deopmix - Slashdot User

Australia To Build Fiber-To-the-Premises Network 300

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 07, 2009 @02:21AM from the no-censorship-on-the-wire-of-course dept.

candiman writes "The Australian PM, Kevin Rudd, has just announced that none of the private sector submissions to build a National Broadband Network was up to the standard, so instead the government is going to form a private company to build a fiber to the premises network. The network will connect to 90% of premises delivering 100Mb/s. The remaining 10% will be reached with wireless and satellite delivering up to 12Mb/s. The network cost has been estimated at 43 billion AU dollars over 8 years of construction — and is expected to employ 47,000 people at peak. It will be wholesale only and completely open access. As an Australian who voted for the other guys, all I can say is, wow."

Comment Re:Urban Dead cosplaying? (Score 2, Funny) 547

by deopmix on Thursday March 27, 2008 @12:42AM (#22878368) Attached to: Roleplayers Seek Removal of Nerf Gun Ban

I need a +1 Introspective Mod.

Feed Artificial cerebellum could improve robot motor skills (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @05:14PM

Filed under: Robots

Sure, modern robots can clean up after you, keep watch on the kids, and chase away unwanted intruders, but there's no denying that an unexpected gust or stray stack of Lego blocks can bring even the most sophisticated humanoid to its knees. To cure such clumsiness, researchers at the University of Granada are reportedly working with electronic engineers, physicists, and neuroscientists from a range of universities including Edinburgh, Israel and Paris as a part of the Sensopac project which aims at "reproducing an artificial cerebellum." The application of the cerebellum would allow androids to purportedly "carry out similar tasks as mammals and might help to treat cognitive diseases such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's." Apparently, the team is hoping to create an implantable device to "make movements and interaction with humans more natural" within two years, and while it's probably obvious, one of its primary uses would be in home-help robots who need to be agile whilst aiding the elderly.

[Via BBC, image courtesy of Sensopac]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Cooler Silicon Lasers Via Energy Harvesting 31

Posted by CowboyNeal on Friday May 04, 2007 @02:08PM from the more-power-to-ya dept.

Light Licker writes "UCLA researchers have developed a way to cut power use and heat output from a silicon laser used for optoelectronics. Both have been problems because silicon absorbs too much light — producing high-energy free electrons that make heat. One of Intel's best silicon lasers produced 125 times more heat than usable light. The UCLA team added a diode to their laser which can harvest free electrons and use them to help power the circuit — simultaneously cutting heat output and power use."

Harnessing High Altitude Wind Power 132

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday April 14, 2007 @11:45AM from the just-a-lot-of-air dept.

jakosc writes "The Economist has an interesting article about increasing the efficiency of wind-powered generators by turning them into flying wind farms. These tethered generators would harness high speed jet stream winds above 15,000 ft and in theory could give outputs of 40MW per generator (PDF). The developer's website has more details of some of the safety, technological, and economic issues."

Microsoft's Patent Pledge "Worse Than Useless" 140

Posted by Zonk on Friday November 10, 2006 @04:22PM from the infinity-bad dept.

munchola writes "The Software Freedom Law Center has declared that Microsoft's patent pledge to open source developers is 'worse than useless'. SFLC chief technology officer, Bradley Kuhn, has written to FOSS developers warning them that 'developers are no safer from Microsoft patents now than they were before'. According to Kuhn: 'The patent covenant only applies to software that you develop at home and keep for yourself; the promises don't extend to others when you distribute. You cannot pass the rights to your downstream recipients, even to the maintainers of larger projects on which your contribution is built.'"

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