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Comment For time-lapses (Score 1) 111

by alphakappa (#33978938) Attached to: Cheap Software Tools Give New Life To Stop-Motion Animation
What has worked out really well for me is a simple Python script that uses QT to generate movies from individual frames. I've used it for time-lapses, but it could probably be used for stop-motion movies too. Of course, you don't get all the composing features of these tools, but it's free and works exceedingly well.

http://www.ecogito.net/anil/2010/09/howto-create-a-time-lapse-movie-from-a-sequence-of-images/

Comment Re:Two words for you... (Score 1) 479

by alphakappa (#32905702) Attached to: iPhone 4 Reception Recall Ruckus Roundup
Android encourages hackers? I'm not sure what phone you are talking about. If it's the Nexus One, then yes. If it's an Android phone from any of the other makers, what you get is a phone that's just as locked down as an iPhone. Parts of it may be open source, but don't fool yourself. If you are going to hack it anyway, what's the difference between that and jailbreaking an iPhone?
Canada

Dead Pigs Used To Investigate Ocean's "Dead Zones" 106

Posted by samzenpus from the big-ocean-long-pig dept.
timothy writes "As places to study what happens to corpses, the Atlantic Ocean is both much larger and much more specialized than the famous 'body farm' in Knoxville, TN. But for all kinds of good reasons, sending human bodies into Davy Jones' locker just to see where they float and how they bloat is unpopular. Pigs don't pay taxes, and more importantly, they don't vote. So Canadian scientists have taken to using them as human-body proxies, to study what happens when creatures of similar size and hairlessness (aka, us) end up 86ed and in the drink."

Comment Re:uhg silverlight works in linux (Score 1) 133

by alphakappa (#31317712) Attached to: Google Enhances Street View With User Photos
Cool demos are great, but Google has a product that is used by many millions of people at the same time. They need something that is scalable and usable over realistic internet connections. I'm sure that a company like Google could create a mind blowing demo like that quite easily, (and they might have something like that internally), but I doubt if they will make a released product out of it until it's a practical idea.

Comment Re:WTF? We're doomed (Score 1) 434

by alphakappa (#28642155) Attached to: Recovery.gov To Get $18 Million Redesign
It's easy to overlook costs - the main cost will not be for actually making the website, but for maintaining it. By maintaining it, I mean, actually having useful data in the website. The whole trillion dollar stimulus will generate humongous amounts of data which will have to be processed so that we can make sense of it. Collecting it from all the various agencies around the country, processing it and then putting it up on the website will require a lot of employees and that's where the $18 million tag for 5 years comes from. Don't underestimate the cost of data collection.

I could code up a website that looks like Google Maps pretty easily, but it would take a lot of money and time to get all the data that actually makes it useful.
Google

Submission + - Dvorak thinks Google is bluffing about its new OS (marketwatch.com)

Submitted by
alphakappa
alphakappa writes: "In Dvorak's opinion, Google has cast a red herring about its new operating system, possibly to deflect attention from Android which will probably be the new OS, but definitely in order to mess with Microsoft. His argument stems from the fact that the OS has been announced almost a year in advance, which is not how Google normally operates. So what do you think about gOS? Is it a different OS based on Linux + a windowing system, or is it an upgrade to Android which would put it in real competition with Windows?"
Movies

Netflix Extends "Watch Instantly" To Mac Users 205

Posted by kdawson from the instant-grats dept.
CNet is reporting that Netflix has opened up its "Watch Instantly" feature to Mac users (here is Netflix's blog entry). They accomplished this by using Microsoft's Silverlight technology on both platforms, abandoning the Windows Media Player solution that had been employed in the first, Windows-only, version. Silverlight's DRM capabilities meet Netflix's needs, apparently. Netflix warns that this is beta software. Mac users can opt in here, then watch instantly with Safari or Firefox 2+, with the Silverlight plugin in place. Movie selection is somewhat limited.
Cellphones

EU Wants Removable Batteries In iPhones 320

Posted by CmdrTaco from the so-do-i dept.
MojoKid writes "Current regulation, introduced with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) in July of 2006, primarily sought to prevent the unnecessary use of toxic metals in batteries as well as making it easier to recycle and dispose of used batteries. The updated 'New Batteries Directive,' as discussed in New Electronics by Gary Nevision, would go much further. Article 11 of the directive, as currently written, would require that devices must be made in such a way as to allow batteries, either for replacement or at end of life for disposal to be 'readily removed.' Of course, Apple's iPhones and iPods wouldn't meet this requirement, as it stands. It's obvious that an iPhone battery replacement program could be considered a cash cow for Apple as well."
Transportation

Qantas Blames Wireless For Aircraft Incidents 773

Posted by CmdrTaco from the lotta-finger-pointing dept.
musther writes "An Australian airline Qantas Airbus A330-300, suffered 'a sudden change of altitude' on Tuesday. "The mid-air incident resulted in injuries to 74 people, with 51 of them treated by three hospitals in Perth for fractures, lacerations and suspected spinal injuries when the flight bound from Singapore to Perth had a dramatic drop in altitude that hurled passengers around the cabin." Now it seems Qantas is seeking to blame interference from passenger electronics, and it's not the first time; 'In July, a passenger clicking on a wireless mouse mid-flight was blamed for causing a Qantas jet to be thrown off course.' Is there any precedent for wireless electronics interfering with aircraft systems? Interfering with navigation instruments is one thing, but causing changes in the 'elevator control system' — I would be quite worried if I thought the aircraft could be flown with a bluetooth mouse."
Space

Submission + - Indian moon mission to launch next month (rediff.com)

Submitted by
Anil Kandangath
Anil Kandangath writes: "The Indian moon mission plans have been covered earlier by Slashdot here. While the spacecraft itself will not land on the Moonit will act as an orbiter and land a rover on the surface. The spacecraft is being launched next month sometime between October 22 and October 26. The spacecraft payload includes 11 payloads (including one from NASA) and will perform remote sensing and studies of the lunar surface. The mission is estimated to cost Rs 386 crore (~ 7.7 million USD)"

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