Archive | February, 2009
20 petaflops. That's the speed rating of IBM's slated Sequoia supercomputer, the future world's fastest supercomputer that promises to be faster than every system on the Top500 supercomputer list, combined. So what's all that actually mean? IBM offered us some more tangible ways to wrap your mind around 20 quadrillion mathematical processes per second. • If each of the 6.7 billion people on earth had a hand calculator and worked together on a calculation 24 hours per day, 365 days a year, it would take 320 years to do what Sequoia will do in one hour. • 20 petaflops could offer a 50x improvement in our capability to predict earthquakes, allowing scientists to predict an earthquake's effects on a building-by-building basis across an area as large as Los Angeles County. • 20 petaflops could also provide a 40x improvement in our capability to monitor and forecast weather. This would allow forecasters to predict local weather events that affect areas 100 meters to one kilometer in size, down from their current ten-kilometer ability. The Sequoia will be powered by 1.6 million cores (specific 45-nanometer chips in development) and 1.6 petabytes of memory. It will be housed in 96 refrigerators spanning roughly 3,000 square feet. It's for the U.S. Government who will use the system for "uncertainty quantification (UQ) studies" and weapon science calculations. [IBM Supercomputing] Source[gizmodo]
Filed under: Reviews, Other hardwareWhile being the first DSLR to shoot HD video sounds mighty excellent on paper, it's not worth much if the execution isn't there, right? The general consensus was that Nikon's D90 was a stellar DSLR, but the 720p movie mode was simply a so-so cherry on top. The gurus over at CamcorderInfo decided to take things one step further and actually write up an in-depth review on the movie mode alone. The long and short of it is this: the D90's movie mode simply can't produce the same results as a dedicated HD camcorder, and while it was "often able to produce impressive results (especially in moderately low light)," the unfortunate "wobble effect" really put a damper on things. In essence, the aforementioned problem causes objects to look like Jell-o when the user pans quickly from left to right, and the only real way to avoid it is to utilize a tripod or slow down your pans -- neither of which are terribly convenient. Critics did find quite a bit to praise, and they certainly appreciated the inclusion in an otherwise amazing camera, but it's still far from being ideal in all scenarios.Nikon D90's 720p movie mode gets crituqued originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read
LAS VEGAS — Several manufacturers are scooping out the guts of netbooks and implanting them in inexpensive, all-in-one desktop computers. And even though they're cheap, it's unlikely these desktops will break into the mainstream. Micro-Star International (MSI), Asus, Viewsonic and... LAS VEGAS — Several manufacturers are scooping out the guts of netbooks and implanting them in inexpensive, all-in-one desktop computers. And even though they're cheap, it's unlikely these desktops will break into the mainstream. Micro-Star International (MSI), Asus, Viewsonic and Shuttle showcased various budget all-in-one desktops at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And hardly any convention attendees even appeared to care about the devices; most of their attention remained fixated on mini notebooks. MSI is proving to take this new category most seriously with four all-in-ones on display at CES. Dubbed the NetOn series, the computers included the same processor and chipset as the MSI Wind netbook. They range from $500 to $800, depending on screen size (from 16 to 22 inches) and other configurations such as optional touchscreens. Of course, these companies are embracing this new marketing direction with two trends in mind: 1.) Budget devices, such as netbooks, are flourishing largely because consumers are spending less in a failing economy; and 2.) All-in-one compartmentalization is also highly desirable, as proven by the phenomenally popular iPhone. But they're missing one key ingredient that's making netbooks (and the iPhone) so successful: They're mobile. They're light and small enough to carry around with you everywhere, which is what's making them loved among both casual users and now even the business world. The companies are trying to spruce up the all-in-one desktops by offering additional options such as touchscreens. Shuttle's X50 All-in-One (right), for example, is a $500 desktop with an Atom processor and a touchscreen. But this isn't going to cut it either. Consumers definitely are enjoying touchscreens, but is there much of a point in a touchscreen computer if it's stationary? What would you do with it besides tap around for recipes while in a kitchen? Companies producing budget all-in-ones and netbooks face a problem: The two products are competing with each other. And there just isn't enough of an incentive to buy an all-in-one desktop as opposed to a netbook. Want to add to your netbook's screen size? Attach it to a monitor. Need a keyboard and mouse? Plug them in via USB, just like you would with a desktop system. Of course you're going to ask — what about the iMac? What makes that system so popular? A few things: Apple's cultlike status, superior aesthetic and higher quality parts. If I were considering an all-in-one desktop, I would want it to be capable of handling everything I would wish to do with a computer — play games, watch movies, edit movies, do work, etc. — and I wouldn't want a low-powered system to do all that. The iMac can handle all of that, and that's why it's not a budget system. Budget all-in-ones are a truly nascent product — and we won't know how well they're performing in sales until we see some earnings reports. But we're going to make an early call by saying this product category is going to fail very fast, very soon. See Also: MSI Introduces the 'NetTop': Low-Cost, All-in-One PC MSI's Most Pricey All-in-One Desktop Is Fugly Photos: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com Source[Wired Gadget Lab]
If digital distribution is going to be held off for another year, Blu-ray players are going to need to achieve some serious market penetration at a rather difficult time. VIZIO's $200 VBR100 should help when it releases in a few months, but could be swiftly undercut by a predicted flood of $150 drives stated to be inbound from a number of other industry players, including Lite-On. These "white-box" drives will probably be short on features, but so too were the cheap DVD players that killed off the VCR, and nobody thought twice about that. If all goes according to plan look for stacks of affordable drives to start appearing at whatever retailers are still in business later this year. via [engadget]
Researching and purchasing a new car these days can be one of the most stressful situations you can go through. By the time you've spent hours online trying to find the right car for you and figured out how much you're willing to spend, the time you spend at the lot wears you down even more. Now, the entire car buying process becomes more personal and is no longer stressful. With Autotropolis.com you can get the information you need about new cars and used autos with the click of a mouse, leading you to find the best deal around on a new vehicle.
From the get go, you are able to research both used and new autos and read reviews about them, getting valuable tips about quirks or strong points about almost any vehicle imaginable. Autotropolis is the most comprehensive database of vehicles online and the ability to read reviews, top ten listings, and safety information for almost any car imaginable is a huge time saver.
Once you've figured out what car is right for you, Autotropolis makes the process of buying a car easy as well. From the home page you can simply type in your local zip code and the make and model of the vehicle you're interested in and it will immediately find all of the listings for that vehicle in your area along with their price.
The website guides you through every step of the process of purchasing a new vehicle and even has beginner guides to help you understand what you're looking for in a new vehicle. All of the cars have the key information that you're looking for such as fuel efficiency and warranty information. Now, instead of spending hours at a dealership browsing through a limited selection of vehicles, find the right vehicle for you by utilizing Autotropolis. It is one of the most comprehensive auto research sites on the web and should not be overlooked.
Slowly but surely, the residents in and around Los Angeles, California are catching up to their even-more-southern California brethren in the TWC HD department. Beginning November 19th, a whole gaggle of new stations will be arriving in a whole slew of new areas. As for channels, look for Animal Planet HD (451), Travel Channel HD (452), Planet Green HD (453), The Weather Channel HD (454), FX HD (456), Bio HD (457), Science Channel HD (460), Toon Disney HD (461), Cartoon Network HD (462), FOX News HD (465), FOX Business Network HD (466), ESPNU HD (467), SPEED HD (468), NBA TV HD (470), NHL Network HD (471), Tennis Channel HD (473), Lifetime Motion picture Network HD (475), Hallmark Motion picture Channel HD (476), HBO East HD (481), Cinemax East HD (482), Showtime East HD (483), The Movie Channel West HD (484), Starz East HD (485), INDemand Sports HD (732) and INDemand Sports HD 2 (733). Phew. Check the read link for all the specific areas for which these are destined. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
[Thanks, Scott]
If you have an RFID-lojacked passport but don't keep it in a faraday cage wallet, this video of Chris Paget's war-driving exploits—plucking information off them from afar—should make you think real hard about it. Cruising through downtown San Francisco in his car with a $250 homebrew RFID reader setup consisting of a Symbol XR400 RFID reader and a Motorola AN400 patch antenna stuck to the side of his Volvo, he snagged the info off of two passports in just 20 minutes. The point, he says, is "mainly to defeat the argument that you can't do it in the real world, that there's no real-world attack here, that it's all theoretical." The range of his gear is about 30 feet, which is plenty of clearance. He plans to release the source code of his software next month—not the first time he's tried to publicly discuss his methods and the dangers of RFID embedded in personal IDs. It also won't be the first time the government denies it's really an issue, either. [The Register via Gadget Lab] Source[gizmodo]
How do you transport a downed but still intact jet from its landing place to a salvage yard? By going through New Jersey. (Note: instructions only valid if Jet crashed in lower 48.) [Jalopnik]
Obama won the fight to keep email and his BlackBerry. Now, knowing the president's email address is a privilege reserved for the truly elite. The NYT explains this, and other juicy details about Obama's email.
We have all seen this picture below of him using a BlackBerry since becoming president, though what he is holding is "actually a more sophisticated, encrypted variation." Biden has one just care about it.
The people who know Obama's top secret email address are exceedingly few: Biden, White Home chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, senior adviser David Axelroad, press secretary Robert Gibbs, a few other top advisers and a select group of friends from Chicago. Even some cabinet members, like Defense Secretary Robert Gates don't have his email address. And, it's likely that his top secret email address will be changed on a regular basis.
If you're lucky enough to get an email from him, it's encrypted in such a way that it cannot be forwarded to your parents, or anyone. No attachments will get through, either.
Left sadly unanswered, however, is the greatest question of all: Does Oprah, formerly the most important person in America whose name starts with O, have his email address? [NYT, Top Image: Pete Souza/The White Home]
Earlier this morning, every single one of Google's search results came with a warning that the site "may harm your computer," including their own properties like Gmail and Google Maps. They've since explained what happened: Google works with the non-profit StopBadware.org to create a list of potentially dangerous sites, which is updated periodically. One such update happened this morning, but somebody typed in "/" by mistake. That simple keystroke expands to every single URL, which is why Google was universally borked. Google engineers fixed the problem in about half an hour, and it's back to normal now. Please don't play with our heads again, Google. We trust you. If you tell us the entire internet might infect our computers, we'll probably believe you. [Google] Source[gizmodo]
What's going on this week over in game land? Final Fantasy XIII, that's what! A new video finally hit for the game that won't be released here until 2010. You can see the trailer here. Here are a few more interesting stories: • Pat Benatar's coming to Rock Band! • DJ Hero is coming. Get ready to be one more step removed from actually creating music. • Ashcraft eats food while giving none to his baby • Wanna see Nintendo's sales numbers? They sold a total 14 million Wii Fits in its lifespan. Holy shit. • Check out these Batman: Arkham Asylum screenshots • Megan Fox plays Guitar Hero • Berkeley has a class for StarCraft. This would be interesting, except it's a DeCal class, which is a student-taught class, and I also took two classes focused on MMORPGs when I went there. Not all that new or special. Also, my instructor is now a Fragdoll. • Tomb Raider, the movie series, is getting a reboot • Kill zombies in a new Dead Rising sequel! • Here are some screenshots of the cancelled Batman game. There's no Batman in it. • Kate Winslet likes playing Wii Sports Boxing with her son. I would probably enjoy watching Kate Winslet play Wii Sports Boxing. • Sims 3 is getting delayed Source[gizmodo]
The iPhone's camera may be roundly regarded as a piece of crap, but that has certainly not stopped a lot of camera enhancing software appearing for it. The best realize that, like a Lomo, the pictures don't have to be... The iPhone's camera may be roundly regarded as a piece of crap, but that has certainly not stopped a lot of camera enhancing software appearing for it. The best realize that, like a Lomo, the pictures don't have to be top-quality -- they just have to be fun. QuadCamera, from Takayuki Fukatsu is one of these. It captures a burst of four to eight frames and arranges them into a single-picture sequence -- either a grid or a single row. This lets you grab a kind of time-lapse set of snaps into one masterpiece. The application is akin to a real piece of hardware from Lomo, the Action Sampler, which captures time-stuttered frames onto a single piece of film. The advantage with Quadcamera is that 1) it costs just $2 (the Lomo is $30) and 2) it doesn't use film. And it actually does something the Lomo can't do -- QuadAnimator is a companion application for both Windows and OS X which will take your shots, split out the component frames and make a short, herky-jerky animation. The results remind me of the living, looping photos from Harry Potter. Product page [iTunes via Cult of Mac]QuadAnimator [Art and Mobile] Source[Wired Gadget Lab]
Yes we know this isn't news, but you'd think it was based on the various stories around the web like this one from Yahoo Tech. We don't mean to pick on this one specifically because honestly it is a very common mistake -- even though this particular article is way off as the newer Macs do support HDCP -- but as draconian as CableLabs and the AACS can be, the analog hole is still open. Now that doesn't mean these DRM requirements aren't crazy or that this protected path we always hear about is a joking matter, but it is all for not when the HD signal hits the analog outputs -- the digital outputs do require HDCP though. This means you can watch any Blu-ray Disc or digital cable program recorded with an ATI Digital Cable Tuner at full 1080i via VGA or component -- Blu-ray Discs can be played back at 1080p via VGA but component doesn't support it. Now we are not trying to state this will always be the case, as both technologies support down-rezzing via analog outputs, but as it stands now these bits have never turned on. Now to the main point of this particular article, which is why Macs do not have a CableCARD option. Our best guess would be that Elgato doesn't want to pony up the $200k for the CableLabs certification process and hoestly we don't blame 'em.
Google's really trying to get in touch with their inner red state lately, aren't they? [Google Maps via The Smoking Gun via Valleywag] Source[gizmodo]
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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