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Education

MIT Focuses on Chip Optimization 30

Posted by CowboyNeal from the quality-control dept.
eldavojohn writes "MIT's Microsystems Technology Laboratories is focusing on the manufacturing of chips as the variables that affect chip quality become more and more influential. From one of the researchers, "The extremely high speeds of these circuits make them very sensitive to both device and interconnect parameters. The circuit may still work, but with the nanometer-scale deviations in geometry, capacitance or other material properties of the interconnect, these carefully tuned circuits don't operate together at the speed they're supposed to achieve.""
User Journal

Journal Journal: Death of Manta Ray Sheds New Light on Species

Journal by MartinKalfatovic
"So you're a pregnant manta ray, and you're about to give birth to a baby with, oh, a six-foot wingspan. How on Earth will you manage that? Now, for the first time, scientists can answer that question: You gently flap your glorious, 13-foot-wide wings to swim to the bottom. You rub your swollen belly on the ground for a while. Then you gain a little altitude and, with a forceful push, you eject your precious bundle as a rolled-up, burrito-like tube, which promptly unfurls to begin its new life
PC Games (Games)

Valve Releases Recent Hardware Survey Results 86

Posted by Zonk from the feel-the-love-for-vista dept.
Freastro writes "Last week, Valve reset their on-going Hardware Survey in order to 'keep on top of what kind of hardware everyone out there is running.' Little has changed statistically since their first 200,000 responses, and it gives some interesting insight into what hardware and versions of Windows people are actually running. Their news article gives the following statistics and the full results can be found on their Valve Survey Summary page. According to the survey, 'Just over 1% of respondents can run a DX10 path for graphics. About 78% of you have microphones plugged in for voice communication. This will help you out a lot in TF2. A little under 5% of you have upgraded to Vista. Around 20% of your PCs are running multiple CPU cores."
The Matrix

Submission + - Controlling computers with an implant, or head ban (cnn.com)

Submitted by
Killam0n
Killam0n writes: "Surfing the Web with nothing but brainwaves

Here is the link to cnn money/business2.0, future boy, where the story is. http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/21/technology/googleb rain0721.biz2/index.htm

SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) — — Two years ago, a quadriplegic man started playing video games using his brain as a controller. That may just sound like fun and games for the unfortunate, but really, it spells the beginning of a radical change in how we interact with computers — and business will never be the same. Someday, keyboards and computer mice will be remembered only as medieval-style torture devices for the wrists. All work — emails, spreadsheets, and Google searches — will be performed by mind control."
Operating Systems

Submission + - Is Dell Bad for Ubuntu?

Submitted by vcore
vcore writes: Many people have become excited for Ubuntu's upcoming release on Dell computers, and while it is certainly good news there are a few causes for concern. Very few details have emerged so far so it is not completely clear what impact Dell with have on the thriving Ubuntu community, but there are questions concerning support, logistics, pricing, and a number of other areas that are affected. From the article, "One detail that will be particularly interesting is the impact that Dell has on Ubuntu. Dell is in the practice of filling their computers with large amounts of "bloatware" and also all sorts of cobranding, but it remains to be seen what they will do with Ubuntu. It has been reported that Dell will be shipping a standard version of Ubuntu 7.04..."
Software

Submission + - VMWare Rolls Out Vista Virtualization

Submitted by MsManhattan
MsManhattan writes: VMWare Inc. today is slated to introduce a new version of its workstation virtualization software that supports Windows Vista. The upgrade, VMWare Workstation 6, enables users to run Vista as a host or a guest operating system. Additionally, it allows users to store a virtual machine setup on a portable device — like as a USB drive — and transfer the set-up to another computer. Virtualization, an old concept that has gained new momentum, can help organizations optimize their infrastructures but it can also create expensive management headaches. IT organizations should resist vendors trying to sell them on third-party management of their virtualized data centers, notes Thomas Bittman, a Gartner analyst. "There are still [problems] with virtualization in support and software licensing and not everything can be virtualized," he says. On a positive note, "This will clear-up over the next two to four years," Bittman adds. Gartner predicts that three millions virtual machines will be in use by 2009, up from today's 500,000.

10 Reasons To Buy a DSLR 657

Posted by kdawson from the through-the-lens dept.
Kurtis writes, "If you're planning on getting a digital camera for yourself this holiday season, here's 10 reasons why you should choose a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera instead of a point-'n'-shoot. DSLR cameras are obviously not perfect for everyone. This article also has a couple of small blurbs about who shouldn't buy a DSLR, and a few things that could be deemed negative aspects of DSLR cameras."

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