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Portables

Submission + - Atari 1200XL vs Dell Inspiron: My 1st vs my latest

Submitted by
Bill Kendrick
Bill Kendrick writes: "My first computer was the short-lived 1200XL model of the Atari 8-bit computer line. I finally got ahold of one again, after having to settle with a lesser Atari system. My immediate reaction was: "damn, it's as big as my Dell Inspiron laptop!", and I couldn't resist doing one of those side-by-side comparisons, complete with photos of one system sitting atop the other. (I also put the 1983 storage and speeds in 2009 terms, for the benefit of the youngin's out there.)

While, in many ways, the Atari pales in comparison to the latest technology they cram into laptops, I do get to benefit from SD storage media. It also still boots way faster than Ubuntu on the Dell, has a far more ergonomic keyboard, and is much more toddler-proof."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft promises no patent prosecution of Mono (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Mortlath
Mortlath writes: The Register is reporting that Microsoft is promising not to pursue patent claims against Linux and open-source software using the open-source implementation of .NET, Project Mono. The company has said that third party implementations of its C# and the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) — a language runtime — will be made available under its Community Promise. The promise will cover ECMA specifications 334 and 335 — C# and CLI respectively.
Spam

The Imminent Demise of SORBS 290

Posted by kdawson from the don't-let-it-be-bought-by-a-spammer dept.
An anonymous reader lets us know about the dire straits the SORBS anti-spam blacklist finds itself in. According to a notice posted on the top page, long-time host the University of Queensland has "decided not to honor their agreement with... SORBS and terminate the hosting contract." The post, signed "Michelle Sullivan (Previously known as Matthew Sullivan)," says that the project needs either to "find alternative hosting for a 42RU rack in the Brisbane area of Queensland Australia" or to find a buyer. Offers are solicited for the assets of SORBS as an ongoing anti-spam service — it's now handling over 30 billion DNS queries per day. An update to the post says "A number of offers have already been made, we are evaluating each on their own merits." Failing a successful resolution, SORBS will cease operations on July 20, 2009 at 12 noon Brisbane time. Such a shutdown could slow or disrupt anti-spam efforts for large numbers of mail hosts worldwide.
Networking

Submission + - AT&T is dropping Usenet Netnews service

Submitted by
franknagy
franknagy writes: "This announcement message has appeared in all the news groups on the AT&T/SBC News Server: Please note that on or around July 15, 2009, AT&T will no longer be offering access to the Usenet netnews service. If you wish to continue reading Usenet newsgroups, access is available through third-party vendors. So what free or low-cost alternatives are available for Netnews and the NNTP services for clients?"
Space

Submission + - Russia 'to save its ISS modules' (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by jamax
jamax writes: According to this BBC article "Russia is making plans to detach and fly away its parts of the International Space Station when the time comes to de-orbit the rest of the outpost."

From the article: "To facilitate the plan, RKK Energia, the country's main ISS contractor, has already started developing a special node module for the Russian segment, which will double as the cornerstone of the future station."

"...Unlike many Nasa and European space officials, Russian engineers are confident that even after two decades in orbit, their modules would be in good enough shape to form the basis of a new space station.
'We flew on Mir for 15 years and accumulated colossal experience in extending the service life (of such a vehicle),' said a senior Russian official at RKK Energia, Russia's main contractor on the ISS. ..."

Is Russia the last country where engineers are not (yet) forced by corporations to intentionaly produce designs that fail two days after warranty expires?

There used to be a lot of equipment manufactured by various countries (Germany is the first one that comes to mind) that lasted virtually forever — old cars or weapons systems, but one rarely sees anything of the sort these days..

Oh, what the world is coming to... GET OFF MY LAWN!!
Intel

Submission + - The Moblin V2 User Interface Is Very Impressive (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Ashmash
Ashmash writes: The Intel Moblin 2.0 operating system entered beta today with a brand new user interface. The Linux desktop is written in Clutter to provide an OpenGL desktop. The media player and web browser were also written using Clutter as with many of the desktop applications. Phoronix has offered a preview with pictures and videos of this mobile-oriented Linux distribution and they go as far as calling the user interface very impressive. It is easy to use and can be integrated tightly with social web services. How will the other well established mobile Linux distributions respond?
Unix

Submission + - Unix New Hampshire license plate turns 20 (nashuatelegraph.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Local newspaper talks to Linux International's Jon "maddog" Hall, who lives in New Hampshire, and who since 1989 has had a "Live Free or Die" UNIX license plate — a real one, not a conference hand-out — on his Jeep. From the story: The day he installed the UNIX plates, he went early to work at DEC's office on Spit Brook Road in Nashua, to be sure to get the parking space right next to the door used by all the Unix engineers. He watched them come in and, one after another, do a double take at seeing the real-world version of the famous fake plate. "People would race in and yell, 'Who is it? Whose plate is it?!?' " Hall said. It was his then and it is his now. After 20 years, one suspects you will have to pry it from his cold, dead fingers."
Security

Submission + - New Secure Credit Card has Keypad and Display

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "A new secure credit card that has a microprocessor, battery, numeric keypad and built-in display is being tested by Visa with the aim of reducing internet fraud. The new card requires that a PIN number be entered on the keypad which then generates a four digit one-time password on a built in display that is required before a transaction can go through. One of the problems facing developers was how to make sure the card could be handled like any other card without accidentally pressing buttons or breaking the display. "We've made the buttons in such a way that you need to 'pinch' them, rather than just press, for them to work," says Sandra Alzetta, head of innovation at Visa. "One of the things we're testing is how long the battery lasts — the plan is for it to work for more than three years, which means your card should expire before it runs out of power." The card is designed to combat fraudulent orders placed by phone, internet, or mail order where the card is not actually present and Alzetta says that the purpose of the card was to bring the principles of chip and pin technology to the online world. "The card needs to be globally compatible: that means embossed characters for mechanical swipes, a magnetic strip for systems that require a signature, the fixed three digit security code and now the unique four figure code." Field trials with four banks should be completed this year and once certified by Visa it is then up to banks and credit card companies to decide if they take up the new technology."
Announcements

Linux.com Relaunched Under New Management 70

Posted by timothy from the things-change-almost-always dept.
mikesd81 writes "Linux.com has been relaunched under the direction of the Linux Foundation. The goal of the site is supposed to be a community hub that lets the Linux community participate and contribute their knowledge. An initial look as the site is today makes it look like a news site. Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemlin insists that the plan wasn't for Linux.com to be a breaking news organization but rather as a resource for the Linux community as a whole."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft urged to give Vista users free Upgrade (reuters.com)

Submitted by
TheDeathPsychic
TheDeathPsychic writes: "Microsoft Corp. should give Windows Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7, said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "I'd like to see a free upgrade to Windows 7 for Vista Ultimate users. It would buy them a lot of good will, and I don't think it would cost them much." With Vista's poor adoption rate and dismal reviews, would even this be enough for Microsoft to bring users back into the fold and get them back on track with their next operating system?"
Software

Submission + - A Painful Lesson about Band-Aids (technologyprofessional.org)

Submitted by
Janneth
Janneth writes: "The pace of IT operations ensures you will never have an opportunity to go back and clean up a temporary solution if you do not address it while the urgency is still fresh in mind. Removing temporary fixes, workarounds, and band-aids should be part of your problem management procedures for follow-up. I realize this lesson is obvious, but most mistakes are, in fact, simple mistakes; and following standard procedures is one way to minimize them."
Security

Submission + - Obama could soon be able to shut down the internet (worldnetdaily.com) 2

Submitted by
Michael
Michael writes: "A pair of bills introduced in the U.S. Senate (773 & 778) by Senator Jay Rockefeller would grant the White House sweeping new powers to access private online data, regulate the cybersecurity industry and even shut down Internet traffic during a declared "cyber emergency. A working draft of the legislation obtained by an Internet privacy group also spells out plans to grant the Secretary of Commerce access to all privately owned information networks deemed to be critical to the nation's infrastructure "without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule or policy restricting such access.""
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 7 RCs to shut off to force upgrades (itpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
nk497
nk497 writes: "The release candidate for Microsoft Windows 7 will expire June 2010, and the software giant will let users know they need to pay to upgrade by shutting down the system every two hours for three months. According to Microsoft: "The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use.""

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