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Comment SketchChair (Score 1) 218

This doesn't answer your 'which is the best CAD software' question, but rather addresses your 'i have access to a CNC mill and want to make something' issue. SketchChair is specifically designed to do one thing: make chairs. It won't teach you much about CAD, but it will let you make your own CNC furniture very easily. It's free software, and you can get a good result very quickly - it could be an ideal first project to try out your mill.

Comment Re:Toilet paper? Really? (Score 2) 332

The idea is basically to investigate the idea of open source. Many people have been getting very excited about this idea of 'Open Source Everything' and I'm just examining the principle - the purpose of this project is try it out, not to say from the outset "We can and must live 100% open source". It's about trying to think about the licensing issues surrounding the production, distribution and 'intellectual property' of everyday products. The example of toilet paper was just to get people to realize how far outside of the realm of software I want to look, and to get people discussing the idea. Which certainly worked here. You're probably right about it not being copyrighted. from Wikipedia: Seth Wheeler of Albany, New York, obtained the earliest United States patents for toilet paper and dispensers, the types of which eventually were in common usage in that country, in 1883.[5] I'd say this patent has run its course. In regards to trademarks, I also have no problem with trademarks - in fact, I think the Arduino business model (open sourcing all schematics, encouraging modification, but retaining their brandname) is an excellent example of how open source can work in business.

Comment Hi, Sam here. (trolls, this way...) (Score 2) 332

I should probably explain a couple of key points about the project. Yes, it is a naive and impossible aim. I am probably not going to have lived 100% open source by the end of year, if that is even possible. But that does not mean that the project will have failed. The project is about the attempt and through that, I want to get the ideas of open source into as many people's minds as possible. As explained in my video, for some aspects of my life I won't be able to find a suitable solution, and I might not be able to be develop one, even with help from experts and others. This project is about trying to find the limits of the philosophy, both the current limits (as in where free software, libre hardware and open source stands today) and also the theoretical limits (could an 'open source' airline ever exist? should we allow access, modification and redistribution of swine flu?) It's also about trying to summarize and define different approaches - for many people, copyleft, permissive licenses, public domain and traditional copyright are unclear terms with unclear consequences, and I hope that by holding these ideas up against different products and services that we use in our everyday lives, people will gain a better understanding of them.

Comment Re:A life without Coke? (Score 2) 332

Hi, I'm the one doing the stupid publicity stunt. Yes, it's a publicity stunt, but not for me, rather for the idea of free software, libre hardware, and alternative ways of licensing. I'm from outside the world of software and tech, and very few people I know have even heard of open source or copyleft. I want to reach those people, as well as publicise and give credit to people who are doing amazing work in the fields of free software and libre hardware. I'm not saying that everybody should try to live 100% open source. In the current situation and economic system, that would, as you say, be stupid. This is about taking an idea to an extreme to get people thinking about how products are licensed, to think about how different business models could work and affect their industries, and to rethink the way they live and the things they buy. And I'm quite prepared to look stupid doing it.

Comment Re:food? (Score 1) 332

Absolutely, there are plenty of patented crops here in Germany, not just GMO - I'm going to have a lot of difficulty avoiding them. Luckily the organic movement has been shouting about 'frankenfoods' for a long time, so there's pretty good labelling of GMO crops - that part is easy. Here in my neighbourhood there is a very active movement of people involved in seed sovereignty, food politics, growing and selling heirloom strains. They should be able to point me in the right direction anyway - my 3m x 3m community garden plot won't keep me well-fed for long.

Comment Re:But... (Score 2) 332

Yes. I've been discussing the project via email with RMS and he's said basically exactly that. I've also made it clear that my project is intended to be as transparent as possible, and early on in the project I will be asking for opinions from all sorts of people, as to what terminology I should be using throughout the project. He seems ok with that idea but at long as the project is called 'Year of Open Source', the 'Richard Stallman is not associated with...' note will stay on his calendar entry.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Discovery of an arsenic-friendly microbe refuted - USA TODAY (google.com)


USA TODAY

Discovery of an arsenic-friendly microbe refuted
USA TODAY
The discovery of an arsenic-loving microbe that NASA said would rewrite biology textbooks and offered hope of life on other planets now looks like a case study in how science corrects its mistakes, researchers report. In findings released Sunday by the ...
Recommended: Two studies show 'weird life' microbe can't live on arsenicmsnbc.com
New studies nix report of arsenic-loving bacteriaSan Francisco Chronicle
Arsenic-loving bacteria? New studies contradict report of bugs that seemed to ... Washington Post

all 41 news articles

Cellphones

Submission + - Samsung Blames Galaxy SIII Burn on "External Energy Source" (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: "Samsung has some great news for Galaxy SIII smartphone owners. As it turns out, your mobile device isn't at risk of overheating to the point where it catches on fire and burns through its casing, as a forum member at Boards.ie claimed was the case with his Galaxy SIII a couple of weeks ago. Fire Investigations UK (FIUK), an independent third-party organization, assisted Samsung with looking into the matter, and here's what they concluded: "The energy source responsible for generating the heat has been determined as external to the device... the device was not responsible for the cause of the fire," FIUK said in a statement. "The only way it was possible to produce damage similar to the damage recorded within the owner's damaged device was to place the devices or component parts within a domestic microwave.""

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