Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Ask Slashdot : How do I backup a Mac System disk that can be used as a backup? 1

Submitted by Yankee Echo
Yankee Echo writes: There are a couple of well known apps like Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper that make bootable images for a Mac System disk.

While that's peachy, when your main system disk dies when you're out traveling, and you try to use the backup, you can indeed boot up from it, but several apps refuse to run or bitch that their "installation is broken" (yeah, you Adobe). Clearly these apps are pathologically coupled to something like the serial number of the original system disk...

Is there *really* no way to make a backup of a Mac System disk that really is a, err....backup?

Even if you're not out traveling and you swap out the HDD or SSD in the Mac, now what? It appears you are going to have the same problem — so how can one actually make a viable backup of a Mac system disk that doesn't require app reinstallation and/or major groveling at vendors to permit re-authorization of the apps?

Submission + - Geeks Who Run Linux On Macs

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Apple has always had attractive and stylish hardware, but there are always some customers opting to run Linux instead of OS X on their Macs. But why? One might think that a polished commercial desktop offering designed for that specific lineup of computers might have less rough edges than a free open source one. Actually there's plenty of motivations to choose otherwise. A redditor asked about this trend and got some very interesting answers. What are your reasons?

Submission + - Laser that is powered by one electron at a time (princeton.edu) 1

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: Princeton University researchers have built a rice grain-sized laser powered by single electrons tunneling through artificial atoms known as quantum dots. The tiny microwave laser, or "maser," is a demonstration of the fundamental interactions between light and moving electrons

The researchers built the device — which uses about one-billionth the electric current needed to power a hair dryer — while exploring how to use quantum dots, which are bits of semiconductor material that act like single atoms, as components for quantum computers

The device demonstrates a major step forward for efforts to build quantum-computing systems out of semiconductor materials, according to co-author and collaborator Jacob Taylor, an adjunct assistant professor at the Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland-National Institute of Standards and Technology. "I consider this to be a really important result for our long-term goal, which is entanglement between quantum bits in semiconductor-based devices" Taylor said

The researchers fabricated the double quantum dots from extremely thin nanowires (about 50 nanometers, or a billionth of a meter, in diameter) made of a semiconductor material called indium arsenide. They patterned the indium arsenide wires over other even smaller metal wires that act as gate electrodes, which control the energy levels in the dots

To construct the maser, they placed the two double dots about 6 millimeters apart in a cavity made of a superconducting material, niobium "This is the first time that the team at Princeton has demonstrated that there is a connection between two double quantum dots separated by nearly a centimeter, a substantial distance" Taylor said

When the device was switched on, electrons flowed single-file through each double quantum dot, causing them to emit photons in the microwave region of the spectrum. These photons then bounced off mirrors at each end of the cavity to build into a coherent beam of microwave light

One advantage of the new maser is that the energy levels inside the dots can be fine-tuned to produce light at other frequencies, which cannot be done with other semiconductor lasers in which the frequency is fixed during manufacturing, Petta said. The larger the energy difference between the two levels, the higher the frequency of light emitted

"In this paper the researchers dig down deep into the fundamental interaction between light and the moving electron" Gmachl said. "The double quantum dot allows them full control over the motion of even a single electron, and in return they show how the coherent microwave field is created and amplified. Learning to control these fundamental light-matter interaction processes will help in the future development of light sources"

Submission + - Useful algorithms and theories for researching AI?

Submitted by Crows_of_Murder
Crows_of_Murder writes: I've recently developed an interest in artificial intelligence. It quickly became apparent that much of the information out there is nested within mathematics and theory. The problem is that its difficult to decipher which algorithms are still relevant to the most recent advancements in AI. Creating a strong foundation of understanding has proven to be unwieldy simply because many sources of information assume you know "the basics". I'd like to develop a list of core information and I could use some help. Thoughts?

Comment Re:nice try, timothy (Score 1) 361

by hcs_$reboot (#48839501) Attached to: Linus On Diversity and Niceness In Open Source
Why's that? Not interested in Linux, or in Linus? Isn't it important to emphasize that the most important part of Linux, the kernel, is powerful and reliable? Among the open source projects, how many do have that level of complexity whilst still being top notch? If it wasn't for Linus Torvalds where would be Linux now? The guy is not playing the "nice" card, but at least he delivers. Big time. Seriously, many open source projects do need a Linus-like management. Without a strong kernel Linux would not exist. But what makes the difference with other OSes, for most users, is the interface, the tools, the media, picture, camera... software, and in this department there is a lot of messy, unreliable, ugly and counter intuitive stuff. So, all in all I'm glad the subject is back from time to time to remind us why Linux has always been a professional-grade OS.

Comment Not a surprise (Score 1) 45

by hcs_$reboot (#48838303) Attached to: Google Search Will Be Your Next Brain
Google has always been into complex algorithms, AI, biology research... Neural nets need access to a lot of "knowledge" to learn, and Google has a lot of that. Not only the websites contents, but also how we humans search and browse, mail and answer to a mail, talk etc... - i.e. how we behave using our brain. That gigantic chunk of data would be however useless if it wasn't for Google talents. Google [only] is certainly able to come out with something amazing - fortunately, or unfortunately...

Slashdot Top Deals

"It's the best thing since professional golfers on 'ludes." -- Rick Obidiah

Close