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Comment See "Atari Emulation of CRT Effects On LCDs" (Score 5, Informative) 367

by fractalVisionz (#30126718) Attached to: Making Old Games Look Good On Modern LCDs?
"A group at Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a fun little open source program to emulate the CRT effects to make old Atari games look like they originally did when played on modern LCD's and digital displays. Things like color bleed, ghosting, noise, etc. are reproduced to give a more realistic appearance."

From Slashdot story Atari Emulation of CRT Effects On LCDs.

Comment Re:international? (Score 1) 542

by fractalVisionz (#29818713) Attached to: The Kindle Killer Arrives
From http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/support/:

Q. Can I use my nook while traveling abroad?
A. Yes, when you travel abroad, you can read any files that are already on your nook. You can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots that do not use proxy security settings, such those commonly used in hotels, and download eBooks and subscriptions already in your online digital library. You cannot, however, purchase additional eBooks and subscriptions.

Q. Will new issues of eNewspapers and eMagazines be downloaded to my nook while I'm traveling?
A. Yes, if you are traveling in the United States, or if you are abroad but connected to a supported Wi-Fi hotspot, new issues are delivered to your online digital library in both cases. When travelling abroad without Wi-Fi access, new issues are not downloaded to your nook (automatically or manually).

So no, it isn't international.
Communications

New Kind of Orbit Could Ease Mars Communications 127

Posted by kdawson from the crossing-gravitational-gradients dept.
japan_dan writes "An interesting way to enable Earth-Mars communication when the Sun occludes the direct radio line-of-sight: ESA proposes placing a pair of continuous-thrusting relay satellites, using a solar electric propulsion system — one in front and ahead of Mars, the other behind and below — with both following non-Keplerian, so-called 'B-orbits'. This means the direction of thrust is perpendicular to the satellites' direction of flight, allowing them to 'hover' with both Earth and Mars in view. Quoting from the Q&A: 'We found that a pair of relay satellites would only have to switch on their thrusters for about 90 days out of every 2.13-year period, and this solution would only increase the one-way signal travel time by one minute, so it could be effective.'" Here is the paper describing non-Keplerian orbits (PDF).
Math

Computer-Based System To Crack Down On Casino Card Counters 597

Posted by timothy from the de-niro-system-more-effective dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Yahoo Tech outlining a system currently being researched: "Card counting is perfectly legal — all a counter does is attempt to keep track of whether the cards remaining in a deck are favorable to his winning a hand (mainly if there are lots of tens and aces remaining in the deck) — but it's deeply frowned upon by Vegas casinos. Those caught counting cards are regularly expelled from casinos on the spot and are often permanently banned from returning. But given the slim house odds on Blackjack, it's often said that a good card counter can actually tip the odds in his favor by carefully controlling the way he bets his hands. And Vegas really doesn't care for that. The anti-card-counter system uses cameras to watch players and keep track of the actual 'count' of the cards, the same way a player would. It also measures how much each player is betting on each hand, and it syncs up the two data points to look for patterns in the action. If a player is betting big when the count is indeed favorable, and keeping his chips to himself when it's not, he's fingered by the computer... and, in the real world, he'd probably receive a visit from a burly dude in a bad suit, too. The system reportedly works even if the gambler intentionally attempts to mislead it with high bets at unfavorable times." It's not developed in Vegas, though, according to the brief description (the other projects are also interesting) from the University of Dundee's release, but rather in conjunction with the Dundee Casino.

Comment Re:How fast is this thing? (Score 1) 145

by fractalVisionz (#29728133) Attached to: Kindle Finally Ready For Global Distribution

The flicker, which I don't consider unpleasant, is due to the physical properties of e-ink. It is a bi-stable screen, which means that little black pixels are electromagnetically moved up and down in white fluid to produce an image that stays without power, pretty much forever. This is why e-readers with e-ink screens have a battery life of over 2 weeks, no screen to actively power.

As far as the kindle goes, K2 is pretty fast, on the order of 250 ms (screen limitation, not hardware/software). I haven't seen any faster, but I am sure that as the technology evolves, the refresh time will shrink considerably.
Communications

Communicator Clothing 134

Posted by samzenpus from the can-you-wear-me-now dept.
coondoggie writes "The crew of the classic science-fiction show's Starship Enterprise wore small devices on their chests that they could tap to communicate instantly with their colleagues. Such communications technology is now closer to reality thanks to a Finnish company which this week demonstrated high-tech clothing that can send and receive messages via satellite. The demonstrator antenna, built by the Patria Aviation Oy company, looks like a simple patch of cloth but is capable of operating in the Iridium and GPS frequency band as part of clothing. The Iridium satellites allow two-way voice and data communication, while GPS provides positional data to the user. Iridium could also relay the position of the user."

Comment Re:And? (Score 4, Informative) 100

by fractalVisionz (#29466937) Attached to: Amazon Delaying Public Domain Submissions On Kindle
No, the PD books on Amazon are free. However, there have been an ever increasing amount of duplicates submitted by 3rd parties that have a price tag. They are just trying to remove the duplicates that have the price tag to provide a better user experience.

Please see Pride and Prejudice kindle store search. The first PD copy that comes up is free, the rest charge. That is not a good user experience as the free one is just as good as the rest (or should be).

I completely agree with this policy, as it makes it easier for me, a user, to determine what book I should get. I don't think they should limit the different editions of books, but seriously, how many public domain books have multiple editions, like super deluxe edition with forward by Abraham Lincoln himself. Not many.

Comment Re: Not quite correct (Score 1) 835

by fractalVisionz (#29361127) Attached to: Does Your College Or University Support Linux?
Georgia Tech fully supports Linux, from ssh/scp, wan, san, and printing, to full desktops and software. Linux student software distribution. In addition, it even provides full linux OS's (just rhel). Everything you stated above is at Tech also.

I never had a single issue running Linux (gentoo) my entire time there, and there was a pretty decent LUG there too. In fact, even my freshman English courses made us use Linux for some tasks.
Security

Vulnerability, Potential Exploit In Cisco WLAN APs 35

Posted by timothy from the just-wrap-it-in-tin-foil dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The AirMagnet Intrusion Research Team has uncovered a new wireless vulnerability and potential exploit associated with Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure. The vulnerability involves Cisco's Over-the-Air-Provisioning (OTAP) feature found in its wireless access points. The potential exploit, dubbed SkyJack by AirMagnet, creates a situation whereby control of a Cisco AP can be obtained, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to gain access to a customer's wireless LAN."

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