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Submission + - Ubuntu's new Firefox is watching you (launchpad.net) 3

Submitted by sukotto
sukotto writes: Ubuntu recently released an unannounced and experimental "multisearch" extension to Firefox alpha3... apparently to improve the default behavior of new tabs and of search. In a response to one of the initial bug reports the maintainers mentioned that the extension's other purpose was for "collecting the usage data" and "Generating revenue" [citation] . Since this extension installs by itself and offers no warning about potential privacy violations, quite a few people (myself included) feel pretty unhappy.

There is no way to opt-out other than manually disabling the extension via Tools >> Add-ons.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Slackware 64 bits is alive

Submitted by
t0mg
t0mg writes: "from the Slackware64-current changelog:

http://slackware.com/

[tap tap tap]... Is this thing on? ;-)
Ready or not, Slackware has now gone 64-bit with an official x86_64 port being maintained in-sync with the regular x86 -current branch. DVDs will be available for purchase from the Slackware store when Slackware 13.0 is released. Many thanks go out to the Slackware team for their help with this branch and a special thank you to Eric Hameleers who did the real heavy lifting re-compiling everything for this architecture, testing, re-testing, and staying in-sync with -current.

We've been developing and testing Slackware64 for quite a while. Most of the team is already using Slackware64 on their personal machines, and things are working well enough that it is time to let the community check our work.

We'd like to thank the unofficial 64 bit projects for taking up the slack for us for so long so that we could take our time getting everything just right. Without those alternatives, we would have been pressured to get things out before they were really ready.

As always — have fun!

Pat and the Slackware crew"

Comment Re:Hmm, no... (Score 1) 776

by hollywoodb (#27664645) Attached to: Do We Need Running Shoes To Run?

It's been about ten years since I was a track & field athlete, but the cleats I wore for track running had a hard cleat plate under the ball of your foot and a soft, nearly weighless, heel.

I used to wear Adidas (fit my foot best), and the soles looked pretty much like this:
http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/962/75009410.JPG

I would imagine that somebody makes a non-cleat shoe with a simliar design.
GUI

Submission + - Xfce 4.6.0 Released

Submitted by hollywoodb
hollywoodb writes: After more than two years of development, Xfce 4.6.0 has just been released. Xfce 4.6 features a new configuration backend, a new settings manager, a brand new sound mixer, and several huge improvements to the session manager and the rest of Xfce's core components. The Xfce team has provided a tour of the new release, and the Xfce blog has links to some first impressions.
Software

Submission + - Xfce 4.6 RC1 Released! (xfce.org)

Submitted by
hollywoodb
hollywoodb writes: "From the Xfce homepage:

Shortly after Beta 3, we are pleased to announce the first Release Candidate for Xfce 4.6. If no serious bugs are found, this is going to be the state of the final release (plus translation updates). This Release Candidate is the first 4.6 release that comes with graphical installers for the main components and goodies.

I've been running the 4.6 beta 3 under Fedora 10, and 4.6 is definitely worth checking out."

Comment Re:Anyone else regret... (Score 1) 304

by hollywoodb (#26639675) Attached to: Midnight Commander Development Revived

You might like joe. It's an editor that's very powerful, has syntax highlighting, and usually much friendlier than nano/pico. Fire it up, and do Control-K then H. There's your helpful help screen, much like the bottom area of nano. You can also use Control-N/P/F/B to navigate instead of taking your hands off the home row to get to the arrow keys.

Comment Re:How will this affect Windows 7? (Score 1) 232

by hollywoodb (#26472953) Attached to: PC Sales Slump Over Economic Crisis

It bothers me a little bit to say this, because it's more fun to think Windows 7 is only slightly less botched than Vista:

Windows 7 runs almost as well as Windows XP under VirtualBox on my meager host system (running Fedora 10).

I'm running it virtualized, with 512MB RAM allotted, it's using about 6.2GB disk space, and the system is a Pentium M 1.8GHz single-core laptop with integrated Intel 915 graphics. Under VirtualBox I have no video acceleration, which means it looks nice but there are no special effects.

Granted, I haven't really installed anything, but I think that the hardware requirements will be respectable for Windows 7 such that if a person is so inclined to run Windows 7 on a system that has been purchased within the last couple years, they'll probably be able to do so.

I'm interested to see how well it keeps running if I install a bunch of software, but I'm not really interested in Windows 7 enough to bother at the moment.
Education

Submission + - Short Film on the Shameful Quality of Universities

Submitted by SoyChemist
SoyChemist writes: Michael Wesch and his cultural anthropology students at Kansas State University have made a video that brilliantly depicts the shameful quality of education at large academic institutions. Set to haunting music, the short film identifies many of the symptoms of a faulty system. The Wired Science Blog has a response to the short film. The main points from the commentary: chalkboards can't compete with facebook, textbooks should be replaced with Web 2.0 sites, most academic advisers do little more than offer them a checklist of classes to take.
Biotech

Submission + - Scientists Successfully Created Super Mice (xuecast.com)

Submitted by
XueCast
XueCast writes: "Yesterday, a bunch of scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA announced that they had successfully engineered a group of 500 genetically enhanced super mice that are super healthy, extremely aggressive, hyper active, higher in metabolism, have much longer lifespan compared to normal wild mice, can run pretty much non stop for 6 hours and can eat twice more than normal wild mice but only have half the weight."
Oracle

Submission + - Oracle Linux is no longer simply an RHEL clone (linux-watch.com)

Submitted by
hollywoodb
hollywoodb writes: "
First, let's make this clear. Oracle Unbreakable Linux was, is now and is for the foreseeable future going to be based on Red Hat's Red Hat Enterprise Linux codebase. It is not, however, going to be simply RHEL's twin in every way.
It seems in addition to open-sourcing some of their own in-house software, Oracle plans to port YaST into it's Unbreakable Linux offering. Whether they're able to make a dent in the RHEL customer base has yet to be seen."
Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Microsoft Investing More in Mac, Linux Platforms

Submitted by Anonymous
Anonymous writes: Microsoft keeps investing time, money and resources in platforms that aren't Windows. There was all that hoo-hah from Ballmer about investing in Open Source companies, the Novell deal, and yesterday's TurboLinux "agreement." Also, Microsoft is out to hire a bunch of new people for its Mac Business Unit. If they put all that focus to work on Vista, maybe adoption rates would be just a tad better.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Facebook is getting old? (tech.co.uk)

Submitted by
Andy Hall
Andy Hall writes: "Some people project facebook use tapering off in the future. I have recently cancelled my facebook accout, despite being the prototypical facebook user — a young, web-savvy college student. I got fed up with the boring yet addictive qualities of facebook. I found myself constantly using it, but in a compulsive way — addictively, but without pleasure. Am I alone, or is this a growing trend?"
The Internet

Submission + - USA blocking internet from certain countries? 1

Submitted by crazedpilot
crazedpilot writes: Is it true certain ISP providers in the United States are blocking internet access from various "terrorist related" countries? The list of countries includes Iran and North Korea. Note: My personal USA provider of internet hosting told me they are required by the US government to do so, but I have not found this regulation. I found this out when a reader from Iran could not access my website, hosted on godaddy.com So let me get this straight. The Iranian government is blocking certain websites (many) from it's citizens. And the US government is blocking Iran from viewing many US websites. What a great way to communicate! Umm, say don't we teach our children to talk problems out instead of solving them with fighting? So we are closing our communications with Iran. Why? Do we really want to fight each other? Someone probably wants a fight.

Now for the real reason the US is blocking Iran. Do they not want them to publish propaganda? But then the US can't send them as much propaganda either. What else, is it really about infrastructure protection? Seems difficult to believe a single small country could host a real internet attack, but with DDOS it's possible. But with all military networks being internal and communications on closed networks, there is no rationale for that. The denial of the commercial internet could have some economic effect, but it could quickly be solved I would think. Hmmm. related: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/07/10/13/us-government-seeks-to-deny-the-internet-to-its-enemies 2006 National Infrastructure Protection Plan National Strategy for Homeland Security http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202402122 http://www.slyck.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=435772&sid=1d1b266ff1270e4ba649e30ffb6d57ef http://payvand.com/news/07/jul/1264.html

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