PC Club and ClubIT Back in Business!

Category: General News
Posted: May 16, 2008 12:49PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

One of our forum members recently posted the rather sad news that popular PC component e-tailer ClubIT had filed for bankruptcy and closed, as it was apparently unable to compete with some of the giant e-tailers on the web. What a difference a few days can make - ClubIT's parent company, PC Club, has been given a new lease on life from a California-based equity firm, allowing all of PC Club's retail and e-tail stores to remain open. The deal was completed yesterday, and I am glad to report that the PC Club and ClubIT websites are already up and fully functional.

IBM Researchers Increase Solar Panel Output

Category: General News
Posted: May 16, 2008 11:20AM
Author: Dale Shuck

In other solar panel-related news, a research team at IBM has developed a way to improve the efficiency of solar panels. Using a series of lenses to intensify the amount of light reaching each panel, the amount of energy produced was increased sufficiently so that the technology could result in lower-cost panels. But just as focusing a magnifying glass onto a piece of paper can raise the temperature enough to set it on fire, the lenses focus sunlight so intensely the temperatures can reach 1,600 degrees Celsius. That's hot enough to melt metal. The researchers borrowed some cooling ideas from the world of computers and were able to drop the temperatures to a more reasonable 85 degrees. The new technology provides approximate 70W/square cm of usable electricity.

Japanese Firm Develops Solar Bra

Category: General News
Posted: May 16, 2008 11:19AM
Author: Dale Shuck

I think this falls into the 'too weird to be making this stuff up' category, but a Japanese lingerie company has developed a solar bra that can crank out enough juice to charge your cell phone or MP3 player - or power an electronic sign board. The device is powered by a solar panel worn around the stomach. The company admits there may be some shortcomngs to their device as the panel needs to be exposed to sunlight for it to work. But, hey, it's the thought that counts and being green is popular in Japan right now (which also happens to be the color of the garment). To further up the eco-factor, the bra also comes equipped with pouches for storing water to reduce the need for those plactic water bottles. As an added bonus, the pouches are strategically placed so they could double as anatomy enhancers if needed. The model/spokeswoman opined that not only was the bra comfortable but it allows her to "really feel involved in eco-friendly efforts as well."

NASA Converts Urine to Water

Category: General News
Posted: May 15, 2008 09:20AM
Author: ClayMeow

Bringing water aboard a spaceship has always been troublesome for astronauts, as water adds a lot of weight to the ship.  For years, scientists at NASA have been working on perfecting a system that converts urine to water, and on Wednesday they'll finally launch such a system; a $250 million machine, to be exact.  NASA realizes and understands the public conception of such a system, but state that the water that comes out of this machine is actually cleaner than U.S. tap water.  This, of course, begs the question, what the hell are we drinking here on Earth?!  If you're living in Orange County, CA, however, you already know the taste of water extracted from human waste...although maybe you never realized it until reading this article.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Category: General News
Posted: May 14, 2008 11:44AM
Author: Dale Shuck

There is no way you can look at the pictures accompanying this story and not be reminded of Buzz Lightyear. Yves Rossy, a former fighter pilot, strapped on a pair of jet-powered wings and jumped out of an airplane for a five-minute flight over the Alps. The wings have an eight-foot wingspan and four kerosene-powered model aircraft engines which provide about 200 pounds of thrust. During his first public flight Rossy reached a top speed of around 186 miles per hour. After spending five years and over $190,000 in training and development, Rossy is ready to attempt a crossing of the English Channel.

Darth Vader Attacks Jedi Church Members

Category: General News
Posted: May 14, 2008 07:48AM
Author: Dale Shuck

Screaming "Darth Vader! Jedis!" a man dressed like Darth Vader and sporting a garbage bag cape attacked several members of the Church of Jediism with a metal crutch. The members purport to follow the Jedi faith based on the Star Wars films as a guide to living a better life. None of the members were seriously injured. In his defense the assailant, Arwel Hughes, claims not to have any memory of the incident, having just recently consumed most of a 10-liter box of wine (box? must have been the good stuff!) Unfortunately for Mr. Hughes, the entire incident was captured live on a camera set up to record a light saber duel. Hughes was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay restitution to his victims. The 2001 United Kingdom census turned up 390,000 persons who reported Jedi as their religion.

Small Wind Turbines Given A Boost

Category: General News
Posted: May 13, 2008 04:45PM
Author: Ben Grantham

We have been told for years that renewable energy sources are the future, though we still get a majority of our juice from more traditional power plants (you know, the ones that burn fossil fuels and aren't doing the environment any favours). Now, most of us wouldn't even think about building a giant wind turbine for our own home energy needs and this is where smaller turbines come in. Here, as with many other spheres in life it seems that more = better and this is demonstrated by inventor Doug Selsam, who has hooked up multiple turbines to work together to produce more power. By using multiple turbines, prototypes have been able to produce somewhere in the region of 200 Watts with wind speeds of 20mph from an 18" design. This is all made possible by modern carbon fibre materials. You can read more about the Massive Parallel Wind Processing (really) turbines here.

Will New Search Engine Tech Make Google Obsolete?

Category: General News
Posted: May 13, 2008 01:30PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

If you - like many - have ever been frustrated by the seemingly random nature of a Google search's results, a new search engine model may soon be presenting you with results of significantly greater relevance. Developed in-house by up and coming search site Powerset, the new protocol delves into a page's content, finding the meaning behind each sentence, and delivers content that more accurately reflects the nature of your inquiry - a far cry from the simple keyword-based engines that power our current inquiries. Powerset is currently in the public beta-testing phase, and you're encouraged to take it for a test drive.

IBM Supercomputer Preparing to Break Petaflop Barrier

Category: General News
Posted: May 13, 2008 01:06PM
Author: Dale Shuck

A few days ago we reported on some recent news from the world of supercomputing and now we're back with more as IBM is putting the finishing touches on its Roadrunner supercomputer which its engineers expect to break the petaflop barrier for the first time. A petaflop is a thousand trillion floating operations per second. To put that into perspective, the current fastest supercomputer - BlueGene, also built by IBM, runs at a peak speed of 478 teraflops. Roadrunner is a hybrid design, combining X86 processors with Cell processors. The Cell processors, originally developed for use in gaming consoles, will be used solely for massive calculations and not for running the OS. When complete Roadrunner will consist of 6,948 dual-core Opteron processors, 12,960 Cell processors, have 80TB of memory, weigh in at over 500,000 pounds and draw 3.9MW of power.

JetBlue Pilot Forces Passenger to Relinquish Seat and Sit on Toilet

Category: General News
Posted: May 13, 2008 10:57AM
Author: Dale Shuck

A pilot on a JetBlue flight from California to New York allegedly forced a passenger to relinquish his seat to a flight attendant. As the flight was already overbooked, the pilot commanded the passenger to use the toilet as his seat for the remaining three hours of the flight. The story unfolded as the man, Gokhan Mutlu, was returning home to New York using a buddy pass. These types of tickets are travel vouchers that allow friends of JetBlue employees to travel on a standby basis. Initially, Mr. Mutlu was told that a flight attendant had taken the final remaining seat on the flight, but was allowed on the plane when the attendant agreed to sit in the employee jump seat. Approximately 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot ordered Mr. Mutlu to give up his seat to the flight attendant because she found the jump seat too uncomfortable. Company policy forbids the use of the jump seat by non-employees so the passenger was told to simply hang out in the bathroom for a few hours. Mutlu has filed a $2 million lawsuit against JetBlue (bet no one saw that coming.)

British Man Saws Own Car in Half

Category: General News
Posted: May 12, 2008 08:19PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Incensed by the seemingly senseless ruling of the British DVLA, Ian Taylor from Gloucestershire fired up his angle-grinder and cut his car in half. The car, a Ford Fiesta, was bought by Taylor's stepson and was meant to be a restoration project; the Fiesta was soon deemed to be beyond repair, and sat, undisturbed, in the family's driveway. Then one day, an officer of the National Car Parks service came by on a routine patrol and declared that two inches of the unregistered car was sitting on public property, and the vehicle was fitted for a boot. After numerous attempts to clear up the situation via official channels, Taylor was informed that the boot would be removed if he paid $390 U.S. - probably more than the car was worth - and promptly went off the deep end, using his trusty angle-grinder to cut the Fiesta completely in half. The boot was then removed by police, and Taylor was told that he could keep the car.

Chilean Hacker Leaks Personal Data Of 6m People

Category: General News
Posted: May 12, 2008 06:56AM
Author: Ben Grantham

The confidential records of 6m Chileans found their way to a forum of a technology blog based in the country, only to be promptly removed by the sites administrators. The information posted included addresses, ID card numbers, academic records and telephone numbers and apparently came from servers based at the education ministry, the electoral service and the military. The hacker responsible supposedly also left a message to claim the aim of the attack was to show how poor the level of data protection is in Chile (I'm guessing that the point was successfully made). Police are launching an investigation into the incident.

Thank Your Mom Today

Category: General News
Posted: May 11, 2008 11:15AM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Mom has always had a pretty thankless job - we got annoyed when she wiped our face, fixed our tie, and insisted on telling us she loved us in front of our friends. We protested when she made us clean our rooms, help with the dishes, and give Grandma a kiss.  As we grew into adults, we started to realize that all of that stupid stuff Mom made us do was her way of preparing us for the world.  Seriously, what girl is going to tolerate a guy who doesn't wash behind his ears, won't help out around the house, and refuses to act like an adult for at least one hour out of every week?  Mom, thanks for the love, the quiet guidance, and the patience - without you, I wouldn't be who I am today.  I  you, Mom.

Creative Does The Right Thing

Category: General News
Posted: May 9, 2008 09:37PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Not long ago, sound card maker Creative decided to punish some of its customers for upgrading to Windows Vista. You see, Vista processes audio differently than XP did, and Creative's...umm...creative brain trust decided that, in an attempt to recoup some of the money spent developing drivers for Vista users, they would charge SoundBlaster Audigy/Vista users $10 for the privilege of restored functionality via their ALchemy driver - but they would not charge X-Fi users at all. Audigy users were outraged, but many still paid up. Fast forward to now - Creative is still reeling from the incredible customer backlash caused by the danielk fiasco, and needs to do something that will generate good publicity and warm fuzzy feelings. The plan is to stop demanding money from users who just want their sound cards to work, provide the ALchemy software for free, and offer customers who had previously paid a refund. Customers have until June 30 to visit this webpage and request the refund. Seriously, Creative - way to go. That was a smart decision.

Secure U.S. Gov't Networks Found To Be Using Counterfeit Cisco Products

Category: General News
Posted: May 9, 2008 08:34PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

As the result of a far-reaching investigation dubbed "Operation Cisco Raider", the FBI has announced the detection of 3500 counterfeit Cisco products already installed in vital U.S. military and utility networks, prompting fears that the fraudulent gear may have been a vehicle allowing an attempt to infect those networks with Trojan Horses and other malware. These fears almost certainly were further fueled by a recent discovery by the University of Illinois which indicated that processors are susceptible to backdoor programming that would enable practically undetectable intrusion into effected systems. Cisco views the fake equipment differently, offering an explanation that the counterfeiters' most likely motivation was simply to make a quick cash score. Either way, this is an unacceptable and frightening revelation that carries potentially devastating consequences for Americans.

If You're Canadian, Apple May Owe You Money

Category: General News
Posted: May 9, 2008 08:02PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

In response to lawsuits filed in Canadian courts - one of which was granted class-action status - Apple Canada has offered a total settlement in the amount of $3.45 million to as many as 80,000 customers, which works out to $44 per angered person. The offer has been extended to buyers of first- through third-gen iPods before June 24, 2004 who felt that the Fruit company's advertisements pertaining to iPod battery life were misleading - Apple claimed that a fully charged MP3 player had a battery life equal to 8 hours' playing time, while the suits contend that battery life was more in the neighborhood of 3 hours. There is, however, a catch - the settlement will be paid as an Apple Store credit, and no cash or checks will be sent out. While that detail probably won't thrill many, it's certainly better than nothing...

Liberate Tutume Ex Inferis

Category: General News
Posted: May 8, 2008 01:37PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Most are familiar with the concept of a black hole - usually formed when a star collapses, black holes exhibit an astonishing gravitational pull that literally sucks up all surrounding matter, including light, and makes it disappear.  Pretty simple stuff, right?  Now, scientists are seeing for the first time the merger of two massive black holes - and the results of that merger are both catastrophic and astounding.  According to researchers, as the black holes fuse, an enormous gravitational wave will be emitted in one direction - at the same time kicking the combined black hole in the other, similar to the recoil of a rifle.  The resulting kick would send it hurtling through space, swallowing up anything in its path until it finally comes to rest at the center of a new galaxy.  One can only wonder what happens to the matter once it has passed the event horizon - does it just disappear, or can a black hole actually be a portal to another dimension?  I truly hope we find the answer in my lifetime...

Scientists Develop New Planet Finding Laser

Category: General News
Posted: May 8, 2008 12:20PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Every astronomer dreams of finding Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars in deep space - whether they're searching for signs of extraterrestrial life, or trying to find a habitable world that may someday serve as Earth 2.  Over the years, vast improvements in planet finding tools have enabled researchers to probe space faster, and with a better degree of accuracy.  Now, scientists have developed a dime-sized ultra-high speed laser designed to serve as a frequency comb, which will analyze variations in the color of light emitted by stars to determine if Earth-like planets orbit them.  In addition to astrological applications, the new laser may also be adapted to serve as a precision control for optical communications, and can serve as a gas sensor in atmospheric and medical situations.

Supercomputers Getting Bigger and Faster

Category: General News
Posted: May 8, 2008 10:46AM
Author: Dale Shuck

There have been several interesting announcements n the world of supercomputing lately and there seems to be no limit to the need for ever-increasing amounts of computing power. Intel and SGI inked an agreement to work with the folks at NASA's Ames Research Center to begin development on a new supercomputer that will reach 10 petaflops (that's 10 trillion) when completed in 2012. The project, known as Pleiades, will start out at a mere 1 petaflop machine ready next year with a second machine being constructed at the 10 petaflop level. Meanwhile, researchers at UC Berkeley have proposed a 20 million CPU beast capable of reaching the 200 petaflop level. The estimated power consumption for this monster machine is estimated at 4 megawatts - enough to power a city of 100,000. That alone is somewhat ironic as the machine would be used to study climate change and to develop much more power cloud modeling. No estimates on the effects this computer and its power requirements would have on global warming were mentioned. Moving on, Purdue University decided to build its own supercomputer consisting of 812 Dell servers. Construction began Monday morning and was operational in time for lunch - the same day! At 60 trillion operation per second, Purdue's machine, nicknamed 'Steele', lands in the current top 40 of the world's list of supercomputers.

Mine's Bigger Than Yours; Record Breaking Lego Tower

Category: General News
Posted: May 6, 2008 05:19PM
Author: Ben Grantham

I'm sure many of us are familiar, if not rather fond of Lego, the colourful little building blocks you played with as a child (or maybe still play with today). As world records go, the tallest Lego tower doesn't seem that out there compared to other attempts, with it simply being a question of who can build the highest. It also happens to be Lego's 50th anniversary this year so the tower, built at Legoland in Windsor, UK is a celebration of that milestone as well as being the tallest tower yet built. It gobbled up a staggering 500,00 bricks and reaches the giddy height of 100ft (over 30m). Children who visited Legoland over the weekend helped to complete the tower by making 20cm sections, which were added with the help of a crane. The record should be confirmed by Guiness World Records somtime soon.

Crime And Coincidence In Chicago - GTA vs. CTA

Category: General News
Posted: May 6, 2008 04:56PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Not long ago, I reported that the city I call home decided to pull all Grand Theft Auto IV advertisements from its buses and train depots.  I'm now going to report that GTA's parent-parent company, Take Two Interactive, is suing the city that I call home for breach of contract and freedom of speech violations - arguing that Chicago violated a $300,000 advertising contract it signed with Take Two.  According to the agreement, CTA buses and train depots were to display GTA IV advertisements from April to June - but the city pulled the posters just days after their deployment, citing a recent surge in gun violence that claimed the lives of nine people.  I'd also be willing to bet Super Bowl XX that Mayor Daley didn't want any more bad press that might deter the Olympic Committee from selecting Chicago as the home of the 2016 Games.

Cubans Loving Post-Fidel Freedoms, For A Price

Category: General News
Posted: May 6, 2008 11:26AM
Author: Chris Benjamin

The people of Cuba must be absolutely elated at Fidel Castro's replacement by brother Raul, as they are - for the first time ever - enjoying the benefits of modern Western society.  From microwaves to cell phones, the bans Fidel placed on electronics are being lifted - and now comes word that computers are no longer off-limits, at least legally.  Unfortunately, many Cubans make very little money - sometimes lower than $20 per month - and the average desktop PC costs around $800, meaning many Cubans would have to save for years to be able to afford the technology.  To make matters worse, U.S. trade sanctions prohibit Cuba from accessing underwater fiber optic Internet cables - so the only Net access on the island comes via laggy, weather-sensitive satellite connections.  Here's hoping that Cuba's situation continues to improve, and that its citizens are soon able to take full advantage of their new-found freedoms.

Huge energy efficient LED wall in China

Category: General News
Posted: May 5, 2008 06:30PM
Author: Andrew Robinson

Built specifically for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 20,000 square foot wall of computer controlled LEDs will be completed in June. You may think that this is just your normal everyday 20,000 square foot LED wall, it is in fact powered completely from solar energy. errr... wait a minute this is the ONLY 20,000 square foot wall of LEDs so it being solar powered is just another notch on the designers belt. Anyone going to the 2008 Summer Olympics will be greeted by this beast and I'm sure anyone going to Beijing withing the next 50 years will be greeted by it as well.

Geek Squad Will Steal Your Pr0n

Category: General News
Posted: May 5, 2008 01:49PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

It seems like our digital privacy is under increasing attack lately, whether it's the U.S. Border Patrol searching your electronic items for WMD's or the computer repair guys stealing your "adult entertainment".  A number of former Geek Squad employees have admitted to viewing and copying images and other digital content from computers brought in for service, after a lawsuit was filed against the company because an anonymous Geek Squad-er wrote to a consumer advocacy group bragging about similar activities.  Said that mystery employee - "If you have any interesting pictures of yourself or others on your computer, they -- will -- be -- found."  Actions and admissions like this can further damage the credibility of all computer repair shops, and may in fact push more consumers to explore the DIY market.

 

If You Buy Movies on iTunes, Apple Loses Money

Category: General News
Posted: May 2, 2008 08:12PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

The announcement came yesterday that Apple would begin selling movies via iTunes on the same day they are released on DVD.  Today, news came down that Apple is apparently losing money on the deal - Team Fruit is paying around $16 per movie, and only charging customers $15 for new releases.  Yeah...let that sink in...  If this insane business practice is allowed to continue, Fruit will soon face a rather difficult decision - charge its customers more, or renegotiate with major movie distributors.  Option A is absolutely absurd, as any person can often walk into a Best Buy, Wal-Mart or other retailer and buy a new release for less than $15.  While Option B would seem most palatable to both Froot Loops and its customers, Toucan Steve will likely need to prove that iTunes can move product as well as a major retailer to convince studios to slice him a discount.

Blu-ray Sales Haven't Grown Since HD-DVD Dropped Out

Category: General News
Posted: May 1, 2008 10:43PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

If you thought - as I did - that HD-DVD waving the white flag meant that Blu-ray would see a big boost in sales, we'd both be wrong.  According to the NPD Group - a market research firm - Blu-ray hardware sales dropped a stunning 40% from January to February this year, and the February to March figures weren't much better, as sales only grew by 2%.  It seems as though the only good news coming out of the Blu-ray camp is that Playstation 3 consoles have been selling at a respectable rate, making up 85% of all Blu-ray players sold.  Among the top reasons that the next-gen DVD format hasn't exactly lit up cash registers are consumer satisfaction with current standard and upconverting DVD players, and the significant financial investment necessary to go Blu.  Also, there is a feeling that the quality difference between standard/upconverted DVD and Blu-ray isn't nearly as drastic as the difference between VHS and DVD - in short, people just don't think there's a good enough reason to switch.

Idiot of the day

Category: General News
Posted: May 1, 2008 09:28PM
Author: Dave Rattray

Now here is an intresting story out of Fort Worth Texas. A 21 Year old man decided that he was going to try and tell a bank that he was starting a record business which is all fine and dandy. Where it went wrong for him is when he handed the bank a cheque for 360 billion dollar's, yes that is what I just said 360 billion. Now I don't know about you but why on earth would you start a company like that when you might have access to that type of money. Being that he was only 21 we will chalk this to him just being a complete idiot.

Psystar Shipped A Computer...Really!

Category: General News
Posted: May 1, 2008 11:34AM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Well, it seems as though Mac clone upstart Psystar has done what many thought to be impossible - they've actually shipped some computers.  To people.  And judging by the reviews, the embattled company has managed to put together a pretty solid lower-midrange machine, featuring an Intel Core2Duo CPU @ 2.2GHz, 4GB DDR2 memory, and an Nvidia 8600 GT graphics card.  Truthfully, the only Mac-standard features absent from Psystar's Open Computer are Bluetooth connectivity and Wi-Fi - which, considering its bargain-basement price isn't really a big deal.  What is a big deal, however, is the disturbing reality that Psystar's Open Computer - when running Apple's OSX - will never be able to receive OS updates or patches.  Also troubling is that any "hacked" update software designed to bypass Apple's authentication process could realistically brick OSX, meaning users would have to purchase another full OS license, or switch to a Windows or Linux environment.  It's really nice that the guys at Psystar weathered the media storm and managed to produce what they've advertised, but I think that most would still consider the company's products to be more trouble than they're worth.

Women's Voices Sexiest During Peak Fertility

Category: General News
Posted: May 1, 2008 11:13AM
Author: Dale Shuck

According to a study conducted at SUNY Albany, women's voices are perceived to be more attractive or sexy when they are at their peak monthly fertility. Researchers recorded women voices at four periods during their menstrual cycle. The recordings were then replayed to students who were asked to rate the voices based on attractiveness. Males and females both rated the voices most attractive when recorded during the peak fertile period of the subject's cycle. The results can been interpreted as supporting the controversial view that human females indeed experience oestrus as do other female mammals, albeit in more subtle ways. Prior studies have also shown that women's attractiveness increases during peak fertility periods as one study showed female lap dancers earned greater tips during fertile days.

Microsoft Gives Law Enforcement COFEE

Category: General News
Posted: April 30, 2008 09:34AM
Author: Chris Benjamin

It seems as though the people that brought you the BitLocker drive encryption tool now want to help law enforcement agencies circumvent that encryption. Microsoft's Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor - COFEE - is a digital "Swiss Army Knife", providing police with 150 different tools to aid in collecting evidence from a suspect's computer, including incriminating files and e-mail. Currently, 2000 law enforcement officers from 15 countries are testing the crime fighting tools, which are being provided for no charge by Microsoft. While some officers contend that COFEE's interactions with the computer may contaminate part of their crime scene, most are finding that it can help them check Internet surfing activity, decrypt some passwords, and map hard drives - all without shutting down power to the computer, which can lead to far more costly lost evidence and wasted time.