Why Is It Taking So Long to Secure Internet Routing?

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Why is it taking so long to secure BGP?

The answer to this question lies in the fact that BGP is a global protocol, running across organizational and national borders. As such, it lacks a single centralized authority that can mandate the deployment of a security solution; instead, every organization can autonomously decide which routing security solutions it will deploy in its own network. Thus, the deployment becomes a coordination game among thousands of independently operated networks. This is further complicated by the fact that many security solutions do not work well unless a large number of networks deploy them.

via Why Is It Taking So Long to Secure Internet Routing? – ACM Queue.

Newest ‘procedural-generation’ Questions

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Often synonymous with “random generation”, procedural generation is the usage of calculations and algorithms to create content, rather than referring to preset data. The typical reason is to generate content mid-gameplay, which makes for a more unpredictable and unique experience in multiple playthroughs. Common elements that are subject to procedural generation in games include item attributes, enemy abilities, and level layouts.

Procedural generation specifically refers to the usage of algorithms to generate content, it is not necessary to be random. Pseudo-random generators with fixed seeds can be considered procedural generation despite producing identical results.

via Newest ‘procedural-generation’ Questions – Game Development Stack Exchange.

Robot OS to support Linux and Android on Snapdragon

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Developed in large part by now defunct Willow Garage, ROS was designed for collaborative, open source robotics development. ROS is a collection of tools and libraries that simplify the task of creating and programming robotic platforms and applications. ROS is not a real-time OS, but it can be integrated with RTOSes, as well as Linux. As of earlier this year, Android support was added.

The default install for ROS is Ubuntu Linux. Core ROS components include message passing, message recording and playback, remote procedure calls, and a distributed parameter system. In addition to these core middleware components, ROS offers more robotics-specific features like a Unified Robot Description Format (URDF), a remote geometry library, preemptable remote procedure calls, and diagnostics. It also offers ready-built packages for common robotics problems like mobile navigation, pose estimation, and building a map and having the robot self-localize on it.

via Robot OS to support Linux and Android on Snapdragon ·  LinuxGizmos.com.

NHS grows a NoSQL backbone and rips out its Oracle Spine

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The switch from relational hadn’t been too hard because Riak is a key-value store, which made modeling relatively easy. Key value-stores are relatively simple database management systems that store just pairs of keys and values.

McCaul reckoned, too, migration of data had been made possible because the structure of patient records lent themselves to Riak’s key-value mode

via NHS grows a NoSQL backbone and rips out its Oracle Spine • The Register.

The True Story of How the Patent Bar Captured a Court and Shrank the Intellectual Commons

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In defining the limits of patent rights, our political institutions have gotten an analogous question badly wrong. A single, politically captured circuit court with exclusive jurisdiction over patent appeals has consistently expanded the scope of patentable subject matter. This expansion has resulted in an explosion of both patents and patent litigation, with destructive consequences.

via The True Story of How the Patent Bar Captured a Court and Shrank the Intellectual Commons | Cato Unbound.

Zoom in to see the fine details in this Gigapan image

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Chris Walker made the image above with a DSLR camera, using a GigaPan device to record a series of individual images over the course of 15 minutes. In the panoramas you see here, nearly 100 frames were stitched together to create the resulting single photographs. Chris used PTGui Pro software to minimize visual imperfections, such as people appearing twice because they moved during the course of the 15-minute session.

Via Bears kickoff — Chicago Tribune.

You can navigate and see almost every person at Soldier Field for last Sunday’s Bears game against the Buffalo Bills.  Quite fascinating!

Can Tesla Power Its Gigafactory with Renewables Alone?

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All of the calculations are for energy, not power. In other words, you might produce 2400 MWh per day, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always have 100 MW available at any given instant. Sometimes you’ll generate more, other times less. Obviously there will be no solar production at night and less wind production on calm days. To be fully off-grid, Tesla will need some form of storage. As I surmised in a previous article, Tesla is probably shooting for more than the EV market; it seems logical for them to be looking into grid-level storage as well. What better way to showcase that than to include Li-ion batteries for on-site storage?

via Can Tesla Power Its Gigafactory with Renewables Alone? > ENGINEERING.com.

How a new HTML element will make the Web faster

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When the browser encounters a Picture element, it first evaluates any rules that the Web developer might specify. (Opera’s developer site has a good article on all the possibilities Picture offers.) Then, after evaluating the various rules, the browser picks the best image based on its own criteria.

via How a new HTML element will make the Web faster | Ars Technica.