O | S | D | N NEWSLETTER
June 13, 2002 DEVELOPER SERIES
The 'Developer Series' Newsletter is developed to bring Open Source
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Thinkgeek
Cube Fodder: Tangle Desktop Toy
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/5a38.shtml
Gadgets: Sharp Zaurus Linux PDA
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/gadgets/5a3c.shtml
Gadgets: Key Katcher
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/gadgets/5a05.shtml
Tshirts: Kids: newbie
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/59cc.shtml
Caffeine: Energy Gum
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/caffeine/5a35.shtml
Gadgets: Super Bright GREEN Laser Pointer!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/gadgets/5a1d.shtml
Gadgets: SoundBug - Turns Glossy Surfaces Into Speakers!
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/computing/5a15.shtml
Tshirts: It Must Be User Error
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/59fe.shtml
Gadgets: Key Katcher Privacy Device
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/gadgets/5a05.shtml
Gadgets: Mini Wireless Color Video Cam (for RC rovers)
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/59eb.shtml
Cube Goodies: Levitron Desktop Levitation Toy
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/59a9.shtml
Tshirts: Bug Off, I'm On My Break
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/5a00.shtml
Watches: onHand PC Watch
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/gadgets/5a1a.shtml
Caffeine: Hyperglow Caffeinated Beer
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/beer.shtml
Gadgets: Desktop Zero Point Infinite Power Generator
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/zero.shtml
Cube Fodder: New Desktop Mini Fridge/Warmer
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/5991.shtml
Mods: New Lian-LIi Cases
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/computing/cases-mods.shtml
Cube Fodder: LED Binary Clock
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/59e0.shtml
Cube Fodder: Rogers Connection Magnetic Set
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/59b4.shtml
Caffeine: Warp Mints In Cinnamon Flavor
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/caffeine/59de.shtml
Sourceforge
Automated Security Tools
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=51027
Release Candidate 1
phpLotto
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=53340
phpLotto 1st Release
Legend of the Wonderer TCG
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=44698
battle system in the project Docs
Advanced Simlulation Toolkit
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=48818
Recruiting
PHPortal
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=28568
PHPortal version 0.1.9 released!
PCGen -- A d20 Character Generator
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=25576
PCGen 2.6.3 is available
MySQL Objective C API for Cocoa
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=42424
SMySQL version 0.7.0
i810 Framebuffer Device Driver
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=39579
Video Overlay Support for the Intel 810 and 815 Framebuffer
'Just For Fun' Network Management System
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=46041
JFF Network Management System 0.6.4
VietPad
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=46758
VietPad 1.0.2 Release
Slashdot
Live via Satellite: NATO Aerial Surveillance Video
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/13/028213
[0]Factomatic writes "The [1]BBC is [2]reporting 'NATO surveillance
flights in the Balkans are beaming their pictures over an insecure
satellite link - and anyone can tune in and watch their operations
live.' All you need is a satellite dish. John Locker tapped into the
[3]NATO aerial surveillance feed over the Balkans from England and has
been e-mailing, faxing and calling NATO since November to get them to
fix the problem. NATO denies it is a problem at all. I wonder if this
would work in Afghanistan, too?" No, the article notes that Afghanistan
is taking up all the secure communications bandwidth, and operations in
the Balkans are getting kicked over to unencrypted channels. We ran an
older story about the [4]military's growing bandwidth crunch.
Links
0. http://pkiforum.com/index.html
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/
2.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/audiovideo/programmes/newsnight/newsid_2041000/2041754.stm
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38071000/rm/_38071987_spy_urban22_vi.ram
4. __SLASHLINK__
A Wireless Alliance Forms
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/13/0048257
MikeD83 writes "A [0]wireless alliance has formed between the likes of
Nokia, Microsoft, Intel, Walt Disney Co., and almost 200 other
companies. Their mission is to develop an open standard for how
wireless phones can be used on any network." Whoo-hoo! DRM for cell
phones! The [1]group's website has some more information.
Links
0. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/06/12/wireless.standards.reut/index.html
1. http://www.openmobilealliance.org
Microsoft Case Proceeds
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/2158227
YeOldeCurmudgeon writes "This story just posted on Yahoo: [0]Federal
Judge Denies Microsoft Motion to Dismiss Antitrust Case. Microsoft's
motion to dismiss the suit filed by the 9 dissenting states was denied.
The judge agrees the states can sue." An article in the San Francisco
Chronicle [1]summarizes the case's current state and what's coming up
next.
Links
0. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/020612/microsoft_antitrust_4.html
1.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/06/11/BU184147.DTL
Inside the Joint Strike Fighter Competition
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/1914213
[0]jonerik writes "[1]The June issue of [2]the Atlantic Monthly has
[3]this account of the history of the [4]Joint Strike Fighter
competition between [5]Boeing and [6]Lockheed Martin (which the latter
company ended up winning this past fall, with Boeing now touting its
expanding line of unmanned aircraft as the true future of tactical
aviation). The article does a fine job of showing how the competitors
dealt with the challenge of producing an aircraft (now dubbed the
[7]F-35) that the [8]Air Force, [9]Navy, [10]Marines, [11]RAF, and
[12]Royal Navy could all live with. Funniest part: Boeing's [13]X-32
entry, with its enormous pelican-like jet intake, had some questioning
whether the plane's bizarre appearance didn't hurt its chances more
than its performance. 'Helpful as my contacts at Boeing were, no one
was eager to claim credit for the design of the plane,' says the
article's writer James Fallows." Fascinating article.
Links
0. mailto:jonerik@@gis.net
1. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/06/
2. http://www.theatlantic.com/
3. http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/06/fallows.htm
4. http://www.jast.mil/IEFrames.htm
5. http://www.boeing.com/flash.html
6. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/
7. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-35.htm
8. http://www.af.mil/
9. http://www.navy.mil/
10. http://www.usmc.mil/
11. http://www.raf.mod.uk/
12. http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/
13. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/types/usa/boeing/x-32/X-32.htm
Calculators vs. PDAs in the Classroom
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/2118254
[0]TheMatt writes "CNN.com is reporting about a new conflict perhaps
emerging in classrooms: [1]calculators v. PDAs. The article talks about
how [2]TI seems to be making their latest calculator [3] more PDA-like,
while PDAs are gaining [4]TI-like functionality. A comment on current
math education is this quote from the article: "When you have circles
and ellipses, there is no way you'd be able to do this without a
calculator," Jarvis said. "It helps us visualize what we're doing."
Were the compass and geometry uninvented?"
Links
0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
1. http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/06/12/calculators.vs.handhelds.ap/index.html
2. http://www.ti.com/
3. http://education.ti.com/product/tech/83pse/features/features.html
4. http://www.infinitysw.com/products/poweronegraph.html
Universal, Sony Cutting Prices on Downloaded Music
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/1954248
Don Symes writes "Sony Music and Universal appear to be getting ready
to allow [0]downloads of singles for $.99 and albums for $9.99 without
crippleware or restrictions on personal copying/burning." Another
semi-interesting piece submitted by several people is this
[1]propaganda from the recording industry. 2.8 million
copyright-infringing CD-R's were seized in the U.S. last year (9
million world-wide); from that the IFPI extrapolates that 950 million
copyright-infringing CD-R's were actually sold, world-wide. How do you
get from 9 million to 950 million? [2]Mostly hand-waving.
Links
0. http://www.sunspot.net/la-fi-universal12jun12.story
1. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cn/20020611/tc_cn/935120
2. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/piracy2002.pdf
Making Users Back Up Important Data?
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/11/1949240
[0]Lux Interior asks: "Help! I am the ad-hoc computer guy in a small
satellite office of a larger company. We have no CIO, no IT department,
and no policies whatsoever as regards data retention or backup.
Therefore, a lot of company property exists one place-- on individual
hard drives. The office is made of almost entirely of rudimentary
users, on WIN98 and 2000 machines, who never, ever, back up any company
information. Has anyone out there had experiences in a small-office
setting with: changing users' behavior in regards to managing their
data; setting up best practices for backing up information properly;
and making sure that the most computer-apathetic users comply with what
you've put in place?" Sometimes the best way to make users conform to
policy is to not give them a choice in the first place. Automated
backup systems on each workstation can go a long way in helping this.
Which software packages have such functionality (the more unobtrusive,
the better)?
Links
0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Logitech Pocket Digital Review
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/175229
randomErr writes "[0]Earthweb/Internet.com has [1]this article about a
new ultra slim camera for $130. It has no flash, zoom, or LCD monitor,
and takes snapshots instead of spectacular pictures. The advertised
resolution is 1.3 megapixels with and actual resolution of 640 by 480.
But it's the size of a credit card, half an inch thin, with all-day
battery and image capacity."
Links
0. http://www.earthweb.com/
1. http://hardware.earthweb.com/peri/article/0,,12094_1355471,00.html
What Is Public Domain?
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/1648222
whitefox writes: "The Seattle Times has an interesting article in
today's edition on [0]what is public domain. After sharing the
experience one software writer had with businesses and people shying
away from [1]BitTorrent because they didn't understand the concept of
'public domain,' they take the reader on a tour of how public domain is
being defined by groups such as [2]Creative Commons and to the battle
of copyright-extensions in [3]Eldred v. Ashcroft."
Links
0.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134471290_digitalrights10.html
1. http://freshmeat.net/projects/bittorrent/?topic_id=251%2C89%2C257
2. http://www.creativecommons.org/
3. http://www.eldred.cc/
Haptic Battle Pong... Future of Game Interface?
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/06/12/1347214
An anonymous reader writes "The [0]Sensable Phantom is a premier
force-feedback haptic device and sells for a few thousand dollars now,
but when that number comes down, the game industry will be jumping all
over the idea of six-degree-of-freedom, precision-force-feedback video
games. It looks like [1]Haptic Battle Pong may be the first attempt at
a true 6-dof, force-feedback game. It's not Quake, but maybe this is
the next big thing in video games?"
Links
0. http://www.sensable.com/
1. http://techhouse.brown.edu/dmorris/haptic.battle.pong
Software.linux.com
FreeS/WAN
http://software.linux.com/articles/view/1481/
Have you ever noticed that startups are filled with employees who wanna
work from home? While tools like ssh may make this seem easy, it really
isn't... especially if your telecommuters aren't power users and
filesharring is essential. OK, so you could set up a central encrypted
Web server... but in most cases it's simply not flexible enough.
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