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open source posts

Sixth Sense creator to release code, wearable gesture interface becomes a reality for all

by Darren Murph posted Nov 7th 2009 at 10:12AM

If we're being honest (and trust us, we're being honest), Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense contraption has always baffled us. It's kind of like Sony's Rolly. It looks cool, it sounds rad, but we're fairly certain only 2.49 people actually know and fully comprehend how it works. That said, we're more than jazzed about the possibility of having wearable gesture interfaces gracing every human we come into contact with, and rather than attempting to make his invention "comply with some kind of corporate policy," he's purportedly aiming to release the source code into the wild in order to let "people make their own systems." Nice guy, huh? All told, the Sixth Sense can be built for around $350 (plus oodles of unpaid time off), and we're ~~pretty~~ certain that a few talented DIYers can get this thing whipped into shape far quicker than Mega Corp X. So, how's about a release date for that code?

[Via AboutProjectors]

Uruguay becomes first nation to provide a laptop for every primary school student

by Darren Murph posted Oct 18th 2009 at 12:29PM

Uruguay's been a huge fan of the One Laptop Per Child initiative for quite some time, and while we're still unsure if it's the entity's biggest customer, the aforesaid nation is certainly doing some serious business with Nicholas Negroponte and Company. After the first swath of youngsters received their green and white XOs back in May of 2007, the final smattering of kids have now joined the proud group of laptop-toting tots in the country's circuit of primary schools. You heard right -- every last pupil in Uruguay's primary school system now has a laptop and a growing love for Linux, and we're told that the whole thing cost the country less than five percent of its entire education budget. So, who's next?

[Via Digg, image courtesy of oso]

MorphOS for Amiga adds Mac mini support, someone in Europe is delighted

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 15th 2009 at 6:07AM

Amiga owners are a loyal bunch. And they have to be -- stuck with a machine frozen in time (even if OS 5 was claimed to be "better than OS X") and little in the way of support, the manner in which they've stubbornly stuck with the platform over the years can only be described as a labor of love. If you've been wondering what all the fuss is about but no longer have a PowerPC-based Amiga system handy, the MorphOS Dev Team has just announced that its latest -- MorphOS 2.4 -- now supports Mac mini G4 machines. Available now, you can either hit the read link to download for yourself, or wait until the upcoming Amiga user group meeting in Bad Bramstedt, Germany. You know, whatever you find more convenient. As for us, we're going to go play a game of Ooops Up! for old time's sake.

[Thanks, Antti Jarvinen]

Motorola to introduce eight OPhones on China Mobile next year, celebrate intensely

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 3:36AM

M otorol a may be pinning its comeback hopes on the CLIQ here in America, but it obviously has some rather large plans for the world's largest carrier, too. An admittedly perplexing report has surfaced purporting that the creator of the iconic i776, er, RAZR, is fixing to distribute not one, not two, but eight OPhones to China Mobile next year. For those unaware, OPhone is an Android-based OS tailor made to operate on the aforesaid carrier and cater to its customers, and to date, quite a few other manufacturers have jumped on board over there. Sadly, no actual details about the eight Moto handsets were given, so it looks like it's just you, a cup of joe and your hyperactive imagination for the time being.

Microsoft unveils Barrelfish multi-core optimized OS

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 29th 2009 at 7:33PM

With current operating systems, as the number of cores increases efficiency decreases. Microsoft Research has just announced an experimental OS, called Barrelfish, that they're developing in conjunction with ETH Zurich, in the hopes that they'll learn how to buck that trend -- both with current and future hardware. Building upon lessons learned with projects including Midori and Singularity, Barrelfish eschews share memory schemes in favor of message passing and a kind of database that shuttles information between cores. Heady stuff, for sure -- but just the kind of thing that sets off our Geek Alarms. If you can't wait to check this one out for yourself, hit the read link for the first release snapshot, in all its Open Source glory. The rest of us will probably remain content waiting to see how this new-found knowledge will trickle down to Windows 7 users in the future.

[Via DailyTech]

Adafruit's DIY 'less lethal' weapon looks cool, doesn't really work

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Sep 29th 2009 at 4:03AM

As you're no doubt well aware, the government is always looking for new ways to make dissidents feel uncomfortable. In this space alone we've seen devices meant to cook folks with microwaves, zap 'em with electricity, and make 'em nauseous using light. Taking inspiration from the last one, the open source pranksters at Adafruit Industries have built a contraption of their own called the Bedazzler. It's powered by an Arduino and, unlike the original, Adafruit's version doesn't seem to work for the purpose incapacitating no-goodniks -- but that's probably a good thing. For some background on this extremely less than lethal device, peep the the video after the break. And then hit the read link to build one yourself.

Continue reading Adafruit's DIY 'less lethal' weapon looks cool, doesn't really work

BUGbase WiFi finally overcomes, ships in the US and Europe

by Darren Murph posted Sep 22nd 2009 at 9:23PM

It's hard to believe that BUG Labs has been helping tinkerers thinker for two whole years now, particularly when you realize that its BUGbase has been operating sans WiFi all along. At long last, after a painful battle with the licensing overlords connected to WiFi and Bluetooth, BUG has finally received approval to ship the BUGbase WiFi (which does BT as well) both here in the States as well as in Europe. Aside from those two huge additions, BUG also upgraded the device with a friction-fit docking connector and improved power management, not to mention a few subtle "under the hood" tweaks designed to make everyone's lives a little easier. Oh, and for existing BUGbase owners? A special BUGWiFi module will be shipping in a few weeks, and yes, all of BUG's other modules will be compatible with either base. Once you're done hopping around like a jovial schoolgirl, feel free to order your own BUGbase WiFi now for $449.

Apple's Grand Central Dispatch goes open source -- get at those cores, people

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 15th 2009 at 3:26PM

Grand Central Dispatch may not exactly be a household name to the average Apple user, but it's certainly a hot topic among developers, who may know it better as "libdispatch," and are no doubt thrilled that Apple has now made the whole thing open source. Among other things, that means developers are now able to take full advantage of multi-core processors in Snow Leopard, which obviously has some fairly big implications for applications as soon as those developers are able to get a handle on things. Know what you're doing? Just like to get in over your head? Then you can find the complete source code and other necessary information at the read link below.

[Via Slashdot]

Stanford's open-source camera could revolutionize photography, you'll still use 'Auto' mode

by Darren Murph posted Sep 6th 2009 at 1:10PM

Here's the moment where you pretend that a breakthrough in a given industry would just revolutionize the way you do work, yet you know -- deep down in your heart -- that you'd never take advantage. Okay, so maybe you would, but your friend wouldn't. At any rate, a gaggle of boffins at Stanford have set out to "reinvent digital photography" with the advent of the open-source digital camera. The idea here is to give programmers the power to conjure up new software to teach old cameras new tricks, with the hope being to eliminate software limits that currently exist. In fact, a prototype shooter has already been developed, with the Frankencamera hinting at a future where owners can download apps to their devices and continuously improve its performance and add to its abilities. The actual science behind the concept is stupendously in-depth, so if you're thinking of holding off on that new Nikon or Canon in 2034, you might want to give the read link a look for a little more encouragement.

[Via HotHardware]

Continue reading Stanford's open-source camera could revolutionize photography, you'll still use 'Auto' mode

DIY Eyewriter brings the joy of art, vandalism to those with ALS

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Aug 26th 2009 at 1:59PM

You know, there are a slew of devices out there that'll let you indulge in some graffiti action without sullying your hands (or breaking the law). Indeed, we've seen real time 3D paintings in galleries and something called the Wiispray, and now we have Eyewriter. An ongoing effort by a group of graffiti artists from around the world, this open source project has designed and built a low-cost eye-tracking system to enable people like Tony Quam (a.k.a. TEMPTONE), who is paralyzed, to create artwork moving only his eyes. But that ain't all -- the group also designed a "mobile broadcast unit," which is essentially a low-powered, networked bicycle capable of projecting the business onto the side of a building (or street sign, or train). The kids responsible for this heartwarming example of "eye vandalism" promise that how-to materials, software, and the like will all be available soon, but in the meantime check a video of the thing in action after the break.

[Via Jailbreak]

Continue reading DIY Eyewriter brings the joy of art, vandalism to those with ALS

Dell officially developing 'mobile devices' for China Mobile

by Darren Murph posted Aug 17th 2009 at 10:24AM

If you're going to go, you might as well go big, right? In a confirmation for the ages, Dell spokesperson Andrew Bowins has clearly stated that the company is "developing mobile devices for China Mobile," giving the Round Rock powerhouse access to the biggest mobile subscriber base on the entire planet. Unfortunately, he didn't confirm nor deny whether the Mini 3i that we peeked this morning would be amongst the first to launch, but obviously you won't find us gasping should it happen. Beyond that, details on the whole arrangement are scant, but here's hoping that Dell trucks those handsets over to this side of the drink in short order.

Sony takes Reader openness one step further, will offer EPUB titles only

by Darren Murph posted Aug 13th 2009 at 7:18AM

Slowly but surely, the mega-corp who has historically clung tight to its own formats while the world opts for others is finally seeing the light. Just over a year after Sony pushed out an update that enabled its Reader to use purchased books in the open EPUB format, the outfit is now promising to sell digital books only in that format by the year's end. Moreover, Sony is aiming to nix its "proprietary anti-copying software in favor of technology from the software maker Adobe that restricts how often e-books can be shared or copied." Once the switchover takes place, books purchased in Sony's online store will be readable on any device that supports EPUB, one of which will be Plastic Logic's forthcoming e-reader. And to think -- if only this change of heart would've happened prior to the introduction of ATRAC...

Neuros OSD 3 in development, makers want your input

by Vladislav Savov posted Jul 29th 2009 at 11:22AM

Neuros has earned significant kudos with techies for its hackable OSD media player / recorder and its commitment to open source software. It's no surprise then to see the company reaching out to its loyal community for input on what should be found in the third generation of the device. Yes, technically the OSD 2 isn't even out of the developer kit stage yet, but Neuros is planning well ahead of time, with the 3.0 model unlikely to be seen for another 18 months. Founder Joe Born has confirmed a continuing partnership with Texas Instruments on an ARM-based unit, which should be able to play and record at 1080p / 60 with support for all the relevant formats and containers. There'll be a minimum of 2GB DDR3 RAM, as well as a HTML5- and Flash-compliant browser, but the rest of the specs are up to you -- if there's some killer feature you simply must have, hit the read link and let Neuros know.

[Via Slashgear]

Google names Chrome OS compatriots, Dell noticeably absent

by Ross Miller posted Jul 8th 2009 at 8:06PM

Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments -- according to the latest Chrome OS update from Google, you're looking at the company's initial ragtag team of co-conspirators for its entry into the operating system business. With Adobe's involvement, we can assume Flash support is a given, and the others unsurprisingly run the gamut of netbook and smartbook players. We can't help but notice a couple of conspicuous absences on that list, including Intel and Dell. With Intel, you don't need to partner to work on its chips, but we gotta imagine it'd help by offering more support, and as for Dell, we don't know about that one, but there's still plenty of time for the Big G to enlist more companies in the lead up to its second half 2010 debut.

Update: Google updated the list to include Toshiba.

OTTO slices beats, has no effect on tin cans

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Jun 30th 2009 at 4:40PM

Electronic musicians are always looking for new ways to do the same old things. Case in point: OTTO, developed by Luca De Rosso at the IUAV University of Venice for a master's thesis. Based on an Arduino and Cycling '74's Max / MSP software, you can drop an audio loop in it (via USB) and manipulate it in real time by moving your hands around the touch surface. Sure we've heard these kind of edits before, but never on a device that somewhat resembles the old Simon memory game. That has to count for something, right? Suffice it to say: we want one. Be sure to check it in action after the break.

Continue reading OTTO slices beats, has no effect on tin cans