Ultralight Convertibles Approaching Desktop Performance

MojoKid writes Laptops with fully articulating hinges are starting to show up from more vendors than just Lenovo, though the company certainly got some mileage out of their Yoga brand of machines. Now it appears HP is getting in on the action as well, with the new HP Spectre X360 that’s powered Intel’s new Core i5-5200U Broadwell-based processor with integrated Intel HD 5500 series graphics, along with 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory, a 256GB Solid State Drive (a Samsung M.2 PCIe SSD), 802.11ac WiFi, and a 13.3″ Full HD (1920×1080) multi-touch screen. The Spectre X360 has a geared and spring-assisted hinges. The hinges swing open easily, and then offer more resistance as the screen is moved into an upright position, or swung around into tent, stand, or tablet modes. What’s also interesting about this new breed of convertibles, beyond just its ability to contort into tablet mode and various other angles, is that performance for these ultralight platforms is scaling up nicely, with faster, low-power processors and M.2 PCIe Solid State Drives offering up a very responsive experience and under 10 second boot times. It has gotten to the point that 3 pound and under notebooks feel every bit as nimble as desktop machines, at least for mainstream productivity and media consumption usage models. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read More:
Ultralight Convertibles Approaching Desktop Performance

New Concept Tire Could Recharge Car Battery

randomErr writes Goodyear Tire showed off its new BH03 tire that can partially recharge your electric car while driving. At the 2015 Geneva International Motor Show a new concept tire was displayed that uses heat generated while driving and converts the thermal energy to electrical power. The triple inner tube design changes pressure to maximize electrical output while adjusting to the road conditions. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Read the original:
New Concept Tire Could Recharge Car Battery

What it looks like in the Arctic Circle when the Sun never sets

This time lapse shows what 24 hours of a summer day (and I guess, a summer night) looks like in the Arctic Circle. You can see the Sun rising and setting like it normally does anywhere else but instead of disappearing beyond the horizon as the Earth turns, it pops right back up and the world never turns dark. Read more…

See more here:
What it looks like in the Arctic Circle when the Sun never sets

Chinese Government Takes Down Anti-Pollution Documentary "Under The Dome"

An anonymous reader writes with a link to BBC’s report that [A]uthorities in China have a removed from websites a popular documentary which highlights the country’s severe pollution problem. Under the Dome explains the social and health costs of pollution, and was watched by more than 100 million people online, sparking debates. It was removed just two days after Premier Li Keqiang called pollution a blight on people’s lives. Searching YouTube gives you a pretty good idea of what the Chinese government doesn’t want people to see. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

See the original article here:
Chinese Government Takes Down Anti-Pollution Documentary "Under The Dome"

Satellite Image Shows Off The World’s Largest Solar Farm

Since May 2012, a giant solar farm has slowly started to harvest the sun’s rays in California. Construction finished last month, and the farm — the world’s largest — is now fully operational. It takes a photo from a NASA satellite to grasp how ridiculously huge this operation is. Read more…

Original post:
Satellite Image Shows Off The World’s Largest Solar Farm

Mesa 10.5 Updates Open-Source Graphics Drivers

An anonymous reader writes Mesa 10.5 has been released to update the open-source Linux graphics driver stack. This quarterly update to Mesa has initial support for Intel’s next-generation Skylake graphics, Qualcomm Adreno A4xx support, EGL support on the BeOS-inspired Haiku, the new NIR intermediate representation, and other changes. While new GL4 extensions were implemented, the Intel/Radeon/Nouveau drivers only have enough support right now to expose OpenGL 3.3, but GL4.2 is expected out of the open-source drivers by the end of the year. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

See more here:
Mesa 10.5 Updates Open-Source Graphics Drivers

Albuquerque PD encrypts videos before releasing them in records request

Har-har-fuck-you, said Albequerque’s murderous, lawless police department, as they fulfilled a records request from Gail Martin, whose husband was killed by them, by sending her encrypted CDs with the relevant videos, then refusing to give her the passwords. Read the rest

More:
Albuquerque PD encrypts videos before releasing them in records request

Watching uranium emit radiation inside a cloud chamber is mesmerizing

Here’s a really neat, classic experiment that’s always fun to see. When you place uranium inside a cloud chamber, you can see it decay and emit bits of radiation. It’s like seeing little alpha particle torpedoes shooting out in every direction, leaving a trail behind. Read more…

View article:
Watching uranium emit radiation inside a cloud chamber is mesmerizing

Sony’s testing a PS4 update that lets you pick up your game where you left off

Sony’s PlayStation 4 has been a sales success since its launch and recently crossed 20 million units sold to customers. Of course, now that gamers have one they’re expecting new features and Sony might be about to pick up the pace. Posts on NeoGAF and Twitter reveal the PlayStation MVP program (apply for access here ) is being used to beta test a new update, and the feature list reportedly has some nice additions: Share Play at 60fps (up from 30fps), trophy tweaks, and an improved Suspend/Rest mode that will keep your games and apps ready to go when you return. That last one is a feature the Xbox One already has, and that we’ve been expecting since the PS4 was announced . @Wario64 I’ll do you one better… pic.twitter.com/uMRCjBI3tv – The C-Note Files (@cnpalmer75) March 6, 2015 Since the system launched Sony has added bits like PS Now, custom soundtracks and more , but most of its updates brought only vague promises of increased stability. Meanwhile the Xbox One system it’s competing with — which launched with software charitably described as half-baked — has been patching up feature holes with monthly-ish updates and a beta program letting owners test out features before they roll out widely. If Sony can speed up the curve on software rollouts to match its impressive hardware, everyone will be winning. Filed under: Gaming , HD , Sony Comments Via: Wario64 (Twitter) (1) , (2) Source: NeoGAF

View article:
Sony’s testing a PS4 update that lets you pick up your game where you left off

Girl Scout Cookies, or California’s Most Notorious Strain of Cannabis

I first heard of Girl Scout Cookies a few years ago, shortly after I got my prescription for cannabis in California. I went into my local dispensary and asked for whatever buds they had that smelled the nicest. “Have you tried Girl Scout Cookies ?” the woman behind the counter asked. “It’s famous.” Read more…

See original article:
Girl Scout Cookies, or California’s Most Notorious Strain of Cannabis