An anonymous reader writes: Automated license plate readers have become a serious point of contention between law enforcement and privacy-minded citizens. But the advance of technology might make it a moot point — with some open source software and a cheap webcam, anyone can now start cataloging the cars visiting their street. A two-man team developed OpenALPR and started distributing it for free, along with the source code. Law enforcement and the agencies that build their plate scanners have argued in favor of the legality of such data collection, so it's not like they can suddenly start cracking down on private citizens doing the same. "An enterprising person could even use a car-mounted camera and create a mobile plate hunting device along the lines of what many police agencies already use." Is this particular privacy fight one that's still winnable?

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San Jose, a long-lost Spanish treasure galleon that was sunk over 300 years ago, is believed to be worth up to $17bn.

There are growing fears that Burundi could be headed for another conflict

Sunday's election is unlikely to end Bolivarian revolution, but it might force embattled political class to negotiate.

Mullah Akhtar Mansoor urges followers to ignore rumours of his death, describing them as "a lie and a propaganda".

An anonymous reader writes: SF author Charlie Stross has put together a short list of what he considers to be shibboleths for implausible science fiction. (If you're unfamiliar with the term, read the Wikipedia entry first.) So, what tops his list? "Asteroidal gravel banging against the hull of a spaceship. Alternatively: spaceships sheltering from detection behind an asteroid, or dodging asteroids, or pretty much anything else involving asteroids that don't look like [a pock-marked potato]." Another big red flag for Stross is when authors fail to appreciate Newton's second law, having their characters undergo impacts or accelerations that would turn them into a thin, reddish paste on their starship's hull. Some interesting examples from commenters include: futuristic yet manually-aimed weapons, technobabble as a plot device, and science officers with Ph.D. levels of expertise in dozens of fields. One of mine: entire races or planets full of people who behave the same, often based on some keyword. What are yours? Stross's focus is on books, but feel free to bring up movies and TV shows as well.

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parse XLSX files

A Semantic Web Framework

Sim::OPT it a tool for detailed metadesign managing parametric explorations in simulation-assisted design and performing optimization by block coordinate descent.

Verify, Cache and Optimise FCGI Output

Utility functions for checking references

Men's World Team Squash Championship in Cairo from December 12-18 has been called off after countries withdraw.