John Edwards looks great in a tiara! Who knew he was so talented?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Man, she's a beaut - Sigh, too bad me and Osama, etc. had to help kick her nation's army's hiney in Afghanistan. *CAN'T WE JUST ALL GET ALONG, like a Hollyweird Russian commando movie character dreaming of peace and love while peeping-tom looking at a pretty Cuban female comrade bathing naked in a river. *M*A*S*H episode this week - "Now that they're [women/nurse]gone, we [men]can hardly stand ourselves".
Aint no carpet. That is a serious no-no nowadays. I am 28 and haven't seen one with carpet in at least ten years. If they have anything, it's a small "throw rug"
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/13/2007 11:05 Comments ||
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#6
Hot damn--now I understand why Norway reclassified Russia as a threat!
Posted by: Dar ||
02/13/2007 12:57 Comments ||
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#7
No wonder Vlad's so pissed! They're using the American word "MISS" in Cyrillic characters, for "MISS RUSSIA".
Zimbabwe's inflation surged to a new record in January, exposing the government's failure to get a grip on a crisis that has fuelled political tensions and caused desperate shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) said annual inflation - the highest in the world and now officially the government's number one enemy - soared to 1,593.6 percent from 1,281.1 percent in December.
Critics blame the crisis on President Robert Mugabe's politically driven agenda, including the seizure of land from white commercial farmers to resettle landless blacks. The crisis has raised the cost of consumer goods The veteran leader says Zimbabwe is being sabotaged by his opponents. Moffat Nyoni, the CSO's acting director, said prices had jumped 45.4 percent on a monthly basis, compared with 36.3 percent in December.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Someone give this man a sprocket!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/13/2007 0:16 Comments ||
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What is it wid Commies-Socialists and PERCENTAGES.
#3
In the next 5 year plan, Mugabe promises to produce 2 times the inflation.
Posted by: ed ||
02/13/2007 7:54 Comments ||
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The Central Statistical Office (CSO) said annual inflation - the highest in the world and now officially the government's number one enemy - soared to 1,593.6 percent from 1,281.1 percent in December.
In contrast to Mugabe, who is the people's number one enemy.
Riyadh, 13 Feb. (AKI) - Defying the official ban of the kingdom's religious authorities, young Saudis have been buying up the traditional red roses for Wednesday's Saint Valentine's day, according to Saudi daily al-Watan. Florists have indicated that because of huge demand the price of red roses leapt in the space of a few days from five to 12 rials (1.30 to 3.20 US dollars). The paper reported on Monday it was almost impossible to find red roses in cities across the kingdom. The religious police have organised special anti-Valentine patrols to prevent Saudi youth celebrating what they consider a product of dissolute Western customs.
In recent years, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdelaziz al-Sheik, intervened with a fatwa or religious edict banning the celebration of the event, describing Saint Valentine's Day as "the feast of the pagans" and writing that "any Muslim who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgement cannot celebrate this event." Well, if one lives in a society where a man can have multiple wives, the St. V-day toll can add up pretty quick.
#1
The only Valentines Day tradition the Saudi Regime likes is the St. Valentines Day Massacre.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/13/2007 10:14 Comments ||
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While the Matawa are busy tracking down rose buyers, in the USA Private investigators say the week of Valentine's Day is one of their busiest. It's because Valentine's Day is that one time of the year when it's required to recognize your sweetheart. That complicates things when you've got a wife and a lover or vice versa. Thus, the PIs get an inordinate amount of requests for spousal surveillance.
#6
FREEREPUBLIC POSTER > GLOBAL WARMING, versus PISSED OFF WOMEN - which will Men choose to satisfy. FOX > Women want DIAMONDS above anything else. WELL D***NG IT, BIG MACS + TV DINNERS IT IS - the Babes can't complain, its in the NEWS/MSM. Diamonds, Jewelry, FLowers, + CHocolate, etc are dangerous to earth's environment and increasing earth's chances of getting hit by the asteroid. SIMPSONS > BRENT BROCKMAN? > ITS IN THE NEWS, PEOPLE, IN THE NEWS.
Awami League (AL) yesterday cancelled the controversial five-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over issuance of fatwas with Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish (BKM). AL also cancelled all deals, agreements and seat sharing with different political parties in the grand alliance including 14-party coalition, which had been made prior to the cancellation of January 22 parliamentary polls. "We had made some deals and agreements with some parties as part of our election strategy centring the January 22 poll. Since the election was cancelled, those deals and agreements have automatically been cancelled," AL Acting General Secretary Obaidul Quader told The Daily Star yesterday.
AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil signed the MoU going to the Azimpur residence of BKM Chairman Azizul Haque on December 23 last year, which stipulated that certified alems (Islamic clerics) would have the authority to issue fatwas in the country if the grand electoral alliance could come to power. "And how many alems are certifiable?"
"Most of 'em."
The other points of the MoU included promises to impose a bar on enacting any law that would go against Quranic values, initiation of steps for proper implementation of the government initiative to recognise the degrees awarded by Qaumi Madrasas, and a ban on criticisms of Prophet Muhammad. All the usual Islamo-hooey, from a putatively secular party.
With AL signing the deal to bring BKM into the fold of the grand alliance, it faced severe criticisms from different national and international quarters and even from inside the party. The deal also gave rise to grievances and frustrations inside AL and other components of the grand alliance, and disappointed many other political parties, socio-cultural organisations and people of all walks of life.
At the time the AL general secretary repeatedly criticised the media saying that they misinterpreted the deal and claiming that the deal was not against the concept of secularism. "No, no! Certainly not! Think of it as... ummm... Koranic secularism."
Quader, who spoke as an AL spokesman yesterday, however said the political unity among the components of the grand alliance will continue. "But all the written deals or agreements and seat sharing with all the parties have been cancelled," said the AL leader adding that they will think afresh about signing deals or reaching agreements with the grand alliance partners in a new situation when a fresh schedule for the upcoming parliamentary polls will be announced.
Asked whether they will sign the MoU again with BKM, the AL leader brushed aside the possibility and said they have not thought of it yet. As the election was cancelled, their strategies will change in the new situation, he said. Asked when the decision of cancelling the MoU was taken, Quader declined to comment. But sources said AL President Sheikh Hasina instructed Quader yesterday morning to issue a media statement about the cancellation of the MoU.
Asked whether AL informed BKM about the cancellation of the deal, Quader said they [BKM leaders] would know about it from the media. When contacted, BKM Secretary General Yusuf Ashraf said they were not formally informed about the cancellation of the MoU. "We heard about it on television news and will give a formal reaction on the matter after discussing it in the party forum," said Ashraf.
Following the cancellation of the deal, AL's allies in the grand alliance welcomed it. Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon told The Daily Star that they opposed the deal from the very beginning and repeatedly asked AL to cancel it saying it contradicts the 23-point common national minimum programme of 14-party coalition. "As Awami League has scrapped the deal, I welcome the decision," said Menon, also a key leader of 14-party.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haque Inu praised AL President Sheikh Hasina for cancelling the controversial deal with BKM. He said the AL chief took a strong political decision, which will strengthen the politics of establishing a democratic and non-communal country. "The decision was imperative to take 14-party coalition forward," Inu, also a key leader of the coalition told The Daily Star.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2007 00:00 ||
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A senior Cuban official has defended the country's Internet restrictions as a response to U.S. aggression and called for controlling "the wild colt of new technologies." Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes opened an international conference on communication technologies Monday by complaining that Washington is choking Cuba's access to the Internet even as U.S. military and intelligence services use it to undermine the communist government. Internet technologies "constitute one of the tools for global extermination," he said, referring to U.S. policies, but they "are also necessary to continue to advance down the path of development."
He defended Cuba's "rational and efficient" use of the Internet, which puts computers in schools and government computer clubs while prohibiting home connections for most citizens and blocking many sites with anti-government material. "The wild colt of new technologies can and must be controlled," he said.
Valdes, who has fought alongside and then governed under Fidel Castro since 1953, is an influential figure in Cuba's communist hierarchy, although he was not among the small group Castro named to oversee its affairs under acting President Raul Castro after he fell ill in July.
Valdes expressed dire suspicions of U.S. intentions for the World Wide Web, citing post-Sept. 11 security measures and news reports that technology giants Microsoft and Google have cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies. "These actions bring the destabilizing power of the empire to threatening new levels," he said.
Perhaps, but the internets also allow the moonbats to synchronize their talking points...
U.S. law calls for efforts to overthrow Castro's government through a sweeping commercial embargo and other policies. Valdes said those have choked the island's attempts to extend its Internet connections. Valdes said there were about 1,300 delegates from 58 countries at the conference. The U.S. trade embargo with Cuba discourages many companies from doing business with Cuba a fact emphasized by the lineup of conference exhibitors, which was weighted heavily toward companies from leftist allies such as China, Vietnam and Venezuela.
Since 1996, Cuba has used a relatively low-capacity satellite link to connect to the outside world because the United States has blocked it from connecting to nearby fiber-optic networks that run to the U.S. or through U.S.-administered Puerto Rico. To overcome that problem, Cuba signed an agreement with ally Venezuela
of course
last month to lay a 965-mile fiber optic cable across the Caribbean Sea connecting the countries. It was not immediately clear when that line might be built. Valdes said a way should be found to eradicate "the diffusion of pornography, encouragement of terrorism, racism, fraud, spread of fascist ideologies and any kind of manifestation of cybernetic crime."
Relations between Russia and Norway have been strained of late, over incidents ranging from illegal fishing in the Barents to collapsed investment prospects in Russian gas fields to Russian restrictions on salmon imports.
At the same time, Russia has been asserting itself all over Europe, often in unpopular ways. It has cut off gas supplies to countries that don't agree to its terms, it has refused entry to top officials traveling to Russia on business, and it has rekindled Russian nationalism to a degree that worries human rights activists. Suspicious murders of government critics also have sparked widespread international concern.
Newspaper Aftenposten has gone through a series of recent speeches and reports written by Norwegian defense officials, and documented use of descriptions of Russia that reflect the recent tensions.
The most revealing was a fresh report from the defense institute FFI (Forsvarets forsvarsinstitutt) that analyzed threats against Norway. In the report, which sets the premises for the Defense Ministry from 2009 to 2012, Russia is identified as a "military threat." There's no fear of invasion, but rather a "limited, military action."
The report notes that the institute may be criticized for its classification of Russia, but even Defense Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen has altered her word usage of late. She has stressed that Russia isn't likely to exert power, but notes that its military build-up can't be overlooked.
"We must be aware that developments can take another direction than we want and expect," Strøm-Erichsen said in a recent speech before the defense group Oslo Militære Samfund.
Espen Barth Eide, state secretary attached to the Defense Ministry, says Russia has consciously positioned itself as an "international player with a demand for attention and influence." Oil income and foreign currency reserves have helped give the country new economic clout that it lacked when the Soviet Union fell apart.
Barth Eide also rejects any talk of a new Cold War, but notes that Russia "is back on the international stage." Its president, Vladimir Putin, is working hard to keep it there, and boost Russian self-confidence.
"It's more important than ever that we continue our policies based on dialogue and concrete cooperation, both multilaterally and bilaterally," Barth Eide told Aftenposten.
#2
I suppose Russia's action sev years ago of sending coast defense warships into non-Russian sovereign waters to interfere wid local fishing, stopping cross-channel freight ships, and air recce, besides alleged spy submarine incursions, has nuthin' to do wid anything.
THE West has reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-US tirade, with Washington saying he was out of step with the times, while some Europeans see it as a wake-up call from a tougher Russia.
Putin's charge that Washington was fuelling a nuclear arms race in a quest to subjugate the world to one single master stunned a conference of top security officials in Munich on Saturday.
Yet while US officials mostly played it down as empty rhetoric divorced from the real world, European listeners said it showed the West must square up to a brash and combative new Russia, both in the Putin era and beyond. We should take him at his word. This was the real Russia of now, and possibly in four or five years time it could go further in this direction, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, at the Munich meeting, said today. We have to have a dialogue with Russia but we must be hard-nosed and realistic. We must stand up for our values.
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#3
It's a parallel universe because the EU must be thinking, "What's his freakin' problem? We don't his land, we're willing to pay top dollar for their natural resources, we have no standing armies, and they still freak out like a newbie on 3 hits of purple microdot."
#6
....or as WEB Griffin speculates in "The Hunters" Puty has some fingerprints on the oil-for-food largess and maybe someone is getting close to exposing it, like us. And this is his pre-emptive "see they'll do anything to spite those who disagree with them".
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
02/13/2007 16:55 Comments ||
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This is a shrill tirade by a would-be "world leader" that finds his nation falling further and further behind in every arena. It's going to get worse in Russia before it gets better. Putin's talking about "revitalizing" the Russian army and navy, yet he can't get enough draftees to fill the uniforms they've ordered. In the past, this wasn't a problem - they could raid the Caucasus and Ukraine, and make do. That's no longer possible. Their factories are undermanned, their military is undermanned, and their best scientists have fled for greener pastures. Putin's world is catching up with him, and he's SOL to do anything about it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/13/2007 17:33 Comments ||
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"Once a commie stooge, always a commie stooge."
#9
Radical Islam is trying to dissect Britain from America, Britain from the Continent, the Continentals from each other, and Western Europe from Eastern Europe. And the only obstacle in their path from crossing the SEA OF DENMARK INTO SCANDINAVIA FROM THE CENTRAL GERMAN PLAIN IS LITTLE, TINY DENMARK ITSELF. *Yoohoo, BEOWOLF, LOHENGRIN, NEVESKY andor THE 300 SPARTANS, YOU'RE UP.
Four days in and he's screwing up already...
DURHAM, N.H. -- In his first stumble, White House hopeful Barack Obama on Monday took back words from the day before, when he said the lives of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were "wasted."
Following his Springfield launch on Saturday, Obama wrapped up a three-day swing in the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, ending at a University of New Hampshire rally where he assailed the "trivialization of politics" where "it is all about who makes a gaffe." In this case, that would be Obama, the Illinois Democrat.
During his first press conference as a presidential candidate at Iowa State University, Obama, discussing his opposition to the Iraq war, said the war "should have never been authorized, and should have never been waged, and on which we've now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.''
He immediately realized he made a mistake, he later told a reporter. Even the most severe war critics in Congress have been very careful to praise U.S. troops and say nothing that could upset mourning families. So why didn't he say something immediately?
Obama, in an interview with the Des Moines Register right afterward, told the paper, ''I was actually upset with myself when I said that, because I never use that term,'' he said. ''Their sacrifices are never wasted. . . . What I meant to say was those sacrifices have not been honored by the same attention to strategy, diplomacy and honesty on the part of civilian leadership that would give them a clear mission." "Botched" it, did you? I remember what happened to the last guy who "botched" it.
By Monday, reporters covering Obama making his first visit as a presidential candidate in New Hampshire, asked Obama, campaigning in a Nashua home, if military families deserved an apology. "Well as I said, it is not at all what I intended to say, and I would absolutely apologize if any of them felt that in some ways it had diminished the enormous courage and sacrifice that they'd shown. You know, and if you look at all the other speeches that I've made, that is always the starting point in my view of this war.'' Huminahuminahuminahumina....
At a rally in the gym at the university here -- not quite the stemwinder Obama delivered for University of Illinois at Chicago students on Sunday night -- Obama made a similar point about the Iraq war deaths, talking about the need to "bring that war to a close." Those who died, he said, were "extraordinarily brave soldiers." I'll bet Hillary's drooling waiting for the debates...
#1
In his first stumble, White House hopeful Barack Obama on Monday took back words from the day before, when he said the lives of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq were "wasted."
#2
he's gonna be a peach for laughs, and I'll be called a racist for saying he's all glitter and no substance. Not ready to lead the Senate, much less the Nation.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2007 16:34 Comments ||
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Big truck, small tires.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/13/2007 16:48 Comments ||
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Think about this. Barack Hussein Obama and Joe Biden as running off at the mouth mates.
The media should love that combination. Always something to write about with having to make up stuff.
#7
Oh dear, loose lips sink ships. Don't fall in love with Obama. In spite of all the media lovin', he's going to crumble like a cracker.
Er, cracker - that's not racist is it? I didn't mean a tasteless white saltine. I meant a flavorful, tasty brown cracker like... like a Stoned Wheat Thin.
#10
I don't care if Obama looks like Anna Nicole, is smarter than Noam Chomsky thinks he is, and is as charismatic as JFK, it was a most stupid thing to say for anyone running for a national position.
(Reuters reports without editorializing!)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.
The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.
Bank of America tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said. The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, the paper said. Out to be very helpful to Islamic terrorists too.
#1
Ok, Bank of America, how do illegal aliens open checking accounts without Social Security numbers. I sure as hell can't and the IRS would be very interested if I did.
Posted by: ed ||
02/13/2007 8:57 Comments ||
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This is not surprising. There are banks that offer credit cards to three-month old babies--I know, my kids got the offers ("Pre-approved prime-rate Platinum VISA with no monthly fee!") in the mail the same day as we got the bill from the obstetrician.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/13/2007 9:22 Comments ||
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how do illegal aliens open checking accounts without Social Security numbers
Ed, its simple they complete a W7 form from the IRS and obtain a Tax Payer Identification Number or (ITIN). They are required to provide identification (An out of country ID is acceptable) but it does not require proof of citizenship. It is designed for foreign students and workers such as the F1 workers. Wells Fargo has been getting Mattress Money this way for years. Oh and BTW, US citizens are prohibited by law to circumvent the system this way.
#4
This is disgusting on a couple of fronts: I had a checking account and wished to open a savings at the same bank; needed a SSN to do that.
Real problem is gonna be for the legit BofA customers when these card holders start defaulting and you can bet your arse they will. And who will end up paying: all of us, one way or the other.
#5
Show the bank a matricula consular and they give you a credit card. Run up a big balance, run back to Mexico, get a new matricula consular, sneak back to U.S., get a new credit card. Rinse and repeat.
With 5-7 teraflop, computer system to help high-end research in oil exploration, space, aircraft and structural designs and thermonuclear weapon and missile RV design
Pune, February 12: COME June and the countrys computer prowess will get a further boost with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) installing Indias fastest computer at the National Param Supercomputing Facility on the University of Pune campus. The new supercomputer will be of 5-7 teraflop, CDAC director general S Ramakrishnan said.
Currently, the fastest supercomputer Param is of one teraflop (a teraflop is a measure of computers speed) and CDAC had recently announced that it would soon be coming out with 1.5 teraflop supercomputer specifically for bioinformatics research and development.
The main purpose of the project is to make computer system useful to users for high-end research. It will be used to carry out researches in oil exploration, space, aircraft and structural designs and will also be used extensively by India Meteorological Department (IMD), CDAC director Sharad Purohit said.
The project to come out with a faster supercomputer was carried out by CDAC in collaboration with industrial partners Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), drug design firm Jubilant Biosys and Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency.
Purohit said the new supercomputer was remotely controlled, but after it is commissioned, it would be integrated into GARUDA. (See box)
Besides these institutes, the new supercomputer will also be used by Thiruvananthapuram-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Research Centre and Ahmedabad-based Space Application Centre, he said.
The work to develop the new supercomputer with a higher speed was done by CDACs High Performance Computing Group (HPCG). At least 100 people divided into three sub-groups - hardware, software and application - did its development in a modular way with scientists working on the existing models and improvising and innovating it, Purohit added.
WHAT IS GARUDA?
The Department of Information Technology (DIT) has funded the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing to deploy the nationwide computational grid GARUDA that connects 17 cities across the country with major institutions like the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and IMD among others with an aim to bring grid networked computing to research labs and industry. One of GARUDAs most important challenges is to strike the right balance between research and the task of deploying that innovation into some of the most complex scientific and engineering endeavours currently going on. GARUDA will accelerate Indias drive to turn its substantial research investment into tangible economic benefits.
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 16:08 ||
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#1
Bet they build two.. the second one going to the BARC nuclear complex in Mumbai
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 19:14 Comments ||
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Interesting... they've sold an earlier model to Russia
"The Indian supercomputer is part of our advanced research centre at the Russia Academy of Sciences. It works with the Russian supercomputer, but the Indian one is far more stable," said Ms. Lyudmillaa I. Kournaukhova, Executive Director of the Russian-Indian Centre for Advanced Computing Research (RICCR), which collaborates with C-DAC in developing supercomputers.
C-DAC has sold the previous generations of PARAM supercomputer to Germany, UK, Philippines, Russia and Singapore.
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 19:26 Comments ||
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NEW DELHI: A large air combat exercise between India and France kicked off at the Kalaikunda airbase in West Bengal on Monday, with Indian Sukhoi-30s, Mirage-2000s and MiG-27s taking on the French Mirage-2000D and Mirage-2000V fighter jets.
This 'Garuda-III' exercise will also see IAF deploying an IL-78 mid-air refueller, while the French air force will chip in with a E-3F AWACS aircraft. In both Garuda-I and Garuda-II, IAF pilots had proved more than a match for the French pilots.
"The main objective this time is to expose our pilots to the French fighter tactics and vice-versa. The exercise will help build interoperability since pilots as well as the ground crew will become familiar with each other's operational, technical and administrative practices," said an officer.
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 15:44 ||
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#1
"The main objective this time is to expose our pilots to the French fighter tactics and vice-versa.
You know - just in case there is ever a war in which France will fight and if they do it will probably be some country like India but never some one that really matters.
Posted by: Jack is Back ||
02/13/2007 16:51 Comments ||
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#2
expose our pilots to the French fighter tactics
#4
The IAF will be an observer at the Red Flag exercises in 2007 and a participant in 2008
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 17:44 Comments ||
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#5
IAF pilots had proved more than a match for the French pilots.
Actually while they outperformed the French at WVR combat during the first exercise, they lost in BVR (where it really counts in modern air-warfare - the days of dog-fighting are over). They've had to upgrade their BVR skills.
The French pilots were also expecting Soviet tactics, forgetting that the IAF had a British origin, actually had French origin aircraft of their own, and exercised occasionally with the Israelis...
Posted by: john ||
02/13/2007 17:49 Comments ||
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#6
Also, the French are trying to use these exercises to demonstrate their aircraft to the Indians, and maybe catch a few sales to keep the Mirage lines running. India is looking to replace a lot of aircraft in the next 10 years - most of their MiG 21s, older Hawkers and Gnats, and the like. Plus, these exercises give the French a chance to fly their Mirages against the newer Sukhoi and MiGs, and see how well their ECM equipment does against same. Helps the French improve their models, which helps with export sales.
#1
caption on the pic: Three young men, seated right, seek the aid of Sheik Yagoub Ali Hamid at his office in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. Hamid is a "Faki," a uniquely African mixture of Islamic scholar and witch doctor.
Researchers at Intel unveiled an experimental 80-core microchip Monday at the International Solid States Circuit Conference in San Francisco. Known as a "Teraflop research chip," it is the first programmable microprocessor capable of delivering performance formerly associated only with supercomputers, according to Intel. If successful, Intel's research into "tera-scale computing" -- in which a chip modeled on Teraflop chips can perform trillions of calculations per second and move terabytes of data -- has the potential to transform computers, software and the way people use their computers. "Basically, it creates a processor that can reconfigure itself on the fly to do a variety of tasks like graphics and physics that required specialized parts in the past," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.
Four Cores, Eight Cores or More
Previously, Intel concentrated on making microprocessors that ran faster and faster, Martin Reynolds, a Gartner Research fellow, told TechNewsWorld. This strategy more or less followed Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors on a chip will double every 18 to 24 months with each subsequent generation. Intel, however, "ran into a wall where faster and faster became too hot, consuming too much power," Reynolds said. "So [the question is], how do you use Moore's Law even if you can't make things faster. The answer is you put more [microprocessors] on instead."
Intel found that by making two slower -- but not much slower -- processors, they consume much less power but do almost twice as much work as a single faster chip, according to Reynolds. Intel's two-core Core Duo and Core 2 Duo chips and Core 2 Quad four-core chips take advantage of that technology. "We have a natural progression coming," Reynolds said. "We've got two-core and four-core, now. And we've got eight- and sixteen-core coming."
Intel is attempting to demonstrate that it can take this technology to far greater numbers than was previously thought possible, Reynolds continued. "They are trying to figure out what they have to do to build an 80-core chip, one with 80 processors on it. "
Intel's answer with the Teraflop research chips is a "tile design" using smaller cores replicated as tiles. According to the company, the new design makes it easier to create a chip with many cores and lays a path to manufacture multi-core processors with billions of transistors more efficiently in the future.
Less Power, Captain
Intel's research thus far has produced an 80-core chip designed with floating point cores. Although the chip is not suitable for production, the company says it was able to glean important insights from its Teraflop research chip in terms of new silicon design methodologies, high-bandwidth interconnects and energy management approaches. Intel's initial tests in 1996, which achieved Teraflop performance using an ASCI Red Supercomputer Intel built for the Sandia National Laboratory that was powered by almost 10,000 Pentium Pro processors, consumed some 500 kilowatts of electricity.
The 80-core research chip uses only 62 watts of power, the company said. That is less than most single-core processors in use today. "It's a long-term [project], but in building this chip, [Intel] is addressing a few of the problems," Reynolds said. "The first question is, will it run cool enough? And they have developed power management technology that will let them do that."
The second challenge for Intel is how to create an infrastructure through which the 80 processors can communicate, transfer information and perform. Here, Intel has developed a mesh-like "network-on-a-chip" architecture that allows high-bandwidth communication between the cores, the company said.
If You Build It, They Will Need It
Before Intel can begin manufacturing the chip it will have to solve two big stumbling blocks, Enderle explained -- cost and usability. "They have to get the cost down dramatically," he said. "And they have to figure out a way to effectively use this potential."
Many core chips will probably make it into PCs during the middle or latter part of the next decade, Enderle predicted. When they do, it will mean a "rather massive change out of existing hardware" since the products based on this will be more flexible and less expensive for a given level of work. That also means software makers will have to design totally new products. "The software community isn't able yet to really grasp two cores effectively, let alone four or eight. Larger numbers are well beyond the current skill set," Enderle explained.
If software makers are not careful, they could be steamrolled by multi-core technology, Gartner's Reynolds added. He predicted that new software companies will emerge who have a new approach to the problem, and they will displace existing manufacturers. "Microsoft has to be thinking about this," Reynolds claimed. "And they could get caught by this if things change and they find that they have been overtaken by new ideas. They are very aware of this and have been researching it as well."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I've been reading the Indo-Pak press for too long. I read the headline as 80-crore microchips...
#3
Who needs friggin face actors when the voice talent is all you need for the next-next-next generation graphics? Ultra Extreme Beach Volleyball for the Xbox 365 or multi-galactic definition Grand Tourismo for the Playstation V? And you thought consumers would balk at a $600 console?
But where would America get political and moral advice without Hollywood actors? On the other hand, I would *love* to see Alec Baldwin implemented as a talking urinal cake.
#5
:) SteveS I think you have hit upon a product line: Urinal cakes with your least favorite actor. There could be Alec Baldwin, Jane Fonda, Barbara Streisand, Sean Pean, etc. urinal cakes.
#6
I've been suspecting for years now that the next big revolution in computing will be using multiple processors, as we encounter some limits like speed (i.e. the speed of light) and size, not to mention coping with the amount of heat these faster CPUs generate.
Training programmers to write programs that perform a process with parallel threads is quite a paradigm shift though. I can just imagine how much fun the first few generations of deadlock and corrupted shared data bugs will be!
Posted by: Dar ||
02/13/2007 13:09 Comments ||
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#7
Yes, but does it run on a Mac?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2007 13:25 Comments ||
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#8
It's finally starting to reach speeds where you can combine both voice control and AI to make a machine "you can talk to", that can talk back intelligently.
IBM and Nuance both have really good voice recognition software, which can learn most individual's voice characteristics in just a few minutes. Text to voice is also getting very realistic. AI is still mediocre, but it is getting better, too.
But it takes a heck of a lot of computing power to ask a computer to do something, have it "understand" what you want, do it, then give you the results.
#9
SteveS: Maybe we here at the 'burg can give you some capital to get your idea up and running. I'm sure those Hollyweird-faced urinal cakes would sell like hotcakes! If'n you could only come up with one that fits in a home toilet too, you'd be insta-millionaire, mebets!
Posted by: BA ||
02/13/2007 15:12 Comments ||
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#10
Steve, why not porcelain likenesses of Hollywierd's best, like Penn, Baldwin, Strisand, Rosie et al. with open mouth and pre-recorded messages thanking the contributor ?
Canadian, U.S. and Mexican politicians discussed using "stealth" to overcome public resistance to the integration of the three countries at a confidential meeting last year, according to documents just released under U.S. Freedom of Information laws.
Top military brass, corporate executives and diplomats also attended the meeting in Banff, Alta., where participants discussed everything from the harmonization of food and drug standards, to common immigration policies, and the pooling of energy resources.
The secret guest list of the North American Forum included then-U.S. secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld, Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, Pengrowth Corp. CEO James Kinnear and Lockheed Martin executive Ron Covais.
Presentation outlines for the forum acknowledge that the concept of North American integration - which some call a "North American Union" - is unpopular, and note that it might be tough to sell as a concept.
"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')," the notes said.
"Evolution by stealth" means using regulatory changes, such as food- and drug-safety benchmarks, which don't require parliamentary approval, to lay the infrastructure for North American integration. This allows for change with little or no public debate, critics say.
Media were excluded from the September forum, and Day, who gave a speech at the event, declined to reveal the contents of his talk.
"It was meant as a private meeting," said Melisa Leclerc, a spokeswoman from Day's office, although she conceded he attended "in his capacity as minister for public security."
"It is not encouraging to see the phrase 'evolution by stealth' in reference to important policy debates such as North American integration," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a Washington-based conservative watchdog group that obtained the documents last week.
But, former finance minister John Manley, who attended the meeting, said the forum was "not part of a nefarious plan to yield sovereignty to the U.S. .... It was just some informed private citizens and government officials having a conversation" on how best to co-operate to ensure their citizens enjoyed a safe and prosperous future.
In fact, he said, Canada comes out stronger than ever from such meetings, which force "some senior American officials to think about Canada for a few days."
However, Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians said the reference to stealth is "a very telling and important statement."
Many of the politicians who attended the forum have been pursuing "integration by stealth" for the past two years, she said, pointing to a little-known but top-priority agreement called the Security and Prosperity Partnership.
The accord, kickstarted by U.S. President George W. Bush, then-prime minister Paul Martin and former Mexican president Vicente Fox at a 2005 meeting in Waco, Texas, is designed to streamline everything from food and drug safety standards to counter-terrorism measures.
Government officials from the three countries are expected to meet in Ottawa later this month. However, Foreign Affairs spokespeople said they did not yet know when it would be held or who would attend.
The partnership's stated goal is to protect North America from security threats such as terrorism and flu pandemics as well as economic threats from new global-market giants such as China.
Many of the accord's measures are not contentious, such as plans to improve water quality, reduce sulphur in fuels, and co-ordinate efforts to fight pandemics and avian flu. But it also covers a host of hot-button issues such as plans to enhance data-sharing on high-risk travellers, revamp safety and environmental regulations, centralize the assessment of new chemicals and rework food safety standards.
Most of the 300 policy recommendations within the accord may not require legislative changes, the Council of Canadians said.
#1
I do not understand this nutty secret intergration biz.
What is in it for any of the member countries which have long proud histories and very little to gain by such a loss of soveriegnty. This conspiracy just doesn't pass the most basic smell test.
#5
This is another of the "secret plots to destroy the US". It ranks right up there with the Illuminati and Brandburger plots : rich and powerful people from several countries get together and discuss how to make their companies' lives easier, so they can make more money. Harmonizing regulations is actually called for in NAFTA, since it makes the cross-border trade easier and more efficient.
This sort of paranoia is based on getting a few facts right and then spinning them out into some phantasm. Example, there really are black unmarked helicopters that fly in the US, they are part of Task Force 160 and and used to transport Special Forces in a deniable fashion : no markings, no way to track them. However, they are NOT evidence of a "shadow government that really runs the country", X-Files not withstanding.
#7
ONE LESSON of 9-11 > America adopts OWG and anti-US National-Global Socialism, or it will be destroyed, by any means necessary. Dubya's interpretation - America rules the world [in Amer Way] or Amer will be destroyed, ergo Amer chooses to rule the world. Within this scope, WOT > WAR FOR "KIND/TYPE" OF AMERICAN-STYLE OWG, i.e. GLOBAL FEDERALISM + GLOBAL DEMOCAPITALISM, vs anti-US, anti-democratic, Lefty GLOBAL CENTRALISM [Communism-Socialism]. When the DemoLefties rant agz alleged US-GOP "FASCISM", they are rantin' against not only RIGHTIST SOCIALISM, BUT ALSO RIGHTIST NATIONALISM = ULTRA-NATIONALISM, i.e. AGAINST AMERICANISM, AGAINST AMERICAN NATIONALISM, and against AMERICAN-CENTRIC UNIPOLARISM ANDOR MUTIPOLARISM + GLOBAL HEGEMONY, sub-i.e. against AMERICA BEING IN CHARGE OF ITS OWN ANDOR THE WORLD'S AFFAIRS, aka against Amer National-Global Sovereignty. against Amer NOT BEING "A LEADER" or "THE LEADER".
Iff one believes that the WOT > also a WAR FOR OWG, then as per the Cold War many world nations know there are better off and free-er under an American-domin OWG than they will be under a Cold War-style, Commie Bloc-style OWG. IT IS MY BELIEF/CONVICTION THAT THE FUTURE OWG WILL BE, AND SHOULD BE, A FEDERALIST ONE - AMERS WANT $$$ AND BUSINESS, THEY AS A PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT RULING EVERY COUNTRY ON EARTH. IFF OWG "MUST BE", DO AMERS WANT TO BE STRONG + SELF-RELIANT UNDER OWG, ANSWERABLE TO NO ONE EXCEPT OUR OWN; OR WEAK UNDER OWG, ANSWERABLE TO HIGHER AUTHORITY WHERE AMER IS JUST ONE MINOR/LESSOR STATE AGENDA AMONG MANY, WHERE NON-AMER =ANTI-AMER AUTHORITIES DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR MINOR AMERICA???
#8
There's already an integrated entity in North America. It the USA. If parts of Mexico or Canada want to integrate apply for statehood. And I wouldn't give great odds on Mexico.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Zimbabwe's inflation surged to a new record in January, exposing the government's failure to get a grip on a crisis that has fuelled political tensions and caused desperate shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) said annual inflation - the highest in the world and now officially the government's number one enemy - soared to 1,593.6 percent from 1,281.1 percent in December.
THE West has reacted to Russian President Vladimir Putin's anti-US tirade, with Washington saying he was out of step with the times, while some Europeans see it as a wake-up call from a tougher Russia.
Researchers at Intel unveiled an experimental 80-core microchip Monday at the International Solid States Circuit Conference in San Francisco. Known as a "Teraflop research chip," it is the first programmable microprocessor capable of delivering performance formerly associated only with supercomputers, according to Intel. If successful, Intel's research into "tera-scale computing" -- in which a chip modeled on Teraflop chips can perform trillions of calculations per second and move terabytes of data -- has the potential to transform computers, software and the way people use their computers. "Basically, it creates a processor that can reconfigure itself on the fly to do a variety of tasks like graphics and physics that required specialized parts in the past," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. 
