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IBM

IBM Launches Microsoft-Free Linux Virtual Desktop 344

Posted by kdawson from the open-collaboration-client dept.
VorlonFog writes "According to Information Week, IBM has introduced a line of business computers that avoid Microsoft's desktop environment in favor of open source software. IBM worked with Canonical and Virtual Bridges to create the platform, which IBM claims saves businesses $500 to $800 per user on software licenses and an additional $258 per user 'since there is no need to upgrade hardware to support Vista and Office.'"

Comment Re:I'm a 33-yr-old COBOL guy (Score 2, Informative) 288

by Mong0 (#25486837) Attached to: Cobol Job Market Heating Up

Funny because I am a 36 year old COBOL developer and we have no gray beards on my team. We have close to fifteen COBOL developers and none of them are older than 50, with a median age of 34 between the group.

Also I have worked with a few gray beards in my time and I have found them to by polite and very knowledgeable. Some of which could write CICS programs that do more unique display routines than some of your current gui's.

If someone is truly interested in getting into COBOL for the first time your best bet is to find a company that will offer to train you. Most companies are realizing that developing the talent local and keeping things in house is actually cheaper than out sourcing as they will be able to retain the talent once the project is up and running and have an in house staff for support.

Another avenue might be to start inquiring with some of the major contracting companies, as they provide a large part of the workforce for open COBOL positions. Some of them have their own training programs.
Wii

Submission + - Wii bowling over U.S. retirees

Submitted by
murdock238
murdock238 writes: ""That bet paid off. The Wii outsold the new Microsoft and Sony consoles in January and February and is generating its own buzz with everyone from nuns to cancer patients to toddlers. There are Wii parties and Wii bowling contests. Players, who often look quite silly and occasionally injure themselves in fits of overzealous play, upload video of their Wii antics to a variety of technology Web sites like GameTrailers.com and Google's YouTube. "I thought it was tremendous," said Ted Campbell, 77. Last week he played the Wii for the first time at Springfield, Virginia's Greenspring Retirement Community, where Ebert is also a resident.""
OS X

Submission + - AppleTV Hacked?

Submitted by
jspayne
jspayne writes: "It appears some hackers were able to mount the hard drive of an AppleTV and install an Xvid codec. If this is true, it opens up some exciting new possibilities for a product that has gotten some criticism from the high tech crowd."
Security

Submission + - Tractor Beam to Prevent Aircraft Missile Attack

Submitted by mattnyc99
mattnyc99 writes: In the race against aircraft terrorism, Boeing's remote control system reported yesterday won't be the only solution. But Northrop Grumman has finally begun testing its laser-powered Guardian defense system in the fight against missiles targeting commercial jets, with nine FedEx cargo jets now carrying the infrared laser deflection system aboard their fuselages. The false heat signature operation is not that unlike Boeing's own airborne laser turret, but the Pentagon's new Global Strike system makes it clear that the U.S. may even have more of an upper hand on offense than defense when it comes to missile technology.
Software

Submission + - Tivo won't fix daylight savings for Series 1 Tivos

Submitted by
Caballero
Caballero writes: "Tivo has decided that even though owners of Series 1 Tivos continue to pay for the Tivo service, they will not get an update to handle the upcoming change to daylight savings time in the US. Instead they've been asked to ignore an incorrect clock and if they have any manual recordings to manually adjust them by an hour for three weeks and then put them back when DST would have gone in to effect. Of course, they're going to have to do this every six months for the remaining life of the device. Series 1 owners pay the same monthly fee as owners of newer units. Shouldn't they get fixes that are required to make the system function properly?

The text of the message Tivo sent:

Dear TiVo Subscriber,

As Daylight Saving Time commences three weeks early this year, we thought we'd beat the clock to let you know how this unusual schedule might affect recordings on your TiVo(r) Series1 DVR. (Hint: Chances are slim.)
While the TiVo service will continue to automatically record your Season Pass(tm) programs and WishList(r) searches at the correct airtimes without incident, there are two things to note:

1) For the three weeks that follow the new Daylight Saving Time start date (March 11), your Series1 TiVo(r) DVR may display the incorrect time.
Again, to be clear, this is only a cosmetic issue and should not affect your Season Pass(tm) and WishList(r) recordings.

2) If you have any MANUAL recordings scheduled between March 11 and April 1, you
will need to adjust those recordings as appropriate. Here's how:
- From TiVo Central, select Pick Programs to Record, then To Do List.
- Locate your Manual Recording (by channel, date, time) and adjust accordingly. For example, if you have a daily manual recording from 8:00 am — 9:00 am, you will need to change it to 7:00 am — 8:00 am on March 11. (Quick Tip: If there are no recordings in this list preceded by the word "Manual", there's nothing further you need to do.)
- On April 1 be sure to change it back to its actual time, i.e., 8:00 am — 9:00 am.

For more details, please visit www.tivo.com/dst

Thanks for being a TiVo subscriber and here's to a beautiful spring!

- Your friends at TiVo

TiVo, Season Pass(TM), and WishList® are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc's subsidiaries. ©2007 TiVo Inc. 2160 Gold Street Alviso, CA 95002-2160. All rights reserved. Please feel free to review our Privacy Policy."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - MIT Media Lab Turns Game Players Into Designers

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "The MIT Media Lab is taking a novel approach to game development, and it needs your help. The Restaurant Game is a research project that will algorithmically combine the gameplay experiences of thousands of players to create a new game. In a few months, researchers will apply machine learning algorithms to data collected through the multiplayer Restaurant Game, and produce a new single-player game that will be entered into the 2008 Independent Games Festival. Everyone who plays The Restaurant Game will be credited as a Game Designer. 1,074 games have been played to date, and the researchers are aiming for 10,000. Download for PC or OSX here: http://theRestaurantGame.net"
Windows

Submission + - GDC 07: Microsoft Reveals Live For Windows Pricing

Submitted by
GFLPraxis
GFLPraxis writes: "Microsoft revealed at GDC their plans for Live for Vista during a press event. Live for Windows Vista will be exactly like XBox Live, and XBox Live subscribers will already have access. There will be both the free Silver (offering access to trailers, demos, updates, and the Arcade), and the paid Gold ($50 a year, lets you play online). This means, of course, that Vista-exclusive games will now require Live subscriptions to play online."
Google

Submission + - Google rumoured to be making a cell phone

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: According to Cnet, rumours of a Google cell phone are starting to spread like wildfire. It questions, however, whether or not this is just "a case of mobile phone fanboys having a copy of Photoshop CS2 and too much time on their hands? Or worse still, is this a case of tech writers being so keen to see new and exciting products that any blurry image will get us hyping it up as if it were real?" I personally think it's definitely a case of tech writers getting over excited, it's extremely unlikely that Google will ever make a cell phone but as the article points out, you never know.
Media

Submission + - AnyDVD updated, now removes Blue-Ray DRM

Submitted by
mariushm
mariushm writes: "SlySoft has just updated AnyDVD HD, offering users the possibility of watching Blue-Ray media without DRM. This comes after only two weeks from the first release which was able to remove DRM from HD-DVD.

Version 6.1.3.0 has lots of features but probably the most important one is stripping the evil DRM infection from Blu-Ray and restore your fair use rights.

The free upgrade can also remove region encoding, works on Windows XP-64 and Vista-64, and fixes a ton of bugs. You can get the update or a trial copy here."

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