Slashdot Mirror
Domain: pennnet.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to pennnet.com.
Stories · 10
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Hynix 48-GB Flash MCP
Hal_Porter writes to let us know that the third-largest NAND chip maker, Hynix, has announced they have stacked 24 flash chips in a 1.4mm thick multi-chip package. It's not entirely clear from the article whether the resulting 48-GB device is a proof of concept or a product. The article extrapolates to 384 GB of storage in a single package, sometime. Hal_Porter adds: "It's not clear if it's possible to write to them in parallel — if so the device should be pretty damn fast. The usual objection to NAND flash as a hard drive replacement is lifetime. NAND sectors can only be written 100,000 times or so before they wear out, but wear leveling can be done to spread writes evenly over at least each chip. I worked out that the lifetime should be much longer than a typical magnetic hard disk. There's no information on costs yet frankly and it sounds like an expensive proof of concept, but it shows you the sort of device that will take over from small hard disks in the next few years." -
ILM's Datacenter
kylegordon writes "CGW has inside scoop on Industrial Light and Magic's facilities after they moved from San Rafeal to San Franciscos Presidio. With 3000 disks, it can shift 170Tb to 5000 rendernodes over 10GbE and 1GbE network links. It's an impressive system, for impressive films." -
Remote-controlled Bolts and Screws
Winter writes "SMT Magazine has an article on intelligent fasteners (screws, bolts...) that can fasten themselves or by remote control. Usage for this seems mainly to make sure normal people cannot change parts in their car themselves, and only allow for authorized parts and service. Of course, a hacker might also have fun and disassemble the neighbours car." -
Half-Life 2's Technical Details, Cost Estimates
Thanks to Computer Graphics Magazine for its feature on the graphical technology being used in Valve's eternally-awaited FPS Half-Life 2. Among the specifics discussed are innovative paths to graphical variety ("Using the same morph targets sculpted for facial animation, the system automatically alters the facial geometry to create, for example, a flatter or broader nose, or a squarer jaw. As a result, all the scientists, soldiers, and other homogeneous characters appear as unique, differentiated models"), and potential game mod options ("To firmly entrench itself in the future of game development, Softimage will package XSI EXP, a lite version of XSI, with every PC copy of Half-Life 2 [and make it available on the Softimage site this week].") Elsewhere, a Maxitmag interview with Valve's Gabe Newell has him musing: "Last time I checked, we were about $40 million into the project. Yikes, that's a scary number." -
SAN, NAS, Cost and Benefits?
luetin asks: "Our company is at the point where our storage and backup infrastructure is ok, but not for much longer. We are looking into SAN, NAS, and variations thereof. We are a small IT department, with two sysadmins and two programmers. Right now we have stored/circulating about 2TB of data, and that's going to increase steadily in coming years. Does Slashdot have experience setting up SANs? Tales of costs and benefits of SANs versus a gaggle of NAS? Can SAN be implemented by reasonably seasoned IT people, or is it too dark an art?" -
3D Computer Generated Movie From France
An anonymous reader submits a link to this Computer Graphics World article on a French-made film to be released in June. "A film by Xilam, Kaena is a full length feature film, entirely made from Off the shelf software. The previews looks amazing." -
State of 3d Graphics on Wireless Devices
An anonymous reader writes "This Computer Graphics World Magazine article discusses the current and future state of 3d graphics on wireless platforms. Apparently Japan is ahead of the game with a relatively standardized 3d render engine. Seems like the main use is for 3d virtual pets and the standard sort of games one might expect. What I'm waiting for is what I believe to be the next step; the one described in, oh, so many sci-fi novels... a personality for my handheld! Imagine, if you will, a personalized avatar or something that can interact with you and perhaps assist you in your daily endevours (with a touch of attitude?).." -
Nanotech Paints For Military
pmacwill wrote to us with a recent article on Pennet in regards to the U.S. military's proposed use of nanotech paints. Actually, it goes beyond proposal -- and beyond paint, as it would allow vehicles to change camo patterns very easily, and would also repair micro-cracks and fractures without the need for service. -
NSA/U.S. Navy Working to Intercept Fiber Optic Cables
Jeff Robertson writes: "Fiber optic cables have advantage of being difficult to wiretap. As optical amplifiers replace electro-optical regenerators in undersea routes, it gets even harder. Lightwave Magazine has an article quoting the Washington Post as claiming the National Security Agency 'is known to be hard at work trying to gain access to fiber optic cables' and the U.S. Navy will spend '$1 billion to retrofit its premier spy submarine, the USS Jimmy Carter' to get access to deep-sea fiber routes. They also assert that the U.S. government is bailing out Global Crossing to prevent its undersea routes falling into foreign hands." -
GPL 3.0 Concerns in Embedded World
An anonymous reader submitted a story discussing version 3.0 of the GPL. An interesting piece that raises some valid points. Talks about the fact that the GPL hasn't been tested in court (yet) and how companies using it as a core of their business are gambling on a variable. Specifically targeted to embedded systems, but the issues spread beyond that.