25843430
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Google is dropping not just the source code for Ice Cream Sandwich but also Honeycomb. I can hardly wait for Cyanogen to get to work on this. I wonder how it will run on my wife's GTab and my Evo 4G. I guess the worries about Google not releasing the source to Android can now be put to rest. Check out the announcement here https://groups.google.com/group/android-building/msg/c0e01b4619a1455a?pli=1
24049340
submission
LWATCDR writes:
At IDF Intel and RealVNC demoed RealVNC integrated at the BIOS level. Using VNC one can now power down, power up, reboot, go into the BIOS, and even mount disk images on the network. All of this has been available for a while using IPMI but how it is can be done using the open standard VNC. It is available now on Q57 and Q67 motherboards. One can just imagine how useful this could be in a data center, school, or any other system with a large number of computers. Let's hope AMD joins in.
19482980
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Should someone be fired for a an opinion? Should someone become unemployed for getting drunk outside of work and saying something stupid? Well Christian Dior has started proceedings to fire designer John Galliano after he was filmed making anti-Semitic comments in a Paris restaurant. It seems that Mr. Galliano got drunk at a cafe in Paris and said some ugly things about Jewish people. http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/03/01/portman.galliano/index.html
For that it looks like he is going to be fired, probably more disturbing is that police arrested him on charges of assault and making anti-Semitic comments after a couple pressed charges.
It seems that you can go to jail for just making ugly statements.
So where is the outrage? Yes he is being a jerk but how is making an anti-semitic statement anymore of a crime than a lot of what is written right on the pages of Slashdot? Frankly I got no love for an anti-semitic idiot that makes hyper expensive ugly clothes for the famous and uber rich but where should the protections on speech end?
8639342
submission
LWATCDR writes:
The US military http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/earthquake-hit-haiti-still-offline-military-relief-agencies-rush-to-rebuild-comms/comment-page-1/#comment-80488 and other groups are trying to aid to Haiti as fast as possible but the total destruction of the infrastructure is hampering efforts. The destruction seems to be complete, power, phone, internet, air traffic control, and cell service seems to be down. The only reliable communications are by satellite and amateur radio. Right now they are saying that the dead could number more than 100,000 and many more injured. Medical facilites have been destroyed they are running out of medical supplies and there are dead bodies in the street.
So what can a geek do to help. The first thing is to donate money to the reputable charity of your choice. The Red Cross, Doctors without Boarders, and Catholic Charities are all good choices. Second get your friends and family to also help. Even five dollars will help. Third help your less savy friends avoid the scam websites out there. Yes the scum of the earth are already setting up fake charity websites to take money that should go to the victims. Hopefully Mozilla and IE will start to black list those as soon as possible. Finally you are an amature radio operator check in to the nets and see if you can help.
One final thing that is very ungeeky but needs to be done. If you have friends or coworkers that are from Haiti ask them how they are doing and let them know that you do care.
3844229
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Okay Microsoft has finally figured out how to get everybody to install Silverlight.
They have partnered with Playboy and put up classic Playboy images on line but require you to install silverlight to view them.
Tricky.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2343529,00.asp
3505437
submission
LWATCDR writes:
nVidia is going to support the VIA Nano CPU on the ION platform. For those people that don't know the ION platform brings the HD video decoding to netbook and nettop class systems. nVidia has already shown the ION combined with Intel's Atom CPU but now it will be available for the higher performance VIA Nano CPU.
What this means is that we could see some very nice, low power, and Linux friendly netbooks, nettops, media pcs, and set-top boxes. While nVidia doesn't offer FOSS drivers they do have a much better record of Linux support than S3 does.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/20/nivida-ion-platform-to-support-via-nano-processors-this-year/ for a little more info.
3208895
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Mozilla has given the Wikimedia foundation $100,000 to fund Ogg development. The reason is simple, "Open standards for audio and video are important because they can be used by anyone for any purpose without royalties, and can be inspected and improved by an open community. Today, video and audio on the web are dominated by proprietary technologies, most frequently patent-encumbered codecs wrapped into closed-source player widgets."
While Vorbis is better standard than MP3 everything I have heard about Theora is that it is technical inferior to many other video codecs. I wonder if wouldn't be better if more effort directed to Dirac http://diracvideo.org/ and maybe even putting Dirac into an Ogg container.
No mention was made of FLAC or Speex funding. If more media players supported Speex it would be an ideal codec for many podcasts and audio books. It really is too bad that these codecs get over looked so often.
2448913
submission
LWATCDR writes:
The 64 bit march goes on. First we got 64 bit Flash now Sun is providing a 64 bit Java plugin.
Now for most people there is nothing to hold you back from running 64 bit Linux.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjkyOQ
1318835
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Well the Source for Android is now available. A will assume that it is GPL so it should make all FOSS users pretty happy. It is available for download here http://source.android.com/
So when will we see it on Palm Treos. What other devices will end up running Android?
I kind of want to see how well it would work on a Netbook?
1293901
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Okay I have set up a Linux box for a group I am a member of to replace an old Windows 95 machine. This is to replace the computer in the media center. The old system was only used to look up information in a large text file that has a list of all the videos tapes on hand. I have already moved the data into an OpenOffice Calc. I hate using spreadsheets as a database but they are a good tool for converting a text file into something useful like a CSV or xBase file. I was going to use the database in OpenOffice to make a nice little application. The problem is that the "new" PC is only a 500 Mhz Celeron with 192 mb of ram. It will not run OpenOffice I have the spreadsheet moved over to gnumeric but I was thinking I should write a real media manager for them.
I know Java, C++, and a few other programming languages but Java is too heavy for this machine. C# and Mono also seem a little heavy for this machine. C++ seems like overkill for such a simple application. I am just not fond of LAMP for local single user program. I mean why put a web server on this box? I figure SQLlite would be a good database for this but what language would be good for writing the GUI and logic in? Python would be fun to learn but what IDE and interface builders are available? Ruby could be an option as well. Or should I just bite the bullet and use C++?
I have the box up and working with Zenworks and it seems pretty snappy. I would have to say I was impressed with Zenworks.
So what is a good, fast, and light development platform to write a simple form and database application in Linux?
828873
submission
LWATCDR writes:
I work with a group of young men 16-18 and I am thinking of starting a computer class for them. I was thinking about teaching them how to clean off spyware, virus scanning, defrag, and removing craplets. You know the stuff that geeks are typically asked to do for their friends or what the Geek Squad charges way too much for.
After that I hope to move on to hardware repair. Thinks like installing RAM, replacing hard drives and power supplies.
Maybe even move on to building a PC.
I really want to hit on the evils of piracy. I intend to show the young men where they can find free alternatives to pirating software. Things like OpenOffice, Gimp, Thunderbird, Linux, and so on. I hope that if all goes well I might even teach them the basics of networking and setting up servers.
The problem is that I know that I want to include how to use Windows XP, and Vista. I might even include Windows server and WHS after I learn it myself.
The problem is I don't want to pay for that software myself and the organization has no money to spend on it. The Linux stuff is free but the Microsoft software would cost money. Does Microsoft offer a program for small not for profits? If not I will be limited to teaching XP and Linux. Not a terrible thing but I would like to teach these young men how to deal what every they might run into.
773157
submission
LWATCDR writes:
From Endgadget http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/15/evidence-mounts-for-august-eee-pc-carnage-with-299-dell-e-launc/
It looks like Dell is going to launch a EeePC competitor.
The Specs look very good.
1.6GHz Atom processor
512 Mb of RAM expandable to 1GB
1,024 x 600 display
3x USB
SSD
integrated webcam
WiFi
2.2 pounds
and a $299 price.
Other rumors are an Instant on Linux "A flavor of Ubuntu?" and XP as an option.
They also mention WiMax, WiWan and BT as wireless options.
They are also bringing out a 12" model no info on the price yet.
Well if they deliver it for $299 sign me up.
760121
submission
LWATCDR writes:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9107239&source=rss_topic122
From the article.
"Developers have created an easy way to load Android, Google Inc.'s mobile phone operating system that is still in the works, on Nokia Corp.'s N810 open-source handheld devices.
The development is of interest to people who are trying to build applications for Android rather than to general users. "So, from the point of view of someone who just wants to use his N800 and doesn't necessarily want to experiment for the sake of experimenting, what does running Android get me?" one person asked on the Internet Tablet Talk Web site that is sharing the technique for loading the software on the devices. "
While this is kind of cool what I really want it for someone to port it to the Treo or Centro :)
752017
submission
LWATCDR writes:
Yes it looks like Microsoft is going to a rental program for Office.
From the article.
"The software bundle, which also includes Microsoft's Live OneCare computer security software, will be sold at nearly 700 Circuit City stores for $70 per year."
Well I for one will be happy to stick with OpenOffice for now. From Microsoft's point of view it means a constant flow of money. For the customer it means you only have to pay a little each year instead of a lot every few years. I don't think this will save the average user any money and I wonder about problems with "activation".
So will this fly or will it give a big push to OpenOffice.
Read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080702/ap_on_hi_te/microsoft_office_subscription;_ylt=Aglfs.0Rrm.XlMNYRXVQuI5Y.3QA
