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Open Source

Linux Kernel 2.6.32 Released 195

Posted by CmdrTaco from the download-compile-reboot-repeat dept.
diegocg writes "Linus Torvalds has officially released the version 2.6.32 of the Linux kernel. New features include virtualization memory de-duplication, a rewrite of the writeback code faster and more scalable, many important Btrfs improvements and speedups, ATI R600/R700 3D and KMS support and other graphic improvements, a CFQ low latency mode, tracing improvements including a 'perf timechart' tool that tries to be a better bootchart, soft limits in the memory controller, support for the S+Core architecture, support for Intel Moorestown and its new firmware interface, run-time power management support, and many other improvements and new drivers. See the full changelog for more details."
Businesses

EA Shuts Down Pandemic Studios, Cuts 200 Jobs 161

Posted by Soulskill from the say-goodnight-folks dept.
lbalbalba writes "Electronic Arts is shutting down its Westwood-based game developer Pandemic Studios just two years after acquiring it, putting nearly 200 people out of work. 'The struggling video game publisher informed employees Tuesday morning that it was closing the studio as part of a recently announced plan to eliminate 1,500 jobs, or 16% of its global workforce. Pandemic has about 220 employees, but an EA spokesman said that a core team, estimated by two people close to the studio to be about 25, will be integrated into the publisher's other Los Angeles studio, in Playa Vista.' An ex-developer for Pandemic attributed the studio's struggles to poor decisions from the management."

Submission + - Palm Updates webOS, Does Not Restore iTunes Sync

Submitted by
El Royo
El Royo writes: "Palm announced the release of webOS version 1.2.0 today, bringing a number of improvements to the Linux-based Palm Pre. In addition to enabling purchasing apps from the App Catalog this update includes improved copy and paste and performance improvements. One thing notably lacking from this update is the restoration of iTunes media syncing. More on the webOS update here."
The Internet

Submission + - Pirate party unites in Australia (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by
bennyboy64
bennyboy64 writes: "iTnews reports that the Pirate Party has opened a branch office in Australia and is recruiting office bearers and supporters. The group updated the Australian website it registered last year and advertised for a president, treasurer, secretary and supporting positions. A party spokesman, Rodney Serkowski, said the group was close to establishing a beachhead in Australia. He said that with 300 supporters it was on its way to signing the 500 it needed to become an official Australian political party. 'We are currently an online community, working together with the intention of becoming a registered party, and we're coming closer to reaching that goal,' Serkowski said.'If we can get the required 500 members, and be registered by years end, I think it is highly probable that we will contest the next Federal election in Australia.' Serkowski voiced his concerns about file sharing, copyright law and Senator Conroy vowing to tackle illegal file-sharing. At the weekend about two percent of Germans voted for the Pirate Party although it needed at least five percent to gain a seat in the German parliament, the Bundestag."
United States

Submission + - US Senate Considering Ban On Texting While Driving (zdnet.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: Following recent reports on the dangers of drivers being preoccupied by their cell phones, the U.S. Senate is now considering legislation to ban text messaging while driving. This could even be a step toward a total of ban of using cell phones while driving.

Here are the big reports that recently came to light:

- Texting while driving increases crash risk 23-fold ( http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10296992-94.html ) based on a Virginia University study

- A Car and Driver study showed that texting-and-driving is far more dangerous than drinking-and-driving ( http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q2/texting_while_driving_how_dangerous_is_it_-feature )

There are already 14 U.S. states (plus Washington, D.C.) that ban drivers from text messaging.

The Washington Post reports ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902039.html ) that the ban in D.C. has made a significant impact: "A 2006 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed a significant decline in phone use by drivers in the District because of the ban. It fell 50 percent initially and remained at that level a year later."

ZDNet : http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22132
Data Storage

Submission + - Intel Confirms Data Corruption Bug, Halts New SSDs (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Intel has confirmed that its new consumer-class X25-M and X18-M solid state-disk drives (SSDs) suffer from data corruption issues and said it has pulled back shipments to resellers. The X25-M (2.5-inch) and X18-M (1.8-inch) SSDs are based on a joint venture with Micron and used that company's 34-nanometer lithography technology. That process allows for a denser, higher capacity product that brings with it a lower price tag than Intel's previous offerings, which were based on 50-nanometer lithography technology. Intel says the data corruption problem occurs only if a user sets up a BIOS password on the 34-nanometer SSD, then disables or changes the password and reboots the computer. When that happens, the SSD becomes inoperable and the data on it is irretrievable. This is not the first time Intel's X25-M and X18-M SSDs have suffered from firmware bugs. The company's first generation of drives suffered from fragmentation issues resulting in performance degradation over time. Intel issued a firmware upgrade as a fix."
The Internet

Submission + - Chrome Threatens Safari's Rank, Firefox Falters (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
CWmike
CWmike writes: "Google's Chrome browser is closing in on Apple's Safari for the third spot in browser market share, says Net Applications, which introduced a new methodology that weights browser usage share by the estimated size of each country's Internet population. The bottom line: This new methodology throws a monkey wrench into earlier browser rankings. Safari took the biggest hit, falling from a May "old-method" share of 8.4% to the new July share of just 4.1%. (Net Applications applied the new methodology retroactively to its browser numbers so that, in the revised data, Safari's May share was just 3.7%.) Net Applications also revealed an impressive, although incomplete, conversion of Firefox 3.0 users to the new Firefox 3.5. During July, the former dropped 3.8 percentage points, while Firefox 3.5 climbed 4.1 points. Mozilla has yet to formally offer the upgrade to Firefox 3.0 users, although those who have initiated an update have been allowed to migrate to the faster Version 3.5. Overall, however, Firefox is down 1.4 percentage points in the last three months from its high of 23.8% in April."
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - FCC looks into Apple's rejection of Google Voice (wired.com)

Submitted by jbudofsky
jbudofsky writes: After Apple recently removed the Google Voice application from its iTunes store, the Feds have begun to ask why. The FCC has written letters to both Apple and AT&T to investigate whether these "closed" tactics are in fact hurting consumers. This may be an important step towards a more fair iTunes market.

Federal regulators want to know if AT&T and Apple worked to together to reject mobile apps for Google's innovative Voice service, sending letters to the companies asking them to explain this incident and the policies behind the secretive and lucrative iPhone App store....The FCC's new chairman Julius Genachowski made it clear Friday in announcing the letters that he was not pleased by Apple and AT&T's actions, while leaving wiggle room about what, if anything, the feds would do....The feds are already looking at mobile phone exclusivity — such as the lock AT&T has on the iPhone in the U.S. — to see if those deals hurt consumers. Outside groups are asking the feds to make mobile carriers adhere the same openness rules that apply to ISPs — e.g. letting them use whatever device, app or online service they want to use....The letters say the matter applies to two open matters before the FCC and clearly indicate that the FCC is at least considering whether it should regulate app stores, which are growing in popularity after the breakout success of the iPhone App store.

Comment Re:Ironic dichotomy of Apple's Family Values (Score 5, Insightful) 841

by shutton (#28709997) Attached to: Apple Update Means Palm Pre Can No Longer Sync With iTunes
You either are, or aren't a customer. If I'm using an Apple product that wasn't stolen, I'm an Apple customer. I received iTunes (along with iPhoto, and i-everything-else) when I purchased my MacBook Pro. That software helped sell the computer. iPhoto works fine with hundreds of different digital cameras. As it would happen, Apple doesn't make digital cameras. They don't even have to work very hard to support them thanks to standard file system layout. It's clear that Apple has made an exception for iTunes to drive their "attachment rates" in other business units. Sounds like the behavior of an up-and-coming monopoly, doesn't it? And, I'll conclude by saying that there are *plenty* of alternatives to iTunes, but Apple has been telling us for so long that iTunes is the greatest thing since gravity boots that we just all simply use it because it's the default media manager. Hm, that sounds familiar, too... :)

Comment Ironic dichotomy of Apple's Family Values (Score 5, Insightful) 841

by shutton (#28709601) Attached to: Apple Update Means Palm Pre Can No Longer Sync With iTunes

I interviewed at Apple a few years ago, and a consistent message from the developers was that *everything* they do is to make the customer experience better. Things are not done simply because they're cool -- they have to serve a purpose.

So I find it ironic that, as a MacBook Pro user, Apple has explicitly done something to make my experience *worse*. They went much further than simply failing to "provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players." They went out of their way to harm users.

Shame on you, Apple. Have you gotten so big that you've forgotten what it was like to be under Microsoft's thumb?
Image

Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself 445

Posted by samzenpus from the so-crazy-it-just-might-work dept.
Extreme economic problems require extreme solutions, and Wells Fargo Bank has come up with a good one. They have decided to sue themselves. Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium that is going into foreclosure. As holder of the first, they are suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is Wells Fargo. It gets better. The company has hired a lawyer to defend itself against its own lawsuit. The defense lawyer even filed this answer to the complaint, "Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property. All other allegations of the complaint are denied." On the website The Consumer Warning Network, Angie Moreschi wrote: "We've apparently reached the perfect storm for complete and utter idiocy by some banks trying to foreclose on homes."
Microsoft

Windows 7 RCs Shut Down To Force Updates 414

Posted by CmdrTaco from the please-resume-download dept.
nk497 writes "The release candidate for Microsoft Windows 7 will expire June 2010, and the software giant will let users know they need to pay to upgrade by shutting down the system every two hours for three months. According to Microsoft: "The RC will expire on June 1, 2010. Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use.""

Comment Thank goodness! (Score -1, Redundant) 285

by shutton (#18501543) Attached to: Best Buy Acquires SpeakEasy
I've finally run out of excuses to avoid switching to Comcast. I can finally kiss that slow DSL goodbye now that I no feel obligated to support a liberal-minded, independent ISP.

Of course, I'll lose some of that benefit when I have to bounce my traffic off a mule-mounted WiFi repeater in Estonia in order to avoid having my activities scrutinized by the marketing division of The Very Big Corporation of America.

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