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Microsoft, NASA Allow For 3D Shuttle View 84

Posted by Zonk from the we-can-see-you-up-there dept.
C|Net reports that a 3D software version of the space shuttle Endeavor is in the works, thanks to a collaboration project between Microsoft and NASA. The Photosynth viewer will allow fans of the space program an unprecedented level of detail in examining the shuttle and its surrounds at the Kennedy Space Center. ""It's much like a 3D video game--people can explore, walk around or fly around the shuttle," said Adam Sheppard, group product manager for Microsoft Live Labs, which developed the viewer. NASA said that the project could lead to more initiatives with the software giant. Chris Kemp, director of strategic business development at NASA's Ames Research Center, said that, for example, NASA could use the Photosynth technology on future space missions for activities such as inspecting the International Space Station and viewing landing sites on the moon."

Mash Apache Derby with New OpenOffice 2.0 feature 52

Posted by Hemos from the doing-the-mash-ups dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Document storage is hot, hot, hot! There has been an explosion of methodologies and tool sets — both open source and proprietary — to fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents. Mash Apache Derby with a new OpenOffice 2.0 feature to create a repository that lets you store, search, and extract ODF documents in a standards-based manner."
Upgrades

Journal Journal: Vista Upgrade Mess is Why You Can Cheat Upgrade?

Journal by twitter

Tom Greene imagines M$ is intentionally dumping Vista as a lower cost upgrade that wipes your data:

Microsoft has made a colossal mess of Vista upgrades with five separate editions that are each tied to specific previous editions of Windows, and very little in the way of guidance, except for a dysfunctional Upgrade Advisor. ...

Google

Submission + - Google accused of benefitting from piracy

Submitted by Clant
Clant writes: Google has been accused of benefiting from certain piracy websites because of the Adsense program, according to reports. Several major media companies have called on Google to properly screen their AdSense partners and stop supporting sites that are benefitting from piracy. From the article, "Legal filings show that Google worked with EasyDownloadCenter.com and TheDownloadPlace.com from 2003 to 2005, generating more than $1.1 million in revenue for the sites through the AdSense program. Google reportedly noticed the amount of traffic and advertising served by the two websites and assigned them an account representative to help optimize their efforts." Is this a new ploy to attack sites that are friendly to piracy?
Linux Business

IBM Launching an Open Desktop Solution 224

Posted by Hemos from the bridging-the-gap dept.
DJ_Maiko writes "IBM just announced their intent to release an open desktop solution which they're calling "Open Client Offering." The new offering will make it possible for big businesses to present their employees with a choice of running Linux, Macintosh or Windows software on desktop PCs, using the same underlying software code, which will cut the cost of managing Linux or Apple relative to Windows. If this project succeeds, it will make it unnecessary for companies to pay Microsoft for licenses for items that don't rely on Windows-based software. IBM plans to also roll this out in-house to 5% of their 320,000 employees worldwide. This sure seems like a promising endeavor. "
Graphics

Submission + - Vista not playing nice with FPS games

Submitted by
PetManimal
PetManimal writes: "Computerworld reports that gamers who have installed Vista are reporting problems with first person-shooter titles such as CounterStrike, Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. (users have compiled lists of games with Vista issues here). The complaints, which have turned up on gamers' forums, cite crashes and low FPS rates. The problems, not surprisingly, relate to graphics hardware and software:

Experts blame still-flaky software drivers, Vista's complexity and a dearth of new video cards optimized for Vista's new rendering technology, DirectX 10. That's despite promises from Microsoft that Vista is backwards-compatible with XP's graphic engine, DirectX 9, and that it will support existing games. Meanwhile, games written to take advantage of DirectX 10 have been slow to emerge. And one Nvidia executive predicts that gamers may not routinely see games optimized for DirectX 10 until mid-2008.
"
Space

Space Station Suffers Power Glitch 53

Posted by Hemos from the bad-times-in-space dept.
TheSexican writes "As if the MRO's vision problems weren't enough, it seems that NASA has another problem on their hands as of late. " The problem itself has been solved; one of the solar power array went off line, and had to be repaired, but is back up and working.
Encryption

Schneier On the US Crypto Competition 58

Posted by kdawson from the ante-up dept.
Bruce Schneier has a commentary in Wired titled An American Idol for Crypto Geeks on the US government's competition for a new cryptographic hash function to become the national standard, covered here recently. He talks about how much the competition, slated to wrap up by 2011, will advance the cryptographic state of the art. And how much fun he expects to have.
Businesses

EU Bans Sock-Puppet Blogs 393

Posted by kdawson from the named-and-shamed dept.
PhilipMarlowe9000 writes in with news of a new EU directive that will take effect in the UK at the end of this year to ban "sock-puppet" reviews or websites, part of an EU-wide overhaul of consumer laws. From the article: "Businesses that write fake blog entries or create whole wesbites purporting to be created by customers will fall foul of a European directive banning them from 'falsely representing oneself as a consumer.' From December 31, when the change becomes law in the UK, they can be named and shamed by trading standards or taken to court. The Times has learnt that the new regulations also will apply to authors who praise their own books under a fake identity on websites such as Amazon."
Media

Canadian Copyright Group Wants iPod Tax 408

Posted by kdawson from the oh-and-5-bucks-for-the-earbuds dept.
soulxtc writes "Unable to define memory as a 'recording medium,' Canada's Private Copyright Collective goes directly after portable music player devices, memory cards, and anything else that can be used to make private copies. The PCC submitted a proposal to the country's Copyright Board that suggests levies of $5 (Canadian) on devices with up to 1GB of memory, $25 for 1-10 GB, $50 for 10-30 GB, and $75 for over 30 GB. If approved, this propoal would increase the price of a 30-GB iPod by 26%. These collections are intended to compensate artists and labels for the losses they suffer when people 'illegally' copy or transfer music. The PCC is also seeking a new $2 to $10 tax on memory cards. The backbone of digital photography has become tangled up in the fight for making sure music companies get every nickel and dime they feel that they deserve."

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