Ansible is an Infrastructure as Code tool that allows its users to control many servers from a centralized location. In this tutorial, I will describe how to install and configure Ansible on an Ubuntu 20.04 system.
Source: LXer – How to Install Ansible on Ubuntu 20.04
Simulating 800,000 Years of California Earthquake History To Pinpoint Risks
aarondubrow shares a report from the Texas Advanced Computing Center: A new study in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America presents results from a new earthquake simulator, RSQSim, that simulates hundreds of thousands of years of seismic history in California. Coupled with another code, CyberShake, the framework can calculate the amount of shaking that would occur for each quake. [The framework makes use of two of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet: Frontera, at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, and Summit, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory].
The new approach improves [seismologists’] ability to pinpoint how big an earthquake might occur at a given location, allowing building code developers, architects, and structural engineers to design more resilient buildings that can survive earthquakes at a specific site.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Simulating 800,000 Years of California Earthquake History To Pinpoint Risks
Rugged mini-PC dips into Elkhart Lake
Neousys unveiled a fanless, 112 x 87 x 50mm “POC-40” computer with an up to 3.0GHz, dual-core Atom x6211E plus up to 32GB DDR4, 2x GbE, 4x USB, 3x M.2, and DP, 2x serial, and isolated DIO. Last month, Neousys announced one of the first Intel Elkhart Lake based embedded PCs with its ultra-compact (153 […]
Source: LXer – Rugged mini-PC dips into Elkhart Lake
Google reveals North Korean-backed campaign targeting security researchers
Google’s Threat Analysis Group has identified an ongoing campaign that’s been targeting security researchers working on vulnerabilities over the past few months. The team says “a government-backed entity based in North Korea” is behind the attacks, w…
Source: Engadget – Google reveals North Korean-backed campaign targeting security researchers
GParted 1.2 Released With Support For exFAT File-Systems
GParted as the widely used, GUI solution for managing Linux partitions/file-systems on the Linux desktop now finally supports dealing with exFAT file-systems…
Source: Phoronix – GParted 1.2 Released With Support For exFAT File-Systems
Ubuntu 20.10 on the Raspberry Pi 4 Rocks: A Review
Here we are! The first Ubuntu Desktop experience on the Raspberry Pi has arrived with Ubuntu 20.10 and it turns out to be quite amazing. In this review, I’m going to tell you what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to be improved.
Source: LXer – Ubuntu 20.10 on the Raspberry Pi 4 Rocks: A Review
Wacom's pen tablet for students now works with Chromebooks
For all their strengths as eduction tools, Chromebooks have their limitations. Most don’t come with a stylus, and even if they do, they’re usually not the most accurate. Enter Wacom. The company’s One by Wacom tablet now works with Chrome OS device…
Source: Engadget – Wacom’s pen tablet for students now works with Chromebooks
Wacom's Cheapest Tablet Now Supports Chromebooks For Aspiring Artists on a Budget
With millions of students now attending school from home, affordable laptop alternatives like the Chromebook are more popular than ever. The cheaper price point does come with some trade-offs including limited support for some software and hardware, but artists on a budget can now use a Wacom tablet with their…
Source: Gizmodo – Wacom’s Cheapest Tablet Now Supports Chromebooks For Aspiring Artists on a Budget
What's on TV this week: 'The Medium' and 'Resident Alien'
This week the next-gen Xbox platform delivers a console exclusive with The Medium, a horror game that features the trick of having the player constantly leap between two worlds that are rendered simultaneously. HBO Max features its latest major film…
Source: Engadget – What’s on TV this week: ‘The Medium’ and ‘Resident Alien’
Mozilla Firefox 85 Is Now Available for Download, This Is What’s New
The Mozilla Firefox 85 web browser is now available for download, ahead of its official unveiling on January 26th, for all supported platforms, including GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Source: LXer – Mozilla Firefox 85 Is Now Available for Download, This Is What’s New
Bad News For Land-Speed Record Fans As Bloodhound Goes Up For Sale
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Bad news, land-speed record fans: the project to set a new 1,000mph (1,609km/h) speed record is yet again in serious doubt. On Monday morning, the Bloodhound Land Speed Record Project revealed that it’s looking for a new owner in order to try and break the existing record. Whoever steps in will need pretty deep pockets, too — almost $11 million, in fact. Trying to set a new land-speed record is probably one of the harder activities one can engage in. You need to design and build a vehicle capable of going faster than 763mph (1,228km/h), twice within an hour. You need to find somewhere flat enough to run the car, presumably away from neighbors who might get annoyed by the window-shattering sonic booms. And while all that sounds like a serious challenge, perhaps the biggest problem is finding the money to make it all happen.
[…]
2019 was a good year for Bloodhound. It found a new owner who saved it from life as a museum curio, and it even arrived in South Africa for the start of high-speed testing. Although it was only equipped with its Rolls Royce EJ200 jet engine, Bloodhound still reached 628mph (1,010kmh) that year. But going faster will require integrating Bloodhound’s other propulsion source, a monopropellant rocket made by Nammo (a Norwegian aerospace and defense company). And the cost to do that and then conduct the test program to set a new record will require about $11 million, according to current owner Ian Warhurst. In a statement, he said: “When I committed to take the car high-speed testing in 2019, I allocated enough funding to achieve this goal on the basis that alternative funding would then allow us to continue to the record attempts. Along with many other things, the global pandemic wrecked this opportunity in 2020 which has left the project unfunded and delayed by a further 12 months. At this stage, in absence of further, immediate, funding, the only options remaining are to close down the program or put the project up for sale to allow me to pass on the baton and allow the team to continue the project.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Bad News For Land-Speed Record Fans As Bloodhound Goes Up For Sale
Configure a Linux workspace remotely from the command line
One of the things I appreciate about Linux versus proprietary operating systems is that almost everything can be managed and configured from the command line. That means that nearly everything can be configured locally or even remotely via an SSH login connection. Sometimes it takes a bit of time spent on Internet searches, but if you can think of a task, it can probably be done from the command line.read more
Source: LXer – Configure a Linux workspace remotely from the command line
GNOME 40 Alpha Released
GNOME 40 is now available as the first step towards releasing this updated Linux desktop environment in March…
Source: Phoronix – GNOME 40 Alpha Released
Moderna Vaccine Appears To Work Against Variants
Moderna’s Covid vaccine appears to work against new, more infectious variants of the pandemic virus found in the UK and South Africa, say scientists from the US pharmaceutical company. The BBC reports: Early laboratory tests suggest antibodies triggered by the vaccine can recognize and fight the new variants. More studies are needed to confirm this is true for people who have been vaccinated. Current vaccines were designed around earlier variants, but scientists believe they should still work against the new ones, although perhaps not quite as well. There are already some early results that suggest the Pfizer vaccine protects against the new UK variant.
For the Moderna study, researchers looked at blood samples taken from eight people who had received the recommended two doses of the Moderna vaccine. The findings are yet to be peer reviewed, but suggest immunity from the vaccine recognizes the new variants. Neutralizing antibodies, made by the body’s immune system, stop the virus from entering cells. Blood samples exposed to the new variants appeared to have sufficient antibodies to achieve this neutralizing effect, although it was not as strong for the South Africa variant as for the UK one. Moderna says this could mean that protection against the South Africa variant might disappear more quickly. Moderna says it’s investigating whether a redesigned vaccine would be more effective against the new variants. It’s also testing whether giving a third booster shot might be beneficial.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Moderna Vaccine Appears To Work Against Variants
Read the Script for Pixar's Soul Like You're Some Hollywood Big Shot or Something
One of the neat things about being a member of the Writer’s Guild of America is that sometimes you get screeners of movies being submitted for the Oscars. One of the less neat things is that you also often get sent book galleys containing a movie’s script, because unless you’re judging the Best Screenplay category or…
Source: io9 – Read the Script for Pixar’s Soul Like You’re Some Hollywood Big Shot or Something
Here's A Long Sega Saturn
How to boot multiple ISO images from one USB drive on Linux
A typical bootable USB drive or memory stick can only boot from a single ISO file stored on the drive, which is not only inconvenient but also wasteful for a large USB storage. This tutorial covers how to create a multi-ISO USB drive using an open-source tool called Ventoy.
Source: LXer – How to boot multiple ISO images from one USB drive on Linux
Alexa Can Now Proactively Act on Hunches on Its Own
Amazon’s assistant can now power on your robot vacuum or turn off your smart lights all on its own. Yes, you heard that right.
Source: Gizmodo – Alexa Can Now Proactively Act on Hunches on Its Own
Radeon ROCm 4.0.1 Released For AMD Open-Source GPU Compute
Last month marked the release of the big Radeon Open eCosystem 4.0 update (ROCm 4.0) while today that has been replaced by a v4.0.1 point release…
Source: Phoronix – Radeon ROCm 4.0.1 Released For AMD Open-Source GPU Compute
Vancouver Seaplane Company To Resume Test Flights With Electric Plane
A Vancouver seaplane company says its retro-fitted all electric airplane is set to take to the skies for more test flights this year, as it pushes forward with its plans to make commercial air travel cheaper and greener. CBC.ca reports: “There’s no wavering in our confidence and determination and interest in getting this done,” said Harbour Air CEO Greg McDougall. Founded by McDougall in 1982, Harbour Air uses small propeller planes to fly commercial flights between the Lower Mainland, Seattle, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Whistler.
In the last few years it has turned its attention to becoming a leader in green urban mobility, which would do away with the need to burn fossil fuels for air travel. In December 2019, McDougall flew one of Harbour Air’s planes, a more than 60-year-old DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver float plane, which had been outfitted with a Seattle-based company’s electric propulsion system, for three minutes over Richmond B.C.
Harbour Air joined with Seattle-based company MagniX in early 2019 to design the e-plane’s engine, which was powered by NASA-approved lithium-ion batteries that were also used on the International Space Station. At the time, based on the success of that inaugural flight, McDougall had hoped to be using the plane to fly passengers on its routes, such as between downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria, by the end of this year. Now, that timeline has been pushed back at least one year due to the pandemic.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Vancouver Seaplane Company To Resume Test Flights With Electric Plane