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Comment Simple Answer: Stay ahead of the pack. (Score 1) 729

by thedbp (#25866107) Attached to: Is Open Source Software a Race To Zero?

For instance, Adobe has nothing to worry about. There's not going to be any Open Source project that can compete with Photoshop anytime soon. If the stuff you're writing is that easy to implement that every addition or extension is being copied, and is "just as good" as you say, then the issue is with the code you're writing.

The Open Source devs trying to mimic your extensions should be sitting back saying to themselves "how the hell did they do that?" and by the time they figure it out, you've already got new features that they don't.

Also, providing support seems to be the best way to monetize Open Source. They may provide similar functionality, but you can offer custom tweaks and support for a fee.
Announcements

Submission + - Researchers create selfish BitTorrent client

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from the computer science department at the University of Washington have released BitTyrant, a new BitTorrent client that is designed to improve download performance via strategic selection of peers and upload rates. Their results call into question the effectiveness of BitTorrent's tit-for-tat reciprocation strategy which was designed to discourage selfish users. BitTyrant clients are available for Windows, OS X, and Linux.
Patents

Submission + - Cheaper drugs 'breakthrough' patent work-around

Submitted by
Heir Of The Mess
Heir Of The Mess writes: "In this article Professor Shaunak, of Imperial College, said that he and Professor Brocchini, from the London School of Pharmacy, could alter the molecular structure of an existing drug and turn it technically into a new medicine which would no longer be under a 20-year patent to a multinational drug company.

Sunial Shaunak and his colleague Steve Brocchini claim that their "ethical pharmaceutical" model could enable millions in poor countries to be cured of infectious diseases as well as slashing the NHS drugs bill. Here it says the process will be started in India on a clinical trial basis and will be sponsored by the Indian government. The cost of producing a new drug according to multinational companies is around $800 million. However Shaunak said that the total cost of development of their drug would be just a few million pounds. He added that the patent of the drug would be held by the Imperial College who will employ top patent lawyers to make sure that no one will block its development.

More articles can be found here."
Biotech

Submission + - Snail neurons not sluggish; human genes at work

Submitted by
Bob Fuzzdale
Bob Fuzzdale writes: "At any given time within just a single brain cell of sea slug known as Aplysia, more than 10,000 genes are active, according to scientists writing in the journal Cell. For the first time, researchers have made a genomic dissection of the memory-forming network, http://news.ufl.edu/2006/12/28/brain-script/ http://www.latest-science-news.com/news/counting-t he-genes-of-our-ocean-ancestor-5355.htm"
Communications

Submission + - ZDNet Interview with Skype's CSO

Submitted by mikemsd
mikemsd writes: ZDNet did an Interview with Kurt Sauer, Skype's Chief Security Officer. The Primary focus of the Interview was threats faced by the company in the new year and security measures that Skype uses to protect it's users. An interesting tidbit from the article that makes me a little worried: So the answer to the question — if even you can't listen on somebody's Skype calls — is...? Sauer: What we say to that is that we provide a safe communications experience. I'm not going to tell you that we can or can't listen in to that.
Sci-Fi

UFOs In the News 449

Posted by kdawson from the green-and-the-gray dept.
Several readers have let us know about a report on MSNBC that France's space agency has announced plans to publish its archive of UFO sightings in a month or so. The archive includes some 6,000 reports relating to around 1,600 incidents over 30 years. In a separate development, many readers have sent in word of the reported UFO that at least six United Airlines workers saw over Chicago's O'Hare International Airport last November. National Public Radio picked up the story with an interview with the Chicago Trib reporter who wrote about it yesterday. United is, strangely, denying that any such incident was ever brought up. The FAA admits there was an incident but is not investigating it.
Movies

Submission + - The Pirates of Osan, South Korea

Submitted by
newtley
newtley writes: "The entertainment cartels are going hell for leather after innocent men, women and children, calling then file sharing "thieves". But while they do that, the real criminals, the counterfeit 'pirates,' openly sell bent movie DVDs on the street of Sontang in South Korea. And some of their best customers are American forces on a a near-by US Air Force fighter base. p2pnet has a first-hand account of what's going on there."
Media

Submission + - Host Podcasts for Free Using Amazon S3

Submitted by bogeydope
bogeydope writes: http://www.opens3.com/ A new web 2.0 domain called "openS3" is offering bloggers, podcasters and vidcasters an alternative, free method to hosting their rich media. All they have to do is enter their feed and openS3 will capture their media and upload it to Amazon's S3 Service. They will be given a direct link to syndicate their media as well as a torrent file.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - WiFi in your rental car?

Submitted by Jezebel
Jezebel writes: Avis is bundling a 3G-to-WiFi bridge with their rental cars that will turn the vehicles into WiFi hotspots. From the article: "Autonet Mobile CEO Sterling Pratz told the International Herald Tribune that the In-Car Router will function in around 95 percent of the country, including all major US cities. Pratz claims to have minimized the problem of dropped signals with a technology similar to that used by the space shuttles to maintain an Internet connection."

Will we now have to worry about laptop use on the Interstate?
Intel

Submission + - Intel Mac Mini benchmarked with Core 2 Duo T7600

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I have seen more than a few benchmarks of Mac minis with T7200 (2.0GHz) or T7400 (2.16GHz) Core 2 Duo chips, but never with the T7600 (2.33GHz). Ambanmba recently performed a nice series of benchmarks with the latest and greatest of the 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duos in a Mac Mini. The scores show quite a significant improvement but at a high cost. Is this going to be the next mini that is rumored to be announced at MacWorld?
AMD/OSTG

Journal Journal: Low-Power SBC Features AMD Geode GX 533 Processor

Journal by OSTG Marketing
Adlink Technology has a new single-board computer, the NuPRO-796 . The NuPRO-796 "incorporates an AMD Geode GX 533 processor. The fanless computer features low 1.1-W CPU power consumption to deliver a combination of low overall power, low cost, and high computing performance. Included onboard are a 128-Mbyte DDR266 memory on a single small-outline dual-inline memory module slot, one UltraATA 66 IDE connector, and fou

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