With Gartner predicting that 70% of new applications soon will be deployed on an open-source relational database, purveyors of proprietary DBMSes surely long for the golden lock-in age of yore. Said trend is in no small part due to the surging PostgreSQL, which recently stepped up to a new version 9.5. Highlights of this release, reported the PostgreSQL Global Development Group, include the addition of UPSERT capability, Row Level Security and multiple Big Data features, all of which the Group hopes will broaden the user base for the database. The Group added that version 9.5 marks a turning point for use of Postgres with data-driven applications of engagement and high-speed, high-volume mobile, Web and digital apps. Other specific features are performance boosters for today's more powerful “big iron” servers, analytics and productivity enhancements to speed complex query capabilities on extreme data volumes, and a foundation for horizontal scalability across multiple servers for importing entire tables from external databases.
System engineers in aerospace, defense, automotive, transportation and rail, not to mention embedded software developers across disciplines, will be drawn to the ideas in Dr Bruce Douglass' new book Agile Systems Engineering. In the book, world-renowned author and speaker Douglass presents a vision of systems engineering in which precise specification of requirements, structure and behavior fuse with larger concerns, such as safety, security, reliability and performance in an agile engineering context. Douglass incorporates agile methods and model-based systems engineering (MBSE) to define the properties of entire systems while avoiding errors that can occur when using traditional textual specifications. The lifecycle of systems development is covered, including requirements, analysis, design and the handoff to specific engineering disciplines. The goal is to arm systems engineers with the conceptual and methodological tools they need to avoid specification defects and improve system quality while simultaneously reducing the effort and cost of systems engineering.
In order to bridge the traditional enterprise Linux business with the emerging workloads of the cloud era, the new SUSE Linux Enterprise Service Pack 1 (SP1) adopts a modular approach. This means that parts of the OS run a faster lifecycle than the base OS, yet receive full support. It also means accelerated innovation through support for all recent hardware from IBM and Intel, including Intel Xeon and IBM z13, with SUSE claiming exclusive Linux-distribution support for the latter. In addition, SP1 provides new modules to apply updates for Linux container features or security requirements without having to update and recertify the base operating system. Meanwhile, Package Hub enables the latest technologies developed by the Open Source community to be compiled by SUSE for use with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Rounding out the SP1 innovations are new capabilities for maintaining application uptime, an improvement in the efficiency of data-center development and operations and Docker support, among others.
Not long ago, a group of benevolent hackers, from a couch ten miles away, no less, took full control of a friend's Jeep and ran it into a ditch. We should all take pause as automakers rush to transform cars into smartphones on wheels and a Wild West frontier emerges in automotive security. Security-minded people seeking to explore this frontier now have a cowboy-in-chief, Craig Smith, a security expert who has advised automakers and written a new book called The Car Hacker's Handbook. The book is a guide that shows how to identify network security risks, exploit software vulnerabilities and gain a deeper understanding of the software running in our vehicles. Along the way, Smith teachers readers how navigation systems can be hacked to take control of vehicles, how systems are interconnected, and even how to bypass dealership restrictions to diagnose and troubleshoot problems. Not only is this book a technical manual for hackers, but it's also a wake-up call for legislators and car manufacturers.
You couldn't ask for a better segue than this, from Smith's book about the pitfalls of automotive security to our community's solution to them—that is, The Linux Foundation's Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) new Unified Code Base (UCB) distribution. AGL is a Linux Foundation Workgroup dedicated to creating open-source software solutions for automotive applications. AGL's UCB distribution is a collaborative open-source project developing a common, Linux-based software stack for the connected car. Leveraging the best software components from AGL and other existing open-source projects, such as Tizen and GENIVI Alliance, UCB enables development of in-vehicle-infotainment systems while allowing different profiles to be created from the same code base to address all applications in the car, such as instrument cluster, heads-up display, telematics and connected car. UCB is based on the Yocto Project and offers a complete embedded-Linux development environment with tools, metadata and documentation. AGL's members make up a “who's who” of the automotive, IT and electronics industries, including Toyota, Ford, Intel, Sony, Linaro, Wind River and scores of others.
If you pick up a Samsung Smart TV this year, you'll be certain to find “Linux Inside” in many ways. Samsung continues to build on its Tizen-powered Smart TV UI, which this year it will enhance with integrated SmartThings IoT hub technology, enabling the TV as the control center for a smart home. Samsung's SUHD TVs for 2016 will enable users to connect with, control and monitor hundreds of other compatible devices including lights, locks, thermostats, cameras, speakers, appliances, sensors and the like. This world of devices is enabled via the SmartThings Extend USB adapter, which plugs directly in to the TV, enabling the monitoring and controlling of ZigBee and Z-Wave devices. The SmartThings SUHD application will allow users to trigger SmartThings Routines, receive notifications and observe what's happening in and around the home with compatible cameras and control connected devices. This integration of the SmartThings functionality eliminates the need to obtain Samsung's existing SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit.
The new kid-friendly mBot from Makeblock is marketed as a Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) educational learning tool. The product is a full, all-in-one solution for kids—of all ages, of course—to enjoy the hands-on experience of programming, electronics and robotics. Working with a graphical programming interface called mBlock, which is inspired by Scratch 2.0, kids can learn programming, control the robot and realize multiple functions. Users can program the robot to light up, send it messages and move it around using open-source ecosystems like Raspberry Pi or Arduino. mBot can connect to a mobile device via Bluetooth so that users can control movements with an app. The 38 parts can be assembled in around ten minutes, and color-labeled RJ25 ports ensure that wiring is convenient and maximum time can be spent on programming and creativity. Extensibility is infinite thanks to compatibility with the broader Makeblock platform as well as most LEGO bricks. Finally, two manuals and courses, both on-line and developed and maintained by teachers, enable maximum utilization of mBot for STEM education.
Zappix's development of its Visual IVR customer service platform is informed by research showing that 77% of consumers report that valuing their time is the most important element of good service. Zappix is a highly intuitive self-help Visual IVR software suite platform for Android, iPhone, tablets and mobile Web that integrates voice and non-voice visual content with customer service channels—for example, phone/voice, Web, mobile on-line forms and multimedia resources. An updated version of the platform now supports voice-enabled commands for integrating with the visual IVR prompts. The new voice capability, reports Zappix, enables a better and smoother Visual IVR experience. Users now can search for problems, solutions and even their channel of choice using speech and receive visual prompts on their smartphone. The new functionality is intended to empower companies to provide the best of both formats—that is, visual and voice commands—allowing organizations to process high call volumes effectively and reduce the frustration callers experience searching for an item in complex IVR systems.