01.10.10

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers
• Digital Tipping Point: Clip of the Day

GNU/Linux

• 15 Cool and Funny Linux T-shirts

  Since I’m planning to buy several Linux-inspired clothes, I was searching the web for places or sites that offer printed t-shirts that look cool and have a bit of sense of humor. I was surprised to see a lot of them so I would like to show to you those that I really like.

• Want to be Our Customer? Suffer!

  I maintain some XP machines here for the time being. They make work for me. I need to keep four separate images because XP does not come with drivers needed for many common systems. No kidding. I needed to add USB mice to the images… GNU/Linux has worked smoothly with USB mice for 5 years or more. Wait! XP is from 2001. It’s obsolete and M$ replaced it with Vista, the ultimate in bloatware. People are waking up to this abuse. They are seeing GNU/Linux as an alternative. Folks who see it for the first time are amazed that things can be done three times faster using the same hardware. They wonder why they put up with this stuff so long. I wonder, too.

• Preparing Yourself for the Linux Admin Market

  I know going in for an interview can be taxing, stressful and downright difficult. I also know that requirements for jobs are usually way out of line for any human. You know the list, be certified in everything and have 20 years experience in all programing languages and be 21 years old. Let’s face it, most organizations looking for skilled administrators are asking too much. But, even though that is the case, what can you do to best demonstrate your yourself and give yourself a chance at the job.

• Et tu, HP!

  This is a sign that OEMs are looking at backup plans for what to do when the monopoly crumbles. If the market for that other OS dries up, they have GNU/Linux to lean on. They may have to advertise it a bit, but they can. If the market for x86 dries up in preference to ARM for power/price, HP and others need an alternative. If they will not supply ARM and GNU/Linux, others will. The market is beginning to finish the process of curing the anti-competitive acts of the monopoly. It is about time.

• Applications

  • OpenShot 1.0 Has Arrived!

    I am proud to announce that OpenShot Video Editor 1.0 has just been released! This release is jam-packed full of new features, bug fixes, and some shiny new graphics! We hope you enjoy it!

  • Instructionals

    • Bash 101: Working at the CLI

    • Correct tag errors in your music collection with Easy Tag

    • Ubuntu Karmic change CPU Frequency as user

    • Do Encryption, Decryption & Signing Easily With Seahorse [Linux]

    • How to download mms streaming videos in Ubuntu

    • Use Orca to monitor system performance

    • Understanding Partition / Filesystem Mount Options (fstab file)

    • Elite Commander skin for Midnight Commander

    • Ubuntu Tip:Quickly open Folders/Special Locations in Ubuntu Desktop

    • High-Availability Storage With GlusterFS On Ubuntu 9.10 – Automatic File Replication (Mirror) Across Two Storage Servers

    • How to Show the Restore/Maximize, Minimize buttons on Maximized Windows in Ubuntu Remix 9.10 karmic Koala

    • git bisect, ccache, cowbuilder

    • Samba Tutorial: Create Private User Shares

    • Can You Top This? 15 Practical Linux Top Command Examples

    • Install OpenShot Video Editor 1.0 in Ubuntu Karmic

    • Virsh ( Libvirt 0.7.2) & managing DomUs on openSUSE 11.2

    • Easily Create A Custom Ubuntu Live CD With Ubuntu Customization Kit (UCK)

• K Desktop Environment (KDE SC)

  • KDE Software Compilation 4.4 RC1 Codename “Cornelius” released

    Nepomuk is not new, but until this version, I hadn’t really touched it, now it is finally well integrated, works, and what important, uses resources moderately compared to its past (YMMV).

  • How to get different Plasmoids in different workspace in KDE SC 4

    Plasmoids are the widgets that are present in the plasma desktop in KDE SC 4.x. One little know feature of plasmoids is that they can be set such that different plasmoids appear in different workspaces. In this article we shall show you how to do this.

  • Howto: User Windows 7 desktop themes in Linux

    Okay, this one is actually incredibly easy, but still, it was fun when I found out.

    Windows 7 is by no means my favourite OS, but in my opinion it has some very “desktop themes”, packs of wallpapers which after install will rotate on your desktop. In Windows, it’s as simple as clicking “Download”, after which the pack will unzip itzelf and show up somewhere in youre Appearance settings.

• Distributions

  • Joke: Mandriva Won’t Boot

  • Clonezilla Stomps That Other OS

    Even better, if staff choose to migrate to GNU/Linux, I can have it cloned around the building in an hour or so. All the teachers use one of two models of PC.

  • Debian Family

    • New Indicator Applet & Messaging Menu for Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

      I previously discussed some of the new social networking aspects coming in Ubuntu 10.04. These mainly focus on the brand new Me Menu which is a personalised menu that holds and controls all your social networking and assists with broadcasting to microblogging services. Some related changes are the new changes to the indicator applet and attached messaging menu.

    • Ubuntu Privacy Remix 9.04r3 released

      Ubuntu Privacy Remix is a modified Live-CD based on Ubuntu Linux. UPR is not intended for permanent installation on hard disk. The goal of Ubuntu Privacy Remix is to provide an isolated, working environment where private data can be dealt with safely. The system installed on the computer running UPR remains untouched.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Nokia

    • Nokia: We’ll match Apple by 2011

      “If he had wanted to debunk those rumors that it might buy Palm, Nokia’s new mobile phones head Rick Simonson could have picked a more outright denial,” Robert Andrews reports for paidContent.

    • Nokia: We’ll be on par with Apple and RIM by 2011

      Simonson adds that Nokia’s revival also will depend on its global scale and reach. “Through an open system we are encouraging innovation,” he says. “We are helping more people–I mean, developers who produce applications for our system–make money. They stand to make more money with us because, our OS is used not just by Nokia, but several other handset makers since it an open system. Next, their apps will be used across the world, as our reach is unmatched and therefore, we present them with the biggest audience to sell their products. An open system enables us to work faster at beating competition in the pockets we are not doing too well, by doing things differently.”

  • Android

    • A Slew of New Android Phones Appear at CES

      The Android phone OS is gaining momentum as a large number of phones running the operating system have been announced at this year’s CES in Las Vegas. Assistant Editor Ginny Mies takes a look at the Samsung Galaxy Spica, LG’s GT540, and the innovative Motorola Backflip.

    • Dell displays small Android-run slate computer

      Dell Inc. showed off a small slate computer that it could bring to market this year, exploring yet another type of device designed for computing on the go.

      So-called slate and tablet PCs are a hot topic at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, ahead of a highly anticipated device from Apple Inc. that is widely expected to be unveiled in late January.

    • Wipro Joins Open Handset Alliance: Strengthens Android Eco-System with Its Device R&D Expertise

      Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), today announced its entry into the Open Handset AllianceTM, extending its device development and service Integration expertise around AndroidTM – an open mobile phone software stack.

  • Sub-notebooks

    • Who needs a Google OS? Splashtop 2.0 already does the same thing

      Google has promised to release an operating system called Chrome OS that replaces Windows with a simpler Linux-based system that launches the company’s Chrome browser. The company has been seeking a netbook manufacturer to build a Chrome OS-powered consumer laptop. In theory, it would be cheaper and more reliable than Windows, less vulnerable to malware attacks, and would remove a lot of the configuration and maintenance work that drives many Windows users crazy.

    • Smartbook launch threatens growth of netbook

Free Software/Open Source

• CAOS Theory Podcast 2010.01.08

  Topics for this podcast:

  *Google and the meaning of open
  *Nexus One smartphone and impact
  *JetBrains sets mind, strategy on open source
  *Linux in 2010 and beyond

• The Economic Case for Open Source Foundations

  Every soft­ware devel­op­ment firm today should ask which open source foun­da­tion to sup­port or, if nec­es­sary, to found. The ben­e­fits are clear: Done right, the firm can expect cost sav­ings, increased prof­its per sale, a higher num­ber of sales, and a larger addressable mar­ket. The ques­tion then becomes one of invest­ment: How much to invest and what return to expect. At present, we lack eco­nomic mod­els and deci­sion processes to answer these questions.

• Mozilla

  • Jetpack and making the UI world adopt HTML5

    I have many things to say about Jetpack. I like its power, I dislike its syntax. I _really_ dislike its syntax. I think it totally misses its main goal, making extension authoring dead simple instead of recreating another programming elite. I also think the integration of XHTML elements inside a XUL-based UI raises strong UI homogeneity issues (because they don’t flex, align or pack like XUL elements) and could severely harm the UI coolness factor of the whole user interface.

  • Firefox shifting support from extensions to jetpacks

    Following a long discussion about Firefox Themes vs the new Persona technology, Mike Connor from the Firefox team explains on his blog why Firefox plans to migrate developers from the current theme and extension systems to personas and jetpacks. Since we are a Firefox extension, you might wonder How will this affect Firebug?

• CMS

  • Acquia 2009 retrospective

    Yesterday I shared my 2009 retrospective on Drupal along with some predictions for 2010. Today, I want to reflect on Acquia’s 2009, as for obvious reasons, Acquia has been a big part of my life in 2009.

    [...]

    To deliver on the vision outlined in our roadmap, we had to raise more money — no small thing given the downturn in the economy. Instead of reserving cash, Tom and I went out and raised an additional $8 million dollars in Series B funding, bringing our total funding to date to $15 million USD.

• Python

  • Concise python code

  • Get Facebook albums with python

  • Acire: Delivering A World Of Python Snippets

    A few weeks back I blogged about my new program Acire: a simple little tool that provides a library of Python examples called snippets that outline how to do specific taks. With each snippet you can browse the code, run it and otherwise learn how it works in order to help you get to grips with writing your own programs as quickly and easily as possible.

Leftovers

• Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on

  You have to have a pretty special product to get two Engadget posts discussing your wares during the maelstrom of CES, but this Adam thing just won’t leave us alone with its Pixel Qi display, Tegra 2 innards and bona fide potential to blow the bloody doors off the homogeneous tablet market.

  [...]

  Speaking of the Qi, we consider it a glorious and definite step forward for displays. It looks gorgeous in both modes, and when the backlight is off you’re basically getting a monochromatic version of your normal display (check the gallery to see what we mean) which is both perfectly usable and the friendliest thing you can do to your battery. You can see the 1080p demo video below, with both modes showing you what you might expect from the screen while it was being washed by pretty strong Las Vegas sunlight. There’s also a patented 3 megapixel swivel camera (not pictured on this dev unit), which has other protected intellectual properties that we were not yet informed of, though augmented reality and educational uses were hinted at.

• Cisco Acquired Most Start-Ups In Decade, But Oracle King In ‘09

  Cisco Systems Inc. is king of the “oughts,” at least when it comes to acquisitions of venture-backed companies.

• Online Productivity Tools for the Small Business

  Small business owners may have more of a need than most to be able to access their chosen suite of productivity tools from more than one computer or platform. As a business or startup owner you may have occasion to bring your work home with you, or require frequent access to your to-do lists, notes and documents on the go.

• Security

  • US authorites divert Air France flight carrying ‘no-fly’ journalist to Mexico

    Hernando Calvo Ospina, who works for Le Monde Diplomatique and has written on revolutionary movements in Cuba and Colombia , figured on the US authorities’ “no-fly list”.

    Air France said the April 18 flight was forced to divert to the French Caribbean island of Martinique before continuing its journey and that it might ask the US Transportation Security Administration for compensation.

  • Mother threatens suit after student is suspended over peppermint oil

    The mother of a 10-year-old girl suspended for bringing peppermint oil to her Commack, N.Y., school Monday says she is considering legal action if school officials don’t apologize and revoke her daughter’s suspension.

  • Former guards with US security firm charged in Afghanistan deaths

    Two former guards with the security company Blackwater have been charged in the US with the murder of Afghan civilians in a case likely to reinforce accusations that the firm ran a rogue militia that showed a reckless disregard for human life.

• Environment

  • Plans for British ‘GM food revolution’ come under fire

    The vision of hi-tech British farming outlined this week by the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, has been dismissed as unnecessary and potentially damaging by environmental groups and organic farmers.

  • Activists claim Japanese whalers rammed anti-whaling boat

    Anti-whaling activists today accused Japanese whalers of ramming and sinking one of their boats as international tension over Japan’s annual “scientific” culls in Antarctic waters grew.

    Japanese fisheries officials said the Ady Gil, a high-speed boat belonging to the Sea Shepherd conservation group, had been hit accidentally as it attempted to confront the Shonan Maru No 2, a whaling vessel.

• Finance

  • Always the same face of the same coin

    I challenge anyone to change my mind and to make me believe that they earn this ROE because they are the brightest of the brightest… The brightest of the brightest have failed miserably through out history. Never in human kind bright minds managed to keep such an impressive track record and if they are so good, again I doubt it, maybe we should dismantle Goldman anyway because these brilliant minds could be doing much more productive activities for makind.

  • Bonus time as banks pay out £40bn

    The world’s biggest investment banks are expected to pay out more than $65bn (£40bn) in salaries and bonuses in the next two weeks, reinforcing the view that it is business as usual on Wall Street and in the City barely a year since the taxpayer bailout of the banking system.

• Censorship/Civil Rights

  • Iran bans contact with foreign organisations, including the BBC

    Authorities in Iran intensified their campaign to blame the country’s political turmoil on foreigners today by banning contact with more than 60 international organisations.

• Intellectual Monopolies/Copyrights

  • Google News Stops Hosting New AP Content

    In a sign that Google’s negotiations with the Associated Press over a new licensing contract may have reached a standstill, new AP articles are no longer being hosted in Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News; Search Engine Land‘s Danny Sullivan, who first reported the development, says that new AP articles haven’t been hosted on the site since Dec. 24. Google isn’t providing an explanation. The company’s full statement: “We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News. Some of that content is still available today. At the moment we’re not adding new hosted content from the AP.”