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Submission + - Poll: My camera is... 1

FLoWCTRL writes:
  • * a mobile phone
  • * a point-and-shoot
  • * a DSLR
  • * uses film, and you shovel coal into it
  • * I don't own a camera
Image

Funeral Being Held Today For IE6 194

An anonymous reader writes "More than 100 people, many of them dressed in black, are expected to gather around a coffin Thursday to say goodbye to an old friend. The deceased? Internet Explorer 6. The aging Web browser, survived by its descendants Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8, is being eulogized at a tongue-in-cheek 'funeral' hosted by Aten Design Group, a design firm in Denver, Colorado."
Social Networks

Submission + - Twitter is Offline

FLoWCTRL writes: Twitter is offline this morning. Breath, relax, try not to twitch and shake so much. Perhaps visit whentwitterisdown.com. Whatever you do, stop sobbing, it's pathetic. Does anyone out there (hello, Twitter Sysadmins) have any clues as to what happened?

Comment Develop custom software (Score 1) 149

Dynedain's "Contribute How?" post hit the mark, and I have no idea what it is you're really asking. However, having worked in university IT for about a decade I can offer some advice that can be applied broadly: you have an amazing resource at your disposal - smart people - and you should exploit that by developing software to suit your needs.

A lot of universities spend millions on proprietary software like PeopleSoft when they could get much better value and results by hiring competent programmers, work-studies, grad students, postdocs, etc, in-house to create software that does exactly what your institution needs it to do. Your custom software will do whatever needs to be done, it will be infinitely flexible because you have complete control over what it does and how it does it, you will not be at the mercy of any external vendor for support, and the ongoing licensing costs will be $0.

Robotics

Submission + - Your Personal Robot

FLoWCTRL writes: My personal robot will mainly be used for:
  1. Housekeeping / chores
  2. Running errands
  3. Research assistant
  4. Representing me in public
  5. Sexual gratification
  6. Visiting evil upon my enemies
  7. I'll never have a personal robot
  8. The robot will be using me
Space

Telepresence — Our Best Bet For Exploring Space 309

Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute recently wrote an opinion piece for the NY Times discussing the limitations of our space technology. He makes the harsh point that transporting human beings to other star systems isn't a reasonable goal even on a multi-generational time frame. However, advances in robotics and data gathering could instead bring the planets and stars to us, and do it far sooner. Quoting: "Sending humans to the stars is simply not in the offing. But this is how we could survey other worlds, around other suns. We fling data-collecting, robotic craft to the stars. These proxy explorers can be very small, and consequently can be shot spaceward at tremendous speed even with the types of rockets now available. Robot probes don't require life support systems, don't get sick or claustrophobic and don't insist on round-trip tickets. ... These microbots would supply the information that, fed to computers, would allow us to explore alien planets in the same way that we navigate the virtual spaces of video games or wander through online environments like Second Life. High-tech masks and data gloves, sartorial accessories considerably more comfortable than a spacesuit, would permit you to see the landscape, touch objects and even smell the air."

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