Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Use ScraperWiki to Help Turn Web Pages Into Usable Data [Programming]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/#!5783602/use-scraperwiki-to-help-turn-web-pages-into-usable-data

A scraper is a program written to take content off of a webpage or other data source and turn it into some kind of usable format, usually an RSS feed or by entering it directly into a database. Designing a scraper can be tricky as each site is different, ScraperWiki aims to fix this by creating a repository of these scripts with a goal to ease the pain of designing them.

An example use of a scraper: let's say a government entity releases daily information regarding finances, and you want to graph or otherwise track this data for personal or business use. Going to the website each day and entering the data manually is certainly one labor-intensive way to do it, but as with any good hacker will tell you - if you have to do anything more than once it is better to automate it.

ScraperWiki is a centralized location for these custom built scrapers. Instead of writing your own from scratch, you can search their database to see if a scraper has already been written for a source.

One of the functions of ScraperWiki is to support open government initiatives. The Big Clean is actually being held today with the goal of opening local government data with the help of scrapers and data processors.

Scrapers are categories by language - PHP, Python and Ruby - and the site is currently in beta.

ScraperWiki

Researchers tout self-repairing multi-core processors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/18/researchers-tout-self-repairing-multi-core-processors/

The race for ever-tinier computer chips is on, and barring physical limitations, doesn't seem to be slowing anytime soon -- but with chips, as with humans, the smaller they get, the more fragile they become. A team of researchers called CRISP (Cutting edge Reconfigurable ICs for Stream Processing) is working to create a self-repairing multi-core processor that would allow on-chip components to keep on shrinking, while combating concerns over accelerated degradation. Basically, the team's conceptualized a chip that allows for 100 percent functionality, even with faulty components. With multiple cores sharing tasks, and a run-time resource manager doling out those tasks, the chip can continue to degrade without ever compromising its intended functions -- a process CRISP calls graceful degradation. Once one core fails, the on-chip manager assigns its task to another core, continuing on in this fashion for the complete lifetime of the chip. Of course the technology is still in its infancy, but if CRISP's chips comes to fruition, we could see virtually indestructible processors that make 14nm look bulky by comparison.

Researchers tout self-repairing multi-core processors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geek.com | source

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Samsung's Central Station wireless monitor appears in Europe as SyncMaster C27A750

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/19/samsungs-central-station-wireless-monitor-appears-in-europe-as/

Back when we first laid eyes on Samsung's Central Station, we were excited by its wireless docking capabilities, and now it looks like the company's ready to let the monitor loose on European soil, albeit with a decidedly less American moniker. The SyncMaster C27A750, a 27-inch affair, uses Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology via a USB dongle to connect to your laptop. It touts a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and sports HDMI, VGA, and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. The new SyncMaster will hit Europe by the end of April for about €600, but we've yet to hear anything about Central Station's ETA -- very sneaky, Samsung... very sneaky.

Samsung's Central Station wireless monitor appears in Europe as SyncMaster C27A750 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SlashGear | source

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Nanoparticle inks print 3D antennas 'orders of magnitude' better than your boring 2D antenna

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/20/nanoparticle-inks-print-3d-antennas-orders-of-magnitude-better/

If you want better cellphone reception it's time to go small or go home, with researchers at the University of Illinois coming up with a nanoscale printing technique that allows for the creation of so-called 3D antennas. Of course, unless you're hunting for signal in Flatland all antennas are to some degree three-dimensional, but these suckers are printed using nanoparticle silver ink onto a curved substrate, as shown up yonder. The resulting components "exhibit performance metrics that are an order of magnitude better than those realized by monopole antenna designs." In fact these creations are said to approach the Chu-Harrington Limit of theoretical performance in an antenna. Most important? They look pretty darned cool. Shame they'll likely find themselves tucked away inside of a device's chassis -- whenever they actually go into production.

Continue reading Nanoparticle inks print 3D antennas 'orders of magnitude' better than your boring 2D antenna

Nanoparticle inks print 3D antennas 'orders of magnitude' better than your boring 2D antenna originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Daily Tech ! ;| source

University of Illinois | Email this | Comments