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

The Register MS Has Just Been Paid to Promote the Ponzi Scheme Some More ("AI" Keyword Stuffing)
This won't end well for The Register MS
Perpetuating the Lie of "No Red Hat Layoffs" Because of the Bluewashing (Red Hat Became Just "IBM")
Many Red Hat employees were pushed out and/or removed lately
EPO People Power - Part XIII - If the EPO's Chief Propagandist (Berenguer) Told the Police He Was a Spanish Tourist (or Similar) or That He Does Not Reside in Munich, Then He May Have Lied to the Police (in Addition to Doing Cocaine in Public)
Lying to the police in Germany is a criminal offense
 
The New Chief Editor at The Register MS is a Microsofter, Now They Increase Microsoft Coverage and Add Microsoft Slant to 'Linux' Coverage
Did Microsoft pay some more?
GAFAM "doesn't depend on any sort of lock-in, humans just don't want to be free anymore," according to MinceR
As many readers are aware, our criticism of UEFI (restricted boot in particular) attracted a lot of online harassment against us, including stalking and libel
IBM Layoffs in India and IBM's CEO Spins His Lack of Market Share as a Strength
If this leadership carries on, the only red left at IBM won't be Red Hat but a red stain
Links 15/12/2025: "Life in Prison" for Criticising China, Tikhanovskaya Says 'Pressure Works'
Links for the day
Due to 'Secure Boot' (An Anti-Security Measure, a Kill Switch) Computer Users Are Afraid of GNU/Linux
This is what Microsoft wanted
'Crypto' 'Currencies' Are a Ponzi Scheme. So Is "AI". Both Destroy the Planet, Not Just the Economy.
Believe it or not, millions of these GPUs just sit there boxed, unopened, unconnected, unused
Microsoft Colonialism in Africa is Not Sustainable
Microsoft's situation in Nigeria is not
Links 15/12/2025: Chromebooks as Work Machines, "Americans [Who] Moved to Australia" to Avoid Cheeto
Links for the day
Breaking Your Proprietary Router in the Name of "Security"
Each time they "patch" the router something that previously worked OK is likely to just break
IBM May be Breaking the Law to Silence Staff It Laid Off
Observation to add regarding IBM layoffs
Demonisation Attacks on Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) - Including Antisemitic Attacks - Have Not Worked
Name-calling doesn't work
Slop ("AI") Will Replace People and Take Away Jobs, Say the Slopfarms With Fake (LLM-Generated) Text and Slop Images
"AI" often means slave labour in a poor country
More Than a Million Bytes Should be Enough for Most Computer Programs
Who said computing would improve over time?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, December 14, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, December 14, 2025
Another "AI" (Slop) Use Cases Turns Out to be a Fraud
Those who talk about this fraud get SLAPPed
They Say Rules Are Made to be Broken, at Microsoft That Became an Imperative (e.g. Accounting Fraud, Bribery and So on)
Its biggest client is itself
In Russia, Microsoft is Already a Dying Breed Online
A lot of Europe also dumps Microsoft. Europe is a big revenue source of Microsoft.
The Future of News on the World Wide Web
No "greener pastures" on the Web
𝐈𝐁𝐌 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐀𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐧𝐚: Proof That at IBM People Fall Upwards
IBM is collapsing
EPO People Power - Part XII - The Mobbing Got So Bad People Were Unable to Work
What's at stake here isn't just the EPO or the patent system
Links 14/12/2025: "Chile to ban smartphones in classroom" and "Portugal updates cybercrime law to exempt security researchers"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/12/2025: "GUI TUI CLI" and EmacsConf 2025 Video
Links for the day
Links 14/12/2025: Tensions in Asia, US Making Deals With Belarus
Links for the day
A Utopian and Very Dumb Vision of Technology, Based on Accounting Fraud
the "industry" has become insane and a lot of "the media" is going along with it
Links 14/12/2025: "The Slop of Things to Come", Goldman Sachs Nervous About Slop Bubble
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, December 13, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, December 13, 2025
Google News is Google Noise
Google News is really hopeless, even on weekends
IBM: We Pay You to be Obedient or Deny You What You're Entitled to If You Don't Act Obediently
Good luck starting legal battles with a company that has almost as many lawyers (including aggressive patent lawyers) as it has geeks
Links 13/12/2025: Jimmy Lai and Media Freedom on Trial, "OpenAI Researcher Quits, Saying Company Hiding the Truth"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/12/2025: Extensive Catchup With Gopherholes
Links for the day
Deliberate Lies or Glaring Distortions
Calling Torvalds anything "Soviet" or "Russian" would overlook the fact he comes from Finland and has Swedish roots
Canonical and Ubuntu: Working for Microsoft, Promoting Proprietary Surveillance (Dis)Services
Canonical started with a rich and overambitious Debian Developer. He wanted to become richer.
Russian "Hybrid Attacks" Are Typically Microsoft TCO and/or Windows TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
Information-related warfare relies a lot on computer systems
EPO People Power - Part XI - The Media in Europe is Ill and Complicit in Ills
We must all recognise that there's a problem here
Running With Technology
At least they always run Linux (all of them, since 2015)
Dealing With "Tech Cults"
If you think you identified a "Tech Cult", walk away
It Seems Like IBM is Firing 'Everybody' (Anywhere, Any Age, No Matter What Team)
Healthy companies would sack IBM's management (sacked by Board, bylaws etc.) but IBM is a sick company
Latest Stallman Talk (Event in Argentina) Published
Less than a day ago they released his talk
GAFAM is a Financial Problem and Sovereignty Risk, a Policy-Level (National Level) Boycott is Needed
Europe has plenty of skilled computer engineers
LLM Slop Becoming Rarer
Today we've found no LLM slop in our RSS feeds regarding "Linux"
2026 Could Very Well be Last Year of XBox, Microsoft Dropped the Ball
It would be shocking is XBox can stage any kind of comeback
Links 13/12/2025: Social Control Media Bans and "Could Finland be Hiding a Blue Zone?"
Links for the day
Expecting Mass Layoffs, More Microsoft Workers Join Unions
they see tough times ahead
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 12, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, December 12, 2025