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I attended the University of Georgia, so I know that Georgia has more than a few folks who need some exercise. Google’s Atlanta office is a founding sponsor for Get Outdoors Georgia, a state program that encourages people to get off their seats and exercise in a park. Google is donating a branded YouTube channel, advertising services, maps and other features to support the effort.

If Google ever opens an Oahu office, I hope they will support a similar program for the island. A recent Federal study concluded that 8% of all Americans are diabetic. That’s 24 million people, with another 54 million who are on the verge of looking like the humans in WALL-E. Once someone, especially a child, gets fat, he tends to stay fat. This Motley Fool article, This Drug Market is Booming, discusses how pharmaceutical companies and investors are trying to profit from the diabetes epidemic.

See Get Outdoors with GO Georgia! for more details.

This YouTube video is an excerpt of WFIE’s early morning newscast. That’s channel 14, the NBC affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. Weatherman Byron Douglas stays on camera and reads from his script, even as the studio is shaking from a 5.2 scale tremor. Great job!

I used to live in Evansville. when the two ISPs in town only offered dial-up service. I’m surprised WFIE has a live newscast at 4:37 AM, as well as their own YouTube channel.

Earthquakes do happen in that area, thanks to the New Madrid fault. According to the US Geological Survey’s web site, this may be the largest earthquake ever recorded in the state. There was a 5.1 scale quake in 1909.

There’s also a Wikipedia article about today’s earthquake.

C-SPAN, the US cable network that broadcasts Congressional hearings to the American public, is teaming up with Google to offer video clips from candidates, voters, and other groups on a new YouTube channel.

Voter turnout is a problem in the US, especially in the 18-25 age group. Viral video is one way to reach voters. This Los Angeles Times article has some interesting quotes, along with links to some video examples.

See Google’s blog post and the video below for more details.

Thirteen months ago, Intel showed off a prototype CPU with EIGHTY cores on the same piece of silicon. It uses about as much electricity as a traditional desktop CPU. This news.com article has some information:

Intel used 100 million transistors on the chip, which measures 275 millimeters squared. By comparison, its Core 2 Duo chip uses 291 million transistors and measures 143 millimeters squared.

The hard part of the design isn’t putting the cores on the same die. The chips have to talk with each other. Routers on the silicon die help assign computations to individual chips, and move finished computations to neighboring chips.

It’s a prototype, so the chips are very basic. It’s incompatible with Intel’s x86 platform. Writing software for a multi-core CPU is difficult, so the demonstrations are very limited. The chips need their own RAM, because external RAM modules like those used in personal computers won’t work. Wikipedia’s article on multicore processors is a good read, and the reference list is helpful.

Intel has a web page about the project, and here’s two YouTube videos with more details.

HPU’s second annual talent show has posted three commercials on YouTube to promote the event. It’s not Appalachian State – but they’re trying!

Seriously, I applaud their efforts. I couldn’t do it – I dance like a programmer, and my singing is much worse. At least I tell good jokes!

See the official web page for more information about auditions and tickets.

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