Submission + - Australian Scientists' Solution to Global Warming
codeMonkey76 writes: Australian scientists discover a method for removing CO from the atmosphere by pumping nutrients into the ocean to stimulate phytoplankton production.
More Here
More Here
Submission + - Google releases Google Apps
Nefarious Wheel writes: Google releases enterprise-ready Google Apps http://www.google.com/a/ including spreadsheets and portals — bottom line? Most of your basic office applications for $50/account/year. Is this the beginning of the end for Microsoft Office? I can hear the chairs breaking from here...
Journal Journal: Scenes from the Home 13
Whilst driving recently my younger Step Son (hereinafter refered to as SS) asked me a question which I struggled to answer, but finally did. That in turn led to the following exchange...
Submission + - Top Ten Open Source Innovators
42istheanswer writes: Open source is so much more than Linux anymore. Lots is happening beyond the popular operating system. Open source models are thriving in CRM (SugarCRM), Messaging (Scalix), and Systems Management (Zenoss). Datamation has identified ten leading commercial open-source innovators and the projects they are working on in their article Ten Leading Open Source Innovators. What do Slashdotter's think or know about these technologies?
Submission + - Egyptian Blogger Jailed for Insulting Islam
turgid writes: The Guardian reports that an Egyptian blogger has been sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam (3 years) and the country's president, Hosni Mubarak, (1 year) in the country's first prosecution of a blogger.
Amnesty International has more information.
Amnesty International has more information.
Submission + - Microsoft Lost against Alcatel-Lucent
brain1 writes: Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSWEN46512 0070222) is reporting that Microsoft was hit with a $1.52 Billion patent suit damages. Looks like Microsoft lost even they licensed MP3 technology from Fraunhofer in Germany. This doesn't bode well for fighting software patents, but Microsoft seems to have been bitten by their own game.
This looks like a good time to switch to Ogg Vorbis!
This looks like a good time to switch to Ogg Vorbis!
Submission + - Special Report on Linux Packaging and Installatio
lisah writes: "Linux.com wrapped up a series of reports this week that covered a myriad of software packaging and installation utilities. The information on creating your own Debian packages, and where things stand with RPM generated lots of discussion on best practices while overviews of Klik, InstallJammer, Zero Install, and Autopackage gave lots of useful tips and pointers. Gentoo's Portage was omitted from the special report this time around but apparently will be covered at some point in the future."
Raymond Knocks Fedora, Switches to Ubuntu 608
narramissic writes "After 13 years as a loyal Red Hat user, Eric Raymond, co-founder of the Open Source Initiative, is switching to the Ubuntu distribution. In a message distributed to Linux mailing lists and news organizations, Raymond cited technical issues with Red Hat, such as the way repositories are maintained, the submission process and 'stagnant' development of Red Hat's packaging technology, as well as governance problems, the failure to gain desktop market share and the failure to include proprietary media formats. 'Over the last five years, I've watched Red Hat/Fedora throw away what was at one time a near-unassailable lead in technical prowess, market share and community prestige,' Raymond wrote. 'The blunders have been legion on both technical and political levels.'"
Submission + - Boost PHP Performance with Opcode Cache
IdaAshley writes: PHP is an easy to use scripting language often used in Web applications. PHP code is parsed and translated to opcodes every time it executes, but there is no need to translate the same PHP code each time. An opcode cache eliminates that rework, making PHP applications faster.
Submission + - Sun is the biggest contributor to Open Source
kaffiene writes: A new EU study shows that Sun is the biggest commercial contributor to Open Source by a long shot. All this as IBM fires a broadside at Sun for it's Open Source strategy.
Feed Blogger Jailed for Slamming Islam (wired.com)
Submission + - South Africa joins countries switching to OSS
An anonymous reader writes: According to reports by Reuters and IOL, the South African government has officially announced that all government departments are to switch to Open Source operating systems and software from this year onwards. There is no word on how long the process will take (likely years), but a joint office to be run by the Department of Science and Technology and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will be set up by April to oversee the process.
Submission + - Widgets: Are these big mini-apps over hyped?
ffdixon writes: "Today, the widget landscape resembles the Wild Wild West where every vendor wants to show the rich graphical capabilities of their platform. When installed, they all offer a large analog clocks, weather status, one or two RSS feeds, and very little substance beyond that. The result is form over function. Serence tries to buck the trend and bring simplicity back with KlipFolio 4, the personal dashboard with small Lego-like Klips. See www.klipfolio.com for screenshots and download (< 1 MEG)."
Submission + - MS attacks it's own DRM
morlock_man writes: "Despite claiming to support the PlaysForSure DRM into the indefinite Future, MS has apparently broken the DRM compatibility with Windows Media Player 11 and Vista. A number of reports are coming in from companies working with the DRM that attempts at playing any music licensed through the PFS DRM under Vista consistently produce errors. Is this an oversight on Microsoft's part? Or are they attempting to cripple their licensed DRM system in favour of supporting their own proprietary Zune business model? Can you say 'Antitrust'?"
