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memory

The traits of people with computer-like memories

It's one thing to have a photographic memory. It's quite another to have something called a super-autobiographical memory.

If your brain is wired super-autobiographically, you really are the weird of the weird. As well as the wired of the wired.

These are people who remember almost everything. Dates, times, names. Yes, even former lovers. The sort of people who remember that they were born on a Wednesday, lost their virginity on a Sunday and were arrested for the first time on a Monday.

And, according to ABC News, there are only four of them. Or, at least, four … Read more

SanDisk shares soar on buyout rumors

SanDisk shares rose sharply Friday morning, as speculation surfaced that Samsung and Toshiba are interested in a buyout of the company.

SanDisk soared 11 percent to close at $11.05 a share, following a report in the EETimes.

The article, citing unnamed sources, said Samsung, which last year launched an unsuccessful bid for the company, and SanDisk's joint-manufacturing partner Toshiba are both interested in making a bid for the flash memory maker.

Last year, when Samsung made an unsolicited bid for the company, it offered SanDisk $5.85 billion for the company. SanDisk had rejected Samsung's overtures, citing … Read more

Report: Taiwan scotches chipmakers' merger plan

Taiwan's economic affairs minister has retreated from previous statements that suggested a merger of the country's ailing memory chipmakers was likely, saying it's "too complicated," according to reports.

Instead, Taiwan Memory Co., the new government-backed entity, will focus on acquiring technologies and tapping existing manufacturing plants in Taiwan, according to a Bloomberg report.

Economic affairs minister Yiin Chii-ming and John Hsuan, a former United Microelectronics Corp. executive who was appointed by the state to oversee the formation of Taiwan Memory, are also saying that the scale of the aid plans will be pared back, Bloomberg … Read more

Report: Taiwan to overhaul memory chip industry

Taiwan named a chip industry veteran to head a state-backed company that will merge six memory chipmakers, following pleas from domestic companies desperate for financial aid.

Previous reports had cited an approval for loans, but on Thursday the economic affairs ministry took this a step further and named former United Microelectronics Corp. executive John Hsuan to head a state-backed company, according to Bloomberg. Taiwan's government will hold less than a 50 percent stake.

Taiwan Memory Co. will be established within six months. It has not been decided yet what role Japan's Elpida Memory or U.S.-based Micron … Read more

Lexar to boost CompactFlash speed, capacity

LAS VEGAS--Lexar plans to introduce faster, higher-capacity CompactFlash cards using a new generation of the flash memory technology, a company executive said Wednesday.

Lexar's current top-end 300X-rated CompactFlash cards use a standard called UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) to transfer data at 45MB/second, and their capacity tops out at 16GB. But using a new generation of the standard, UDMA 6, Lexar will release cards that have significantly faster transfer speeds and larger capacity, Jeff Cable, director of marketing, said in an interview here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show here.

Cable wouldn't be pinned down on precise details, but he said the new cards' capacity "probably" would be 32GB, and their transfer speeds likely would "pretty close to" UDMA 6's threshold of 100MB/sec, which is more than double that of today's UDMA.

Only newer SLR (single lens reflex) cameras support current UDMA technology, but it's spreading, and there are benefits. For example, cameras can take longer continuous bursts of photos, and photographers can zoom faster to check focus when reviewing shots on the camera LCD. Video, which is arriving in new SLRs, also can saturate data-transfer pathways. … Read more

TigerDirect.com has the Corsair Dominator Dual Channel 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB) for $59.99, after $30 mail-in rebate.

Save $30 on the Corsair Dominator Dual Channel 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 2048MB) from TigerDirect.com >> Regular price is $89.99 >> Sale price is $59.99 >> Savings $30 (33.34%) >> Click here for deal

Bleak week for memory chipmakers

Memory chipmakers, the hardest-hit of the silicon suppliers, this week faced bankruptcy, layoffs, and bleak prospects.

Micron Technology kicked things off by announcing that it would cut as many as 2,000 jobs. Micron and other memory chip manufacturers are all singing the same sad song: slumping revenues amid a steep downward price spiral.

The largest U.S. maker of memory chips said decreased demand for specialty DRAM products had "created additional challenges" for its Boise, Idaho, manufacturing operations. As a result, Micron said it will phase out 200-millimeter wafer manufacturing operations at the company's Boise facility. … Read more