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Yahoo!

Yahoo May Re-Consider Google Alliance, Rebuff Microsoft 273

anastasd writes "Reuters is reporting that Yahoo might consider a business alliance with Google as a way to top a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft. 'Yahoo management is considering revisiting talks it held with Google several months ago on an alliance as an alternative to Microsoft's bid, that source said. At $31 a share, Yahoo believes the bid undervalues the company, two sources said. A second source close to Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media, technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing.'"
Security

One-Third of Employees Violate Company IT Policies 320

BaCa writes with a link indicating that a survey of white collar US workers shows that something like a third of all employees break IT policies. Of those, almost a sixth actually used P2P technologies from their work PCs. Overall, the survey indicates workers aren't overly concerned about any kind of security: "The telephone survey found that 65% of white-collar professionals are either not very concerned or not concerned at all about their privacy when using a workplace computer. A surprising 63% are not very concerned or are not concerned at all about the security of their information while at work. Additionally, most employees have the misconception that these behaviors pose little to no risk to their companies."
Programming

GCC Compiler Finally Supplanted by PCC? 546

Sunnz writes "The leaner, lighter, faster, and most importantly, BSD Licensed, Compiler PCC has been imported into OpenBSD's CVS and NetBSD's pkgsrc. The compiler is based on the original Portable C Compiler by S. C. Johnson, written in the late 70's. Even though much of the compiler has been rewritten, some of the basics still remain. It is currently not bug-free, but it compiles on x86 platform, and work is being done on it to take on GCC's job."
Music

MTV Bails on Microsoft's URGE Store 144

Marlowe writes "MTV's once-ballyhooed partnership with Microsoft appears to be all but dead. MTV is teaming up with RealNetworks to form Rhapsody America, with Verizon handling wireless distribution. It's a big blow to Microsoft, too. 'With the creation of Rhapsody America, the writing is on the wall for MTV and Microsoft's Urge music store partnership. Although the Microsoft-MTV marriage was announced with great fanfare, it was likely headed for divorce court right from the start due to Microsoft's plans to turn PlaysForSure into a second-class citizen with the launch of the Zune — and its self-contained music ecosystem.' When asked about the future of Urge, MTV Music Group President Toffler was terse. 'We are in discussions with Microsoft now and will be on Windows Media Player 11 until further notice,' he said. While the Urge brand will ultimately disappear, Toffler said that 'a lot' of Urge's elements will live on in Rhapsody America."
Portables

Submission + - Lenovo to sell, support SLED on ThinkPads (arstechnica.com)

Pengo writes: Lenovo has announced that they will begin selling T-series ThinkPads with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 preinstalled beginning sometime during the fourth quarter. In addition to supplying the hardware support, Lenovo will also handle OS support for ThinkPad customers, with Novell providing software updates. 'Unlike Dell, which has targeted its Linux offering primarily at the enthusiast community, Lenovo's SLED laptops are targeted at the enterprise. Whether they are running Ubuntu, SLED, or some other distribution, the availability of Linux preinstallation from mainstream vendors increases the visibility of the operating system and gives component makers an incentive to provide better Linux drivers and hardware support. If Lenovo is willing to collaborate with the Linux development community to improve the Linux laptop user experience, it will be a big win for all Linux users, not just the ones who buy laptops from Lenovo.'
Utilities (Apple)

Submission + - Mac systems management (computerworld.com)

johannacw writes: "This story has in-depth info about how to manage Macs using Apple's Managed Preferences architecture. It includes how to use the 14 built-in systems-management areas, how preferences interact, how to secure workstations and help users access resources including applications and printers. It's a must-read for any systems admin working in a Mac or mixed environment. Written by Ryan Faas, this is a follow-up to his popular "Inside Apple's Workgroup Manager." "
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Second Life shuts down casinos (theinquirer.net)

Tech.Luver writes: "theinquirer reports, ( http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41240 ) " LINDEN LAB, hallowed creator of the Second Life virtual world, has announced that all in-world casinos and miscellaneous gambling joints are herewith to be shut down. That means that the large chunk of users that enjoyed using in-world casinos and betting Linden Dollars on events both inside and outside the game world will now have nothing left to do. Perhaps more to the point for Linden, the move will cut off the revenues earned from those owning Casino-style islands in the game, the owners of which are some of the top contributors to the Linden coffers through currency fees and land rental. ""
The Courts

Submission + - Court convicts Skype for breaching GPL

terber writes: In Munich a German court once again upheld the GPL2 and convicted Skype (based in Luxembourg) of violating GPL by selling the Linux-based VoIP phone "SMCWSKP 100" without proper source code access. Skype later on added a flyer to the phones with an URL where to obtain the sources, but the court found this insufficient as this was in breach of GPL section 3. Plaintiff was once again Netfilter developer Harald Welte, who runs http://gpl-violations.org/. The decision is currently only available in German at http://www.ifross.de./ News source (German): www.golem.de/0707/53684.html
Security

Submission + - DNS Forgery Pharming Attack Information (net-security.org)

Monley writes: Help Net Security is running a story about a severe flaw in BIND's implementation which allows fraudsters to efficiently predict generated random numbers without the need to control the route between the user and the DNS server. Using this vulnerability fraudsters can remotely forge DNS responses and direct users to fraudulent websites. The fraudulent website can steal the user's sign-in credentials or tamper with the user's communication with the website. The flaw has been discovered by security researcher and Trusteer's CTO, Amit Klein.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Why Linux has failed on the desktop: Con Kolivas (apcmag.com)

SlinkySausage writes: "Linux is burdened with "enterprise crap" that makes it run poorly on desktop PCs, says kernel developer Con Kolivas who recently walked away from years of work on the kernel in despair. APCmag.com has a lengthy interview with Kolivas, who explains what he sees is wrong with Linux from a performance perspective and how Microsoft has succeeded in crushing innovation in personal computers."
Space

Submission + - Top Ten Discoveries of Mars Rovers (space.com)

eldavojohn writes: "Space.com brings us the top ten discoveries of the Martian rovers that landed there in 2004. They were expected to last three months but, as Slashdot has covered time and time again, they have lasted over three years. From mere discoveries about the formation of Mars & images of atmospheric phenomena to definitive proof of a wet Mars (at some point in time), these two robots Opportunity & Spirit have definitely reserved themselves a place in the history books. Pending a dust storm, they may not even be done with their mission yet."
Upgrades

Submission + - Replacing Silicone with Pencil Graphite

Late-Eight writes: "A key discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could help advance the role of graphene as a possible heir to copper and silicon in nanoelectronics. Researchers believe graphene's extremely efficient conductive properties can be exploited for use in nanoelectronics.

Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, eluded scientists for years but was finally made in the laboratory in 2004 with the help of everyday, store-bough items. This research is an important first step, For developing a way to mass produce metallic graphene that could one day replace copper as the primary interconnect material on nearly all computer chips."
The Media

Submission + - MS strikes GPLv3 from Linspire deal

rs232 writes: ""Microsoft says software that's licensed under GPLv3 isn't covered by the patent protection deal it recently signed with desktop Linux distributor Linspire"

http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle .jhtml?articleID=201001836


Did the original patent deal with Linspire explicidly mention GPLv3 and if not can they retrospectivly rewrite the terms of the license. If so what good is it?

http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=2007 0614085735536"

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