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Science

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's High-Speed Data Connection Beams 461 Gigabytes Per Day

By Clay Dillow Posted on 8.20.2009 8 Comments
And you thought your connection was fast. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is currently scanning the moon with powerful sensory equipment, gathering the most detailed data to date from the lunar surface. But to transmit all those images and data across the 238,800-mile void separating the moon from Earth, the LRO relies on a super-charged wireless connection that beams 461 gigabytes per day back to the blue planet. And the instrument that makes it all possible is a mere 13 inches long.

8.20.2009 at 04:43pm - Comment by DArtagnon

If I've done my math correctly, 461GB/day is 494994980864 Bytes/86400 seconds.. or 5729108.6B/s or about 5.46MB/s. Comcast's fastest residential plan offers "up to" 6.26MB/s
Gadgets

Can the iTunes App Store Be Saved?

By Tom Conlon Posted on 3.13.2009 8 Comments
An iPhone app named "Cydia" made some big news recently, for posing the first real challenge to Apple's draconian dictatorship over the iTunes App Store. What's the big deal? If you haven't heard of Cydia, it's a gateway app -- a kind of seedy, underground version of the official App Store that let's you install unofficial, unauthorized and otherwise illegal apps to your Jesusphone or iPod Touch. The hubbub is over the latest version, which now allows developers to sell their wares and accept payments right inside of the Cydia app itself via Amazon Payments, Facebook Connect, Google logins, and soon PayPal. Of course, Cydia and anything acquired through it can only be installed if you've mustered the cojones to jailbreak your touch-erific Apple handheld, thereby voiding its warranty. So, for the vast majority of multi-touch fetishists out there, news of this "alternate" app store is completely meaningless. Why should you care about it, then? Because the iTunes App Store, as it exists, is broken.

3.25.2009 at 05:15pm - Comment by DArtagnon

Most linux users will tell you that they hate Microsoft because they have intentionally stifled the power of home-computing in an effort to maintain profits. After rooting for Apple to make a comeback for so long, I hate to see them take the same business tactic. Open it up; invite creativity instead of condescending it. Apple can still sanction certain apps, without having to limit the total amount of apps available.
Entertainment & Gaming

Make Your Own Game

By Scott Steinberg Posted on 4.2.2009 11 Comments
Developing PC and video games is a crapshoot at best. My own self-published Heavyweight Thunder took a year to build, cost a small fortune, and ultimately tanked with critics. But if Microsoft has its way, literally anyone, regardless of technical know-how, will soon have the opportunity to create jaw-dropping digital diversions.

2.10.2009 at 12:51am - Comment by DArtagnon

That was a fantastic commercial. These are the kind of articles that drive a guy to physorg. You hit all the talking points. *You can make games with no experience. *It doesn't take any experience to make games. *There's no experience required. This isn't the kind of information I want when I come here. I'm actually scowling because this article was such a sham. Hold yourself to a higher standard, Scott. This was an ad, thinly veiled as a technology article, for a product of menial interest. At least you could have made it a "Top 5" list or something, instead of just reading Microsoft's bullet-points and pretending the information is PopSci worthy. Criminey, I'm really upset right now.
Gadgets

Microsoft: “Sayonara Vista…Hello 7!”

By Tom Conlon Posted on 2.9.2009 27 Comments
Is Microsoft finally admitting that Windows Vista is a lost cause? Well, that’s certainly not the official company line, but it does kind of seem that way to me. The embattled OS’s successor, Windows 7, wraps up a public beta in a few days and speculation is that Microsoft is planning to crown its heir to the Windows kingdom as early as the Fall. By then, Vista will have been on store shelves for less than three years. That’s not a very long time compared to XP, which was top dog for five years before being replaced by Vista—if it was ever really replaced at all.

2.9.2009 at 08:51pm - Comment by DArtagnon

Geeze, this didn't sound like The Grouse at all. Anyway, I talked to a friend of mine who just bought a new laptop last week and he has been running W7 and liking it. For some reason (MS product, mebbe?) the Vista that it came with bricked up on him almost immediately. He tried W7 successfully, and hasn't had any trouble with networking/installing games. That said, I still suggest Ubuntu to anyone who will listen. Six-month release cycle means you have a "new" operating system twice a year... instead of sticking with [Windows Block X] until [Windows Block neXt] comes out.* *Disclaimer!--Unless you're terrible with computers. Then do what saruji said.
The Environment

The Cleanest Walls

By Posted on 11.20.2008 6 Comments
Drywall, plasterboard, wallboard—whatever you call it, the substance that covers billions of square feet of American homes hasn’t changed since its invention in 1917. Dry- wall factories still roast ground-up gypsum rock in 500°F kilns, spewing out 20 billion pounds of greenhouse gases a year. So Serious Materials created EcoRock: a drywall that congeals without heat, uses recycled materials that don’t require mining, and holds up even better.

11.21.2008 at 12:17am - Comment by DArtagnon

Chipper Smoltz said: "Although am not sure if these are to be used for the exterior of the house or the interior? It doesn't also say if it traps heat inside the house it will be built on better or not. Coz in cold regions it would be better if it traps the heat but in warmer regions it would be better if it's the opposite thus lowering the heating or AC requirements inside a house that's built with these." Drywall is used on the interior of a house, it's the chalky stuff that lines all walls (in my neighborhoods, at least) There aren't materials that "traps heat inside", only materials that insulate. Insulation keeps warmth from escaping your home when it's cold outside, and keeps your conditioned air from warming when it's hot out.
Entertainment & Gaming

Desktop Linux – Will It Ever Stick?

By Tom Conlon Posted on 4.2.2009 33 Comments
About seven years ago, I tried to free myself from the oppression and misery of running Windows ME by installing Linux on my PC. Ever installed the Linux operating system? It’s not for the faint of heart. So, when it was recently reported that Linux-based netbooks are being returned at a rate four-times higher than their Windows-based brethren, I can’t say I was surprised.

11.11.2008 at 07:48pm - Comment by DArtagnon

I just want PopSci to take a minute and realize the kind of response they got here. A lot of Linux fans. Windows app install is really straight forward, as long as you know what website is hosting your installer, and how to navigate to it. If all you know is "I need a program that can edit videos" you're going to have to Google it, then spend hours (possibly less, if you're a Gooru) to find a suitable free editor. In ubuntu you run Add Software, do a search for "Video Editor" , choose the program with the highest rating, and hit Install. Even if you do everything online you still need an OS on your computer. MS hasn't given up on Windows -- they are trying to control the internet with Silverlight and Internet Explorer-only webpages. Wherever they go, though, Linux will meet them. Common knowledge is working for Linux. Server buying decisions aren't being made by know-nothings like they were in MS hayday. You can't pull the wool over everyone's eyes anymore, when it comes to technology. Where Mac survived by making deals with schools, Linux is creeping in. Now Macs can stand alone, but it won't be too long before many people are exposed to Linux, and they'll begin a slow growth, I believe taking over eventually.
Science

How Your Laptop Will Just Keep Getting Faster

By Corey Binns Posted on 9.25.2008 12 Comments
Since the invention of the transistor, silicon semiconductors have been king. But now silicon-based transistors are nearing the limit of their potential. Excess heat and manufacturing hurdles are impeding the development of ever-faster and -smaller processors. Advances in materials and chip design to resist extreme heat and move huge amounts of data, quickly, will be crucial. Experts are exploring three technologies to overcome these challenges: spintronics, graphene and memristors.

9.25.2008 at 10:21pm - Comment by DArtagnon

It seems like we should be able to do Trinary computations with electron-spin. Either no electron, up electron, or down electron. Is this possible? Or would it be too difficult to change all of our computer infrastructure to accommodate trinary processing? Or would it be just slow us down because we'd have to convert everything back down to binary?
Entertainment & Gaming

The Future of Mobile Computing

By Annemarie Conte and Esther Haynes Posted on 9.8.2008 7 Comments
When MIT professor Hal Abelson heard that Google was about to release the software-development kit for its free, open-source Android mobile-phone operating system, he immediately decided to teach a class that would design programs for it. “Android is about to change people’s experience of what they can do with computers,” he says, because the computers in our cellphones will soon be the ones we use the most. These seven applications, developed by students in Abelson’s class, show what Android-equipped phones will be able to do.

9.5.2008 at 04:31pm - Comment by DArtagnon

njdevil said "there is just far too many things a teenage hacker with a grudge could do. especially with open-source." Traditionally open source is much more secure because when bugs are exposed they are fixed immediately. And people should be held accountable to not download potentially malicious software on any platform, Free or proprietary. The bottom line is that the Open Source community combined with responsible computer use leads to almost perfect security.