After the baby diaper and sawdust solution didn’t quite cut it, TEPCO’s finally stopped Fukushima’s contaminated water from flowing into the Pacific Ocean using around 1,500 gallons of chemicals. Phew! Let’s hope the measure holds up. [Kyodo News] More
The Buick is back! No, really …
Intel rolls out 10-core, 20-threaded Xeon E7s, shows everyone who’s boss
Someone deep down in Intel’s development dungeons must be laughing a haughty laugh of disdain at us mere mortals getting excited about dual-cores in smartphones. The old Chipzilla has just turned out its 10-core Xeon E7 processor family, which can work on 20 simultaneous computational threads courtesy of the company’s Hyper-Threading knowhow. Needless to say, there aren’t that many casual workloads that will ever properly harness such extremely parallelized prowess, but then Intel isn’t really gunning for the Facebook crowd here anyhow. The new E7s are for those dealing with truly data-intensive tasks, meaning that Facebook itself would be a good candidate to buy up a few, provided it’s tempted by such things as 40 percent performance improvements over the Xeon 7500 tied to dynamic power adjustment for increased energy efficiency. Pricing for the Xeon E7s starts at $774 and climbs up to $4,616 per 32nm chip, with the usual proviso that Intel won’t sell them in batches of less than 1,000. More details follow in the press release and video after the break.
[Thanks, Khan]
Continue reading Intel rolls out 10-core, 20-threaded Xeon E7s, shows everyone who’s boss
Intel rolls out 10-core, 20-threaded Xeon E7s, shows everyone who’s boss originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
NASA Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity Rover: a first look (big photo gallery)
This week, Boing Boing was invited to visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the first and only opportunity for media to enter the Pasadena, CA clean room where NASA’s next Mars rover, Curiosity, and other components of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft have been built for launch in late 2011 from Florida.
Shipment from the clean room to Florida will begin next month. Curiosity rover recently completed tests under simulated space and Mars-surface environmental conditions in another building and is back in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for other tests. Spacecraft assembly and testing specialists showed Boing Boing the rover and the other spacecraft components, including the descent stage “sky crane.”
Photographer Joseph Linaschke visited on behalf of Boing Boing (he donned a bunny suit for the occasion) and shot this series of photos. More below.
About the photographer:
Joseph Linaschke is a photographic storyteller and educator, and runs ApertureExpert.com, a leading site for Apple Aperture users. He has traveled the world representing various technologies and companies on stage, including MetaCreations, Wacom, Corel, and Apple, where he was part of the marketing team for Aperture and produced and shot several productions for iLife, Aperture and Final Cut Studio.
You can purchase prints of any images in Joseph’s JPL Mars Curiosity Rover photo gallery here.
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NASA Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity Rover: a first look (big photo gallery)
Dish Network wins Blockbuster auction for $228 million in cash
The question of what’s next for Blockbuster has been partially answered, now that Dish Network has announced its $320 million bid was enough to win a bankruptcy court auction for the rental giant’s remaining assets. After “certain adjustments” are made and the deal closes, it’s expected to cost just $228 million in cash but what exactly Dish plans to do with the 1,700 stores and innumerable copies of Little Fockers is unclear. Executive VP Tom Cullen stated in the press release (after the break) Dish looks forward to reestablishing “Blockbuster’s brand as a leader in video entertainment,” but in a world where Netflix, Redbox and iTunes exist that could be easier said than done.
Continue reading Dish Network wins Blockbuster auction for $228 million in cash
Dish Network wins Blockbuster auction for $228 million in cash originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
How Tron 3 Is Like The Empire Strikes Back And The Dark Knight [Hollywood]
Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it (update)
Seven months ago, Motorola unveiled a dual-sided, QWERTY-laden TV remote control: the NYXboard. It was never heard from again. Today, we’ve learned why — the open-source community will be selling a version specially redesigned to control your XBMC rig. The folks at Pulse-Eight — a startup with roots in the XBMC community dedicated to designing hardware — tell us they actually talked Motorola out of bundling the remote with set-top-boxes in favor of a nefarious plan. Simply put, they want you to be able to purchase an IR and RF remote that natively supports XBMC for a penny under $60 this June.
While we don’t have any real pictures of the unit quite yet — just the renders you see above and below — developers say it will work with installations on Mac, Windows, Linux and the original Apple TV on day one, and will actually turn off the side of the remote that’s face down to avoid accidental inputs. You’ll find the NYXboard up for pre-order now at our source link, with the first shipments slated for around June 27th. Then again, you might want to wait, as we’re told there are more surprises in store: a second version that can control the Apple TV 2, and a secret method which would allow the remotes to control your home entertainment center without pesky line-of-sight infrared. The best laid plans and all that… but it sounds like Logitech’s Harmony may finally get some competition.
Update: The situation’s a bit tricky, but the XBMC Foundation (a non-profit entity) wants you to know that hardware vendor Pulse-Eight (a for-profit venture) isn’t actually part of their group — Pulse-Eight was founded by an XBMC team member and produces hardware targeted at the XBMC community, but apparently isn’t funded by (nor directs funding towards) the XBMC foundation itself.
Gallery: Motorola NYXboard Hybrid renders
Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Kinect hack turns tourists into 3D souvenirs (video)
As souvenirs go, a miniature replica of yourself — striking a pose of your choosing on Barcelona’s La Rambla street — is a far sight more original than a bullfights-and-senoritas snow globe. This past January, the hilariously titled BlablabLAB enlisted three Kinects and a RepRap machine to snap passersby and render them into personalized tchotchkes, in a project called Be Your Own Souvenir. Subjects stood atop a small platform, mimicking the human statues on La Rambla, as the Kinects captured their likeness in full 360-degree glory. The resulting images were then processed as a mesh reconstruction, saved as a G-code file, and then fed through a 3D printer — and voila, out popped the tiny statuettes. If you’re a fan of flashy editing and Kinect-based street experiments, check out the video after the break.
Continue reading Kinect hack turns tourists into 3D souvenirs (video)
Kinect hack turns tourists into 3D souvenirs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it
Seven months ago, Motorola unveiled a dual-sided, QWERTY-laden TV remote control: the NYXboard. It was never heard from again. Today, we’ve learned why — the open-source community will be selling a version specially redesigned to control your XBMC rig. The folks at Pulse-Eight — a spinoff of the XBMC Foundation dedicated to designing hardware — tell us they actually talked Motorola out of bundling the remote with set-top-boxes in favor of a nefarious plan. Simply put, they want you to be able to purchase an IR and RF remote that natively supports XBMC for a penny under $60 this June.
While we don’t have any real pictures of the unit quite yet — just the renders you see above and below — developers say it will work with installations on Mac, Windows, Linux and the original Apple TV on day one, and will actually turn off the side of the remote that’s face down to avoid accidental inputs. You’ll find the NYXboard up for pre-order now at our source link, with the first shipments slated for around June 27th. Then again, you might want to wait, as we’re told there are more surprises in store: a second version that can control the Apple TV 2, and a secret method which would allow the remotes to control your home entertainment center without pesky line-of-sight infrared. The best laid plans and all that… but it sounds like Logitech’s Harmony may finally get some competition.
Gallery: Motorola NYXboard Hybrid renders
Motorola NYXboard surfaces from the dead, XBMC reclaims it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
USB 3.0, Thunderbolt Possible in Future iOS 30-Pin Connectors [Blip]
For those of you wondering how Apple is planning on supporting next-generation high-speed data port technology for future (and current) iPads, Pods and Phones, you might have your answer. Patently Apple has unearthed a 2009 Apple patent for a Hybrid DisplayPort/USB 3.0 Adapter. And since Thunderbolt, the zippy new transfer technology developed by Intel and Apple, is based on DisplayPort technology, it will likely fall under the umbrella of this patent. More