Stochastism - Slashdot User

Submission + - Light-based quantum circuit does basic maths (zdnet.com.au)

Submitted by Stochastism on Thursday December 13, 2007 @06:26PM

Stochastism writes: In yet another small step toward realistic quantum computing Australian researchers have developed a light based 4-qubit quantum computer. It has already calculated the prime roots of fifteen, three and five. Perhaps not quite powerful enough to threaten public key cryptography just yet ;) but apparently successful enough to deserve DARPA funding.

Submission + - Microsoft defeated by Mandriva in Nigerian rumble (computerworlduk.com) 2

Submitted by

on Friday November 09, 2007 @11:30AM

An anonymous reader writes: After trying to bribe a local supplier with a $400,000 marketing contract, Microsoft has apparently lost out in trying to woo Nigeria's government to use Windows over Linux. Microsoft threw the money at the supplier after it chose Mandriva Linux for 17,000 laptops for school children across Nigeria. The supplier took the bait and agreed to wipe Mandriva off the machines, but now Nigeria's government has stepped in to stop the dirty deal. http://www.computerworlduk.com/management/government-law/public-sector/news/index.cfm?newsid=6124

Submission + - Potential cure for antibiotic resistant infections (newsobserver.com)

Submitted by kpw10 on Monday July 09, 2007 @09:55PM

kpw10 writes: "Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered that two drugs used to treat bone loss in old folks can both kill and short-circuit the 'sex life' of antibiotic-resistant bacteria blamed for nearly 100,000 hospital deaths across the country each year."

Submission + - Upcoming Film Based on Arthur C. Clarke Story

Submitted by SoyChemist on Thursday July 05, 2007 @10:44PM

SoyChemist writes: The Wired Science blog has production stills and a story about a side project that several Industrial Light and Magic employees have been working on. They are producing the short story Maelstrom II as an independent film. The entire thing was shot in front of a bluescreen so that all of the sets and props will be CGI. The lone actor, Chuck Marra, plays a guy that hitches a ride on an electromagnetically launched freight capsule from the moon to earth. When the nuclear reactor that powers the catapult fails, he is thrown into space, but not far enough to escape lunar gravity — leading to an Apollo 13 style rescue mission. The original story was written by Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Submission + - Survey: Windows loses ground with developers (infoworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @10:07AM

An anonymous reader writes: InfoWorld is running an article that Linux is gaining share as the number of developers targeting Windows falls 12 percent, according to an Evans Data survey of North American developers. The arrival of Windows Vista likely only kept the numbers from being even worse.

Underfunded NSA Suffers Brownouts 198

Posted by Zonk on Sunday June 24, 2007 @01:38PM from the war-on-terror-doesn't-include-juice dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Almost ten years after the an internal report, and a year after a Baltimore sun story warned that the electrical system at the fort Meade NSA HQ couldn't keep up with the growing electricity demand ... the problem has got worse. The 'NSA has had to resort to partial, rolling brownouts at its computer farms and scheduled power outages and some offices are experiencing significant power disruptions'. NSA director Alexander testified to congress about this problem. It is suggested he wanted to add more than $800 million to the 07 budget. A recent public powerpoint presentation suggested 70% of of all intelligence spending goes to contractors. It also included a graph, without numbers, of this spending. It suggests that US intelligence spending is around $60 billion. An internal survey that showed NSA employees have problems trusting each other."

Submission + - Scientists get plastic from trees (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

amigoro

on Thursday June 14, 2007 @09:05PM

amigoro writes: "Scientists have found a method to replace crude oil as the root source for plastic, fuels and scores of other industrial and household chemicals with inexpensive, nonpolluting renewable plant matter. They directly converted sugars ubiquitous in nature to an alternative source for those products that make oil so valuable, with very little of the residual impurities that have made the quest so daunting."

Submission + - Perfect silicon sphere to redefine the kilogram (theage.com.au)

Submitted by MrCreosote on Thursday June 14, 2007 @07:50PM

MrCreosote writes: The Age reports optical specialists at CSIRO are helping create a new standard for the kilogram, based on a precise number of atoms in a perfect sphere of silicon. This will replace the International Prototype, a lump of metal alloy in a vault in Paris.

Submission + - IT ads from the past: From the quaint to the weird (computerworld.com)

Submitted by

PetManimal

on Thursday June 14, 2007 @06:50PM

PetManimal writes: "Computerworld has dug up some funny IT advertising gems from decades past. The highlights include "The Personal Mainframe", Elvira hawking engineering software, and an image of the earliest screenless "briefcase portables." Strange to think that people not only took these technologies so seriously, but also paid big bucks for gear that seems positively primitive now."

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