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Comment History (Score 1) 462

by pinkj (#33409586) Attached to: What 'IT' Stuff Should We Teach Ninth-Graders?

Which other notions from computer science can be introduced to this audience in this manner?

I think an introduction to the history of computer science would be worthwhile. Knowing the history of a subject helps with understanding the present state of it and helps give context for the content to be learned.

Comment Still fun (Score 2, Informative) 89

by pinkj (#33211974) Attached to: How <em>Death Rally</em> Got Ported
I used to play this game all the time in high school. I installed the port and played it for 40 minutes just now. I needed to tear myself away it was so fun! I still remembered the little tricks like lagging behind for the first quarter of the first lap so the other cars would deplete their ammo on themselves instead of you. And I never realized that the item on the track that got you "drunk" was actually a mushroom!
Linux

Submission + - Meyer Sound on Audio Development with Linux (mixonline.com)

Submitted by pinkj
pinkj writes: Rarely do you hear about audio development with Linux or audio developers joining the Linux Foundation. It was interesting to read this article on Meyer Sound's input in Mix Magazine on why they prefer using Linux to develop their audio software. They used Linux to develop "the D-Mitri digital audio platform and Galileo loudspeaker-management system":

"'I started using Linux in 1994, right after college,' says Perrin Meyer. 'At the time, Sun or HP Unix workstations cost about $100,000, and after I graduated, I no longer had access to Columbia’s computers. So [by] using my own computer with Linux, I was able to keep the same advanced programming environment I had in school.'"
Space

Submission + - Space Elevator pioneers to speak at conference (yahoo.com)

Submitted by Just_Say_Duhhh
Just_Say_Duhhh writes: Russian engineer Yuri Artsutanov and American engineer Jerome Pearson, pioneers of the modern Space Elevator concept, will appear at the 2010 Space Elevator Conference. The conference (http://spaceelevatorconference.org/default.aspx) will be held Aug 13-15 at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, WA.

Known as the "Fathers of the Modern Space Elevator Program," Artsutanov and Pearson are credited with independently creating the first modern blueprints for building an Elevator to Space. You might be wondering why you haven't ridden on, or at least seen an elevator that reaches up into space. OK, they haven't actually BUILT one, but they're working on that.
Graphics

Submission + - OpenGL 4.1 Specification Announced (extremetech.com)

Submitted by WesternActor
WesternActor writes: The Khronos Group has announced full details for the OpenGL 4.1 specification. Among the new features of the spec, which comes just five months after the release of the 4.0 specification, is full support for OpenGL ES, which simplifies porting between mobile and desktop platforms. It'll be interesting to see what effect, if any, this new spec has on the graphics industry--more compatibility could change the way many embedded systems are designed. There are lots of other changes and additions in the spec, as well.

Comment Re:Analog special effects are cool, but... (Score 1) 196

by pinkj (#33034254) Attached to: Behind the Special Effects of <em>Inception</em>
So in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" when that truck hit that cow, you thought they really killed a cow with a truck?

imdb

The American Humane Association, an organization that protects animal rights, mistook a computer-generated cow in the movie for a real animal and demanded proof before they would allow the use of their famous disclaimer, "No animals were harmed in the making of this motion picture." After seeing a demonstration at Digital Domain of how the cow was created, the Humane Association added the now-familiar (but then much rarer) "Scenes which may appear to place an animal in jeopardy were simulated."

Comment Re:Nolan is better without FX (Score 1) 196

by pinkj (#33033874) Attached to: Behind the Special Effects of <em>Inception</em>
I found the script to be very good for Inception. It didn't top Memento for me, but it was cleverly written and edited. I liked the FX, but I didn't feel this was an FX film. I don't see how many people would feel about it either as they weren't that many.

The Wired article is hardly worth mentioning as it focused on the rotating room which has been used since Fred Astaire had danced on the ceiling in Royal Wedding
Power

Submission + - Acoustic Cloth Senses, Emits Sonic Signals (smartertechnology.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: How about turning your entire shirt into an iPod speaker, or a mobile microphone that picks up everything going on around you? That's what this research claims is possible with piezoelectric fibers woven into acoustic cloth:

"For the first time, piezoelectric fibers can be woven into fabrics containing millions of tiny acoustic transducers that act together to both sense and emit sound. Using the same equipment that makes optical fibers for communications, these new fibers can be woven into fabrics that act as wearable microphones and loudspeakers. Possible uses include biological sensors that measure medical quantities such as blood flow in capillaries, environmental monitors measuring the flow of water passing through them, and large-area sonar imaging systems for monitoring underwater activities."

We've heard of projects like this before, but the technology used for this incarnation of acoustic cloth is derived from the same piezoelectric devices that are already used to make tiny microphones and speakers for mobile devices, so I have more confidence that we will see commercial fabrics using it soon.

Submission + - First step toward electronic DNA sequencing

Submitted by HumbleOrange
HumbleOrange writes: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new, carbon-based nanoscale platform to electrically detect single DNA molecules. Using electric fields, the tiny DNA strands are pushed through nanoscale-sized, atomically thin pores in a graphene nanopore platform that ultimately may be important for fast electronic sequencing of the four chemical bases of DNA based on their unique electrical signature.

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