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Software

Submission + - 30 days with Ubuntu (linux-noob.com)

Submitted by
znx
znx writes: "How does the hype of Ubuntu actually stand up to an existing Fedora user? This guy has been using mainly Redhat based distributions for some time and took the leap to Ubuntu for 30 days to see how it stood up. Some bits are surprising and I'll admit to learning quite a lot about Ubuntu, there is even some very nice utilities that other distributions should take heed and replicate.

All in all this teaches us something very simple, you may profess that your distribution is the "greatest" but in reality all the big GNU/Linux players are up to the challenge."
Communications

Journal Journal: Vonage still being put down by the Man

Journal by mattatwork
According to the NY Times, Vonage is again getting it rough in court. The FCC requires VOIP companies to contribute to a fund that through the Universal Service Fund, which aims at bringing a variety of services to lower income Americans. The issue Vonage brought up in court was the high price they had to pay in light of a last years posted loss of $286 mi
Technology (Apple)

Journal Journal: 100% DRM free, Personal ID still attached 2

Journal by mattatwork
According to My Way News, consumer watchdog and privacy groups have begun noticing the iTunes personal data that is being put into the songs consumers download off of iTunes. While these groups admit this had been prevalent with music with DRM, the information left in these higher quality, DRM-free songs could be used to track users who pirate songs. What's the big advantage or difference now if they take away the restricti

Feed The Algorithm Is A Disappointment (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
There's a lot of discussion today about the newly revamped Ask.com, which remains in the unenviable #4 spot in terms of search market share. Basically, the site seems to have sharpened up its interface a little bit, while incorporating things like news and images into its results page. Additionally, the site offers suggested refinement searches, so if you search for "Sopranos", it'll show you a link where you can get results for "Sopranos Merchandise". All of this is fairly inoffensive, but it's really hard to see how this is going to move the dial at all. Despite the company's insistence that it has developed "A Truly New Way to Search", the whole thing looks like a spin on Google's recently announced universal search strategy, which involves incorporating more types of media into its results. The look and feel is a tad different, but so what? Even if the new Ask.com returns "better" results than Google in some instances, there's nothing here that will actually get people to switch. Right now, the company is making a big effort to explain why the new changes are cool, but most people giving the site a try won't have the benefit of someone explaining to them why the site is now so great. As such, they probably won't see it themselves.

The 10 "Inconvienient Truths" of File Sharing 587

Posted by Zonk from the how-the-burn-turns dept.
54mc writes "The IFPI, an international recording industry organization, has released a list of Ten "Inconvenient Truths" of file sharing. Though the group has a vested interest, it's still an interesting read as it tears apart some of the most common arguments in favor of file sharing. Ars Technica follows up with a more thorough explanation of some of the points. 'Point five is an attempt to turn the "innovation" argument on its head. For years, pundits outside the music industry have accused labels of pandering to teens through boy bands and "manufactured" celebrities instead of being concerned with finding, producing, and releasing art. The IFPI suggests that the labels could (and would) be doing exactly that if file-swapping went away. And then there's point seven, which isn't an "inconvenient truth" at all but more of a rant against those who prefer giving copyright holders less than absolute control over reproduction rights. An "anti-copyright movement" does exist, but most of the critical voices in the debate recognize the value of copyright--and actually produce copyrighted works themselves (Lawrence Lessig, etc.).'"

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