Tech with a twist of lime! & FLHybrid Club.

BetaNews reports: 1/30

We reported on BN's report on Saturday about how Intel is planning to use hafnium to build the gates of the 45nm scale chips.  Well IBM has done the same thing, IBM processes are also tied to AMD and the Cell processors.  They are also using hafnium.

On the very same day that Intel announced to the world it had developed the critical formula for the material that will replace silicon dioxide as the dielectric gate in transistors for metal oxide semiconductors, its biggest arch-rival in the research and development field, IBM, announced the very same thing.

The still secret material, for years considered the "Holy Grail of semiconductor science," will enable transistors to scale down to the seemingly impossible levels Intel requires to feed the monster that is Moore's Law.

Kacey Green
www.GRLT.com
"Tech with a twist of lime!"

Crave reports: 1/25

With all the popularity of our recent Wii posts I present this to the community to gauge interest in further gaming posts.

Wow, you really can do just about everything with your Wii. You can play tennis or baseball, check the weather, fight bad guys...and now, stay informed on what's going on in the world. On Saturday, the "Wii News Channel" will be launching, available on all Wii consoles that have Internet-browsing capabilities through the downloadable Opera browser. News will be supplied by the Associated Press, which has inked a two-year deal with Nintendo. So far, it's just news stories and photographs, but you never know what they might add next. This way, you can take a break from Wii Tennis, check the results of the latest high-profile tournaments, and see how you match up to Roger Federer.

I wonder if this feature will be clogged with commercials just like regular TV news.

News will be delivered in the same manner that Nintendo delivers The Weather Channel to Wii customers. The picture quality with most televisions is awful, I've hooked my computer up to my television on a few occasions, standard definition televisions (SDTV) are horrible for viewing text. The only way to get legible text on SDTV is to make the text huge, most news articles from the Associated Press are wicked long, I'm wondering how much time will be wasted scrolling in this news app, will it be quicker just to go to the computer or pick up the newspaper?

What do you think, will people actually use this feature more than just testing it out? Or has Nintendo wasted valuable resources on a useless feature when they could have been fixing bugs or writing new games?

Kacey Green
www.GRLT.com
"Tech with a twist of lime!"

BetaNews reports : 1/27

BetaNews does an awesome job explaining the new Intel 45nm process. In an article written in plain English with a small dose of technical speak. Intel will be using new materials that increase performance and reduce power consumption. Since the 60s that the gates in the transistors have been made from silicon dioxide, now they will be made from hafnium, atomic number 72, it is often found in zirconium which is used to make artificial diamonds.

In a presentation to exclusively invited reporters Friday morning, Intel announced a breakthrough development in microprocessor manufacturing that may be given historical significance in decades to come: the discovery of a new molecular compound material that will replace silicon dioxide in microprocessors using 45nmm and smaller lithographies.

If Intel licenses this technology we could see power efficiency increases in more electronics than just the processors and IC chips. 2008 looks like when we'll see the AMD-Intel battle at the 45nm scale, because that's when AMD plans to have chips at this scale.

Read the whole three page article at BetaNews . 

Kacey Green
www.grlt.com
"Tech with a twist of lime!"

I said I'd revisit sync when I knew more. Take a look at this video:

I still think there is nothing technical keeping this technology with Ford... (Read More)

Crave & Gizmodo report: 1/17

If you recall, a young lady recently died possibly because of water intoxication resulting from a "Hold Your Wee for a Nintendo Wii" contest put on by a radio station that had people drink large quantities of water and not go to the bathroom. The 10 people responsible for the contest were canned and the show, Morning Rave on KDND-FM, has been suspended.

Update: And the plot thickens. Commenter Auger282 found this live recording of the actual show where the DJs joked about water intoxication, and emphasized the fact that release forms were needed to be signed. Just go take a listen for yourself and prepare to be shocked.

A preliminary autopsy indicated that Jennifer Strange, 28, died from water intoxication after participating in KDND-FM 107.9's on-air "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest Friday. The participant who drank the most water without using the bathroom was promised a game console valued at $250. During the match, contestants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water, then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break. (Credit: KDND-FM 107.9)After drinking two gallons and becoming one of two final participants, according to witness reports, Strange began to feel ill and had to quit. She called in sick to work after the contest, complaining of a bad headache, and about five hours later, her mother found her dead in her Rancho Cordova, Calif., home. An excess of water in the body can lead to the dilution of vital fluids. That in turn can lead to swelling of the brain, seizures, comas and in some cases death. John Geary, vice president and general manager of Entercom/Sacramento, the parent company of KDND, sent an e-mail to reporters Tuesday stating that "effective immediately, the 'Morning Rave' program is canceled and 10 employees are no longer with the station." Among the fired employees were three morning disc jockeys. Strange, a mother of three, took part in the contest hoping to win the system for her children, according to reports.

This is crazy to both put on such a contest and to participate beyond any safe limits, two gallons of water is crazy.

Please use the new comments feature to tell us what you think of this whole situation.

Kacey Green
http://www.grlt.com/
"Tech with a twist of lime!"