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Intel

Submission + - Intel Launches Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Today Intel is finally releasing new Core i7 models and speed bins to the market and announcing a new flagship chip, the Core i7-975 Extreme Edition. Though it will definitely command a hefty price tag, at a stock clock speed of 3.33GHz and Intel Turbo Boost speeds at 3.45GHz (all cores) and 3.6GHz (single core), the new Core i7 975 EX is going to be one hot-rod of a quad-core CPU. The processor comes with a standard configuration of 1MB L2 and 3MB shared L3 cache, but is based on Intel's new D0 stepping of the chip that reportedly offers a bunch more headroom in terms of overclocking and higher-end DDR3 memory speeds with the chip's on-board memory controller. In fact, early tests show the new CPU runs stable at 4.1GHz with a small voltage increase and only a stock retail cooler."
Government

Submission + - Open Government Brainstorm Defies Wisdom of Crowds

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "In May, the White House launched what it called an 'unprecedented online process for public engagement in policymaking'. Brainstorming was conducted in an effort to identify ways to 'strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness by making government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.' So what were some of the top vote-getters? Currently near the top of the list are Legalize Marijuana And Solve Many Tax Issues / Prison Issues (#2) and Remove Marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (#3). For those who remember Obama's earlier Online Town Hall, it's deja vu all over again."
Software

Submission + - IE6 search engine being changed to Bing.com (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by
weazel2006
weazel2006 writes: "CNet just posted a story that confirms my suspicions that the default search engine for anyone using IE6 has been reset to www.bing.com. Earlier today a story on Slashdot explained that IE6 is still very popular amongst corporate users. The reason for this is that large enterprise applications would need costly upgrades to be compatible with a newer browser version. (from CNet..) Microsoft confirmed on Tuesday that it is looking into an issue in which users of Internet Explorer 6 are forced into having Bing as their default search engine. "We are aware of the issue with Bing on machines running IE6 and are investigating a solution," Microsoft said in a statement. "This issue is not impacting IE7 and IE8 users." Although it is only affecting its older browser, many people still use IE6 and Microsoft has faced a lot of regulatory scrutiny over how default search preferences are set and changed within Internet Explorer."

Comment Not quite only a TV license... (Score 1) 239

by __aarvde6843 (#28181971) Attached to: The Real British X-Files

You *HAVE TO* pay it if you own a screen, a computer (even without a capture card), a 3G mobile phone, etc..

If you state you don't have any of those, they will come by your house and check it.

And if you have an old crt monitor unplugged that you only once in a while to connect to your working laptop, somewhere in your living room, you pay a huge fine plus the license :(
Biotech

Submission + - SPAM: Researchers discover quantum computer breakthrough

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: "Using high-speed lasers, a Berkeley research team has discovered cell-level "quantum computing" occuring during photosynthesis. (Light energy first moves through every possible path, and then retroactively "decides" which is most efficient.) "Life's very existence may be the consequence and continued operation of a quantum computer," notes a transhumanist science magazine, giving the historic context for research into high-speed non-binary calculations occuring in nature, and arguing that "Ultrafast computing, accelerated by our explorations into the new science of quantum biology, could well be the critical technology that pushes us over the edge into the Singularity.""
Link to Original Source

Comment Not for all (Score 5, Interesting) 159

by __aarvde6843 (#28008183) Attached to: IBM Pushing Water-Cooled Servers, Meeting Resistance

I worked in several banks using IBM mainframes. The server room was always like a freezer.

I think for now, many companies are perfectly ok with air cooling solutions. Besides, it's much safer to have air-conditioning and fans than some liquid flowing. The simpler the system, the less accidents occur within it...

And believe me when I say that, if a company owns an IBM mainframe, they pay big bucks and they *don't* want any accidents.
Patents

Submission + - Toshiba sues over DVD patents (idg.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Toshiba has filed suit in a US court against Imation and several manufacturers and distributors of recordable DVD media for the alleged infringement of its patents. Imation and the other defendant companies named in the complaint do not have license agreements covering recordable DVD media with Toshiba or the DVD6C Licensing Group (DVD6C), and have engaged in the import and sale of recordable DVD media in the US without permission, according to Toshiba."
Software

Submission + - Lend your ears to science! (ed.ac.uk)

Submitted by
MikeRozak
MikeRozak writes: "The Blizzard Challenge is an annual online listening test run by text-to-speech (synthesized speech) researchers to help improve their technology. Around 17 research organizations were provided with 10 hours of audio recordings of single speaker. They were locked in their labs for two months, and told to produce the best synthesized voice they could from the recordings.

Two months later, the doors have been unbolted, and the researchers need your help!

Please take the time to go through the listening test at http://groups.inf.ed.ac.uk/blizzard/blizzard2009/english/register-ER.html. You will be played examples of synthesized speech from the different research organizations, and asked to rate how good (or bad) they sound. The technology has come a long way since Stephen Hawking's synthesized voice; some of the synthesized examples are very good.

Your ratings help the researchers identify which techniques produce the most realistic voices, so that next year's text-to-speech will sound better. Improved text-to-speech helps the blind, people who lost their voice (like Stephen Hawking), those hated computerized telephone operators, and PC games! Text-to-speech can even be humorous, see http://www.idyacy.com/cgi-bin/bushomatic.cgi for a talking George Bush."
Security

Submission + - IIS 6 Attack Could Let Hackers Snoop On Servers (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "A flaw in the way that Microsoft's software processes Unicode tokens has been found to give attackers a way to view protected files on IIS Web servers without authorization. The flaw, exposed by Nikolaos Rangos, could be used to upload files as well. Affecting IIS 6 users who have enabled WebDAV for sharing documents via the Web, the vulnerability is currently being exploited in online attacks, according to CERT, and is reminiscent of the well-known IIS unicode path traversal issue of 2001, one of the worst Windows vulnerabilities of the past decade."
The Internet

Submission + - Avoiding Gripes About Your Gripe Site

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Recent attempts by to shut down a web site critical of Goldman Sachs makes EFF's new whitepaper on how to avoid getting shut down if you decide to put up a gripe site against your not-so-favorite company particularly timely. Here are six "simple things you can do in advance to either stave off complaints, or give yourself some tools to nip them in the bud." 1. Be noncommercial — no ads, no links to commercial sites, no affiliate links. "Several court rulings have held that noncommercial uses fall entirely outside the reach of federal trademark laws, and lack of commerciality can weigh in your favor under copyright law as well." 2. Don't use the target's name alone in the domain name — adding "sucks" is good, but you can be creative. www.ihatebadco.com is less likely to be perceived by a trademark owner as confusing. 3. Have a prominent disclaimer. 4. Find a service provider with backbone. A list of other service providers that reportedly "won't dump you at the first sign of controversy" can be found online. 5. Minimize use of materials from the target company and consider altering them in such a way that no one could possibly be confused about endorsement or sponsorship. 6. If a trademark-owner challenges your use of a mark in a domain name, don't offer to sell it . An offer to sell, particularly at an apparently inflated price, could be seen by a UDRP arbitrator (and possibly a U.S. court) as evidence that you are a cybersquatter. EFF emphasizes that following these rules "won't guarantee you won't get complaints. But it should help minimize your legal risk, so you can focus on the primary task — raising public awareness about the issues that are important to you.""

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