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Links 21/11/2009: Smartbooks and Fedora 13 Plans Appear



GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux

  • Linux Professional Institute Announces New Affiliate in Turkey
    The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), the world's premier Linux certification organization (http://www.lpi.org), announced a new affiliate for their program: LPI-Turkey (http://www.lpi-turkey.com/). LPI-Turkey will be managed by Endersys Consultancy and Software Ltd.(http://www.endersys.com). Endersys was founded in 2006 and provides Linux and Open Source solutions, services and IT consulting in Turkey.


  • LinuxCertified Announces its next Linux System and Network Administration BootCamp


  • Coolest Desktop Screenshot Wins Prize


  • LB - Episode 46 - Google and Command Line Fun by Linux Basement




  • Kernel Space

    • Kernel Log: Coming in 2.6.32 (Part 3) - Storage
      The kernel development team have enhanced various aspects of Btrfs, one effect of which is to significantly improve the experimental file system's write performance. A number of changes to the block layer promise better data throughputs and reactivity. There are also several new drivers for storage hardware.


    • libvdpau, libva Both Updated Today
      In hopes of pushing VDPAU beyond just being a NVIDIA Unix driver technology and to make it an open standard for Linux video driver developers wishing to provide HD video acceleration on Linux via the GPU, NVIDIA released a standalone VDPAU library back in September and have been trying to push some VDPAU bits for DRI2.


    • A Northwest Nobel option?
      That list of Linux-related or -inspired developments is only partial. Here in the Northwest, for example, we could add the Free Geek operations in Portland, which do a lot of good for not only the low-income people and non-profit groups they are specifically aimed to help, but also almost everyone who comes into contact with them. The effects though have been world-wide, and are accelerating. And could grow faster with a little more attention.


    • [ANNOUNCE] xorg-server 1.7.1.902
      As with RC1, there's nothing overly exciting about this release, just a bunch of fixes all over, with XQuartz having a largest batch of changes. 1.7.2 is scheduled for next friday, so please only nominate crucial fixes now.


    • A New Patch For Radeon DRM Power Savings
      When it comes to the open-source ATI power management efforts, Red Hat's Matthew Garrett has been working on dynamic down-clocking through AtomBIOS, dynamic clocks support was added to the ATI driver for R500+ GPUs to support dynamic clock-gating and static power management, force low power mode options, and various other techniques are being worked on to conserve power like frame-buffer compression, shutting down PLLs, LVDS re-clocking, and more.








  • Applications

    • Automatic Linux Laptop Backups


    • Opera 10.10 Just a Smidgen Away
      The guys at Opera are being very careful this time. There are so few things left that have been changed that perfection is within reach. This is something I haven’t seen before – a Release Candidate 3 for Opera 10.10.


    • Vim 101: A Beginner's Guide to Vim


    • Install Multiple Applications With AllMyApps
      AllMyApps offers a similar functionality as Ninite which we have reviewed last month. Both applications allow a computer user to install multiple programs without further user interaction. But that’s where the similarities end. Ninite creates a custom installer based on the selection of applications that the user makes on the homepage. AllMyApps on the other hand consists of a software program that needs to be installed on the computer system and an online part which consists of the selection of applications and the sending of these information to the installed software.


    • How to Configure SAMBA on a Linux Server








  • Games

    • CXGames 8.1 Zombie Mallard Overview
      Left 4 Dead 2 was one of the most anticipated games of 2009 (even with the boycott). Even before its full release (the demo opened to players a few weeks prior) the good people over at Codeweavers where hard at work making sure their CXGames software would be ready to allow Linux/Mac gamers everywhere to fully enjoy this latest edition to Valve's source games. Less than twenty four hours after L4D2 hit shelves (digital and otherwise) CXGames 8.1 (codename Zombie Mallard) was released.


    • Win a CodeWeavers Linux Gaming Rig


    • Crossover Games 8.1








  • K Desktop Environment

    • Amarok 2.2.1
      Only 6 weeks after the launch of Amarok 2.2.0, the Amarok team is proud to present the next release in the 2.2 series: Amarok 2.2.1. This audio-player can play various audio-file formats & audio-streams. While the developers have focused on fixing bugs and polishing existing features, a few new features make their appearance as well.


    • PulseAudio Phonon Support now in KDE trunk and heading towards 4.4
      I’ve very pleased to announce that my work on Phonon to integrate support for PulseAudio has now been committed to trunk and will form part of KDE 4.4


    • KDE Licensing Policy Changes








  • Distributions

    • linux love, gentoo love!
      actually the new portage kde 4.3.3 seems to be very stable (read usable) for me. the proprietary graphics driver nvidia.ko is doing great! i use suspend2ram about 10 times a day. i leave the pc in suspend2ram for days and it only needs 3W of power! suspend2ram needs 2-3 secs for going down and about 7 secs to come back up! plasma is now at a point that i see it is going to be useful. the expose clone of the kde folks is very very nice to use. dragon player seems to get stable so i can use it with the smb:// kio plugin to watch films from my server. firefox64 selfcompiled now uses a 64bit flash plugin.




    • Red Hat Family

      • Fedora 13 May Support Btrfs System Rollbacks
        Fedora 12 was just released this week, but features for Fedora 13 have been in planning long before this release made it out the door. In fact, it was last month that we began talking about features for Fedora 13. One of the features though that has just been proposed for Fedora 13 is rather interesting and that is system rollback support via Btrfs file-system snapshots.


      • Intel Linux Graphics Shine With Fedora 12
        Lastly, we have the results from Urban Terror. Fedora 12 was the clear winner here where it offered much better performance than 10 and 11. In fact, the frame-rate for Urban Terror in Fedora 12 was doubled of where it was at in Fedora 11.








    • Debian Family

      • 10 easy steps to Ubuntu freedom
        You may be afraid to make the jump to Ubuntu Linux, thinking it may be too daunting to install it by yourself or perhaps you have never even done an operating system installation all by yourself but have a machine spare after your last replacement pc or upgrade arrived and want to dabble with Ubuntu.


      • PiTiVi Creator Responds To Readers Fears...
        We're progressively getting more company time for PiTiVi (Brandon has been back on it full time for the past frew weeks for example). It's far from being abandoned/dead, just that we do it at our own pace. It's freely available (LGPL, no copryight attributions required) and will always stay that way. We always welcome contributions and are pretty fast to review/commit patches.












  • Devices/Embedded

    • HMI SBC gains larger display, Linux BSP
      Blue Chip Technology has released an updated version of its small SBC (single board computer) aimed at embedded HMI (human machine interface) applications. Based on a MIPS32-based RMI Au1100 processor, the new RE1 "REsolution" SBC adds a full Linux board support package and a 7-inch LCD module, says the company.


    • Gaming boards run Linux
      Acrosser announced two Linux-ready "All-in-One" boards for gaming and AWP (Amusement With Prizes) machines. The ACE-B5296 supports an Intel Pentium and 915GME northbridge, and the ACE-B5692 runs a Core 2 Duo and GME965, and both offer dual VGA outputs, PCIe expansion, plus Ethernet, USB, serial, storage, ccTalk, and JAMMA I/O.


    • Low-cost NAS gains USB ports, social net sync
      Cloud Engines has released a new version of its Linux-based Pogoplug networked-attached storage (NAS) device, which uses the Marvell SheevaPlug reference design. The Pogoplug is larger and costs $30 more, but moves from one USB port to four, and adds new synchronization, multimedia sharing, and social networking integration features.


    • Second generation Pogoplug adds more USB ports
      The second generation Pogoplug now features four USB ports. Cloud Engines has released the second generation of its popular Pogoplug "plug-top computer". The Pogoplug unit is a small Linux computer running an ARM compatible processor that lets users connect and share USB drives over the Internet via its built-in Gigabit Ethernet connection. Supported drive formats include NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, Ext2 and Ext3. Once connected and set up, drives and files can be accessed and shared from any web connection.


    • MontaVista Develops Software for Dell's Latitude ON
      MontaVista Software, a company that offers open source software solutions for the embedded Linux systems market, reportedly announced that the company developed a software stack for Latitude ON – Dell’s (News - Alert) instant, always on connection to e-mail, Web, contacts and calendar.




    • Phones

      • Open source phone in SA
        Local distributors of the Neo FreeRunner seeing strong demand for open-platform mobile phone.

        The Neo FreeRunner, an open source mobile phone, is now available in South Africa through local distributors Engineering Ideas. The Neo FreeRunner, produced by Openmoko, is built using entirely open source software and open hardware.




      • Nokia

        • Nokia’s Maemo OS – The next big wave
          In my view, the Nokia N900 is shaping up to be the beginning of a very interesting ride for many mobile developers, and for many developers that were previously not interested in mobile computing. And for the regular users? Well, they are in for a treat with all the apps that are going to be developed for this device. And I am not talking of simple unit converters, shopping list programs, car fuel consumption trackers, etc. I believe that the level of sophistication and power of the applications that are going to become available for the N900 will be rivaled by no other phone type device in existence. Don’t believe me? Well, feel free to skip this wave. But as for me, got to go, surf is up.


        • Nokia N900 mobile phone showcased in 30 new videos!
          Nokia has unveiled a series of videos showing the N900 in action, as anticipation builds ahead of one of the most eagerly awaited handsets of 2009.

          The Nokia Conversations blog will have 30 clips to view by the end of November, each of which will showcase a different aspect of the powerful smartphone.












    • Sub-notebooks

      • A Laptop in Every American Backpack
        A single global communications network, composed of Internet, mobile, SMS, cable and satellite technology, is rapidly tying the world's people together as never before. The core premise of this paper is that the emergence of this network is one of the seminal events of the early 21st century.




      • ARM

        • Inventec Smartbook almost makes me think Smartbooks have a shot
          There’s no question that PC makers and wireless carriers are getting ready to unveil a whole slew of low power smartbooks with ARM processors and Linux...


        • Qualcomm sees big bucks in China's smartbook market
          It's almost as if Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs took a deep breath and looked the vast expanse that is Mainland China and said to himself; 'There be money in them there hills...'. As well there should be. Qualcomm is arguably the world's biggest producer of ARM-based silicon, the very silicon that powers virtually every cell phone ever made. Today's statement however took some commentators by surprise as it was made not in the context of phones, but of smartbooks, miniature computers that are set to replace Netbooks as the next-big-thing in 2010.

          [...]

          Will Android or Google Chrome OS have a part to play? Of course. Will Apple be watching with interest? You bet. 'Tis an interesting view from here, has to be said.








      • Chrome OS

        • ARM excited by Chrome OS
          Chip designer ARM is excited about the prospect of Google Chrome OS, according to the company's EVP of Marketing Ian Drew.

          Speaking to TechRadar after being name-checked by Google at the unveiling of Chrome OS, Drew admitted that he couldn't predict whether the revolutionary principles behind the new operating system would be successful, but that he wouldn't bet against a company with such a good track record.


        • Just Today: Download of VMware Image of Google Chrome OS
          Google has prepared its Chromium OS, alias Chromium, for download. Anyone hesitant to intall if from source code will find a functioning VMware image from Linux Magazine Online.


        • Want To Try Out Google Chrome OS For Yourself? Here’s How.


        • Chrome OS Smartbooks Coming 2H2010
          They're reporting that Pegatron Technology has received a "large volume" of smartbook orders from several different clients. It's believed these smartbooks will launch in Q1 2010 on several different carriers. These first smartbooks are expected to cost around $200 USD. Most of them will sport a Linux OS, due primarily to their tiny display size. Now, here's where things get interesting;

          "Google Chrome OS-based smartbooks are expected to be available on a large scale in the second half of 2010, Shu added."


        • What is Google ChromeOS, I mean really ?


        • Having complained about Google Checkout...
          ... because of its opaqueness in certain circumstances (and more to say when next I am at a computer), let me mention a different Google project notable for its transparency. That is the "Chromium OS" -- a new operating system optimized for "netbooks," which was announced yesterday as an open-source development project. Google has made the source code available free, along with some design documents and results of early user testing. First video below is the hour-plus announcement session. At the bottom is a three-minute product intro.


        • Five Reasons Google Chrome OS will Succeed
          How do you measure success, anyway? Tony argues that the Chrome Web browser hasn't caught fire, but that doesn't mean it isn't loved by the people who use it (myself included). I'm particularly interested to see if the operating system winds up in smartbooks, which are ultramobile PCs running on Arm-based chips. If that category takes off, Chrome OS could get a spot on the ground floor. Besides, Google said Chrome OS is intended, at present, for secondary machines. Even if people don't flock to it (and they won't), that doesn't make the operating system a failure. v


        • Chrome OS: There Will Be Local Storage
















Free Software/Open Source

  • Bad code can now be offset
    The proceeds of the money raised is to be donated to worthy open source initiatives. Initially, these projects are jQuery, PostgreSQL and the Apache Software Foundation.


  • Roundcube: the world's coolest Open Source webmail project?
    Roundcube is a free open source webmail client with an application-like user interface. Roundcube provides all the functionality one expects from an e-mail program and connects to any mail server backend that supports IMAP.


  • Over 50 Free, Must-Have Open Source Resources
    On a regular basis, we at OStatic round up our ongoing collections of open source resources, tutorials, reviews and project tours. These educational toolkits are a big part of the learning mission we try to preserve at the site. We regularly collect the best Firefox extensions, free online books on open source topics, free tools for developers, resources for working with and enjoying online video and audio, Linux tutorials, and much more. In this post, you'll find an updated set of more than 45 collections and resources. Hopefully, you'll find something to learn from here, and the good news is that everything found in this post is free.


  • Retrospectiva Keeps Software Development Teams on the Same Page
    Retrospectiva is designed with an eye toward engineering teams that need a tool to carry them through the entire development life cycle. It tracks issues and tickets, manages goals and milestones, and offers code review and revision management features as well. Retrospectiva also includes support for Subversion and Git.


  • Four Open Source File Shredders That Delete Data Forever
    Darik's Boot and Nuke - Here's a self-contained boot disk that automatically completely delete the contents of any hard drive it detects. Once you use this app, your data is forever cooked, so be careful with it. DBAN is a great tool for wiping the contents of a computer you're selling or as a way to ensure you've eradicated all viruses and spyware before doing a clean OS install.


  • Open-source virtualization: Who's biting?
    Virtualization is unarguably one of the biggest trends of the past few years, and open-source software has been on the IT radar for a while now. So does that make open-source virtualization twice as much of a good thing?

    At least some corporate IT departments think so. They're turning to open-source software as part of their virtualization mix. Sure, savings are a big factor, but so is the ability to tweak the software to suit specific requirements.

    Just ask Stan Yazhemsky, manager of IT operations at Legal Aid Ontario (LAO), which uses Citrix Systems Inc.'s XenServer, a management tool running on the open-source Xen hypervisor.


  • Open-source Ethernet stack will cut development costs
    Austrian researchers have developed an open-source software stack that will help developers to connect devices cost-effectively to industrial Ethernet. The EtherNet/IP Adapter Stack, developed by the Automation and Control Institute (ACIN) at Vienna’s University of Technology, is aimed at developers seeking low- or no-cost communication stacks for simple EtherNet/IP products.


  • Open source comes to Army Go Mobile program
    As a technology guy, I was impressed with the types of devices that were shown, especially the tiny projector. But what impressed me more than anything was that every single application running in the Go Mobile Program was open source.


  • Reed Exhibitions Makes a Stand With Open Source Data Integration Solution
    Talend, the recognized market leader in open source data integration software, today announced that Reed Exhibitions, the world's leading events organizer, has selected Talend Integration Suite and Talend Data Quality to help better manage the migration and integration of company data.




  • Fog Computing

    • Editor's Note: Do It Yourself "Cloud"
      But "cloud" covers a lot of different services, and there is no need to throw out good ideas. Cloud services can be roughly divided into four categories: ordinary hosting services for Web sites and email, hosted applications, offsite data storage and backups, and hosting services that use virtualization and distributed computing to provide flexible resource allocation. The last is what I consider to be the true cloud, and the other three items can all be put inside this cloud.

      Whatever you call it and however you want to implement it, why not do-it-yourself? Linux has everything you need. It means being responsible for your own security, hardware, and uptimes, bandwidth costs. It may be that using a hosting service is more cost-effective. But there are plenty of DIY options, and you keep control in your hands.


    • Cloud computing security benefits, risks and recommendations
      ENISA's report is the first to take an independent, in-depth look at all the security and privacy issues of moving into the cloud, outlining some of the information security benefits of cloud computing, as well as 35 key security risks.


    • Open-source CloudMade takes on Google Maps
      CloudMade is gearing up to release a set of tools that will enable people to quickly and easily contribute to the OpenStreetMap project.

      At the same time the company is looking to create a developer model that will enable developers to use OpenStreetMap data and databases in their websites and iPhone applications.


    • Open source and the cloud - the quick and the dead
      And if you’re wondering why a cloud provider would bother working with an open source specialist vendor, rather than just taking their code, consider this: one of the cloud providers mentioned in this post pays for enterprise Linux support subscriptions rather than using a community Linux or supporting its Linux servers internally. And it isn’t Microsoft.








  • Cartoon







  • Databases

    • EU extends review of Oracle plan to buy Sun


    • Oracle begs EC for more time
      The European Competition Commission is extending the deadline set for Oracle to provide evidence that its proposed takeover of Sun Microsystems will not damage competition for European consumers.


    • Users cautious on Red Hat's stake in EnterpriseDB
      While industry analysts praise Red Hat's recent investment in EnterpriseDB as a solid strategic move, users expressed mixed views on the impact of Red Hat's fiscal stake in the rapidly growing, open source database company.

      Tim Boyer, chief technology officer with Leavittsburg, Ohio-based-Denman Tire Corp., said the partnership would make him consider evaluating EnterpriseDB as an alternative to its long-time Cobol systems.








  • CMS







  • Funding

    • Terracotta buys Quartz
      Open source Java clustering software developer Terracotta announced its intent to buy an open source job scheduler known as Quartz.








  • FSF/FSFE/GNU







  • Openness

    • McGinn ushers in an ‘open source’ transition
      Licata’s observation is a reemphasis of what McGinn has been articulating throughout his campaign for Seattle mayor. McGinn calls the period of time between now and Jan. 4, when he is sworn in, as an “open source” transition.








Leftovers

  • Ebay closes Skype sale
    EBAY HAS FINALLY completed its sale of Internet phone and chat service Skype for about €£1.66 billion (over $2 billion).


  • Revenue reality of a bestseller
    Back in April when I posted and discussed the royalty statement for Twilight Fall, my top twenty New York Times mass market bestseller, I promised I would post the next royalty statement that came in for the book. That arrived this week, so today I'd like to take a look at that and share some thoughts on how the book performed in the eleven months since the initial release.

    First, the actual statement, which you can view here.
    If I published only one book a year, and it did as well as this one, my net would be only around $2500.00 over the income level considered to be the US poverty threshhold.




  • Environment

    • Koalas 'could face extinction'
      Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers.


    • Victims of flooding during Hurricane Katrina win compensation
      Ruling opens the door to further claims from up to 100,000 more victims with settlements that could cost billions


    • Fred Singer to speak at climate change sceptics conference
      Professor Ian Plimer, a geologist from the University of Adelaide, has already been in the UK to address an audience of more than one hundred. He will return to speak alongside Lord Monckton of Brencheley at a 'climate change lunch' in London in early December.


    • U.S. Skeptic Has a European Outing
      Singer, who has been a consultant to oil companies and the now defunct Global Climate Coalition, has also been a critic of regulatory restrictions on secondhand tobacco smoke. Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said that "conferences like this are designed to create confusion and play into the very understandable psychology of denial that most humans have ... This is what these people are relying on. Some are funded by fossil fuel companies so it is a very simple motivation, others have more complex reasons, but it does not change the fact they are wrong."


    • Exclusive: Attacks On Health Reform Orchestrated By Yet Another Shadowy Corporate Front Group — ‘CMPI’
      The resistance to reforming our nation’s healthcare system has been fueled by entrenched corporate interests. Their deep pockets are funneling money into generating attack ads, funding lawmakers’ campaigns, and hiring lobbyists. These corporate interests are also funding various front groups to make up their own facts and scare the public.


    • Center for Medicine in the Public Interest Fronting for the Drug Industry
      CMPI is headed by Peter Pitts, the head of global health care for the international corporate public relations firm Porter Novelli, which specializes in helping drug companies evade FDA marketing restrictions by using stealth marketing techniques, like creating fake, unbranded "public service ads" nominally to raise awareness of diseases, but that really drive people to drug-company funded Web sites that advertise drugs.


    • THE INFLUENCE GAME: Front group fights health bill
      These below-the-radar activities were the handiwork of a law firm in Charlotte, N.C., that operates a secretive group called Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare. The organization's sponsors remain a mystery — its Web site offers no clues, and the law firm won't say.

      In a year that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars spent on health care lobbying and TV ads, the advocacy group's impact is hard to gauge since the full scope of its operations is unclear. But its activities illustrate how some are furtively trying to shape public and congressional opinion through front groups — seemingly independent organizations that pursue their founders' goals while masking their identity.


    • "Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare": Yet Another Health Insurance Industry Front?








  • Finance

    • Dear Reader, We Cannot Criticize Goldman Sachs. Instead, We Admire It
      Goldman has its former operatives in key posts throughout the government. It knows what the government is doing; it has a fair idea of what the government will do next. In trading US government securities, the biggest business in the financial world, this “insider” knowledge is no doubt a handy thing to have. It doesn’t hurt either that the Fed is making money available to Goldman at practically no cost. Nor, that the Fed is buying its mortgage backed securities - perhaps even ones that would be hard to unload on the private market.


    • Goldman Sachs to take out garbage at Thanksgiving
      Three hundred employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wall Street's richest firm, have volunteered for the holiday feast and will be tasked with taking out the garbage.

      "Goldman wants their volunteers to sweat," joked Spooner, who at 6-foot-6 towered above a recent tasting session for the meal at Great Performances' kitchens in the SoHo neighborhood.

      Goldman Sachs said the firm supports the effort, but referred all questions to the Salvation Army. The company's volunteers were not available for comment and their names would not be released, the Salvation Army said.


    • Goldman Sachs Execs Skirt Christmas Party Ban
      At Goldman Sachs, tis the season of giving. Not only is the firm lavishing huge bonuses on its employees, but its executives are finding ways around the company's ban on Christmas parties - by calling them "dinners."


    • Goldman Sachs, Shareholders Just Can't Get Along
      Still, I guess I can see where those shareholders are coming from. Why should Goldman get to keep all the loot? Seems only fair that investors get their cut. After all, shareholders are at risk too, you know. Let’s say for a moment that the government wouldn’t rush to Goldman’s aid if Blankfein had to wait in line for a swine flu shot like all the other schmucks — I know, I know, crazy talk, but indulge me — don’t you think those shareholders would be, like, freaked out and stuff?


    • Goldman Sachs apologized for the financial crisis
      As a result, Good initiative the bank could give rise to further criticism from the public and politicians.

      €«Apparently, Goldman Sachs is engaged in self-praise,” – said the head of the International Union service workers, Andy Stern. He accused the leaders of the company that they “hog bonuses that are paid from the taxes American workers€».


    • Q&A: Why Eric Dezenhall Thinks Goldman Sachs' Apology May Be a Waste of Time and Money
      Goldman’s move is widely seen as a PR gesture after a series of high-profile flubs that followed its role as a recipient of public bailout money and a nearly $13 billion windfall from the unwinding of positions in AIG – another company that was only able to stay solvent with taxpayers’ cash.


    • Goldman Holders Miffed at Bonuses
      Some of the largest shareholders in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have urged the Wall Street firm to reduce the size of its bonus pool, arguing that it should pass along more of its blockbuster earnings to investors, according to people familiar with the situation.


    • Goldman holders seek bonus pool reduction-WSJ
      Although the investors are not pushing for a huge cut, they feel Goldman, which received $10 billion of taxpayer help during the credit crisis, should better reward them for this year's rebound, the paper said, quoting people familiar with the situation.


    • Goldman Sachs' $500 Million Mea Culpa
      Goldman has also retained the services of the high-powered international PR firm, Brunswick, to make sure that all of us understand that even a vampire squid can be magnanimous. Brunswick has among its ranks the public affairs director and the chief of staff of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "Brunswick is a corporate communications partnership," its home page states. "We provide informed advice at a senior level to businesses and other organizations around the world, helping them to address critical communications challenges that may affect their valuation, reputation or ability to achieve their ambitions."








  • Internet/Censorship/Web Abuse/Rights

    • Oman cuffs 212 for selling VoIP calls
      This year, police in the Arab nation of Oman have raided 121 internet cafes throughout the country and arrested 212 people for providing VoIP services, according to a local report.








  • Intellectual Monopolies/Copyrights

    • Norwegian Band Told It Can't Post Its Own Music To The Pirate Bay, Even Though It Wants To
      Having recently returned from Norway, where I was impressed at the optimism and the willingness to embrace new technologies and services, it's disappointing to read the following story (found via brokep) of a Norwegian band who recently released an album on their own label and decided to put it up on The Pirate Bay themselves, as more and more indie labels are doing. Except... the band members are a part of the Norwegian music collection society TONO, who is among those fighting to have The Pirate Bay blocked in Norway.


    • Lily Allen: It's Ok To Sell My Counterfeit CDs, Just Don't Give My Music For Free
      Yes, so while some musicians have said they're fine with non-commercial file sharing, but are against anyone selling their unauthorized works, Ms. Allen seems to have taken the opposite approach. Counterfeit all you want, just as long as you profit from it. Yeah. Someone should explain to her the difference between price and value, and also the benefits of word of mouth marketing. But, it doesn't seem like she's much interested in actually understanding this stuff, so if you want to help her understand, maybe go set up a shop selling burned copies of her CDs, and see what happens.


    • He's Got the Law (Literally) in His Hands
      Neither the courts, nor the lawyers, nor even the Liberian parliament have a physical copy of the country's legal code. That's because one man is claiming a copyright on the books -- and he's holding them hostage until he gets paid.


    • Japan Set To Extend Posthumous Copyright
      Recently elected Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama has vowed to extend posthumous copyright protection on compositions from 50 to 70 years.


    • Digital Economy Bill confirms copyright proposals, turns Mandelson loose
      The government unveiled the Digital Economy Bill today, confirming tortuously complicated proposals to combat copyright infringement by to-ing and fro-ing between ISPs, rights holders, Ofcom and the courts. It also paved the way for business secretary Lord Mandelson to rewrite copyright law.


    • Why The Lack of ACTA Transparency Is Not Standard
      In the face of widespread criticism of the lack of ACTA transparency, participating governments and music industry lobbyists have claimed that the transparency issue is much ado about nothing. As governments seek to keep relevant information secret, those same governments released a joint statement last week arguing that "it is accepted practice during trade negotiations among sovereign states to not share negotiating texts with the public at large, particularly at earlier stages of the negotiation."


    • Another Pro-ACTA Letter from MPAA, RIAA, et al.
      A number of movie studios, record labels, and other copyright-holding companies (and their related trade associations) have also written a pro-ACTA letter to Congress, which I first saw posted on Ben Sheffner’s blog. Minus the bizarre “distraction” claim, it follows the same basic pattern—that ACTA will benefit IP businesses and do nothing harmful.


    • Entertainmnent Industry: Yes, Please Keep Negotiating Secret Copyright Treaty To Save Our Asses
      This letter includes pretty much everyone who benefits from abusing copyright laws and is afraid of the internet:

      Advertising Photographers of America American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) American Society of Media Photographers, Inc. (ASMP) Association of American Publishers (AAP) Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI) Commercial Photographers International Directors Guild of America (DGA) Evidence Photographers International Council Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) NBC Universal News Corporation Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) Professional Photographers of America (PPA) Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Reed Elsevier Inc. Society of Sport & Event Photographers Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) Stock Artists Alliance Student Photographic Society The Advertising Photographers of America The Walt Disney Company Time Warner, Inc. Universal Music Group Viacom Inc. Warner Music Group


    • AP Scans Sarah Palin Book Without Permission; Look Out Google Book Search
      Google, accused by some as being a book thief, now has company — the Associated Press. The AP patted itself on the back in an internal memo that detailed how it scanned a copy of Sarah Palin’s book without permission, to make it searchable.


    • Murdoch's The Times Accused Of Blatant Copying, Just As It Tells The World You Should Pay For News
      Yes, just as Rupert Murdoch is calling aggregators (sites that simply summarize and link to stories) parasites (even as he owns a bunch of aggregators himself), one of his papers didn't aggregate, it flat out copied, without permission, a blog post that was written by Edgar Wright as a tribute to Edward Woodward, who recently passed away.


    • Google Blocking Set Top Boxes From Showing YouTube Unless They Pay Up?
      Update: Received a confused and angry email from YouTube PR linking us to the very Wired article we linked to and demanding we add their PR statement (which is already in the Wired article). However, it does not actually answer the questions raised or change the point of this post. The fact that YouTube restricts set tops from accessing the content still does not make sense.










Red Hat Summit 2008: Jim Whitehurst Keynote



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Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
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Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
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António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
Over at Tux Machines...
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IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
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Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
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decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
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Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
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Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
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Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
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Over at Tux Machines...
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Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day