Tuesday, June 28, 2011
« CentralGestion::blog »: Pourquoi choisir OpenID?
« CentralGestion::blog »: Pourquoi choisir OpenID?: "Au quotidien je suis amené à utiliser mes services préférés sur le Web. Souvent je dois m'identifier pour profiter des services. OpenID me f..."
Universities Advance High-Speed Trans-Atlantic Network
Campus Technology (06/21/11) Dian Schaffhauser
The University of Indiana is working on two projects aimed at linking U.S.-based universities with research institutions in Europe and Asia. The American Connects to Europe Project will use Hibernia Atlantic's transatlantic fiber-optic network to connect participating universities and labs with European counterparts. The project will receive funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and GEANT, a multi-domain topology that includes 34 European countries connecting 30 million researchers. The infrastructure is supplied by the Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe. Indiana University also has received funding to develop the TransPAC3 project, which aims to connect with Asian researchers under the International Research Network Connection program. "It facilitates sharing of expensive resources, such as telescopes and microscopes, and also physical locations," says Indiana University's James Williams. "If we're going to study the effect of climate change on the withdrawal of glaciers in the Himalayas, we need some way to figure out how to get our measurement instruments to the Himalayas."
The University of Indiana is working on two projects aimed at linking U.S.-based universities with research institutions in Europe and Asia. The American Connects to Europe Project will use Hibernia Atlantic's transatlantic fiber-optic network to connect participating universities and labs with European counterparts. The project will receive funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation and GEANT, a multi-domain topology that includes 34 European countries connecting 30 million researchers. The infrastructure is supplied by the Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe. Indiana University also has received funding to develop the TransPAC3 project, which aims to connect with Asian researchers under the International Research Network Connection program. "It facilitates sharing of expensive resources, such as telescopes and microscopes, and also physical locations," says Indiana University's James Williams. "If we're going to study the effect of climate change on the withdrawal of glaciers in the Himalayas, we need some way to figure out how to get our measurement instruments to the Himalayas."
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Free App Protects Facebook Accounts From Hackers
UCR News (CA) (06/20/11) Sean Nealon
University of California, Riverside (UCR) researchers have developed MyPageKeeper.org, a free Facebook application that detects spam and malware posted on users' walls and news feeds. MyPageKeeper was developed in response to a recent surge of malicious activity on Facebook. The application works by continuously scanning wall posts, news feeds, and links posted by friends of participating users. As soon as malware, spam, or other undesirable material is detected, MyPageKeeper notifies the user and enables them to remove the malicious content from their profile. MyPageKeeper was developed by UCR students Md Sazzadur Rahman and Ting-Kai Huang, as well as UCR professors Michalis Faloutsos and Harsha Madhyastha. Rahman says that Facebook "provides a fertile ground to spread malware, since users trust links and posts that are seemingly from their friends. Hackers have realized this, and they have started using it to distribute malware and conduct identity theft." Faloutsos says that Web security is following the same trajectory as desktop security as more activities move to the Internet. "People are educated about email spam," Faloutsos says. "But, now there is an implicit trust, almost validation, when someone sees a post from a friend on Facebook."
University of California, Riverside (UCR) researchers have developed MyPageKeeper.org, a free Facebook application that detects spam and malware posted on users' walls and news feeds. MyPageKeeper was developed in response to a recent surge of malicious activity on Facebook. The application works by continuously scanning wall posts, news feeds, and links posted by friends of participating users. As soon as malware, spam, or other undesirable material is detected, MyPageKeeper notifies the user and enables them to remove the malicious content from their profile. MyPageKeeper was developed by UCR students Md Sazzadur Rahman and Ting-Kai Huang, as well as UCR professors Michalis Faloutsos and Harsha Madhyastha. Rahman says that Facebook "provides a fertile ground to spread malware, since users trust links and posts that are seemingly from their friends. Hackers have realized this, and they have started using it to distribute malware and conduct identity theft." Faloutsos says that Web security is following the same trajectory as desktop security as more activities move to the Internet. "People are educated about email spam," Faloutsos says. "But, now there is an implicit trust, almost validation, when someone sees a post from a friend on Facebook."
Monday, June 20, 2011
'Hadoop Alternative' to Be Open Sourced
IDG News Service (06/15/11) Chris Kanaracus
LexisNexis will open source its HPCC Systems supercomputing platform and offer developers an alternative to the Hadoop framework for large-scale data processing. The platform operates on clusters of commodity hardware and is comprised of components oriented around LexisNexis' Enterprise Control Language. The company says that data extraction, transformation, and loading tasks are managed by a component dubbed Thor, while a third system called Roxie delivers "highly scalable, high-performance online query processing and data warehouse capabilities." The system is capable of analyzing petabyte-sized data volumes "significantly faster and more accurately than current technology systems," scaling up to thousands of nodes, according to LexisNexis. Both a community edition and a commercial enterprise edition of HPCC Systems will be released by LexisNexis. HPCC Systems will initially be offered as a virtual machine for testing by the developer community, with full binaries and the source code to be released some weeks later. The community version will be issued under the GNU Affero GPL v3 license, while new code contributed by LexisNexis and community members will go to the open source edition first, according to LexisNexis.
LexisNexis will open source its HPCC Systems supercomputing platform and offer developers an alternative to the Hadoop framework for large-scale data processing. The platform operates on clusters of commodity hardware and is comprised of components oriented around LexisNexis' Enterprise Control Language. The company says that data extraction, transformation, and loading tasks are managed by a component dubbed Thor, while a third system called Roxie delivers "highly scalable, high-performance online query processing and data warehouse capabilities." The system is capable of analyzing petabyte-sized data volumes "significantly faster and more accurately than current technology systems," scaling up to thousands of nodes, according to LexisNexis. Both a community edition and a commercial enterprise edition of HPCC Systems will be released by LexisNexis. HPCC Systems will initially be offered as a virtual machine for testing by the developer community, with full binaries and the source code to be released some weeks later. The community version will be issued under the GNU Affero GPL v3 license, while new code contributed by LexisNexis and community members will go to the open source edition first, according to LexisNexis.
Cours: Android par l'exemple / Android by examples
(fr) La rédaction du tutorial Cours: Android par l'exemple est commencée
(en) The writing of the tutorial Android by example has started
(en) The writing of the tutorial Android by example has started
Eurabia Hosting a full free and open source hosting provider.
EurabiaHosting a web hosting company for your freedom
Visit our site and look at the irresistible hosting solutions and prices
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Developping Open Source Software
How to Run a Successful Free Software Project
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Karl Fogel, under a CreativeCommons Attribution-ShareAlike (3.0) license.
Here is the book on the OSLM lebanese mirror.
And here http://producingoss.com/ for the original site.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Usenix Researchers Tackle Building a More Resourceful Cloud
IDG News Service (06/14/11) Joab Jackson
Investigating new strategies in scheduling workloads in the computer cloud that could work to the advantage of both cloud providers and users was the focus of the first round of papers presented at the Usenix HotCloud 2011 Workshop. Under discussion by researchers was how to define cloud computing jobs by the required hardware, and how to instill more flexibility into pricing. "The physical resources to actually implement a cloud are incredibly expensive, and so, having built it, you want to pack in as much work as possible into that infrastructure," says Microsoft Research's David Maltz. "Hence scheduling becomes really important." The researchers proposed that two types of machines should be assigned to each cloud--a set of core node servers committed to basic tasks, and a set of accelerated nodes that can be added on a temporary basis to assist with performing the more computationally heavy workloads. Users would submit jobs to a cloud driver that would apportion the appropriate number of nodes to the chore. Institute of Science and Technology Austria researcher Damien Zufferey says that cloud computing services should account for other factors, such as if the client wants a job conducted quickly or at the lowest possible cost, or some combination in between.
Investigating new strategies in scheduling workloads in the computer cloud that could work to the advantage of both cloud providers and users was the focus of the first round of papers presented at the Usenix HotCloud 2011 Workshop. Under discussion by researchers was how to define cloud computing jobs by the required hardware, and how to instill more flexibility into pricing. "The physical resources to actually implement a cloud are incredibly expensive, and so, having built it, you want to pack in as much work as possible into that infrastructure," says Microsoft Research's David Maltz. "Hence scheduling becomes really important." The researchers proposed that two types of machines should be assigned to each cloud--a set of core node servers committed to basic tasks, and a set of accelerated nodes that can be added on a temporary basis to assist with performing the more computationally heavy workloads. Users would submit jobs to a cloud driver that would apportion the appropriate number of nodes to the chore. Institute of Science and Technology Austria researcher Damien Zufferey says that cloud computing services should account for other factors, such as if the client wants a job conducted quickly or at the lowest possible cost, or some combination in between.
New Tools to Help Objects to Communicate via the Net
Research Council of Norway (06/17/11) Geir Aas; Else Lie
Norwegian researchers are working on standardized tools and distribution platforms for the Internet of Things through the Infrastructure for Integrated Services (ISIS) project. The platform they have created includes the Arctis programming tool for developers and the ISIS Store Web site for downloading applications. Norwegian University of Science and Technology researcher Frank Alexander Kraemer says Arctis will help ease the generation of new apps, their adaptation to existing apps, and the updating of software on an as-needed basis. The Telenor Group's Reidar Martin Svendsen says the ICE Composition Engine will facilitate communication between objects, and his company aims to become an Internet of Things operator by functioning as a connection between developers and end users. Through the App Store, end users can purchase and download apps published by developers based on their own needs and preferences, while the Puzzle software enables downloaded apps to be combined as needed. The ISIS project's success hinges on the willingness of people to pay for the apps, and Svendsen notes that app prices will be determined by developers. "If your system needs updating or you require a service, it is an advantage to be using a reputable, recognized operator," he says.
Norwegian researchers are working on standardized tools and distribution platforms for the Internet of Things through the Infrastructure for Integrated Services (ISIS) project. The platform they have created includes the Arctis programming tool for developers and the ISIS Store Web site for downloading applications. Norwegian University of Science and Technology researcher Frank Alexander Kraemer says Arctis will help ease the generation of new apps, their adaptation to existing apps, and the updating of software on an as-needed basis. The Telenor Group's Reidar Martin Svendsen says the ICE Composition Engine will facilitate communication between objects, and his company aims to become an Internet of Things operator by functioning as a connection between developers and end users. Through the App Store, end users can purchase and download apps published by developers based on their own needs and preferences, while the Puzzle software enables downloaded apps to be combined as needed. The ISIS project's success hinges on the willingness of people to pay for the apps, and Svendsen notes that app prices will be determined by developers. "If your system needs updating or you require a service, it is an advantage to be using a reputable, recognized operator," he says.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A European Project Applies the Social Networking Principle to Scientific Research
Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain) (06/06/11) Eduardo Martinez
Researchers at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid's Ontological Engineering Group (OEG) are participating in the Wf4Ever project, which is applying the principles of social networking to scientific research. Wf4Ever project researchers have developed a software architecture and reference implementation for the preservation and efficient sharing of scientific work. The software focuses on research objects and developing tools that provide support for the research objects. Wf4Ever runs on the myExperiment platform, which relates to research object management. The Wf4Ever software will focus on astronomy and genomics research. OEG researchers are developing workflow evolution resources for maximizing the participation and reuse of research objects.
Researchers at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid's Ontological Engineering Group (OEG) are participating in the Wf4Ever project, which is applying the principles of social networking to scientific research. Wf4Ever project researchers have developed a software architecture and reference implementation for the preservation and efficient sharing of scientific work. The software focuses on research objects and developing tools that provide support for the research objects. Wf4Ever runs on the myExperiment platform, which relates to research object management. The Wf4Ever software will focus on astronomy and genomics research. OEG researchers are developing workflow evolution resources for maximizing the participation and reuse of research objects.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Interview: Dr. Ben Goertzel on Artificial General Intelligence, Transhumanism and Open Source
PhysOrg.com (06/10/11) Stuart Mason Dambrot
Humanity+ chairman Ben Goertzel in an interview elaborated on his recent discussion about the importance of the relationship between minds and worlds and how that relates to artificial intelligence (AI). Goertzel says the design of an artificial general intelligence (AGI) system, in the sense of human-level AI, entails considering not just "a broader level of cognitive processes and structures inside the AI's mind, you need to think about a broader set of tasks and environments for the AI system to deal with." He also says that "the world--the environment and the set of tasks that the AI will do--is very tightly coupled with what is going on inside the AI system," which prompts consideration of both minds and worlds together. Goertzel notes that imbuing curiosity within an AGI is a fundamental motivator fueling research. The ability to experience novelty and the gaining of new knowledge internally is one of the top-level demands incorporated within his group's OpenCog AGI software system, he says. Goertzel says that his work with AGI does not seek to mimic the mind of a specific person, but rather emulate human-like intelligence. "What I'm trying to do ... is just to make a system that's as smart as a human in vaguely the same sort of ways that humans are, and then ultimately capable of going beyond human intelligence," he says. "I'm almost sure that it's not necessary to emulate the cognitive structure of human beings."
Humanity+ chairman Ben Goertzel in an interview elaborated on his recent discussion about the importance of the relationship between minds and worlds and how that relates to artificial intelligence (AI). Goertzel says the design of an artificial general intelligence (AGI) system, in the sense of human-level AI, entails considering not just "a broader level of cognitive processes and structures inside the AI's mind, you need to think about a broader set of tasks and environments for the AI system to deal with." He also says that "the world--the environment and the set of tasks that the AI will do--is very tightly coupled with what is going on inside the AI system," which prompts consideration of both minds and worlds together. Goertzel notes that imbuing curiosity within an AGI is a fundamental motivator fueling research. The ability to experience novelty and the gaining of new knowledge internally is one of the top-level demands incorporated within his group's OpenCog AGI software system, he says. Goertzel says that his work with AGI does not seek to mimic the mind of a specific person, but rather emulate human-like intelligence. "What I'm trying to do ... is just to make a system that's as smart as a human in vaguely the same sort of ways that humans are, and then ultimately capable of going beyond human intelligence," he says. "I'm almost sure that it's not necessary to emulate the cognitive structure of human beings."
Friday, June 10, 2011
Working together for free software
by Matt Lee — last modified September 14, 2010 15:05
Free software is simply software that respects our freedom — our freedom to learn and understand the software we are using. Free software is designed to free the user from restrictions put in place by proprietary software, and so using free software lets you join a global community of people who are making the political and ethical assertion of our rights to learn and to share what we learn with others.
Because most software we buy or download from the web denies us these rights, we can look at the reasons why: usually we don't actually buy ownership of the software but instead, receive a license to use the software, binding us with many fine-print rules about what we can and cannot do.
We should be able to make copies of software and give them to our friends, we should be able to figure out how programs work and change them, we should be able to put copies of software on all the computers in our home or office — these are all things that software licenses are traditionally designed to prevent.
Enter the free software movement: groups of individuals in collaboration over the Internet and in local groups, working together for the rights of computer users worldwide, creating new software to replace the bad licenses on your computer with community built software that removes the restrictions put in place and creates new and exciting ways to use computers for social good.
Meet the community
Get started with free software
- Learn how you can install free software on your computer
- Meet some of the free software programs you can install
The next steps towards full free software
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Courses at the Free Technology Academy
 |  | Upcoming Courses |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)