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Math

Submission + - Mathematical Lego (R)

Submitted by
VincenzoRomano
VincenzoRomano writes: "Almost everyone knows about the numerous applications and use for the ubiquitous LEGO(R) toys.
Anrew Lipson has built a web page in his site about Mathematical LEGO(R) Sculptures he made, even if he admits they weren't constructed entirely without computer assistance.
Those sculptures are also documented with photos and Lego Draw and CAD .DAT files.
By the way, I'd suggest you to check whether your children are already building such things out of Lego bricks."
Space

Submission + - Just discovered - a 5,000 mile wide hurricane

Submitted by
Salvance
Salvance writes: "NASA just announced that they observed a 5,000 mile hurricane-like storm on the surface of Saturn, the first time such a storm has been observed on another planet. Unlike hurricanes on earth, this massive storm with 350 mph winds did not move or drift from a fixed location, and has allowed scientists to pear farther into the planet's atmosphere than ever before."
Linux Business

Submission + - Ubuntu: The Imperfect Operating System Alternative

Submitted by
Nathan
Nathan writes: "Article Url: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/ubuntu/
Article PIC: http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/ubuntu/img/email. jpg

Article Snippet:

"Now I know I'm going to be chastised for saying this, so I might as well get it out in the open: Ubuntu needs to be more user-friendly. Although the operating system has a beautiful interface, and is quite easy to use -even for those who have never tried, or even seen Linux before-it is still really difficult to get things up-and-running when you encounter a small glitch.""
Input Devices

Submission + - Mouse Mouse Revolution

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Logitech's news push is its Advanced Peripherals, high-end, skillfully designed products that scream out 'tech luxury'. These are following the path of the diNovo keyboard which was a big success for Logitech. This article examines the Advanced Peripherals' notebook mouse: the VX Revolution. As expected, this is a cordless laser mouse that looks great, but it has dongle that can be stored inside it, a laser sensor, a redesigned scroll wheel that can either be set to normal ratchet style or a super fast free mode in which the ratchet is disengaged.
Programming

Submission + - How do you capture time for software developers?

Submitted by richado
richado writes: I work for a small company with a staff of 3 full-time developers. We have a difficult time accurately tracking time for projects for both internal use and for customers. Everyone agrees that there are legitimate business reasons for tracking employee time, but the project management tool we use makes it extremely difficult to do so in a software development environment. Management's primary reasons for capturing time are to improve estimating of future projects and to capture hours directly billable to specific customers.

What do other companies do/use to capture developers' time?
Google

Submission + - Google for your health

Submitted by
ndogg
ndogg writes: "It seems that a lot of doctors are turning to Google when they themselves are stumped — not that this is likely a surprise to anyone here. Of course, don't searching for your own diagnosis; let your doctor do it since he or she can sift through it all and have a higher likely-hood of finding the correct articles to read. What may be surprising, however, is that clinical nurses can be just as accurate as the clinicians with diagnoses when using a search engine."
Software

Submission + - Job in a small company vs. big company.

Submitted by blue_apple
blue_apple writes: I work for a small company (25 people). The work environment is pretty good and people are really passionate about what they do. It has been a year and half since I have been working with this company. The pay is pretty competitive. Also, the commute time 15 min each way. I have learnt a lot and the learning curve has been pretty steep. This is my first job out of school. I am 25. Recently, I have started getting thoughts about moving to a bigger city and a bigger company. I do understand the cons of moving to a bigger city such as longer commute, more work hours etc. but at the same time I also feel that I cannot grow more personally if I stick around. The cons of moving to a bigger city somehow seem to be downsized by this thought. I also feel that this is the right time to make a switch since if not now then may be in a couple of years it might be too late.... I am a little confused over what to choose and what should be the deciding factors..... Your thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.....

The Information Factories Are Here 126

Posted by CowboyNeal from the brave-new-world dept.
prostoalex writes, "Wired magazine has coined a new term for the massive data centers built in the Pacific Northwest by Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! Cloudware is, ironically, a return of the centralized data and bandwidth power houses caused by the decentralized and distributed nature of the Internet. George Gilder thinks we're witnessing something monumental: 'According to Bell's law, every decade a new class of computer emerges from a hundredfold drop in the price of processing power. As we approach a billionth of a cent per byte of storage, and pennies per gigabit per second of bandwidth, what kind of machine labors to be born? How will we feed it? How will it be tamed? And how soon will it, in its inevitable turn, become a dinosaur?'"
Music

Submission + - Judge OK's Challenge to RIAA's $750-per-song Claim

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "In UMG v. Lindor, in Brooklyn federal court, the presiding judge has held that Marie Lindor can try to prove that the RIAA's claim of $750-per-song statutory damages is a violation of the Due Process Clause of the Constitution, since she has evidence that the actual wholesale price of the downloads is only 70 cents. This decision activates an earlier ruling by the Magistrate in the case that the record labels must now turn over "all relevant documents" regarding the prices at which they sell legal downloads to online retailers, and produce a witness to give a deposition by telephone on the subject. Judge Trager rejected the RIAA's claim that the defense was frivolous, pointing out that the RIAA had cited no authorities contradicting the defense, but Ms. Lindor's attorneys had cited cases and law review articles indicating that it was a valid defense. See Decision at pp. 6-7."
Power

Submission + - Solar power becoming more affordable

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "With both startups and large companies such as Boeing working on solar power, the technology is becoming more affordable, MIT Technology Review says. Solar power concentrators are all in rage now: "The thinking behind concentrated solar power is simple. Because energy from the sun, although abundant, is diffuse, generating one gigawatt of power (the size of a typical utility-scale plant) using traditional photovoltaics requires a four-square-mile area of silicon, says Jerry Olson, a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, CO. A concentrator system, he says, would replace most of the silicon with plastic or glass lenses or metal reflectors, requiring only as much semiconductor material as it would take to cover an area the size of a typical backyard. And because decreasing the amount of semiconductor needed makes it affordable to use much more efficient types of solar cells, the total footprint of the plant, including the reflectors or lenses, would be only two to two-and-a-half square miles. (This approach is distinct from concentrated thermal solar power, which concentrates the heat from the sun to power turbines or sterling engines.)""
Upgrades

Submission + - Howto: Mac Mini upgrade to Core 2 Duo

Submitted by
nsayer
nsayer writes: "I've successfully upgraded my Mac Mini to a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo.

I'll go ahead and document the procedure here. I'm not the first to do so, but here goes anyway:

Lots of folks have put tutorials online about how to upgrade the memory. Upgrading the CPU starts with getting to the point where you would if you were upgrading the RAM.

The next step is to take a small flathead screwdriver and unscrew the metal riser in the front left corner of the board. Then disconnect the small wire connector for the power switch (back right corner) and the one for the IR receiver (front right corner). With that done, the board can tip up at the front and slide out.

Removing the CPU heat sink is not easy. You need to push the spring clips down to raise the clip part off the board. Then pinch the clips together enough that they can go backwards through the hole. Release them like you would remove tire bolts — do the one diagonally opposite the first one second.

Once the heat sink is off, either scrape off the old thermal compound or clean it off with acetone. Be sure to get it all!

The socket unlocks easily with a flathead screwdriver. Give the screw half a turn only. The CPU will pop right out. Put the new one in, making sure to line up the index mark correctly (bottom right corner, as you look at the board as it would normally sit in the case).

Take careful note of the CPU heat sink. It goes on only in one direction. Get this wrong and you'll have to detach it again (remember what I said up there about it being hard to do?) because the mezanine board won't fit over it. Before installing the CPU heat sink, squirt a small amount of heat sink compound on top of the cpu. Apply the heat sink and then detach it again to check the coverage. Once the heat sink is down correctly, push the spring clips through the holes in the board, again making the second one diagonally opposite the first one.

Put the board back in the case, attach the metal riser to the bottom left corner screw hole, reattach the two wire connectors you removed before, then proceed as if you had just finished replacing the RAM.

My 2.0 GHz Merom was just over $300 on eBay, so this isn't an amazingly cheap upgrade. I did it because I wanted the performance of the core 2 Duo, but since this machine is an HTPC, I didn't need a built-in display (and a Mac Pro would have been way overkill)."

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