Xerox releases patch for scanning error issue

Xerox has issued the first software patch intended to fix a problem in some multi-function printers that causes characters to be incorrectly reproduced when scanned.

The problem first came to light in early August when a German computer scientist noticed errors in the reproduction of a building floor plan. Examining a PDF document of the scanned plan, he noticed some figures printed in a small, fine font on a document were incorrectly copied.

“We have confirmed that errors can occur under a set of limited conditions when scanning ‘stress documents’ to PDF—which can include very small font sizes, stray pixels and be difficult to read. Given this finding, however uncommon, we have developed this patch which eliminates that possibility,” the company said in a statement.

Xerox said the problem only occurs with such “stress documents,” which it defines as those that have “small fonts, are hard to read, contain stray pixels and/or have been scanned multiple times.”

The problem doesn’t occur when documents are printed, copied or sent via fax.

“Our engineering team has been working around the clock to deliver the patch. We have conducted extensive testing both in our labs and in the field to assure a quality result and an easy installation,” Xerox said.

The first patch is for the Xerox ConnectKey family, WorkCentre 75xx, WorkCentre 57xx and ColorQube 93xx machines. A second patch will be available next week that covers the rest of the affected products.

“I want to thank all of our customers, agents and partners around the world for working with us and providing feedback throughout this process,” Rick Dastin, president of the Xerox Office and Solutions Business Group, said in a statement. 

Khronos Group releases updates to graphics, parallel programming tools

Programming tools that harness the computing power of CPUs and graphics processors have been updated, bringing more parallel programming capabilities to the table.

Standards-setting firm Khronos Group released OpenCL 2.0, which is a key development platform used to write applications in which processing is broken down over multiple processors and hardware inside systems. The group also released OpenGL 4.4, a graphics programming standard that takes advantage of the latest graphics hardware available in consoles, PCs and mobile devices.

OpenCL has grown in importance as graphics hardware and other co-processors are increasingly used to crunch complex math and science applications. Some of the world's fastest computers combine CPUs and co-processors to speed up application processing, and Hewlett-Packard and Dell are offering servers and workstations loaded with graphics cards for customers that work on visual and CAD/CAM applications.

"It does significantly expand some of the new GPGPU compute function," said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

McGregor referred to general-purpose graphics processing unit computing, in which processing is increasingly offloaded to graphics processors in systems.

But the effectiveness of OpenCL depends on programming and OS, which needs to support all the functions. OpenCL is backed by organizations such as Intel and Nvidia, which offer their own parallel programming tools to speed up processing of applications. Microsoft offers DirectX, its own parallel programming framework that is also used for game development and rendering.

Khronos also announced OpenGL 4.4, which allows "applications to incrementally use new features while portably accessing state-of-the-art graphics processing units (GPUs) across diverse operating systems and platforms," the organization said in a release.

The new graphics specification also allows easy porting of applications across APIs (application programming interfaces), Khronos said.

Venice Film Fest Releases 70th Edition Poster

ROME – The Venice Film Festival on Friday released the official poster for its 70th edition, showing a man waving from a seashore, an image organizers said was inspired by a scene starring Bruno Ganz from Eternity and a Day, the 1998 drama from Greek filmmaker Theodoros Angelopoulos.

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The poster, painted by Italian animator Simone Massi, also features a smaller image from last year’s poster, inspired by Federico Fellini’s 1983 film, E la nave va (And the Ship Sails On), one of the Italian maestro’s final films.

The style of the artwork will be familiar to Venice regulars: Massi, who has won a David di Donatello award for best short film, last year created the opening sequence that is shown before each Venice screening. The sequence will be used this year as well.

The Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest film festival, runs Aug. 28 through Sept. 7.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Microsoft releases disk images for Windows 8.1 beta upgrades

Microsoft Thursday released its Windows 8.1 beta as a disk image, making it more convenient to upgrade multiple devices within an organization or enterprise.

 

Windows 8.1 Preview launched Wednesday, but was initially only available from Microsoft’s app market, the Windows Store. Each Windows 8 or Windows RT PC or tablet had to individually download the massive upgrade from the store.

 

By downloading a disk image, then burning it to DVD or storing it on a USB flash drive, users can upgrade machines or devices faster or when they are offline.

 

The .iso files range in size from 2.7GB to 3.9GB, depending on the language and whether the upgrade is 32- or 64-bit. Microsoft has made disk images available in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

 

Once downloaded, the .iso file must be converted into bootable media—typically either a DVD or a flash drive—to upgrade Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 7, Vista, or even the 12-year-old Windows XP.

 

In a note accompanying the .iso download links, Microsoft warned users that they would not be able to uninstall the beta if they upgraded using a disk image. The company has posted other information about upgrading in a brief FAQ on Windows 8.1 installation.