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Linux Business

Shuttleworth Says Ubuntu Can't Just Be Windows 710

Posted by timothy from the bsod-screensaver-must-suffice dept.
ruphus13 writes "When Mark Shuttleworth was asked what role WINE will play in Ubuntu's success, he said that Ubuntu cannot simply be a better platform to run Windows apps. From the post, according to Shuttleworth, '[Windows and Linux] both play an important role but fundamentally, the free software ecosystem needs to thrive on its own rules. it is *different* to the proprietary software universe. We need to make a success of our own platform on our own terms. if Linux is just another way to run Windows apps, we can't win. OS/2 tried that ...' The post goes on to say, 'Linux simply isn't Windows (nor is Windows Linux) and to expect fundamentally different approaches (and I'm not just thinking closed versus open) to look, feel, and operate the same way is senseless.'"

Comment Re:SVG (off topic) (Score 1) 191

by SpaceToast (#27670789) Attached to: Google Brings 3D To Web With Open Source Plugin

Back when I did this proof-of-concept SVG game, I used Inkscape. While Inkscape is definitely coming along as a basic Illustrator alternative, it produces terrible SVG for DOM manipulation -- objects are defined with inline styles rather than attributes, and Inkscape would delete my inline JavaScript when I opened and saved the file.

Now that Safari supports full SVG and browsers are actually competing on JavaScript performance, I should really dust off that old project. Its time may have come.

Comment SVG (Score 4, Insightful) 191

by SpaceToast (#27668387) Attached to: Google Brings 3D To Web With Open Source Plugin

Speaking as an animator and web developer, I'd rather see this effort on the part of Google and Mozilla put into 3D SVG. It would eliminate the need for yet another plugin, allow direct DOM access, and facilitate the mixing of 3d with other page elements.

Or maybe I just want Lain's web experience...

Comment Swamped with Requests (Score 1) 60

by SpaceToast (#26649765) Attached to: The MST3K Crew Reunites For Live Webcast

Looks like they've been Slashdotted. Couldn't connect at 5:50 PST, and can't do it now, four hours later.

I certainly hope this server-crushing interest translates into sales. I laughed my cheeks off to the Phantom Menace RT. Who else sells something that makes your existing movie collection better, you know?
Patents

Firm Seeks To Ban Mobile Companies' Imports To US 137

Posted by Soulskill from the even-silly-patent-claims-are-bigger-in-texas dept.
snydeq writes "Texas-based Saxon Innovations has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission to bar six companies — including Research in Motion, Palm, and Nokia — from importing handheld devices into the US. At issue are three patents that Saxon purchased in July 2007; a patent for keypad monitor with keypad activity-based activation; a patent for an apparatus and method for disabling interrupt marks in processors or the like; and a patent for a device and method for interprocessor communication by using mailboxes owned by processor devices. Saxon, with five employees, purchased about 180 US patents formerly owned by Advanced Micro Devices or Legerity in 2007, according to its ITC complaint."

Comment If you ran the zoo? (Score 1) 174

by SpaceToast (#25689537) Attached to: Yahoo Interested In a Microsoft Buyout, But Microsoft Isn't

Most of Yahoo's nerfy services aren't designed for the smug wannabe technocrats of Slashdot -- they're designed for their moms. That said, Flickr and del.icio.us are pretty good services, Yahoo Maps suffer only from a lack of imagination, and even Pipes has a reasonable geeky appeal.

What no one seems to be asking amidst all this keening and armchair reffing is what good Yahoo's failure would do for the web. Do you really want a duopoly on major web services? Yahoo's failure wouldn't clear any space in the canopy for new competitors -- Google and MS will continue to either buy or one-up them once they gain buzz, as they have all decade. Without the deep pockets of either of its competitors, it's amazing that Yahoo has survived this long.

Sorry to walk away from a good book-dumping, but I hope Yahoo survives.
Space

Trio of Super-Earths Discovered 178

Posted by CmdrTaco from the no-they-don't-have-powers dept.
FiReaNGeL writes "A group of astronomers have now discovered a system of three super-Earths around a rather normal star, which is slightly less massive than our Sun, and is located 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations. 'We have made very precise measurements of the velocity of the star HD 40307 over the last five years, which clearly reveal the presence of three planets.' The planets, having 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth, orbit the star with periods of 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively. 'The perturbations induced by the planets are really tiny — the mass of the smallest planets is one hundred thousand times smaller than that of the star — and only the high sensitivity of HARPS made it possible to detect them' says co-author François Bouchy, from the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France. Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg."

Is Comcast Heading the Way of the Dinosaur? 340

Posted by CmdrTaco from the giving-your-customers-what-they-hate dept.
CasualRepartee writes "Comcast has been one of the most successful cable companies in the world; in many parts of the U.S., Comcast sits pretty on huge user bases that don't have many viable high-speed internet alternatives. However, poor customer service, slow speeds and generally poor business practices could make the once-great internet giant another extinct dinosaur, no ice age required. The fact of the matter is this: Comcast is no longer the biggest and the best. Cable is taking a distant back seat to Verizon's FiOS (fiber optic service), which delivers speeds up to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds. Unlike Comcast, FiOS delivers the full range of bandwidth to each user, whereas Comcast users are forced to share bandwidth with other users on the same coaxial cable, causing speeds to fluctuate dramatically with usage."
Google

Google Pages to be Replaced by JotSpot 56

Posted by Zonk from the ever-improving dept.
fyc writes "According to a presentation by Scott Johnson, ex-JotSpot executive and recent Google employee, the JotSpot wiki service acquired late last year by Google is to replace Google's own Pages service. The new service will be called as Google Sites and will launch next year. From the presentation: 'Based on JotSpot collaboration tools, Sites will allow business to set up intranets, project management tracking, customer extranets, and any number of custom sites based on multi-user collaboration.'"
Star Wars Prequels

Star Wars Television Series Moving Forward 178

Posted by Zonk from the seems-like-it-started-a-long-time-ago dept.
merg717 writes "George Lucas has confirmed that work has begun on a live-action Star Wars television series. This is the companion piece to the Clone Wars animated series, focusing on entirely new characters outside of the frame of the six movies. 'Lucas joked that the series would be about "the life of robots" but wouldn't let any details slip about the true premise. The "extended universe" of "Star Wars" has come to life already in Lucas-sanctioned novels, comics and games that chronicle the history of the Jedi and tell the tales of bit players in the films, such as the bounty hunters from "The Empire Strikes Back."'"
Businesses

FDIC Closes Netbank, One of the First Online Banks 174

Posted by Zonk from the thanks-loan-guys dept.
An anonymous reader writes "NetBank, one of the first internet banks in the country was closed by the FDIC on Friday. Being a loyal customer for 8 years, I am saddened that an institution that provided me with so much great service and a cool, hi tech way to conduct my financial transactions is shutting down. Seems that mortgage defaults are to blame: 'NetBank's closure marks the first bank to close since the recent U.S. housing boom deflated. Critics have said that weak underwriting standards have led to record number of homeowners entering the foreclosure process. But NetBank's rare Internet-based business strategy made it a unique financial institution and its problems aren't expected to mirror issues facing other mortgage lenders, analysts say.'"

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