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An anonymous reader writes "Google's motto is "Don't Be Evil" — but they sure have an evil non-disclosure agreement! In order to be considered for employment there, you must sign an agreement that forbids you to 'mention or imply the name of Google' in public ever again. Further, you can't tell anyone you interviewed there, or what they offered you, and you possibly sign away your rights to reverse-engineer any of Google's code, ever. And this NDA never expires. Luckily, someone has posted excerpts from the NDA before he signed it and had to say silent forever." At the bottom of the posting are links to a few other comments on the Web about Google's NDA, including a ValleyWag post that reproduces it in its entirety.

abuthemagician writes "I have a friend whose son wants to be a Video Game programmer when he gets done with college. He is only in eighth grade right now, but where would be a good place to start? I think if he started now he would have a good chance at actually getting a job when he graduates."

thefickler writes "Google has updated the imagery of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast areas on its Google Earth and Google Maps services, so that it now shows the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The company has also denied that it attempted to "rewrite" history."

An anonymous reader writes "Less than a week after the iPhone was released, there is already a website that wants to hack it. As it says on the site "Our Goal is to foster a community of Apple iPhone users and developers dedicated to getting the most out of the iPhone. We're on a mission to better the iPhone experience." They also mention that they want to unlock the iPhone so that it can be used on networks other than Cingular, and get to the point where 3rd party applications that are unapproved by Apple can run on the iPhone. I think we've found our "Bad Guys" and only time will tell if they are successful. iFoneResource.com"

traderwill writes "I'm an older man who got into the Linux/FOSS "hobby" well into my retirement 10 years ago.
I like it but it's time to upgrade my original desktop tower with a completely new system.
The process has been frustrating because the local stores don't sell Linux systems, and I'm having trouble finding the right answer online. After a week, my questions at the different hardware forums are basically unanswered. I like the modern day SFF computers because they're very quiet and easy to move for long weekends and trips. I just want a computer like that with all the expected ports (USB, Parallel, Card Reader), CD/DVD drive, good sound. Even Linux-supported systems turn out to have no support for onboard sound, etc. Why is this turning out to be an impossible task? Can anyone suggest a model or a Linux-friendly SFF vendor? Whatever it is has to be supported 100% by GNU/Linux/FOSS, of course."

The freight ship "Server" which was due to go from Årdal to Murmansk, lost power and ran aground outside Fedje on the Norwegian west coast. Now the ship has broken in half, and an estimated 270 tons of fuel oil has leaked out and caused a major disaster for the birds in the Herdla reservation, and people living on this island.

Some links (in Norwegian, but the picturs show the extent of the disaster) On Hurricane "Per"
Oil spill picture
more links

The front part has been towed ashore, but the aft part is still out on the bank, in the storm, probably with more oil in it.

This is quite bad. Hurricane, 35 m/s (80 MPH) type bad. The strong winds and big waves has made it impossible to keep the oil sheet from spreading, and tonight we are expecting the storm "Per" to arrive. Though here, deep in the Oslo fjord, the storm will not be so bad, on the west coast and further south in Skagerak, there will be nasty weather. People living on the coast in Rogaland, Hordaland and Sogn are advised to stay indoors, and Swedish news sites tell us that they have stopped all rail traffic on the Swedish West coast.

People in Göteborg are asked to stay indoors tomorrow

Worst storm since 1994

Brr... I haven't seen much in the way of English-language links yet; and Aftenposten doesn't have much news about this at all, so mostly pictures for now, unless you can read Norwegian or Swedish.

Michael Talbert writes "Advantages of IP Telephony for the Residential Consumer

www.VoIP-Facts.net

Businesses have for some time now been utilizing voice over IP Telephony through the building of Converged Networks. As VoIP technology matures and the network pipe grows ever larger, LANs that existed primarily for data transmission are being converted to handle all types of media based on the Internet Protocol. With a well established infrastructure of fiber optic trunk lines, Wide Area Networks can carry much more traffic at much higher speeds than they could have in the early nineties. The next step in the evolution of networking for businesses large and small is one network that handles transmissions of data, video, and voice. The Converged Network.

The same can now be said for the modern residential household. As more of us are building our own local area networks at home to connect our family members to each others data and appliances, broadband connections to the outside world have expanded our pipe to the Internet, giving us plenty of bandwidth to consider converging our home network with VoIP.

But why switch? When one considers the services and costs offered by VoIP providers compared to traditional telephone companies, the reasons are compelling.

First and foremost, the financial savings of talking on the Internet, as opposed to using the Telcos copper lines, can be significant. In some cases up to 60%. This is best illustrated with long distance calls. As calls are routed over the Internet, they will indeed eventually be switched over to landlines, but not until they reach their destinations local switching station. To the telephone company, this looks like a local call and is thus free.

Pretty much all VoIP service providers offer free calls within the U.S. and Canada, with some including Puerto Rico and even certain destinations in Europe. International rates are significantly lower than Telco rates and many destinations are as low as 1 or 2 cents a minute. Rates may jump when crossing over to a cell phone network, but are still the lowest to be had.

Different countries handle VoIP calls and rates differently. Panama taxes VoIP calls as do many other countries that have a nationalized telecommunications industry. Even so, International VoIP rates have never been as low. Its just much more cost efficient to route calls over the Internet.

Much like the cell phone industry, most pure play VoIP providers such as Vonage or Packet8 offer various calling plans to suit your individual needs. NetZero offers one of the lowest plans with 100 minutes for $3.95 a month. Vonage has a 500 minute plan for about $15 and Packet8 has unlimited minutes for $20. Even the cell phone companies with their free in network calls cant compete price wise.

Services provided by Vonage and others compare favorably to local phone companies. Voice mail, call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding, and 3-way calling are standard features with most providers, whereas a local phone company may bundle these features and charge for them. Local number porting allows you to transfer your existing phone number in most cases and premium features such as multiple phone numbers and toll free 800 numbers can be had for around $5 a month.

Some services not offered by the phone companies are the Virtual Phone Number, allowing you to have numbers in different area codes, and Voice Mail to E mail which lets you check your messages from a computer. In fact, many providers offer a soft phone a software application that turns your laptop, PC or MAC, into a video/telecommunications center.

Voice over IP Telephony may not be for everybody. There are some disadvantages that we cover in the post Things to Consider Before Switching. But if you are tired of $80 dollar phone bills and being nickled and dimed for every little add on, then VoIP is definitely a new consumer technology that you should look into."