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KDE

Submission + - KDE 4.0 Beta 1 Released 1

Submitted by
mernil
mernil writes: "The KDE Community is happy to announce the immediate availability of the first Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the integration process which will bring the powerful new technologies included in the now frozen KDE 4 libraries to the applications."
Businesses

Submission + - Dell begins their largest layoff ever. 3

Submitted by cyphercell
cyphercell writes: Dell has begun their largest series of layoffs ever. This morning at about 10:00am more than two hundred employees at Dell's Roseburg Oregon Call center found out that they no longer had jobs. Sparking what appears to be the beginning of year long run of layoffs for the company. http://www.newsreview.info/article/20070802/NEWS/7 0802014

Refuting local suspicions of malice Dell spokesman David Frink states:

... the closure has nothing to do with a lawsuit filed by employees of the Roseburg center in February, claiming Dell violated federal and state wage and hour laws.
http://www.newsreview.info/article/20070213/NEWS/7 0213020

and later says

...plans to reduce employment worldwide by 10 percent at the end of May.


Their plans to reduce employment can be found here:
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business /stories/technology/06/01/1dell.html

Here are some highlights:

Dell set to shed 8,800 workers...

Dell has 82,200 permanent workers, including 18,000 in Central Texas, and 5,300 temporary workers worldwide. The layoffs are expected to affect both groups...

In its last large-scale layoffs, Dell cut more than 5,000 jobs in Austin after the high-tech bust in 2001.

...many of the layoffs could come in Central Texas, where Dell is headquartered. In a March 29 report to clients, Goldman Sachs analysts said Dell might reduce the work force at its test and assembly facilities in the U.S. and Malaysia.
Handhelds

Submission + - HP-35s calculator announced and withdrawn 1

Submitted by
leighklotz
leighklotz writes: "HP announced their 35th anniversary version of the groundbreaking HP-35 calculator on July 11th, and the New York Times featured [reg warning] it in their Circuits section today. Sadly, today was also the day that HP apparently withdrew the product to correct reported manufacturing defects. For calculator geeks, note that it has a big prominent ENTER button and reportedly features good tactile feedback. No news about the recall on HP's website..."
Google

Submission + - Google shows cell phone prototype to vendors

Submitted by taoman1
taoman1 writes: Google Inc. has developed a prototype cell phone that could reach markets within a year, and plans to offer consumers free subscriptions by bundling advertisements with its search engine, e-mail and Web browser software applications, according to a story published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal.
Google

Submission + - Gmail accounts hacked - no response from Google (livejournal.com)

Submitted by jared51
jared51 writes: A few friends have recently had their Gmail accounts hacked, causing immense life complications. With Gmail storing all information (many people have a handy label "Accounts" making life easier) that has ever been emailed, a hijacker can easily move on to eBay, PayPal and credit card accounts to turn the crime into cash. Making matters worse, Google is impossible to contact by human. Hijacked users must contend with an endless series of forms.
Software

Submission + - Open source harder to compile on Windows?

Submitted by
MoJo
MoJo writes: "On a Linux system, you download the source and type 'make'. All the compilers and tools are pre-installed and ready to go. On Windows, there are no standard dev tools and many projects need a significant amount of work just to compile them (e.g. Firefox/Thunderbird) — is this holding open source on Windows back?

As a developer, sometimes I feel like contributing to a project. If I could just download the source and a library or two, hit compile and go from there, I probably would. But invariably there are hoops to jump through, issues to resolve, and in the end it often looks like too much work just to get started, let along develop the patch."
Microsoft

Submission + - Review roundup: Dumping Microsoft Office (computerworld.com)

Submitted by SplatMan_DK
SplatMan_DK writes: Computerworld is running an article about Microsofts dominance in the world of office suites, and pointing to strong alternatives for both Mac and Windows — even if you need MS Office compatibility. Under the title "Review roundup: Dumping Microsoft Office for an alternative suite" Ryan Faas and David Haskin explain that:

there are alternatives out there — all cheaper than Microsoft's standard, and a couple that are even free. We sorted through nine contenders, some for Mac and some for PC (and a couple for both), to find out the best non-Office office suites available.
The article contains a good analysis of 9 non-web Office products for the PC.
Input Devices

Submission + - Logitech Introduces the Future of PC Navigation (hardwarezone.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It had to happen, it's a WiiMouse...? Logictech introduces their brand new MX Air Mouse that works on the desk and in the air, promising a whole new experience for the casual and hardcore user.

To read more, click here.
Media (Apple)

Submission + - John C. Dvoraks switch story.

Submitted by raffe
raffe writes: Hell froze over! John C. Dvorak, long time hater of the mac now likes it."I have no plans to move to the Mac platform for my personal use. That said, I have noticed that I've been recommending the machine to friends and neighbors when they want to know what kind of system they should buy."
Upgrades

Submission + - Dell blocks installation of standard components 1

Submitted by
Loh Phat
Loh Phat writes: "Hardware vendors voiding warranties or not providing support is a standard caveat across the industry, but yesterday Dell showed that withholding a $5 part is more important that future sales or bad press.

Our company purchased a Dell PowerEdge 3250 (Dual CPU Itanium) less than two years ago (still under warranty BTW) for cross platform development (yes, our customers demand support for that platform). So we purchased a unit with a single drive in a two drive system.

Its spec sheet specifies U320 SCSI drive support — a standard. See for yourself http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedg e/en/3250_specs.pdf

So when we wanted to add storage we purchased a standard U320 compatible drive and went to install it, however when we pulled the hot-swap drive sled out we noticed that it lacked mounting facilities for the drive; it curiously didn't match the existing sled in the occupied bay. They are 99% identical except for the lack of facility to actually attach a drive.

During a call to Dell "support" it seems that a year ago (a year after we bought the server and before the warranty expires) they stopped selling the drive sled capable of mounting a drive as a separate component — you can only get them, wait for it, attached to a Dell SCSI drive.

So it seems that it's OK to advertise the compatibility with industry-standard components, you just can't use them. With no pre-sales caveat that you will not be allowed to install anything standard unless it comes from Dell. Funny, the drive sled has its own part number H7206 but Dell *refused* to sell it to me.

The term "bait-and-switch" comes to mind. I'm all for caveat emptor, but a full declaration of terms is not unreasonable.

I don't mind having the freedom to be denied service or support of using non-vendor supplied parts (well, I do actually but I least know that before I buy) but in this case I'm physically prevented from doing so after the purchase.

So the question remains: are there grounds to file an anti-trust or some other complaint with the State regarding this deceptive business practice?

Regardless, they're now off the vendor list (actually I inherited the server as I would have selected another vendor in the first place). Good forward thinking there guys."
Businesses

Journal Journal: Did You Buy A Chinese LED Screen?

Journal by LedScreen

A question that I'm increasingly being asked about is "Are Chinese LED screens and companies reliable?".

Their considerably lower cost represents an opportunity that is surely worth considering.

But it is difficult for me to answer this question without resulting biest, so I decided to ask our audience what's their direct experience.
Security

Submission + - DNS spoofing raises its ugly head

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a newly released paper, security researcher Amit Klein from Trusteer demonstrates how DNS spoofing is still possible (after all these years...) with BIND 9. Since most DNS servers out there are BIND 9, so this has a serious effect on the security of the whole DNS infrastructure.

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