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Submission + - Google Glass Explorer available to the general public (net4tech.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: New step for Google. Google Glass Explorer available now to the general public. but, for the moment, to the American consumers, these connected glasses are marketed for 1,500 dollars. However, Google Glass available and still in beta. Will have to wait to receive the final version...

Submission + - Supermassive Black Hole At The Centre Of Galaxy May Be Wormhole In Disguise (medium.com)

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: There is growing evidence that the centre of the Milky Way contains a mysterious object some 4 million times more massive than the Sun. Many astronomers believe that this object, called Sagittarius A*, is a supermassive black hole that was crucial in the galaxy's birth and formation. The thinking is that about 100 million years after the Big Bang, this supermassive object attracted the gas and dust that eventually became the Milky Way. But there is a problem with this theory--100 million years is not long enough for a black hole to grow so big. The alternative explanation is that Sagittarius A* is a wormhole that connects the Milky Way to another region of the universe or even a another multiverse. Cosmologists have long known that wormholes could have formed in the instants after the Big Bang and that these objects would have been preserved during inflation to appear today as supermassive objects hidden behind an event horizon, like black holes. It's easy to imagine that it would be impossible to tell these objects apart. But astronomers have now worked out that wormholes are smaller than black holes and so bend light from an object orbiting close to them, such as a plasma cloud, in a unique way that reveals their presence. They've even simulated what such a wormhole will look like. No telescope is yet capable of resolving images like these but that is set to change too. An infrared instrument called GRAVITY is currently being prepared for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer in Chile and should be in a position to spot the signature of a wormhole, if it is there, in the next few years.

Submission + - Can Thunderbolt Survive USB SuperSpeed+? (computerworld.com) 2

Submitted by Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: The USB SuperSpeed+ spec (A.K.A v3.1) offers up to 10Gbps throughput. Combine that with USB's new C-Type Connector, the specification for which is expected out in July, and users will have a symmetrical cable and plug just like Thunderbolt but that will enable up to 100 watts of power depending on the cable version. So where does that leave Thunderbolt, Intel's other hardware interconnect? According to some industry pundits, Thunderbolt withers or remains a niche technology supported almost exclusively by Apple. Even as Thunderbolt 2 offers twice the throughput (on paper) as USB 3.1, or up to 20Gbps), USB SuperSpeed+ is expected to scale past 40Gbps in coming years. "USB's installed base is in the billions. Thunderbolt's biggest problem is a relatively small installed base, in the tens of millions. Adding a higher data throughput, and a more expensive option, is unlikely to change that," said Brian O'Rourke, a principal analyst covering wired interfaces at IHS.

Comment Re:nVidia (Score 3, Informative) 158

by americamatrix (#42266109) Attached to: Frame Latency Spikes Plague Radeon Graphics Cards
That statement isn't true at all.

For a long time nvidia may have had the FPS crown, but the how the actual graphics looked on a radeon were MUCH better.

Quality vs Quantity, as seen here:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/quality_vs_quantity_3.html https://www.nordichardware.com/Graphics/ati-radeon-x1950xtx-part-1/Image-Quality.html


-americamatrix

Submission + - Gasoline from Fresh Air (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by SpockLogic
SpockLogic writes: Revolutionary new technology that produces “petrol from air” is being produced by a British firm.
A small company in the north of England has developed the “air capture” technology to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity.
Experts tonight hailed the astonishing breakthrough as a potential “game-changer” in the battle against climate change and a saviour for the world’s energy crisis.
The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The “petrol from air” technology involves taking sodium hydroxide and mixing it with carbon dioxide before "electrolysing" the sodium carbonate that it produces to form pure carbon dioxide.
Hydrogen is then produced by electrolysing water vapour captured with a dehumidifier.
The company, Air Fuel Syndication, then uses the carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce methanol which in turn is passed through a gasoline fuel reactor, creating petrol.
Company executives hope to build a large plant, which could produce more than a tonne of petrol every day, within two years and a refinery size operation within the next 15 years.
Google

Submission + - Google's New Chromebooks Ready to Battle Windows 8, Tablets (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Google is whipping the proverbial curtain back from its new Chromebook, which will retail for $249 and up. The Samsung-built device weighs 2.5 pounds and features an 11.6-inch screen (with 1366 x 768 resolution), backed by a 1.75GHz Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor. Google claims it will boot up in under 10 seconds and, depending on usage, last for 6.5 hours on one battery charge.

From a product perspective, Chrome OS and its associated hardware found itself fighting a two-front battle: the first against Windows PCs and Macs, both of which could claim more robust hardware for a similar cost to the old Chromebooks (which started at $449), and the second against tablets, which offered the same degree of flexibility and connectivity for a cheaper sticker-price. By setting the cost of the new Chromebook at $249, Google continues that pricing skirmish on more favorable terms."

Submission + - Google trading suspended, earnings 20% below expectations posted accidentally (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Trading in Google shares has been suspended after the internet giant released its third-quarter results early by mistake. Google blames financial printing firm RR Donnelley for filing an early draft of the results, which had been expected after the closing bell.

Shares in Google were down 9% when trading in the stock was suspended. Shares had fallen as much as 10.5% at one stage.

In a statement, Google said: "Earlier this morning RR Donnelley, the financial printer, informed us that they had filed our draft 8K earnings statement without authorisation... We have ceased trading on Nasdaq while we work to finalise the document. Once it's finalised we will release our earnings, resume trading on Nasdaq and hold our earnings call as normal at 1:30 PST."
Technology

Submission + - SD card survives real-life disaster test (stuff.co.nz)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A newly-wed couple lost their digital camera and SD card in the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011. The SD card survived flooding with silt and exposure to the weather for 20 months embedded in a gravel driveway. Amazingly, all 2.5 Gb of photos have recently been recovered. Sadly the digital camera did not fare so well. Even more interesting is that the SD card was from by a budget supplier, kudos to Adata!
Programming

Submission + - Duqu Trojan Programming Language Identified

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The sections responsible for downloading and executing additional modules in the Duqu Trojan, referred to by some as Stuxnet 2.0, were written in standard C++. A big chunk of it, the payload DLL, which communicates exclusively with the Command and Control (C&C) server so that the worm knows what to do once it has infected a system, has object-oriented code that doesn’t resemble anything seen before. Security researchers worked out what the mystery code does, but because they weren’t sure about the syntax, they asked the community for help in identifying the programming language. Over a week later, it turns out the Duqu Framework was written in C code, which was then compiled with MSVC 2008 and options /O1 (minimize size) /Ob1 (expand only __inline).
Cloud

Submission + - The Pirate Bay Plans Servers in the Sky (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by 1sockchuck
1sockchuck writes: The Pirate Bay says it plans to deploy servers on airborne drones several kilometers above international waters. The site said it was experimenting with servers using Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized Linux computer. April Fools come early? Torrent Freak says the plan is real. It's apparently a literal approach to cloud computing.
Transportation

Submission + - Futuristic Biplane Design Eliminates Sonic Boom (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: A throwback to early 20th Century aviation may hold the key to eliminating the sonic boom — at least according to researchers at MIT and Stanford University. Strongly reminiscent of biplanes still in use today, the researcher's concept supersonic aircraft introduces a second wing which it is claimed cancels the shockwaves generated by objects near or beyond the sound barrier.

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