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Graphics

Submission + - Rays light up life-like graphics

TheDawgLives writes: "BBC News is carying a story of researchers from the University of Saarland in Germany that have developed new ray tracing algorithms that could revolutionize video games.
A video demonstration is also available.

From TFA:
Daniel Pohl, one of the researchers who has worked with Professor Slusallek, has used the algorithms to produce ray-traced versions of the Quake 3 and 4 video games. "It gives much higher image quality in shadows and reflections," said Mr Pohl. "You can even do reflections on reflections on reflections." This is something that would be impossible with traditional rendering techniques. The algorithms are well-suited to the next generation of PC chips that have multiple processing cores inside them. Separate cores could be used to model different rays to make good use of the available computer power, said Mr Pohl. The algorithms are being made available to anyone to use via the Open RT project."
Handhelds

Submission + - The Perfect Portable?

An anonymous reader writes: The thought of an internet tablet is, at least at first, a confusing one. It's not a notebook, or a PDA, or smartphone, but rather an oddity that takes aspects of each and mashs them into a single device. So what is an internet tablet? In the case of Nokia's N800 it is a 5.7" x 2.95" x 0.5" portable device that weighs just under half a pound. It runs Linux on a platform known as Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition and is powered by 330-MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 2420 processor along with 128MB RAM and 2568MB flash storage. Viewing is done on an 800x480 display that takes up almost the entire front of the device.
NASA

Submission + - NASA Scientist: Stop Building Coal Power Plants

eldavojohn writes: "Yesterday speaking as a private citizen & without authority from the U.S. space agency, James Hansen from NASA told Washington to stop building coal plants. From the article, "In his briefing to leaders of the press corps, entitled "Global Warming: Connecting the Dots from Causes to Solutions", Hansen said that evidence in the international scientific community shows global warming is occurring at a much faster pace than earlier forecasts predicted and that the burning of coal is a leading cause of elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which traps heat via the so-called greenhouse effect. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, coal-fueled power plants produce about half of the electricity consumed in America. Plans currently call for the construction of some 160 new coal-based facilities to meet future energy needs over the next decade." Hansen is a controversial but high ranking scientist at NASA who is a well known outspoken opponent of the Bush administration's handling & policies of environmental issues."
Displays

Submission + - HP's New 30" LP3065 Wide Screen LCD Monitor

Spinnerbait writes: "30 inch LCD panels as computer monitors are becoming more commonplace on the desktop these days, with offerings from the likes of Apple, Dell and now HP. HP's LP3065 is based on the same WCCFL-based (wide cold cathode florescent lighting) panel that Dell's UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC is built on. However, HP saw fit to one-up Dell (or two-up as the case may be) and added in a much-needed two additional DVI inputs. These panels have color spectral capabilities that allow them to reproduce 92% of the NTSC color gamut (better than most standard LCDs in the 70% range), with a 12ms black-to-black response time and 1000:1 contrast ratio. Not to mention they offer an enormous 2560X1600 native resolution in a 16:10 widescreen format."
Graphics

Submission + - ATI R600: The rumours so far

janp writes: "The launch of ATI's R600 (or Radeon X2900) graphics card has been postponed once again. Hardware.Info has compiled all the rumours so far, tried to verify most of them and combined them in one article. It includes some screenshots from AMD/ATI's secret documentation for partners, proving the power consumption to be 280 Watt per card!"
Music

Submission + - Pianist's Husband Admits Faking Recordings

bugg_tb writes: Earlier this month Slashdot reported on Gramophone Magainze's article about Joyce Hatto's music not actually being recorded by her....

It turns out that this appears to be correct as the BBC is reporting that her husband William Barrington-Coupe "began faking passages because Joyce Hatto, who had ovarian cancer, could be heard groaning in pain during recordings"
Upgrades

Submission + - Diamond Thermal Compound finally available

dampeal writes: Here's a review of the first available Diamond based thermal compound... Snip: They say Diamonds are a girls best friend, well that might be true but I think they may be a geeks or enthusiasts best friend as well... I'm talking of course of the thermal properties of diamonds, diamonds are the best thermally conductive substance out there, so of course having a diamond based thermal compound would be probably the best choice for a thermal compound.
Bug

Submission + - Software Bug Halts F-22 Flight

mgh02114 writes: The new US stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor, was deployed for the first time to Asia earlier this month. The first flight from Hawaii to Japan was forced to turn back when a software glitch crashed the F-22 on-board computers as they crossed the international date line. The delay in arrival in Japan was previously reported here and here, with rumors of problems with the software. CNN television, however, this morning reported that all every fighter completely lost all navigation and communications when they crossed the international date line. They reportedly had to turn around and follow their tankers by visual contact back to Hawaii. According to the CNN story, if they had not been with their tankers, or the weather had been bad, this would have been serious. CNN has not put up anything on their website yet. This follows previous reports that a software bug in the F-16, caught in simulation before the plane ever flew, that would have caused the fighter to flip upside down when flying over the equator.

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