Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 11/9/2011: Xonotic 0.5, Plasma Active





GNOME bluefish

Contents





GNU/Linux



  • Applications



    • Instructionals/Technical



    • Games

      • Xonotic 0.5 Release
        Today we can bring you some great news, a brand new release of Xonotic! It has been quite a while since the 0.1 preview version, but we have made immense progress over the last few months. In this blog post we’ll be showing off the latest improvements and tell you about the changes we made from the feedback we had after the initial release.






  • Desktop Environments



    • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC)

      • Plasma Active: Crunching towards One
        Plasma Active aims at creating a desirable user experience for a spectrum of devices, based on a fully Free software stack, developed in the open. The first release is planned for October. In the following article, you can read about the latest status and recent improvements made.


      • Back from the Desktop Summit 2011 in Berlin
        Perhaps I am the last one writing about the wonderful Desktop Summit in Berlin some days ago. Nevertheless I want to summarize my personal highlights.

        The Desktop Summit was awesome. I had the pleasure to meet people (old and new friends from all over the world), discuss complicated stuff face-to-face and of cause: have a lot of fun together.

        In a combined cross desktop marketing BoF we discussed some ideas how we (GNOME and KDE) could join forces to get bigger media coverage (e.g. TV, radio or big newspapers). One intresting first step is by paying attention on our messages. It occured that the message was: "... is THE Linux Desktop Environment" or "A is better than B".


      • Google Summer of Code & Season of KDE
        How awesome are the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) and Season of KDE (SoK) programs? According to Daniel Moctezuma, "All the work done by students in GSoC/SoK will have an impact in Free Software and the world." Daniel is one of the 2011 GSoC students. Lydia Pintscher is the main administrator of these programs for KDE. She made the following report.

        [...]

        It makes me proud that KDE as a community is able and willing to teach newcomers to Free Software on such a large scale, while delivering high-quality results in terms of code produced and students mentored.




    • GNOME Desktop

      • Intel SNA With Unity, Unity 2D & GNOME Shell
        After the benchmarks a few days back of Intel Sandy Bridge Acceleration On Non-SNB Hardware, Chris Wilson of Intel who has been responsible for much of the "Sandy Bridge New Acceleration" work requested more tests, but this time to see the effect that the compositing window manager has on this new acceleration architecture. As a result, here is some quick tests of Intel's Sandy Bridge graphics under the Unity, Unity 2D, and GNOME Shell desktops.






  • Distributions

    • Lucid Puppy 5.2.8 review - More goodness
      Praising an operating system over and over is a sure sign of fanboyism, which is punishable by flogging in some countries, or at the very least, leads to ostracization in the higher social circles. But it is truly difficult to find fault with the Puppy Linux, release after release. And while I tested Lucid Puppy not that long ago, I had an urge for more great stuff, so I redid my testing with the latest release, version 5.2.8.


    • New Releases





  • Devices/Embedded



    • Phones



      • Android

        • Android Update brings PAN/NAP to Motorola defy
          After my summer vacation, I finally did the official update on my defy, which brought the thing to Android 2.2.2.


        • It’s an Android future, with or without Google
          Making its public debut with the release of the HTC Dream/G1, Google’s Android mobile operating system has provided the search giant with a massively successful mobile ecosystem that, whilst doesn’t directly generate revenues through licensing, it provides smartphone manufacturers with a free, powerful and customisable software platform – generating millions of dollars in sales – and also helps possibly the world’s biggest advertising company dominate another advertising vertical.






    • Sub-notebooks/Tablets

      • Tablet Sales Jump Forecast
        Moskowitz did acknowledge the possibility that the Amazon tablet could be a major player, though cited concerns about the Android OS as a weak spot.








Free Software/Open Source



  • Oracle/Java/LibreOffice

    • LibreOffice API documentation available
      The new documentation covers the complete LibreOffice 3.4 API, has reference documentation for the Java UNO Runtime and C++ UNO runtime systems, and an overview of the UNO development tools.






Leftovers

  • Windows 7 driver signing conundrum
    Personally I think the whole driver model for Windows is a huge mess, especially when problems come up like this,


  • Security



  • Defence/Police/Aggression

    • TSA Agent Threatens Woman With Defamation, Demands $500k For Calling Intrusive Search 'Rape'
      After investigating whether or not she could file sexual assault charges, and being told that this was probably a non-starter, she instead wrote about the experience, and named the TSA agent who she dealt with: Thedala Magee. Alkon felt that if people can't stop these kinds of searches, they should at least be able to name the TSA agents who are doing them.


    • Libya: 19 Suffocated in Gaddafi Detention
      The discovery on September 8, 2011, of 18 bodies buried in western Libya corroborates reports of the death by suffocation of detainees held by Gaddafi forces in June in the town of al-Khoms, Human Rights Watch said today. Another victim died a few days later, so was not buried with the other 18.


    • Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism reports
      As he shopped for a children’s watch inside the sprawling Mall of America, two security guards approached and began questioning him. Although he was not accused of wrongdoing, the guards filed a confidential report about Kleinerman that was forwarded to local police.

      The reason: Guards thought he might pose a threat because they believed he had been looking at them in a suspicious way.





  • Cablegate

    • Reef safeguard cut back
      THE federal government has secretly wound back a critical environmental protection for the Great Barrier Reef against shipping accidents in order to avoid a diplomatic stoush with the US and Singapore.


    • Leaks reveal it's past time to speak for West Papua
      The leaked documents also reveal the penetration of Indonesian surveillance on Papuans: everyone from teachers to taxi drivers is on the Kopassus payroll. I have first-hand experience of it. In 2002 I worked with advocate John Rumbiak (now in exile in the US) at Elsham, a Papuan human rights organisation. As an Australian exchange student at an Indonesian university, I had entry where journalists were denied - but it did not spare me from surveillance or intimidation.


    • Tales from Mexico's drug wars, WikiLeaks style
      Mexico's offensive against the drug cartels that plague the nation has been fraught with controversy. Over the past four and a half years, tens of thousands have been killed, including many civilians, and the violence continues unabated.

      The drug war is made up of hundreds of incidents and decisions, both public and behind-the-scenes, that the media dutifully reports, unless, as in the case of some Mexican media, there is self-censorship out of fear.


    • Justice Department Reports Drug Seizures Do Little to Stop Cartels
      The government’s long-running war on drugs is having little impact, according to documents just released. The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) of the Justice Department reports demand for drugs is rising and the demand is being supplied by major transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) or cartels, which adapt to government “counterdrug efforts” modifying interrelationships, altering drug production levels and adjusting trafficking routes and methods.






  • Finance

    • Wall Street Banks: Too Big To Blame For Subprime?
      Goldman Sachs has historically been one of the more bullish investment houses on Wall Street, but the firm has recently taken a dark macro view. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 1 that Goldman issued a 54-page report sent to their institutional clients on August 16th arguing that as much as $1 trillion in capital may be needed to shore up European banks; that small businesses in the U.S., a past driver of job production, are still languishing; and that China’s growth may not be sustainable.


    • Is Goldman Sachs Doomed?
      No Franchise lasts forever. In the 1990′s, the Chicago Bulls were considered the best basketball team ever. Today, the same sentiments do not exist. When the junk bond market was red hot in the 1980′s, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette was the premier investment bank on Wall Street. Before DLJ, the big dog was Drexel Burnham Lambert.

      [...]

      If history truly repeats itself, Goldman Sachs may one day be considered as a second-rate bank, or may even become defunct.


    • $4 Gas: Brought to You by Wall Street
      It was the summer of 2008, and the entire country was outraged over $4 gas. It seemed like everyone had bought into the idea that the solution to high gas prices was more drilling for oil: Sarah Palin and other prominent Republicans had taken up the "Drill, baby, drill" refrain. Democrats in Congress, so afraid of consumer backlash, let the 27-year-old moratorium on new drilling in the outer continental shelf quietly expire. But what most people didn't realize at the time was the role that big financial players like Goldman Sachs—not simple supply and demand—played in pushing gas prices sky-high.




  • Civil Rights

    • Is it Legal to Photograph or Videotape Police?
      The ACLU, photographers' groups, and others have been complaining about such incidents for years — and we have been consistently winning in court. Recently, an appeals court ruled, on behalf of an ACLU client, that Americans have a First Amendment right to videotape the police making an arrest in a public park.


    • Clothing brands agree to look into mass faintings in Cambodia
      Cambodia is home to some 300 factories where clothing for export is manufactured. They supply major global brands such as Gap, H&M, Wal-Mart and Puma.






Recent Techrights' Posts

World Mental Health Day is Tomorrow and EPO Staff Talks About What the Job Does to Workers
In recent years we've written a great deal about mental health consideration in relation to work, with a focus on "IT"
You Definitely Do NOT Wish to Live Close to a Datacentre
put aside for a moment the noise, the pollution...
GGG Pot Calls the Kettle Black
"It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares, and therefore is an example of psychological projection, or hypocrisy. Use of the expression to discredit or deflect a claim of wrongdoing by attacking the originator of the claim for their own similar behaviour (rather than acknowledging the guilt of both) is the tu quoque logical fallacy."
The Microsoft Ban Should Go Further (Telecommunications Cybersecurity and Resilience Act Incompatible With Back Doors)
it's not difficult to see where to start
 
Links 09/10/2026: "Internet Archive to Demo Wayback Machine at Friday’s Uniqlo Street Festival", France Wages Censorship War via DNS
Links for the day
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The underlying concept is hardly new
More Stallmans
We need more Stallmans, we don't need to change Stallman
SUEPO Munich (EPO Staff Union in the Main Headquarters) Opposes Monarchy ('Cocaine King' Campinos), Plans Online Meeting Next Week
They may have about 1,000 workers joining in
GNU/Linux Flirts With 20% "Market Share" in North America Overnight
Who should we trust on GNU/Linux? Microsofters on an armchair or Cloudflare Radar?
New Site Makes the Case Against Adoption of Omarchy, But Focuses Almost Entirely on Politics
Let's examine what the page says and what points it focuses on
Brigading Against Women - Part XXIV - Nobody's Name is Unspeakable
Names are not sacred
Microsoft is in Trouble (With the Regime It Sponsored)
It seems like Microsoft paying the existing regime/dictatorship wasn't enough
In the United Kingdom, Rising Cost of Hardware Benefits GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux rose from about 4% to almost 6% in one year
Japanese Targets of Cyber Breaches or Insider Threats
Japanese government bureau and major firms experience data breaches
Gemini Links 09/10/2026: Optimism, Stargazing, and Solar MiniServer
Links for the day
When Americans Export a 'Suicide Mission' to Other Continents
I worry that this culture of debt-taking and overconsumption is being spread from the US to Europe
The Register MS: "AI" Several Times in Same Headline, 31 Times in Page. The Register MS Was Paid to Do This.
The phenomenon is commercial (paid media), not scientific
The Outcome of Microsoft Ban Was Predictable
told you so
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 08, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, October 08, 2026
Gemini Links 08/10/2026: Economical Thrashing, How I Killed the Earth, and Thoughts on Gemini
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2026: Wikimedia Bemoans Chaffbot Slop (Bots Sold as 'Agents') That Sabotage It, ICC's Taliban Warrants
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Links 08/10/2026: Slop Scammers (Pushers) Inflate Hosting Bills and "YouTube Testing Everything"
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The Register MS Helps Prove the "AI" Frenzy in the Media is Evidence of Compromised Media, Not Legitimate "Revolution"
Ignore the hype and carry on
London Became Synonymous With the Royal Courts of Justice
London used to be a place where we go on holiday/retreat/break; nowadays we have only one destination there
Microsoft Insiders on "Effectively Being Silently Laid Off From Microsoft"
People are laid off by the thousands without the media uttering a word or the companies confirming anything
Brigading Against Women - Part XXIII - Extremism in the Mix and Getting the Police Involved
In 2012 I was getting heckled a lot for opposing back doors in Linux; it has not stopped since
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 07, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Microsoft's XBox CEO Asha Sharma Tells Staff That Many Thousands of Layoffs Are in Fact "Return to Growth"
Get it? Layoffs are "growth".
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: On Feeling Guilty Leaving the US, Multinet, and Limiting Net Usage
Links for the day
The Cyber Show Explains the Concept of "Data Rape"
a metaphor some might find crude
FREE BEER is Still Online, But Barely Active
25 years ago or even 20 years ago many spoke of open/free beer (or "COLA")
Syria: GNU/Linux Has Surged to 8% "Market Share"
I don't have a convincing explanation for this
IBM Dimming Down the Lights on IBM Consulting, No Knowledge or Experience Required
They just "ride" the (old) brand, that's all
Statement on American SLAPP
Crossposted from schestowitz.com
Today The Register MS Published "SPONSORED FEATURE" and "SPONSORED POST" With "AI" 31 Times in Them
This isn't a "Reality" or "Era of AI", it's a paid-for spam campaign
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Nostalgia, Neutral Map, and Shorthanding
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2026: Unrest in France and Rumours of Plague in Russia
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Brigading Against Women - Part XXII - The Lozza Problem (in Length)
Garrett's case was a waste of the Court's money
JavaScript in Richard Stallman's Web Site
For search he is using CGI, not JavaScript
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) Plans Presentation Next Week (Coinciding With Apparent Coronation of 'Cocaine King' Campinos)
They've outsourced this session to the dictator's spying eye
The GNOME Foundation's Code of Conduct Has Been Misused to Hide Corruption
People who value free speech and freedom of expression won't touch social control media with a 10-foot bargepole
Voting for Freedom of the Press
American elections happen every 4 years
What Brett Wilson LLP and Matt Garrett Don't Want People to See/Read
Book-burning is counterproductive
Book-Burning Mindset Does Not Work
It makes the suppressed voices more widely known
Microsoft's XBox in 'Freefall'
XBox is practically finished
Slop is Plagiarism
Plagiarism is not "theft" and copyright infringement is not "piracy"
IBM is Almost Defunct
IBM is doomed. It just tries to test how much more patience the shareholders have.
Criminalisation of Journalism
"Journalist Derya Okatan arrested in Turkey for allegedly possessing classified material"
Brigading Against Women - Part XXI - Hiding Behind the Veil of "Privacy" After Telling Nazi Things in IRC Channels of Techrights and Physically Threatening People
To merely explain an abuse (or crime) requires naming people; that's a fundamental tenet of reporting
Links 07/10/2026: Quitting Smartphone and "Meta's Muse Is Spying on All Your Friends and Family"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2026: Greed, In Praise of Zotero, and The de-Google Path
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 06, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 06, 2026