Dewd! More Computer Power Than You Can Imagine!

“A chip with 80 processing cores and capable of more than a trillion calculations per second (teraflop) has been unveiled by Intel. The Teraflop chip is not a commercial release but could point the way to more powerful processors, said the firm. The chip achieves performance on a piece of silicon no bigger than a fingernail that 11 years ago required a machine with 10,000 chips inside it. The challenge is to find a way to program the many cores simultaneously. Current desktop machines have up to four separate cores, while the Cell processor inside the PlayStation 3 has eight. Each core is effectively a programmable chip in its own right. But to take advantage of the extra processing power, programmers need to gives instructions to each core that work in parallel with one another.”

Teraflop chip hints at the future

A teraflop on one chip… NOW we’re talkin’! I want one in my laptop! I like the photo they show that the new chip has the same power on the size of a fingernail that used to take and entire, huge computer room full of mainframe systems!

Geek Software of the Week: AutoHotkey!

This is one of those mind-bogglingly useful software doohickeys that will help you in so many ways!

AutoHotKey Scripting Utility

“AutoHotkey is a free, open-source utility for Windows. With it, you can:

* Automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write a mouse or keyboard macro by hand or use the macro recorder.

* Create hotkeys for keyboard, joystick, and mouse. Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey.

* Expand abbreviations as you type them. For example, typing “btw” can automatically produce ‘by the way.’

* Create custom data-entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. See GUI for details.
Remap keys and buttons on your keyboard, joystick, and mouse.

* Respond to signals from hand-held remote controls via the WinLIRC client script.

* Run existing AutoIt v2 scripts and enhance them with new capabilities.

* Convert any script into an EXE file that can be run on computers that don’t have AutoHotkey installed.”

Note that it works with AutoIt scripts (another GSotW from way back!) And, they can be compiled! DEWD!

Podcast 75 – Video Netcast 6 – “The Doctor Answers!” (Video)

Dr. Bill Podcast – 75 – (02/10/07)
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Audio Podcast:
Geek Software of the Week: CrossLoop! The bad guys almost brought down the Internet… but they failed! Linspire and Ubuntu join forces – Ubuntu gets CNR – Linspire gets a Ubuntu as a base for their distro! Google knows “The Answer” to “Life, the Universe, and Everything!” A parody on the Mac ads that includes Linux! Dr. Bill answers questions from listeners!

Video Netcast:
Geek Culture – “Numa Numa” misunderstood with English “translation.” A Microsoft technician follows up with phonemail that is “translated” as well. Odd, but funny!

Podcast 75 – Netcast 6 – “The Doctor Answers!” (Audio)

Dr. Bill Podcast – 75 – (02/10/07)
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Audio Podcast:
Geek Software of the Week: CrossLoop! The bad guys almost brought down the Internet… but they failed! Linspire and Ubuntu join forces – Ubuntu gets CNR – Linspire gets a Ubuntu as a base for their distro! Google knows “The Answer” to “Life, the Universe, and Everything!” A parody on the Mac ads that includes Linux! Dr. Bill answers questions from listeners!

Video Netcast:
Geek Culture – “Numa Numa” misunderstood with English “translation.” A Microsoft technician follows up with phonemail that is “translated” as well. Odd, but funny!

Google is Smarter Than You Think!

It knows “The Answer!” What answer? THE Answer… to Life, the Universe, and EVERYTHING! Which, to those that don’t know, or have never read, Douglas Adam’s book, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” is 42!

Just go to Google, then type in (with no quotes) – “what is the answer to life the universe and everything” and you will have the answer… now if we could just work out the question!

How geeky is that?!?

Linspire and Ubuntu Join Forces on Technology!

As a Linspire Insider I got an early notice… Linspire and Ubuntu have begun an alliance. What will each get out of the deal? Well, Linspire will now be based off of Ubuntu instead of Debian… a HUGE change… and Ubuntu will get the CNR technology for software installation. This is will be a BIG synergistic deal for both organizations! I have to admit… it makes sense. CNR was always Linspire’s big innovation… and Ubuntu has gotten the acceptance that Linspire has not in the Open Source community. As Linspire President Kevin Carmony says, “Why do Linspire and Canonical want to work together? For the benefit of synergy – each can get farther, faster by working together than continuing to work individually. Each group does certain things well and there’s also a fair amount of overlap in what both have been doing. The less time, energy and resources Canonical, Ubuntu, Linspire, Freespire, and others spend duplicating efforts on the common challenges that face all of desktop Linux, the faster desktop Linux as a whole can advance. The partnership also frees up resources for each to dedicate to unique improvements and innovation that are important to their specific users and market segments.”

Wow! Both my favorite Linux distros sharing tech… gotta love that!

Linspire and Ubuntu Join Forces!

Yep. They Almost Brought Down the Internet… But, They Didn’t!

Security expert, Steve Gibson, said not long ago that you could bring down the entire Internet by attacking the root DNS servers. well, somebody did it. Just like he said. BUT… the redundancy that makes the Internet work also made it impervious to permanent harm! Hooray for the good guys!

UltraDNS attack targeted G and L root servers

“Reports confirmed by the AP (Associated Press) and RIPE prove that two of the thirteen root domain servers were taken down during attack Tuesday. Servers G and L failed to respond to ninety percent of the requests made to them. The two servers are managed by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and the United States Department of Defense. There are reports, again confirmed by RIPE, that two other servers aside from G and L were slowed by the attack. These servers did not fail under the strain of the vast amounts of data sent to them. The denial of service was carried out by Botnets, zombie like computers, to spread the load of the attack across all thirteen of the root servers. What is known is that the attack centered on ‘.org’ domains and UltraDNS. UltraDNS is the company who manages many of the ‘.org’ domains. The attacks, the largest since 2002, lasted over twelve hours. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, ‘There is no credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the homeland or our computing systems at this time.'”

Wow!

Geek Software of the Week: CrossLoop!

This week’s Geek Software of the Week may be JUST what some of you have been looking for… if you want to help out someone elsewhere on the Internet with computer support! Imagine a secure connection where you can “drive” someone else’s PC even through their firewall! (With their consent, of course!) For supporting someone “far off” this is very cool!

CrossLoop Beta

“CrossLoop is a FREE secure screen sharing utility designed for people of all technical skill levels. CrossLoop extends the boundaries of VNC’s traditional screen sharing by enabling non-technical users to get connected from anywhere on the Internet in seconds without changing any firewall or router settings. It only takes a few minutes to setup and no signup is required. Security is built into all aspects of CrossLoop. Session data is encrypted at the end-points before being sent using a 128-bit encryption algorithm using a randomly generated 12-digit access code. Explicit permission is required before any screen images are sent to a remote computer. CrossLoop is a secure tool to remotely assist any PC on the planet.”

This is very nice, secure… and very cool as well! Check it out!

Podcast 74 – Video Netcast 5! “The GEEK OUT Edition!” (Video)

Dr. Bill Podcast – 74 – (02/03/07)
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Audio Podcast:
Geek Culture – “You’re Pitiful!” by Weird Al. The full, final Version 3.0 of Paint.NET is out! Geek Software of the Week: VLC Viewer! Intel re-invents the transistor with huge implications! How to make Firefox look just like Internet Explorer (Well, IE V6.0!) Ubuntu – is it the “Real” Vista upgrade?

Video Netcast:
A new headset. Playing with my new tech toys… a GEEK OUT! Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred Mobile Edition. Kubuntu with Beryl as a replacement for Vista? Actual video of Beryl in action! Join us for the audio Podcast, it IS different this week!

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