Wolfram|Alpha, found here, is touted to be a potential google killer. It is a “computational knowledge engine”, or in other words a search engine that intelligently finds answers to your questions. Although a largely secret operation, it is has been highly anticipated in the Internet community not only as a google killer but also as revolution for search engine technology. It is also touted as an efficient way to search the web and data mine. It is currently accepting a few select individuals for alpha/beta testing before its launch date of sometime in May, 2009.

Read more here.

Hey everyone. For any of you who want to start learning OpenGL or are having trouble with it, I found a great site wtih tons of OpenGL tutorials called nehe (Neon Helium). The examples are really useful and it goes all the way from setting up OpenGL on your OS all the way into advanced features including animations and shading. Check it out here:

Hey, I just finished a pretty rudimentary graphics library, thought it would be useful to some beginners out there wanting to learn about C and C++ graphics. If you are going to use it in any application other than education, please contact me. The graphics library has an okay code for a line, square and triangle (I’m going to add a circle when possible), remember this is my first graphics library, so don’t expect much.
You will be able to download from the project’s sourceforge page in a few days when it gets a approved

P.S. This was done in Mac OS X so it may need some tweaking for other OSes.

A new initiative by the anti-Scientology group Anonymous, has started to jam websites affiliated with Pirate Bay trial including the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and MAQS (a law firm working under Pirate Bay). Hundreds of volunteers are taking part to jam both these websites’ servers in coordinated efforts. It is still being debated whether these attacks are part of a legitimate operation or not, as there is a decentralized adn informal nature around these website attacks. The next one is supposed to take place at 12:00 GMT on April 26, on the IFPI’s Swedish website, which has bore the burden of attacks before. Check more of it out here.
Here’s one of their anti-scientology videos:

the lurker

Ass see here , experts are seeing conficker, a virus disguised as a fake antivirus software, is begging to attack it hosts. Many experts have found computers infected with the virus are being used as ’slaves’ for spamming others and spreading the virus. Lets just hope it doesn’t spread too much, or security of the ‘net’ will be in the hands of only a few.

Below: the picture that started it all

Just a few hours ago cnet newsjust reported that there is a picture of atlantis of the coast of Africa. Check it out here. Pretty weird huh? Like the article says either its Google trying to hide something or its Atlantis. Maybe we actually can go party up with the lost city! Who knows?

the lurker

Hey, I was just watching a movie on Crackle, Starship Troopers to be exact and was very impressed with their service. They have around 30 free movies that you can watch in crystal-clear HD quality, which I think is a really good deal. On top of this I only had to watch one 15 second advertisement through the whole 2 hour long movie. In addition to this Crackle.com has some great independent viral comedy such as the Hustler and others. For me at least, Crackle.com is a really good site if you wanna watch free, quality content online that A. Doesn’t takes ages to buffer and B. is in 720p HD quality! If you wanna know more, check them out at Crackle.com . You can also check their Crackle channel on youtube, although there channel has no where near the amount of stuff that you can find on their website. Also for those sick of US only free online movies, you can be assured that crackle movies can be watched from everywhere.

P.S.
For those that want ot know about downloading and/or watching movies legally check out this site for more.

the lurker

Hey again. I’ve been an avid youtuber for quite some time now so I though I’d share one of my favourite channels: atomic wedgie tv. Atomic wedgie is a hilarious collection of well done sketch and puppet comedy. Warning: atomic wedgie has some pretty controversial stuff on it and could offend people. From all the comedy I have watched on youtube, atomic wedgie has some of my most favourite content. It is extremely hilarious and has some of the funniest parodies around. Check it out here.
the lurker

This is pretty crazy how small electronics have become nowadays. Seriously! Now here are two U.S. teams of scientists that have just recently made breakthroughs in this field and promises to make already small computer technology even smaller.

Amazingly one team has made a transistor that is a quarter the size of modern day silicon chips and the other has made a film that can store data from 250 DVD-ROMs on the size of a single coin! They just published their results on Thursday in the journal Science. The first team who made the tiny transistors is from the University of Pittsburgh while the other is a joint team made up of participants from University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Berkeley. The Pittsburgh team crafted their atom-sized transistors by applying voltage to the the tip of an atomic force microscope to create a miniscule conducting wire between two materials. This conducting wire can also be erased by reversing the electrical charge of the voltage applied. This tiny transistor is probably the smallest electrical circuit every made, or at least thats what the team claims. This invention, at the very least will revolutionize computers, as it will miniaturize CPUs, processors and microchips, allowing for more power, in a smaller amount of space. On the other hand, the other team’s amazing high storage film is an equally amazing feat of scientific endeavour. To keep the structure of the film, the team, lead by Thomas Russell (of the University of Massachusetts) heated sapphire crystals to create a specific ridges on the surface, which serves as guide for polymer film.

I hope both of these technologies become succesful as they could revolutionize computers and their processing power, and create smaller, more powerful machines. To read more about these amazing inventions, check out Nano Electronics. To learn more about nanotechnology and nano-sized electronics check out this article at SciAm.

the lurker

I just checked this article out while on cnet.com. Weird huh? At least I think so. I mean Microsoft isn’t like Apple, its supposed to work by having many partners working together, not have a ‘its all about the experience’ motto like Apple. I mean I think it is a bad idea to go in this direction. Microsoft makes software, not hardware, so why should it need retail stores to sell software in? First of all, everyone knows that the best way to sell software is online, not in a dedicated store. Second of all, Microsoft focuses on making software for many, partners, and they don’t run the ‘whole show’ themselves, so they shouldn’t be selling it in Microsoft stores by themselves. All in all though, I don’t think it really matters as Microsoft already has a damaged reputation, and in the end, nothing can stop its downfall.

the lurker