unDiWahn - Slashdot User

Left 4 Dead SDK Beta Released 75

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 17, 2009 @01:05AM from the building-for-braaaains dept.

Valve has released a beta version of their authoring tools for Left 4 Dead. The tools will allow you to "create your own campaign maps, character skins, 3D models, sound effects, and music and load them into the game." The kit includes a level editor and command-line compiling utilities, as well as example maps, props, infected, and explosives. It also brings plugins for a 3D modeling program called SketchUp. Valve has updated their development wiki to go along with the release.

Campaign to Open Source IBM's Notes/Domino 255

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 29, 2008 @03:42PM from the if-you-can't-sell-it-use-it-for-free-advertising dept.

Ian Tree, an IT consultant from the Netherlands, has started a campaign to convince IBM to open source the code for Notes/Domino. Hoping for results similar to the push for Sun to open source Solaris, which finally saw success in 2005, Tree makes the simple point that it won't happen until someone asks. "By being an open source product, Tree is also hoping that Domino becomes something schools use to teach groupware and application development concepts, which is the holy grail for future market adoption. This is how various Unixes, relational databases, Linux, and a raft of other products eventually became commercialized. While the idea of open sourcing any proprietary program is appealing, in as much as it sets a program free to live beyond the commitment (or lack thereof) of its originator, it is hard to see why open Notes/Domino would have any more impact than OpenSolaris."

Not All Cores Are Created Equal 183

Posted by kdawson on Monday December 22, 2008 @09:56PM from the working-out-the-kinks dept.

joabj writes "Virginia Tech researchers have found that the performance of programs running on multicore processors can vary from server to server, and even from core to core. Factors such as which core handles interrupts, or which cache holds the needed data can change from run to run. Such resources tend to be allocated arbitrarily now. As a result, program execution times can vary up to 10 percent. The good news is that the VT researchers are working on a library that will recognize inefficient behavior and rearrange things in a more timely fashion." Here is the paper, Asymmetric Interactions in Symmetric Multicore Systems: Analysis, Enhancements and Evaluation (PDF).

New State of Matter Could Extend Moore's Law 329

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 22, 2008 @06:57PM from the I-miss-the-original-three dept.

rennerik writes "Scientists at McGill University in Montreal say they've discovered a new state of matter that could help extend Moore's Law and allow for the fabrication of more tightly packed transistors, or a new kind of transistor altogether. The researchers call the new state of matter 'a quasi-three-dimensional electron crystal.' It was discovered using a device cooled to a temperature about 100 times colder than intergalactic space, following the application of the most powerful continuous magnetic field on Earth."

Feed Engadget: Gateway intros new skins for M-Series and T-Series laptops (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Thursday January 17, 2008 @04:52PM

Filed under: Laptops

Gateway knows that it takes more than a bunch of meaningless digits related to "CPU speed" and "hard drive capacity" to get today's fast-paced teenagers buying its laptops -- which is why they've just announced new "skin" updates to the M-Series and T-Series models. Beginning today, users will be able to purchase the computers in their original "Garnet Red" and "Pacific Blue," as well as the new shades "Merlot," "Siver," and "Arctic Bloom." Finally, there can be more to your Gateway than mere technical features.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Texas Makes Green Computing Mandatory 157

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 11, 2007 @06:17PM from the cheaper-materials-only-a-signature-away dept.

athloi writes to mention that Texas legislators have passed a bill that would require computer companies to provide free recycling services to their customers for hardware purchased. "The bill (HB 2714) requires computer manufacturers to provide a "reasonably convenient" recycling plan that requires no additional payments from consumers. Dell and HP provided some model legislation that was used as the basis for the bill, which will only affect computers purchased for personal or home business use, but it could still encourage manufacturers to adopt efficient recycling programs that might then be applied to all machines sold."

Feed Shocker! Taser Maker Insists Stun Guns Don't Kill (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Monday June 11, 2007 @06:12PM

A Taser International board member calls the notion that the company's products can cause heart failure an "urban myth."

Feed Mysterious signal hints at subsurface ocean on Titan (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed on Monday June 11, 2007 @06:12PM

When it landed on the moon in 2005, the Huygens probe detected a strange radio signal - it may be evidence of an underground ocean

Feed Researchers Shed Light On Mechanism Of Action Used By Anti-cancer Drug (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:52PM

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a new mechanism of action of the anti-cancer drug sorafenib, which could stimulate the development of novel regimens in which it is combined with other molecularly targeted agents for patients with blood cancers and solid tumors.

Feed The Woes Of Kilimanjaro: Don't Blame Global Warming (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:52PM

Two scientists writing in a new magazine article say that global warming has nothing to do with the decline of ice atop Mount Kilimanjaro, and using the mountain in northern Tanzania as a "poster child" for climate change is simply inaccurate.

Blogger Removed From NCAA Game for Blogging 302

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:35PM from the in-soviet-america dept.

CNet is reporting that a blogger from the Courier-Journal of Louisville, KY was recently ejected from an NCAA game for live-blogging. "According to the Courier-Journal, staff blogger Brian Bennett was approached by NCAA officials in the fifth inning of a game between the University of Lousville and Oklahoma State, told that blogging 'from an NCAA championship event "is against NCAA policies (and) we're revoking the (press) credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium."'"

Journal Journal: I want to support but, where????

Journal by ddfire on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:33PM

I have been using open source and free (open) stuff for a while. Now I want to give some support but where and why?

Linux
Wikipedia
Debian
KDE
Gimp
Sourcefoge
Open Office
A lot more!!!

Or maybe I should buy some chocolates for my girl?

Submission + - Self-healing plastic skin developed

Submitted by

on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:30PM

An anonymous reader writes: Scientists have developed a form of 'plastic skin' that can heal itself when it becomes damaged. The material relies on an underlying network of vessels — similar to blood capillaries — that carry a healing agent to areas on the material's surface that become damaged. Unlike previous self-healing systems that relied on capsules of agent buried in the polymer and which became depleted after one use, the new system can respond to damage at the same point many times over.

Submission + - Digital camera Wi-Fi memory card coming soon

Submitted by

thefickler

on Monday June 11, 2007 @05:05PM

thefickler writes: "A soon-to-be released Secure Digital (SD) memory card with built in Wi-Fi networking will allow digital cameras to automatically upload images to home computers and photo sharing web sites.

Californian based company, Eye-Fi, recently secured $5.5 million in Series A funding to bring its Wi-Fi memory card to market. The Wi-Fi memory card is currently in beta, and is expected to be launched later this year."

Liquid Lens Can Magnify at the Flick of a Switch 108

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 11, 2007 @04:53PM from the zap-zoom dept.

An anonymous reader writes "German engineers have designed the first liquid camera lens with no moving parts that provides two levels of zoom. 'Liquid lenses bend light using the curved boundary between watery and oily liquids. When the two liquids are held in the right container, the boundary between them can be made to curve in a way that focuses light simply by applying a voltage. Liquid lenses have attracted much attention because they are potentially smaller than conventional optics and cheaper to build. Samsung has already built them into some cellphones.'"

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