Comment Re:Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and (Score 1) 525
My son has used this book, and I can thoroughly recommend it. It leads the kid through programming by getting them to write various games in python - increasing in complexity throughout. When I was kid learning to program, writing games is what I first wanted to do. The book gets the tone just right, and I think my son has enjoyed working with it.
Comment RIP Anne (Score 1) 181
Goodbye Anne. RIP.
Comment Re:Don't like beer. (Score 1) 840
SNAP! Well almost snap. I don't like coffee (or tea), or smoking. I like beer, but turned teetotal 2.5 years ago for health reasons. Also don't do drugs (or religion, so being a mormon is definitely off).
Now, I'll just sit here by myself, reading slashdot and drinking my water. I'm enjoying myself dammit!!
The First Photograph of a Human 138
wiredog writes "The Atlantic has a brief piece on what is likely to be the first photograph (a daguerreotype) showing a human. From the article: 'In September, Krulwich posted a set of daguerreotypes taken by Charles Fontayne and William Porter in Cincinnati 162 years ago, on September 24, 1848. Krulwich was celebrating the work of the George Eastman House in association with the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Using visible-light microscopy, the George Eastman House scanned several plates depicting the Cincinnati Waterfront so that scholars could zoom in and study the never-before-seen details.'"
Ubuntu Replaces F-Spot With Shotwell 361
climenole writes "Finally! The much discussed F-Spot vs. Shotwell battle is over. The new default image organizer app for Ubuntu Maverick 10.10 is going to be Shotwell. This is a much-needed change; F-Spot was simply not enough. Most of the times when I tried F-Spot, it just keeps crashing on me. Shotwell on the other hand feels a lot more solid and is better integrated with the GNOME desktop. Shotwell is also completely devoid of Mono."
Deadline Scheduling Proposed For the Linux Kernel 113
c1oud writes "At the last Real-Time Linux Workshop, held in September in Dresden, there was a lot of discussion about the possibility of enhancing real-time capabilities of Linux by adding a new scheduling class to the Linux kernel. According to most kernel developers, this new scheduling class should be based on the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) real-time algorithm. The first draft of the scheduling class was called 'SCHED_EDF,' and it was proposed and discussed on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) just before the workshop. Recently, a second version of the scheduling class (called 'SCHED_DEADLINE,' to meet the request of some kernel developers) was proposed. Moreover, the code has been moved to a public git repository on Gitorius. The implementation is part of a FP7 European project called ACTORS, and financially supported by the European commission. More details are available."
Playing a First-Person Shooter Using Real Guns 225
Blake writes "A group called Waterloo Labs rigged up a few accelerometers to a large wall and projected a first-person shooter onto it. Using some math, they can triangulate the position of impacts on the wall, so naturally they found someone with a gun and bought a large case of ammunition. Even cooler, this group usually posts a 'how we did it' video a few weeks after a project's debut, including source code."
Japanese Researchers Create Skiing Robot 52
An anonymous reader writes "In a bid to better understand the art of an effective ski turn researchers have recently built a robot to simulate the exact movements of a skier. The team of researchers from Kanazawa University in Japan built the ski robot to investigate the existing movements of skier's turns and see if there is any room for improvement on current techniques."
