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YouTube to Host Presidential Debate
skotte writes "Wired is reporting that July 23 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, Anderson Cooper will host presidential debates in which debaters are asked 20-30 questions culled from a specially designated section of YouTube, where the voting populace can post questions directly. You and I (assuming you're American, probably) can ask questions ourselves, not just a reporter in a crowd. Candidates won't know which questions they are being asked, and the video selection process will remain a complete secret. Interesting, but also the slightest bit scary."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Intel V8 Octa-Core System, Full Performance Tests
MojoKid writes "In the April time frame, details of Intel's dual-socket 8-core system dubbed "V8" became available but only preliminary performance numbers were shown. The platform consists of quad-core Xeon processors in an Intel 5000X chipset-based motherboard, along with FBDIMM (Fully Buffered DIMM) serial memory. A follow-on article at HotHardWare goes into significantly more detail on the platform and showcases many more performance metrics on a Windows Vista 64-bit installation. The POV-Ray and Cinebench 95 benchmark numbers alone are something to smile about. 'Intel's V8 isn't about promoting a platform as much as it is a show of strength and a glimpse of things to come. What V8 and QuadFX show is that both Intel and AMD are on a path to offering true, enthusiast-class, dual-socket platforms. And that's a good thing. Perhaps AMD is a little further down the path thanks to a more tweaker-friendly motherboard in the QuadFX-compatible Asus L1N64-SLI WS, but until consumers have more motherboards to choose from and perhaps quad-core processors from AMD, we can't very well declare that the time for QuadFX has arrived. One motherboard does not a platform make.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Weapon Found in Whale Dated From the 1800s
LABarr writes "AP and CNN are carrying a story that has forced scientists to re-evaluate the longevity of mammals. A bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt over a century ago. 'Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old. The bomb lance fragment, lodged in a bone between the whale's neck and shoulder blade, was likely manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling center at that time. It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890.' "
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Hilarious Antique IT Advertisements
PetManimal writes "Computerworld has gone back through forty years worth of magazines, and came up with some entertaining IT-related advertising gems from decades past. Highlights include The Personal Mainframe, an image of the earliest screenless briefcase portables, and Elvira hawking engineering software. From the article: 'Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark? Besides appearing on TV in features like Elvira's Movie Macabre Halloween Special, Elvira also invited Computerworld readers to "cut through paper-based CASE [computer-aided software engineering] methods with LBMS" software. "The scariest thing about CASE is the several hundred pounds of books that land on your desk and for which you've paid fifteen gazillion dollars, when you buy off on a CASE development methodology," she writes. Can you guess what year Elvira appeared in this Computerworld ad? Headline hint: "IBM delays notebook arrival in U.S."'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
The Future of Intel Processors
madison writes to mention coverage at ZDNet on the future of Intel technology. Multicore chips are their focus for the future, and researchers at the company are working on methods to adapt them for specific uses. The article cites an example were the majority of the cores are x86, with some accelerators and embedded graphics cores added on for added functionality. "Intel is also tinkering with ways to let multicore chips share caches, pools of memory embedded in processors for rapid data access. Cores on many dual- and quad-core chips on the market today share caches, but it's a somewhat manageable problem. "When you get to eight and 16 cores, it can get pretty complicated," Bautista said. The technology would prioritize operations. Early indications show that improved cache management could improve overall chip performance by 10 percent to 20 percent, according to Intel." madison also writes, "In another development news Intel has updated its Itanium roadmap to include a new chip dubbed 'Kittson' to follow the release of Poulson. That chip will be based on a new microarchitecture that provides higher levels of parallelism."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Scientists Attempt to Replace Crude Oil With Sugars
amigoro writes with a link to the Press Esc blog, discussing a possible replacement for crude oil in plastics, fuels, and other industrial uses. The post outlines findings to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Science. Essentially, researchers at the Institute for Interfacial Catalysis are attempting to process the sugars in plant matter into an oil-like compound, a daunting challenge. "Glucose, in plant starch and cellulose, is nature's most abundant sugar. 'But getting a commercially viable yield of HMF from glucose has been very challenging,' Zhang said. 'In addition to low yield until now, we always generate many different byproducts,' including levulinic acid, making product purification expensive and uncompetitive with petroleum-based chemicals. Zhang, lead author and former post doc Haibo Zhao, and colleagues John Holladay and Heather Brown, all from PNNL, were able to coax HMF yields upward of 70 percent from glucose and nearly 90 percent from fructose while leaving only traces of acid impurities."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Bones Could Become Conduits For Data Swaps
Billosaur writes "New Scientist Tech has an intriguing article about researchers at Rice University in Houston, TX who are looking at ways to use the human skeleton to transmit data. The idea is to use bones to conduct sound waves, with 0's and 1's being represented by different frequencies. Preliminary results, shared with a conference on body networks in Florence, Italy, this week, show that bones can conduct even low-power vibrations with few errors. The idea is that the conduction of sound along bone would be more secure that via radio waves, leading to the possibility of swapping data with someone by shaking their hand."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Kodak Unveils Brighter CMOS Color Filters
brownsteve writes "Eastman Kodak Co. has unveiled what it says are 'next-generation color filter patterns' designed to more than double the light sensitivity of CMOS or CCD image sensors used in camera phones or digital still cameras. The new color filter system is a departure from the widely used standard Bayer pattern — an arrangement of red, green and blue pixels — also created by Kodak. While building on the Bayer pattern, the new technology adds a 'fourth pixel, which has no pigment on top,' said Michael DeLuca, market segment manager responsible for image sensor solutions at Eastman Kodak. Such 'transparent' pixels — sensitive to all visible wavelengths — are designed to absorb light. DeLuca claimed the invention is 'the next milestone' in digital photography, likening its significance to ISO 400 color film introduced in the mid-1980's."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Identity Thief Apprehended by Victim
ewhac writes "Karen Lodrick was entering her sixth month of hell dealing with the repercussions of having her identity stolen and used to loot her accounts. But while she was waiting for a beverage, there standing in line was the woman who appeared on Wells Fargo security video emptying her accounts. What followed was a 45 minute chase through San Francisco streets that ended with the thief being taken into custody by police."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
China Taking on U.S. in Cyber Arms Race
Pabugs writes with a CNN story about an uncomfortable development in world politics and information technology. According to General Robert Elder, an Air Force military man setting up a 'cyber command' in Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base, the nation of China is already in the process of developing their own 'cyber warfare' techniques. While Elder described the bulk of China's operations as focusing on espionage, they and others around the world have more serious goals in mind. "The Defense Department said in its annual report on China's military power last month that China regarded computer network operations -- attacks, defense and exploitation -- as critical to achieving "electromagnetic dominance" early in a conflict. China's People's Liberation Army has established information warfare units to develop viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, the Pentagon said. China also was investing in electronic countermeasures and defenses against electronic attack, including infrared decoys, angle reflectors and false-target generators, it said."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
eBay Pulls Google Ads Over Marketing Stunt
odoketa writes "According to the BBC, it seems Google scheduled a party to promote their payment system (Google Checkout) on the same day as a big eBay meeting, and this made eBay mad enough to pull their ads with Google. According to the story, eBay says it's merely an 'ongoing experiment' on their marketing. 'Google hoped to alert PayPal users who would have been in Boston attending the eBay Live annual seller event to its own service, according to market experts. It could also have been seen as part of an effort to get eBay to accept Google Checkout, currently banned on the online auctioneer's site. But in a contrite manner, Google cancelled its rival function a day before it was due to happen.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Perfect Silicon Sphere to Redefine the Kilogram
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."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Jeff Waugh: GNOME goes WordPress MU
Last Friday I completed the migration of GNOME Blogs (nicknamed ‘blogo’) to WordPress MU with an announcement to the GNOME community and a thank you to the WordPress community a couple of days later. The first post details some of the features we launched with.
But the best feature…?
Now anyone with a gnome.org, gtk.org or gimp.org email address can set up a delicious, prêt-à-porter, WordPress-powered blog for personal or project use in 30 seconds flat.
Thus far, all the feedback from GNOME bloggers has been positive, and there are a bunch of folks in the process of migrating from old pyblosxom installs, Advogato, self-hosted blogs, and abominations hacked up in emacs.
Oh, okay, I was lying about the last bit… none of those folks are going to kick their emacs habit any time soon. 
WordPress folks have been very supportive, too:
Ryan Boren, a WordPress core developer, said: “I used to contribute bits and pieces to GNOME before being consumed by WordPress full time. I found out about WordPress through some GNOME developers. I took some of the GNOME philosophy with me to WordPress and found that Matt shared much of it. So I’m glad to see GNOME using WP and hope they will be as happy with it as I have been with GNOME.”
Lloyd Budd, WordPress hacker, and apparently a big fan (!), said: “This is awesome! I extensively and passionately use Ubuntu GNOME! […] Is there a higher compliment than experience-oriented, open-source-for-everyone participants using the software that you care about?”
I’ll quit with the quoting, because this is starting to sound like a press release. 
To cap it off, we’ve already managed to complete the virtuous circle: WordPress MU bug #352 was filed, fixed and shipped with WordPress MU 1.2.2 as a result of work on GNOME Blogs.
Tastes like freedom — and there’s more on the way!
Categories: Technology
Yahoo! XSS Flaw Endangers its Users
Rarely Greys writes "A major Yahoo XSS flaw makes it possible to take over any Yahoo user's account, including their mail, instant messaging, photos, etc. This is not a rare occurrence. So why aren't web sites doing more to protect their users? It's looking like most web developers don't even know or care about XSS."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Matthew Palmer: Observations on Travel
- Ignore what the check-in agent tells you -- your aerosol deodorant is still on the "banned liquids" list. Thanks, you numpty. I would have checked it if I'd known.
- They should possibly filter what goes onto the TV screens in the departures lounge. I can imagine that a song whose only lyrics are "destination unknown" might not fill some travellers with joyous anticipation.
- Your seat assignment is usually decided long before you check in. If you want a good seat, it's best to ask for it explicitly when you book. Failing that, you can ask at the check-in counter and again at the gate. It worked for me, but only because whoever got assigned that seat originally didn't make his earlier connection and hence wasn't going to be on that flight without teleportation.
- There's free wifi in some strange places -- even international departure lounges. I suspect that The Authorities weren't really aware of the one I was using -- the SSID and public IP address don't feel particularly "official".
- There's a Qantas 767, "City of Rockhampton", which has CASA registration VH-OGG. I find that particularly humourous, although I suspect that my entertainment is largely a function of boredom.
- The Internet kiosk machines in the International departure lounge at Sydney airport run Ubuntu -- not sure of the version (GNOME post-login splash screen was quite rounded, but I don't memorise what different Ubuntu versions' splash screens look like). They then run Opera on top of that. Anyone know anything about this?
- A lounge music version of the LJ Hooker theme song is a true abomination to mankind.
Categories: Technology
Mark Greenaway
From studying for my vector calculus exam, I've discovered that the zen of vector calculus is to do no integrals at all. You apply identities until you can write "So of course, that's just the area of a circle/ellipse/triangle" and then sit back with a smug expression on your face.
So it's pretty much my kind of subject.
So it's pretty much my kind of subject.
Categories: Technology
eBay May Lose 'Buy it Now' Button in Patent Case
Spamicles writes "A judge has delayed his ruling on the eBay patent infringement case. eBay has been involved in a legal dispute over the use of its popular "Buy it Now" button, which allows consumers to skip the bidding and purchase items on eBay directly. The patent suit was filed six years ago by MercExchange L.L.C. In May of 2003, a jury ruled in MercExchange's favor finding that eBay did in fact infringe on the patent, but in 2005 the US Supreme Court ruled that MercExchange was not automatically entitled to a court order blocking the offending service, essentially handing a victory down to patent reform advocates. However, the ruling by the Supreme Court does not affect the final judgment of the court."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Tim Berners-Lee awarded the British Order of Merit
MarsBar writes "The BBC is reporting that Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been awarded The Order of Merit, a royal award granted directly by the Queen. Previous recipients have included Florence Nightingale, Sir Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell, Graham Greene, Sir Edward Elgar, Mother Teresa and Margaret Thatcher."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Categories: Technology
Jeff Waugh: Quiet lately; an explanation
Some of you have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet lately — for about a month now — and it deserves some explanation. May as well just be blunt: I’ve been very heavily depressed, not socialising, shying away from much of life. It is difficult to write here, but there it is.
This is the main reason I’m not at LFCS/DAM4 this week. Travel and high-intensity people stuff is just not going to happen right now. So, I’m sorry to those of you I’m missing in SFO, and to others who have wanted or needed my attention in recent weeks. As always, Pia gets the worst of it, but is wonderful regardless. Thank you.
The infuriating thing about depression is that it’s a despair without definition. If I could put my finger on it, I could solve it. Sure, I can point you to a confluence of things that were likely to set it off, but when it hits, it doesn’t really work that way.
Most people I’ve met who have depression use a physical or anthropomorphic metaphor as a way to understand or express it — a great example is Winston Churchill’s Black Dog. I tend towards the physical, seeing it in much the same way as my arthritis: Every now and then, my body stops working properly, and I can’t walk; every now and then, my brain stops working properly, and I can’t… do or feel much of anything at all.
People often ask whether I’d turn it off, if a relevant switch were provided. I don’t think so. Down here, my drive and motivation might be dangerously close to zero, but on balance, I could never trade the ferocity or infectiousness of up there. It’s too central to the culture of my creativity, as odd as that may sound.
The only way I’ve found to drag myself up is to choose something to do and kick the crap out of it until a sense of achievement sets in. I found a great therapy task a few days ago… but I’ll leave that story to a happier post!
If you don’t get it, but want to grok more, Beyond Blue has some good stuff to read.
Finally: Despite everything, I’m OK. I’ve been here before, and made it out fine. Back soon.
Categories: Technology
Daniel Stone: avivo and donations
Just a quick note to say a huge thanks to everyone who's offered support
(financial, hardware-wise, or just verbal) to the r5xx project -- we really
appreciate it. A couple of FAQs:
Thanks! Where can I send money?
Sadly, money isn't the issue: we have jobs/university theses/lives to tend to.
We just lack for time right now.
Thanks! Where can I send hardware?
If you have a card that you won't be needing back (we may lose or fry it),
please email myself (daniel@fooishbar.org) and Jérôme (j.glisse@gmail.com),
detailing what you have, and we'll get back to you if it'll be useful to
us.
Will this work with the X2xxx cards (r6xx)?
Yeah, pretty much. It just needs someone to hack up the small amount of
code to deal with it.
What's happening with X1650 and above (r530/r580)?
Most of the code is written, however, initialisation doesn't happen correctly
for some reason.
What's happening with 3D support?
It should be relatively simple to implement from the existing driver, as the
engine is believed to be extremely similar, but we want to get the basics
working before we start attacking things like this.
Which tools do you guys use?
For tracing the video BIOS, we use a hacked
version of xresprobe: vbetool will instrument the BIOS quite well. For
tracing fglrx, we use a hacked
version of valgrind: run it against the X server, making sure that it is
not suid root. For getting impatient and playing with registers,
we use avivotool.
Where does the development happen?
On IRC, #dri-devel seems to serve somewhat as the ATI development centre. This
gets fairly well coalesced into The
Irregular Radeon Development Companion, however, so you may prefer to
just follow that.
Shouldn't all this be on a wiki page somewhere?
Yes, but I have to get up in less than four hours.
Once again, thanks for the support, from all of us. It's been great.
Once again, thanks for the support, from all of us. It's been great.
Categories: Technology
