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+ - Ask Slashdot: Being an Electrical Engineer? 3

Submitted by sandman83
sandman83 writes "I will be going back to a local college this Fall to prepare myself for the Electrical Engineering program at Idaho State University. I am planning on concentrating on motherboard design and trace layout for my junior and senior years, and the University uses the Cadence Allegro software for their PCb and IC design classes.

My question is. What should any future student expect and experience through an EE program, and how best should those students prepare themselves before and during? And what are your experiences with PCB design, and the importance of math during the design phase, and how fun can it be once someone gets used to the complex software? Also, if anyone can recommend any additional classes that I, or any prospective student might want to take outside of the regular course work, and explain the benefits of taking that course; for example, additional computer programming classes.

Oh, what is the best way to prepare for Calculus?"
Power

Li-Ion Batteries Get Green Seal of Approval 69

Posted by samzenpus
from the earth-approved dept.
thecarchik writes "It is not an easy task to compare the environmental effects of battery powered cars to those caused by conventionally fueled automobiles. The degree to which manufacture, usage and disposal of the batteries used to store the necessary electrical energy are detrimental to the environment is not exactly known. Now, for the first time, a team of Empa scientists have made a detailed life cycle assessment (LCA) or ecobalance of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, in particular the chemically improved (i.e. more environmentally friendly) version of the ones most frequently used in electric vehicles. Researchers decided to find out for sure. They calculated the ecological footprints of electric cars fitted with Li-ion batteries, taking into account all possible relevant factors, from those associated with the production of individual parts all the way through to the scrapping of the vehicle and the disposal of the remains, including the operation of the vehicle during its lifetime."

Comment: Re:Huh. (Score 1) 179

by mrderm (#32623428) Attached to: HTC Android Smartphone Stores Browsing Screenshots

Opera Mobile has exactly the same feature of displaying a thumbnail of a bookmarked page, however it *reloads* the page to generate the thumbnail immediately after it is bookmarked.

The first time this happened I was puzzled about why it didnt just resize the existing on-screen rendering. The privacy advantages are significant, if not obvious.

Toys

Brick Shooting Shotgun Built From Lego By 15-Year-Old 70 Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus
from the knock-your-block-off dept.
Lanxon writes "A mildly terrifying young Brit named Jack Streat has managed to build a series of working guns, including a Lee Enfield bolt-action sniper rifle, entirely out of Lego and rubber bands, reports Wired. Streat, who lists himself as 15 years old on his profile, has constructed an enormous and diverse armory of weaponry that fire either rubber bands or Lego bricks. Most are based on real-life guns, including a Steyr AUG, a Tommygun, an AK-47, a belt-fed M429 PARA, an Arctic Warfare sniper rifle, a Glock 17, a pair of semi-automatic TEC-9s, a SPAS 12 pump-action shotgun and a minigun that he calls the Obliterator."

+ - Google demonstrates quantum computer image search->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Google's web services may be considered cutting edge, but they run in warehouses filled with conventional computers. Now the search giant has revealed it is investigating the use of quantum computers to run its next generation of faster applications.

Writing on Google's research blog this week, Hartmut Neven, head of its image recognition team, reveals that the Californian firm has for three years been quietly developing a quantum computer that can identify particular objects in a database of stills or video.

Google has been doing this, Neven says, with D-Wave, a Canadian firm that has developed an on-chip array of quantum bits – or qubits – encoded in magnetically coupled superconducting loops."
Link to Original Source

+ - 3 Years Prison in CA For Covering Laptop-> 7

Submitted by mrcaseyj
mrcaseyj writes "California penal code section 537e makes it a felony punishable by up to 3 years in prison to be in possession of an integrated computer panel where the serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark has been covered. It's also a crime punishable by 6 months or a year to cover or obliterate the serial number or identification mark of just about any other personal property, from tools to CDs and much more. While a district attorney might have a hard time prosecuting you for such a crime, it appears a police officer could still take you to jail without having to worry about getting in trouble, because covering is apparently illegal by the letter of the law."
Link to Original Source
Music

+ - Logitech Announces Touchscreen Net Music Player->

Submitted by
FredFredrickson
FredFredrickson writes "Logitech just announced this morning two new products to their network audio player line-up: The Squeezebox Touch, a touchscreen music player, and the Squeezebox Radio, a player with a speaker built-in. The touch is highly anticipated, with 24/96 support, digital and analog outputs, local music library capabilities, and internet audio options such as Rhapsody, Last.FM, Pandora, and others. I was a beta tester, and I've been loving these new additions to the lineup. Feel free to ask questions."
Link to Original Source

Comment: In classic games (Score 1) 346

by mrderm (#28994485) Attached to: Finding New and Unintended Ways of Playing Games

A donkey kong clone on - if I remember right - the zx81, allowed you to climb up the stack of ramps then jump over the damsel in distress that was supposed to be your target. Jump onto donkey kong's arm, over his head onto the other arm, then make an adrenaline-filled slow-motion fall down the full height of the screen back to where you started.

Well, you had to be there.

"I don't think so," said Ren'e Descartes. Just then, he vanished.

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