Google Open-sources Liquid Galaxies

The engineers at Google put together a great traveling road show that they dubbed Liquid Galaxies. It's a series of 8 55" LCDs that are synchronized to display a field of vision type immersible experience with Google Earth. The panels are arranged around the user to encircle them and cover their entire field of vision. A 3D joystick allows the user to navigate from outer space to under the oceans and through cities and countryside alike. Knowing that only a select few would be able to visit Liquid Galaxies at trade shows or in the Google complex, the company has "decided to put the features that make Liquid Galaxy possible into the latest release of Google Earth, and open-source all the supporting work, from our Ubuntu sysadmin scripts to the mechanical design of our custom frames."

It will still require some technical know how, but if you are so inclined (and have 8 55" lcd's kicking around) you too can bring Liquid Galaxies to life! I'm salivating just thinking of it... but then again that's just me. If only I had 7 more tv's...

Quebec Government Being Sued By Open-Source Association

The CBC is reporting that the government of Quebec is being sued by the province's open-source software association - Facil. The association says the government of Quebec refuses to entertain competing bids from software providers, choosing instead to purchase products from proprietary vendors such as Microsoft and Oracle. The CBC says "Government buyers are using an exception in provincial law that allows them to buy directly from a proprietary vendor when there are no options available, but Facil said that loophole is being abused and goes against other legal requirements to buy locally." Facil president Mathieu Lutfy told the CBC that "It goes against the public markets policy of the government, which requires them to stimulate competition and look for local alternatives. It's really an absurdity." Facil estimates that the government is spending over $80 million a year on licences for Windows Vista alone!

eBay To Open Up Code To Developers

"We are opening up the eBay site to help developers and sellers make more money, which is what this is all about," Max Mancini, eBay's senior director of Platform and Disruptive Innovation, said in an interview. Following the lead of Facebook with it's 24,000 applications developed outside of the company, eBay is hoping to inject some new life into online auctions and sales. "Rather than having eBay try to build every feature, we should open up the platform and integrate others' work," Mancini said. "We have realized that we need to allow sellers and developers to get together a little bit more easily." The company plans to begin testing the project, dubbed "Project Echo", later this year. More here at Canada.com.