Arduino Projects: FingerX and Film Slides

• FingerX is a gadget that lets people feel the shapes of VR objects physically | Arduino Blog

  One of virtual reality’s largest unsolved challenges is allowing players to interact with a virtual environment beyond just video and audio. This is why a team of researchers from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan came up with the FingerX project as a way to get physical feedback when touching objects in a real and VR settings simultaneously. Whereas other ideas revolve around constricting finger motion or using pins to generate rudimentary shapes, FingerX incorporates a single extender module that rests upon each fingertip and extends when certain conditions are met. When touching virtual objects that rest on a flat surface, the shape of the virtual object is intersected by the hand’s position and causes the extenders to mold around the form. Entirely virtual objects can also be held in the player’s hand using this same principle while also being able to fold away the extenders when grasping a physical object.

• This robotic system automatically scans film slides on its own | Arduino Blog

  Before the advent of digital cameras, people used film to capture their most cherished memories. And nowadays, there is a rush to convert them into a digital format before they inevitably degrade and become unrecognizable. Film slides in particular have a major drawback in that they are separate, individual pieces of film placed onto small cards which makes scanning them manually a very long and expensive process. In order to digitize his family’s collection of film slides, Hackster.io user Chris was able to create a robot that automates this tedious task.

Fedora Magazine: Five common mistakes when using automation

As automation expands to cover more aspects of IT, more administrators are learning automation skills and applying them to ease their workload. Automation can ease the burden of repetitive tasks and add a level of conformity to infrastructure. But when IT workers deploy automation, there are common mistakes that can wreak havoc on infrastructures large and small. Five common mistakes are typically seen in automation deployments.

Security Leftovers

• Reproducible Builds: Supporter spotlight: Jan Nieuwenhuizen on Bootstrappable Builds, GNU Mes and GNU Guix

  The Reproducible Builds project relies on several projects, supporters and sponsors for financial support, but they are also valued as ambassadors who spread the word about our project and the work that we do. This is the fourth instalment in a series featuring the projects, companies and individuals who support the Reproducible Builds project. We started this series by featuring the Civil Infrastructure Platform project and followed this up with a post about the Ford Foundation as well as a recent ones about ARDC and the Google Open Source Security Team (GOSST). Today, however, we will be talking with Jan Nieuwenhuizen about Bootstrappable Builds, GNU Mes and GNU Guix.

• CISA Issues Emergency Directive and Releases Advisory Related to VMware Vulnerabilities [Ed: Proprietary software is a threat to national security]

  CISA has issued Emergency Directive (ED) 22-03 and released a Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) in response to active and expected exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities in the following VMware products: VMware Workspace ONE Access (Access), VMware Identity Manager (vIDM), VMware vRealize Automation (vRA), VMware Cloud Foundation, vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager.

• Software Supply Chain: A Risky Time for Dependencies [Ed: This is a proprietary software problem too and it's not a new problem; the FUD patterns are newer and driven by special interests]

  The software supply chain is a critical element in the lifecycle of applications and websites. The interdependencies and components common in modern software development can increase the attack surface and sometimes allow hackers to bypass robust security layers you’ve added to your infrastructure.