Sharing Works: Latest News Stories About Crowd-sourcing, Sharing, Transparency
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-04-13 08:35:48 UTC
- Modified: 2014-04-13 08:36:30 UTC
Voting/Government
After spending tens of millions of dollars in recent years on ineffective voting systems, California election officials are planning to experiment with an “open source” system that may prove to be the cure-all for secure, accessible balloting – or just another expensive failure.
ARM
Sensor algorithm software company Sensor Platforms Inc. (SPI) is getting into the open-source movement by transforming its internal sensor platform into an open-source platform for sensor hubs. SPI’s Open Sensor Platform (OSP) is aimed at simplifying sensor hubs and data collection, and ARM is on board with the plan.
Printers
Guns don't kill people, people kill people is what guns advocates say. But the guns, well, the guns do play an essential role in killing people. How much blame to place on objects of design is at the heart of MoMA's Design and Violence ongoing online exhibition and was the subject of the series' first debate.
For those not in this niche of hobbies, embroidering your favorite image on something isn't as simple as grabbing a crappy jpeg off the website and telling the machine "go." You need an embroidery file, and making that file is called "digitizing." It's best to start with vector art, and then you need to understand things like stitch types and when the thread should be trimmed. It takes some effort to learn (like any skill), but to get better at it means sitting in front of that computer with the dongles in it. And with my travel schedule, let's just say that doesn't happen very often. I'm excited that now I can have the design software on my Linux laptop and work on digitizing anything anytime I want, whether I'm in an airport or a hotel or a beanbag in my house.
A new type of open source 3D printer called the Mamba3D has been unveiled this week and its creators MyMatics are shortly set to launch a new Kickstarter crowd funding campaign to help construct the first Mamba3D 3D printers.
Beehives
With the help of Open Source Beehives, a do-it-yourself apiary kit, you can build a hive that encourages healthy bees. The hive comes with a sensor system that collects data so that you can keep an eye on the bees in real time.
NASA
NASA says it will publicly releases code for many of the systems the space organization has used through the years making your DIY satellite now closer than ever.
By that time, the code was little more than a novelty. But in recent years, the space agency has built all sorts of other software that is still on the cutting edge. And as it turns out, like the Apollo 11 code, much of this NASA software is available for public use, meaning anyone can download it and run it and adapt it for free. You can even use it in commercial products.
Robotics
“The Glaucus, named after the Blue Sea Slug (Glaucus Atlanticus), is an open source soft robotic quadruped from Super-Releaser { http://superreleaser.com }. It is a proof of concept for a method developed at Super-Releaser that can reproduce nearly any geometry modeled on the computer as a seamless silicone skin. The company hopes to apply these same techniques to practical problems in medicine and engineering as the technology develops.
There isn't an engineer out there who hasn't, at one point, wanted a robotic arm. Unfortunately, they're quite costly. Dan Royer from Marginally Clever, however, has released an open-source 3DOF robotic arm that is sure to get many excited.
Drug Discovery
India's Open Source Drug Discovery programme is struggling for lack of expertise and a research ecosystem. However, the programme's real contribution may be the creation of just such an ecosystem
Starck/Furniture
...downloaded as data to be 3D printed at home.
Misc.
If you don’t have a garden or a balcony but fancy growing your own herbs and vegetables you might be interested in a new smart indoor greenhouse called MEG, which has been launched over on the Kickstarter crowd funding website.
In the open source community, we know the value of collaboration. It’s at the core of everything we do. Some of us are lucky to work for organizations that understand and embrace the power of collaboration. Yet, the silo mentality runs rampant in many organizations where collaboration and internal crowdsourcing is not valued. (Opensource.com readers who are pursuing open source projects on the side, but spend their days working at companies with silos are likely very familiar with this).
This is especially relevant to software. When we forget to provide software freedom, a collaborative project becomes just another crowdsourced project. This isn’t just a matter of philosophy — it affects the degree and quality of collaboration too. A crowdfunded project will have to be created and maintained solely by the recipient of the funds, even if they claim to be creating an “open community”. Open source is unlocked by the equality of all participants in a given community. When that equality is constrained, the network effect that delivers the benefits the initiator is seeking will be inhibited.
Though they're on a trajectory without a clear future, their vision is crystal. To share what they've created with the world and allow the natural course of innovation and invention to change lives—without the obstacles of patents and the barriers of cost.
There are a good number of nice programmable DIY guitar pedals out there. So, the pedalSHIELD is nothing new, except for the fact that I think we've strived harder than the rest to keep the project open, simple, supported, and affordable. The idea was to design a platform for Arduino users to learn about digital signal processing, effects, and synthesizers—also to experiment without a deep knowledge in electronics or programming.
Skirmos Takes Laser Tag To The Next Level By Going Open SourceLaser tag is something that we might have played before in the past. The premise of laser tag is simple: aim for the enemy, pull the trigger, score some points. However a Kickstarter project b y the name of Skirmos is hoping to take a relatively simple game like laser tag to the next level by making it an open source project.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- [Meme] Being Believed, Not Censored or Defamed
- Daniel Pocock, Zini, and John Sullivan (FSF)
-
- [Meme] Miscomprehension of GDPR
- Social control in general is a ticking timebomb
- In Haiti, the Market Share of Windows Collapsed (From 97% to 27% on Desktops/Laptops)
- A couple of months ago Windows was measured at 3.04%
- In Most Countries It's Still Possible Not to Have a 'Smartphone' and to Pay for Nearly Everything With Cash
- Withdrawing money will be possible as long as enough people use many ATMs (cash machines)
- Expect Lots of Material From Daniel Pocock as Election Day Nears
- The experiences of Daniel Pocock were an excellent example of reprisal or retribution against either whistleblowers or people who give a voice to whistleblowers
- I've Been Promoting Free Software for Over 25 Years
- I wrote my first computer program when I was about 14, maybe a little younger (I have visual memory of it)
- Reminder: Richard Stallman's Talk is This Week in Paris (and in French)
- Defending rms isn't the same as defending everything he has ever said
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 11, 2024
- IRC logs for Saturday, May 11, 2024
- Online Bullying (Trying to Make People Unhappy)
- Narcissists and bullies behind mice and keyboards, no honesty or fact-checking required
- Talk About Software Freedom
- "Linux" and "BSD" may mean a lot to more and more people, but they're still just brands or acronyms
- Windows in South Korea: From 98.5% in 2010 to About 30% (Android Rises to Almost 50%)
- Samsung ships like a million Linux devices per day
- Improving Site Navigation for Easier Discovery and Catch-ups
- This site is run by code we wrote ourselves
- LibrePlanet 2024 Recordings
- Let's hope independent recordings by viewers can help recovery of "lost talks" (recordings)
- GNU/Linux Reaches 11% Market Share in the United States Of America - an All-Time High
- The United States Of America is where the operating system started (Boston) and where Linus Torvalds works (Portland)
- Links 11/05/2024: XBox Crisis, Spotify Exodus Continues
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 11/05/2024: Why to Delete GitHub
- Links for the day
- In Europe, Bing Fell Every Month This Year, Lost a Considerable Share Since "Bing Chat" and All the Chatbot Hype
- Microsoft's Bing has had many layoffs lately
- Links 11/05/2024: Analysis of the Microsoft Crisis and Backdoor-Looking Bugs
- Links for the day
- Attacking the Messenger?
- Stack Overflow and LLM licencing
- Microsoft Fired Loads of Staff in Kenya, Which is Another Large Country Where GNU/Linux Has Grown a Lot
- Microsoft pays Kenyans only 2 dollars an hour for an IT/office job
- Knowing the True History of Debian, Owing to Irish Debian Developer Daniel Pocock (Currently Running to Become Member of the European Parliament)
- Irish-Australian and scapegoat of a highly dysfunctional 'Debian family'
- Attacking by Credentials
- Modest people do not demand fancy titles
- Microsoft Windows Used to Have 99% of the OS Market in Jordan, Now It's Just 13% (Less Than iOS)
- Based on the data of statCounter, GNU/Linux in Jordan climbed from 0.62% in May 2014 to nearly 5% right now
- More Nations Are Reaching and Exceeding 5% Market Share for GNU/Linux, Microsoft Wants to be Bailed Out Again
- Microsoft is once again reaching out to Biden for a bailout - a subject we'll cover in a video some time this weekend
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 10, 2024
- IRC logs for Friday, May 10, 2024
- [Meme] What Do You Call a Woman Who Does BDS on Free Software? Elana Hamasman.
- Here are some confused thoughts
- [Meme] Mission Aborted
- Mission Aborted: cancel RMS
- Taking Things Up a Notch
- we strive/aim towards 15-25 new pages per day, i.e. around 500 per month or 6,000 per year
- Gemini Links 10/05/2024: Love Is Infinite and Books vs Internet
- Links for the day
- Links 10/05/2024: Fears Over TSMC, Microsoft Loses Major Patent Case
- Links for the day
- Links 10/05/2024: Burner Phones in 6-Eyes Government, “Hatred and Demonization” on the Rise
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Layoffs and Closures Now Reported in Africa
- Microsoft Uninstalls Nigeria as it closes African Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos
- [Video] Richard Stallman, "I Saw You Playing Your Recorder in Paris" (Due to Proprietary Software Only)
- Corporate autocrats do not want counterparts or alternatives to even exist
- Five Years After the Extensive Campaign of Defamation Against Richard Stallman He's Still Giving Public Talks
- "Richard Stallman will give a talk, in French, Free Software and Freedom in a Digital Society at Centrale Supelec in Saclay, on May 15."
- Microsoft Is Rebranding Its 'Chatbot' Search for the Third Time Because It Fails to Gain Adoption
- it always means that something has failed - not that they'll openly admit it
- Richard Stallman Gives a Talk in Paris Next Week (in French) and It's About Freedom
- another talk, which he has only just announced
- Pace Up, Distractions Down
- We've made our curation process faster and more efficient
- In Algeria, GNU/Linux Estimated to Have Grown Tenfold in a Decade
- a sharp rise in GNU/Linux usage
- [Meme] Red Hat Diversity
- Red Hat: don't mention Haghighi
- Our Sister Site Turns 20 in Exactly One Month
- twentieth anniversary of the site
- Corporate Media Focuses on Who's Suing Red Hat, Not What It's Sued For
- The unfortunate thing is, anybody who has an opinion on this lawsuit will inevitably be framed as "pro-Trump" or "anti-Trump"
- Links 10/05/2024: Many More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 09, 2024
- IRC logs for Thursday, May 09, 2024
- Microsoft OSI Uses Its Money to Hire PR Agencies That Spy and Spread Mindless Openwashing of GPL-Violating Microsoft Ploy
- `We're under attack. But the attackers smile at us and hire PR firms to spy, mislead etc.
- Gemini Links 10/05/2024: geminispace.info to Shut Down in 3 Weeks
- Links for the day
- In Nigeria, Africa's (by Far) Largest Population, Microsoft Bing is the 0%
- To Microsoft, Africa is just "someplace" to get intensive, hard-working human 'resources' (tech labour) at 2 dollars 'apiece' as in per person per hour