IT News HeadLines (HardOCP) 18/09/2010

Metal Smasher Makes Aluminum as Strong as Steel
An international study has found that when aluminum alloy is highly compressed, the material itself becomes stronger while retaining its lightweight properties. Sorry, transparent aluminum is still a few years away. When the team subjected an alloy of aluminum called aluminum 7075 (which contains small percentages of magnesium and zinc) to the process, the metal attained a strength of 1 gigapascal, the researchers report in the current issue of Nature Communications. That\'s equal to some of the strongest steels and more than three times higher than conventional aluminum. A meter-square plate of the processed alloy could withstand the weight of a fully loaded aircraft carrier. Comments
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AirScouter Projects a 16-inch Display Directly onto Your Retina
First announced in July, Brother's updated AirScouter wearable display is finally getting its first live demonstration at Brother World in Japan. The prototype Retinal Imaging Display (RID) projects safe, fast-moving light directly onto your retina that appears to the viewer as a 16-inch display floating transparently at a distance of about 3 feet. The tech used by Brother was harvested from its own optical system technologies found in laser and inkjet printers. Brother plans to launch the AirScouter for industrial uses in Japan where the glasses could overlay operating manuals onto machinery, for example. Later, Brother plans to adopt its RID tech into consumer products worldwide making for a more immersive (and practical) augmented reality experience. Comments
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4chan Take Down Anti-Piracy Groups
In very coordinated and anonymous attacks, members of 4chan carried out a surgical strikes on two anti-pirating sites on the internet. The DDoS attacks targeted Aiplex Software and MPAA , two well known anti-pirating groups. Yesterday two new targets hit the radars of 'Anonymous', the faceless and powerful hoards who carry out 4chan attacks. The beauty is that anyone can join in the action, 4chan 'membership' is not even required. People wishing to participate can simply load up their Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) and enter the IP address they want to attack. The resulting assaults are massively distributed making defending against them almost impossible. Comments
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Mobile Marketer Sues T-Mobile for Blocking Texts
T-Mobile has been sued for blocking SMS service from EZ Texting, a mobile marketing company, due to the company's affiliation with WeedMaps.com. WeedMaps is a directory for medical marijuana dispensaries. "The fact is T-Mobile put my business in jeopardy without any warning, without any justification, and without any appeal," Neman said. "It's like the Wild West out there. You don't know what the rules are." Comments
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Google: Chrome Will Be 60 Times Faster
Browser Wars, you just have to love them. The only real winner is the end user and we thank you for that. Two software engineers working on Chrome 7 are boasting speeds 60 times faster than Chrome 6. Of course, users won't find out how real the 60x speed boost is until they get to put it to the test themselves, which will hopefully be possible soon. "With Google Chrome's fast release cycles, we expect to be able to get these enhancements to users quickly and add new performance improvements over time," say Robinson and Tavares. Comments
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IGN Gives Indie Game Developers a Free Place to Work
Not everything is based on cut throat tactics and profit driven motives. It seems there are a few nice guys left on the internet. Imagine Games Network (IGN) has opened its doors to independent games developers free of charge. In an interview about this with IFC.com, IGN president Roy Bahat said, "We don't take any ownership rights in your game. There's absolutely no obligation. You're not committed to deliver anything. We respect that the creative process is unpredictable. And so, the fact that this program comes with no strings attached, is also we think a pretty special thing." Comments
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Nano-Particles Could Offer New Type of Flash Memory
Researchers from UC Berkeley and Berkeley National Labs have discovered a new class of nanocrystal alloy, dubbed 'Beans' for binary eutectic-alloy nanostructures. Now you know why they are called 'Beans". The results show that binary eutectic alloy nanostructures, such as quantum dots and nanowires, can serve as phase change materials, which are widely used as a low-power source of non-volatile or flash memory and data storage. Comments
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Dell Plans More Than $100 Billion Spending in China
Dell, Inc, the 3rd largest PC maker in the world is expanding its operations in China. The computer giant will be adding a second operations center and an office in Xiamen. Dell is presently ranked second to Hewlett-Packard Co in computer shipments to China. The $100 billion spending projection is a conservative estimate that includes purchases of components and products procured in China, Dell spokesman David Frink said. The company spent about $23 billion in China in 2009, he said. Comments
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