3,685 Topics
A company called [url=http://www.moderro.com/]Moderro Technologies[/url] this week unveiled the [url=http://www.moderro.com/Product/index.html]Xpack Web 2.0 Cloud Computer[/url], a palm-sized appliance dedicated to cloud computing. The US$395 computer was being demonstrated at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo in New York City this week, and is set to begin shipping in late October. Although the …
Making what now seems like the next logical step for operating system evolution, VMware today told the world about [url=http://www.vmware.com/technology/virtual-datacenter-os/]Virtual Datacenter OS[/url], which it positions as a way to "pool all types of hardware resources--servers, storage and network--into an aggregated on-premise cloud." The solution gives enterprise administrators flexibility and options …
Next week, September 15-18, brings us the biggest Virtualization event in North America and your Linux guy will be there with bells on. I'll be there in my new freelance reporter capacity as [URL="http://www.linux-mag.com"]Linux Magazine's[/URL] Virtualization Columnist/Editor. You can expect blog posts and possibly some breaking news from the conference …
This week my crystal ball tells me that Linux is due for a major makeover and not just another pretty theme: A real makeover. It's time for Linux developers to stop following the Windows and Mac Desktop deveopers and get creative on their own. I understand the argument against this …
The New Dell Inspirion Mini 9 may well become my best friend. I noticed today that [URL="http://www.dell.com"]Dell[/URL] is previewing their new line of Mini Notebook computers and they are impressive. The Dell Inspirion Mini 9 is Dell's entry into the mini notebook market at a very low price point: $349. …
Not only do the French have a different word for everything, they also have a strong Open Source leadership position. The French have done much to foster the growth and acceptance of Open Source software--especially Linux. The [URL="http://www.mandriva.com"]Mandriva Linux [/URL]distribution was born and raised in France (now in its 10th …
Friday August 22nd, 2008 Redhat announced that their servers had been compromised and that the hacker was able to sign a small amount of Redhat SSHS and Redhat issued a warning on the [URL="http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2008-0855.html"]RedHat Network[/URL] to alert Redhat users of the system breach and let their customers know that they …
One has to wonder what's going on in the world between [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] and [URL="http://www.novell.com"]Novell[/URL]. They signed a deal in 2006 worth over $300 million so that Novell could provide licensing certificates and support to Microsoft for its SuSE Linux distribution. Novell, in turn, has to pay Microsoft $40 million over …
According to reports, Intel has decided that there will be no more Centrino Atom chipsets. Fear not, mobile Internet device loving gadget fans, for this does not mean the same thing as there being no more of the chipsets that are helping to power the ultra-low-cost mobile PC market. All …
Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, posted a [URL="http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/706950"]nasty smackdown [/URL]on security nerds and their obsession with security in the gmane.linux.kernel newsgroup. Linus is referring to security professionals who feel that security should be the only focus for bug fixes and patches. His argument is that all bugs are …
It seems that the draft spec for USB 3.0 has been [URL="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210004195"]released by Intel[/URL] following much online speculation over exactly what the technology would and would not be able to do. To be precise, what Intel has released is the 'Extensible Host Controller Interface draft specification revision 0.9' for Super-Speed …
Yes, you read that correctly: Servers to Gadgets to Desktop. It seems that Linux Operating System expansion will occur in that order. First, Linux was in the Data Center booting Apache to the top spot for worldwide web services. Next, Linux was found on gadgets as small as cell phones, …
Since most legitimate vendors are no longer able to sell or install Windows XP after June 30, I have an option for you: Use Linux. That's right, retain that XP look and feel goodness without violating any rules or creating other problems for yourself by using the little known [URL="http://www.xpde.com"]XPDE[/URL] …
It’s not a new snack food and it’s not a plan to help save the Earth. The low power chips are a series of application processors and digitial signal processors announced in July by Texas Instruments that consume significantly less power than predecessors and prolong battery life of the devices …
[URL="http://www.plathome.com"]Plat'Home[/URL], Linux pioneers in Japan and creators of the diminutive OpenMicroServer, are running a contest called "Will Linux Work?" They are basically asking people to submit crazy/extreme environments or ideas using their Linux servers and see if they work. Whoever has the best idea will get 5 of their OpenMicroServers …
Greetings avid Linux fans and welcome to Crystal Ball Sunday #9: Intelligent Control. By Intelligent Control, I mean using artificial intelligence programming for the next generation of automobiles, manufacturing, air traffic control, environmental systems, handicapped person devices and prosthetics, and perhaps the most inspiring of all: Robots. Intelligent systems have …
Here's some news that's sure to please the greens, while not costing much of it. A Linux-based desktop computer released today is reported to consume just two watts of power, and can save about US$35 a year in energy costs, according to company claims. The [URL=http://www.cherrypal.com/]CherryPal C100[/URL], which its namesake …
Netbook's, or mini-laptops as they are known, popularity, low price, portability, and solid state technology make them prime targets for innovation. Companies like Cyberlink, a multi-media software developer, want in. Their PowerCinema Linux, a custom Linux distribution bundling media software including photo, music, video and a DVD player, may be …
Hi, I want to first say that I have been going through some php GNU programs to find that the versions released have holes to be hacked through by hackers. I am working on recoded a gnu chatroom that is part of my servers software. I am now going to …
Welcome back to another Crystal Ball Sunday. Those of you who celebrate freedom on July 4 hopefully have had a safe and enjoyable holiday. Freedom comes in packages of all shapes and sizes and this week's Crystal Ball Sunday is about freedom in small packages: Embedded Devices. Embedded device refers …
[URL="http://www.xandros.com"]Xandros, Inc.[/URL] announced July 3 that they have acquired the Linspire and Freespire desktop operating systems. This will further enhance their desktop operating system offerings and their "one stop shop" status for all things Linux. The [URL="http://www.cnr.com"]Click'N'Run[/URL] (CNR) software distribution facility was also acquired by Xandros. CNR technology allows users …
Matrox has announced what it claims to be the first true QuadHead GPU, the Matrox M-Series. Which begs the question, just how many monitors do you need? With 512 MB of memory, native PCIe x16 performance and a fanless design for quiet operation you might think Matrox has done enough …
My colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols recently wrote a piece on his fine Practical Technology blog called [URL="http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/dear-microsoft-thanks-for-the-help-linux/"]Dear Microsoft, Thanks for the help, Linux[/URL] in which he argues that Microsoft’s ill-timed decision to cut off easy access to XP tomorrow (June 30th) combined with its announcement it would be releasing the …
Red Hat announced a new bare-metal [I]hypervisor[/I] technology last week at the Red Hat Summit in Boston. It is based on KVM (Kernel-Based Virtual Machine) technology and actually has been included in Linux kernel version 2.6.20 and up. This announcement has some Red Hat and virtualization proponents wondering why Red …
You’re about to begin a project that will tap into or integrate data from a database. You’ve been looking for low-cost ways to clear that data of duplicates, near-dupes, and obsolete or garbage data. But cleansing tools are expensive. As of today, there’s a free solution for you to think …
Easier installation, 3D desktop effects, digital music and video management and an up-to-date OpenOffice are among the enhancements in openSUSE 11.0, which became generally available this week. Designed for the novice as well the advanced, installation options include a choice of Gnome 2.22 or KDE 4 desktop environments and the …
RedHat settles its patent infringement lawsuit filed by Firestar Software and DataTern in Federal Court for an undisclosed amount. Part of the settlement that RedHat made was made on behalf of the Open Source Community--indemnifying users and its customers from future infringement suits by said parties. RedHat's corporate opinion is …
Acer is the latest company to jump on the ultra-portable bandwagon with Aspire one, a 2.2-pound unit that sports a near-full size keyboard and can yield as much as six hours of battery life per charge, according to claims by the PC maker. Rival Asus last month began shipping [URL=http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2339.html] …
Welcome to Crystal Ball Sunday #3. As promised, I'm going to explore the use of distributed computing for the workplace today. Whether you call it grid computing, distributed computing, volunteer computing, or some other name, it is the same animal: Donation of distributed (remote) computing power to a central project. …
Although the overall market for Linux in China is relatively small on the global scale, at around $5.4 million for the first quarter of this year, the China-based [URL="http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/63112.html"]CCID Consulting group reports[/URL] that the actual sales value has shot up by a whopping 22.6 percent during the last year. This …
According to a news story published at [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/199221/linux-set-for-mobile-boost-says-nokia.html"]IT Pro[/URL] it would appear that Nokia is predicting that Linux will play an increasingly important role within its Internet enabled device line up. Nokia spokesperson Kari Tuutti is quoted as saying that while the mobile phone giant has used Linux already in …
The highly-anticipated release of Fedora 9 is here! It has the new KDE4 desktop that I [URL="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6464/"]reviewed[/URL] on LinuxPlanet which makes some big improvements in user experience and speed. It also includes the hot new [URL="http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6467/"]FireFox 3[/URL] web browser with some new security features that are sure to impress even …
I’ve found myself using online apps more and more lately. Whether it’s Google Reader, the Daniweb blogging tool, my online calendar or Facebook, I’m spending more time in my browser and less time using desktop applications. This got me thinking if more and more of our work is moving online, …
Welcome back to Crystal Ball Sunday. This week in the Crystal Ball are my predictions for OpenSolaris vs. Linux. The release of OpenSolaris on May 5th has caused quite a stir. Many say that it will replace Linux on the Desktop and in the Data Center. My first prediction is …
ASUS announced that their new EEE 900 PC sporting Windows XP (Vista won't run on it) will cost $50 AUD less than its Linux counterpart. I am no economist but I can figure out quickly that a computer that comes with Windows XP Home and Microsoft Works pre-installed is going …
Sun Microsystems on Monday was giving away packaged copies of [OpenSolaris](http://opensolaris.org/index.html) in an effort to seed the development community with a Linux alternative and boost the number of available applications for the platform. The news came at [CommunityOne](http://developers.sun.com/events/communityone/), Sun’s free developer conference collocated with JavaOne this week at the Moscone …
Hans Reiser, creator of the ReiserFS, is found guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Nina. Described as odd, strange, and narcissistic by the prosecuting attorneys and having Asperger's Syndrome by his attorney; the jury decided against him. Unfortunately, the evidence against him was significant and damning. The prosecutors gave Reiser's ongoing …
This is the first post in my new series called Crystal Ball Sunday. These Sunday posts are where I take out my Linux, and related technology, crystal ball and give you my predictions for the coming months. This week I am focusing on corporate conversion to Linux. I foresee companies …
I am disappointed to hear that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative may be changing its original focus of providing a low-cost laptop to the world’s poorest children. Originally, the small device was to enter the market at $100 USD but had a production release price of $188 USD. …
There is an old saying that goes something like this: If you put 1,000 monkeys in a room with 1,000 typewriters (the things people used before computers), they would come up with the works of Shakespeare. Could the same be true of a great Desktop OS? No, but give me …
[URL="http://usa.asus.com"]Asustek Computer[/URL] on Saturday unveiled the Eee PC 900, a beefier version of the ultra-mobile PC it introduced late last year. The new unit is available with Xandros Linux or Windows XP, and is scheduled to begin shipping on May 12 with a sticker price of US$549. Last year’s model …
When he took the reins almost two years ago, new Novell President and CEO Ronald Hovsepian, was going to lead the charge in driving the Linux acceptance and conversion. Recently he said that the Desktop Linux market, in the next 3 to 5 years, is mainly enterprise-related and that the …
New Scientist magazine has compiled a pretty darn interesting list of what it says are the [URL="http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13656-ten-weirdest-computers.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head"]top ten weirdest computers[/URL] ever. Some are weirder than others, like the chap at the University of Illinois who has developed a method of creating 3D optical waveguides out of photonic crystals, with the …
[URL="http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/04/08/hp.mini.note/"]Word is[/URL] that HP will debut the new Mini-Note micro-notebook PC next week, with the $500 base model shipping with a SuSe Linux OS. With an 8.9 inch display and a spill-resistant keyboard which somehow only manages to be around 8% smaller than a standard notebook device, the aluminium encased …
Remember those X-Ray Specs you could order as a kid from the newspaper classifieds that promised the ability to see through clothes to the undergarments below? I do, and I can report that they most certainly did not work - much to my disappointment as a 10 year old kid. …
According to an [URL="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hVyPFIJPx8NKAzElk21Isx-zQxvgD8VAQTSG0"]Associated Press story[/URL] just hitting the wires, Wal-Mart is to stop selling computers running the Linux operating system after less than 5 months because, to quote Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien "This really wasn't what our customers were looking for."
According to a story in, of all the unlikely places, the [URL="http://www.nzherald.co.nz"]New Zealand Herald[/URL] IBM is to start ditching Windows and introducing Red Hat Linux on a range of computers aimed at the Eastern European market. The newspaper reports that IBM is working with Red Hat software distributor VDEL of …
Security researchers at [URL="http://www.sophos.com"]Sophos Labs[/URL] have revealed that nearly 70 percent of all Linux honeypot infections are caused by a single virus. Perhaps even more shocking, all things considered, is the fact that the virus in question, Linux/Rst-B, is actually six years old now. So concerned is Sophos at this …
[URL="http://www.azingo.com"]Azingo[/URL], a specialist Mobile Linux outfit which used to go by the name of Celunite, has announced what it claims to be the industry's first Mobile Linux platform based on LiMO Foundation software in the form of a comprehensive suite of open software and services designed to help deliver web …
CES always provides plenty of great news, and plenty of juicy gossip, but I love it best when it mixes the two and you end up with a nice big fight. This would appear to be what is happening right now after the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project announced …
The End.