Posted by on under mindlink, brainwave toys, mind games, headsets, atari, counterparts, headaches, 1980s, gadgets, measurement, science | 
Weird headsets that read people's minds? It sounds like dystopian science fiction, but these gadgets (helped by a little old-fashioned muscle measurement) are set to be the holiday season's hot toys. The promised future, of mind games that lapse into punishing tension headaches, is finally upon us. If you're old enough to remember the early 1980s, you'd be forgiven a degree of skepticism. Atari's Mindlink introduced the headband form factor and some of the tech seen in its modern counterparts, but didn't even get the chance to be a pioneering flop....
Tagi: mindlink, brainwave toys, mind games, headsets, atari, counterparts, headaches, 1980s, gadgets, measurement, science
Posted by on under ibm cell microprocessor, cell processors, 1u server, document cache, gflop, viable technology, gflops, us department of defense, loss leader, cell processor, mey, 3s, supercomputer, department of defense, sy, ps3, linux, game |
Good thing the PlayStation 3 dropped in price. The US Department of Defense ordered 2,200 more of the consoles to crank up their PS3 supercomputer, currently consisting of 336 of the devices in a Linux cluster. According to the official Justification Review Document (cache link) required for the purchase of the PS3s, the game platform, with its IBM Cell microprocessor, is a much better value for the money than IBM's Cell-powered products designed for supercomputing applications. Ars Technica points out that the price difference comes in part because the PS3 is a loss leader for Sony. From the Justification Review Document: With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications. "Sony still subsidizing US military supercomputer efforts" (Ars Technica, thanks Rob Rader!) Previously:HOWTO build a Linux-based supercomputer out of Playstation 3s...
Tagi: ibm cell microprocessor, cell processors, 1u server, document cache, gflop, viable technology, gflops, us department of defense, loss leader, cell processor, mey, 3s, supercomputer, department of defense, sy, ps3, linux, game
Posted by on under boing boing, iphe, frt, jas, lawyers |
The Type n Walk iPhone app enables you to see in front of you, via the iPhone's camera, while typing. I haven't tried it yet, but it's a cute concept. I'd imagine their lawyers wouldn't let them call it Type n Drive. Type n Walk (Thanks, Jason Tester!)...
Tagi: boing boing, iphe, frt, jas, lawyers
Posted by on under boing boing, cold war spies, nickel cost, rudolf abel, glienicke bridge, soviet spy, fher, secret messages, berlin germany, reas, baar, mths, silver dollar, soviets, microfilm, kgb, microsd card, circumstance, franc, fbi |
When does a nickel cost $27? When it's a hollow spy coin made by Brian Dereu. The spy nickel that Dereu sells in our new Boing Boing Bazaar holds a microSD card, but his inspiration is strictly Cold War spy tech: During the Cold War, Spies from both the East and West used Hollow Coins to ferry secret messages, suicide poisons, and microfilms undetected. On May 1st, 1960 U2 Pilot Gary Francis Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union and taken captive. In his possession was a hollow silver dollar containing a poisoned needle that was to be used to take his own life in such a circumstance. For one reason or another, he did not use it and was held for 21 months by the Soviets. He was then exchanged for Soviet spy KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel) at the Glienicke Bridge, in Berlin, Germany. Colonel Fisher was also no stranger to hollow coins...his original capture by the United States FBI was directly related to a hollow nickel that was used to transport microfilm. Hollow Spy Coins (Boing Boing Bazaar)...
Tagi: boing boing, cold war spies, nickel cost, rudolf abel, glienicke bridge, soviet spy, fher, secret messages, berlin germany, reas, baar, mths, silver dollar, soviets, microfilm, kgb, microsd card, circumstance, franc, fbi
