Month: January 2016

As we reported a few days ago, Ian Murdock, the creator of the Debian GNU/Linux distribution project, died in rather unclear circumstances last week. Until more details emerge, it seems wise to refrain from speculation about what really happened. Far better to celebrate what is not in doubt: his important contribution to free software at a critical period in its growth.

In November 1999, I spoke to Murdock at length, during one of the 50 interviews that form the backbone of my book Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution. Inevitably, I was only able to use a few quotations from Murdock in the book's text, and now seems an appropriate moment to give a more complete version of how Murdock came to create Debian, told in his own words.

Ian Murdock (credit: Ilya Schurov , Computerra Weekly (Creative Commons))

Murdock first came across GNU/Linux in 1993, when he was a 20-year-old student at Purdue University, studying accountancy: "This was around the time that PCs were just starting to get fast enough to actually run things like Unix. I'd been using Unix and I saw Linux as a way to have more convenient access to it." He said that the software at that time was "pretty rough around the edges," but that helping to fix that was part of the fun: "one of the great things about Linux is it was one of the first operating systems that you could actually not only see what it was doing but you could get in there and tinker around with it."

With some Fitbit devices, every beat may not get counted, according to claims in a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Three plaintiffs claim that their Fitbit wrist-based heart monitors, “Charge HR” and “Surge,” do not and cannot accurately measure heart rate as advertised. Those sales pitches claim that both products, which are sold for around $150 and $250, respectively, can continuously and accurately monitor heart rate, even during exercise—under tag lines such as “every beat counts.” But the lawsuit claims that the heart rate monitors, which tout “PurePulse Tracker” technology, seem particularly incapable of accurately measuring elevated heart rates, often reading dangerously underestimated rates during workouts.

In the lawsuit, plaintiff Teresa Black, of Colorado, claimed that her Charge HR device was off by 78 beats per minute (bpm) during one workout. Her personal trainer recorded her heart rate at 160 bpm, while her Fitbit read 82 bpm. “Plaintiff Black was approaching the maximum recommended heart rate for her age, and if she had continued to rely on her inaccurate PurePulse Tracker, she may well have exceeded it, thereby jeopardizing her health and safety,” the lawsuit stated.

Raman spectroscopy and a diamond anvil were used to identify and characterize a new phase of hydrogen. (credit: Philip Dalladay-Simpson and Eugene Gregoryanz)

We tend to think of the properties of the chemical elements as immutable—a metal is a metal, and a gas is a gas. But all those properties are what we experience on Earth. The Universe, on the other hand, is filled with extremes of temperature and pressure that cause elements to defy our expectations. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice, while some exoplanets are likely to experience rains of liquid metal.

Close to the cores of gas giants, elements are squeezed by unimaginable pressures, capable of rearranging electron orbitals and playing havoc with the chemical bonding we see on Earth. Here, theorists have predicted, the electrons of hydrogen could be set free, converting the gas into a solid or liquid metal. But while researchers first predicted the existence of metallic hydrogen 80 years ago, the element has stubbornly refused to appear, even after we've raised pressures well above where it was expected to appear.

Now, three Edinburgh-based researchers report placing hydrogen under the highest pressures yet achieved. Scans of the resulting material suggest that the chemical bonds that normally link hydrogen into a molecule are starting to break down, heralding the possible appearance of a metallic form.

(credit: Valentina Palladino)

While CES offers a lot of new gadgets to consider and anticipate every year, it also brings a lot of updates to existing product lines. Dell announced a major update to its commercial line of notebooks, revealing a refreshed Latitude 7000 series along with a few new displays and accessories that aim to make the lives of all types of workers easier.

According to Dell representatives, the company wanted to not only improve the internals of its elite enterprise line but also incorporate some of the design aspects most loved in its XPS series. The members of the Latitude 7000 series (there are 12-, 13-, and 14-inch models) are made with woven carbon fiber and magnesium alloy, making them thinner and lighter than previous models. They're painted with a soft-touch finish as well, so even if they don't have the sleek, silvery look of the XPS series, they're still elegant. The display bezels have been slimmed, however, the north and south sides of each screen remain slightly thicker so you can pick up any touchscreen models without disturbing anything on the screen.

As with all of Dell's commercial notebooks, the 12- and 14-inch Latitude 7000 models can be customized to suit any business needs. Both can support up to Intel Core i7 processors, up to 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSDs, and up to 55 watt batteries. Intel HD Graphics 520 come standard, but the 14-inch can be upgraded to an Intel HD Graphics 540 GPU. Both have anti-glare HD display options, and you can upgrade the 12-inch model to an FHD touch display and the 14-inch notebook to a QHD touchscreen. Ports on each model are the same, including an SD card reader, SIM card slot, three USB 3.0 ports, and one HDMI port.