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Databases

Submission + - Database Normalization Demystified (bukisa.com) 1

Submitted by Woofy31
Woofy31 writes: Are your databases unorganized ? Do they have a low impact on your app/website's speed ? Well, that's probably because it is not optimized. This is an illustrated tutorial on how to optimize your databases by applying a technique called "database normalization".

Submission + - Have Any Creative Works Failed Because Of Piracy?

Submitted by Andorin
Andorin writes: Anyone familiar with the piracy debate should remember the claims from organizations like the Recording Industry Association of America that piracy causes billions of dollars in damages and costs thousands of jobs. Other studies have concluded differently, ranging from finding practically no damages to a newer study that cites "up to 20%" as a more accurate figure [pdf]. I figure there's got to be an easier way to do this, so here's my question: Does anyone know of any creative works that were provably a financial failure due to piracy? The emphasis on "provably" is important, as some form of evidence is necessary. Accurately and precisely quantifying damages from p2p is impossibly hard, of course, but answering questions like this may lead us to a clearer picture of just how harmful file sharing really is. I would think that if piracy does cause some amount of substantial harm, we would see that fact reflected in our creative works, but I've never heard of a work that tanked because people shared it online.

Comment not again (Score 0) 981

by empgodot (#32729004) Attached to: The Tuesday Birthday Problem
I've actually seen this before as "child at the window"-problem in a german C++-forum: http://www.c-plusplus.de/forum/viewtopic-var-t-is-115631-and-start-is-0-and-postdays-is-0-and-postorder-is-asc-and-highlight-is-.html

The thread got 88 pages, probably one of the longest threads ever in that forum. And by the way... the answer is simply 1/2, also for the tuesday-problem, because the probabilities are independent. But it seems very easy to get it wrong at some point.
Data Storage

ARM-Based Servers Coming In 2011 253

Posted by timothy from the leg-and-torso-on-the-way dept.
markass530 writes with this from the EE Times: "Arm Holdings chief executive officer Warren East told EE Times Wednesday that servers based on ARM multicore processors should arrive within the next twelve months. The news confirms previous speculation stemming from Google's acquisition of Agnilux and a recent job advertisement posted by Microsoft. East said that the current architecture, designed for client-side computing, can also be used in server applications."
Businesses

Bungie Signs 10-Year Deal With Activision 85

Posted by Soulskill from the make-sure-you-write-your-name-on-your-lunch dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Infinity Ward may be suing Activision under allegations of low payment and no royalties, but it seems some developers are still happy to work with the publisher — it has just signed a 10-year deal with Bungie, the studio behind the popular Halo series of FPS games. Activision will publish all of Bungie's games in the next decade — although Bungie will own the IP. The terms of the deal are similar to those brokered by former Infinity Ward chiefs Jason West and Vince Zampella when they signed with EA after being fired in March."
Handhelds

Microsoft's Touted iPad Rival Courier Becomes Less Than Vapor 401

Posted by timothy from the courier-dropped-it dept.
Kostya writes "The much discussed Courier two-panel tablet device from Microsoft is now even less than vaporware — now it's just plain dead. 'Microsoft execs informed the internal team that had been working on the tablet device that the project would no longer be supported.' While the Courier had never been officially announced as a supported product by Microsoft, it had generated a lot of discussion as what the iPad should have been."
Biotech

FDA Approves Vaccine For Prostate Cancer 194

Posted by timothy from the where-you-can-stick-it dept.
reverseengineer writes "The US Food and Drug Administration has given its first first approval for a therapeutic cancer vaccine. In a clinical trial 'involving 512 men, those who got Provenge (sipuleucel-T) had a median survival of 25.8 months after treatment, while those who got a placebo lived a median of 21.7 months. After three years, 32 percent of those who got Provenge were alive, compared with 23 percent of those who got the placebo. ... "The big story here is that this is the first proof of principle and proof that immunotherapy works in general in cancer, which I think is a huge observation," said Dr. Philip Kantoff, chief of solid tumor oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the lead investigator in Dendreon's largest clinical trial for the drug. "I think this is a very big thing and will lead to a lot more enthusiasm for the approach."'"
Cellphones

Samsung To Ship Chip Package With Phase-Change Memory 57

Posted by timothy from the going-through-a-phase dept.
angry tapir writes "Samsung Electronics will ship a multichip package later this quarter for smartphones that will include phase-change memory (PCM), an emerging technology that could ultimately replace memory types like NOR flash. Samsung's announcement is significant because it marks the first PCM product to be available as part of a multichip package. PCM uses a glass-like material that can change from multiple states to crystalline forms as its atoms are rearranged."
Moon

Japanese Consortium Projects a Humanoid Robot On the Moon By 2015 151

Posted by timothy from the why-can't-they-send-them-all? dept.
JoshuaInNippon writes "A Japanese manufacturing cooperative named Astro-Technology SOHLA announced on April 27th that they are planning to create and send a two-legged humanoid robot to the moon, have it draw the Japanese flag on the surface, and hopefully then get it to return to the Earth, all by the year 2015. The group wants to inspire people, particularly in Japan, about space and generate confidence among SMEs to create low-cost space technology. While the idea may seem far-fetched to some, SOHLA had success in building a small low-cost satellite named Maido-1, which was launched into space aboard a Japanese H-IIA rocket in early 2009. The group also commented that they want to have their future humanoid robot hitch a ride to the moon with a surveying rover that JAXA is building."

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