Comment links (Score 1) 1
Could not figure out how to embed links using the new submission form. Ugh.
Submission + - ESA Summer of Code in Space (esa.int) 1
morrison writes: "Following the previous announcement [1], the European Space Agency's Summer of Code in Space (SOCIS) pilot program has announced their mentoring organizations [2] and is now open for submissions from students enrolled at EU institutions (alas, ESA requirement for the pilot) through July 27th. SOCIS is modeled after the highly successful Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program but targets "space-related" open source software. The selected mentoring organizations range from notable GSoC veterans like BRL-CAD [3] and ffmpeg [4] to relatively unknown space software like ORSA [5] and Open Mission Control [6].
[1] http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/06/29/0313212/
[2] http://sophia.estec.esa.int/socis2011/
[3] http://brlcad.org/wiki/ESA_Summer_of_Code_in_Space/Project_Ideas
[4] http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=FFmpeg_/_Libav_Summer_Of_Code_In_Space_2011
[5] http://orbit.psi.edu/~tricaric/SOCIS.html
[6] http://openmissioncontrol.wordpress.com/socis/"
[1] http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/06/29/0313212/
[2] http://sophia.estec.esa.int/socis2011/
[3] http://brlcad.org/wiki/ESA_Summer_of_Code_in_Space/Project_Ideas
[4] http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=FFmpeg_/_Libav_Summer_Of_Code_In_Space_2011
[5] http://orbit.psi.edu/~tricaric/SOCIS.html
[6] http://openmissioncontrol.wordpress.com/socis/"
Comment Re:This can't be!! (Score 1) 463
Pinch me I must be dreaming!
Nah, you're just getting old.
Comment BRL-CAD (Score 1) 152
BRL-CAD is a great project with an extensive legacy that doesn't get nearly enough developer attention. With hundreds of staff years effort invested across tons of functionality, it's really the *only* open source CAD system viable for production use, yet it's still in need of devs to help improve the interface and usability.
You'd think the massive market size of the CAD/CAM industry (estimated around $8B annual) would help, but that really just attracts LOTS of users. Thousands a month. Many understandably get put off by the steep learning curve and UNIX-style design or cry for features implemented in their favorite commercial CAD system that took loads of manpower.
The project is crazy active with the dozen or so devs that already do contribute, but the open source developer community at large doesn't seem to know about the project. Some are probably put off by the size of BRL-CAD (1M+ loc), but that's actually rather tiny for a production CAD system. The project deficiencies are well known (usability, interface!), but takes lots time and effort to make things better. Takers?
Comment awesome commits (Score 1) 263
Some of the best stuff isn't in the commit message but obscured in the commit text. One of the best resentment commits I've seen:
Pure awesome.
US Offers $30M For High-Risk Biofuel Research 183
coondoggie writes "This one sounds a bit like really wishful thinking. The US Department of Energy today announced $30 million for research projects that would develop advanced biofuels that could replace gasoline or diesel without requiring special upgrades or changes to the vehicle or fueling infrastructure. The $30 million would be spent over the next four years to support as many as five 'traditionally high-risk biofuels projects,' such as converting biomass into biofuels and bioproducts to be eventually used for hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals."
Comment Applied mathematics (Score 1) 283
You're an applied mathematics student, so look for applied math projects. That way, you're newbie skills will be best put to use leveraging what you already know. There'll still be plenty you'll have to learn along the way, so put what you know to good use. Instead of projects like boost, sage, or octave, look for projects that have heavy applied math requirements like BRL-CAD, Blender, CGAL, and many many others.
Pick a community that interests you. Download the source code, compile and run the software, find their bug list, start fixing bugs. Introduce yourself when you have something useful to contribute (not just vaporware) or if you get stuck and need help.
Plenty of math-specific projects at http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Math/Software/ too.
Submission + - Ohloh visualizes version control system use (ohloh.net)
morrison writes: The fine folks at Ohloh have implemented a new tool comparing open source repositories. Is the debate over centralized versus distributed version control indicative of a vocal minority or a growing trend? Both? Neither? The usage landscape can now at least be graphically visualized. Ohloh has been covered before here, now reporting statistics on nearly a half-million open source projects.
Forced iAds Coming To OS X? 416
mario_grgic writes "Apple insider brings a story about expansion and renewal of a current 'Advertisement in Operating System' patent that Apple's Steve Jobs and other contributors have. The patent describes in detail (with OS X screen shots) how the forced ads would work (they would disable some OS functionality until the ad is viewed), but apparently it also applies to any device with a UI, including phones, TVs, set top boxes, etc. With Apple's recent entry into the mobile ad business, and its ambition to own half of all the mobile ads served during the second half of this year, it certainly makes one wonder if Apple would dare and put something like this in its desktop OS. I wonder if this would push more people to open source alternatives?"
The Rise of Small Nuclear Plants 490
ColdWetDog writes "The Oil Drum (one of the best sites to discuss the technical details of the Macondo Blowout) is typically focused on ramifications of petroleum use, and in particular the Peak Oil theory. They run short guest articles from time to time on various aspects of energy use and policies. Today they have an interesting article on small nuclear reactors with a refreshing amount of technical detail concerning their construction, use, and fueling. The author's major thesis: 'Pick up almost any book about nuclear energy and you will find that the prevailing wisdom is that nuclear plants must be very large in order to be competitive. This assumption is widely accepted, but, if its roots are understood, it can be effectively challenged. Recently, however, a growing body of plant designers, utility companies, government agencies, and financial players are recognizing that smaller plants can take advantage of greater opportunities to apply lessons learned, take advantage of the engineering and tooling savings possible with higher numbers of units, and better meet customer needs in terms of capacity additions and financing. The resulting systems are a welcome addition to the nuclear power plant menu, which has previously been limited to one size — extra large.'"
Criminal Photoshops Himself Into Charity Photos In Bid For Leniency
108
38-year-old Daryl Simon decided it would be a good idea to submit fake pictures of himself at charity events, and forged letters of support from various charitable organizations to the court before he was sentenced for credit card fraud. Unfortunately for Daryl, he is as good at Photoshop as he is at credit card scams, and Judge Stephen Robinson was not amused. Simon was sentenced to 285-months in prison — 50 months more than the maximum under sentencing guidelines. From the article: "Daryl Simon's bald-faced move included sticking a picture of himself into a shot with a physical-therapy patient, then flipping the image and placing it next to a teen student. 'Evidence that his image was inserted and flipped can be seen by examining the single detail on his shirt above his fingers — that detail appears on the left side of the shirt in the top photograph, and on the right side of the shirt in the bottom photograph,' prosecutors wrote."
Comment Obligatory (Score 3, Funny) 57
I, for one, welcome our new sushi overlords.
A Professional Perspective On Apple's Retina Display 346
Reader BWJones, who is a retinal scientist, sends in this detailed analysis of the iPhone 4's "retinal display," which includes photomicrographs of the display pixels of earlier generations of iPhone as well as the iPad. Well worth a read. "... as you can see from these images of the displays I captured under a microscope, the pixels are not square. Rather they are rectangular, and while the short axis is 78 microns, the long axis on the iPhone 4 pixel is somewhere in the neighborhood of 102 microns. ... While [an earlier analysis by] Dr. Soneira was partially correct with respect to the retina, Apple's Retina Display adequately represents the resolution at which images fall upon our retina. ... [I] find Apple's claims stand up to what the human eye can perceive."
Water Main Break Floods Dallas Data Center 230
miller60 writes "IT systems in Dallas County were offline for three days last week after a water main break flooded the basement of the Dallas County Records Building, which houses the UPS systems and other electrical equipment supporting a data center in the building. The county does not have a backup data center, despite warnings that it faced the risk of service disruption without one."
Police Officers Seek Right Not To Be Recorded 1123
linzeal writes "When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct. Cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop. Judges, juries, and legislatures support the police overwhelmingly on this issue, with only a few cases where those accused of 'shooting' the cops being vindicated through the courts."
