I think Open Source is kind of like our Bill of Rights. It’s our Constitution. If we’re not true to that, nothing else matters.

Matt Mullenweg (who’s turning 28 today), in 12 tech leaders’ resolutions for 2012.

Today we are launching code.nasa.gov, the latest member of the open NASA web family. Through this website, we will continue, unify, and expand NASA’s open source activities. The site will serve to surface existing projects, provide a forum for discussing projects and processes, and guide internal and external groups in open development, release, and contribution.

Via The Plan for Code – open.NASA.

There’s just something amazing about 3D animated cubes, especially when coupled with a thumpin’ track. :)

The very first light fields were captured at Stanford University over 15 years ago. The most advanced light field research required a roomful of cameras tethered to a supercomputer. Today, Lytro completes the job of taking light fields out of the research lab and making them available for everyone, in the form of the world’s first Lytro Light Field Camera.

Via Science Inside | Lytro. Found through Nick.

The Swiss government commissioned a study on the impact of copyright-infringing downloading. The independent study concluded that downloaders use the money they spend to buy more legitimate entertainment products. So they’ve concluded to maintain Switzerland’s extant copyright law, which makes downloading for personal use legal.

Via Boing Boing.

Very nice video recap of Montreal’s first International Startup Festival, which happened immediately after WordCamp Montreal 2011.

One of the line in this Privacy Principles video confused me a tad. It says “[...] and we don’t sell user information to other companies” (at 1:43). Technically, isn’t that just what Google does with AdSense, going as far as using the notorious DoubleClick DART cookie.

To be fair, they’re still one of the best companies when it comes to managing your privacy settings, so I’m not that worried about it. Just like when I walk in the street, I expect a certain loss of privacy when I’m online, especially when/if I opt-in to use a company’s services. Technically, it’s actually far easier to manage or control one’s privacy online than it is walking in said streets nowadays (CCTV, etc).

Video courtesy of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), representing the science center and museum field worldwide. To learn more, visit http://www.astc.org/.

Via Quantum Levitation – YouTube.

The camera is thrown into the air and captures an image at the highest point of flight – when it is hardly moving. The camera takes full spherical panoramas, requires no preparation and images are taken instantaneously. It can capture scenes with many moving objects without producing ghosting artifacts and creates unique images.

Via Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera // Jonas Pfeil.

See Face Substitution on Vimeo for more info.