Most Linux users have heard about the open source RISC-V ISA and its potential to challenge proprietary Arm and Intel architectures. Most are probably aware that some RISC-V based CPUs, such as SiFive’s 64-bit Freedom U540 found on its HiFive Unleashed board, are designed to run Linux. What may come as a surprise, however, is how quickly Linux support for RISC-V is evolving.

“This is a good time to port Linux applications to RISC-V,” said Comcast’s Khem Raj at an Embedded Linux Conference Europe presentation last month. “You’ve got everything you need. Most of the software is upstream so you don’t need forks,” he said.

By adopting an upstream first policy, the RISC-V Foundation is accelerating Linux-on-RISC-V development both now and in the future. Early upstreaming helps avoid forked code that needs to be sorted out later. Raj offered specifics on different levels of RISC-V support from the Linux kernel to major Linux distributions, as well as related software from Glibc to U-Boot (see farther below).

The road to RISC-V Linux has also been further accelerated thanks to the enthusiasm of the Linux open source community. Penguinistas see the open source computing architecture as a continuation of the mission of Linux and other open source projects. Since IoT is an early RISC-V target, the interest is particularly keen in the open source Linux SBC community. The open hardware movement recently expanded to desktop PCs with System76’s Ubuntu-driven Thelio system.

Processors remain the biggest exceptions to open hardware. RISC-V is a step in the right direction for CPUs, but RISC-V lacks a spec for graphics, which with the rise of machine vision and edge AI and multimedia applications, is becoming increasingly important in embedded. There’s progress on this front as well, with an emerging project to create an open RISC-V based GPU called Libre RISC-V. More details can be found in this Phoronix story.

SiFive launches new Linux-driven U74 core designs

RISC-V is also seeing new developments on the CPU front. Last week, SiFive, which is closely associated with the UC Berkeley team that developed the architecture, announced a second gen RISC-V CPU core designs called IP 7 Series. IP 7 features the Linux-friendly U74 and U74-MC chips. These quad-core, Cortex-A55 like processors, which should appear in SoCs in 2019, are faster and more power efficient than the U540.

The new U74 chips will support future, up to octa-core, SoC designs that mix and match the U74 cores with its new next-gen MCU chips: the Cortex-M7 like E76 and Cortex-R8 like S76. The U74-MC model even features its own built-in S7 MCU for real-time processing.

Although much of the early RISC-V business has been focused on MCUs, SiFive is not alone in building Linux-driven RISC-V designs. Earlier this summer a Shakti Project backed by the Indian government demonstrated Linux booting on a homegrown 400MHz Shakti RISC-V processor.

A snapshot of Linux support for RISC-V

In his ELC presentation, called “Embedded Linux on RISC-V Architecture — Status Report,” Raj, who is an active contributor to RISC-V, as well as the OpenEmbedded and Yocto projects, revealed the latest updates for RISC-V support in the Linux kernel and related software. The report has a rather short shelf life, admitted Raj: “The software is developing very fast so what I say today may be obsolete tomorrow — we’ve already seen a lot of basic tool, compilers, and toolchain support landing upstream.”

Raj started with a brief overview of RISC-V, explaining how it supports 32-, 64-, and even future 128-bit instruction sets. Attached to these versions are extensions such as integer multiply/divide, atomic memory access, floating point single and double precision, and compressed.  

The initial Linux kernel support adopts the most commonly used profile for Linux: RV64GC (LP64 ABI). The G and the C at the end of the RV64 name stand for general-purpose and compressed, respectively.

The Linux kernel has had a stable ABI (application binary interface) in upstream Linux since release 4.15. According to Raj, the recent 4.19 release added QEMU virt board drivers “thanks to major contributions from UC Berkeley, SiFive, and Andes Technology.”

You can now run many other Linux-related components on a SiFive U540 chip, including binutils 2.28, gcc 7.0, glibc 2.27 and 2.28 (32-bit), and newlib 3.0 (for bare metal bootstrapping). For the moment, gdb 8.2 is available only for bare-metal development.

In terms of bootloaders, Coreboot offered early support, and U-Boot 2018.11 recently added RISC-V virt board support upstream. PK/BBL is now upstream on the RISC-V GitHub page.

OpenEmbedded/Yocto Project OE/Yocto was the first official Linux development platform port, with core support upstreamed with the 2.5 release. Among full-fledged Linux distributions, Fedora is the farthest along. Fedora, which has done a lot of the “initial heavy lifting,” finished its bootstrap back in March, said Raj. In addition, its “Koji build farm is turning out RISC-V RPMs like any other architecture,” he added. Fedora 29 (Rawhide) offers specific support for the RISC-V version of QEMU.

Debian still lacks toolchain for cross-build development on RISC-V, but it’s already possible, said Raj. Buildroot now has a 64-bit RISC-V port and a 32-bit port was recently submitted.

Raj went on to detail RISC-V porting progress for the LLVM compiler and the Musl C library. Farther behind, but in full swing, are ports for OpenOCD UEFI, Grub, V8, Node.js, Rust, and Golang, among others. For the latest details, see the RISC-V software status page, as well as other URLs displayed toward the end of Raj’s ELC video below.

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By AppleInsider Staff
Wednesday, November 07, 2018, 09:12 pm PT (12:12 am ET)

Apple on Wednesday offered a preview of its forthcoming Iconsiam outlet in Bangkok, Thailand, which will open on Saturday as the company’s first retail presence in that country.

Apple Iconsiam, the tech giant’s first Thailand store, will open its doors to customers this weekend, the company announced in a press release.

“Bangkok is a cultural and economic destination for the entire region and home to millions of passionate Apple customers,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We are thrilled to introduce our Thai customers to Today at Apple, our full line of products, our phenomenal employees, and the service and support that are loved by customers around the world.”

Connected to the ICONSIAM Center, a mixed-use facility located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, Apple’s new store features an open design with indoor greenery and display tables canopied by a high-flung ceiling supported by towering columns. Two large glass facades — one in back and another out front — give an airy feel to the store, which is located on an outdoor roof terrace.

Outside, a roof garden serves not only as a picturesque meeting place, but also an area ripe for Today at Apple photo and sketch walk sessions.

Indoor Today at Apple sessions will be held in a large Forum, complete with video wall and ample seating. Customers can also sit at bespoke wooden tables and chairs to learn about their newly purchased equipment or troubleshoot problems with Genius staff.

Apple Iconsiam was first spotted in October after months of rumors hinted the company would soon open a store in Thailand. The outlet provides locals access to unique Apple services, like the aforementioned Today at Apple sessions and Genius Grove, for the first time.

Along with Creative Pros and Geniuses, Apple Iconsiam employs more than 100 people, the company said.

Apple Iconsiam opens on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time.

Love Letter is a game of courtly intrigue in which two to four players seek to gain the affections of Princess Annette. However, the Princess is locked away in the palace and not accepting visitors, which means that her suitors have to rely on occupants of the palace to deliver their letters of undying love.  I guess a trip to the local post office is not an option.

Love Letter was originally a Japanese game designed by Seiji Kanai. Its potential was quickly recognised and a version with a new theme and redesigned artwork was released for the Western market. The game proved to be hugely successful and triggered a trend for microgames. Typically, these games come in a tiny box, with simple rules and only take a few minutes to play. Not only did the original inspire a host of similar games but also led to a range of re-themes, which include Adventure Time, Star Wars and The Hobbit.

The game consists of a deck of just sixteen cards, only eight of which are unique. At the start of the game, to add a little unpredictability, one card is removed from the already skinny deck. Players are dealt a single card and then are good to go. On a turn, players simply draw a card and then play either of the two cards in their hand. Used cards remain in front of the player for the rest of the game to aid deduction and break ties. Each card represents a member of the royal household, from lowly guards to the princess herself. The world of romance can be brutal and unforgiving, which means that to ensure that your letter gets delivered to the princess, you must do your best to eliminate the opposition. You do this by enlisting the help of members of the palace, each of who have a special skill.

A round ends when there is only one suitor left standing or the deck of cards is exhausted. If more than one player is still in the game then the one with the highest ranked card in their hand wins. If more than one player has the same ranked card then the tie is resolved by adding up the ranks of the cards that they have played during the course of the game. The winner is awarded a point, with the amount of points required to claim victory dependant on the number of players.

To get a feel of how Love Letter actually plays we will need to take a look at the cards. Each character card has a ranking, with the highest being the princess. Having her in your hand is risky because if a player is ever forced to discard the princess then they lose. The King demands that two players exchange their cards, whilst the Prince forces a suitor to discard their card and draw a new one. The countess doesn’t have a special power and must be discarded if you also have the Prince or King. The Baron favours a no-nonsense approach, giving the owner the chance to challenge another player. Both reveal their cards and the player with the lower rank is eliminated. The handmaiden protects you from the effects of other cards for an entire turn, whilst the busybody priest will let you take a peek at another player’s card. Lowest ranked and most numerous are the guards. These give you a chance to guess an opponent’s card and if correct, then the unfortunate target is eliminated.

Love Letter is a wonder of minimalist design; it is incredible how just a few cards can conjure up such a delicious feeling of court intrigue. Deducing the cards in your opponents’ hands is obviously the key to success, There are obvious ways, such as playing a guard but also other subtler ways, which usually involve trying to read between the lines. However, beware because a smart opponent will be actively trying to distract you, leading you up the garden path, only to be waiting in the bushes to whack you over the head with a garden gnome. A shrewd player will keep a check on the cards played and those that possibly remain. They will try and put others off the scent by, for instance, using a guard to issue a challenge when they know very well that the target doesn’t have that particular card because it is already nestling in their own hand.

Each round plays so quickly that it never gets dull, even getting eliminated will not have you sitting on the sidelines for too long. The simple nature of Love Letter means that you never take it too seriously. Because the time investment is so short you are encouraged to be reckless, which makes the game so enjoyable.

The digital version looks the part, sticking closely to the art design of the original, complete with heaving bosoms and fluttering fans.  Each card uses stars to provide up to date information regarding how many copies of each card remain in play, which makes things even easier. Options are pretty limited, you can play offline against AI opponents or online in public or private multiplayer matches. Playing the app also eliminates any potential cheating but there again why would you play with cheats in the first place?

The big question is why you would want to play this over the original card game? The physical version is cheap and portable and comes in a cool velvet bag. I guess the big draw is that you can play online whenever you want. However, transfer the game to a clinical online environment and the game’s shortcomings are thrown into stark relief. A lucky guess can have the game ending before it has even begun, whilst a lot of the time the game feels like it is playing itself with no real input from the player.

More than many other games, Love Letter relies on the human touch. The Princess Bride style bluffing just doesn’t work without that immediate interaction with other players. It is not a shortcoming of the game but a shortcoming of the digital medium that makes it an odd choice for conversion to the digital format.

Addressing the rapidly growing user base around GraphQL, The Linux Foundation has launched the GraphQL Foundation to build a vendor-neutral community around the query language for APIs (application programming interfaces).

“Through the formation of the GraphQL Foundation, I hope to see GraphQL become industry standard by encouraging contributions from a broader group and creating a shared investment in vendor-neutral events, documentation, tools, and support,” said Lee Byron, co-creator of GraphQL, in a statement.

“GraphQL has redefined how developers work with APIs and client-server interactions,” said Chris Aniszczyk, Linux Foundation vice president of developer relations…

Read more at The New Stack

Skype-a-Thon is coming soon! On November 13th and 14th, classrooms across the world will be breaking down their walls and connecting students with peers from various countries and cultures, as well as experts in various fields.

This year, our collective Skype-a-Thon goal will be to travel over 14 million virtual miles. For every 400 miles traveled, Microsoft will make a donation to schools in need. So, not only will we be making a positive change in the world by connecting students from various backgrounds, cultures and faiths, but we’ll also help raise funds for supplies for those less fortunate!

For new participants

If you are new to Skype in the Classroom, fear not! Any educator can take their students on a Skype-a-Thon adventure. First, create a free account on the Microsoft Educator Community.  Once there, spend some time perusing the rich content at your fingertips. Find a Virtual Field trip that connects to your unit of study or reach out to a guest speaker, who will inspire your students. You can request a free, live and interactive Skype experience directly on the site. Maybe you want to try a Skype collaboration or a game of Mystery Skype, too. Request a lesson, a field trip, a collaboration event, or a game for Skype-a-Thon, and you will be part of something massive!

For past participants

If you’re a veteran Skype in the Classroom teacher, challenge yourself to take your Skype-a-Thon to the next level. Try to participate in multiple calls during the eventm or travel to several countries in one day. Try something new, like a connected Kahoot using Skype screen sharing. Last year, my class played a Global Pop Culture Kahoot game with students from ten nations. Every question on the Kahoot dealt with pop culture. The students learned that despite their religion, race, and country of origin, they all knew that Shrek lives in a swamp. They found out we are way more alike than we are different! There are so many engaging ideas you can explore on Skype in the Classroom. Challenge yourself to try something new.

How to get parents involved

Maybe you might want to try something unique and include parents in your Skype-a-Thon plans. One fun idea that I do each year is to host an optional pitch-in Skype Breakfast during the morning of Skype-a-Thon. Parents have been hearing about the engaging and authentic learning that has occurred throughout our school year. They are curious and jump at the chance to experience the magic of Skype in the Classroom for themselves.

Students love showing off their Skype skills for their parents, and the parents are always blown away by what they see! Last year, they teamed up with their children for a Mystery Skype adventure with a 5th grade class in Spain.  This year, they’ll join on another Mystery Skype alongside their child. It’s a fun way to kick off Skype-a-Thon!

Another meaningful way to include the parents is to create a homework assignment where the students report back what they learned to their folks. Then, they ask the parents to respond about which Skype-a-Thon destination they found most interesting and why. The kids love having homework that their parents need to do. More importantly, this assignment encourages rich discussion between parent and child. That is a win-win!

And don’t forget…

There is a fantastic collection of Skype-a-Thon resources available to seasoned and new Skype enthusiasts alike on the Skype-a-Thon Teacher Toolkit. You might be inspired to create a passport for your class’ Skype-a-Thon journey, create a class map to track your travels, and so much more!

By joining you will be part of something amazing! You’ll be taking action on so many levels, and your students and their parents will benefit as well. Make sure you share your experiences on Twitter by using #skypeathon #MicrosoftEDU, and definitely use the Microsoft Educator Community to register for calls. Miles will be counted when Skype in the Classroom lessons are booked there. Finally, I would recommend you watch the on-demand “how-to” webinar for Skype-a-Thon with VP of Education Anthony Salcito and Skype Master Teacher Stacey Ryan, to learn how your class can participate and how you can organize your Skype-a-Thon activities from start to finish.

Have an amazing Skype-a-Thon, everyone!

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Venice, California

Venice, California-based Wevr is now hiring UE4 artists, engineers, and animators for an unannounced high profile VR project, based on one of the biggest entertainment IPs of all time! If you have gaming/interactive media experience and are looking to join an ace team that is working on an ambitious, high-visibility and potentially career-defining project, we’d like to hear from you.

What we’re looking for

• 3-5 years of Unreal Engine experience
• Proficient in writing shaders to develop a range of hyper-real looks
• Experience in rendering, lighting and frame rate optimization
• VR experience a plus
• Los Angeles based, preferred not required
• Contractor position with potential to be permanent hire

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.