Can Linux Help Save SGI?

SGI and IRIX 30 Comments
"One of Linux's supposed barriers in high performance computing is the 'eight processor limit.' SGI says their new Altix 3000 line, running a patched 2.4.19 kernel, handily breaks this barrier -- it can run up to 64 Intel Itanium 2 microprocessers -- and that "superclusters" built with SGI's Linux-based products can outperform generic Linux clusters in some applications by a large enough margin to justify their additional cost." Read the full article at NewsForge.
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Gameboy Advance SP Unveiled

Games 34 Comments
Nintendo has announced that a new Gameboy version will be introduced in March. This version will include a front-lit screen, a rechargeable lithium-Ion battery and opens and closes like a mini-laptop. Since the Gameboy introduction in 1989, there have been over 120 million units sold. Of the most recent version, the Game Boy Advance, almost 12 million units have been sold since its June 2001 debut. Update: Gamespot.com has revealed that they have learned that a blue-colored and black-colored version will be available upon release in Japan on the 14th of February.
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Apple Announces New Browser

Apple 135 Comments
Steve Jobs just announced in his Macworld Keynote that Apple is releasing its own browser, called Safari. Its claim to fame is extremely fast performance on the Mac. The Mac platform has struggled from sluggish browser performance with IE (the old default browser). Update: According to Jobs, Safari is open source and based on khtml. It only runs on Mac OS X and will be available for download today.
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SGI Selling Big Fat Linux Server

SGI and IRIX 8 Comments
SGI has a new refrigerator-sized Linux server that uses up to 64 Itanium processors. Called the Altix 3000, it's a Linux adaptation of the Origin 3000. Its most interesting capability is the ability to cluster several Altix 3000s together, with the architecture supporting up to 2,048 processors. Read more about it at ZDNet.
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The Data Game

Editorial 42 Comments
For the last 20 years or so, Microsoft has been playing the same old game. Sure, they morph and adapt along with the times, and they expand into new markets. But basically they are in the software business and one of the main ingredients in their recipe has been always this: "Keep the data format proprietary and take advantage of it."
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Advanced Linux file Systems are Bigger, Faster, and More Reliable

General Development 10 Comments
"The file system is one of the most important parts of an operating system. The file system stores and manages user data on disk drives, and ensures that what's read from storage is identical to what was originally written. In addition to storing user data in files, the file system also creates and manages information about files and about itself." Read the long article by JFS' own Steve Best.
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Hitachi Global Unveils 4GB microdrive

Hardware 15 Comments
"Newly formed hard disk drive company Hitachi Global Storage Technologies on Monday unveiled plans for a tiny drive that will be used in consumer electronic devices and said it will turn a profit in 2004. Hitachi Global Storage said it plans to sell next fall a 1-inch microdrive that has 4 gigabytes, or 4 billion bytes, of storage space. That compares to the current top of the line microdrive with 1 gigabyte of storage that IBM had made." Read the article at ZDNews.
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