Group items tagged

open-source social networking project Diaspora

if the team is half as good at building software as it is at building hype, there might be something interesting in the upcoming release, and maybe even a viable business.

The big challenge is that the enterprise developer world isn't screaming out for an open-source Facebook, nor are consumers really looking to run their own instances of social networks. What they really want is for Facebook to take privacy more seriously

Mini-bots

map out building interiors

The rolling droids are being developed by Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, and the California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Equipped with two cameras and laser scanners, they can autonomously explore hallways in an unfamiliar building, detecting doors and windows, and create a map for users such as soldiers or firefighters. The project is part of the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) program and is being sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory. The program is aimed at developing palm-size machines that can hover in place, enter buildings, and perform other insect-like stunts while gathering data and relaying it to human controllers.