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00_NOP writes "Acoording to a report on Softpedia, citing a UK government study, Linux PCs are likely to be used for 6 — 8 years instead of the typical 3 — 4 years of a Windows-based PC. With the price of copper and other commodities rocketing, seems like it is good news for the bank balance as well as, errr, the penguins. My oldest Linux box is from 2001 — what's yours?"
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Linux-Reduces-Your-E-Waste-by-50-73350.shtml

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."

The theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact, the K-T extinction, is well known and supported by fossil and geological evidence. Asteroid impact theory does not apply to the other fluctuations in biodiversity, however, which follow an approximate 62 million-year cycle. As reported in Science news, a new theory seems to explain periodic mass extinctions. The new theory found that oscillations in the Sun relative to the plane of the Milky Way correlate with changes in biodiversity on Earth. The researchers suggest that an increase in the exposure of Earth to extragalatic cosmic rays causes mass extinctions. Here is the original paper describing the finding.

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.