• Distributions
• Devices/Embedded

Server

• Is Watson Health Healthcare’s ‘Linux Moment’?

  One of those landmarks in the technology industry was IBM’s announcement in 2000 that it was throwing its corporate weight behind the open source Linux operating system. Up to that point, open source software had been viewed as the product of a plucky but overall irrelevant cadre of cranks, crackpots, and cheapskates. It may have been fine for a network of gamers who never left their geek caves, but “mission-critical” enterprise platforms? Please.

Kernel Space

• Linux Wrap: Bitdefender joins the Linux Foundation

  Today, Bitdefender and Fox Technologies, Inc. said they be joining the Linux Foundation. “Backed by a global community of developers who deliver timely security fixes and regular kernel updates, Linux is the platform of choice for a growing number of security-conscious data center operators and cloud providers. From antivirus software to access management technology, today’s new members are increasing their Linux investment to address a range of security challenges.”

• The Companies That Support Linux: Fox Technologies

  Linux has long been regarded as a stable and secure platform for enterprise applications. And the recent explosion of container technology presents yet another way for developers to build securely on top of Linux, says Mark Lambiase, CTO of Fox Technologies, Inc.

  The Linux container model “will provide for the opportunity to separate and segment applications from a shared OS model, which can provide both security and performance/configuration advantages,” Lambiase said.

  Fox Technologies, which helps companies manage and maintain Unix and Linux systems with its BoKS ServerControl application, is contributing to such growth and innovation in the Linux ecosystem, in part, by becoming new corporate members of the Linux Foundation.

• As Moore’s Law Turns 50, Processor Market Keeps On Innovating

  The bottom line, according to TI is that the 66AK2L06 can do almost everything FPGAs can do in data acquisition, but can do it in a way that is cheaper, faster, and more power efficient. The SoC is also claimed to be easier to work with than using FPGAs.

• Graphics Stack

  • EGL Sync Extensions Come To Gallium3D

    The EGL_KHR_fence_sync, EGL_KHR_wait_sync, and EGL_KHR_cl_event2 extensions are now available in the Gallium3D world. Initially these extensions are hooked up for the R600, RadeonSI, NVC0, NV50, and Freedreno drivers. Marek also tackled the GL_OES_EGL_sync extension for all Mesa drivers.

Applications

• Transmageddon Review – Easily Convert Any Media File

  Transmageddon is a video transcoder built to take advantage of GStreamer that can convert all types of media files with ease and without the need to have any kind of prior knowledge about the process. It’s a powerful tool and one of the simplest you can find out there.

• Exaile Music Player Review – An Excellent Media Player That Should Be More Popular

  Exaile is a music player that boasts all the features you would expect to find in a great app, but it’s not all that popular. It doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the app, so we decided to take a closer look and decide whether it’s worth recommending.

• Instructionals/Technical

  • How To Install XAMPP Stack On Ubuntu 15.04

  • Configure High Availability with Corosync and Pacemaker

  • A howto record a screencast on Linux and tablet

  • Remote debugging with GDB

    This past few weeks I’ve been working on making remote debugging in GDB easier to use. What’s remote debugging? It’s where you run GDB on one machine and the program being debugged on another. To do this you need something to allow GDB to control the program being debugged, and that something is called the remote stub. GDB ships with a remote stub called gdbserver, but other remote stubs exist. You can write them into your own program too, which is handy if you’re using minimal or unusual hardware that cannot run regular applications… cellphone masts, satellites, that kind of thing. I bet you didn’t know GDB could do that!

• Games

  • Revisiting My Childhood With ‘Chroma Squad’ Now On Linux

    Chroma Squad is a throwback to shows like Power Rangers, and I took it for a spin to see if it’s cringe worthy, or actually fun.

  • Unreal Engine 4.8 Adding SteamVR Support

    Next week Epic Games is expected to ship the first preview version of Unreal Engine 4.8, which will come with SteamVR support.

  • Valve Adds 64-bit Linux Support To SteamVR

    In the latest of the frequent updates to SteamVR, Valve has added 64-bit Linux support.

Desktop Environments/WMs

• K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

  • Plasma 5.4 Kicked Off

    Plasma 5.4 is scheduled for August, it’ll be a great addition to Kubuntu 15.10.

  • Plasma 5.3 for Fedora

    Plasma 5.3, new feature release of KDE workspace, has been released on Tuesday and you can get it now on Fedora.

    Plasma 5.3 brings new features, improvements and almost 400 bug fixes for basically all of its components ranging from power management to various applets.

  • KDE 5_15.04 for Slackware-current: back to work

    An update to my KDE 5 packages was overdue. Ever since the “big upgrade” in Slackware-current a week ago on 21 April 2015, there have been some stability issues in the Plasma 5 desktop. The instability was caused by the version bumps of various libraries that the KDE software is depending on – you can not dynamically link to a software library that’s no longer there because it has been replaced with a library bearing a new version number. I felt I had to recompile everything just to be sure there was no hidden “breakage” left, and so I took the opportunity to wait for the newest Plasna release and present you wilth all-new packages.

Distributions

• New Releases

  • Simplicity Linux 15.4 Is Based on LXPup and Is Ready for Download

    Simplicity Linux, a Linux distribution based on LXPup and that uses the LXDE desktop, has been upgraded to version 15.4 and is now available for download and testing.

• Screenshots/Screencasts

  • Chapeau 21.2.1 Screencast

• Ballnux/SUSE

  • Suse simplifies Linux migration to take advantage of SAP database

    Open-source software company Suse has started support for “Simpler Choice” database programme from SAP, which will provide enterprises with simple tools and discounts to simplify adoption of SAP in-memory data management solutions.

  • SUSE releases enterprise server for SAP apps

• Debian Family

  • What’s what in Debian Jessie

    Debian is arguably the most important Linux distribution. From it springs such popular Linux distributions as Mint and Ubuntu. Outside Linux’s inner circles, it’s not that well known because it’s purely a community operating system. There is no company behind it, as there is with Red Hat and CentOS, Fedora, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Without fanfare, Debian is more than just the foundation for other better known Linux distros, it is a powerful desktop and server Linux in its own right.

  • Derivatives

    • Canonical/Ubuntu

      • Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) End of Life reached on April 30, 2015

        This is a follow-up to the End of Life warning sent last month to confirm that as of today (April 30, 2015), Ubuntu 10.04 is no longer supported. No more package updates will be accepted to 10.04, and it will be archived to old-releases.ubuntu.com in the coming weeks.

      • Taking Ubuntu’s Monkey for a Ride

        That seems to be the response from desktop users and reviewers of Ubuntu’s latest and greatest, 15.04 or Vivid Vervet. The server and cloud crowd are all abuzz, tearing this baby down to see what it can do. But for the desktop folks — not so much. About all you read is that the new desktop is mainly cosmetic changes: that Unity’s color scheme is now purple, which isn’t quite true — to my eyes, there’s some orange in there too — and that a few things have been moved back to where they used to be. Other than that, everyone complains that this vervet is nothing more than lipstick on a unicorn, as Utopic Unicorn was Ubuntu’s last release.

        What this means, of course, is absolutely nothing. The folks at Ubuntu have made it clear that this is mostly a server/cloud release, so it’s not surprising that it offers desktop users little reason to upgrade. Besides, except for those few users who insist on living on the bleeding edge, most desktop users should be using 14.04, Trusty Tahr, anyway, because it’ll be supported until 2019, and our vervet friend will only see support through January.

      • Ubuntu Ditches Upstart

        Ubuntu is not the first distro to use systemd. Debian (Ubuntu’s daddy) recently made the switch too. Other distros have experienced bugs as a result of the switch. For instance, service managers, which configure the boot config files, must be changed to work with the new init system.

        Ubuntu cleverly sidestepped this problem by keeping its old init config file formats in place alongside the new format used by systemd. The version of systemd used in Ubuntu can read both. So old tools that work with the Upstart config settings still work.

        systemd does provide a boost in boot performance over Upstart, but some members of the community are concerned that the way systemd handles messages to services will reduce performance and even open the door to denial-of-service attacks.

        Clearly, Canonical must have a lot of faith in systemd to abandon Upstart (its own project) in its favor. As time passes, we will see whether this was a wise decision.

      • Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicon) Gets Linux Kernel Update

        Canonical has announced that a few vulnerabilities were found in the Linux kernel packages, affecting the kernel for Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicon) operating system, and they have been corrected.

Devices/Embedded

• µQseven COM aims Allwinner A31 SoC at industrial apps

  Theobroma’s Allwinner A31 based µQseven COM offers a re-engineered Linux/Android BSP, and adds a security module, SATA, GbE, CAN, eMMC, a USB hub, and more.

  Austrian engineering design firm Theobroma Systems has begun selling a “A31 µQ7″ module that expands upon the quad-core, Cortex-A7 Allwinner A31 system-on-chip using a half-size µQseven form-factor. The 70 x 40mm module supports Linux and Android, and offers optional -20 to 70ºC extended temperature support.

• Phones

  • Android

    • Turn your Android tablet into a Windows-like desktop with this cool app

      The Android user interface isn’t for everyone, but what if you could turn your Android display into something that looked more like a Windows desktop? With Andromium OS, a recently released app on Google Play, you can do exactly that.

    • Get an early look at new Chrome features on Android as Google releases the developer version to all

      Fancy a sneak peek at Google’s new mobile browser? All you have to do is download Chrome Dev from the Play Store onto your Android device and voilà.

    • Google makes Chrome’s bleeding edge developer version available on Android

      Google is letting hardcore Android users get their hands on the roughest, rawest, most advanced version of Chrome available, making the Dev channel for Chrome on Android available to download via the Play Store. This lets experienced users and developers try out the browser’s newest features on Google’s mobile OS before they hit the mainstream. Casual users should be warned however, this is the equivalent of riding in a supercar before the manufacturers have checked the brakes: it might look fun, but you’re going to crash. Although the Dev channel is already available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS, this is the first time it’s been released for Android as well.

    • Nexus 4 Android 5.1 Update: 5 Things to Know Now

      As April comes to a close, Google’s Android 5.1 Lollipop update is still on the minds of many Nexus 4 users. With Android 5.1 problems plaguing some owners and with a new Android 5.1.1 update seemingly on the way, we want to take a look at what Nexus 4 users need to know as we push into the month of May.

    • Android’s built-in texting app lets you reply from notifications

      Hangouts may be Android’s star messaging app at the moment, but Google is still willing to show its original Messenger client a little TLC. The company has updated its basic Android texting app with support for quick replies from notifications. While the feature isn’t quite as slick as what you get in iOS’ Messages (where the notification itself has a reply box), it’ll save you from constantly switching apps when you’re juggling a rapid-fire conversation alongside your usual phone tasks. Grab the upgrade today if you want some of Google’s latest bells and whistles without having to use Hangouts as your SMS software of choice.

    • Samsung Galaxy Android 5.1 Update: 5 Things to Know in April

      Google’s Android 5.1 update continues to pick up steam and it appears headed for top devices like the HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S6 and more. With Samsung Galaxy Android 5.1 release details heating up, we want to take a look at what Samsung smartphone and tablet users need to know about the Android 5.1 update as we push into May.

    • Lucky T-Mobile Galaxy S6 Edge Owner Gets Android 5.1.1 Update

      Last week, as we were telling you to expect Android 5.1.1 at any moment, we weren’t exactly including those of you who just picked up a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge in the conversation. No offense, but phones with OEM skins aren’t usually leading the pack when it comes to updates that feature the newest versions of Android. As it turns out, maybe we should have.

    • Nexus 7 Android 5.1 Update: 5 Things to Know Now

      It’s been more than a month since its release and Google’s Android 5.1 Lollipop update is still on the minds of many Nexus 7 users. With Android 5.1 problems plaguing Nexus 7 users and with a Nexus 7 Android 5.1.1 update seemingly on the way, we want to take a look at what Nexus 7 users need to know as we push into the month of May.

    • Waiting For Apple CarPlay And Android Auto? We Hope You Brought A Book

      In 2013, Apple introduced something called “iOS in the Car”, an infotainment system that could run on dashboards, mimicking the screens of our beloved iPhones. Early last year — nearly 14 months ago — Apple renamed the product CarPlay and said that it would become available on Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo models within days.

    • Nexus 5 Android 5.1 Update: 5 Things to Know Now

      As April comes to a close, Google’s Android 5.1 Lollipop update is still on the minds of many Nexus 5 users. With Android 5.1 problems continuing to plague many Nexus 5 users and with an Android 5.1.1 update seemingly on the way, we want to take a look at what Nexus 5 users need to know as we push into the month of May.

    • Top 10 Best Android Smartphones Buyers Guide: May 2015 Edition

      Things are starting to get more exciting in the Android smartphone world these days. LG have just launched the new G4 and while it won’t be featured in this list until it hits shelves, it’ll certainly make an impact later this year. As for May however, well there are still some excellent options out there no matter what sort of Android smartphone you’re looking for, and the flagships of 2015 are here, ready and waiting for you to pick them up at your local carrier store or from Amazon. This list is of the device available in North America right now, and next month’s list should be very interesting, indeed.

    • Upcoming Galaxy S6 and S6 edge Android 5.1 update to bring missing Android feature

      Samsung will update some of its devices to Android 5.1 Lollipop in the near future, starting with the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge flagships. According to SamMobile, the update will bring a major Android feature that’s currently unavailable on the phones, even though other Lollipop devices from the competition have it.

    • The $1,400 Android Wear Watch, and Other Tech News You Missed

      With the arrival of the Apple Watch, and more specifically the fancy gold edition, luxury smartwatches are officially a thing. And Android Wear is going to try its luck. According to Bloomberg, the long-rumored Tag Heuer Android Wear smartwatch finally has a pricetag. How does $1,400 sound?

    • Android Powered Smartwatch To Be Available In May

      The LG Watch Urbane is compatible with any Android 4.3 or higher smart phone and is the fist Android Wear smartwatch enabled with Wi-Fi which allows users to disconnect from their smart phone.

SaaS/Big Data

• The 11th Release of OpenStack, Kilo, Debuts

  The 11th release of OpenStack is available for download today, and the event is being billed as “a turning point” for the open source project with contributions from nearly 1,500 developers and 169 organizations worldwide. Indeed, it’s only been a few short years since there was early media coverage of the cloud computing platform.

• Open source is HP’s ‘core DNA’

• OpenStack® Kilo Release Balances Stable Core with Support for Innovative Services

BSD

• vBSDcon 2015: September 11-13

  Please join us September 11-13, 2015 at the Sheraton in Reston, Virginia for the second biennial vBSDCon event. This exciting weekend will bring together members of the BSD community for a series of roundtable discussions, educational sessions, best practice conversations, and exclusive networking opportunities. Registration will open in July.

• The Tor BSD Diversity Project (TDP)

  The Tor-BSD Diversity Project is an initiative that seeks to extend the use of the BSD Unix operating systems in the Tor public anonymity network.

Openness/Sharing

• Open Hardware

  • fattelo! presents noctambula, an open-source milk carton lamp

    fattelo! is an italian design studio focused on re-purposing household waste materials for unexpected uses. the ‘noctambula’ lamp is no different. created by fattelo! designers federico trucchia and mireia gordi vila, the LED light is switch-operated, battery-powered built with only a few standard components and one milk carton. no wiring, no soldering, and no big price tag. like their debut 01lamp, the design will be released under a creative commons license and freely available on fattelo!’s site.

Security

• Spam-blasting malware infects thousands of Linux and FreeBSD servers [Ed: Eset says that thousands of bsd and linux servers had malware installed on them by admins. Unlike with Windows--remotely exploited.]

  The Eset researchers still aren’t certain how Mumblehard is installed. Based on their analysis of the infected server, they suspect the malware may take hold by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Joomla and WordPress content management systems. Their other theory is that the infections are the result of installing pirated versions of the DirecMailer program.

• Thursday’s security updates

Defence/Police/Secrecy/Aggression

• 40 years later, Vietnam still deeply divided over war

  Forty years after it won the war, the Communist Party still rules Vietnam with an iron fist. But with crony capitalism, corruption and inequality now rife, many claim its victory was a hollow one.

• The U.S. and Vietnam: 40 Years After the Fall of Saigon

  Forty years ago today, the United States lost its first war. And for the vast numbers of Americans who were deeply affected by the Vietnam debacle – including the military personnel who served there, the families of the nearly 60,000 Americans soldiers who died in Southeast Asia, and the citizens who lost faith in their country because of the events that unfolded – the conflict will remain a defining point in their lives.

Finance

• Some bitcoin mempool data: first look

  Previously I discussed the use of IBLTs (on the pettycoin blog). Kalle and I got some interesting, but slightly different results; before I revisited them I wanted some real data to play with.

Privacy

• Much of NSA bulk surveillance as you’ve known it may soon end

  Don’t look now, but much of the National Security Agency bulk metadata collection that stirred so much controversy in the wake of the Edwards Snowden revelations might — just might — be about to come to an end. While civil libertarians still worry about various aspects of the program continuing, this would be no small achievement.

• Robbery suspect pulls guilty plea after stingray disclosure, case dropped

  A woman accused of being a getaway driver in a series of robberies in St. Louis has changed her plea from guilty to not guilty after finding out that a stingray was used in her case.

  Wilqueda Lillard was originally set to testify against her three other co-defendants, whose charges were also dropped earlier this month. As a result of changing her plea, the local prosecutor dropped the charges against her on Monday.

• UK Tribunal Rules GCHQ Conducted Illegal Surveillance And Must Destroy Legally Privileged Documents

  A couple of months ago, we reported on a surprising admission by the UK government that GCHQ has been carrying out illegal surveillance by monitoring privileged conversations between lawyers and their clients. As we noted at the time, the reason for this sudden access of conscience was simply that it knew it was going to lose an imminent case before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), the body that considers complaints about UK government surveillance. And that, indeed, is what has just happened. As the human rights organization Reprieve, which helped bring the legal action, explains, not only has GCHQ been found guilty of illegal spying, it has also been ordered to destroy the materials it collected as a result…

Civil Rights

• Michael Moore: Disarm police, free nonviolent criminals

  Filmmaker Michael Moore is stirring up debate today with a series of tweets on race and police brutality in America.

  In his tweets, the Michigan native demanded that all African Americans incarcerated for drug crimes or nonviolent offenses be released from prison today.

  He also called for all police to be disarmed.

• Media’s Baltimore ‘Teen Purge’ Narrative Falling Apart

  Had the Baltimore Sun sought out and published the actual social media sources, instead of cutting and pasting a screengrab from a friend on Facebook with “word” of a panic, they could have demonstrated whether the flier was being spread more in support or in disgust. Alas, in rushing to justify the police crackdown and to prop up the “both sides” parity our corporate media pathologically seek, they made assumptions about a viral orgy of violence and pinned the mid-afternoon clash entirely on the students and a barely readable “purge” flier of unknown origin.

• Watch A Baltimore Resident Confront Geraldo Rivera Over Fox News’ Irresponsible Coverage

  Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera was confronted by a Baltimore resident frustrated by the network’s history of biased and incendiary coverage of racial issues. Rivera responded by retreating before going live on-air where he described the young black man as a “vandal,” yelling at him, “you’re making a fool of yourself!”

• Distributions
• Devices/Embedded

Kernel Space

• Tux3 File-System Works Out Faster Fsync Support

  Daniel Phillips has worked out faster fsync support within Tux3, the promising open-source file-system that continues to be developed outside of the mainline kernel.

  EXT4 maintainer Ted Ts’o previously doubted Tux3 capabilities when it came to a fast and reliable fsync, but Phillips has managed to prove him wrong with the latest async Tux3 fsync code.

• Graphics Stack

  • Create-Context-Robustness For Mesa’s Gallium3D Drivers

    The latest Mesa/Gallium3D driver work by AMD’s Marek Olšák is on working out create_context_robustness work for the Gallium3D drivers.

Applications

• Proprietary

  • Google Chrome 42 Stable Released for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X

    A new stable edition of Google Chrome has been released by Google, and it brings a number of important fixes for some security problems that haven’t been detailed just yet.

• Instructionals/Technical

  • How To Install LAMP Stack On Ubuntu 15.04

  • Change Chromebook sync options for a better cross-device experience

  • How To Install LAMP Stack On Ubuntu 15.04

  • Windows Gaming with QEMU/KVM on Ubuntu Linux – AMD Radeon R9 280

  • Install an ICC Display Profile on Kubuntu with KDE Plasma 5

  • How to Manage ‘Systemd’ Services and Units Using ‘Systemctl’ in Linux

• Games

  • Terraria Still Planned For Linux, Due After The 1.3 Release

    The developers of Terraria have recently commented on a reddit post, and they mentioned Linux is still planned for the game.

  • Arma 3 Is Officially Being Worked On For Linux By An External Team, Won’t Be Native

    The Arma developers have confirmed that an external team is working on the Linux version, and that it won’t be native.

    For me, I don’t really care what a game uses anymore, as long as it is stable and performs well on reasonable hardware. If it does that, then fab!

  • A Brief History of Steam

    There’s no question that Steam has become an ubiquitous part of PC gaming. Some have hailed it as the savior of PC gaming, while others have seen it as more of a necessary evil. Whether or not you’re a fan, Steam is here to stay. Its massive storefront contains over 4,500 games, and some 125 million people actively use the service. The question we’re trying to answer here is this: How the hell did Steam get to where it is today?

Desktop Environments/WMs

• K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

  • Kde Plasma 5.3 has been released

    As said in the previous post, today, the Kde team released Plasma 5.3 which come with a lot of interesting features.

• GNOME Desktop/GTK

  • GTK+ 3.18 Will Drop Support for Windows XP, Brings Horizontal Wheel Scrolling

    The GNOME Project announced the immediate availability for download and testing of the first development release towards GTK+ 3.18, a powerful, cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, used by default in the GNOME desktop environment.

Distributions

• Screenshots/Screencasts

  • Q4OS 1.2 Screenshot Tour

  • Chromixium OS 1.0 Screencast and Screenshots

  • Debian 8.0 Xfce Screencast

• Debian Family

  • Debian GNU/Hurd 2015 Released

    With this weekend’s release of Debian 8.0 Jessie there wasn’t an adjoining Debian GNU/Hurd release, but today that release has come out.

  • Derivatives

    • Canonical/Ubuntu

      • NetworkManager Exploit Closed in Ubuntu 15.04

        Canonical has announced that a NetworkManager exploit has been found and fixed for Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS operating systems.

      • Ubuntu 15.04 Released – Here’s What’s New

        Canonical has announced and released ubuntu 15.04 vivid vervet on April 23, 2015, it now available to download and install on your PC/laptop. This release brings improvements in usability, the bug fixes, a fresh serving of software updates and adds some interesting new features. Here’s everything you’ll find in the stable release of Ubuntu 15.04 vivid vervet.

      • Vivid Vervet Doesn’t Have Much Meat on Its Bones

        I looked at Ubuntu’s flagship desktop environment, Unity, but most of the technical improvements are rolled into Ubuntu’s other desktop choices as well. These include Matte, GNOME and Kubuntu.

      • Microsoft’s Continuum Looks Suspiciously like Canonical’s Ubuntu for Android

        Remember a couple years back when Canonical was showing us how you could transform your phone into a full-fledged Ubuntu PC? That was a more of a concept, but it’s 2015 and that hasn’t been made possible yet, at least not by Canonical. Microsoft just demoed the same thing with its Windows phone.

      • Windows 10 just beat Ubuntu to the smartphone-PC convergence punch

        Microsoft’s ploy to transform Windows Phones into full-blown Windows PCs when connected to an external monitor may seem revolutionary, but it’s nothing new. At least not in theory.

      • Flavours and Variants

        • Xubuntu 12.04 LTS Reached End of Life, Users are Urged to Upgrade to Xubuntu 14.04

          Xubuntu developers informed users today, April 29, that the LTS (Long Term Support) version of the Xubuntu Linux operating system is no longer supported, as it reached end of life (EOL) on April 26, 2015.

Devices/Embedded

• MIPS Creator (32 bit dual core MIPS)

  As I mentioned in passing yesterday I have a MIPS Creator CI20. It’s a tiny single board dual core 32 bit MIPS computer. The cost was £55 including tax and delivery.

• Arrow to sell open-source ARM boards

  Arrow Electronics is adding open-source hardware to its embedded design offerings and it has signed up to Linaro, the organisation which optimises open-source software for ARM processor-based designs.

• Phones

  • Tizen

    • Tizen Store expands its Service Coverage to 182 countries

      Samsung have sent out an email today to Tizen developers informing them that the Global Free Tizen Store in now open as they have expanded their Tizen Store service coverage to include a massive 182 countries, effective April 29, 2015 !!!! This additional countries will only offer free apps at the moment, but we suspect this is a quick way to expand the coverage of the Tizen Store with the least amount of red tape to plough through.

    • South Korean Tizen Store now accessible ! Release of the Z1 or Z2 imminent?

  • Android

    • TAG Heuer’s Android smartwatch will cost you $1,400

      So much for hopes that TAG Heuer’s first smartwatch will cost less than its conventional counterparts. Jean-Claude Biver, the head of TAG’s parent company LVMH, says that the Android Wear timepiece will cost about $1,400 when it ships in October or November. That’s in the ballpark of lower-end quartz models from the watchmaker’s Formula 1 line, but it makes even the $1,000 steel link Apple Watch seem like a relative bargain. That money will get you more than just a luxurious brand name, however. Biver estimates that the TAG Heuer device will last 40 hours on battery, so you won’t have to panic if you forget to top it up one day. This is just a friendly reminder that watch prices at this level are dictated more by the design than what’s inside — a nice steel watch won’t come cheap.

    • $100 Android TV game player features PC streaming

      Razer is taking pre-orders for its $100 “Forge TV” Android TV gaming player, with options including a gaming controller, keyboard, and PC streaming service.

      Razer announced its Razer Forge TV back at CES in January, where it won eight awards including Engadget’s People’s Choice award for Best of CES 2015. Razer opened pre-sales for the Android TV compatible Forge TV on Amazon.com earlier this month, and has now opened direct pre-orders from its website, with shipments due May 5.

    • The LG G4 Could Be One of the Nicest Android Phones Out There

      The LG G4 is the latest flagship phone from the Korean manufacturer and a device that has a lot to live up to. Not only have the likes of the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 raised the smartphone stakes over the past 12 months, but it’s predecessor, the LG G3, was crowned TrustedReviews 2014 Phone of the Year.

Google’s open source ‘Password Alert’ protects your login credentials from phishing attacks

Google is life. Well, not really, but for some people it kind of is. For many of us, a Gmail account became a gateway to an entire Google lifestyle. One password logs us into numerous services, which is super convenient, but also quite scary. Over time, it is easy to let your guard down and fall for phishing sites that pretend to be a legit Google login. If your Google credentials are intercepted, you are going to have a bad time.

How Fortnum and Mason got 20% more customers to check out with open-source site

British luxury retailer Fortnum and Mason has seen 20 percent more customers check out online thanks to its brand new open source website.

The renowned store in London’s Piccadilly has completely replaced its existing e-commerce platform, opting for the open-source, and lesser known Spree Commerce platform to avoid vendor lock-in.

The new site has already improved usability, contributing to a 15 percent customer conversion rate, a ten percent on-site search conversion rate and its former 20 percent basket abandon rate reduced to zero, the retailer revealed.

Web Browsers

• Chrome

  • Google fights phishing with a new Chrome extension

  • New Chrome extension warns you when your Google password gets phished

  • Chrome Can Now Warn Users Who Type Gmail Passwords in Dumb Places

  • Google Launches Password Alert Chrome Extension To Keep You From Reusing Your Passwords

  • Google’s New Free Weapon to Fight Hackers

Databases

• OpenBenchmarking.org & Phoronix.com Are Now Running On MariaDB

  Besides being powered by more powerful server hardware, also delivering faster response times to Phoronix and OpenBenchmarking.org is thanks to MariaDB.

CMS

• Building better pages in Drupal with Paragraphs

  When you’re publishing anything online, the way you lay out your content can be as important as the content itself. A good layout can help readers better interact and consume that content.

  Users of content management systems like Drupal have a number of options that allow them to create very attractive, very usable layouts. That’s one factor that drew Murray Woodman to Drupal. He co-founded Morpht, a Drupal-based web development shop in Sydney, Australia. He found that Drupal 6 provided a level of freedom and productivity, and hasn’t looked back.

• 4 tips for building a successful CMS

  In everyday life, I’m a web developer. Or, to be precise, I run a business that develops websites for a wide range of clients, from small businesses to large organizations. Every one of these sites comes with a CMS of some sort. Which CMS we use to develop the sites depends on a lot of factors, including what the client wants, the size of the website, and the required functionality. In this article, I’ll cover the lessons learned when we developed our open source Bolt content management system.

Openness/Sharing

• TechGirlz piloting open-source curriculum: ‘TechShopz in a Box’

• Charleston Open Source seeks to fill local tech talent gap

  The idea behind Charleston Open Source isn’t about competition for technology talent, even though the employers involved in it might be looking for workers with similar skills and backgrounds.

• Open Hardware

  • Printednest offers chic open source 3D printable bird houses for urban dwellings

    Whether these newly-established ‘communities’ and their members are working together to solve a problem with the end-goal of 3D printing the solution or are simply just sharing open source files from across the world, the conversations would have likely never happened if it wasn’t for the increase in accessibility to 3D printers.

Standards/Consortia

• How an open standard API could revolutionize banking

  The United Kingdom government has commissioned a study of the feasibility of UK banks giving customers the ability to share their transactional data with third parties via an open standard API. First mentioned alongside the autumn statement back in December, the chancellor has now outlined plans for a mandatory open banking API standard during the recent budget in March.

Security

• Security advisories for Wednesday

Defence/Police/Secrecy/Aggression

• Dire Straits

  Vessels have the right of freedom of navigation through straits, on “innocent passage” under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. As it sounds, that amounts to a right to pass straight through on normal business. Territorial waters do not affect innocent passage. The coastal state has the right to establish sea lanes for maritime safety purposes.

  So whether the Marshall Islands flagged Maersk Tigris was in Iranian territorial waters is not relevant to its right to pass through. If, as Iranian sources have indicated, it really was impounded for commercial debt, then that would have to be in territorial waters. But for that the crew could not be detained, and the debt would have to be immediately stated and the ship released if paid. Iran is not acting as though this really is for debt.

  [...]

  I was sorry for the two American hostages who were killdied in a drone strike, but sickened that given all the hundreds of innocent women and children he has murdered in drone strikes, Obama finally got all sackcloth and ashes over two American men.

Censorship

• Does the Popcorn Time judgment put other software distribution sites at risk?

  The Popcorn Time blocks represent the first time Section 97A orders have been used to block access to a new type of sites, namely sites that distribute software and do not link to infringing content.

Civil Rights

• Hungary PM: bring back death penalty and build work camps for immigrants

  Rightwing nationalist Viktor Orbán threatens to defy EU law and launches anti-immigration manifesto calling for internment camps for illegal immigrants

• National Rifle Association Uses Baltimore Riots To Promote “Stand Your Ground” Laws

  The National Rifle Association used riots in Baltimore to promote controversial “Stand Your Ground” self-defense laws by citing an article from conservative website Breitbart.com that claimed such laws “are an antidote for brazen in-your-face attacks on city streets.”

Internet/Net Neutrality

• BT finally admits its Home Hub router scuppers some VPN connections

  BT has coughed to a crappy glitch with its Home Hub 3A router that is blocking some VPN connections.

  However, the one-time state monopoly appears to have taken a long time to acknowledge customer gripes, which have been piling up for weeks.

  BT said it had taken a while to respond to individual complaints because it was essentially compiling a dossier so it could pinpoint the technical blunder.