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Visual Studio Code, Microsoft's no-cost and open source developer-oriented editor and debugger, has reached version 1.0.

Over its short life, the editor has made itself remarkably popular, with Microsoft saying it has been installed more than two million times, with half a million active users. It has also grown from a Web-oriented text editor geared toward JavaScript and TypeScript developers into a much more capable multi-language development and debugging tool. Extension support was added less than six months ago, and a healthy range of extensions has already been developed. These extensions have been used to greatly extend the number of languages that Code works with, expanding it from its Web origins to handle C++, Go, Python, PHP, F#, and many more options.

Visual Studio Code is arguably one of the projects that most demonstrates the "new" Microsoft. Code is MIT-licensed open source, and Microsoft is continuing to try to do its open source development the right way—not merely dumping periodic code drops on the outside world but actually working with the broader developer community to fix bugs and develop new features. Some 300 outside contributions have been merged in, making it far more than just a Microsoft project. It also continues to be a solid cross-platform app, running on Windows, OS X, and Linux.

(credit: Jenn Vargas)

This month the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) updated its offender handbook (PDF) to stipulate that inmates are not allowed to have social media accounts. While blog posts are still permitted, a spokesperson for the TDCJ told Ars that the rule was developed to get social media platforms to comply with the corrections department’s takedown requests more readily.

Since Texas inmates are not allowed Internet access, this rule applies to social media accounts managed by friends or family. As Fusion explains, "Prisoners write posts, send them to a friend or family member through snail mail, and ask the friend to post them on Facebook.” If an inmate is caught having a friend or family member update an account for them, they’re charged with a "level three violation,” which TDCJ characterizes as the lowest level of violation in the Texas prison system.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), however, says that level three violations can result in loss of privileges, extra work duty, or confinement to an inmate’s cell for up to 45 days. The EFF objects to the new rules in Texas, arguing that "a person does not lose all of their rights to participate in public discourse when they are incarcerated… This policy would not only prohibit the prisoners’ exercise of their First Amendment rights, but also prevent the public from exercising their First Amendment rights to gather information about the criminal justice system from those most affected by it.” The TDCJ had no response to the EFF’s argument.

(credit: Jeff Kubina)

Another federal appeals court is siding with the Obama administration's position that court warrants are not required to track a suspect's cell-site location. The Wednesday decision (PDF) by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals adds to the growing number of federal appeals court rulings siding with the government, likely meaning the US Supreme Court won't weigh into the legal thicket any time soon. Only one federal circuit has sided against the government, but that ruling was set aside, (PDF) and a new decision is pending after the court accepted the government's petition to rehear the dispute.

In the case decided Wednesday by the Cincinnati-based appeals court, a three-judge panel unanimously upheld the location data evidence of two men convicted of aiding and abetting a string of robberies. The data placed the men near the robberies of Radio Shack and T-Mobile stores in and around Detroit. The men believed that a probable-cause warrant under the Fourth Amendment was required for the government to access their location data. The appeals court disagreed, and it accepted the legal standard requiring a judge to sign off on the tracking if the government asserts the data is "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation."

The decision sides with the other circuit courts, namely the 5th and 11th, that have ruled the same. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that went against the government was re-argued last month and a decision is pending. Without a circuit split, the Supreme Court is likely to stay away from the dispute.

(credit: Sara Robertson)

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. One of the last cultural holdouts of text-messaging, the movie theater, may be set for an invasion.

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron has said he’s open to relaxing the ban on cell phone use in an effort to get more millennials into movie theaters. He wants this generation of movie-goers to attend “with the same degree of intensity” that the baby boomers did.

"When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear 'please cut off your left arm above the elbow,'" said Aron in an interview with Variety. "You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life."

September 11, 1957: World champion Argentinian racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio in action driving a Maserati at the 1957 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He finished second behind Stirling Moss in a Vanwall. (credit: Central Press/Getty Images)

We're pretty sure fans of all sports love a good argument over who is "the greatest of all time." Will Stephen Curry soar higher than Michael Jordan at his mid-'90s apogee? Will Tom Brady eclipse Johnny Unitas? This is the stuff of countless hours of barroom banter. Formula 1 is no different. But given how much cars have changed over the years, is it even possible to compare different eras?

Andrew Bell and his colleagues at the University of Sheffield think so, and this team has just published a paper in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports offering proof that Juan Manuel Fangio owns the crown.

Most sports change over time, but the Formula 1 World Championship—first held in 1950—has changed a great deal over the past six-and-a-half decades. A 1950s F1 car looked like a cigar tube with wheels. The engine was in front of the driver, and there were no wings or spoilers. (Or seat belts, for that matter.) In the early 1960s, front-engined cars were made obsolete when John Cooper put the driver ahead of the power unit. Later that decade Colin Chapman at Lotus was responsible for a string of innovations, from fully stressed engines (bolted to the monocoque and carrying the rear suspension) to aerodynamics. Then we got ground effects, carbon composite construction, an ever-increasing regard for safety, and finally hybrid powertrains.

Nodes in Facebook's Terragraph wireless network. (credit: Facebook)

Facebook is building a wireless Internet service that uses 60GHz WiGig technology to deliver “ubiquitous gigabit citywide coverage” in densely populated urban areas. Facebook said it is testing the technology at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, and preparing a larger trial for San Jose.

“So far, we have demonstrated 1.05Gbps bidirectional (2.1 Gbps total throughput per distribution node) in P2P mode, up to 250 meters away,” the company said in an announcement yesterday. “This means up to 8.4Gbps of total traffic per installation point assuming 4 sectors, and we think this number can be as high as 12.8Gbps in the future." Facebook also says it will make the technology "open and interoperable" in unlicensed spectrum, just like Wi-Fi.

The project faces technological hurdles related to the use of extremely high frequency spectrum. WiGig technology using 60GHz frequencies is generally aimed at home use, as it is great for high-speed transfers between two devices in a single room but nearly impossible to use in multiple rooms because the airwaves are easily blocked by walls.