elblanco - Slashdot User

Submission + - E-mail scheduling service - Momentomail (kymalabs.com)

Submitted by

elblanco

on Monday March 07, 2011 @08:35PM

elblanco writes: "A new e-mail scheduling service just launched. Built on Google App Engine in Python, you can type an e-mail now, and schedule when you want it delivered."

Submission + - Google Shows Us Why We All Need Robot Cars (greencarreports.com) 2

Submitted by thecarchik on Monday March 07, 2011 @08:23PM

thecarchik writes: The BrainDriver car is a cutting-edge concept, and interesting for potential mobility solutions for people with limited physical motion. But Google's robotic autonomous car could push mobility in an entirely different direction.

Imagine hopping into the back seat of your car, telling it to take you to work, and actually getting something done on the commute--without risking your life or those around you. For anyone that's seen the levels of distraction and poor driving during early-morning or late-night mass commute times, taking people out of the equation is definitely an attractive idea.

The fact is that a car equipped with radar and LIDAR and such can take in much more information, process it much more quickly and reliably, make a correct decision about a complex situation, and then implement that decision far better than a human can.

Submission + - China pledges to step up Internet administration (idg.com.au)

Submitted by

angry tapir

on Monday March 07, 2011 @07:12PM

angry tapir writes: "China says it will step up administration of the Internet this year while continuing to build out the country's fiber-optic backbone and expand broadband access for consumers. Internet administration was mentioned in a keynote report on the work of the government to China's parliamentary session. It underlined the importance of culture and noted the need the "strengthen the development of civic morality" and "speed up the establishment of moral and behavioral norms that carry forward traditional Chinese virtues." The pledge comes amid revelations that DDoS attacks against WordPress last week allegedly originated from China."

Submission + - Witness the majesty of Space Shuttle Discovery (youtube.com)

Submitted by minterbartolo on Monday March 07, 2011 @05:34PM

minterbartolo writes: JSC SE&I Imagery Team's ascent imagery highlights video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d8f-Pe_tdo) from STS-133 the final mission for Space Shuttle Discovery to deliver supplies, robonaut and the Permanent Multipurpose Module to the International Space Station.

Submission + - Iran Quietly Allows YouTube Access (ibtimes.com) 1

Submitted by RedEaredSlider on Monday March 07, 2011 @05:28PM

RedEaredSlider writes: After 19 months, the Iranian government restored access to YouTube, roughly coinciding with the anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

According to Google's Transparency Report on Iran, YouTube's traffic had been at near-zero levels since June 12, 2009. That coincides with the massive unrest following a disputed election that returned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinajad to office for another four-year term.

On Feb. 11, YouTube traffic suddenly rose, though it is still below 2009 levels.

Submission + - Can You Beat A Computer At Rock Paper Scissors? (tekgoblin.com) 1

Submitted by

tekgoblin

on Monday March 07, 2011 @04:59PM

tekgoblin writes: " It looks like the New York Times has created a game that uses artificial intelligence to outsmart you. It uses a simple game called Rock, Paper, Scissors which is pretty much known by everyone on the planet by now. The computer tries to mimic human reasoning by building on simple rules and statistical averages. So based on the rules of the game and your previous moves, the computer tries to make predictions on your next move. The game has 2 modes, the first being Novice where the computer learns the game from scratch, and veteran where the computer has experience of over 200,000 rounds of previous experience."

Submission + - Libyan Internet Shows Signs Of Life (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by RedEaredSlider on Monday March 07, 2011 @04:06PM

RedEaredSlider writes: The Internet in Libya is still devoid of traffic — mostly. YouTube showed as light spike in traffic yesterday, as did Gmail. But it is still near zero for the day and remains an example of one of the more sophisticated methods of cutting off communications, far more so than Egypt's brute-foce approach.

Submission + - Study Shows Technology Prevent us from Good Sleep (ispyce.com)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Monday March 07, 2011 @03:10PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they're not getting enough sleep and late-night computer use, texting and video games are a significant part of the problem, according to a national survey released today. Virtually all of Americans surveyed in the Sleep in America poll reported "very active" use of technology at least a few nights a week within an hour of bed. It is clear that we have a lot more to learn about the appropriate use and design of this technology to complement good sleep habits," said David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation, which conducted the survey."

Submission + - Gameduino: "Ridiculously Awesome" (createdigitalmotion.com) 1

Submitted by

beckman101

on Monday March 07, 2011 @02:23PM

beckman101 writes: "Gameduino is a DIY game platform built on a shield for the Arduino. It'(TM)s open source hardware (BSD and, for the code, GPL). Okay, that’s fairly cool. But what makes this project special is that this inexpensive board has hardware that'(TM)s capable enough to be interesting. The result is a lo-fi game console built on an FPGA that gives you retro graphics without being, you know, too retro. Games actually look good."

Comment Just change the name so it doesn't violate the IP (Score 3, Insightful) 265

by elblanco on Monday March 01, 2010 @07:27AM (#31313966) Attached to: 8-Year Fan-Made Game Project Shut Down By Activision

Would that really be that much work? Call it's "Royal Adventure" or some such....change the character names, and be done with it. There's nothing that prevents them from making a Sierra "like" adventure game. I've always been mystified when some fan group works for years to build a game and gives up over a C&D because they are obviously violating the IP of the holder. Don't drop the project! Just change the particulars!

Comment Re:Starlight! (Score 1) 187

by elblanco on Friday September 04, 2009 @05:21PM (#29317379) Attached to: How a Team of Geeks Cracked the Spy Trade

This sounds similar to Starlight, which the NSA uses for all kinds of "connect the dots" type intelligence activities.

In my experience Palantir has a lot to offer. But Starlight is definitely the more powerful tool. I've even seen cases where Starlight handled all of the data processing and analysis work before it was fed into Palantir since it's capabilities where so much better.

Comment Re:NIMH? (Score 1) 185

by elblanco on Sunday May 31, 2009 @12:09AM (#28155447) Attached to: Human Language Gene Changes How Mice Squeak

I'm watching it right now on Hulu...

Comment NIMH? (Score 1) 185

by elblanco on Saturday May 30, 2009 @11:43AM (#28149713) Attached to: Human Language Gene Changes How Mice Squeak

Great, the mice of NIMH will be escaping to the rose bush in 3...2...1...

Submission + - Why are there so few good games for the Wii?

Submitted by flibbidyfloo on Monday May 04, 2009 @05:03PM

flibbidyfloo writes: According to Gamerankings.com, only 15 Wii games have achieved an average rating of 85% or higher. By comparison, the PS3, which has as a similar number of ranked titles, has 42 titles better than 85%. The Xbox 360, with over 500 ranked titles, boasts 56 games rated this high. Perhaps more telling, the Gamecube and its 450 or so ranked titles claims the grand prize with 62 reaching this top echelon. I'm counting a game as "ranked" if it has at least 10 published reviews.

Is it the controllers, which offer both enhanced and restrictive options for developers? Or maybe all the best developers avoid the Wii for some reason, like its relatively low processing and graphics power, or its image as a "kiddie" platform? I'm curious what both devs and gamers have to say, so maybe the /. community can help me out...

Submission + - SPAM: Giant spy airships with 15-story radars get real

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Tuesday April 28, 2009 @11:47AM

coondoggie writes: "Military scientists this week got the go ahead to build a roughly 1/3-scale model of a stratospheric airship that if completed in-scale will basically house a floating 15-story radar system capable of detecting and tracking everything from small cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles to soldiers and small vehicles under foliage up to 300 kilometers away. The model is no slouch either and will consist of an airship containing an X-band radar system that will be roughly 100 square meters in size (half the size of a roadside billboard) and a UHF-band system that will be approximately 600 square meters in size (roughly equivalent to the size of a soccer field). [spam URL stripped]"
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