'Hardware Hackers' Get Handy

He created UNIX, C programming languages

(NEWSER) - Dennis Ritchie, who invented the C programming language and helped create the UNIX operating system, died last weekend at age 70. His death after a long illness was first reported by Google engineer Rob Pike . Obituaries popping up on tech sites hail his work, vision, and legacy:

• “Ritchie's contribution to computer science cannot be overstated. … His vision, innovation, and hard work shaped much of what has come in the following four decades,” writes Lawrence Latif on the Inquirer . “To this day C is arguably the fastest, most efficient, most widely deployed high level programming language."

Firms cite lack of control over how products are used

(NEWSER) - Behind Middle Eastern governments' censorship of the Web, an uncomfortable reality—US products help do the dirty work. Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia use filtering programs by McAfee; other US and Canadian firms have sold Web-filtering technology to Yemen and Qatar, among other countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. The companies say they’re not to blame: How customers use products is a matter “beyond our control,” said a McAfee rep, and there are not any special export restrictions on such technology. More»

Light shines through dark background, new owners complain

(NEWSER) - The iPad 2 is still brand spankin' new to the market, but glitch reports are already coming in: Apple's latest darling may have a “bleeding” problem, Gizmodo reports. Check out the video in the gallery: Light shines oddly from the side of the machine, cutting through an image that’s supposed to be all black. It’s not yet known whether this is a general problem or just an issue in a few machines—but with blogs like Engadget also reporting the story, Apple may be in for a headache. More»

Algorithm could also be basis of search engine for old docs

(NEWSER) - A new computer algorithm could soon take some of the guesswork out of deciphering ancient texts, Reuters reports. The program, developed in Israel and currently used with ancient Hebrew, works with digital copies of unreadable texts and uses pattern recognition to “fill in the blanks,” says one of the developers. “The more texts the program analyzes, the smarter and more accurate it gets,” says one researcher. More»

Move from XP may require external hard drive, patience

(NEWSER) - The latest Windows incarnation beats Vista and XP, but don’t expect a smooth transition: upgrading from XP to Windows 7 is an ordeal, writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. “In fact, the process will be so painful that, for many XP users, the easiest solution may be to buy a new PC preloaded with Windows 7,” Mossberg notes. More»