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Comment Constantly reaching the "edge of space" (Score 1) 362

by jcasman (#35975664) Attached to: Voyager Set To Enter Interstellar Space

I'm a major fan of the Voyager project and remember vividly the pictures of Saturn when I was in high school. The engineering involved is impressive, in any context. I'd just like to point out that depending on the definition of space, solar system or which of the two Voyagers we are talking about, this event has occurred quite a few times now in the press. A quick Google search of news reveals at least this many announcements about reaching the "edge of space."

2008: http://www.space.com/5586-voyager-spacecraft-reveals-solar-system-edge.html

2009: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/29/near-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-voyager-2-finds-magnetic-fluff/

2010: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8201280/Voyager-1-reaches-edge-of-solar-system.html
Open Source

Submission + - ActivePython Updated for Finance, Scientific Users (pcworld.com)

Submitted by
jcasman
jcasman writes: "From PCWorld article ActivePython Updated for Finance, Scientific Users:
ActiveState has added three open source mathematics libraries to its ActivePython Python distribution that might interest financial and scientific computing markets, the company announced Thursday.
The packages are being added, in part, to anticipate the demand that may arise from new proposed rules for the U.S. financial community brought about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the company.
In April, the government agency posted a set of proposed rules for handling asset-backed securities that called for financial firms to disclose, along with their prospectus filings, the source code of the programs that generated the filings, as rendered in Python. The government agency will be accepting input about the proposed rule until August 2.
The three libraries that are being added to the ActivePython package are NumPy, SciPy and matplotlib."

Comment Military Dimension (Score 1) 200

by jcasman (#30136882) Attached to: NASA Willing To Team With China; Rumors of a Budget Cut

Space, unfortunately, is the "next" battlefield. China with its small military budgets and limited means -- currently -- has identified our communications systems as a fatal flaw in our military operations. The modern battlefield includes heavy use of satellite imaging, real-time mapping, communications jamming, coordination with tactical centers often far removed from the front lines. Prestige is important motivation in becoming the third country to put a person in space but getting stronger in space military applications is the key strategic objective. It's the only way to compete with the US militarily in the near-term. This military angle should be an important consideration for the US side regarding any agreement on cooperation in space.
The Courts

Japanese Ruling Against Winny Dev Overturned On Appeal 82

Posted by timothy from the pass-some-of-that-wisdom dept.
Joren writes "In Japan, in a case that has been five years running, the Osaka High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that had convicted and fined the developer of controversial file-sharing software Winny of assisting violations of the Copyright Law. Originally charged in 2004, Isamu Kaneko, 39, a former research assistant at the University of Tokyo, was declared not guilty, and will not be required to pay a 1.5 million yen fine levied by a December 2006 Kyoto District Court ruling. 'Merely being aware of the possibility that the software could be abused does not constitute a crime of aiding violations of the law, and the court cannot accept that the defendant supplied the software solely to be used for copyright violations,' presiding judge Masazo Ogura said. Furthermore, in siding with the defense, the appeal ruling stated that 'Anonymity is not something to be looked on as illegal, and it is not something that applies specifically to copyright violations. The technical value of the software is neutral.'"

Comment Re:Kudos to them (Score 1) 307

by jcasman (#28639857) Attached to: Toyota Builds a Patent Thicket For Hybrid Cars

I'd be more excited and more complimentary of Toyota if I thought the hybrid cars they sell changed the equation much. They get a lot of marketing mileage out of hybrids, but their cars still depend completely on gas companies and do little to change driving habits or any useage patterns that contribute to congestion and pollution. They've done just enough to stand out, not a bit more. It's a lot of talk for very little change.

Comment Didn't Japan just do this? (Score 1) 376

by jcasman (#28352933) Attached to: NASA To Trigger Massive Explosion On the Moon In Search of Ice

Maybe the difference is that they didn't create a monster explosion, but... Japan just crash landed their "Kaguya" (SELENE) lunar orbiter into the Moon. The Kaguya had been orbiting the Moon for 17 months since its launch in September 2007. Strangely (to me) they are not released pictures until this November.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090611_kaguya_e.html
Robotics

Submission + - Grasping at straws, with a robotic hand (wired.com)

Submitted by jcasman
jcasman writes: Wired's got a piece on building a better robotic hand at Standford. The current robot is called "Stair 1.0." If you reach and grab at something, you need to understand if you've succeeded. If not, try again. If still unsuccessful, trying a new approach. "The trick is to build robots that act more like children than machines." Wonder how you build in "giving up"?

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