2009/06/04
TheRegister: The return of the diskless PC
by Chris Mellor
The diskless PC is to return - not as a thin client, but packing a 1TB solid state drive instead. OCZ is showing Colossus, a prototype of this, at Computex in Taiwan.
Unlike OCZ's Z-Drive, a PCIe-connected 1TB SSD shown at this year's CeBIT, Colossus comes in a standard 3.5-inch drive bay form factor. This format is generally used for hard drive storage arrays and server and desktop drive bays, with the 2.5-inch format, which many SSDs use, designed into notebook computers.
According to reports, Colossus uses Samsung flash chips and has two Indilinx controllers, plus a JMicron RAID controller. It offers read and write performance up to 265MB/sec though a 3Gbit/s SATA connection.
The Z-Drive is much faster, offering 510MB/sec read performance and 480MB/sec write, although the sustained write speed drops to 200MB/sec.
The idea of getting back to PCs that zip through applications instead of lumbering along waiting for the disk I/O is obviously attractive. We all know that Microsoft just cannot write a fast system anymore: Windows 7 is not going to turn our desktop Hummers into Ferraris, any more than Windows Vista did. No, the Windows O/S is a dog, and replacing the hard drive with an SSD looks to be the only practical way of turning our desktop mutt into a greyhound.
One terabyte SSDs show that the capacity needed is here. Now we want the price to drop. Imagine the SSD sales boost if masses of desktop users could afford to retrofit SSDs to their PCs by swapping out a hard drive. That's got to be exciting SSD suppliers in a big way. It's also surely got to be a big interest of PC suppliers needing a sales boost and not getting one from new versions of either the Windows O/S or Intel CPUs.
The price decrease needed for desktop HDD-replacement SSDs to become generally affordable is substantial, but we may be seeing the start of such desktop HDD replacement in 2011, possibly sooner.
The Colossus device may hit retail outlets in six to eight weeks in 512GB and 1TB configurations, and cost around €2,500 for 1TB. ®
InfoWorld: JavaFX set for phones, smartbooks, TVs
by Paul Krill
Listening to Sun Microsystems heap accolades on its JavaFX multimedia application technology Wednesday evening almost obscured the fact that JavaFX faces quite a battle in the space against the established Adobe Flash and AJAX platforms and Microsoft's up-and-coming Silverlight platform.
The company spent an hour lauding the JavaFX extension to the Java platform at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco and touting the technology as providing a bridge from the desktop to the mobile device and television. Sun's Eric Klein, vice president of Java marketing, focused primarily on JavaFX for mobile devices during the presentation. Qualcomm "smartbook" technology, serving as a hybrid between a smartphone and a netbook, also was detailed running JavaFX.
Java on mobile systems has been a hedge against an otherwise down economy, Klein said. "The interesting thing is the Java mobile ecosystem grew solidly last year," he said. There are now 2.6 billion mobile phones deployed with Java, he added.
"JavaFX Mobile delivers rich, expressive user experiences and we know that this is what our customers require these days," Klein said. The new 1.2 release of JavaFX Mobile offers significant performance improvements, a user interface library, and localization.
JavaFX Mobile devices are coming out later this year and in 2010 on carrier networks, Klein said.
Emphasizing use of JavaFX in systems other than mobile phones, Klein and Qualcomm Vice President Rob Chandhok paraded plans for using JavaFX on "smartbook" devices, which offer such capabilities as Internet access and GPS services on a device that is smaller than a traditional laptop. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset would be the basis of these systems, which are expected by the end of the year, and on Thursday, Sun and Qualcomm announced an early-access release of Java Platform Standard Edtion 6 ported to the Snapdragon ARM-based processor.
Klein and PayPal Vice President Osama Bedier noted PayPal has a mobile payment application running on JavFX Mobile. "Not only can you build great applications but you can make money from them, too," Bedier said.
Klein also showed the new JavaFX authoring tool, which enables collaboration. "This tool was written in Java," Klein said.
Sun first unveiled the JavaFX project at JavaOne two years ago. There have been more than 400,000 downloads of the JavaFX software development since the release of JavaFX, and JavaFX Mobile, Klein said.
Other mobile efforts from Sun have involved the Phone ME platform and support for technologies such as Lightweight User Interface Toolkit (LWUIT).
CNet: 10 Facebook apps that teach you something
by Don Reisinger
There are hundreds of Facebook apps that provide no real benefit. How many times can you send flowers to your friends with Flowers of Friendship before it gets old? Do you really need Pieces of Flair to show off your interests in your Facebook profile? I don't think so.
That's why I thought I'd write something constructive today. Facebook might be fun, but some of its apps can really teach you something. Let's take a look at 10 apps that stimulate your brain (or are otherwise useful).
Books
Books is a book-sharing and discovery application that will help you find titles that interest you. When you add the app to your profile, you can immediately begin adding books you've read. You can then rate the book and write reviews for your friends to see.Books also lets you view titles your friends are reading. If you think it's something worth trying out, you can click on its link, and you'll be brought to its Amazon.com page so you can complete your purchase. Books' listing of the most popular titles is another great thing to check out. You'll find a slew of interesting reads.
CourseFeed
CourseFeed is a unique service. The Facebook app helps you find high-school and college classmates, and connect with them through the service. You might be surprised by how many people are on there.But where it adds considerable value is in its "learner" feature. The app makes classes from major universities available to users. You can learn computer science from Stanford University professors or nuclear warfare from Notre Dame. It gives you access to online-learning tool BlackBoard, so you can see all the documents, quizzes, and instruction the professors provide. CourseFeed is a great learning tool.
My Personality
When you're looking for apps that teach you something, what's better than an app that teaches you about yourself? When you add My Personality to your Facebook profile, it asks you to give honest answers to questions it poses on a questionnaire. The more questions you answer, the more accurate the reading (at least by design). When you're done answering the questions, My Personality will tell you if you're shy or confident, trustworthy or untrustworthy. It provides you with a full evaluation of your personality.Teach the People
Teach the People is a community of teachers that want to share their knowledge with Facebook users through classes and workshops. The app has a variety of topics. Once you pick something that interests you, you can subscribe to the class.When you enter the course, you'll find instruction videos, audio, documents, and more. You can even share insight on the course's comment wall. Not all courses are created equal, though. Some classes you join will have little instruction. Others will be loaded with documents, videos, images, and discussions. So be sure to pick your classes carefully.
There Test
One of the biggest issues folks have when writing is determining which "there/their/they're" to use. Thanks to the There test, they might learn how to use those words properly. The test asks you to pick the right word that would be used in 20 different sentences. When you're done, you can see how well you did and retake the test to fix your mistakes. You can also share the result with friends. It's a simple test, but it should help you remember the rules for using those words.Typing Speed
Typing Speed gives you a simple tool to see how fast you can type. It asks you to type out words it highlights in a sentence. The further you get in the test, the faster your typing speed. It also measures your accuracy, words per minute, and percentile-how much better you performed than those who also took the test. To increase your typing speed, the tool lets you retake the test as often as you'd like. Over time, your typing speed-and hopefully your accuracy-will increase.Veechi Classes
Veechi Classes is designed for students. It tells them which classes on campus they should take, providing grade distributions for previous semesters, as well as class and instructor ratings. It uses that information to recommend the class that will help students get the best grade. The tool also finds other Facebook users who are in the class, so students can befriend them on the service. The only problem with Veechi Classes is that it doesn't apply to every college. But if you go to a big school, you should be fine.Visible Vote
Visible Vote is a really neat tool that tells your legislators how to vote on key issues. You research those issues in the app. Every week, the app sends a fax to the legislators' offices, telling them what their constituents want them to do. Once they vote on the issue, you can see how they voted to see if your voice is being heard. Visible Vote not only gets you involved in the political process, but it educates you on all the key issues facing the United States today.WeRead
Reading books is an important part of life. But too many people aren't reading as much as they should. That's where WeRead comes in. When you first add it to your profile, WeRead asks you to click on the books you like from a list. Based on those choices, it automatically generates a list of books you might like to read. It even lets you search friends' profiles to see which books they recommend. If you read a lot of books, you might want to take the WeRead "Never ending book quiz." It asks you questions about hundreds of books to see how much you comprehend after you finish a book.What's Your Philosophy?
Philosophy is one of those topics that teaches you about yourself. But defining your philosophy can be difficult. That's why the What's Your Philosophy? app is such a useful tool. It asks you a variety of thought-provoking questions. When you're finished answering the questions, it gives you a listing of philosophies that might interest you. What's Your Philosophy? is a great way to learn more about yourself.My top 3
If you're serious about learning, definitely add these three apps to your Facebook profile.
1. CourseFeed: Learn from the best professors in the U.S.
2. What's Your Philosophy?: There's something so nice about learning about yourself.
3. Visible Vote: Stay informed on all the big issues.
