Web Services Online Solution

Introducing the StrikeIron Web Services Business Network™ (WSBizNet™) A revolutionary online solution th at makes it easier and faster to work with Web services. This “software-as-a-service” is an online Web services network that provides an integrated set of services and graphical tools for working with and publishing Web services. Now developers, business analysts and CIO/IT managers have a new and better way to work with Web services. Now providers of Web services can more easily publish and sell their Web services to new markets...

SONY E-BOOK GETS RAVE REVIEWS

Sony's Librié electronic reader is as easy on the eyes as the paper version, says New York Times reviewer Todd Zaun. The Librié screen is a collaborative effort between Philips Electronics and E Ink, and the letters appear "as sharp and clear as those on a printed page. The screen can be read from almost any angle, and it does not fade in bright light," says Zaun. Sony plans to begin selling the Librié in Japan next month for about $380, and buyers will be able to download e-books for less than $5 each from a Web site set up by Sony and a group of Japanese publishers. Sony plans to see how its Japanese market develops before it decides whether to expand to the U.S. and Europe. (New York Times 22 Apr 2004) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/technology/circuits/22r...

Starbucks .. Coffee and CD to go...

STARBUCKS TO OFFER MUSIC TO GO
Starbucks is adding a new item to its coffee and Internet menu --it's launching an in-store music service that will allow customers to choose among 250,000 tracks, order the ones they want and have them burnt onto a CD to take with them when they leave. The service will debut in a Starbucks in Santa Monica, California and it will be gradually rolled out over the next two years to all 2,500 stores in the U.S. Starbucks has already inked licensing agreements with most of the major music labels and prices are expected to be along the lines of Apple's iTunes brand, which sells songs for 99 cents a track. "This is not a test," says Starbucks chairman Howard Schulz. "We're going for it." But some analysts expressed doubt that the company's service staff will be prepared to deal with music-to-go orders. "Your typical barista may be great at making espresso but is not in a position to fix the broken CD burner," warns Josh Bernoff, a digital music analyst. (BBC News 12 Mar 2004) (From News Scan Daily)

Smallest Hard Drive in the World

IT'S OFFICIAL: TOSHIBA'S TEENY HARD DRIVE IS WORLD'S SMALLEST
Guinness World Records has certified that Toshiba's .85-inch hard disk drive is the smallest in the world. The company says the tiny drives squeeze up to 4 gigabytes of storage into a stamp-sized device that will find a use in products such as cell phones and digital camcorders. "Toshiba's innovation means that I could soon hold more information in my watch than I could on my desktop computer just a few years ago," says Guinness science and technology editor David Hawksett. (Reuters 16 Mar 2004) (From News Scan Daily)

HITACHI'S 400-GIGABYTE DRIVE FOR DIGITAL MEDIA

Hitachi has begun marketing a 400-gigabyte hard drive that can store up to 400 hours of standard TV programming, 45 hours of HDTV programming, or more than 6,500 hours of digital music. The company says it has designed the drive for audio/video products such as digital video recorders (DVRs), a market category which The Yankee Group research firm predicts will increase from 3 million today to 25 million by 2007. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 10 Mar 2004) http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8154359.htm (From News Scan Daily)

Next Generation of Super Computers

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have received a three-year, $4.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop the optimal design for the next generation of supercomputers, which will operate at a speed of more than 1 quadrillion operations per second, or one petaflop. "We're excited about the enormous potential of performance modeling and the opportunity to apply a variety of methodologies that we developed to help in the design of these future supercomputers," says Adolfy Hoisie, who heads the computer division's performance and architecture lab. (AP 15 Jan 2004) http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040115/D803DGQO0.html

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)

Japan, China and South Korea are reportedly planning to jointly develop Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the next-generation Internet standard, a move that will challenge the U.S.-dominated market for current IPv4-based Internet technology.

Iraqi Bloggers

Iraqi Blogger sites are starting to show up in new alerts about blogging...
http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/, http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/

Computing at the Speed of Light

New processor computes at light speed 13:14 30 October 03 NewScientist.com news service "A superfast computing processor that uses light, not electrons, to perform calculations has gone on sale for the first time. Lenslet, the Israeli company that developed the processor, say its light speed calculations deliver the power of a supercomputer in a single device. The device is called Enlight and can perform 8000 billion arithmetic operations per second, about 1000 times faster than a standard processor. Previously this type of processor was only available to highly financed government laboratories, says Lenslet's founder, Aviram Sariel."

Moving Images

New E-paper could show moving images too "Using a process called electrowetting, the scientists claim to be able to manipulate coloured oils in the pixels on the page with such speed and accuracy as to be able to generate clear and accurate video displays."
Reuters, 09.24.03, 12:57 PM ET

DNA Computing

Really Small Doctors? "in the control of biological processes, biological computing has its place," says Stojanovic. "The ultimate application would be a 'doctor in a cell,'" says Shapiro. "It would diagnose the disease by analyzing the data available in its biochemical environment, e.g. the tissue or organ in which it resides, and cure it by synthesizing and delivering the appropriate drug molecules."

Your Life in a Matchbox

Now, -- a matchbox-size PC that can be used to store personal data and may be accessed by a variety of devices. "By 2012 you will be able to carry a device that could record a lifetime's conversations. It would take about three terabytes of data to do. To include video, you'd need 97 terabytes, which is expected to be economically viable at current development rates by 2014." (From News Scan Daily)

Bar Code Replacement on the Horizon

MIT to uncork futuristic bar code By Alorie Gilbert CNET News.com August 29, 2003, 6:09 AM PT "A group of academics and business executives is planning to introduce next month a next-generation bar code system, which could someday replace with a microchip the series of black vertical lines found on most merchandise. "

Tanglewood' to top Intel chip show By Stephen Shankland and Michael Kanellos CNET News.com August 29, 2003, 12:38 PM PT "Intel plans to describe a new high-end Itanium chip code-named Tanglewood at its Developer Forum conference next month, sources close to the company said. The chip will include as many as 16 processors on a single slice of silicon. "

DNA and Computers..

DNA may be basis for power computing "SAN FRANCISCO (AP) It almost sounds too fantastic to be true, but a growing amount of research supports the idea that DNA, the basic building block of life, could also be the basis of a staggeringly powerful new generation of computers."

Salespeople Use Mobile Technology

The Future of Life on the Road - Mobile services will soon let salespeople focus on what they do best selling and avoid what they hate data entry. BY DR. FREDERICK HAYES-ROTH AND DANIEL AMOR - Darwin.