Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Desktop Linux for small businesses: ZDNet Australia: Reviews: Software: OS

Desktop Linux for small businesses: ZDNet Australia: Reviews: Software: OS: "Our Editor's Choice for the small business, however, is the solid, well integrated and free Ubuntu Linux 5.10."

Monday, November 28, 2005

TECTONIC: Join the Geekcorp, see the world.

TECTONIC: Join the Geekcorp, see the world.

Ubuntu and Founder Mark Shuttleworth Win New Awards

Ubuntu and Founder Mark Shuttleworth Win New Awards: "Mark thanked everyone involved, in particular the Debian community, and added “This is the tipping point for Software Libre – we are starting to see Linux on the desktop become a reality not just for high end power users, but for the rest of the family too. The hard work of hundreds of thousands of anonymous contributors has reached critical mass, our momentum is now unstoppable. It's a great privilege to be part of this quiet revolution.”"

Friday, November 25, 2005

Consortiuminfo.org Standards Blog

Consortiuminfo.org Standards Blog: "It's still far too early to say that the dust has settled, but I'll attempt to pull together here the most significant pieces of information that I've located since last night's post, and what it all means."

Monday, November 21, 2005

Ten tips for making the most of Google Mail - ZDNet UK Insight

Ten tips for making the most of Google Mail - ZDNet UK Insight

I recommend the Gmail very much.

Sidebar: Gates Seeks High-End Role for Windows - Computerworld

Sidebar: Gates Seeks High-End Role for Windows - Computerworld: "According to the latest Top500 supercomputing list, which was released at last week's conference, Linux is running on nearly 75% of the 500 largest systems worldwide, while Unix is installed on 20% of them. Even Mac OS X was given a 1% share. Windows wasn't noted at all."

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Why Browsers Should Be Able to Display OpenDocument - OSNews.com

Why Browsers Should Be Able to Display OpenDocument - OSNews.com: "'The' format for longer texts, spreadsheets and presentations. Of course, this would not really work as long as Internet Explorer does not support OpenDocument. But eventually, Microsoft may be forced to support OpenDocument sooner or later. Let's hope the best. Lots of cool possibilities ahead!"

Friday, November 18, 2005

TuxMobil: Linux With Laptops, Notebooks, PDAs and Mobile Cell Phones

TuxMobil: Linux With Laptops, Notebooks, PDAs and Mobile Cell Phones: "Linux With Laptops, Notebooks, PDAs and Mobile Cell Phones

TuxMobil is dedicated to Linux And Mobile Computers. It leads you to a lot of useful hands-on information, HOWTOs, and FAQs about installing and running Linux, BSD, Solaris and other UniXes on laptops, notebooks, PDAs, mobile cellular phones, portable music and video players, wearables and other mobile computer devices."

Linux on Laptops

Linux on Laptops: "This is an index of information and documentation of interest to those who now use or are considering using the Linux operating system on a notebook or laptop computer. This resource is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/."

Thursday, November 17, 2005

LinuxElectrons - Christians Challenge Microsoft to Support OpenDocument for Disadvantaged

LinuxElectrons - Christians Challenge Microsoft to Support OpenDocument for Disadvantaged: "Charlotte, NC – Several Christian Ministers and laymen from across the US and Britain have spoken out against Microsoft's refusal to support OpenDocument.

Several Christian Ministers and laymen from across the US and Britain have spoken out against Microsoft's refusal to support OpenDocument, thus leaving visually-impaired users of their office suite effectively unable to use the new standard adopted by Massachusetts. The Christians see Microsoft's stance as intentionally withholding support so that it can turn a technical business decision into a political fight."

Linux PR: Linux Professional Institute Certification Exams Top 100,000 Worldwide

Linux PR: Linux Professional Institute Certification Exams Top 100,000 Worldwide: "'Just over a year ago we reached the 50,000 mark after only four years as an organization. We have since doubled that number,' said Jim Lacey, Chairman of the LPI Board of Directors. 'This demonstrates the growing significance and need for a certified body of Linux professionals to support the integration of a Linux platform within an enterprise environment. Furthermore it demonstrates that LPI has unequivocally increased its industry reputation as the global leader in providing standardized, vendor-independent Linux certification,' added Mr. Lacey. Mr. Lacey noted that the organization announced in February that it had delivered 75,000 exams worldwide--reaching two milestones in a single year."

GCLUG - GCLUG

GCLUG - GCLUG: "This is an unofficial test Wiki for the GCLUG. The main site is at http://goldcoastlinux.com and there is a mailing list available there to support members and linux enthusiasts. Feel free to add some content or any comments to this Wiki. If you are unfamiliar with Wiki formatting, or this particular Wiki's variation, then checkout How To Use A Wiki and then play around in the Sand Box. You can also join us on IRC in #gclug at freenode.org.

* Our Meetings - When and where we next meet"

Software: No longer business as usual - page 2 | Tech News on ZDNet

Software: No longer business as usual - page 2 | Tech News on ZDNet: "Commercial software makers spend on average 82 percent of new license revenue on sales and marketing--that is, finding new customers--according to a Goldman Sachs report. That's up from 66 percent in 2000."

Monday, November 14, 2005

eWEEK Labs Review: Ubuntu Linux 5.10

eWEEK Labs Review: Ubuntu Linux 5.10: "Canonical's Ubuntu Linux 5.10 (fancifully code-named Breezy Badger) is only the third Ubuntu release since the distribution launched one year ago, yet it exhibits considerable maturity thanks in large part to the Debian foundation on which Ubuntu is built. Ubuntu still has some growing up to do, particularly where its graphical administration tools (or lack thereof) are concerned, but Version 5.10 boasts the best software installation system we've yet seen on any platform. More information is available at www.ubuntu.com."

eWEEK Labs Review: Ubuntu Linux 5.10

eWEEK Labs Review: Ubuntu Linux 5.10: "Canonical's Ubuntu Linux 5.10 (fancifully code-named Breezy Badger) is only the third Ubuntu release since the distribution launched one year ago, yet it exhibits considerable maturity thanks in large part to the Debian foundation on which Ubuntu is built. Ubuntu still has some growing up to do, particularly where its graphical administration tools (or lack thereof) are concerned, but Version 5.10 boasts the best software installation system we've yet seen on any platform. More information is available at www.ubuntu.com."

Sunday, November 13, 2005

The car that makes its own fuel

The car that makes its own fuel: "A unique system that can produce Hydrogen inside a car using common metals such as Magnesium and Aluminum was developed by an Israeli company."

Saturday, November 12, 2005

IBM, Sony, Philips, Red Hat, Novell in Open Invention Network

IBM, Sony, Philips, Red Hat, Novell in Open Invention Network: "SAN FRANCISCO - IBM, Sony Corp., Philips N.V, Red Hat Inc. and Novell Inc. have announced on Thursday that they are forming a new company to share Linux patents, but without charging any royalties. The new company is to be called Open Invention Network. "

LGM : Libre Graphics Meeting

LGM : Libre Graphics Meeting: "The first Libre Graphics Meeting will be held on 17, 18 and 19 March 2006 in Lyon, France in the Ecole d'Ing�nieurs CPE on the university campus at La Doua, Villeurbanne.

LGM will be a melting pot, with free software graphics developers and artists meeting each other, exchanging ideas and tips, and planning the future of free graphics. Graphics professionals interested in learning about the state of the art in free software are also welcome.

LGM will bring together developers and users of the best of free software graphics applications - GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Blender and more. It promises to be a fun ride through what is on offer, with tutorials and presentations of applications, and lots of time and space to chat, meet up with old friends, make new ones. Plans will be made, hacking and drawing will be done, fun will be had."

Forget Munich's Linux Migration, It's Already Done by Extremadura - OSNews.com

Forget Munich's Linux Migration, It's Already Done by Extremadura - OSNews.com: "After reading in the Linux forums all the pains and troubles that Munich is going trough to migrate their desktop systems to Linux this sounded to me like something incredible. When he finished his talk and the floor was open for questions I could not help but ask him about this subject again, the answer was simple: 'We changed the desktop systems from Windows to Linux during the weekend, when the civil servants came back next Monday morning they found Linux running on their desktop machines'. Wow! So Munich is receiving all the press about their careful and detailed migration to Linux on the desktop and here comes one of the poorest region in Europe showing that this can be simply done during a weekend."

gnuLinEx.org, para la Libertad :: S�legal...copia gnuLinEx

gnuLinEx.org, para la Libertad :: S�legal...copia gnuLinEx: "Para ponerte en contacto con nosotros, por favor, rellena el formulario que aparece haciendo click aqu�. Recuerda que no obstante tienes las faq's y los foros para resolver dudas"

Friday, November 11, 2005

typeonline - free online touch typing course in five lessons

typeonline - free online touch typing course in five lessons: "We offer:

* a structured touch typing course for motivated individuals looking to develop their keyboard skills.
* a free resource to complement supervised keyboarding education in schools."

Thursday, November 10, 2005

MercuryNews.com | 11/10/2005 | Viruses exploit Sony CD copy-protection scheme

MercuryNews.com | 11/10/2005 | Viruses exploit Sony CD copy-protection scheme: "SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A controversial copy-protection program that automatically installs when some Sony BMG audio CDs are played on personal computers is now being targeted by malicious software that exploits the antipiracy technology's ability to hide files."

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Marginal Revolution: How to write a paper or give a seminar

Marginal Revolution: How to write a paper or give a seminar: "How to write a paper or give a seminar

At the Ph.d. level, that is. John Cochrane has great advice throughout. It starts as follows:

Figure out the one central and novel contribution of your paper. Write this down in one paragraph. As with all your writing, this must be concrete.

Here are John's far more specific (and for most people less useful) suggestions for paper topics."

tecosystems: Documenting the Open Document Format Summit

tecosystems: Documenting the Open Document Format Summit: "Documenting the Open Document Format Summit

ODF Summit
Originally uploaded by sogrady.
As some or all of you know by now, I had the privilege of attending the Open Document Format summit last Friday in Westchester. As has been well documented by some of the other attendees such as Andy Updegrove (whose notes on the MA hearing from last week are not to be missed, incidentally) and Sam Hiser, the summit was an interesting mix of some of the usual ODF suspects (Adobe, IBM, OpenOffice.org & Sun) along with some newcomers like CA, Corel, Google, Nokia, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat & Scalix, not to mention non-vendors such as Adelstein Hiser, Gesmer Updegrove, OASIS, Open Document Fellowship, & the OSI. "

� MS competitors gather to fast track ODF's evolution | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

� MS competitors gather to fast track ODF's evolution | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "Within days of OASIS' OpenDocument Format (ODF) suffering a political setback in Massachusetts (a drama which has yet to fully play itself out yet), many of Microsoft's competitors gathered in IBM-stronghold Armonk, NY on Friday, November 4 to plot the next steps for the fledgling XML-based document standard."

Open source financial apps offer alternatives to Quicken, Money

Open source financial apps offer alternatives to Quicken, Money: "Matzan describes the pros and cons of Moneydance (Reilly Technologies), GPL-licensed jGnash, KMyMoney, GnuCash, and CrossOver Office. "

French opt for laissez-faire Linux - ZDNet UK Insight

French opt for laissez-faire Linux - ZDNet UK Insight: "The French tax agency claims that upgrading its 80,000 desktops to Office XP would cost €29.5m, but switching to OpenOffice.org only €200,000"

Consortiuminfo.org Standards Blog

Consortiuminfo.org Standards Blog: "First, the full list of attending companies is now public. They are as follows: Adobe, Apple, Computer Associates, Corel, Google, IBM, Intel, Nokia, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, Scalix, and SIIA."

Golden's Rules: The real story behind the Massachusetts ODF flap

Golden's Rules: The real story behind the Massachusetts ODF flap: "Boiled down, the discussion goes something like this:

Massachusetts has a responsibility to make its documents available to all interested parties. In addition, it must make them available for extended periods. Just as you now can see 200-year-old documents relating to the state, future generations will need to have access to documents created in the 21st century."

Monday, November 07, 2005

Standards and specs: Digital rights management: When a standard isn't

Standards and specs: Digital rights management: When a standard isn't: "Whether you're a buyer or a seller of a product, the essential goal of standardization is to make interoperability possible, allowing communication with anyone else using the same protocol and media. In some cases though, vendors have specific reasons for not being compatible -- and those vendors have developed a standard for incompatibility, digital rights management (DRM). The goal of DRM is to limit compatibility because things which are compatible can be copied and distributed freely. In this installment, Peter Seebach looks at a potential oxymoron -- standards designed to subvert and prevent interoperability."

� MS-Office schema not as open source friendly as Microsoft says it is | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

� MS-Office schema not as open source friendly as Microsoft says it is | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "What Massachusetts was concerned about — and rightfully so — is that just like with Adobe's license for the Portable Document Format, any open source developer could develop OXRS-compliant software without being restricted to using a specific open source license — particularly one of the ones with ambiguous language that the open source community has since addressed with newer, more unambiguous licenses. Compared to OXRS, ODF gives open source developers the latitude to pick whatever open source license they want, which is one reason why it passed Massachusetts/ test for openness and why ODF was ultimately selected as a standard format for storing the state's documents."

� Politics and the perversion of standards | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

� Politics and the perversion of standards | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "Sometimes, fact is just a better read than fiction. I promise you, if you have any interest in technology standards ….any interest..– or if you have been paying any attention to the OpenDocument Format (ODF) saga as it unfolds in Massachusetts — that the word for word transcription I've done of certain parts of a political hearing that took place last week in that state will be well worth the read. "

� MS-Office schema not as open source friendly as Microsoft says it is | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

� MS-Office schema not as open source friendly as Microsoft says it is | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "What Massachusetts was concerned about — and rightfully so — is that just like with Adobe's license for the Portable Document Format, any open source developer could develop OXRS-compliant software without being restricted to using a specific open source license — particularly one of the ones with ambiguous language that the open source community has since addressed with newer, more unambiguous licenses. Compared to OXRS, ODF gives open source developers the latitude to pick whatever open source license they want, which is one reason why it passed Massachusetts/ test for openness and why ODF was ultimately selected as a standard format for storing the state's documents."

? Digital Restrictions Management | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

? Digital Restrictions Management | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Some good articles about DRM.

Knowledge Sharing: Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Sharing: Knowledge Sharing: "This paper provides an understanding of an emerging paradigm of business where knowledge and knowledge sharing has become the singular basis not only for competitive success but also for corporate survival. It also describes how business organizations can use knowledge and knowledge sharing tools as strategic enabler to transform their operation paradigm."

CIO Asia - Totally Open

CIO Asia - Totally Open: "The Total Linux Breakfast Seminar held by CIO Asia together with IBM saw a number of speakers addressing the new trend in decisions by organisations to go with Linux, the reasons why, and the reasons why some have not."

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Alice Hill?s Real Tech News - Independent Tech ? Open Office 2.0 Kicks MS Office Around the Block

Alice Hill?s Real Tech News - Independent Tech ? Open Office 2.0 Kicks MS Office Around the Block

Intel to create software development centre in Argentina

Intel to create software development centre in Argentina: "Intel to create software development centre in Argentina"

Wired News: Imagine, Make It Real in Fab Lab

Wired News: Imagine, Make It Real in Fab Lab: "'If you give people access to means to solve their own problems, it touches something very, very deep,' said Neil Gershenfeld, an MIT physicist and computer scientist who is among the movement's chief proponents. 'Somehow it goes back to nest-building, or mastering your own environment. There's sort of this deep thing inside that most people don't express that comes tumbling out when they get access to these tools,' he said."

informitv - Interactive TV - Opinion - iMP - First impressions of BBC media player trial

informitv - Interactive TV - Opinion - iMP - First impressions of BBC media player trial: "The BBC iMP or integrated Media Player project is a broadband service that will enable selected television and radio programmes to be downloaded over the internet up to seven days after first transmission. Based on experience with the trial service, informitv offers an extended review of the innovative offering."

College life, powered by Google

College life, powered by Google: "You spend your life dealing with information. A lot of it is academic, a lot more is personal, it all matters, and you can probably use better tools for handling it effectively. On this page, we?d like to introduce you to a few of them."

Brazil Offers Half a Million Cheap Linux-Powered Computers

Brazil News 24/7 - Nothing But Brazil - Brazzil Magazine - Fresh news daily - English-language Magazine on Brazilian Culture - Brazil - Brasil - Br�sil: "Beginning next week, stores all over Brazil will start selling computers on the installment plan, at low interest rates, for no more than US$ 440, as part of the Linked Citizen Program, known as 'Computers for All.'
This information comes from the secretary of information policy in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Marcelo Lopes, according to whom 500 thousand units should be sold in a period of four to six months. "

Wired News: Ghana Gets a Fab Lab

Wired News: Ghana Gets a Fab Lab: "CBA director Neil Gershenfeld said that over time the components of the labs will themselves be replaced with new components made in the labs, until eventually the Fab Labs are totally self-reproducing. The technology isn't there yet, but Fab Lab staffers believe that within a decade or two this could be feasible.

Lassiter said a future goal for Fab Labs is to use open-source hardware. That would enable staffers to make their own machines that work better for lab purposes. Currently, the labs use open-source software across the board, from the Linux operating system to all the applications used for 3-D design tools, circuit design tools, math tools, graphics tools and other equipment."

LXer: Intel? Linux? versus Microsoft? Windows

LXer: Intel? Linux? versus Microsoft? Windows: "Recently, I had a chance to vet information from a leaked document. The process usually involves verification of the original source through a number of techniques. I often find vetting leads to more discoveries which lead to more and more.

I call this last adventure an eye-opener. You might see it the same way. But let's keep this a secret between us. We wouldn't want the press to find out about it because they would certainly bury it. "

Technology News: Software : MySQL, OpenOffice Upgrades Getting Good Reviews

Technology News: Software : MySQL, OpenOffice Upgrades Getting Good Reviews: "The big new feature in OpenOffice 2 is the inclusion of a basic database program, which has been described as an Access clone. Also noteworthy for the purists in the crowd is strict XML compliance and adherence to Open Document standards. Sounds good."

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Open source turns money-spinner

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Open source turns money-spinner: "Open source code, written by a community of thousands of software developers, has always been made freely available. But there are ways of making money from it, as David Reid finds out in Amsterdam."

Friday, November 04, 2005

XMax in pictures - ZDNet UK News

XMax in pictures - ZDNet UK News: "Picture Story: Can xMax live up to the bold claims of its supporters, and turn the wireless industry on its head? Take a look at the evidence for yourself"

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

LXer: How Microsoft Got its OS Declared an "Open System" and wound up in Government

LXer: How Microsoft Got its OS Declared an "Open System" and wound up in Government: "History repeats itself. Monopolists are almost impossible to unseat without the will of Congress, the Administration and the Courts and ultimately each and every one of us.
"

Lawyer: Open-source risks overblown | Tech News on ZDNet

Lawyer: Open-source risks overblown | Tech News on ZDNet: "'The secret of the GPL was taking a small quantum of risk and putting it on the distributors,' Moglen said. 'The total risk could be brought close to zero.' "

Linux News: Legal Issues : Open-Source Compliance Insurance Hits the Marketplace

Linux News: Legal Issues : Open-Source Compliance Insurance Hits the Marketplace: "Insurance underwriter Kiln plc, a Lloyd's of London underwriter and Miller Insurance Services Limited, a Lloyd's broker, said yesterday that they will offer a new product called Open Source Compliance Insurance. Open Source Risk Management, Inc. (OSRM) will act as the exclusive worldwide risk-assessor and advisor."

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

� Auditor inquisition could determine ODF's fate in Massachusetts | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

� Auditor inquisition could determine ODF's fate in Massachusetts | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "At a hearing yesterday in room 437 of the venerable State House in Boston, Mass., a Commonwealth Senate oversight committee chaired by Senator Marc R. Pacheco opened yet another chapter in the ongoing saga of Massachusetts' Enterprise Technical Reference Model — a blueprint for the state's information technology, authored by the state's IT Department (ITD)"

Albert Einstein Institution - Publications - 005 From Dictatorship to Democracy

Albert Einstein Institution - Publications - 005 From Dictatorship to Democracy: "In recent years various dictatorships�of both internal and external origin�have collapsed or stumbled when confronted by defiant, mobilized people. Often seen as firmly entrenched and impregnable, some of these dictatorships proved unable to withstand the concerted political, economic, and social defiance of the people."