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Software

Submission + - Top 10 Best GTK Applications (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
Chris7mas
Chris7mas writes: "1. The GIMP — image editor
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program, and is the most complete image editor on Linux. It supports various file formats and it features many effects. I usually read complains about GIMP regarding the fact that it's not as 'good' as Photoshop. Well, I'm not a graphics passionate, and I only use GIMP for basic image manipulation (cut, crop, basic effects, resize etc), but I think it's the best tool out there to use with images. The current stable release is 2.4.6.

2. XChat — IRC client
In my opinion, this is the best graphical IRC client for Linux. Its strength is in support for scripts in Perl and Python, together with an easy to learn plugin interface (given that you know basic C). It offers event-based scripting too. Most of the configuration options are available via the /SET variables, instead of the Preferences window. The logging system allows filenames which can use date specifiers, so you can store your logs in whatever way you want. The Windows version usually ships earlier than the Linux one, but that's not quite an issue, since the client is already complete for several years now."
Democrats

Submission + - Democratic Party to exclude GNU/Linux users 2

Submitted by questro
questro writes: I am a registered democrat with plans to vote for Barack Obama this fall and I am saddened to see that the Democratic convention intends to use restrictive technology that will exclude me and many others from viewing the online content of the convention. I have recently read of plans by Aaron Myers, the DNCC's director of online communications, to use a proprietary Microsoft product called "Silverlight" for video streaming. The article can be found at this URL: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,146806-page,3-c,webservices/article.html# This technology will purposefully EXCLUDE millions of democrats and others who choose to use the free and open source GNU/Linux operating system. "Silverlight" is not compatible with GNU/Linux and is only available for Win32 or Mac. While Microsoft touts a product called "Moonlight" for GNU/Linux, it is not the same technology and contains a restrictive license that is incompatible with many GNU/Linux distributions. This is by Microsoft's design. Even Senator Obama understands the value of using the free and open source GNU/Linux system as evidenced by the fact that www.barackobama.com is hosted by a Linux system according to Netcraft. http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=www.barackobama.com I urge the Democratic Party to reconsider this technology choice before millions of citizens are excluded.
Power

Submission + - "Burning" saltwater

Submitted by RayWalston
RayWalston writes: Shades of cold fusion. A fella, John Kanzius, claims to have found a way using RF to break up saltwater into hydrogen gas. Several demonstrations on youtube, but no real comparison of the amount of RF in vs amount generated. Anyone out there seen anything quantative? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6vSxR6UKFM
Power

Submission + - Saltwater for fuel

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: RIE, Pa. — An Erie cancer researcher has found a way to burn salt water, a novel invention that is being touted by one chemist as the "most remarkable" water science discovery in a century. John Kanzius happened upon the discovery accidentally when he tried to desalinate seawater with a radio-frequency generator he developed to treat cancer. He discovered that as long as the salt water was exposed to the radio frequencies, it would burn. The discovery has scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel. Rustum Roy, a Penn State University chemist, has held demonstrations at his State College lab to confirm his own observations. The radio frequencies act to weaken the bonds between the elements that make up salt water, releasing the hydrogen, Roy said. Once ignited, the hydrogen will burn as long as it is exposed to the frequencies, he said. The discovery is "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years," Roy said. "This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Roy said. "Seeing it burn gives me the chills." Roy will meet this week with officials from the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to try to obtain research funding. The scientists want to find out whether the energy output from the burning hydrogen — which reached a heat of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit — would be enough to power a car or other heavy machinery. "We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Roy said. "The potential is huge. http://www.post-gazette.com/
Biotech

Submission + - Saltwater as fuel? (engadget.com)

Submitted by thevacancy
thevacancy writes: An amateur inventor seems to have stumbled on the ability (new or not) to illicit hydrogen and oxygen from saltwater via radio waves. No information on how much energy is required to produce the radio waves (the contraption looks large), but it looks interesting nonetheless.
Biotech

Submission + - Saltwater can burn when exposed to radio waves (post-gazette.com)

Submitted by
realwx
realwx writes: "An Erie man who wanted to desalinate water has accidentally discovered saltwater can burn, as long as the saltwater is exposed to radio frequencies. "The radio frequency actually weakens bonds holding together the constituents of salt water — sodium chloride, hydrogen and oxygen — and releases the hydrogen, which, once ignited, burns continuously when exposed to the RF energy field. Mr. Kanzius said an independent source measured the flame's temperature, which exceeds 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, reflecting an enormous energy output. While Mr. Kanzius was demonstrating how his generator heated nanoparticles, someone noted condensation inside the test tube and suggested he try using his equipment to desalinate water. So, Mr. Kanzius said, he put sea water in a test tube, then trained his machine on it, producing an unexpected spark. In time he and laboratory owners struck a match and ignited the water, which continued burning as long as it remained in the radio-frequency field.""
Security

Submission + - Essential Bluetooth hacking tools

Submitted by J.R
J.R writes: The guys at Security-Hacks have compiled a list of Bluetooth hacking tools: "If you are planning to gain a deeper understanding of Bluetooth security, you will need a good set of tools with which to work. By familiarizing yourself with the following tools, you will not only gain a knowledge of the vulnerabilities inherent in Bluetooth-enabled devices, but you will also get a glimpse at how an attacker might exploit them. This hack highlights the essential tools, mostly for the Linux platform, that can be used to search out and hack Bluetooth-enabled devices." http://www.security-hacks.com/2007/05/25/essential -bluetooth-hacking-tools
User Journal

Journal Journal: Indian-American Mathematician wins Abel

Journal by kisak
The prestigious Abel Prize has been awarded to Professor S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan. Prof. Varadhan receives the prize "for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation". Varadhan's theory of large deviations provides a unified method to deal with complex stochastic systems, in fields as diverse as quantum field theory, sta
Operating Systems

Submission + - How many Linux computers will DELL have to sell ?

Submitted by pmarini
pmarini writes: I was wondering what would be the initial target for DELL when they decided to go ahead and sell Linux computers (please don't call them PC, I'd rather call them AT-compatible then...) Based on a few articles that I found on the Web, shipment of computers in 2006 was about 200 million units (desktop + laptops) and recent figures show that DELL has a 16-17% of the market share worldwide, which accounts for about 32-34 million units. That means that since Linux has a market share of 3%, they should be more than happy if they sell their share of 1 million Linux computers in the next 12 months which amounts to about 80 thousand per month. Easy!

Why is OSS Commercial Software So Expensive? 718

Posted by Cliff from the not-cost-competitive dept.
An anonymous reader asks: "Our startup honestly wanted to use OSS products. We do not want to spend time for any OSS bug fixing so our main requirement was -official support for all OSS products-. We thought were prepared to pay the price for OSS products, but then we got a price sticker shock. Now behold: QT is $3300 per seat. We have dropped the development and rewrote everything to C# (MSVS 2005 is ~$700). Embedded Linux from a reputable RT vendor is $25,000 per 5 seats per year. We needed only 3 seats. We had to buy 5 nevertheless. The support was bad. We will go for VxWorks or WinCE in our next product. Red Hat Linux WS is $299. An OEM version of Windows XP Pro is ~$140. A Cygwin commercial license will cost tens of thousands of dollars and is only available for large shops. We need 5 seats. Windows Unix services are free. After all, we have decided that the survival of our business is more important for us then 'do-good' ideas. Except for that embedded Linux (slated for WinCE or VxWorks substitution), we are not OSS shop anymore." Why are commercial ports of OSS software so expensive, and what would need to happen before they could be competitive in the future?

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