Comment Re:Computers? (Score 1) 65
Toilet paper is common tech and the application is most certainly direct.
Comment Definitions (Score 1) 432
Perhaps value derives from the lack of pattern in this particular instance. Some math junkie might look at the problem from that point of view and see what pops up.
Comment Re:Only Proprietary? (Score 0, Troll) 691
Oh really? You make it sound as though it's a comparable situation between Windows and Linux as regards malware. I'd like to see you substantiate this claim with some solid data with a clear comparison between the platforms. Otherwise, I suspect you of being nothing more than a glib, sideways-talking astroturfer.
Submission + - AMD to support Nvidia's CUDA technology? (techradar.com)
arcticstoat writes: "Although Nvidia and AMD currently have rival GPGPU standards in the form of CUDA and Stream, Nvidia has hinted that there is a project in the works to enable CUDA on AMD / ATI GPUs. Nvidia's chief scientist said that "In the future you'll be able to run C with CUDA extensions on a broader range of platforms, so I don't think that will be a fundamental limitation." Although both AMD and Nvidia have announced support for OpenCL and DirectX Compute, there are still potential advantages to CUDA, including support for GPU-accelerated PhysX in games."
Submission + - SPAM: Wealth Management - What is Quantitative Easing
alexanderassociates writes: "The economist John Maynard Keynes is credited with inventing the concept of fiscal policy in the 1930s. He argued that adjusting government spending and tax rates were the best ways to stimulate overall demand and, therefore, maintain the growth and stability of an economy.
Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions can lead to inefficiencies in the overall economy, which requires monetary and fiscal policy actions to stabilise. A perfect example is the Credit Crunch generated by the financial institutions which has led to the current situation, requiring governments to intervene.
[spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Link to Original Source
Submission + - Common charger for mobile phones coming in the EU (europa.eu)
buchner.johannes writes: "The EU Commission and companies agreed on common charger for mobile phones:
"
Incompatibility of chargers for mobile phones is a major inconvenience for users and also leads to unnecessary waste. Therefore, the Commission has requested industry to come forward with a voluntary commitment to solve this problem so as to avoid legislation. As a result major producers of mobile phones have agreed to harmonise chargers in the EU.
Discussed before here and here. The text continues:
Industry commits to provide chargers compatibility on the basis of the Micro-USB connector. Once the commitment becomes effective, it will be possible to charge data-enabled mobile phones from any charger compatible with the common specifications.
Submission + - Ad Networks the Laggards in Jackson Traffic Spike (datacenterknowledge.com)
miller60 writes: "Advertising networks are being cited as the major bottlenecks in performance woes experienced by major news sites during the crush of Internet traffic Thursday as news broke about the death of pop star Michael Jackson. An analysis by Keynote found that many news sites delivered their own content promptly, only to find their page delivery delayed by slow-loading ads. The inclusion of third-party content on high-traffic pages is a growing challenge for site operators. It's not just ads, as social media widgets are also seeing wider usage on commercial sites. How best to balance the content vs. performance tradeoffs?"
Submission + - First Electronic Quantum Processor Created (sciencedaily.com)
Thorfinn.au writes: "The science news site ScienceDaily is reporting a story from Yale University about making the first electronic rudimentary solid-state quantum processor. They also used the two-qubit superconducting chip to successfully run elementary algorithms, such as a simple search, demonstrating quantum information processing with a solid-state device for the first time. Their findings will appear in Nature's advanced online publication June 28."
Submission + - Would anyone miss the Break and SysRq keys? (pcpro.co.uk) 1
Barence writes: "Would anyone actually miss the Break and SysRq keys?. That's the question posed by HP's vice president Phil McKinley, whose company is replacing all the function keys (F1, F2 etc) with actual functions (volume up/down, brightness up/down etc) on a forthcoming laptop. Lenovo is also considering doing away with the CAPS LOCK key, after it monitored the keyboard habits of 30 of its staff using a keystroke logger. Are the keyboards we've grown used to over the past 20 years about to change? And what keys would you get rid of?"
Submission + - NASA Requests Help With Von Braun's Notes (wired.com)
DynaSoar writes: "According to a Wired article http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/06/nasadata-2/ NASA is soliciting ideas from the public on how best to catalog and digitize the collected notes of Werner von Braun. "We're looking for creative ways to get it out to the public," said project manager Jason Crusan. "We don't always do the best with putting out large sets of data like this." The notes http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/363387main_von_Braun_notes_RFI_Appendix_1.pdf [pdf] are those of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the fist director of NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and are typed with copious hand written notes in the margin. According to the official request for information http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/363386main_von_Braun_notes_RFI.pdf [pdf], NASA needs ideas on what format to use, how to index the notes and how to create a useful database. The unique nature and historical value of the data, literally discovered in boxes six months ago, is what motivated NASA to ask the public for ideas."
Submission + - Your average disturbance timescale? (jakeapp.com)
buchner.johannes writes: In your office, your work is disturbed or interrupted on average after (e.g. people walking in, calls, etc.)
— less than 5 minutes
— less than 15 minutes
— less than 30 minutes
— less than 2 hours
— more than 2 hours
— depends on how fast slashdot throws out stories
— less than 5 minutes
— less than 15 minutes
— less than 30 minutes
— less than 2 hours
— more than 2 hours
— depends on how fast slashdot throws out stories
Submission + - Forget Windows 7 - the netbook belongs to Linux (itwire.com)
davidmwilliams writes: "Why do Microsoft and vendors like ASUS continue to push the line that Microsoft Windows is the ultimate operating system for the diminutive ultraportable netbook market?
The Windows 7 plan for netbooks is fraught with limitation and burdens. Who wants any of this crap about not being able to change your wallpaper?
It's time to bring back the penguin."
The Windows 7 plan for netbooks is fraught with limitation and burdens. Who wants any of this crap about not being able to change your wallpaper?
It's time to bring back the penguin."
Submission + - Graphene Could Make Magnetic Memory 1000x Denser (technologyreview.com)
KentuckyFC writes: "The density of magnetic memory depends on the size of the magnetic domains used to store bits. The current state-of-the-art uses cobalt-based grains some 8nm across, each containing about 50,000 atoms. Materials scientists think they can shrink the grains to 15,000 atoms but any smaller than that and the crystal structure of the grains is lost. That's a problem because the cobalt has to be arranged in a hexagonal close packing structure to ensure the stability of its magnetic field. Otherwise the field can spontaneously reverse and the data is lost. Now a group of German physicists say they can trick a pair of cobalt atoms into thinking they are in a hexagonal close packing structure by bonding them to a hexagonal carbon ring such as graphene or benzene. That's handy because the magnetic field associated with cobalt dimers is calculated to be far more stable than the field in a cobalt grain. And graphene and benzene rings are only 0.5 nm across, a size that could allow an increase in memory density of three orders of magnitude."
Submission + - Boxee vs. Zinc vs. Hulu (deviceguru.com) 1
__aajbyc7391 writes: Which is the best Internet media streaming application for a media-center PC? Boxee, Zinc, or the new Hulu Desktop? A post at DeviceGuru.com reviews these three media streaming platforms and draws some interesting conclusions. Key pros and cons are tabulated and numerous screenshots are included. Interestingly, despite lots of Boxee hype, Zinc already has a number of valuable features that Boxee is scrambling to add to its next version, due out in the fall. On the other hand, Boxee boasts far more third-party content access applications support.
Comment Microsoft, I said NO! (Score 4, Insightful) 1008
It's absurd that Stallman has to actually issue this warning considering Microsoft's history of behavior not only with competition but with their business associates as well. Anyone who has been both alive and conscious these past twenty-five years knows forming any sort of relationship with Microsoft, either directly or indirectly, customer or partner, is just asking for a raping.
