Slashdot Mirror
Recomputing the Sky
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has unveiled the largest and clearest image of the night sky ever assembled. This so-called 'TeraPixel' sky map was generated with the help of some of Microsoft's latest HPC and parallel software assets. Quoting: 'Compared to the old sky image, the TeraPixel version is much more refined. With all the artifacts, seams and inconsistencies processed away, it looks like a true unified image of the sky above. It's like going from Super Mario Brothers on 1985-era Nintendo consoles to Halo 2 on Xbox 360s.'" You can view the image at Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope site — it requires the Silverlight plugin for Windows or Mac. No word at the site about Linux or whether Moonlight works there.
Don't worry, they can't take the sky from you.
It's like going from Super Mario Brothers on 1985-era Nintendo consoles to Halo 2 on Xbox 360s
Classy, they just had to get that one in there. Of course Halo 2 isn't seamless on the 360, you can't use its online features and it doesn't work in wide screen format.
While the concept is cool, and I don't care who did it, you really have to try to make a website look that bad in firefox.
Yeah, that'll work, though I'm sure Miguel is probably working on fixing that right now. ;)
A libertarian shat on my carpet once. Claimed the free market would sort it out. -Ford Prefect(8777)
Perhaps it means the new sky can be enjoyed only until Microsoft decides to pull the plug on its servers.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Yes, trolling slashdot nerds to install silverlight to view the image out of uncontrollable curiousity.
Someone at M$ is now chuckling while you sell your soul clicking "install silverlight plugin": trolled hard.
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
According to TFA, one of the major bottlenecks was just copying files:
Just transferring the final 1,025 files (802 GB total) off the cluster took 2.5 hours using a 1 Gbps link.
They must have been using Vista Explorer pre SP-1 to do the file copy.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Blue Sky of Death
rewriting history since 2109
No it means you can no longer collect stars. That is a security vulnaribility that was solved in HALO.
Because Microsoft insists on re-inventing the wheel so that they can force people to use Microsoft(TM) wheels.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
Please select your response from the following /.-approved categories (check all that apply):
This project sucks because...
[ ] Microsoft is evil
[ ] They totally stole this idea from
[ ] They've never done ANYTHING original or noteworthy
[ ] EVERYTHING they do is about hurting consumers
[ ] did this 100 times better 10 years ago
[ ] Microsoft killed my family and made me watch
Ask me about my sig!
Because Microsoft insists on re-inventing the wheel so that they can force people to use Microsoft(TM) wheels.
You mean Microsoft(TM) Wheel(R) Series 7, which will go end of support next month, don't you?
D.O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V.M.
If I need to see the sky, I open my eyes, diet for 2 years so I'm light enough to stand, have a bath to clean off the years of accumulated feces, sweat, filth and dead skin that have accumulated on my body, scrape the grime off the window of my mom's basement only to realise it's been boarded up, try to open the door only to realise it's locked, email the cops to get them to unlock my mom's basement, receive no response, manage to break down the door using improvised explosives fashioned out of dried feces and cleaning products, find out that sometime in the last decade my mom's house has been abducted by aliens and the being now feeding me through the laundry chute is actually a robotic maid, open the door and realise I'm flying through space, but the view is way more awesome than this M$ shit!
FTFY
which is totally what she said
I'm sorry, no amount of alcohol (of any type) will make Silverlight attractive enough. It goes waaaaay past beer goggles ugly.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Please make sure you only buy products labled "Rolls for Sure(TM)" to avoid compatibility issues. That way when we abandon "Rolls For Sure" after a year, you know without a doubt you will need to rebuy all of your previous wheels.