CAUTION, IDIOT SIGHTINGS: Just Be Careful Out There!

IDIOT SIGHTING:
We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two..'

We haven't used Sears repair since.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
My daughter and I went through the McDonald 's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'you gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back.' She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but they could not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change.

Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'

From Kingman , KS .

IDIOT SIGHTING IN FOOD SERVICE:
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.

From Kansas City

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' T o which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded,'That's why we ask.'

Happened in Birmingham , Ala.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'

She was a probation officer in Wichita , KS

IDIOT SIGHTING:
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun. We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare.

This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.

A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office, no less.

IDIOT SIGHTING:
When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, 'its open!' His reply, 'I know. I already got that side.'

This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS

And, the scary part is.... They VOTE and they REPRODUCE..

Solar powered, Linux robot sailboat to conquer the Atlantic.

Few types of transport require as much thinking per mile as sailing - the sailor has to measure the speed and direction of both the water and the wind, which can constantly change, and then manage an array of sails and underwater hydrofoils at the correct angles to create motion in the desired direction. Navigation is its own challenge too, as it's impossible to sail directly into the wind and boats must 'tack' forward in zigzag patterns to make progress. All of which makes it quite remarkable that a group of European enthusiasts have created a Linux-brained autonomous sailboat.

More Here

Why the Latest IE Flaw Proves Linux Got it Right From the Start

"While that doesn't tell us much, the knowledge base article (or "KB") 960714 referenced does spill the beans.

"Fundamentally, it was discovered that program code -- of a malicious person’s construction -- be executed on your computer, if a user views a specially crafted web page with IE.

"In particular, a rogue script can allocate a block of memory (an array) then apparently release it without updating the array's length, meaning that the block of memory still remains preserved.

"Then, if data binding is enabled (which it is, by default), a rogue web page can take advantage of an incorrect handling of certain XML tags within IE to cause the browser to pass control to the supposedly free memory location."

More here

The 12 Days of Christmas (EFF-style).

Blagojevich Sells More Stuff!

IBM Virtual Desktop Bundles Lotus & Ubuntu to Freeze Out Microsoft.

IBM teams with Ubuntu provider Canonical and virtual desktop software maker Virtual Bridges on a bundle that lets systems administrators deliver open-source Linux and Lotus messaging and collaboration software to desktops and workstations across remote offices. Such virtualization deployments, IBM claims, enables great IT infrastructure savings for cost-conscious enterprises.

Link: Click Here

Your music anywhere with Subsonic..

Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen and another in your living room.

Subsonic is designed to handle very large music collections (hundreds of gigabytes). Although optimized for MP3 streaming, it works for any audio or video format that can stream over HTTP.

More Here

President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago

Obama's infomercial

Vinyl + Audacity = MP3

If you were born before 1975, you may have a collection of records that you want to convert to digital format. Some open source software and a cable are all you need to convert your prized vinyl to something portable.

If all you want to do is create MP3 files from you LP tracks, the only software you'll need is Audacity. If you want to convert vinyl to CD, you'll need cdrdao and cdrecord as well. All are readily available in most distributions' package repositories or from the projects' sites.

More Here

A baby named Linux

Christian Nielsen wrote from Sweden, he and his girlfriend
have named their baby Linux..



More Here

Clean up your filesystems with fslint

Maintaining filesystems can be a real administration burden. Over time you might start getting multiple copies of the same file, soft links that point to files that no longer exist, temporary files that have been hanging around longer than they should, and binaries that have been installed and not had their debugging information stripped out. fslint can help you find these troublesome files so you can clean up your filesystem.

More Here

Be Linux...

Solar Technology - The Power of the Cell!





If you are interested in learning exactly how to generate solar power and reduce your electric bill than this is the perfect resource for you.
For More Details: Click Here

Should IT form a union?

Sixty-hour work weeks with no overtime or comp time, a BlackBerry hitched to your belt 24/7, mandates from managers who have no clue what you actually do – all for a job that could be outsourced tomorrow. Is it finally time for technology workers to form a union and demand better working conditions?

More Here

Why Linux Continues to Evade Mainstream Users

Winpass. Repair lost access due to a lost or corrupted password issue with this software? Again, as this is designed to bail out Windows users, one must admit there is a certain pride to be taken in using a Linux distro to crack a lost Windows password.

CloneXP. Cloning a Windows partition easily, over a home network is something that will definitely save you a lot of time. No worries, though, it will be at a Linux command prompt where all of this magic happens.

Trk2usb. One of the most requested items of business for any rescue CD is the ability to forgo the CD and use a USB Flash drive, instead. Thankfully, Trinity allows for using this script.

Ntfsundeleteall. Nothing is worse than finding out your PC has lost all of its data. Considering how easy it is to have a hosed Windows system, there is certain logic to using a script that can act as a recovery agent for any lost NTFS files. Again, the entire process is done from a Linux command line.

More Here

Canonical to Offer Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop through Ubuntu

Zimbra has announced that Canonical, sponsors of Ubuntu, the fastest growing Linux distribution, will give users direct access to Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop, which provides a centralized hub to manage multiple e-mail accounts and calendars online and offline, through the Ubuntu Partner Repository. Zimbra, a Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) company, is a leader in open source, next-generation messaging and collaboration software.

More Here

Turn OpenOffice.org into a Web-editing tool, it's like a live FrontPage.

Imagine being able to open any Web page on your server in OpenOffice.org, edit it, and save the changes back to the server by pressing the Save button. It may sound too good to be true, but that's exactly what the ODF@WWW project is set to achieve.

Started as a relatively simple hack, ODF@WWW has become a nifty solution that allows end users to create and edit Web pages in OpenOffice.org.

The good news is that end users don't need to know anything about all the technicalities. Once installed and configured, ODF@WWW does the job in the background, providing seamless integration between the user's Web server and OpenOffice.org.

More Here

Ultamatix a successor to Automatix for new Ubuntu and Debian users.

Some Ubuntu fans out there may remember Automatix, a tool for Ubuntu that allowed easy access to many popular non-free applications and commonly-used audio and video codecs. It debuted a few years ago, and got negative reviews from Ubuntu developers and experienced users due to the risk of breaking dependencies, but it offered an easy solution for beginners who weren't familiar with the way deb packages worked. Automatix was discontinued in March, when its developers moved on to other projects. Now Ultamatix hopes to continue where Automatix left off.

More Here

The Beauty of Linux 3-D

Google Website Optimizer Takes the Guess Work out of Site Design

When you make changes to your site design, it’s not always easy to figure out how the changes affect traffic and visitor behavior. That’s where the Google Website Optimizer tool comes into play. You can experiment with two or more designs and see which one works best to achieve your design goal. Best of all, this tool is free.

The typical site design process involves some people sitting together and choosing the design they think is best. The decision is usually based on a gut feeling, rather than anything close to a scientific method. What’s more, few companies have the resources to sit with focus groups to find out which design most people prefer, so it comes down to opinion, and even an informed opinion is not always right.

More Here

Create video animations with Linux

Want to create an animation on GNU/Linux and then convert it to a video file? Well here is one way to do it that does not involve GIMP Animation Package (GAP). While there is nothing wrong with the GIMP GAP method, you might just find it useful to know about an alternative way of doing it that might just work for you. Maybe you are running into problems with GAP or you wish greater flexibility and control over your frames.

More Here

Linux tools to convert file formats

Life would be a lot easier if we could live in a Linux-only world and if applications never required data from other sources. However, the need to get data from Windows, MS-DOS, or old Macintosh systems is all too common. This kind of import process requires some conversions to solve file format differences; otherwise, it would be impossible to share data, or file contents would be imported incorrectly.

More here

Manage and play audio files over the Web with Ampache

Ampache is a LAMP application that gives you a Web interface to your music collection, allowing you to search, rate, and play your music over the network. It even offers transcoding support to allow clients to play back lossless-encoded FLAC files from the server and stream them to clients as MP3 audio files.

More Here

How To Install SELinux on Ubuntu 8.04

1. Update /etc/apt/sources.list by appending the following:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-hardened/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-hardened/ubuntu hardy main

Update repo:
apt-get update

3. Install updated packages:
apt-get upgrade
These packages have SELinux support patches:
libpam0g
openssh-server
grub
login

4. Install selinux:
apt-get install selinux
These packages will be removed:
apparmor
apparmor-utils

5. Reboot

If using aptitude instead of apt-get, you will need to manually remove apparmor and apparmor-utils, deselect selinux-policy-dummy, and then choose selinux-policy-refpolicy.

Happy 4th of July

Open Source Data Recovery Tools To The Rescue

Disasters happen to the best of computers. Luckily, open source apps like SystemRescueCD, dd, Partedmagic, BackTrack, Security Tools Distribution, Helix, and TestDisk can help recover important data and bring dead systems back to life.

More Here

Free Sourcefire tool pinpoints hostile MS Office files

Sourcefire, the company behind the popular Snort intrusion detection system, has released a freeware utility to help identify potentially threatening Microsoft Office files.

The tool, called OfficeCat, can be used to process Microsoft Office documents — Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher — determine if possible exploit conditions exist.

Unlike products that detect attempts to exploit known Microsoft vulnerabilities, Sourcefire said OfficeCat can determine if a file contains hostile content before it is opened.

Link: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1307

Free legal music downloads.

A new legal music download service offers MP3s free at the point of delivery. the New York-based www.Spiralfrog.com will be fully funded by advertising.

Spiralfrog will make the entire Universal back catalogue available at no charge, including current hits like Razorlight and Johnny Hallyday, together with its roster of classics from the likes of Stevie Wonder. Independent labels will be hosted too, along with video content. There are currently 40 illegal downloads to every single legal one. Spiralfrog will be pitching to the tech-savvy 13 to 34-year-olds.

The standard download charge at iTunes is currently at $1.00 per track. Whether Spiralfrog's entry will prompt a rethink at the dominant player remains to be seen. There is no mention of which audio codec or DRM solution will be used, although it is very likely that the record labels will insist on some DRM being in place.

And, on that note. Happy Downloads.

SnakeBite MP3 Converter

SnakeBite is an audio conversion application that can convert your entire music library to MP3 in a single step. SnakeBite is designed for those who use libre audio formats like Vorbis and FLAC, but also need their music in the MP3 format.

Simply choose the source folder (containing your music) and the destination folder (where the music converted to MP3 will go), and SnakeBite does the rest. After it has finished, the destination folder will contain the exact same folders and files as the source folder, except all the files will have a ".mp3" extension and will be encoded in the MP3 format. Your original music library is never altered in any way.

More Here: http://www.gnomefiles.org/app.php?soft_id=2342

Watching Live-TV On Your Ubuntu Desktop With Zattoo

A company called Zattoo has developed a software program that allows you to watch TV on your computer. All you need is a broadband connection and a current operating system (Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS X, or Linux). The service is legal and free of charge.

Check it out at:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/watching-live-tv-on-your-ubuntu-desktop-with-zattoo.html

Rogue MP3 Trojan streaks across networks.

Since Friday more than half a million computers have been infected, according to McAfee. The Downloader-UA.h Trojan serves ads onto contaminated PCs as part of an apparent money-making scam.

McAfee reckons miscreants loaded hundreds of rigged MP3 and MPEG files onto popular file-swapping services such as Limewire and eDonkey. The files are all named differently (in multiple languages) and vary in size in order to make them appear like legitimate music or video files.

Attempting to play one of the malicious files will trigger the download of an application named "PLAY_MP3.exe" that serves ads onto infected Windows PCs.

Adobe's Open Future, Open Screen Project.

Adobe made huge announcements regarding opening up the Flash Player. Effective today, there will be no restrictions on the SWF specification or the FLV specifications that make up video in Flash. before you had to sign an agreement not to use it to create competing players. But, thanks to there Open Screen Project all of those restriction are bye, bye.

The goal of the Open Screen Project is to enable a consistent runtime environment across a wide variety of devices and desktops. The next release of the Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices will have no licensing fees meaning you can distribute and deploy them anywhere. As part of this, Adobe is also publishing the device porting layer APIs. The device porting layer APIs are what Adobe uses to take the core of the Flash Player and make it work on different operating systems and devices. This will blow Microsoft's Silverlight out of the water. Well done Adobe.

10 Things You Don't Want To Hear From Technical Support.

1) "Do you have a sledgehammer or a brick handy?"

2) "That's right, not even McGyver could fix it."

3) "So -- what are you wearing?"

4) "Duuuuuude! Bummer!"

5) "Looks like you're gonna need some new dilithium crystals, Cap'n."

6) "Press 1 for Support. Press 2 if you're with 60 Minutes. Press 3 if you're with the FTC."

7) "We can fix this, but you're gonna need a butter knife, a roll of duct tape, and a car battery."

8) "In layman's terms, we call that the Hindenburg Effect."

9) "Hold on a second... Mom! Timmy's hitting me!"

10) "Okay, turn to page 523 in your copy of Dianetics."

(Bonus) "Please hold for a Microsoft attorney."

Things to do on your new Ubuntu Linux 8.04

Ubuntu 8.04 was released a few days back and here is a list that helps you install all the essential codecs and applications easily on your Ubuntu 8.04 desktop saving your googling time and helping you make transition from Windows to Ubuntu. More Here

By Ambuj Varshney

It is a documented fact that Windows can...

It is a documented fact that Windows can destroy computer hardware due to virus attacks. There are some Windows viruses that can damage the hard drive by speeding wear and tear, and others can turn off the fans, thus overheating the CPU. Some viruses make the CPU run too fast, and then make sudden halts, which not only affects the CPU, but it also hurts hard drives and fans.

Read More Here: http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=307

Shuttleworth starts countdown to Ubuntu 8.04 release

The next red-letter day for Ubuntu fans will be April 24, when Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Long Term Support) arrives. Mark Shuttleworth, the CEO of Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, guarantees that the next version of the popular Linux distribution will make it on time, with something for enterprise, desktop, and Internet users.

In an interview, Shuttleworth made the point that, while many executives have yet to realize it, "Open source software projects and Linux distros are actually better than proprietary companies at hitting deadlines." In particular, Shuttleworth says, "Companies are now comparing Linux with Vista, and it's clear that's Linux does a better job of meeting people's expectations.

More Here

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Managing The GRUB Bootloader With QGRUBEditor On Ubuntu 7.10

QGRUBEditor is a graphical frontend for managing the GRUB bootloader. By using QGRUBEditor, you do not have to mess around with the GRUB configuration in /boot/grub/menu.lst anymore. This article shows how to install and use QGRUBEditor on Ubuntu 7.10.

http://www.howtoforge.com/managing-grub-with-qgrubeditor-on-ubuntu7.10

Mark Shuttleworth blames ISO for Microsoft's Office Open XML Win

“It’s sad that the ISO was not willing to admit that its process was failing horribly,” he said, noting that Microsoft intensely lobbied many countries that traditionally have not participated in ISO and stacked technical committees with Microsoft employees, solution providers and resellers sympathetic to OOXML. “When you have a process built on trust and when that trust is abused, [ISO] should halt the process.”

More Here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=2222

By Paula Rooney

Six Future Open Source Superstars

In the world of open source software Red Hat’s crossed over from exciting leader to respectable elder statesman. The action is among the new batch of up-and-coming open source software companies who are not yet venture backed but are developing interesting technologies and services. Here are some of the companies that may well be the new open source superstars.

More Here: http://linuxbusinessnews.sys-con.com/read/529607.htm

By: Mark R. Hinkle

Matrix XP

Play Windows games on Linux with PlayOnLinux

If you are an avid gamer, you probably dual-boot your favorite Linux distribution with Windows, because that's where you find most new cutting-edge games. But what if you could run your Windows games on Linux? PlayOnLinux is an open source Python-scripted front end that helps you install and play tons of Windows-only games -- and then some!

More Here: http://www.linux.com/feature/128773

By M. Sharma

Good malware hunting for Linux

Linux has proved to be much more resistant to malware than Windows, especially when it comes to viral infections, but any remote exploit makes it just as susceptible to worms, trojans, and rootkits as any other platform. Given all the fuss in the news recently about compromised Linux/Apache servers being responsible for infecting Windows users with malware when they visit those compromised sites, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at three of the best rootkit/malware detection tools available for Linux desktop and SOHO users. Here's a brief comparison of three popular choices: Chkrootkit, Rootkit Hunter, and Ossec.

Read more and get it here:
http://www.linux.com/feature/128450

Software Freedom Law Center
Publishes Legal Guide on Free Software

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), provider of pro-bono legal services to protect and advance Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), today published a legal guide which acts as an in-depth introduction to the legal issues surrounding FOSS.

The guide, written by members of SFLC's staff, covers a variety of legal topics and their practical application to free software development. These topics include copyrights and licensing, organizational structure, patents, and trademarks.

The guide is available at: http://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2008/foss-primer.html

Turn your computer into an internet TV

Miro ROCK'S under LINUX! And, yes there is a Windows Version...

Play virtually any type of video file - Quicktime, WMV, MPEG, AVI, XVID, and more. Browse your collection, make playlists, stay organized.

Your computer screen is a high-definition display. Miro gives you access to more free HD content than any other video player. Sit back and watch gorgeous HD video fullscreen.

Subscribe to any video RSS feed, podcast, or video blog. Explore and subscribe to over 2,500 free channels with the built-in Miro Guide. New channels added daily.

Download and save videos from YouTube, Google Video, Dailymotion, and more. You can even save a search term and automatically get new videos as they are posted.

"Free and open-source, because open media matters."

Get it here: http://www.getmiro.com

Lunar Eclipse: This Wednesday..

A total eclipse of the Moon will occur this Wednesday, February 20/21, 2008. The entire event will be visible from South America and most of North America (on Feb. 20) as well as Western Europe, Africa, and western Asia (on Feb. 21). During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon's disk can take on a dramatically colorful appearance from bright orange to blood red to dark brown and (rarely) very dark gray.

Details at NASA's Website :
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

How to recover your boot password under Linux

you can recover using the following steps

Turn on computer

Press ESC at the grub prompt

Press e for edit

Highlight the line that begins kernel ………, press e

Go to the very end of the line, add rw init=/bin/bash

press enter, then press b to boot your system.

The system will boot up to a password-less root shell

Type in passwd username

Set your password

Type in reboot

That's it.... It's fixed...

Google intros Team Apps edition to bypass the IT department..

Google released a new edition of its hosted applications suite that end-users can bring into the workplace without the involvement of their IT department.

The new release, called Google Apps Team Edition, is available for free. It is aimed at employees who are interested in using Google Apps but whose employers haven't signed up for it.

So far, more than 500,000 mostly small organizations have signed up for Google Apps, but the other versions -- Standard, Education, Partner and Premier -- require IT to implement the suite because its services are linked to an organization's Internet domain.

Once signed up with Team Edition, people can see who else in their organization's Internet domain is also a user, and invite those who aren't.

Read more here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/020708-google-intros-apps-edition-to.html

Check it out here:
http://www.google.com/apps/business/index.html

Firefox: a toolbar trinity.

Firefox rocks because it acts like a Lego set -- you have your base module, and then you can stick extensions on it. Some of the most obvious extensions are toolbars. Unlike the embedded-application extensions like Chatzilla or FireFTP, toolbars actually modify your interface.

A toolbar can contain search engine interfaces, bookmarks, RSS feeds, or extra tools for managing content. A lot of toolbars are very specialized -- tools for multimedia producers, musicians, and even Mormon theology students. Here are three more general toolbars that any net junkie will find useful.

Read more here: http://www.linux.com/feature/126291

10 secrets you should know about being in IT...

10.) The pay in IT is good compared to many other professions, but since they pay you well, they often think they own you...

9.) It will be your fault when users make mistakes...

8.) You will go from hero to zero multiple times within any given day...

7.) Certifications won't always help you become a better IT person, but they can help you land better pay...

6.) Your nontechnical co-workers, friends and family will use you as their own personal technical support pee-on for their home and business systems...

5.) Most vendors will take all the credit when things work well and then blame you when things screw up...

4.) You'll spend far more time babysitting old technologies (can you say XP) than implementing new ones (can you say Linux)...

3.) Veteran IT (Old Warhorse) professionals are often the biggest roadblock to implementing new technologies (can you say XP again)...

2.) Some IT professionals deploy technologies that do more to consolidate their own power than to help the business (not me)...

1.) IT frequently use jargon to confuse nontechnical business people to hide the fact that they screwed up (can you say not me again)...

A few stories about the Microsoft embrace and extend Yahoo nightmare..

Euro lawyers see tortuous road ahead for Microsoft's Yahoo! bid..
Microsoft is likely to face a torrid time from European regulators before it can even think of closing its proposed takeover of Yahoo!. A leading UK competition lawyer told the Reg today: "Any big Microsoft acquisition is likely to be looked at very carefully, especially if it is in an area where they have been complaining about their rivals - I wonder if there is anything in the documents Microsoft filed in its complaint to the EU about Google which they are now regretting."

Read more about here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/01/ms_yahoo_competition

Yahoo! buy would give Microsoft ownership of open source e-mail & projects. Ugh.
Let’s forget about search for a moment, and Microsoft’s obvious need to buy a leading online company or face extinction. Microsoft’s proposed $45 billion buy of Yahoo would give the Redmond, Wash company control over a top open source e-mail company, open source projects and an open source infrastructure. On September 17 of 2007, Yahoo bought Zimbra for $350 million. Yahoo’s infrastructure is built on BSD. Yahoo has released a myriad of software to the open source community and even sponsors some open source projects. So this deal would put Microsoft directly into the open source software business.

Read more about here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1962

Will The Open Source World Welcome Microsoft-Yahoo Combo?
Microsoft has confirmed that it’s seeking to acquire Yahoo! Some folks — you know, the open source crowd — will likely bash a proposed Microsoft-Yahoo combo. The VAR Guy, however, is willing to give Microsoft a chance to explain the proposed business combo. Here’s why. First, a little background. Search engine giants like Google and Yahoo rely heavily on Linux, the LAMP stack and custom open source projects. And Microsoft has been trying to re-invent the LAMP stack with WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, and related tools), notes Mary Jo Foley’s Microsoft Watch blog.

Read more about here:
http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/02/01/will-open-source-world-welcome-microsoft-yahoo-combo

Zimbra Proponents Fear Microsoft-Yahoo Combo
When Yahoo acquired Zimbra in September 2007, some Zimbra backers worried Yahoo would mismanage the open source email asset. Fast forward to the present, and some Zimbra proponents have gone from concern to outright panic over Microsoft’s bid to acquire Yahoo (and, by attachment, Zimbra).

Read more about here:
http://www.thevarguy.com/2008/02/01/zimbra-proponents-fear-microsoft-yahoo-combo


Our only hope is that the EU will kill this deal.....

Tweaking Hidden Ubuntu Settings With Ubuntu Tweak

Ubuntu Tweak is a tool that lets you change hidden Ubuntu settings, for example: hide or change the splash screen, show or hide the Computer, Home, Trash, and Network icons, change Metacity, Nautilus, power management, and security settings, etc.

Currently Ubuntu Tweak is available only for the Ubuntu GNOME desktop, i.e., it will not work on Kubuntu or Xubuntu.

This short guide shows how to install and use Ubuntu Tweak.

http://www.howtoforge.com/tweaking-hidden-ubuntu-settings-with-ubuntu-tweak

Get it here: http://ubuntu-tweak.com

Etelos CRM for your personal iGoogle homepage..

Etelos CRM™ for iGoogle and Google Apps is a feature-rich Customer Relationship Management application that gives any business the ability to automate and manage customer follow up. The features available in Etelos CRM for iGoogle and Google Apps are powerful, yet simple to use. The product is available in four editions: Personal, Professional, Enterprise, and Developer.

You can check it out here: http://www2.etelos.com

Linux Work Progressing on Army's Future Combat Systems.

The Future Combat System is envisioned as a networked 'system of systems" that will include robotic reconnaissance vehicles and sensors; tactical mobile robots; mobile command, control and communications platforms; networked fires from futuristic ground and air platforms; and advanced three-dimensional targeting systems operating on land and in the air.

Boeing and the Army said they chose not to use Microsoft's proprietary software because they didn't want to be beholden to the company or to endure too many system crashes.

Read More Here:

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/ic/fcs/bia/index.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/fcs.htm

Installing Oracle XE under Ubuntu – it’s easier than Windows..

First you have to add a repository to your sources.list

"sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list"

add: "deb http://oss.oracle.com/debian unstable main non-free"

Now update you repository: "sudo apt-get update"

Now execute the command to install Oracle XE: "sudo apt-get install oracle-xe"

Oracle XE will be downloaded now, you have to press Y (yes) twice to get the following message:

You’re now asked for the port numbers of Oracle Application Express (apex) and the database listener. port 8080 (web) than port 1024 (listner) default setings.

The final steps are entering a password for SYS and SYSTEM and tell the system you want to load Oracle on boot time.

Now go to http://localhost:8080/apex (or http://127.0.0.1:8080/apex) you’re ready to go.

if you need to change the default port numbers for any reason it can be done in sql-plus
(located at /usr/lib/oracle/xe/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/server/bin)

code:

SQL> begin

2 dbms_xdb.sethttpport(’8081′);

3 end;

4 /

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

Sources:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/linux/install/xe-on-kubuntu.html
http://daust.blogspot.com/2006/01/xe-changing-default-http-port.html
http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/linux/htdocs/oracleonlinux_faq.html

Scribus: Professional page layout for Linux

Whenever people discuss software that they would like to see ported to Linux, they mention desktop publishing (DTP) applications like Adobe InDesign and QuarkXpress. But Linux already supports an application aimed at DTP users. Scribus is an open-source page layout program that runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. Is it a viable alternative to proprietary products for professional production work?

Read More Here: http://www.linux.com/feature/123592

Why Larry Ellison loves Linux (and he’s not alone)

If you thought open-source software was a threat to big-company profits, think again.

Just a few years ago, the open-source software movement was a pariah among big software firms. Shai Agassi, then an executive at SAP (SAP), likened it to socialism. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer called it a cancer. The attitude among many in the establishment seemed to be that the “free code” revolution led by software such as Linux would discourage invention and erode profits.

That nightmare scenario hasn’t happened. Instead, the open-source movement has helped lower the cost of computing, and fueled a lot of moneymaking innovation, and not just among scrappy startups. For just one example, consider Oracle (ORCL), which is likely to highlight open-source trends as one of the growth drivers in its business when the company reports quarterly earnings today.

How? Last quarter, the business software giant pointed out that its database market share actually tends to improve when customers move to Linux, which has been a fast-growing server operating system for much of the decade. And Oracle is poised to capitalize on open-source trends in other ways. For instance, the company distributes Linux for free, and makes money by offering support.

So far so good: earlier this year CEO Larry Ellison reported that Oracle is in the early stages of selling high-margin Linux support contracts, some for as much as $500,000 a pop. Ellison claims the open-source strategy is also helping to lure database business away from competitors. “We’re just taking share right away from IBM on mainframes and we’re taking share away from Microsoft using Linux,” he told analysts in September.

The Linux love-fest doesn’t stop with Oracle. Google (GOOG), which already uses Linux-based servers to power its search platform, also wants to tap its open-source infrastructure to deliver more and more software over the Internet. (Google’s Android cell phone platform will also be based on Linux.) VMWare (VMW) has long been a Linux-friendly shop. Co-founder Mendel Rosenblum has praised it as a natural fit for the company’s virtualization software, which is all the rage these days as companies seek to cut data center costs by using the software that lets one computer do the work of many.

Beneath the surface, the companies are making similar bets on the profit power behind open source. All are wagering that if the cost of a computing platform drops far enough that everyone can afford it, there will be opportunities to make money by helping customers to use fascinating software and services on top of it. In Oracle’s case, it’s profiting from software and support; in Google’s case, from advertising, and in VMWare’s case, from helping people run more programs without buying more equipment.

It still remains to be seen whether the open-source approach has a shot at eventually becoming the most popular force in computing. Some powerful companies still don’t think so. Microsoft (MSFT), which believes it can do better than the open-source community, continues to do well in the server business — there are even signs in the most recent IDC server report numbers that Windows server growth is outpacing Linux. And Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone certainly doesn’t use an open-source operating system –- Steve Jobs likes to point out that it runs the same software as full-fledged Mac computers.

Nevertheless, it clear these days that open-source software is far from the profit killer some feared. Just ask Larry Ellison.

This is why I use Firefox

Windows Explorer was quarantined by Kaspersky Lab's antivirus software after being identified as malicious code. The company's systems confirmed that a virus called Huhk-C was present in the explorer.exe file, leading to its confinement or, in some cases, deletion. The bug was only live in the wild for a few hours, and ended up affecting a few thousand home computer users.

Repeat after me.... "I am sick and tired of all the problems I have with Windows, from now on I'm gonna use Linux and Firefox..."

A Politically Correct Christmas Story

'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves".
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labour conditions at the North Pole
were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."

And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorised use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life,

Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he'd never had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.

Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.

No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, dishevelled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.

He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.

A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth...
May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on Earth.

How to enable sound in VMware Server

Now that you have your Host Linux and Guest Windows OS running, you can now run your M$ Windows applications. And, improve your virtual OS experience by adding sound so that you can listen to music, watch videos, play games, etc. By default sound is disabled in VMware Server for the Guest OS, the following steps will show you how to enable sound.


1. Launch VMware as root: [sudo vmware]
2. Open the virtual machine you want to add sound to (the machine should not be powered on, if it is, shut down).
3. Click “Edit virtual machine settings.
4. Under the Hardware tab click “+ Add”.
5. Choose “Sound Adapter” and click Next.
6. Select Auto Detect from the drop down menu.
7. Make sure “Connect at power on” is enabled.
8. Click Finish.

Power on your machine and login. If you have VMware Tools installed, Windows should automatically detect your virtual audio drivers. You should now be able to hear audio and system beeps. You can also control the volume using both Windows’ volume control and any hardware volume control buttons you have. Keep in mind that the volume in your Guest OS is dependant on your Host OS. That means if your volume is muted in Linux, you will not hear anything in Windows even if you set Windows’ volume to max. Also, if your volume in Linux is only set to halfway, the loudest you can hear anything in Windows will also be halfway.

Additionally, if you want to enable the use of USB devices in your Guest OS, follow the same method as above and choose USB controller instead.

Yes, You Can..
The newest commercial about Ubuntu, based on the Windows XP commercial "that started it all".

PatientOS
http://www.patientos.org
(an open source healthcare information system
Free under the GPL license)

PatientOS is a free clinical information management system for hospitals and healthcare practitioners. Pharmacy, the laboratory, registration and other departments will be able to automate many processes when version 1.0 is released October 31st, 2008. A physician practice version will be released March 31st, 2008.

Version 0.15 of PatientOS adds appointment scheduling in preparation for the EMR release for physician practices. The software can now be installed and running in minutes with a broadband internet connection.

Watch the installation and demonstration videos
http://www.patientos.org/software/video.html

US Navy acquisitions site uses open source CMS

By: Tina Gasperson

The US Navy's research and development and acquisition policy site at acquisition.navy.mil uses eZ Systems' open source content management system to help civilian and military users access the Navy's myriad policy documents. Before the switch to eZ Publish in November 2003, the site was an unorganized collection of hard-to-navigate static HTML pages. Today, IT project manager Tina Minor, who manages the system for DOD contractor Automation Technologies, says she really likes the customizability and low price of open source software.

When the Navy wanted to transition its acquisition policy site to a content management system, budget cuts because of the war in Iraq eliminated the option of an expensive commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product. "There was 13 years worth of data they needed to maintain," Minor says. "They wanted a commercial product, but we had to go for a solution that was more reasonably priced. The Navy client was very visionary, and very open, and he suggested we look at open source products and see, based on a security analysis, if it would be a good fit for the Navy."

Minor hadn't used open source software extensively, so she commissioned a research project. "We did a full-fledged market research study on open source CMS products. We called out a list of 28, and did a complete analysis based on our requirements and the Navy's needs.

"We looked at more than just support and whether or not the product matched our requirement, though," Minor says. "We looked to see how well grounded the company was, how long they'd been around, and how many people used the product -- how many people outside of commercial companies and academia, how many state or federal government facilities. Our top three picks were eZ, Plone, and Drupal."

Minor says that while price was the driving mechanism behind the selection of open source, now that she's been using it for four years, it's the customizability that has her hooked. "From my perspective, that's number one. With a COTS product, if it doesn't function you can go back to the company, but you'll pay an enormous amount of money. With open source, one person can customize it and share that with everyone." Minor likes the community-driven atmosphere of open source projects like eZ. "It's very open. My developers have shared code with other [developers], but we haven't actually created any code that would be included in a new release of eZ Publish."

Using open source software for a military agency hasn't been completely challenge-free. Minor says there's still a lot of fear regarding open source. "Mostly it's just misunderstood. People hear open source and they automatically assume it's got vulnerabilities and security issues. They think that if it's Microsoft, it's much more secure, and that if the code is open it's easier to hack into. For me, all I can do is educate people a little bit better than that. You've got reputable institutions like NASA and MIT using [open source], and so when you tell people that, they know and recognize those organizations and entities. Then they have to sit back and go, you know, maybe it's not as bad as I thought."

Read in the original layout at: http://www.linux.com/feature/120870

Microsoft updates Windows without users' consent

By Scott Dunn Microsoft has begun patching files on Windows XP and Vista without users' knowledge, even when the users have turned off auto-updates. Many companies require testing of patches before they are widely installed, and businesses in this situation are objecting to the stealth patching.

Files changed with no notice to users

In recent days, Windows Update (WU) started altering files on users' systems without displaying any dialog box to request permission. The only files that have been reportedly altered to date are nine small executables on XP and nine on Vista that are used by WU itself. Microsoft is patching these files silently, even if auto-updates have been disabled on a particular PC.

It's surprising that these files can be changed without the user's knowledge. The Automatic Updates dialog box in the Control Panel can be set to prevent updates from being installed automatically. However, with Microsoft's latest stealth move, updates to the WU executables seem to be installed regardless of the settings — without notifying users.

When users launch Windows Update, Microsoft's online service can check the version of its executables on the PC and update them if necessary. What's unusual is that people are reporting changes in these files although WU wasn't authorized to install anything.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has pushed updates out to users who prefer to test and install their updates manually. Not long ago, another Windows component, svchost.exe, was causing problems with Windows Update, as last reported on June 21 in the Windows Secrets Newsletter. In that case, however, the Windows Update site notified users that updated software had to be installed before the patching process could proceed. This time, such a notice never appears.

For users who elect not to have updates installed automatically, the issue of consent is crucial. Microsoft has apparently decided, however, that it doesn't need permission to patch Windows Updates files, even if you've set your preferences to require it.

Microsoft provides no tech information — yet

To make matters even stranger, a search on Microsoft's Web site reveals no information at all on the stealth updates. Let's say you wished to voluntarily download and install the new WU executable files when you were, for example, reinstalling a system. You'd be hard-pressed to find the updated files in order to download them. At this writing, you either get a stealth install or nothing.

A few Web forums have already started to discuss the updated files, which bear the version number 7.0.6000.381. The only explanation found at Microsoft's site comes from a user identified as Dean-Dean on a Microsoft Communities forum. In reply to a question, he states:

• "Windows Update Software 7.0.6000.381 is an update to Windows Update itself. It is an update for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. Unless the update is installed, Windows Update won't work, at least in terms of searching for further updates. Normal use of Windows Update, in other words, is blocked until this update is installed."
  

Windows Secrets contributing editor Susan Bradley contacted Microsoft Partner Support about the update and received this short reply:

• "7.0.6000.381 is a consumer only release that addresses some specific issues found after .374 was released. It will not be available via WSUS [Windows Server Update Services]. A standalone installer and the redist will be available soon, I will keep an eye on it and notify you when it is available."
  

Unfortunately, this reply does not explain why the stealth patching began with so little information provided to customers. Nor does it provide any details on the "specific issues" that the update supposedly addresses.

System logs confirm stealth installs

In his forum post, Dean-Dean names several files that are changed on XP and Vista. The patching process updates several Windows\System32 executables (with the extensions .exe, .dll, and .cpl) to version 7.0.6000.381, according to the post.

In Vista, the following files are updated:

1. wuapi.dll
2. wuapp.exe
3. wuauclt.exe
4. wuaueng.dll
5. wucltux.dll
6. wudriver.dll
7. wups.dll
8. wups2.dll
9. wuwebv.dll

In XP, the following files are updated:

1. cdm.dll
2. wuapi.dll
3. wuauclt.exe
4. wuaucpl.cpl
5. wuaueng.dll
6. wucltui.dll
7. wups.dll
8. wups2.dll
9. wuweb.dll

These files are by no means viruses, and Microsoft appears to have no malicious intent in patching them. However, writing files to a user's PC without notice (when auto-updating has been turned off) is behavior that's usually associated with hacker Web sites. The question being raised in discussion forums is, "Why is Microsoft operating in this way?"

How to check which version your PC has

If a system has been patched in the past few months, the nine executables in Windows\System32 will either show an earlier version number, 7.0.6000.374, or the stealth patch: 7.0.6000.381. (The version numbers can be seen by right-clicking a file and choosing Properties. In XP, click the Version tab and then select File Version. In Vista, click the Details tab.)

In addition, PCs that received the update will have new executables in subfolders named 7.0.6000.381 under the following folders:

c:\Windows\System32\SoftwareDistribution\Setup\ServiceStartup\wups.dll
c:\Windows\System32\SoftwareDistribution\Setup\ServiceStartup\wups2.dll

Users can also verify whether patching occurred by checking Windows' Event Log:

Step 1. In XP, click Start, Run.

Step 2. Type eventvwr.msc and press Enter.

Step 3. In the tree pane on the left, select System.

Step 4. The right pane displays events and several details about them. Event types such as "Installation" are labeled in the Category column. "Windows Update Agent" is the event typically listed in the Source column for system patches.

On systems that were checked recently by Windows Secrets readers, the Event Log shows two installation events on Aug. 24. The files were stealth-updated in the early morning hours. (The time stamp will vary, of course, on machines that received the patch on other dates.)

To investigate further, you can open the Event Log's properties for each event. Normally, when a Windows update event occurs, the properties dialog box shows an associated KB number, enabling you to find more information at Microsoft's Web site. Mysteriously, no KB number is given for the WU updates that began in August. The description merely reads, "Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Automatic Updates."

No need to roll back the updated files

Again, it's important to note that there's nothing harmful about the updated files themselves. There are no reports of software conflicts and no reason to remove the files (which WU apparently needs in order to access the latest patches). The only concern is the mechanism Microsoft is using to perform its patching, and how this mechanism might be used by the software giant in the future.

I'd like to thank reader Angus Scott-Fleming for his help in researching this topic. He recommends that advanced Windows users monitor changes to their systems' Registry settings via a free program by Olivier Lombart called Tiny Watcher. Scott-Fleming will receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of his choice for sending in a comment we printed.

I'll report further on this story when I'm able to find more information on the policies and techniques behind Windows Update's silent patches. Send me your tips on this subject via the Windows Secrets contact page.

Scott Dunn is associate editor of the Windows Secrets Newsletter. He is also a contributing editor of PC World Magazine, where he has written a monthly column since 1992, and co-author of 101 Windows Tips & Tricks (Peachpit) with Jesse Berst and Charles Bermant.

The Next Leap for Linux

"The New York Times is taking a look at the state of Linux. "Linux has always had a reputation of being difficult to install and daunting to use. Most of the popular Windows and Macintosh programs cannot be used on it, and hand-holding — not that you get that much of it with Windows — is rare. But those reasons for rejecting Linux are disappearing." The article discusses major PC makers' newest offers and compares them to their Windows counterparts."

Ubuntu 7.10 Beta Released

The Ubuntu team is proud to announce the beta release of Ubuntu 7.10 and its
variants, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.  Codenamed "Gutsy Gibbon", 7.10
continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest
open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux
distribution.

Ubuntu 7.10 on the desktop features a cutting-edge graphical experience with
composited desktop effects, fully automated printer installation, and
superior support for Firefox browser plugins.

Ubuntu 7.10 server edition brings enhanced security-in-depth with AppArmor
and easy install-time options for multiple common server configurations.

Desktop highlights
------------------

Compiz Fusion: This innovative compositing window manager enables 3-D
desktop effects that let users work with, and see, their desktops in
completely new ways.

Printer installation: In GNOME, printers are automatically configured for
use as soon as they are connected.

Free Flash support with Gnash: Ubuntu 7.10 leads the pack with a preview of
this Flash browser plugin.  Although still actively in development and not
yet fully supported by Ubuntu, Gnash gives a glimpse into the future of free
Flash, bringing partial Flash support to 64-bit desktop systems.

Automated Firefox plugin installation: Beyond the addition of Gnash, Firefox
in Ubuntu now supports automatic installation of popular plugins through the
standard Ubuntu package repositories, for a richer web-browsing experience
with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/gutsybeta for details.

Server highlights
-----------------

AppArmor: This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an
application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer
of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications.

Pre-configured installation options: Mail Server, Print Server, Database
Server, and File Server options join existing LAMP and DNS options for
pre-configured installations, easing the deployment of common server
configurations.

Edubuntu highlights
-------------------

Faster thin clients: Thin clients have been sped up significantly through
the use of compressed images.

Kubuntu highlights
------------------

As well as the above desktop highlights, the following new features are
specific to KDE users:

Dolphin file manager: This updated file manager gives Ubuntu users a glimpse
of the upcoming KDE 4.

Strigi desktop search: Another pillar of KDE 4 available now in Kubuntu.

Restricted-manager: Kubuntu 7.10 includes a KDE front-end for easy
installation of proprietary drivers, complementing the existing GNOME
front-end.

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/GutsyGibbon/Beta/Kubuntu for details.

Other
-----

* On the Desktop: KDE 3.5.7, GNOME 2.20, OpenOffice.org 2.3.0rc1, X.org 7.2

* On the Server: Apache 2.2, PostgreSQL 8.2, PHP 5.2.3, LTSP 5.0

* "Under the hood": GCC 4.1.2, glibc 2.6, Linux 2.6.22, Python 2.5

The full release notes can be found at
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/gutsybeta

About Ubuntu
------------

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop, laptop, thin client and
server, with a fast and easy install.  Ubuntu comes in several variants,
including Ubuntu Desktop, Server, Kubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu.  The Ubuntu
project makes no separation between our free edition and our enterprise
edition - this is our best work and it is freely available.

Used by businesses, home users, schools and governments around the world,
Ubuntu offers regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages
installed by default and professional commercial technical support from
Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies.

To Get Ubuntu 7.10 Beta
-----------------------

Download Ubuntu 7.10 Beta here (choose the mirror closest to you):

 Europe:

   http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Sweden)
   http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (The Netherlands)
   http://ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/linux/ubuntu-releases/7.10 (The Netherlands)
   http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Ireland)
   http://it.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Italy)
   http://gb.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Great Britain)
   http://de.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Germany)
   http://fr.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (France)

 Asia:

   http://tw.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Taiwan)

 Africa:

   http://za.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (South Africa)

 North America:

   http://ca.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Canada)
   http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (United States)

 Rest of the world:

   http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.10 (Great Britain)

Please download using Bittorrent if possible.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 7.04 to Ubuntu 7.10 Beta, follow these
instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GutsyUpgrades

The final version of Ubuntu 7.10 is expected to be released in October 2007.

Feedback and Helping
--------------------

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you
can participate at

 http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this Beta
into the best release of Ubuntu ever.  Please report bugs through the
Launchpad bug tracker:

 https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/gutsy/+bugs

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are not
sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the Ubuntu
Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:

 http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
 http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

More Information
----------------

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this preview release on our
website, IRC channel and wiki. If you are new to Ubuntu, please visit:

 http://www.ubuntu.com/

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's
very low volume announcement list at:

 http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce 

Vista Aiding Linux Desktop, Strategist Says...

Windows Vista has probably created the single biggest opportunity for the Linux desktop to take market share, Cole Crawford, an IT strategist at Dell, said in an address titled, "The Linux Desktop—Fact, FUD or Fantasy?".

For example, a number of companies have moved back to Windows XP after deploying Vista, Crawford said, before quoting Scott Granneman, an author, entrepreneur and adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis, as saying, "To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it; to mess up your Windows box, you just have to work on it."

Microsoft has also owned the desktop for more than 15 years, Crawford said, "and so the only way for them to go is down. But Linux can only go up, and its growth potential is enormous. While Linux only has 1 percent of share on the desktop versus Microsoft's more than 90 percent, that is changing, and the Linux desktop is expected to gain some share over the next two years," he said.

The number of developers targeting Windows decreased by 12 percent in the last year, while their targeting of Linux has increased by 34 percent over the same period, recently released information from Evans Data shows, Crawford said.

The interoperability agreements that Microsoft has signed with Linux vendors, from Novell to Xandros and Linspire, have also had largely positive results so far, he said, adding that another plus was the fact that Linux development has shifted to a model in which a significant portion of the kernel is being developed by corporate entities.

On the downside, Crawford said, was the fact that no one actually owns the kernel and this makes SLAs (service-level agreements) more challenging. Microsoft also has a 15-year head start in the client market and most companies are still comfortable with Windows as an operating system, while the ISV/IHV ecosystem also still has a long way to go, he said.

But the days of vendor lock-in are over, Crawford said, and the fact that Microsoft is reaching out to the open-source community underscores its awareness of that. While the Linux desktop is not yet appropriate for everyone, its numbers are growing, he said

Crawford said a corporate desktop needs to be focused on the business user, compliant with company standards, interoperable, secure, and able to be shipped with an enterprise kernel and managed remotely, and to have standard applications installed.

"The Linux desktop can do all of that. It can be interoperable with earlier versions of the operating system, is generally interoperable with Windows, can ship with an enterprise kernel and can be remotely managed by existing management solutions," he said.

The driving forces behind the Linux desktop were innovation, freedom and the frustration with Windows, he said. Unlike with Windows, the community also has the ability to influence and drive the technology, which also works well on thin clients, Crawford said.

But a software packaging standard needs to be established, even though it would take a lot of work, while getting the drivers necessary for printers, audio and other things to work on Linux is extremely important, he said. "We also need to get the different distributions to work on a common release cycle," he said.

He said Linux is a lot more secure than Windows as it has no registry, since everything is a file, which needs permissions to execute. There is also no such thing as a DLL, which Crawford described as the second most evil thing in Windows behind ActiveX.

Linux is good enough today to run as a corporate desktop and, like any technology, does not have to be perfect, just good enough, he said, adding that even in a Microsoft environment it was possible to use a Linux distribution as a corporate operating system.

"This is the year of the interoperable Linux desktop. Standards are helping to drive adoption, while driver support will be the key to the success of desktop Linux. The opportunity to standardize and drive interoperability is paramount," Crawford said.

But the industry is also at a crossroads, and could follow the path of Unix or unify and drive adoption, he said. "If you want to differentiate, do so after we have started to win. We absolutely need to unify, we really do," he concluded.

- Peter Galli @ Ziff-Davis

Real-Time Linux: More Than You Ever Wanted to Know

If you're interested in Linux -- and particularly Real-Time Linux -- then keep your eye on the Open Source department where we continue to post papers from the the Eighth Real-Time Linux Workshop held at the at the School for Information Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University, in Lanzhou, China.

Many of the papers are fascinating, and all of them interesting. Yesterday's post, for instance, Embedded RTLinux: A New Stand-Alone RTLinux Approach by Miguel Masmano, Apolinar Gonzalez, Ismael Ripoll, and Alfons Crespo. (If those names don't sound Chinese, remember that the Workshop was a "worldwide" conference, with papers from Real-time Linux experts around the world.)

Other papers range in topics from A Real-Time P2P Interactive Game Playing Application to A Linux-based System to Monitor Train Speed and Doors for a Light-Rail System.

And we will continue to post installments over the coming weeks.

-- Jonathan Erickson @ Dr. Dobb's

Holy flying penguins microsoft-man....

Via wins big Singapore Air Linux deal..

According to Network World, the system consists of a central Linux server that connects to a network of PCs installed under every seat on the aircraft.

Each economy-class seat will be fitted with a 10.6-inch LCD screen that offers resolution of 1,280 pixels by 768 pixels. Of course the screen is much larger in business, 15.4-inch, and first class which will have a 23-inch screen.

Passengers can choose to watch a movie or listen to a CD, which is streamed from the central server to the seat's computer.

Each seat has 40G bytes of hard-drive and will use a Via processor.

It means that each passenger will have access to 100 movies, 150 television shows, 700 music CDs, 22 radio stations, and 65 games on a flight.

It will also run Star Office and passengers can connect to the PC using a USB to take the novel they write on those long flights to New Zealand with them.

By Nick Farrell

Going door-to-door for Goolge

Posted by Elinor Mills

So, you want to work for Google but you don't have a graduate degree in computer science from an Ivy League school. How about being a Google local search ads sales rep contractor? As such you can earn up to $10 for each business listing that is approved by Google and verified by the business.

According to the FAQ on Google's Web site:

Google offers to pay $10 per listing for contractors who sign up business to advertise on Google Maps

(Credit: Google)

"As a Google Business Referral Representative, you'll visit local businesses to collect information (such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, etc.) for Google Maps, and tell them about Google Maps and Google AdWords. You'll also take a few digital photos of the business that will appear on the Google Maps listing along with the business information.

Asked for more information on the program and whether it is supplementing or replacing a traditional ad sales force, a Google spokeswoman offered a statement that included this comment:

"This program will help people find local information using Google and Google Maps and help businesses take advantage of the Internet even if they don't have a website or online store. This is currently a pilot program intended to help local businesses in the U.S."

Back on the Google Web site the motivational speak is poured on thick:

"All you need to be a successful Business Referral Representative is a passion for helping local businesses succeed, a love for the Internet (some knowledge of Google is great, too), and access to a computer and a digital camera." Oh, and some good walking shoes, possibly a car and plenty of free time.

But don't expect to get any of the benefits or perks that Google employees get, like free food, paid vacation and health insurance.

Now, get out there and sell some ads!

Microsoft Meets the GPLv3

Now that Microsoft has declared itself untouched by any GPLv3 terms, everyone is trying to figure out if they have a leg to stand on. There is a whole lot of analysis going on, with some wondering if Microsoft is a distributor of software under GPLv3 by means of the voucher distribution and others wondering just what those vouchers included.

First, "distribution" isn't the issue with GPLv3. That is a GPLv2 question, as I'll show you. GPLv3 talks about "propagating" and "conveying", not just distribution. Propagation includes anything, including distribution but not limited to it, that would make you directly *or secondarily* liable for infringement if you lack permission. Convey means "any kind of propagation" that enables another party to make or receive copies of a work. Like selling them the vouchers, perchance? It's a much broader category of activities than just distribution, and I'll explain the terms that I think would have made Microsoft fit neatly into the "convey" category, had they not backed out. I think you'll be able to see how much more protection GPLv3 provides to your code than GPLv2.

And somehow I missed this earlier, but I now discover that if you read the marketing agreement between Novell and Microsoft more carefully than I did before, it turns out we can know what one got with the vouchers, and what they offered included software, upgrades, and support. No wonder Microsoft decided to pull the plug before any GPLv3 software began to be made available. I just don't know if that is enough to save them, since the vouchers they already sold have no expiration date.

by Groklaw

Workaround puts Skype on the iPhone

A complex remote-control work around has achieved what every geek wants: running Skype on an iPhone.

While some are working to unlock the iPhone, to use on other networks, others are working to give its users cheap calls using the popular Skype VoIP software.

The breakthrough comes from Tom Keating of TMC Labs, and is likely to be more of a proof of concept, as it uses a complex remote control application, and doesn't actually deliver free calls, though they may be cheaper.

Skype Mobile can be used on Windows Mobile phones to make free or cheap calls from Wi-Fi hot spots, but it has not yet been ported to the iPhone. Such a port is probably not a priority with AT&T, the phone operator providing the iPhone, or with Apple, although reviews have found the phone has good Wi-Fi performance.

The Skype-on-iPhone solution is described as a "workaround-around" using a remote control application, SoonR, to remotely use the Skype application running on the user's desktop computer, and make the calls from there.

It's a bit more complicated than that, however.

SoonR Talk is an AJAX application running on the Opera browser (which has to be installed on the iPhone). It connects to the desktop via the SoonR server, and then SoonR Talk sets up the call.

It dials out from Skype and makes a SkypeOut call to the mobile, conferencing the two calls together. This uses at least one and possibly two paid SkypeOut calls, which in many cases may still be substantially cheaper than dialling direct from the iPhone. For instance, unlimited SkypeOut credits for U.S. dialling can be bought for $30 per year.

By Peter Judge
work-around-puts-skype-on-the iPhone