O | S | D | N NEWSLETTER August 04, 2002 DEVELOPER SERIES
The 'Developer Series' Newsletter is developed to bring Open Source related content to a user with a focus for development with Open Source If you'd like to receive more content relating to Open Source subscribe at http://www.osdn.com/newsletters/ ============================================================== Sponsored by Thinkgeek http://www.ThinkGeek.com/ ============================================================== 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 Amateur Mars Satellite http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/2124236 [0]Hobbyspacer writes "The German [1]AMSAT-DL group recently [2]announced formal approval of the [3] Phase 5-A project to send a spacecraft to Mars in the 2007 or 2009 launch window. The spacecraft will use the same structure as [4] AO-40 (formerly Phase 3-D) that was launched into earth orbit in the fall of 2000. Like AO-40 the Mars probe will piggyback on an Ariane 5 launch and use the same 400 N propulsion system. (I expect they will solve the problem that caused the [5]engine misfiring that nearly destroyed the spacecraft.) The [6]Phase 3-E project was also approved to follow up AO-40 and to test various techniques and technologies for the Mars mission. The document [7]P5A-to-Mars!(712k pdf) describes the technical challenges and possible solutions for such an ambitious mission. AO-40 cost several million dollars and the Mars probe should cost considerably more, requiring they obtain funds outside of AMSAT members and the ham radio community. The [8]long list, though, of spectacular contributions made by AMSAT to the development of micro sats and space communications gives the program high credibility." Links 0. http://www.hobbyspace.com/ 1. http://www.amsat-dl.org/index.html 2. http://www.amsat-dl.org/p3ep5a.htm 3. http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/ 4. http://www.amsat-dl.org/journal/adlj-p3d.htm 5. http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2001/03/19/1/ 6. http://www.amsat-dl.org/p3e/ 7. http://www.amsat-dl.org/p5a/p5a-to-mars.pdf 8. http://www.amsat.org/amsat/amsat-na/amhist.html In Print: MegaTokyo http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/1738244 MartyJG writes "Freg Gallagher certainly has a talent for announcing things with a maximum of words - the summary of his latest rant on [0]Megatokyo however, is that his webcomic is about to get a dead-tree hardcopy version produced by some nice people at [1]Studio Ironcat. The first volume is going to be 120 pages, with additional off-line-only content. The announcement also includes a new webserver on order, and new merchandise soon to be available with the help of [2]ThinkGeek. All the background on the announcement is in the current MT Piro rant and their very official-looking [3]Press Release." Links 0. http://www.megatokyo.com/ 1. http://www.ironcat.com/ 2. http://www.thinkgeek.com/ 3. http://www.megatokyo.com/pressrelease/2002-08-02.html Suggestions for Home PBX/Key System? http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/04/0052247 foobar104 asks: "I'm fascinated by the idea of putting in a home PBX or key system. I don't really have a good justification for this; it just sounds like a neat thing to have. There are commercially available small PBX systems available for $500 to $2,000, plus another $500 to $2,000 for voicemail, but putting in one of those doesn't sound like as much fun as building one from scratch using an older PC and some off-the-shelf components. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for sources of information, tips, HOWTOs or other knowledge on this subject? I'm sure it's been done before; [0]GNUCOMM and [1]GNU Bayonne are out there, but I'm not having much luck finding tutorial-type info about them." Links 0. http://www.gnu.org/software/gnucomm/gnucomm.html 1. http://www.gnu.org/software/bayonne/bayonne.html Digital Microfluidics http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/212224 herrd0kt0r writes "A brilliant team of researches at Duke University have been working on digital microfluidics, with potential applications in biotech labs-on-a-chip, optical routers/switches, wavelength division multiplexers and the like. Essentially, this team has developed a solid state device capable of moving very small drops of fluid over very small distances with very little power. From their [0]website they remark that "[m]icrofluidic processing is performed on unit-sized packets of fluid which are transported, stored, mixed, reacted, or analyzed in a discrete manner using a standard set of basic instructions." Their site includes eight .mpgs demonstrating their microfluidics tech in real-time. Be sure to take a gander at [1] this video showing programmable flow of droplets as well as [2] this one showing droplet splitting and formation." Links 0. http://www.ee.duke.edu/research/microfluidics 1. http://www.ee.duke.edu/research/microfluidics/videos/mpegs/2d_flow.mpg 2. http://www.ee.duke.edu/research/microfluidics/videos/mpegs/form_rotate_3.mpg Ricardo Montalban Recalls Khan http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/1733208 [0]phyy-nx writes "[1]Scifi.com, in referring to the directors cut of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (coming out on DVD Aug 6), [2]has quoted clips from an interview with Ricardo Montalban. Montalban portrayed the vengeful Kahn in one of the best perfomances in one of the best of the [3](almost ten) Star Trek films. He mentions how difficult it was to portray Khan after six years of Mr. Roarke of Fantasy Island and how he overcame that mold to masterfully portray his new character's controlled insanity." Or, as Kirk would say: Khaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Links 0. mailto:aaronbrewster@@@hotmail...com 1. http://www.scifi.com/ 2. http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2002-08/02/13.00.film 3. http://nemesis.startrek.com/ The Bulova Accutron http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/1627246 [0]warewolfsmith writes "The Bulova Accutron. Introduced in 1961, it was the [1]first successful transistorized watch, far more accurate than any other watch then on the market and a major advance in timekeeping technology. Prior to reading this article I had never heard of it. Interesting history." There are a number of [2]websites [3]devoted to it. Links 0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/01/technology/circuits/01ACCU.html 2. http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/acc.htm 3. http://www.dashto.com/accutronhistor/ Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/1616247 [0]krugg234 writes "Today [ed. note: well, a few days ago] marks the start of the [1]Fifth Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition. This year's competition involves completely autonomous robots locating and reading bar codes at various depths underwater at a naval base in San Diego. There are some good links on the site to individual competitors' websites to see how different schools tackled the same problem." Links 0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 1. http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/water.cfm New Red Hat Multimedia Oriented Distribution http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/1341223 [0]ezadro writes "I just spotted [1]this article at [2]LinuxToday about Redhat being directly involved in a new distribution that will be known as ReHMuDi, which stands for Red Hat Multimedia Distribution." The goal seems to be a system for professional audio composers and engineers. Don't expect it for awhile- they have 24 months scheduled to do it, although it looks like releases will start by the end of 02. Links 0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 1. http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2002-08-02-015-26-NW-RH-DV 2. http://linuxtoday.com/ Reclaiming the Commons http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/0359259 [0]NeuroManson writes "What do fresh air, medicine, culture, copyright, and government have in common? Perhaps not exactly what you think. Up until recently, I considered the term "commons" as an archaic term from Victorian or Elizabethan times. However, apparently it still exists both as a concept and a philosophy. Despite its almost ancient connotations, it's an eye opener regarding how concepts centuries old hold true even today, but much like freedom, require eternal vigilance to protect, and covers everything from the air you breath through the GNU, HDTV, and copyright issues. [1]Read on." Bollier's article and the [2]responses are superb intellectual reading. If you don't have time today, bookmark it, come back later. Links 0. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 1. http://bostonreview.mit.edu/BR27.3/bollier.html 2. http://bostonreview.mit.edu/ndf.html#Market High Definition DVD http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/03/142234 Vinnie_333 writes "Looks like the specs for [0]HD-DVD are currently being discussed by Hollywood big wigs, with an optimistic product release date of Xmas of 2003. Unfortunately, they seem to be completely disregarding the higher storage capacity of the Blu-Ray disc standard, that will hold 6 times the amount of a DVD-9, for the current red laser format with a different compression algorithm. Come on, more storage is always a good thing. Not only will it give us the quality we deserve, it is likely to cut down on Hollywood's largest fear (piracy) by making the media ungodly HUGE." Links 0. http://www.videobusiness.com/article.asp?articleID=3548&catType=NEWS Software.linux.com E*Reminders http://software.linux.com/articles/view/1542/ Damn, it's gone. Another senior moment has struck again. Old age is creeping up on me, with or without my permission. Listen, my problem's that I'm always in front of my PC... and far away from my calender. That's why I prefer program's that utilize my e-mail acount. ================================================== Copyright (c) 2002 OSDN. All rights reserved. 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