The Webmaster will provide links to files or sites of potential interest to SPAUG members, which are suggested by other members. Just connect to the web and click on the hyperlinks. Some of the links will open a new page; when you're finished with the page, just close it and you'll be back on this page. If the link does not work when you click it, copy it into your browser URL address field and press enter.
Disclaimer: the links worked when listed, but as with any links to the Internet, are subject to "rot". The links are provided as is, no warranty express or implied. Your mileage may vary. Caveat Emptor.
If any of you members have suggestions, they would be more than welcome - . Share your favorite sites with other SPAUG members.
Accelerando - A novel by Charles Stross. This free ebook edition is made available by kind consent of my [Charles Stross] publishers, Ace and Orbit, under a Creative Commons license with certain restrictions attached. In particular, you may not create derivative works or use the work for commercial gain.
(We hope that if you enjoy the ebook you'll consider buying a copy of one of the paper editions, but this is the only reminder you'll get. I'm not into shareware with nag screens ...)
If you read Isaac Asimov Science Fiction magazine, you'll be familiar with Charles Stross's characters: Manfred Macx, a 21st-century intelligence amplification entrepreneur, his 12-year-old daughter Amber, Amber's son Sirhan, and of course Aineko, the "toy" cat. If you haven't read the prequels, find old issues of Asimov's first to get the story line.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
Digg is a technology news website that employs non-hierarchical editorial control. With digg, users submit stories for review, but rather than allowing an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do.
Submitted by John Buck
A canonical list of all the "laws"
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
Interested in compressing some of those big WAV files? Besides converting to MP3 or AAC, someone wrote an Octave program to analyze a WAV file and spit out a MIDI file. MIDI files are really small, but make sure your music player can read them before going too far.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
Battery University is an on-line resource that provides practical battery knowledge for engineers, educators, students and battery users alike. The papers address battery chemistries, best battery choices and ways to make your battery last longer.
The presentations are easy-to-read and are limited to about 1000 words. The material is based on the book Batteries in a portable World - A handbook on rechargeable batteries for non-engineers, and is written in condensed form. The 300-page book and a library of battery articles are available on www.buchmann.ca. Battery service products are shown on www.cadex.com.
Battery University is sponsored by Cadex Electronics Inc., a manufacturer of battery analyzers and chargers.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
The Midpeninsula Community Media Center is now webcasting Channels 26 and 27 LIVE on the Internet! You can now tune in wherever you are as long as you have internet access. Channel 26 carries Palo Alto and Menlo Park city council meetings. Channel 27 features local arts, issues, and entertainment shows. We plan to webcast Channel 28 in the near future.
Channel 26 on the web
Channel 27 on the web
For the complete story, you can go to the NEWS page
With election season in full gear, the Media Center provides essential resources for voters. School Boards, Fire, and Sanitary Districts in addition to State Propositions and the Palo Alto City Council race are covered. In addition to candidate forums on our cable TV channels, there will be clips from numerous forums available on the web any time you want to check them out! Put aside the glossy brochures and compare the candidates directly as they comment and debate a variety of issues.
The complete list of forums and playback times - including links to the ones online - can be found on our web site.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
You are welcome to download a free conference report on CEDIA 2005. CEDIA is the Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association, and they service the very top of the home theater market. Their annual conference was held in Indianapolis and included hundreds of vendors and sessions. This free 24 page report covers just some of the highlights.
Go to www.digdia.com to download this free report. While you are visiting, check out the other recently published reports on Digital Cable Ready and Hollywood Debates.
Submitted by Gary Sasaki
Got lots of digital images you'd like to share with others (and also keep a backup copy safe)? In Langa Letter: Analyzing New Kinds Of Image-Sharing Services Sept. 26, 2005, Fred Langa says, "If videos or photos are part of your work, these new services can help. Although you can use an ordinary Web site for sharing photos or videos, many of these specialty image-sharing services offer easy-to-use custom tools that are optimized for processing and organizing visual materials. There's no domain name to register or maintain, no hosting service or server to worry about. And, because these services are free or extremely low-cost, users can create accounts as needed and on their own, with no Webmaster assistance required." Click here to read the article.. With this review, you can probably choose the best service for your need and pocketbook.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
Bill Worthington demonstrated Skype at the May General Meeting. Here's a follow-up article that may be interesting - ExtremeVOIP's Mark Hachman sits down with Skype's head of developer relations, Lenn Pryor – virtually, of course, across a Skype connection – to ask about the company's integration plans, Skype as a development platform, and how Skype will migrate from the PC and to the mobile phone.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
A paper by Nathan Tinker, PhD entitled 10 Ways Nanotechnology Could Save Your Life, is a realistic yet fantastic look into the very near future. The .DOC white paper can be downloaded here: http://www.nanotechnology.com/papers/index.php?a=view&id=WP43459B74AA901. If you find this interesting, browse the rest of the nanotechnology.com website. Then head over to Foresight's online newsletter, Nanodot for even more on news on the latest advances in Nanotechnology.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings
Every week, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), an instrument on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft, takes several hundred images of the surface of Mars. You can see them here as they are received by mission scientists. As you watch, you'll see martian geologic features scroll by. Some will look recognizable, others may be harder to figure out.
Submitted by Stan Hutchings