EETimes.com - IBM will unlock door to Cell:

"The three developers of the Cell processor are preparing to release full chip specifications and software libraries in an effort to rally the open-source community around the device that powers the Sony Playstation 3. With the outlook for the multicore chip's use beyond Sony's internal systems cloudy at best, the partners are hoping to spark its uptake in applications ranging from HDTVs to supercomputers."...

Robert Scoble reports that Microsoft is Trying to get kids to look inside their computers and consider programming:

"A group of us here have children and are trying to figure out how to get them to think about computers, science, technology. It's a tough problem in an age of Yu-Gi-Oh and Star Wars and super-cool gaming system"...

More details from Jeff Sandquist - Microsoft Evangelist - Welcome to Bitman's Place

..."You know an entire generation of the computer industry was born out of the natural curiosity of kids and the availability of the PC during the 80’s. This week my team launched a beta of a website that we hope will help capture the excitement of learning about computers for the next generation of programmers.

We call the website Bitman’s Place.

The goal is to teach the next generation of programmers the fundamentals of computer science while tapping their natural curiosity and attraction to technology. We do so through a series of fun, interactive, step by step lessons delivered online that can be done individually or together with parents or teachers."...

A laudable aim for sure. I've had a quick shuftie at Bitman's Place - via the 'invitation link' in Jeff's post. On the whole it's quite impressive although - as you might expect - a little too PC and Windows-centric for my taste. One thing that caught my eye was this howler from What is a computer? Question 3: What is a microprocessor?:

1. A microscopic organism that is used to create yogurt
2. The hearth and the brains of the todays computers
3. A person that researches microscopic things

Now I know that processors run really hot but to call them the 'hearth' is going a wee bit too far don't you think? ;-) As for the grammar - no comment!!

Update: whoever wrote the answers to Question 5 has a sense of humour!

As someone born on Merseyside and having spent the first nine years of my life there I was delighted to see Liverpool crowned kings of Europe

"Liverpool have been crowned European champions after a stunning comeback in their Champions League final against AC Milan. The Reds make European soccer history by coming from 3-0 down to beat favourites Milan 3-2 on penalties in an astonishing final that had finished 3-3 after extra time."...

This must rank as one of the best football matches I've ever watched on TV. Nail-biting stuff. I can only begin to imagine what some of my old childhood friends are feeling, and doing, right now. Fantastic. Well done The Reds.

MacDevCenter.com: Tiger's Powerful Migration Assistant by François Joseph de Kermadec:

Transferring data, prefs, and apps from old Macs to new ones can be painful when upgrading computers. Fortunately, Apple's Migration Assistant has the brains and brawn to save users and system administrators alike much time during this process. Here's everything you'd want to know about this great tool...

PlayStation 3 Revealed:

"Sony has unveiled the next generation of its best-selling PlayStation hardware, promising a piece of kit far more powerful than Microsoft's recently unveiled Xbox 360. Although the ultimate proof will be in the software, the systems' specs are impressive. The PlayStation 3 -- slated for a Spring 2006 release in the U.S. -- runs on the highly-vaunted CELL chip. The PS3's CELL consists of a 64-bit PowerPC core running at 3.2 GHz and enhanced by eight 32-bit "synergistic processing units," capable of performing 216 gigaflops. NVIDIA is providing the 550 MHz GPU, which is rated at 1.8 teraflops.