jamotto

throw in some Boston and you would be set

Painvin accepts Marc Wubbema's challenge @ 1800 GMT on Sunday May 1st.

Well, let's see if Boeing is right, that this will one of the biggest flops in aviation history.

Troy Stetina No vocals so far, just one awesome guitar.

Link quote:By Dahleen Glanton Tribune national correspondent At the end of a two-lane road, surrounded by water and patches of grassy marsh, an old American Indian village dangles near the edge of the Earth. All around it the land is sinking, pushing the tiny coastal community toward the Gulf of Mexico. Still, many of the 250 people who live here--all descendants of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians who settled the land in the 1800s--refuse to leave, despite an offer by the U.S. government to find them new homes. "Everything here is just wasting away," said Michel Dardar, 76, a lifelong resident who, like most of his neighbors, is raising his house atop 13-foot stilts to keep floodwater out. "When I was growing up, everyone had a garden. We grew green beans, potatoes and watermelons. Now there is nothing. I don't even have a back yard anymore." The huge loss of land in Isle de Jean Charles, about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans, is one of the most glaring examples of the coastal erosion occurring throughout southern Louisiana, home to 40 percent of the nation's wetlands. During the past 75 years, 1,900 square miles of marshland--about the size of Delaware--sank into the gulf. If nothing is done to stop it, scientists say, Louisiana could lose about 700 more square miles--a chunk the size of Chicago and Los Angeles combined--by 2050. The problem is caused, in part, by the channeling of the Mississippi River approved in 1928, which deprived Louisiana of silt, mud and other sediment that naturally rejuvenated the marshland. Now Louisiana officials are asking the federal government to help pay for a proposed $14 billion project to save the delta. During the next 20 to 30 years, the project would have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers build a massive diversion system to channel water from the Mississippi River to the dying wetlands. The corps also would rebuild beaches and restore the barrier islands, install erosion controls, plug basins and bayous to stop the flow of salt water into the marshes and plant new vegetation. The project, expected to go before Congress this session, would be the most ambitious civil-engineering effort ever undertaken in the United States, including the current restoration of the Florida Everglades. "We fret about the Amazon and we worry about the Nile, but within our own borders, we have a national catastrophe of huge proportion," said King Milling, chairman of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Restoration and Conservation and president of America's WETLAND Foundation. "This is the seventh-largest delta on Earth, and it is in a state of collapse. From our standpoint, there is little doubt that if we don't do something, we have over a million people whose lives and businesses are at risk." For centuries the marshland, with its thick vegetation, served as a barrier protecting places such as Isle de Jean Charles and New Orleans from hurricanes and tropical storms. As the land is chipped away, these areas--most of which lie at or below sea level--become more vulnerable to floods. A tropical storm could wipe out Isle de Jean Charles, and a major hurricane could sink New Orleans, killing, by Red Cross estimates, up to 100,000 people in that city. To ensure safety, the agency no longer operates hurricane relief shelters south of Interstate Highway 10, which crosses the state from New Orleans to Lake Charles. The loss of coastal marshland, once rich with raccoons, muskrats and minks, threatens not just the American Indians but the Cajun community, which settled here in the 1760s. What happens in coastal Louisiana ultimately could have an effect nationwide. The deteriorating wetlands threaten Louisiana's $2.2 billion-a-year fishing industry, one of the nation's largest, with its shrimp, oysters, crabs and other seafood. Underneath the marshland lie 36,000 miles of pipelines and holding tanks that deliver about 30 percent of the oil and natural gas consumed in the United States. The surrounding marsh protects the system, which includes the only deep-sea offloading terminal for supertankers in the United States. As the ecosystem disappears, the infrastructure becomes more exposed to elements from the gulf, threatening production as well as the price and distribution of oil and gas nationwide. "The soil is like a big sponge that soaks up the water and sinks the land. Then the salt water from the gulf eats the vegetation," said Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District. "We will never get back what we had, but we can return it to a viable, healthy system." Isle de Jean Charles was not always an island. Seventy years ago it was a remote community perched on a ridge several feet above the marshland. Now salt water from the gulf encroaches from all sides, swallowing up yards, killing the greenery and submerging what is left in soggy muck. It has always been hard to get here. Now when the rains come, it is almost impossible. Residents used to ride out the storms at home, but each year makes it easier for floodwaters from hurricanes and tropical storms to seep into their homes. The only road, a 2-mile stretch that leads to nearby Pointe-aux-Chenes, was just a dirt path that stretched across the marsh when it was built 50 years ago. In the 1970s it was covered with blacktop, and in 1999 it was raised 2 feet. Still, in a storm or even a high tide, Island Road is submerged. Chris Brunet, 39, whose family has lived in the community almost 200 years, remembers when two big oak trees formed an arch over the graveled street in front of his house. Now even the stumps, which were battered by storms and eaten away by salt water from the gulf, are gone. Throughout coastal Louisiana, salt water has killed almost all of the cypress trees, leaving only dried-out shells with extended limbs that bear no leaves. For years, residents of this close-knit community had hoped it would be saved when the federal government builds a 14-foot-high hurricane levee to protect a 72-mile stretch of towns in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes from flooding. Now they have been told their community will not be part of it. The Army Corps of Engineers gave up trying to save the community when studies showed that extending the levee to include Isle de Jean Charles would add $100 million to the $680 million project. Officials said they could not justify the additional expenditure and offered instead to spend $8 million to move the residents within the levee area. Though they are poor and there are no jobs or businesses in the community, many residents, particularly the older ones, refuse to leave their modest homes and trailers. They did not get electricity until 1962, and some have lost everything and had to rebuild. They acknowledge that survival under such conditions is harder than it was in the past because the fresh water and land that sustained them as hunters and fishermen is gone. "A lot of life has changed in the area since I was a boy. But I can't think of anything that would make me want to leave," said Brunet, who has cerebral palsy and gets around in a wheelchair. "For us, there is no other place. The land is who we are. It's our way of life." In 2000, the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District built a 6-foot-tall levee on the east side of the island to protect houses from high tides. The district is waiting on the final permits to build a similar levee, which would basically be a dirt mound, on the west side, said Zeringue, who calls the west-side protection levee a Band-Aid solution. Resident Harris Leonard, 48, has decided to move with his wife and two daughters to firmer ground. After a series of storms last year, Leonard placed his three-bedroom house on the island's west side on the market. The house is appraised at $57,000, he said, but he will let it go for $35,000. "When hurricane season starts, that's when we start getting scared," said his wife, Vickie, 30, who grew up in the community. "We have evacuated so many times, and we never know what we are going to come back to. I want a yard for the kids to play in. I want to put a swing set in it. What we have now is standing water all the time, and the gnats are awful." Many of those who have left the southernmost part of the Louisiana coast are moving to cities such as Houma. But even there, they cannot escape danger. In the 1960s Houma was about 50 miles from the coast, according to Berwick Duval, a Houma resident and member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Coastal Restoration and Conservation. Now, he estimated, the coast is 10 miles away. "We are being ignored by the federal government. And I believe the U.S. has a moral obligation to help us because what we do here benefits the entire country," said Duval, adding that he has grown tired of the federal bureaucracy that stalls the project. "Why do we have to move? People who live on faults in California don't. People who live on the coast of Florida don't. We're just a small, poor place, and no one is paying attention to us."

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Hospitalman Aaron A. Kent, 28, of Portland, Oregon, died Apr. 23, from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Fallujah, Iraq. Kent was assigned to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Anthony J. Davis Jr., 22, of Long Beach, Calif., died April 23 in Mosul, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his Stryker military vehicle. Davis was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Robert A. Guy, 26, of Willards, Md., died April 21 as a result of a non-hostile incident near Al Karmah, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is under investigation.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Gavin J. Colburn, 20, of Frankfort, Ind., died April 22 along a supply route in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle. Colburn was assigned to the Army Reserve's 542nd Transportation Company, Kingsbury, Ind.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died April 19 in Baghdad, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near their dismounted patrol. Both Soldiers were assigned 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, and Fort Stewart, Ga. The soldiers are: Spc. Jacob M. Pfister, 27, of Buffalo, N.Y. Pfc. Kevin S. K. Wessel, 20, of Newport, Ore.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Kelly M. Cannan, 21, of Lowville, N.Y. Lance Cpl. Marty G. Mortenson, 22, of Flagstaff, Ariz. Both Marines were killed April 20 as the result of the detonation of an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. They were assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom their unit was attached to a 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).Link May you rest in peace...

quote:Truth be told who really plays PSone titles on their PS2 anyway? Just about everybody I know does this. I abandoned Nintendo bc of the inability to play the older games on their newer systems. Probably why the computer is my gaming system of choice now as it allows me to play just about any game of my choice no matter how old it is.

Link quote:A copy of the original Electronics magazine in which Moore's Law was first published has turned up under the floorboards of a Surrey engineer. David Clark had kept copies of the magazine for years, despite pleas from his wife to throw them away. Now the couple are celebrating after collecting the $10,000 (£5,281) reward which was offered by chip maker Intel. Moore's Law, the principle that has driven the computer chip industry, celebrated 40 years this week. "I am totally astonished. It is the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me," Mr Clark told the BBC News website. "I am really pleased about it because I studied physics and have always had interest in electronics. I could see the next 30 years were going to go like Moore's Law said, so I decided to go into electronics." The "law" was adopted after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore wrote in the 1965 Electronics magazine article that the number of transistors on a chip would double every 24 months. Read about the impact of Moore's Law Chips that can work faster and faster have driven the technological and digital revolution so far. "We're delighted to at last have an original copy of the April 1965 edition of Electronics Magazine," said an Intel spokesperson. "Dr Moore's article established a theory that has underpinned advancements in the semiconductor industry over the past 40 years and is the basis of our continued research and development at Intel. "We are delighted to have a copy of the article back in the home of Intel in Santa Clara and are extremely grateful to Mr Clark for making this possible." The publication is now defunct, but neither Dr Moore, who is now retired, nor Intel had a mint condition original of the magazine. Intel posted the reward on online auction site eBay in the run-up to the 40-year anniversary of the article on 19 April, in the hope that someone would have a copy for posterity. Since the offer was posted, the search has been on all around the world to find an original. Mr Clark, who admits he is "a bit of a hoarder", collected the Electronics magazine issues, as well as others, after the Philips Central Library in the UK - now closed - started to clean them out. I could feel the hairs standing up on my arms. I think I've got that, I thought - although I wasn't sure David Clark "In the 70s, they started throwing out large quantities of these magazines," he said. "I was in my 20s at the time and thought you shouldn't throw them out because they are recording the golden age of electronics." He gave several hundreds of them a home first in his loft, then under the floorboards and had not looked at them since. Until last Wednesday, when his RSS news reader popped up with headlines from technology site Slashdot, and various other, with news of the reward. "I could feel the hairs standing up on my arms. I think I've got that, I thought - although I wasn't sure. "I took the rest of morning off, and pulled the furniture back; I hadn't seen them for 15 years. I started sorting through them." The first pile he looked at only went as far back as 1970. It was not until he looked at another hidden and securely wrapped pile that he found the issue at the very top of the stack. When he contacted Intel, he thought they would not know what he was talking about. He was officially told he was the "winner" two days ago. Intel had had hundreds of e-mails claiming to have an original copy, but Mr Clark's was the first authentic claim. Neither Dr Moore nor Intel had an original of the magazine A bound copy of the volume of Electronics which contained the issue disappeared, soon after the reward was publicised, from the University of Illinois' engineering library. Mr Clark now intends to use the money to help pay for his daughters' weddings. His wife also has some plans for the cash. He did offer to hand over the copy himself to Dr Moore, who now lives in Hawaii. "I feel quite fond of the law, so feel like a bit of history and pride in returning it to him," said Mr Clark. In an interview with the Associated Press agency recently, Dr Moore said: "Electronics was one of the trade magazines that you read and throw away. It wasn't an archival journal."

quote:Originally posted by Enigma: well we can say goodbye to Microsoft in the gaming industry? no backwards compatability unless u pay a $100 more is a good way to kill a systems.Nintendo has not even given an option for backwards compatibility on theirs for decades. quote: and whats with the name xbox 360? that sounds stupid.maybe xbox EXTREME!! was not hip enough? quote:M$ is to busy trying to be like Sony and Nintendo, and they are gonna hurt them selves doing sodunno, Sony is still beating M$ over the head with their PS2 and the Gamecube seems to sell about as many units as the Xbox

It's not that new John Paul II had one too. Wonder, how many people used it though.

quote:Originally posted by Hellbinder: http://www.friendsofbigfoot.org/articles/yeti.shtml interesting

Link quote:By Mark Egan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oprah, save us, we can't get by without you. That's the message from a group of published and award-winning novelists in an open letter to influential television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, begging her to resume picking new novels for members of her popular book club. "There's a widely-held belief that the landscape of literary fiction is now a gloomy place," Word of Mouth, a loose alliance of women's authors, wrote. It said fiction sales began to plummet when the The Oprah Winfrey Book Club went off the air in 2002 and stopped featuring contemporary authors. "Book Club members stopped buying new fiction, and this changed the face of American publishing," said the letter, which was signed by 158 authors. Among those signing the letter were Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri and Amy Tan, author of "The Joy Luck Club." Several male authors also signed. The letter expressed thanks for Winfrey's contribution to book sales and asked her to "consider focusing, once again, on contemporary writers in your book club." "The readers need you. And we, the writers, need you," it said. "Oprah Winfrey, we wish you'd come back." A spokeswoman for Winfrey's company, Harpo Productions, poured cold water on the idea. "There are no plans to change the focus of the book club at this time," she said. Paula Sharp, an author of four novels and a member of Word of Mouth, said, "Oprah got so many people to read contemporary fiction, in a way nobody else has ever done." "Getting people to read is about the most important contribution that anyone can make to American society," Sharp told Reuters. "It's a stunning achievement to get 500,00O people to go to bookstores. Oprah's Book Club began as a segment on Winfrey's talk show in 1996. An Oprah's Book Club logo on a novel's cover helped many of her picks garner sales of more than 1 million copies. The club became embroiled in controversy in 2001 when Jonathan Franzen publicly objected to the selection of his novel, "The Corrections," and said he feared it might affect his reputation in literary circles. He later said he regretted voicing his reservations. Winfrey suspended the club in April 2002, saying she would only make occasional recommendations because, "It has become harder and harder to find books on a monthly basis that I feel absolutely compelled to share." Relaunched in June 2003, the club now picks classics such as John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" rather than new books. Authors complain that with publishers and bookstores consolidating, there are fewer avenues for new authors to break through. Winfrey's book club, they argue, was one of the few developments to bring people back to bookstores in a decade that has seen a steady decline in sales of literary fiction. The letter and a list of signatures can be found at http://wordofmouthwriters.org

quote:Originally posted by Tac: http://www.onpoi.net/ah/pics/users/19_1114...lacethepope.jpg

man, the ape suit just gets better every time a new sighting is made

Link quote:By SUE LEEMAN, Associated Press Writer LONDON - Rejecting a bid by the parents, a British judge on Thursday upheld a court order allowing doctors to let a critically ill baby die if she stops breathing ÔÇö a move doctors say is the only humane way to end the child's suffering. Eighteen-month-old Charlotte Wyatt can hardly see or hear and weighed about a pound when she was born prematurely. Her brain and other organs are so seriously damaged that she has "no feeling other than continuing pain," according to physicians. Darren and Debbie Wyatt, who believe in preserving life at any cost, sought to overturn a court order granted in October. But Justice Mark Hedley was not persuaded by the parents' pleas. "I am quite clear that it would not be in Charlotte's best interests to die in the course of futile aggressive treatment," Hedley ruled Thursday at London's High Court. Hedley said he would review the order again, probably in October. If the baby stops breathing, she will be given treatment except for invasive routines of intubation and ventilation ÔÇö "but nothing further," Hedley said. The case echoes that of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman in a vegetative state whose parents and husband fought over whether she should be allowed to die. She died March 31, almost two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by court order. Similar cases in Britain have been rare. In 1993, the family of Tony Bland, a young man left in a persistent vegetative state by a soccer stadium disaster, fought unsuccessfully in court to stop doctors from removing his feeding tube. Terminally ill baby Luke Winston-Jones died last November after the High Court ruled that his doctors could withhold lifesaving treatment, against the wishes of his parents, if his condition deteriorated. Both cases sparked fierce debate about medical ethics and the rights of doctors and parents. Although the Wyatt case is not the first time doctors and parents have ended up in a British court in such situations, previous hearings have been held in private. Charlotte's parents and the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust agreed to its being held in the open court because they felt it was in the public interest. Charlotte was born in October 2003, just six months into her mother's pregnancy. She has had serious heart and lung problems, has never left the hospital and is fed through a tube and lives in an oxygen tent. She has stopped breathing three times, and in October the High Court ruled that doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth, southwest England do not need to resuscitate her if she stops breathing again. The Wyatts say Charlotte can see and hear to a limited extent and sometimes smiles. The judge agreed that the baby now responds to loud noises and tracks the movement of a colorful toy ÔÇö in contrast to October, when she was almost wholly unresponsive. Her life could no longer be described as intolerable, he said. But Hedley added that Charlotte's chronic respiratory disease is still expected to be fatal and her neurological condition is as bad as it could be. Her head was still the size of a newborn baby's and there had been no brain growth, leaving her "a terminally ill child." In a written statement read on the court steps by their lawyer, Richard Stein, the Wyatts said they would seek to appeal. Charlotte's grandmother, Julie Wyatt, supported the child's doctors. "Myself, I'm trusting the hospital decision at the moment because I've seen the care they've given her and I know they love her," she said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. TV. "They are not withholding any treatment at all and I do believe that if they don't resuscitate her, it is for Charlotte's best interests, to be quite honest."

Link quote:By ESTES THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war. Hasan Akbar, 34, now faces a possible death penalty, which the 15-member jury will consider at a hearing that begins Monday. Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve "maximum carnage" on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division. The verdict came after 2 1/2 hours of deliberations following seven days of testimony in a court-martial ÔÇö the first time since the Vietnam era that an American has been prosecuted on charges of murdering a fellow soldier during wartime. Akbar stood at attention as the verdict was read by the colonel who headed the jury panel, chewing his lip but giving no other outward sign of emotion. Defense attorneys acknowledged that Akbar carried out the attack, but argued he was too mentally ill to have premeditated it and was fueled by emotion. Killed in the middle-of-the-night attack were Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, 27, who was shot in the back, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, who suffered 83 shrapnel wounds. The 101st was preparing to move into Iraq in support of the U.S. invasion when the attack occurred in March 2003. "Sgt. Akbar executed that attack with a cool mind," prosecutor Capt. Robert McGovern said during closing arguments, cocking Akbar's unloaded M-4 rifle and pulling the trigger twice for emphasis. "He sought maximum carnage." The prosecutor said Akbar planned carefully and stole grenades that would achieve maximum destruction in the brigade command section of Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Defense attorney Maj. Dan Brookhart countered that Akbar was concerned the invasion of Iraq would result in the deaths of Muslims and that U.S. soldiers would rape Iraqi women. He said the prosecution's depiction of Akbar as a cold-blooded killer ignored that the defendant was sufficiently mentally ill ÔÇö though not insane ÔÇö to be confused and fearful about the impending invasion of Iraq. The defense lawyer scoffed at an Army psychiatrist's testimony that Akbar suffered merely from "the blues" ÔÇö not any serious mental problems. "It doesn't make any sense. This guy doesn't have the blues," he said. "He is mentally ill." Brookhart said Akbar's actions after the initial attack showed he wasn't intent on achieving maximum destruction. He said Akbar stopped his attack with a nearly full clip still in his M-4 rifle and three more grenades. He also noted the defendant didn't try to flee during the chaos following the attack. Akbar, who turned 34 Thursday, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder. Jurors ÔÇö nine officers and six non-commissioned officers ÔÇö had the ability to consider lesser charges, but chose not to. During Thursday's arguments, relatives of the victims cried when prosecutors showed pictures of the bodies on a large TV screen. When a prosecutor pointed at Akbar, nearly yelling that he was responsible, Akbar sipped from a coffee mug. If sentenced to death, Akbar would become the sixth soldier on military death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He also could be sentenced to a life sentence. The case was moved from Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the 101st, to Fort Bragg because the division still was in Iraq and Bragg is home of the 101st's higher command.

quote: The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Maj. Steven W. Thornton, 46, of Eugene, Ore., died April 18 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, when he collapsed during physical training. Thornton was assigned to the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Tyler J. Dickens, 20, of Columbus, Ga., died April 12 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, of injuries sustained April 6 in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq, when his guard tower caught fire. Dickens was assigned to the ArmyÔÇÖs 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, Calif. The incident is under investigation.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Sam W. Huff, 18, of Tucson, Ariz., died April 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained on April 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her HMMWV. Huff was assigned to the 170th Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, Wash.Link May you rest in peace...

Link quote:As expected, AMD on Thursday launched its dual-core processor technology -- with support from an array of top hardware manufacturers -- to keep pace with rival Intel in the competition to deliver next-generation computing. The Opteron 800 series processor is designed for four- to eight-way servers, while the 200 series chips are targeted at two-way servers and workstations. For desktop users, AMD is offering the Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor. These products arrive on the heels of Intel's Pentium Extreme Edition 840 processor, introduced on Monday, marking Intel's first foray into dual-core technology. AMD claims new Opteron processors boost performance by up to 90 percent over single-core Opterons, enabling more robust multitasking capabilities for businesses customers and consumers. Dual-core processors are the next evolution of AMD64's Direct Connect Architecture, and were designed from the ground up to connect two cores on a single die, improving system performance and efficiency. "This ushers in the next level in computing," said Margaret Lewis, a software strategist for AMD. "By making the cores work more efficiently we can significantly improve performance while addressing the issues associated with increased power demands." The Opteron 800 series does a superior job handling Web services applications, such as financial transactions and multithreaded database applications, Lewis said. On the client side, dual-core chips enable workstations or mobile machines to switch more easily from one application to another, or to run them simultaneously, she added. Among those lined up to adopt the new Opteron chips are Sun, HP and IBM, all of whom unveiled dual-core platforms based on that x86, 64-bit computing architecture. Sun announced dual-core support for its line of AMD64-based systems, including the Sun Fire V40z servers and the Solaris 10 operating system. HP has launched ProLiant server blades and dual-core HP ProLiant DL systems based on the Opteron 800, while IBM is offering eServer and IntelliStation products using the new processors. Also, supercomputing specialist Cray has announced that two of its systems will feature dual-core Opteron processors. At the same time, AMD is delivering the Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors to desktop and notebook manufacturers, with the official launch coming in June. Alienware already has integrated the chip into its PC hardware. This processor enables both consumers and business users to take digital content creation and multimedia experiences to a higher level. "We have some strong partnerships with systems builders that are supporting our dual-core strategy," said Lewis, adding that this strategy has been in place since the launch of its 64-bit architecture in 1999, which was designed from the ground up to include dual-core technology. "That makes it much easier for customers to easily upgrade their hardware, in a nondisruptive fashion, than it would be with replacements using competing dual-core processors," Lewis said. The significant difference between Intel's and AMD's dual-core technologies is that, essentially, Intel rolled out a high-end desktop processor while AMD has delivered it to the server, said Illuminata's Gordon Haff. "Dual-core is seen as more important in servers, because they run more of the applications that can take full advantage of the new technology," he said.