DieNadel - Slashdot User

Submission + - GPL'd Linux supported H.264 capture card (bluecherrydvr.com)

Submitted by azop on Monday June 06, 2011 @11:23AM

azop writes: Almost a year ago Slashdot covered the story of a MPEG-4 multiple input capture card with a GPL Video4Linux licensed driver (http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/06/17/1929230/Bluecherry-Releases-GPLd-MPEG-4-Driver). Earlier this year Ben Collins added H.264 support into the solo6x10 Video4Linux2 GPL driver (https://github.com/bluecherrydvr/solo6x10/commit/7fac80bba138d2e0d01f76c6a7eb7174409ec5a7). The H.264 PCIe cards are finally released and shipping to customers (http://www.bluecherrydvr.com/2011/05/multi-input-h-264-linux-supported-encoder-cards/). The new cards support faster frame rates and sport a PCIe interface. The driver is available for forkin' on Github (https://github.com/bluecherrydvr/solo6x10).

Submission + - What Makes a Photograph Memorable?

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Friday June 03, 2011 @03:12PM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Anne Trafton writes in MIT News that next time you go on vacation, you may want to think twice before shooting hundreds of photos of that scenic mountain or lake because researchers have developed a computer algorithm that can rank images based on memorability and found that in general, images with people in them are the most memorable, followed by images of human-scale space — such as the produce aisle of a grocery store — and close-ups of objects. Least memorable are natural landscapes. Researchers built a collection of about 10,000 images of all kinds for the study — interior-design photos, nature scenes, streetscapes and others and human subjects who participated through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program were told to indicate, by pressing a key on their keyboard, when an image appeared that they had already seen. The researchers then used machine-learning techniques to create a computational model that analyzed the images and their memorability as rated by humans by analyzing various statistics — such as color, or the distribution of edges — and correlated them with the image’s memorability. “There has been a lot of work in trying to understand what makes an image interesting, or appealing, or what makes people like a particular image," says Alexei Efros at Carnegie Mellon University. “What [the MIT researchers] did was basically approach the problem from a very scientific point of view and say that one thing we can measure is memorability.” Researchers believe the algorithm may be useful to graphic designers, photo editors, or anyone trying to decide which of their vacation photos to post on Facebook (PDF)."

Submission + - New sensor x-rays forests, creates 3D species maps (mongabay.com) 2

Submitted by Damien1972 on Friday June 03, 2011 @02:46PM

Damien1972 writes: A new airplane-based remote-sensing and analysis system will enable scientists to catalog tree species as they create three-dimensional maps of tropical forests. The system uses the most advanced airborne imaging spectrometer ever developed to detect small changes in forest canopy structure from selective logging and distinguish between plant species.

Submission + - Google Discontinues Support for IE7, Firefox 3.5 (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 02, 2011 @12:11PM

An anonymous reader writes: If you insist on using IE7, Firefox 3.5 or Safari 3, you won't be able to use Google Docs anymore as of August 1. Google said that it is dropping support for those browsers as they do not support HTML5 and "don't have the chops" to deliver a modern app experience.

Submission + - AC/DC music attracts great white sharks (australiangeographic.com.au) 1

Submitted by bazzalunatic on Thursday June 02, 2011 @06:23AM

bazzalunatic writes: That's right, great white sharks can be lured underwater to cages by playing hits from AC/DC — specifically "Shook me all night long".

Some shark diving tour operators in Australia have found this curious fact. But it's not just music, as the sharks weren't attracted by other tunes.

One wonders if they'll be turned off by Celine Dion music — a new type of shark repellent perhaps?

Submission + - California Assembly Approves Internet Tax (nbclosangeles.com)

Submitted by ClientNine on Wednesday June 01, 2011 @03:57PM

ClientNine writes: ...California could collect more than $1 billion a year by taxing Amazon and other online retailers if a bill approved by the Assembly becomes law. Assemblyman Charles Calderon, a Democrat from Whittier, says his legislation doesn't impose a new sales tax, but extends one that California should already have been enforcing. AB155 passed, 47-16, with the support of one GOP lawmaker Tuesday. It now heads to the Senate. Other Republicans rejected the bill because they said it would invite lawsuits, drive business out of California, and get the state entangled in the messy task of regulating the Internet.

Submission + - MuseScore makes Open Goldberg Variations available (musescore.com)

Submitted by

rDouglass

on Wednesday June 01, 2011 @11:24AM

rDouglass writes: "MuseScore, the open source music notation project, has created a new edition of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and a set of online tools that facilitates the public scholarly review of the work. The review period is intended to help the MuseScore team identify any problems with the score. The score can be viewed and played in the browser. Annotations and discussions for each part of the score enable review and corrections. Downloadable versions include MuseScore, MusicXML, MIDI, mp3, or PDF. Video scores (YouTube videos that are synchronized to play with the score) let the score be viewed in the context of individual performances. MuseScore is a partner in the Open Goldberg Variations Project, a crowd-funded effort to place a definitive score and recording of the work into the public domain in such a way as to make them widely and freely available, without usage restrictions (Creative Commons Zero). German pianist Kimiko Ishizka will produce the studio recording of the work later this year. Funding continues on Kickstarter until June 3, 2011."

Submission + - As Samsung copies legal tactics, Apple raises bar

Submitted by oxide7 on Sunday May 29, 2011 @11:42PM

oxide7 writes: In an escalating legal melee, Samsung demanded access to upcoming iPhone and iPad products from Apple, widening the schism between the two allies who haven't always been the best of friends. Court-room drama aside, analysts believe that Apple is also lining itself up to find another foundry partner, a move that would sever the largest tie it has to Samsung.

Submission + - Flight 447 "Black Box" Decoded (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by fermion on Friday May 27, 2011 @03:43PM

fermion writes: An initial report has been released by the BEA concerning the details of the last minutes of Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. According the report the autopilot disengaged and stall warning engaged at 2 hours 10 minutes and 5 seconds into flight. Less than 2 minutes later the recorded speeds became invalid. At 2 hours 14 minutes and 28 seconds, the recording stopped. The final vertical speed was recorded around 10,912 ft/min.

Submission + - Human Skin Cells Converted Directly to Neurons (stanford.edu) 1

Submitted by Dr. Eggman on Thursday May 26, 2011 @02:05PM

Dr. Eggman writes: Standford's School of Medicine brings us an update in the latest achievements towards in-vitro neuron generation via re differentiation of specialized cells (skin cells in this case.) This important progress follows on last year's success in inducing this change with mice skin cells.

The importance of this line of research lies in that the process does not need to first de-differentiate the skin cells into a kind of stem cells known as induced pluripotent stem cells. By skipping this phase, the process avoids potential problems in the body's rejection of the iPS cells.

Amazingly, the transformation occurs with the added presence of 4 proteins (one more protein than need to induce the effect in mice) over several weeks (compared to a few days in mice.) Research continues as the study highlights the significant differences in mice and human neural cells as well as the success rate of transformation (2-4% for human cells, 20% for mice.) The resultant cells aren't yet as capable as naturally derived neurons; generating less-robust electrical signals.

Submission + - Ubuntu's One-Size Design Doesn't Fit All (itworld.com)

Submitted by

itwbennett

on Wednesday May 25, 2011 @03:09PM

itwbennett writes: "This isn't a newsflash, but with Ubuntu 11.04 there are some things you can't configure anymore, in order to keep the Unity shell's design and user experience consistent. In effect, this means that users who know what they're doing and want to make interface customizations have two choices: drop Unity or drop Ubuntu. Protecting new users from their mistakes is all well and good, but should it be at the expense of the advanced users' experience?"

Submission + - Sparrows show us a new way to have sexes (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by grrlscientist on Wednesday May 25, 2011 @02:37PM

grrlscientist writes: A close look at a common North American songbird, the white-throated sparrow, reveals that it may be evolving a second pair of sex chromosomes.

Submission + - Russian Firm Cracks iPhone Encryption (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider on Tuesday May 24, 2011 @05:32PM

RedEaredSlider writes: A Russian software forensics firm has reported that it cracked the encryption on an iPhone, though it requires physical possession of the device.

Elcomsoft, which provides password recovery software and security audits, said it was able to decrypt an image of the data on iOS 4 devices. But the firm said it could only do so if it had the iPhone or iPad itself, as some of the encryption keys are stored in the hardware.

Apple uses the Advanced Encryption Standard, with a 256-bit key. The length of the key is usually considered strong enough that even law-enforcement agencies would have trouble breaking it. A "brute force" attack, using every possible key combination, would take billions of years for even the fastest computer to do.

Submission + - Google Ready to Put Android Everywhere

Submitted by adeelarshad82 on Tuesday May 10, 2011 @05:02PM

adeelarshad82 writes: If there is one thing that can be taken away from the first day of Google's I/O conference, it's that they want to be everywhere. In the first keynote session at conference, Google outlined a vision for global platform domination, which included a new cloud-based music service, a new movie rental service, Android for the home (which itself is an impressive new concept), reference designs for new Android hardware, and even Android light bulbs. Google is now ready to send its mobile operating system well beyond phones and tablets. It'll show up in everything from speakers and exercise bikes to light bulbs. These Android-enabled devices will of course work with Android phones and tablets.

Submission + - Cellphones Get Government Chips for Disaster Alert (boston.com)

Submitted by Jeremiah Cornelius on Tuesday May 10, 2011 @03:22PM

Jeremiah Cornelius writes: The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, said the Commercial Mobile Alert System that Congress approved in 2006 will direct messages to cellphones in case of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other serious emergency. There will be at least three levels of messages, ranging from a critical national alert from the president to warnings about impending or occurring national disasters to alerts about missing or abducted children. The alert would show up on the phone's front screen, instead of the traditional text message inbox, and arrive with a distinct ring and probably a vibration. People will be able to opt out of receiving all but the presidential alerts.

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