This is going to get even worse for Apple's iPad and other USB free devices. Without a smart card reader, or at least a USB slot to add one, these devices are going to have very limited usability in the DoD as things move forward.

I'll second this. I'm reasonably careful - browse only with Firefox and a handful of extensions, don't use bootleg software, careful about executing anything (unsigned or unknown), and typically stay out of the darker areas of the net. I'd even go as far as to say I think I know what I'm doing.

I still got hit.

Back before Steam switched to webkit, I joined in a random game of counterstrike. The embedded MOTD screen used some flaw in the embedded IE engine that was able to infect my system. Fortunately some of the follow on setups had issues on XP64 and some of the locked down settings, so I discovered what was going on right away.... but I did nothing but view a HTML page from inside a video game to get infected.

PDF, flash, JRE - all sorts of bits on a machine that might just expose you where one might think they are practicing safe hex. It is not just the browser, but all the net enabled applications installed (possibly by default) that should make a person worry.

When the time comes where I move to an electric car, I'll be looking to also put up my own solar/wind generators. It does not strike me as rocket surgery to have a short term battery pool charging all day long, and then plug in the car when I'm home. Probably need some power from the grid, as a car really uses a lot of amps - but I also have a fair bit of roof. The technology for charging and storing electricity keeps getting better. Generating power for home use, then reselling the excess power back seems to be structured financially to make sure it is a no-op. Having a single item for energy transfer... that seems like an area one could start introducing personal power generation on.

A Tesla Roadster seems to burn ~21.7 kWh/100 mi - seems like a a reasonable target to even try to supplement with 2-5kWh panels. (without doing the serious maths on it)

This. Centos is the same codebase as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL)- sans support and artwork. The Centos folks take the source code and create a set of binaries, install media, and yum repositories. The commercial software installs very nicely on the free (as in beer too) version, since it is all the same under the covers. Personally, I find it easier to use Centos than the commercial variants, just because I don't have any issues giving out a VM with a set of applications installed/configured. If you want to kick the tires without shelling out money, but not be on the cutting edge where some commercial stuff might not work (yet), Centos is your distribution.

I've actually talked to the man on a few occasions - right time and right place for a 5'th level peasant in my case. The bit that most of this thread seems to miss is this guy *really* understands the technical details as well as the business end. If you ask why, he can and does answer. He will also make a decision - unlike many management of (former, now acquired) companies and even change course when something does not pan out. His play style, in the business world, reminds me of the Adaptive AI in SupCom:FA.

Honestly, he seemed human.

I was hoping something like this would happen. The CD drive (can I call it a CD-ROM?) failed and was replaced with a new unit. I have not yet had a chance to try replacing the drive... but this means I can add streaming to the TV in the bedroom. While it seems the Wii only plays games when my little one has friends over, it gets used for Netflix on a regular basis.

Not so much. In addition to looking 'correct' in the visible spectrum - they also looked right from an IR (heat) spectrum too.

Sure, you can use OEL for anything you might want - but, the folks using this are probably folks using Oracle for the OS, applications, and possibly even hardware. What this means the Oracle *applications* are going to have better support and tuning.

The big news from Oracle is that it's offering a "modern" Linux kernel that's supposed to offer better performance and support for newer hardware (like solid state disks), and is optimized for Oracle hardware and software.

In practice, it works out something like this. Lets say you call up with some sort of goofy DB or Weblogic issue. Support *has* your exact environment. The application developers may have also used that same environment for development, making this the 'native' build rather than some other platform that the codebase was ported to. It also sets the bar on what you can do with some of the newer kernel features. Sure, you could custom tweak your own kernel to get some goofy bit of hardware to work, but if it breaks the app and you have to call support... Think of it as more of a least common denominator for the Oracle dev folks.

RHEL, OEL, and CentOS are all the same bloody codebase. Thank $DEITY. Pick your support contract vehicle on the commercial side. The fact that commercial applications run very nicely on that cut of Linux is one of the reasons Red Hat has the following it does. (I've got Red Hat in my dead pool for companies to be acquired - I'm surprised something this strategic remained third party this long.)

I have absolutely no problem with using this technology at our borders, scanning cars parked on the departures curb at the airport, etc.

The issue, of course, is they extended the 'border' to include a strip of land 100 miles from the border, all around the US.

Be nice to find another news source - like this one where a login was not needed.

"In losing Mark Hurd, the H-P board failed to act in the best interest of H.P.'s employees, shareholders, customers and partners," Ellison wrote in an email to The New York Times, which posted excerpts of the email late Monday. "The H-P board admits that it fully investigated the sexual harassment claims against Mark and found them to be utterly false."