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Government unveils world’s fastest computer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists at the Los Alamos government weapons lab have built the world’s fastest computer, capable of sustaining 1,000 trillion operations per second.

The Energy Department and IBM Corp. announced the breakthrough Monday.

The computer will be used to help maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the new computer, named Roadrunner, also will be used to help solve global energy problems and “open new windows of knowledge” in basic research.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and IBM worked for six years to achieve the world record computer speed.

The first is Monoprice.com
If you are looking for cables for your home theater components, cables for your computer, etc., this is the place for you. Huge selection and great prices.

The second is Power101.com
Got a digital camera with a bad battery? DO NOT go to Best “Screw you any way we can” Buy before checking out this site. The battery for my new digital camera costs only $.21. Crazy!

(Click for larger image)

The items seemed to be in line with the camera until I got to “firedog In-Home Digital Camera Setup and Training $149.99.

Who the heck is going to spend $149.99 on digital camera training?

I tried to think of a subset of people, but couldn’t come up with anyone. People in their 30’s or younger are usually jiggy with technology and wouldn’t need help. People in their 30’s and older gradually transfer from “jiggy with technology” to “an overabundance of research both on the internet and in person”, so they already know what they are buying. (To give an example of this group, when we were browsing the camera selections at Circuit City, there was a Grandpa and Grandma age couple also looking at the cameras. I over heard them talking with the sales rep and heard Grandpa say, “I read on the internet…blah blah blah” He’s done his research. Good for him.)

Obviously Circuit City has sold this package before, otherwise they wouldn’t offer it. I’m sure the person who comes out to your house is very friendly and knowledgeable as well. More power to Circuit City if they are selling it.

So, my question to all the faithful bonkos readers is twofold:
1. Would you ever purchase the $149.99 package? (Don’t worry about admitting to it. You won’t be chastised for too long.)
2. If not, can you think of someone who would?

The I Am 8-bit 2.007 Opened this weekend in L.A. The theme of this yearly art exhibit is…..video games, check ‘em out, and try not to shed a tear reminiscing (Note to Eric and Dylan, I didn’t find any painting of Freddy Pharkus Frontier Pharmacist)
Click here for the rest of the article.

Click here for More 8bit Art

UPDATE: Video has been removed

probably because of idiots like Mark Kanzler

previously on bonkos:

Will It Blend

It blends and it tastes n-a-s-t-y

Click play or visit YouTube to watch the video

Bidding is over $20,000

Oh yeah, the company making this car is Tesla Motors. No relation to the band, Tesla, who JD knows and loves.

**UPDATE** I just had a thought. Think about this – you are driving down the freeway and realize your battery is running low. You stop at a reststop and pull out your bright orange 200 foot extension cable, plug one end into your car and run the other end into the reststop where you unplug the vending machine and plug in your car. Think anyone would stare?

Dance Pjotro, Dance!

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations. When people cannot escape the banality of your conversation, such as on the bus, in a cab, on a grounded airplane, or at the dinner table, you should spare them. People around you should have the option of not listening. If they don’t, you shouldn’t be babbling.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings. Or Beethoven’s Fifth, or the Bee Gees, or any other annoying melody. Is it not enough that phones go off every other second? Now we have to listen to synthesized nonsense?

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances. I’m not even sure this one needs to be said, but given the repeated violations of this heretofore unwritten law, I felt compelled to include it.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt. This hasn’t become a big problem yet. But with plenty of techno-jockeys sporting pagers and phones, Batman-esque utility belts are sure to follow. Let’s nip this one in the bud.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving. In all seriousness, this madness has to stop. There are enough people in the world who have problems mastering vehicles and phones individually. Put them together and we have a serious health hazard on our hands.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone. This is not unlike being on the phone and carrying on another conversation with someone who is physically in your presence. No one knows if you are here or there. Very disturbing.

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone. These things have incredibly sensitive microphones, and it’s gotten to the point where I can tell if someone is calling me from a cell because of the way they are talking, not how it sounds. If your signal cuts out, speaking louder won’t help, unless the person is actually within earshot.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone. For obvious reasons, a dependency on constant communication is not healthy. At work, go nuts. At home, give it a rest.

9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone. Not only is using a cell phone no longer impressive in any way (unless it’s one of those really cool new phones with the space age design), when it is used for that reason, said user can be immediately identified as a neophyte and a poseur.

10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings. This is not the Old West, and you are not a gunslinger sitting down to a game of poker in the saloon. Could you please be a little less conspicuous? If it rings, you’ll hear it just as well if it’s in your coat pocket or clipped on your belt.

Or as I see it – 2 Xbox 360’s and 2 Nintendo Wii’s for the same price as one PS3

The website says that because of an expected European shortage, it cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.

The PS3 is the successor to the best-selling PlayStation 2 and will compete with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii.

The Xbox 360 is already available, while the Wii is due out later this year.

All three consoles promise cutting edge processing and graphical power.

Higher price

Sony currently dominates the console market with more than 100 million PlayStation 2s in homes around the world.

The electronics giant had originally planned to launch the new console in the spring, but was forced to delay because of technical problems with its high-definition Blu-ray DVD drive.

The PS3 comes in two different models. The basic model has a 20GB hard drive, while the more expensive model comes with a 60GB one.

The lower end model also lacks wi-fi, a slot for memory cards and a HDMI port for high-definition programmes.

The model for sale on play.com is the 60Gb model.

http://www.econsultant.com/i-want-freeware-utilities/index.html?

reporter’s notebook AUSTIN, Texas
It’s almost two in the morning and I’m standing in the middle of Austin’s Sixth Street, hoping that I’m not going to get hit by a car.

On the other hand, I am hoping–as are 15 or so other people standing nearby–that one of the cars that keep rushing by will crush the tricked-out Roomba robot vacuum cleaner that Make Magazine associate editor Phillip Torrone and Eyebeam R&D fellow Limor Fried are sending back and forth across the street and through traffic.

This is Roomba Frogger, a modern, geek version of the famous 1981 video game “Frogger,” in which players had to get a frog across a street without it getting crushed by a car or truck.
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Damned Windows 98….Get Bill Gates in here!