BillRichardson
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Chromebook Pixel allows for custom bootloaders, is Linux-friendly
WiFi-only flavors of the Chromebook Pixel have only just started shipping, but if you're already itching to install Linux on one of them, you're in luck. Not only have kernel patches been submitted for the hardware, but Google's Bill Richardson has now laid out exactly how to load up the devices with Linux Mint. Richardson says that part of the Chrome OS BIOS is read-only, so changes to it are generally exclusive to new hardware. Pixel, for example, has been tuned to support user-provided custom bootloaders thanks to an unverified BIOS slot. Unfortunately, Mint doesn't support the laptop's touchscreen and trackpad because it leverages the stock kernel. Adventurous types looking to boot a Tux-powered OS on a Pixel can hit the neighboring source link for step-by-step instructions.
Bill Richardson's office confirms North Korea humanitarian trip with Google's Eric Schmidt
The office of Bill Richardson confirmed the former New Mexico governor's planned trip to North Korea with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt today via press release. The trip, planned for next week, is being billed as a humanitarian initiative. The duo's team also includes Google employee Jared Cohen, the director of the software giant's Google Ideas initiative, a think tank tasked with "tackling some of the toughest human challenges." Ideas' mission statement also highlights the program's search for "challenges that affect multiple regions and demographics, so that the technological developments our insights fuel will scale to help as many people as possible."
First commercial spaceport christens inaugural runway in New Mexico desert (video)
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo won't have to taxi down public runways for much longer. Today, founder Richard Branson and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson cut the ribbon at a nearly two-mile long runway for the world's first commercial spaceport. While the rest of the facilities at New Mexico's Spaceport America are still under construction and Branson estimates sub-orbital launches are still nine to eighteen months away, the 42-inch-thick strip of pavement is definitely complete -- see the WhiteKnightTwo mothership come in for a landing right after the break. Update: Our best pals over at Gadling got a few exclusive interview snippets in their own video!
