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Software

Submission + - AbiCollab takes on Google Docs and Zoho Writer 1

Submitted by msevior
msevior writes: Just released today, the Free Software AbiWord Word Processor, employed by the One Laptop Per Child project, tightly integrates with the new http://abicollab.net website to enable easy real-time collaborative editing of documents. The http://abicollab.net website also enables documents to be stored online, allows format conversion on the fly, stores the history of the docs in svn, provides direct links to HTML-ized docs that update as you save them and allows easy sharing of docs amongst friends and groups.

All in all, new competition for Google Docs and Zoho Writer but one that employs a real Word Processor rather than an app in a browser.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Seeks Patent for Social Networking (ipwatchdog.com)

Submitted by patentpundit
patentpundit writes: Microsoft recently had a patent application publish at the US Patent Office related to a graphical representation of the vitality of a person's social network. The patent application seems in important ways to be almost grasping at straws. The specific implementation of the software that would enable such a graphical representation is ill defined and exceptionally non-specific. The patent application also seems to be a hodgepodge of ideas drawn from many other, known social networking and online implementations. For example, if you have a vibrant social network an icon you select could become "nicer," which seems to mean "more tricked out." Such building and rewarding of online bling is reminiscent of many other online games and networks, for example including the kids online social networking slash massively multiplayer online game Club Penguin. In any event, such a non-specific software patent application as this one represents all that is bad with respect to software patents and gives software patent opponents fodder for arguing that software patents as a whole should not be allowed.
Google

Submission + - GMail vulnerability leaks images sent by others (wordpress.com) 1

Submitted by rumith
rumith writes: Almost a year ago (December 2008), I reported a bug to Google concerning incorrect preview generation for TIFF images in GMail. The problem is that at least for some TIFF files (one such file is linked in the blog; you can use it to test my report) GMail generates a new preview every time this file is sent, and this preview doesn't correspond to the contents of the file I sent in any way. Rather, I see previews of photos (sometimes pretty embarrassing) apparently made by other users. Downloading the attached image works okay though. Get the word to Google to have the vulnerability fixed ASAP!

Disclaimer: Yes, I am the author of the blog linked. No, I have no idea why this file causes such behavior.
The Internet

Submission + - What If They Turned Off the Internet?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: It's the not-to-distant future. They've turned off the Internet. After the riots have settled down and the withdrawal symptoms have faded, how would you cope? Cracked.com asked readers to Photoshop what life would be like in an Internet-addicted society learning to cope without it. Better hope it never happens, or be prepared for dry-erase message boards, carrier pigeon-powered Twitter, block-long lines to get into adult video shops, door-to-door Rickrolling, Lolcats on Broadway, and $199.99 CDs.

Comment Oh Apple.... (Score 1) 1

by Joeseph64 (#29469865) Attached to: Google: Apple VP Rejected Google Voice iPhone App
A reason stated by Google for the denial of the app was that it "offer[s] new features not present on the preloaded maps application", which may cause user confusion.... Yet, in the Google Voice submission, a reason for rejection was that it duplicated the dialer functionality.....

So let me get this straight Apple: Google can't replace Or add functionality? If they can't add or keep it the same, I guess their only option is to make a lesser version of functionality? Might explain the state that the app store is in now....
Google

Submission + - Google: Apple VP Rejected Google Voice iPhone App (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by
bruckie
bruckie writes: "Today Google released the full, unredacted letter that they sent last month in response to an FCC inquiry into the roles of Apple, Google, and AT&T in the reported rejection of Google Voice from the iPhone App Store. In contrast to Apple's statement that it "has not rejected the Google Voice application, and continues to study it", the previously-redacted section of Google's letter states that in a phone call in July, "Mr. Schiller [Apple SVP of marketing] informed Mr. Eustace [Google VP of engineering] that Apple was rejecting the Google Voice application"."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft offers Windows 7 to students for $30 (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by Ernie
Ernie writes: Microsoft today announced students would be able to purchase upgrade versions of Windows 7 for a significantly reduced price until January 3, 2010 at 12:00am CST. A valid e-mail address given by a college or university must be used. An e-mail will be sent telling the student if he or she qualifies for the discount. Eligible students are allowed to purchase one copy of either Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional from the online store. The discount price applies to the following countries: the UK (£30) and the US ($30). More information is available at 741.com, a site just launched today that is dedicated to advertising Windows 7 to students.

Comment Re:Watchmen parallel (Score 1) 93

by Joeseph64 (#28934529) Attached to: Turning Classic Literary Works Into Games
Although remaking 'classics' into a video game sounds like a great idea, the inherit problems already mentioned don't use the medium of video games to their full potential.

What I would like to see in a video game is the depth that is in the 'classics', using the medium of video games to its full potential. I think of "Watchmen" when I think of this. No one really took comic books seriously until Alan Moore created, quite well, a real 'classic' using the medium of comic books. It was in Time's top 100 novels of all time. (Source) Sure, a video game won't make that list because of the inherit differences, but I would like to see a game that is deep as "Watchmen", or "Invisible Man."

Comment Forks (Score 3, Funny) 39

by Joeseph64 (#28785043) Attached to: Ubuntu Christian Edition 5.0 Beta
Didn't you all hear about the fork in the Christian Ubuntu? Apparently, one of the developers sent in 95 patches, but they were rejected. Now there's a Protestant Christian Ubuntu. The main difference is that the Protestant version has no icons. Source
Image

Ubuntu Christian Edition 5.0 Beta Screenshot-sm 39

Posted by samzenpus from the what-would-jesus-use dept.
JimLynch writes "Back in 2006, when I was writing for ExtremeTech, I reviewed a version of Ubuntu with a religious theme: Ubuntu Christian Edition. At one point it seemed as though Ubuntu CE had been discontinued but I was pleased to note today that it has apparently been brought to life again and so I decided to do a full review Ubuntu CE 5.0 for DLR."
Books

Submission + - Digital Bookstores (drcyberspace.com) 1

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Barnes and Noble just revealed their new online digital bookstore with over 700,000 titles. Unlike Amazon's Kindle only policy, the digital books offered by Barnes and Noble will be readable on most popular handheld devices, including your iPhones and Blackberries."
Television

Submission + - Oldest working British T.V. found

Submitted by
Smivs
Smivs writes: "Britain's oldest working television has been uncovered in a house in London. The 1936 Marconiphone, thought to have been made in the months that Britain's first television service began, was tracked down after a competition. The set belongs to Jeffrey Borinsky, an electrical engineer and collector of antique television and radio sets.
He bought the set, which has a 12-inch (30cm) screen from another collector 10 years ago and is still working on restoring it to its original state. The screen is mounted inside a wooden cabinet. The image from the cathode ray tube, mounted vertically inside the cabinet, is reflected onto a mirror. The few controls include volume and vertical hold, but there is no channel changer, as there was only one channel when it was made: the BBC.
But the Marconiphone 702 still works as a modern television. It has been hooked up to a Freeview box so that it can show digital channels, although Mr Borinsky has had to install a standards converter so that a modern television signal can be seen."
GNOME

Submission + - Webkit for Metacity/Mutter CSS Theming? (gnome.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As Metacity (the Gnome window manager) progresses into Mutter, the question of CSS themes and how to implement them has come up. One of the proposals was WebKit, which the author asked more specifically about on his blog. It seems that WebKit, being a very fast rendering engine, would allow Mutter to have unprecedented power, not to mention being nearly future-proofed. As a major bonus, going this way could allow Gnome to share themes with KDE, which is apparently headed the WebKit way already. Many people will reflexively recoil at the idea of a browser being mixed with a window manager, but it's important to remember that WebKit it not a web browser but a rendering engine, and it's not where all the security issues come from. So, what are the real technical issues at stake here? What are the pros and cons of using WebKit here?
Businesses

Submission + - Google CEO to discuss his future as an Apple direc (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by
tsa
tsa writes: "AppleInsider tells us that Google chief executive Eric Schmidt's position at Apple's board of directors gets more and more precarious now that Andoid, Google Chrome, and Chrome OS are on, or coming to, the market. From the article: "Even before Google announced plans for the new Chrome OS based off its nine-month-old web browser, the Federal Trade Commission began looking into the whether the companies were in violation of the Section 8 provision of The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, which forbids "interlocking directorates." In addition to Schmidt, Genentech chief executive Arthur Levinson also sits on the board of both companies.""
Social Networks

Submission + - Facebook Retroactively taking back User Names

Submitted by
Matt Wilson
Matt Wilson writes: "It appears Facebook is retroactively taking back user names for celebrities, even if you have a legitimate reason for having the user name. My wife previously had www.facebook.com/Brigitte (her name *is* Brigitte Wilson) until she just received this e-mail: From: The Facebook Team Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:37:36 -0700 Subject: Removed Username To: brigittew21@gmail.com Hi, Your chosen username was on a list of terms that were meant to be blocked from registration, and it was only made available as the result of an error. We have no choice but to remove it from your account. We understand the inconvenience this creates, so we've added 500 credits to your account to express our gratitude for your understanding. These credits can be used in our Gift Shop (http://www.facebook.com/giftshop.php) to purchase virtual gifts. Thanks,"

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