Seti: Das Wow!-Signal war ein Komet

Es waren doch keine Außerirdischen, die uns 1977 ein Signal geschickt haben. Amerikanische Forscher konnten das berühmte Radiosignal jetzt nachstellen. Von Frank Wunderlich-Pfeiffer (Astronomie, Internet)

Es waren doch keine Außerirdischen, die uns 1977 ein Signal geschickt haben. Amerikanische Forscher konnten das berühmte Radiosignal jetzt nachstellen. Von Frank Wunderlich-Pfeiffer (Astronomie, Internet)

NT Workstation may make a return with new high-end desktop Windows SKU

New version will support up to 4 sockets and 6TB RAM.

Enlarge / Back in the olden days, the "workstation" appellation truly meant something, with both Windows and Unix workstations (such as this SGI Indigo 2) using exotic hardware in fabulous colors. One only hopes that the new generation of Windows workstations can live up to the high standards by these 90s-era relics. (credit: Kai Wegner)

People have been poring over the bad Windows builds that Microsoft accidentally distributed to members of the Windows Insider program last week, and they've found signs that Microsoft is planning to release yet more variations of Windows 10.

Each Insider build contains a file enumerating all the different SKUs and their respective product keys. The build that was released last week included keys for three new variants: a version of Windows Server 2016 named "ServerRdsh," and two variants of "Windows 10 Pro for Advanced PCs" (one a standard variant, one an "N" variant that omits certain minor features to appease the EU).

It's not immediately clear what "ServerRdsh" means, so the contents of the Server 2016 release are uncertain, but there's a clearer picture of what's in the Windows 10 version thanks to some leaked slides. The slides use a different (temporary) name—Windows 10 Pro for Workstation PCs—bringing to mind the very earliest days of Windows NT where the desktop version was branded "Workstation" to indicate that it was for big, powerful desktop PCs, unlike its low-end Windows 95 sibling. Whether it's for "Workstation" PCs or "Advanced" PCs, the contents appear to be the same: it's a version of of Windows 10 designed for high-end, performance systems used for compute- and graphics-intensive workloads.

Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Why would Amazon launch an “Ice” phone?

Why would Amazon launch an “Ice” phone?

Amazon’s Fire phone was a commercial and critical flop. But Indian tech news site Gadgets360 reports that Amazon may take another crack at smartphone hardware. So how would the company’s new phone or phones be different? If the first was Fire, the new models are “Ice.” Seriously, that’s allegedly the code name. It’s best to […]

Why would Amazon launch an “Ice” phone? is a post from: Liliputing

Why would Amazon launch an “Ice” phone?

Amazon’s Fire phone was a commercial and critical flop. But Indian tech news site Gadgets360 reports that Amazon may take another crack at smartphone hardware. So how would the company’s new phone or phones be different? If the first was Fire, the new models are “Ice.” Seriously, that’s allegedly the code name. It’s best to […]

Why would Amazon launch an “Ice” phone? is a post from: Liliputing

UBports is keeping the Ubuntu Phone dream alive (through third-party development)

UBports is keeping the Ubuntu Phone dream alive (through third-party development)

The company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system may have given up on Ubuntu for phones and tablets. But as expected, third-party developers are picking up where Canonical left off. UBports was originally founded to port Ubuntu to devices that weren’t originally supported by Canonical. Now that Canonical doesn’t really support any of those devices […]

UBports is keeping the Ubuntu Phone dream alive (through third-party development) is a post from: Liliputing

UBports is keeping the Ubuntu Phone dream alive (through third-party development)

The company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system may have given up on Ubuntu for phones and tablets. But as expected, third-party developers are picking up where Canonical left off. UBports was originally founded to port Ubuntu to devices that weren’t originally supported by Canonical. Now that Canonical doesn’t really support any of those devices […]

UBports is keeping the Ubuntu Phone dream alive (through third-party development) is a post from: Liliputing

Nvidia Max-Q laptops: Impressively thin, but industrial design needs work

Asus Zephyrus has an innovative cooling system, but the keyboard is hilariously bad.

Enlarge (credit: Mark Walton)

Nvidia's Max-Q initiative, which aims to slim down bulky gaming laptops with hand-picked chips and recommended dimensions and acoustics, has produced three laptops so far: The Clevo P950, Asus Zephyrus, and MSI GS63. While the MSI GS63 uses the same slim chassis as its predecessor—which was part of Nvidia's 10-series laptop launch—both Clevo and Asus have created something new for Max-Q. In the case of Asus at least, the new design is particularly wacky.

But let's start with the basics. Max-Q is Nvidia's attempt to make the gaming laptop more portable by giving OEMs like Asus and Clevo access to GTX 1080, GTX 1070, and GTX 1060 GPUs that hit a sweet spot between performance and power. These specially selected chips perform nearly as well as the standard laptop parts, but require far less power when under load. The GTX 1080 goes from a rated max power consumption of 150W to between 90W and 100W, the GTX 1070 goes from 115W TDP to 80W-90W, and the GTX 1060 goes from 80W to 60-70W.

Less wattage means less heat, which in turn means less cooling, resulting in thinner and quieter laptop designs. While Nvidia hasn't put a hard restriction on the physical dimensions of Max-Q laptops—the Clevo comes in at 19mm thick, the Asus at 18mm—it is pushing for a limit on fan noise. Max-Q laptops have an upper limit of 40dbA when under load. If a laptop goes over that it doesn't make the cut, and misses out on access to Max-Q chips and branding.

Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

IBM unveils world’s first 5nm chip

Built with a new type of gate-all-around transistor, plus extreme ultraviolet lithography.

IBM, working with Samsung and GlobalFoundries, has unveiled the world's first 5nm silicon chip. Beyond the usual power, performance, and density improvement from moving to smaller transistors, the 5nm IBM chip is notable for being one of the first to use horizontal gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and the first real use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.

GAAFETs are the next evolution of tri-gate finFETs: finFETs, which are currently used for most 22nm-and-below chip designs, will probably run out of steam at around 7nm; GAAFETs may go all the way down to 3nm, especially when combined with EUV. No one really knows what comes after 3nm.

Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Windows 10 Pro for Advanced PCs: Microsoft arbeitet offenbar an Workstation-Windows mit ReFS

NTFS soll abgelöst werden und auch die Backup-Funktion File History könnte verschwinden. Einige unbeabsichtigte Veröffentlichungen zeigen zudem, dass Microsoft an neuen Varianten von Windows 10 arbeitet. Diese können mit besonders viel Arbeitsspeicher umgehen. (Windows 10, Computer)

NTFS soll abgelöst werden und auch die Backup-Funktion File History könnte verschwinden. Einige unbeabsichtigte Veröffentlichungen zeigen zudem, dass Microsoft an neuen Varianten von Windows 10 arbeitet. Diese können mit besonders viel Arbeitsspeicher umgehen. (Windows 10, Computer)

Tech firms: We’re trying to make our sites hostile to terrorists

Facebook, Twitter, and Google react to UK prime minister’s call to limit encryption.

Enlarge (credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

In the aftermath of the London attack, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have insisted that they already work closely with the UK government to flush out the sharing of extremist content—as fresh calls to crack down on the Internet and end-to-end crypto once again surfaced following a terror atrocity.

It comes after prime minister Theresa May said on Sunday that terrorist ideology has a "safe space" online, and—on a day when campaigning for the general election was supposedly suspended—she trotted out many of the political pledges in the Tory manifesto, just 12 hours after the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market took place.

Chief among those vows that are likely to worry tech firms, some of which offer services that come loaded with end-to-end encryption, was the PM's call for the regulation of "cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremist terrorism planning."

Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

TheDarkOverlord Leaks Eight Episodes of an Unreleased ABC Show

Hacking entity TheDarkOverlord (TD0) has followed through with its threat to leak more unaired TV content. Speaking with TF this morning, TDO said it had approached ABC “with a most handsome business proposal” not to leak eight episodes of Steve Harvey’s Funderdome but was “rudely denied an audience.” The content is now spreading via The Pirate Bay.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Late April, a hacking group calling itself TheDarkOverlord (TDO) warned that unless a ransom was paid, it would begin leaking a trove of unreleased TV shows and movies.

Almost immediately it carried through with its threat by leaking the season five premiere of Netflix’s Orange is The New Black. The leak was just the start though, with another nine episodes quickly following. Netflix had clearly refused to pay any ransom.

Ever since there have been suggestions that TDO could leak additional material. It was previously established that the Orange is the New Black leak was the result of a breach at post-production studio Larson Studios. TDO previously indicated that it had more content up its sleeve from the same location.

During the past few hours that became evident when a message sent to TF heralded a new leak of yet another unaired show.

“We’ve just released ABC’s ‘Steve Harvey’s Funderdome’ Season 01 Episodes 01 through 08. This is a completely unaired show,” TDO told TF.

TDO refused to confirm where it had obtained the content but since the show was present in an earlier list distributed by TDO, it seems possible if not probable that the episodes were also obtained from Larson.

“We’re unwilling to discuss the source of this material, but we’ll go on the record stating that this is content that is owned by American Broadcasting Company and it’s just been released on the world wide web for everyone’s consumption,” TDO said.

As can be seen from the image below, the series is now being distributed on The Pirate Bay.

At the time of writing, interest in the episodes is low, with less than a dozen peers reported on the torrent. Those numbers are likely to increase as the day goes on but it’s safe to say that interest is at a much lower level than when Orange is the New Black was dumped online.

Interest levels aside, the reason that both series were leaked appears to be the same. Although TDO wouldn’t go into specifics, the hacking entity told TF that it contacted ABC with demands but had no success.

“We approached ABC with a most handsome business proposal, but we were so rudely denied an audience. Therefore, we decided to bestow a gift upon the good people of the internet,” TDO said.

On June 2, TDO already indicated that ABC could be the next target with a short announcement on Twitter. “American Broadcasting Company may be up next, ladies and gentlemen,” TDO wrote.

Interestingly, there’s a suggestion that TDO views the Netflix and ABC leaks as being different, in that it views the companies’ routes to market as dissimilar.

“This is a different model than Netflix as ABC’s profits are generated much differently,” TDO concludes.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Ars asks: What IT bugaboos keep you up at night?

We’ve got a survey, and we’d love to know your thoughts on the scary side of IT.

Enlarge / The specter of shadow IT casts its... uh... shadow. Shadows everywhere! (credit: Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock)

If you’re an IT manager or department head—the kind of person who routinely gets referred to in industry literature as an “ITDM”—you get to deal with a lot of uncertainty as part of your day-to-day job. I know because I spent a lot of my career in ITDM roles, worrying about things I could control, worrying about things I couldn’t control, and—worst of all—being perpetually unsure exactly where the shifting line between the two categories was going to be drawn in any given week.

Smartphones and off-premises cloud-based infrastructure have made running a modern IT shop even tougher, because suddenly you’ve got way more than just your own computers to worry about. Now you’ve got to deal with everybody else’s computers, too, be they racks of Amazon servers in a far-off data center or the unpatched Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone in the CEO’s pocket (and the CEO refuses to give that S3 up because they’re “comfortable” with it—they’d rather you quit your stupid moon-talk about “patches” or “hackers” or whatever and just make it work).

Sharing is caring

I have bad news and good news, fellow Arsians. The bad news is that I don’t have any magic tips to help you out—no new tips, at least. But the good news is that we’d love for you to tell us about the things that keep you up at night—the spooky actors leaking data, the shadow IT groups building rogue servers under their desks, and all the other things that go bump in (and out of) the data center at night. Share your pain with us, readers! Share your pain, and gain strength from it.

Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments