Cloud Computing Needs to Embrace the Linux Model

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While a portion of the OpenStack community is committed to the “free” software model, numerous developers have embraced the software with the intention of using it as the foundation for a proprietary platform. While that could lead to some tension between those developers with differing philosophies, Engates views that as better than the alternative. “Is it better to have a proprietary stack with no alternative?” he asked. “Or is it better to have an open-source platform here everyone has the source code at some level?”

via Cloud Computing Needs to Embrace the Linux Model: Rackspace CTO.

Xbox team’s ‘consumer detector’ would dis-Kinect freeloading TV viewers

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The patent application, filed under the heading “Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User,” proposes to use cameras and sensors like those in the Xbox 360 Kinect controller to monitor, count and in some cases identify the people in a room watching television, movies and other content. The filing refers to the technology as a “consumer detector.”

via Xbox team’s ‘consumer detector’ would dis-Kinect freeloading TV viewers – GeekWire.

Smartphones to Use Half the Power as Researchers Claim to have solved Efficiency Problem

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Almost everyone who owns a smartphone would have noticed that whenever they stream videos or play games their device gets warm and starts to drain battery rapidly. Engineers claim that power amplifiers are to blame for this behavior and that these chips waste as much as 65 per cent of their energy. The professors Joel Dawson and David Perreault, through their startup Eta Devices claim to have solved this problem with a new power amplifier design.

via Smartphones to Use Half the Power as Researchers Claim to have solved Efficiency Problem – ParityNews.com: …Because Technology Matters.

The new technology, dubbed asymmetric multilevel outphasing [PDF], is basically a super fast electronic gearbox that would select the best possible voltage to send across the transistors that would minimize power consumption. This process is done as many as 20 million times per second.

Volcano power plan gets U.S. go-ahead

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The starting point for creating a new geothermal reservoir is a deep well into hot, dry rock. Well NWG 55-29, drilled by Davenport Newberry in 2008, is well suited as the foundation for a geothermal reservoir. It is 10,060 feet (3066 m) deep into hot rock with very low water permeability.

via Volcano power plan gets U.S. go-ahead.

On October 18 the pumping equipment was running and a water pressure of 1600 psi (10.9 MPa) was built up inside NWG 55-29. The diagnostics (pumping rate, microseismic detectors, etc.) indicated that hydroshearing and expansion of a network of cracks in the hot rock had begun. However, an unexpected night of freezing weather on October 20 damaged some of the auxiliary equipment, leading to a temporary shutdown of operations. AltaRock hopes to resume testing the stimulation process later this week. The following video gives a very good (if slightly lengthy) description of the project.

Crushed Silicon Could Triple Your Battery Life

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Engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal and research scientist Madhuri Thakur reported in Nature’s Scientific Reports (it has yet to be published online) that by taking porous silicon and crushing it, they were able to dramatically decrease the volume required for anode material. Silicon has long been looked at as an anode material because it holds up to ten times more lithium ions than graphite, which is most commonly used commercially.

via Crushed Silicon Could Triple Your Battery Life | Motherboard.

The result is a new battery design that holds a charge of 1,000 milliamp hours per gram through 600 tested charge cycles of two hours charging, two hours discharging. According to the team, current graphite anodes can only handle 350 mAh/g.

Lies We Tell Our CEOs About Database Security

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What makes that so dangerous, of course, is that distorted views of security often lead to bad risk decisions. Because when senior executives of any public or private organizations don’t understand industry best practices or what really constitutes a sophisticated attack, they’ll probably fail to properly fund protection measures against securing sensitive databases.

via Lies We Tell Our CEOs About Database Security – Dark Reading.

“I think she’s right, an attack is inevitable; losing 3.8 million social security numbers is not,” Murray says. “That someone bad is going to keep trying to do something bad to you, yes, that’s absolutely inevitable. That they’re going to be very, very successful like they were here, not so much.”