MoGeekSpeak

This via an email from programming alum and geek non pareil Getty.

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php

This is the page for Berkeley webcasts. They’re video webcasts for a lot of Berkeley courses. There are four that you can watch for spring 08, one of which I was in (CS61C - machine structures). For your students, I highly recommend CS61A and CS61B - the former uses the Scheme language and teaches lots of high-level ideas (using the Purple Book - The Structure and Function Of Computer Programs - as a textbook), while the second uses Java and teaches about data structures and algorithms. CS61C is probably beyond the scope of a lot of your students, as it deals with C, assembly and hardware design. If you look at past semesters (which is accessible at the top-right), there are sometimes other classes available, but again, they may be beyond the scope of your students, as most are upper-division and one is even graduate-level.

your ads here (468x60) - after 1st post.

OK, so you already know that I am a huge fan of Google Docs. Here’s something new (to me) that was useful, simple and cool. Creating presentations like PowerPoint is so easy in Google Docs, and your presentations can be shared, published or converted to a PowerPoint ppt file. About the only thing missing are the transitions and animations (personally, I can live without them). Here’s the new trick I found tonight: When you publish your presentation, one of the options gives you code for a viewer in a variety of sizes that you can imbed just about anywhere. Looks like this……..

Live Webinar - Application Factories: An Application-driven Development Model
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One of the most persistent problems faced by all developers is how to transfer knowledge between team members. For example, how does an architect indicate intent in code for subsequent developers to build on?

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to a special upcoming Application Factory live webinar series by Ravi Kumar, CodeGear JBuilder’s Principal Architect.

The webinar will take place, twice each day, on May 27 and June 5.  Ravi will be live online from Scotts Valley presenting and demoing during each webinar.  Ravi will also take your questions during the webinar.

The dates, times, and registration links are:

5/27, 8am PT (15:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/MH8516/
5/27, 4pm PT (23:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/VB5866/
6/5, 8am PT (15:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/VV7464/
6/5, 4pm PT (23:00 GMT)  - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/CN9482/

If you can’t make any of the webinars, we also have Application Factories screencasts available on the CDN site at
http://dn.codegear.com/article/37808

Sincerely,

David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Relations and Chief Evangelist CodeGear davidi@codegear.com

Application Factories: An Application-driven Development Model
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Description:

To get a perspective, let’s step back and look at software development today. Over the last few decades a ton of applications has been written and thanks to open source, a large part of it is in the public domain. The capability as well as the complexity of applications has continued to grow exponentially. Most applications are developed in teams, often geographically distributed. Most applications have evolved over a number of years with many nuances, patterns and best practices very specific to each application, and a tremendous flux of personnel leave their fingerprints through the evolution of the application. The major challenge in application development today is to factor in aapplication-specific information.

One of the most persistent problems faced by all developers is how to transfer knowledge between team members. For example, how does an architect indicate intent in code for subsequent developers to build on?

Join Ravi Kumar, CodeGear JBuilder’s Principal Architect, in this live webinar introduces Application Factories with real world examples of this powerful development paradigm and how to effectively build reusable software assets effectively.

At this Webinar you will learn how to:
Consuming Application Factory modules
Working with Tags and Diagrams
Producing Application Factory modules
Automation within an Application Factory using Scripting

May 27, 8am PT (15:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/MH8516/
May 27, 4pm PT (23:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/VB5866/
June 5, 8am PT (15:00 GMT) - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/VV7464/
June 5, 4pm PT (23:00 GMT)  - http://borland.interwise.com/borland/iSeminar/CN9482/

Check these out this summer!

Additional Upcoming CodeGear JBuilder and Java online webinars
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Americas - http://www.codegear.com/webinars

HP, on April 30th, announced that researchers from HP Labs, the company’s central research facility, have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering.This scientific advancement could make it possible to develop computer systems that have memories that do not forget, do not need to be booted up, consume far less power and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain.

In a paper published in today’s edition of Nature, four researchers at HP Labs’ Information and Quantum Systems Lab, led by R. Stanley Williams, presented the mathematical model and a physical example of a “memristor” – a blend of “memory resistor” – which has the unique property of retaining a history of the information it has acquired.

Leon Chua, a distinguished faculty member in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department of the University of California at Berkeley, initially theorized about and named the element in an academic paper published 37 years ago. Chua argued that the memristor was the fourth fundamental circuit element, along with the resistor, capacitor and inductor, and that it had properties that could not be duplicated by any combination of the other three elements.

Building on their groundbreaking research in nanoelectronics, Williams and team are the first to prove the existence of the memristor.

“To find something new and yet so fundamental in the mature field of electrical engineering is a big surprise, and one that has significant implications for the future of computer science,” said Williams. “By providing a mathematical model for the physics of a memristor, HP Labs has made it possible for engineers to develop integrated circuit designs that could dramatically improve the performance and energy efficiency of PCs and data centers.”

One application for this research could be the development of a new kind of computer memory that would supplement and eventually replace today’s commonly used dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Computers using conventional DRAM lack the ability to retain information once they lose power. When power is restored to a DRAM-based computer, a slow, energy-consuming “boot-up” process is necessary to retrieve data from a magnetic disk required to run the system.

In contrast, a memristor-based computer would retain its information after losing power and would not require the boot-up process, resulting in the consumption of less power and wasted time.

This functionality could play a significant role as “cloud computing” becomes more prevalent. Cloud computing requires an IT infrastructure of hundreds of thousands of servers and storage systems. The memory and storage systems used by today’s cloud infrastructure require significant power to store, retrieve and protect the information of millions of web users worldwide.

Memristor-based memory and storage has the potential to lower power consumption and provide greater resiliency and reliability in the face of power interruptions to a data center.
Another potential application of memristor technology could be the development of computer systems that remember and associate series of events in a manner similar to the way a human brain recognizes patterns. This could substantially improve today’s facial recognition technology, enable security and privacy features that recognize a complex set of biometric features of an authorized person to access personal information, or enable an appliance to learn from experience.

For more information, go to the following link;
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2008/080430a.html

Programmers needed for small job. For details, please visit
http://vusd-2.visalia.k12.ca.us/eldiamante/computer/java/programmerJob.html 

Applications open one day only: April 9, 2008

Passengers on UK-registered aircraft could soon be able to use their mobile phones to make calls and send text messages, the telecommunications regulator Ofcom said on Wednesday.

Ofcom, which had been examining the proposals since last year, said the plans would be subject to approval by the relevant UK and European aviation bodies.

The regulator said the decision had been developed with other European Union countries and the system could be used in European airspace.

Under the plans, airlines wishing to provide the service would allow passengers to use their own handsets once the aircraft reaches a minimum height of 3,000 meters. They would not be allowed during take-off and landing for safety reasons.

The system would work by connecting the mobile phone to an onboard base station to make and receive calls which would then be billed through a passenger’s normal service provider.

“The safety of passengers is paramount and mobile systems on aircraft will only be installed when they have secured approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK,” Ofcom said.

“If such approval has been secured it will be a matter for individual airlines to judge whether there is consumer demand for these services.”

In responses to the consultation, British airline BMI said it was eager to offer its passengers a mobile service.

Looks like that seemingly-desperate two month extension XM and Sirius gave each on the merger agreement paid off after all — federal regulators have finally approved the $5B deal. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division says that after “thorough and careful review” (we’ll say — it’s been over a year), it’s determined that allowing the two satellite radio companies to merge “is not likely to harm consumers.” The deciding factor appeared to be the proprietary hardware needed to receive both XM and Sirius; since consumers who shell out aren’t likely to switch, the DOJ doesn’t think the marketplace is all that competitive to begin with, which makes the impact of a merger relatively small. In fact, the DOJ says the merger could actually benefit consumers, who might see lower prices as the result of more efficient operations, broader programming options, and faster rollouts of new technology.

Credit: Engadget

Your next lightbulb could come off a printing press.

General Electric’s Global Research organization said Tuesday that it is the first to demonstrate roll-to-roll manufacturing for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)–a move that can dramatically lower costs.

OLEDs have been touted as the next generation of lighting and displays for consumer electronics like TVs.

They are very energy-efficient, are made out of flexible material, and can be tuned to give off different colors of light.

As part of its Ecomagination initiative, GE is investing in the technology in an effort to make it a viable replacement for incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.

The demonstration of a roll-to-roll production, similar to how a newspaper is printed on rolls, has the potential to lower the manufacturing costs and make the end product cost-competitive with existing lighting, according to GE.

This printing process is being pursued by solar manufacturers as well, including Konarka, which is making solar cells from plastic.

GE demonstrated a transparent OLED, made at its research lab, to reporters last October and said it hoped to have OLED lighting devices available by 2010. (For a photo gallery of OLEDs and GE’s Global Research lab, click here).

The roll-to-roll manufacturing machine will be used for further research, company said.

For those feeling nervous behind the wheel as old age kicks in, savvy cars may be the answer.

Ryuta Kawashima, who helped develop Nintendo’s “Brain Age” games, is teaming with Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) to develop cars that help seniors drive safely, the researcher said Tuesday.

“We envision future cars will be able to monitor brain and emotional activity to back up elderly drivers,” said Kawashima, a Tohoku University scientist who worked on Nintendo’s best-selling “Brain Age” games — and whose smiling image is the guide in the series.

Stimulating the Brain

Among technologies on the table is a car that can determine a driver’s driving patterns and curb any dangerous activity, Kawashima said. It could, for example, slow the car if it senses the driver is hitting the gas pedal for no reason.

Future developments could involve a navigation system and temperature controls that help drivers stay alert, he said.

“Ultimately, we hope to develop cars that stimulate brain activity, so that driving itself becomes a form of brain training,” Kawashima said.

Ready to Manufacture

Toyota representatives are attending sessions of Kawashima’s “Mobility and Smart Aging” study group, which he set up in May to discuss senior-friendly cars, he said. The automaker and Tohoku University “are done with brainstorming and ready to start making some of the technologies,” Kawashima said, saying some of the technology could appear in cars in five years.

Toyota spokesperson Kayo Doi said company engineers are working with Tohoku University but aren’t ready to announce any specific technologies.

“Brain Age” — a brain-training game series for the DS handheld game console — has sold millions of units around the globe.

Doing simple puzzles and exercises can help stimulate the brain and keep it supple, Kawashima said.

Source: TechNewsWorld 2008

In what may be an unprecedented decision, Microsoft said Thursday that it plans to lower the retail prices for several flavors of Windows Vista.

For those in the U.S., Microsoft is cutting prices only on the higher-end versions of Vista, and only for the upgrade version used to move from XP or another copy of Vista. The suggested price for Vista Ultimate drops to $219 from $299, while Home Premium falls to $129, from $159.

 More at http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9882510-56.html