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The eMachines EL1200-05w laptop is a $298 Wal-Mart special that proves the adage, "You get what you pay for."

lobo235 writes to tell us that a new underground data center designed by Sweden's largest ISP is fit for a classic supervillain, complete with greenhouses, waterfalls, German submarine engines, simulated daylight and can withstand a hit from a hydrogen bomb. "'Rather than just concentrating on technical hardware we decided to put humans in focus,' he said. 'Of course, the security, power, cooling, network, etc, are all top notch, but the people designing data centers often (always!) forget about the humans that are supposed to work with the stuff.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

At this year's Strategy conference, Phoenix unveiled some groundbreaking technologies for desktops and netbooks.

holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports on the latest idea from researchers trying to make microcomputers use photons in place of electrons — to make optical interconnects from strands of DNA. Mixing DNA strands with the right dye molecule upgrades them into wires for light, like microscopic optical fibers, able to absorb photons at one end and transmit them to the other. One of the neat things about using DNA is it is the right scale to play nicely with existing and future chip lithography. Quoting: 'The result is similar to natural photonic wires found inside organisms like algae, where they are used to transport photons to parts of a cell where their energy can be tapped. In these wires, chromophores are lined up in chains to channel photons.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

While AMD and Intel are fighting each other for market share in the microprocessor game, two new competitors are looming: Russia and China.

chrb writes "Following hot on the heels of the G1 root exploit, Jay Freeman now has Debian ARM running on the G1. The RC30 update has fixed the root hole, but with utilities and images already available to replace the flash image with your own signed code, it looks like the manufacturer-hacker arms race is on."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The financial news for IT just keeps getting worse, with bellwethers like Intel cutting revenue guidance, shares of high-flyers like Google sinking to multiyear low, Sun slashing up to 18 percent of its workforce, and market researchers at IDC and Citigroup slashing forecasts.

Asustek Computer, designer of the Eee PC netbook that started the craze in mini-laptops, will have the N10 series in Taipei stores by Friday and I had a chance to try one out ahead of the launch here.

Designed to meet airborne surveying requirements, VQ-480 performs simultaneous collection of laser scan data as well as position and attitude data from IMU/GPS. Non-contact DAQ is performed via narrow IR laser beam and line scanning mechanism, and scanner outputs set of 3D coordinates (point cloud). Requiring only one power supply, scanner offers multiple target capacity and delivers accuracy based on echo digitization and online waveform analysis. This story is related to the following:Computer Hardware and PeripheralsTest and Measuring InstrumentsSearch for suppliers of: Laser Scanners | Infrared Scanners | Surveying Equipment & Supplies | Surveying Instruments

Suited for Video over IP applications, VM-8016 simultaneously captures and encodes 16 channels of analog video to H.264 compressed digital format. On-board video encoding, audio, A/V synchronization, and alarm I/O eliminate compatibility concerns. In addition to LGA775 socket for Intel® Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad CPU, features include Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics, 6 SATA II HDD ports, 2 DIMMs, 2 gigabit LAN ports, and one PCIe (x16) expansion slot. This story is related to the following:Computer Hardware and PeripheralsSearch for suppliers of: Motherboards