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Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft, Apple, EMC, Oracle Form Patent Bloc (bnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When Novell finally sold itself, part of the deal included the sale of 882 patents to a consortium backed by Microsoft MSFT). Thanks to a tip from Florian Mueller, it turns out that Microsoft’s partners are Apple, Oracle, and EMC, which raise questions about where these companies are heading and what it means for the rest of the industry.
Government

Submission + - Lawmakers Warn Against Rushed Anti-WikiLeaks Laws (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7
Trailrunner7 writes: The WikiLeaks disclosures this fall that have precipitated so much controversy and agita among national security officials and politicians should not be used as a springboard for new, more restrictive laws, lawmakers, attorneys and policy analysts said in a House hearing Thursday. In fact, the reaction from Congress and the Obama administration should be just the opposite, according to witnesses who testified during a hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee on the legal and national-security ramifications of the WikiLeaks incident.

"When everyone is calling for someone's head, it's a pretty good sign that we might want to slow down," said John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

The reflexive secrecy that emerged after 9/11 has helped contribute to an atmosphere in which far too much government data is classified or otherwise kept secret without any real justification, the witnesses said. Perhaps the strongest comments came from consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Rep. William Delahunt, both of whom referred to the secrecy as damaging to the country's ideals.

"There's an overwhelming overclassification of documents. Who does the classification? Is it the Secretary of State or the attorney general? I found out that it's some low level bureaucrat and the process itself is arcane and there is no accountability in the classification processes in the exec branch and that's very dangerous," said committee member Delahunt (D-Mass.), who is leaving at the end of his current term. "Secrecy is the trademark of totalitarianism and transparency and openness is what democracy is all about. WikiLeaks provides an opportunity for this committee. There is far too much secrecy and classification in the executive branch and I think it puts American democracy at risk."

Submission + - Hackers dual-boot Chrome OS with Ubuntu Linux (networkworld.com)

Submitted by jbrodkin
jbrodkin writes: Google's Chrome OS makes Web surfing an incredibly pleasant and secure experience, but most of the knocks against it relate to what it can't do — namely, nearly everything traditional desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac and Linux can. The easiest solution might be dual-booting, allowing users to choose either Chrome OS or a Linux distro at startup. Google's Chromium project site is now hosting instructions for booting Ubuntu Linux alongside Chrome OS. The process is cumbersome but indicates that dual-booting Chrome OS should be possible — and hopefully a bit simpler — once Google releases commercially available netbooks in mid-2011.

Submission + - Opera 11 release keeps browser relevant, innovativ (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Roberto123
Roberto123 writes: Opera Software today introduced Opera 11, the latest upgrade of its "little browser that could." While it doesn't have the market share of Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, Opera has 150 million users worldwide. The CTO of Opera, though, gives Microsoft credit for finally adopting industry standards like HTML, CSS and Javascript in IE 8 and IE 9.
Censorship

Submission + - UK Twitter Users Declare "I'm Spartacus" (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Tweeters have joined forces to support Paul Chambers, the man convicted and fined for a Twitter message threatening to blow up an airport. A so-called "I'm Spartacus" campaign encouraging users to "re-tweet" his words has also become a huge hit. The hashtag #IAmSpartacus is currently the number one trending topic on Twitter in the UK, with #twitterjoketrial in second place. Chambers is believed to be the first person convicted in the UK for posting an offensive tweet. After the hearing, actor and Twitter fan Stephen Fry tweeted that he would pay Chambers' fine. Comedian Dara O'Briain tweeted that the verdict was "ludicrous" while Peep Show actor David Mitchell said it was "punishment for flippancy".
Communications

Submission + - Getting "Off The Grid" (technorati.com)

Submitted by frontwave
frontwave writes: The BlackBerries, the iPhones, the smartphones, and now iPads have become so integrated into our lives that we can’t imagine being without them anymore. We feel “naked” if we are not carrying one of them ...
Ubuntu

Submission + - Review: Ubuntu 10.10 (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has put the release candidate of Ubuntu 10.10 through its paces and concludes that it's the Mary Poppins of operating systems: Practically perfect in every way. 'The desktop is based on the brand new, and I mean brand new as in GNOME 2.32 desktop interface, which was released on September 29th,' says Vaughan-Nichols. 'For once leading edge doesn't mean bleeding edge. If there's anything wrong with GNOME 2.32 I didn't find it in working with Meerkat.' One downside: While Ubuntu 10.10 boots up faster than ever, 'it still isn't quite as fast as the new Fedora 14 beta.'

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