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I love Python, and I’ve been learning it for a while now. Some time ago, I wrote a Python script where I needed to resize a bunch of images while at the same time keeping the aspect ratio (the proportions) intact. So I looked around and found the PIL (Python Imaging Library). read more

The “RideOn” project for augmented reality ski goggles has won its Indiegogo funding. It runs Android on a 1.2GHz ARM CPU, and offers hands-free control. The need for high-tech, Android-based snow goggles like RideOn and Recon’s Snow2 is hard to fathom for skiers like us, who expend every last Joule of mental energy on staying […]

On January 23 this year, the Santa Clara High Tech Law Journal had their annual symposium on open source in the legal field at Santa Clara University. Prominent practitioners in the open source community spoke on topics ranging from licensing and compliance to healthcare and entertainment law. For anyone newly learning about open source licensing, this is a great look at some of the issues today. This is my account of the symposium. read more

We just accomplished something very important together. Today, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted for strong net neutrality protections. This happened because millions of people — including many hundreds of thousands in Mozilla’s community — joined together as citizens of … Continue reading

In recent years, there has been a trend in which data centers have been opting for commodity hardware and software over proprietary solutions. Why shouldn't they? It offers extremely low costs and the flexibility to build an ecosystem the way it is preferred. The only limitation is the extent of the administrator's imagination.

Aaeon launched a transportation-focused “NanoCOM-BT” COM Express Type 10 Mini module based on Atom E3800 SoCs, with optional industrial temperature support. The Linux-friendly NanoCOM-BT supports a variety of automation, medical, ticketing, kiosk, surveillance, and communications applications, but is primarily being promoted for use in public transportation devices. The 84 x 55mm COM Express Type 10 […]

SparkFun Electronics was founded in 2003 as a source for engineers, inventors, prototypers and DIY enthusiasts to find the gear and tools they need to make their electronics projects possible. More than a decade later, SparkFun is still a leader in the world of open source hardware. In this interview, I sat down with founder and CEO Nathan Seidle to talk a bit about what drives SparkFun’s open source hardware model. read more

Never mind the bugs... love the skin Ubuntu's in Review Elementary Linux has released the second beta of the imminent Freya release of its OS.…

Blockly is the engine running underneath many of the online tutorials used today to introduce people of all ages to programming. In this article we interviewed Neil Fraser, from the Blockly developers team, and learned about the team’s perspective and vision. read more

Is it weird to say that DNS is my favorite protocol? Because DNS is my favorite protocol. There's something about the simplicity of UDP packets combined with the power of a service that the entire Internet relies on that grabs my interest. Through the years, I've been impressed with just how few resources you need to run a modest DNS infrastructure for an internal network.

Congatec’s 100 x 70mm “Conga-IA3? Pico-ITX SBC runs Linux on an Atom E3800, and offers soldered RAM, dual mini-PCIe slots, and optional -40 to 85°C support.

The grep command, which means global regular expression print, remains amongst the most versatile commands in a Linux terminal environment. It happens to be an immensely powerful program that lends users the ability to sort input based on complex rules, thus rendering it a fairly popular link across numerous command chains. The grep command is primarily used to search text or search any given file for lines containing a match to the supplied words/strings.

Learn how to install and configure Cacti in order to watch the traffic of a Cisco ADSL router using SNMP

Do you remember what it was like when you first started out in open source? I recently asked a group of developers to recount what it was like for them and what prompted them to start contributing to open source in the first place. Each has worked professionally as a developer for a range of 3 to 17 years, and represent an interesting cross section of backgrounds. read more

Echoing the concerns many US-based technology companies have about US-led surveillance programs, Yahoo Chief Information Security Officer Alex Stamos asked the director of the National Security Agency some pointed questions concerning proposed or existing backdoors placed in encryption technologies. The responses from NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers only underscored the growing divide.

More than one million websites that run on the WordPress content management application run the risk of being completely hijacked by attackers exploiting critical vulnerability in most versions of a plugin called WP-Slimstat.

Open source has come a long way in the past 30 years and is entering the consciousness of most modern cultures. When thinking of open source projects, people categorize them several ways: governance structure, type of product platform, programming language, utility, technical details (language written in), industry sponsored or fully independent, and more. But what truly defines any open source project, making it a unique entity different from all other open source projects? I would propose that there are three key elements of any open source project that frame, define, and differentiate that project from all others: the code, the community, and the brand. read more

3D printing has received a lot of attention for its applications in the health sector, from helping Bespoke prosthetics change patients' lives to enabling huge strides in stem cell research.

Computers are incredible tools that let users doing amazing things, but sometimes things go wrong. The problem could be as small as accidentally deleting files or forgetting a password—and as major as having an operating system rendered non-bootable by file system corruption. Or, worst case scenario, a hard drive dying completely. In each of these cases, and many more like them, there are specialized tools that can aid you in fixing problems with a computer or help you be prepared for when something bad does happen. read more

I recently attended a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workshop at a regional education center in New York State. It was great to be surrounded by educators who were there to learn about ways to engage students in acquiring STEM skills. One of the activities was building a robot using the Hummingbird kit from BirdBrain Technologies. read more