Comment: Re:Gauge shift on the trans mongolian railway (Score 1) 426
The same thing happens between Moldova and Romania. It's loud and time-consuming, but definitely quite an experience.
NVIDIA Shows Off "Optimus" Switchable Graphics For Notebooks 102
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the that's-some-prime-namespace dept.
from the that's-some-prime-namespace dept.
Vigile writes "Transformers jokes aside, NVIDIA's newest technology offering hopes to radically change the way notebook computers are built and how customers use them. The promise of both extended battery life and high performance mobile computing has seemed like a pipe dream, and even the most recent updates to 'switchable graphics' left much to be desired in terms of the user experience. Having both an integrated and discrete graphics chip in your notebook does little good if you never switch between the two. Optimus allows the system to seamlessly and instantly change between IGP and discrete NVIDIA GPUs based on the task being run, including games, GPU encoding or Flash video playback. Using new software and hardware technology, notebooks using Optimus can power on and pass control to the GPU in a matter of 300ms and power both the GPU and PCIe lanes completely off when not in use. This can be done without being forced to reboot or even close out your applications, making it a hands-free solution for the customer."
Apple Orders 10 Million Tablets? 221
Posted
by
ScuttleMonkey
from the pricepoint-better-be-right dept.
from the pricepoint-better-be-right dept.
Arvisp writes "According to a blog post by former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee, Apple plans to produce nearly 10 million tablets in the still-unannounced product's first year. If Lee's blog post is to be believed, Apple plans to sell nearly twice as many tablets as it did iPhones in the product's first year."
Jetman Attempts Intercontinental Flight 140
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the a-jetwing-and-a-prayer dept.
from the a-jetwing-and-a-prayer dept.
Last year we ran the story of Yves Rossy and his DIY jetwings. Yves spent $190,000 and countless hours building a set of jet-powered wings which he used to cross the English Channel. Rossy's next goal is to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, from Tangier in Morocco and Tarifa on the southwestern tip of Spain. From the article: "Using a four-cylinder jet pack and carbon fibre wings spanning over 8ft, he will jump out of a plane at 6,500 ft and cruise at 130 mph until he reaches the Spanish coast, when he will parachute to earth." Update 18:57 GMT: mytrip writes: "Yves Rossy took off from Tangiers but five minutes into an expected 15-minute flight he was obliged to ditch into the wind-swept waters."
Comment: Jacobs University (Score 2, Interesting) 386
I went to Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. It's an English-language institution, somewhat unique in Germany, as all courses are entirely in English and the curriculum is structured like at an American/Anglo-Saxon university. There's a nice big green campus with wild parties, very cheap booze etc. They have a pretty large CS dept (relative to the size of the university, 1200 students only!). Moreover, they are very open to the idea of exchange/visiting students, though it might be harder to just go there without worrying about the tuition unless your university has some sort of agreement with them (but very much doable, if you can afford it).
You can find more info here. The undergrad CS courses are quite technical and you can usually take courses at all levels, as long as the professor is convinced that you have the prerequisite knowledge.
Studying abroad is a really good idea and I encourage it quite a bit! Good luck.
You can find more info here. The undergrad CS courses are quite technical and you can usually take courses at all levels, as long as the professor is convinced that you have the prerequisite knowledge.
Studying abroad is a really good idea and I encourage it quite a bit! Good luck.
Comment: Re:Start with getting a visa (Score 2, Informative) 298
Canadians do not need a J-1 visa, just a 'J-1 visa status'. Basically, you need to get a DS-2019 (+some other documents) at the port of entry and you'll get the J-1 visa status automatically, without ever having to go to a US consulate to get a visa stamped. Everybody else does the latter.
Baby Talk
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "PhysOrg has an interesting article about language development in babies that seems to have implications for the equivalent AI scenario.
If the snowball effect of vocabulary development is an unavoidable outcome that does not require hardwiring, then the AI process to achieve the same goal should be nearer than many have envisioned.
Furthermore the article begs the question "Why haven't we seen it yet?""
If the snowball effect of vocabulary development is an unavoidable outcome that does not require hardwiring, then the AI process to achieve the same goal should be nearer than many have envisioned.
Furthermore the article begs the question "Why haven't we seen it yet?""
Forensics Expert says Al-Qaeda Images Altered
Submitted
by
WerewolfOfVulcan
WerewolfOfVulcan writes "Wired reports that researcher Neal Krawetz revealed some veeeeeery interesting things about the Al-Qaeda images that our government loves to show off.
From the article: "Krawetz was also able to determine that the writing on the banner behind al-Zawahiri's head was added to the image afterward. In the second picture above showing the results of the error level analysis, the light clusters on the image indicate areas of the image that were added or changed. The subtitles and logos in the upper right and lower left corners (IntelCenter is an organization that monitors terrorist activity and As-Sahab is the video production branch of al Qaeda) were all added at the same time, while the banner writing was added at a different time, likely around the same time that al-Zawahiri was added, Krawetz says." Why would Al-Qaeda add an IntelCenter logo to their video? Why would IntelCenter add an Al-Qaeda logo? Methinks we have bigger fish to fry than Gonzo and his fired attorneys... }:-) The article contains links to Krawetz's presentation and the source code he used to analyze the photos."
From the article: "Krawetz was also able to determine that the writing on the banner behind al-Zawahiri's head was added to the image afterward. In the second picture above showing the results of the error level analysis, the light clusters on the image indicate areas of the image that were added or changed. The subtitles and logos in the upper right and lower left corners (IntelCenter is an organization that monitors terrorist activity and As-Sahab is the video production branch of al Qaeda) were all added at the same time, while the banner writing was added at a different time, likely around the same time that al-Zawahiri was added, Krawetz says." Why would Al-Qaeda add an IntelCenter logo to their video? Why would IntelCenter add an Al-Qaeda logo? Methinks we have bigger fish to fry than Gonzo and his fired attorneys... }:-) The article contains links to Krawetz's presentation and the source code he used to analyze the photos."
Plasma To Produce Clean Energy From Waste
Submitted
by
kbox
kbox writes "Mention trash incineration to most people and the image that usually springs to mind is a dirty, smelly practice that is about as far from 'green' as you can get. However, this isn't the case with a technology called Plasma Gasification, which is not only very eco-friendly, it's also powered by the very garbage that it processes. It also produces clean energy and commercially useful byproducts.
While the technology of processing materials with plasma has been around for some time now, Joseph Longo, CEO and founder of Startech Environmental Corporation has developed a device that can handle pretty much any type of waste put into it and turn it into a clean source of energy."
While the technology of processing materials with plasma has been around for some time now, Joseph Longo, CEO and founder of Startech Environmental Corporation has developed a device that can handle pretty much any type of waste put into it and turn it into a clean source of energy."