sábado, 07 de agosto de 2004

ENIAC close-ups as art photos. Benjamin C. Pierce has posted a gallery of beautiful closeup photos of ENIAC, built between 1942 and 1946, one of the first computers ever contstructed. As Pierce notes, "the immediately surprising thing about ENIAC is its physicality. It is a machine in the most literal sense, built from huge metal boxes, massive cables, thick copper wires joined by gobs of solder, panels full of dials, bank upon bank of vacuum tubes. Looking again, the second surprise is the beauty and intricacy of its individual parts. A single tube, responsible for just one numeral in a decimal ring counter, contains a thicket of wires, planes, and baffles. If you peer very closely, a microcosm of strange and enigmatic scenes begins to unfold." Link (via Waxy) [Boing Boing] 2:15:10 PM    comment []

Is Beckham the new Diana?. Education: David Beckham rivals Diana, Princess of Wales, for Briton's affections, say academics. [Guardian Unlimited] 11:24:16 AM    comment []

Edinburgh revels in games fest. The Edinburgh games festival reflects the move of video games into the entertainment mainstream. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition] 11:23:11 AM    comment []

Paranoia game redesigned using open-source methodology. Paranoia, the classic role-playing game in which players battle a mad, totalitarian computer for their freedom ("a light-hearted game of terror, death, bureaucracy, mad scientists, mutants, dangerous weapons, insane robots, and technological satire that encourages players to lie, cheat, and backstab each other at every turn") has just re-launched with a new version that was collaboratively developed with players via a Wiki, borrowing "the tools and methods of open-source software development for a paper game." To a large degree, the game was developed online, in public. Fans of the game contributed enthusiastically via blog, wiki, and online forum. They wrote text, debated rules, proofread, ran statistical analyses, and even wrote a computer simulator to test the game's paper-and-pencil rules. "Online collaboration made this edition of Paranoia the best yet," said Allen Varney (www.allenvarney.com), the game's designer. "We borrowed the tools and methods of open-source software development for a paper game, and it worked brilliantly. I plan to create future games the same way, and other designers should consider it too." Link [Boing Boing] 11:21:55 AM    comment []

Nasa powers up with supercomputer. US space agency Nasa gets the world's biggest Linux-based supercomputer to aid research and missions. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition] 11:19:24 AM    comment []

Euro 2004 proves mobile hit. The Euro 2004 football tournament had a big influence on June's top mobile ringtones. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition] 11:14:53 AM    comment []

© Creative Commons 2004 Antonio C-Pinto. Last update: 12.09.04; 01:43:25.