The update to the 3.6.x branch of LibreOffice fixes more than 90 bugs in the open source productivity suite, some of which were found as part of the recent Hard Hacks iniative.
Read more at The H
Open Source Cloud Roundup: Week of Oct. 29
This week’s open source cloud headlines highlight a few smaller open source projects and companies, including Blue Box and Orion. You’ll also find more details on HP’s cloud strategy, a new software-defined-networking feature for Rackspace cloud and an op-ed from Alfresco on the role of open source cloud in disrupting proprietary software vendors.
HP: Why an Open Cloud Matters
Datamation
Zorawar ‘Biri’ Singh, SVP of Converged Cloud at HP, discusses the role of open source technology in shaping HP’s cloud strategy.
Cloud Networks: The Next Chapter In The Open Cloud
Rackspace Blog
Rackspace this week announced another new feature of its OpenStack-based cloud service that allows users to create an isolated network in the cloud using Nicira’s Open vSwitch.
Blue Box Raises $3.5 Million For Cloud And Hosting Service With An OpenStack Flavor
TechCrunch
The application hosting service is built on open source technologies including OpenStack, Cloud Foundry and Opscode. Alex Williams has an interesting analysis on why open source is a good foundation for this company’s services.
Is the Cloud Bad for Open Source? Just the Opposite
ZDNet
Alfresco’s John Powell writes that cloud computing will allow upstart, open source software applications to challenge proprietary solutions.
Orion: Open Source Platform For Cloud, Web and JavaScript Development
Orion Blog
The one-year-old Orion project released a 1.0 version this week of its open source cloud application development platform.
10 Ready-to-Roll Robots that Run Linux (Slideshow)
Two of the four robots inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame on Oct. 23 ran embedded Linux. Aldebaran Robotics’ humanoid, partially open source Nao robot, known for its use in RoboCup robot soccer competitions, won in the Education & Consumer category. And iRobot’s PackBot remote sensing robot, which runs proprietary Linux, took the Industrial & Service award.
Linux is not yet a major force in the multi-million dollar industrial robot market, where proprietary real-time operating systems (RTOSes) are the norm. But for more than a decade it has enjoyed a growing presence in service, research and consumer robots. These have ranged from hobbyist and educational humanoid robots, to NASA rovers, to unmanned automated vehicles (UAVs).
Typically, a Linux computer is added when a robot requires higher level functions. Linux often orchestrates audio/visual synthesis, WiFi communications, and in some cases sensor inputs, while a secondary microcontroller computer often handles motor controls.
Linux is increasingly used in conjunction with open source robotic middleware OSes, especially Willow Garage’s up-and-coming Robot Operating System (ROS), which can also be controlled by desktop Linux software. The Linux/ROS combo appears to be a rising force in robotics, including many industrial applications.
The following slideshow covers 10 notable Linux robots of recent, or recently updated, vintage. Yet, there are scores of other interesting Linux robots out there in various stages of maturity, ranging from telepresence robots to open source hobbyist projects. Open board projects like BeagleBoard.org, and more recently the Raspberry Pi have spun off numerous Linux-based robots, including the BeagleBone-based OpenROV underwater robot.
Recently, we’ve seen a number of robots that use Android or iOS as the higher-level computer, often simply by attaching a phone or tablet that runs a robot-controlling app. Meanwhile, the Android Open Accessory Project technology has inspired some Android robots that incorporate Arduino microcontrollers.
Let the robot show begin by pressing View Gallery below:
Announcing the LinuxCon Europe VIP Gift Winners, Free Live Streaming of Event
Earlier this month we invited the community to share with us their favorite session scheduled for LinuxCon Europe. In return, community members were included in a random drawing to win one of this event’s VIP/speaker gifts: the Linux Futbol Club Soccer Jersey.
Today we’re announcing our two lucky winners: Peter Poláčik and Larry Varney.
Peter is is based in Slovakia and says he’s a programmer with a hacker soul. He’s also an Ambassador of Slovak Technical University. He even got to shake Linus Torvalds’ hand and get his picture taken with him. His favorite LinuxCon Europe session: Optimizing File System Performance When Memory is Tight, presented by Ted Ts’o.
Larry is based in the Unites States and lives in the state of Kentucky. You can find him riding bicycles throughout the year. His favorite session pick would be the co-located Wireless Summit where they will be discussing Bluetooth and low energy.
Congratulations again to Peter and Larry! 
If you’re like these two members of the community and can’t make it to this year’s LinuxCon Europe event in Barcelona, please join us via live stream.
You will able to watch all the sessions Monday through Wednesday, including Linus Torvalds’ appearance on stage. Go ahead and register any time; however, the stream won’t be available until Monday at 9 a.m. CET.
Look forward to seeing everyone next week – online and in person.
New Volleys in the Supercomputing Space Race
Over at Wired, Mike Barton writes that while the 20 Petaflop Titan at Oak Ridge may soon be crowned as the fastest machine on earth, the international supercomputing space race is alive and well.
Titan is 10 times as powerful as Oak Ridge’s last big supercomputer, called Jaguar. Also built by Cray, Jaguar was on top of the world just three years ago. It ranked number six on the most-recent Top500 list. “The order-of-magnitude increase in computational power available with Titan will allow us to investigate even more realistic models with better accuracy,” Oak Ridge said in a press release.
Read the Full Story.
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Read more at insideHPC