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Skype on Kubuntu using a Tiptel USB telephone
Because I wanted to test internet telephony I downloaded Skype and tried to get it to work on my Kubuntu system. Unfortunately, the Skype version is only 1.2.0.18, and it does not work well with arts :( That is, using artsdsp it crashes with segfaults whenever I start even a chat, let alone a phone call. This could be worked around by disabling sound in my KDE session, and then the /dev/dsp is open again. -
Dutch Google News themes messed up
Recently, a Dutch version of Google News was started, and might mean a replacement for nu.nl. I do not like the verbose layout much, because it makes it more difficult to scan headlines. I do like the themes. Except for one. -
Open source Jmol hits student text book Biochemistry
Today I received news on the Jmol user list that Lubert Stryer’s Biochemistry replaced the proprietary Chime with the open source Jmol. The third edition from which I learned biochemistry in my first year at the university did not feature a CD with live figures, but I am very thrilled to see a program on which I have actively programmed hit a text book I used myself in the past. -
1D NMR Spectra do not work in QSPR
About two years ago a student started with me to work on the use of 1D NMR and IR spectra in quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) work, with the goal to show that these spectra contain 3D information relevent to QSAR models. It is known that these spectra depend on the 3D conformation of the molecule. -
Trouble running the CDK JUnit tests with Cacao and Kaffe
Because I am still looking forward to testing CDK against the latest Classpath 0.20, I downloaded cacao 0.94-1 for Debian sid, then tried to compile CDK with it: -
Free at last!
Free at last! Well, not quite yet, but close enough anyway: my PhD contract has ended; last friday was my last working day, which my collegues and I celebrated with a visit to Nijmegen oldest bar, In de Blauwe Hand . But I still have my manuscript to finish. This formally ends a period of almost 12.5 years at the Radboud University Nijmegen. -
USPTO considers open source software prior art
This is the best news I heard in weeks! The US Patent and Trade Offfice spoke with open source representatives about ways to deal with open source software as prior art. Apparently, their problem was how to be sure about release dates of open source, and authoritative sites like SourceForge.net, FreshMeat.net help a lot here, which extensive logging of releases.