Comment Re:Rochester (Score 1) 352
May I point out that your math is incorrect? It should actually be (.5**30) * (7E9) = 6.5 engineers left, because every year the number of engineers halves, it doesn't go down by a factor of 10. :)
Submission + - Osborne 1 vs. iPad 2 (stormdriver.com)
StormDriver writes: "At first, they seem to belong in completely different weight categories. Osborne 1 is just under 11 kg, enough to pull your arm out of the socket, if you’re a skinny geek. That’s roughly 20 times more than an iPad, or about the same as whole suitcase of them.
But what about the processing power? Osbourne 1 was sporting a Z80 CPU, running at a stunning frequency of 4.0 MHz. You cannot compare the different architectures directly, but iPad’s CPU is a dual core A5, clocked at up to 1 GHz. That’s approximately three hundred times more, not counting in the vastly superior architecture.
Z80 CPU was supported by whooping 64KB of system memory. Surprisingly, it was enough to run databases, word processors and complex, professional software. Today’s iPad is equipped with 512MB of RAM (roughly one thousand times more), and some reviewers complain it’s a bit on the low side."
But what about the processing power? Osbourne 1 was sporting a Z80 CPU, running at a stunning frequency of 4.0 MHz. You cannot compare the different architectures directly, but iPad’s CPU is a dual core A5, clocked at up to 1 GHz. That’s approximately three hundred times more, not counting in the vastly superior architecture.
Z80 CPU was supported by whooping 64KB of system memory. Surprisingly, it was enough to run databases, word processors and complex, professional software. Today’s iPad is equipped with 512MB of RAM (roughly one thousand times more), and some reviewers complain it’s a bit on the low side."
Submission + - Google Introduces Block Domain To Search
An anonymous reader writes: Aimed at stripping search results of pages from 'low-quality' sites, a new Google Chrome extension was introduced to block specified websites from appearing in search results. Now, Google has introduced a new feature that hide results from unwanted domains. This is yet another way to find more of what you want on Google by blocking the sites you don’t want to see at all in search result. This was frequently requested by many slashdotters. The so-called "experts exchange" or "online eHow to guide" would be first on my blocked list.
Submission + - Chrome 10 Beta Boosts JavaScript Speed By 64% (computerworld.com)
CWmike writes: "Google released the first beta of Chrome 10 on Thursday, and Computerworld found it to be 64% faster than its predecessor on Google's V8 JavaScript benchmarks. But in another JS benchmark — WebKit's widely-cited SunSpider — Chrome 10 beta was no faster than Chrome 9. Yesterday's Chrome 10 beta release was the first to feature 'Crankshaft,' a new optimization technology. Google engineers have previously explained why SunSpider scores for a Crankshaft-equipped Chrome show little, if any, improvement over other browsers. 'The idea [in Crankshaft] is to heavily optimize code that is frequently executed and not waste time optimizing code that is not,' said the engineers. 'Because of this, benchmarks that finish in just a few milliseconds, such as SunSpider, will show little improvement with Crankshaft. The more work an application does, the bigger the gains will be.' [Chrome 10 beta download here.]"
Submission + - NVIDIA Demos "Kal-El" Quad-Core Tegra Mobile CPU (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: NVIDIA just took the wraps off their first quad-core Tegra mobile processor design at the Mobile World Conference today and it's a sight to behold. Dubbed Kal-El, the new chip will be capable of outputting 1440P video content and offer 300 DPI on devices with a 10.1" display. Nvidia is claiming that Kal-El will deliver 5x the performance of Tegra 2 and ship with a 12-core GeForce GPU as well. The company has also posted two different videos of Kal-El in action.
Submission + - Search begins for giant new planet (independent.co.uk) 1
suraj.sun writes: The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (pronounced ty-kee), would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth's, and 375 times farther than Pluto's, which is why it hasn't been seen so far.
But scientists now believe the proof of its existence has already been gathered by a Nasa space telescope, Wise, and is just waiting to be analysed.
Whether it would become the new ninth planet would be decided by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The main argument against is that Tyche probably formed around another star and was later captured by the Sun's gravitational field.
The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/up-telescope-search-begins-for-giant-new-planet-2213119.html
But scientists now believe the proof of its existence has already been gathered by a Nasa space telescope, Wise, and is just waiting to be analysed.
Whether it would become the new ninth planet would be decided by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The main argument against is that Tyche probably formed around another star and was later captured by the Sun's gravitational field.
The Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/up-telescope-search-begins-for-giant-new-planet-2213119.html
Submission + - Top 10 Botnets of 2010 (net-security.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Damballa's “Top 10 Botnet Threat Report — 2010” shows a dramatic increase in Internet crime and targeted botnet attacks. At its peak in 2010, the total number of unique botnet victims grew by 654 percent, with an average incremental growth of eight percent per week. The report reveals that many new botnets were discovered in 2010.
Comment The irony . . . (Score 1) 178
Oh, the irony. I attempted to read the article, and I get "Site off-line".
Anyone think that he might have just won the "pissed off the hackers" achievement?
Anyone think that he might have just won the "pissed off the hackers" achievement?
Submission + - Remote Bug Found in Ubuntu Kerberos (threatpost.com)
Trailrunner7 writes: There's a remote vulnerability in the Kerberos implementation in several versions of Ubuntu, which could allow an attacker to cause a denial-of-service on vulnerable servers. The bug is in Ubuntu 8.04, Ubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 10.04 and Ubuntu 10.10.
The bug is in the Ubuntu implementation of the Kerberos authentication protocol. Ubuntu has released a slew of new packages to fix the flaw. The group said that in most cases, a normal system update will add the new fixes.
The bug is in the Ubuntu implementation of the Kerberos authentication protocol. Ubuntu has released a slew of new packages to fix the flaw. The group said that in most cases, a normal system update will add the new fixes.
Submission + - Look Out LCDs – AMOLEDs are Coming (singularityhub.com)
kkleiner writes: Look out LCD's because flexible, paper thin, AMOLED screens with super crisp resolution are about to become mainstream. Samsung recently unveiled a slew of new AMOLED products at CES 2011, and they did not disappoint. By layering thin sheets of an electroluminescent organic material, Samsung has managed to conceive of an entire line of products that take LED displays to an entirely new level – these videos you have to see to believe. From transparent displays to paper-thin deformable screens, Samsung has definitely set the AMOLED bar pretty high.
Comment Run it yourself! (Score 1) 1
In my own opinion, worth as much as it may be, the best way to learn basic administration is to run a Linux system yourself. I'm not saying to wipe your entire hard drive immediately and install over whatever Windows version you are using, but I do suggest you at least run a LiveCD regularly and maybe even install as a second operating system.
Work with it for some tasks, become comfortable with using the command-line and using the package manager that comes with your distro. Read a little bit about the kernel (nothing too in-depth of course, but even just the basic structure of how kernel modules are used), experiment with the different filesystems. Install and configure a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack (or use PostgreSQL if you prefer) and install various web applications.
If you really want to learn, teach yourself shell and Perl scripting. Those two are sort of the . . . "swiss army knives" of UNIX-derived systems.
I would write more, but I'm afraid that I need to get somewhere in the next three minutes. I wish you best of luck on your journey, however you wish to take it. You'll be frustrated, exasperated, and even angry at times, but . . . well.
It'll be fun.
Work with it for some tasks, become comfortable with using the command-line and using the package manager that comes with your distro. Read a little bit about the kernel (nothing too in-depth of course, but even just the basic structure of how kernel modules are used), experiment with the different filesystems. Install and configure a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) stack (or use PostgreSQL if you prefer) and install various web applications.
If you really want to learn, teach yourself shell and Perl scripting. Those two are sort of the . . . "swiss army knives" of UNIX-derived systems.
I would write more, but I'm afraid that I need to get somewhere in the next three minutes. I wish you best of luck on your journey, however you wish to take it. You'll be frustrated, exasperated, and even angry at times, but . . . well.
It'll be fun.
Submission + - Algeria's afraid to shut down its internet (motherboard.tv)
HansonMB writes: In the western world, the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia have demonstrated to us a number of important things about the Middle East. Chief among them, that its people are not pre-disposed towards theocratic slavery, that great change through non-violent means is possible, and that government blockage of online services as a means of silencing dissent tends to backfire really badly.
Comment Accuracy? (Score 2) 87
'Twould be very interesting to see just how accurate these devices are. While they are undoubtably cheap and easy to manufacture, many applications require high-precision measurements, not just good approximations.
Nevertheless, bravo.
Comment . . . common sensical, it seems to me. (Score 3, Informative) 308
Umm . . . obvious, per chance? It seems to me that this is sort of . . . common sensical.
Many people (myself included among that set) use a common username across multiple sites for that very reason mentioned in the article. To enable others to track us via our username. Of course, the intended audience is not the scammers -- oh, sorry, "marketers" -- but rather fellow hackers.
But it's a double-edged sword. Perform an action, and the consequences will arrive, knocking on the door in the middle of the night.
Welcome to the world, people.
Submission + - Save yourself in a Time Capsule (lovetimecapsule.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Inspired by the MillionDollarHomepage idea, another student created a time capsule website where loved ones, families and friends can store their memories and life experiences forever in the cyberspace to raise money for tuition.
