70360023
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
The BBC has converted its legacy WMA (Windows Media Audio) streams to the "industry-wide and open source" Mpeg Dash format. whilst this has left some users of old devices unable to receive the broadcasts, the BBC has claimed the use of WMA was 'prohibitively expensive to operate' when existing licence agreements ran out.
The BBC says that they are working with "radio industry and manufacturers towards using just one standard".
64629809
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
This year's Ig Nobel prize was won by Japanese researchers investigating why banana skins produced a frictionless surface compared to apple and orange peels.
(apparently "The polysaccharide follicular gels that give banana skins their slippery properties are also found in the membranes where our bones meet." so its not all fun and jollity)
Other prizes were awarded for noting that dogs only defecate when aligned with north-south magnetic fields, and that 'night owl' people are more likely to be psychopaths than early risers. Yes, that probably includes you.
62272783
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
A British company is developing a new material that’s so black it absorbs all but 0.035 percent of the visual light, making it the darkest material ever created.
Of course, apart from making album covers, it conducts heat 7 times better than copper and is 10 times stronger than steel.
the pictures are the best, it looks like its sitting on some foil, but its grown on the foil which is all crinkled and bent — only people who have seen it say that it looks smooth because so little light is being reflected.
32579315
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
On Wednesday, the European Commission published a strategy document aimed at setting up systems to protect children online. In the document — but not in the accompanying press release nor the citizens' summary — the Commission mentioned that it will soon propose a "pan-European framework for electronic authentication", full details will be announced on 30th May.
The launch of the strategy follows a push to strengthen internet security in the EU. It also outlined legal measures to make it easier for people to use a single e-ID for online services across borders, which would underpin a move toward a pan-European framework for electronic identification, authentication and signature (Pefias) framework.
27226546
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
TechRadar has gathered a few users and subjected the 3 main Linux desktops to some usability testing for both experienced users and some new to the whole concept.
21848332
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Early this month, Microsoft dropped something of a bombshell on Windows developers: the new Windows 8 touch-friendly immersive style would use a developer platform not based on .NET. Cue howls of outrage from .NET developers everywhere, but here Ars Technica descibes what's more likely to have been going on and why Microsoft is finally getting its act together for developers.
21171078
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
A revolutionary UK spaceplane concept has been boosted by the conclusions of an important technical review.
Skylon is a design for a workign spaceplane that uses revolutionalry engines that work as normal jets near the ground and switch to rocket propulsion in the upper atmosphere. The concept means the plane will not have to carry as much fuel and so will not need disposable stages.
Its estimated the cost of delivering payloads to orbit will drop from $15000 per kilo to $1000 making this the best prospect for commercialisation of orbit.
8912918
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
The BBC has been granted provisional approval to introduce copy protection for Freeview HD after they resubmitted an amended plan.
Quote:
"In view of the fuller submission provided by the BBC, Ofcom is currently minded to approve its request for a multiplex licence amendment subject to consultation responses, on the basis that in principle, content management is a justified objective which ensures that the broadest range of HD content is made available to citizens and consumers," said Ofcom's statement.
However, its not too late yet — you can submit your comment and tell them you'd like to be able to record broadcast HD TV.
I'm sure the 'content providers' will continue to sell content to the BBC, ITV etc if this is not implemented. They'll still take our licence fee money (or advertising) and sell us the content, but refuse to let us record or copy it, hoping we'll go out and buy the DVD/BluRays as well.
8487062
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
I love stories about new smartphones, it shows the IT market is doing something different than the usual same-old desktop apps, maybe one day we'll all be using super smartphones as our primary computing platforms.
And so, here's Intel's offering: the LG GW990. Running a Moorestown CPU, which gives 'considerably' better energy efficiency than the Atom, it runs Intel's Linux distro — Moblin.
"In some respects, the GW990 — "which has an impressive high-resolution 4.8-inch touchscreen display — "seems more like a MID than a smartphone. It's possible that we won't see x86 phones with truly competitive all-day battery life until the emergence of Medfield, the Moorestown successor that is said to be coming in 2011. It is clear, however, that Intel aims to eventually compete squarely with ARM in the high-end smartphone market."
803225
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Ever thought it was difficult to write software for Linux? For multiple distros? InternetNews reports that the LSB is making a push for their next release (due out later this year) that should help make all that much easier.
Although the LSB has not lived up to expectations, this time round Linux has a higher profile and ISVs are more interested. This is to help persuade them to develop applications that will run on any LSB-compliant Linux distribution. If it gets adopted, LSB 4 could bring a new wave of multidistribution Linux application development.
"It is critically important for Linux to have an easy way for software developers to write to distro 'N,' whether it's Red Hat, Ubuntu or Novell," he said. The reason you need that is because we don't want what happened to Unix to happen to Linux in terms of fragmentation." says Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation
The LSB defines a core set of APIs and libraries, so ISVs can develop and port applications that will work on LSB-certified Linux distributions. Maybe this time they'll make it work with Debian!
792223
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Ars Technica reports that Microsoft is to sponsor the Apache Foundation to the tune of $100k.
From TFA: "I asked him if this could possibly be the beginning of a broader initiative by Microsoft to increase Apache compatibility with .NET web development technologies, but he says it's still too early to guess Microsoft's future plans for Apache participation."
"He doesn't anticipate a confrontational response from the developers working on individual Apache projects ... The response of the broader open source software community, however, is harder to predict."
So what does the broader community think? Is MS running scared of the increasing relevance of open source software in today's IT world?
(In related news, MS also intends to participate in the RubySpec project)
710677
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Remember those ideas that suggested hooking gym machines to the power grid, well, the Times is reporting that something like this to harness free energy is about to become a reality — the footfall of trudging shoppers is to become the latest source of emission-free energy
Engineers who have modelled the effects of the technology at Victoria Underground station in central London have calculated that the 34,000 travellers passing through every hour could power 6,500 lightbulbs.
The plans for heel-strike generation follow successful trials last year at a bridge in the Midlands where generators converted energy from trains passing above into electricity powering a flood detector.
Possibly the most important thing for the readership is at the end,
There could also be a range of domestic uses, for example powering iPods by plugging them into batteries placed in the owners' heels, using technology which is already available.
obviously you'd have to get up and walk around, but as they say it's the thought that counts.
531964
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Gamers will soon be able to interact with the virtual world using their thoughts and emotions alone.
Headsets which read neural activity are not new, but Ms Le [president of US/Australian firm Emotiv] said the Epoc was the first consumer device that can be used for gaming.
"This is the first headset that doesn't require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it and does require gel on the scalp," she said. "It also doesn't cost tens of thousands of dollars."
Personally, I'll hold out for one that replaces the mouse.
505066
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
IPv6 came a step closer yesterday as ICANN added IPv6 host records to the root DNS servers, reports the BBC
Paul Twomey, president of Icann which oversees the addressing system, told the BBC News website there was a need to start moving to IPv6.
"There's pressure for people to make the conversion to IPv6," he said. "We're pushing this as a major issue."
Whether you should bother about this depends how you read this piece from TFA: "We're down to 14% of the unallocated addresses out of the whole pool for version 4," he said.
Projections suggest that this unallocated pool will run out by 2011 at the latest.
Only 3 years to go... better ask RIPE for another couple of IPs for my server.
72804
submission
gbjbaanb writes:
Ok, its not quite like the 3d printer, even if it is inspired by it, but this is still cool: , from the Sunday Times, a robot is being developed to build houses.
The first prototype — a watertight shell of a two-storey house built in 24 hours without a single builder on site — will be erected in California before April. The robots are rigged to a metal frame, enabling them to shuttle in three dimensions and assemble the structure of the house layer by layer. The sole foreman on site operates a computer programmed with the designer's plans.
Inspired by the inkjet printer, the technology goes far beyond the techniques already used for prefabricated homes. "This will remove all the limitations of traditional building," said Hugh Whitehead of the architecture firm Foster & Partners, which designed the "Gherkin" skyscraper in London and is producing designs for the Loughborough team. "Anything you can dream you can build."
