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Comment Re:Evolution... (Score 1) 225

You may not even need a data connection!!
I attended TEDx Adelaide last weekend where Paul Gardner-Stephen spoke about the Serval Project. There's two parts to the project. One is a mesh network that uses your phone's built in wi-fi. The other is more aimed at disaster relief and uses small phone towers that can be air dropped .
From the Serval Project site (link above)

Communicate anywhere, any time without infrastructure, without mobile towers, without satellites, without wifi hotspots, and without carriers. Use existing off-the-shelf mobile cell phone handsets. Use your existing mobile phone number wherever you go, and never pay roaming charges again. Communications should not just be for the fortunate — communication should be freely available to everyone, because we believe communication should be a human right. Serval enables mobile communications no matter what your circumstance: mobile communications in the face of disaster, in the face of poverty, in the face of isolation, in the face of civil unrest, or in the face of network black-spots. In short, Serval provides resilient mobile communications for all people, anywhere in the universe. Serval technology bridges the digital divide. We have proved that it is possible, using open source technology to create a mobile communications platform that benefits everyone, for all time, and changes the nature of telecommunications forever.

Comment Re:But can it... (Score 1) 129

"But does this mean that they have discovered a way to "plug in" a computer to a brain?"

No, well, at least not quite. To do so would require them to take a signal directly the neurons in your brain. Currently, the only way to do that at this scale is to cut open your skull and stick a whole lot of tiny electrodes in there.
What they have done is make a hardware implementation of an artificial neural network. These have been widely simulated in software, and loads of other people have done similar things. The thing that makes this project stand out is the scale - those things are tiny!

Comment Is there a Middle Ground? (Score 1) 720

After reading yesterday's post on Creating the Software Art In Tron Legacy I started thinking about the limited way I was using the shell in my day to day work. I was thinking that there has to be a better way, some sort of middle ground between the shell and GUI. I don't want to give up the power that the shell provides, I don't even want to take my hands off the keyboard - I just want a richer more contextual display. My computer is capable of rendering very slick graphics but my shell makes no use of it. Does anyone know of any projects that are working towards a graphically enhanced shell?

Comment Re:Unfortunately... (Score 1) 839

I was just reading about something similar on the RiAus On Demand site:

The Genographic Project is a not-for-profit, five-year, global research partnership between National Geographic and IBM that uses genetics as a tool to provide insight about the migratory history of the human species on a global scale. Hosted by Professor Alan Cooper, Genographic Project Principal Investigator, this “reveal” eventwill examine the results of the Adelaide public swabbing and includes the ancient ancestry of national identities who have also participated in the project.

Comment Make it as simple as possible and no simpler! (Score 1) 421

I've been reading through lots of the posts here and there seems to be quite a few instances where people have spent a lot of time and money designing systems that ultimately don't get used. My suggestion is this: Start simple. Get a working system up and running and do it with budget to spare. Once your team has been using it for a while ask them what they want.

Comment Cultivate a bit of self discipline (Score 2, Informative) 396

You don't need to make it more interesting, you need to make it part of your routine. It's like waking up at 6am to go for a run. The first few times you do it it'll be hard, but if you stick to it and do it every single day it will become just something you do. Start small - don't try to run a marathon in your first week, just don't make any excuses or invent reasons to skip it just this once. The fact that you care enough to ask slashdot suggests that it is important enough to you to make the effort. If you can make the change and stick to it you will probably find more fulfillment in your work.
Australia

A How-To Website For Australian Voters 158

Twisted64 writes "If you're interested in voting below the line in the upcoming federal election in Australia, but don't want to waste time in the booth individually ranking up to 76 candidates (for the unfortunates in New South Wales), then Cameron McCormack's website may have what you need. The website allows voters to set their preferences beforehand, dragging and dropping Stephen Conroy at the bottom of the barrel and thrusting the Sex Party into pole position (as an utterly random example). Once preferences are set, the site can generate a PDF to be printed and taken to the booth." (More, below.)

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