USB 3.0 enhancement to bring 10Gbps transfers, backward compatibility in mid-2013

Don’t call it USB 4.0. Here in Las Vegas, the USB 3.0 Promoter Group announced the development of a SuperSpeed USB (that’s USB 3.0 , if you’re curious) enhancement that will “add a much higher data rate, delivering up to twice the data through-put performance of existing SuperSpeed USB over enhanced, fully backward compatible USB connectors and cables.” This supplement to the USB 3.0 specification is anticipated to be completed by the middle of this year, bringing along a new 10Gbps data rate, improved data encoding for more efficient data transfer, and of course, compatibility with existing 5Gbps hubs and devices (and even USB 2.0 products). We’ve yet to hear of any device makers trotting out new gear that’ll handle the new spec, but hopefully we’ll hear more at CES really gets rolling. Continue reading USB 3.0 enhancement to bring 10Gbps transfers, backward compatibility in mid-2013 Filed under: Peripherals Comments Source: Marketwatch , USB-IF

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USB 3.0 enhancement to bring 10Gbps transfers, backward compatibility in mid-2013

Lenovo talks up new 27-inch “table PC” at CES

Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Horizon 27 Lenovo Lenovo is just one of the many PC makers bringing new designs to CES this week. Many of these will simply be refreshed or refined versions of the first round of Windows 8 computers—either convertible laptops or more traditional desktops and laptops with integrated touchscreens—but a few particularly interesting designs may yet rise above that fray. One of these PCs is Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Horizon 27, a 27-inch all-in-one desktop PC with an integrated battery and 1080p ten-point touchscreen. Lenovo is marketing the device as a “table PC.” Sure, a kickstand can be unfolded to allow the computer to sit on a desk as would any all-in-one. But this PC can also be laid flat on a table for use by multiple people, or mounted on the pictured roller table for use while standing. (We’ve previously stated  a touchscreen all-in-one makes the most sense ergonomically while positioned at about waist height on a standing person.) Enlarge / A roller table will change the Horizon into a standing workstation, when needed. Lenovo In concept the Horizon is quite similar to Sony’s Tap 20 , a smaller all-in-one that also included an integrated battery and foldable kickstand allowing it to be laid flat on a table. The Horizon’s larger size will mean more people can gather around it at once (and the roller table may make it more useful for people who prefer to stand at their desks), but the two machines are definitely cut from the same cloth. Like the Tap 20, multiplayer touch-enabled games figure heavily into Lenovo’s promotional material for the device. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Lenovo talks up new 27-inch “table PC” at CES

This classical music was created by a supercomputer in less than a second

The composition being performed in this video is entitled “Nasciturus”, and it’s one of the many pieces of contemporary classical music created by Iamus — who just so happens to be a computer cluster housed in Spain’s University of Málaga. More »

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This classical music was created by a supercomputer in less than a second

LaCie’s 5big Thunderbolt RAID Puts 20 Glorious Terabytes On Your Desk

Last year LaCie showed up to the Thunderbolt party with its 2big RAIDs that promised capacities of up to eight terabytes. A number we all foolishly oohed and awed at not realizing how pitiful it would sound compared to the company’s new 5big RAID that tops out at 20 terabytes and speeds of up to 785MB/s. More »

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LaCie’s 5big Thunderbolt RAID Puts 20 Glorious Terabytes On Your Desk

The Pirate Bay Is Down Across the Globe

If you sketchily poked on over to the Pirate Bay to do a little downloading of a legal, quasi-legal, or outright illegal nature recently, you may have noticed you can’t get through. No, your ISP hasn’t started blocking it; it’s down for everyone, everywhere . Proxies too. More »

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The Pirate Bay Is Down Across the Globe

Watch a trippy, alien-filled animation by the director of Yellow Submarine

After finishing his work on the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine , director and animator George Dunning made a surreal science fiction short, 1970’s Moon Rock . Turn on this 10-minute cartoon in which an astronaut encounters the strange creatures of a bizarre alien world, and let yourself get swept up in its peculiar dream-like logic. More »

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Watch a trippy, alien-filled animation by the director of Yellow Submarine

Toyota To Show Off Autonomous Prototype Car At CES Show

coondoggie writes “Toyota is going to show off its autonomous car/accident avoidance technology at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas nest week. The 2013 Lexus LS uses what the car company calls its Intelligent Transport System and is fitted with on-board radar, video cameras and sensors to monitor the road, surroundings, and the driver all with the goal of preventing accidents and avoiding problems.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Toyota To Show Off Autonomous Prototype Car At CES Show

Death of Printed Books May Have Been Exaggerated

New submitter razor88x writes “Although just 16% of Americans have purchased an e-book to date, the growth rate in sales of digital books is already dropping sharply. At the same time, sales of dedicated e-readers actually shrank in 2012, as people bought tablets instead. Meanwhile, printed books continue to be preferred over e-books by a wide majority of U.S. book readers. In his blog post Will Gutenberg Laugh Last?, writer Nicholas Carr draws on these statistics and others to argue that, contrary to predictions, printed books may continue to be the book’s dominant form. ‘We may be discovering,’ he writes, ‘that e-books are well suited to some types of books (like genre fiction) but not well suited to other types (like nonfiction and literary fiction) and are well suited to certain reading situations (plane trips) but less well suited to others (lying on the couch at home). The e-book may turn out to be more a complement to the printed book, as audiobooks have long been, rather than an outright substitute.'” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Death of Printed Books May Have Been Exaggerated

Beautiful, Fragile Nudibranchs Can Kill You

If you’re hungry while on the ocean floor, don’t chow down on these fellows, no matter how tasty they look. The Chromodoris annae, like many nudibranchs, is soft, colorful and poisonous. Wildlife photographer David Doubilet took photos of many different species. You can view more pictures at the link. Link -via It’s Okay to Be Smart | Photo: David Doubilet

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Beautiful, Fragile Nudibranchs Can Kill You

Startup Companies Replace “Casual Fridays” with “Formal Fridays”

Silicon Valley’s startup corporate culture is noted for its downscale fashion and manners: flip-flops, office games and casual decor. If that’s the norm, how do you handle casual Fridays? How do you impress others as a nonconformist? By dressing up formally, often with bowties and a tophats: The trappings of a nonconformist workplace were on display recently at the headquarters of a startup here named Pulse: There was the foosball table, the containers of free M&Ms, the bottle of whiskey on top of the fridge. And the guys standing around in suits and ties. It was Friday, after all, and to truly defy conformity at some tech outfits on that day of the week, one must not wear jeans or flip-flops. Pulse employees were practicing “Formal Friday,” dressing in their Sunday best. “It is kind of flipped…because we’re super casual the entire week,” says Akshay Kothari, co-founder of Pulse, a startup that makes a news-organizing app. “You want to break the monotony.” Watch a video at the link, then go buy a bolo tie for next Friday. Because bolo ties are cool. Link -via Glenn Reynolds  | Photo: Spark Fun Electronics

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Startup Companies Replace “Casual Fridays” with “Formal Fridays”