Ars Technica

UWeb Site URL: http://arstechnica.com/
Categories: News Information, RSS Feed, Technology
Site Posted by Robert K. Foster on Sunday, January 25, 2009

“The Art of Technology: At Ars Technica—the name is Latin-derived for the “art of technology”—we specialize in original news and reviews, analysis of technology trends, and expert advice on topics ranging from the most fundamental aspects of technology to the many ways technology is helping us enjoy our world. We work for the reader who not only needs to keep up on technology, but is passionate about it.“

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Ars Technica

The Art of Technology
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• The Darkness II: A short, entertaining, by-the-numbers horror shooter

  Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:40:00 -0600
  

  

  The Darkness II is one of the most unabashedly and gleefully gory games of this generation, reveling in its own torrents of blood and shredded viscera. While bullets exploding heads and tearing through flesh aren’t anything new in the video game world, the brutal Darkness executions take the virtual carnage to a whole new level. Bodies are regularly torn in half (both crosswise and lengthwise), skulls and spinal columns are torn out through mouths, bodies are impaled with thrown objects, and entire digestive tracts are forcibly removed through enemies' nether regions.

  Given that, it surprisingly never makes the player feel like they’re in need of a shower when the bloodshed is over. Games like Rogue Warrior and Soldier of Fortune were just as brutally violent, yet their uber-serious undercurrents simply made them feel like exercises in virtual sadism. Last year’s Bulletstorm, on the other hand, was so over-the-top and silly that the blood and guts really didn’t make any impact at all. The Darkness II manages to strike the right balance between the two extremes, not only making it a better game than the ones mentioned above, but also making it superior to its predecessor in many ways.

  

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• For cold water corals, warming is beating acidification to drive a growth spurt

  Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:00:11 -0600
  

  

  The release of excess CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other processes doesn’t just affect our air; it also affects our oceans. The oceans absorb as much as 30 percent of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which lowers their pH. Thus, our emissions have two large consequences for our oceans: warmer temperatures and increased acidity.

  These changes may have a profound effect on coral growth, since corals are sensitive to both temperature and pH. There is mounting evidence that coral health has been declining in recent years. But what, exactly, is affecting coral? A new study in Science shows that current changes in coral growth may have more to do with the ocean’s temperature than its pH.

  

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• Crypto crack makes satellite phones vulnerable to eavesdropping

  Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:30:00 -0600
  

  

  Cryptographers have cracked the encryption schemes used in a variety of satellite phones, a feat that makes it possible for attackers to surreptitiously monitor data received by vulnerable devices.

  The research team, from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, is among the first to analyze the secret encryption algorithms implemented by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. After reverse engineering phones that use the GMR-1 and GMR-2 standards, the team discovered serious cryptographic weaknesses that allow attackers using a modest PC running open-source software to recover protected communications in less than an hour.

  

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• Anonymous exposes e-mails of Syrian presidential aides

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:57:49 -0600
  

  Hackers aligned with Anonymous have exposed hundreds of e-mail messages from the webmail server of Syria's Ministry of Presidential Affairs, the support ministry for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Among the exposed e-mail messages was a set of talking points for Assad's interview with Barbara Walters in December 2011.

  A translation of the e-mail sent by Sheherazad Jaafari, a press attaché at the Syrian mission to the United Nations, to Assad aide and former Al Jazeera journalist Luna Chebel, provided helpful hints for Assad to manipulate American opinion about what was going on in Syria. The message suggested that "it is hugely important and worth mentioning that 'mistakes' have been done in the begining of the crises because we did not have a well-organized 'police force.' American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear there are 'mistakes' done and now we are 'fixing it.'" 

  Jaafari suggested comparing what was happening in Syria to US law enforcement's response to the Occupy Wall Street protests.

  Along with the release of these e-mails, Anonymous also exposed the passwords of 78 accounts on the Ministry's servers. Of the passwords revealed, 31 were "12345" and a number were minor variations on that. Some of the other passwords in the set included:

  • iloveyou
  • 123vivasyria
  • system
  • honda2011
  • testing

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• Adobe confirms: no Flash for Chrome on Android

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:33:34 -0600
  

  Google issued a beta release of Chrome for Android earlier today. The browser provides support for modern Web standards and includes a number of compelling features that aren't available in the Android's default browser. One noteworthy Chrome desktop feature that isn't included in the mobile port, however, is the integrated Flash runtime.

  Adobe has issued a statement confirming that Chrome for Android does not support Flash content. The company also indicated that it does not plan to work with Google to add Flash support to the new mobile browser. Adobe will, however, continue supporting Flash in the current default Android browser.

  "Today Google introduced Chrome for Android Beta. As we announced last November, Adobe is no longer developing Flash Player for mobile browsers, and thus Chrome for Android Beta does not support Flash content," wrote Adobe's Flash Platform product manager Bill Howard.

  Adobe struggled for years to make the Flash player plugin viable on mobile devices. Though it was able to make Flash work reasonably well on Android phones, results were mixed on other systems. Due to Apple's unwillingness to allow the Flash plugin on iOS and the difficulty that Adobe faced bringing the Flash player to new devices, the plugin never achieved the same ubiquity on phones that it has historically enjoyed on the desktop.

  These setbacks caused Adobe to abandon its mobile Flash player strategy last year. The company announced that it would phase out development of its mobile Flash player plugin and not support it on new platforms. Adobe instead focused its mobile Flash efforts on developing tools for deploying Flash content as native mobile applications. It also strengthened its commitment to native Web standards and acknowledged HTML5 as the way forward for building rich mobile Web experiences.

  When Google eventually moves to replace the default Android browser with Chrome in future versions of the Android platform, devices that run the operating system will likely no longer be able to play Flash content in the browser.

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• Feature: Don't panic? Windows 8 and the "ribbonification" of Explorer

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:15:04 -0600
  

  When Microsoft first revealed that the Explorer file manager would be outfitted with a ribbon-style toolbar in Windows 8, responses were loud, passionate, and frequently negative.

  The company recently described changes that it has made to Windows 8's Explorer in response to the feedback. These include some small modifications to the ribbon experience along with some other refinements of Explorer's new features. Though the changes themselves have been welcomed, the continued hostility toward Explorer's redesign remains.

  

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• Google reportedly developing Android-powered smart glasses

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:05:35 -0600
  

  Much like flying cars and jet packs, wearable computing is one of those aspirational fields of technology where the current state of the art doesn't deliver the sort of experience that people have imagined for decades. An experimental project that is reportedly under development in Google's labs could raise the bar, however.

  According to a report that was published today in the blog 9to5Google, the search giant is developing a product called Google Glasses that will have a built-in heads-up display. The device, which supposedly resembles a pair of Oakley shades, is said to have an integrated transparent display for one eye and a built-in front-facing camera. The latter could be used for augmented reality applications. The device would use speech and head tilting for text input and control.

  9to5Google suggests that the Google Glasses product could soft-launch with a pilot program later this year, making the product available to a select number of testers. This would follow the model of the Chromebook launch, which was preceded by the Cr-48 test unit.

  Although the reports are still highly speculative, the concept of smart glasses is intriguing. There are some existing products in this space, but they aren't easy to purchase and are definitely not priced for a mainstream audience.

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• Lasers plus a crushing magnetic field may make fusion more efficient

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:12 -0600
  

  

  Ever since I first heard about the idea, I have loved inertial confinement fusion. The basic concept involves blowing stuff up with lasers to get some energy, then doing it again and again as fast as possible. What more could a 38-going-on-5-year-old want? Well, what I might also want is a fusion reaction that generates more energy than you put in to it.

  One thing that lets me down about inertial confinement fusion is that the implosion that gets the fusion reaction going also acts to stop the fusion. One idea for improving the fusion reaction that has been floating around for a while is to use magnetic fields in place of lasers to increase the efficiency of the fusion burn. But until recently, no one could figure out how to make it work properly.

  

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• Researchers boost processor performance by getting CPU and GPU to collaborate

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:50:00 -0600
  

  

  Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a technique to take advantage of the "fused architecture" emerging on multicore CPUs that puts central processing units and graphics processing units on the same chip. The technology, called CPU-assisted general purpose computation on graphics processor units (CPU-assisted GPGPU) uses software compiled to leverage the architecture to allow the CPU and GPU to collaborate on computing tasks, boosting processor performance on average by more than 20 percent in simulations.

  

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• The three patents Microsoft is hammering the Nook with—and why they may be invalid

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:22:00 -0600
  

  

  Microsoft's complaint against Barnes & Noble's Android-based Nook devices has been narrowed down to just three patents, with the US International Trade Commission having to decide whether Nook devices infringe on several patented methods of interacting with and downloading electronic documents. Barnes & Noble is also asking the ITC to declare the patents invalid because they cover obvious and trivial functionality.

  Microsoft's ITC complaint, which was filed in March 2011 and targets Foxconn and Inventec in addition to Barnes & Noble, cited five patents. One 1994 patent related to "new varieties of child window controls [that] are provided as system resources that application programs may exploit," and a 1997 patent related to how browsers load and display content in portable computers with limited display areas have since been dropped from the case.

  

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• Etc: Good news 2010 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac owners: you can now use Lion Internet Recovery thanks to a new EFI Firmware update.

  Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:15:15 -0600
  

  Good news 2010 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac owners: you can now use Lion Internet Recovery thanks to a new EFI Firmware update.

  Read More: MacStories

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• Apple trademark may hint at processing improvement for next-gen A6 processor

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:25:00 -0600
  

  

  A recent trademark application from Apple for the term "Macroscalar" may give a clue about upcoming improvements for its next-generation mobile processors. The term refers to technology Apple has been working on as far back as 2004, according to Patently Apple, and appears to refer to code optimization techniques that keep processors filled with instructions to run during otherwise repetitive loops.

  Apple applied for the trademark for "Macroscalar" in both the US and Hong Kong last week. The trademark application links the term to use with microprocessors as well as mobile devices and software. It turns out that Apple has at least four patents related to what it calls "macroscalar processor architecture," suggesting the trademark is likely connected to an improved processor for its iOS devices.

  

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• Etc: Buffalo Wild Wings, a favorite locale of Ars staffers, is expanding a trial that lets users order from an iPad. BW3 claims the goal isn't to replace waiters, but to free them up to "interact more" with customers.

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:52:22 -0600
  

  Buffalo Wild Wings, a favorite locale of Ars staffers, is expanding a trial that lets users order from an iPad. BW3 claims the goal isn't to replace waiters, but to free them up to "interact more" with customers.

  Read More: Computerworld

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• Etc: Apple has posted a friendly warning to developers to avoid manipulating App Store rankings, either themselves or via third-party services.

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:20:56 -0600
  

  Apple has posted a friendly warning to developers to avoid manipulating App Store rankings, either themselves or via third-party services.

  Read More: Apple, Ars coverage

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• High-res UI elements in OS X 10.7.3 renew buzz about "retina" display MacBooks

  Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:38:00 -0600
  

  There's renewed buzz about support for "retina" displays on Apple's portable Macs thanks to higher-resolution cursor images showing up in Mac OS X 10.7.3. Noticed by a handful of Mac developers, there are new UI images for things like the Safari finger, the Mail gripping hand, and one of the screenshot camera cursors, among (undoubtedly) several others.

  It's reasonable to assume that Apple might want to add these new UI elements into the OS for those using higher-resolution external displays. However, as noted by Daring Fireball, those who have Mac minis connected via HDMI to TV sets observed recently that their machines rebooted directly into HiDPI mode after upgrading to 10.7.3 last week without prompting, which could indicate plans to release future MacBooks with HiDPI displays.

  Talk of a "retina" display MacBook Pro has been popping up more and more over the last six months or so. We acknowledged in December that we may end up seeing Apple release such a thing in 2012, and a thread in our forums indicates that users believe it will happen eventually—it's just a matter of when. As Chris Foresman wrote recently: "Apple is expected to have similar resolution displays ready for the iPad 3 in early spring, and the same technology would likely be used to make such a high-resolution display suitable for the MacBook Pro." Combined with the expected Ivy Bridge processors from Intel later this year, Apple could take the opportunity to upgrade the Pro line with new processors and higher-resolution displays in one fell swoop.

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• Apple rules top three smartphone spots but loses new users to Android

  Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:05:00 -0600
  

  Apple continues to hold the title for some of the top-selling smartphone models, with the iPhone 4S being the best selling handset in the US last quarter, according to a new report by market research firm NPD. But while the iPhone has repeatedly made Apple the top smartphone vendor in the US, Android still appears to be attracting more new users.

  Apple had three iPhone models available for sale in the fourth quarter of 2011: the just-released iPhone 4S, the iPhone 4, which Apple continues to sell as a lower-cost entry-level model, and the nearly three-year-old iPhone 3GS, which AT&T still offers as essentially a $0 bargain smartphone. Collectively, all iPhones sold accounted for 43 percent of smartphone sales in the US for the quarter.

  According to NPD analyst Ross Rubin, Apple sold nearly two iPhone 4S models for every iPhone 4 sold, and five iPhone 4S models for every iPhone 3GS sold. And despite the large disparity in numbers, the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS ended up being the top three smartphones sold in the US.

  But even with the top Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy SII) being outsold more than five to one in the US, Android handsets in aggregate still accounted for 48 percent of US smartphone sales last quarter, accord to NPD's data. Perhaps more alarming for Apple, users buying their first smartphones chose an Android device 57 percent of the time, and an iOS device just 34 percent of the time.

  While Android has been criticized for its platform fragmentation and the complexity it presents to users, the platform's wide carrier support, growing app selection, and variety of models available from several vendors attracts a generally wider audience. Particularly in the US, Rubin noted, Android is the only choice for users who want to take advantage of LTE networks from Verizon and AT&T or Sprint's WiMAX network.

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• Another reason why Apple may be limiting Siri to iPhone 4S

  Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:15:00 -0600
  

  

  Siri, Apple's widely advertised voice-activated "intelligent assistant," has so far been limited to the latest iPhone 4S hardware after Apple's acquisition. Though observers have come up with various reasons for the restriction, a newly revealed piece of the puzzle suggests the issue is related to hardware after all. According to recent SEC filings from technology start-up Audience, Apple incorporated an improved version of its background noise filtering technology directly into the A5 processor used in the iPhone 4S—technology that improves Siri's speech recognition capabilities.

  Siri was originally a third-party app for the iPhone that ran on devices as old as the iPhone 3GS. Apple later bought the company behind Siri, and integrated the tech directly into iOS 5, which was released to the public in October of 2011. Siri is now only available on the iPhone 4S, however, and Apple subsequently pulled the old app from the App Store when the 4S was released.

  

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• Poll Technica: should Apple more strictly police app ripoffs on the App Store?

  Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:36:00 -0600
  

  

  Apple has begun to take action against iPhone app ripoffs that have been crudding up the App Store. Over the weekend, the company removed a number of apps that bear a striking similarity to ones that are already popular among iOS users—the list includes Angry Ninja Birds, Plant vs. Zombie, and Temple Jump, which correlate to the popular titles Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, and Temple Run (hat tip to Gamasutra). The move is encouraging to developers who have been struggling with knockoffs attempting to steal their business on the App Store, but there's plenty left to do if Apple wants to show it's serious about tackling the problem once and for all.

  Apps attempting to clone—or at least ride the popularity wave of—other apps has been a problem for iOS developers for years now. Ars first started covering the phenomenon in early 2009, but examples continue to pop up on both the mobile App Store as well as the Mac App Store.

  

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• Week in Apple: post-Macworld|iWorld edition

  Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0600
  

  This week, we wrapped up our coverage of the 2012 Macworld|iWorld conference in San Francisco just as Apple issued an update to Final Cut Pro X and gave the AirPort Utility an iOS makeover. Additionally, Tim Cook offered some strong words in response to doubts about Apple's attitude toward worker conditions in China, Neil Young recounted stories about Steve Jobs working towards higher-quality music downloads, and more. Need a recap? You're in the right place.

  Rethinking iPhone UI and getting things done with Clear to-do app: Realmac is set to launch an iPhone to-do list app in a few weeks that breaks list making and maintaining down to the barest essentials, eschewing some common iPhone UI elements to make the app as simple as humanly possible.

  LandingZone to ease docking for MacBook Air: A new Cupertino startup is launching a clever, well-designed docking solution for Apple's MacBook Air. The first version is set to begin shipping by March, but a planned Thunderbolt-equipped version is on hold pending licensing approval from Intel.

  

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• Apple updates iBooks Author EULA to clarify restriction on format, not content

  Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:35:00 -0600
  

  Apple updated iBooks Author to version 1.0.1 on Friday afternoon, the only change being an update to the software's controversial end user license agreement. The updated EULA now specifically only applies distribution restrictions to the interactive .ibooks format files generated by the app.

  

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