Canonical cuts support for non-LTS versions of Ubuntu, users now get nine months of bug fixes

Until now, people who downloaded non-LTS (long-term support) versions of Ubuntu were treated to a lengthy support period — a full 18 months. Now, though, Ubuntu’s technical board is shortening that support window to nine months, in the hopes that Canonical can assign its engineers to other projects. (If you look at the board’s meeting notes at the link below, the group also agrees that most bugs get fixed within nine months anyway.) If you’re wondering how this might affect you, the new policy applies to version 13.04, along with all future non-LTS releases. Separately, the board decided that it will switch to a rolling release model, in which users won’t have to do a full system upgrade to take advantage of major OS updates. Many of the particulars there are still up in the air, though, which is a shame because this has already been a hot topic of conversation in the Ubuntu community, and quite a few folks are likely to be curious. In any case, for those of you who want to know more, we recommend checking out those meeting notes to soak up as much detail as you can. Filed under: Software Comments Via: Phoronix Source: Ubuntu Technical Board (IRC log)

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Canonical cuts support for non-LTS versions of Ubuntu, users now get nine months of bug fixes

Acquire a transhuman Compass Sense with a kit-built anklet

The North Paw is a kit for an anklet that subtly vibrates your on the side of your ankle that faces north, so that you attain a kind of subliminal “Compass Sense” like those possessed by certain birds. What makes it way more awesome than a regular compass? Persistence. With a regular compass the owner only knows the direction when he or she checks it. With this compass, the information enters the wearer’s brain at a subconscious level, giving the wearer a true feeling of absolute direction, rather than an intellectual knowledge as with a regular compass. Because of the plasticity of the brain, it has been shown that most wearers gain a new sense of absolute direction, giving them a superhuman ability to navigate their surroundings. The original idea for North Paw comes from research done at University of Osnabrück in Germany. In this study, rather than an anklet, the researchers used a belt. They wore the belt non-stop for six weeks, and reported successive stages of integration. North Paw ( Thanks, Lucas )

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Acquire a transhuman Compass Sense with a kit-built anklet