This is Jaguar, the new King of the Petaputerpower Hill, running at 1.75 petaflops-per-second. The Cray XT5 supercomputer was behind IBM’s Roadrunnner for more than a year, until some clever scientist decided to paint a running Jaguar all over it. More »
It’s like a geek soap opera. Just last week, Cray bragged that their updated Jaguar XT supercomputer was the world’s fastest. Now this week, IBM responds to the trash talk with a number one ranking of their Roadrunner system on the newly published Top500 supercomputing list.
Hope and doubt are at war today as we pore over this picture of a literal crotch rocket. On the one hand, it looks pretty legit, right down to the stabilising fins, exhaust port for the motorcycle housed within, and blast marks that are no doubt from one of the many instances where this beast dumped out while breaking the sound barrier. On the other hand, the kids and their Photoshoppin’ these days means everything online is suspect (isn’t that right, Steve?). Perhaps most damning of all, however, is the fact that the only creature capable of conceiving such a bike is nowhere to be found. Wile E. Coyote, could you please step forward and lay claim to your glorious invention? [Accordion Guy via Neatorama]
Regular Bluetooth headsets, however small, have the unfortunate distinction of being on your “head” and not your “neck”, a problem this RoadRunner Bluetooth Communicator aims to solve. The bulk of it wraps around your neck, attaching onto the side of your throat in order to turn your throat vibrations into sounds it pipes through your phone. There’s then a Secret Service-like attachment that goes up into your ear so you can hear as well. How does this work in practice? We have no idea. But for US$78 and your dignity, it better be good. [Pro-Idee via Wired via DVice]
