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Submission + - Steve Jobs responds to Mac vs iPhones. But clones? (macsimumnews.com) 2

Submitted by destinyland
destinyland writes: Responding to Newsweek's "RIP, Macintosh" article, Steve Jobs replied to Macsimum News, "Completely wrong. Just wait." (Though ironically, it was sent from Jobs' iPhone.) Newsweek's article had quoted Jobs as telling a developer that "We are focusing primarily (though not exclusively) on iPhone OS this year. Maybe next year we will focus primarily on the Mac. Just the normal cycle of things. No hidden meaning here." But Technology analyst Ronald O. Carlson is predicting the next phase might see Mac clones. ("It's a highly mature product category that doesn't require the company's full, direct attention... all Apple would need to do is build the OS and certify hardware a la the App Store.") It could even drive competition in the PC space, he argues, creating shorter and cheaper hardware development cycles.

Submission + - Is there a linux for my dad yet? 7

Submitted by Renegade Iconoclast
Renegade Iconoclast writes: I've been running Ubuntu now for about 2 years, ever since my Windows machine got borked by some kind of trojan that nothing could clean up (but which tried to run a server every time I surfed the net). I like it a lot, when it works. The thing is, I have an ATI card. This means that not only do I have to go through hoops to get the fglrx drivers to work, even when they work, I have to fix compiz, because the windows are sluggish (very common problem with ATI and compiz, as I'm sure you know). Okay, fine. I only have to do that once, right? Well, no, unfortunately. Kernel updates (need I say more?). In fact, the latest update broke not only fglrx, but also Pulseaudio and Alsa, and I ended up having to install oss (which was extremely tedious and complex, even for a professional software engineer like me).

This is all fine and dandy, and I'm not having a go at Ubuntu. Hell, it's free, what more can I ask for, right? I'm willing to put up with it occasionally because I love the O/S (when it works), and I have had my fill of M$. But let's face it, this would be a disaster for my dad. He lives in a different city, it's not like I can just drop by and fix it when an Ubuntu update destroys the fragile ecosystem I've had to set up to make all his hardware work. Mac is not an option, because he's a cheapskate, and he's disabled, so he absolutely has to have a laptop. Still, I really want to get him on linux, because he gets viruses and so forth on Windows, and (admittedly on my stern warnings) doesn't trust his Windows box to do banking.

Is the answer to make sure his next laptop is NVidia-based? If so, is there a less aggressive distro that won't destroy my setup periodically? Or is Ubuntu about as good as it gets for parents?

Submission + - Why Ubuntu fails to meet the needs of ordinary use (kteck.ca) 1

Submitted by cuttheredwire
cuttheredwire writes: As a user of an operating system I expect it to be secure and easy to use, I don't expect it to limit the kinds of applications I use. For this reason I don't have a smart phone and its attendant tie into to app stores and the like.

Microsoft in general provides for my needs, the OS runs,and Firefox upgrades automatically when there is a new version, Open-office does the same. In fact I can run all the open source software I care about on Windows XP without a problem. I am not alone in finding Ubuntu lacking because it does not work this well, see http://blog.kteck.ca/2010/01/29/install-firefox-3-6-on-ubuntu-9-10/

I prefer to use Ubuntu, but on this supposedly holy grail of open source systems, I am currently locked into a previous version of Firefox and a previous version of open office. The only way I will get an upgrade is when Ubuntu spin the next rev of the OS to 10.4. Now imagine the uproar if MS said you cant update your 3rd party programs without updating the whole system!

Now sure, I have the skills to trivially take .dbs and update myself — but I should not have to! windows users would view this as positive proof of the arcane nature of Linux, they ask why do they need the funny black window with the little white writing in it to do what they can achieve with no effort with windows.

The Linux desktop experience still needs work, I expect 3rd party applications to be easily installed with at worst a click on their home page. Really what I what, is to have what I have under windows, the applications update themselves,

Submission + - Microsoft will debut Windows Mobile 7 at MWC (businessweek.com)

Submitted by CSHARP123
CSHARP123 writes: Business Week is reporting, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may give the world a sneak peek at Windows Mobile 7 next week during a press conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Ballmer is scheduled to meet with reporters at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday to discuss Windows phones, according to a Microsoft statement.
Here is the link for Ballmer hosting Windows Phone Conference

Submission + - Dell locks out non Dell hard drives (channelregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: So much for SATA and SAS being industry standards, Dell has decided to disable any drive connected to their servers which was not purchased from Dell.
Music

Submission + - In literature, is it plagiarism or sampling? (nytimes.com) 2

Submitted by ardent99
ardent99 writes: According to the New York Times today, Helene Hegemann's first book, has been moving up the best-seller list in Germany and is a finalist for a major book prize. While originally this was notable because Hegemann is only 17 and this is her first book, and so earned her praise as a prodigy, what's interesting now about this story is that she has been caught plagiarizing many passages in the book. Amazingly, she has not denied it, but instead claims there is nothing wrong with it. She claims that she is part of a new generation that has grown up with mixing and sampling in all media, including music and art, and this is legitimate in modern culture. Have we entered a new era where plagiarism is not just tolerated, but seen as normal? Is this the ultimate in cynicism, or simply a brash attempt at getting away with something now that she's been caught? Is her claim to legitimacy compromised by the fact that she only admitted it after it was discovered by someone else? And finally, if it is not acceptable in literature, is this reason to rethink the legitimacy of musical sampling?

Submission + - Opera 10.50 kicks Google Chrome's butt (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It seems that the Opera web browser has had a speed boost, and is now faster than Google Chrome, which previously held the top spot.
Politics

Submission + - Texas Textbooks Battle is Actually an American War (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by ideonexus
ideonexus writes: I've been lackadaisical when it comes to following stories about Texas schoolboard attempts to slip creationism into Biology textbooks, dismissing the stories as just "dumbass Texans," but what I didn't realize is that Texas schoolbooks set the standard for the rest of the country, and it's not just Creationism that this Christian coalition is attempting to bring into schoolbooks, but a full frontal assault on history, politics, and the humanities that exploits the fact that final decisions are being made by a school board completely academically unqualified to make informed evaluations of the changes these lobbyists propose. This evangelical lobby has successfully had references to the American Constitution as a "living document," as textbooks have defined it since the 1950s, removed in favor of an "enduring Constitution" not subject to change, as well as attempting to over-emphasize the role Christianity played in the founding of America. The leaders of these efforts outright admit they are attempting to redefine the way our children understand the political landscape so that, when they grow up, they will have preconceived notions of the American political system that favor their evangelical Christian goals.

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