Sending Secret Messages Via Google's SearchWiki 160

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 26, 2008 @01:23AM from the your-mission-should-you-choose-to-accept-it dept.

We discussed the advent of Google's SearchWiki when it was introduced a few days back. Now Lauren Weinstein offers a thought experiment in transmitting coded messages using SearchWiki, with a working example encoded into the results of this Google search.

Comment Re:"HD" is useless (Score 1) 118

by theproff on Sunday July 13, 2008 @09:36PM (#24176757) Attached to: Computer Optional For AOC's New HD Display

HDTV broadcast over the air is not compressed

Broadcast HDTV is most certainly compressed. The ATSC standards utilize MPEG-2 compression over 8VSB modulation to give a ~20 Mbps channel per transmitter, whereas cable companies can use 16VSB, 256-QAM or better modulation to give a 40+ Mbps channel. Couple that with the fact that most broadcasters transmit multiple streams (subchannels like 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, etc) which each take up some of that 20 Mbps, and OTA HD broadcasts get ridiculously compressed.

Satellite providers are just as bad, trying to send HD streams over a satellite infrastructure that was built for SD. You might remember the lawsuit against DirecTV a while back about s downscaling their HD content in order to get the data to fit in their uplink streams.

disclaimer: I work at a PBS TV station, so I've heard the complaints of the broadcast engineers themselves about having to destroy the quality of their HD streams to fit all the extra crap in.

Also, once you've seen uncompressed HD coming out of a studio camera, no other HD source will look as good ever again.

see:
ATSC Standards
HDTV in the US
"HD Lite," the practice of downscaling HD transmissions

Renewable Energy for the Data Center? 55

Posted by Cliff on Saturday February 17, 2007 @01:30AM from the every-erg-saved-is-precious dept.

rohar asks: "The ISP/Carrier/Colo company I work for has just announced a new 'green' program. Although this is a step forward, they don't have a comprehensive environmental sustainability plan. I have been leading an open renewable energy project and I think we have 2 novel ideas for scalable and reliable renewable electrical power, the Solar Ammonia Absorption Convection Tower and the Compressed Air Wind Electrical Generation System. Do you have new ideas (Solar PV has been done, for example) for renewable power generation and conservation for the data center and other areas of industry?"

Grid Computes 420 Years Worth of Data in 4 Months 166

Posted by Zonk on Saturday February 17, 2007 @12:54AM from the that-is-a-lot-of-nerd-hours dept.

Da Massive writes with a ComputerWorld article about a grid computing approach to the malaria disease. By running the problem across 5,000 computer for a total of four months, the WISDOM project analyzed some 80,000 drug compounds every hour. The search for new drug compounds is normally a time-intensive process, but the grid approach did the work of 420 years of computation in just 16 weeks. Individuals in over 25 countries participated. " All computers ran open source grid software, gLite, which allowed them to access central grid storage elements which were installed on Linux machines located in several countries worldwide. Besides being collected and saved in storage elements, data was also analyzed separately with meaningful results stored in a relational database. The database was installed on a separate Linux machine, to allow scientists to more easily analyze and select useful compounds." Are there any other 'big picture' problems out there you think would benefit from the grid approach?

War of Words Over Wikipedia Ads Continues 353

Posted by Zonk on Friday February 16, 2007 @10:21PM from the gotta-make-a-buck dept.

Willis W. writes "Wikipedia founder Jimbo Wales reiterates his opposition to advertising in response to reports that Wikipedia needs a major cash infusion. Responding to Jason Calacanis' charges that he 'has a fringe, anti-corporate bent to him' that is 'holding Wikipedia back,' Wales says that running ads on Wikipedia is not his decision to make. Though he personally dislikes the idea of advertising on Wikipedia, any decision to utilize ads would have to come from the community. At the moment, he won't rule anything out. 'I can't say if I would ever support something like that,' he tells Ars, 'but I can say that I currently maintain the same position I always have: I am opposed to it.'" What do you think Wikimedia should do to shore up the financial situation of the Wikipedia?

Submission + - Macrovision responds to Steve Jobs on DRM

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16, 2007 @09:13PM

An anonymous reader writes: Macrovision Corporation, best known for its long history of DRM implementations, (everything from VCRs to software copy protection), has responded to Steve Jobs open letter regarding DRM. With ample experience and despite the obvious vested interests, it's great to hear their point of view.

In the letter they acknowledge the "difficult challenges" of implementing DRM that is truly "interoperable and open"; but they also feel that DRM "will increase electronic distribution", if implemented properly, because "DRM increases not decreases consumer value", such as by enabling people to "rent" content at a lower price than ownership, and lowering risks for content producers.

While I'm impressed they responded, I can't say I'm impressed by lofty goals that might not be reached for years. The reality is, current DRM implementations often leave users with the bad end of the deal. What do you think? Should people give DRM manufacturers more time to overcome the challenges and get it right?