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GNU is Not Unix

FSF Asks Apple To Comply With the GPL For Clone of GNU Go 482

Posted by timothy from the y'know-fellas-the-license dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The Free Software Foundation has discovered that an application currently distributed in Apple's App Store is a port of GNU Go. This makes it a GPL violation, because Apple controls distribution of all such programs through the iTunes Store Terms of Service, which is incompatible with section 6 of the GPLv2. It's an unusual enforcement action, though, because they don't want Apple to just make the app disappear, they want Apple to grant its users the full freedoms offered by the GPL. Accordingly, they haven't sued or sent any legal threats and are instead in talks with Apple about how they can offer their users the GPLed software legally, which is difficult because it's not possible to grant users all the freedoms they're entitled to and still comply with Apple's restrictive licensing terms."
Censorship

Submission + - Apple Censors iMac Complaints (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by arakis
arakis writes: Tomshardware is running a story [www.tomshardware.com] about Apple censoring an ongoing complaints thread about the new iMacs having faded screens. The complaints appear to have attracted attention: "From August 7 to November 18, a 95 day period, the thread chalked up an impressive 15,000+ hits, an average of about 158 hits per day. However, in the time since then, November 19 to December 10, a period of only 21 days, the thread gained an additional 9000 hits, an average of about 429 hits per day." Apple is responding to the issue by replacing posts with error messages and not acknowledging the issue.
Microsoft

Submission + - OOXML Denied INCITS V1 Approval (robweir.com)

Submitted by
Xenographic
Xenographic writes: "INCITS V1, the US group responsible for the US vote over whether or not ANSI will grant fast-track approval to Microsoft's OOXML format, failed to reach the 2/3 consensus required to recommend OOXML to ANSI. What makes this vote interesting is the graph in the article, showing all the new Microsoft business partners who joined INCITS just this year to vote for OOXML. They will now deliberate further, until they can come to some agreement on what to recommend to ANSI, but it's pretty clear that Microsoft is pushing OOXML as hard as it can."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Gnucash 2.2.0 released, now stable for windows (gnucash.org)

Submitted by Optic7
Optic7 writes: I just happened to visit Gnucash's site to download it and noticed that they have just released the new stable version, 2.2.0, today. This also marks the first stable Gnucash release for Windows. It seems that the Windows port is also the main feature of this new release. If you are not familiar with Gnucash, it is an open source alternative to Quicken and Microsoft Money. Visit their website to read more, or head straight for the downloads.
Math

Submission + - Moebius strip riddle solved at last (abc.net.au) 2

Submitted by
BigLug
BigLug writes: "In a study to appear in Nature Materials, two experts in non-linear dynamics, Gert van der Heijden and Eugene Starostin of University College London, resolve the Moebius Strip algebraically.

From the ABC (Australia):



What determines the strip's shape is its differing areas of "energy density," they say.

"Energy density" means the stored, elastic energy that is contained in the strip as a result of the folding. Places where the strip is most bent have the highest energy density; conversely, places that are flat and unstressed by a fold have the least energy density.
"
Security

Submission + - Open Source Filtering Solutions & the Spam Pro

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Let us face it, modern e-mail communication relying on SMTP is fundamentally broken — there is no sender authentication. There are lot of countermeasures in form of filtering and add-on authentication, but neither of them are proved to be 100% successful. Spammers always find new ways of confusing filters with random noise, bad grammar, hidden HTML code, padding, bitmap-rendered messages etc. This article will nevertheless try to cover some of the spam problems and possible solutions, but bare in mind that all of these are just no more than a temporary fix.
Patents

Submission + - Life Imprisonment for Copyright Infringement

Submitted by
ronadams
ronadams writes: "P. Parameswaran writes in his AFP article:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he proposed comprehensive legislation to Congress Monday against copyright thieves, including raising the maximum penalty to life imprisonment and seizing the illicit profits of offenders.
Nick Ferrel at the Inquirer confirms the reports and adds a few interesting insights of his own. Good to know RIAA is a vital part of the US Government. I must have been asleep when my Government & Law professor glossed over that one."
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows Media Center restricts cable TV viewings

Submitted by PrescriptionWarning
PrescriptionWarning writes: With the latest Media Center Edition update from Microsoft, many other users and myself are finding that content available on Television are now completely unwatchable from Media Center, with a message that simply states "Restricted Content: Restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator of the content prohibit playback of the program on this computer."

A simple search on the subject reveals that HBO programming and, in my case Braveheart on AMC, are among the many selections now restricted for playback or recording by Windows Media Center Edition. What's next, restricting every piece of programming on television? One thing is for sure, there won't be much left to watch.
Space

Submission + - The Uncomfortable Reality of Sex in Space

Submitted by
Smaran
Smaran writes: "WIRED is running an interesting story about how sex in space will have to be inevitably discussed by space agencies and astronauts around the world, who currently refuse to even address the issue. They are only beginning to talk about the realities of illness and death in space. Sex is still a topic for another day. WIRED's Regina Lynn writes: "... as humans begin to spend more time in space and to travel further from Earth, space agencies will need to factor sex into their equations. We cannot expect astronauts to spend three years in a spacecraft and not have sex — of some kind. Probably with each other, and likely in more than one combination.""

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