China retakes supercomputer crown

17 June 2013 Last updated at 09:39 ET

A China-based supercomputer has leapfrogged rivals to be named the world's most powerful system.

Tianhe-2, developed by the government-run National University of Defence Technology, topped the latest list of the fastest 500 supercomputers, by a team of international researchers.

They said the news was a "surprise" since the system had not been expected to be ready until 2015.

China last held the top rank between November 2010 and June 2011.

According to the list, the US has the world's second and third fastest supercomputers, Titan and Sequoia, while Japan's K computer drops to fourth spot.

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Fastest supercomputers

1. Tianhe-2 (China)

2. Titan (US)

3. Sequoia (US)

4. K computer (Japan)

5. Mira (US)

6. Stampede (US)

7. Juqueen (Germany)

8. Vulcan (US)

9. SuperMuc (Germany)

10. Tianhe-1A (China)

The latest version of the twice-yearly list - which is overseen by Hans Meuer, professor of computer science at the University of Mannheim - was published to coincide with the International Supercomputing Conference in Leipzig, Germany.

Unique features

According to the Linpack benchmark, Tianhe-2 - meaning Milky Way-2 - operates at 33.86 petaflop/sec, the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second.

The benchmark measures real-world performance - but in theory the machine can boost that to a "peak performance" of 54.9 petaflop/sec.

The project was sponsored by the Chinese government's 863 High Technology Programme - an effort to make the country's hi-tech industries more competitive and less dependent on overseas rivals.

It has said it intends to install the equipment at the National Supercomputer Centre in Guangzhou, based in the country's south-eastern Guandong province, where it will be offered as a "research and education" resource to southern China.

The machine uses a total of 3.12 million processor cores, using Intel's Ivy Bridge and Xeon Phi chips to carry out its calculations.

However, the University of Tennessee's Jack Dongarra - a member of the Top 500 list team who visited the project in May - noted that many of its features were developed in China and are unique. These include:

• A custom-built interconnection network, which routes data across the system
• The inclusion of 4,096 Galaxy FT-1500 CPUs (central processing units) designed by the university - these have been installed to handle specific weather-forecasting and national-defence applications and are not included in the headline performance figures
• The use of the Kylin operating system - this Linux-based OS is named after a mythical beast known as the "Chinese unicorn", and was designed by the university to be a high-security option for users in government, defence, energy, aerospace and other critical industries

On paper the Tianhe-2's performance is nearly double that of the next computer on the list.

Titan, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, clocks 17.59 petaflop/sec of performance, according to the Linpack benchmark, and a theoretical peak of 27.11 petaflop/sec.

Mr Dongarra noted that the US government is not expected to acquire another supercomputer until 2015.

Japan's Fujitsu-built K computer - which displaced China's Tianhe-1 as the world's fastest supercomputer - now comes in fourth on the Top 500 list with a Linpack benchmark performance of 10.51 petaflop/sec.

According to the survey's editors, China now accounts for 66 of the list's fastest computers, which is actually a fall from six months ago when it had 72 in the list.

The US dominates the survey with 252 systems, Japan has 30, the UK has 29, France has 23 and Germany has 19.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22936989#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Solar-powered plane lands near Washington

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A solar-powered plane nearing the finale of a cross-continental journey landed at Dulles International Airport outside the nation's capital early Sunday, with only a last leg to New York remaining.

Solar Impulse's website said the aircraft with its massive wings and thousands of photovoltaic cells "gracefully touched down" at 12:15 a.m. EDT after 14 hours and four minutes of flight from Cincinnati to Dulles in Washington's northern Virginia suburbs.

Pilot Bertrand Piccard was at the controls for the last time on the multi-leg journey that began in California in May. His colleague, Andre Borschberg, is expected to fly the last leg from Washington to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport in early July, the web site added.

It's the first bid by a solar plane capable of being airborne day and night without fuel to fly across the U.S, at speeds reaching about 40 mph. The plane began May 3 in San Francisco, flying via Arizona, Texas, Missouri and Ohio on to Dulles.

Organizers said in a blog post early Sunday that Piccard hopscotched over the Appalachian mountain chain on a 435-mile (700-kilometer) course from Cincinnati to the Washington area, averaging 31 mph (50 kph). It was the second stint of a final leg that began in St. Louis.

The plane, considered the world's most advanced sun-powered aircraft, is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover its enormous wings and charge its batteries during the day.

The single-seat Solar Impulse flies around 40 mph and can't go through clouds; weighing about as much as a car, the aircraft also took longer than a car to complete the journey from Ohio to the East Coast.

The plane also is vulnerable to bad weather.

Organizers said fog at Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport was a concern that required the ground crew's attention before takeoff just after 10 a.m. Saturday. The crew gave the plane a gentle wipe-down with cloths because of condensation that had formed on the wings.

"The solar airplane was in great shape despite the quasi-shower it experienced" before takeoff from Cincinnati, the web site said.

Washington was the first East Coast stop before the final leg to New York expected in early July.

Organizers said the leg to the nation's capital was an emotional one for Piccard as it was his last on the cross-country flying mission he shared with Borschberg.

At each stop along the way, the plane has stayed several days, wowing visitors. Organizers said a public viewing of the aircraft would be held for several hours Sunday afternoon at Dulles.

As the plane's creators, Piccard and Borschberg, have said their trip is the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across America. They also called it another aviation milestone in hopes that the journey would whet greater interest in clean technologies and renewable energy.

Piccard and Borschberg have said the project's ultimate goal is to fly a sun-powered aircraft around the world with a second-generation plane now in development. They say they are aiming for such a mission in 2015.

___

Online:

http://www.solarimpulse.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-16-Solar%20Plane/id-51ab2a7eefeb48039d756482208598df

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La Scala presents Wagner's Ring cycle this week

MILAN (AP) ? Daniel Barenboim is conducting the first week-long presentation of Wagner's Ring cycle at La Scala since 1938.

"Der Ring des Nibelungen," which begins with "Das Rheingold" on Monday, is part of the opera house's yearlong celebration of the bicentennial of the births of composers Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner.

The operas feature Rene Pape, Michael Volle, Simon O'Neill, Waltraud Meier, Ian Storey, Marina Poplavskaya and Ekaterina Gubanova .

The cycle is a co-production of La Scala and the Berlin Staatsoper production with staging by Guy Cassiers. It was performed in its entirety in Berlin this spring, and will be reprised next week in Milan.

The last time the Ring was performed in a single week at La Scala was 1938 with conductor Clemens Krauss with the Munich State Opera.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-17-Italy-La%20Scala-Ring/id-a5a3c245c121436a97d0aa68df2ab6b9

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Police seal off Istanbul square to protesters

ISTANBUL (AP) ? Bulldozers cleared all that was left of a two-week sit-in in an Istanbul park and police sealed off the area early Sunday, keeping angry demonstrators from returning to a spot that has become the focus of the strongest challenge to the prime minister in his 10 years in office.

Protesters set up barricades and plumes of tear gas rose in Istanbul's streets into the early hours after Turkish riot police rousted a group who had vowed to stay in Gezi Park despite Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warnings to leave.

As dusk fell Saturday, hundreds of white-helmeted riot police swept through the park and adjacent Taksim Square, firing canisters of the acrid, stinging gas. Thousands of peaceful protesters, choking on the fumes and stumbling among the tents, put up little physical resistance.

The protests began as an environmental sit-in to prevent a development project at Gezi Park, but have quickly spread to dozens of cities and spiraled into a broader expression of discontent about what many say is Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian decision-making. He vehemently denies the charge, pointing to the strong support base that helped him win third consecutive term with 50 percent of the vote in 2011.

As police cleared the square, many ran into nearby hotels for shelter. A stand-off developed at a luxury hotel on the edge of the park, where police opened up with water cannons against protesters and journalists outside before throwing tear gas at the entrance, filling the lobby with white smoke. At other hotels, plain-clothes policemen turned up outside, demanding the protesters come out.

Some protesters ran off into nearby streets, setting up makeshift barricades and running from water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets.

As news of the raid broke, thousands of people from other parts of Istanbul gathered and were attempting to reach Taksim. Television showed footage of riot police firing tear gas on a highway and bridge across the Bosphorus to prevent protesters from heading to the area.

As the tear gas settled, bulldozers moved into the park, scooping up debris and loading it into trucks. Crews of workmen in fluorescent yellow vests and plain-clothes police went through the abandoned belongings, opening bags and searching their contents before tearing down the tents, food centers and library the protesters had set up in what had become a bustling tent city.

Demonstrations also erupted in other cities. In Ankara, at least 3,000 people swarmed into John F. Kennedy street, where opposition party legislators sat down at the front of the crowd facing the riot police ? not far from Parliament. In Izmir, thousands converged at a seafront square.

Near Gezi, ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals as police set up cordons and roadblocks around the park, preventing anyone from getting close.

Tayfun Kahraman, a member of Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest movements, said an untold number of people in the park had been injured ? some from rubber bullets.

"Let them keep the park, we don't care anymore. Let it all be theirs. This crackdown has to stop. The people are in a terrible state," he told The Associated Press by phone.

Taksim Solidarity, on its Web site, called the incursion "atrocious" and counted hundreds of injured ? which it called a provisional estimate ? as well as an undetermined number of arrests. Istanbul governor's office said at least 44 people were taken to hospitals for treatment. None of them were in serious condition, it said in a statement.

Huseyin Celik, the spokesman for Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, told NTV that the sit-in had to end.

"They had made their voice heard ... Our government could not have allowed such an occupation to go on until the end," he said.

It was a violent police raid on May 31 against a small sit-in in Gezi Park that sparked the initial outrage and spiraled into a much broader protest. While those in the park have now fled, it was unclear whether they would take their movement to other places, or try to return to the park at a later time.

The protests, which left at least four people dead and more than 5,000 injured, have dented Erdogan's international reputation and infuriated him with a previously unseen defiance to his rule.

Saturday's raid came less than two hours after Erdogan threatened protesters in a boisterous speech in Sincan, an Ankara suburb that is a stronghold of his party.

"I say this very clearly: either Taksim Square is cleared, or if it isn't cleared then the security forces of this country will know how to clear it," he told tens of thousands of supporters at a political rally.

A second pro-government rally is planned in Istanbul on Sunday.

According to the government's redevelopment plan for Taksim Square that caused the sit-in, the park would be replaced with a replica Ottoman-era barracks. Under initial plans, the construction would have housed a shopping mall, though that has since been amended to the possibility of an opera house, a theater and a museum with cafes.

On Friday, Erdogan offered to defer to a court ruling on the legality of the government's contested park redevelopment plan, and floated the possibility of a referendum on it.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara. Jamey Keaten in Ankara contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-seal-off-istanbul-square-protesters-091826259.html

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Koloid (for iPhone)

You could hardly be blamed for thinking that with the popularity of Instagram, competing camera apps would have shriveled and died. It's true that the filter-and-share app dominates, but an army of others soldier on. Koloid (99 cents, iOS), is unique in that you have to spread "developer" fluid across your image by moving your phone. The results are unique, and unlike anything you can get with other camera apps.

Just about every app has the same photo-taking experience: point, shoot, add filters, share. Sometimes, you might import an older photo from your camera roll. Koloid is different, demanding as the aptly named developer (pun?) "19TH CENTURY APPS SP Z O O" suggests, a more 19th century approach.

A Developing Story
The first screen you arrive on is the viewfinder, which resembles a plate-glass negative from back in the day. The view is locked in portrait orientation, so don't try flipping your iPhone on its side for a wider photo. However, you can switch to a more Instagram-compliant square format from the settings menu.

Take a photo by tapping the camera button at the bottom of the screen. Fans of using the volume button to take a photo are out of luck. Next, select how much virtual collodion developer fluid you want to use. Less fluid covers less space and can leave a ghostly effect on photos. More fluid develops faster, but can overdevelop some areas and even burn the image black.

Shake your phone to deploy the fluid, and then move the collodion around the screen by tilting the phone. This may seem dumb and gimmicky (it?s at the very least gimmicky), but you can get some neat effects that aren't really possible in apps like Hipstamatic and Instagram that are based solely on filters. You can burn out some areas or leave sections undeveloped. It's tricky, made all the trickier by the lugubrious movement of the collodion.

When you?re done, press the Ready button and you'll be presented with the final version of your photo. All the streaks and burns are present in the black-and-white image, but I was disappointed that the image seemed clearer and had more contrast than the one I had been developing. Perhaps that's the result of a digital dip in water to get the collodion off, but it still seems odd. The app sticks very true to its gimmick, sorry, concept, in most other ways?like not allowing you to re-edit pictures?that I wish the final image was exactly the one I developed.

Sharing and Storing
Koloid has its own little gallery built right into the app, though it will save to your camera roll, too. Note that unlike Instagram, it doesn't save a copy of the raw, un-developed image.

You can share directly to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and Instagram from within Koloid. You can also export images directly from Koloid via email and text message. Unlike Flickr and Instagram, Koloid is just a camera toy; there's no website or larger social service backing it up.

Ready to Develop?
Koloid is fun, and I'm already looking forward to my Instagram friends asking me how I got the effects on my images. It doesn't have a lot of depth, but it delivers on what it promises and the price is reasonable.

I would like to see Koloid loosen up a bit and allow me to import photos from my camera roll, and allow landscape-oriented photos. Just because we're playing at the 1890s, doesn't mean we can't do better.

Koloid needs a little more time to develop (definitely a pun), but it's a fun, cheap addition to your digital camera bag.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/JqSpt41XBRs/0,2817,2420461,00.asp

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Google's latest 'moonshot' idea: balloon-powered internet for all

Advanced system of high-altitude balloons delivering 3G-like speeds to rural areas

The latest project to come out of Google may seem like an April Fool's joke at first, but Google is serious when it says it intends to launch an internet delivery service based on high-altitude balloons. Known now as "Project Loon" and coming out of the research arm of the company, Google[x], the initiative is taking off (so to speak) out of the need for better internet access in many parts of the world. As it explains in its official blog post about the project, 2 out of every 3 people in the world still don't have reliable access to the internet, leaving many large swaths of the world in the past.

Rather than try to bring traditional wireline or satellite internet into these areas, which can be quite costly, with Project Loon Google plans to set up a system of free-floating high-altitude balloons to create a network with a wider reach. In its preliminary testing Google says it can create networks that have speeds comparable to today's 3G networks -- an impressive feat considering these balloons are flying twice as high as commercial airplanes.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/-V-B_eeeajI/story01.htm

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