Goodbye to BIOS and say hello to UEFI

Whereas antiquated BIOS can take around 30 seconds before allowing an operating system to ...
Whereas antiquated BIOS can take around 30 seconds before allowing an operating system to start, UEFI is said to boot in a fraction of that time.. Those frustrating boot-up moments while we wait an absolute age for our computers to load up are set to get somewhat shorter with the impending retirement of system BIOS. Despite now being a very old technology and relatively stuck in its ways, the BIOS is still found in many modern machines. Instead of taking around 25 - 30 seconds before giving the all-clear for an operating system to start, a new kid on the block is well on its way to offering instant-on. It's not quite there yet, but the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is getting closer. That void before the welcome arrival of an operating system's splash screen has caused frustration and annoyance for almost as many years as BIOS software has been running. The software is stored on a chip that sits on a computer's main board and jumps to life as soon as the start button is pressed. The job of a computer's BIOS (which stands for basic input/output system) is to identify and enable all of the hardware periphery attached to a computer before the operating system starts. In addition to informing the operating system of the existence of the graphics card, keyboard, mouse, storage and optical drives and so on, the BIOS is also where the system clock is set and hardware is configured by the user. It's been around for a long time, and the once-central role it played in the operation of a computer system has become less and less important over the years. Now, it looks set for retirement. The computer boot up - the next generation The system boot upgrade comes in the form of UEFI, which is currently up to version 2.3 and is said to break the ties of being based on the specifications and design of old technology. The Forum overseeing its development includes eleven industry leaders and says it "will provide a clean interface between operating systems and platform firmware at boot time." UEFI started life as an Intel specification but has now changed into a general standard that offers similar boot and runtime services as the BIOS, but has the advantage of not being specifically tied to any processor architecture. It also has a different approach to dealing with the process of identifying and activating hardware prior to handing over to the OS. For example, instead of telling the operating system that there's a mouse attached to a specific port, UEFI simply recognizes that somewhere in the machine there's a device that behaves like a mouse. The future-proof standard is already being used in some devices, with 2011 being earmarked as the tipping point for machine domination. More information on UEFI is available from the Forum's website.

Source: By Paul Ridden

Japanese company hopes use submarines to subdue incoming typhoons

We usually accept it as a given that we can't change the weather. When it comes to extreme situations like hurricanes or earthquakes, such disasters are labeled "acts of god" because we generally feel helpless to in the face of nature's wrath. But recently an ambitious Japanese manufacturing firm Ise Kogyo has boldly claimed that they can help weaken the impact of typhoons. And even more surprising, the company's weapon of choice is the submarine.

In principle, the premise appears sound. Typhoons generally require warmer water temperatures at surface level before they become dangerous, typically around 25 degrees. So when typhoons develop, the theory is that a fleet of submarines equipped with 20m-long water pumps can deliver colder water to the surface, thus bringing the surface temperature down by two or three degrees and weakening the storm.

According to the company, 20 submarines could cover an area of about 57,000 square meters and they would be deployed into a typhoons path once initial signs of an oncoming typhoon are evident.

This solution has been proposed as far back as 2002, but we have yet to see it practically implemented to date. First of all, submarines are hardly a dime a dozen and to set 20 of them aside for typhoon prevention would be no easy task.

More practical proposals involving the use of surface vessels to bring up cool water have been put forth before as well, though they are admittedly far less awesome than the submarine idea. But re-purposing military ships that patrol key areas might be the only way to bring such a "pipe dream" to fruition.

These aspirations to control the weather may remind our Asian readers of China's pre-Olympic efforts to create blue skies as well as subsequent struggles to induce rain amid summer droughts that plagues the agriculture industry there.

The latter procedure is called cloud seeding, and it typically involves dusting clouds with a silver compound in order to bring about the formation of rain droplets. In the past however, China's rainmaker program drew as much attention for its inadvertent stray rockets as for its ambitious scope.

Earlier this year Gizmag also reported on a Swiss team working in cloud seeding who, rather than use silver compounds, opted to induce water droplet formation using infrared light.

It remains to be seen whether or not programs like these will ever make the transition from experimental to common technologies that contribute to our safety and our quality of living. But for now, it is exciting to hear even talk of how humans might gain some mastery over the weather. With extreme weather patterns becoming more and more frequent (thanks global warming!) we're going to need every advantage we can get.

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