It's not like Microsoft don't want you to use .NET anyway. All Microsoft need to do is support the CLR runtime and framework under the new version and anything running on .NET that doesn't call unmanaged code will work straight away. Same for anything running on Java, and it's not like that doesn't run on other architectures already. That means productivity apps like OpenOffice/etc will also work. It's not all doom and gloom!

I would have thought the monitoring companies would have loved the NBN, it means they can ditch large, space and power consuming analog PSTN gear with power and space efficient routers. As far as saying theres no monitoring, thats BS. If you're offering a Layer 2 wholesale product, you can see whether or not there are tunnels established for that client, and if the tunnel is up - you can poll to see if the device is reachable. Also a win for alarm system companies, who now get a chance to make ludicrous profits on installing entirely new alarm systems country-wide. Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction that if given attention might actually do these parties more harm than good...

It will be interesting to see if the studios take up a campaign of harassment lawsuits against individuals in AU. At least ISPs won't be foisted with another short-sighted compliance issue - now all us Aussies need to do is avoid Stephen Conroy's mandatory internet filtering debacle.... In either case, this is a great thing for industry: well done iiNet!

It will be interesting to see if the studios take up a campaign of harassment lawsuits against individuals in AU. At least ISPs won't be foisted with another short-sighted compliance issue - now all us Aussies need to do is avoid Stephen Conroy's mandatory internet filtering debacle.... In either case, this is a great thing for industry: well done iiNet!

You need to look at the trends for IE7 and IE8, it looks like the market share is trending towards upgrades from IE7 to IE8, just like how Firefox 3 lost share at around the same rate as Firefox 3.5 gained share. Going by this, you'll see that IE8 is going to head straight back up to around the 40% mark. Which, all things considered is GREAT news - IE8 is a much better browser as far as standards-compliancy is concerned and it means the web is on it's way to being a much more stable platform, rah rah rah. Also interesting, check the decline in IE6 also - I wonder if IE6 users are flocking to IE8 also - maybe IE8 will end up with ~60% market share? No matter what happens, less IE7 and IE6 = WIN.

My understanding of console games markets is that most consoles are sold as a loss-leader, and the profit is made by the manufacturers by what's known as an 'attach rate', the number of licensed accessories and games released for the platform. If Nintendo wanted to push out an open platform for unlicensed content (not under the Nintendo seal and guaranteed to work on the console), then the business analysts at Nintendo would be forced to put a bigger price sticker on the unit - which is already a stretch for what is seen as an underpowered console. From this point of view, I can understand exactly why controls like this are put into place. That being said, if they made a readily available 'community' developers kit available that allowed you to mess with the platform but not commercially release anything - this could actually work in their favour. They could encourage indies and whatnot to get familiar with the platform and do the groundwork on their product before needing to buy a commercial license. This could lead to an INCREASE in titles for the device, increase attach rates and be win-win for everyone. So it sounds to me like indies are having trouble getting what they want, and this should be the issue!

Another second here for Garmin + SportTracks.

I have had the Garmin Edge 305 for nearly a year and it's great. Though i've now got 2 "not completely functional" cadence/wheel speed sensors which I need to deal with.

SportTracks caches the google map tiles locally too, so even if your offline you can still see the maps for the areas you've been before (assuming you do alot of riding around your normal area).

And for sharing data online, Garmin Connect (formally MotionBased, and now free) is really good. It lets you show off how awesome you are.

"More important, 70 percent of respondents who have used Windows 7 say they like it, which is a sign that Windows 7 stands a chance of being what Vista never was: an upgrade good enough to convince most XP users to switch." I'm betting that's not 70% of people who are currently using XP (versus Vista & XP combined)! I've literally just reinstalled XP from giving our Technet Win 7 (RTM) a go for a while, if they could make the interface more consistant and allow the old start menu behaviour - I could probably bear it permanently.

I was recently looking into this using the concept of dual-licensed GPL/LPGL 'glue' connectors. This is the response I got back from the Free Software Foundation:

For your specific requirements, I'd advise touching base with them - they have an advice service for these types of questions.