Tag: science

The first Ultra HD Blu-ray players are already on sale

I wasn’t expecting to see Samsung’s UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray player on sale until the end of the month , but it’s already available at a few stores. USA Today points out that Video and Audio Center in Santa Monica is kicking off sales today, and the store’s Facebook page indicates that there are already movies available as well. If that’s not close and you feel the need for 4K discs, AVS Forum posters have also found the players in stock at San Diego-area Fry’s Electronics stores. Sure, not everyone is feeling the Ultra HD Blu-ray hype , but if you want to be among the first to see that extra resolution and HDR, then it’s time to get moving. SAMSUNG’S STREAMING UBD-K8500 4K BLU-RAY PLAYER & 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY DISKS DEBUTS TODAY AT VIDEO & AUDIO CENTER!You… Posted by Video & Audio Center on Friday, February 5, 2016 Source: USA Today , Video and Audio Center (Facebook) , AVS Forum

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The first Ultra HD Blu-ray players are already on sale

Foxconn Set To Acquire Sharp Corporation For $5.6 Billion

Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturing/assembly company, is reported to be finalizing a deal to acquire Sharp Corporation for $5.6 billion, with the beleaguered company having finally rejected a proposed government rescue package in favor of the deal. Foxconn, formerly known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, was brought to media attention in 2010, when the company installed suicide nets to stop the high number of employee suicides at company dorms. Although it seems out of the ordinary that one of the world’s few producers of LCD panels is negotiating with Foxconn, the deal is expected to go through, making it one of the biggest foreign takeovers of a Japanese company. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Foxconn Set To Acquire Sharp Corporation For $5.6 Billion

Avast SafeZone Browser Lets Attackers Access Your Filesystem

An anonymous reader writes: Just two days after Comodo’s Chromodo browser was publicly shamed by Google Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy, it’s now Avast’s turn to be publicly scorned for failing to provide a “secure” browser for its users. Called SafeZone, and also known as Avastium, Avast’s custom browser is offered as a bundled download for all who purchase or upgrade to a paid version of Avast Antivirus 2016. This poor excuse of a browser was allowing attackers to access files on the user’s filesystem just by clicking on malicious links. The browser wouldn’t even have to be opened, and the malicious link could be clicked in “any” browser. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Avast SafeZone Browser Lets Attackers Access Your Filesystem

Windows 10 Gets Core Console Host Enhancements

x0n writes: As of Windows 10 TH2 (10.0.1058), the core console subsystem has support for a large number of ANSI and VT100 escape sequences. This is likely to prepare for full Open SSH server/client integration, which is already underway over on github. It looks like xterm is finally coming to Windows. OpenSSH was previously announced (last year) by the very forward-looking PowerShell team. The linked article provides some context, and explains that the console host isn’t the same as either cmd.exe or powershell.exe, but there is a lot of overlap in functionality. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Windows 10 Gets Core Console Host Enhancements

A Newly-Discovered Organism Turns Mud Snails Into Tiny Ravers

The mollusks pictured above are either getting ready for Coachella, or showcasing an intriguing new species of sea creature. This just-discovered type of polyp spends its life decorating the shells of snails. Read more…

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A Newly-Discovered Organism Turns Mud Snails Into Tiny Ravers

The Performance of Ubuntu Linux Over the Past 10 Years

An anonymous reader writes: Tests were carried out at Phoronix of all Ubuntu Long-Term Support releases from the 6.06 “Dapper Drake” release to 16.04 “Xenial Xerus, ” looking at the long-term performance of (Ubuntu) Linux using a dual-socket AMD Opteron server. Their benchmarks of Ubuntu’s LTS releases over 10 years found that the Radeon graphics performance improved substantially, the disk performance was similar while taking into account the switch from EXT3 to EXT4, and that the CPU performance had overall improved for many workloads thanks to the continued evolution of the GCC compiler. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The Performance of Ubuntu Linux Over the Past 10 Years

Researchers Uncover the Genetic Roots Behind Rare Vibration Allergy

derekmead writes: A team of National Health Institute researchers has for the first time uncovered the genetic roots of one of the strangest allergies: vibrations. The vibration allergy, which is just as it sounds, may be quite rare, but understanding it more completely may yield important insights into the fundamental malfunctioning of immune cells in the presence of allergens. The group’s findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition to being uncommon, the vibration allergy is not very dangerous. In most cases, the allergic response is limited to hives—the pale, prickly rash most often associated with allergic and autoimmune reactions. Other less-common symptoms include headaches, blurry vision, fatigue, and flushing. The triggering vibrations are everyday things: jogging, jackhammering, riding a motorcycle, towel drying. Symptoms appear within a few minutes of exposure and are gone usually within an hour. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Researchers Uncover the Genetic Roots Behind Rare Vibration Allergy

We Finally Know What’s Inside Rosetta’s Comet

Scientists have long pondered what lies beneath the surface of comet 67P, but a study out in Nature this week has the answer: dust. Lots and lots of dust. I was hoping for space gremlins, but to planetary scientists this result is almost as exciting. Read more…

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We Finally Know What’s Inside Rosetta’s Comet

Promising New Therapy Extends Lifespans of Mice by 35 Percent

By flushing out cells worn-out with age, researchers from the Mayo Clinic have extended the lifespans of mice by as much as 35 percent. It’s an encouraging finding that could eventually lead to similar therapies in humans. Read more…

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Promising New Therapy Extends Lifespans of Mice by 35 Percent

Canonical Reveals the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Tablet

LichtSpektren writes: Several tech sites have now broke the news that Canonical has revealed their BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Tablet. Joey-Elijah Sneddon builds the hype: “A stunning 10.1-inch IPS touch display powered a full HD 1920×1200 pixel resolution at 240 ppi. Inside is a 64-bit MediaTek MT8163A 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal memory. A micro SD memory card is included, adding storage expansion of up to 64GB. Furthermore, the converged slate includes an 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus and dual LED flash (and capable of recording in full 1080p), plus a front facing 3-megapixel camera for video chats, vlogs and selfies. Front facing Dolby Atmos speakers will provide a superior sound experience during movie playback. The M10 measure 246mm x 171mm x 8.2mm, weighs just 470 grams — lighter than the Apple iPad Air — and has a 7280 mAh battery to give up to 10 hours of use. … Tablet mode offers a side stage for running two apps side-by-side, plus a full range of legacy desktop applications, mobile apps and scopes. LibreOffice, Mozilla Firefox, The GIMP and Gedit are among a ‘curated collection of legacy apps’ to ship pre-installed on the tablet. It will also be possible for developers and enthusiasts to install virtually any ARM compatible app available on Ubuntu using the familiar ‘apt-get’ command.” A photo gallery can also be seen on his website here. The price is not yet announced, but the Android version of the same tablet is currently on sale for €229. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Canonical Reveals the BQ Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Tablet