Comment Re:Were nerds here... use the f'ing metric system (Score 1) 472
I recalled incorrectly - 0 degrees was the freezing point of brine.
I knew I never should have trusted anything my seventh grade science teacher taught us.
Comment Re:Were nerds here... use the f'ing metric system (Score 1) 472
As I recall, zero degrees Farenheit is the freezing temp of alcohol and 100 degrees Farenheit was originally supposed to be the normal body temp of humans (someone must have had a slight fever when Farenheit was measuring his data.)
Submission + - How do you learn new languages?
An anonymous reader writes: How do you go about learning a new (programming) language? Do you buy a book? Use online tutorials? Message boards? Take a class?
Submission + - Vista retail sales low compared to XP launch
PetManimal writes: "A comparison of first-week retail sales of Vista compared to first-week sales of XP back in 2001 found that Vista sales were 60% lower. Steve Ballmer has admitted that earlier sales forecasts were "overly aggressive," but at least there is some good news for Microsoft: early Office 2007 sales were very strong compared to the early sales of Office 2003, despite almost no advertising or marketing until the retail launch at the end of January."
Submission + - Silicon Valley, follow the money
mrspin writes: "This week the The New York Times sparked a lively debate, after it published an article which argued that when it comes to creating innovative technology, geography still matters — and that Silicon Valley is the place to be. And it's certainly true that Silicon Valley, compared with other innovation hot-spots, has the much needed Venture Capital and the connections that enable money to flow from one new company to another. Want proof? ZDNet takes a look at LinkSViewer, a new web-based visual networking tool for exploring capital relationships in Silicon Valley."
Submission + - beta version of CUDA is available
An anonymous reader writes: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda.html
he CUDA Toolkit is a complete software development solution for programming CUDA-enabled GPUs. The Toolkit includes standard FFT and BLAS libraries, a C-compiler for the NVIDIA GPU and a runtime driver. The CUDA runtime driver is a separate standalone driver that interoperates with OpenGL and Microsoft® DirectX® drivers from NVIDIA. CUDA technology is currently supported on the Linux and Microsoft® Windows® XP operating systems.
The CUDA Developer SDK provides examples with source code to help you get started with CUDA. Examples include:
Parallel bitonic sort
Matrix multiplication
Matrix transpose
Performance profiling using timers
Parallel prefix sum (scan) of large arrays
Image convolution
1D DWT using Haar wavelet
OpenGL and Direct3D graphics interoperation examples
CUDA BLAS and FFT library usage examples
CPU-GPU C- and C++-code integration
Submission + - Why Does KDE Use Slaves?
Jabari Zakiya writes: "I wrote this blog on Freesoftware Magazine
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/ and
the majority of the comments so far have been in
support of the use of the terminology of "slaves"
to describe KDE widgets. I say the use of the
"slave" metaphor is totally inconsistent with the
concept of "free software." Apparently, others don't.
So, should KDE use "slaves."
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/2075"
Submission + - Apple TV to be a centrally controlled P2P network?
Rolgar writes: This week, Bob Cringely states that since the Apple TV will be an always on device (unless you unplug it) with a 40GB hard drive, Apple will distribute content to Apple TVs for every ISP, and then use centrally controlled P2P sharing on those Apple TVs to distribute the content to the rest of the owners of the Apple TV, cutting their own bandwidth costs and providing video faster to the consumers. The ISPs will incur higher (essentially free) bandwidth locally, possibly lose some subscribers to cable TV, but have fewer costs through the Tier II Internet backbone providers, which I suspect would possibly undercut the Apple and Google's need to worry about net neutrality for video. Bob also expects that Google will be involved with their fiber network and advertising expertise, and I suspect that they'll bundle in YouTube content as well and maybe Google has worked out a way to distribute YouTube video to PCs through this network. Bob suspects that they won't get around to announcing the full details of this plan until they hit a half million units or more, and that this Apple and Google pairing will become the equivalent of a cable TV provider with almost none of the infrastructure costs, and that eventually the real HD revolution will come from Apple and Google.
Comments From Miyamoto On Wii, Industry 209
This past December, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto sat down with the Talk Asia program. It was only just recently translated and (via Ars Technica), CNN is carrying the resulting commentary. Miyamoto discusses the creation of Mario, the future of the Nintendo, the problems facing the games industry today, and the 'awesomeness' of the Wii's name. "I think anyone can enjoy video games. But some people shy away from them, just by looking at the shape of the console, or they think it is complicated when they have to plug the machine into their television set. However, I think if it is something that is simple to connect and play, it can be enjoyed by anybody, especially if they can interact with the characters. We also have to think about the themes of the games. There is an abundance of themes that people are interested in, and video games have only touched on few of them."
Submission + - No truth to Samba rumor
lisah writes: "Linux.com is reporting this morning that recent rumors of a mass exodus of Samba developers fleeing to Red Hat because they are irate over the Microsoft/Novell agreement are unfounded. Though well known Samba team member Jeremy Allison recently left Novell for Google, Novell spokesperson Kevan Barney says reports that the entire Samba team has imploded are 'incorrect'."
Submission + - Bionic eye could restore vision
MattSparkes writes: "A new bionic eye could restore vision to the profoundly blind. A prototype was tested on six patients and "within a few weeks all could detect light, identify objects and even perceive motion again. For one patient, this was the first time he had seen anything in half a century." The user wears a pair of glasses that contain a miniature camera and that wirelessly transmits video to a cellphone-sized computer in the wearer's pocket. This computer processes the image information and wirelessly transmits it to a tiny electronic receiver implanted in the wearer's head."
Submission + - Yahoo patents Web 2.0!!!
nbmonger writes: As reported on Techcrunch and CrunchGear — Yahoo was recently issued a patent focused on Web 2.0 that could have a serious impact for websites (and developers) which allow users to create customizable pages. An analysis of the patent and the 20+ companies which could be affected is covered on PatentMonkey.
Interestingly, Yahoo sued Google back in 2004 with a patent Yahoo obtained when they acquired Overture. The net result was Yahoo owning 5% of Google. Perhaps Yahoo will use the patent to take a 5% stake in all the MashUps knowing some will pay off handomsly.
Submission + - Vista "express" upgrade program bungled
Josh M. writes: Thousands of customers who purchased new Windows PCs this past Christmas are still waiting on their promised Windows Vista upgrades, despite the Vista launch occurring more than two weeks ago. Ars reports that Dell and HP have both pushed their shipping dates 6-8 weeks back after launch, meaning some people won't get their upgrades well into April. It turns out that because those customers get free Vista support, the OEMs are waiting for better driver support, hence the delay. So much for "express."
Submission + - Hacks no longer joking matter at MIT
ecklesweb writes: The Boston Globe reprots that Hacks are no longer a joke at MIT. Three students tripped an alarm while "exploring" the Faculty Club under the cover of dark. Instead of fines or community service, the three students face up to 20 years in prison on charges of felony breaking and entering and trespassing. Of course, maybe it's just *botched* hacks that are no joke at MIT...
Over 27% of Firefox Patches Come from Volunteers 107
dolphinling writes "Everyone is aware that the Mozilla Corporation makes some money, and employs some people now. Google has full-time employees working on Firefox too, as do a number of other places. Yet despite that, in the six months up to Firefox 2 some 27% of the patches to Firefox were submitted by key volunteers, and those patches represent 24% of changes made to the source code. What's more, those numbers only counted contributers with 50 patches or more, so the actual numbers are probably quite a bit higher. It's good to see that even as Mozilla does so well in the business world, it can still keep its ties to the community so strong." They were running these number to find out who they need to start offering support to. So: contribute to Firefox, and you know you'll get a hand up. Nice work, folks.
