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Supercomputing

Submission + - Super Fast, Super Green Supercomputers (baselinemag.com)

Submitted by Absalom621
Absalom621 writes: Supercomputers were once measured solely on the number of computations pers second the could perform. Now, researchers at Virginia Tech are trying to change that with their Green 500, which lists the most energy efficient supercomputers. Rather than looking at raw computational power, the Green 500 looks at the number of calculations a supercomputer can perform per lowest kilowatt hour. Interesting concept. http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2223693,00.asp
Announcements

Submission + - New super efficient LEDs developed (compoundsemi.com)

Submitted by WileyC
WileyC writes: A prototype of a new LED from LED Lighting Fixtures, Inc. just kicked the butt of current LEDs in energy efficiency (not to mention making fluorescents and incandescents look completely outdated). From the press release:

LLF's latest prototype fixture operates using less than 15 percent of the power of standard 65-watt incandescent bulbs and 50 percent of the power of compact fluorescent bulbs, while delivering equivalent warm white light as measured in lumens. The company's LED fixtures produce virtually no heat and can provide 50,000 hours of light, as compared to the average 2,000 hours provided by conventional 65-watt bulbs.
According to the article this makes them 35% more efficient than current LEDs on the market.
Software

Do OpenOffice Users Save In Microsoft Format? 620

Posted by kdawson from the compatibility-or-purity dept.
superglaze writes "Looking through an article on the smartphone office suite Quickoffice, I noted a claim by a company executive that OpenOffice users usually save their documents in a Microsoft format, e.g. .doc. Hence the company has no plans to support .odf. I guess I can see the rationale for this — it helps if you're sending a document to an MS-using company — but what's this community's general experience of saving in .odf vs. .doc format?"
Editorial

Submission + - The Bane of Forced Obsolescence

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Everyone hates being forced to upgrade when they don't want to. Especially when it's the hardware or software company forcing them to upgrade. This article discusses some of the reasons behind this, suggestions for changes, and calls for both hardware and software companies to start changing in ways that the customers want, not just what the investors and managers demand or dictate.
Announcements

Submission + - Wanna be great surgeon? Start playing video games

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Surgeons with video game skill appear to perform better than non-gamers, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery," the authors conclude. "Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.""
Software

Submission + - Hollywood training swedish police in Anti-Piracy

Submitted by
Oxygen
Oxygen writes: "IDG.se reports on it's online newssite that representatives from the MPAA, FBI and the Swedish lobbyorganisation Antipiratbyrån have held seminars for swedish police officers (Swedish only) that are being trained in fighting piracy and copyright violations. From the article: "According to Bertil Ramsell, responsible for the course, the purpose of the visit was to give the invited speakers a chance to explain to the students what their organsation's purpose was. But in a report from the IIPA, the pupose was to educate students in anti-piracy." Educating is one thing, but the acronym MPAA doesn't really spell "objective" or "no hidden agenda" to me."
Biotech

Regrowing Lost Body Parts Getting Closer All the Time 210

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the go-go-gadget-hand dept.
[TheBORG] writes "There are two stories on Yahoo! News about regrowing lost body parts. One is about regrowing lost fingers & limbs and the other one is about regrowing teeth. The story about regrowing lost fingers and limbs talks about the experimental use of powdered pig bladder to regrow fingers and eventually lost limbs for soldiers and others in need from information that Pentagon-funded scientists hopefully learn from studying the salamander. The story about regrowing teeth talks about how Japanese scientists used primitive cells and injected them into a framework of collagen. Once grown to a certain point, scientists implanted the growths into mice where the teeth developed normally."
Desktops (Apple)

Submission + - Dell XPS 710 H2C Watercooled Desktop Tested

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Dell's XPS 710 H2C Edition is touted as a top-of-the-line, ultra-performance machine built with performance enthusiasts in mind. Not only does the XPS 710 H2C hold the distinction of being Dell's first volume available, factory overclocked computer, but it also uses Dell's first in-house developed liquid cooling system to keep its quad-core power plant cool. This evaluation at HotHardware has plenty of performance data and goes into great detail on the technologies employed in the XPS 710 H2C Edition. It sure seems like a killer system if you can justify the investment."
Businesses

XM And SIRIUS Radio Merging 301

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the monopoly-is-such-a-fun-game dept.
lenny6998 writes to tell us Yahoo! News is reporting that XM and Sirius Radio, the only two major players in the relatively new market of subscription satellite radio have announced a merger. "The two companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the chairman of XM, would remain in that role."
Editorial

Submission + - Interview with Tiberon Studios (EA)

Submitted by
jayintune
jayintune writes: "Gamerstooge had a chance to sit down with one of EA's Development Managers at Tiberon Studios to find out what it's like to work on games like Madden 2007. It's a look into one mans road to working in the video game industry as well as a window into the video game juggernaut, EA. From the article, "For you to be successful, you have to work your way up to it. Software Engineering is much more than just writing code. It's schedules, designs, cutting, resource allocation, mentoring, patience, and a slew of other things that can only be learned by working your way up.""
Programming

Submission + - Taming Mustang, Part 1: Collections API

Submitted by nitsudima
nitsudima writes: Mustang (also known as Java Standard Edition 6) has arrived. This latest Java 2 platform from Sun Microsystems is overflowing with new and enhanced APIs. Jeff Friesen presents the first of a three-part series on Mustang, focusing on enhancements made to the Collections API, where you discover new Collections interfaces and classes.
Movies

Submission + - US trains new ELITE Swedish anti-piracy policeunit

Submitted by soulxtc
soulxtc writes: Never one to let its interests anywhere in the world go unprotected, the FBI and the MPAA have teamed up with the Swedish govt to create an elite corps of Swedish anti-piracy police. In an effort to help stamp out pesky Swedish pirates, FBI agent Andrew Myers and the MPAA have given a group of six Swedish police officers extensive training on how to effectively combat piracy and catch people who engage in illegal downloading from the internet.
Education

Submission + - IT force feedback

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I've been lost in thought for a while on the direction I want to take with my life, and since I'm in IT like most of the readers on this site I thought I'd poll my peers. I've previously acquired an associate's degree in business for information systems and in a few months I'll have a bachelors of science in information technology. At the same time I'm one of the lead developers for a software development company that will remain nameless. At this point in my life I'm not sure what direction to take next. While I enjoy working with code and software systems I find that the joy of learning new things pales in comparison to the thought that the software I develop is nothing but useless in six months to anyone who uses it. I've been toying with the idea of graduate school but I'm lost as far as the direction to take. I really want to become involved in technology that actually makes a difference and affects people's lives other than these corporate applications. If you were me or have gone through a similar situation what did you do to find the right path? Is there a graduate field of study that I should be looking into or a known career path that IT people can follow in order to get into a field where they're developing applications or technology that you can see the difference it makes? People who program machines for NASA get to see the fruits of their labor, people who develop embedded systems for medical uses get to know their work helps others, and that's the sort of thing I'm talking about. I'm sorry if this comes off as another lame thread. I've never posted to Slashdot before but I've been reading it for years. I hope I can get some constructive criticism or feedback. Thanks everyone.
Space

Submission + - BBC launches Space Shuttle based on car

Submitted by
David Off
David Off writes: "Last summer BBC Television decided to launch a space shuttle shaped motorcar, the Reliant Robin, into very very low earth orbit! Now this may not be the X-prize but it is a very very cool hack that harks back to era of MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club. Now a shuttle launch costs hundreds of millions of dollars. The Beeb built a very convincing shuttle from the Robin, a main fuel tank and two SRBs in an industrial unit in Manchester. There was very little money but all the tea the team could manage to dring. The rockets develop 8.5 tonnes of thrust and this was the most powerful private launch in Europe to date. The Robin had to be stripped from 750kg to 250kg and avionics fitted for the flight back to earth. All doesn't quite go to plan as you can see in the 20 minute film which was broadcast yesterday. It would be nice to know more about the tech behind the launch, the film is thin on details."
Programming

Submission + - Competition for Indie, Student and Serious Games

Submitted by
UberGlyn
UberGlyn writes: "FuturePlay 2007 has issued a Call for Games in the categories of a) Indie Games, b) Student Games and c) Serious Games.
Important dates are:
March 16, 2007 — Deadline to submit a one or two page concept of your game project in text, Word or PDF via email.
August 1, 2007 — Deadline for teams who were successful in stage 1 (concept) to submit their fully working game for review.
November 15-17, 2007 — FuturePlay conference in Toronto, Canada where the winners exhibit their games and collect their prizes.
The games will be reviewed by professional game developers from indie game companies, larger professional studios, publishers as well as by games academics and researchers.
Full competition details are available at http://www.futureplay.org/games "

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