Kaizenlog

09 05 2007

[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-05-08

Posted by: kaizenlog in Computer

By N2H

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Real Open Source Applications for Education?
* EFF and Dvorak Blame the Digg Revolt On Lawyers
* Migrate a MySQL Database Preserving Special Characters
* Australian Extradited For Breaking US Law At Home
* Transform a Regular LCD Into a Touchscreen
* CNET Reporters Intend to Sue HP Over Surveillance
* Boredom Drives Open-Source Developers?
* Dell Partners with MS/Novell for Linux Servers
* Security Isn’t Just Avoiding Microsoft
* Beating WoW At Its Own Game
* Canadian Coins Not Nano-Tech Espionage Devices
* 360 Limiting GTA IV In Some Ways
* Linux as A Musician’s OS?
* Jobs to Labels- Lose the DRM & We’ll Talk Price
* Comcast Goes to Zimbra
* What is Your Desert Island Game?
* How the RIAA has Dodged RICO Charges
* Thailand Sues YouTube
* Research Team Makes Quantum Computing Progress
* Massachusetts Joins the Real ID Fight
* No Competition Between Open and Closed Source?
* Are End Users to Blame for OS Flaws?
* Analysts Call IBM Layoff Estimates "Hogwash"
* Library of Congress Threatens Washington Watch Wiki

openeducation writes "I have been researching open source solutions for
K-12 education pretty heavily for the past year and have been
disappointed to find no real alternatives to the large administrative
applications like student information systems, data warehouse, ERP, etc.
But recently, I ran across [0]Open Solutions for Education. This group
appears to be making a serious effort at creating a stack of open source
applications that are alternatives to the large and costly commercial
packages. [1]Centre, an open source student information system that has
been around for a while, is part of the solution stack. They have a data
warehouse and are proposing an open source SIF alternative and an
assessment solution. While the proof is in the pudding, these guys have
working demos and they look pretty good for a first run. K-12 education
is in dire financial straits and solutions like these could help with
lower TCO. Plus, education is a collaborative industry already, which
makes it a good fit for open source."

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/06/2139207

Links:
0. http://os4ed.com/
1. http://www.miller-group.net/

[0]enharmonix writes "A bit of an update on the recent [1]Digg revolt
over AACS. The NYTimes has taken notice and written quite a decent
article that actually [2]acknowledges that the take-down notices amount
to censorship and documents instances of the infamous key appearing in
purely expressive form. I was pleased to see the similarity to 2600 and
deCSS was not lost on the Times either. More interesting is that the
EFF’s Fred von Lohmann [3]blames the digg revolt on lawyers. And in an
opinion piece, John Dvorak [4]expands on that theme."

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/018211

Links:
0. mailto:enharmonix+//enharmonix+slashdot [Email address: //enharmonix+slashdot #AT# gmail.com/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/02/0235228&tid=153
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/technology/03code.html?em&ex=1178424000&en=fd64df8d006725e3&ei=5087%0A
3. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005229.php
4. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/dvd-decoder-fiasco-shows-lawyers-behind/story.aspx?guid=%7BA3ED06D9-F6D3-4CC7-9225-0D76E4D9D713%7D

TomSlick writes "Michael Chu’s blog provides a good solution for people
migrating their MySQL databases and finding that special characters (like
smart quotes) get mangled. He presents [0]two practical solutions to
migrating the database properly."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/06/2129246

Links:
0. http://www.orthogonalthought.com/blog/index.php/2007/05/mysql-database-migration-and-special-characters/

An anonymous reader sends us a link to a report in The Age about an
Australian resident, who had never set foot in the US and broke US
intellectual-property laws in Australia, being [0]extradited to the US to
face trial. Hew Raymond Griffiths pleaded guilty in Virginia to
overseeing all aspects of the operation of the group Drink Or Die, which
cracked copy-protected software and media products and distributed them
for free. He faces up to 10 years in a US jail and half a million dollars
in fines.

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/0144241

Links:
0. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/06/1178390140855.html

eZtaR writes "NAVisis is introducing a new USB gadget (for Windows only
including Vista) called [0]LaptopTablet. You mount it onto the side of
your regular LCD monitor to transform it into a fully functional
touchscreen, controlled with an included pen. The gadget is priced at
around $100 and seems a good alternative for Photoshoppers."

Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/0210214

Links:
0. http://www.navisis.com/ENGLISH/03_pro/pro03.php?tmenu=03

[0]theodp writes "The NY Times reports that three CNET journalists whose
records, as well as those of their relatives, were scrutinized by
pretexting investigators working for HP [1]intend to sue the company for
invasion of privacy. HP, who paid $14.5M to settle a lawsuit filed by the
CA attorney general in connection with the spying, reportedly offered
each reporter $10,000, roughly enough to cover legal bills. The CNET
reporters have been banned from covering HP or its [2]see-no-evil CEO,
who BTW [3]was rewarded with $20.33M in 2006 despite [4]skipping his
reading assignments."

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/125246

Links:
0. mailto://theodp [Email address: //theodp #AT# aol.com/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07hp.html?ref=businesshttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07hp.html?ref=business
2. http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/11/02/hurd-hewlett-packard-tech-cx_ck_1102hp.html
3. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/12/lead_07ceos_Mark-V-Hurd_7UTB.html
4. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=awZRPpHPAxH4&refer=home

Henry McClyde writes "Chris Anderson of The Long Tail posted an article
yesterday [0]in which he claims that "spare cycles" — or boredom and the
tons of people who wish they had something better to do — is what drives
Web 2.0…. and the open source development community. While Web 2.0 in
general is driven by "the long tail," NeoSmart seems to have [1]taken up
issue with Anderson’s claims that open source developers (and other
freeware programmers in general) do what they do because they’re bored
and have nothing better to spend their time on. Same with Wikipedia
contributors, and bloggers in general."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1235250

Links:
0. http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/05/the_awesome_pow.html
1. http://neosmart.net/blog/2007/spare-cycles-and-open-source/

+—————————–—————————————+
| Dell Partners with MS/Novell for Linux Servers |
| from the room-for-everyone-in-the-clown-car dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday May 07, @09:54 (Linux Business) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/07/1246213 |
+—————————–—————————————+

[0]untouchableForce writes "Dell has announced that it will [1]join
forces with Microsoft and Novell to "make it easier for the Windows
operating system and the [...] Linux [operating] system to work
together." This is not overly surprising given Dell’s good relationship
with Microsoft, and since they already sell SUSE Linux on some of their
servers, but it is likely to put a stop to the OSS community’s
celebration of them [2]distributing Ubuntu. The debate over partnership
between Microsoft and Novell has been drawn out since the deal was signed
and for some this will add additional fuel to the fire but shouldn’t the
OSS community be reading this as an acceptance of Company’s
acknowledgment of Linux?"

Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1246213

Links:
0. http://www.gnomelan.com/
1. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8OVALQ80.htm
2. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/01/1353237&tid=163

[0]Jay Singala noted a story which points out "It’s time for all the
people who have entertained this fantasy to stop deluding themselves.
[1]How would life without Microsoft be different? It wouldn’t be in any
meaningful way for those in charge of network security; there would just
be a different vendor peddling the dominant operating system."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1344219

Links:
0. mailto://jayshreesingala [Email address: //jayshreesingala #AT# gmail.com/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=291226&source=rss_news50

The BBC has up a short piece on the hopes of game developers and
investors to ‘beat World of Warcraft’. Representatives for the upcoming
Age of Conan, recently-released Lord of the Rings Online, and Star Wars
Galaxies all discuss [0]what it’s like competing in a post-WoW world.
Funcom game director Gaute Godoger has a point when he says, "The
industry so needs competition to World of Warcraft … We need other
strong games that can make people understand that there’s more to it than
WoW." The article discusses some of the features each of these games
offer that differ from WoW, and theorizes a bit on where the MMOG genre
will go next.

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1451253

Links:
0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6619875.stm

[0]Necrotica writes "An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red
flower was [1]the culprit behind the U.S. Defence Department’s false
espionage warning [2]earlier this year. The odd-looking — but harmless —
"poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors
traveling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about
them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and
"filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology,"
according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained
by the AP."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1419256

Links:
0. mailto:cspencer.lanlord@ca [Email address: //cspencer%2Elanlord #AT# ca/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070507.wspycoins0507/BNStory/National/home
2. http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/176227&tid=158

Last week CVG had a story from the Official PlayStation Magazine, a print
entity partnered with the website, about [0]limitations Rockstar faces on
the 360. For almost the first time, we’re now hearing about a title where
lack of space on the disc and the lack of a guaranteed hard drive may be
detrimental to Microsoft’s console. "[Rockstar's creative vice president
Dan Houser] continued, ‘To be honest with you we haven’t solved all those
riddles yet.’ The difficulties aren’t limited to working on Microsoft’s
box, as Houser explains that ‘both have enormous challenges’ and that
‘both have their own particular pleasures and pains’. Rockstar hasn’t
said anything about a target SKU between the two consoles, but they’re
currently demoing the game to press running on an Xbox 360 - so we
wouldn’t worry too much if you’ve only got Microsoft’s console. Look for
more on GTA IV in the next few weeks."

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1528220

Links:
0. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=163233

lazyeye writes "Keyboard Magazine has an in-depth article about [0]the
state of music production on Linux. While it does introduce Linux to the
average musician, the article does get into some of the available music
applications and music-oriented Linux distributions out there. From the
opening paragraph ‘You might think there’s no way a free operating system
written by volunteers could compete when it comes to music production.
But in the past couple of years, all the tools you need to make music
have arrived on Linux.’"

Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/159250

Links:
0. http://www.keyboardmag.com/story.asp?sectioncode=29&storycode=17973

[0]eldavojohn writes "Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been [1]talking smack
about DRM and has recently issued a verbal [2]offer to major music lables
stating that if they are willing to lose the DRM, he’d be willing to
raise his 99 cent price for those iTunes songs. These tracks (such as the
[3]recent EMI deal) would also have better sound quality & cost about 30
cents more."

Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1511230

Links:
0. mailto://djohnsop [Email address: //djohnsop #AT# gmu.edu/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/27/2011206&tid=141
2. http://www.physorg.com/news97733953.html
3. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/02/1258238&tid=141

tenchiken writes "Zimbra, an Open Source enterprise messaging app, just
scored a major win. [0]Comcast will be moving mail services to Zimbra for
all of their customers. Zimbra has been picking up steam for a while now,
and appears to really be challenging Microsoft in a area that Exchange
has been dominated in. Add in support for [1]Samba Domain Controllers and
Linux Authentication, [2]Offline Access and [3] Evolution Support and we
might finally have our long desired Open Source Exchange killer."

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1555234

Links:
0. http://www.zimbra.com/blog/archives/2007/05/comcast_zimbra_future_of_unified_messaging.html
1. http://www.zimbra.com/blog/archives/2007/04/creating_unix_and_windows_accounts_in_ldap_with_the_zimbra_admin_ui.html
2. http://www.zimbra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7830
3. http://www.zimbra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7710

1up has a feature today asking games industry heavyweights [0]what their
‘desert island game’ would be. Games from the Civilization series are
backed by the likes of Sony’s Phil Harrison, David Jaffe, and Bethesda’s
Todd Howard, while Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has waiting-for-rescue fans
among a number of the list respondents. Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka has an
interesting answer to the question while talking about his pick:
StarCraft. " It’s an unusual choice for me in that I’d normally pick a
role-playing game. But StarCraft has a strong campaign editor to make new
content (including making either combat-oriented or story-based
campaigns), plus you can play both the solid single-player campaign and
against the A.I., and — here’s the trick — you can play on a LAN or WAN
(you said no Internet, but didn’t mention local or wide area
networks…my goal would be to build a WAN — I’d explain how, but that
would be telling — connecting other folks similarly dropped onto nearby
desert islands by other videogame online sites, who are equally eager to
play some competitive multiplayer RTS or try out the campaigns I’ve
created to kill time on the long days where there’s nothing else to do
but collect coconuts and build rafts." So, assuming that you have
everything you need to play, what game would you want to take with you
into seclusion?

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/173222

Links:
0. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3159208

Gerardo writes "Wondering why the RIAA hasn’t been hit with racketeering
charges over its shady legal fight against file-sharing? Ars Technica
looks at why the RIAA has been able to [0]dodge RICO charges. ‘"Right off
the bat there are some problems with the predicate claims for RICO,"
explained IP attorney Rich Vazquez. "You have to have a pattern of
racketeering activity: either criminal acts where there is a one-year
jail penalty, or mail or wire fraud." Any RICO action brought against the
RIAA would have to focus on the wire fraud component, likely accusing the
record labels of poking around someone’s PC without permission.’ That’s
going to be a difficult argument to make, given that Kazaa’s default
settings give users no reasonable expectation of privacy."

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1657251

Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070506-riaa-extortion-why-the-only-rico-they-fear-is-suave.html

[0]eldavojohn writes "Thailand is hitting YouTube with [1]charges of lese
majeste (up to 15 years in prison) regarding the recent videos on YouTube
showing the king next to feet, something extremely offensive in Thailand.
‘Since the first clip, more new videos mocking the king have appeared on
YouTube, including pictures of the monarch that had been digitally
altered to make him resemble a monkey. Thailand’s 79-year-old king,
almost universally adored by Thais, is the world’s longest-reigning
monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that
prohibit any insult against the royal family.’"

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/173250

Links:
0. mailto://djohnsop [Email address: //djohnsop #AT# gmu.edu/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://www.physorg.com/news97734698.html

+—————————–—————————————+
| Research Team Makes Quantum Computing Progress |
| from the zero-one-two dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 07, @15:17 (Supercomputing)|
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/07/1824219 |
+—————————–—————————————+

Timogen writes to tell us Wired is reporting that a research team is
reporting that they have found a way to "[0]controllably couple qubits"
bringing us one step closer to quantum computing. "In classical computer
science, bits — or binary digits — hold data encoded as ones and zeros.
In quantum computing, data is measured in qubits, or quantum bits. As
such, a qubit can have three possible states — one, zero or a
"superposition" of one and zero. This unique property theoretically makes
quantum computing able to solve large-scale calculations that would dwarf
today’s supercomputers. But qubits in isolation are not very useful. It’s
only when they can be connected to one another that large-scale
processing becomes possible."

Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1824219

Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/05/quantumcoupling

In the battle against big government and the infamous Real ID,
[0]Massachusetts has hopped on board. In the words of State Senator
Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, "Historically, Americans have resisted the
idea, which totalitarian governments have tended to do, of having a
national ID. That’s the broad philosophical issue. I don’t think it’s a
good move and I would be reluctant to see why we are going to that step."
And State Attorney General Martha Coakley thinks "it’s a bad idea."
Should be interesting to see how it gets voted.

Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1843232

Links:
0. http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070506/NEWS/705060682/1116

+—————————–—————————————+
| No Competition Between Open and Closed Source? |
| from the fight-for-the-right dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 07, @16:43 (Software) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/07/1947207 |
+—————————–—————————————+

techie writes "MadPenguin.org is highlighting the [0]lack of competition
between open and closed source applications. The author writes, ‘Is there
really the level of competition in the open source world that we see in
the closed source world? This is something that has been stuck in my mind
lately as I have been told so many times by closed source developers that
by opening the code you are creating your own competition. Today, I’m
here to explore this theory and hopefully prove why it’s false.’"

Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1947207

Links:
0. http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=7869

+—————————–—————————————+
| Are End Users to Blame for OS Flaws? |
| from the end-users-are-always-to-blame dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 07, @17:25 (Operating Syste|
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/07/1953250 |
+—————————–—————————————+

[0]tomsHH writes to mention OSWeekly author Brandon Watts claims that
really it is [1]end users who should be blamed for many OS flaws.
"Believe it or not, as users, we also have a large role to play in the
evolution of an operating system. We use what’s been created, and this
means that we’re the best people to turn to for judging what works and
what doesn’t. Passionate communities that are supportive aid development,
and when users join their efforts to make their voices heard, this
benefits everyone. Have you ever thought that if you wanted something to
be improved, then maybe you should just speak up and offer a solution
instead of quietly or publicly venting without offering any input?
Nothing changes by staying the same. Companies are listening, and as
taboo as it may seem, most of them want to make their users happy, so if
you shout loud enough, you’re bound to be heard. If you need proof of
this, then just look at how Linux has progressed in its development."

Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/1953250

Links:
0. http://www.slashdot.org/
1. http://www.osweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2546

[0]jbrodkin writes "[1]Rumors have been floating around saying [2]IBM
will cut 150,000 U.S. jobs, but a Network World story attempts to set the
record straight by quoting analysts who say this news, if true, would
wipe out the company’s entire U.S. operations and would make no sense
since IBM is actually doing pretty well."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/2116251

Links:
0. mailto://jbrodkin [Email address: //jbrodkin #AT# nww.com/ - replace #AT# with @ ]
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/04/1826221&tid=136
2. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/050707-ibm-layoffs.html

+—————————–—————————————+
| Library of Congress Threatens Washington Watch Wiki |
| from the trademark-madness dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday May 07, @19:11 (United States) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/07/2227201 |
+—————————–—————————————+

BackRow writes "[0]Washington Watch, a site devoted to tracking the cost
of federal legislation, has [1]raised the hackles of the Library of
Congress with a new wiki that makes an unfavorable comparison to the
LOC’s [2]THOMAS legislative search engine. After Jim Harper, Washington
Watch’s creator and the director of information policy at the Cato
Institute, announced the wiki, he received a nastygram from the LOC."
Quoting: "After the announcement, he was contacted by Matt Raymond, the
Director of Communications at the Library (and the author of the Library
of Congress’ blog). Raymond said that he possessed ’statutory and
regulatory authority governing unauthorized use of the Library’s name and
logo and those of Library subunits and programs,’ and he asked that
Harper stop using the names ‘Library of Congress’ and ‘THOMAS’ in his
marketing materials."

Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/05/07/2227201

Links:
0. http://www.washingtonwatch.com/
1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-washington-watch-goes-wiki-incurs-wrath-of-library-of-congress.html
2. http://thomas.loc.gov/

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