NASA upgrades Mars Curiosity software … from 350M miles away

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“We need to take a whole series of steps to make that software active,” said Steve Scandore, a senior flight software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “You have to imagine that if something goes wrong with this, it could be the last time you hear from the rover.”

via NASA upgrades Mars Curiosity software … from 350M miles away – Computerworld.

Curiosity, while working on Mars alone, needs to be told what it will do every day — move across the bottom of the crater, zap a rock with its laser, scoop up a soil sample. And once a team of NASA scientists make the daily decision as to what the rover will do, programmers have to begin furiously working on up to a 1,000 different commands that will be uploaded to the rover.

Wall Street and the Mismanagement of Software

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It’s clear that Knight’s software was deployed without adequate verification. With a deadline that could not be extended, Knight had to choose between two alternatives: delaying their new system until they had a high degree of confidence in its reliability (possibly resulting in a loss of business to competitors in the interim), or deploying an incompletely verified system and hoping that any bugs would be minor. They did not choose wisely.

via Wall Street and the Mismanagement of Software | Dr Dobb’s.

What is needed is a change in the way that such critical software is developed and deployed. Safety-critical domains such as commercial avionics, where software failure could directly cause or contribute to the loss of human life, have known about this for decades. These industries have produced standards for software certification that heavily emphasize appropriate “life cycle” processes for software development, verification, and quality assurance. A “safety culture” has infused the entire industry, with hazard/safety analysis a key part of the overall process. Until the software has been certified as compliant with the standard, the plane does not fly. The result is an impressive record in practice: no human fatality on a commercial aircraft has been attributed to a software error.

WebRTC

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WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is an HTML5 standard being drafted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with a mailing list created in April 2011.[1][2], and jointly in the IETF with a working group chartered in May 2011.[3] It is also the name of framework that was open sourced on June 1, 2011, which implements early versions of the standard and allows web browsers to conduct real-time communication.[4] The goal of WebRTC is to enable applications such as voice calling, video chat and P2P file sharing without plugins.

via WebRTC – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Motorola Solutions deal to bolster safety of NSA tech

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Toronto-based Fixmo, which raised $23 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in November, worked with the NSA to develop the technology behind its Sentinel and SafeZone software. The programs allow companies and government agencies to control how data are shared on employee smartphones and tablets and strengthen protection against harmful software.

via Motorola Solutions deal to bolster safety of NSA tech – chicagotribune.com.

The Tribune’s headline is misleading.  It should be s/safety/security/g    Also…

Motorola Solutions plans to introduce more Android tablets later this year, Chief Executive Officer Greg Brown said last month.

Verdict Overturned in Favor of Research In Motion in Mformation Patent Case

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After considering motions presented by both parties, as well as the jury verdict (which was announced by RIM on July 14, 2012), the Judge determined that RIM had not infringed on Mformation’s patent. In granting RIM’s motion, the Judge also vacated the $147.2 million jury award, which means that RIM is not required to make any payment to Mformation. Mformation has the right to appeal the Judge’s ruling; however if Mformation successfully appeals the ruling, the jury verdict would not be reinstated and instead a new trial would occur.

via Verdict Overturned in Favor of Research In Motion in Mformation Patent Case – MarketWatch.

Digia to acquire Qt from Nokia

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Helsinki, Finland and Santa Clara, US – August 9th 2012, Digia, the software powerhouse listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki exchange (DIG1V), today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Qt software technologies and Qt business from Nokia. Following the acquisition Digia becomes responsible for all the Qt activities formerly carried out by Nokia. These include product development, as well as the commercial and open source licensing and service business. Following the acquisition, Digia plans to quickly enable Qt on Android, iOS and Windows 8 platforms.

via Digia to acquire Qt from Nokia.

Open-source movements butt heads over logo

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The gear logo is backed by the Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA), which was formally established earlier this year to promote hardware innovation and unite the fragmented community of hackers and do-it-yourselfers. The gear mark is now being increasingly used on boards and circuits to indicate that the hardware is open-source and designs can be openly shared and modified.

via Open-source movements butt heads over logo.

OSI has now informed OSHWA, which is acting on behalf of the open-source hardware community, that the logo infringes on its trademark.

Debian Now Defaults To Xfce Desktop

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The default desktop task has been changed from GNOME to Xfce within the Tasksel Git. While one might assume the change is due to the criticism expressed by many GNOME users since the 3.x series — with some saying it’s losing its relevance on the Linux desktop — the main reason expressed within the Git commit comes down to Xfce being able to fit entirely on the first Debian CD.

via [Phoronix] Debian Now Defaults To Xfce Desktop.

Researchers Identify Four BlackBerry Zitmo Variants

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Zitmo refers to a version of the Zeus malware that specifically targets mobile devices. Previous Zitmos variants masqueraded as banking security applications or security add-ons to circumvent out-of-band authentication systems used by some financial institutions by intercepting one-time passwords sent via text message and forwarding it to a another cell number that acted as a command-and-control device.

via Researchers Identify Four BlackBerry Zitmo Variants | SecurityWeek.Com.

Collaborating on research is important because the vulnerability doesn’t have to be within BlackBerry’s code to compromise the platform, Stone noted. For example, researchers exploited issues in the open source browser engine Webkit to hack a BlackBerry last year’s CanSecWest Pwn2Own contest. It’s about “protecting the ecosystem,” as one vulnerability identified in one platform can easily exist in another platform, Stone said.