Microsoft Research has demoed a method “for converting first-person videos, for example, captured with a helmet camera during activities such as rock climbing or bicycling, into hyper-lapse videos, i.e., time-lapse videos with a smoothly moving camera.”

Very cool, check out the YouTube video:

and read more at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hyperlapse/

Twitter has posted its latest Twitter Transparency Report for the period of January 1 to June 30 2014. The Transparency Report documents three types of requests to Twitter:

• Information Requests – government requests for account information of a Twitter account
• Removal Requests – government requests to remove content from Twitter
• Copyright notices – copyright notices alleging copyright infringement as per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”)

The Twitter Transparency Report also documents how Twitter handled these requests.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago filed an  emergency disclosure request for a Twitter user’s account information during the January-June 2014 period. Twitter didn’t produce the information requested, according to https://transparency.twitter.com/country/tt

The Document Foundation has announced the availability of LibreOffice 4.3, the latest version of the Free and Open Source Office Suite for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

From the Document Foundation Announcement:

LibreOffice 4.3 offers a large number of improvements and new features, including:

– Document interoperability: support of OOXML Strict, OOXML graphics improvements (DrawingML, theme fonts, preservation of drawing styles and attributes), embedding OOXML files inside another OOXML file, support of 30 new Excel formulas, support of MS Works spreadsheets and databases, and Mac legacy file formats such as ClarisWorks, ClarisResolve, MacWorks, SuperPaint, and more.

– Comment management: comments can now be printed in the document margin, formatted in a better way, and imported and exported – including nested comments – in ODF, DOC, OOXML and RTF documents, for improved productivity and better collaboration.

– Intuitive spreadsheet handling: Calc now allows the performing of several tasks more intuitively, thanks to the smarter highlighting of formulas in cells, the display of the number of selected rows and columns in the status bar, the ability to start editing a cell with the content of the cell above it, and being able to fully select text conversion models by the user.

– 3D models in Impress: support of animated 3D models in the new open glTF format, plus initial support for Collada and kmz files that are found in Google Warehouse, in order to add a fresh new look and animations to keynotes (support of this feature is currently on Windows and Linux versions only).”

You can download LibreOffice at http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

Looks like a new version of the TTCS OSSWIN DVD needs to ready soon! 😉

Via the UK Government’s press release  :

“The open standards selected for sharing and viewing government documents have been announced by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.

The standards set out the document file formats that are expected to be used across all government bodies. Government will begin using open formats that will ensure that citizens and people working in government can use the applications that best meet their needs when they are viewing or working on documents together.

When departments have adopted these open standards:

• citizens, businesses and voluntary organisations will no longer need specialist software to open or work with government documents
• people working in government will be able to share and work with documents in the same format, reducing problems when they move between formats
• government organisations will be able to choose the most suitable and cost effective applications, knowing their documents will work for people inside and outside of government

The selected standards, which are compatible with commonly used document applications, are:

• PDF/A or HTML for viewing government documents
• Open Document Format (ODF) for sharing or collaborating on government documents

Raspberry has launched a Raspberry Pi Model B+, a “improved and enhanced and made better version of the Model B”, according to Raspberry Pi Founder, Eden Upton.

From the announcement

“The Model B+ uses the same BCM2835 application processor as the Model B. It runs the same software, and still has 512MB RAM; but James and the team have made the following key improvements:

• More GPIO. The GPIO header has grown to 40 pins, while retaining the same pinout for the first 26 pins as the Model B.
• More USB. We now have 4 USB 2.0 ports, compared to 2 on the Model B, and better hotplug and overcurrent behaviour.
• Micro SD. The old friction-fit SD card socket has been replaced with a much nicer push-push micro SD version.
• Lower power consumption. By replacing linear regulators with switching ones we’ve reduced power consumption by between 0.5W and 1W.
• Better audio. The audio circuit incorporates a dedicated low-noise power supply.
• Neater form factor. We’ve aligned the USB connectors with the board edge, moved composite video onto the 3.5mm jack, and added four squarely-placed mounting holes.

 

See http://www.raspberrypi.org/introducing-raspberry-pi-model-b-plus/ for the full announcement and videos