williams

HP makes memory from a once-theoretical circuit

It's the tale of the lost circuit.

Thirty-seven years ago, Leon Chua, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, mathematically theorized that scientific symmetry demands that there should be a fourth fundamental circuit element. Engineers were already familiar with resistors (which resist the flow of electricity), capacitors (which store electricity), and inductors (which resist changes to the flow of electrical current), which can be combined to build more complex devices. The fourth circuit, which Chua called a "memristor" for memory resistor, would register how much current had passed.

"He looked at fundamental circuit equations … Read more

WWW2008 - Snippets from William Chang of Baidu, plus some on the semantic web

Other than highlighting Baidu Chief Scientist William Chang's statement that China doesn't need Wikipedia, here is a selection from the Twitterati (including me) on his presentation, and a concurrent one on the semantic web.

web2asia: Robin Li of Baidu could not make it to his key note, Chief Scientist Dr. William Chang is taking over web2asia: facts on chinese internet: only 1/8 internet users earn usd 5000/year me: Baidu's William Chang: Only 1/8 of Chinese internet users earn $5,000/year. me: Chang: Half of Chinese users over 25, half under 25, according to … Read more

Baidu's William Chang: 'No reason for China to use Wikipedia'

William Chang, chief scientist leading Chinese search engine Baidu, said it's natural for Chinese to use Baidupedia (Baidu Baike) rather than the foreign Wikipedia.

"There's, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia, a service based 'out there,'" Chang said at the WWW2008 conference in Beijing on Tuesday. "It's very natural for China to make its own products."

I agree that there's not always a reason for people to use global services, especially when what they deal with is primarily domestic. But with the wiki world, I think the value of … Read more

Photography may be older than you think

For years now, it generally has been accepted that the earliest known photographs made using easily repeatable techniques (photogenic drawings) were made about 1839. Some photographs had been made earlier, but they required extremely long exposures and were considered impractical. However, the world of photography might soon be turned on its head if a photogenic drawing that was recently removed from auction at Sotheby's turns out to have been made in 1802, as one photographic historian thinks it might.

David Schonauer, editor of American Photo magazine, has a detailed account of the story on the State of the Art … Read more

The OSBC curse (or blessing?)

A few weeks ago Steve Pearson (CBS) and Jon Williams (Kaplan Test) keynoted the Open Source Business Conference. In the past week, both have opted to leave their employers to join other companies.

There must have been something in the water at OSBC. :-)

Steve hasn't told me where he's going, but Jon will be joining iVillage as its new CTO. If NBC's iVillage was looking for an open source savvy, innovative and entrepreneurial CTO, it couldn't have done any better.

At any rate, if you want a new job, please ask me about OSBC keynote … Read more

Nine Inch Nails releases Internet album

Trent Reznor, the man behind the rock group Nine Inch Nails, continued his foray into self-distribution by releasing a 36-track instrumental album over the Internet.

The album, Ghosts I-IV, went on sale Sunday on NIN.com, the band's Web site, and was available in a varying range of price packages.

Reznor is giving away the first nine songs of the album for free. The entire album in a digital version is available for $5. Nine Inch Nails' fans can order separate disc-sets of the album (with varying bonus materials and merchandise) from $10 to $300.

With the album release, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 671: Vista Price Patch 1

Episode 671

Microsoft cuts Vista price http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/29/vista_price_cut/ http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9882510-56.html

iPhone/iPod SDK: Apple to approve, distribute apps, limit add-ons http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/ iphone-ipod-sdk-apple-to-approve-distribute-apps-limit-add-ons/13537 http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/29/ iphone-software-development-to-be-locked-down-by-apple/

Bluetooth not working after iPhone 1.1.4? Simple fix: http://www.iphoneatlas.com/2008/02/28/ bluetooth-not-working-after-iphone-114-simple-fix/

Mac OS X secretly cripples non-Apple software http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2339246

Wii outsells the PS3 4-to-1 in Japan, Sony execs “not psyched” http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/29/ wii-outsells-the-ps3-4-to-1-in-japan-sony-execs-not-psyched/… Read more

Thriller turns 25

Just when you though it was safe to walk around the graveyard at night, Michael Jackson's Thriller is back to remind us that's not such a good idea. It's about time we reflect on MJ's music (not his personal life) and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the biggest selling album of all time. Legacy Recordings just reissued the CD with shiny new packaging, a bonus DVD, and previously unreleased tracks, such as remixes by and/or with Kanye West, Will.i.am, Fergie, and Akon.

And to add to the big event, Michaeljackson.com is presenting &… Read more

Charlatans choose Radiohead-esque album promotion

British rock group The Charlatans are the latest to experiment with an online music giveaway.

The alternative rock band, known for such songs as "One to Another" and "Weirdo," said on its Web site that fans will be allowed to download its latest album, You Cross My Path, free of charge starting March 3. The music can be downloaded from the band's Web site or here.

The album's digital distribution will be followed by the release of a physical CD beginning May 19. This will include the sale of a vinyl box set.

This … Read more

Enterprise adoption of open source...from the perspective of an enterprise CTO

It's one thing to listen to vendors talk about the rise and importance of open source. It's quite another - and much more interesting - to hear customers talking about it.

I was fortunate to spend some time with Jon Williams, Chief Technology Officer at Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions, the multi-billion dollar test preparation company. Jon is keynoting this year's Open Source Business Conference and gave me a sneak preview of what he'll be discussing at OSBC. I've worked with Jon over the past year and find him to be one of the industry'… Read more