Раздел 2.

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Where to next?

More than half a century has passed since John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry built the first digital computer. We've seen computers evolve from giant, air-conditioned beasts with their own staff of caretakers, to breadbox-sized models that fit on a desk, to handheld devices with more computing power than top-of-the-line PCs had less than 10 years ago. And we've only seen a hint of their potential.

Back in 1975, Paul and I dreamed that computers would be ubiquitous and indispensable. We imagined that handheld computers would take notes and handle all our personal errands, that massive computer networks would put all the world's knowledge at our fingertips, and that we would be able to interact with our computers just as easily as we could with each other.

At the time these were only dreams, but many have already come true, and we're on the verge of even greater breakthroughs. Every year, computers are becoming smaller, faster, cheaper, and more versatile. They can recognize handwriting and voice commands, organize themselves into networks, and send information around the world in an instant. The power of the PC can now be embedded into all kinds of devices, from refrigerators to gas pumps to credit cards.

Smart homes embedded with PC intelligence will keep our families secure and eliminate many of the chores that get in the way of daily life. Universal connectivity and eBooks will give kids instant access to the knowledge I had to plow through stacks of encyclopedias to find. Powerful mobile devices will free us from the desktop and allow us to compute wherever and whenever we want to. And as microchips get even smaller and more powerful, we'll have computing power all around us--perhaps even woven into our clothing. And behind all this technology will be great software that helps people be more creative, stay in touch with each other, and live more fulfilling lives.

Personally, I'd like to have a tablet-sized PC with a high-speed wireless connection to the Internet--a device that's large enough to display lots of useful information, yet small and light enough for me to carry around. For me, that would really eliminate a lot of the barriers to working with memos, documents, pictures, music and movies in digital form.

I was attracted to computers because of the rich programming you could do, and the vast amount of control you could have over the machine if you wanted to put in the effort. But all most people want is for computers to do work for them. Today, we're close to having the best of both worlds. I'm looking forward to software that's smart enough to manage my information and simplify my life, yet flexible enough that I can be really creative in the ways I use it. When I search online for information on a particular subject, such as biotechnology, my software should be smart enough to weed out what it knows I've already seen. And when I want to schedule an appointment with my doctor, my software should show me only the available times on days when I plan to be in town.

Breakthroughs in wireless technology will also create incredible opportunities. At Microsoft, we're moving to a wireless network that will allow me to take my PC or other smart devices from my office into my conference room or into other buildings without losing connectivity. The possibilities at home are also incredible. I'll be able to take video of my kids outside, and simultaneously have the digital stream saved on my PC and sent to my dad.

We're entering an amazing new era of computing that will be more exciting than anything we've seen before. We're assuming that high-speed Internet access will become as commonplace in the home as electrical power is today, and that ubiquitous wireless access will soon follow. We're assuming that microprocessors will continue to become smaller, cheaper and more powerful. We're assuming that the PC will be complemented by a wider range of devices and everyday appliances with PC-like intelligence, from pocket and tablet-sized PCs to smart cars, refrigerators, and even entire smart homes.

We're betting on these trends with a strategy we call Microsoft .NET--a new platform, user experience, and set of advanced software services that will make all these devices work together and connect seamlessly. So you'll be able to work with the information you need no matter where you are or what device you're using.

To make this happen, I took a new job as Microsoft's Chief Software Architect early in 2000. Now I spend most of my time doing what I think I'm best at--thinking about where technology is going, and figuring out how our software and services can turn those exciting developments into useful, indispensable tools for everyone. There's plenty of work to do: How can software help your devices communicate with each other, and configure and manage themselves? How can it help them see, listen and understand what you need? How can it help them give you exactly the information you want in an appropriate form? How can it protect your valuable data from theft or eavesdropping?

The technologies we're using to build Microsoft .NET are based on years of work that our researchers have put into anticipating future software needs. When we started Microsoft, I dreamed of creating our own research lab to explore new fields of computing, new user interfaces, advanced programming techniques, and even basic science that could take computing forward. I had always admired the work of research laboratories like General Electric's "House of Magic," the world's first great industrial research lab; Bell Laboratories; and Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), which originated many of the technologies that have transformed our lives.

We started Microsoft Research in 1991, and since then it's generated countless new technologies that have made our products more powerful and easier to use. Microsoft Research built code optimization and testing tools that have helped us make reliable, high-quality software. They provided the natural-language processing tools that put rich grammar-checking capabilities into Word. They developed ClearType, which triples the resolution of today's LCD screens, dramatically improving the on-screen reading experience and enabling the development of inexpensive, easy-to-read eBooks. They're working on natural interface technology that helps computers understand your voice, your gestures, and even the look on your face. And today, they're helping us develop and implement a lot of the technology that will make Microsoft .NET happen.

Thinking about the future is a full-time job at Microsoft Research, but the ideas that drive us forward come from all over the company. Some of these ideas will become the software we'll use tomorrow, while others might make it into software our grandchildren will use. When I think back to when Paul and I were just kids starting out, I'm amazed by the progress we've made. But then I look ahead to the world of my own children, and I realize that the changes yet to come will be even more exciting.

Bill Gates (from the book “Inside out”)

Текст 2.

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Four common PC problems you can fix yourself

Computer problems may seem immensely complicated at first glance. But some are relatively easy to fix.

That doesn't mean they will be cheap if someone else does the job. Replacing a hard drive is probably a minimum $250-$300 job at a computer shop.

However, some jobs can be done by the average Joe or Jane. On a scale of 1 to 10 (where 10 should only be performed by certified technicians who have no less than three electronic gadgets on their belt), replacing memory is usually about a 4. Installing a new hard drive is tougher (about 6 or 7), but still do-able. Replacing a video card or internal modem is no more than a 2.

A word of caution: Static electricity can kill the circuitry inside your computer. Before you reach for anything inside that box, ground yourself by touching the metal computer frame.

Here are four common PC problems you may be able to fix by yourself:

You turn on the computer and nothing happens.

No lights, no beeps, no fan noise. What is the first thing you do? Be sure the darn thing is plugged in! Even if you're absolutely certain that it is connected, double check.

Assuming that it is plugged in, you probably have a bad power supply. This is a metal box located in the top and back of the computer. It is usually held in by four screws and the power cable connects to it. A fan blows air out the back.

A wiring harness exits the power supply inside the computer. Numerous power connectors are attached to the ends of the wires. These plug into drives, fans and possibly other gizmos. The harness also will have connectors to the motherboard. It doesn't matter which wire connects where, as long as the connector fits.

When you open the computer, this mess of wiring can be very intimidating. Study it, and you'll find it less mysterious. Note the connections in writing, if necessary. Disconnect the wires and remove the power supply. Take it to the computer store and get a replacement with the same wattage. Figure on spending $50-$70.

The computer comes on, but nothing appears on your monitor.

In other words, Windows never shows up. You may have a monitor problem. Try using another known-good monitor on the computer and see if anything shows up on the screen. If the second monitor works, the first one is bad. Monitors are not worth repairing. Just buy a new one. Never open the back of a monitor to fix it. The capacitors inside monitors store electricity. You could be injured or even killed.

If the screen is dark, it could be a video card problem. First, find the video card. This is a circuit board that fits into a slot in the motherboard. The cable from the monitor connects to the VGA (video graphics adapter) port, which sticks out through the back of the computer. If the VGA port is part of the motherboard, the video is built-in. You can't fix that. Otherwise, it will be part of the video card.

Assuming you have a separate card, be sure it is firmly seated. The front end of the card can rise out of the slot inadvertently when the back end is screwed down to the computer frame.

If you have a computer that is working perfectly, turn it off and remove the video card. Put the card that works in the problem computer. If the system works, you need a new card. If you don't have an extra card to test your system, buy a cheap one. If it doesn't solve the problem, take it back.

You can spend hundreds of dollars on a video card. But if you're running business applications and surfing the Web, buy on price. The expensive stuff is for serious gamers.

If you regularly get the "Blue Screen of Death," you may have a random access memory (RAM) problem.

Note the message on the blue screen, especially the numbers. Check it in Microsoft's Help and Support Knowledge Base. Also, put the text of the error message in a search engine and check the Internet.

Assuming you can diagnose it, a memory problem is easy to fix. If you can't find the diagnosis information you need online, you can try swapping out memory sticks from another computer. But that memory must be the same type. If all else fails, take the old memory to a computer store. The people there may be willing to test it.

Sticks of memory go in slots near the microprocessor. They're about four inches long. Remove the old memory and match it at the store. Memory prices are all over the map, depending on type and speed. Be sure you get the same type.

When you press the new memory into the slot, you will probably have to use some force. The clips on each end will snap into place when the memory is seated properly.

If you boot up, and the computer cannot find the C: drive, you might have a bad hard drive.

If you have another computer, swap hard drives to diagnose the problem. If your computer boots with the other drive, yours is probably bad.

Sometimes, a reboot will work. Your drive might have enough life to spin up occasionally. If this works, transfer your data to another drive, pronto.

According to techie lore, you can seal a nonworking drive in a bag and put it in a freezer overnight. That could shrink things enough to free them up. I've used this trick a few times and it's worth a try.

A regular backup regimen will save you in case of hard-drive failure, assuming you aren't backing up to the same hard drive. If the drive is dead and you don't have a backup, a computer shop may be able to save your data.

Hard drives are cheap. You can get a replacement for less than $100. Get one boxed for retail, which will include instructions and any hardware needed.

Your hard drive is in the front of your machine. It will be about the size of a paperback book and is probably held in by four screws, two on each side. Power and ribbon cables connect to the back.

Put the new drive in and install it as the master. Reconfigure the old drive as the slave. The instructions that come with the new drive should explain that. Boot the computer and install Windows on the new drive. If you're lucky, the computer will see the old drive (it will be D:). You can then transfer your data to the new drive.

Replacing a hard drive is more difficult than the other operations. However, if you pay to have the work done, it may not be cost effective. You might be better off buying a new machine. So if you are adventuresome, and you have the time, changing the hard drive may be worthwhile.

Know your limitations

Some things may be beyond your ability. For instance, upgrading a microprocessor can be dicey. Even if a faster microprocessor will fit in your motherboard, you probably need to upgrade the BIOS (Basic Input Output System). This is done through a process called "flashing," in which information is downloaded to change the BIOS. If flashing isn't done correctly, the computer can be rendered useless. Leave that to the experts.

There are times when fixing a computer just isn't worthwhile. New machines can be had for less than $500. That might be all you need for business purposes. So, if you're facing a $300 repair, maybe it's time to look around. That repair probably won't be the last.

By Kim Komando

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Computer viruses

Types of virus

From worms to macros, there's a whole host of viruses out there to catch...

Worms

These viruses spread via computer networks. The ILOVEYOU virus was a classic example of a worm. These viruses are becoming an increasing threat as a growing number of computers are permanently connected to networks. Worms can spread over corporate networks or via emails sent over the Internet.

Trojans

A Trojan virus takes its name from a story in Homer's Iliad where Greek soldiers pretended to make peace with their enemies, the Trojans. The Greeks made a grand peace-keeping gesture - the gift of a large wooden horse.

When the Trojans hauled it inside their city gates, a small band of Greek warriors leapt out. They opened the gates and let the rest of the Greek army storm in to capture the city.

A Trojan virus is one that opens your computer up to malicious intruders, allowing them to read your files.

File viruses

A file virus is one that replaces a key system file on your computer. These viruses can reload themselves every time you start your computer up. Once they're in the memory, they can spread by writing themselves to any disk you insert into your disk drive.

Boot sector viruses

This is an early type of computer virus that spreads by hiding itself in an invisible location on your hard drive or floppy disk. When your computer reads an infectedfloppy disk, the virus is copied from the disk to your computer's memory.

From there, it writes itself to the 'boot sector' on your hard drive. The boot sector is read each time you turn your computer on. So the virus is constantly reloaded and can copy itself on to other floppy disks. These viruses are fairly rare nowadays, as they are easy to catch.

Macroviruses

A macrovirus infects word processor files, such as Microsoft Word documents. Although not as dangerous as other viruses, they can spread quickly if a Word file is sent via email. After an initial scare, Microsoft added protection into later versions of Word, so you receive a warning about infected documents.

Hoaxes

The virus hoax came about after friends sent each other emails about a new virus threat. Someone decided that they could cause just as much trouble by sending out fake warnings rather than real viruses.

Hoaxes may seem harmless, but they do a great deal of damage to the Internet as a whole. Not only do they slow down traffic and clog up email servers, but they also cause people to panic. Companies can spend money and time investigating what is just someone's idea of a joke.

Who Writes Computer Viruses?

Virus authors are normally 14-26 year old males who spend a lot of time on their computers. Some of them want to prove they are good programmers. Others want to show that they have the power to cause large-scale problems.

But most viruses don't constitute good programming, as many fail to deliver their payload. Many are re-hashed versions of old programs that require little skill to produce.

In the UK, if you're caught using a computer for criminal reasons you can receive a five-year sentence and an unlimited fine. If convicted of 'cyber-terrorism', then you can be given the same sentence as a terrorist bomber.

How do you catch a virus writer? Although the Internet allows computer viruses to spread quickly, it also helps to catch the authors.

Each computer connected to the Internet has an address, similar to a phone number. This is called an IP address and looks like this: 128.5.10.64. Every email you send is marked with your IP address and this information is hard to remove.

Your IP address reveals what company (or Internet Service Provider) holds your account. The company can then find out which customer sent the mail. So if you send a virus to a Member of Parliament, it won't be long before the police are knocking on your door asking questions.

Sophisticated virus authors would be able to cover their tracks to some degree, but there is usually some way to track them down.

Hackers, crackers and script kiddies

There's a whole zoo of cantankerous coders out there:

 Hackers: people who try to find security flaws in corporate computer programs. Most hackers don't aim to cause problems, but they might send an anonymous email to the person in charge warning them of their security problem. Amongst other hackers, there is much honour to be gained by those who can 'crack the uncrackable' programs

 Crackers: unlike hackers, crackers are less sophisticated. They like to break into people's websites and replace their corporate homepage either with pornographic images or hoax messages

 Script kiddies: young virus pirates, who copy old computer viruses and modify them. Often they don't work. If they do, they are seldom as dangerous as the originals and can be easily destroyed

From BBC site

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Man and machine

One place where artificial intelligence has found a natural home is in the development of computer games. AI (artificial intelligence) in computer games is becoming increasingly sophisticated as consumer appetites for better, faster, more challenging games grows. In games, AI is often present in the opponents you play against, or in allies or other team members.

In 1997, then world chess champion Garry Kasparov played against IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer – and lost. After six games, the mighty Kasparov lost 2.5 to 3.5 to the silicon upstart. In February 2003, Kasparov salvaged some credibility for humanity by drawing against the Israeli-built supercomputer Deep Junior. Kasparov went on to draw 2-2 against US company X3D Technologies' supercomputer X3D Fritz in November 2003, proving that the human brain can keep up with the latest developments in computing (at least in chess).

The RoboCup football championship features robots playing the beautiful game. The tournament has different leagues for different robot types, including one for Sony’s Aibos and one for humanoid robots. Despite the mechanical style of play on show, the tournament is proving a popular annual fixture.

In the RoboCup junior championships, independent robots compete one-on-one on a miniature football table with a greyscale pattern. The robots use this dark to pale gradient to navigate their way to the opponent's goal. A special ball is used which contains sensors that communicate with sensors in the robot.

Despite these entertaining applications, the original point of AI research was to create machines that could understand us. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), scientists have designed a robot called Kismet that can have realistic conversations with people. Kismet is capable of seven different facial expressions and can vary the tone of its voice. It also adjusts its gaze and the orientation of its head towards the person it is speaking to.

Scientists at HP (Hewlett Packard) have designed an electronic DJ. The 'hpDJ' selects beats and baselines from its memory bank and mixes them. Its makers say it could be made to react to the mood of clubbers.

At the University of Texas, Dallas, researchers have designed a lifelike human face to capable of 28 facial movements, including smiling, sneering, furrowing its brow and arching its eyebrows. It could be used to put a human face to the artificial brains of the future.

A computer program developed at Brandeis University in Massachusetts has learnt how to design and build bridges, cranes and tables all by itself. It reinvented support structures such as the cantilever and the triangle without prior knowledge of them.

Credit card companies use a computer program called The Falcon to detect card fraud. The Falcon works by constantly updating a profile of how customers use their credit cards. It then looks for uncharacteristic patterns of credit card use in the data.

A robotic head built by a Scottish robotics company can determine a woman’s attractiveness. It works by examining faces to determine how 'feminine' or 'masculine' they are. It doesn’t work in reverse because men’s appeal is supposedly not based as much on looks. Perhaps jokingly, researchers say it could be put to use as an artificial receptionist.

Robots designed for the consumer market and employing very basic forms of AI have become increasingly popular in recent years. Sony's Aibo robot dog behaves like a puppy when it is first activated. But it "learns" new behaviour as it spends more time with its human owner.

Omron's NeCoRo robotic cat and Sanyo's robotic guard dog are other examples of this wave of consumer robots. This is likely to continue in future as consumer robots become more and more sophisticated.

A software program called FACES could stop mid-air collisions between planes. It makes planes perform avoidance manoeuvres in synch. When tested in a flight simulator, the software prevented a pile-up between 35 planes sharing airspace.

Over the coming century, breakthroughs in nanotechnology, the science of ultra-small machines constructed at the molecular level, may help us build more sophisticated machines that are more compact.

We may also see breakthroughs from scientists who are experimenting with connecting biological cells to silicon circuits - a phenomenon called wetware.

From BBC site

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The digital decade

Now, we talk about this as the decade of Digital Lifestyles, the decade of Digital Workstyles. That means that all these tools are becoming mainstream. And it's not just one application that makes it happen. It's not just banking or advertising, or filling out your tax return, or even instant messaging, it's the fact that as you adopt those things they really go together, and it becomes more and more familiar to work in that fashion.

2005 was a very big year. A big year for the personal computer, growth of over 11 percent in Windows PCs, a big year with the introduction of the Xbox 360 that we've been building up to for over five years. But this next year, in some ways, is probably even bigger. This is the year that [Windows] Vista, Office 12 and many other products will come out, and the realization of [Windows] Media Center as a volume mainstream product will really be clear to everyone in the marketplace. Consumers are getting more and more connected. They're getting richer experiences, and software is really at the center of that.

I thought I would start off and show a scenario that we think will be real by the end of the Digital Decade, so within the next four years or so, this will be something we think will actually be realistic. Let's start off, let's say we're at home in the morning. We've got a screen here that shows some of the information that we care about. It comes up and it's kept up to date. We just touch it. We've got some of the kids' drawings here. We can just grab those, move those around, pick different pictures that we want. We see the time of day here. All very simple to work with.

Down here we've got a little bit of a map, and because everyone in the family has decided that they're willing to share their location with the rest of the family, we can see here on the map where mom left early and headed off to that soccer game. We see the family schedule there. So, we're able to track everybody and know what's going on. Here we've got a connection up to our video, and so the latest news information has been categorized. It picks the ones that would be of interest to us, and it actually lets us navigate. So, here I can pick a particular show, news item, that's relevant to the work that I do, and I can see there's been a storm here, it's interrupting the supply chain of a lot of different companies, probably including mine. That could be a real challenge. So, I'll click this button here and say, I would like to track that topic. I would like to continue to watch that video clip, and so as I head in to work that video has now been connected up to my cell phone, and I can watch that as I'm getting into the car and heading off to do my work.

When I arrive there, I've got a nice desktop screen. You can see it's got a lot of area. We think this will be very important. You want to have more information that you can just glance at and work with in a very simple way. The idea of a big screen that uses your full field of vision makes sense to us. Now, of course, instead of using a password, I'll just use my fingerprint here, so I'm authenticated in a more reliable way. I see a lot of different information here, including that news story that I was tracking. I go ahead and set up a little conference call that's going to have a lot of people talking about this problem. And so we can see here our Chief Operating Officer is online, our VP of Operations is only connected up through voice. We're talking through the issue. There is the article there, people are annotating that, seeing how it affects us. I've actually got here on my Tablet PC, that's really logically just part of this screen one PC. I've got a little chart here, and so what I would like to do is go ahead and go in and select that, say, OK, this is a chart that I think is relevant, and I can drag it up here, I can either move it to my desktop, or I can move it into this video conference. So, I'll go ahead and drop it there, and we'll sit and talk about this thing. And say, OK, what's going on with it.

It was actually created, I can see, by Thomas Anderson, and so I'm interested in bringing him into the conversation we have here. So I go off and select him, and say that I want to do instant messaging in a side conversation. We're talking to him, and I indicate, hey, you really ought to come in and give us some advice. I can simply drag him over into the conversation, and so he's there. He's now part of that, so not only do we have his document, but we have his advice, and we figure out pretty quickly what needs to be done.

And actually as we get towards the end of the call, I notice that it's been looking at the traffic in my schedule, and it says there's a traffic jam, so I'm going to have to leave a little bit earlier to get to the airport. I've got a flight today, and actually it puts that right here on my telephone as well, along with the map, suggests an alternate route, so I can grab onto this, and take that with me as I leave work.

Later that day, I find myself in the airport, and all I've got with me on this particular trip is my phone. And yet I'm very interested I figuring out what's the latest, what's going on. And so I can take my phone here, and I just put it down on a table that's here in the airport lounge, and it recognizes it. It's got a little camera here, and a little Bluetooth, nothing very complicated with the magic of software behind it. And it says it wants me to authenticate that this is really me, my phone. So, as soon as I put my fingerprint there, I'm connected up, and I actually get a full-sized desktop. And so now, if I want to read mail, or browse, that's all there. Actually, what I'm going to do is take a business card that somebody handed me while I was on this flight, and just put that down on the table there, and the camera scans that, detects it's there, recognizes it, I'll just flip that over, I've got a little note I made when I was talking with this person about some information they would like to see, and it sees that, gets that text, and then I can take that and say, OK, go ahead and put that into my contacts. So, as I drag it up there, I can see the information being connected up and put down into my phone. So, now I have a reminder of a task, send him that information, and see his picture, his name, his e-mail, it's all been added to my contacts list there.

Well, that's pretty nice, I'll take that off and go ahead and look at whatever mail has come in. In fact, I see that Thomas when we were working there in the office has got a press release and here, because it's very critical they know I'm agreeing with what they've got here, again, I authenticate that this is me, and I make my digital signature available because of the fingerprint there.

Now, that that's sent off, here I am, I'm able to do anything I want, I can see up in the right-hand corner through my calendar it knows the flight I'm taking, so it's showing me exactly how much time I have before I have to leave, so I can work here and get the benefit of the full screen, even though this phone normally just has that small screen. When I'm done, I just pick this up, and of course it's smart enough to recognize now that it's logged me off, and somebody else can come in here and use this and that's just simply available to them.

So, it's a very simple thing to have all these devices working together, and I have that Digital Workstyle, my calendar, the traffic, my contacts, my rich communications done in a very different way.

The phone is very different, the idea of meetings is very different, the way we collaborate, we're able to share across different companies, it's all very different, and that's because we've taken software and put it at the center, the digital approach applied to all of those activities.

Well, we see that in so many areas. I think five or six years ago, if you'd said to people that software would be incredible in terms of making photos better, music better, TV better, phone calls very different, they would have been quite skeptical, they would have thought how can software do that.

Well, now particularly in music, to some degree in TV, they've seen that it makes a huge difference. It allows them to pick the things that they're interested in, it allows them to see it when they want to, to share with friends what they've seen and what they like.

And so this really is the symptom of the great progress we have here in the digital decade.

Bill Gates, 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show

Keynote remarks

Текст 6.

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Mac Pro: The ultimate in desktop computing

The new Mac Pro desktop is a thing of beauty.  Inside and out this box looks like it is the ultimate desktop computer on the market today.

With two, 64-bit, dual-core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” processors and it's sleek design, the Mac Pro is the computer equivalent of a Ferrari, Maserati or Porsche. And like a super sports car — you can pay a lot for the ultimate level of high-end performance.

The Mac Pro is encased in real metal rather than cheap pressboard or molded plastic that looks like metal.

Up front, there are two optical drive slots. You can put two 16x SuperDrives (CD-DVD, R/W) in there or one CD and one DVD drive. The coolest thing about the drives is that you can read from one or write to the other — or write to both drives simultaneously.

Towards the bottom, beneath the power button there’s a headphone mini-jack, a USB 2.0 port, plus a Firewire 400 and a Firewire 800 port.

On the back panel, from top to bottom there’s the AC cord port, the new double-wide PCI Express graphics slot. Beneath that, another expansion slot and a card that lets you plug in two monitors — including two of Apple’s giant 30-inch beauties at the same time.

To the left of those slots there’s a latch that not only locks the side door but also locks everything inside (memory cards, expansion slots and the hard drives) into place. That’s good because all that stuff inside is designed to slide in and out easily for quick changes.

Completing the back panel there are 3 USBs, a Firewire 400 and a Firewire 800, both optical audio and analog audio in and out and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports.

Inside, the Mac Pro has two dual-core processors. That’s the equivalent of having four 64-bit processors. And, you have a choice of dual 2GHz, 2.66GHz or 3GHz chips.

There are four slide in/out hard drive slots with each slot able to take as much as a 500GB drive. That means the Mac Pro can hold up to a mind-numbing 2 terabytes of storage.

Beneath the hard drives sits slots where you can fit your wireless connection modules. You can install an AirPort Extreme and/or a Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. Next to the wireless section is the PCI expansion card section. Notable here is that your cards can now be secured by hand with thumbscrews rather than struggling with screws that disappear into the case.

Last but not least, there is the memory expansion section. There are 8 DIMM slots on two risers. That means you can easily install as much as 16GB of 667MHz, DDR-2 memory. The memory architecture — how much memory the computer can actually handle with each cycle — also has been upgraded. Now it’s 256-bit wide or twice that of Apple’s last behemoth, the Power Mac G5.

This baby is fast!  How fast? Apple tested the Mac Pro's processing speed while running software by Logic Pro 7.2.2., Soundtrack Pro 1.1 and Final Cut Pro to Xcode 2.3, PyMOL 0.99 and Mathematica 5.2.2 and they said the Mac Pro runs 1.4 to 1.8 times faster than their previous G5 speedster.

The Mac Pro comes with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger installed. I also saw a demonstration of Apple’s next operating system, Leopard (OS 10.5) running on the Pro and it looked great.

The retail price for one of Apple's minimum recommended desktop configurations is $2,499. For that price you get Apple’s recommended base configuration of two 2.66GHz dual core processors, 1GB of memory, one 250GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT graphics card (256MB), one 16x SuperDrive and an Apple keyboard and Mighty Mouse.

There are nearly 5 million possible configurations for the Mac Pro and you can add quite bit to add to its performance, so I decided to figure out what a totally souped up Mac Pro might cost.  With all the memory, hard drives and goodies you could stuff inside — the Apple Store Web site came back with a total of more $12K. Remember, we’re talking a maxed-out desktop/server. 

But boy - would that baby fly.

By Gary Krakow

Текст 7.

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The hard disk that changed the world

August 7, 2006 issue - If there's a bottle of vintage champagne you've been saving, next month is the time to pop it open: it's the 50th anniversary of hard-disk storage. Don't laugh. On Sept. 13, 1956, IBM shipped the first unit of the RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) and set in motion a process that would change the way we live.

The RAMAC, designed in Big Blue's San Jose, Calif., research center, is the ultimate ancestor of that 1.8-inch drive that holds 7,500 songs inside your pocket-size $299 iPod. Of course, the RAMAC would have made a lousy music player. The drive weighed a full ton, and to lease it you'd pay about $250,000 a year in today's dollars. Since it required a separate air compressor to protect the two moving "heads" that read and wrote information, it was noisy. The total amount of information stored on its 50 spinning iron-oxide-coated disks - each of them a pizza-size 24 inches - was 5 megabytes. That's not quite enough to hold two MP3 copies of Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog."

Yet those who beheld the RAMAC were astonished. "It was about the size of two large refrigerators, about as tall as a person stands, and though it used vacuum tubes, it was always running," recalls Jim Porter, who worked at Crown Zellerbach in San Francisco in the mid-'50s and would proudly take people to the basement to see what he claims was the very first unit delivered by IBM. "It really turned the tide (in the Information Age)," he says. "It was the first to offer random access, whereas before you would have to wind a tape from one end to the other to access data."

That feature, and the fact that every year scientists have managed to compress more and more information on hard drives for less and less cost, has led to a revolution just as dramatic as the one triggered by the much more celebrated microprocessor. Massive storage has allowed huge businesses to thrive. Without astronomically capacious random-access hard disks, you couldn't imagine the likes of Google, eBay or Amazon. Yet the wizards in the storage field, who constantly fight the boundaries of physics to eke out more density on increasingly tiny disks, don't get respect. "Instead of Silicon Valley, they should call it Ferrous Oxide Valley," says Mark Kryder, chief technical officer of Seagate. "It wasn't the microprocessor that enabled the personal video recorder, it was storage. It's enabling new industries."

Experts agree that the amazing gains in storage density at low cost will continue for at least the next couple of decades, allowing cheap peta-bytes (millions of gigabytes) of storage to corporations and terabytes (thousands of gigs) to the home. Meanwhile, drives with mere hundreds of gigabytes will be small enough to wear as jewelry. "You'll have with you every album and tune you've ever bought, every picture you've ever taken, every tax record," says Bill Healy, an executive at Hitachi, which acquired IBM's hard-disk business in 2003.

Unfortunately, all this digital baggage comes with some baggage of its own. Already we are waist-deep in concerns about piracy (because our disks can store thousands of songs) and privacy (because their disks can store so much information about us). When it costs almost nothing to store almost everything, what happens next? Kryder of Seagate and Healy of Hitachi assure us that new disk-drive features like built-in encryption will protect copyright holders and our own personal records. Can we believe them? Better drink that champagne.

By Steven Levy (Newsweek)

Текст 8.

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The unified communications revolution

Today, the Internet provides us with nearly unlimited access to information about markets, products and competitors. Productivity applications help us use that information to gain insight into a rapidly-changing world. Collaboration tools let us work together to transform insight into business decisions that drive success. During the next decade, a new generation of digital technologies will enable companies to create people-ready businesses that help employees work together to make informed, timely decisions that quicken the pace of innovation and open the door to new opportunities.

But communication is still a significant challenge. In a single day, you probably send and receive email, make phone calls from your desktop and mobile telephones, and check messages in multiple mailboxes. You might participate in an audio conference call, use instant messaging and schedule meetings with your calendaring application.

The irony is that rather than making it easier to reach people, the proliferation of disconnected communications devices often makes it more difficult and more time consuming. And in an age when business success increasingly depends on how quickly people can share information, this is a critical issue.

In the coming years, unified communications technologies will eliminate the barriers between the communications modes - email, voice, Web conferencing and more - that we use every day. They will enable us to close the gap between the devices we use to contact people when we need information and the applications and business processes where we use that information. The impact on productivity, creativity and collaboration will be profound.

According to a recent study, there’s a 70 percent chance that when you call someone at work, you will get voicemail. Another study found that one in four information workers spend the equivalent of three full working days each year trying unsuccessfully to connect with other people by phone. When you do reach the person you’ve called, there’s no guarantee that it’s a convenient time for them to answer your question, or that they have access to the information you need.

The problem is that our communications identities and experiences are linked too closely to our location, our devices and the mode of contact we are using. Your work number is tied to the phone on your desk. Your cell phone number calls the device you carry in your pocket. You may have separate identities for email and instant messaging, plus a number you call for audio conferencing and a code you must input.

This is far too complicated. Unified communications will reduce complexity by putting people at the center of the communications experience. Our goal is to integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment, using a single identity that spans phones, PCs and other devices. Our vision is to make it easy for people to reach each other using the mode of communication that is the most productive, on the device that is most convenient, while at the same time providing individuals with the highest levels of control over when and how they can be reached, and by whom.

With unified communications, you will be able to tell at a glance if the person you need to talk to is in the office and available to take your call. When you are on the phone, you’ll be able to move from a two-person conversation to a conference call with a click of the mouse, or switch to a video conference that includes colleagues and partners from around the world. Unified communications solutions will have the intelligence to know who is allowed to interrupt you when you are busy and automatically route phone calls, emails and instant messages to the right device when you leave the office. You’ll also be able to listen to your email or read your phone messages.

One of our most important goals is to make communication and information access seamless and personal, no matter where you are or what device you are using. Presence—which provides information about your availability—will enable you to reach the right person on the first try. Intelligent information agent software that understands how you prefer to work will give you control over who can contact you, on what device and at what times.

To get an idea of what the unified communications world will look like, watch the young people in your organization—particularly the ones who are fresh out of college. They’ve lived their entire lives in the digital age, communicating in real-time via text messaging and instant messages. For some of them, even email lacks the immediate gratification they expect when they want to communicate with someone. To this generation, the desktop phone has about as much relevance as an electric typewriter does for those of us a generation or two older.

Using cutting-edge communications technologies, this younger generation has created online communities based on shared interests. They keep in constant contact with the people they care about, no matter where they are located. They create, collect and share digital content and information - music, pictures, news, video. It’s all a testament to the power and immediacy of today’s digital technology.

It’s also perfect training for the New World of Work. Instead of online communities based on shared interests, when they join your company, they’ll build virtual work teams that span the globe. The list of important people they keep in touch with will expand to include your customers. In addition to music and pictures, they’ll share reports and presentations created in collaboration with colleagues and business partners.

As this generation moves into the workforce, they expect to continue using the devices they’ve grown up with. Organizations that can’t meet this expectation will be at a sharp disadvantage as talented young people choose to work for companies that recognize the value of a new generation of communications innovations.

Bill Gates (Executive e-mail)

June 26, 2006

Текст 9.

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Technology is the tool, people are the key

Technology is everywhere in the workplace - in laptop computers, personal digital assistants, "smart" wireless telephones, the Internet, and business servers. But people remain the core of any business. Their brains, their experience, their dedication to business success are what make a business leap ahead of its competition. The job of technology is to help people make the most of their talents and abilities. At Microsoft, we believe that the right technology is more than a tool. It is a lever that magnifies the efforts of employees and managers, and in the process, transforms how business gets done.

Gartner, Inc., a technology research firm, says that worldwide, IT spending will top $2.6 trillion in 2006. This figure includes spending on hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications. Yet Gartner analysts also note that at the vast majority of companies making investments in technology, managers complain that information overload can slow decision-making and actually impede a business's efforts.

The solution, say analysts, is to use technology to untie the knot sometimes created by information, not tangle it further. Investment in a "high-performance workplace," says Gartner Group Vice President Tom Austin, can increase competitiveness, add value, and make the most of what is most companies' largest asset: their employees. Businesses must "empower individuals and raise the quality and impact of what people do," Austin says. "High-performance workplace strategies raise the impact of skilled people."

Among those strategies is developing technology that helps people manage multiple streams of information, enables them to identify trends and patterns, and gives them the tools to connect and collaborate with colleagues. "The benefits of these technologies can be measured in high productivity, increased idea generation, and improved relevance and quality," says Austin.

Examples of what Austin sees as the key to business success can today be found around the world. For example, at Zurich International Airport, one of Europe's busiest transportation hubs, 1300 airport partners and about 20,000 employees juggle hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers each day. If any link of that partner and employee network breaks, whether it's a de-icing crew or a food-service van, the entire airport may start to fall behind.

To help manage their complex business, Zurich International Airport managers worked with Microsoft partners to develop a powerful software program called ZEUS. ZEUS collects and displays information from across the airport - flight data, on-time statistics, baggage-handling status, and more. That means the employees of Unique, the private company that runs the airport, are constantly aware of how the airport is functioning and where problems might arise.

"An airport runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so it's very important for managers to have access at all times to important data so that we are informed on what's going on daily," says Josef Felder, chief executive officer of Unique. "I love the system because, besides the usual facts and figures, it also shows a lot of diagrams. Within two or three minutes I have a full picture of what is happening at the airport that day."

ZEUS perfectly exemplifies what technology should accomplish: it takes vast amounts of disparate information and packages it so that employees can use their knowledge and experience to act on that information. That's what creates a high-performance workplace, and it's true whether an employee is dealing with an airplane stuck at a boarding gate, a request by a bank customer for a clear picture of mortgage offerings, or a building manager who wants to reduce heating and cooling costs.

In situation after situation, technology can be used to collect, analyze, and package information so that it becomes a marvelously useful tool for a business and its employees. A service company with far-flung technicians uses wireless laptops to constantly update its knowledge base of solutions to problems arising across the country. A hospital deploys a system that enables physicians miles away to see a patient's vital signs during surgery, helping doctors on the scene solve life-threatening problems. A financial services company gives its agents tools to quickly analyze customer portfolios or sift through hundreds of customers to find those with a particular stock.

All of these solutions share common qualities. They focus on the user by helping ensure ease of use and demonstrating an understanding of how people actually perform their jobs. They work well with familiar programs and technologies, so that employees don't waste valuable time learning complex, proprietary systems. And they fit well with the systems companies already have implemented. The result is tools that are quickly and effectively put to work by those using them.

As author John Naisbitt said many years ago, we are drowning in information, but starved for knowledge. Today's technology must do more than simply vacuum up more information. It must deploy that information in the service of those who use it. That creates knowledge about how to better serve customers, develop innovative ideas, or speed time to market for great products. When information is put to work in the service of a business and its employees, rather than as an obstacle or a daunting task, great things happen.

By Douglas Gantenbein

From Microsoft.com site

Текст 10.

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Console wars: Which is best?

As Microsoft unleashes its Xbox 360, gamers face a difficult decision - whether to buy the new machine or wait for the next gen consoles from Sony and Nintendo. Three game journalists present the case for their console of choice.

MICROSOFT XBOX 360

Xbox 360 is the first console to take advantage of the new high definition standard. All games made for the console will run in this new widescreen graphical format which, if you have the correct screen, is the biggest leap forward for games graphics since the first home 3D games in 1995.

Even those without a high def screen will notice a considerable step up in graphical prowess for the games they play on Xbox 360.

This is most notably in the tiny details that helps make games seem real - spectators faces in the crowds of sports games, for instance, or the stitching on the leather upholstery of one of the supercars in Project Gotham Racing.

However, graphics are only one of the areas of gaming that the extra power of Xbox 360 will revolutionise.

The main difference between Xbox 360 and other next generation consoles is the fact that it is designed to be a completely connected experience; from simple things like wireless controllers and wireless internet connectivity, to the killer feature of the Xbox 360 world, Xbox Live.

While Live existed on original Xbox as an online gaming network, Xbox Live on the 360 improves that experience with enhanced, more reliable matchmaking and then adds more besides.

The system's Marketplace feature will allow connected gamers to download new game content for free, as well as share custom content they have created with friends.

Subscribers to the service will be able to talk to their friends whenever the console is turned on and in the future will also be able to video chat using the system's bespoke video cam.

The inclusion of a hard drive, pioneered in the original Xbox, offers owners of the Xbox 360 further benefits.

The console is designed to connect seamlessly with all MP3 players, video cameras and other media devices.

Music can be ripped to the system's hard drive and played as a custom soundtrack for games or the console can simply be used as an 'amplifier' for any media users want to plug into it

Using the optional wireless receiver, the Xbox 360 will even link to home networks and communicate directly with home PCs.

However, even with high definition and unrivalled connectivity, it is still the games that matter most in the Xbox 360 world.

The games available in the first three months of the Xbox 360's life are some of the best ever created and of a standard some consoles have had to wait their entire lifespan to amass.

Project Gotham Racing 3, Perfect Dark Zero, Gears of War and Kameo are only some of the highlights. The rest of 2006 will provide plenty more.

By Steve Brown, editor, Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine

SONY PLAYSTATION 3

Six months ago I snuck into work just before midnight to meet several like-minded colleagues. The reason we were there was to watch PlayStation 3 being unveiled live on the net.

Those of us huddled excitedly around the screen were ready to see, and more importantly, play something new. The display of raw power that followed was little short of astonishing.

Here, finally, was a games machine capable of pumping out the kind of eye-watering visuals you would normally associate with high-end special effects used in movies.

To get a real idea of just how powerful the PlayStation 3 is you need to speak to a developer working on the system.

Chris Keegan is technical director at Climax. He says that if the PS3 existed in 1998, it would have been the most powerful super-computer in the world.

He reckons the PS3 is roughly 250 times more powerful in raw processing terms than PS2.

But computing power counts for nothing without the support of software publishers.

Today, every major third-party publisher is onboard and there are more than 150 titles in development. Highlights include Resident Evil 5, the next Grand Theft Auto and Vision Gran Turismo.

But pick of the bunch so far has to be Metal Gear Solid 4. The latest instalment in the series, which has long been synonymous with Sony hardware, looks incredible.

To really get the most out of the PS3, you are going to need to get involved with high definition TV. The console is equipped with two HDMI outputs which, when hooked up to a compatible Plasma or LCD display, will result in images of unparalleled clarity and detail.

Further future-proofing comes from the Blu-Ray disc format which the PS3 uses. Blu-Ray discs can hold up to 25 gigabytes of data, as opposed to 4.7GB on a standard single-layer DVD which are used on the Xbox 360. Layered discs versions with even more capacity are possible.

Sony's trump card is its recently released handheld, the PSP. Further down the line, the suggestion is that you will be able to use the PSP's network browsing functionality to log onto your PS3 remotely, managing content such as music and movies, while on the move.

During the current generation, Microsoft dominated online console gaming with Xbox Live. I would expect to see Sony offering a fully integrated network service to support PS3 this time around.

Now the waiting game starts. US and Japan gamers will get their hands on the machine in November but European gamers have to wait until March next year.

But Sony is used to managing consumer expectations and playing the wait and see card. After all, going first brings its own set of problems. Just ask Sega.

By Tim Clark, associate editor, Official PlayStation 2 Magazine UK

NINTENDO REVOLUTION

Nintendo's Revolution is undoubtedly the most exciting console of the three next generation machines.

While the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 can offer improved graphics and sound, Nintendo, with their amazing new controller, are promising to change the way you actually play games forever.

The Revolution controller may look like a TV remote but, with its built-in motion-sensor, it is perhaps the most radical innovation in console history.

Players will hold the new freehand unit in one hand and control the action onscreen by pointing it at their television and waving it around.

So, instead of pressing the A button to, say, kill an enemy with a sword, you can make slashing movements with the controller and your actions will be replicated on the screen.

This can only improve your playing experience, offering levels of interactivity that have so far only been realised through basic PlayStation 2 EyeToy games and Nintendo's own wonderful handheld, the DS.

With other consoles, you will be playing better looking versions of the games you have already got.

Sure, the games will be smoother, prettier and offer levels of realism that have yet to be seen in video games.

But when you are paying more than £200 for some new hardware you should expect a great deal more than shinier cars and realistic grass that moves in the wind.

Revolution's technology should, like the other consoles, be cutting edge, but it is the only console that will actually offer you new experiences.

While we have yet to see any actual games running on Revolution, Nintendo have produced a video that hints at the many ways the controller can be used.

We have seen a man using it as a light-gun in a first-person shooter game, a child using it as a fishing rod even old people conducting an orchestra.

And that is just the new games, you will also be able to download classic Nintendo games online to play on Revolution.

With Revolution, Nintendo have been keen to emphasise that their new controller will be so easy to use that it will not only appeal to their hardcore fans, but also people who have never played on a games console before.

The message is, similar to DS, it does not matter if you are young or old, male or female, you will have fun playing games on Revolution.

By Tom East, editor, NGC magazine