27-Oct-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

IBM Launches its challenger to the Microsoft Windows 7 desktop, aiming to provide more functionality on less expensive hardware:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/8A5192A220209541CC257655007F5E37

Windows 7 itself is not noticably faster than Vista, but on the plus side doesn't seem to need fancier hardware:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10604962

Sequoia Voting Systems ne Diebold accidentally releases the SQL code for its voting databases. SQL is interpreted and thus prohibited:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/20/795343/-Sequoia-Voting-Systems-hacks-self-in-foot

The Internet Archive has digitized 1.6 million books, and has made them available to the One Laptop Per Child ("$100 laptop") computers:
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/10/24/internet-archive-opens-1-6-million-e-books-to-olpc-laptops/

whitehouse.gov is now running on Drupal, an Open Source content management system, and itself is running on the Open LAMP stack:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/10/whitehouse-switch-drupal-opensource.html

Toyota experiments with replacing the steering wheel in their cars and using a joystick instead:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/102109-goodbye-steering-wheel-here-comes.html

The excellent Pixel Qi daylight-readable, low power screen used in the One Laptop Per Child machine is finally made available to OEMs:
http://www.liliputing.com/2009/10/pixel-qi-displays-shipping-to-oems-soon.html

And finally. Tasers suffer a stunning turnaround as the manufacturer warns users not to fire Tasers at the victim's chest:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/2988818/Taser-company-issues-warning-over-use

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

21-Oct-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

After 6 months of work, Dr Te Taka Keegan's work with Google comes to fruition and Google Translate now supports the Māori language:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=8485

Microsoft seem to be doing fairly well at recovering the personal data from the wreckage of the Sidekick/Danger servers:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=220601016

Digital NZ are running another hackfest in Auckland on the 7th Novemeber, inviting people to play with their mashup API:
http://digitalnz.org/blog/news/article-digitalnz-api-hackfest-auckland-7-november-2009

How using Open Source in healthcare could turn the current system of pockets of healthcare into a more efficient, interoperable whole:
http://nzoss.org.nz/news/2009/thank-goodness-small-things

Barnes and Noble to release their e-book called the "nook". US only, much like a kindle, US$259 but free wi-fi in Barnes & Noble stores:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOSShzYsemD9j-R56E-h0eUaVwIwD9BF29T00

The self-fabricating RepRap 3D printers can work upside down. Which means they should be able to work in space:
http://blog.reprap.org/2009/10/printing-in-space.html

And finally. MIT Reworks the pop-up book with modern technology so that it lights up, moves and makes noises. The book, not MIT:
http://hlt.media.mit.edu/popables/

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

15-Oct-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

NZ Telecom gets nailed in court for anti-competitive behaviour and has to pay a NZ$10 million fine for breaches of the commerce Act:
http://www.nbr.co.nz/node/113209

Amberdms Billing System V1.3 is out as GPL. A web application with accounting, invoicing, service management, time keeping & support:
http://www.amberdms.com/index.php?cms=products_billing_overview

Solar-powered mobile phones are a hit in Uganda. All you have to do is find somewhere to leave it in the sun where it won't get nicked:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/2966124/A-new-future-with-solar-mobiles

Hackers manage to join a proper keyboard to the iPhone. It's a bit of a bodge, but shows the way seeing as Apple won't do Bluetooth:
http://hackaday.com/2009/10/14/finally-a-keyboard-for-the-iphone/

And finally. The Swedes find the missing dot in their internet, but invoke ire by heating homes in Varmland by burning fluffy bunnies:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6316530/Stockholms-rabbits-burned-to-keep-Sweden-heated.html

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

14-Oct-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

A room-temperature superconductor gets even closer, as the latest candidate superconducts at -19 Celsius; like in a domestic freezer:
http://www.superconductors.org/254K.htm

The US$99 Wikireader. All of wikipedia in a wee box that runs off AA batteries with an eInk screen. Update SDs available by subscription:
http://www.thewikireader.com/about.html

Microsoft halts sales of the Sidekick cellphone after losing most of the network users' private data stored in their cloud:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8303952.stm

In a mistake of IBM-like proportions, Sweden's entire .se top-level internet domain goes down due to a DNS script cock-up:
http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/10/13/sweden%25E2%2580%2599s-internet-broken-by-dns-mistake/

Gartner tips Android to be the number 2 phone operating system by 2012, beaten only by Symbian:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9139026/Android_to_grab_No._2_spot_by_2012_says_Gartner?taxonomyName=Mobile Devices&taxonomyId=75

And finally. Becoming a registered hypnotherapist is so easy a cat could do it. Several times with several organisations, apparently:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/8303126.stm

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

12-Oct-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

Air New Zealnd's systems take a hit, possibly beacuse of a power failure. The truth will out:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10602700

In America, T-Mobile manages to lose almost all the data that users of the Microsoft/Danger system, urging users to keep phones charged:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=5798

Red Hat hosts an Asia-Pacific "boot camp" for teachers doing Open Source courses in institutes of higher learning. Based in Singapore:
http://www.prwire.com.au/pr/14922/red-hat-hosts-first-dedicated-boot-camp-for-open-source-teachers

Amazon drops the prices of their Kindle ebook readers and "goes global." Global doesn't include New Zealand, of course...:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/173270/amazon_drops_kindle_price_takes_it_global.html

South Koreans discover what happens when your country is a Microsoft monoculture.exe:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/09/123_52401.html

In Germany at least, illegal downloads seem to be far more profitable for artists than legal ones thanks to good ol' extortion:
http://torrentfreak.com/illegal-downloads-150x-more-profitable-than-legal-sales-091009/

And finally. An American wins the Golden Spurtle for porridge-making in Scotland, attended by 1,000 hungry Scots on World Porridge Day:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8299671.stm

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

07-Oct-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

Nobel prizes go out to the development of the practical fibre optic cable and the creation of the CCD image sensor:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/10/ccds-fiber-optics-take-home-physics-nobel-prize.ars

The London Stock Exchange expects to save approximately UKP 10 million annually with it's new Linux-based system:
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2568&blogid=14

A microkernel that has been formally checked mathematically is developed, seL4, for safety-critical and secure software:
http://nicta.com.au/news/current/world-first_research_breakthrough_promises_safety-critical_software_of_unprecedented_reliability

Google discovers DRAM errors are far more common than was previously believed. A mean of 3,751 correctable errors per DIMM per year:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=638

And finally. The first engagement ring is reprapped by Adam Elkins of Philladelphia - and she said "Yes!":
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1097

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz

06-Oct-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

Another Australian laptop rollout to schools, this time in Elcho Island, a Northern Territory. They're getting Open OLPCs:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/computers/computer-dream-sees-light-of-day-20090929-gb30.html

Australian electricity company Integral Energy's control systems get infected by a virus, but the day is saved by development Linux boxes:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1556944/linux-saves-aussie-electricity

Apple decides that iPhone users won't be getting Flash. Flash is now good enough to write apps in, breaking the App Store lockdown:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/173121/apple_slams_the_door_on_adobe_flash.html

The New Zealand Computer Society launches its own certification scheme for IT professionals; ITCP:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0910/S00066.htm

Malware gets cunning, checking your bank limit to make sure it doesn't steal too much and rewriting your bank statements:
http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2575

Google's electric car fleet comes up with some hard data on how people use them and which battery technology is best:
http://www.gizmag.com/google-smart-charging-software-electric-vehicles/13021/

And finally. Meet Aimee Mullins, the actress with 24 legs:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427286.400-aimee-mullins-two-legs-good-24-legs-better.html

Vik :v) Diamond Age Solutions Ltd. http://diamondage.co.nz