Archive

The Playstation 3 was recently released and this platform has made quite a significant impact to the overall processing power at the disposal of the project teams. Infact, it would seem I greatly underestimated the overall contribution the PS3 client has made. At the time of writing, the combined power of a quarter of a million PS3s is generating almost SIX (5.77x) times the power of ~200,000 desktop computers (x86 and PPC architectures across OS/X Windows and Linux flavors.) It appears that in the last few months the project broke a Petaflop(?) of total distributed processing power, having ~740 Teraflops in mid march as reported by Techreport. To see the current stats broken down by machine type and architecture go here. I have also re-uploaded the themes on the Geexbox page. If I get a moment I will make some more soon, if anyone wants free hosting for their theme please feel free to contact me.

Today I added some software which helps in the indexing of large sites.Project page.

I was rather surprised today to discover a potential supplier of materials useful to terrorists. Its one that has a huge online brand presence, one everyone knows about, even the layman on the street. This company, which I shall not name, has practically invented online auctioneering with its catchy name and multicoloured characters. I should explain the back story at this point. Recently I have become rather interested in amateur rocketry. Having a Chemistry Degree, I was pondering the pros and cons of possibly making my own propellant. Whilst searching for the availability of potassium nitrate (or saltpeter) I was shocked at both the quantity and availability. Kilograms purchasable of not just saltpeter but other chemicals which could very easily be turned into gun powder (or black powder) but also chemicals required to make 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Whilst the latter requires a little skill due to the deactivational nature of the nitrate units during successive nitrations on the toluene, the former can be as simple as mixing three powders in varying ratios. Its no small wonder people can fashion devices from easily obtainable compounds. Look at the 07/07 London bombings, TATP was used which was made from acetone. Acetone can be bought in great quantity easily in the form of nail varnish polish remover. Whilst I would be the first person to object vocally if such materials were no longer available, it does make me wonder if we are inviting problems. Greater accessibility and availability also requires greater responsibility.

And its going to be a lot more than just moving the images around. I have a whole new redesign in the works which I will upload shortly. Come back in a couple of days and I hope to have a site that looks like someone other than a trained chimp worked on it Whilst I am posting this, I would like to point people towards Slashdot Review. Its a daily (M-F) podcast that summarises the news from Slashdot and other sources. These podcast are in 15 minute segments and make for good listening. If you are a geek or nongeek I definitely recommend it. I have a lot of things to add / write about - its been a busy few months