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Saturday, November 29, 2008

EADS Chooses IBM and Dassault Systèmes for Collaborative 3D Design and Manufacturing to Help Reshape the Future of Aerospace and Defense Products


IBM and Dassault Systèmes today announced EADS’ commitment to IBM and Dassault Systèmes’ product lifecycle management (PLM), for 3D collaborative design and manufacturing applications and services. EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services, is streamlining product design and manufacturing processes through the use of collaboration tools to make key product information more easily accessible to suppliers and partners worldwide.

Intel Launches Fastest Processor on the Planet

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Processor
  • The news -- Intel Corporation introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel® Core™ i7 processor. The Core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built, with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximize data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.
  • A smarter way to work and play -- With faster, intelligent multi-core technology that applies processing power dynamically when needed most, the new Intel® Core™ i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. They’re the best desktop processors on the planet.
    Multitask applications faster and unleash incredible digital media creation. Experience maximum performance for everything you do, thanks to the combination of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, which maximizes performance to match your workload.
  • Shatter your limits -- It’s time for digital content creation that’s limited only by your imagination. Experience total creative freedom with the power to encode video up to 40% faster. And enjoy incredible performance on other multimedia tasks like image rendering, photo retouching, and editing.

Friday, November 28, 2008

In Mumbai, Bloggers and Twitter Offer Help to Relatives

Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.

On "Mumbai Help", bloggers offered to help users get through to their family and friends in the city, or to get information on them.

Mobile and fixed line circuits to Mumbai were clogged by the large number of people trying to get in touch with people in Mumbai after the crisis. A significant number of the people trapped in the hotels are foreigners, according to media reports.

More people are likely to use mobile phones and technologies like SMS (Short Message Service) to get in touch with relatives than go online, because the number of mobile users outstrips that of online users in Mumbai. But when the phone lines are clogged, some people are realizing that going online may be a good alternative.

Google Updates Street View


Google Maps' Street View underwent some small but interesting changes just in time for your Thanksgiving commute.

When you log onto Google Maps, the first thing you'll notice is that the navigational tools look similar to those of Google Earth. Added to the tools in the top left-hand corner is the Pegman, the mascot of Google Street View.

Drag the Pegman to your desired location to

launch Street View. Streets that have been mapped with Street View will glow with a blue outline, and a small picture icon sprouts from the Pegman's head, previewing the scene below.

When the Pegman lands, the screen opens into a wider, higher resolution image of your surroundings. A rotating compass replaces the old four-way directional pad for easier spinning. You can now also launch Street View by zooming into a location as far as it can go, or double-clicking on the Pegman.

Street View is now shown as a split screen, with the bottom half devoted to the original Google Map. The bottom half can be reduced and enlarged by clicking the icon in the upper left-hand corner; it allows you to shrink the Map to a small box in the corner. This makes it easier to maintain perspective as you're navigating the photographed streets.

Windows 7 Beta on Hold Until 2009


Sometimes I don't know my own strength. After several painful weeks of poking holes in the Windows 7 bubble (and being poked right back by the legions of Windows zealots), it seems my message about Microsoft not doing enough to satisfy IT is finally getting through: The company has now officially delayed the release of the first public Windows 7 beta until "early 2009" -- per the company's PR firm, Waggener Edstrom.

A delay of this magnitude, hot on the heels of our scathing rebuke of the PDC pre-beta, can mean only one thing: It's running scared. Microsoft is so concerned by the overwhelming response to our groundbreaking expose, "Windows 7 unmasked," that it's pulling back on the delivery reins so that it can retool the product to address the myriad performance and compatibility issues we identified.

I, for one, applaud their honesty. Microsoft knows it's dropped the ball with Windows 7; the initial PDC build was woefully inadequate and demonstrated none of the claimed improvements in performance or resource consumption. Delaying the public beta program -- which was generally accepted to be slated for the mid-December 2008 timeframe -- is a smart move. It'll give the company a chance to take another pass at the kernel code base and maybe, just maybe, reconsider dropping some of that consumer-focused baggage.

Linux: World's Fastest Computers


There are fast computers, and then there are Linux fast computers. Every six months, the Top 500 organization announces "its ranked list of general purpose systems that are in common use for high end applications." In other words, supercomputers. And, as has been the case for years now, the fastest of the fast are Linux computers.

As Jay Lyman, an analyst at The 451 Group points out, Linux is only growing stronger in supercomputing. "When considered as the primary OS or part of a mixed-OS supersystem, Linux is now present in 469 of the supercomputer sites, 93.8% of the Top500 list. This represents about 10 more sites than in November 2007, when Linux had presence in 91.8% of the systems. In fact, Linux is the only operating system that managed gains in the November 2008 list. A year ago, Linux was the OS for 84.6% of the top supercomputers. In November 2008, the open source OS was used in 87.8% of the systems. Compare this to Unix, which dropped from 6% to 4.6%, mixed-OS use which dropped from 7.2% to 6.2% and other operating systems, including BSD, Mac OS X and Windows, which were all down this year from the November 2007 list."

Microsoft is proud that a system running Windows HPC Server 2008 took 10th place... behind nine supercomputers running Linux. Even then, this was really more of a stunt than a demonstration that the HPC Server system is ready to compete with the big boys.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Microsoft Study Supports ‘Cyberchondria’


Could the Internet make you sicker? That’s what a study by Ryen White and Eric Horvitz from Microsoft Research says.White and Horvitz studied the Web browsing of 515 Internet users and found that eight in 10 American adults have searched for healthcare information on the Internet, reports NewsOXY.com. The authors found: The Web has the potential […]

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Microsoft Search Searching for a New Name


Microsoft plans to relaunch its Windows Live Search next year, if you believe the buzz in the blogosphere, and its new name might be Kumo, reports LiveSide.

It was one of the possible names ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reported in August that were floating around. LiveSide’s reporting that Microsoft has taken control of that domain name, a Japanese word that means “cloud” or “spider.” Access has been restricted to the site since LiveSide pointed readers there.

According to an unnamed source on TechCrunch, a final decision on the name has not been made.

But along with hiring search talent from Yahoo, it’s further evidence that Microsoft is beefing up its search offerings even without the acquisition.

Automatic Windows Updates Vulnerable to Exploitation, Boldewin Says


Virus writers have found a way to exploit the automatic Windows updates pushed by Microsoft to smuggle viruses onto computers, according to the BBC.

The Beeb cites a report by security expert Frank Boldewin, who wrote on his Web site reconstructer.org that he had noticed an e-mailed trojan that had exploited the Windows automatic update program to get around a user’s firewall. Last week, according to The Washington Post, Boldewin published a proof of concept program that demonstrated how that worked.

Symantec reported the conversations with Boldewin, and called the approach a clever trick. “At the moment there is no immediate workaround,” Symantec advised.

Monday, November 24, 2008

IBM Tries to Bring Brain Power to Computers

IBM Research on Thursday is expected to uncover work it is doing to bring the brain's processing power to computers, in an effort to make it easier for PCs to process vast amounts of data in real time.

The researchers want to put brain-related senses like perception and interaction into hardware and software so that computers are able to process and understand the data quicker while consuming less power, said Dharmendra Modha, a researcher at IBM. The researchers are bringing the neuroscience, nanotechnology and supercomputing fields together in an effort to create the new computing platform, he said.

The goal is to create machines that are mind-like and adapt to changes, which could allow companies to find more value in their data. Right now, a majority of information's value is lost, but relevant data can allow businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have significant impact, he said.

"If we could design computers that could be in real-world environments and sense and respond in an intelligent way, it would be a tremendous step forward," Modha said.

For the research IBM is working with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency and universities including Stanford, University of Wisconsin in Madison, Cornell, Columbia University Medical Center and University of California at Merced.

Steve Ballmer maintains Yahoo acquisition deal is over

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has said the company will not look to buy Yahoo but would still consider a search deal.Speaking at the internet company's annual general meeting Ballmer said, "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo".Yahoo first rejected Microsoft's $47.5bn (£32bn) takeover bid in February and also turned down an offer for the search engine alone.Ballmer's comments come after speculation this week that Microsoft may re-enter talks with Yahoo following the resignation of co-founder Jerry Yang as CEO.Earlier this month Google abandoned its paid search advertising deal with Yahoo after the US Justice Department said it would seek to block the partnership.Yahoo shares dropped to $9.14 (£6.15) - its lowest in more than five years - following Ballmer's comments.

Gmail Gets Free Video Chat!


The users of Gmail service can now choose to communicate with friends not only through chat and e-mail but also through voice and video.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008: Giving a boost to its free Web-based e-mail service, Internet giant Google is now adding voice and video chat to Gmail. With this initiative, Google wants to give a tough competition to Yahoo! and Microsoft, who offer video with their instant messaging services, but have not integrated it into e-mail.

Bill Gates Opens New Company


Friday, October 24, 2008: If you are a Bill Gates, you can't sit at home after an early retirement. You will do something; Bill Gates is doing a lot more. After stepping down from his position at Microsoft and handing over the helm to Steve Ballmer, Gates is reportedly setting up a new company. The new company, called bgc3 (the website is still under construction, check out http://www.bgc3.com/), is reported to deal with broad range of topics such as 'scientific and technological services', 'industrial analysis and research' and 'design and development of computer hardware and software'.

Hackers Hit U.N. Web site


Peace activists have attacked the United Nations Web site, accusing the United States and Israel of killing children and fomenting war, according to The Register. Anti-war slogans appeared on pages with statements from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Other pages also were taken down after the unidentified hackers’ “cyberprotest.”

In other attacks, the hackers, who use the names “kerem125,” “Gsy” and “M0sted, have claimed to be from Turkey, according to BBC News.