Intel wants to micromanage tablet makers in the name of battery life

Intel even wants to dictate the components in displays—it wants manufacturers to begin putting small amounts of RAM into their display panels to make them capable of storing static images. That way, if a user is reading a document or webpage but not interacting with anything on the screen, the computer could display a static image of the screen rather than continuously refreshing it for no reason.

via Intel wants to micromanage tablet makers in the name of battery life | Ars Technica.

Next Linux kernel release supports more ARMs with less code

A new coding effort recently folded into the next version of the Linux kernel may finally resolve the long-running problems associated with Linux on ARM processors. While devices like the Raspberry Pi have shown what can be done with Linux on the low-cost, low-power ARM processor, the burden of developing Linux on the growing number of ARM-derivative processors on the market has been, as Linus Torvalds himself has described it, “a fucking pain in the ass.”

via Next Linux kernel release supports more ARMs with less code | Ars Technica.

Until now, each implementation of ARM by manufacturers has had its own associated kernel code tree, creating a code management nightmare.

Don’t sweat 802.11ac Wi-Fi – because 802.11ad will knock your socks off

802.11ac is a development of the current 802.11n standard, producing improved performance on the same 5GHz frequency bands. Some routers using the 802.11ac have already been deployed, and the experts on the panel agreed that it will become commonplace by early 2013.

via Interop: Don’t sweat 802.11ac Wi-Fi – because 802.11ad will knock your socks off.

Devices using the 60GHz standard could begin to appear in 2014 and become more prominent in 2015. This means that the next major transition is still well over a year away – in part because 802.11ac will not be a particularly testing upgrade for most end users.

f2fs: introduce flash-friendly file system

F2FS is a new file system carefully designed for the NAND flash memory-based storage devices. We chose a log structure file system approach, but we tried to adapt it to the new form of storage. Also we remedy some known issues of the very old log structured file system, such as snowball effect of wandering tree and high cleaning overhead.

via LKML: =?utf-8?B?6rmA7J6s6re5?=: [PATCH 00/16] f2fs: introduce flash-friendly file system.

The CIA and Jeff Bezos Bet on Quantum Computing

Artificial intelligence researchers at Google regularly log into a D-Wave computer over the Internet to try it out, and 2011 also saw the company sign its first customer. Defense contractor Lockheed Martin paid $10 million for a computer for research into automatically detecting software bugs in complex projects such as the delayed F-35 fighter (see “Tapping Quantum Effects for Software that Learns“). Questions remain about just how its technology works, but D-Wave says more evidence is forthcoming. It is readying an improved processor that Rose calls the company’s first true product rather than a piece of research equipment. D-Wave is expected to announce other major customers in coming months.

via The CIA and Jeff Bezos Bet on Quantum Computing – Technology Review.

“At an engineering level they’ve put together a setup that’s impressive in various ways,” says Scott Aaronson, an MIT professor who studies the limits of quantum computation. “But in terms of the evidence that they’re solving problems using quantum mechanics faster than you could classically, I don’t think it’s there yet.” A fierce critic of D-Wave in the years following its 2007 demo, Aaronson softened his stance last year after the company’s Nature paper showing quantum effects. “In the past there was an enormous gap between the marketing claims and where the science was and that’s come down, but there’s still a gap,” says Aaronson, who visited the company’s labs in February. “The burden of proof is on them and they haven’t met the burden yet.”

Samsung’s Claims of Juror Misconduct Revealed in Unredacted Filings

Were you wondering how Samsung found out about the lawsuit that Hogan failed to mention in voir dire, the litigation between Seagate and Hogan that Samsung dug up? Apple was, as I’ll show you. You wouldn’t believe it if it was in a movie script. The lawyer who sued Mr. Hogan on behalf of Seagate back in 1993 is now married to a partner at Quinn Emanuel, the lawyers for Samsung.

What are the odds?

via Groklaw – Samsung’s Claims of Juror Misconduct Revealed in Unredacted Filings ~pj Updated.

The issue, then, is juror misconduct, not that they just didn’t know what they were doing during deliberations. Hogan did not mention the case brought against him by Seagate in voir dire, significantly enough, even though he was specifically asked by the judge, as were all the prospective jurors, to list all cases any of them was ever involved in as a witness or a party. Hogan told Reuters (see 2012 [PDF]) that he wasn’t asked about all cases. But he was, as you can see for yourself in the transcript [PDF] of the voir dire.

Wi-Fi roaming: Hotspot 2.0 and Next Generation Hotspot

Operators faced with overloaded 3G and 4G networks would also like to use Wi-Fi offload for users as well as for backhaul data, which is why both the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Broadband Alliance are working on standards to simplify connection and roaming: Hotspot 2.0 and Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) respectively.

via Wi-Fi roaming: Hotspot 2.0 and Next Generation Hotspot | ZDNet.

Sandia builds self-contained, Android-based network to study cyber disruptions and help secure hand-held devices

Sandia cyber researchers linked together 300,000 virtual hand-held computing devices running the Android operating system so they can study large networks of smartphones and find ways to make them more reliable and secure. Android dominates the smartphone industry and runs on a range of computing gadgets.

via Sandia National Laboratories: News Releases : Sandia builds self-contained, Android-based network to study cyber disruptions and help secure hand-held devices.

How to disable Google safe Browsing in Firefox

To DISABLE:

  1. Type about:config in adressbar of Firefox.
  2. Type safebrowsing in filterbar. Now Change the following Values
  3. browser.safebrowsing.enabled FALSE
  4. browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled FALSE
  5. browser.safebrowsing.remoteLookups FALSE

How to disable Google safe Browsing in Firefox.

Thats all and the feature will be disabled now. Even though, My advice is not to disable it as Disabling it may increase the risk of getting infected.

And Firefox keeps phoning home for updates and turning it off in the options doesn’t stop it.  Here’s a solution:

You can manually reset the Software Update feature by closing your Mozilla application and deleting the “updates” folder and the two files “active-update.xml” and “updates.xml”, which can be found in one of these locations (using Firefox as an example):

  • Windows XP/2000: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox
  • Windows 7/Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Mozilla Firefox

Above quote taken from here (support.mozilla.org).