Wednesday, April 06, 2005

- Ever heard of Moore's law? Its not about physics, chemistry, or any other physical science. It's a law regarding computers. In 1965 the co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore, hypothesized that the speed of a micro-processor (your computer) would double every 24 months. This hypothesis, even forty years later, turned out to be correct (thus becoming a law.) Some computer-scientists feel that Moore's law may be coming to an end in the next ten years. These scientists believe that unless some brand-new, and completely radical way of building a computer is discovered, the acceleration of the computer's processing speed will dwindle, and eventually we will hit a wall regarding how fast a computer can function. Others feel that Moore's law will stay true for a quite a while. Here is an article about Moore' law, and what might happen to computers in the future:
http://msn.com.com/2100-9584_22-5647824.html?part=msn&subj=ns_2543&tag=mymsn

- I am always looking for free online encyclopedias, and I finally found a really good one. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia, that is also considered open-source. That means anyone can write an article for the encyclopedia, and even edit articles. The website does have an editorial process, and it seems rather professional. Here is a link to the encyclopedia. I was astounded at the number of the articles contained in Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

- Not all search-engines are created equal. The term "google" has entered our daily vernacular as a way of asking someone to search for something. I use google several times a day, but Google isnt always the best search-engine to use. There are many search engines on the internet, and some are better at finding certain types of information that others. For example, if you want to find a picture of a particular place or thing, you have a better chance of finding it using Yahoo's image search, than Google's image search. Here is a webpage that tells you which search-engine you should use when looking for certain topics:
http://www.philb.com/whichengine.htm

- Speaking of Google, the popular search-engine now offers the ability to search for locations using satellite pictures. I tried it last night, and found a picture of my home from outer space! When you visit the webpage, you will notice a link in the upper-right hand corner called "Satellite." This changes the webpage from a regular map viewer, to a satellite picture viewer. Try to find your home. It's fun to view your neighborhood from a top-down perspective. Here is the link:
http://maps.google.com/

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