Comment: Re:Eh? (Score 1) 90
On Meego (specifically the N9 ) the whole enviroment uses X11, not as an option, but as the primary display server.
Comment: Re:Ball drones (Score 1) 108
Last time I read about this ball drone the estimated battery life was around 15 minutes, making it useful for a very limited range. Also, this ball "drone" is still remote-controlled, putting it definitely outside of the drone category, although similar devices have been adapted to autonomous fly even by hobbyists.
Unless someone can get a power source with better weight/stored energy ratio than the batteries usualy found at these devices, those drones will still be toys. Maybe a buoyant/quadcopter hybrid could overcome this, using far less energy to stay flying and depending on volume, a useful payload capacity.
+ - New Linux Radeon Driver Enables Full 2D Acceleration For HD 7000->
Submitted
by
skade88
skade88 writes "From the Phoronix article: 'A commit to the xf86-video-ati driver this morning by AMD's Michel Dänzer says it enables full 2D acceleration for the Radeon HD 7000 "Southern Islands" GPUs.
While the AMD Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards have been out for one year now, the open-source support has been shoddy. AMD was fairly quick in delivering kernel mode-setting support, but the 3D bring-up has been slow. There were significant architectural changes to the GPU between the HD 6000 and HD 7000 series hardware, which necessitated the introduction of a new Gallium3D driver called RadeonSI, but for end-users simply wanting their hardware to work on open-source software, it's been a damn slow process.'"
Link to Original Source
While the AMD Radeon HD 7000 series graphics cards have been out for one year now, the open-source support has been shoddy. AMD was fairly quick in delivering kernel mode-setting support, but the 3D bring-up has been slow. There were significant architectural changes to the GPU between the HD 6000 and HD 7000 series hardware, which necessitated the introduction of a new Gallium3D driver called RadeonSI, but for end-users simply wanting their hardware to work on open-source software, it's been a damn slow process.'"
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Why? (Score 1) 106
Also, slax has a "run from memory" mode where the whole distro is loaded to ram, and as such after booting it runs hellish fast. So a computer with 1Gb of ram can still run the whole OS from ram very fast. I already used this mode to boot slax on a whole computer lab/classroom from a single usb drive.
Comment: Re:If you don't need X Window, it could even small (Score 1) 106
I don't know much about the latest version (7.0), but on previous versions Slax could be reduced to use only the "core" module, which used to be around 50Mb containing only command line tools. It is very handy as a base to build a personalized live cd using slackware packages or a remote boot image.
Comment: Re:SMS from my computer? (Score 1) 286
Using a 3G usb cheap modem you already can do it, using for example gammu.
Comment: Re:Users won't care (Score 1) 286
but the point is, android can ultimately run mozilla os apps too. on the same hw mozilla os runs.
mozilla os isn't even the first html5 ui for mobile attempt nor the first "hey let's do apps in html5 for mobile!" attempt. nokia wasted hundreds of millions on that shit already. mozilla just went because html5 because they build a browser.
I guess you are confusing Nokia with Palm/HP, as WebOS ran on html+js and Meego/Maemo used gtk and latter Qt with 100% native apps
Comment: Re:Google is evil (Score 1) 352
Truth is, as most of the code on android is apache licenced or GPL (as the kernel) there is no need to ask google's permission to make anything with it.
Except for two things, some OEMs get advanced access to the code base before it's released to the general public and some OEMs get special access to the core Android developers if they can't get something to work on their own.
Exactly. Google can't "ban" anyone from using android source code, but they can deny access to their proprietary apps and also from being part of the Nexus product line, which obviously depends on early access to the sources and SDK. Also, it is somewhat clear that access to core android developers during a device development is a valuable asset to any manufacturer, as it is the closest to a community android gets due to the open source/closed development environment strategy used by Google.
Comment: Re:Google is evil (Score 5, Interesting) 352
Truth is, as most of the code on android is apache licenced or GPL (as the kernel) there is no need to ask google's permission to make anything with it. The only parts of the operating system that are under a non-permissive licence that can be considered a showstoper would be the "brand" apps, as gmail, youtube and the google play store.
Comment: Re:creating 3D models of historical buildings (Score 5, Informative) 27
by
evandrofisico
(#40005005)
Attached to: Modeling People and Places With Internet Photo Collections
I guess it is the photosynth project. Apparently it became one silverlight demo only.
Comment: Re:Double standards (Score 1) 329
The EU is not a "continent sized country", it IS a fucking continent.
Travelling Salesman, Thriller Set In a World Where P=NP
165
Posted
by
Unknown Lamer
from the very-serious-faces-throughout dept.
from the very-serious-faces-throughout dept.
mikejuk writes with this excerpt from I Programmer: "A movie that features science and technology is always welcome, but is it not often we have one that focuses on computer science. Travelling Salesman is just such a rare movie. As you can guess from its name, it is about the Travelling Salesman problem, more precisely about the P=NP question. Written and directed by Timothy Lanzone, and produced by Fretboard Pictures, it should premiere on June 16. As the blurb to the movie trailer says: 'Travelling Salesman is an intellectual thriller about four of the world's smartest mathematicians hired by the U.S. government to solve the most elusive problem in computer science history — P vs. NP. The four have jointly created a "system" which could be the next major advancement for humanity or the downfall of society.'"
In Theory And Practice, Why Internet-Based Voting Is a Bad Idea 218
Posted
by
timothy
from the but-what-do-these-guys-know? dept.
from the but-what-do-these-guys-know? dept.
A few countries, like Estonia, have gone for internet-based voting in national elections in a big way, and many others (like Ireland and Canada) have experimented with it. For Americans, with a presidential election approaching later this year, it's a timely issue: already, some states have come to allow at least certain forms of voting by internet. Proponents say online elections have compelling upsides, chief among them ease of participation. People who might not otherwise vote — in particular military personnel stationed abroad, but many others besides — are more and more reached by internet access. Online voting offers a way to keep the electoral process open to them. With online voting, too, there's no worry about conventional absentee ballots being lost or delayed in the postal system, either before reaching the voter or on the way back to be counted. The downsides, though, are daunting. According to RSA panelists David Jefferson and J. Alex Halderman, in fact, they're overwhelming. Speaking Thursday afternoon, the two laid out their case against e-voting.
(Read more for more, and look for a video interview with Halderman soon).
(Read more for more, and look for a video interview with Halderman soon).
NYT: IBM PC Division Sold To Advance China's Goals 210
Posted
by
timothy
from the long-term-strategy dept.
from the long-term-strategy dept.
theodp writes "Back in 2005, Wharton's Michael Useem speculated that IBM's sale of its PC Division to Lenovo was more about ingratiating Big Blue with the Chinese government than getting top dollar for the assets. 'Government relationships are key in China,' Useem explained. Now, a NY Times article on outgoing IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano seems to confirm that Useem's analysis was spot-on. From the NYT article: 'In 2004, I.B.M. sold its PC business to Lenovo of China. Mr. Palmisano says he deflected overtures from Dell and private equity firms, preferring the sale to a company in China for strategic reasons: the Chinese government wants its corporations to expand globally, and by aiding that national goal, I.B.M. enhanced its stature in the lucrative Chinese market, where the government still steers business.'"
Comment: Re:xcompmgr (Score 1) 357
Take a look at cairo composite manager. In my experience, it is faster than xcompmgr and runs on any window manager.