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AMD

Submission + - Improving the PC as a gaming platform: the hardware (techreport.com)

Submitted by
JohnnyBigodes
JohnnyBigodes writes: "PC gaming still has a few warts, and lack the ease-of-use of consoles, first and foremost when it comes to buying the hardware. And as they say, recognizing and admitting a problem is the first step in solving it. So here are some ideas for improving the platform, ranging from having revival of the 90s-era MPC specification, to better model numbering on behalf of manufacturers.
What does the Slashdot crowd think?"
Intel

Submission + - Ivy Bridge running hotter than Intel's last-gen CPU (techreport.com) 1

Submitted by crookedvulture
crookedvulture writes: The launch of Intel's Ivy Bridge CPUs made headlines earlier this week, but the next-gen processor's story is still being told. When overclocked, Ivy Bridge runs as much as 20C hotter than its Sandy Bridge predecessor at the same speed, despite the fact that the two chips have comparable power consumption. There are several reasons for these toasty tendencies. The new 22-nm process used to fabricate the CPU produces a smaller die with less surface area to dissipate heat. Intel has changed the thermal interface material between the CPU die and its heat spreader. Ivy also requires a much bigger step up in voltage to hit the same speeds as Sandy Bridge. Looks like serious overclockers are better off sticking with Intel's last-generation chips.
The Internet

Submission + - Has the infamous Goatse guy been found? (gawker.com) 1

Submitted by
DesScorp
DesScorp writes: "If you were on Slashdot in the late 90's and early 2K's, then you've probably been "Goatse'd". Someone posts a link about a supposedly innocuous subject, you click, and suddenly you're looking at something you didn't think was humanly possible. Goatse'ing was a form of RickRolling, only with a "What has been seen cannot be unseen" aspect. For years, people have speculated: "Who IS that guy?". Was he some otherwise normal guy... a doctor, lawyer, mechanic, that just had some very kinky personal tastes? It was noted that in his pic, he wore a wedding band. Was this the guy sitting next to you in church?

Adrian Chen at Gawker claims to have found the man responsible, and describes the process of how the Internet's first truly infamous meme began, and how it spread."

Submission + - DARPA Robotics Challenge: Here Are the Official Details (ieee.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The DARPA Robotics Challenge is offering tens of million of dollars in funding to teams from anywhere in the world to build robots capable of performing complex mobility and manipulation tasks such as walking over rubble and operating power tools. It all will culminate with an audacious competition with robots driving trucks, breaking through walls, and attempting to perform repairs in a simulated industrial-disaster setting. The winner takes all: a $2 million cash prize.
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft is ending support for Windows Vista today, still a couple more years f (pureinfotech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today, Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 is the day that Microsoft is ending the mainstream support for Windows Vista after five years of its release, and for Microsoft Office 2007. However, because Windows XP still a big players in the operating system world, all support is set to be terminated in about two years, together with Microsoft Office 2003.
Earth

Submission + - 800-year-old Farmers Could Teach us How to Protect the Amazon (scienceworldreport.com)

Submitted by
fishmike
fishmike writes: "In the face of mass deforestation of the Amazon, recent findings indicate that we could learn from its earliest inhabitants who managed their farmland sustainably. An international team of archaeologists and paleoecologists, including Dr. Mitchell Power, curator of the Garrett Herbarium at the Natural History Museum of Utah and assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah, report for the first time that indigenous people, living in the savannas around the Amazonian forest, farmed without using fire. These findings are published today, April 9, 2012, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Submission + - At what point has a Kickstarter project failed? 2

Submitted by skywiseguy
skywiseguy writes: I have only used Kickstarter to back a single project so far, but one of the backers of that project pointed us to a project promising video capable glasses which was once one of the top 10 highest funded projects in Kickstarter history. After reading through the comments, it is obvious that the project has not met its expected deadline of "Winter 2011" but the project team rarely gives any updates with concrete information, all emails sent to them by backers get a form letter in reply, they routinely delete negative comments from their Facebook page, and apparently very soon after the project was funded, they posted pictures of themselves on a tropical beach with the tagline "We are not on a beach in Thailand." Their early promotions were featured on Engadget and other tech sites but since the project was funded they've rarely, if ever, communicated in more than a form letter. So at what point can a project like this be considered to have failed? And if you had backed a project with this kind of lack of communication from the project team, what would you consider to be the best course of action? Disclaimer: I have not backed this project, but I am very interested in funding Kickstarter projects and I do not want to get caught sending money to a less than reputable project. According to the above project's backers, Kickstarter claims to have no mechanism for refunding money to backers of failed projects and no way to hold the project team accountable to their backers. This does not seem like a healthy environment for someone who is averse to giving their money to scam artists.
Idle

Submission + - Akira's Iconic Motorcycle Races Through Japan (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: The 1988 film Akira stands as a classic not just in Japanese animation, but in the entire post-apocalyptic film genre. As such, fans of the film have been drawn to some of its most memorable moments and visuals, particularly the futuristic motorcycle driven by one of the main characters. One fan even went so far as to devote several years to creating a working replica of the signature vehicle, which has become the only one officially recognized by Akira's creator, and which recently toured Japan to raise money for charity.
Intel

Submission + - Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs finally arrive (techreport.com)

Submitted by crookedvulture
crookedvulture writes: Intel has officially taken the wraps off its next-gen Sandy Bridge processors. It looks like they were worth the wait. Performance is way up versus the competition from AMD, and power consumption is down, resulting in substantially less energy usage overall. The new integrated graphics processor is a big improvement over past iterations, and it offers a nice boost to video encoding performance. You don't have to spend that much to get in on the action, either. Dual-core models start at only $117 and you can get a quad for less than $200.

Comment Re:"Great leap forward" (Score 1) 344

by JohnnyBigodes (#33650816) Attached to: PostgreSQL 9.0 Released

No, not really.

MySQL has the concept of storage engines, in which, for every table type you create, you pick which storage engine you want to use: MyISAM, InnoDB, etc. That will determine what features one gets. However, most people don't even bother reading a single bit and get a knee-jerk reaction because the default type is the old MyISAM. Granted, it shouldn't be the default anymore, but still... bliss is only one click away for changing the table type.

InnoDB is the second most-common storage engine (the first being the old/kludgy MyISAM) and is ACID-compliant, supports foreign keys, etc. The only thing it lacks is full-text support which is only available on MyISAM tables, but that can be worked around of relatively easily.

There are also other storage engines available, some free, some commercial, and some that enable some neat tricks (like the Blackhole storage engine for replication purposes).

Comment Re:"Great leap forward" (Score 1) 344

by JohnnyBigodes (#33645910) Attached to: PostgreSQL 9.0 Released

You bring up a good point there, and I won't try to dismiss it as it's certainly valid. Misfired releases, so to speak, have hurt MySQL in recent history and created division even in its own community.

I'm just trying to shake down these age-old misconceptions that no longer have any base in reality :) (no foreign keys! no transaactions! no ACID!).

Comment Re:"Great leap forward" (Score 1) 344

by JohnnyBigodes (#33645894) Attached to: PostgreSQL 9.0 Released

I could see your point if MySQL weren't being used in some high-profile instances. However, even that isn't the case anymore. For instance, Google has submitted quite some patches of its own to MySQL.

See MySQL's case studies here: http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/case-studies/

Disclaimer: I am not in any way related to MySQL as more than a web developer. I'm even contemplating a move to PostgreSQL somewhere down the road due to the recent Oracle shenanigans. But nowadays, it is a pretty good product.

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