computing

To be truly legendary, a band needs a hidden message for fans to discover. The Beatles had the Paul is Dead rumor. Pink Floyd had the Dark Side of Oz.

Now, according to the indie-music blog Puddlegum, Radiohead has joined the list. Leading up to the 10/10 digital-only release date for the band's new In Rainbows album, Radiohead released cryptic messages to its fans involving the letter X (Roman numeral 10). Puddlegum believes the message goes beyond the release date, but instead suggests that In Rainbows is a sort of sequel to the band's breakthrough album, OK … Read more

A more high-tech interior may be in store for future Chrysler models, Bob Nardelli, Chrysler's new chief executive officer and chairman, hinted during an interview at the annual conference of the Magazine Publishers of America on Monday.

"Look, I'm not a designer, but I am a consumer," he said at the Webcasted event.

"The interior and aesthetic of a vehicle today has to be your most favorite room under your roof. It has to be tranquil. It has to have all the latest technology onboard and it has to be self-tutorial in the education of … Read more

Today, "peer to peer" is inextricably linked to a variety of techniques for P2P file-sharing, whereby the recipients of a large file supply chunks of data to other recipients.

This distributes the load compared with everyone downloading a file from some central. For this and other reasons, P2P networks have proven popular for sharing MP3 music files although they're suitable for distributing any sizable digital content; for example, one also sees P2P employed to distribute Linux distributions, which can run into the gigabytes.

However, a few weeks ago I attended MIT Technology Review's EmTech07 Emerging Technologies Conference and attended a session where I was reminded that another "P2P" was once the subject of great buzz.

At the Fall 2000 Intel Developer Forum, outgoing Intel CEO Craig Barrett called peer-to-peer computing a "new wave which is going to have material impact on our industry." And he wasn't talking about file sharing.

Pat Gelsinger, who was Intel's CTO at the time, was even more enthusiastic in his keynote:… Read more

First off, thank you for all of the kind words from readers regarding last night's Computer America appearance. I truly appreciate it.

But for the reason for this post -- I wanted to let all of you know that I will now be making regular appearances on the Computer America show. From here on out, I will be appearing on one episode per month to discuss some of the biggest tech topics around. If you don't normally listen to the show, you can head on over to the above link and listen to it live over the Internet. … Read more

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be doing an hour on Computer America -- America's longest-running nationally syndicated radio computer show -- tonight from 11-12am eastern, or 8-9pm pacific. I'll be discussing Windows Vista and a host of other topics.

Please tune in if you have the show in your area.

I've been to a lot of computer conferences over the last 30 years-- my first was the mainframe-oriented National Computer Conference in 1979, and I've probably been to 250 more since then-- but one of my favorites is also the smallest: the Vintage Computer Festival, hosted by Sellam Ismail.

Over the years at these conferences (a collection of my badges as of 1998 or so is shown here), and in my own life, I've seen and used an awful lot of computer hardware.

I'm surprised that some kinds of systems that were very popular in the … Read more

Michael Dell says he aims make his company "carbon neutral" in 2008, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.

The computer giant is looking to zero-out its carbon emissions through a number of initiatives, such as offering small businesses and consumers curbside recycling of their old computers, stuffing small recycling bags with free postage into new printer-ink cartridge boxes, and operating a "Plant a Tree for Me" program. Companies implementing carbon-neutral programs can adopt pollution- and energy-management practices in their own operations and/or purchase carbon-reduction credits from other businesses, which, in turn, offset … Read more

Turns out the "explosion-proof" computer that's been making the rounds on the gizmo circuit may be safe to use at the gas pump, but it won't do you any good to sit on it while cruising Karbala.

The Ruffneck Zone 1 Computer can be used for virtually any application, in the harshest of environments by the most careless and abusive operators, according to Computer Dynamics. It has a 15-inch touch screen that's readable in any light condition (including direct sunlight), is impact-resistant and can be operated by gloved hands. But no, it's not bomb-proof.… Read more

In computer science circles, Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch is known as a virtual-reality expert, co-founder of the university's Entertainment Technology Center and director of the Alice Software Project, which exposes students from middle school through college to programming.

But he is fast becoming familiar to a broader audience as a man with little time to live and much wisdom to impart. Pausch, a 46-year-old father of three, has pancreatic cancer and, most likely, just a few months left.

In the last week, he has gained national attention for an inspiring and sometimes upbeat talk, titled "How to … Read more