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Businesses

Submission + - The next net billionaires

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: A year ago Business 2.0 Magazine tagged a startup named YouTube as a young company to watch. Here are the 25 startups to keep an eye on in 2007. Broken into 5 categories of 5 each: Social media, video, mobile, advertising, and enterprise.
Windows

Software Missing From Vista's "Official Apps" 288

Posted by Zonk from the big-holes dept.
PetManimal writes "Microsoft has just released a list of 800 applications it says are 'officially supported' on Windows Vista. What's special about this list, however, are the programs that are not included: 'Popular Windows software that is conspicuously missing from Microsoft's list includes Adobe Systems Inc.'s entire line of graphics and multimedia software, Symantec Corp.'s security products, as well as the Mozilla Foundation's open-source Firefox Web browser, Skype Ltd.'s free voice-over-IP software and the OpenOffice.org alternative to Microsoft Office.' Another area in which Vista has found to be lacking is gaming, as discussed earlier on Slashdot."
The Courts

Ohio University Leads U.S. Colleges in File Sharing 135

Posted by Zonk from the go-buckeyes dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Ohio University leads the nation in illegal music download notifications, having received 1,287 RIAA complaints since September, with between ten and 15 notices arriving daily. The University is attempting to deflect criticism with a PR piece, saying open networks required for academic freedom make it difficult to stop illegal file sharing. They also point out that the University's architecture makes it much easier to determine who is actually sharing the files. This makes a complaint more likely, as the RIAA knows who to target. "
The Media

A Unique Perspective on a 'Game-Related' Tragedy 378

Posted by Zonk from the for-low-values-of-related dept.
Megnatron writes "Penny Arcade has a letter from the stepmother of one of the kids who was recently charged with killing a homeless man. Her article is an extremely sobering tale of the problems dealing with troubled teen. She explains how, in this situation, the parents did everything they possibly could. And, in a refreshing twist, she absolves the games industry of any blame for the tragedy these kids perpetrated. From her missive: 'Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it's unfortunate that the correlation is there. The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he's done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants. The only good thing (if there is such a thing) that has come out of this whole ordeal is that the kid is behind bars. That is exactly where he needs to be.'" Her letter is a passionate, troubling story, but well worth reading.
Microsoft

Submission + - What Happened to IE7?

Submitted by ToeJet
ToeJet writes: Internet Explorer 7 seems to me MIA on the Microsoft Update site. As a SysAdmin that handles multiple computers and windows versions, the IE7 update is being skipped since it broke internal apps at my company. Building a new machine this morning, the normal windows update process was begun (Update, reboot, repeat....). Scanning for IE7 to remove it from the update list turns up missing. After checking sever machines, both 2003 and XP, IE7 is not listed as an update or a hidden update. A critical update disappears, What gives?
Software

Submission + - The 8 challenges of virtualizing your data center

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "The benefit of virtualizing x86 servers is clear: break the link between software and hardware and create the foundation for a more dynamic, flexible and efficient data center. But the road to a virtual data center isn't without its twists and turns. The move to a virtual environment must be done carefully and with an understanding of how the new infrastructure will change IT planning and management. What follows is a list of eight virtualization "gotchas" — hurdles that users may face as they deploy virtual environments — that we've compiled through discussions with IT professionals, analysts and vendors. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/022307-virtu alization-data-center.html"
Space

New Software Stops Mars Rover Confusion 126

Posted by Zonk from the robots-getting-smarter dept.
MattSparkes writes "The Mars rover Spirit used to get quite confused when it came upon a rock. Because it could only plan routes of a metre or two it couldn't understand how to navigate around large objects, and frequently used to rock back and forth for hours trying to figure it out. NASA have written new software called D* for the rover Opportunity, which should allow it to autonomously plan routes up to 50 metres long. The new software still won't be able to avoid sand-traps, though."
Operating Systems

Submission + - Leaving Vista for Ubuntu

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Tanker Bob blogs over at MobileTechReview.com about his increasing frustrations with Windows, DRM and the like. So he details how he jumped ship to Linux (Ubuntu with KDE). It's got a blow-by-blow that's technical yet useful for newbies thinking of making the switch. The article is here: http://www.mobiletechreview.com/ubbthreads/showfla t.php?Cat=&Board=tankerbobblog&Number=26899&page=0 &view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
Announcements

Submission + - Linux on Dell Laptops? It could happen.

Submitted by MilwaukeeCharlie
MilwaukeeCharlie writes: CIO magazine is reporting that a Dell-hosted blog called Dell Idea Storm, unveiled Feb 16, has generated over six thousand requests for Linux to be pre-installed on Dell laptops, making it the most popular request on the blog.

Other popular requests were for Open Office and Firefox. Are advocates of open source software better organized in posting to Dell Idea Storm? With how many grains of salt should we take these requests, considering the unscientific nature of online polls? Finally, do you think it will ever happen?
Google

Submission + - Google screws over Owner of popular OSS project

Submitted by buhatkj
buhatkj writes: The guy who runs the popular OSS 3d engine project Irrlicht just got banned from Google AdSense, after an accusation of click fraud!
From the Blog Post:

"Maybe you've noticed, for the last few days some google ads appeared on this blog, but they have disappeared now again. That's because I just got banned from google adsense for life time (as it seems), although I didn't do anything wrong."

Not only that, but they are witholding monies already earned by his ads prior to the accusation.

"In that mail, they did not even tell me any information about their problem with my ads, only "invalid clicks or page impressions". No IP adresses, no channel ID, no website, no time or date, no amount of clicks, nothing. No way for me to find out what was wrong. There was the possibility to contradict, and I tried to explain some possible causes like the sudden increased amount of traffic, but they ignored me. The interesting thing: They now even won't pay out the money I already earned before the occurance of their 'invalid clicks' assert. "

Check out the full story HERE
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Chimp snack: bushbaby on a stick

Submitted by SpinyNorman
SpinyNorman writes: If you have an interest in animal tool use, you should already know about horses that scratch themselves with sticks, and crows using SUVs as nut crackers, but New Scientist is now reporting on a rather more sophisticated use — Chimps using sharpended sticks to skewer bushbabys hiding in holes in trees so that they can snack on them! This snacking behaviour seems mostly limited to the female of the species.

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