fspot2lj - export F-Spot photos to your LiveJournal photo hosting
fspot2lj is for exporting your F-Spot photos to your LiveJournal photo hosting at pics.livejournal.com. It’s not yet finished, but it works well enough to have exported all my photos and resize them all to 800×600 at the same time. It pays attention to F-Spot tags and creates LiveJournal galleries from them. It uses my Fotobilder...
Woman first draft pick for professional video game league
Blog: At the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, the first pick in the new Championship Gaming Series video game league was a surprise: a woman.
Correcting ligands, metabolites, and pathways
Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Nijmegen Centre for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands (Read on Source)
Sept. 11, 2001: The Day the Earth Stood Still
The attacks on New York and Washington stun the world. In the aftermath, technology musters to launch a war on terror.
Heading to Toronto for ONA
Bummed that I'll miss the Web 2.0 Summit this week for the first time. I'll be following the proceedings from afar. Instead, I'm heading to Toronto for the Online News Association's annual conference, which also takes place Oct. 16-19. Thursday afternoon I'll be moderating a panel on community media with Dan Gillmor, Jay Rosen and Rob Curley of ... (Read on Source)
ONLINE FACEOFF
October 24, 2007 -- Google is threatening to once again beat rival Microsoft to the deal punch, this time in the white-hot Facebook investment sweepstakes. (Read on Source)
OpenSEA Shows Off Open Source 802.1X Client
Months after being announced, the alliance provides proof of its existence with a Windows release.
Google Launches Mobile Banner Ads
Google today introduced brand-image ads for mobile phones, in a bid to extend beyond the computer-based Web market into the emerging market for advertising on phones. The company said it designed mobile images to look like standard graphical display ads for desktop computer webpages, but made them smaller to fit on mobile phone screens. Mobile image ads are targeted according to the keywords users type into phones to search for information. The ads are priced on a cost-per-click basis, and must ...
Firms miss networking potential
Businesses are missing out on the huge potential that social networks present, a leading information technology company has warned. Researchers for Gartner found that huge opportunities for improving the management of large firms exist. (Read on Source)
LinuxWorld makes mobile moves
The scope of the open-source community's annual expo ranges from supercomputers to gadgets on the go.
E-Passports Can Be Cloned in Minutes, Claims Researcher
Dutch researchers claim to have been able to fake microchipped UK passports. Process is cheap and takes minutes.
The Best of GrokDotCom 2008, So Far…
Earlier this week it came to our attention that a significant part of our readership never received their email newsletters (for some people this has been several months worth) due to an internal operational glitch. Can you say ooooops! So we’ve put together a list of the top 10 posts you may have missed: Tapping the [...] (Read on Source)
Fiber Network Appliance Platform features swappable design.
... This fiber network appliance platform is a flexible tool that can be installed in VPN, IDS (Intrusion Detection System), and servers. The FWS-7600 features Intel Xeon Quad Core 3200 ...
Increase Traffic By Using Blogs
By now, the word "blog" has become an integrated part the web's lexicon. Thanks in part to the increasing number of easy to use blogging websites and blogging software, blogging has significa...
Anatomy of an NFL rivalry Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos: AFL grudge match since 1960
The Raiders and Broncos are both charter members of the old AFL coming into existance in 1960. During the ensuing years the Raiders and Broncos have met 95 times with the Raiders leading the all time series 54 to 39 with two ties. Since Mike Shanahan took over as the head coach of the Denver Broncos following his unceremonious firing in Oakland, ... (Read on Source)
Three parties in running to buy Cork City FC
The Examiner in charge of the financial affairs of Cork City, Kieran McCarthy, confirmed today that he is talking to three parties looking to buy the club.
Zoho launches online market for business apps
Online application company Zoho Tuesday unveiled a new marketplace it says will allow users to buy and sell business applications and resell its Zoho Creator tool for building online database applications.
The company said it is looking for the new Zoho Marketplace to create a community where buyers and sellers of applications built using Zoho Creator can find one another and negotiate prices, Zoho said.
Creator developers can build custom Web-based applications based on specifications submitted by marketplace members, or they can build ready-made applications and post them for broad distribution, the company added.
Zoho, which has made its name in online office productivity applications, also launched a new Zoho Creator Partner Program aimed at encouraging resellers, consultants, developers, and other users to distribute end user applications and resell Creator itself.
Zoho Tuesday also announced Creator 3.0, with added support for custom HTML pages and mashups, Zoho said. The new version will allow users to build custom HTML pages by embedding code in HTML to create dynamic HTML pages; users also can embed forms, views, and other widgets, Zoho said. The new version will also let users combine data from external Web sites via Web APIs to build mashups, Zoho said.
"Zoho Creator 3.0 epitomizes our mission on the web -- give our customers powerful applications that are simple to use," said Raju Vegesna, Zoho evangelist, in a statement. "Zoho Creator is an ideal solution for people who are not developers, but who still want to create their own 'situated applications.' These small, situation-specific applications are often needed immediately, on the fly, and Zoho Creator eliminates lengthy development cycles to deliver solutions in minutes."
Michael Arrington, a blogger at TechCrunch, noted that while Zoho's online office productivity tools have long competed head-on with Google, its new offerings also put it into competition with Salesforce.com's AppExchange marketplace for third-party applications.
He added that Zoho claims that more than 100,000 applications have already been built on its Creator platform, most of which are available to all users. "Those applications are not being moved over to the Marketplace automatically, but developers will have the option to do so, and either charge for the apps or give them away for free. Zoho is giving 100 percent of the fees to developers," Arrington said.
He also noted that General Electric announced at the Office 2.0 conference earlier this month that it will use Zoho applications on their 400,000 desktops. Zoho was selected over rival Google, he added.
Zoho Creator 3.0 is available now and offers a variety of pricing plans, including personal and business editions that are free for an unlimited number of users (personal edition) or for the first five users (business edition). Additional business plans provide bolstered security through SSL scripting, rebranding, data backup, non-branded embedding, and additional storage.
Using Plants Instead of Petroleum to Make Jet Fuel
Chemical engineers in North Dakota have successfully turned oil from plants--canola (rapeseed), coconuts and soybeans--into jet fuel indistinguishable from the conventional kind, according to U.S. government tests. Working with the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), scientists at the Energy & ... (Read on Source)
The situation with U.S. ITER
If the United States defaults on its role in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (being built in France), many scientists believe it will deeply damage the U.S. reputation as a science collaborator on the world stage. The budget freeze associated with the 2009 continuing resolution didn't make things easier. (Read on Source)
A New Prototype: Research Desktop
Here?s something cool: a Microsoft Research prototype called Research Desktop, "a project aimed to demonstrate Microsoft innovation in the area of content management and analysis and design of personal information management environments."
Comcast to roll out faster Internet speeds (AP)
AP - Comcast Corp. on Wednesday said it will begin rolling out faster Internet speeds over the next few weeks in selected markets to homes and businesses.
Gamer's Radical Realization: I Prefer Playing With Myself
Screenshot Courtesy Microsoft Game Studios
"Why do you want to play alone?"
A friend of mine recently asked me this, during an argument about Fable II. I'd recently begun playing the game — a classic, medieval-quest RPG world — and had devoted hours to leveling my character into a fearsome, beloved warrior. I'd amassed Ninja Gaiden-esque skillz, learned flesh-singeing lightning spells and won sacks full of bling. I'd explored the far ranges of the amazingly detailed land, and the townsmen were bowing and scraping for my favor. I had four different girlfriends.
But to my friend, this made no sense. He's a hard-core online gamer — a member of a long-running World of Warcraft guild — so single-player RPG worlds seem completely baffling to him. Not to mention antisocial.
In Fable II, you're the only "live" human around. Sure, it's crammed full of "non-player characters" — but they're all 'bots, spouting fairly crude dialogue lines, with none of the unpredictability and spontaneity of a multiplayer game. You have no friends with whom to share your feats, to brag to about your awesomeness, to marvel at the beautiful sights. There are no epic, wargasmic, 50-person raids that will be spoken of over mead, four generations hence, in a tavern.
So it's a good question, really. Why do we want to immerse ourselves in a world that emulates all the tropes of a vibrant world like World of Warcraft — but where we are, essentially, alone?
I told my friend he was looking at it all wrong. The reason we single-player fans love world-games like Fable II is precisely because there are no other "real" people around.
Because really, who needs people? People suck. I'm joking, of course — but only a bit. The truth is that, in online multiplayer worlds, dealing with the delightfully unpredictable behavior of "real" people can be an absolute chore. Teammates fail to show up for a raid, or they leave everyone waiting for an hour, or they log out in the middle of battle and leave you gored by a howling mob. Have you ever actually tried to play Age of Conan? It's like the Stanford Prison Experiment in there, my friend.
Indeed, the dirty secret of online multiplayer worlds like World of Warcaft is that the vast majority of people play solo in them. As Nicholas Ducheneaut discovered, players who are piloting characters below level 40 spend a stunning 70 percent of their time questing alone. That means that the vast majority of World of Warcraft players treat their other fellow humans like non-player characters — 'bots they glimpse wandering through the forest, but never talk to.
But I'm being too negative here. There is an upbeat side, too. One benefit of being the only live person in a game is that the illusion of immersion is never broken. The designers of Fable II have complete control over what everyone in the game does and says, so they can make sure nobody drops any l33t-spe@k or references to Barack Obama. The world is all medieval, all the time.
More subtly yet, there's a sort of weird, existential delight in being the only truly sentient human inside a huge world. The fact that I know I'm the only person actually alive makes the game seem all the more dreamlike, as if everything — those mountain ranges, those creepy beetles — really is taking place inside my head. Sure, there's a co-op mode for Fable II, so you could play with another person if you wanted to. But I never bothered to try it out, because I preferred the solipsism of a world where I'm the center.
Indeed, sometimes I wish there were even fewer characters inside Fable II — and even more isolation. Some of my favorite moments were between battles, when I'd roam through a desolate stretch of forest at night, looking at the shadows and ancient ruins. Hell, I just enjoyed the peace and quiet! I don't get enough of that in my real life. That's why people loved Myst so much back in the day: The game was completely deserted — not a single other person alive — so you were literally alone for hours with nothing but your meditative thoughts.
Maybe this could eventually become an entire category of entertainment: You're dropped into a huge, lush, gorgeous, sprawling world, and all you do is just sort of ... wander around. We could even give it a name. Radical singleplayer: The game of solitude.
- - -
Clive Thompson is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to Wired and New York magazines. Look for more of Clive's observations on his blog, collision detection.
How to Understand Color Codes
In this article you'll learn how the mechanism behind color code values works with the aid of a simple program I've created. The program, Colourcoder, is designed to not only let you find a color you want with ease, but also help you gain a more intuitive grasp of color codes while you use it. By Stephen Philbin. 1105
Guns N' Roses Uploader to Plead Guilty
Federal prosecutors say a Los Angeles man accused of uploading nine pre-released Guns N' Roses tracks from the upcoming Chinese Democracy album has agreed to plead guilty as as part of a deal. Kevin Cogill faces a maximum of one year behind bars. He is likely to receive less time, if any, for allegedly uploading the songs to antiquiet, his music ... (Read on Source)
Difficult days for Social Media
Sometimes, on difficult days, like today, or was it yesterday, now, I just feel like throwing in the towel, on Social Media. I haven’t given up, won’t. Still, there’s a lot of obstacles to overcome, and can be difficult. (Read on Source)
Phoronix 2008 Linux Graphics Survey
Phoronix: "This year we're hosting the survey again to allow the development community to get a better understanding of the video hardware in use, what open-source and closed-source drivers are being used, and other relevant information."
How to Create A Website For Your Charity Golf Tournament
If you are planning to organize a golf tournament, creating a website is a vital part of the preparation, with great benefits, not the least amongst which is that it will save you money in the long te...
Old and young brains rely on different systems to remember emotional content
Neuroscientists have discovered that older people use their brains differently than younger people when it comes to storing memories, particularly those associated with negative emotions. read more (Read on Source)
Application Performance Considerations for Sun SPARC Enterprise M-Series Servers
This Sun BluePrints article discusses how the features and characteristics of Sun SPARC Enterprise M-Series servers, their processors, and their I/O subsystems impact application performance. More......
Name: SyroBro