Comment Re:Google didn't use Oracle Java. (Score 1) 204
Actually, you'd have MCA
AMD Bulldozer Information and Benchmarks Leaked 126
MojoKid writes "With Bobcat and Llano launched, AMD has one more major product overhaul set for this year. The company's Bulldozer CPU will launch in the next few months, and after years of waiting, enthusiasts and IT industry analysts are both curious to see what AMD has in its high performance pipeline. According to recently leaked info, one of the new AMD octal-core processors will be an AMD FX-8130P running at 3.2GHz base speed, with what's reported as a 3.7GHz Turbo speed, and a 4.2GHz clock speed if only half the CPU's cores are in use." Writer Joel Hruska justly points out that measures based on unofficial data and unreleased chips are subject to all kinds of potential errors, not to mention Photoshop.
Comment Re:Libre Formats? (Score 1) 98
Rock Band and possibly Guitar Hero use multitrack Vorbis audio files for the various audio stems that make up a song.
Harmonix and Activision surely are juicy targets, no?
Granted, they may have already paid trolls off...
Netflix Touts Open Source, Ignores Linux 481
Julie188 writes "If Netflix loves open source, where's the Linux client? Last week's post from Netflix on its use of open source has gotten a lot of coverage from the tech press. Too bad nobody's called the video giant out on its hypocrisy: They benefit greatly from open source, but really don't care to let their customers do the same."
Royal Navy Website Hacked, Passwords Revealed 114
An anonymous reader writes "The British Royal Navy's website has been suspended after a Romanian hacker exploited SQL injection vulnerabilities to gain access to the site.
The hacker, named 'TinKode,' accessed usernames and passwords used by the site's administrators and published them on the web. TinKode's attack is 'particularly embarrassing for the British Ministry of Defence, as just last month protecting against cyber attacks was declared in the National Security Strategy to be a "highest priority for UK national security."'"
Comment Re:Looks (Score 1) 717
VLC can play just about everything, but over here in Windows land, Media Player Classic - Home Cinema is the player of choice unless you've got some really broken file.
Comment Samsung is also a member of the ... (Score 1) 57
Common Platform Alliance - IBM, Global Foundries (you know, the former fabs of AMD), Samsung. Chartered, now part of Global Foundries, was a member too.
So, Samsung must be giving some kind of assurances to Intel they're not going to let ideas and techniques spill over into the Common Platform Alliance...
Desktop Linux Is Dead 1348
digitaldc writes with this quote from PCWorld:
"It kills me to say this: The dream of Linux as a major desktop OS is now pretty much dead. Despite phenomenal security and stability — and amazing strides in usability, performance, and compatibility — Linux simply isn't catching on with desktop users. And if there ever was a chance for desktop Linux to succeed, that ship has long since sunk. ... Ultimately, Linux is doomed on the desktop because of a critical lack of content. And that lack of content owes its existence to two key factors: the fragmentation of the Linux platform, and the fierce ideology of the open-source community at large."
US Monitoring Database Reaches Limit, Quits Tracking Felons and Parolees 270
An anonymous reader writes "Thousands of US sex offenders, prisoners on parole and other convicts were left unmonitored after an electronic tagging system shut down because of data overload. BI Incorporated, which runs the system, reached its data threshold — more than two billion records — on Tuesday. This left authorities across 49 states unaware of offenders' movement for about 12 hours."
As the astonished submitter asks, "2 billion records?"
Morphing Metals 121
aarondubrow writes "Imagine a metal that 'remembers' its original, cold-forged shape, and can return to that shape when exposed to heat or a magnetic pulse. Like magic out of a Harry Potter novel, such a metal could contract on command, or swing back and forth like a pendulum. Believe it or not, such metals already exist. First discovered in 1931, they belong to a class of materials called 'shape memory alloys (SMA),' whose unique atomic make-up allows them to return to their initial form, or alternate between forms through a phase change."
Comment Re:So what is "distinctive" about those "societies (Score 1) 119
If it's red, it's dead.
South Korea Deploys Killer Robot In DMZ 243
shikaisi writes "Not content with just killing people in computer games, South Korea has gone one better and is deploying remotely controlled sentry robots on the border with the north. According to the article 'If the command centre operator cannot identify possible intruders through the robot's audio or video communications system, the operator can order it to fire its gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher.'"
Comment Re:It uses Tardis technology . . . (Score 2, Funny) 66
That would be TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space), turn in your geek card.
Comment Competing with SpaceX on their own launcher? (Score 1) 66
I suppose I should be embracing this as "competition is always good" (cost, etc) but it does seem kind of odd.
Verizon Hints At Scrapping Unlimited Data Plans 319
BusinessWeek reports that Verizon may be preparing to follow AT&T's example by eliminating unlimited data plans later this year. Quoting:
"'We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate,' John Killian, chief financial officer of Verizon Communications Inc., the wireless unit’s parent, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York today. The company anticipates 'explosions in data traffic' over wireless networks as new phones on 4G networks incorporate data-heavy applications, such as video downloads, he said. Verizon is working to keep its network running smoothly as more of its customers switch to smartphones that connect to the Internet. ... 'The more bandwidth that you make available, the faster it will be consumed,' said Craig Moffett, analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York. 'From Verizon’s perspective, the last thing you want is for another generation of consumers to be conditioned to the idea that data is always going to be uncapped.'"
