InformationWeek Daily Archives
05/19/2013 08:16:54 Daily, December 14AMD Updates Opteron, Turion Road Maps
In This Issue:
1. Editor's Note: Reckoning On Robots
2. Today's Top Story
- AMD Makes Energy Efficiency Power Play
- AMD Updates Opteron, Turion Road Maps
3. Breaking News
- Is Blogging About To Peak? Gartner Says 'Yes'
- Are iTunes Sales Up, Or Down?
- Microsoft Updates Vista To Block 'Frankenbuild' Counterfeits
- ICANN Awards NeuStar Control Over .biz Registry Until 2012
- Report: Mobile Enterprise Market Will Grow 23% Annually To $3.5 Billion In 2010
- Exploit Code Targets Third Microsoft Zero-Day Word Bug
- Google Launches Patent Search
- Google Customizes IE 7, Posts Firefox Toolbar Beta
- Symantec Looks To Data Protection, Antivirus Services To Help Double Revenue
- New IBM Software Will Help The Blind Use Computers
- Microsoft Opens Free Phone Support For Vista Previews
- AOL's Layoffs Hit Virginia HQ And Tucson Operation
4. In Depth:
- New Version Of QuickBooks Enterprise Is All Grown Up
- Review: Netgear's Powerline Adapter Offers An Alternative To Wireless
- Review: LSI SAS Card Geared For High Performance
- Review: Asustek And Micro-Star Let You Work In The Laptop Of Luxury
5. Voice Of Authority
- He Said, She Said, Apple Didn't Say
6. White Papers
- 17 Rules For Successful User Management And Provisioning
7. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
8. Manage Your Newsletter Subscription
Quote Of The Day:
"Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth." — Jules Verne
Robots have always fascinated me: From Robby the Robot (who starred in the classic science fiction film Forbidden Planet), to the inhuman but highly effective mechanisms that build our automobiles, to the current crop of scientific toys that are available for hobbyists and experimenters. In fact, I actually wrote a book about robots back in 1982 titled Robots: Reel to Real — a book so out of date that I'm embarrassed when I see it sitting on a library shelf.
That's why I'm always interested in news items such as Microsoft Launches Its First Robotics Toolkit. According to the article, the toolkit, called Microsoft Robotics Studio, is a Windows-based development environment for building software for a variety of platforms. It's a free software package that lets developers program their robotic creations more easily.
Whenever I see something like that, I think of all the enthusiasts who have spent countless hours building and programming robotic mechanisms that climb stairs, or respond to voice commands, or negotiate a maze, or dance, or do a number of other interesting tasks. Do a search on "robot" in YouTube's Science & Technology category and you'll find some interesting videos of robotic feats.
In fact, there are a vast number of robotic toys, kits, and equipment available out there — some of which are accessible even to those of us who don't have the programming or building skills to create our own from scratch. In this year's Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide alone, there were three robotic gift suggestions: the ThinkGeek USB Snowbot (which is essentially a snazzy-looking toy), the Nabaztag (an electronic rabbit which serves as a fun PC add-on), and the programmable 914 PC-BOT.
Robotics is actually a serious science that is developed by industry, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in a multitude of labs around the world. But because robots offer a melding of human and electronic brain and brawn (not necessarily in that order), it's a subject that remains fascinating.
Are you interested in robots? Have you ever built one? Or do you simply like watching them on the silver screen? Let us know by going to the blog entry for this editor's note.
Barbara Krasnoff
AMD Makes Energy Efficiency Power Play
Related Stories:
AMD Updates Opteron, Turion Road Maps
Is Blogging About To Peak? Gartner Says 'Yes'
Are iTunes Sales Up, Or Down?
Microsoft Updates Vista To Block 'Frankenbuild' Counterfeits
ICANN Awards NeuStar Control Over .biz Registry Until 2012
Report: Mobile Enterprise Market Will Grow 23% Annually To $3.5 Billion In 2010
Exploit Code Targets Third Microsoft Zero-Day Word Bug
Google Launches Patent Search
Google Customizes IE 7, Posts Firefox Toolbar Beta
Symantec Looks To Data Protection, Antivirus Services To Help Double Revenue
New IBM Software Will Help The Blind Use Computers
Microsoft Opens Free Phone Support For Vista Previews
AOL's Layoffs Hit Virginia HQ And Tucson Operation
----- The latest research, polls, and tools -----
SOA Conundrum
Managing Privacy Issues
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New Version Of QuickBooks Enterprise Is All Grown Up
Review: Netgear's Powerline Adapter Offers An Alternative To Wireless
Review: LSI SAS Card Geared For High Performance
Review: Asustek And Micro-Star Let You Work In The Laptop Of Luxury
He Said, She Said, Apple Didn't Say
17 Rules For Successful User Management And Provisioning
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InformationWeek Daily Newsletter
1. Editor's Note: Reckoning On Robots
bkrasnoff@cmp.com
www.informationweek.com
2. Today's Top Story
CEO noted at Analyst Day that making IT equipment more energy efficient is good for "the world we live in," as well as good for business.
AMD had already announced that its first native quad-core offering will come out in the middle of next year. That will be followed by Shanghai in the first half of 2008, which will feature HyperTransport 3.0.
3. Breaking News
Less than 2% of all Internet users are frequent content contributors, while between 10% and 15% contribute occasionally and more than 50% are reading or watching what the communities are discussing, Gartner reports.
Market researcher comScore refutes that iTunes sales down, says they're up 84%.
The move was prompted by the appearance of DVD counterfeits of Windows Vista in various parts of the world, including Brazil.
The agreement gives NeuStar leeway to raise prices of not more than 10% a year, as long as domain registrants are informed of planned increases six months in advance.
The explosive growth of cellular networks and handheld devices will drive double-digit growth in the worldwide mobile enterprise application market.
The new unpatched bug was reported Wednesday, and exploit proof-of-concept code has been posted on a Web site.
The service covers 7 million patents granted by the Patent Office since the 1790s, but at the moment doesn't include patents filed over the last few months.
Google has added its own toolbar to IE 7, and set the home page and default search to google.com.
Service customers can chose an offsite outsourcing approach or one that involves Symantec personnel working at the customer's location.
The software will let applications such as Web browsers and document programs communicate with other programs that convert text to speech.
The new phone support is available only to North American users of Vista Beta 2, RC1, or RC2.
There was some good news, however, as the firm said the recent round of layoffs was drawing to a conclusion.
The business advantages for SOA/Web services adoption are clear, but SOA/Web services deployment is challenging. Learn how more than 200 companies plan to overcome adoption challenges in this InformationWeek research brief.
Learn how your peers are protecting customer data and managing privacy issues in the InformationWeek/Accenture Global Information Security survey of more than 2,000 technology and security professionals.
4. In Depth: Product Reviews
Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise 7.0 arrives with a boatload of new features and a new maturity.
The Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter HDX101 lets you use your home electrical system to create a network when wireless doesn't work.
System builders should take advantage of LSI Logic's new SAS3041X-R serial attached SCSI (SAS) card to build high-performance PC systems.
Asustek adds pink leather notebook to its S6 line for the holidays; Micro-Star's M677 Crystal Collection is adorned with Austrian crystal.
5. Voice Of Authority
Are iTunes sales collapsing? Yesterday Reuters reported they are, and quoted Forrester Research. Forrester denied it ever said it. Apple, as is its wont, didn't say.
6. White Papers
How to improve the security of IT systems, reduce the costs associated with managing IT infrastructure, create appropriate safeguards to ensure that policies are enforced, and attain regulatory compliance.
7. Get More Out Of InformationWeek
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