Volume 15, Issue 43        Atari Online News, Etc.       November 1, 2013   
                                                                           
                                                                              
                  Published and Copyright (c) 1999 - 2013
                            All Rights Reserved

                          Atari Online News, Etc.
                           A-ONE Online Magazine
                Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor
                      Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor
                       Rob Mahlert, Associate Editor


                       Atari Online News, Etc. Staff

                        Dana P. Jacobson  --  Editor
                   Joe Mirando  --  "People Are Talking"
                Michael Burkley  --  "Unabashed Atariophile"
                   Albert Dayes  --  "CC: Classic Chips"
                         Rob Mahlert  --  Web site
                Thomas J. Andrews  --  "Keeper of the Flame"


                           With Contributions by:

                                Fred Horvat



      To subscribe to A-ONE, change e-mail addresses, or unsubscribe,
                log on to our website at: www.atarinews.org
                       and click on "Subscriptions".
      OR subscribe to A-ONE by sending a message to: dpj@atarinews.org
          and your address will be added to the distribution list.
      To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE
    Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to
                              subscribe from.

        To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the
                              following sites:

                http://people.delphiforums.com/dpj/a-one.htm
                               Now available:
                          http://www.atarinews.org


                 Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi!
                   http://forums.delphiforums.com/atari/



                                  =~=~=~=



A-ONE #1543                                                 11/01/13

   ~ New Darkmail Alliance! ~ People Are Talking!    ~ PS2 Launch Memories!
   ~ Facebook's Ad Warning! ~ Google Glass Ticket!   ~ Dell Laptops Stink?
   ~ Google Donates Laptops ~ PS4, Digital Sharing!  ~ Surface 2 Is Worthy!
   ~ Internet Is Underwater ~ Teens Leaving Facebook ~ 4D Printing Coming!  

                  -* Atari Gets Bankruptcy Vote!  *-
               -* Maduro Denounces Attack by Twitter! *-
           -* FAA Expansion of Electronics on Airlines!  *-



                                  =~=~=~=



->From the Editor's Keyboard              "Saying it like it is!"
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""



It was wet this year during Halloween celebrations, so it was fairly
quiet around here.  I was working, so we weren't able to participate
in the festivities.  But, these things happen.

The one celebration that we were able to join was the stunning victory
by the Red Sox in the World Series.  From worst, to best, in a single
year!  Quite an impressive victory!  I always held hope that Atari might
have had a similar positive outcome many years ago, but alas, it was
never to happen.  Today, it's simply a memory - a good one, but not the
same.

Until next time...



                                  =~=~=~=



->In This Week's Gaming Section  - PS4: How Digital Sharing Works!
  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""    Atari Wins Approval for Bankruptcy Vote!
                                   Gamer Memories: PS2 Launch!
                                   


        
                                  =~=~=~=



->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News   -  The Latest Gaming News!
  """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""



                          PS4: How Digital Sharing Works


The FAQ explains that you'll be asked to register one PlayStation 4 as
your primary console. Doing so will mean anyone playing on that console on
different accounts can play games and apps you've gotten from the PS Store
and make use of PS Plus benefits, or you can connect to it over the
internet with your Vita to make use of Remote Play.

Registering your PS4 as your primary system will allow other users who
play on the same console with different accounts access to any games
you've downloaded without you having to log in. Additionally, if you have
PS Plus and register a PS4 as your primary console, then every account
that plays on that system will be able to make use of certain benefits
like online multiplayer even without their own PS Plus subscription.

If you want to play on another PS4 that isn't your primary console, you
can download any game you've bought on the PS Store as long as you sign
into PSN. Only you'll be able to start the games you've downloaded, and
you can only be logged into two consoles at any one time: your primary PS4
and  one other secondary one (like a friend's). The good news is there's
no limit on the number of systems you can download your games to. You have
to be logged in in order to play, but from the sounds of things this means
you can share digital games with as many mates as you like, though only
one of these secondary consoles will be able to play a title at any given
time and you'll have to tell them your password so they can log in.

As has been mentioned before, the situation with discs remains the same as
ever. Sony has reiterated that, "You can share disc games with your
friends and play used disc games on your PS4 system just like you can on a
PlayStation 3 system. You do not have to connect to the Internet or pay
any usage fees to play used games."

The PlayStation 4 will be available in North America on November 15 and in
Europe on November 29.



                           Gamer Memories: PS2 Launch


Editor's Note: The PS2 is 13 years old today, so we're re-promoting this
memories piece from December 2009 about the launch. Enjoy.

At IGN, we're a lot of things. Nerds, douches, Achievement whores,
over-raters, under-raters, and so much more, but at our core, we are
gamers. Each and every one of us has a brain filled with cherished
memories that revolve around our hobby. Unwrapping a Nintendo
Entertainment System on Christmas morning, beating Streets of Rage with a
pal, desperately trying to get Lara Croft's nude code to work  you get
the idea. Before all of us who lived the adventure drift into a senile
state and forget, IGN thought it would assemble those stories in an
ongoing feature called "Gamer Memories."

Here, an editor will walk you through one of his or her favorite memories
involving a controller, some kind of dance pad, or (more generally) a
memory that was a defining experience for the editor's time with games.
On tap for this installment? Why, it's none other than Greg Miller, an
IGN editor known for screaming on Podcast Beyond and Game Scoop.

For some people, it's their wedding day. For others, it's the birth of
their first child. For me, October 26, 2000 will be the date that is
forever burned into my brain. It was the launch of the PlayStation 2, and
it was glorious.

To truly understand why the PlayStation 2 was such a big deal to me, you
have to jump back months and months to a time Prince and Will Smith sang
about; a time called 1999. See, I went to my friend Jason's house, and he
had these new things called DVDs  they were like CDs for videos. It was
mindboggling enough to be able to skip by "chapters" instead of fast
forwarding, but the bigger deal was that Mallrats was on this "DVD" and
had a whole "commentary track" by Kevin Smith and company.

I watched it until 2 a.m. and knew that I needed this format. Of course,
DVD players were crazy expensive at this point in time, so it seemed I
would have to go on waiting forever. Then, the PS2 was announced. Along
with great games, the black beauty would come packing the ability to play
DVD movies.

My brain went into overload.

The first thing I did was tell my parents that I'd be getting a typical
summer job in 2000 and that none of the money I earned would be going
into my savings account  nearly everything I earned would be spent on
PlayStation 2 games and accessories. With my mission in mind, I took a
soul crushing job as a cashier at Wal-Mart. Once the paychecks started
coming in, I kept my sanity by going to Best Buy on my lunch break and
buying DVDs such as Ghostbusters, Chasing Amy, and so on.

This is June, ladies and gentlemen. I was buying things for a system that
was nearly five months away. Not only was I buying them, I was keeping
them wrapped until that day. I'd even pore over them in my car during
later lunch breaks and once I got them onto my bookshelf at home.

I was crossing the border into crazyland. I was preordering games like
Silent Scope and Smuggler's Run. I was buying terrible third-party DVD
remotes, and I was poring over and over the same issue of Electronic
Gaming Monthly (No. 136/November 2000).

The box that started it all.The box that started it all.This fever pitch
continued all the way up until October 25, 2000. On that day, I left
school giddy as I've ever been, raced to a Meijer (think a Wal-Mart
Supercenter) in St. Charles, Ill., and pretty much ran to the back of the
store with one of those canvas chairs people sit in to fish.

Now, as I  a fat kid from the suburbs of Chicago  sprinted through this
store, I expected the worst. I had a preorder at a Funcoland, but there
was no guarantee that store would get enough systems. Coming here and
waiting in line would give me the chance to have a system at 12:01 a.m.,
but I expected there to already be a line, seeing as how it was 3 p.m.
the day before the biggest videogame launch of all time.

When I got to the electronics department  completely winded  I found two
clerks chatting and not one customer in sight. When they heard my labored
breathing, they turned to me and I said the only thing I could think of.

"I'm here for the PlayStation 2 launch," I said as they stared in
disbelief. "I'm not a nerd."

With that, the clerks rolled their eyes and pointed me to the front of the
game display cabinet. I was the first person in line (number two was my
friend, whose seat I was holding, and number three would arrive about 15
minutes after I did). I would sit there in the Meijer electronics
department being mocked by the occasional passerby, watching the line grow
until they had to turn people away, and rereading issue 136 of EGM for
nine hours.

Never forget.

As 12:01 a.m. drew closer, some random clerk from another department
showed up to chat with the electronics staff, and I remember being so sure
that he was going to try and butt in front of me that I was literally
mentally preparing myself to attack him if he did. In the end, he didn't,
and I pulled out the $350-plus I had in cash in a money belt under my
shirt and became the first dude in the store to buy the system. After the
transaction, I kind of stumbled forward lost in a sea of emotion while my
friend began checking out. Someone in the line had to shout to me to hold
it up, and when I did, cheers rained down upon me.

That was the start of my life with the PlayStation 2, but it was far from
my last memory. Later that night, my friend's father demanded that we
stop playing and go to bed. In the darkness of the guest room, I tiptoed
over to my still-boxed system and picked it up to see if it was real. I
went to put it down but misjudged where the floor was and ended up
dropping it a few inches to the floor. I freaked out. The next day, I
fled school with the PS2 belted into my passenger seat and blew off the
next day of classes.

There's so much more to tell, but for the rest of my life, October 26 will
mean something to me that few will be able to truly understand. I'm
eternally grateful for that. Oh, and here at my desk in the IGN office?
EGM No. 136 has been in my cabinet since my first day on the job.




         Atari Wins Approval To Send Plan to Vote: Bankruptcy


Atari Inc., the bankrupt video-game maker, won court approval to seek
creditors votes on its plan to exit bankruptcy protection as a going
concern.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James M. Peck approved the companys disclosure
statement, an outline of the restructuring plan, finding that it
contained adequate information for creditors to make an informed vote,
according to court documents filed Oct. 29 in Manhattan. The company is
scheduled to seek court approval of its reorganization plan at a
Dec. 5 hearing.

The plan effectuates a restructuring transaction under which the sponsor
will make contributions to the estates sufficient to ensure a meaningful
recovery to holders of general unsecured claims, the New York-based
company said in court filings. Unsecured creditors are projected to
receive a recovery of as much as 25 percent.

The company sought bankruptcy protection in January intending to break
away from French parent Atari SA (ATA), which hasnt made a profit since
1999 and sought related relief from creditors under French law, the
company has said.

A pioneer in the home video-game console market and maker of classic
titles such as Pong and Asteroids, Atari attempted to sell virtually
all its assets earlier this year, according to court documents. Atari,
which owned or managed more than 200 games and franchises, failed to get
qualified offers for key assets including its namesake brand, for which
it was seeking a minimum of $15 million.

Atari, founded in 1972, changed course in September and now plans to
reorganize and continue operating with the brands it has left, according
to court documents. Its parent is sponsoring the restructuring plan.

Atari and the parent determined the business and remaining assets have
substantial value that would not otherwise be realized in a liquidation.
The video-game maker would reorganize around titles such as RollerCoaster
Tycoon, Test Drive and Centipede.

The company moved forward with auctions of seven less-valuable franchises
that generated a total of about $5.1 million, according to court papers.

Under the reorganization plan, unsecured creditors, which Atari estimates
are owed $5 million to $7 million, would get cash payments for a recovery
of as much as 25 percent, according to court documents. The recovery
estimate assumes the unsecured creditors arent owed more than $7 million
and would be reduced if allowed claims exceed that amount.

The official committee representing unsecured creditors supports the plan,
according to court papers. The unsecured creditors would get a payment of
8 percent of their claims or $560,000, whichever is less, when the plan
takes effect. They would get identical treatment one year later, and then
get a payment for the lesser of 9 percent of their claims or $630,000 two
years later.

Atari SA is waiving its right to any distribution on its $309.5 million in
intercompany claims, according to court documents. Alden Global Capital,
which acquired a secured credit facility to Atari SA in February, would be
paid in full on the $5 million it loaned to help fund the bankruptcy case.

The case is In re Atari Inc., 13-bk-10176, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern
District of New York (Manhattan).


                                  =~=~=~=



                           A-ONE's Headline News
                   The Latest in Computer Technology News
                       Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson



      FAA To Allow Airlines To Expand Use of Personal Electronics


The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta today announced that the FAA has
determined that airlines can safely expand passenger use of Portable
Electronic Devices (PEDs) during all phases of flight, and is immediately
providing the airlines with implementation guidance. 

Due to differences among fleets and operations, the implementation will
vary among airlines, but the agency expects many carriers will prove to
the FAA that their planes allow passengers to safely use their devices in
airplane mode, gate-to-gate, by the end of the year.

The FAA based its decision on input from a group of experts that included
representatives from the airlines, aviation manufacturers, passengers,
pilots, flight attendants, and the mobile technology industry.

Passengers will eventually be able to read e-books, play games, and watch
videos on their devices during all phases of flight, with very limited
exceptions. Electronic items, books and magazines, must be held or put in
the seat back pocket during the actual takeoff and landing roll. Cell
phones should be in airplane mode or with cellular service disabled 
i.e., no signal bars displayedand cannot be used for voice
communications based on FCC regulations that prohibit any airborne calls
using cell phones.    If your air carrier provides Wi-Fi service during
flight, you may use those services.  You can also continue to use
short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.

"We believe today's decision honors both our commitment to safety and
consumer's increasing desire to use their electronic devices during all
phases of their flights," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
"These guidelines reflect input from passengers, pilots, manufacturers,
and flight attendants, and I look forward to seeing airlines implement
these much anticipated guidelines in the near future."     

"I commend the dedication and excellent work of all the experts who spent
the past year working together to give us a solid report so we can now
move forward with a safety-based decision on when passengers can use PEDs
on airplanes," said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta.

The PED Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) concluded most commercial
airplanes can tolerate radio interference signals from PEDs. In a recent
report, they recommended that the FAA provide airlines with new
procedures to assess if their airplanes can tolerate radio interference
from PEDs. Once an airline verifies the tolerance of its fleet, it can
allow passengers to use handheld, lightweight electronic devices  such
as tablets, e-readers, and smartphonesat all altitudes. In rare
instances of low-visibility, the crew will instruct passengers to turn
off their devices during landing. The group also recommended that heavier
devices should be safely stowed under seats or in overhead bins during
takeoff and landing.

The FAA is streamlining the approval of expanded PED use by giving
airlines updated, clear guidance. This FAA tool will help airlines assess
the risks of potential PED-induced avionics problems for their airplanes
and specific operations. Airlines will evaluate avionics as well as
changes to stowage rules and passenger announcements. Each airline will
also need to revise manuals, checklists for crewmember training
materials, carry-on baggage programs and passenger briefings before
expanding use of PEDs. Each airline will determine how and when they will
allow passengers broader use of PEDs.

The FAA did not consider changing the regulations regarding the use of
cell phones for voice communications during flight because the issue is
under the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The ARC did recommend that the FAA consult with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to review its current rules. Cell phones
differ from most PEDs in that they are designed to send out signals
strong enough to be received at great distances

Top Things Passengers Should Know about Expanded Use of PEDs on
Airplanes:

1. Make safety your first priority.

2.  Changes to PED policies will not happen immediately and will vary by
airline. Check with your airline to see if and when you can use your PED.

3.  Current PED policies remain in effect until an airline completes a
safety assessment, gets FAA approval, and changes its PED policy.

4. Cell phones may not be used for voice communications.

5.  Devices must be used in airplane mode or with the cellular connection
disabled. You may use the WiFi connection on your device if the plane has
an installed WiFi system and the airline allows its use.  You can also
continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless
keyboards.

6. Properly stow heavier devices under seats or in the overhead bins
during takeoff and landing. These items could impede evacuation of an
aircraft or may injure you or someone else in the event of turbulence or
an accident.    

7. During the safety briefing, put down electronic devices, books and
newspapers and listen to the crewmember's instructions.

8.  It only takes a few minutes to secure items according to the crew's
instructions during takeoff and landing.

9.  In some instances of low visibility  about one percent of flights 
some landing systems may not be proved PED tolerant, so you may be asked
to turn off your device.

10. Always follow crew instructions and immediately turn off your device
if asked.

Current FAA regulations require an aircraft operator to determine that
radio frequency interference from PEDs is not a flight safety risk before
the operator authorizes them for use during certain phases of flight.
Even PEDs that do not intentionally transmit signals can emit
unintentional radio energy. This energy may affect aircraft safety
because the signals can occur at the same frequencies used by the
plane's highly sensitive communications, navigation, flight control and
electronic equipment. An airline must show it can prevent potential
interference that could pose a safety hazard. The PED ARC report helps
the FAA to guide airlines through determining that they can safely allow
widespread use of PEDs. 

The PED ARC began work in January, at the request of Administrator
Huerta, to determine if it is safe to allow more widespread use of
electronic devices in today's aircraft.  The group also reviewed the
public's comments in response to an August 2012 FAA notice on current
policy, guidance, and procedures that aircraft operators use when
determining if passengers can use PEDs. The group did not consider the
use of electronic devices for voice communications. A fact sheet on the
report is now available.

The FAA is immediately giving airlines a clear path to safely expand PED
use by passengers, and the Administrator will evaluate the rest of the
ARC's longer-term recommendations and respond at a later date. 

A Portable Electronic Device is any piece of lightweight,
electrically-powered equipment. These devices are typically consumer
electronic devices capable of communications, data processing and/or
utility.  Examples range from handheld, lightweight electronic devices
such as tablets, e-readers, and smartphones to small devices such as MP3
players and electronic toys.



          Venezuela's President Denounces Attack by Twitter


Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is denouncing what he calls a
"massive attack" by Twitter and the "international right wing" against
his account and those of several government agencies with the social
media website.

Maduro said Thursday that more than 6,000 of his 1.4 million followers
were mysteriously removed from his Twitter account as part of a campaign
to destabilize his government. The government says the accounts of a
pro-government newspaper and Venezuela's immigration authority were also
suspended, along with the accounts of two ministries.

Twitter spokesman Nu Wexler says the website isn't commenting on the
matter.

Maduro has embraced social media as the late President Hugo Chavez did.
In September, he launched profiles in French, English, Arabic and
Portuguese to spread the ideals of his 21st century socialist revolution.



             New Darkmail Alliance Aims To Make Email NSA-proof


Secure email service Lavabit closed up shop earlier this year after the
United States government forced it to hand over its users private data.
But now the Lavabit team is working together with the team from Silent
Circle to form the Darkmail Alliance, a new group thats developing a new
standard to help keep email away from the prying eyes of both hackers and
government intelligence agencies. In an interview with The Guardian,
Silent Circle cofounder Mike Janke explains that current email protocols
are fundamentally broken and are in desperate need of a fix.

The existing email architecture is 40 years old, and its what allows the
worlds surveillance community, hackers and other data mining companies,
to get data, Janke says. So what happened is you saw nation states can
go to an email provider and coerce them into turning over the keys and
decrypting.

The goal in developing the Darkmail secure email standard is to make it
available for all email providers to use. Janke hopes that eventually it
will become so popular among smaller email providers that it will put
pressure on big providers such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to adopt
the standard as well.

Darkmail aims to make email secure again by bringing it back to its
roots, when it was being used by a tiny circle of people in the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the 1970s. Basically, emails
sent between two Darkmail-enabled accounts will have their messages
encrypted and sent peer-to-peer and not through a centralized server. In
this sense, Darkmail is trying to make a group of trusted users who
know they can securely send emails to one another just as the early DARPA
users were a trusted network of peers.

Janke says that hell consider the initiative a success if half of the
worlds emails are eventually sent through Darkmail architecture. While
this is certainly an ambitious goal, its certainly achievable if he
gets some of the big-name providers on board.

What are [the large providers] going to do? asks Janke rhetorically.
Are they going to actually join in? Or are they going to kick the can
down the road?



       Facebook's Ad Warning Sounds A Note of Caution for Twitter


Facebook Inc's investors and other proponents of the social network like
to say that it captures one of the greatest concentrations of human
attention on the planet and thus offers a boundless opportunity for
advertisers.

But Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman on Wednesday cast
doubt on those assertions by suggesting that there may be a limit on how
many ads Facebook can show users before they get turned off.

Ebersman's warning carries far-reaching implications for not only
Facebook but also other social media companies including Twitter Inc,
which is in the middle of a roadshow to promote its initial public
offering to investors.

Twitter has yet to turn a profit but it is pitching an advertising
business model similar to Facebook's.

"It's important for investors to realize that there is a limitation on
the mobile ad revenue that can be generated. The sky isn't the limit when
it comes to that," said Jeff Sica, the founder of Sica Wealth Management.
"That's the issue with Facebook. That will be the issue with Twitter."

Seven-year old Twitter faces an additional challenge: its active user
base, now at 230 million, has expanded much more slowly compared to
Facebook, due in part to its struggle to retain newcomers. A recent
Reuters-Ipsos poll found 36 percent of Twitter users do not use the
online messaging service.

"You don't know how many people sign up and don't use it, how many
abandoned accounts they have," said Adam Grossman, an analyst at Middleton
& Co who attended a roadshow lunch presentation by Twitter executives in
Boston on Thursday.

Twitter has set a price range of $17 to $21 per share for its IPO, which
aims to raise up to $1.6 billion. The price range values Twitter at up to
$11 billion, less than the $15 billion that some analysts had expected.

One investor who attended the Thursday luncheon said Twitter's ubiquitous
brand name will draw some investors.

"It's a company that has changed the world so I wouldn't bet against it,"
said the investor, who did not want to be identified. "But they also
haven't created a business model which has proven that they can continue
to grow at 100 percent a year and be profitable."

Twitter is trying to expand its ad business in other ways. This week it
closed a $350 million deal to acquire MoPub, an ad network that serves
ads within mobile apps.

"The consumer eyeballs, and the amount of ads they can absorb without
being irritated, is finite," said Rich Wong, a venture capitalist at
Accel Partners, who invested in MoPub and AdMob, a mobile ad network that
Google Inc acquired for $750 million.

With MoPub, Twitter will be able to serve ads in other apps to grow
revenue without cluttering its own users' Twitter streams, Wong said. "By
leasing real estate, you can expand by orders of magnitude the eyeballs
you can get to," he said.

It remains to be seen whether MoPub can unearth new revenue for Twitter.
But some industry experts liken the deal to Google's $3.1 billion
acquisition of DoubleClick in 2008, which helped the search giant improve
its ability to place targeted ads on Web pages across the Internet, not
just google.com.

In the case of MoPub, Twitter will serve ads within third-party mobile
apps, such as games, rather than websites.

In late September, Facebook also resumed work on its own mobile ad network
after it appeared to put the project on hold earlier in the year,
according to several tech blogs.

The renewed effort to seek other sources of revenue could be explained by
Facebook's reluctance to show more than one ad per 20 stories in a user's
news feed. Ebersman told analysts on Wednesday that the 5 percent ad ratio
would not increase by much in the future.

That surprised some analysts and investors who had expected a higher rate.

"Five percent is relatively low," said Brian Blau, a Gartner analyst. "I'm
surprised that it's only five percent. I was anticipating more, to really
push the boundaries."

According to its investor prospectus, Twitter now makes a little over
$0.65 per user compared to Facebook's $1.72. Analysts believe Twitter has
room to grow in getting more revenue per user because Chief Executive
Dick Costolo has been cautious so far about injecting more ads into
Twitter streams.

Twitter's format and the nature of its fast-scrolling content also differs
from  Facebook, which means Twitter users may be more tolerant of ads,
said Gartner's Blau.

But if Twitter's ability to show more ads becomes limited, then it would
have to seek higher ad prices by promising marketers the ability to
target users with greater accuracy.

In the past year, Twitter has expanded its targeting features to show ads
to users who live in certain metropolitan areas, or show interest in
certain topics.

Twitter infers what its users are interested in based on who they follow
and what they tweet. In July, the company also began to use cookies to
track the Web pages that its users visit, a commonly employed technique
among Internet firms.

But even when displaying the highly personalized ads prized by marketers,
social media companies have had to weigh the value of the ad versus
their "creepiness factor," which could scare away fickle users.



            Dell Laptop Buyers Make A Stink Over Cat Smell


A noxious feline odor has some Dell customers caterwauling.

People who own Dell Latitude 6430u laptops are complaining that their
pricey new computers are emitting a smell similar to cat urine. Some of
them said on the company's online customer forums that the odor seems to
be coming from the keyboard or palm rest.

The Round Rock, Texas, company originally advised buyers through its
forums to try cleaning their keyboards with a soft cloth or compressed
air, but the smell persisted.

"The machine is great, but it smells as if it was assembled near a
tomcat's litter box," wrote a customer using the handle "three west" on a
Dell forum back in June. "It is truly awful!"

On Wednesday, another customer writing under the handle "passflips" said
he felt terrible for repeatedly scolding his cat Jerry, because he thought
the elderly cat kept spraying the computer. The poster also said he wasted
money on veterinarian bills in an attempt to determine whether his cat had
a medical problem.

Dell said Thursday that its investigation revealed strange scent is
related to a manufacturing process, which the company has since fixed. But
if your portable PC isn't purrfect, Dell recommends contacting the
company's technical support team to have your laptop's palm rest assembly
replaced.

Company spokesman David Frink said the odor isn't related to a "biological
contamination" and doesn't present a health hazard. He added that newly
assembled laptops that are currently in stores aren't affected.

The laptops in question are ultrabooks designed for business use. The base
model starts at $900 on Dell's website, but Dell charges close to $1,300
for higher-end versions that include Windows 8 and Intel Core i5
processors.

While laptop users may find the smell of cat urine offensive, "cat's pee"
is a term sometimes used by wine lovers to describe a wine's aroma.

And while the smell coming from the Dell computers is apparently
unintentional, more than one group of engineers is working on
"Smell-o-Vision" TV to engage viewers' olfactory senses. In addition, a
host of recent smartphone add-ons make scents, too, including the Scentee,
a Japanese smartphone attachment that plugs into a phone's earphone jack
and dispenses scented vapors through dedicated cartridges.



   Google Donates 17,000 Nexus Tablets to Hurricane Sandy Communities


Google has donated 17,000 Nexus tablets, with a total retail value of over
$2.7 million, to libraries, senior centers and business and community
centers in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The tablets will be distributed to central locations in those areas. The
exact list of locations can be found here.

Private donations like these are critical in aiding local communities in
our ongoing recovery. We thank Google for helping New York build back
better than before, said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The launch of Google's Nexus 10 tablet was affected by Hurricane Sandy
last year, as its October 2012 event was postponed due to the storm.



Microsoft Surface 2 Review: A Tablet/Keyboard Duo Worthy of a Second Chance


You can say Microsofts original Surface tablet was a bit of a box office
flop. The companys first tablet aimed to offer a list of things the iPad
didnt  Microsoft Office, a nice keyboard companion and some interesting
multitasking features -- but most people didnt quite see it that way.
Microsoft ultimately dropped the price on the tablet to move stock and
took a $900 million write-down on unsold inventory.

With the sequel  the Surface 2  Microsoft is asking for a second chance.
For $449, Microsoft has slimmed down the tablet, improved the screen,
doubled the battery life and made a host of tweaks to Windows to address
the initial frustrations. It has also improved the companion $100 Touch
Cover and the $150 Type Cover keyboards. 

This time around, Microsoft is promising the most productive tablet and
the only device you need in your bag. But is it? Do those fixes put the
Surface on better footing in the crowded tablet market, or is Microsoft
looking at another failed attempt to thwart the competition?

Despite some cosmetic changes, the Surface still looks like a Surface.
And thanks to the new Surface logo on the back of the kickstand everyone
can tell thats exactly what it is. But thats not necessarily a bad
thing.

Like the original, the magnesium or VaporMg structure and the Gorilla
Glass screen give it an extremely solid build, which, as I tested last
year, allows the tablet to survive all sorts of bumps and drops.
Microsoft has actually brought out the color of the metal on the new
Surface 2, which is now available in only a silver shade. The $899
Surface Pro 2 is only available in black.

The tablet still has its signature built-in kickstand, though Microsoft
has added another latch to allow it to sit back a bit further. It might
seem like a small thing, but it allowed me to write the brunt of this
review in an airplane seat with the tablet comfortably propped up on my
lap. However, the biggest aesthetic difference youll only notice when you
lift up the tablet and see that is now .35 inches thick and 1.49 pounds.
No, thats nowhere as near as thin or light as Apples 1-pound iPad Air
and still doesnt allow for one-handed use, but its a substantial
improvement over the last generation.

O.K., so maybe onlookers might not notice the difference between the new
Surface and the old, but they will be able to tell the difference if they
look at the screen. Microsoft has upgraded the 10.6-inch displays
resolution to 1920 x 1080, making everything crisper and clearer. The
anti-glare coating has also been improved and does help cut down on
reflection from the sun or overhead light. 

This is not just a tablet, or its the one device for everything in
your life. Every ad for the Surface features the Touch or Type keyboard
covers with just such a tagline. However, what Microsoft doesnt say in
those advertisements is that the keyboard cover isnt included and it
costs at least an extra $100 to turn the tablet into a laptop.

And if there is a reason to get the Surface, it is for the keyboard
options. Typing on the flat surface of the Touch Cover still takes some
getting used to, but the sensitivity has been improved with this version.
The Type Cover, in comparison, has real keys and is really akin to typing
on a laptop. Both keyboards are now backlit and automatically illuminate
when it is dim or dark, which came in very handy in my dark coach
airplane seat.  

For the brunt of my testing, I have used one of the two covers. They do
enhance the tablet experience, just as Microsoft says on its billboards,
which is why I wish one of them was included with the tablet for the
starting price.

The most significant changes really do happen inside the tablet, where
Microsoft has crammed more processing and battery power. Now powered by a
quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, the tablet ran much more swiftly than
the previous version, launching apps quickly and smoothly scrolling down
long webpages.

But the most improved award goes to the battery life. Unlike the previous
version, which lasted just eight hours on a charge, the Surface 2 looped
a video for 13 hours. I also had more than 50 percent remaining after a
flight from NYC to San Francisco.

But all of that hardware advancement would be for nothing without some
software improvements. Windows 8.1, Microsofts latest update to
Windows 8, includes some much-needed usability improvements and finally
includes some easy on-screen instructions for guiding new users through
features, including placing two apps side by side.

Windows 8 feels like a much stronger operating system than a year ago,
though one still confused about its identity. Am I a laptop? Am I a
tablet? Jumping between the traditional desktop and the touch-friendly
homescreen of live tiles is jarring and confusing. Still, Microsoft has
polished up some features, including the search function, which now
searches Bing and the computer. It has also added new apps like the
Reading List, which makes it really easy to save an article and read it
in an RSS App, and it has improved core apps like Internet Explorer and
Mail. This version also includes a full version of Office.

However, while the Windows Store is stocked with more apps than a year
ago, it is still missing some of my go-to tablet applications, making it
hard for me to feel fully at home on the Surface. While the new Facebook
and Twitter apps are nicely designed, the store still lacks apps I use on
a daily basis, including Flipboard (though it should arrive soon), Feedly
and Rdio.

And because this is running the RT version of Windows 8.1, you cannot
simply download apps through the browser. The $899 Surface Pro comes with
the full version of Windows 8.1 capable of running all types of Windows
applications. Well forgive you for being confused.

The Surface 2 is a vastly improved tablet. Its what the first Surface
should have been  a thin, light, long-lasting machine with a nice
screen. But while Microsoft has been busy catching up, the competition
has been staying a step ahead. Apples iPad Air hits shelves today and
the tablet is nearly half the weight and thickness of the Surface. It
also has a bigger breadth of apps and now has a free version of iWork,
Apples Office alternative.

The Surfaces keyboards continue to set it apart, but with that added on
youre looking at a $550 package. Still, the Surface 2 is a compelling
option for those who are invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, enjoy some
of Windows 8.1s features, and want a tablet that works seamlessly with
a keyboard. The Surface wont be a box office flop again, but its still
not the hit sequel the company was hoping for.



                 4D Printing May Bolster Arsenal of US Army


The 3D printing revolution shows no signs of letting up, and now has made
its way on to the next dimension. 

The U.S. Army Research Office has awarded $855,000 to three universities
to make advances in 4D printing, which is the ability to 3D-print objects
that can change their shape or appearance over time (the fourth
dimension), or in response to some condition. Potential uses for the
technology are endless, but ideas that have been floated include
camouflage that can change color to match its surroundings and weapons
that can assemble themselves.

"Rather than construct a static material or one that simply changes its
shape, we're proposing the development of adaptive, biomimetic composites
that re-program their shape, properties or functionality on demand, based
upon external stimuli," said Anna Balazs, a researcher at Harvard, in a
statement. The U.S. Army awarded additional 4D-printing grants to
scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois.

Research in this project will concentrate on 4D-printing materials at the
microscopic scale. Other researchers have shown they can 4D-print larger
objects like self-assembling cubes and other shapes.

One of the limitations of 3D printing, wherein a printer lays down
successive layers of material like plastic to create objects as diverse as
guns and toys, is that assembly is often required. But 4D printing offers
the ability to make things that literally pull themselves together.

The technology could also create objects that last longer than their
3D-printed counterparts and adapt to specific conditions on command.

"If you use materials that possess the ability to change their properties
or shape multiple times, you don't have to build for a specific, one-time
use," Balazs said.

Other proposed uses for 4D printing include building bridges that can
self-heal if cracks form, and "adaptive pipes" that can expand or contract
on their own.



             US Woman Questions Ticket for Wearing Google Glass


An early adopter of Google's Internet-connected eyeglasses may soon become
a guinea pig of a different sort.

Cecilia Abadie was pulled over for speeding Tuesday evening in San Diego,
and a California Highway Patrol officer noticed she was wearing Google
Glass. The officer tacked on a citation usually given to drivers who may
be distracted by a video or TV screen.

Abadie plans to contest what may be a first-of-its-kind citation, and in
doing so push authorities on the question of how to regulate evolving
gadgetry that will one day be mainstream.

The eyeglasses, which are not yet widely available to the public, feature
a hidden computer and a thumbnail-size transparent display screen above
the right eye. Users can scan maps for directions  as well as receive
web search results, read email and engage in video chats  without
reaching for a smartphone.

Abadie, a software developer, told The Associated Press that she was not
using her Google Glass when she was pulled over.

It's unclear whether a citation for Google Glass has been issued before.

Abadie said she is surprised that wearing the glasses would be illegal
and that she's "pretty sure" she will fight the ticket.

"The law is not clear, the laws are very outdated," Abadie said,
suggesting that navigating with the device could be less distracting than
with a GPS device or phone.

Though Google Glass users can continue looking ahead, by glancing at the
screen they still divert attention from the roadway and that can make the
headgear dangerous, according to David Strayer, director of the University
of Utah's Center for the Prevention of Distracted Driving.

Legislators in at least three states  Delaware, New Jersey and West
Virginia  have introduced bills that would ban driving with Google Glass.

A spokesman for Google did not reply to a request for comment. On its
website, Google says this about using the headgear while driving: "Read up
and follow the law. Above all, even when you're following the law, don't
hurt yourself or others by failing to pay attention to the road."

About 10,000 units of the glasses have been distributed so far in the
United States to "pioneers," and this week Google announced another 30,000
would be available for $1,500 apiece.



   Ubuntu 13.10 Review: The Linux OS of the Future Remains A Year Away


After the customary six months of incubation, Ubuntu 13.10codenamed Saucy
Salamanderhas hatched. The new version of the popular Linux distribution
brings updated applications and several new features, including augmented
search capabilities in the Unity desktop shell.

Although Saucy Salamander offers some useful improvements, its a
relatively thin update. XMir, the most noteworthy item on the
13.10 roadmap, was ultimately deferred for inclusion in a future release.
Canonicals efforts during the Saucy development cycle were largely
focused on the companys new display server and upcoming Unity overhaul,
but neither is yet ready for the desktop.

Due to the unusual nature of this Ubuntu update, this review is going to
diverge a bit from the usual formula. The first half will include a
hands-on look at the new Unity features. The second half will take a close
look at the Ubuntu roadmap and some of the major changes that we can
expect to see over the course of the next several releases.

One of the key components of the Unity desktop shell is the Dash, the
desktop overlay that enables the user to browse and search applications,
files, and multimedia. The Dash can be expanded with custom views,
called Scopes (formerly Lenses), that extend it with additional
information. Since the initial introduction of the Dash, the search
system has gradually evolved to operate like a kind of virtual
storefront. In response to certain queries, it will recommend music from
the Ubuntu One Music Store and products from Amazon, generating
affiliate revenue for Canonical.

The Unity Dash got an overhaul under the hood for Ubuntu 13.10. Canonical
wanted to extend the built-in search system so that it can access data
from a wide range of Internet sources. For the new version of the Dash,
the Web search functionality is now handled by a remote backend service
that is hosted by Canonical.

As the user types a search query in the Dash, the partial query is
transmitted to Canonicals servers, which will analyze the input and
decide what to present. The new backend uses a number of heuristics to
attempt to find the most relevant results to send back to the user. Some
of the Internet sources that the new backend can tap include Github,
reddit, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google News, The Weather Channel, and Yelp.

While testing Ubuntu 13.10 for this review, I typed in a number of
different queries so that I could see how the Dash would respond. When I
typed in the name of my city, it displayed weather information and
Wikipedia entries about it. When I typed in the name of a popular
Logitech gaming mouse, the Dash displayed Amazon product listings. When
I typed in the name of my favorite musician, it offered albums, a
Wikipedia entry, the musicians Twitch.tv profile, and a link to a
reddit post about the musician.

The filtering mechanism on the side of the Dash allows you to toggle the
sources, giving you some control over where the results are originating.
You can also tell the search mechanism to only return results from a
specific source by using a prefix. For example, you can type
news:ubuntu if all you are looking for is Google News stories about
Ubuntu.

The new Dash concept is intriguing, but its usefulness is a bit limited.
The results are hit and miss and tend to be organized in a really
haphazard way. Another issue is that all results are displayed the same
way: a rectangular icon with some text underneath. The whole system would
be a lot more powerful and practical if it could tailor the presentation
to the specific type of content.

When you click a search result in the Dash, it will display an expanded
version of that item with a bigger icon and more text. The expanded result
will also display a button that you can click to view more information on
the Internet. For example, you can read an excerpt of a Wikipedia page by
clicking its result item and then click the button to open the actual
Wikipedia page in your browser.

Its worth noting that the Dash still does local system searches,
displaying installed applications and recently used files from the
filesystem. These items are given prioritythey are displayed first and
in the most easily accessible position. The new remote search system is
designed so that the results can be appended to the Dash as they trickle
in, which means that it typically isnt going to pose any inconvenience
when simply launching applications, for example.

Canonical faced considerable criticism last year when it first introduced
the built-in Amazon search feature. The newly expanded search system, and
the manner in which it is implemented, will likely raise additional
concerns.

When a user opens the Dash, the underlying software will initiate a
search session with Canonicals servers. During the session, each
keypress will be transmitted over the wire. It will also send platform
and version information, the users country, the users locale, and
information about which search sources and scopes the user has added or
removed.

Canonical says that it doesnt save any identifiable information. The
user's IP address is retained in standard server logs, but is not
correlated with search behavior for tracking purposes. The company does
keep track of certain usage data that it can analyze to improve search
results.

Although I think that a universal Web search has the potential to be
useful, Im not really comfortable with the way Canonical tacks it on to
local system searches. I would be a lot happier with the feature if
Canonical broke it out into a separate mechanism, activated by selecting
a specific section of the Dash or using a particular shortcut. In its
current form, it strikes me as a bit too invasive.

Fortunately, the Internet search feature is very easy to disable. Ubuntu
12.04 introduced a dedicated privacy control panel in the built-in
System Settings tool. To disable Dash Internet searches in 13.10, all
you have to do is open the privacy panel, navigate to the search tab,
and flip off the toggle switch.

XMir is on the way, but it's still on the launchpad in 13.10

Earlier this year, Canonical revealed that it was building a totally new
display server called Mir that future versions of Ubuntu will use instead
of Xorg. The project is an important part of the companys
device-spanning platform strategy.

Xorg is the input and display system used today in virtually all Linux
desktop systems. It's the official reference implementation of X11, a
version of the X Window System protocol that dates back to 1987. The
Xorg code is forked from XFree86, which itself originated in the early
'90s. X is very old technology, burdened with a lot of legacy cruft.
Unlike Xorg, Mir is built from the ground up to offer a modern, hardware
accelerated computing experience. It is also designed for versatility,
with the aim of making it easy to adapt for use in a wide range of
hardware environments.

Some of the benefits that Mir will eventually offer include lower
overhead in the display pipeline, more seamless transitions between
display modes during the boot process, richer input handling that will
make it easier to support things like touchscreen gestures, more seamless
support for systems with switchable graphics hardware (like laptops that
can dynamically shift between using embedded and discrete graphics), and
better application interchange (which will help improve things like the
clipboard and drag-and-drop).

Virtually everyone in the contemporary Linux community acknowledges that
its time for the legacy X11 protocol to be put out to pasture (or taken
behind the barn and shot). A project called Wayland, which emerged a few
years ago, is widely considered the best candidate to replace X11.
Created by AIGLX developer Kristian Hgsberg, Wayland provides a modern
display server protocol fit for composited desktopsoffering the same set
of advantages enumerated above.

Canonicals decision to build its own unique display serverinstead of
creating an implementation of the already-mature Wayland protocolhas
generated controversy in the broader Linux community. Critics argue that
the duplication of effort and risk of fragmentation are detrimental to
the platform. Canonical claims that it simply couldnt make Wayland meet
Ubuntus needs. The issue has created friction between Canonical and
other Linux stakeholders, such as Intel.

Its important to understand that Wayland itself is a protocol, not a
piece of software. The developers have created a lightweight reference
implementation, called Weston, and a set of associated client libraries.
The reference implementation is largely used for testing purposesthe
developers behind the major Linux desktop environments will all create
their own Wayland compositors that conform with the protocol. The
protocol itself is defined with an XML specification, but it uses binary
over the wire.

By design, Wayland favors delegating as much functionality as possible to
the clients that consume the protocol. The function of the display server
here is largely to put pixels on the screen. In contrast with Waylands
minimalist design and distributed nature, Mir takes a more monolithic
approachone where the various pieces of the stack are more tightly
integrated and much less is delegated to the client. Canonical is
especially keen on having the display server manage pixel buffers, which
they contend will give them more control over resource consumption in
ARM environments.

There are also some major differences in how Mir is intended to be
consumed by adopters. Although Mir does have its own protocol (using
Googles Protobuf format in much the same way that Wayland uses a
compliable XML spec), the developers dont intend for third parties to
create their own implementations. There will be an official Mir server
and official client libraries that all adopters will use. The protocol
that the Mir client libraries use to communicate with the servers is not
guaranteed to remain stableCanonical can change it at will. Adopters
will essentially use Canonicals code and treat the underlying protocol
like an implementation detail.

Although its difficult to determine which approach is better at this
stage, there is no question that Wayland has seniority and broader buy-in.
Canonical is racing to get Mir into production, which means that it will
probably beat Wayland to large-scale adoption. Wayland, however, has the
benefit of a longer and more inclusive design processfurnishing it with
a high level of maturity and technical credibility.

Ubuntu developers are already using Mirin conjunction with Android
graphics driversto power Ubuntu Touch on devices, but its going to take
a bit longer to bring it to the desktop. In order to facilitate an
incremental transition, Canonical will use a temporary shim called XMir
that creates a bridge between existing X11-compatible software and the
Mir display server.

XMir is largely built on top of Xorg, leveraging large amounts of existing
functionality. It uses Mir to paint to the screen but doesnt use the new
display server for much else. As such, there arent really any compelling
advantages for the end user that are unlocked by adopting XMir. When using
XMir, the desktop is still effectively constrained by the limitations of
Xorgit doesnt take advantage of any of the next-generation features that
will eventually be available in a true Mir environment.

The primary advantage of getting XMir into Ubuntu is that it will provide
a way for Mir to get broader exposure to more users and more hardware.
That will help accelerate development, make it easier to identify bugs,
and generally help improve the quality of the Mir user experience. Of
course, in order to get to the point where it can be included in the
distribution, there has to be a certain baseline level of quality and
stability.

Incorporating Mir (via XMir) was one of the highest-priority goals for
Ubuntu 13.10. In Canonicals original timeline for Mir adoption, the
company intended for 13.10 to include XMir, with an X11 fallback for
certain hardware. XMir would continue to be used in 14.04, but without
the safety net of the additional legacy fallback. The transition to Mir
was expected to be complete in the second half of next year with the
release of 14.10. Its an extremely aggressive timeline for replacing
something as foundationally important as a display server.

After much deliberation, the developers decided not to include Mir as the
default display server in Ubuntu 13.10. Although Mir itself is largely up
to the task, XMir still has a number of problems that need to be resolved.
Canonical developer Oliver Ries announced the decision earlier this
monthCanonical was clearly on the fence right up until the last minute.
He cited limitations with XMir multi-monitor support as the biggest
pending issue.

As a result, Ubuntu 13.10 comes with a conventional Xorg display stack
instead of using Mir. Its likely that XMir will finally arrive in Ubuntu
14.04, which will be released in April. It doesnt seem like the decision
to defer XMir will significantly impact the timeline for final Mir
adoption in 14.10Mir itself is still on track and appears to be
progressing well.

Unitys current incarnation is largely built on top of Compiz, a
compositing window manager that leverages OpenGL for hardware-accelerated
rendering. The graphical elements of the Unity desktop are literally
implemented in a Compiz plugin.

Although using Compiz made sense at the time that Unity was first
created, there are a number of major disadvantages. Developing the Unity
shell entails working at an extremely low level without much abstraction,
creating user interface elements with straight OpenGL drawing. Unity
developers made their own primitive OpenGL graphics framework called Nux
to simplify user interface development, but Nux doesnt even come close
to providing the kind of functionality that you would normally expect to
get from a real user interface toolkit.

Canonical is increasingly focused on its mobile and embedded computing
ambitions, hoping to build a presence across smartphones, tablets,
set-top boxes, and other systems. The Unity developers are building a
whole new version of the shell that is intended to work seamlesslywith a
unified implementationacross all of those form factors. They are
building the new version, called Unity 8, with the Qt user interface
toolkit (which, as some of you likely recall, was at one time used to
build the now-deprecated Unity 2d variant).

Although developing a whole new Unity shell represents a major
undertaking, its not as crazy as it might superficially sound. Thanks to
smart architectural design, many key pieces of existing desktop
infrastructure that power Unity can be reused with the new shell. Unitys
underlying window management logic and functionality is largely decoupled
from the visual display.

Those underlying pieces are implemented in background services and
frameworks that communicate with the Unity Compiz plugin through the
D-Bus interprocess communication system and other methods. Much of the
underlying stack will still be applicable in the future, but there will
be a new Qt-based shell sitting on top instead of the current
Compiz-based Unity plugin.

Qt is particularly well suited for building native user interfaces that
work well across different form factors. Qt includes an OpenGL scene
graph framework called Qt Quick that is useful for building modern,
hardware-accelerated user interfaces. Qt Quick provides a high-level
declarative language, called QML, that makes it easy to define user
interface layouts. Unlike Nux, QML gives developers a high level of
abstraction and provides a relatively comprehensive range of features
needed for user interface development.

Another key advantage of QML is that it makes it easy to create adaptable
user experiences that work well across different kinds of devices. Its
easy to customize QML layouts for specific screen sizes and create
different layout variants that work well with various input systems and
form factors. Its a bit like having a native user interface framework
that supports what HTML folks call responsive design.

All things considered, building Unity 8 with Qt and QML will accelerate
development, lower the barrier to entry for new contributors, and make it
easier to create experiences that span form factors. Unity 8 is currently
under heavy active development, but it is already used in Canonicals
Ubuntu Touch mobile environment. The Ubuntu 13.10 desktop, however, is
still based on Unity 7.

For those who want to get an early look, Ubuntu 13.10 has an available
preview of the Unity 8 touch environment that will be used on phones and
tablets. To see it for yourself, all you have to do is install the
unity8 package from the repositories in Ubuntu 13.10. After installing
the package, run the unity8 command at the command line. The QML-based
Unity 8 touch environment will open in a window.

You can try resizing the window to see for yourself how Unity 8 looks at
various screen sizes. Its important to note that the current
implementation represents the phone and tablet workthe developers still
have to finish the conventional desktop version of the shell layout. The
design will likely evolve before it is officially released.
Conclusion

Unity 8 is expected to arrive on the desktop in Ubuntu 14.04 at the
earliest, but more likely 14.10. At that point, Unity 7 will likely be
retired from further development. Due to the imminent transition to
Unity 8 and Mir, Ubuntu 13.10 is sort of like the calm before the storm.
It ships with the familiar old Unity 7 and Xorgwhich are reliable but
headed for deprecation.

As Canonicals attention is almost entirely dominated by the major
technical changes coming in the near future, there wasnt a whole lot of
work that surfaced in 13.10the assortment of new features is pretty
thin.

Its worth noting that 14.04 is supposed to be a long-term support (LTS)
release, which makes the timing a bit unfortunate. Canonical provides
five years of support for LTS releases, ensuring that security patches
and other critical updates are available.

The last few LTS releases have been relatively conservative, with
Canonical focusing on bug fixes and stability. Landing radically new
technology in an LTS release could potentially prove problematic. The
13.10 release, which still uses Unity 7 and Xorg, would probably have
been a better candidate for an LTS.

After spending a good month with Ubuntu 13.10, Ive found it to be a
reasonable updatealbeit without much to really distinguish it from its
predecessor. It works as expected with a fair degree of competence. I
didnt have any issues during installation or use. The new features in
the dash are interesting, but they arent really something that I expect
to use heavily.

That said, Id recommend that non-LTS users update so that they can be
sure to continue getting security patches. Keep in mind that the non-LTS
Ubuntu releases are only supported for nine months. That policy began
with Ubuntu 13.04, which was released in April. If youre not using an
LTS, you should probably update regardless of whether you really want or
need the new features.

Its hard to get excited about the 13.10 release, but there are some major
changes on the horizon that should make the next few major Ubuntu releases
a lot more interesting.



        Underwater Internet To Make Ocean More Wi-Fi Friendly


If there were a modern reboot of "The Little Mermaid," Ariel would
probably tell Sebastian that living under the sea was a pain because of
the shoddy Wi-Fi connection. But a research team at the University of
Buffalo in New York might be able to grant Ariel's wish of a better
underwater Internet.

Tommaso Melodia, the director of the Wireless Networks and Embedded
Systems Lab at the university, said that his research wasn't so much to
create a new Internet below the sea but to make sensors and other
underwater electronics more accessible to land-based devices, such as
laptops and mobile phones. "We're looking to make underwater networks a
part of the Internet, so you can access them without specialized
equipment or software," he told ABC News.

In addition to monitoring pollution levels or reading geological data to
better predict tsunamis, Melodia believes law enforcement agencies would
find an underwater Internet useful as well. "I've been reading ... that
there's a lot of drug trafficking from South America to North America via
submarine," he said. "You could create networks of devices that can
detect this type of activity."

Making the ocean Internet-friendly requires more than simply taking a
router below sea level, since conventional radio waves that transmit data
on land travel poorly underwater. But as submarine navigation systems
that use sonar can attest, acoustic waves travel well underwater. Melodia
and his students recently performed a test run off Lake Erie, dropping
40-pound sensors into the lake and a relay buoy on the lake's surface.

"The Wi-Fi radio signal transmits to the buoy, which converts it into
acoustic waves for the underwater sensors," said Hovannes Kulhandjian, a
graduate student working with Melodia. "It's also bidirectional.
Basically, you talk to them and they talk to you."

Despite a few technical glitches, the tests ran smoothly. "There is a
steel company next to the lake, so a lot of the acoustics were
reverberating off the walls of the factory," said Kulhandjian. "But it
wasn't a major problem," he said, adding that a single sensor and buoy
system has an effective radius of about 1 mile.

Though the tests were conducted in Lake Erie, Kulhandjian said that they
should work effectively in saltwater too. "All of the electronics are
inside this sphere and vacuum sealed," he said. "They're behind a half
inch thick barrier, so no water comes through."

So at least whenever Sebastian gathers up the sea critter band to try to
convince Ariel to stay underwater, other Disney creatures won't have
buffering problems when the concert is livestreamed.



  Google's Mystery Barges Revealed As Luxury Showrooms with Party Deck


Google Inc's mysterious barges, which prompted fevered speculation about
everything from offshore data centers to floating research labs, may
serve a more prosaic role as upscale party venues and showrooms.

The multi-story vessels made out of stacked shipping containers, one
moored in the San Francisco Bay and the other at the Portland, Maine
harbor, are invitation-only luxury showrooms for Google's Glass wearable
computers and other gadgets, according to local San Francisco TV station
KPIX.

The structures will feature a top-floor "party deck," complete with "bars,
lanais and other comforts," according to the report, which cited unnamed
sources.

The existence of the floating barges surfaced last week, when technology
website CNET theorized that the San Francisco vessel might be a floating
data center that would house banks of computers. Google was granted a
patent for a water-based data center in 2009.

Google has declined to comment on the matter, refusing even to
acknowledge its affiliation with the vessels. But the executive
director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development
Commission, Larry Goldzband, told Reuters his agency has had several
meetings with Google officials about the barge in recent months.

Google has gone to great lengths to keep the details of the barges
secret, with chain link fences and security guards encircling the pier
where one of the barges is under construction at San Francisco's Treasure
Island.

At least one Coast Guard employee has had to sign a non-disclosure
agreement with the Internet giant, as did another person who would
identify himself only as an inspector for a California government agency,
Reuters reported earlier this week.

The project is being personally directed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin,
according to KPIX. Brin heads up the Google division developing Google
Glass, a cross between a mobile computer and eyeglasses that allows users
to surf the Web and record video.

On Monday, Google said that it would expand the availability of the $1,500
Glass devices. Google has allowed a limited number of carefully selected
early adopters to buy test versions of the device this year, and will now
allow each of those customers to "invite" three friends to purchase the
gadget.

The new showrooms could help Google build buzz for the wearable devices
and its other hardware as it competes with more established hardware
makers such as Apple Inc, which has hundreds of stylish retail outlets.

The Google shipping containers can be quickly assembled and disassembled,
according to KPIX, allowing the showrooms to be transported by truck,
rail or barge to destinations such as ski resorts and beaches.



     Teens Are Leaving Facebook And This is Where They Are Going


Like many parents, Facebook is learning that raising teenagers is hard.
On Wednesday evening during its 2013 fourth quarter earnings call
Facebook's Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman said teen usage of the
social network decreased in the last quarter.

"We did see a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens,"
Ebersman said, sending down the stock from the rise it saw after earnings
were announced. "We wanted to share this with you now because we get a
lot of questions about teens."

Of course, those precious teens haven't decided to spend less time on
their phones, tablets or computers interacting with friends. They have
just decided to spend the time using different social networks. So where
are the teens going? Here are some ideas.

Look at the phone of any high school kid and you'll likely find Instagram
easily accessible. Instagram doesn't outrightly share how many younger
users it has, but according to Pew, 18 percent of cell owners use
Instagram and Instagram states that it has 150 million active users.

Teens don't just post food photos or selfies though. They comment on
photos of their friends and share images of things they are interested in
- sports, bands, celebrities, you name it.

This isn't bad news for Facebook. The company owns Instagram and shelled
out $1 billion for it in April 2012. Brian Solis, a principal analyst at
Altimeter Group, says be believes Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook's lead
executives knew they would need help with the younger market at the time
and that was the impetus behind the purchase.

"Facebook realized it needed not just a mobile future, but also a future
for this younger or teen audience," Solis told ABC News.

Teens are also spending a lot of time looking at photos that disappear
within 10 seconds. Snapchat is another teen mobile staple now. Again
Snapchat doesn't share stats on the age of its users but says 350
million photos or "Snaps" are sent every day across the network.

Also, the service became so popular with kids that the company released
Snapkidz in June, an app that doesn't actually let kids share photos but
just doodle on them. Yeah, that's certainly not what the teens are after.

Teens are also creating their own social networks, much in the same way
many did with AOL or AIM before there was Facebook. Using chat apps like
Kik and WhatsApp many use the group messaging and other messaging
features in this app to keep up with friends. According to WhatsApp, the
service has over 300 million users.

Solis points out that teens lead different social lives than adults and
that's why some of these more instant or real-time messaging apps appeal
to them. "The reality is that teens have every day social situations that
adults don't have. They have a real life social network every single day
and for that they are using a lot of real time text related
communication," he said.

Other networks have also gained some steam with younger users. For
instance, Pheed surged in popularity a few months ago because of the
multimedia tools the service offered in comparison to Facebook and
Twitter. It allows for status updates, but also quick video clips and
photo filters similar to Instagram. Pheed's CEO told ABC News in March
it was seeing huge growth with the younger market.

Solis also mentioned AskFM as a popular teen hangout. This social
network allows users to pose questions to one another and is similar in
design to Reddit threads. According to Business Insider, half of the
network's 65 million users are under 18. But because of the anonymity
of users, teens are said to be particularly harsh and mean.

And then, of course, there is Twitter. According to Piper Jaffray's
semi-annual teen market research report, Twitter overtook Facebook in
terms of popularity with teens. Twenty six percent named Twitter as
their "most important" social site, while only 23 percent said Facebook
was most important, down from 42 percent the year before.

As Facebook is learning, with teens what's in one day is out the next.



                                =~=~=~=




Atari Online News, Etc. is a weekly publication covering the entire
Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted
at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for
profit publications only under the following terms: articles must
remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of
each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of
request. Send requests to: dpj@atarinews.org

No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial
media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or
internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without
the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of
Atari Online News, Etc.

Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do
not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All
material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.
