You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March, 2007.
Handling over 4.5 million emails a day on a single 2GHz box: The Architecture of Mailinator
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27 million dead bees in a relatively small area should leave some physical evidence. Curiously, something similar happened 50 years ago…
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Its sizes are 35mm×19mm×19mm. Inside there’s an ARM7 CPU running at 55 MHz and an uClinux kernel 2.4.27 + Busybox 1.0.
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A Pennsylvania entrepreneur has developed technology that gives you all the battery juice you need directly from the air.
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MIT researcher Deb Roy is videotaping every waking minute of his infant son’s first 3 years of life. His ultimate goal: teach a robot to talk.
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This list brings up the most beautiful outpourings of information aesthetics. This is a symbiosis between creative design and information visualization: form follows data and evolves in such unique graphs that you can call them art.
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Winding Road Magazine reports that the world’s first open-source car, the “c,mm,n†(say “commonâ€), was just introduced at the AutoRAI car show in Amsterdam.
The project is a product of the Netherlands Society for Nature and Environment, better known as the “Stichting Natuur en Milieu,†along with a trio of universities.
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A giant image of 88 objects in our solar system, including 11 planets and 21 moons.
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Google’s commitment to “green” means that the company sources carpet and sofas made with PVC, paints without volatile organic compounds, and cafeteria food from local growers. It’s not surprising, then, that they would roll out the largest commercial solar deployment in the US
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I’m a single, college guy so how bout some articles on creative, free dates or something. I’m sure this could apply to married men as well.
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The unapologetic hippies at 10 Zen Monkeys talk to a guy from MAPS about legal psychedelic research, and how MDMA has a good chance of becoming a mainstream pharmaceutical. Except that there’s really no market for it (not taken in daily doses). Lots of other drugs are covered too, including pot, shrooms, LSD and ibogaine.
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Plextor unveiled a new mini digital HDTV receiver on Wednesday that the company says will transform a user’s laptop into a wireless personal video recorder.
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X-Hawk: The Revolutionary, Modular, VTOL Aircraft — —
I bet you’ve never seen this.
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Behind every Hasbro Butterscotch Robotic Pony and every NASA rover exploring Mars are teams of roboticists who’ve worked obsessively to bring their creations to life. In the book Almost Human: Making Robots Think, published this month, Lee Gutkind introduces us to some of the most prominent minds and memorable personalities among them.
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“IN MANY RESPECTS, Asia is at the forefront of world engineering: the region is home to the world
’s current tallest building—Taipei 101—and the fastest train on the face of the earth, Shanghai’s Maglev. And many more ambitious projects are under way. But in addition to its ability to build gargantuan, sophisticated constructions…”
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An annual survey finds Denmark first and Chad last in the use of info tech and networks to drive economic growth. Click on to see how a selection of the world’s economies fared this year and what factors have spurred or hampered their development.
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Dell, oddly enough, is listening to the many thousands of direct requests its customers made during its big public brainstorm (aka IdeaStorm) not so far back. The result of nearly 70% of participants requesting Linux on Dell machines? Linux will soon be pre-installed on consumer desktops and laptops outside their server and Precision desktop lineup
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The latest curative leap to heal professional athletes and weekend warriors alike may sound like science fiction, but it could transform sports medicine. Some doctors and researchers say that in a few years the use of primitive stem cells from infants
’ umbilical cord blood could grow new knee ligaments or elbow tendons…
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Boeing researchers and industry partners throughout Europe are planning to conduct experimental flight tests this year of a manned airplane powered only by a fuel cell and lightweight batteries.
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A new Texas law will protect you from being sued if you shoot someone for breaking into your house or attempting rape/murder. About time.
FTA: “The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker”.
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“.. city lawmakers today approved a ban on plastic grocery bags, a first for a U.S. city. The law adopted on a 10-1 vote requires large markets and drug stores to give customers only the choice of bags made of paper that can be recycled, plastic that breaks down easily…”
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The World Health Organization and UNAIDS said circumcision should be added to current interventions to reduce the spread of HIV. Three African trials have shown that circumcision halved the rate of HIV infection in heterosexual men.
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Interesting links and news headlines.
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Interestingly enough, the system supposedly relies on “modified software” running on regular WiFi equipment, and wireless access points with the newfangled software can seemingly daisy-chain directional network traffic through “several carefully aligned steerable antennas in order to eventually reach a fiber link connected to the internet.
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“Yahoo is announcing that all Yahoo Mail users will have unlimited storage starting in May 2007. The current storage limit is 1 GB per account (2 GB for $20/year premium users). With this change, Yahoo leapfrogs Gmail (2.8 GB and growing) and Live.com Mail (2GB).”
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The son of EVDO is on his way, and when he arrives, he’ll bring faster wireless downloads, even for some lucky people who already have older EVDO equipment. Here’s one tech that we could see in the market sooner rather than later.
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Extensive Linux+ study guide that stands at 66 pages. Useful to anyone taking the comptia Linux+ exam or just looking to learn about Linux. Downloadable as well as available for online access.
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Samsung is upping the ante in the solid state drive market, announcing it plans to ship a 64 GB, 1.8-inch model in the second quarter of 2007.
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Jamendo, the free music community, has distributed freely and legally more than one million albums using the popular peer to peer technology BitTorrent. The music is Creative Commons Licensed and is coming from everywhere in the world. Support these artists !
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The QR5, from U.K.-based Quietrevolution, is a residential-scale wind turbine that generates enough electricity to power a standard U.S. home or a small office. It also looks like a piece of wind-powered sculpture.
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Jeff Hawkins invented the Palm Pilot and wrote a book called ‘On Intelligence’. Now he has founded Numenta - a company dedicated to developing algorithms and software based on the ideas put forward in the book. This spring Numenta released its first product, an experimental software aimed at researchers and advanced developers.
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When Scott Thompson left Visa to take the CTO role at PayPal in 2005, the Web company’s data centre surprised him. “Wait a minute,” he recalls saying, “they run a payment system on Linux?”
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Some very cool pictures of the process of getting the Space Shuttle on the launching pad.
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A patch which it is claimed can help women regain their sex drive is set to become available on the NHS.
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New Mexico’s governor Bill Richardson worked with the southwest desert state’s legislature to secure 33 million dollars for the final design of “Spaceport America,” the world’s first commercial spaceport. Now the voters in the Dona Ana County municipality where the project is to be located will weigh in, in a referendum scheduled for April 3 on a n
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IBM has discovered a way to dramatically improve processor cooling without resorting to more complex or potentially hazardous solutions.
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Secretive inventor with more patents that Edison. Spent 13 years developing the technology. Today released videos that have stunned the printer industry. Analysts have confirmed prototypes are real. Ultra-high speed $150 photo printer technology available 2007. Also promises color printers built into mobile phones, digicams, and handheld games…
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The IRS recommends that taxpayers file electronically, but it refuses to set up its own Web portal to receive the filings because of pressure from the tax-preparation industry.
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Doc Searls and Dave Winer have ideas for saving Newspapers: 1) Reform journalism school. 2) Embrace the best bloggers. Every time someone is quoted in your publication, offer them a blog hosted on your domain. 3) Stop putting tomorrow’s fishwrap behind paywalls. Writers hate it. Readers hate it. Worst of all, search engines ignore it.
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Disintermediation will be complete when Facebook becomes “a massive publisher.†That’s where CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggests his company is headed in an interview published in the Wall Street Journal today ((The kid did go to Harvard..ego thing?))
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“Today I glanced at the leader board, which breaks out the calculations by platform, updated hourly, and realized that the PS3 has taken the program to a completely new level, now accounting for 666 of the total 920 TeraFlops (72%!) of total distributed computing power. And it’s probably increased since I checked. How crazy!”
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“If you’ve already decided to design as much of your home as you can without the help of an architect, this planning scenario takes you through the beginning steps required to gather the information, resources and examples necessary to enable you to design your own home.”
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Scientists have created the world’s first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs.
The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer.
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Many folks desperately cling to their faith, even when logic, common sense and the facts prove that their religion works against their self interests. Case in point, this Reuters story about Muslim feminists (oxymoron?), who are behind an English-version of the Koran that seeks to soften the holy book’s misogynist teachings.
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So why exactly are you still using Windows?
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An Israeli Inventor has developed a breathing apparatus that will allow breathing underwater without the assistance of compressed air tanks. This new invention will use the relatively small amounts of air that already exist in water to supply oxygen to both scuba divers and submarines. The invention has already captured the interest of most major
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19 great pictures of Yokohama at night. Awesome.
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I have noticed that mention of Linux on the desktop seems to be building in the media, but it hasn’t been clear if that noise correlated to more users actually switching to it. Based on the results of my admittedly unscientific poll, Linux does appear to be building momentum.
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The Ubuntu 7.04 beta is now available. Get it while it’s hot!
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For years astronomers have tried in vain to blow up an Earth-size star using strings of computer code. Finally, mission accomplished. And the resulting 3-D simulation has revealed the step-by-step process that fuels such an explosion.
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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will announce today a $122 million investment to create a new crop of high school and college scholars among some of the city’s poorest and lowest-achieving students. It is the foundation’s largest investment to date in D.C. education and one of the largest grants it has made for education.
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Apple VS PC…. VS Linux ?
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Can open source methodology be applied to film production? Yes, says UK filmmaker and author, Matt Hanson, whose own project, ‘A Swarm of Angels’, is attempting to “crowdsource” the funding, production, and distribution of a $1.9+ million dollar movie.
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Jonathan Steffan urges his readers to contact ATI using the “ATI Linux Driver Feedback” form. This is the wrong approach. ATI will not immediately improve their support due to users flaming on forums or from people sending evil notes through their feedback form. If you want action, contact ATI/AMD’s OEMs, AIBs, and ODMs.
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Taking advantage of a particularly gusty period, Spain’s wind energy generators this week reached an all-time high in electricity production, exceeding power generated by all other means, the nation’s electricity network authority said in a statement.
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You have just tried to open some program note installed in your machine, amazingly, the machine answers you with a simple command line on how to install it. Dream? Or just open-source evolving?
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An almost sure-fire way to get over a sore throat. Seems to actually work and lots of people have great things to say about it. This site is just one recent example and includes a recipe, but the site it links to has many more positive reviews.
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“Pop in the disc, start the computer, and the machine boots right into the menu screen for managing memory sticks (thumb drives); then it
’s on to the game menu. No Windows. No typing. Nothing but game.”
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Interesting article detailing how many “megapixels” are in the human eye.
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The Naica Mine of Chihuahua, Mexico, is a working mine that is known for its extraordinary crystals. Naica is a lead, zinc and silver mine in which large voids have been found, containing crystals of selenite (gypsum) as large as 4 feet in diameter and 50 feet long. Looks like it’s straight out of Superman.
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I live in a neighborhood of burgeoning artists and musicians, and an endless stream of people ask me, “How do I set up a cheap, quick, and easy home recording studio?†I’ve actually got it down to a science at this point, so here it is. Keep in mind that your favorite indie rock band has probably used a less sophisticated setup.
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As more and more of the Web is becoming remixable, the entire system is turning into both a platform and the database. Yet, such transformations are never smooth. For one, scalability is a big issue. And of course legal aspects are never simple.
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Saving the world isn’t just for doctors in Africa and technocrats in San Jose. They need funding, processing power, and support: and that’s just what you have. You don’t even need to move your lazy butt. Just stop reading Digg posts and take a minute to save the world using these ten sites, including the World Changing Grid and MoveOn.org.
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Foxit Reader 2.0 is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 1.5 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and amazingly rich feature set. Foxit Reader 2.0 supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. Its core function is compatible with PDF Standard 1.6.
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One of the world’s largest solar installation is about to be switched on. The project is called Nevada Solar One, and it is projected to generate 64 megawatts, when it is operational.
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Some of the most stunning pictures you might ever see!
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Once this hits the distributions, many websites (like Youtube) can be watched out of the box WITH NO ADOBE FLASH PLAYER! YAY! Swfdec is an opensource flash video decoder that can be packaged freely with Linux distributions unencumbered.
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Tesla, the makers of the electric roadster, will be opening up five “customer service centers” across the country this year, where you’ll be able to kick the tires and check out the electric sleds yourself! The key point is that they’re NOT dealerships in the traditional sense of the term — so no pushy salespeople…hopefully.
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Ever wish you could rock a throwback 80s headband while running, and have it be functional too? Well, now you can, thanks to the ingenuity and fearlessness of Japanese businesses. A company called Thanko has come up with a rather interesting new headband which acts as a set of headphones without requiring you to put anything in your ears.
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So it seems that the oft-rumored handset from Google has taken that final leap into the “confirmed” column, though it may not be quite the be-all, end-all device we were expecting.
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A list of interesting facts about skin.
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IBM’s famous Cell Processor will be getting a die shrunk to 65 nanometers which is down from 90 nanometers. Sony hopes that the smaller chip will also be cheaper and cooler than the current version that is used in Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console.
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A list of insights about Wikipedia specifically targeted at people who have limited foreknowledge about the project: journalists, newbie editors, and readers. These explanations will not surprise Wikipedians, but hopefully will help the rest of the world to shape an informed opinion about our work.
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A123Systems, a start-up in Watertown, Mass., says it has created a powerful, safe, long-lived battery. If the cell fulfills the ambitions of its maker, that softer sound will be the future of automobiles. The goal for A123Systems
’ battery for plug-in hybrid cars is to achieve 155 miles to the gallon and reduce demand for gasoline by 70 percent.
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This has to be the best CG I have ever seen. Believe it or not, even the hair is 3D.
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The French Parliament looks to be the next big Ubuntu switcher according to reports. Recently the Parliament produced an official government report that recommended the use of free software over proprietary software. The switch to free software is expected to provide a substantial savings to the tax-payers according to the government study.
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Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones and her husband, David Jones, are betting their careers and personal fortunes that they can grow masses of the slimy organism and use its natural photosynthesis process to produce a plentiful supply of biofuel.
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This series of incredible photos include the largest seed on earth, the longest residential building, Largest Quicksand, Largest Flower / Parasite, Deepest Cave, Largest impact crater, Lowest Elevation, Windiest place, Highest Elevation, Hottest place, Wettest place, Smallest Park, Tallest water fall, Thickest Ice Sheet, and Most populated city
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The thing boots into BusyBox in less than 6 seconds, then in ca. 2 seconds into X11 + rxvt.
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Take a closer look at the biggest passenger ship in the world. Impressive.
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A school district technology director is making wholesale changes in her employer’s IT system by migrating most of 5,000 Windows desktops to a new setup based primarily on Linux-powered desktop PCs and thin clients. The change aims to reduce annual costs, offer many more applications, and use less energy.
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Jeremiah Foster urges Mark Shuttleworth of Canonical (company behind Ubuntu) to get involved in the business of pre-installing GNU/Linux on computers hence getting rid of the “need to install” as one of the biggest remaining obstacles to increased adoption.
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new transistors are only one atom thick and less than 50 atoms wide. The development opens the gate to superfast computer chips at sizes not possible before with standard Silicon transistors.
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Ever wondered why the Dominican Republic almost dominates the MLB? Same with why almost half of the top 10 women’s tennis players are Russian? This article examines this phenomenon. A great read.
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The FCC has ruled that rural phone companies cannot block VoIP traffic from their networks. Is this good news for proponents of network neutrality?
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NVIDIA just cranked up its highest-end Quadro graphics cards, rolling out three graphics cards, the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600, Quadro FX 5600, and NVIDIA Quadro Plex VCS Model IV that the company says represents a huge leap in performance. Jeff Brown, a General Manager at NVIDIA, says Apple is “excited” about the technology.
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Vexed by Vista’s hardware requirements and product activation issues, many have claimed on various boards that they plan to “switch to Linux.” [H] Consumer spent 30 days using nothing but Ubuntu Linux to find out if this is truly a viable alternative for the consumer. Linux has indeed become much more than the “Programmer’s OS.”
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Now every PC I build is optimized for performance and low noise from the very beginning. Anyone can build a high-powered rig that sounds like a jet taking off. Building a high-powered rig that’s so quiet your wife can’t tell when it’s turned on or off– now that’s an accomplishment! It’s a bona-fide engineering challenge
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This is awesome. MIT putting all its information from all its courses by the end of the year? Hey imagine when other major institutions follow suit - what a powerful resource! Hope they put a decent search engine on it!
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These videos show people walking on water, forming liquid into shapes, and just having fun with non-Newtonian fluids, which act like solids when pressure is applied to them.
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This was compiled by a guy named J3r3my on the overclock.net forums. It even includes the new R600 cards all the way to a voodoo 1.
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Read this and enliven your day! Empower yourself to feel slightly better about, “…the “worst†and the “greatest†“blunder,†“disaster,†and “catastrophe†in our “entire†history…]”. JUST READ IT.
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Todd Howard Blogs: I was reading through some of Ken Stone’s Final Cut Pro articles on his site this morning, and stumbled upon a How-To by Rick Young from MacVideo that takes us step by step through creating a Hi-Def DVD using standard DVD-G (DVD-5) 4.7GB media using DVD Studio Pro 4. I had no idea this was even possible. Check out the How-To!
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The Free Software Foundation has released a paper detailing the five actions major hardware manufacturers can take to foster a mutually beneficial relationship with the free software community: support free software drivers, end the “Microsoft Taxâ€, remove proprietary BIOS locks, support a free BIOS, and reject Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)
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Four female and two male students were punished after a drama teacher caught them filming the flick in a Union County High School classroom………
Koooool………..
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The Solar Impulse is an experimental solar-powered airplane project under development. Ultimately, the team hopes to be able to fly around the world powered only by solar power.
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