News briefs for November 12, 2018.
The Fedora team announces[1] that the latest version of the Nest simulator[2] is now available in Fedora as part of the NeuroFedora initiative. Nest allows computational neuroscientists to "make large scale computer models of the brain that are needed to investigate among other things, how the brain processes information". Nest provides an easy to use Python interface and it can be run on both laptops and supercomputing clusters.
Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS service comes to Android and iOS. According to The Verge[3], "The mobile app uses features like VPN support to push your mobile traffic towards the 1.1.1.1 DNS servers and improve speeds. It will also prevent your carrier from tracking your browsing history and potentially selling it. Cloudflare is promising not to track 1.1.1.1 users or sell ads, and the company has retained KPMG to perform an annual audit and publish a public report." You can download it for Android here[4].
The Ceph storage project receives a dedicated open-source foundation, hosted by The Linux Foundation. TechCrunch[5] quotes Sage Weil, Ceph's co-creator, project leader, and chief architect at Red Hat for Ceph: "Today's launch of the Ceph Foundation is a testament to the strength of a diverse open source community coming together to address the explosive growth in data storage and services."
Valve appears to be making its own VR headset. GamingOnLinux reports[6] that a leaked imgur[7] album shows several photos of the new hardware with a Valve logo. Valve also is apparently working on new Half-Life title for VR.
Sparky Linux 4.9 has been released[8], which celebrates 100 years of Poland's independence. Sparky 4.9 offers the LXDE desktop environment and minimal images of MinimalGUI (Openbox)