Iraq Downs Internet To Combat Cheating…Again!

Earlier this morning, the national fiber backbone of Iraq was taken offline in an effort to combat cheating on 6th grade placement exams.  It was the fourth such outage in the past five days.   2017 marks the third year Iraq has used government-directed internet blackouts to combat cheating on student exams.

These recent outages are a continuation of a growing (and somewhat puzzling) trend by governments in many developing parts of the world to cut communications services in a desperate attempt to staunch rampant cheating on high-stakes student exams.

Iraq’s Exam Blackouts

In the summer of 2015, we broke the story of periodic early-morning outages of the national backbone of Iraq’s internet.  These were the first such government-directed national internet outages to combat cheating on exams and were subsequently covered by publications such as Ars Technica and The Daily Beast.

Last year, Iraq shut down the national fiber backbone ten times in May.  Iraq then conducted a second round of outages in August for make-up exams and then finally directed a third round of outages to coincide with yet another round of make-up exams in October.  (A copy of the government order is pictured above. Continue reading

Intel isn’t yet done with x86 smartphone chips

Smartphones with Intel-based x86 chips aren't dead yet. Intel may have stopped making Atom chips for smartphones, but a partner is keeping that effort alive.Chinese chip maker Spreadtrum is still making x86 smartphone chips based on the Atom architecture named Airmont. The company will ship a powerful eight-core Atom variant for smartphones in the second half of this year.Smartphone makers will be able to use the Spreadtrum SC9861G-IA chip in mid-range handsets. It will have a PowerVR GT7200 graphics core and support 4K video and displays with resolutions up to 2560 x 1440 pixels.It's far more powerful than the original Atom smartphone chips made by Intel. Handsets with the chip were shown at Intel's booth at the ongoing Mobile World Congress trade show.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Python: Real World Hacking on StackStorm (Network Engineer Focussed)

It’s miserably cold, raining (the kind that gets you really wet) and a strange dark grey light covers the UK. Some would say a typical day on this island. That said, I have a coffee in hand and some thoughts to share!

For the last year working for Brocade, I’ve been heavily focussed on delivering talks, demonstrations and knowledge on the excellent StackStorm open-source project (referred to as ST2 from this point onwards for brevity). This post does not go in to what ST2 is, but for those who don’t know, it’s an event driven workflow engine. Input, decision/s, output. Simple! The ST2 website itself is a great resource for information as well as other well known blogs. ST2 is quite feature rich and under constant development. One would say it’s an agile tool for a growingly agile world.

So What Have You Been Making?

I can’t spoil what it is I’ve been building, but one of the challenges was to use the built in key-value (KV) store (currently built on Etcd with a ST2 specific abstraction layer) to use as a point of data convergence. What does this mean in real terms? I have multiple things happening and I Continue reading

Down the rabbit hole, part 7: How to limit personal data collection from city cameras

My home is my sanctuary. My computers (and handheld devices) all run free software systems that have been (fairly) tightly buttoned down and secured. My online documents, messaging and emails are handled either on my own servers or by companies dedicated to open source and security. Is my personal information 100 percent safe and unhackable? No, but it’s pretty good. And it’s about as good as I can get it without making significant sacrifices in the name of privacy. But eventually I need to leave my home. And that is where things get much more difficult. Let’s talk, briefly, about the challenges faced when trying to maintain a certain level of personal privacy when traveling around your city. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Down the rabbit hole, part 7: How to limit personal data collection from city cameras

My home is my sanctuary. My computers (and handheld devices) all run free software systems that have been (fairly) tightly buttoned down and secured. My online documents, messaging and emails are handled either on my own servers or by companies dedicated to open source and security. Is my personal information 100 percent safe and unhackable? No, but it’s pretty good. And it’s about as good as I can get it without making significant sacrifices in the name of privacy. But eventually I need to leave my home. And that is where things get much more difficult. Let’s talk, briefly, about the challenges faced when trying to maintain a certain level of personal privacy when traveling around your city. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

oVirt Gamification–The oVirt Game You Didn’t Know you Were Playing

Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.

It taps into the basic desires and needs of the users impulses which revolve around the idea of Status and Achievement.

To put it in other words, it is turning day-to-day tasks, the kind you might do at home or work, into a game which you can earn points, badges and compete with other people that are doing the same things.

oVirt & Gamification

You probably didn't know, but this isn't the first time oVirt gamification is being used. A few years ago there was an initiative to use oVirt UI plugins system to add Gamification to the project, there was even a "space invaders" game written and available to play inside oVirt!

So What is New?

The oVirt infra team recently reached out to 'GetBadges', a company which provides 'Gamification as a Service'. Luckily for us, open source projects get to have a free game! So oVirt was rewarded with its own oVirt Open Source Game.

The game works automagically every time you contribute to the project. Current integrations are only active on specific projects like 'ovirt-engine' and Continue reading

Android struggling in tablets as Windows 10 2-in-1s come on strong

In 2010, Apple's Steve Jobs welcomed the post-PC era when it introduced the iPad. Now in 2017, PCs are still around and on their way to recovery, while slate-style tablets are struggling. Apple remains the top tablet seller, but its shipments are diving, and Android tablets aren't as hot as they used to be. Unlike its heyday, tablets aren't expected to be huge presence at this year's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Lenovo and Samsung are launching some Android tablets, but more attention is being heaped on Windows 10 2-in-1 PCs that can be tablets and laptops. Where Android has faltered, Windows is now taking over. Many people are replacing tablets with multipurpose Windows 2-in-1 PCs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Scaling Compute to Meet Large-Scale CT Scan Demands

Computed tomography (CT) is a widely-used process in medicine and industry. Many X-ray images taken around a common axis of rotation are combined to create a three-dimensional view of an object, including the interior.

In medicine, this technique is commonly used for non-invasive diagnostic applications such as searching for cancerous masses. Industrial applications include examining metal components for stress fractures and comparing produced materials to the original computer-aided design (CAD) specifications. While this process provides invaluable insight, it also presents an analytical challenge.

State-of-the-art CT scanners use synchrotron light, which enables very fine resolution in four dimensions. For example, the …

Scaling Compute to Meet Large-Scale CT Scan Demands was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

50% Discount On Doom PC – Deal Alert

Developed by id Software, the studio that pioneered the first-person shooter genre and created multiplayer Deathmatch, DOOM returns as a brutally fun and challenging modern-day shooter experience. Relentless demons, impossibly destructive guns, and fast, fluid movement provide the foundation for intense, first-person combat – whether you’re obliterating demon hordes through the depths of Hell in the single-player campaign, or competing against your friends in numerous multiplayer modes. Expand your gameplay experience using DOOM SnapMap game editor to easily create, play, and share your content with the world. At the moment its typical price has been slashed 50% on Amazon down to just $19.99. See the deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BlackBerry KEYone launches with physical keyboard

BARCELONA -- BlackBerry phones with their physical keyboards were around years before the iPhone emerged in 2007. Yet, BlackBerry devices today command less than 1% of the world's smartphone market.Under a licensing deal with BlackBerry of Canada announced last year, TCL Communication of China on Saturday announced another physical keyboard smartphone model called the BlackBerry KEYone.In a bid to recall the glory days of BlackBerry, the KEYone features a 4.5-in. touchscreen as well as 52 raised physical keys in four rows at the bottom and a speedy SnapDragon 625 processor.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Before 5G, some mobile users may get almost-5G

The mobile industry is so anxious for 5G that it’s now planning something that’s almost 5G, but will be ready a year earlier.On Sunday, many of the world’s biggest equipment vendors and mobile operators joined hands to accelerate the 5G NR (New Radio) specification that will define many elements of 5G. The new technology they plan to produce will handle some of the planned uses of 5G but will be ready for large-scale trials and deployments in 2019 instead of 2020, they say.There’s a lot at stake with 5G for both carriers and the companies that supply their networks, who are all gathering this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The next generation of technology will give operators new services to sell, like multi-gigabit broadband and special offerings for the internet of things and connected cars, and it should help vendors emerge from a years-long sales drought following the rollout of LTE.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

SAP sets March 30 as launch date for its Cloud Platform SDK for iOS

Almost a year after SAP teamed with Apple to develop business applications for smartphones and tablets, the German enterprise software developer is ready to unveil the first fruits of their partnership.On March 30, it plans to release the first version of SAP Cloud Platform SDK for iOS, a tool to enable businesses to integrate Apple's handheld devices with their back-end information systems. And at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week it opened enrollment for SAP Academy for iOS, a mix of paid and free training services to help develop apps with that tool.It may have looked as though Apple were retreating from the enterprise when it axed its Xserve rack-mounted server line in 2011, it, but since then it has multiplied its partnerships with enterprise hardware, software and service vendors, most notably IBM in 2014, Cisco Systems in 2015 and, last year, SAP.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Battery safety still top of mind for Samsung and other phone makers

BARCELONA -- Samsung promoted its smartphone device testing and upgraded safety review processes during a major press event prior to Mobile World Congress on Sunday, almost without mentioning the disastrous Galaxy Note7 by name.That was the infamous smartphone that Samsung recalled globally -- to the tune of 3 million devices -- after lithium ion batteries inside some units short-circuited, overheated and even caught fire. Samsung instituted an 8-step battery safety check process in January in reaction to the recall.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Get started with functional programming and F#

We all learned about mathematical functions when we studied algebra: y = f(x), where f(x) = ax2+…. In the abstract world of mathematics, functions are pure and reproducible and have no side effects.Fold, reduce, map, and iterateTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

U.S. computing leadership under threat, says House science chair

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, the chair of the House Science, Space and Technology committee, believes the U.S. is losing its leadership position in computing. That may sound good for funding, but Smith's solution is controversial.Smith wants to shift National Science Foundation (NSF) R&D funding from efforts he believes may be "frivolous" or "low risk," to "biology, physics, computer science and engineering."What Smith is outlining is a change in research priorities, such as moving research funding from anthropology to engineering. But complex systems require insights from human behavior, and this is expertise outside of computer science. Tech firms are hiring people with skills at interpreting behavior, including anthropologists.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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