What We Want From Windows 8
For the 25th anniversary of Windows, MaximumPC examines the future of Microsoft’s flagship operating system. For better or for worse, the fact remains that on November 20, 1985, Microsoft released the very first version of Windows. If we asked you to use just a single word to define the 25-year history of Microsoft’s OS, we’re…
V for Vendetta hacker strikes at Washington State University
An anonymous hacker wearing a Guy Fawkes mask took over classroom projection screens at Washington State University on the fifth of November, to broadcast a prerecorded message adapted from V For Vendetta. In a prank that evidently alarmed administrators and amused students, the nearly four minute video, which was also posted on YouTube, and has…
Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 Review: The Real Fermi Arrives
Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580 is what the original should have been: quieter, full-featured, faster and more efficient. When Nvidia launched the GTX 480 — code-named the GF100 — early this year, the new GPU proved to be something of a mixed bag. It was undeniably fast, but also crippled – every GTX 480 GPU shipped…
Can a Machine Beat a Human at StarCraft?
Computers that can beat chess grandmasters? Ho-hum. The new arena where artificial intelligence and humans face off is StarCraft. A squadron of tanks sits patiently on a bridge. Smaller reconnaissance vehicles inch nervously ahead, probing for signs of the enemy. Suddenly, two allied spaceships zoom overhead. They illuminate a horde of hidden alien spider-robots. The…
Computer Beats Human at Japanese Chess For First Time
A computer has beaten a human at shogi, otherwise known as Japanese chess, for the first time. Oh dear. No big deal, you might think. After all, computers have been beating humans at western chess for years, and when IBM’s Deep Blue beat Gary Kasparov in 1997, it was greeted in some quarters as if…
A computer learns the hard way: By reading the Internet
At Carnegie-Mellon university, a massive computer system called NELL (Never Ending Language Learner) is systematically reading the internet and analyzing sentences for semantic categories and facts, teaching itself English and educating itself in human affairs. We spoke to NELL’s creators. NELL reads the Web 24 hours a day, seven days a week, learning language like…
The Ultimate 3D Notebook Showdown
New 3D laptops and have begun arriving en masse. Are they ready to slay their 2D counterparts? A cadre of new 3D laptops make it possible for you to enjoy stereoscopic content on the go. The vast majority of these offerings rely on Nvidia’s 3D Vision kit-a set of powered shutter glasses, a USB-connected IR…