kognate - Slashdot User

Submission + - Google Pushes Open Source OCR

Submitted by

SocialWorm

on Tuesday April 10, 2007 @01:35AM

SocialWorm writes: "Google has just announced work on OCRopus, which it says it hopes will "advance the state of the art in optical character recognition and related technologies." OCRopus will be available under the Apache 2.0 License. Obviously, there may be search and image search implications from OCRopus."

Submission + - OpenBSD in a GPL violation?

Submitted by

Yenya

on Thursday April 05, 2007 @05:21AM

Yenya writes: "In a message sent to OpenBSD developers as well as the linux-wireless and bcm43xx-devel lists, Michael Buesch, the main developer of the Linux bcm43xx driver for Broadcom WiFi devices, wrote:

[...]We believe that you might have directly copied code out of bcm43xx (licensed under GPL v2), without our explicit permission, into bcw (licensed under BSD license). There are implementation details in bcm43xx that appear exactly the same in bcw. These implementation details clearly don't come from the open specifications at bcm-specs.sipsolutions.net or bcm-v4.sipsolutions.net.

The bcm43xx driver is being developed as a clean room design, based on the reverse-enginered specs, created by another team. As it seems now, the bcw driver in question might just be removed from the OpenBSD source."

Submission + - Look Ma, No Shortage of U.S. Engineers!

Submitted by

theodp

on Thursday April 05, 2007 @01:41AM

theodp writes: "Debunking claims to the contrary, a new study from Duke University asserts that it is cost savings, and not the education of Indian and Chinese workers, or a shortage of American engineers that has caused offshore outsourcing."

Submission + - The Incredible Shrinking Engine

Submitted by Somnus on Monday March 12, 2007 @09:12PM

Somnus writes: In the latest issue of MIT's Technology Review , researchers describe how they can dramatically boost engine output and efficiency by preventing pre-ignition, or 'knock:'

... Both turbocharging and direct injection are preexisting technologies, and neither looks particularly impressive ... by combining them, and augmenting them with a novel way to use a small amount of ethanol, Cohn and his colleagues have created a design that they believe could triple the power of a test engine ...
Why didn't I think of this?

Feed Language Fluency and Alzheimers (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Friday January 12, 2007 @08:12PM

A new Canadian study shows bilingualism may delay the onset of dementia. In Wired Science.

Submission + - Undersea cable repair via 19th century technology

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 12, 2007 @07:32PM

An anonymous reader writes: Workers are relying on 19th century technology to fix a very 21st century problem — disruption of the Internet traffic that tech-savvy Asia relies on. "No electronics involved," said John Walters, general manager of Global Marine, one of the firms engaged in the repairs. "It's an old and traditional technique. After arriving at the scene they survey the ocean bottom to assess whether the contour has changed, and the degree of sediment movement. Then the traditional tools are brought out. A rope with a grapnel on the end is played out, down into the depths, and towed over the sea floor until tension registers on a graph on the ship, indicating contact has been made with the cable. Today's fibre optic cables are just 21 millimetres in diameter. The grapnel is a metal tool about 18 by 24 inches (46 by 61 centimetres) which includes a cutter, like a fine razor blade, and a grabbing tool. As tension increases and the cable is slowly pulled up, it is cut, grabbed, and half of it is hoisted to the surface. Dropping the grapnel, dragging the sea bed and recovering the cable can take about 16 hours, Walters said. "It is a tried and tested method." Once the severed half of the cable is on board the boat, debris is cleared from the damaged end, it is tested, sealed and the end boiled off. Then it is attached to a buoy on the water surface while the process is repeated for the second half of the cable before both halves are spliced together and dropped back to the ocean floor. Even before the Boxing Day earthquake, Global Marine had faced a busy year, with about 20 repairs after damage from fishermen or anchors. All those ruptures were fixed using the old grapnel method, he said.

Journal Journal: "Scientists prepare to move Doomsday Clock forward"

Journal by flaming error on Friday January 12, 2007 @07:21PM

Reuters reports that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists says conditions are closer to doomsday than the used to be:

When it was created by the magazine's staff in 1947, it was initially set at seven minutes to midnight and has moved 17 times since then.

Submission + - Paypal Won't Release Funds for Slain Soldier's Fam

Submitted by

robustyoungsoul

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @04:25PM

robustyoungsoul writes: "Popular sports blog Deadspin established the Adam Knox Fund for the purpose of raising money in honor of the fallen soldier who was killed in Iraq. They took the donations through a PayPal account. Turns out now, however, PayPal will not release the money due to the way the account was set up on their end. Looks like another in a long list of shady occurrences at PayPal..."

Submission + - Living the Good Life, Leaving Google Behind

Submitted by

inetsee

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @02:25PM

inetsee writes: "A thousand people a day are sending their resumes in to Google, but according to the San Francisco Chronicle, 100 of Google's first 300 workers have left. These are the people who made a lot of money when Google went public, and they have the freedom to do pretty much what they want to. Some have decided to take it easy, but others have gone after new challenges. Google's chef is opening his own restaurant, Olana Khan has joined Kiva.org, a non-profit that makes micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries, and Aydin Senkut has become an angel investor, looking to find (and fund) the next big thing. The article describes several other former Google employees and what they are doing now with the freedom that Google's success has given them."

Submission + - Harrison Ford Turned Down Han Solo Role

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @12:44PM

eldavojohn writes: "It's being widely reported that Harrison Ford turned down a £20 million deal to play Han Solo once again in a George Lucas spin off of Star Wars. The source of this information seems to be a tabloid called bangshowbiz. Harrison was approached by Lucas with two roles but instead opted for the same amount to play Indiana Jones for the fourth time. Could the spin off centered on the rugged Han Solo save the Star Wars franchise from its prequels or would it have been another mediocre release disappointing demanding fans? I for one certainly hope Lucas refrains from attempting to fill Solo's shoes with another actor."

Submission + - Brightest comet in decades now visible in sky

Submitted by mlimber on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @12:44PM

mlimber writes: Comet McNaught (C/2006 P1), the brightest comet in decades, is currently visible to the naked eye in the early evening and early morning sky for the northern hemisphere. The northern latitudes have the best view, but it can be seen even in the southern hemisphere during the day with the right equipment. Another image is available as NASA's astronomy picture of the day.

Submission + - GNUstep Project Gets New Chief Maintainer

Submitted by

stivi

on Monday December 25, 2006 @01:11PM

stivi writes: "OSNews is reporting that Gregory Casamento has accepted the position of GNUstep Maintainer. Adam Fedor, former GNUstep leader writes: "After over 15 years of being the Chief Maintainer for GNUstep, I've found I have too many other responsibilities to devote as much time to GNUstep as is necessary. I still plan on contributing to GNUstep in the future in a lower capacity." Gregory has been a prolific developer for GNUstep for the past seven years and is currently the maintainer for Gorm (the graphical interface designer) and the GUI library. I think he will make a great choice to lead GNUstep in the future. New plans for change have been set up already. Thank you Adam for the past, congratulations Gregory to the future."

Bookmark George Orwell Was Right (bloomberg.com)

by jamie on Monday December 25, 2006 @11:06AM

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