Slashdot Mirror

I would actually rather hope for a broader decision that would declare APIs non-copyrightable, period. If they are ruled to be copyrightable, but Google is off the hook because of LGPL, that's still bad - it means that e.g. Wine is dead in the water right away, and God knows what it'd mean for POSIX...

I actually wonder if anyone ever considered the possibility of someone re-implementing something that was already under the GPL and LGPL...

Stallman did. His conclusion was that such an implementation would not itself fall under the GPL. So an application dynamically linking against a GPL'd library for which there was such an alternative implementation implementing the same exact interface would then not be considered derived work, despite his wishes to the contrary.

AIDE (Advanced Intrusion Detection Environment)

If you're looking to learn something new and general purpose, Python has a combination of decent docs (you can start with http://www.python.org/doc/ , http://pleac.sourceforge.net/pleac_python/ , and http://www.lightbird.net/py-by-example/ ), good libraries (see http://pypi.python.org/pypi and https://github.com/languages/Python/most_watched ) and all-around flexibility (all the regular system stuff, lots of microframeworks for web, scientific computing tools, 2d+3d graphics).

You may want to take a look at IPython ( http://ipython.org/ ), Reinteract ( http://fishsoup.net/software/reinteract/ ), and DreamPie ( http://dreampie.sourceforge.net/ ) for some interactive shells/interpreters to play around with. I use vim for programming, but there are a number of IDEs. Of the ones I've tried, I thought IEP offered the most interesting tools: http://code.google.com/p/iep/

Probably the fastest/easiest way to learn (and learn if you like) Python is to go through Zed Shaw's book/exercises: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/
There's a lot of other stuff on the Python wiki: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers

Slashdot definitely isn't what it used to be. For programming questions you may want to look at Stack Overflow or Quora. For general nerdly news, I find Hacker News, Techmeme, and The Verge tends to cover my bases better these days.

If you're looking to learn something new and general purpose, Python has a combination of decent docs (you can start with http://www.python.org/doc/ , http://pleac.sourceforge.net/pleac_python/ , and http://www.lightbird.net/py-by-example/ ), good libraries (see http://pypi.python.org/pypi and https://github.com/languages/Python/most_watched ) and all-around flexibility (all the regular system stuff, lots of microframeworks for web, scientific computing tools, 2d+3d graphics).

You may want to take a look at IPython ( http://ipython.org/ ), Reinteract ( http://fishsoup.net/software/reinteract/ ), and DreamPie ( http://dreampie.sourceforge.net/ ) for some interactive shells/interpreters to play around with. I use vim for programming, but there are a number of IDEs. Of the ones I've tried, I thought IEP offered the most interesting tools: http://code.google.com/p/iep/

Probably the fastest/easiest way to learn (and learn if you like) Python is to go through Zed Shaw's book/exercises: http://learnpythonthehardway.org/
There's a lot of other stuff on the Python wiki: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers

Slashdot definitely isn't what it used to be. For programming questions you may want to look at Stack Overflow or Quora. For general nerdly news, I find Hacker News, Techmeme, and The Verge tends to cover my bases better these days.

Really? I've always found VLC to be better. MS-WMP won't even play mkv files.

VLC is indeed much, much better. I find that MPC though much better than VLC with better codec support.

GreatBunzinni, real name Rui Maciel, has been using anonymous posts to accuse almost 20 accounts of being employed by a PR firm to astroturf Slashdot, without any evidence. Using multiple puppet accounts, he mods up these anonymous posts while modding down the target accounts in order to censor their viewpoints off of Slashdot. GreatBunzinni accidentally outed himself as the anonymous troll who has been posting these accusations to every Slashdot story. For example, he wrote the same post almost verbatim, first using his logged-in account followed by an anonymous post days later. Note the use of the same script and wording.

It turns out GreatBunzinni is actually a 31-year-old C++/Java programmer from Almada, Portugal named Rui Maciel, with a civil engineering degree from Instituto Superior Técnico and a hobby working with electronics. He runs Kubuntu and is active on the KDE mailing list. Rui Maciel has accounts at OSNews, Launchpad, ProgrammersHeaven, the Ubuntu forums, and of course Slashdot.

Most of the users who Rui targets have done nothing more than commit the sin of praising a competitor to Google at some point in the past. Many of them are subscribers who often get the first post, since subscribers see stories earlier than non-subscribers. After one of Rui's accusations is posted as a reply, the original post receives a surge of "Troll" and "Overrated" moderations from his puppet accounts, while the accusatory post gets modded up. Often, additional anonymous posters suddenly pop up to give support, which also receive upmods. At the same time, accused users who defend themselves are modded down as "Offtopic."

Rui Maciel's contact information
Email: greatbunzinni@gmail.com, greatbunzinni@engineer.com, or rui.maciel@gmail.com
IM: greatbunzinni@jabber.org (the same Jabber account currently listed on his Slashdot account)
Blog: http://rui_maciel.users.sourceforge.net/
Programming projects: http://www.programmersheaven.com/user/GreatBunzinni/contributions

Known puppet accounts used by Rui Maciel
Galestar
NicknameOne
Nicknamename
Nerdfest
TheNarrator
Toonol
anonymov
chrb
flurp
forkfail
icebike
ilguido
psiclops
rreyelts
russotto
zidium

tl;dr: An Ubuntu fan named Rui Maciel is actively trolling Slashdot with multiple moderator accounts to filter dissenting opinions off the site.

Gimp means lame or crippled. Calling someone a gimp is an insulting way of calling them defective. Similar to calling someone a retard.

Not the brightest name for a software package.

So I suppose that they better change the name of this project too then. My wife has MS and walks with a crutch most of the time now. She often refers to herself as "a gimp". Of course the name of the program in question is not "a gimp", it's GIMP.

Is it offensive when I retard the timing on an engine? Isn't that entirely different from calling someone "a retard"? What about setting the Master or Slave for an IDE drive?

Context matters. But frankly I do not understand why people give so much power to these words when they are used as insults. They are only words, generally used by small people and used to make them feel somehow better about their own pathetic lives. Political correctness has run a muck in the US. Don't they teach "Stick and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me" in school anymore? I've been called a "cracka" and a "honky" before that and have had black friends refer to me as a "nigga" too. They are only words.

I didn't find out until I was in my twenties that my family, on my mothers side, left Germany in the late 30's because they were Jewish. They were so scared that they hid this from everyone, including their own family. I couldn't tell you how mayn people called me a "heb" or a "kike" after finding that out. These terms are only offensive if people let them be as such. And making them taboo when they are not even being used in a derogatory fashion is just stupid.

There is a release candidate for 2.8 here (bottom of the page): http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

Looks like Windows installer isn't quite ready yet

(Still on version 2.6.12, as per: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html)

That didn't take much searching. NTM seems to be the most highly recommended utility for doing this.

But if you install it, make sure you configure it. By default it will auto-disconnect under a number of conditions, which could leave some users tearing their hair out and thinking their network is down.

netramon.sourceforge.net

There are dozens of cobol ports. It's open source and everything http://cobolforgcc.sourceforge.net/

Your message contains very insightful observations of desktop computing. Hats off to you.

I miss the days when I had absolutely idiot jobs that required about 1/10 of my brain 1/10 of the time, and I could do things like check out old hardware, install Linux and screw around until my fingers fell off. I have blown up many an operating system, and fixed many of them in turn.

Right now, I'm just a VM junkie. While Windows has improved quite a bit (I never knew it had a built in sort command until today) it's sometimes great to have a virtual Linux or BSD box for experimentation and development.

Then again, I've got another emulator also. I keep KEGS running in the background in case I need a quick game of Arkanoid or Centipede.

Perhaps it doesn't meet your needs, but it certainly exists.

It's been able to for quite some time, there is even a dynamic malware analysis tool that makes use of this: http://zerowine.sourceforge.net/

You write the C# -> native compiler first ;)

And how do you think C# code is executed?

The "Native Image Generator" is

the Ahead-of-time compilation service of the .NET Framework. It allows a .NET assembly to be pre-compiled instead of letting the Common Language Runtime do a Just-in-time compilation at runtime

Not an ordinary .exe, granted, but the native code is there even in normal C# use. Ordinary native binaries can be generated from C# if necessary though - this is how Mono targets platforms like the Wii. The reason you can't write (normal) Windows drivers in C# is because Windows isn't written in C#.

That said, bindings exist for libusb, so that's a start.

(There seem to be a number of similar bindings for Java, and a standard API spec that no-one's implemented.)

Google tells me two operating systems have been written in C#: Cosmos and Singularity.

This isn't to say C# is more suited than C to OS/driver work, but it can be done.

You write the C# -> native compiler first ;)

And how do you think C# code is executed?

The "Native Image Generator" is

the Ahead-of-time compilation service of the .NET Framework. It allows a .NET assembly to be pre-compiled instead of letting the Common Language Runtime do a Just-in-time compilation at runtime

Not an ordinary .exe, granted, but the native code is there even in normal C# use. Ordinary native binaries can be generated from C# if necessary though - this is how Mono targets platforms like the Wii. The reason you can't write (normal) Windows drivers in C# is because Windows isn't written in C#.

That said, bindings exist for libusb, so that's a start.

(There seem to be a number of similar bindings for Java, and a standard API spec that no-one's implemented.)

Google tells me two operating systems have been written in C#: Cosmos and Singularity.

This isn't to say C# is more suited than C to OS/driver work, but it can be done.

"And you have the GALL to criticize a major Nebraska business leader for rightly identifying the dangers of running software you've written? You actually think you're fit to KISS HIS SHOES?" - by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24, @11:35AM (#39782485)

Kiss his SHOES? I beat his ass... lol, & he can kiss mine now...

---

"Has it occurred to you, for a second, that if you've managed to convince yourself you're a security expect, on the basis of something so easily DEBUNKED as a damned HOSTS file, you might..." - by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24, @11:35AM (#39782485)

LOL, again: DO YOU HAVE A CSC DEGREE EVEN THOR?

(Yes, "Thor Schmuck", I KNOW IT'S YOU NOW... lol! See below as to HOW I know...)

Thor "Schmuck" shut right the hell up when I asked him questions on Spybot Search & Destroy!

(Especially when I passed all 21 of CA's removal questions, which they should have removed that period instead of just lowering it to ZERO THREAT LEVELS... then again, they got BUSTED FOR ACCOUNTING FRAUD too & SOLD OFF THAT "Security Suite" of theirs that tore up customer emails where I worked too, lol... some "security pros").

That's only a single app of 50++ I've written over time that did EXTREMELY well, see partial list below!

(When "Thor Schmuck" can show he's done MORE, BETTER, & EARLIER than I have in the same arenas (tech trade shows of high repute, commercially sold softwares, & books/magazines/newspapers of GOOD repute? Well, then, he can TALK!)

"My Name is Ozymandias: King of Kings - Look upon my works, ye mighty, & DESPAIR..."

----

Windows NT Magazine (now Windows IT Pro) April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" issue, page 61

(&, for work done for EEC Systems/SuperSpeed.com on PAID CONTRACT (writing portions of their SuperCache program increasing its performance by up to 40% via my work) albeit, for their SuperDisk & HOW TO APPLY IT, took them to a finalist position @ MS Tech Ed, two years in a row 2000-2002, in its HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement).

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, 1997, "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue page 210, #1/first entry in fact (my work is there)

PC-WELT FEB 1998 - page 84, again, my work is featured there

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 - page 92, insert section, MUST HAVE WARES, my work is again, there

PC-WELT FEB 1999 - page 83, again, my work is featured there

CHIP Magazine 7/99 - page 100, my work is there

GERMAN PC BOOK, Data Becker publisher "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000, where my work is contained in it

HOT SHAREWARE Numero 46 issue, pg. 54 (PC ware mag from Spain), 2001 my work is there, first one featured, yet again!

Also, a British PC Mag in 2002 for many utilities I wrote, saw it @ BORDERS BOOKS but didn't buy it... by that point, I had moved onto other areas in this field besides coding only...

Being paid for an article that made me money over @ PCPitstop in 2008 for writing up a guide that has people showing NO VIRUSES/SPYWARES & other screwups, via following its point, such as THRONKA sees here -> http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ee926d913b81bf6d63c3c7372fd2a24c&t=28430&page=3

It's also been myself helping out the folks at the UltraDefrag64 project (a 64-bit defragger for Windows), in showing them code for how to do Process Priority Control @ the GUI usermode/ring 3/rpl 3 level in their program (good one too), & being credited for it by their lead dev & his team... see here -> http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/handbook/Credits.html or here

My first computer was a spectrum too. I recently I downloaded the excellent open source FUSE emulator which when combined with .TAP format games from World of Spectrum and the right settings, you can watch the tape loading screens.

For the "R Tape loading error" gambler in you, some emulators even let you connect a cassette player to your audio interface's line in for that authentic experience.

All the big-names are 30 years old just now.

This includes the TRS80 Color computer (The computer that got me into this crazy field in the first place... OS9 for ever!)

I have to admit, I had my Atari 130XE running Spartados when I ran into a Coco running OS9 and was pretty much incredulous (and humbled).

Nowadays companies like Cloud 9 and projects like NitrOS-9 are keeping the fun alive.
If time weren't so damned finite I'd love to pick up a Coco 3 and pop a 6309 into and get busy.. alas real life intrudes.

Here's a link to the emulator: http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualt/

TeXlipse

http://texlipse.sourceforge.net/

LaTeX is the technology, but LyX is the document processor (not word processor) that you want.

I've made the switch from OpenOffice/LibreOffice to LyX and haven't looked back!

For what it's worth, I work in academia and often have to create documents with complex bibliographies. I use JabRef to manage my bibliographic database, and it integrates so smoothly with LyX. My colleagues who are stuck with MS Word+Endnote are green with envy when they see my professional quality printouts.

But the real benefit is pleasure of the WYSIWYM (what you see if what you mean) paradigm. When you're actually doing work, you want to think in terms of content, not in terms of how the printout will appear. LyX is just so perfect in this respect: I get to define the screen fonts that are comfortable for me as I work, while relying on LaTeX's power to make things render nicely in the end.

You mean like these?

http://sourceforge.net/projects/scantool/

http://freediag.sourceforge.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kadin2048/List_of_OBD-II_Cables_%26_Scanning_Software

You didn't think that the guy selling a $4.99 app holds all the rights to the technology did you?

You mean like these?

http://sourceforge.net/projects/scantool/

http://freediag.sourceforge.net/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kadin2048/List_of_OBD-II_Cables_%26_Scanning_Software

You didn't think that the guy selling a $4.99 app holds all the rights to the technology did you?

OpenAPL uses a keyboard template that works with any standard PC-style keyboard.

Anyone using or used lush here can compare?

2.8 is in RC, grab it and see for yourself.

I think Classic Shell is gearing up to work with Win 8...
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/

Forget buying a third party app for a better interface; there's plenty of FOSS out there. I installed bblean on my laptop so the Windows7 desktop looks and feels exactly like my Linux desktop which runs fluxbox (a latter-day blackbox). So check out bb4win (bblean), litestep, emerge or just search on those three terms combined to find articles comparing the various desktop alternatives.

Forget buying a third party app for a better interface; there's plenty of FOSS out there. I installed bblean on my laptop so the Windows7 desktop looks and feels exactly like my Linux desktop which runs fluxbox (a latter-day blackbox). So check out bb4win (bblean), litestep, emerge or just search on those three terms combined to find articles comparing the various desktop alternatives.

You can still play Wizardry, Bard's Tale, Dragon Wars, Wasteland, and others on your Apple computer, even if it isn't 35 years old.

"My Name is Ozymandias: King of Kings - Look upon my works, ye mighty, & DESPAIR..."

From only a SMALL PARTIAL LIST of my favorites over time (done before you were BORN possibly, and I'd like to see you produce a better list, and before it too).

Go for it.

----

Windows NT Magazine (now Windows IT Pro) April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" issue, page 61

(&, for work done for EEC Systems/SuperSpeed.com on PAID CONTRACT (writing portions of their SuperCache program increasing its performance by up to 40% via my work) albeit, for their SuperDisk & HOW TO APPLY IT, took them to a finalist position @ MS Tech Ed, two years in a row 2000-2002, in its HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement).

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, 1997, "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue page 210, #1/first entry in fact (my work is there)

PC-WELT FEB 1998 - page 84, again, my work is featured there

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 - page 92, insert section, MUST HAVE WARES, my work is again, there

PC-WELT FEB 1999 - page 83, again, my work is featured there

CHIP Magazine 7/99 - page 100, my work is there

GERMAN PC BOOK, Data Becker publisher "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000, where my work is contained in it

HOT SHAREWARE Numero 46 issue, pg. 54 (PC ware mag from Spain), 2001 my work is there, first one featured, yet again!

Also, a British PC Mag in 2002 for many utilities I wrote, saw it @ BORDERS BOOKS but didn't buy it... by that point, I had moved onto other areas in this field besides coding only...

Being paid for an article that made me money over @ PCPitstop in 2008 for writing up a guide that has people showing NO VIRUSES/SPYWARES & other screwups, via following its point, such as THRONKA sees here -> http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ee926d913b81bf6d63c3c7372fd2a24c&t=28430&page=3

It's also been myself helping out the folks at the UltraDefrag64 project (a 64-bit defragger for Windows), in showing them code for how to do Process Priority Control @ the GUI usermode/ring 3/rpl 3 level in their program (good one too), & being credited for it by their lead dev & his team... see here -> http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/handbook/Credits.html or here http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=2993462&group_id=199532&atid=969873

AND lastly: http://g-off.net/software/a-python-repeatable-threadingtimer-class where I got other programmer's work WORKING RIGHT (in PyThon no less, which I just started learning only 2 week ago no less) by showing them how to use a "Dummy Proxy Function" as I call it, to make a RepeatTimer class (Thread sub-class really) to take PARAMETERIZED FUNCTIONS, ala:

def apkthreadlaunch():
getnortonsafeweb(sAPKFileName = "APK_1_NortonSafeWeb360Extracted.txt".rstrip())

a = RepeatTimer(900, apkthreadlaunch) # 900 is 15 minutes... apk

Where it was NOT working for many folks there, before (submitted to the maker of the RepeatTimer class no less, & yes, it WORKS!)

----

What do I have to say about that much above? I can't say it any better, than this was stated already (from the greatest book of all time, the "tech manual for life" imo):

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was wi

"My Name is Ozymandias: King of Kings - Look upon my works, ye mighty, & DESPAIR..."

From only a SMALL PARTIAL LIST of my favorites over time (done before you were BORN possibly, and I'd like to see you produce a better list, and before it too).

Go for it.

----

Windows NT Magazine (now Windows IT Pro) April 1997 "BACK OFFICE PERFORMANCE" issue, page 61

(&, for work done for EEC Systems/SuperSpeed.com on PAID CONTRACT (writing portions of their SuperCache program increasing its performance by up to 40% via my work) albeit, for their SuperDisk & HOW TO APPLY IT, took them to a finalist position @ MS Tech Ed, two years in a row 2000-2002, in its HARDEST CATEGORY: SQLServer Performance Enhancement).

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, 1997, "Top Freeware & Shareware of the Year" issue page 210, #1/first entry in fact (my work is there)

PC-WELT FEB 1998 - page 84, again, my work is featured there

WINDOWS MAGAZINE, WINTER 1998 - page 92, insert section, MUST HAVE WARES, my work is again, there

PC-WELT FEB 1999 - page 83, again, my work is featured there

CHIP Magazine 7/99 - page 100, my work is there

GERMAN PC BOOK, Data Becker publisher "PC Aufrusten und Repairen" 2000, where my work is contained in it

HOT SHAREWARE Numero 46 issue, pg. 54 (PC ware mag from Spain), 2001 my work is there, first one featured, yet again!

Also, a British PC Mag in 2002 for many utilities I wrote, saw it @ BORDERS BOOKS but didn't buy it... by that point, I had moved onto other areas in this field besides coding only...

Being paid for an article that made me money over @ PCPitstop in 2008 for writing up a guide that has people showing NO VIRUSES/SPYWARES & other screwups, via following its point, such as THRONKA sees here -> http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=ee926d913b81bf6d63c3c7372fd2a24c&t=28430&page=3

It's also been myself helping out the folks at the UltraDefrag64 project (a 64-bit defragger for Windows), in showing them code for how to do Process Priority Control @ the GUI usermode/ring 3/rpl 3 level in their program (good one too), & being credited for it by their lead dev & his team... see here -> http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/handbook/Credits.html or here http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=2993462&group_id=199532&atid=969873

AND lastly: http://g-off.net/software/a-python-repeatable-threadingtimer-class where I got other programmer's work WORKING RIGHT (in PyThon no less, which I just started learning only 2 week ago no less) by showing them how to use a "Dummy Proxy Function" as I call it, to make a RepeatTimer class (Thread sub-class really) to take PARAMETERIZED FUNCTIONS, ala:

def apkthreadlaunch():
getnortonsafeweb(sAPKFileName = "APK_1_NortonSafeWeb360Extracted.txt".rstrip())

a = RepeatTimer(900, apkthreadlaunch) # 900 is 15 minutes... apk

Where it was NOT working for many folks there, before (submitted to the maker of the RepeatTimer class no less, & yes, it WORKS!)

----

What do I have to say about that much above? I can't say it any better, than this was stated already (from the greatest book of all time, the "tech manual for life" imo):

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was wi

I read somewhere that twitter feeds were being used as seeds for random number generators. Found the page here http://pyevolve.sourceforge.net/wordpress/?p=631 This seems like a great approach. Could someone explain the benefits of this over the above, why it is needed and how can we be sure they are truly random.

If you are fine with Java or .Net, try out http://robocode.sourceforge.net/

I know I'd love to write code as a kid to battle other players.

I learned most of my programing as a kid by picking apart other code. I learned on a trs80 loading up basic games and then in my teenage years, tweaking code for BBS sites when 1200 baud was awesome.

With 207 downloads in 8 years, and 71% recommendation rate (5/8 users recommend this product!) how could you possibly go wrong. There's even a screenshot from 2004 (which looks like it's from 1994), so you know you're using a quality up-to-date product.

You should learn to read a bit.

207 downloads (This week)
Take a look at the timeline

Here's a project I started & abandoned several years ago:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/autotax/

This is an extension of the IRS fillable pdf forms, adding calculations.

This was envisioned as "computer-assisted" as opposed to fully automated, which might address a lot of the "my situation is unique" objections.

I abandoned the project because people were eager to use it but not contribute.

Here's one: https://sourceforge.net/projects/opentaxsolver/

Having said that, I have found that paying a professional has always been a worthwhile investment. I have a masters degree in mathematics, so it's not a question of the calculations, but my accountant knows things about tax law that I don't, and keeps me from getting audited while getting me the best refunds that the law allows.

The worst thing you can do is rush the decision and the implementation of your business model.

In my case, the core of my software (MSS Code Factory) was always intended to be open source. However, the intent was not to launch the company/business branch of the project (Singularity One Systems, Inc.) until I had at least a couple of the proprietary support modules in place for commercial databases.

Timing would not turn out to be in my favour, however, as I was laid off last year, so I rushed getting "the company" off the ground. As a result, the company was ready to go before the proprietary extensions were, so I'm scrambling to finish at least one of the proprietary support modules so I can earn revenue from it (Oracle 11gR2 support.) I don't think I've got a bad business model, but I really shouldn't have been launching the company until May or June of this year, not January as I ended up doing.

In a nutshell, I'm using a variant on the MySQL model, where there is a open source component as well as proprietary "enterprise" modules. The open source component provides the core application code with a PostgreSQL persistence implementation, and the proprietary modules will provide the support for the commercial databases (Oracle 11gR2, Sybase ASE 12.5, DB/2 UDB, and SQL Server.)

Another distinction between the open source and commercial support is that open source will provide basic SAX parsers to enable database loader/initializers, but the commercial version will also use the SAX parsers and XSD schemas to implement cache/node synchronization. That means that you'll be able to do client-server applications with the open source implementation, but if you want synchronized data clusters, you'll need to pony up for commercial support options.

I'm one of those people who believes all software should be released as an open source core, with profits made from the support and enhancement of that core. Eventually the commercial modules will become open source as well (when I can afford it), while new modules will take on the commercial enhancement component that generates revenue.

I also believe that anyone wanting to customize and integrate the core should pay for the privilege of doing so, and opted for a dual GPLv3/commercial license model as a result. I've had many people crying and complaining that I won't release it under Apache or BSD licenses, but to me that's just someone with a great idea for a profitable enhancement that wants to get the core code for free (as in beer.) I'm not stopping them from producing a GPLv3 product enhancement; just stopping them from stealing the code for hidden use in their own product.

But I've never been one naive enough to think I could ever come up with a business model that would make everyone happy. There will always be people who think you should give them your lunch as well as your code, and there will always be people who think you should hold on to your code until you turn enough profit to "afford" to open source.

There is no easy answer, but one thing I do know for sure: you shouldn't open source software until you've come up with a viable business model for developing and supporting that software in the future. It may take time to ramp up the revenue stream so you can live off your product, and perhaps the revenue stream will never be big enough to allow that. But the biggest mistake you can make is to open source just on principal without thinking things through and figuring out a way to earn a living from your efforts.

What app do you use and what is your work flow? It's been about a year since I've looked into it but it just wasn't a simple. "Do This This and This". I'm going to be traveling to Germany in a few weeks and although my droid will be a useless phone (CDMA) I'd love to take it as a GPS/portable computing device.

Thanks.

You can use rmaps with map files made using Trekbuddy Atlas Creator. There are lots of tutorials online such as this youtube one. It can also read OSM.

I used it two summers ago while travelling through China and Japan, which was very convenient. I had a global (google) map with not much detail, then in the places I knew I would be I included tile zoom down to level 16-18 depending on the detail available. This allowed me to save a lot of space while still have the detail where I needed it. At the time OSM wasn't very good in rural China for understandable reasons.

I have never ran it, but I have friends that have:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/sipe/

Adds OCS to pidgin.. :)

I'm trying to find out if GIMP and others can pull images from these FF cameras, can they work with RAW....

There's a plugin for that

http://ufraw.sourceforge.net/

Warning - website will make your eyes bleed.

>video
>cinelerra
>canon

Unless they use some weird-ass format, yes.

--
BMO

ELKS is a subset of the Linux kernel that can run on 286 chips.
http://elks.sourceforge.net/

Follow the links, Luke: ;-)

Need for a LIRC-like 'transceiver of all trades'
And yes, (RF/IP-extended if need be) IR-controlled LED strip(e)s integrate nicely with this, especially since the most common controller has been supported by LIRC for a while: http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/i24/

There's also a thread with the building blocks (albeit documented in German) to link it up to a weather service for automated action based e.g. on their rain radar.

Re:X10 makes cool stuff for automation
BTW, contrary to the Future House movie linked near the top of the page, this LCARS thing is real (looks like many Dutch and German developers are at this, probably because more likely to buy just one house, and for a lifetime).

The projector+blinds approach, much underestimated
However, beware, "Neighborhood Watch" works both ways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuiIobbZjHM (English subtitles, anyone?)

It really depends on your style. It's hard to beat a pen and paper. A friend had a professor who swore that mental stimulation required special rubbing of a couple wrist bones that could only be achieved by sitting down and writing.

For keeping the essence of certain types of meetings, as well as for individual brainstoriming, I've found mindmaps useful. Freemind is open-source and quite intuitive so I can keep track of the thread of the meeting and go back and edit it later.

does it work with OpenBTS? http://openbts.sourceforge.net/

Get a bunch of X-10 crap on ebay and setup motion-detect lights all over inside and out.
Get a X-10 usb transmitter and make all the lights go wonky. Then add voice recognition using Perlbox.

I actually did this once:
"Computer Illuminate" (turns on lights)
"Computer Climate Control" (turns on fan)

http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/

Fry's (and other places, I'm sure) has shoebox PCs running low-power CPUs for about what you pay for a good external USB drive. Pick up a big drive and some RAM for it, install LAMP and BackupPC and then have it backup your other computers on your home LAN. Nice thing is that it has deduplication and uses rsync, so there are clients that work on Win, Mac and Linux.

I live in medium sized building (16 floors) and we had a similar dilemma.

We bought one of those cheap chinese OEM CCTV DVRs (sold under several brands worldwide, the real source is a chinese company called Dahua), plus 8 cameras.
Notes:
Considering its price, the DVR works quite well, and has decent quality/framerate (30 fps / camera, 352x240). The bad thing is that the remote client software (optional usage) is Windows-only and buggy as hell.
We considered a desktop PC with a multi-channel vide capture card (it's far more flexible), but it's messier to install/maintain (bigger, with fans sucking dirt 24/7, someone may be tempted to occasionaly use as a desktop PC etc).

We installed the DVR in the entrance room, so the doorman/watcher (however it's called in English) can see what is going on AND we have all the activity recorded in case of need.
Problem: What if, for example, someone steps in with a gun and blows up the DVR? The videos are gone, and a periodic backup will not prevent this, since the most relevant video happened mere instants before, thus DVR-copy only. -- So, for the worst-case scenario (and right the most valuable one to have recorded video), the DVR seemed useless (the DVR has a built-in sync mechanism which is very unreliable, so it's worthless).

The dillema was solved with a free software called Tanidvr (Unixoid_OS-specific, command-line, and specific to that DVR family). Basically, we bought a computer to be used as a realtime backup server, installed in a locked room in a different floor. We also have a (intranet-only) HTTP server in order to easily download the videos, if necessary.
So, no matter what happens to the DVR, we have the video data up to the exact time (delay <1 second) the machine was destroyed.
A backup script was created for video fragmentation, and to recompress the H.264 stream to fit more days into the HD (with a quality/size the DVR is unable to provide).

Well, it works for us.

Also: http://misterhouse.sourceforge.net/, http://www.diyalarmforum.com/ and maybe even http://linuxmce.com/. Please reply to this thread if you have other relevant links.