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Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Macbook Pro Display only capable of 262,144 Colour

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: People have been noticing the Apple Macbook Pros have grainy displays. Apparently the problem lies in that the Macbook Pro's display is only capable of displaying 262,144 colours at a time. Beyond that it dithers, thus the graininess. For any old Amigans out there, they'll remember that number from HAM8! This link explains the nature of the problem in greater detail. How sad that Apple's flagship notebook display is defective by design.
Programming

Submission + - The Future of Languages and Software Composability

Submitted by LifeForm42
LifeForm42 writes: Very interesting interview on Microsoft's Channel 9 with Anders Hejlsberg, Herb Sutter, Erik Meijer and Brian Beckman covering the future of programming languages and software composability. Seems like the trend for imperative languages is to become more functional in nature as a way to deal with concurrency and multi-core hardware innovations.
Announcements

Submission + - Put the Amiga Demoscene in your DVD Player

Submitted by
Jason Scott
Jason Scott writes: "Four years ago, the crew at Hornet put out a collection of PC demos spanning 10 years on a DVD, and called it "Mindcandy". Everyone asked when they'd come out with a DVD of demos for other platforms, and just four short years later, they've announced MindCandy 2: Amiga Demos. It's got 30 Amiga demos rendered on the original hardware, a documentary about how a demoparty is run, and even 5.1 surround remixes of all the music. Additionally, they're sponsoring a rare US demoparty this April called Blockparty. It's a great year for demos!"
Security

Submission + - How protect your new RFID Passports from stealing?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: We've all heard that RFID passports (which every new passport will now be) are insecure and easily cloneable. So my questions to slashdotters: 1. Is it vulnerable in a pocket? 2. Can I protect it in a pocket? Pack it in metal? 3. Is there anything you can do to protect an RFID card/passport? A small keychain electronic that sends out a signal? What options are there?

Listening Robot Senses Snipers 303

Posted by CowboyNeal from the careful-what-you-say dept.
Dr. Eggman writes "Popular Science has a brief piece on the RedOwl, a brainy-looking flightless robot that can 'read a nametag from across a football field and identify the make and model of a rifle fired a mile away simply by analyzing the sound of the distant blast.' For a paltry $150,000, the machine utilizes robotic hearing technology originally developed by Boston University's Photonics Center to improve hearing aids to sense a shot fired and pinpoint its source, identify it as a hostile or friendly weapon, and illuminate the target with a laser visible only with night vision. The RedOwl, built on an iRobot packbot platform and controlled via a modified Xbox videogame controller, can figure out the location of a target 3,000 feet away, allowing troops to call in a precision air strike."
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs

Submitted by
JoshuaBenuck
JoshuaBenuck writes: "[EDITORS: PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOCK]
Phone number: 801-722-5744 (I didn't see anyplace else to put this.)
Email: joshua_benuck@yahoo.com
I should be reachable via either of these two methods.
[/EDITORS]
'Make Projects: Small Form Factor PCs' provides detailed step-by-step instructions on building a variety of small form factor systems, starting from the larger ones (about the size of a shoe box) and working its way down to the smallest (which is about the size of a pack of gum). It includes instructions on creating a digital audio jukebox, digital video recorder, wireless network range extender, home network gateway, network monitor, portable firewall, cheap Wi-Fi SSH client, and a Bluetooth LED sign.

First off, this is a PDF that, as far as I can tell, is only available from oreilly's website. Most of the projects in the book will require at least $300 dollars to complete.

If you who don't know why you would want to use a small form factor PC there is a good discussion of why you might want to consider using one in the introduction along with a list of some of the currently available small form factor PCs. You'll need to keep in mind that some of the systems mentioned would be more commonly referred to as embedded systems so the authors have expanded the definition of what 'small form factor PC' means. Not all of the systems mentioned are used in one of the projects in the book so if you get bored or are looking for another small system to play with, this may be a good resource.

The remaining chapters deal with projects that each use one of the systems mentioned in the introduction. The chapter headings show a picture of the finished product, a list of needed components, a bar showing the time it will take, and a rating of difficulty from 'easy' to 'difficult'. The bars and pictures provide a quick indication of what you are getting yourself into with one glaring exception; they do not tell you how much money you'll need to sink into the project. In order to find this information you'll need to go back to the introduction and read through the paragraph that tells you about the system used in the chapter.

This is followed by an overview of what is going to be built and which system was chosen for the implementation along with a description of its unique characteristics that made it a good fit for the project. A lot of emphasis is put on the power consumption of the various components. They even measure it at startup, shutdown, and during normal operations. This is used to make a couple of power and cooling design decisions.

If you're like me, you don't like when your systems makes a lot of noise (Especially ones that aren't supposed to look like they have a computer in them). This book gives a good overview on what to look for when building a system that you want to be as quiet as possible. They mention whether the system can get away with passive cooling (e.g. no fans) and they show some very non-conventional ways to reduce the noise production of a system (such as hanging a hard drive from wires within an enclosure).

The step-by-step instructions on assembling the hardware components of the systems include plenty of good quality pictures that should make it easy to follow along with the various projects. The pictures are about a third the width of the page which I feel is a good size. They are crisp, clear, and add to the discussion of the topic at hand.

If you are an experienced Linux or BSD user you'll probably be able to skim most of the step-by-step operating system installation instructions. If you are new to Linux and BSD the steps should help you find your way to project completion. Just don't expect the book to have all of the answers all of the time. I feel it is impossible for one book to contain the answers to all the questions that someone new to this area may have. That said, I think this book does an admirable job at giving you what you need to succeed.

Littered throughout the text are various warnings, other options, and lessons learned which I found to be valuable. Some of these include mistakes the authors made (such as using a WinTV-Go card instead of a higher model with a built-in MPEG decoder), using a CF Card Reader if you are unable to use NFS to transfer files to a system that uses a Compact Flash card, and numerous other practical tidbits that should serve to save you some frustration when trying to do the projects on your own.

You don't have to use the hardware platforms or components recommended in this book to gain benefit from its contents. I've used the instructions on setting up the Linux Infrared Remote Control (lirc) project to help with an Iguanaworks USB Infrared Transceiver (a device that sends and receives infrared signals) while the authors used an Irman receiver. The MythTV box I've setup uses Ubuntu Linux instead of Gentoo Linux and uses a spare system instead of the Shuttle XPC used in the book. I found the instructions in the book to be indispensable as I worked through this.

I've never done a case mod before, but I like the idea of being able to hide away a computer in something that looks like a decoration. There is a detailed explanation of how the authors used an old antique radio as a cover for their digital jukebox. I enjoyed the discussion of the various places they could put the power supply, infrared receiver, and other design considerations. It really gave me a feel for what types of questions I'll need to answer as I do a case mod myself.

That leads me to what I think is the biggest strength of this book. It is the very conversational way in which the authors tell you what they did, why they did it, and what they could have done. Along the way they provide links for further information, and search terms that can help you learn more about the topic at hand. The book is packed with information that is up-to-date, accurate, valuable, and easy-to-read.

That said, some of the information will lose value over time. For example, the specific gumstix computer that was used does not appear to be available anymore. This is probably a good thing since the authors had to make some adjustments to get the 200 Mhz Bluetooth enabled version to work. I mention it only to point out that the information on the specific systems and the other instructions will lose value over time. It is impossible to future proof a work likes this.

The projects in this book opened my mind to a whole new world of what is possible with small systems. I haven't had a chance to purchase of the specific systems mentioned, but the information on setting up the various software and hardware components has already proven the book's worth. I look forward to one day getting my hands on the systems mentioned so I can gain the full advantage that small form factors provide. So if you don't mind spending $300+ to play with some a small form factor PC or you love to tinker with networking, or multimedia applications then you might want to give this book a try. I certainly don't regret it."
GUI

Submission + - Linux related videos from CES

Submitted by
Charbax
Charbax writes: "Here are some of the Linux related videos from CES 2007: The 100$ Laptop OLPC is running Pepper OS, a demonstration of the OLPC displays visibility outdoors and OLPC Chief Connectivity Officer Michail Bletsas talking about the Mesh networking, OLPC C-sound music synthesiser demo, OLPC talk with Marvell representative about possible upcoming 802.11N and WiMax versions of the 100$ Laptop. Also a nice Geode-based Fedora-Linux tablet demo of the PepperPad 3. Finally a Nokia N800 interview with the product manager. You can post more links to Linux related videos from CES 2007 in the comments.."
Editorial

Submission + - An Underdog Story: How the Wii Became Number One

Submitted by
John Misak
John Misak writes: "GWN have published a thought-provoking editorial piece on the past, present and future of the Wii and PS3. From the article:

"Has the world gone mad? At this time last year Sony was sitting comfortably on top of the gaming console hill. Nintendo rolled the dice with the Wii and it seems to have come up seven for the company, while Sony is constantly betting the hard eight and losing chips by the handful.

Sony still sits atop the gaming heap, but may not be resting all that comfortably these days. It's interesting that the first few PS3 consoles sold in the US came with a Blu-Ray copy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby because Sony is now a bit like Will Ferrell's Ricky, seeing that competitor coming up fast from behind. Instead of a gay French NASCAR driver, it's an Italian plumber coming by way of Japan, Sony's home turf.

An in-depth look at exactly how it happened."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - DigiPen Forces Slamdance Reinstatement

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Slamdance saga continues. Water Cooler Games is reporting that DigiPen Institute of Technology has re-admitted Toblo as a finalist against the creators' wishes. Apparently, DigiPen possesses the game's IP and has decided to overrule the team's previous decision to withdraw from the festival. The team has stated on their website that they will not present their game at the festival and plan on refusing any awards it might receive.
Books

Submission + - "The Diamond Age" becoming a mini-series o

Submitted by duffetta
duffetta writes: According to The SciFi Channel George Clooney and others are working on developing several shows and pilots to be aired by the network. Clooney is working on a mini-series of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age.

From the release:

"When a prominent member of society concludes that the futuristic civilization in which he lives is stifling creativity, he commissions an interactive book for his daughter that serves as a guide through a surreal alternate world. Stephenson will adapt his novel for the miniseries, the first time the Hugo and Nebula award winner has written for TV."

I wonder how they are going to do the "Drummer" scenes without an R or NC17 rating?
Enlightenment

Submission + - 21st Century Superbus to help speed commutes

Submitted by djupedal
djupedal writes: A Superbus for the 21st Century

And so the Superbus has been designed to rescue us from congestion. It's the same length as a conventional bus, but that is where the similarities end. It is only one meter 60 centimeters high to maximize aerodynamics and electrically powered. It is also intended to run on roads and dedicated high-speed tracks at over 150 mph.

While it combines the high-speed service of trains with the flexibility of a normal bus, the biggest novelty of the project is the way it combines so many elements of innovation.

"We know how to make light weight materials, how to design and make beautiful vehicles, how to use IT and SMS technology, so what we're trying to do is bring them all together."

Former BMW-Williams Formula 1 designer Dr. Antonia Terzi has been employed to design the Superbus, so it's no wonder it looks more like a futuristic sports limousine rather than a brick with wheels.
Robotics

Submission + - Nanobot to perform surgery

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An international team of scientists is developing what they say will be the world's first microrobot — as wide as two human hairs — that can swim through the arteries and digestive system. The scientists are designing the 250-micron device to transmit images and deliver microscopic payloads to parts of the body outside the reach of existing catheter technology.

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