16-Dec-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

The Ministry of Economic Development breifing fails to give a draft text of ACTA, or even define New Zealand's negotiating position:
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/9B4A33AC48022F9BCC25768D0082657C

Vendor group NZICT delivers a strategy that closely aligns with government priorities, but not entirely with the NZ ICT industry:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/3162343/NZICT-priorities-earn-praise

French ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendor Nexedi bids to take over the MySQL database from Sun Microsystems for a beer token:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20091214/tc_pcworld/erpvendorofferstotakeovermysql

The Software Freedom Law Centre sues 15 companies - some well-known brands - over GPL violations related to BusyBox:
http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2009/dec/14/busybox-gpl-lawsuit/

US Government considering a bill to fund Open Source textbooks:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-1714

And finally. The Japanese Sogo & Seibu department store is offering customised robots that look like their owners. For US$225,000:
http://www.physorg.com/news180018368.html#top

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

15-Dec-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

Telecom to compensate 100,000 or so XT network users following the recent massive outage. It'll be clawed back on your bill somewhow:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/3160496/100-000-to-get-redress-after-Telecom-XT-outage

New Zealand survey reveals that Kiwi firms are adopting Open Source software and solutions, and the public sector is into it too:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/3155595/Open-source-making-its-mark-in-NZ

Swedish revenue figures show that music artists are making more money but the music distributors are not, echoing experiences in the UK:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091213/1648377324.shtml

Microsoft accused by the Delhi High Court of using "money power" to harass defendants in four copyright cases:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/MS-fined-for-using-money-power/articleshow/5336125.cms

And finally. Remember the scene in Return of the Jedi where C3PO tells a story to Ewoks? The NAO humanoid robot can too:
http://technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2694

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

14-Dec-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

Telecom XT network is down on the North Island, affecting everything South of Taupo except for emergency calls:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3156329/Telecom-XT-outage

Google Goggles service lets you take a picture of something, and then find out more about it. Like your boss, for example...:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10615395

Presumably this capability will be linked with Googles quantum computing project to provide faster recognition:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18272-google-demonstrates-quantum-computer-image-search.html

The EU is objecting to Oracle buying up MySQL:
http://blogs.computerworld.com/15246/opposition_mounts_to_oracles_mysql_acquisition?source=rss_blogs

Apple declares that audio books must have DRM on them - even if the audio can be freely distributed:
http://torrentfreak.com/apple-says-audiobooks-must-have-drm-091212/

And finally. A pair of Kiwis smash the gliding distance record, facing -35C temperatures to fly 2500km over nearly 15 hours:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10615370

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

26-Nov-2009 AM clippings

Enjoy:

Weather balloons used to loft mobile phone base stations:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/23/space_data_weather_balloon_base_station/

Auckland's Downtown carpark is highlighted as a major source of fraudulent credit card transactions:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10611513&ref=rss

Microsoft isn't simply releasing the code at the centre of its recent GPL violation. It seems to be mucking about with it first:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/microsoft-delays-open-sourcing-windows-7-tool.ars

Diamond, or rather imperfections in it, offers a new and unexpected way to create quantum computers:
http://www.gizmag.com/diamonds-boost-quantum-computing-speed/13431/

Implantable silk-based electronics may provide LED tattos. Not for decoration but displaying medical information and stimulation:
http://www.gizmag.com/implantable-electronics/13334/

And finally. If you want Ubuntu installed, find a 7 year-old girl:
http://www.gnomejournal.org/article/88/the-un-scary-screwdriver

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

11-Nov-2009 PM clippings

Enjoy:

Despite talk of piracy damaging their cut and the recession, the APRA manage to announce a substantial increase in profits:
http://www.apra.co.nz/html/news_item.php?id=6908&newsCat=h

Security firm FireEye takes out the Mega-D/Ozdok botnet. 1/3 of all spam came from the botnet's 264,000 zombie machines:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/10/fireeye_takes_out_ozdok/

Emotive's wireless, mind-controlled USB interface is set for sale to eager Amnericans for Xmas. But is it just a resistance sensor?:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/emotiv-epoc-human-computer-interface-supposedly-on-track-to-ship

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have a seasonal scrap over who can offer the best free wifi connectivity this Xmas. US only, unfortunately:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/181852/Free_WiFi_Wars_Google_vs_Microsoft_vs_Yahoo.html?tk=rss_news

Wellington Makerspace turns out an outrigger canoe and launches it with a can of V. Not high-tech, but it is capable of bathing geeks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNEsXxw3UP4

And finally. In celebration of the end of the Berlin Wall, some Palestinians tear down a chunk of the Israeli version:
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2009/11/2009119151639325464.html

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

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