Open Source Alumni, Geeks watch TV less, NASA succeeds and a printer with bite

Midweek and we find ourselves attending OSCON here in Portland, Oregon. This isn't so much an open source conference, but an alumni of open source developers. The place is a who's who of the software world. We could run down the names but this isn't the E! "Joan and Melissa" blog (although as far as wardrobe goes, branded t-shirts all round!). Checkout the PlanetOSCON blog aggregator for a round up of all things OSCON.

Y! News has an interesting report from Forrester, noting that those of us geeks with broadband, watch less television. Although before anyone starts gloating at how much smarter they are by not watching television, the report does note "that they are three times more likely to use streaming media and peer-to-peer file sharing and read blogs".

Those clever chaps over at NASA have co-ordinated the whole in-flight running repair of the space shuttle Discovery. It's a shame that it has taken a horribly tradegy for people to become interested in space travel again. While this particular mission is getting more-than-usual coverage, the Space Shuttle is an amazing piece of engineering without the drama. For example, on launch, if mission-control want to abort the flight, it must wait for the shuttle to clear the tower. After this the shuttle comes down to land the nearest possible runway, on the other side of the Atlantic in Spain!!!

Gizmodo reports on a new int jet printer from Japan that has bite; literally! Not only does it print in full stunning color, but it can also cut the paper/card at the same time. A wide range of applications await this printer (although i have to admit to not thinking of any that doesn't children). A must for any office (or playroom).

 

• Planet OSCON
• Technology 'optimists' turn off TV -- study
• Astronaut fixes shuttle problem
• CraftRobo Pro

tags: space shuttle  nasa  oscon  printer  peer to peer  

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