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28 Dec 2010 22:54

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Tech: Nerds devise crazy way to make computers insanely fast

  • [Field Programmable Gate Arrays] are not used within standard computers because they are fairly difficult to program but their processing power is huge while their energy consumption is very small because they are so much quicker – so they are also a greener option.
  • University of Glagsow researcher Dr. Wim Vanderbauwhede • On the amazing technological discovery he and a team have discovered – a method of creating computer chips that runs 20 times faster than modern computers, and can fit 1,000 cores (rather than one or two) on a single processor. Basically if this actually gets on a real consumer-purchasable computer in the next few years, Moore’s Law will be matched – and then some. The programming issue is kind of a big deal – if they can figure out a way to make these mega-processors convenient to program, it could be a huge deal and a major computing breakthrough. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 22:25

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Offbeat: Annoying kid: “I wanna be in Florida getting a tan on my back!”

  • We sense a meme coming on. The level of annoyance that 8-year-old Alexander Wright has about being forced to use his iPod while being stuck in the airport is epic. We want to let this kid to know that it gets better. You will get to Florida someday. (Thanks Adam Griffiths) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 22:09

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U.S.: Suspect in prostitute-body-in-luggage case: It was self-defense

  • bad You decide to use the services of a prostitute, which is illegal in almost every state, including New York.
  • worse You get in a dispute with her over the cost of said illegal services and strangle her to death. Not smart at all.
  • worser You hide the body in a piece of luggage – and after getting arrested, you claim self-defense. Not a good idea. source
  • » So … Ever write about something and want to take a shower immediately afterwards? We kinda want to take a shower now. Ugh.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 21:56

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U.S.: How many flights have been cancelled due to the NYC blizzard?

  • 9,726+ flights have been cancelled since Saturday due to weather
  • 1,335+ were cancelled today alone – which is still a freaking lot source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 21:41

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Politics: Did Joe Miller lose his legal challenge in the Alaska Senate race?

  • YES we bet he shaves his beard after this whole mess source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 21:31

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Politics: Obama, Huckabee looking good, Palin failin’ in early 2012 poll

  • So, CNN just released this poll on the 2012 race. Because it’s never too early to talk about this sort of thing, right? Anyway, the big winner in this whole thing is Barack Obama. He’s doing better in this poll than he has at any point in the last nine months, suggesting that he’s still feeling the love from most Democrats, even if he does get labeled a weak, wimpy something-or-other. The loser? Sarah Palin. This poll just sucks for her. But it looks really good for Mike Huckabee and a couple other GOP candidates. The details:
  • 78% of Democrats want Obama to run again in 2012
  • 49% of Republicanswould vote for Sarah Palin as president in 2012
  • 18% the decline in that particular number from late 2008; uh-oh
  • 67% of Republicans would support Mike Huckabee in 2012 – more than any other GOP candidate
  • 59% of GOP kids would go for Mitt Romney in 2012, which is still pretty darn solid, guys
  • 54% of GOPers are okay with Newt Gingrich in 2012; we personally think he smells funny source
  • » Did the tax deal hurt Obama? In the short-term, it did, with 72 percent of self-described progressives approving of Obama after the deal, down from 79 percent before the deal. However, in the long-term, 85 percent of progressives would vote for Obama again, suggesting that the tax compromise thang is something he can bounce back from.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 21:08

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Politics: Chicago politician: News release a personal note to Bill Clinton

  • You just wouldn’t want your friends to be campaigning against you. I’ve enjoyed a great friendship and relationship and have a tremendous amount of affinity for both the Clintons … and I’d like to keep it that way.
  • Rep. Danny Davis • Suggesting that Bill Clinton would be jeopardizing his friendship with Davis if the former president endorsed Rahm Emanuel over Davis or Carol Mosley Braun, the other black candidate running for Chicago mayor. Davis was responding to an earlier news release where he suggested Clinton’s relationship with the black community in Chicago would be “fractured and perhaps even broken” if he went to stump for Emanuel. Davis suggested the news release was a personal appeal to Clinton. Wait wait wait … personal appeals do not come in press release form. Call him if you want to talk to him. News releases mean you want to start crap with a popular former president out in public, so you’re telling the press. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

28 Dec 2010 20:52

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World: Not even peer pressure enough to get Laurent Gbagbo to resign

See this guy in the middle here? Well, he (along with two other African leaders) went to the Ivory Coast today to see if he could get Laurent Gbagbo to resign. Not so much. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 20:25

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Politics: Glenn Greenwald reminds CNN what journalism is. (It’s Wikileaks)

  • What we love about this clip: Glenn Greenwald calls out not one but TWO CNN personalities for being biased against Wikileaks. Greenwald, while obviously in Julian Assange’s court, nevertheless makes multiple great points about the similarities between what journalism is and what Wikileaks is. Fact of matter – Wikileaks is creative destruction to government secrecy, and that’s why the government is uncomfortable. Now’s a good time to mention that CNN passed on releasing Wikileaks material. So did the Wall Street Journal. (thanks diegueno)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Dec 2010 11:09

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Biz: Ready to be depressed? Read this assessment of housing numbers

  • The double-dip is almost here. There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall.
  • Standard & Poor Index Committee Chairman David Blitzer • Expressing fear that recently-released housing numbers are a harbinger of a double-dip. The numbers, which showed a 1.3 percent decline in home prices in 20 key cities, were apparently much more dire than many analysts were expecting. “It was a bit of a surprise,” said IHS Global Research’s Pat Newport. “I wasn’t expecting it to lag so badly in all 20 cities.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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