josech - Slashdot User

USAF Unveils Supercomputer Made of 1,760 PS3s 163

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 03, 2010 @05:35PM from the going-for-the-gusto dept.

digitaldc writes with this excerpt from Gamasutra: "The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has connected 1,760 PlayStation 3 systems together to create what the organization is calling the fastest interactive computer in the entire Defense Department. The Condor Cluster, as the group of systems is known, also includes 168 separate graphical processing units and 84 coordinating servers in a parallel array capable of performing 500 trillion floating point operations per second (500 TFLOPS), according to AFRL Director of High Power Computing Mark Barnell."

Submission + - Tandberg attempts to patent open source code (multimedia.cx)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25, 2010 @05:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: As if the current situation with software patents wasn't bad enough, it appears a new phenomenon is emerging: companies are watching the commit logs of open source projects for ideas to patent. In this case, Tandberg filed a patent that was step-by-step identical to an algorithm developed by the x264 project — a mere two months after the original commit. The particular algorithm is a useful performance optimization in a wide variety of video encoders, including Theora.

The World's Smallest Legible Font 280

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday November 16, 2010 @04:25PM from the because-he-can dept.

hasanabbas1987 writes "From the article: 'Well 'technically' they aren't the smallest fonts in the world as if they were you wouldn't be able to read even a single letter, but, you should be able to read the entire paragraph in the picture given above... we did. A Computer science professor called Ken Perlin designed these tiny fonts and you can fit 500 reasonable words in a resolution of 320 x 240 space. There are at the moment the smallest legible fonts in the world.'"

IBM's Plans For the Cell Processor 124

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 12, 2010 @01:21AM from the breeding-a-better-hamster dept.

angry tapir writes "Development around the original Cell processor hasn't stalled, and IBM will continue to develop chips and supply hardware for future gaming consoles, a company executive said. IBM is working with gaming machine vendors including Nintendo and Sony, said Jai Menon, CTO of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, during an interview Thursday. 'We want to stay in the business, we intend to stay in the business,' he said. IBM confirmed in a statement that it continues to manufacture the Cell processor for use by Sony in its PlayStation 3. IBM also will continue to invest in Cell as part of its hybrid and multicore chip strategy, Menon said."

Collision of Two Asteroids Spotted For the First Time 31

Posted by timothy on Friday October 08, 2010 @09:22PM from the delicious-space-dust dept.

sciencehabit writes "Astronomers report that a small asteroid located in the inner asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter took a major hit early last year. Previously rendered only in artists' conceptions, the first asteroid collision known in modern times revealed itself in a tail of debris streaming from what astronomers at first assumed was a comet. Instead of a steady stream of dust, however, they found boulders near the object with dust moving away from them."

Submission + - Why Geim never patented graphene (nature.com)

Submitted by gbrumfiel on Friday October 08, 2010 @05:59AM

gbrumfiel writes: Andre Geim won this year's Nobel prize in physics for graphene, but he never patented it. In an interview with Nature News, he explains why
We considered patenting; we prepared a patent and it was nearly filed. Then I had an interaction with a big, multinational electronics company. I approached a guy at a conference and said, "We've got this patent coming up, would you be interested in sponsoring it over the years?" It's quite expensive to keep a patent alive for 20 years. The guy told me, "We are looking at graphene, and it might have a future in the long term. If after ten years we find it's really as good as it promises, we will put a hundred patent lawyers on it to write a hundred patents a day, and you will spend the rest of your life, and the gross domestic product of your little island, suing us." That's a direct quote.

Submission + - Mexican IP Agency Crowdsources to translate ACTA?

Submitted by josech on Thursday October 07, 2010 @11:16PM

josech writes: In an epic twist of irony, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the mexican negotiator of ACTA for Mexico, may have enjoyed the benefits of crowdsourcing to translate and publish its spanish version of the ACTA (http://www.impi.gob.mx/work/sites/IMPI/resources/LocalContent/1891/22/Consolidated_Text_es_ok.pdf) from no other place than the PiratePad site (http://piratepad.net/UFMOMN6q15). Many redaction and style errors from both documents are suspiciously similar. As one of the collaborators from PiratePad noted on twitter: "Is it me or the IMPI just published as official translation the one that we did yesterday at Etherpad?" (http://twitter.com/tumbolian/status/26676099096). Fortunately, the IMPI may have not breached the intellectual property of the PiratePad collaborators, because they don't believe in plagiarism nor copyrights.

Submission + - Create a social network with Joomla and JoomSocial

Submitted by David Taiaroa on Thursday October 07, 2010 @08:10PM

David Taiaroa writes: I was pleased to recieve a review copy of Joomla! Social Networking with JomSocial – Enhance your social networking with JomSocial by Beatrice A. Boateng and Kwasi Boateng. I've worked with many Joomla! extensions, but not with any of the social network options, so I was able to approach this book as someone learning about the topic for the first time.

The book is a well rounded and practical look at how to create a social network website using Joomla! and the JoomSocial extension, covering everything from installing Joomla! itself, to installing and configuring JoomSocial and other complementary extensions, some discussion of what makes a social networking site successful, and even an introduction to customising Joomla! templates.

The book starts with thorough instructions on how to install XAMPP on a local computer, then Joomla! itself. I thought these detailed instructions on creating a development environment on a local computer were well done, and could easily be followed by someone new to Joomla!

Installing the JoomSocial component follows the same proceedure as for any other Joomla! extension. The real work begins configuring the component and it's many plugins and modules. I think even experienced Joomla! professionals will find time saving suggestions in this section of the book. JoomSocial is a complex component, and without a good road map of where you are going and an overview of how everything fits together, you could have a lot of trial and error. This was one area of the book in particular which I think will be of interest to experienced and novice Joomla! users alike.

Clear instructions are given on how to migrate this draft site from our local development computer to an online server using Akeeba Backup. This is one of many examples in the book where novice users will learn not just about JoomSocial itself, but additional good Joomla! practices that they can take with them to other Joomla! projects. I think this will be an added bonus for many readers.

Once the site has been installed and is active on a remote web server, we can check that the process of adding user accounts and editing profiles within JoomSocial is working correctly.

A social network site needs users to be successful, and the book discusses some of the broader details a site administrator will have to think about – is the interface easy to use, how do users invite others to join, how do you encourage users to make connections within the network, and how will users add content to the site? Obviously important details if the site is to grow.

As part of the chapter on how to encourage users to submit content, the book covers in detail the task of installing SOBI2 and some of its associated modules. SOBI2 is a third party Joomla! component that allows for the creation of directory and review systems for Joomla! sites. I thought this section was another nice bonus in the book, since it gives good information on how to install and configure a component which has applications in many Joomla! websites.

Customising a Joomla! template isn't a topic I was expecting to find covered, and I thought it was interesting that the authors decided to include this. Throughout the book, the authours use a GPL template from RocketTheme. In latter sections of the book they touch on how to customise this template, with the intention of modifying the template design, and improving the interface for site users. Some of this may be outside the comfort zone of novice readers, and the book doesn't pretend to offer a full guidelines on how to create or customise Joomla! Templates. But for anyone who has had some exposure to HTML and PHP, this introduction to templates, how they work, and how to change them will be enough to get them off to a good start.

No book about social networks would be complete without a mention of Facebook and Twitter. JoomSocial lets users integrate these other networks into their profiles. It's a relatively easy process and the necessary steps are clearly described.

The final chapter of the book discusses some of the other social networking extensions for Joomla!, especially Community Builder. All extensions have thier strengths, and so I liked that the authours gave a brief overview of the other options available, how to install them, and how they compare to JoomSocial. Developing a social networking website is a large undertaking, and you want to be confident at the start that you've chosen the right software pakage, and that your site will come together at the end the way you picture it at the start.

Overall, what I enjoyed most about this book is that it looks at the big picture of what's involved in making a successful social networking website with JoomSocial and Joomla! Installing and configuring the component, its extensions and plugins is one thing. The book reminds us that to be successful, the website administrator also needs to think about the site design, its interface, and how users will will use, contribue and share the content on the site. Along the way, the book also discusses many 3rd party Joomla! extensions and good practice techniques which I think a lot readers will find valuable. The text gives thorough step by step instructions with screenshots throughout, and almost any reader will save time configuring the multitude of settings within JoomSocial by following the suggestions.

David Taiaroa is an experienced Joomla! and website designer with Panchroma Website Development: www.panchroma.ca

Submission + - Microsoft and Adobe merging? (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Ebbesen on Thursday October 07, 2010 @06:19PM

Ebbesen writes: Ballmer had a meeting with the CEO of Adobe, and among other things: "The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could partner in the battle against Apple. A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options." Apparently MS has courted Adobe previously, but feared anti-trust regulations. With Google and Apple gaining, Microdobe might be possible.

Comment Re:How does this happen? (Score 2, Informative) 96

by josech on Thursday October 07, 2010 @01:09AM (#33820758) Attached to: Mexican Senate Votes To Drop Out of ACTA

The negotiations are not under the Senate control, but the final approval is. ACTA must be approved by the mexican Senate in order to be legally adopted.

And yes. The lobbyist and factual powers in Mexico are very powerful an evil, just as anywhere else.

Comment Re:Nice sideshow alright, but ACTA marches on (Score 1) 96

by josech on Thursday October 07, 2010 @01:01AM (#33820710) Attached to: Mexican Senate Votes To Drop Out of ACTA

Not in this case. By law, the Mexican Senate has to approve the ACTA.

Comment A big step, but not the last (Score 1) 96

by josech on Thursday October 07, 2010 @12:03AM (#33820442) Attached to: Mexican Senate Votes To Drop Out of ACTA

The Point of Agreement from the Senate is a political plead to the President to stop the ACTA negotiation process. Although it's not legally binding at the moment, by law all the International Trades with Mexico have to be approved by the Senate.

The Senate is asking the President to stop the ACTA negotiations, but if the President fails to do it, eventually he must send the ACTA for approval to the Senate.

Comment Ambassador to Atlantis (Score 1) 306

by josech on Monday September 27, 2010 @12:29PM (#33712944) Attached to: United Nations Names Ambassador To Aliens

I'd apply for UN Ambassador to Atlantis.

Apple, RIM, Google All Bid On Palm 117

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 15, 2010 @07:00PM from the face-palm-apple dept.

imamac writes "It seems HP was only one of many bidders for the struggling Palm. The others included Apple, RIM and even Google. You may now commence speculation on why the various companies wanted Palm."

Chile First To Approve Net Neutrality Law 293

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 13, 2010 @06:18PM from the pathbreaker dept.

Sir Mal Fet writes "Chile has become the first country in the world to approve, by 100 votes in favor and one abstention, a law guaranteeing net neutrality (Google translation; Spanish original). The law states [submitter's translation]: 'No [ISP] can block, interfere with, discriminate, hinder, nor restrict the right of any Internet user of using, send, receive or offer any content, application, or legitimate service through the Internet, as well as any activity or legitimate use conducted through the Internet.' The law also has articles that force ISPs to provide parental control tools, clarify contracts, guarantee users' privacy and safety when surfing, and forbids them to restrict any liberty whatsoever. This is a major advance in the legislation of the country regarding the Web, when until last year almost anything that was performed online was considered illegal."

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