Submission + - Google Voice added Standard Voicemail Mode (google.com)
JonahsDad writes: Google Voice has added Standard Voicemail Mode, including automatic voicemail deletion and the ability to page someone.
Submission + - Oracle to acquire IP and assets of ASF (apache.org)
6031769 writes: The Apache Software Foundation has agreed to sell its intellectual property and assets to Oracle for $1.5bn. This gives Oracle 50% of the LAMP stack — are we seriously worried yet?
Submission + - Firefox 3.5RC2 Windows vs Linux Performance (andrewmlawrence.com)
pizzutz writes: "Andy Lawrence has posted a javascript speed comparison for the recently released Firefox 3.5RC2 between Linux(Ubuntu 9.04) and Windows(XP SP3) using the SunSpider benchmark test. Firefox 3.5 will include the new Tracemonkey javascript engine. The Windows build edges out Linux by just under 15%, though the Linux build is still twice as fast as the current 3.0.11 version which ships with Jaunty."
Submission + - Students call space station with home-built radio (theglobeandmail.com)
Pizzutz writes: "Four Toronto college students have accomplished a technological feat that their teachers are calling a first.
The Humber College seniors made contact with the International Space Station Monday with a radio system they designed and built themselves.
School officials say that, to their knowledge, that's never been accomplished by students at the college level."
Submission + - Ubuntu 9.04 Boots in 21.4 Seconds (softpedia.com)
Pizzutz writes: "Softpedia reports that Ubuntu 9.04 Boots in 21.4 Seconds using the current daily build and the newly supported EXT4 file system. From the article:
There are only two days left until the third Alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) will be available (for testing), and... we couldn't resist the temptation to take the current daily build for a test drive, before our usual screenshot tour, and taste the "sweetness" of that evolutionary EXT4 Linux filesystem. Announced on Christmas Eve, the EXT4 filesystem is now declared stable and it is distributed with version 2.6.28 of the Linux kernel and later. However, the good news is that the EXT4 filesystem was implemented in the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 Alpha 3 a couple of days ago and it will be available in the Ubuntu Installer, if you choose manual partitioning.
I guess it's finally time to reformat my
XKCD Improving the Internet ... Yet Again 204
netbuzz writes "Comic creator Randall Monroe suggested in a recent xkcd strip that YouTube comments would be better — or, more precisely, less idiotic — if only those posting them were forced to hear their words read aloud first. Well, YouTube has gone and made this "audio preview" a reality, albeit an optional one. And, it's not the first time that xkcd has contributed to the betterment of the Internet, as those who are familiar with last year's "Internet census" and its use of a Hilbert curve may remember."
