move that shouldn't be that surprising, NVIDIA has announced that its popular CUDA platform is being ported to x86. The obvious angle here is that this will give NVIDIA a weapon against OpenCL and DirectCompute in the high-performance computing (HPC) market, but the situation is probably more complicated than that. First, let's look at what CUDA is and how it became popular, and then we'll look at where it's going. In a nutshell, NVIDIA's CUDA architecture provides developers with a way to efficiently program NVIDIA GPUs using a very easy-to-read, C-like syntax. Since its launch in 2007, CUDA has become incredibly popular for a wide spectrum of supercomputing applications, from finance to oil and gas. The reason that CUDA ended up as the de facto way to write GPGPU applications is straightforward: it was first. NVIDIA took the idea of pitching GPUs to the HPC market much more seriously than AMD, and the company was very aggressive about improving CUDA and pitching it to developers. The end result is an architecture and software stack that is mature and developer-friendly, both of which go a long way in the HPC world.
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Nokia releases Qt 4.7 with terrific new mobile UI framework
Nokia has announced the official release of Qt 4.7, a new version of the company's open source development toolkit. The update introduces an impressive new framework called "Qt Quick" that accelerates the development of mobile user interfaces that work across multiple platforms and form factors.Qt is a cross-platform development toolkit created by Norwegian company Trolltech, which was acquired by Nokia in 2008. Qt—which is used by mainstream commercial software vendors like Google, Adobe, Amazon, Autodesk, and Skype—offers a broad set of libraries, a comprehensive widget toolkit, and a pre-processing tool that extends the C++ programming language and object model with a number of advanced features.
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Feature: HomeGroup: A practical guide to domestic bliss with Windows 7
I got married last summer. One of the great things about being married is that because so many people have done it, you never have to look far for good advice on building a successful marriage. One thing you hear a lot from family and friends is on the subject of sharing, and how bringing your lives together in happiness and harmony is vital, as is retaining your own individuality and vitality.This, naturally, got me thinking about file and printer sharing... and to this:
... but... it's there!! I swear! Arrrgh! *twitch*
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Supreme Court could take its first RIAA file-sharing case
The US Supreme Court is weighing in on the first RIAA file sharing case to reach its docket, requesting that the music labels’ litigation arm respond to a case testing the so-called “innocent infringer” defense to copyright infringement.The case pending before the justices concerns a federal appeals court’s February decision ordering a university student to pay the Recording Industry Association of America $27,750—or $750 a track—for file-sharing 37 songs when she was a high school cheerleader. The appeals court decision reversed a Texas federal judge who, after concluding the youngster was an innocent infringer, ordered defendant Whitney Harper to pay $7,400—or $200 per song. That’s an amount well below the standard $750 fine required under the Copyright act.
Harper is among the estimated 20,000 individuals the RIAA has sued for file-sharing music. The RIAA has decried Harper as “vexatious,” because of her relentless legal jockeying.
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Oracle surprises with new Sparc chip launch
When the news broke that Oracle was buying Sun, it seemed quite unlikely that Oracle would soldier on with Sun's boutique chip architecture, the aging SPARC family. But the company announced that Sparc lives, at least for now. The company's 16-core, 128-thread "Rainbow Falls" part, which made its formal debut at Hot Chips last year, will actually see the light of day in a shipping product. Now christened the Sparc T3, the new processor will power a collection of Solaris-based T-series servers for Oracle, and will ship in 30 days. The servers range in size from blades up to multisocket monsters, and one of the new products is aimed at virtualization. Of course, with 128 simultaneous threads of execution available per chip, virtualization is the only way to actually use a processor like the Sparc T3 for normal workloads.
Oracle had previously laid out a five-year Sparc roadmap, and CEO Larry Ellison claims that the company is quite serious about continuing to produce Sun hardware. So today's announcement does tend to lend support to the idea that Sparc isn't about to get the axe. But you could also see the announcement as Oracle's decision not to waste the enormous amount of effort that went into developing the T3—if it's that close to market, and it's ready to roll, why not put it out?
It is within the realm of possibility that T3 is a really great hardware platform for Oracle, and will give the company an edge. But given the economics of chip development, it's very hard to believe that this niche product is so much better than commodity hardware that it will continue to make sense for Oracle to pour money into.
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Tales of the TOS: prioritization and protocol filtering
One year ago today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined his view of network neutrality in a major speech. Part of his proposal involved a no-discrimination principle "stating that broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications. This means they cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks, or pick winners by favoring some content or applications over others in the connection to subscribers' homes."ISP Cox Communications does not—to put it delicately—entirely subscribe to this view. In fact, the company has thrown down the gauntlet to Genachowski in the form of its Terms of Service. The Cox TOS explicitly grants the company the right to do all those things Genachowski publicly said should be stopped.
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FCC to fast track fiber to schools and libraries
A big component of the Federal Communication Commission's national broadband strategy is to turn "anchor institutions"—schools, libraries, and government buildings—into 1Gbps hubs of community access for high speed Internet. The agency took that agenda one step further on Tuesday by announcing that schools and libraries will soon be able to use E-Rate funds to obtain access to unused fiber-optic connections around the country, sometimes known as "dark fiber" lines. "With these fiber networks, schools and libraries can provide students and communities with cutting-edge connectivity, while at the same time saving millions of dollars by bypassing more expensive options," the draft proposal explains.
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LHC spots possible signs of a high-energy particle soup
Today, the scientists running the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider reported some of the first signs of unexpected physics happening at the LHC. After tracking the particles that have spilled out of some collisions, the CMS collaboration has detected a correlation among the angles at which many of them escape the collision. This sort of behavior has been seen before, but only in heavy ion collisions, and the initial report is cautious about trying to draw a specific connection between the two.
Heavy ion collisions, like those produced in Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, cause the particles that normally inhabit the nucleus to break down. Instead of a collection of protons and neutrons, their internal components—quarks and gluons—exist in a fluid-like state that is termed a quark-gluon plasma. This plasma is short lived, but it lasts long enough for the particles that fly out of it engage in interactions that link the angles at which they exit the plasma.
The protons used at the LHC have many fewer quarks and gluons among them, but the huge energies at which they collide causes the production of additional particles, as energy is converted into matter. The CMS group limited their analysis to what are called "high multiplicity" collisions, where over a hundred particles are produced in the collisions; presumably, this increases the chances that a high-density state occurs at the point of impact.
The CMS team observed the same sorts of correlations among the particles exiting the high multiplicity collisions. As they put it in their paper, the correlation "resembles similar features observed in heavy ion experiments." However, they're clearly not ready to say that this is a sign of a quark-gluon plasma; "The physical origin of our observation is not yet understood," they write. But the data from the LHC is continuing to ramp up, so there's a good chance that this lack of understanding will be temporary.
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P2P defendants told they can't remain anonymous in court
The recent spate of federal lawsuits against accused movie pirates has led to an extraordinary outpouring of "motions to quash" the subpoenas issued in these cases. Some of these motions are more creative than others—case in point, the motion filed this week in Chicago by someone accused of sharing the Uwe Boll film Far Cry. Though the case was actually filed in Washington, DC, one Charnae Terry of Chicago went to the Northern District of Illinois instead and filed a motion to quash. It was not, as are so many other such motions, a plea to quash the subpoena for lack of jurisdiction. Instead, it's an admission that Terry runs an open WiFi network with a Comcast cable connection and shares it with her neighborhood.
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Lasker Awards go to biologists for work on obesity, blindness
This morning, the Lasker Foundation announced its awards for biomedical research, prizes considered to be some of the most significant in the field. This year's prizes go to researchers who made significant strides in understanding the biology of obesity, and another who turned our knowledge of blood vessel development into a therapy for a degenerative eye disease. It's an interesting choice for the awards; the initial discoveries were indeed seminal, but they raised hopes for rapid medical progress that haven't quite panned out. The Lasker Award for Clinical Research is going to Napoleone Ferrara who works at the biotech company Genentech (now a part of Roche). Ferrara could easily receive awards for his role in the discovery of VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor), a protein that signals to the cells that line blood vessel walls. In response, these cells begin to divide and migrate, enabling the formation of new blood vessels.
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iOS 4.x jailbreakers may get tricked by fake greenpois0n hacks
Though the Library of Congress has ruled iPhone jailbreaks as "fair use," that doesn't mean Apple can't try to prevent it. While Apple has patched iOS 4.x to stymie jailbreaks on the iPhone 4, hackers have reportedly discovered a low-level boot ROM exploit which could allow these devices to be jailbroken. However, users hoping to use the code to jailbreak these devices are instead being tricked into downloading a trojan used to steal passwords from desktop computers.A hacker named "pod2g," who works with a group that goes by the name Chronic Development Team, announced earlier this month that he found an exploit that could effectively jailbreak an iPhone 4 "forever." The exploit, referred to as "SHAtter," takes advantage of a flaw discovered in very low-level iPhone boot ROM code. Since it is unlikely that Apple could patch the boot ROM via software, devices with the flawed boot ROM code would be impervious to jailbreak patches in future iOS updates.
A purported tool using the exploit, greenpois0n, has been circulating recently, but security researcher Costin Raiu at Kapersey Labs says that all such tools are in fact trojans designed to trick users into giving up passwords. Additionally, fake jailbreaking websites have popped up, claiming to offer jailbreaks for any iOS device running any iOS version for up to $40 a pop.
Raiu warned that there are no current jailbreaks for iOS 4.0.2 or later on the iPhone 4, though the iPhone Dev Team has released a new beta of redsn0w which can jailbreak iOS 4.1 running on an iPhone 3G or second-gen iPod touch. These older devices are still susceptible to the pwnage2 DFU exploit used on these devices when running older versions of iOS. However, using the new beta may disable carrier unlocks (using the ultrasn0w tool) "forever."
The important caveat buried in all this is that jailbreaking probably shouldn't be undertaken by casual users, despite the availability of one-click tools like blackra1n or PwnageTool. Likewise, users who do decide to jailbreak should make every effort to be well-informed of what groups like iPhone Dev Team or Chronic Development Team are working on. Jailbreaking by definition compromises the security of your mobile device, and it seems malicious hackers aren't afraid to exploit the desire to jailbreak for their own ends.
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Samsung Craft first LTE handset, launches on MetroPCS
Samsung announced Tuesday that it has launched the first commercially available LTE handset in the world. Dubbed the Samsung Craft, the LTE/CDMA handset will be available on MetroPCS, which is simultaneously launching its LTE network in Las Vegas.
The handset looks very similar to the 4G/WiMAX-equipped Epic 4G that launched recently on Sprint, which is also a QWERTY slider design. However, the Craft runs a proprietary Samsung-developed OS that a spokesperson described to Ars as "running Samsung TouchWiz and BREW" instead of the more well-known Android. The handset also has a 3.3" AMOLED touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with still and video capabilities, WiFi, Bluetooth, microSD storage, and applications for video streaming, music playback, and other common smartphone capabilities.
In addition to building the handset to get the MetroPCS LTE network of the ground, Samsung also supplied the infrastructure for the first commercially active LTE network. For now, though, the Samsung Craft is only available through MetroPCS in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, and costs $299 after $50 mail-in rebate—that's the price of being on the bleeding edge of mobile technology.
MetroPCS isn't saying when LTE rollouts will happen in additional cities, but Verizon plans to have 30 major cities covered by its LTE network by the end of the year. While the Craft looks like a nice handset, we expect most users will continue to wait for Android or even a possible LTE-compatible iPhone to launch on that network in the coming months before giving LTE a try.
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Poll Technica: how many monitors do you use?
Is more always better? When it comes to monitors, many will argue in the affirmative. Many of us here in the Orbiting HQ rock a multi-monitor system, like my desktop with three monitors (and two video cards), while others prefer to work bathed in the glow of a single LCD.Proponents of multihead set-ups argue that they allow them to work more efficiently, and there's some data to support that view. A study commissioned by display maker NEC (natch) said that users with two or monitors reported increases in productivity.
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Apple's MagSafe lawsuit tests limits of first-sale doctrine
Sanho Corporation, the company behind the well-known HyperMac external batteries, is being sued by Apple for violation of the company's MagSafe and 30-pin iPod connection patents. Apple filed a lawsuit (PDF) this month (via AppleInsider), accusing Sanho of selling products that make use of Apple's proprietary technology without authorization.Sanho/HyperMac's product line has become fairly well known among laptop power users who travel—the company sells high-capacity external batteries that can connect to any MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air in order to juice up the machine's internal battery or keep it going for hours beyond its normal capacity. (We here at Ars are fans of HyperMac products.) The HyperMac brand recently added connectors to its batteries to allow users to charge their iPads through Apple's 30-pin connector, so the same battery can service both your MacBook and your other Apple portable devices.
Apple offers licenses for its 30-pin connector so that accessory makers can sell products to go with Apple's iDevices, but the company keeps the MagSafe connector to itself. Apparently, Sanho has authorization to sell neither: in its complaint, Apple accuses the company of violating six of its patents related to both technologies. Apple says Sanho's alleged infringement has caused damage to Apple's business, and wants a permanent injunction against the company (as well as unspecified damages).
The catch here is that Sanho's products don't actually recreate Apple's technologies—or at least that's what the company says on its website. The product pages on the HyperMac site says that the products come with "original MacSafe power connector[s] for maximum compatibility." Basically, Sanho says it's reusing Apple's own connectors in the sale of its own products, and the same goes for the 30-pin iPad connector.
If that is in fact the case, Apple may find itself butting up against the patent version of the first sale doctrine (commonly called the "exhaustion doctrine"), which limits the patent owner's control over patented items after it has been sold the first time. Apple's customers can generally do what they please with Apple's products after purchasing them, including selling them to other parties.
The concept has been hotly debated in court as of late, however, so there's no guarantee of who will win if this case goes to court. Apple will undoubtedly defend its patents aggressively, and Sanho will likely have to show that Apple's patent products were bought and modified lawfully in the US before they were resold to customers as HyperMac products.
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Feature: A photo tour of the Large Hadron Collider
Back in July, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to tour CERN, home of the Large Hadron Collider. In addition to getting some great information on how the machine gets protons up to speeds nearly that of light, and finding out the sorts of physics that scientists hope to find in its collisions, we also got a great view of some of the control rooms and hardware that help keep everything humming along. Unfortunately, with the LHC active, it wasn't possible to actually go down and see the massive detectors that capture the output of the proton collisions, but there's still a lot to see around CERN. Read the comments on this post
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New Google transparency tool shows gov requests, blocked traffic
When you live in a country where Google's services might be blocked or simply go down at any moment, it's sometimes hard to know what's going on. Similarly, perhaps you'd like to know if your local government has been making requests of Google for the removal of your content. On Tuesday, Google rolled out its Transparency Report to address both of these needs: users can now go to the site and find out where and when Google's services have been inaccessible, as well as which countries have made how many requests for content removal.The traffic tool is meant to help users determine whether service interruptions are thanks to regular mechanical or server issues, or whether they are—as Google describes it—"government-induced." The tool works globally and includes China, thereby replacing Google's previously available Mainland China service availability chart—essentially, it's the China chart, but blown up to cover the entire world. There are drop-downs to cover each of Google's individual services, as well.
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Activision CEO says Bungie only high-quality indie developer
Bobby Kotick is at it again. The outspoken CEO of Activision Blizzard has gone on record as saying that Halo developer Bungie—who just so happened to sign a 10-year deal with Activision—is the only high-quality indie developer around."Bungie are a very unusual company," Kotick said during a talk at the America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications, and Entertainment conference (via CVG). "They're probably the last remaining high-quality independent developer... that has sort of has institutional skills and capabilities. And they're a real company."
And while Bungie is certainly good at what it does—as our review of Halo: Reach can attest—the list of other skilled indie developers is very long, including the likes of 2D Boy, 5th Cell, Capy Games, Gearbox, Level 5, Q-Games, Sucker Punch, Twisted Pixel, Valve and countless others.
It's an especially curious remark considering Activision recently attempted to court indie developers with a contest featuring a grand prize of $500,000. Then again, saying things that enrages gamers is sort of what Kotick does best.
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Twitter worms spread quickly thanks to blatant security flaw
Anyone checking twitter.com this morning was probably greeted with a mess of JavaScript, mouseover effects, and spam retweets, after a flaw in the site's handling of hyperlinks allowed attackers to inject scripts into Twitter's pages. The mere act of visiting the site with scripting enabled was sufficient to cause exploitation. Payloads ranged from the harmless—tweets with a black background—to the more malicious—redirection to porn sites.The flaw was classified as a cross-site scripting (XSS) bug. Due to an error in the way that Twitter processed messages, it was possible to include JavaScript in tweets, and that JavaScript could then do more or less anything, including sending more JavaScript-containing tweets. The technique was devised last night by Twitter user Magnus Holm. Holm says that he didn't find the XSS flaw itself, but he appears to have been the first to write a worm that exploited it.
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The Ben Heck Show turns game console modding into entertainment
Benjamin J. Heckendorn—better known simply as Ben Heck—is Internet famous. He’s probably the best known console modder in the world, and is the creator of the renowned Xbox 360 laptop. And now he has a TV show. An Internet TV show, to be precise, appropriately titled The Ben Heck Show. Ars had a chance to speak with Heck to learn just how one man modding game consoles can translate into an entertaining and educational 15-minute show.Read the comments on this post
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