Nerval's Lobster writes "Yahoo has agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. As you know, Yahoo is a major corporation with a need to monetize its assets in a way that makes its shareholders happy, leaving open the question of whether it'll alter Tumblr's DNA in order to make the latter more of a significant cash generator. But at least for the moment, Yahoo seems content to leave its new property alone. 'Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,' read the company's press release. 'The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.' Tumblr CEO David Karp, who has been known to make some very anti-advertising comments in the past, will remain in place. Even so, anyone who likes Tumblr may have some cause for concern, because Yahoo has a history of making high-profile acquisitions that subsequently implode. Back in 1999, for example, it paid over $3 billion for GeoCities, another blogging network that it eventually shut down after years of failing the update the property. In 2005, it acquired popular photo-sharing Website Flickr, which it likewise allowed to languish and die. That same year it bought Delicious, a popular Webpage-bookmarking site, and did exactly nothing with it. So when Yahoo starts off its Tumblr press release with a promise not to screw things up, it's a self-deprecating nod toward all that history. New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been on a bit of a buying spree of late, snatching up startups such as Summly in an attempt to make her company 'cool' and relevant."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Asus plans to unveil a new ultrabook at Computex later this month. The company says the Asus Zenbook Infinity will be 14 percent thinner than other notebooks in the Zenbook line, thanks to new materials.

The Asus Zenbook Infinity has an aluminum and glass case, and features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the lid and around the keyboard. Gorilla Glass is a durable, damage-resistant type of glass which we usually see on smartphone and tablet displays, but it’s not unheard of for PC makers to use glass on thin and light notebooks these days.

Asus says the Zenbook Infinity will measure just 15.5mm (about 0.61 inches) thick, making it one of the thinnest ultrabooks around.

Unfortunately, that’s about all Asus is saying about the notebook at the moment. There’s no word on the screen size, processor, or other features — although I’d be surprised if PC makers introduced many notebooks at Computex this year that don’t feature Intel Haswell or next-generation AMD processors.

Asus also recently unveiled a new ultrabook with a 15.6 inch, 2880 x 1620 pixel display in Germany.

via Engadget

Asus Zenbook Infinity with a Gorilla Glass lid coming to Computex 2013 is a post from: Liliputing

sciencehabit writes "Whooping cough, or pertussis, has exploded in the United States in recent years. A new study (abstract) confirms what scientists have suspected for some time: The return of the disease is caused by the introduction of new, safer vaccines 2 decades ago. Although they have far fewer side effects, the new shots don't offer long-lived protection the way older vaccines do."

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Jolla Mobile has unveiled the first smartphone designed to run the company’s open source Sailfish operating system. It’s expected to ship in some European markets by the end of the year for €399, which is about $513 US.

Sailfish is a Linux-based operating system that picks up where MeeGo left off… or rather where Nokia left off when the company abandoned MeeGo and jumped on the Windows Phone bandwagon. In fact, Jolla is a company founded by former Nokia employees.

The phone features a 4.5 inch HD screen, a dual-core processor, 16GB of storage, an 8MP camera, and support for 4G LTE wireless networks. It also has a user -replaceable battery and a microSD card slot, unlike some recent high-end smartphones.

You can also customize the case with back panels that come in a variety of colors.

Oh yeah, and the phone seems to be called the “Other Half” for some reason.

While Sailfish has a unique user interface and supports native apps written for the Linux-based OS, out of the box it will also have support for Android apps.

Since this isn’t officially an Android device, it’s not clear that you’ll be able to use the Google Play Store to easily find and download software, but it sounds like you should be able to sideload Android apps more easily on a Sailfish OS device than you can on a phone running BlackBerry 10 software (which also has an Android App Player, but which requires Android apps to be distributed through the BlackBerry World store).

While the Other Half phone won’t be available for a while, customers in Europe who pre-order one by June 2014 will be able to get a voucher for 100 Euros.

Jolla’s first Sailfish smartphone coming this year for about $500 is a post from: Liliputing

cylonlover writes "Recently the media has been saturated with overly-hyped reports that NASA's Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer may have detected dark matter. These claims may have some justification if the word 'may' is shouted, but they rest on a number of really major assumptions and guesses, some of which are on weak and shifting soil. So just what was seen in the experiment, and what are the possible explanations?"

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Cartoon for Today, May 20, 2013

Sharp isn’t the only company working on 3200 x 1800 pixel laptop displays. Samsung just announced that it’s showing off a 13.3 inch laptop display with that same screen resolution with that same screen resolution.

Since Sharp’s model is actually a 14 inch screen, technically Samsung’s display is a little sharper (although it’ll probably consume a little more electricity than Sharp’s low-power IGZO screen).

The new high resolution laptop display is just one of the new screens Samsung is bringing to Display Week 2013 in Canada this week.

The company is also showcasing  other high-resolution screens including the 4.99 inch, 1080p AMOLED screen found in the Galaxy S4 and the 10.1 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel screen from the Google Nexus 10 tablet. Samsung is also showing an 85-inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel LCD TV, pictured above.

It’s not clear when we’ll start to see an actual laptop with the new Apple Retina-beating 3200 x 1800 pixel display, but since Samsung makes notebooks and not just displays, it’s a safe bet that one of the first devices sporting the screen will be a Samsung notebook.

via SlashGear and The Verge

 

Samsung unveils a 13 inch, 3200 x 1800 pixel notebook display is a post from: Liliputing

itwbennett writes "Whoever said 'everyone has to start somewhere' has clearly never tried contributing to an open source project — the Linux Kernel development team in particular is known for its savagery. But if you're determined to donate your time and talents, there are some things you can do to get off on the right foot. Of course you should pick something you're interested in and that you use. Check, and double check. You should also research the project, learn about the process for contributing, and do your utmost to avoid asking questions that you can find the answers to. But beyond that there are some hallmarks of beginner-friendly open source projects like Drupal, Python, and LibreOffice — namely, a friendly and active community, training and mentorship programs, and a low barrier to entry."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

riverat1 writes "After being embarrassed when the Europeans did a better job forecasting Sandy than the National Weather Service Congress allocated $25 million ($23.7 after sequestration) in the Sandy relief bill for upgrades to forecasting and supercomputer resources. The NWS announced that their main forecasting computer will be upgraded from the current 213 TeraFlops to 2,600 TFlops by fiscal year 2015, over a twelve-fold increase. The upgrade is expected to increase the horizontal grid scale by a factor of 3 allowing more precise forecasting of local features of weather. The some of the allocated funds will also be used to hire some contract scientists to improve the forecast model physics and enhance the collection and assimilation of data."

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Freshly Exhumed writes "Forked from Mandriva Linux back in 2010, Mageia Linux has hit a new release milestone. Trish at the Mageia blog announces: 'All grown up and ready to go dancing: Mageia 3's out! We still can't believe how much fun it is to make Mageia together, and we've been doing it for two and a half years. For people who can't wait, get it here; release notes are here. To upgrade from Mageia 2, see here.'" Adds reader hduff: "It offers cutting edge and stable versions of your favorite applications and desktop environments as well as a version of the STEAM gaming software."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

mask.of.sanity writes "Lights, sounds and magnetic fields can be used to activate malware on phones, new research has found. The lab-style attacks defined in a paper (PDF) used pre-defined signals hidden in songs and TV programmes as a trigger to activate embedded malware. Malware once activated would carry out programmed attacks either by itself or as part of a wider botnet of mobile devices."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

b1tbkt writes "So it seems that furniture manufacturers have not yet acknowledged the realities of modern life. Kitchen tables could benefit greatly from built-in concealable receptacles. Even more obvious is the need for electrical wiring in couches and coffee tables. I realize that there are safety (fire) concerns but as it stands most families that I know already have power cords for laptops, tables and phones draped over, under and through their couches at any given point. If someone wanted to wire their furniture with AC or some type of standardized LV DC system, what are some dangers to watch for and what, if any, specialized hardware exists for the purpose?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

cold fjord writes "A healthcare provider has sued the Internal Revenue Service and 15 of its agents, charging they wrongfully seized 60 million medical records from 10 million Americans ... [The unnamed company alleges] the agency violated the Fourth Amendment in 2011, when agents executed a search warrant for financial data on one employee – and that led to the seizure of information on 10 million, including state judges. The search warrant did not specify that the IRS could take medical information, UPI said. And information technology officials warned the IRS about the potential to violate medical privacy laws before agents executed the warrant, the complaint said." Also at Nextgov.com.

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Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Simple Touch is an inexpensive eBook reader with an E Ink display. It’s designed for reading ebooks and not much else… yet.

While the NOOK Simple Touch features WiFi, all you can do with it right note is browse the B&N book store and download content. But according to a leaked memo obtained by TechCrunch, you could soon be able to surf the web or check your email.

The move reportedly comes at least partially thanks to the strong response B&N received after updating the software on the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ by adding support for the Google Play Store. Apparently people like devices better when they offer more functionality. Who woulda thunk?

The NOOK Simple Touch already runs an Android-based operating system, so adding web browser ans email clent apps should be pretty simple. Whether it’s easy to surf the web or respond to messages using an on-screen keyboard on a device with a grayscale display and a slow screen refresh rate is another question.

According to TechCrunch, the update will apply to both the NOOK Simple Touch and the Simple Touch with GlowLight.

Amazon has long offered a web browser as one of the “experimental” features on its Kindle eReaders. But the company has never included a dedicated email client.

B&N to update NOOK Simple Touch with web browser, email client is a post from: Liliputing

First time accepted submitter The0retical writes "A couple of mine-sweeping dolphins dredged up what is known as a 'Howell torpedo' dating from 1870 to 1889. Only 50 were ever produced, this being the second example known to exist. The 11-foot-long brass torpedo had a maximum range and speed of 400 yards at 25 knots. The new example will be displayed at Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Wash. alongside the only other example."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

puddingebola writes with this excerpt from a Bloomberg report: "The Pentagon cleared Apple Inc. (AAPL) devices for use on its networks, setting the stage for the maker of iPhones and iPads to compete with Samsung Electronics Co. and BlackBerry for military sales. The Defense Department said in a statement [Friday] that it has approved the use of Cupertino, California-based Apple's products running a version of the iOS 6 mobile platform. The decision eventually may spur a three-way fight for a market long dominated by Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry.'" Also, Apple devices are best for uploading viruses to alien craft.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The Associated Press (as carried by the Washington Post) reports that a living payload of newts and mice has been retrieved after a month orbiting earth in a Russian space capsule at an altitude of 345 miles, far higher than the ISS's orbital distance of 205 miles. Says the story: "Fewer than half of the 53 mice and other rodents who blasted off on April 19 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome survived the flight, Russian news agencies reported, quoting Vladimir Sychov, deputy director of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems and the lead researcher. Sychov said this was to be expected and the surviving mice were sufficient to complete the study, which was designed to show the effects of weightlessness and other factors of space flight on cell structure. All 15 of the lizards survived, he said. The capsule also carried small crayfish and fish."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

hypnosec writes "IBM is taking its COBOL server platform to the next level by updating the mainframe platform in a bid to extend and enable its mainframes to host cloud based applications and services. The latest update is looking to add XMLS Server as well as Java 7 capabilities to the System/z COBOL platform and this update would extend the overall lifespan of COBOL by taking it up a notch and gearing it towards the cloud computing arena."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

With the kind of cagey phrasing found in many such electronics approval applications, Google describes a device that some are taking to be the successor to its discontinued Nexus Q thus: "The device functions as a media player." From the article: "Some of the specs of the device includes a 2.4GHz WiFi b/g/n connectivity. The FCC report does not contain test photos so we do not know what the device looks like. It is likely that the H840 will support Google Play Music All Access and will have similar functionality as a Sonos media player that can be connected to external speakers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

TechCrunch reports that Yahoo's string of acquisitions may soon include Tumblr: "The Wall Street Journal is now reporting via Twitter that the rumored $1.1 billion cash acquisition deal for social blogging site Tumblr has been approved by Yahoo’s board of directors. The Tumblr acquisition was rumored last week, with a price tag reportedly north of $1 billion, which appears to be accurate if the WSJ’s sources are correct." The article notes, too, that "Yahoo had only $1.2 billion cash on hand as of its most recent quarterly earnings, which makes an all-cash offer for Tumblr a lot more of a stretch than it would be for someone like Apple, or even Facebook, which acquired Instagram for $1 billion in a mix of both cash and stock."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.