Cody Taylor

An anonymous reader writes “With Jaunty Jackalope scheduled for release in 12 days on April 23, this blog posting describes how to switch to apt-p2p in preparation for the upgrade. This should help significantly to reduce the load on the mirrors, smooth out the upgrade experience for all involved, and bypass the numerous problems that have occurred in the past on Ubuntu release day. Remember to disable all third-party repositories beforehand.”

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Jamie found a post on ScienceBlogs that serves as a stark example of the law of unintended consequences, as well as the ability of private industry to game a system of laws to their advantage. It seems that large paper companies stand to reap as much as billion this year by doing the opposite of what an alternative-fuel bill intended. Here is the article from The Nation with more details and a mild reaction from a Congressional staffer. “[T]he United States government stands to pay out as much as billion this year to the ten largest paper companies…. even though the money comes from a transportation bill whose manifest intent was to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, paper mills are adding diesel fuel to a process that requires none in order to qualify for the tax credit. In other words, we are paying the industry — handsomely — to use more fossil fuel. ‘Which is,’ as a Goldman Sachs report archly noted, the ‘opposite of what lawmakers likely had in mind when the tax credit was established.'”

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theodp writes “Just three days before the Spitfire pub was to open on Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division campus, TechFlash reports that Microsoft got cold feet and pulled the plug on the project, leaving the bar’s owner and his 22 employees in the lurch. ‘I am completely stunned and disappointed by the decision,’ said now lease-less owner Jonathan Sposato, who’s stuck with space built out as a pub, complete with a giant bar, a fireplace, and eight beer taps. (He says it wouldn’t be economically viable to refit it as a restaurant.) Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos confirmed the company’s sudden change of heart: ‘The goal was always to create a cool gathering place for employees, but to do so in a manner that’s consistent with a business environment. We decided we should do something more appropriate, and that meant not having a pub.’ The new pub had been in development for more than a year.”

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Quantos writes with word that in Sweden, in addition to a drop in traffic following the introduction of the IPRED anti-file sharing law, the country also saw a doubling of legal downloads. “The sale of music via the Internet and mobile phones has increased by 100 percent since the Swedish anti-file sharing IPRED law entered into force last week, according to digital content provider InProdicon. ‘…I don’t know if this is only because of IPRED, but it is definitely a sign of a major change,’ said managing director Klas Brännström. InProdicon provides half of the downloaded tunes in Sweden via several online and mobile music services.” Meanwhile The Pirate Bay’s anticipated VPN service has seen over 113,000 requests for beta invitations since late last month; 80% are from Sweden. Traffic numbers may begin to rise again once the service goes live.

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