IBM will build a supercomputer capable of 1,000 trillion floating point operations per second (or one petaflop) using 16,000 of the Cell processor chips it designed for the PlayStation 3 video game machine. The New York Times reports the U.S. Department of Energy awarded IBM the contract to build the Roadrunner machine for a total cost expected to reach $110 million by the time it’s installed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This next-generation supercomputer will reflect the kind of hybrid design employed increasingly to achieve greater computing speeds. Initially designed by IBM, Sony, and Toshiba for video game applications, the Cell chips will now be used to safeguard and sustain the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The contract is one of several U.S. initiatives in response to Japan’s plans to build computers to break the petaflop barrier.
E-Learning Roots Disputed
In a move that has shaken the e-learning community, Blackboard Inc. has been awarded a U.S. patent establishing its claims to several basic features of the software that powers online education. The Associated Press reports the patent, which was awarded in January but not announced until August, has prompted an angry backlash from the academic computing community through online petitions and an expansive Wikipedia entry to help make its case. Critics say the patent claims Blackboard’s ownership of the very idea of e-learning. If allowed to stand, they say, it could quash the historical cooperation between academia and the private sector that has characterized e-learning. Blackboard’s patent doesn’t refer to any specific device or software code; rather it describes the basic framework of a learning management system and the idea of putting learning tools together in one scalable system across a university. The company says critics misunderstand the patent claims, but insists it must protect its $100 million investment in the technology. In fact, it sued rival Desire2Learn for infringement on the day the patent was announced.
Chinese History
Many of China’s most prosperous high schools have shelved their world history textbooks featuring dynasties, wars, and Communism in favor of new colorful volumes favoring technology, economics, and globalization. The New York Times reports the changes to textbooks that have dominated Chinese schools for over 50 years were made and accepted in record speed after high-level scrutiny. Authors of the new textbooks say the historical refocus is part of a broader effort to promote a more stable and less violent view of China’s history to better serve its current economic and political goals. Mao, the Long March, and colonial oppression of China are now taught only in a compressed middle school curriculum. The new textbooks tout buzzwords like innovation, economic growth, and global outreach. The Marxist template has been replaced by images of Bill Gates, J.P. Morgan, and the New York Stock Exchange. Said Shanghai scholar and (new) textbook author Zhou Chunsheng: "The government has a big role in approving textbooks. But the goal of our work is not politics. It is to make the study of history more mainstream and prepare our students for a new era."
U.K. Seeks Popular Science Input
A new project funded by the U.K. government aims to give the public a chance to drive science policy, reports BBC News. Called Science Horizons, it is based on the premise that progress may have historically come from technological development but is not always the direction society wants or needs from technology. In nationwide events—from major scientific centers to local community centers—U.K. citizens are being asked to comment on simulations of how specific technologies might contribute to future life. Their reactions will be fed into a government study on public attitudes on the social impact of technology. "The images of the future we are shown hardly ever include people," says Jack Stilgoe, author of the project’s launch paper. "We need to put the people back in the future."
Encryption Commitment
Sun Microsystems and IBM both introduced data tape encryption technology in September, and both products have encryption key management features that make it easier for enterprises to protect against security breaches. InfoWorld reports Sun’s StorageTek Crypto-Ready T10000 tape drive (base price $37,000) can be set to encrypt data as it records it on the drive. IBM’s new TS1120 tape drive (base price $35,500) comes with encryption capability standard. Industry observers claim that having new tape encryption products from such leading computer makers represents a major commitment to security in the wake of recent incidents in which tapes and other confidential data media have fallen into the wrong hands.
Improve-ment News
The Research Council of Norway is publishing a free online newsletter on software process improvement. Called Improve, it summarizes the latest developments on key methods and techniques related to software process improvement. Recent topics include agile development, effort estimation, evidence-based software engineering, and knowledge management. For more information or to view recent issues visit www.sintef.no/improve.
Vid Kid
Victor de Leon III is a shy eight-year-old New Yorker who may be able to pay his way through college by the time he graduates grammar school. de Leon is a reigning expert on Halo 2—an Xbox game in which players fight to save the Earth—and he is using his skills as an online tutor booked through gaminglessons.com. This Xbox phenom, who has already won thousands in tournaments by beating people two and three times his age, makes $25 an hour tutoring students around the world from his family’s game room in Mastic, Long Island, reports the New York Daily News. He teaches players about map control as well as strategic secrets and hiding places within the game. de Leon entered the video game arena at age two when his dad handed him a console to stop him from fussing. Within months he was maneuvering PacMan like a pro. But even prodigies have spelling tests and multiplication tables to study, so de Leon is limited to four clients per month.
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