Aloriel - Slashdot User

Sun Open Sources Java Under GPL 535

Posted by Zonk on Monday November 13, 2006 @07:13AM from the it-really-happened dept.

prostoalex writes "The embargo is off, and Associated Press is reporting on Sun releasing Java under GPL. Sun is hoping that this step will attract more developers, as well as extend the lifespan of Java. The article notes that this is 'one of the largest additions of computer code to the open-source community', and that Java is currently being run on something like 3.8 Billion devices worldwide." From the article: "Rich Green, Sun's executive vice president of software, said the company hopes to turn more developers into Java programmers, who may then create additional software to support Sun products. 'The open-sourcing of this really means more — more richness of offerings, more capability, more applications that consumers will get to use,' Green said. 'The platform itself will become a place for innovation.' All the Java source code is expected to be released by March 2007, Green said. The move covers all Java technology, which includes software that runs on handheld devices, personal computers and servers."

Samba Team Urges Novell To Reconsider 472

Posted by Zonk on Sunday November 12, 2006 @02:39PM from the think-twice dept.

hde226868 writes "The team responsible for Samba has just asked Novell to reconsider its recent patent agreement with Microsoft, arguing that the agreement is a divisive agreement, effectively splitting the open source movement into groups with and without commercial status. Samba argues that with this move Novell is disregarding the will of the people who write the software sold by Novell and that Novell has 'no right to make self servicing deals on behalf of others which run contrary to the goals and ideals of the Free Software community'."

Court Rules GPL Doesn't Violate Antitrust Laws 80

Posted by Zonk on Thursday November 09, 2006 @03:04PM from the happy-penguins dept.

unix4reel writes "Internet Cases reports on a new decision from a federal court in Chicago holding that 'the GPL and open-source have nothing to fear from the antitrust laws. The suit was against IBM, Red Hat and Novell, arguing that by distributing Linux for free, they offered products at an unbeatably low price (free), thus discouraging new market entrants and stifling competition. The court took a different view, focusing instead on how the GPL fosters new development."

Bar Performer Arrested For Copyright Violations 282

Posted by kdawson on Thursday November 09, 2006 @10:18AM from the sieze-his-harmonica dept.

Edis Krad writes, "An elderly Japanese bar manager and performer has been arrested for playing copyrighted songs on his harmonica. From the article: 'Investigators accuse Toyoda of illegally performing 33 songs such as the Beatles' songs "Here, There and Everywhere" and "Yesterday," whose copyrights are managed by the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers. He allegedly performed the songs on the harmonica with a female pianist at the bar he operated between August and September this year.' This is for all those kids who are learning chords on their guitars — be ready to pay fees for practicing 'Smoke On The Water.' This story seems to be legit, though it reads like an Onion piece. It's only being reported in the Mainichi Daily News via MSN.

Windows Vista Released To Manufacturing 172

Posted by kdawson on Thursday November 09, 2006 @09:42AM from the it's-a-wrap dept.

Many readers wrote in to make sure we know that Microsoft execs have signed off on the code and Windows Vista has been and released to manufacturing. As APC put it, "It's good to go — or as good as it is going to be until the first round of patching begins." CNN has a good roundup of Vista's long development history.

Flickr Patenting "Interestingness" 95

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @09:12AM from the yeah-thats-unique dept.

tjcrowder noted that Boing Boing is reporting that Flickr has filed for a patent on a system for determining "interestingness". From the patent application abstract: "Media objects, such as images or soundtracks, may be ranked according to a new class of metrics known as "interestingness." These rankings may be based at least in part on the quantity of user-entered metadata concerning the media object, the number of users who have assigned metadata to the media object, access patterns related to the media object, and/or a lapse of time related to the media object." So basically, nobody else can use tags to label files. Totally original thinking from the folks at flickr. *cough*

Managing Money With Linux Apps 142

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 08, 2006 @02:45AM from the accounting-for-it dept.

lisah writes, "As part of a series of special reports this week, Linux.com is reviewing several ways to manage your money using Linux apps. First up is a review of GnuCash 2.0, a personal and small business accounting package. Though it has a bit of a learning curve, the reviewer says the application is 'stable and robust' and an upgrade from previous versions is well worth it for the program's new features and improved online banking support." Linux.com and Slashdot are both part of OSTG.

AIDS Can Fight AIDS 276

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday November 07, 2006 @03:22AM from the numbers-games dept.

dptalia writes "Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have announced that they have engineered a strain of the AIDS virus that fights AIDS. This strain of AIDS works like a vaccine and improved the immune system of the test subjects. After three years on this new therapy, no side effects have been observed."

File Sharing Ruled Legal In Spain 136

Posted by Zonk on Friday November 03, 2006 @10:59AM from the for-about-five-minutes dept.

stupid_is writes "As a follow-up to a previous discussion a judge in Spain has ruled that under Spanish law a person who downloads music for personal use can not be punished or branded a criminal. This seems to be a teeny bit clearer than the first article, which points out that downloading is a civil, and not criminal, offense for individuals. The Spanish recording industry federation Promusicae is predictably a bit peeved, and says it will appeal against the decision." From the article: "The state prosecutor's office and two music distribution associations had sought a two year sentence against the man, who downloaded songs and then allegedly offered them on a CD through email and chat rooms. However, there was no direct proof he made money from selling the CDs. Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopéz Aguilar says Spain is drafting a new law to abolish the existing right to private copies of material. Due to different regulatory regimes in Europe, the proceedings against file sharers differ greatly in each country. However, most European judges tend to take a harder stance on file sharing. Twenty two people in Finland were fined €427,000 last week for illegally sharing movies, music, games and software, while courts in Sweden also fined two men who had downloaded movies and music for personal use."

Testosterone Tumbling in American Males 597

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday October 29, 2006 @01:17PM from the zomg-where-are-my-lead-pants dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo is running a story about a study that concludes that testosterone levels are falling across all age groups among American men. It says 'The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing his punch'" I leave it to you all to draw your conclusions about this, but I still wonder what my hours of laptop-fu does to me.

Comment I know the Gumstices (Score 2, Informative) 193

by Aloriel on Friday September 22, 2006 @08:09PM (#16164308) Attached to: Linux Powers Lilliputian PCs

I did my final project with Gumstices, developing a complete user manual and they are incredible. You can have many kind of software running inside them and the connectivity is also awesome, USB-net, ethernet, bluetooth, wifi, and now gps (and probably more to come). We set up a JamVM to test Java and also C and C++ small programs. Was nice to work with those small pieces of hardware.

Comment Re:Grow up, China is not going to attack anybody (Score 1) 520

by dggonz on Sunday December 12, 2004 @10:08AM (#11065919) Attached to: EU Presses Ahead With Galileo GPS System

take a look at this: http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm? story_id=2668015

I'm not saying it! it is the economist one of the most important economical news papers in the world.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-t op-ten-powerful-countries-map.html

That the peope in a country live in thrid world conditions does not mean that the country is not powerful economically, and China is the clear example. I'm talking about GDP in global terms, not GDP per capita.

As examples of what is happening in the world: do you know why the price of steel has been continually getting higher and higher in the past two years? china is demanding more and more steel, if a country demands so much steel it means that it's industry is producing a huge deal of stuff.

Do you know why the most biggest companies in the world are building factories in China? one of the reasons is because the manpower is cheap, but the main reason is that their citizens are a huge market yet to be exploited.

More information: China's exports grow 9% each year. EEUU in 2003 had a deficit of 130000 million dollars against China.

G8 is looking to let China enter. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3797943.stm

As for the military power: http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/2004617.a sp It's not the biggest but is in second place in power.

Slashdot Top Deals