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Unisys' Linux booth too hot to handle

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland

BOSTON--The LinuxWorld Conference and Expo has been a hot show in the computing industry, but not usually hot enough to trip fire alarms.

But smoke from a Unisys booth led to a fire alarm at the show that caused some to evacuate from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Fire truck at LinuxWorld

People love to rib Intel for its hot chips and high power consumption these days, but a Unisys representative blamed the mishap on convention center wiring, pointing out that servers at the show weren't even plugged in. The company's display was up and running 70 minutes after the alarm went off.

Update: Oleg Zhurakousky, a Unisys solutions architect, said in an e-mail that he called 911 to prevent a much more serious disruption. "If (a) fire alarm was triggered, then sprinklers would go off, which would put an end to the whole expo," he said.