Comment Re:Women of /., please comment (Score 0) 417
What women of /.? You must be new here.
Also,
Comment other methods of distribution? (Score 0) 283
Maybe they could have avoided this if they used a method other than HTTP to download content. Maybe where they host the whole file first, and share it with other clients? Each client could pass along ("seed"?) pieces to each other until everyone peers had the entire file. It would be way less server intensive for Paramount. Any ideas?
Submission + - Scanning railroad tracks in 3D (controleng.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Control Engineering has an article about how the railroad companies are using high-speed 3D scanning at 30 mph to detect defects in railroad track. Up until now, amazingly, people have been walking the track to judge the condition of it.
Submission + - Seagate firmware performance differs
Derkjan de Haan writes: "The Seagate 7200.10 disk was the first generally available desktop drive featuring perpendicular recording. This feature stores the information vertically instead of horizontally on the platters, thereby increasing the data density. This made higher capacity disks cheaper to produce and offer excellent performance. Their sequential throughput actually superseded that of the performance king; the Western Digital Raptor which runs at 10.000rpm instead of the usual 7.200rpm.
All was good, until reports on the internet claimed that some 7200.10 disks had much lower performance than other 7200.10 disks. They soon took blame on the firmware of the disks, named AAK. Disks with other firmware, AAE or AAC, performed as expected.
The benchmarks performed showed very mixed results. The claims found on the internet, however, have been confirmed. The AAK disk does have a much lower throughput rate than the AAE disk. While firmware can tune various aspects of performance it is highly unusual for it to affect sequential throughput. The STR is pretty much a 'fact' of the disk, and should not be affected by different firmware.
URL: http://www.fluffles.net/articles/seagate-AAK-firmw are"
NASA's Future Inflatable Lunar Base 203
Roland Piquepaille writes "If you think that future NASA's moon camps need to have a science fiction look, you might be disappointed. Today, NASA is testing small inflatable structures. In fact, if these expandable 'tents' receive positive reviews, astronauts will 'camp' on the moon as early as 2020. These 12-foot (3.65 meter) diameter inflatable units could be used as building blocks for a future lunar base. Right now, a prototype is tested at NASA's Langley Research Center. But NASA also wants to test other inflatable structures in the not-too-friendly environment of the Antarctic next year. Still, it's too early to know if NASA's first habitable lunar base will use inflatable or rigid structures."
