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Programmable Matter: The New Alchemy
Anonymous Kamath writes "IEEE Spectrum recently published an interview with aerospace-engineer-turned-science-fiction-author Wil McCarthy who's just written his first non-fiction book "Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable
Atoms" proposing the application of quantum dot technology on a large scale
thereby allowing one to control properties of materials at will. Another science fiction author laid down the principles of geostationary satellite communication
half a century ago."
from one /.'er who hasn't read the article to another, i just love the idea of levitating anything
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Come one, come all, Come on over and see the Amazing LLamaLicious turn lead into Solid Gold!
Hacking Matter
Sounds almost like the title a Niven novel to me.
AT THE END OF THE MATRIX.
IEEE.org Interview
... and most current vendors do not charge less for a Linux user than a Windows user."
Programmable matter, the new alchemy.
In 1962, Arthur C. Clarke offered three laws of technological development, the last of which reads: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Expanding on an article he wrote for Wired, McCarthy uses Clarke's law as a jumping-off point for a grand tour of cutting-edge "quantum dot" research, a field that seems like nothing so much as alchemy, 21st-century style. Quantum dots are tiny pieces of semiconductor that can trap electrons, with a remarkable consequence: "the electrons trapped in a quantum dot will arrange themselves as though they were part of an atom, even through there's no atomic nucleus for them to surround." The result is an artificial atom, maybe 50 times larger than a natural one, that can simulate the properties of any element on the periodic table by catching or releasing additional electrons. McCarthy offers an extensive survey of both the science behind such "programmable matter" and the scientists developing it, reveling in applications as far-ranging as walls that light a room with their own radiant glow, cars that levitate along magnetic streets, and TV screens that "look less like a moving picture and more like a window into a real, three-dimensional space." The author, an engineer as well as a writer, is a part of the story himself, holding a patent for an application of quantum dots that he calls "wellstone" (his patent application is included as an appendix), and he makes an informative but at times technically dense case for the promising, even magical, potential of programmable atoms.
Hype about Linux on the desktop is increasing, according to Gartner's recent study, "Myths of Linux on the Desktop." The goal of the research was to enable enterprises to be objective in understanding the benefits of the Linux OS on the desktop, separating open-source fact from fiction.
"I want to stress that I didn't mean to be negative about Linux," Gartner analyst Michael Silver, the report's author, told NewsFactor. Linux's appropriateness for any given population has a lot to do with the specifics of each business' environment and its architectures of applications in use, he said.
To understand the real benefits, enterprises need to realize that some common assertions will prove to be myths, Silver says.
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Myth: Linux Will Be Less Expensive
Many Linux proponents argue that using Linux instead of Windows saves a substantial chunk of change because StarOffice/OpenOffice.org then can be used instead of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Office.
"This is a bad argument," says Silver, because "StarOffice and OpenOffice.org can run fine on Windows." He noted that if users believe they will save money running StarOffice instead of Microsoft Office, they can run it on their current version of Windows without spending a fortune to migrate all of their applications to a new platform.
Myth: Linux Is Free
"Supported versions of Linux are not free," Silver notes. Consumer versions of Linux are basically free, but "enterprises that require vendor support for their client OS will need to pay for it." While these costs may work out to be less than the cost of a Windows license and support, they need to be understood.
Many free, open-source applications ship with Linux distributions, but Silver raises this question: Are they the applications the enterprise needs? "Thus far, we have not heard of open-source movements to replace large enterprise resource planning systems
Myth: Linux Means No Forced Upgrades
"Many users complain that Microsoft forces them to upgrade to newer releases of Windows," Silver wrote. "However, we believe that things will not be that much different in a Linux environment."
Linux vendors only support their consumer releases (and free distributions) for a maximum of two years, Silver noted.
It's Neal Stephenson's world, we only live in it.
I'm not a lawyer, but it seems what the RIAA did to these college students is extortion, am I worng? I'll have to check the RICO act and see.
:o
Hey, were going to sue you (your not doing anything illegal, and you can't aford to defend yourself) unless you pay us $12,000.00.
Dirty bastards!
or is it 39 post claimed by me
I just read some sad news on www.Kuro5hin.org - "News for Nerds" website and anti-Capitalist hotbed Slashdot.com was found dead in Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda's mother's basement/server room in Holland, Michigan. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Euro-trash community will miss it - even if you didn't agree with the anti-Microsoft, ultra-liberal leanings of the site, there's no denying its contributions to shower-avoiding, hippy-Geek culture. Truly an anti-American icon.
I just heard some sad news on talk radio "News for Nerds" website and anti-Capitalist hotbed Slashdot.com was found dead in Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda's mother's basement/server room in Holland, Michigan. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Euro-trash community will miss it - even if you didn't agree with the anti-Microsoft, ultra-liberal leanings of the site, there's no denying its contributions to shower-avoiding, hippy-Geek culture. Truly an anti-American icon.
tons of interesting info... :)
Just raise the taxes on crack.
Hi all,
I have just looked at the cute-z website and I must say that it shocked me greatly. All the pic's I viewed looks like miniature adult pornography. These pictures are of little girls posing like adults in a manner that oozes sexuality far beyond these years.
Whilst looking at these pic's it's not of kidz playing and doing kid stuff. They look like adults all sultry for every man to look at and enjoy the way he would should he have bought a Hustler or some other adult magazine to that effect.
Further more this looks like its recruiting possible kidz for a nudie magazine when they old enough to take this up as a profession. Now that's scary.
Is this type of thing not illegal or does the child needs to be totally naked for it to be regarded as child pornography.
Shocked!!
Rehana Waja South Africa