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Intel flaunts 8-core Extreme Edition Haswell with support for DDR4 memory

Since Intel’s next Haswell chips are aimed squarely at enthusiasts, what better place to unveil them than at the Game Developer’s Conference ? The 4th-gen Core-i7 Extreme Edition CPU, codenamed “Devil’s Canyon, ” will feature eight unlocked cores and 16 threads, trumping the last model’s six cores. It’ll also support the latest DDR4 memory standard, which brings much higher transfer speeds and lower power drain than DDR3. Along with a better thermal interface, all that will enable “significant” overclocking and performance enhancements, according to Intel. It also announced a Pentium Anniversary Edition with unlockable cores and revealed the “Black Brook” reference all-in-one — designed to show off tech like its RealSense 3-D camera (see the video after the break). Finally, Intel revealed that its 5th-gen Broadwell 14-nanometer processors will be available unlocked and with IRIS graphics. Given that those chips are expected soon and the Extreme Edition Core CPU will arrive in mid-2014, it might be prudent to put off that upgrade. Filed under: Desktops , Peripherals , Intel Comments Source: Intel

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Intel flaunts 8-core Extreme Edition Haswell with support for DDR4 memory

Oculus Rift “DK2” eyes-on: Finally, VR without the Ocu-latency

Calm down, Oculus DK2! Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later. Today’s announcement about the latest improved version of the Oculus Rift headset was good news for virtual-reality geeks, but it came with two caveats. First, this still isn’t the final model meant for wide consumption, but rather a second stab at the headset’s development kit. And second, it won’t reach its intended, limited audience of developers until July of this year. That’s not soon enough for the GDC-attending contingent at Ars! After all, we’re already desperate to escape our current tech-conference reality, mostly comprising grumpy faced games industry professionals. Thus, gaming editor Kyle Orland and I grabbed our press laminates and hopped the giant Oculus Rift line,  Wayne’s World -style , to take the refreshed headsets for a spin—and grill company founder Palmer Luckey in the process. I have shoved my eyes into the original Oculus headset a few times now, which means that I have no patience for its largest failings: latency and refresh. The original responds just slowly enough to your head’s motions to feel detached, but worse, its tiny screens suffer from a slight frame refresh hitch. Couple those with a low-resolution screen pushed directly into your skull, and even first-person gaming freaks like myself can expect a one-way ticket to Headache Town. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Oculus Rift “DK2” eyes-on: Finally, VR without the Ocu-latency

Layar brings its augmented reality to Google Glass

Augmented reality is fun and all, but holding your phone to your face always seemed, to us, like too much effort. Layar agrees, which is why the outfit has now brought its AR secret sauce to Google Glass . Once the APK is installed, saying “OK Glass, scan this” will see the head-mounted wearable find additional content for your right eye. Considering the company’s print expertise , most of these will involve extra value material from magazines, but could also be used to examine maps and real estate listings. The video after the jump says you could also watch movie trailers just by staring at a poster — assuming that you don’t mind your fellow cinema goers thinking you’re a bit odd. Filed under: Google Comments Source: Layar for Glass , Layar

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Layar brings its augmented reality to Google Glass

This serpent-like hotel, coiled around the glacial outcroppings of Norway’s gorgeous Lofoten Islands

This serpent-like hotel, coiled around the glacial outcroppings of Norway’s gorgeous Lofoten Islands north of the Arctic Circle, has been proposed by the architecture firm Snøhetta . The building’s central loop will enclose a courtyard, offering a “spectacular view and the feeling of being ‘in the middle’ of the elements, ” according to the architects. [ Dezeen ] Read more…        

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This serpent-like hotel, coiled around the glacial outcroppings of Norway’s gorgeous Lofoten Islands

Teen Sneaks Past Sleeping Guard to Reach Top of 1 WTC

Weehawken 16-year-old Justin Casquejo pulled a fast one on the guards at One World Trade Center on Sunday, reaching the spire of the 1, 776-foot-tall tower around 4AM and hanging out for at least two hours. Some people’s rebellious teenage phases are just cooler than others. Read more…        

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Teen Sneaks Past Sleeping Guard to Reach Top of 1 WTC

Here’s the Reliable and Unreliable Data You Get from Fitness Trackers

I’ve previously looked at the ups and downs of tracking everything in my life , finding that the data helps provide a little guidance but is certainly nothing to live by. What I couldn’t tell, however, is how accurate that data actually was. Rachel Feltman , writer for Quartz, decided to wear four fitness trackers at once to find out. Read more…        

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Here’s the Reliable and Unreliable Data You Get from Fitness Trackers

The oldest known incidence of cancer in a human has been found in a 3,000-year-old skeleton.

The oldest known incidence of cancer in a human has been found in a 3, 000-year-old skeleton . Analysis of the remains , which were found in a tomb in what used to be ancient Nubia , revealed metastatic carcinoma — a form of cancer that spreads to other parts of the body. The discovery shows that the disease is not strictly a modern affliction . Read more…        

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The oldest known incidence of cancer in a human has been found in a 3,000-year-old skeleton.

TwoFactorAuth Lists All the Sites with Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication is critical for protecting your online accounts, but sadly, not every site supports it (even, shockingly, many banks ). TwoFactorAuth.org is a new site that all the sites that do or do not support two-factor authentication. Read more…        

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TwoFactorAuth Lists All the Sites with Two-Factor Authentication

The $3.2 Million Bulletproof, Diamond-Studded Suit With a Built-In A/C

A bulletproof, air-conditioned, diamond-covered, $3.2 million suit? Even James Bond would drool over this. Not that it would matter; it’s also waterproof. Naturally. Read more…        

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The $3.2 Million Bulletproof, Diamond-Studded Suit With a Built-In A/C

New cache design speeds up processing time by 15%

Texas A&M Supercomputing Transistors keep getting smaller and smaller, enabling computer chip designers to develop faster computer chips. But no matter how fast the chip gets, moving data from one part of the machine to another still takes time. To date, chip designers have addressed this problem by placing small caches of local memory on or near the processor itself. Caches store the most frequently used data for easy access. But the days of a cache serving a single processor (or core) are over, making management of cache a nontrivial challenge. Additionally, cores typically have to share data, so the physical layout of the communication network connecting the cores needs to be considered, too. Researchers at MIT and the University of Connecticut have now developed a set of new “rules” for cache management on multicore chips. Simulation results have shown that the rules significantly improve chip performance while simultaneously reducing the energy consumption. The researcher’s first paper, presented at the IEEE International Symposium on Computer Architecture, reported gains (on average) of 15 percent in execution time and 25 percent energy savings. Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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New cache design speeds up processing time by 15%