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Intel

Submission + - Intel Denies CEO Said Microsoft Is Releasing Windows 8 Prematurely

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Intel today denied a rumor from earlier this week that suggested CEO Paul Otellini told employees Microsoft was releasing its Windows 8 operating system before it was fully ready. Intel referred to the hype that ensued as “unsubstantiated news reports” and quoted Otellini going on record to say that “Windows 8 is one of the best things that ever happened to Intel.”

Comment Re:Dirty Hippie (Score 1) 361

by sichbo (#41400411) Attached to: Neil Young Pushes Pono, Says Piracy Is the New Radio
To be fair, it depends a lot on the speakers... listening through the usual consumer playback devices (headphones, docks, PC speakers, home theatre systems) probably not because they can't reproduce all of the frequencies without adding colour or omitting some entirely anyway. Listen to the mp3 through a set of professional monitors or quality stereo towers of moderate quality (Polk Audio, et al) and you'll find the mp3 does in fact sound pretty bad. When I started sourcing more uncompressed music and playing it through better gear, I found myself re-discovering a lot of old songs from the past 15 years. Everything is brighter, sharper, more dynamic, less muddy/boomy than the 128/160/192 mp3 files of the same songs I have kicking around.
AMD

Submission + - Intel's Haswell is an unprecedented threat to Nvidia, AMD (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Fully unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum over the last few days, Intel’s next-generation architecture, codenamed Haswell, isn’t just another “tock” in Intel’s tick/tock cadence; it’s a serious threat to both AMD and Nvidia. For the first time, Intel is poised to challenge both companies in the mainstream graphics market while simultaneously eroding Nvidia’s edge in the GPGPU business. For a start, the Haswell CPU core will be 10-15% faster than Ivy Bridge, but thanks to the addition of AVX2, Haswell's floating point performance will be monstrous: a quad-core part should be capable of 256 (double-precision) gigaflops, which should be enough to outpace Nvidia's GTX 680. On the GPU side of things, Haswell will massively increase the number of processing cores, offering "up to 2x" the performance of Ivy Bridge's HD 4000. Even a conservative take on that promise spells trouble for AMD and Nvidia. According to benchmarks, Trinity’s GPU is an average of 18% faster than Llano’s across a range of 15 popular titles. Compared to Sandy Bridge, Trinity was almost 80% faster. Against Ivy Bridge, it’s just 20% faster. Given what we know of Haswell’s GPU shader counts and performance targets, it shouldn’t be hard for Intel to deliver a 30-50% performance boost in real-world games. If it does, Trinity goes from the fastest integrated GPU on the market to an also-ran, and AMD loses the superior graphics hole card it’s been playing since it launched the AMD 780G chipset four years ago. It isn't looking good for either AMD or Nvidia."

Submission + - Inventor cultivates no-mow, easy-grow grass (foxnews.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: After more than ten years of experimenting with thousands of seeds, Jackson Madnick cultivated Pearl’s Premium — a specific mix of red fescue, tall fescue, sheep fescue and other grasses.

It’s all in the grassroots. Pearl’s Premium develops 12- to14-inch roots and pulls water from underground, meaning it requires a quarter as much water as comparable grasses.

“It grows slow so you only have to mow it every four or six weeks,” he said. “And if you don’t mow it, it flips over and becomes a meadow.”

Madnick began experimenting with different grasses because he wanted to create environmentally sustainable lawns. “I took a weekend course on water management and learned that the number one enemy of ponds is fertilizer” He wanted a healthy alternative to a chemically-maintained lawn — deemed one of the "most toxic areas in your home" by Health Magazine.
Technology

Submission + - Facit Homes Claims to Build World's First "Digitally Fabricated" House (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Facit Homes claims to be the first company in the world to digitally fabricate a bespoke home on-site. The company has developed a process (D-Process) whereby it delivers a compact mobile production facility (MPF) to the construction site, equipped with all the materials and machinery required to transform a 3D digital design into a physical building. “We are the first company in the world to have successfully trialed manufacturing a house on-site,” Managing Director of Facit Homes, Bruce Bell told Gizmag. “We bring our compact high-tech machine to site and make it there and then—its an amazingly efficient way of designing and making a house.”
Bitcoin

Submission + - Its Official, Bitcoin based BitInstant PayCard Coming in 8 Weeks (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: BitInstant has officially announced its Bitcoin card plans and that it is going to release it within a timeframe of roughly 8 weeks. Earlier it was confirmed by Charlie Shrem over IRC chat that a Bitcoin funded card was in the making and that it would take around 2 months to launch. What followed, though, was a statement from MasterCard that it wasn’t working with BitInstant for such a card. BitInstant has now posted a public statement on its website stating that the card , dubbed BitInstant Paycard, is definitely going to release in 8 weeks’ time and that it is working with its partners to make it happen.
Privacy

Submission + - Meet Elvis: The robot that interrogates people traveling across the border (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Even though it's been 35 years, some folks have a specific King of Rock-n-Roll in mind when they hear the name "Elvis." However you might have a case of the Jailhouse Rock blues if the new Elvis catches you in a lie. That's because this Elvis is AI; an android behind a touchscreen who questions people on behalf of U.S. Customs and Border (CBP) Protection to analyze potentially suspicious behavior and to predict threats. He's an Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time (AVATAR) kiosk.

Tucson News reported that there are not enough CBP agents to handle all of the Trusted Traveler Program applications that require face-to-face interviews. It works by using sensors "to screen passengers for unusual physiological responses to questioning — which can indicate a subject is lying," according to CNN.

  It's not what you answer, but how you answer. Are you upset or fidgeting? CNN reported that it "uses three sensors to assess physiological responses: a microphone, which monitors vocal quality, pitch and frequency; an infrared camera, which looks at pupil dilation and where the eyes focus; and a high-definition camera recording facial expressions."
Security

Submission + - Researchers Demonstrate Backdoor "Hack" Into the Human Brain (gizmag.com) 1

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Once the preserve of science fiction, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have advanced to the point where they can even be found in novelty headwear, which only makes an achievement of an international team of scientists more frightening. Using an off-the-shelf Emotiv BCI costing only a few hundred dollars, the team has shown that it's possible to "hack" a human brain and pull things like bank details straight out of your skull.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft deserves credit for Windows 8 innovations even if people hate them (bgr.com) 1

Submitted by brocket66
brocket66 writes: After years of gliding by on Bill Gates' past success in making Windows the dominant desktop operating system, Microsoft is finally innovating and taking risks again with Windows 8. While the changes might anger some users, in the long run this is a good thing for the tech industry. After all, it's better to fail from trying to hard than to fail from not trying at all.

Submission + - BYOD makes employees work unpaid an extra 20 hours a week (computerworlduk.com) 2

Submitted by Qedward
Qedward writes: Many employees are working up to 20 additional hours per week unpaid as a result of bring your own device (BYOD) policies adopted by their firms, many of which have no security safeguards.

According to the quarterly Mobile Workforce Report from enterprise Wi-Fi access firm iPass, a third of mobile enterprise workers never fully disconnect from technology during their during personal time.

The report also said that 92% of mobile workers "enjoy their job flexibility" and are "content" with working longer hours. In fact, said the report, 42% would like "even greater flexibility for their working practices".

But 19% of mobile workers said their companies did not require security on smartphones or tablets to access work data.

Submission + - What would your first 24 hours of a "I've got to disappear" plan look like? 1

Submitted by
diacritica
diacritica writes: "This Ask Slashdot is inspired by à-la-Bourne movies but taking a more realistic approach to the world we live in. You are native to and live in a big city (> 1M pop) in a G8 country of your choosing. T = 0h, you accidentally witness a strange event. T = 1h, you realize you're being followed AND you get the feeling that the police/government might be involved. Context data: you are able to speak one language apart from good English. You are 25 to 45 years old. You are computer savvy. You are engaged/married, you have family living in the same city. 99% of your money is in a bank account. You prefer to go "rationally" paranoid. What would you do in order to feel safe after those 24h? Remember, you didn't commit a crime, but there are plenty of real-world resources invested in catching you."

Submission + - Russian find a new particle (science20.com)

Submitted by
physburn
physburn writes: "The Russian Dubna Nuctron accelerator has reported finded a new elementary particle. The E(38) Boson at 38 MeV, it interacts only with quarks and gluons, but decays (via quark diagrams) into pairs of photons. The particle was previously reported in February from data from the BaBar experiment, and the new data seems to confirm its existence."
Security

Submission + - US to drive 3,000 Wi-Fi linked vehicles in massive crash avoidance trial (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The US Department of Transportation said it will run a massive road test of cars, trucks and buses linked together via WiFi equipment in what the agency says will be the largest test of automated crash avoidance technology to date. The test will be conducted by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), and feature mostly volunteer participants whose vehicles have been outfitted with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication devices ."
Science

Submission + - Arctic Sea Ice to reach record low this August (nsidc.org)

Submitted by
vikingpower
vikingpower writes: "Although it is known that the arctic sea ice melts away, partially, each summer, it will probably hit an all-time low before the end of this month. The previous records, from 2007 and 2005, occurred in september of those years. Data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center show that the melting rate accelerated this august, whereas normally it slows down during this month. The graphs under the link tell an impressive story of diminishing surfaces. Ted Scambos, one of NSIDC's main researchers, clearly attributes this all-time low to human-induced climate change ( The interview is in Dutch, alas ), which is remarkable, coming from a US government-funded institute."
Apple

Submission + - Apple is not the most valuable company ever, despite what everyone says (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Contrary to most reports, Apple is not yet the most valuable company of all time, according to calculations made by the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

Stories published by the likes of Bloomberg, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal ran headlines such as "Apple sets record for most valuable company," noted the CJR's Audit blog. But they were wrong, the press watchdog contended.

"Apple is not the biggest or most valuable company in history--not by a long shot," argued CJR. "Apple's $622 billion market cap is a nominal record, which means 'in name only,' or alternatively, not really. That's because it's a record only if you don't adjust Microsoft's 1999 market cap for inflation. Sorry, but you have to adjust any number like this that's that old for inflation — it's comparing apples to oranges not to do so."

According to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices, Microsoft's market capitalization — the value of all outstanding shares — peaked at $620.6 billion in December 1999.

Apple's market cap was $622.5 billion at the end of trading Monday. It had been even higher earlier in the day. But when adjusted for inflation — it requires $1.38 in 2012 dollars to equal $1 in 1999 dollars — Microsoft's $620.6 billion balloons to $853.4 billion, or over $200 billion more than Apple's current cap.

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