Blog: Pete Loshin

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May 16, 2008

Microsoft's Touch gets p0wned

Did you see Minority Report? Tom Cruise uses that incredibly cool GUI that works just by pointing and manipulating objects on screen with his hands.

Well, Microsoft rolled out Surface, their version of that Tomorrowland technology, last year. According to this article at MIT's Technology Review, Tabletop Multitouch Display, the pricetag for a Microsoft Touch runs "$5000 to $10,000, depending on volume and service contract". The biggest public implementer of Touch is AT&T, for selling cell phones.

But of course, it's sci-fi tech, so it's got to be expensive, right?

Maybe not. Technology Review reported this month on a much less expensive Open-Source, Multitouch Display. According to that article, you could put together your own multitouch display for as little as one tenth the price of Microsoft Touch.

Just in case you're interested, here are some links to check out:

• "CUBIT is an interactive surface for multitouch interactions." They're currently taking pre-orders for TouchKit, which includes hardware, software and instructions for developing and building your own setup; the CUBIT isn't currently for sale, but they're talking to people about putting products together. But if you just want the code, it'll be open source and available soon.


• Here's a nice little write-up, with plenty more links, about Multi-touch Table at the Maker Faire, a home-brewed project, complete with applications, like a virtual (piano) keyboard.


• For the hard-core DIY-er, check out this Instructable, Interactive Multitouch Display. Instructions as well as discussion of the design.

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May 12, 2008

More Clarity from MySQL: No Closed Source

So, remember last month when there was all that furor over the apparent move by MySQL to start making some bits and pieces of the hugely popular open source database over into close source? (Here, Clarifying the MySQL "Closed-Sourcing" brouhaha, for example.)

Well, er, it turns out that the correct answer is: "Never mind."

Per Kaj Arno, MySQL VP Community, MySQL Server is Open Source, even Backup extensions.

You can get the Slashdot crowd's viewpoint here, MySQL Reverses Decision On Closed Source.

Much as I like to rationalize and "support" open source vendor policies, no matter how ill-conceived, as I did last month, I'm much happier when open source companies make an honest effort to keep their software actually open.

Yay MySQL.

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