Chip plants running faster

The Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) group says the world`s chip factories operated at their fastest rate in almost four years in the April to June period.

Reuters reports that this is due to demand for chips for mobile phones and digital appliances.

A SICAS official said the utilisation rates at the factories are likely to remain relatively high for the rest of this year before heading lower next year.

Capacity for integrated circuits grew to 1 405 800 silicon wafer starts per week from 1 372 500 in the previous quarter. Actual wafer starts, which reflect demand for chips, amounted to 1 340 900 per week, compared with 1 281 600 in the January-March quarter.

A software glitch that paralysed the Mars Spirit rover earlier this year was caused by an unanticipated characteristic of a DOS file system, a NASA scientist said on Monday.

On 21 January, Spirit stopped communicating with the teams on Earth, beginning a cycle where the rover would reboot constantly, reports Reuters. After days of tests, NASA discovered that the issue was tied to what was originally reported as corruption inside the rover`s onboard flash memory.

The real issue was an embedded DOS file system whose directory structure kept growing. When the rover`s embedded operating system then told the flash memory to mirror the data structure in RAM, the unexpectedly large file caused a fatal error and an almost continuous reboot cycle.

Developer Rockstar Games has updated the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) San Andreas Web site to include the first trailer of the game, reports SACM.

The site also features a map of Los Santos with explanations of some of the landmarks. San Andreas takes place in the 1990s with players taking on the role of Carl "CJ" Johnson who is forced to return to the city of Los Santos after a five-year hiatus, because his mother has been killed.

Upon his return he is framed for a murder and, to clear his name and save his family, he must bring order to the gang-controlled city.

The game will be available on the PlayStation 2 in October.