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Comment Re:Fear (Score 1) 194

by kisielk (#28031725) Attached to: FSF Settles Suit Against Cisco

Show these licenses (GPL, MIT, Apache, LGPL) to a lawyer and they will just say "stay the hell away from those".

Maybe if you have a lawyer who doesn't understand licensing or IP. On the other hand many companies have a good legal grasp of open source licensing and know the limitations and what is safe to integrate and what is not. I work for one such company, and much of our technology is based on open source and scientific software. You just have to know who to ask.
Robotics

Snakelike Robot To Treat Soldiers During Battle 130

Posted by kdawson from the badger-badger dept.
Al writes "Technology Review has an article about a snake-like robotic arm that could soon be used to treat injured soldiers as they lie on the battlefield. Developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the snakebot attaches to a stretcher and is controlled remotely using a joystick, allowing a doctor to assess a soldier's injuries as the bullets fly by. In future, the robotic arm will be fitted with sensors allowing it to measure vital signs and probe for internal bleeding. Here's a brief video of a prototype arm in action. The arm will become part of the US military's high-tech stretcher, called the Life Support for Trauma and Transport system. This is essentially a portable intensive-care unit, with a ventilator, defibrillator, and other physiological monitors, and it's currently being used in areas of Iraq and Afghanistan."

Comment Re:Shashi B at Network Solutions (Score 1) 139

by kisielk (#26590381) Attached to: Network Solutions Under Large-Scale DDoS Attack

Thanks for informing us on your blog. However, it's a little bit too little too late. We were trying to track down the problem with our network services for a while yesterday before we clued in that it was an NS problem and had to call to verify. How about some way of directly notifying your customers immediately when there are problems like this? A low-volume notification-only mailing list? A more filtered blog? No I'm not interested in reading about "Solutions Out Loud Podcast Episode #6 - âoeThe Inaugural Ballâ Episode". Real news would just be lost in the noise...
Earth

Black Holes From the LHC Could Last For Minutes 672

Posted by kdawson from the becoming-greyer dept.
KentuckyFC writes "There is absolutely, positively, definitely no chance of the LHC destroying the planet (or this way either) when it eventually switches on some time later this year. And yet a few niggling doubts are persuading some scientists to run through their figures again. One potential method of destruction is that the LHC will create tiny black holes that could swallow everything in their path, including the planet. Various scientists have said this will not happen because the black holes would decay before they could do any damage. But physicists who have re-run the calculations now say that the mini black holes produced by the LHC could last for seconds, possibly minutes. Of course, the real question is whether they decay faster than they can grow. The new calculations suggest that the decay mechanism should win over and that the catastrophic growth of a black hole from the LHC 'does not seem possible' (abstract). But shouldn't we require better assurance than that?"

Comment Re:Who cares? (Score 1) 654

by kisielk (#26457613) Attached to: Ubuntu 9.04 Daily Build Boots In 21.4 Seconds

Many software updates still require a reboot on both XP and Vista. While I can usually go a week or two without rebooting, eventually either a Microsoft patch or patch for some other software I have installed forces me to reboot. The worst thing about the Microsoft ones is that they will reboot your computer even if you say no. There's been numerous times where I've woken up in the morning only to see the message "Your system was recently restarted by Windows Update" on my desktop when I log in.
The Courts

In Response To Restraining Order, Real Networks Pulls RealDVD 193

Posted by timothy from the corporate-masochism dept.
eldavojohn writes "RealNetworks' product that allows one to copy a DVD containing a movie has been pulled. You may recall us discussing RealDVD and its legal implications." According to the linked BBC report, "RealNetworks — the firm behind the software — has responded to restraining order issued by a US court stopped selling the RealDVD software [sic]. Six major movie studios jointly sued the company on 30 September — the day the software was launched."
Transportation

Steve Fossett's Unfinished Project 97

Posted by kdawson from the ocean-flying dept.
MazzThePianoman writes "Steve Fossett left behind a secret vessel project called the Deep Flight Challenger. Fossett was funding the development of a winged submersible being designed by Hawkes Ocean Technologies in California. The intent was for the vehicle to be capable of travel to the very bottom of the ocean — the Mariana Trench, more than 11,000 meters beneath the surface. 'It would have dramatically, dramatically opened the oceans for exploration. It would have been a game changer,' said Graham Hawkes, the designer. Testing had been completed at Department of Defense facilities. Field testing was only four weeks away when Fossett's untimely death, a year ago, put the project on hold." Hawkes Ocean Technologies owns the design, but the vehicle itself is owned by Fossett's estate.

A New Concept in Supercomputers 113

Posted by CmdrTaco
Steve Kerrison writes "With the power of CPUs ever-increasing and the number of cores in a system increasing too, having a supercomputer sit under your desk is no longer a pipe dream. But generally speaking, the extreme high end of modern computing consists of a big ugly box housing that generates a lot of noise. A UK system integrator has developed a concept PC that blows that all away. The eXtreme Concept PC (XCP) has quite a romantic design story, with inspiration coming from concept cars and the sarcophagus-like Cray T90. The end result is a system that resembles a Cylon — computing power never looked so ominous. Although just a concept, the company behind the design reckons there could be a (small) market for the systems, with varying levels of compute power accompanied by appropriate (say, LN2) cooling."
Music

Canadian Songwriters Propose Collective Licensing 455

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the all-about-just-gettin-paid dept.
aboivin writes "The Songwriters association of Canada has put forward a proposition for collective licensing of music for personal use. The Right to Equitable Remuneration for Music File Sharing would legalize sharing of a copy of a copyrighted musical work without motive of financial gain, for a monthly fee of $5.00 applied to all Canadian internet connections, which would be distributed to creators and rights holders. From the proposal: 'File sharing is both a revolution in music distribution and a very positive phenomenon. The volunteer efforts of millions of music fans creates a much greater choice of repertoire for consumers while allowing songs — both new and old, well known and obscure — to be heard. All that's needed to fulfill this revolution in distribution is a way for Creators and rights holders to be paid.'"
Google

Google's Gdrive Raises Instant Privacy Concerns 197

Posted by Zonk from the yes-encryption-encryption-is-good dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The rumor mill is already raging over the potential functionality and capacity for Google's online storage service we talked about earlier this week (the company says 'it makes sense' to put all its Web apps under the same umbrella). But Internet rights advocates are now crying foul over liability issues, a probable lack of encryption and a cash-cow model that could scan all your personal data for advertising keywords. From the article: "'Google would be wise to offer users an option to encrypt your information,' says Nimrod Kozlovski, a professor of Internet law at Tel Aviv University. 'It really needs to have really detailed explanations of what the legal expectations are for storing your info.'""

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