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Feed Thunderbird 2.0 final released (slashdot.org)

From feed by lcfeed
Better late than never. The Thunderbird 2.0 release is finally ready for release. Builds of Thunderbird 2.0 have appeared on the Mozilla Web site ahead of an official announcement scheduled for Thursday that the release is available.
Privacy

Submission + - NCSU encourages students to push back RIAA

Submitted by EB
EB writes: North Carolina State University (NCSU) is reportedly advising students that have been targeted by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to fight back. The University's Student Legal Services department has been advising students to fight back all the way to federal court. NCSU is one of many Universities in the U.S. that received pre-litigation notices from the RIAA in February.
Announcements

Submission + - Failing Muni WiFi in Madison?

Submitted by patrickbunker
patrickbunker writes: From WKOW in Madison, WI:

WiFi provider ResTech Services is cutting off service to all of it MadCity Broadband customers at the end of May. Restech states, from an initial 2,000 customers they are now down to 700. ResTech states most customers that canceled service complained of unreliable signals.

As a customer of ResTech since August 2006 I'm sure the reason most people canceled there service has nothing to do with the reliability of the signal. My 2nd story apartment is located just 12ft from a transmitter and is at eye-level. I can always get a reliable connection, the problem lies in there is never enough bandwidth for all customers. During winter and spring breaks at the University of Wisconsin, when lots of customers leave town the service works perfectly. At other times I can maybe pull up google after 10 attempts, but with a very strong connection signal. Sounds like this is more of a case of the provider not being able to afford a big enough pipe for customers. Is Muni-WiFi just not a good business plan?
Media

Submission + - Linux in the Indy 500

Submitted by dmf
dmf writes: Tux 500 Our goal is simple: we want to collect community donations to enter a Linux sponsored car in the 2007 Indianapolis 500. We need your help! If less than 1% of the Linux community donates $1, this will happen... will you do your part?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - PC makers walk fine line with 'crapware'

Submitted by
WeeBit
WeeBit writes: ""For years, computer makers have managed to wring a few extra bucks of profit out of each PC sale by bundling all sorts of third-party software. While adding software, setting default search engines and including toolbars can all put money in PC makers' pockets, the practice has also alienated some consumers who say all such "crapware" is clogging their hard drives and bogging down their systems. "

PC makers walk fine line with 'crapware'

I would lots rather be offered the full version software, than get the trial versions. I don't like toolbars on the browsers at all. Plus I don't feel the public should have to pay for something they don't get in the first place. Maybe if they offered us like five software fully functional for a year at a reduced price? The trial versions are definitely hated by me, and many others. Most I never intend to use, or I prefer another software to do the job. Plus they do clog the pc with this stuff. I am a firm believer of choice. Most of the vendors though you get what you get, and your stuck with it. So normally a new computer to me means cleaning the hard drive as soon as you take it out of the box.* As I said though... Why should we pay for something we are not getting?"
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Child porn suit to be tossed due to open WIFI?

Submitted by jqpublic13
jqpublic13 writes: A Texas man charged with having child pornography has challenged the suit on the basis of his having an open wireless access point. Investigation has corroborated evidence that other people with access to the router may in fact be the suspect the police are searching for. The outcome of this case could impact other cases where the IP address is the basis for investigation.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Genuine Advantage takinging advantage?

Submitted by
UAVThumper
UAVThumper writes: "I need some piece of mind here. I have two computers that have valid Windows XP software keys. I have them set up to automatically check for, download, and install updates from Microsoft. What is bothering me is that I have installed and subsequently verified my Windows XP license like 4 times PER SYSTEM! Each time I get to the end screen saying the installation/verification was successful and what a good boy I am. I guess in my mind, this should be an application that is only installed once and then either leaves a hash file or some way for MS to validate you have been validated. Having to install this over and over again is unsettling to me (and why my other 21 computers here use linux/unix) Is there anyone else out there having this same problem? Does anyone know why this may be happening? Has anyone looking into this closer, say what the packets being sent/received have in them? It would be nice to be able to trust Micro$oft, but... yeah. Thanks for your help."
Operating Systems

Journal Journal: How to have fun at the office in 5 easy steps...

Journal by Noryungi

How to have fun with NetBSD at the office:

  1. Install NetBSD in a VMWare virtual machine.
  2. Install XMing on your Windows machine in order to display X11 applications on the Windows desktop.
  3. Launch VMware, configure NetBSD, install the most important system utilities. All of this only takes a few minutes, since NetBSD is such a simple OS to

Feed CentOS 5 is a solid enterprise OS (slashdot.org)

From feed by lcfeed
Last week, two years since its last major release, the CentOS project released version 5 of its enterprise-focused Linux distribution. I downloaded it and put it to the test, and found that CentOS 5 has maintained its tradition of robustness and...
Businesses

Submission + - General Contractor ruined my house, took my money

Submitted by
Mya
Mya writes: "OUR DETAIL COMPLAINT In December 6th, 2007 my husband and I posted an ad on Construction Deal.com who is a referral service. They emailed us numerous pre-screened and qualified contractors. We interviewed about 15 of them and picked the Top 3 for 2 more interviews. We decided to hire Billy D. Strange from BDS Concetps because of multiple reasons: 1)He did not have a job at that time and promised that he can get started in our ASAP. 2)He was the 1st one to submit us a quote. 3)His fiancé was supposedly an artist and interior designer. 4)He seemed more trustworthy and told us that he never misses a deadline and he understands that time is money. 5)He seems like he needed the job more than the other two contractors; and being once a small business owner we like to support the little guy. With that said we sign a contract with him to remodel our 1012 SQF, 2 story condo/townhouse on December 21st, 2006. Work to start on January 3rd, 2007 and end on February 16th, 2007 and agreed by both parties that "time was the essence". Upon signing the contract we gave him a $10,000.00 deposit (See copy of check) . On January 1st, 2007 we vacated the home along with our belongings and moved to Poinciana with is 1hr ½ drive from my job instead of 15mns that we used to travel to go to work... My husband and I started a routine that he will stop by every morning around 5:30am and I will stop by in the afternoon after work around 7pm to monitor his progress starting 1/3/07. January 3rd, 4th, & 5th nothing was done. I started to get scared thinking he took our deposit and run but thankfully when I called that evening and spoke to him he told me that his truck was in the shop so he didn't have any transportation. It was ok with us because we understand that unexpected things happened. He started to demo the kitchen on the 6th, and 7th. On the 8th I stopped by and we were talking about his progress he told me "if you give me another $10,000.00 I can hire a couple of guys and get you back in the house in 2 weeks by that time I will make sure you bedroom and bathroom will be completed". So I jumped at the offer and gave him another $10,000.00 (See copy of check) because it will save me money in gas, travel time to work, eating out and other expenses associated with us not living in our home. After he cashed that check it seems like he is barely at the job site, he worked on average 2 hours a day so everything was crawling. After a month passed by I accepted the fact that we will not be moving to the house in 2 weeks like he promised; I was a little upset but it was ok because it sounded to good to be true to start up with. So I finally gathered all my courage and asked him why it is taking so long! He told me that he had to go out of the state to get married than he had to help his stepson to move out of his fiancé's house, and of course the continuous excuse his fiancé is sick. I asked him to answer me truthfully "will the job be completed in a timely manner" he said yes and added you need to stop coming by so you won't get frustrated because things usually comes together at the end of the project. So we took his advice a stay away for a couple of days. I took a vacation from February 10th, 2007 to March 3rd, 2007 because we have a lot of things planned such as housewarming party, family visit and I wanted to spent a few days in my nearly new home before I go back to work but unfortunately nothing happened as plan obviously otherwise I wouldn't be typing this complaint. On February 11th, 2007 he asked me for another check in the amount of $2,500.00 (See copy of check) to pay for cabinet so I gave it to him because he started making some progress. On February 15th, 2007 one day before the completion date of the project I stopped by the house not one of the rooms were completed started to get extremely worried because I have furniture from Ashley that was scheduled to be delivered on February 24th, storage pods schedule to be delivered on February 20th, 2007 I had nowhere to put them. So I spent everyday at the jobsite from 7am to 5pm to monitor the job more closely. He showed up anytime he wants, he did not care, he did not make any apology for his action but with a lot of begging from us and few modifications in his favor he had the living room half way ready so Ashley can deliver our furniture. On February 19th, 2007 he decided to go back to school and in the mean time he left our home unfinished he comes to work for 3hrs and spent 2 of those hours at home depot. When we asked him for a time frame on when the job will be completed and said "I don't know, I am going to school now and I don't have much time, I will do what I can". Because of that comment we asked him to amend the original contract to give us a solid time of when the job will be completed and a $100.00 daily penalty if it is not completed at such time. He refused to amend the original contract. He no call / no show for days at a time and when we called he transferred us to his voicemail. I called him private and he answered and said he will be there the next day. He took our exterior door leading to the garage home for 3 days all those 3 days were very humid days that forced us to turn on the A/C and wasted electricity. He left all our doors with no hardware except one lock on the front the door and other hole open. I was terrified to use the bathroom because there were no locks on the bathroom doors while 3 unknown sub-contractor working in the house. He finally brought our back door back but did not install it, my husband's father ended up installing the door and add locks in most of the for doors for us. He was supposed to work February 5th, 2007 but when we got home we received an email from him saying that we will take the day off to answer an email that I sent him 2 days prior but what was weird is that he removed all his tools and material from our home. He abandoned the job site, we offered him two choices he did not want any of them. We have been trying to resolve this matter among us but we are not getting through to him that's why we are filling a complaint. PLEASE HELP US! We already gave him $22,500.00 from the $25,000.00. We received a second email from BDS Concepts on March 7, 2007 asking us for another chance to complete the work. In the second agreement BDS Concepts promised to have the interior of the home completed before March 15, 2007 but he did not want to put a penalty if he does not make the deadline because we already paid him upfront and having someone else complete the job will cost us more money out of pocket that we do not have so we agreed to give him another chance. On the morning of March 14, 2007 I called and spoke with bill strange of BDS Concepts and asked what time he would be at the home that day. Bill advised that he will be there at 4:30 pm. After 5:30 pm Mya called Bill and asked what time he was coming by the home because he was late. Bill replied that he will not be coming by the home that day because he had a test to take for school and he was not going to drive over here. The next day at around 12:30 pm my husband, Edmond Ortiz called Bill strange and asked when he would be by the home to complete the job. Bill advised him that he is currently in Tennessee on spring break and will not come by the home. Edmond asked when he was planning to complete the work and bill said that he spoke to his lawyer and he can come by only when he has the time. Edmond told bill that this is not acceptable and I he will be contacting an attorney. Edmond and Mya contacted several contractors for quotes to complete the work. The lowest estimate we have taken so far is greater than the remaining balance owed. SOME OF THE DEFECTS / FLAWS FOUND: On Saturday the 3/24th I was at work and received a called from one of the members Spring Meadow Association telling me water was coming trough our garage and told me that she was trying to get in touch with my husband to let him know. When I got in touch with my husband he told me he and his father, mother, and brother (who were in town for the weekend) came from the store upon entering the front door saw water pouring out of the light sockets in the ceiling, down the cabinets, the counter, appliances, floor and trough the garage. They ran back outside and turn off the water main for the whole building. His brother and father went upstairs to find the source of the water leak while my husband was on the phone with the president of the association asking questions about plumbing. His mother grabbed a mop and some rags and start drying everything and mopping the floor. The leak source was from the sink drainage pipe work due to low quality pipes (we have them for proof). My husband and his father went to Home Depot and bought new pipes, fittings, cement, caulk, PVC pipe to fix Mr. Bill Strange mistake. My husband's parents came that weekend to help us out completing some of the left over work instead they ended fixing mistakes that Mr. Bill Strange made. Some of the mistakes he made other that causing our home to be flooded due to bad plumbing he also cut all the wires leading to the outlets near the table which cause us not able to plug in out water cooler Dad did not have time to find where the wires go so he did not fix it. Mr. Strange also cut the wires in the guest bathroom so Dad had to re-wire the bathroom (we have receipts of items purchased for rewiring). He also cut the electrical wires in the master bath so we couldn't add the 2nd light fixture to even out the original design also I do not have a working outlet in the bathroom to plug in my hair dryer or other needed accessories.. The piping for the 2nd sink in the master bath was all wrong that why Mr. strange couldn't activate the water for it but fortunately for us Dad fix it. Our security door that used to lock not can't. The new French door he added were added wrong there is a huge gap between the door and the ceiling and at the bottom the flooring he added is springy and flimsy. There is also a big gap between the flooring in the bathroom door. When he added the new front door there is also a huge gap between the tile and the front door which was not there before. Paint drips on the walls and not only on some parts of the ceiling, doors and walls old paint is showing but also he left the guest bathroom and half of the master bathroom unpainted. He was suppose to re-designed and new closet but instead he just replace the flooring and re-adjusted the wire shelve. In the middle of the night we heard a noise and the dogs started barking when we open the closet we found the shelf along with my husband clothes on the floor (we have pictures) Dad did not have a time to fix it for us. My husband's parents help us very much this past weekend on fixing some of the stuff and completed some of the more important stuff and won't be able to come back to help us more until July 4th. These are some of the things that were not done properly and everyday something new is breaking up or broken. This is our first time remodeling our home and it was not a pleasant experience but yet that man has our money which we work very hard for and he is using to take care of his life while we are living in a box in a half way done house and defects are popping left and right that we have to spend more money on. This guy was referred to us by Constructiondeal.com as a general contractor but when someone else looked at the license they told us he was a license handyman with no high qualification and the license that he get does not required any test and anyone can get it another word he is not a license general contractor but a high price handyman. Please help us find justice. ***Also on the contract he promised to leave the home broom swept everyday but did not and one of those days after work my husband and I went to the house to check to see if he has done anything new because there was no light in the house he slipped on the debris and something that looked like sands on the floor. Since them my husband knee has not been able to function well and he had just purchase a brand new Motorola Razr the day before he also damaged it. We made Mr. Strange aware of it the next day and told him he really needed to clean up before he leaves for the day. The knee is getting really bad and now made an appointment to see a doctor. **Mr.Strange also damaged a brand new laminate floor that Lowes installed for us in 2005** When we went to see a lawyer he said we will not be able to do anything because Mr. Strange did not have a claus to penalize him if he did not meet the dealine and he said everything needs to settle through Arbitration. This ordeal cost my husband to quit his job due to extreme stress which caused him to have frequent Dr. visits, it also created tension in our marriare. We sent the exact complaint to BBB CASE # E7D97-D6A66-F6401-BB50F-EB307-F0EC1-D8 and we also reported him the FL Business Department. Can someone help us get justice? can we also sue the company that refers him to us? Pleae help, we do not know what to do."
Security

Submission + - STEAM hacked?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There is a report from someone going by the name MaddoxX that he has hacked Valve's STEAM service to produce, among other things, customers' credit card details, releasing a sample set to a filesharing site to get Valve's attention. In addition, the hacker has apparently also extracted some of Valve's own financial data including their bank balance for STEAM. Finally, the hacker also provides information about how to build your own STEAM certificates. The hacker is apparently holding the remainder of the credit card numbers hostage, instructing Valve to get in contact with him unless they want the numbers to be released publicly. Valve, for their part, has acted quickly to remove the file — and all associated publicity surrounding the issue. Though break-in occurred 10 days ago, Valve has not informed any of their customers that their credit cards may be comprised. http://emp.damage-web.net/viewtopic.php?t=2071

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