07.28.10
Gemini version available ♊︎Links 28/7/2010: OpenBTS Debuts
Contents
GNU/Linux
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Desktop
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Review: Running Linux on the HP Envy 14
After two weeks I am still very happy with my purchase. All in all is the HP Envy 14 a good choice for Linux users. Compared to my DELL XPS M2010, the important components all work out of the box or with moderate work. I really can recommend the machine to everyone, even non-Linux users. HP managed to give PC enthusiasts a real Mac alternative.
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Server
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Windows Server 2003, Bye-Bye
Windows Server 2003 is the server realm equivalent of Windows XP. As is the case with XP, it’s hard to let go. But, what will you choose to replace it? Windows Server 2008 has promise. What about Linux? And, if you choose Linux, which distribution will work best for you? Have you considered a commercial Unix to cure what ails your data center? Whichever one you choose, you’d better hurry. Windows Server 2003, as much as you love it, is beyond Microsoft’s end of life for mainstream support. That date passed you by on July 13, 2010. (Extended support, however, will be available through March 2015.)
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Devices/Embedded
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Phones
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Open-source, software-based GSM cellphone network
It’s called the OpenBTS Project, and pundits are claiming it could reduce user costs to $2/month in the developing world.
OpenBTS is an open-source Unix application that uses the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to present a GSM air interface (“Um”) to standard GSM handset and uses the Asterisk® software PBX to connect calls.
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Free Software/Open Source
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Events
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OpenSQL Camp Europe: Time to cast your votes!
During my absence, Giuseppe and Felix kicked off the Call for Papers for this year’s European OpenSQL Camp, which will again take place in parallel to FrOSCon in St. Augustin (Germany) on August 21st/22nd. We’ve received a number of great submissions, now we would like to ask our community about your favourites!
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Leftovers
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Anti-Corruption Law in Effect This Year
Law 9840 prevents candidates who have been convicted of any one of a range of crimes, including electoral fraud, from running for public office. The law passed unanimously through the senate on May 19th, and was ratified by President Luis Inacio da Silva. Last week the law passed a final hurdle when by a vote of six to one the Federal Election Board, which is actually a court composed of judges that has enforceable power, upheld the applicability of the law to October’s elections. Had the law failed to make it past this panel, the act could have been significantly derailed, opening the door to further challenges from opposing parties.
Electoral fraud has persistently dogged Brazilian politics over the years, and public office has become something of a haven for those with criminal records (of which there are many), largely because the Brazilian constitution makes it extremely difficult to prosecute accused officials. Though there are frequent Parliamentary Investigation Commissions convened to look into infractions by officials, Brazilians remain cynical as to their efficacy, since prosecution, or even removal from office, rarely results.
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Security/Aggression
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Police officer who struck Ian Tomlinson before he died faces ‘gross misconduct’ hearing
The riot squad officer who struck Ian
Tomlinson minutes before he died
faces the sack ‘within weeks’ for gross
misconduct, it emerged yesterday.PC Simon Harwood, a member of
Scotland Yard’s Territorial Support
Group, was yesterday told he will face
a disciplinary hearing over his actions
at the G20 protest in London last year.
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Environment
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China’s Three Gorges dam close to limit as heavy rains persist
Record high water levels are putting the capacity of China’s massive Three Gorges dam to the test after heavy rains across the country, compounding flooding problems that have left more than 1,200 people dead or missing.
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Finance
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Wall Street Wanders After Durable Goods Report
Shares on Wall Street wandered early Wednesday after another disappointing economic report.
The Commerce Department’s durable goods orders report for June indicates manufacturing growth is slowing. Orders for goods expected to last at least three years fell 1 percent last month. That was well short of the 1 percent gain that economists had forecast.
Economic reports have generally shown that the recovery is slowing and growth will remain weak.
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Why Congress should let the Bush tax cuts expire
You know what happened next. The refund came. The supposed surplus evaporated. The Social Security surplus was spent. Instead of being paid down, the $3.3 trillion national debt ballooned to $9 trillion.
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On tax fight, Obama can’t afford to lose
If Obama fails to alter the political dynamic and finally slay the anti-tax dragon, it’s game over for his economic agenda.
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In Study, 2 Economists Say Intervention Helped Avert a 2nd Depression
The paper, by Alan S. Blinder, a Princeton professor and former vice chairman of the Fed, and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, represents a first stab at comprehensively estimating the effects of the economic policy responses of the last few years.
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Told about the findings, another leading economist was unconvinced.
“I’m very surprised that they find these big impacts,” said John B. Taylor, a Stanford professor and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. “It doesn’t correspond at all to my empirical work.”
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Censorship/Privacy/Civil Rights
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UK.gov’s phone and net snooping hits record high
The expansion in official snooping on communications records has continued with a record number of requests last year for details of who is talking to whom.
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Internet/Net Neutrality/DRM
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Telstra cops $18m fine for exchange block
Telstra has been ordered to pay $18.55 million to the Commonwealth for breaching the Trade Practices Act and its carrier licence conditions by locking broadband competitors out of its telephone exchanges.
In the Federal Court in Melbourne this morning Justice John Middleton found against the telecommunications giant, saying it contravened the act and its licence on 27 occasions between July 2006 and April 2008.
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Intellectual Monopolies
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Copyrights
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Pirate Party Offers Servers and Hosting To Wikileaks
This week Wikileaks released more than 90,000 government documents related to the war in Afghanistan. When added to the perceived damage caused by its earlier leaking of the ‘Collateral Murder’ video, Wikileaks is now undoubtedly a serious target for U.S. authorities. After becoming The Pirate Bay’s ISP, The Pirate Party now says that if needed, they will supply servers and hosting to Wikileaks.
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Music Publishers Demanding 360 Rights From Artists
Music publishers were once thought of as safe havens for artists. They nurtured songwriters, introduced them to the industry and sought ways to broaden their income with covers and placements. Now, it appears that they want more – a lot more – than a piece of the act’s publishing in exchange for their efforts.
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Clip of the Day
Trisquel GNU/Linux 2.1(Pro) – Instalar Galego
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