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Comment old news (Score 1) 96

by nikkipolya (#34525270) Attached to: Researchers Develop Genuine 3D Camera

This news is 2 weeks old. I saw this very same video on youtube while I was searching for 3d cameras some two weeks ago. Was just curious as to what format the 3d cameras, if there are any, were storing their images in...

I have been waiting for 3d cameras to arrive for a long time now. Was imagining something that will probably shoot some kind of lasers may be, into the scene and capture the depth of the objects that I point to and reconstruct the scene in 3d. I don't think the camera in this video is portable enough. Meaning, it won't go far. It will most likely be like fusion in the tea cup.

Comment Re:Best quote ever. (Score 1) 266

by nikkipolya (#34524982) Attached to: Oracle Asks Apache To Rethink Java Committee Exit

Perl/Ruby? I don't think so. They might gain some tiny market share but that will be it. Python? May be a little more. Java may live on for a few more decades just like the other older programming languages from my fathers era still live on. But, I think the .NET platform is going to gain a whole lot of traction out of this mess. Unless there is new entrant into the scene, a counter weight to the M$ hegemony, that will be. May be Google GO? But it doesn't seem like Google is serious or in a hurry as yet. Got to wait and watch on that one.
GNU is Not Unix

Can Employer Usurp Copyright On GPL-Derived Work? 504

Posted by kdawson from the tangled-web dept.
An anonymous reader writes "I am a recent graduate, and I've been working on my own on a project that uses GPL-licensed libraries. Later a university department hired me, on a part-time basis, to develop this project into a solution that they needed. The project's size increased over time and soliciting help from the open source community seemed like the obvious thing to do. However, when I suggested this, my boss was not interested, and it was made clear to me that the department's position was that copyright of the whole thing belonged to them. Indeed, by default work created for an employer belongs to the employer, so I may have gotten myself in the same trap discussed here years ago. Even though I want to release my code to the public I don't know whether I have the legal right to do so. I did start the project on my own. And, since no written or verbal agreement was ever made to transfer copyright over to my employer, I question whether they can claim that they now own the extended version of the project. Also, the whole project relies on GPL libraries, and without those libraries it would be useless. Can they still claim copyright and prevent me from publishing the source code even though it is derived from GPL software?" Some early commenters on the submission pointed out that it matters whether the libraries were licensed under the LGPL vs. the GPL.
Censorship

Extremists Warn South Park Creators Over Muhammad In a Bear Suit 1131

Posted by CmdrTaco from the religion-is-wonderful dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A radical Islamic website is warning the creators of South Park that they could face violent retribution for depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode broadcast on Comedy Central last week. RevolutionMuslim.com posted the warning following the 200th episode of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park."
Input Devices

Demo of Laptop/Tabletop Hybrid UI 66

Posted by CmdrTaco from the computer-is-watching dept.
TheGrapeApe writes "The ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (ACMUIST) has an interesting proof-of-concept video up demonstrating the use of cameras and laser pico-projectors to 'extend' a laptop's user interface to adjacent surfaces. The video demonstrates some simple gestures like tapping and dragging being captured on the 'extended' surface. While the prototype appears to be somewhat cumbersome, it's easy to see how it might be more elegantly integrated into the hardware with more R&D."

Comment Re:Forrest Mims (Score 1) 301

by nikkipolya (#31829744) Attached to: Where To Start In DIY Electronics?

Wow! I was looking for some resources to teach myself the basics of electronics... These look good... Thanks! Will these books get me to the stage where I will be able to troubleshoot circuits in common house-hold appliances too? Any suggestions for that?
Biotech

MIT Researchers Harness Viruses To Split Water 347

Posted by Soulskill from the but-it's-harmless-trust-us dept.
ByronScott writes "A team of researchers at MIT has just announced that they have successfully modified a virus to split apart molecules of water, paving the way for an efficient and non-energy-intensive method of producing hydrogen fuel. 'The team, led by Angela Belcher, the Germeshausen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Biological Engineering, engineered a common, harmless bacterial virus called M13 so that it would attract and bind with molecules of a catalyst (the team used iridium oxide) and a biological pigment (zinc porphyrins). The viruses became wire-like devices that could very efficiently split the oxygen from water molecules. Over time, however, the virus-wires would clump together and lose their effectiveness, so the researchers added an extra step: encapsulating them in a microgel matrix, so they maintained their uniform arrangement and kept their stability and efficiency.'"
Robotics

5-Axis Robot Carves Metal Like Butter 277

Posted by kdawson from the measure-your-head-very-carefully dept.
kkleiner sends along an amazing video of what robot-controlled machining is coming to. "Industrial robots are getting precise enough that they're less like dumb machines and more like automated sculptors producing artwork. Case in point: Daishin's Seki 5-axis mill. The Japanese company celebrated its 50th anniversary last year by using this machine to carve ... a full-scale motorcycle helmet out of one piece of aluminum. No breaks, no joints, the 5-Axis mill simply pivots and rotates to carve metal at some absurd angles. Every cut is guided by sophisticated 3-D design software (Openmind’s HyperMill)."
Medicine

PARC Builds iPod-Sized HIV Detector 93

Posted by timothy from the use-the-y-jack dept.
MikeChino writes "Right now it's difficult, if not impossible, to quickly detect HIV in patients living in impoverished countries. That may all change soon, though — researchers at a California outfit called the Palo Alto Research Center have built an iPod-sized handheld device that can provide an immune check-up in under 10 minutes — all with a prick of the finger. With millions of people around the world without access to a full-size laboratory, PARC's device could revolutionize the detection and treatment of HIV."
Linux Business

SoftMaker Office 2010 For Linux Nearing Release 110

Posted by timothy from the put-your-words-in-a-row dept.
martin-k writes "SoftMaker Office is a Microsoft-compatible office suite that competes with OpenOffice.org. Its creator, German software publisher SoftMaker, is nearing completion of the latest release, SoftMaker Office 2010 for Linux. This new release offers document tabs, high-quality filters for the Microsoft Office 2007 file formats DOCX and XLSX, and presentation-quality charts in the spreadsheet. It also brings integration into KDE and Gnome, using the system's colors and fonts. A release candidate is available as a free download."

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