07.02.11

Links 2/7/2011: Cisco to Shop Android, Ubuntu One Comes to Android

Posted in News Roundup at 10:23 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

GNU/Linux
- Distributions
- Devices/Embedded
Free Software/Open Source
Leftovers
Clip of the Day

GNU/Linux

Hope and Change Inside My Computer – Part II

In retrospect, I have recently read a large amount of comments and articles on how Linux is not ready for prime time. Honestly, if I had read even a fraction of these articles, I doubt I would have installed it, even with Mark’s endorsement. In the past two months or so, I can honestly say I can not understand how these writers came to such a conclusion. Linux works extremely well for me.
Linux IT to underwrite open-source adoption

Linux IT is aiming to kick-start community-based open-source software adoption among UK enterprises with the launch of an indemnification scheme.

In what it claims is a world first, the integrator is offering to underwrite any community-based open-source software that meets the requirements of its
verification process.

The soon-to-be-launched programme, which is backed by an unnamed insurance firm, enables Linux IT to fix or replace the software if it does not work as expected. Cover to the value of £5m is provided.
Desktop
- Virgin America Offers Free Wi-fi To Test Google Chromebook
  
  Virgin America is offering its flyers an opportunity to ‘test-fly’ Google Chromebook with fee Wi-Fi. Virgin America flyers will get a chance to check out a Chromebook at their departure airport gate and take the new notebook computer out for a spin onboard select Virgin America flights. The offer will run from July 1 to September 30, 2011.
- Samsung Galaxy Tab, Chromebook Beat Apple On Amazon
Server
- MCSE or RHCE – Which certifications should you be the most proud of?
  
  The issue with the MCSE is that the tests are glorified word association exams. To pass, all you need to do is learn all the technology names and keywords created by Microsoft, the contexts in which these words are used, and the contexts in which they aren’t used. Obviously an understanding of the technologies behind the buzzwords is helpful, but not essential.
Applications
- 7 of the Best Free Linux Bioinformatics Tools
  
  Bioinformatics has been defined in many different ways, but it is common ground to regard this discipline as the application of mathematics, computing and statistics to the analysis of biological information. The objective of bioinformatics is to enable the finding of new biological insights, and to create a broader, more critical view from which unifying principles in biology can be perceived.
  
  Bioinformatics is very important in the field of human genome research. It has become crucial for large-scale measurement technologies such as DNA sequencing, microarrays, and metabolomics. The field of bioinformatics has been aided significantly by Linux-based hardware and software. There are a number of Linux distributions which offer an integrated bioinformatics workstation. The popular distribution Bio-Linux packages hundreds of bioinformatics programs spanning a number of different fields.
- Instructionals/Technical
  - How to remove duplicate files without wasting time
  - Do more with less
- Games
  - Dead Cyborg, New Episodic Science Fiction Adventure Game Coming to Linux
    
    Dead Cyborg, a new donation based episodic science fiction adventure is coming soon to Linux. The game is based on Blender game engine and is made by one person Endre Barath, who has done all the coding, designing and written the story as well.
Distributions
- PCLinuxOS/Mageia/Mandrake/Mandriva Family
  - They make Mageia: Jérôme Quelin
    
    Now that things are well on their way and that Mageia 1 is there, it’s time to discover some more about the persons that are making this a reality.
Devices/Embedded
- Linux-based networked DVR can record from 64 cameras
  
  IndigoVision announced a doubling of capacity to 2TB disks on its NVR-AS 3000 of Linux-based, surveillance-oriented network video recorders (NVRs). The NVR-AS 3000 systems are now available with up to 6TB of usable RAID 5 storage, as well as RAID 0/1 options, and can record full framerate video and audio from 64 cameras, and play back 20 streams simultaneously, says the company.
- Phones
  - Android
    - Canonical releases Ubuntu One for Android devices
      
      LINUX VENDOR Canonical has brought its cloud storage that it calls Ubuntu One to Android devices, saying that in order to stream files, it stores them as plain text.
      
      Canonical’s Ubuntu One cloud storage service had previously been available from the outfit’s Ubuntu Linux distribution, however with the arrival of Ubuntu One Files on Android, users can access the service on both PCs running Ubuntu and Android devices. The free service offers 2GB of storage space and does not need a PC to operate.
- Sub-notebooks/Tablets
  - TouchPad ships to hurrahs for WebOS, but hoots at the hardware
    
    The Wi-Fi version of the 9.7-inch HP TouchPad tablet went on sale today for $499 (16GB) and $599 (32GB). Early reviews follow the same general pattern as those of the original Palm Pre two years ago: praise for the promise of WebOS, but disappointment over bugs, performance, lack of apps, and limited battery life.
  - Why HP Is Negotiating WebOS License Deals?
    
    Because WebOS won’t survive if its runs only on HP devices, its as simple as it goes. HP doesn’t command the smartphone market as much as Samsung or Motorola do. In addition HP also needs what matters the most ‘apps’ for WebOS to be successful. Not many developers will be interested in porting their apps for a platform which has a non-existent market.
    
    Most HP smartphone users are corporate users and they may not want Angry Birds on their devices. If there are no takers, Rovio won’t port Angry Birds to WebOS and if there is no Angry Birds there, many regular users won’t buy WebOS phones. Simple.
    
    So, HP needs vendors which can take WebOS to consumer segment.
  - Media-oriented Android tablet sports IR remote
    
    Vizio announced the VTAB1008, an eight-inch tablet that includes infrared “universal remote” capabilities and runs Android 2.3. The company added that it will employ Android and its own Vizio Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus) additions in forthcoming TVs, Blu-ray players, smartphones, “and more.”
  - Cisco Cius Tablet Set For Release
    
    In June of 2010, Cisco CEO John Chambers announced the Cius, an Android based tablet that was supposed to be the first enterprise grade tablet. Fast forward to 2011 and the Cius still is not yet generally available, but that’s about to change.
    
    Cisco today announced that the Cius will become generally available in July and will include a new enterprise AppHQ component for the delivery of mobile applications. Cisco is trying to differentiate the Cius from consumer tablets like the Apple iPad as well as other Android tablets by providing enterprise grade collaboration, security and applications. The device isn’t just a tablet, it can also be docked with a phone and a keyboard as well.

Free Software/Open Source

DHS, Georgia Tech seek to improve security with open-source tools

The Georgia Tech Research Institute has been designated the lead organization in a government project to develop open-source cybersecurity capabilities.
Events
- Calls for papers issued for ELC Europe, Linux.conf.au
  
  Calls for papers were announced for CELF’s Embedded Linux Conference Europe, co-located with LinuxCon Europe in Prague on October 26-28, as well as the Australian Linux.conf.au, planned for Jan 16-20, 2012 in Ballarat, Australia. Meanwhile, the Linux Foundation announced Kim Blanche’s “Flying Penguins” as the winner of the 20th Anniversary of Linux T-shirt contest, earning her a trip to next month’s LinuxCon Gala in Vancouver.
Web Browsers
- Mozilla
  - You’ve Got Firefox in my Pidgin: Instantbird 1.0 Launches
Oracle/Java/LibreOffice
- LibreOffice 3.4.1 Is Now Available for Download
  
  A few minutes ago, July 1st, The Document Foundation company announced the first maintenance release of the LibreOfficeb 3.4 open source office suite software for Linux, Windows and Macintosh platforms, bringing several bugfixes.
  
  LibreOffice 3.4.1 is available now (see download links at the end of the article), for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. The new release fixes some important bugs and updates several translations. Overall it is much stable than the previous release and everyone is encourage to update.
- Major gaps of Open Office Impress versus Microsoft Power Point: what do you think?
  
  Yesterday Sergio, a user of OpenOffice Impress, sent to the OpenOffice.org discussion list his list of the “Major Gaps of OpenOffice Impress 3.3 vs. Microsoft Office PowerPoint”.
  
  Sergio compiled the list because, as much as he likes OpenOffice, “after struggling for over 1 year, sadly he had to stop using Open Office Impress and go back to Microsoft Power Point”.
- PPAs and LibreOffice
  
  First I would like to thank everyone for their interest in LibreOffice! Second, I think it’s very important to understand that there’s a difference between PPAs and the default version shipped by Ubuntu. Just like any other distribution, Ubuntu releases a full GNU/Linux system that comes with a set of fully defined and qualified packages. Unless Ubuntu chooses to upgrade these packages themselves, they won’t move or change until the next version of the distribution is released. PPAs are a community based and convenient way to use more up-to-date version of software packages, but do not expect the same quality or to have a fault-proof software running; it’s an upgrade for the users who wish to enjoy their system with more spice and n
- Ready for Paris? See you there in October!
  
  It seems I’m continuing my pattern of posting less here, which I find to be a disappointing yet apparently an unescapable trend. If you haven’t seen my “dents” and “tweets” on the side of this page, feel free to follow me on identi.ca (charlesschulz) and on Twitter (ch_s). Note that I’m much more often on identi.ca than on Twitter. Today, I would like to send everyone reading this blog a very special invitation. The first LibreOffice Conference will take place in Paris, from the 12th to the 15th of October. These will be great days to meet face to face and to exchange though conferences and informal, quick talks about several topics related to LibreOffice development, distribution and design. Also, and this is important: our call for papers is open but it will close by the end of July, so feel free to submit your proposal now. I would like to unveil somewhat what we have in store for this event.
Education
- How to teach the next generation of open source with Scratch
  
  Do you ever wish your kids would do something besides play video games on the computer? What if you could get a head start teaching them to be the next generation of open source developers?
  
  Computers are increasingly easy to use, but programming is far more complex–and less accessible. For many of us who now have small children, programming began with BASIC programs on computers that forced you to make them do something by offering nothing but a command line.
Business

Leftovers

Facebook, Google+, and Centralized Proprietary Monocultures

This week, Google released Google+, which is basically a social network that’s a lot like Facebook, but run by Google instead of Facebook. The big deal here is that it’s a lot easier to modify privacy settings and configure what information to post to which group(s) (“Circle(s)” in Google+-speak) of contacts. This shows that Google, at least on the surface, takes privacy a lot more seriously than Facebook. I say this because whenever a controversial privacy settings change occurs on Facebook, it’s usually in the direction of less privacy, and only when the users get outraged does Facebook do anything at all (and it’s usually insignificant), because the truth is that Facebook’s business is built upon selling users’ data to companies for marketing, advertising, etc. I’ve also gotten annoyed with Facebook’s chat and constant UI changes that occur for no good reason, so I’m a little more drawn in that sense to Google+ because it integrates Google Chat (which I know works), and all of Google’s applications have kept pretty much constant, simple UIs over the years. Please note that I haven’t actually used Google+, though I have an invitation (it seems like Google can’t process that invitation right now); any statements that make it seem like I’ve used it are actually just my hopes and expectations.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s National Day of Divisiveness

Texas Governor Rick Perry plans to host a “National Day of Prayer and Fasting” on Saturday, August 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, in an event is billed as a “non-denominational, apolitical Christian prayer meeting.” Despite the “apolitical” label, the event has some political undertones, particularly since Perry has been flirting with a run for the Republican presidential nomination and currently serves as chair of the Republican Governors Association. Perry has invited the other 49 U.S. state governors to the event. The portrayal of the event as a “nondenominational” ceremony is a misnomer, too, since the event will be exclusively Christian, and no other belief systems will be represented.
Walker Plans to Celebrate Budget Bill with Felon Until Union Broadcasts Rendezvous

Governor Scott Walker will sign the controversial state budget bill into law June 26. He was originally scheduled to sign his budget at Badger Sheet Metal Works, a private business operated by a man with six felony tax convictions, in Green Bay, at 2 p.m. on Sunday. However, now that Gregory A. DeCaster’s tax troubles have been publicized, the governor’s office has announced a new location for the ceremony: Fox Valley Metal Tech, also in Green Bay.

“While Mr. DeCaster has served his time in jail and paid his debt to society, it is fitting that the governor would choose to sign this budget at a business owned by someone who was once convicted of the felony of tax evasion,” said Marc Norberg, a Wisconsin native and assistant to the general president of the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association.

Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said something quite similar earlier in the day when he told WisPolitics, “Green Bay, and certainly the company that we’re going to, reflects really what this budget and what Gov. Walker’s first term here is all about.”
Supreme Court spat got physical
Health
- Insurers’ Bait and Switch
  
  More and more Americans are falling victim to one of the most insidious bait-and-switch schemes in U.S. history. As they do, health insurance executives and company shareholders are getting richer and richer. This industry-wide plot explains how health insurers have been able to reap record profits during the recent recession as the ranks of the uninsured and underinsured continue to swell.
  
  It also explains why the insurance industry and its allies are pulling out all the stops to kill a measure in the California legislature that could protect state residents from losing their homes and being forced into bankruptcy if they get seriously sick or injured.
Environment/Energy/Wildlife
- Largely Symbolic: New Jersey Senate Bans Fracking
  
  While the ban is cause for celebration for those truly in favor of a “clean energy future,” it is largely symbolic because only a tiny sliver of the Marcellus Shale actually touches the state. There is actually some truth to the statement made by Energy in Depth’s Chris Tucker, who stated that the ban, by-and-large, is “irrelevant.”
- What Happened to Media Coverage of Fukushima?
  
  Fukushima has been a wake up call about the dangers of nuclear power, and some countries are heeding the information. But it seems the U.S. is still sleeping when it comes to this issue. Light-to-absent coverage of TEPCO’s struggles to bring Fukushima under control, legislators who insist on acting favorably towards the nuclear power industry despite the deteriorated state of our current reactor fleet and an ineffective Nuclear Regulatory Commission have all contributed to a bad combination of a dangerous situation and a complacent American public on this issue.
Finance
- Insurers Spend Big Fighting Regulations, Paying CEOs Huge Salaries
  
  Nowhere are health insurers working harder to thwart reforms that could save consumers billions of dollars than in California. One measure they are especially determined to kill is a bill that would give state regulators the authority to reject rate increases that are excessive or discriminatory.
  
  The California Assembly passed a bill to do just that earlier this month over the intense opposition of insurers, including the state’s biggest supposedly nonprofit health plans: Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente.
- Darrell Issa’s fishy dealings should (but won’t) be investigated by his own House committee
  
  Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), one of the richest members of Congress and the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who promised a hearing a day after the November 2010 elections, has always been slimy little creature who refuses to accept responsibility for his own misbehavior, everything from car theft to lying about his military history.
- Goldman Sachs’s Connections With Central Banks Reach Deeper After Hiring
  
  The fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets said yesterday it hired Bank of England economist Andrew Benito after recruiting Huw Pill from the European Central Bank in May and Naohiko Baba from the Bank of Japan in January. Moving in the other direction, Ben Broadbent, Goldman Sachs’s ex-chief U.K. economist, started at the Bank of England last month. Former vice chairman Mario Draghi will take up the presidency of the ECB in November.
Intellectual Monopolies
- Copyrights
  - RIAA: LulzSec & Anonymous Show Why We Need PROTECT IP
    
    Ah, the RIAA will apparently stoop to pretty much any old ridiculous argument to get PROTECT IP passed, I guess. The RIAA’s Mitch Glazier has written a typically ridiculous blog post defending PROTECT IP. Most of it tries (and fails) to counter the very credible claims of folks like Paul Vixie (who knows this stuff) that PROTECT IP (1) won’t work and (2) will break the internet and cause tremendous collateral damage. The arguments against Vixie pretty much amount to quoting people, who have known associations with those backing PROTECT IP, saying that “eh, things won’t be that bad, and we can minimize unintended consequences.”

Reader’s Picks

Environment/Energy/Wildlife
- Global warming thwarts a UK nuclear power plant
  
  it was stuffed with jellyfish. Another plant in the US state of Nebraska was flooded as an earth dam around it collapsed. Power to the spent fuel recirc was cut.
- Global Warming has opened up the Northwest Passage, allowing species from the Pacific to migrate to the Atlantic.
  
  This article mentions gray whales and algae. Killer whales have also made the journey and were sited in the Gulf of Mexico before the drilling disaster.
Finance
- Money Services Roundtable, a loby group for Western Union, American Express, Travelex, MoneyGram and others, constructed a law to destroy an online banking rival.
  
  Even though Think Computer Corporation, the company that runs FaceCash, is capable of meeting both of these requirements, the unfortunate reality is that the California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) requires licensees to have far more than the dollar figures specified by the statute. The DFI has been unwilling to provide a single number to us explaining how much money is actually required to obtain a license.
Anti-Trust
- PJ smells something rotten in the Nortel bidding and points to this article that quotes Maureen O’Gara
- Now that Microsoft owns Skype, it is considered secure enough for the US Congress.
  
  They should check the patent on spying that Microsoft just applied for. If they read about the Bing sting, they might also drop Windows use.
PR/AstroTurf/Lobbying
- OECD advocates endless war on sharing and all the injustices required to make that practical. CSISAC calls them out
  
  [the OECD's Paris statement] could undermine “online freedom of expression, freedom of information, the right to privacy, and innovation across the world
Censorship
- Publishers can now order ISPs to disconnect people from the internet.
  
  under Section 60c of Finland’s Copyright Act, a court has granted CIAPC injunctions in three of the cases.
  What this means is without the sending of a so-called “first strike” letter, the respective ISPs of the subscribers in question are now required to completely disconnect their infringing customers from the Internet. … in all cases the file-sharer was either an actual Internet subscriber or a family member of a subscriber.
  
  Let’s see, there’s presumption of guilt, group punishment and large fees all to support the unjust war against sharing.
- Italy grants government sweeping censorship powers.
Privacy
- Danish police would outlaw anonymous internet use.
- Microsoft wants a patent on listening to your phone conversations.
  
  It’s not enough for them to violate your privacy, they want to be the official government spy.
Copyrights
- A black market exists for journals.
  
  This article is propaganda by the publisher who cries that ““pirates” are reading journals “for pennies on the dollar.” Communist China is invoked for inflammatory effect. How dare people share journals with each other?
- The US Supreme Court strikes down prescritpion privacy laws in Vermont, New Hampsire and Maine.
  
  Pharmacies are said to have a “free speech” right to sell doctor prescribing information. EPIC argued that “de-identification” techniques were insuficient to protect patient privacy. The dissenting opinion was:
  
  the Vermont law affects expression “in one, and only one way” — by depriving data-mining companies of data that “could help pharmaceutical companies create better sales messages.” That is more linked to legal government effort to regulate a commercial enterprise, and not speech protected under the First Amendment,
  
  Ludicrous decisions like this are predictable from a court that says corporations have free speech rights.