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IBM

Submission + - IBM creates self-assembling chips

Submitted by
AlHunt
AlHunt writes: "IBM believes computer chips work better if they're more like Swiss cheese than American cheese. 20 nanometer holes boost performance by 35% or cut power consumption by a like amount.

From the article: "To create these tiny holes, the computer company has harnessed a plastic-like material that spontaneously forms into a sieve-like structure. The holes have a width of 20 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, placing the method in the much-vaunted field of nanotechnology."

"To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has used nanoscale self-assembled materials to build things that machines aren't capable of doing," said John Kelly, IBM's vice president of development.

Some might say our new self-replicating overlords have finally arrived. I wouldn't, of course, but some might."
Software

Would You Install Pirated Software at Work? 848

Posted by Cliff from the questionable-PHB-ethics dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "I am an IT professional, and due to budget constraints, I have been told to install multiple copies of MS Office, despite offering to install OpenOffice, and other OpenSource Office products. Even though most of the uses are for people using Excel like a database, or formatting of text in cells, other programs are not tolerated. I have been over ruled by our controller, to my disagreement. I would never turn them in, but I am in tough place by knowing doing something illegal. I want to keep my job, but disagree with some of the decision making on this issue. Other than drafting a letter to the owners of the company on how I disagree with the policy, what else can I do?"
United States

Submission + - Practical Freedoms of the Average Citizen?

Submitted by pie4all88
pie4all88 writes: I've been looking for a list of practical US laws for the average citizen for some time now, so I figured I'd write in to the almighty Slashdot for some answers. The laws I'm referring to include general laws about privacy and freedoms — for example, if you're simply walking down the street, can a policeman stop you and ask for identification? If anyone here knows of a relevant law repository or is willing to share some knowledge to help everyone understand their rights, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Feed Sony's summer laptop lineup leaked, including Santa Rosa FZ series (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Laptops

There isn't quite an abundance of info about these up-and-comers from Sony, but it's better than nothing. Sony is prepping the 15.4-inch FZ series, 13.3-inch SZ5, 11.1-inch TZ11, 13.3-inch CZ and 14-inch CR for a summer launch, and is apparently having a hard time keeping the info under wraps. We've got a few shady specs on screen resolution and whatnot for a few models, but the fact that the 11-inchers on up to the 15-incher are sporting WXGA resolutions seems to cast a bit of doubt on the proceedings. Luckily, we've got the skinny on the FZ19 (pictured above), which includes the new Santa Rosa chipset from Intel, along with integrated X3100 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 120GB HDD. Most of the laptops, including the FZ series, include built-in webcams and heaping helpings of RAM. The TZ series is a refresh to the TX line of ultraportables, and seems to be making some good strides, including a purported business-friendly redesign and an SSD option due for a later revision. Not too many specifics on launch dates, but July seems to be the general word, at least for the CZ and CR series. Hit up the read link for more detailed specs.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Portables (Games)

20 Years of Handheld Console Evolution 74

Posted by Zonk from the watch-darwin-in-gorgeous-8-bit-action dept.
marcellizot writes "It has taken a while for handheld consoles to crawl from the primordial 8-bit slime to today's apex predator polygon juggling brutes. To illustrate just how much things have advanced over the last 20 years, Pocket Gamer has pulled together a few facts and figures in pretty chart form. Pitting the vital statistics of the critical handhelds of today and yesteryear against one another, there are some interesting facts to be gleaned from this infotainment extravaganza."
Music

Submission + - The RIAA's worst nightmare: computers that underst

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070430-the- riaas-worst-nightmare-computers-that-understand-mu sic.html Computers and music have been linked since the earliest days of the mainframe, when giant machines controlled primitive synthesizers. Recently, however, a significant advancement has taken place in the field of computer music with the development of software that can not only transcribe polyphonic music in real time, but can also play back complex harmonies alongside human performers. For instance, at the annual Music Information Retrieval Exchange (MIREX) competition, Christopher Raphael of Indiana University demonstrated a system that can understand live music well enough to accompany a musician.
Displays

Submission + - Holographic video game displays within 5 years

Submitted by
JamesO
JamesO writes: "The 3D monitors revealed to the public last week could be in our living rooms by 2012.

High resolution holographic displays, suitable for console and PC gaming, were being developed at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.

Speaking to Pro-G, V. Michael Bove Jr., the scientist leading the project, explained how long we may have to wait before we can expect to buy our own holographic display: "If people insist on HD resolution and a meter diagonal screen, it might be 10 years or more. If they're willing to accept something the size of a desktop monitor, it could be five to seven.""
Security

Submission + - Weak GMail Security

Submitted by
Martins
Martins writes: "About a year ago, I was sent an invite to GMail to my email account at the time at Telus. I set the account up but didn't use it immediately. A month later, I changed my ISP and email to Shaw. I then tried to get into GMail but had forgotten my password. I clicked on the appropriate link, and instead of asking me the security question as I'd expected, GMail emailed my password to my old Telus account, which had since been registered by someone else. I've tried contacting Google support to get my account back, even providing them with the original invite email that my friend had sent to me. However, I get back one or two form replies stating that they cannot help me because I don't have the received invite email — the one that has been appropriated by the user @ telus.net. After the form reply, Google tech support ignores my emails. This seems to me to be a huge security risk, what with the transiency of email accounts, to have a forgotten password automatically emailed without a verifying security question first. I was also hoping for better technical support from Google. I don't think my expectations are that unrealistic."

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