The world’s largest computing grid is ready to tackle mankind’s biggest data challenge from the earth’s most powerful accelerator. Today, three weeks after the first particle beams were injected into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid combines the power of more than 140 computer centers from 33 countries to analyze and manage more than 15 million gigabytes of LHC data every year. The United States is a vital partner in the development and operation of the WLCG. Fifteen universities and three U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories from 11 states contribute their power to the project.
JCMC is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that focuses on social science research on the Internet and wireless technologies. Find archives back to 1995 (most recent issues at a linked site). Topics include online social networks, blogging, types of fantasy sports users, social and economic dimensions of search engines, and more. Sponsored by the Indiana University School of Library & Information Science and School of Informatics. An official journal of the International Communication Association.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (JCMC) website
The One Laptop Per Child program has a laudable goal—bring low-cost computing to schools in developing nations around the world so entire generations of children don’t get left out of the technology revolution. And while the OLPC program has had its share of challenges—including failing to meet its $100 price point, unexpected competition from the likes of Acer and Intel, recent departures of key personnel, organizational changes, and a philosophy shift that’s bringing Windows XP to the XO laptop;OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte is wasting no time expanding on the OLPC vision. At a conference sponsored by the OLPC project, Negroponte unveiled a design for the organizations’ next laptop: a dual-screened, one-Watt wonder that will be half the size of the current XO—and which Negroponte hopes can get to market by 2010 for $75 each.
Forget “Format c:” or that silly disk erasing software; get physical. With stories surfacing on news channels regularly about lost or stolen data or the ability to recover data from discarded or resold computers and their hard drives, Computerworld decided to look at some cheap methods of removing that sensitive data from your hard drive permanently. And, what better place to look than YouTube? While some of the behavior in these videos clearly displays a somewhat alarming level of violence and pent-up rage (and are probably illegal), we nevertheless were fascinated with the myriad ways to destroy a hard drive — from a plasma cutter to a train to machines we don’t even know the name of — not to mention aluminothermic reactions. Who knew there was such a subculture devoted to abusing hard drives? We even tried it ourselves, and you know, it is kind of fun. Make sure to go to the end of the story to see our version of disk destruction.
Autodesk’s former CEO Carol Bartz used to be fond of saying, “Look around you: If God didn’t create it, AutoCAD did.” That wasn’t just hubris, either. For a time — especially during the late ’80s and early ’90s — Bartz’s statement was actually pretty accurate. During that period, Autodesk’s computer-aided drafting (CAD) software was pervasive across a wide variety of fields. In fact, most of the buildings that went up during that time were designed, in some capacity or another, using AutoCAD. On Thursday, Nov. 15, AutoCAD — and the company that created it — celebratex their 25th anniversary. In that quarter-century, much has changed in the CAD world. The industry has become more diversified and competitive, yet the same things that made computer-aided design commercially popular 25 years ago remain just as true today. “What AutoCAD did, if you look at a snapshot of the past 25 years, was really to democratize computer-aided drafting,” says Mark Fritts, a senior manager at Autodesk and, prior to that, a licensed architect in California.
Masaya Igarashi wants $200 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he’s torn between Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV. It’s clear why consumers are shunning PCs. Millions download music directly to their mobiles, and many more use their handsets for online shopping and to play games. Digital cameras connect directly to printers and high-definition TVs for viewing photos, bypassing PCs altogether. Movies now download straight to TVs.
Software engineers and researchers at the HP Labs in Bangalore, India are exploring more ways for people to interact with a computer without the need for keyboards. One of the proof-of-concepts shown to Southeast Asian media was called a “gesture keyboard.” Using an interactive pen and a graphic tablet connected to a computer, the gesture keyboard was designed to become an alternative to a regular keyboard that uses the popular “Qwerty” configuration. According to HP’s website, the gesture keyboard is a unique device for entering phonetic scripts. This pen-based innovation is being pushed as a low-cost device that can be used to input text other languages that are based on phonetic script.
Technophiles are tapping into a movement known as “steampunk,” where computers, keyboards and other gadgets are re-imagined as if built during the Victorian era. WSJ.com’s Andy Jordan reports.
A contact suggested to me recently that there is no point in studying technology at university anymore. So why the turn against computer science, especially given an escalating skills crisis where the UK IT industry is growing five to eight times faster than other sectors and needs 150,000 new entrants each year? My contact said it is because firms no longer demand programmers and developers; they require business-focused graduates capable of becoming technology leaders.
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