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The Internet

Submission + - Wikipedia's growing pains (cio.com)

Submitted by
mikek2
mikek2 writes: "Like a startup maturing into a real business, Wikipedia's corporate culture seems, at times, conflicted between its role as a harmless nouveau-digital experiment and its broader ambitions. The "power and prestige" to which [author Nicholas Carr] refers results from management practices that were less noticeable when Wikipedia was smaller and its editorial community newer and less formal. [Issues related to] "antielitism" have become more visible since Wikipedia has grown. Look dear; lil' Wiki is growing up!"
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Ad favorites through the years (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
jcatcw
jcatcw writes: "Computerworld has compiled a set of very amusing ads from the pages of its past for the 40th Anniversary issue. In what year would the question, "What is E-mail?" be answered with: "One of the most advanced methods is terminals talking to one another."

They're "versatile, dependable, compatible and maybe even sexy." What are they? These modems that are "all performers," according to a not-so-subtle ad.

"with WordStar, you have a true screen image of what your printout will look like before you print it! With WordStar, you'll erase, insert, delete and move entire blocks of copy."

Remember when "mobile" meant "luggable"? An NEC ad boasts of a laptop that only weighed 11.2 lb. despite its 640K of memory, dual 720K drives and five built-in programs. Woohoo!

A personal favorite: the Personal Mainframe."
Upgrades

Submission + - Next Generation Bulb: Aluminum Foil? (discovery.com)

Submitted by Gandul
Gandul writes: Flexible and flat new lamps can hang on a wall like picture frames, be mounted onto curved surfaces, glow like Times Square in a wide range of colors, or even be used for biomedical purposes.
Television

Submission + - 10 MORE Reasons Why HD-DVD Formats Have Failed (audioholics.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Almost exactly a year ago Audioholics wrote an eye-opening piece on the demise of both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc high definition DVD formats. On the anniversary of that article Clint DeBoer has penned a follow-up article called "10 MORE Reasons Why HD-DVD Formats Have Already Failed" that discusses each point in light of a year's worth of released hardware and software and whether his predictions were on the mark or just a bunch of hot air. The bottom lines are interesting and it does seem to indicate that his initial assumptions are still on track.
Editorial

Submission + - Consumer Reports Auto Tests: Videos Behind Wheel (designnews.com)

Submitted by Regina123
Regina123 writes: This article includes some captivating videos behind the wheel at Consumers Union's Auto Track and Test Facility with Dave Champion, CU's senior director of automotive testing. Videos include a firsthand look at a bumpy "rock hill" test, maneuverability tests and a lap around a skid pad. Also provides great insight into the relationship between Consumer Reports and the big automakers.
Intel

Submission + - Chip growth drops on free-falling prices

Submitted by Robert
Robert writes: Global revenues of semiconductors this year will grow significantly less than previously forecast because of sharp declines in average selling prices for microchips in several key market segments, including microprocessors and memory, according to the latest forecast from the Semiconductor Industry Association. San Jose, California-based SIA initially predicted worldwide chip sales growth of 10% this year. It now expects just 1.8% sales growth, despite solid fundamentals and continued strong unit growth in major end markets.
Privacy

Submission + - TorrentSpy ruling a 'weapon of mass discovery' (com.com)

Submitted by SwordsmanLuke
SwordsmanLuke writes: A California judge has declared that TorrentSpy must generate log files of the IP addresses of visitors to their site so that these logs may then be turned over to the MPAA. In a bizarre move, the judge ruled that anything stored in a computer's RAM is "electronically stored information" and as such, must be turned over for examination in a lawsuit. Besides demonstrating such a gross lack of technical savvy in our courts, this case also has heavy privacy implications. The judge is, in essence, requiring the creation of documents for the *sole* purpose of supplying a plaintiff (in this case the MPAA) with the data it requires to "discover" illegal file-sharing.

FTA:

"There's never been a requirement that (defendants) must create documents that they wouldn't ordinarily maintain for the purpose of satisfying some (plaintiff's) discovery requests," said Withers.
Intel

Submission + - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Launched, Benchmarks

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Intel officially launched its next speed bump in their Core 2 Extreme quad-core desktop processor line-up today. The new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has frequency parity with its dual-core counterpart, the Core 2 Extreme X6800 — sans the "Q". At 2.93GHz this makes the Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel's highest clocked quad-core desktop processor to date. Due to its 2.93GHz clock speed, the new QX6800 is as fast as the Core 2 X6800 while running single-threaded applications, as with most game engines and office productivity tools. While running multi-threaded applications that can fully utilize the additional processing resources afforded by the quad-core design of the QX6800 however, the new Core 2 Extreme QX6800 clearly puts up significantly better performance numbers than any other desktop PC processor currently available."
Security

Submission + - Explosion on the CERN due to mathematical mistakes

Submitted by
javipas
javipas writes: "The Large Hadron Collider at the CERN has suffered a big explosion deep inside that has caused a leak of hellium gas and the quick evacuation of everyone working there. The reason: a mathematical mistake that affected the design of the giant superconductive magnets made by Fermilab. Now the company will have to repair and upgrade the 24 magnets that are installed on the 27 km. circunference of one of the most important research centers on Earth."

Feed Hummers and muscle cars go green (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed
Diesel's not just for truckers anymore. Converting cars with notoriously bad mileage can make them eco-friendly without compromising performance.
Photos: Muscle cars with a conscience

Feed Is the 'Web OS' just a geek's dream? (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed
"Webtops" that bring multiple applications into a single browser take another stab at the fabled Web operating system.
Images: Making the desktop fit in a browser
Google

Submission + - New google maps features

Submitted by
Meltir
Meltir writes: "Despite the fact that for some of us (not living in the US) google maps has only been a map, a set of new features has been added that make the service a full featured guidebook.
Before you could barely find the correct city, let alone a specific street.
A new tab has recently appeared on the search page, allowing you to create sets of your favorite places, find an (almost) reasonable route from one place to another, and create your own paths.
This data can be made public, or kept private.
Considering that some of the less popular cities in the world have had the search function lacking in many aspects — me, and many of my friends consider this the sole feature that wins our hearts.
Now... where would you like to go today ?"

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