Mar 12 2009

Google and the Linux desktop

Google coming out with its own Linux desktop would be the best thing that ever happened to the Linux desktop and Microsoft’s worse nightmare. And, that last part is just fine by Google.

Share

Mar 12 2009

VoIP Legal Status Worldwide

Cigarra writes “There was much public debate going on during the last several months here in Paraguay, regarding the “liberation of Internet”, that is, the lifting of the restriction on ISPs to connect directly to international carriers. Up until this week, they were forced to hire wholesale service from the State run telco, Copaco. During the last month, when the new regulation was almost ready, the real reason supporting the monopoly made it to the headlines: Copaco would fight for the monopoly, fearing VoIP based telephony. Finally, the regulator Conatel resolved today to end the monopoly, but a ruling on VoIP legal status was postponed for “further study”. I guess this kind of “problem” arised almost everywhere else in the world, so I ask the international slashdotters’ crowd: what is VoIP legal status in your country / state / region? How well did incumbent telcos adapt to it, and overall, just how disruptive was this technology to established operators?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share

Mar 11 2009

Apples war on buttons has gone too far with new iPod shuffle

If you ask me, the war on buttons has gone too far. The new iPod shuffle takes a step back in both the usability and compatibility departments. Don’t get me wrong, the new VoiceOver feature is a very clever idea, especially on a device with no screen. But the rest of the changes make me wonder if Apple has placed too high a premium on the product’s

Share

Mar 11 2009

Recession Orphans Hardware, Software By The Millions

From the beginning of the recession in December 2007 through February 2009, 4.4 million people have lost their jobs in the U.S. And for about one in two workers,a software license, a PC or a laptop has also been left behind, often times with sensitive data intact.

Share

Mar 11 2009

Apple to let naughty words flow on Tweetie 1.3

Apple has apparently had a change of heart about a Twitter iPhone app that sometimes presents users with language some might find objectionable.

Share

Mar 11 2009

Security vs. Privacy — Reinterpreting the Fourth Amendment

A Yale legal scholar suggests a radical reinterpretation of the Fourth Amendment, in which “security” replaces “privacy” as the guiding principle.

Share

Mar 11 2009

How Vista Mistakes Changed Windows 7 Development

For the past several months, Microsoft has engaged in an extended public mea culpa about Vista, and in the past two weeks alone has given a series of press interviews to explain how it changed the development process of Windows 7, the forthcoming client release, to learn from the mistakes it made in the past.

Share

Mar 11 2009

10 really useful free Windows system tools

When compiling your essential Windows XP or Vista toolkit, it makes sense to source as many free tools as you possibly can.

Share

Mar 11 2009

ByeBye Banners: Supersize Web Ads Will Punch You in the Face

From Los Angeles Times: 27 top Internet publishers – New York Times, CNN, CBS Interactive, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal – say they’ll try the supersize ads in an attempt to get the attention of Web surfers who have learned to ignore banners. But doubters say more intrusive ads won’t work. “We will tune those out as well,” says Jose Castillo.

Share

Mar 11 2009

Suspect Freed After Exposing Cop’s Facebook Status

longacre writes “A man on trial in New York for possession of a weapon has been acquitted after subpoenaing his arresting officer’s Facebook and MySpace accounts. His defense: Officer Vaughan Ettienne’s MySpace “mood” was set to “devious” on the day of the arrest, and one day a few weeks before the trial, his Facebook status read “Vaughan is watching ‘Training Day’ to brush up on proper police procedure. From the article,’You have your Internet persona, and you have what you actually do on the street,” Officer Ettienne said on Tuesday. “What you say on the Internet is all bravado talk, like what you say in a locker room.” Except that trash talk in locker rooms almost never winds up preserved on a digital server somewhere, available for subpoena.'”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Share