Lemley’s thesis is radically simple: “Most software patents today are written in functional terms,” he writes. “If courts would faithfully apply the 1952 Act, limiting those claims to the actual algorithms the patentees disclosed and their equivalents, they could prevent overclaiming by software patentees and solve much of the patent thicket problem that besets software innovation.”
via The software patent solution has been right here all along | Open Source Software – InfoWorld.
Working under a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Hoskins and Research Fellow David Huson have been developing a 3D ceramic printing process that can build very finely detailed, complex structures to industrial specifications and standards. The process works by depositing a layer of wet ceramic material layer by layer. As each layer is printed, the printer table drops, a layer of powder is deposited to support the object, and the process repeats.
via Ancient Egyptian faience may be key to printing 3D ceramics.
It isn’t actually a ceramic, but rather a paste made of quartz or sand, calcite lime and a mixture of alkalis. Because of this, it can be applied directly to wet clay. When the pottery is fired, the paste turns into a brilliant blue-green glaze reminiscent of lapis lazuli, which the Egyptians used faience as a substitute for.
The Regents of the University of California and its lawsuit-happy patent licensee Eolas Technologies yesterday filed lawsuits against Facebook, Disney and Wal-Mart over four interactive technology patents they believe the companies are infringing.
via University of California Sues Facebook And Others Over Patents.
However, two of the patents cited in the new lawsuits were declared invalid in February 2012 by a Texas jury in a separate lawsuit, which targeted Amazon, Apple, Google, Yahoo and others.
At the time, Wired headlines its report on the invalidation thusly: “Texas Jury Strikes Down Patent Troll’s Claim to Own the Interactive Web”.
HGST said the new seven-platter helium drives will weigh 29% less per terabyte of capacity that today’s five-platter drives. In other words, a seven-platter helium disk will weigh 690 grams, the same as today’s five-platter drives.
Reducing drag on the platters will also allow HGST’s new helium drives to use 23% less spindle power to turn. A five-platter drive today draws 6.9 watts while idle. The new seven-platter helium drives will draw 5.3 watts of power in the same state.
via Helium-filled WD drives promise huge boost in capacity – Computerworld.
The company provides know-how in core development, as well as bridging the gap between the corporate world and the decentralized open source community environment. Our wide expertise can provide the reliability and stability of payed support in a world that is based on a volunteering community.
Configuring and Managing a Red Hat Cluster describes the configuration and management of Red Hat cluster systems for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. It does not include information about Red Hat Linux Virtual Servers (LVS). Information about installing and configuring LVS is in a separate document.
But just four years later, Bryant says, the landscape has completely changed. Today, she explains, eight server makers account for 75 percent of Intel’s server chip revenues, and at least one of those eight doesn’t even sell servers. It only makes servers for itself. “Google is something like number five on that list,” Bryant told us on Monday evening, during a dinner with reporters in downtown San Francisco.
That’s right, Google is likely the world’s fifth largest server maker.
via Intel Confirms Decline of Server Giants HP, Dell, and IBM | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com.
We’ve been having a good run of Mini-ITX cases lately, but most of those cases are designed to still be able to support what are essentially fully-powered systems: standard voltage CPUs, dedicated graphics cards, an optical drive and multiple storage drives. Yet part of the charm of Mini-ITX is that it’s capable of fitting into a much smaller space than even a Micro-ATX board theoretically could. If you’re gunning just to produce a system that’s very small and very efficient, but you don’t want to just use someone else’s build, a Mini-ITX board and the right enclosure can have you covered.
via AnandTech – Antec ISK 110 VESA Case Review: Just About As Small As It Gets.
Given that there isn’t a whole lot to the Antec ISK 110 VESA, you’d think assembly would be simple and straightforward. While it’s straightforward, simplicity unfortunately isn’t part of the equation; cramped quarters are never good for getting a system put together, and the ISK 110 VESA is incredibly cramped.
…
It’s meant for kiosk and basic lightweight corporate and personal use.
The team is wanting to see “Iridis-Pi” become an inspiration for students to enable them “to apply high-performance computing and data handling techniques to tackle complex engineering and scientific challenges.”
via Engineers Build Supercomputer Using Raspberry Pi, Lego – ParityNews.com: …Because Technology Matters.
Howto is here.
Steps to make a Raspberry Pi Supercomputer
The steps to make a Raspberry Pi supercomputer can be downloaded here: Raspberry Pi Supercomputer (PDF).
You can also follow the steps here Raspberry Pi Supercomputer (html).
In general, an app should store locally only the data that is required to perform its functional tasks. This includes side channel data such as system logging (see M8 below). For any form of sensitive data, storing plaintext data storage in an app’s sandbox (e.g., ~/Documents/* ) should always be avoided. Consumer-grade sensitive data should be stored in secure containers using Apple-provided APIs.