Stange news: Friend and foe; Samsung, Apple won't want to damage parts deal

(Reuters) - While Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) is reeling from a patent pounding by its smartphone rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O), this is unlikely to damage the other part of their relationship - where Samsung is the sole supplier of Apple-designed chips that power the iPhone and iPad.

At an emergency meeting in Seoul early on Sunday following the damning U.S. legal defeat, the South Korean group's post mortem was led by vice chairman Choi Gee-sung and the head of the mobile business JK Shin, rather than by CEO Kwon Oh-hyun, whose primary role is in charge of the components business.

The clear message from Samsung is that a strict internal firewall between its handset business and its components operations remains intact.

While it plans to appeal the U.S. verdict, and a damages bill for $1.05 billion for copying critical features of Apple's popular mobile devices - a sum that could be trebled - Samsung will not want to put at risk its Apple supply contract which is worth billions of dollars.

GRAPHIC: World smartphone sales r.reuters.com/sat99s

INSIDER video on verdict r.reuters.com/fah32t

As well as being the only supplier of micro processors for the iPhone and iPad, Samsung also supplies DRAM and NAND-type memory chips and flat screens used in the popular Apple gadgets. Samsung products comprise 26 percent of the component cost of the iPhone, Samsung's lead counsel Charles Verhoeven was quoted as saying in the media.

Samsung's component sales could hit $13 billion next year and bring in $2.2 billion in operating profit, according to a recent estimate by Morgan Stanley. That's nearly 8 percent of estimated group operating profit for next year.

TOO IMPORTANT

Experts and analysts said the symbiotic business relationship between Samsung and Apple is too important for either to put at risk.

"Apple needs Samsung to make the iPhone and iPad. Period. Samsung is the sole supplier of Apple's processing chips and without Samsung, they can't make these products," said James Song, an analyst at KDB Daewoo Securities in Seoul. "Samsung might be considering lots of options to leverage its components business' importance and pressure Apple, and Apple could be also well aware of this."

With that in mind, Samsung had sought to resolve the patent dispute with Apple - which Apple first brought up shortly after Samsung launched its first Galaxy model in 2010 - through negotiation rather than in the courtroom.

"We initially proposed to negotiate with Apple instead of going to court, as they had been one of our most important customers," Samsung said in an internal memo sent to employees and released to the media on Monday. "However, Apple pressed on with a lawsuit, and we have had little choice but to counter sue."

While Samsung has been found to have copied innovative features of the iPhone and iPad, the Korean group's lawyers have emphasized that its own innovative components and wireless technology patents, which the U.S. jury ruled that Apple did not violate, made Apple's products a reality.

"Apple isn't that stupid (to risk its Samsung parts deal). Apple's agreements with Samsung will ensure that Samsung has no choice but to comply and supply," Florian Mueller, an intellectual property consultant, posted on his blog.

"Also, Samsung's other customers would lose faith if it turned out unreliable. And since Apple threatened Samsung with litigation two years ago, it's had plenty of time to identify alternatives."

SHARP SELL-OFF

Samsung itself shrugged off market concerns that its component contracts were at risk due to the litigation. Samsung shares tumbled more than 7 percent on Monday, wiping $12 billion off its market value.

"(The) supply contract remains a separate issue from the litigation and there'll be no change to it going forward," said an executive who took part in Sunday's meeting, which was not attended Jay Y. Lee, chief operating offer and heir apparent to Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, according to the executive.

Kwon was promoted to CEO in June, with JK Shin and BK Yoon leading the telecommunications and consumer electronics divisions respectively so as to avoid potential conflicts of interest, as Samsung supplies parts to its main rivals such as Apple, Nokia (NOK1V.HE), HTC Corp (2498.TW) and Sony Corp (6758.T).

As demand for mobile gadgets has soared, Samsung announced just last week a $4 billion investment to boost output at its U.S. chip plant, where it makes chips for the iPhone and iPad. That comes on top of $2 billion of spending Samsung unveiled two months ago to build a new chip plant and the conversion of existing chip lines to make logic chips to power mobile gadgets.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Apple has been looking to spread its supply chain to reduce its reliance on Samsung. The U.S. firm frequently faces a supply crunch when a new product is launched, triggering a consumer stampede that drives demand far in excess of supply and production capability.

Earlier this year, a source told Reuters that Japan's Elpida Memory Inc (ELPDF.PK) was selling more than half of its mobile DRAM chips to Apple.

Samsung mainly competes with Toshiba Corp (6502.T) and Korean rival SK Hynix (000660.KS) in supplying memory chips for Apple, and LG Display (034220.KS) in flat-screen panels.

Samsung has around 70 percent global market share in mobile DRAMs, but Apple sources only 40 percent of its mobile DRAM chip requirement from Samsung, a boon to the likes of Elpida and SK Hynix, analysts say.

Shares in LG Display, which is widely speculated to supply a new and thinner panel for the next iPhone, jumped more than 4 percent on Monday. SK Hynix slipped 0.5 percent in a flat market.

"For its part, Samsung is also diversifying its customer base to reduce its reliance to Apple - adding new ones like Qualcomm (QCOM.O), and that'll prove to be a good strategy longer term as Apple component margins are generally low due to its huge bargaining power," said Daewoo's Song.

"Other suppliers may benefit from a worsening Apple/Samsung relationship in the short term, but in terms of margins, I'm doubtful they can make good money from any Apple cookie crumbs that Samsung throws away."

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Source of the previous post

Open source is not limited to software | opensource.com

Open source is not only software

What open source really means After spending time with the open source model and exploring its possibilities, I feel there is a need to restate the definition of the model. People often confuse open source with just software or with “source code.” Defining open source as only software fails to capture its full and true meaning. Open source is not limited to software technology, it is a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration, and it applies equally to all fields. Here are just a few examples of how the open source model is practiced by some of our communities and organizations: Open cola, open source drug discovery, open content, open knowledge,open data, open source robotics, OpenMoko, OpenCores, open design, and, of course, open source software. Open source is about keeping our ideas, thoughts, perspectives, creativity, and knowledge free from socioeconomic constraints and making them accessible to all. These founding principles fuel innovation at an unprecedented rate by delivering high quality results at a fraction of the cost; compared to when things are done behind closed doors, and creating a healthy environment for competition. In turn, the continued pursuit of innovation is more sustainable. Open source software, is perhaps the most prominent implementation of the open source model. It begins with the architecture of participation, spans the entire software development life cycle and follows the foundation principal of unconstrained access to source. Linux, with its vibrant community and processes, is probably the most cited example of this, followed by numerous successes like Tomcat, JBoss, Wikipedia, Eclipse, Firefox, OpenStack, Gluster, and Hadoop. The birth of open source software began with a simple thought process: I had an idea and created something from it. Now, I want to share it (in its entirety) with others who might like to use it. I want them to be able to modify it, enhance it, and contribute it back at their will. A catalyst for the open source movement was the Internet. The Internet became, and remains, a participatory platform for collaboration. This model created unconstrained entry, available resources,and voluntary participation from people around the world. The value of the open source model Unconstrained innovation. If you have an idea and wish to realize it, you don’t need a lot of money or corporate stature. All you need is intent. Start by declaring your intent and approach, and others who share the idea will soon join in. Then, it is easy to see that the inception of thoughts and ideas are oftenshared by many different people who are miles or oceans apart. When given a platform these people can reach each other and realize innovative ideas together. Transparent credibility. After its inception, open source software gained momentum on the very ground that the intelligence (software) that drives the business can be viewed and scrutinized by anyone to uncover and expose vulnerable or malicious components. This opportunity to perform microscopic investigation anytime became a unique attribute and immediately boosted the credibility of open source software. Decentralized control. Amendments to open source software can be made by the end users, community members, or commercial support bodies, immediately, without the need for a separate, closed group and process. With the increasing penetration of software in consumer devices, business engines, military and government frameworks the power of this capability is apparent anddistinguishing. A paradigm shift The open source model has already triggered a paradigm shift. It’s changing the way traditional models used to work. Open source is propelling towards decentralized control, distribution of power, and collaborative participation. It is imperative to understand the broader role of the open source model to reap its benefits in the future.

At the Intersection of Big Data and Healthcare: What 7.2 Million Medical Records Can Tell Us

CCC Blog (08/23/12) Kenneth Hines

Big data analytics have enabled researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's SENSEable City Lab and colleagues at GE Healthymagination to create a powerful visual of the relationships between medical conditions based on the frequency of co-occurrences.  The researchers combed through 7.2 million electronic medical records to create an extensive disease network, which they called the Health InfoScape.  Their first analysis shows the numerous and sometimes unexpected associations that exist for any given condition.  The researchers say their results provided new insights into the close connections of conditions, forcing researchers to reexamine conventional categories about disease classification.  "Our initial results are a mix of the expected and the unexpected--simultaneously challenging and reaffirming our preconceptions of health pattern, within individuals, and across the U.S.," the researchers say.  "Now that we have a succinct picture of the human health network in the country, we will continue our investigation by delving deeper into how the environments around us factor into these results."
http://www.cccblog.org/2012/08/23/at-the-intersection-of-big-data-and-healthcare-what-7-2-million-medical-records-can-tell-us/

[Aful] Le choix entre Ubuntu et Microsoft Windows: Retour sur l'entrevue avec Madame MASONNEAU, députée du nord-Vienne

Bonjour,

Voici la suite des péripéties puisque j'ai pu avoir une entrevue avec
Madame MASSONEAU durant l'université d'été des écolos qui se déroulait à
Poitiers.

Compte rendu députée:
22 août après-midi à l'Université de Poitiers au cours de l'université
d'été des Verts
Madame Véronique MASSONNEAU
Collaborateurs : Christophe, Véronique (cette dernière viendra au cours
de l'entretien).

Accueil très cordial et chaleureux même si je sens bien que le sujet ne
passionne pas la députée (plusieurs fois elle me parlera de untel qui
est a été actif dans ACTA, ou untel qui s'intéresse au monde numérique).
J'ai du mal à garder son attention et je dérive. Comme elle me pose peu
de questions, je ne peux rebondir. En plus, je parle vite (bref, il faut
que je m'améliore dans ma communication).

Explication du logiciel libre (recette/code source, 4 libertés qui sont
nécessaires comme l'est la possibilité à tout à chacun de se présenter à
la fonction d'élu, problème de l'interopérabilité : après x année(s) de
démocratisation de l'informatique, on ne peut envoyer un fichier sans se
soucier du logiciel qu'utilise son interlocuteur). J'ai un peu dérivé
sur l'ODF et OOxml avec Christophe qui m'a permis d'avoir des retours
sur le service informatique de la précédente législature et les
problèmes rencontrés lors de l'utilisation de GNU/Linux.
(Christophe était le collaborateur d'un autre député, il est assez
sensible à la cause des logiciels libres). Il semble que ce service
informatique soit très procédurier : refus d'installer sur l'ordinateur
du député le moyen de synchroniser le Blackberry du député si le député
n'est pas là lorsque le technicien est présent (2 semaines après la
demande d'intervention) ; l'intervention, en elle-même, ne durera que
quelques minutes.

L'autre souci qu'ont rencontré les députés et leurs collaborateurs est
qu'ils ont été livrés à eux même. Sans formation, ils ont reçus en
pleine figure l'effet réseau : ils n'arrivent pas à utiliser des
documents qu'on leur envoi (je leur dis que je suis au courant exemple :
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=51300 ), ne peuvent
utiliser le site replay de France Télévision avec Silverlight pour
revoir l'intervention d'élus (pas creusé, mais il me semble que l'on
peut utiliser mono dans Ubuntu et que totem peut faire tourner tous cela).
Autre effet réseau, c'est la synchronisation des agendas avec les
smartphones, l'iphone en tête. Ils avaient des difficultés à aller sur
certains sites du groupe écolo (absence d'onglets du site) avec Firefox o_O
Bilan : ils ne sont pas contre le fait de rester sur GNU/Linux à
condition de ne pas perdre du temps à faire des opérations considérées
comme simples ou répandues.

Le collaborateur me rapporte que le groupe écologiste a un mouvement
appelé les écologeek qui sont en train de faire l'extrême inverse dans
la création des sites web : tester le site que pour Firefox
(personnellement le web doit être interopérable par nature)

Lors de l'arrivée de Véronique, celle-ci me pose des questions sur
l'action de notre association, la présence de membres dans le nord de la
Vienne (la circonscription de la députée, nous avions un membre à
Châtellerault et nous intervenons annuellement au sein de l'Espace
Rasseteau). Elle aborde aussi l'opendata, je lui réponds que des membres
contribuent à OSM et que nous sommes en train d'intégrer les données
issues du portail opendata du gouvernement (bureaux de postes et écoles).
Je lui laisse le site web de notre association et le courriel de contact.

À la fin, la question de la députée qui tue : qu'est-ce que l'on peut
faire ?
Mes réponses :
- - demander l'application de la loi : sur le RGI par exemple ;
- - exiger une formation de la part du service informatique (que cela
soit pour Windows ou Ubuntu, il y a des notions de base à avoir à mon
humble avis et la députée ne les possède pas) ;
- - exiger une aide pour la remontée des bugs et des sous pour leur
correction.

Mon ressenti : très heureux d'avoir été accueilli, je suis déçu de la
fracture numérique qui semble générationnelle (elle et son
collaborateur), je n'ai pas réussi à sensibiliser la députée. Mon
intervention aura réussi à l'initier, mais cela sera-t-il suffisant lors
de votes importants ? La campagne « pacte du logiciel libre » est, il me
semble, un échec (après je suis peut être tombé sur un cas particulier)
: la députée ne connaissait rien au logiciel libre et elle
a pourtant signé le pacte (je ne lui ai toujours pas parlé de cette
signature).

Cordialement
--
Charles BRISSET
Trésorier de l'APP3L

(FR) Condamnation de Samsung : Google disculpe Android

Tags: Google, Android, Juridique, Samsung, Apple, Propriété intellectuelle,

Business - Le premier constructeur d’appareils Android condamné, Google réagit pour assurer que les brevets invoqués par Apple ne portent pas, pour la plupart, sur le système Android. Et pour Google, qui évoque dès à présent le jugement en appel, rien n'est encore tranché.

Lourdement condamné face à Apple en première instance, pour violation de brevets, Samsung ne fragilise-t-il pas Android ? N’est-ce pas en effet, au moins en partie, l’OS de Google qui a été condamné par la justice américaine ?

La firme de Mountain View ne le pense pas. Deux jours après la publication du verdict, Google a réagi en déclarant que les brevets dont la violation a été retenue contre Samsung ne concernaient pas, pour la plupart, le système d’exploitation central Android.

L'innovation revendiquée par Apple mise en doute

Dans ce commentaire, transmis à The Verge, Google évoque d’ores et déjà les suites juridiques de ce procès, faisant ainsi mention du jugement en appel et de l’examen à cette occasion de la validité des violations de brevets.

Non seulement pour Google la plupart des brevets invoqués par Apple ne portent pas sur Android, mais en outre, plusieurs sont actuellement examinés par le bureau américain des brevets. La firme en profite aussi pour égratigner, sans la nommer, la marque à la pomme.

« L’industrie du mobile progresse rapidement et tous les acteurs – y compris les nouveaux entrants [Ndlr : dont Apple ?] – s’appuient sur des idées apparues il y a des décennies. Nous travaillons avec nos partenaires pour fournir aux consommateurs des produits innovants et abordables, et nous nous opposons à tout ce qui pourrait limiter cela » commente encore Google.

Source : http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/condamnation-de-samsung-google-disculpe-android-39775408.htm#xtor=EPR-100

Are you an Android developper

If you are a developper and wich tio publish your "Open Source" android application to google play (and you haven't yet a google play developer account), I can give you access to my developer console of google play to allow you publish your applications.

Send me an email to oslm@cofares.net with a description of your project. I will provide you an access to the console.

Free Online Course Will Rely on Multiple Sites

From ACM TechNews:
Free Online Course Will Rely on Multiple Sites
New York Times
(08/21/12) Tamar Lewin

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenCourseWare program is launching "A Gentle Introduction to Python," a new course that will operate as a mechanical massive open online course (MOOC) and teach the computer programming language by patching together existing resources from other open-learning sites. In addition to OpenCourseWare material, the class will use instant-feedback exercises and quizzes from Codecademy, OpenStudy, and Peer 2 Peer University. "The MOOCs that have come out in the last six months are really incredible and have truly moved the needle for online learning, but they are based on very sophisticated central platforms and require significant resources to develop," says Peer 2 Peer University co-founder Philipp Schmidt. The mechanical MOOC will not be as tightly structured as the free courses currently offered by universities such as Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania. The mechanical MOOC will not offer a certificate of completion, but students can earn a badge from Codecademy to document their achievement. The creators of the mechanical MOOC hope that the new model will help increase the percentage of students who complete their courses. "Our goal is to have everyone who participates succeed," says OpenStudy co-founder Preetha Rom.

View Full Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/education/mechanical-mooc-to-rely-on-free-learning-sites.html

Walt Disney’s Real Commitment To Open Source

Open Source Software has a special meaning for Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS). The Studio has a deep history of technological innovation, ranging from pioneering the use of digital methods for creating hand-drawn animation using the Academy Award® winning software, CAPS, to developing 3D painting and rendering techniques in Deep Canvas, also Academy Award® winning software. Through the years, the Studio has continued to innovate in all aspects of creating animated works. As the state of the industry has changed, allowing Open Source Software to become a common foundation for many technologies, WDAS has championed the use of and now contributes to such software. In short, we want to contribute back to the community; therefore, we have established this platform. We encourage you to investigate and use the technologies we are sharing. We also very much welcome your collaboration and contribution in these areas.

Google Raises Ante for Next Chrome Hacking Contest to $2M

Computerworld (08/16/12) Gregg Keizer

Google announced that it will pay up to $2 million for the discovery of major vulnerabilities in the Chrome browser at the Pwnium hacking contest, which will take place at the Hack in the Box security conference on Oct. 10 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The upcoming challenge will pit researchers against the current version of Chrome, and those who demonstrate exploits of previously unknown bugs will be eligible for awards of up to $60,000 for each flaw. Google also added a new class of awards for incomplete exploits. "We want to reward people who get 'part way' as we could definitely learn from this work," says Google Chrome software engineer Chris Evans. To claim any award except in the "incomplete" category, researchers must pinpoint the vulnerability and provide Google with working exploit code. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard's TippingPoint will run a mobile-only version of its annual Pwn2Own contest Sept. 19-20 at the EUSecWest security conference, where hackers will try to crack Apple, Nokia, RIM, and Samsung smartphones.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9230338/Google_raises_ante_for_next_Chrome_hacking_contest_to_2M?taxonomyId=82

Skilled Work, Without the Worker

New York Times (08/18/12) John Markoff

A new wave of robots is replacing workers around the world in the manufacturing and distribution industries as many factories that utilize robots are becoming more efficient than those that rely on hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers. The falling costs and growing sophistication of robots have sparked a debate between economists and technologists over how quickly jobs will be lost. "The pace and scale of this encroachment into human skills is relatively recent and has profound economic implications," say Massachusetts Institute of Technology economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. Distribution also is being changed by advanced robotics. Robots can move at the speed of the fastest human sprinters, storing, retrieving, and packing goods for shipment much more efficiently than their human counterparts. Meanwhile, improvement in vision and touch technologies is putting a wide range of manual jobs in jeopardy. For many applications, robots are already more cost-effective than humans, according to robot manufacturers. However, they note that although blue-collar jobs will be lost, more efficient manufacturing will create skilled jobs in designing, operating, and servicing the assembly lines. The next generation of robots for manufacturing will be even more flexible and easier to train.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/business/new-wave-of-adept-robots-is-changing-global-industry.html?pagewanted=all

Do You Need an Executive Coach?

Computerworld, July 26

Just as high-performing athletes have personal performance coaches, senior IT leaders can hire an executive coach to raise their leadership skills to the next level. These executive coaches - unlike a mentor or boss - can help you assess your strengths and weaknesses, provide feedback and help you tweak your performance. Typically, IT professionals haven't engaged such services at the same pace as other senior managers, say coaches, CIOs and other corporate leaders. But that is changing as tech executives and their companies see that IT can gain as much from coaching as the CEO or other senior leaders. In fact, IT professionals may even benefit more, particularly those who rise through the ranks on the strength of their technical expertise rather than their management experience.

Like their counterparts in other professions, IT leaders hire executive coaches under a variety of circumstances. Some receive coaches as part of executive compensation packages that come standard to all leaders at certain levels of the company. Others are assigned coaches individually -- either as rising stars who are being groomed for promotion or as struggling managers who need help in specific areas of performance. Finally, some people decide on their own to work with a coach as a way of investing in their career. Though companies most often pay for the service, some professionals do pay out of their own pockets for various reasons. They may work for companies with financial difficulties where such expenses are just not possible. Others may want their coaching arrangement to remain private or may be at a less senior level where the company has decided not to cover the cost.

Click Here to View Full Article

 

Rootbeer Brings GPGPU Integration to Java

bit-tech.net

 (08/13/12) Gareth Halfacree

Syracuse University researchers recently released the source code for the Rootbeer compiler, a tool designed to make it easier to write code for execution on a graphics processor.  The researchers say Rootbeer enables programmers to access the power of a graphics processing unit directly within Java.  "Rootbeer [...] allows developers to simply write code in Java and the (de)serialization, kernel code generation, and kernel launch is done automatically," say Syracuse researcher Phil Pratt-Szeliga.  "This is in contrast to Java language bindings for CUDA or OpenCL, where the developer still has to do these things manually."  The Rootbeer compiler supports all of the standard Java features, except for dynamic method invocation, reflection, and native methods.  During testing, the researchers developed three performance example applications with the best demonstrating a 100-fold performance boost compared to central-processing unit-based execution.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2012/08/13/rootbeer-gpgpu/1

Open Source Project to Get Gadgets Talking Via the Net

BBC News (08/10/12) Zoe Kleinman 

More than 5,400 developers have downloaded Webinos, an open source operating system developed with the support of more than 30 organizations that is designed to enable digital devices to communicate with each other. The developers are exploring ways Webinos could be employed to link a wide range of devices, including mobile phones, car stereos, heart monitors, and TVs. "People want to control the technology because if you control the technology you control the money," says Webinos technical coordinator Nick Allott. "But it should be free and open to everybody." He notes Webinos is designed to function as an alternative to the proprietary systems from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla. Webinos runs on personal computers and Android-operated mobile devices. BMW, the World Wide Web Consortium, Sony, Samsung, and Telefonica are among the $18.4 million project's technical partners. The developers say a major advantage to Webinos is the fact that users have total control over who has access to the data. Allott notes that so far people in 155 countries have accessed the Webinos Web site.

View Full Article

 |

Need an Expert? Try the Crowd

University of Vermont (08/14/12) Joshua E. Brown 

University of Vermont researchers recently completed a study that aimed to discover if volunteers who visited two different Web sites could pose, refine, and answer questions of each other that could effectively predict the volunteer's body weight and home electricity use. The researchers found that the self-directed questions and answers led to computer models that accurately predict a user's monthly electricity usage and body mass index. "It’s proof of concept that a crowd actually can come up with good questions that lead to good hypotheses," says Vermont professor Josh Bongard. However, the researchers acknowledge that the variables revealed by the questions and answers on the Web sites are correlated outcomes and not actual causes. "We’re not arguing that this study is actually predictive of the causes, but improvements to this method may lead in that direction," says Vermont professor Paul Hines. The researchers see the new method as a way to help accelerate the process of scientific discovery. "We’re looking for an experimental platform where, instead of waiting to read a journal article every year about what’s been learned about obesity, a research site could be changing and updating new findings constantly as people add their questions and insights," Bongard says.

View Full Article

Lab in the Wild Asks: What’s Your Internet Like?

Harvard University (08/06/12) Michael Patrick Rutter 

Harvard University researchers recently launched the Lab in the Wild, which uses an ongoing series of voluntary tests to find information about different users' online culture. The tests provide instant feedback, so users can see how they are similar or different from other groups of users in different parts of the world. "We are seeking to answer questions like: How does your cultural background influence how you perceive and process information? Which types of Web sites do you find most appealing, trustworthy, and intuitive?" says Harvard's Krzysztof Gajos. The Lab in the Wild is designed to understand how people around the world differ in the way they think, perceive information, and use technology. For example, University of Zurich researchers have found that differences exist in the way cultural groups want to use calendar management tools. They found that in countries that are believed to have more collectivist and group-oriented cultures, study participants were more likely to mutually agree on specific dates as opposed to those in more individualistic societies. "To create truly responsive, intelligent designs that won’t get lost in translation, so to speak, it’s important that we gather input from a global audience," says Harvard's Katharina Reinecke.

View Full Article

 

#Nikon #Android

Le Coolpix S800 de Nikon sera basé sous Android

[Aful] Journée du libre à l'université de Poitiers, le 29 septembre 2012

Bonjour à tous,

L'Association Poitevine pour la Promotion de GNU/Linux et des Logiciels
Libres est un Groupe d'Utilisateur de Logiciels Libre basé à Poitiers
(86) et créée en 2009.

Elle organise une journée consacrée à la présentation des logiciels
libres. Cette journée sera composée de conférences à destination
principalement d'étudiants mais également à d'autres utilisateurs.
Le but de cette journée est de mettre en avant les logiciels libres mais
également de susciter l'intérêt des personnes qui ne sont pas au fait de
ce sujet, voir d'attirer de nouveaux adhérents.

Nous avons actuellement 2 conférences de prévues:
- une parlant du droit avec Me CUIF
- une accès parlant de LaTeX

Notre idéale serait d'en avoir une troisième.

Nous tablons essentiellement sur des étudiants (et éventuellement des
professeurs) qui viendraient principalement de leur propre initiative,
avec néanmoins un objectif de notre part de réutilisation dans le cadre
d'études universitaires.

Nous souhaiterions que la conférence dure environ ¾ d'heure—1 heure. Il
est également envisagé de réaliser, en marge des conférences, des
ateliers/démonstrations afin de creuser plus avant certains thèmes en
fonction du public présent.

Il est possible que nous prenions en charge une partie des frais de
déplacement à notre charge, tant que vous veniez du pôle Nord ...

Cordialement.
--
Charles BRISSET
Trésorier de l'APP3L

Android écrase la concurrence avec 68,1 % de part de marché au second trimestre 2012

Android écrase la concurrence avec 68,1 % de part de marché au second trimestre 2012

Big Data at Your Service

From ACM TechNews:
Big Data at Your Service
CORDIS News
(07/25/12)

The growing use of information and communication technology is generating vast volumes of structured and unstructured data that present an opportunity that European Union (EU) research initiatives are seeking to take advantage of by promoting open data. For example, the EU-funded Weknowit project, also called emerging, collective intelligence for personal, organizational, and social use, has devised a platform for converting unstructured user-produced content into a new collective intelligence with many uses. Project coordinator Yiannis Kompatsiaris says the platform includes "meaningful topics, entities, points of interest, social connections, and events." Projects that could benefit scientific research include the data infrastructures ecosystem for science effort, which has developed an interoperable framework to enable the sharing of different e-infrastructures' computing and software resources irrespective of location, format, technology, language, protocol, or workflow. Some EU projects are exploring the commercial monetization of structured data, one being the commercially empowered linked open data (LOD) ecosystems in research project. Its objective is to develop a robust LOD commercialization platform based on a value-creation-chain among traditional and nontraditional roles in data marketplaces. Meanwhile, the linguistically motivated semantic aggregation engines project focuses on the leveraging of language and semantic search technology to enhance the online experience.

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http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/dae/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8337&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news

Writing Graphics Software Gets Much Easier

MIT News
(08/02/12) Larry Hardesty

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed Halide, a programming language they say creates software that is easier to read, write, and revise than image-processing programs written in a conventional language. Halide also automates code-optimization procedures, making the coding process much faster than with other languages. The researchers used Halide to rewrite several common image-processing algorithms that had already been optimized by professional programmers. They say the Halide versions saw as much as six-fold performance gains. A Halide program has one section for the algorithms and another for the processing schedule, which can specify the size and shape of the image chunks that each core needs to process at each step in the schedule. After the schedule has been developed, Halide automatically handles the accounting. "When you have the idea that you might want to parallelize something a certain way or use stages a certain way, when writing that manually, it’s really hard to express that idea correctly," notes MIT's Jonathan Ragan-Kelley. University of California, Davis professor John Owens says Halide "really has all the pieces you want from a completed system, and it’s in a really important application domain."

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http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/better-programming-language-for-image-processing-0802.html