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Submission + - CyanogenMod 6.0 Released In To The Wild 8

Jeagoss writes: CyanogenMod is the leading open source replacement ROM for Android based phones. With the 6.0 release, a targeted 8 models of phones have been hit with version 2.2 (Froyo) of Google's Android operating system for mobiles. Have a rooted phone? Been wanting a reason for rooting your phone? Head on over to http://www.cyanogenmod.com/ and check out the forums. I think you'll be quite surprised.

Comment Re:Not remotely similar to the Microsoft situation (Score 4, Insightful) 341

Which is why Google _don't_ call it a java platform. It's dalvik, it runs dalvik bytecode on a dalvik VM. You can write in any high level language you like as long as you have a compiler that results in dalvik bytecode.

As a convenience, Google provide a java->dalvik bytecode compiler, which is nice of them, but they don't ship a JVM nor a java system.

Comment Re:I'm Confused... (Score 3, Interesting) 415

Android 2.2 has tethering built in so, you can:

1) wait for 2.2
2) buy "Pdanet" from the market
3) Root your device and void your warranty
4) Write an app yourself

On the iphone you can

1) Jailbreak your phone remembering apple claims this is illegal

_That_ is why android is more open.

Now _within_ the Andoid ecosystem there are more and less open phones (it's worse for you poor sods in the US, but that because telco's pay their way out of needed regulation)
If you got a Nexus1 then rooting is available with google supported tools (you still void your software warranty though) if you get HTC branded phone it's harder and Moto are really pissy about that sort of thing.

A friend of mine said it best:
"The iPhone encourages you to be a consumer
Android encourages you to be a creator"

Comment Re:Android momentum... (Score 2, Informative) 164

* Wireless and USB tethering.
* CIFS mount,
* Bluetooth HID keyboard demon (with some fiddling)
* Extra 200+MB memory (Due to a kernel problem in the stock rom the N1 can only use half it's memory).
* Use of the LED flash as a torch, ability to use coloured notification lights in the trackball
* Ability to screenshot any app without using the SDK
* 360deg screen rotation

Those are the things that I unlocked my N1's bootloader for

Comment Re:They Suck (Score 3, Insightful) 949

No its fine.

Theft: The act of depriving another...
Theft of property: ... of their property
Theft of service: ... of their time

Copyright Infringement _removes nothing_ is is simply a breach of the covenant of copyright that many governments have established, it was established, in part, because the rules of theft _made no sense_ when applied to a body of work that could be duplicated with minimal effort.

It is different and it is not theft/stealing/piracy in anything but inaccurate colloquial parlance.

That _does not_ mean you get free reign to ignore it the same way that speeding is also not theft, but it can still get you fined and/or get your licence removed _when proven in a court of law_

Math

The Math of a Fly's Eye May Prove Useful 90

cunniff writes "Wired Magazine points us to recent research that demonstrates an algorithm derived from the actual biological implementation of fly vision (PLoS paper here). Quoting the paper: 'Here we present a model with multiple levels of non-linear dynamic adaptive components based directly on the known or suspected responses of neurons within the visual motion pathway of the fly brain. By testing the model under realistic high-dynamic range conditions we show that the addition of these elements makes the motion detection model robust across a large variety of images, velocities and accelerations.' The researchers claim that 'The implementation of this new algorithm could provide a very useful and robust velocity estimator for artificial navigation systems.' Additionally, the paper describes the algorithm as extremely simple, capable of being implemented on very small and power-efficient processors. Best of all, the entire paper is public and hosted via a service that allows authenticated users to give feedback."
Wireless Networking

Unfinished Windows 7 Hotspot Feature Exploited 234

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Engadget: "It wasn't all that long ago that Microsoft was talking up the Virtual WiFi feature developed by Microsoft Research and set for inclusion in Windows 7, but something got lost along the road to release day, and the functionality never officially made it into the OS. As you might expect with anything as big and complicated as an operating system though, some of that code did make it into the final release, and there was apparently enough of it for the folks at Nomadio to exploit into a full fledged feature. That's now become Connectify, a free application from the company that effectively turns any Windows 7 computer into a virtual WiFi hotspot — letting you, for instance, wirelessly tether a number of devices to your laptop at location where only an Ethernet jack is available, or even tether a number of laptops together at a coffee shop that charges for WiFi."

Comment Re:SPOILER!!!!!! (Score 1) 829

The gate is one way after its dialed, and transports contiguous lumps of matter, it normally waits until one item is completely in its "buffer" before sending it. I guess you could say the stream is gas-delimited. If they had canisters it would work fine (did they have canisters, could they dial back? I haven't seen it yet)

Music

Goodbye Apple, Hello Music Production On Ubuntu 513

Adam Wrzeski notes a piece up at Create Digital Music by musician Kim Cascone (artist's bio) on switching from Apple to Linux for audio production: "The [Apple] computer functioned as both sound design studio and stage instrument. I worked this way for ten years, faithfully following the upgrade path set forth by Apple and the various developers of the software I used. Continually upgrading required a substantial financial commitment on my part. ... I loaded up my Dell with a selection of Linux audio applications and brought it with me on tour as an emergency backup to my tottering PowerBook. The Mini 9 could play back four tracks of 24-bit/96 kHz audio with effects — not bad for a netbook. The solution to my financial constraint became clear, and I bought a refurbished Dell Studio 15, installed Ubuntu on it, and set it up for sound production and business administration. The total cost was around $600 for the laptop plus a donation to a software developer — a far cry from the $3000 price tag and weeks of my time it would have cost me to stay locked-in to Apple. After a couple of months of solid use, I have had no problems with my laptop or Ubuntu. Both have performed flawlessly, remaining stable and reliable."

Can Bill Gates Prevent the Next Katrina? 380

theodp writes "He once controlled the world's PCs. Now Bill Gates has set his sights on controlling the world's weather. And patenting it. On Thursday, the USPTO revealed that Gates and ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold have filed five patent applications that propose using large fleets of vessels to suppress hurricanes through various methods of mixing warm water from the surface of the ocean with colder water at greater depths. The idea is to decrease the surface temperature, reducing or eliminating the heat-driven condensation that fuels the giant storms. Hey, a guy can only play so much golf in retirement."

Comment Re:Really that bad of a thing? (Score 5, Interesting) 501

No, the GP isn't right.

A computer is a multi-function device its strength is that it can attempt most task. A car is a mono-function device. If you want people to have safe malware-free devices you need to convince them to buy an Email appliance, Web browsing appliance, Movie-playing appliance, Desktop-publishing appliance, etc etc. Then there is a possibility (after the market matures) that these can be secure by-design. But people don't want that, they want a machine that is cheap and does everything, except the things that they don't want it to do, and they want the machine to know the difference even if they don't.

And that? that will never happen IMHO.

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