/. pwnage writes “Forbes Magazine, not usually the the web’s premiere source of all things geekish, has posted an interesting summary of Star Wars technology and its scientific feasibility. As a bonus, they also include a great set of Star Flops, including the infamous Jedi Arena Atari 2600 video ‘game.’”

/. comment: I realize we’re talking about Star Wars and not Star Trek, but in this vein, The Physics of Star Trek is one of my favorites. It’s written by Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist from Case Western Reserve University. Beyond Star Trek was another good one from him.

* Slashdot | The Feasibility of Star Wars Tech

DAREnet is the network of Digital Academic REpositories. It is a result of the national DARE programme involving all Dutch universities and several academic and research organisations as well. Its aim is to coordinate and stimulate a network of Dutch repositories (= digital ‘treasure chests’ ) containing academic research information. It thus enhances the accessibility to and visibility of this information, both national as international. DARE is a national initiative coordinated by the SURF Foundation.
Read more about DARE …

The Register reports: Scientists from all major Dutch universities officially launched a website
on Tuesday where all their research material can be accessed for free. Interested parties can get hold of a total of 47,000 digital documents from 16 institutions the Digital Academic Repositories. No other nation in the world offers such easy access to its complete academic research output in digital form, the researchers claim. Obviously, commercial publishers are not amused.

* DAREnet (en/nl)

* Dutch academics declare research free-for-all | The Register

/. cmcsonar writes “Computer Economics recently conducted a survey of visitors to its website regarding the perceived advantages in the use of open source software. Although not a scientific sample, the results are nevertheless startling.”

* Computer Economics’ survey report

* Slashdot | Key Advantage of Open Source is Not Cost Savings

/. Brahmastra writes “The New York Post reports that it will cost employers $628,880,000 in lost productivity on the first two days of Star Wars Episode III - Return of the Sith . How many of you are planning to skip at least part of your workday on the first two days?”

* Slashdot | Star Wars Sickout

* Slashdot | Cassini Confirms New Moon of Saturn