Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by WebWalker

Ubuntu 9.10 will be released on October 29th

WebWalker — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:14:13 +0800

Ubuntu

Put this coutdown timer to your website :

CODE

More codes here :-

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

[WTS] LiteOn 8X External USB Slim DVD Writer

WebWalker — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:22:29 +0800

Item(s):

LiteOn 8X External USB Slim DVD Writer (new and unopened box)
http://www.liteonit.com/global/index.php?o...d=270&Itemid=87

Great drive for netbook...

Package includes:

Drive itself + driver CD/DVD + manual

Price:

Not less than RM200 (bought it at RM239)
ThunderMatch receipt will be provided.

Warranty:

1 year from ThunderMatch.

Dealing method:

COD or poslaju (postage bare by buyer)

Location:

Puchong

Contact method/details:

PM me please

Item(s) conditions:

New and unopened box

Picture:

Reason for sale:

Purchase it for my customer but later on they don't want it

Thank you for viewing this and have a good day

Modular Power Supplies Less Efficient Say Makers

WebWalker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:35:24 +0800

Source : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/power-sup...ml#xtor=RSS-181

It's all about power efficiency these days.

Up until the last few years, few paid any attention to the little box that actually powers a PC--the power supply. Now with certifications like the 80-Plus, we're able to at least distinguish efficient power supplies from the rest of the pack. But even with 80-Plus, more and more power supplies are jumping on the bandwagon, so while product quality goes up overall, things are still not where manufacturers want them to be.

There's more detail to power supplies than can fit in the scope of this article, but we spoke to several power supply manufacturers at Computex and the focus customers put on their units.

Despite modular power supplies being a hot product, don't be quick to grab the up-take. The companies we spoke to told us that modular power supplies are less efficient than those that have their cables hard-wired. The reason being that the extra connection you make, adds resistance, and hence, increases heat and reduces efficiency.

Enermax, Seasonic, and Corsair all told us that if you're looking to maximize efficiency, go for a non-modular PSU.

Are the differences great? No one gave us any hard numbers, but they did indicate that the numbers are measurable. PC Power & Cooling, now part of OCZ, says the same thing:

Due to their look, convenience, and cost savings for manufacturers, modular plugs have become a popular power supply feature. Unfortunately, there has been little or no discussion of the impact of this feature on overall performance and reliability. The fact is, modular plugs limit power by adding to electrical resistance. The voltage drop can be as much as would occur in 2 feet of standard wire. Worse yet, modular plugs utilize delicate pins that can easily loosen, corrode, and burn, creating the potential for a major system failure. That's why professional system builders specify uninterrupted wire!

So in the end, you have to choose: do you go with a modular PSU for cable management and appearance, or do you spring for a hard-wired PSU?

Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) is out

WebWalker — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:33:04 +0800

UPDATE :- Ubuntu 9.04 is out

Get your copy at : http://www.ubuntu.com

Happy downloading

=======================================

Ubuntu 9.04 final version will be released on April 23rd, 2009.

The Beta is available for download at :-
http://www.ubuntu.com/

Help spread the word about Ubuntu

Adding the Ubuntu countdown timer to your website is easy! Just copy and paste the following lines into your webpage and each day the image will update showing the days remaining before the release.

CODE

More details and options about this countdown code, go here :-

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

GNOME 2.26 Released!

WebWalker — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:44:40 +0800

http://library.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/2.26/

Gxogle ? Google XO on Valentine's Day ?

WebWalker — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:41:13 +0800

Have everyone came across Google page this morning ?

The logo this morning is :-

It was there for a very short while and then replace by this :-

Clueless what is the lipstick "XO" mean ...
A lot of discussion on this thing on Internet now

Kernel vulnerability found in Vista

WebWalker — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:45:10 +0800

Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10106173-...torsPicksArea.0

November 22, 2008 4:15 PM PST
Kernel vulnerability found in Vista
Posted by David Meyer

A flaw in Vista's networking has been found that can crash the system, but no fix is expected until the next service pack

A flaw has been found in Windows Vista that could allow rootkits to be hidden or denial-of-service attacks to be executed on computers using the operating system.

The vulnerability was found by Thomas Unterleitner of Austrian security company Phion and was announced Friday. Unterleitner told ZDNet UK on Friday that Phion told Microsoft about the flaw in October but that he understood a fix would only be issued in the next Vista service pack.

According to Unterleitner's disclosure of the flaw, the issue lies in the network input/output subsystem of Vista. Certain requests sent to the iphlpapi.dll API can cause a buffer overflow that corrupts the Vista kernel memory, resulting in a blue-screen-of-death crash.

"This buffer overflow could (also) be exploited to inject code, hence compromising client security," Unterleitner said.

Unterleitner told ZDNet UK via e-mail that the "exploit can be used to turn off the computer using a (denial-of-service) attack." He also suggested that, because the exploit occurs in the Netio.sys component of Vista, it may make it possible to hide rootkits.

Using a sample program, Unterleitner and his colleagues ascertained that Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate were definitely affected by the flaw, with other versions of Microsoft's operating system "very likely" to be affected as well. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are vulnerable. Windows XP is not affected.

Asked about the severity of the flaw, Unterleitner pointed out that administrative rights were needed to execute a program calling the function that would cause the buffer overflow. However, he also said it was possible--but not yet confirmed--that someone could use a malformed DCHP packet to "take advantage of the exploit without administrative rights."

"We have worked together with Microsoft Security Response Center in Redmond since October 2008 to locate, classify and fix this bug," Unterleitner wrote. "Microsoft will ship a fix for this exploit with the next Vista service pack."

Microsoft told ZDNet UK on Friday that it had investigated the issue, but was "currently unaware of any attacks trying to use the vulnerability or of customer impact." It could not, however, confirm the inclusion of a fix for the problem in the next as-yet-unreleased service pack for Vista, nor give the release date for that service pack.

David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Thermalright Ultra-120 Copper Hitting Shelves

WebWalker — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:41:21 +0800

Source : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/thermalri...opper,6491.html

Thermalright Ultra-120 Copper Hitting Shelves This Month
1:20 PM - October 15, 2008 by Gavin Steacy

The highly popular Thermalright http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme will soon have a new heavyweight counterpart. Expreview have received notification that a copper version of the enthusiast CPU cooler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cooling will be available this month for a price of $100-110.

ZoomThe heatsink is made entirely of copper and there are both advantages and disadvantages to this. A copper heatsink has much better thermal conductivity than an aluminum heatsink. However, it is also more expensive to produce and much heavier than an equally sized aluminum heatsink. For the latter two reasons, Thermalright is only producing 2,000 units, as the overall demand will likely be lower than the rest of Thermalrightâ€™s product line. If you want to purchase one of these coolers, you may need to get in fast.

While price may not be an obstacle for the air cooling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_cooling enthusiast, the mass of this heatsink is a significant issue when transporting the computer around. Weighing in at in incredible 1.9 kg, compared to the 790 g of the original Extreme, the motherboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard will be under substantial strain even with a backplate. Therefore, the cooler will be more suited to stationary PCs.

The copper Ultra-120 Extreme was originally on show during Computex 2008. The previously rumored 3 kg mass was fortunately confirmed incorrect by a Thermalright representative. The cooler supports all current Intel and AMD platforms, and has optional support for Core i7. The exact release date is not yet known.

OpenOffice 3 is out

WebWalker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:34:08 +0800

Download your copy here :-

http://www.openoffice.org/

Why Nvidia's chips are defective

WebWalker — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:46:56 +0800

Source : http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/new...chips-defective

Just a extract :-

NVIDIA HAS RECENTLY been saying a lot about how it's chips are not bad, and giving people reasons about why the problem is contained. Unfortunately, these disingenuous half-truths don't stand up to an explanation of why this problem is happening.

The problem is extremely complex and defies a simple explanation. It involves multiple poor choices, multiple engineering failures, and likely a few bad accounting choices. This piece could also have been entitled: "More than you ever wanted to know about bumping, and then some: How not to do things". But we will simplify the science and technical details as much as possible to make it accessible, so some things may be oversimplified.

The defective parts appear to make up the entire line-up of Nvidia parts on 65nm and 55nm processes, no exceptions. The question is not whether or not these parts are defective, it is simply the failure rates of each line, with field reports on specific parts hitting up to 40 per cent early life failures. This is obviously not acceptable.

The end result of the failures is that bumps crack between the bump and the substrate on a chip, not on the bump to die side. When this happens to a signal bump, game over for the GPU or MCP. What is a bump, die and substrate? Why is it happening? That is a long and technical story.

continue ... (click http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/new...hips-defective)

Nvidia Is Cutting Back Its Partners; Foxconn Axed
Source : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-Fo...nward,6455.html

It would appear that Nvidia is losing its partners left, right and center these days, as rumors have it that Nvidia had recently cut loose five more.

According to the Inquirer, industry sources say that both Foxconn and Club 3D are among the casualties , along with three yet unnamed partners. Already Gainward and XFX have left Nvidia, with EVGA stating it would no longer exclusively sell just Nvidia products. Apparently it is somehow not financially viable for Nvidia to continue to have 24 partners anymore while it faces rough times. As the logic behind that decision seems a bit odd, the truth may actually be that the partners just jumped ship on their own accord.

According to a recent article at Tom’s Hardware that reviewed which graphics cards were best for the money, Nvidia was still able to compete with AMD in many of the price ranges. Of course, strong competition from AMD had forced Nvidia to repeatedly slash its prices to remain competitive and Nvidia still continues to lack offerings that can compete with AMD in the high-end market. Strong competition is not the only problem that Nvidia is facing, as a haunting defective chip issue that had affected virtually the entire Nvidia product lineup is taking its toll. Competition is always welcomed, so it is sad to see that Nvidia may be beginning to fall behind.

With tight profit margins, sluggish sales and a possibly unstable future ahead for Nvidia, it seems clear why add-in board partners have been switching sides. According to the Inquirer, so far Nvidia had been trying to keep the news of its partner reductions under-wraps, although partings so far have been said to have been amicable. Keeping things under-wraps for Nvidia seems to be a common strategy these days. For example, when the defective chip fiasco first arose Nvidia played it off as if it were a contained problem. The reality would seem as if the defective chip issue had affected Nvidia’s entire product range, an issue that seems to have been caused by poor engineering and a lack of proper testing on Nvidia’s behalf.

Ubuntu 8.10 is out !

WebWalker — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:02:31 +0800

Edited :-

Download your copy here :-

http://www.ubuntu.com/

--------------------

Source : http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/countdown

Help spread the word about Ubuntu

Adding the Ubuntu countdown timer to your website is easy! Just copy and paste the following lines into your webpage and each day the image will update showing the days remaining before the release.

CODE

Yahoo Messenger 9 is out !

WebWalker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:38:02 +0800

News source :-

http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-100441...torsPicksArea.0

To download :-

http://messenger.yahoo.com/download/

Thermaltake's Combines PC Case With Fridge

WebWalker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:47:37 +0800

Thermaltake thermaltake â€™s Xpressar RCS100 PC cooling system combines a computer case with a refrigerator

Source : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Thermalta...-Case,6399.html

Thermaltake has officially announced the Xpressar RCS100; the worldâ€™s first DC-inverter-type micro-refrigeration cooling system for a PC. Essentially what Thermaltake has done is combine its Xaser VI computer case with the guts of a refrigerator, which is definitely a cool idea. Apparently, the Xpressar RCS100 was able to cool an Intel Core 2 intel core 2 Duo E8400, which had been overclocked to 4.05 GHz, down to 35-degrees Celsius. If the claims are true, that is 20-degrees cooler than the average water-cooling system. As well, with a single 120 mm fan running at 1600 RPM, the noise in the system is claimed to be a near inaudible 20 dB. Somehow it seems hard to believe that the systemâ€™s condenser pump would also be that quiet however.

The Xpressar RCS100 is definitely designed with the overclocker in mind, although it does not go too lightly on the power requirements. With the micro-compressor alone using upwards of 50 W, Thermaltake recommends using a power-supply that can support the system hardware plus an additional 100 W. As for PC system compatibility, processors using Intelâ€™s LGA775 or LGA1366 sockets are supported, meaning this system should be compatible with Intelâ€™s upcoming Bloomfield processors. Many popular motherboards are supported, such as the Asus P5Q asus p5q , although a motherboard with an odd placement for its processor socket may not be compatible. Lastly, some motherboards motherboards will leave only enough room for one video card, mainly affecting MSI motherboards it would seem.

The micro vapor-compression refrigeration system used in the Xpressar RCS100 is like that of what you might find in a refrigerator or an air-conditioning unit. The CPU cooling process involves a phase change of a refrigerant from a liquid to a gas state, which allows the refrigerant to absorb heat from the processor. Afterwards, the compressor and condenser work together to bring the gas back to a liquid state and the cycle begins again. The refrigerant is environmentally-friendly and the system is equipped with an intelligent IC controller to prevent condensation from forming.

There is no word on price yet, but it should be available at retail stores shortly.

Top 50 Linux Quotes of All Time

WebWalker — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:52:54 +0800

Source : http://www.junauza.com/2008/01/top-50-linu...f-all-time.html

50. I develop for Linux for a living, I used to develop for DOS.
Going from DOS to Linux is like trading a glider for an F117.
-- Lawrence Foard, entropy@world.std.com

49. Avoid the Gates of Hell. Use Linux.
-- unknown source

48. I've run DOOM more in the last few days than I have the last few
months. I just love debugging ;-)
(Linus Torvalds)

47. By golly, I'm beginning to think Linux really *is* the best thing since
sliced bread.
-- Vance Petree, Virginia Power

46. Linux poses a real challenge for those with a taste for late-night
hacking (and/or conversations with God).
-- Matt Welsh

45. Linux is obsolete.
-- Andrew Tanenbaum

44. Your job is being a professor and researcher: That's one hell of a good excuse for some of the brain-damages of minix. (Linus Torvalds to Andrew Tanenbaum)

43. I still maintain the point that designing a monolithic kernel in 1991 is a fundamental error. Be thankful you are not my student. You would not get a high grade for such a design :-) (Andrew Tanenbaum to Linus Torvalds)

42. We all know Linux is great... it does infinite loops in 5 seconds.
- Linus Torvalds about the superiority of Linux on the Amterdam Linux Symposium

41. People disagree with me. I just ignore them.
(Linus Torvalds, regarding the use of C++ for the Linux kernel.)

40. Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen an angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.
-- Linus Torvalds, announcing Linux v2.0

39. Other than the fact Linux has a cool name, could someone explain why should use Linux over BSD?

38. “How should I know if it works? That's what beta testers are for. I only coded it." (Attributed to Linus Torvalds, somewhere in a posting)

37. "Problem solving under linux has never been the circus that it is under AIX." (By Pete Ehlke in comp.unix.aix)

36. "Besides, I think Slackware sounds better than 'Microsoft,' don't you?" (By Patrick Volkerding)

35. "And the next time you consider complaining that running Lucid Emacs 19.05 via NFS from a remote Linux machine in Paraguay doesn't seem to get the background colors right, you'll know who to thank." (By Matt Welsh)

34. "...Deep Hack Mode--that mysterious and frightening state of consciousness where Mortal Users fear to tread." (By Matt Welsh)

33. Sigh. I like to think it's just the Linux people who want to be on the "leading edge" so bad they walk right off the precipice. (Craig E. Groeschel)

32. Microsoft Corp., concerned by the growing popularity of the free 32-bit operating system for Intel systems, Linux, has employed a number of top programmers from the underground world of virus development. Bill Gates stated yesterday: "World domination, fast -- it's either us or Linus". Mr. Torvalds was unavailable for comment ... (rjm@swift.eng.ox.ac.uk (Robert Manners), in comp.os.linux.setup)

31. Who wants to remember that escape-x-alt-control-left shift-b puts you into super-edit-debug-compile mode? (Discussion in comp.os.linux.misc on the intuitiveness of commands, especially Emacs.)

30. It's a bird.. It's a plane.. No, it's KernelMan, faster than a speeding bullet, to your rescue. Doing new kernel versions in under 5 seconds flat.. (Linus, in the announcement for 1.3.27)

29. Those who don't understand Linux are doomed to reinvent it, poorly. (Unidentified source.)

28. "How do you power off this machine?" (Linus, when upgrading linux.cs.helsinki.fi, and after using the machine for several months.)

27. I've discovered that using VMS is a lot like driving a nail with your head: sure, you eventually get something practical done, but it usually results in a headache and some blood loss.
(submitted by Sean A. Simpson)

26. "... being a Linux user is sort of like living in a house inhabited by a large family of carpenters and architects. Every morning when you wake up, the house is a little different. Maybe there is a new turret, or some walls have moved. Or perhaps someone has temporarily removed the floor under your bed." - Unix for Dummies, 2nd Edition (Found in the .sig of Rob Riggs)

25. If Bill Gates is the Devil then Linus Torvalds must be the Messiah. (Unknown source)

24. LILO, you've got me on my knees!
(from David Black, dblack@pilot.njin.net, with apologies to Derek and the
Dominos, and Werner Almsberger)

23. Anyone can build a fast processor. The trick is to build a fast system. (Seymour Cray)

22. We can use symlinks of course... syslogd would be a symlink to syslogp and ftpd and ircd would be linked to ftpp and ircp... and of course the point-to-point protocal paenguin. (Kevin M. Bealer, commenting on the penguin Linux logo.)

21. A multithreaded file system is only a performance hack. (Andrew Tanenbaum to Linus Torvalds)

20. I did this 'cause Linux gives me a woody. It doesn't generate revenue. (Dave '-ddt->` Taylor, announcing DOOM for Linux)

19. This message was brought to you by Linux, the free unix. Windows without the X is like making love without a partner. Sex, Drugs & Linux Rules win-nt from the people who invented edlin apples have meant trouble since eden Linux, the way to get rid of boot viruses. (By mwikholm@at8.abo.fi, MaDsen Wikholm)

18. Be warned that typing killall name may not have the desired effect on non-Linux systems, especially when done by a privileged user.
-- From the killall manual page

17. Only wimps use tape backup: _real_ men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it. "
--- Linus Torvalds

16. Linux is not user-friendly. It _is_ user-friendly. It is not ignorant-friendly and idiot-friendly.
---Source unknown

15. `When you say "I wrote a program that crashed Windows", people just stare at you blankly and say "Hey, I got those with the system, *for free*".' (By Linus Torvalds)

14. "If you want to travel around the world and be invited to speak at a lot of different places, just write a Unix operating system." (By Linus Torvalds)

13. "Are Linux users lemmings collectively jumping off of the cliff of reliable, well-engineered commercial software?" (By Matt Welsh)

12. "Linux: the operating system with a CLUE... Command Line User Environment". (seen in a posting in comp.software.testing)

11. “See, you not only have to be a good coder to create a system like Linux, you have to be a sneaky ******* too.” (By Linus Torvalds)

10. "What happens when you read some doc and either it doesn't answer your question or is demonstrably wrong? In Linux, you say "Linux sucks" and go read the code. In Windows/Oracle/etc you say "Windows sucks" and start banging your head against the wall."
--- Denis Vlasenko on lkml

9. "...you might as well skip the Xmas celebration completely, and instead sit in front of your linux computer playing with the all-new-and-improved linux kernel version." (By Linus Torvalds)

8. Linux hackers are funny people: They count the time in patchlevels. (Seen in the .sig of Gerd Knorr.)

7. Linux: the choice of a GNU generation
-- ksh@cis.ufl.edu put this on Tshirts in '93\

6. "Not me, guys. I read the Bash man page each day like a Jehovah's Witness reads the Bible. No wait, the Bash man page IS the bible. Excuse me..."
(More on confusing aliases, taken from comp.os.linux.misc)

5. What's this script do?
unzip ; touch ; finger ; mount ; gasp ; yes ; umount ; sleep
Hint for the answer: not everything is computer-oriented. Sometimes you're
in a sleeping bag, camping out with your girlfriend.
(Contributed by Frans van der Zande.)

4. I'm an idiot.. At least this [bug] took about 5 minutes to find.. Surely, Linus is talking about the kind of idiocy that others aspire to :-)
(Bruce Perens in response to Linus Torvalds's mailing about a kernel bug.)

3. One OS to rule them all,
One OS to find them.
One OS to call them all,
And in salvation bind them.
In the bright land of Linux,
Where the hackers play.
(J. Scott Thayer, with apologies to J.R.R.T.)

2. ...the Linux philosophy is "laugh in the face of danger". Oops. Wrong one. "Do it yourself". That's it. (by Linus)

1. We are using Linux daily to UP our productivity - so UP yours!
-- Adapted from Pat Paulsen by Joe Sloan

Ubuntu gets hopping with 'Jaunty Jackalope'

WebWalker — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:10:35 +0800

Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10036164-...torsPicksArea.0

Ubuntu gets hopping with 'Jaunty Jackalope'

The Ubuntu project has detailed plans for the April 2009 version of its Linux distribution, continuing its habit of naming its software after animals by dubbing Ubuntu 9.04 as "Jaunty Jackalope."

The news comes after Ubuntu last week made available an advance testing version of release 8.10 of its Linux distribution, "Intrepid Ibex." The full 8.10 release is scheduled to be launched in late October.

"As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it's time to create space for future plans...(Jaunty) will be the focus of our efforts from November through to April next year," the project's founder and patron, Mark Shuttleworth, wrote in an e-mail to developers this morning.

Shuttleworth said Ubuntu 9.04 would focus on improving boot time and blurring the line between desktop applications and the incoming wave of Web-based software.

"The Jackalope is known for being so fast that it's extremely hard to catch, and breeds only when lightning flashes," wrote Shuttleworth. "Let's see if we can make booting or resuming Ubuntu blindingly quick."

Operating system rival Microsoft has also recently stated it wanted to make boot times one of its priorities for its upcoming Windows 7 operating system, which has not yet been formally named.

On Web application integration, Shuttleworth wrote: "Is it a deer? Is it a bunny? Or is it a weblication: a desktop application that seamlessly integrates the Web? This hare has legs, and horns, and we'll be exploring it in much more detail for Jaunty."

The 9.04 release will also see Ubuntu's entire code repository moved into the project's Bazaar version control system, to make it easier for developers to work with the software. "For the first time, any developer will be able to branch any Ubuntu package with a single bzr command, publish their changes, and perhaps even publish builds of that package in their own package archive," wrote Shuttleworth.

Shuttleworth said the project would be planning the 9.04 release in much more detail at its Ubuntu Developer Summit, to be held at Google's Mountain View, Calif., campus from December 8 to 12.

In general Shuttleworth said 2009 would see Ubuntu compete strongly with its commercial rivals. "The warrior rabbit is our talisman as we move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big (software vendors): Microsoft and Apple," he wrote.

[addedon]September 10, 2008, 9:31 am[/addedon]Source : http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2988

Ubuntu plans for Jaunty Jackalope

Ubuntu founder and Canonical chief, Mark Shuttleworth, yesterday announced his ambitions for Ubuntu 9.04, now called “Jaunty Jackalope”.

In an email to developers last night, Shuttleworth said: “As we approach the launch of Ubuntu 8.10, it’s time to create space for future plans, and so I’m writing to introduce you to The Jaunty Jackalope.”

Shuttleworth says that the bar for Ubuntu 9.04 is set very high. “We move into a year where we can reasonably expect Ubuntu to ship on several million devices, to consumers who can reasonably expect the software experience to be comparable to those of the traditional big OSV’s - Microsoft and Apple.”

Dell last week announced its new Inspiron Mini 9 netbook which ships with Ubuntu pre-installed. Shuttleworth obviously is obviously expecting more of those types of deals in the coming year.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to shine, and we want to make sure that the very best thinking across the whole open source ecosystem is reflected in Ubuntu, because many people will judge free software as a whole by what we do.”

Plans

Shuttleworth says that one of the priorities for Jaunty is to reduce the amount of time it takes to boot the system. “We want Ubuntu to boot as fast as possible - both in the standard case, and especially when it is being tailored to a specific device.” Better boot times were also objectives for the Hardy and Intrepid releases. That this is still a priority suggests that Intrepid may not match expectations for boot times when it is released in October.

Shuttleworth also emphasises the need for Jaunty to blur the line between web services and desktop applications.

“We have already laid some foundations for weblications in the online services discussions that took place in Prague, but since we fully expect those services to ship in 9.04 the discussion will be that much more intense in Mountain View [Ubuntu Developer Summit].

Jaunty will also mark the first time that all of Ubuntu’s software will be managed by Bazaar, Ubuntu’s revision control system.

Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, is due for release in October this year. Ubuntu 9.04 will be released in April next year.

‘Blackouts’ for users of pirated Windows XP

WebWalker — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:01:28 +0800

Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...1600&sec=nation

Tuesday August 26, 2008 MYT 8:16:36 PM

‘Blackouts’ for users of pirated Windows
By STEVEN PATRICK

PETALING JAYA: Starting Wednesday, users with pirated copies of Microsoft Corp's Windows XP Professional operating system (OS) on machines that are Internet-capable could find their computer displays going black and with no screen icons visible.

There are 8.6 million users of Win XP Pro in Malaysia and about three million are expected to suffer the “blackouts,” according to Microsoft Malaysia.

To continue working, the user would need to reset the machine’s desktop background. Everything will return to normal. But when 60 minutes are up, the black screen will reappear and the user must go through the whole process again.

This will keep happening until the user licenses the copy of Win XP Pro on the machine by going to a Microsoft reseller or getting a licence online at the www.microsoft.com/malaysia/genuine. Each licence costs RM580.

This initiative is part of Microsoft’s antipiracy campaign, dubbed Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), aimed at educating users on the benefits of using genuine software, K.T. Ng, Microsoft Malaysia’s director of client business group, told The Star on Tuesday.

Win XP Professional was chosen for the antipiracy blitz because it is the most pirated version of Microsoft’s Win XP operating system. The other version is Windows XP Home, which is for home users.

This is the second time that Microsoft is needling users of pirated copies of its operating system to go legitimate. Two years ago, it sprang its WGA initiative on local users of Win XP Pro and Win XP Home.

That time, a pop-up message showed up whenever the PC with a pirated Windows OS was switched on, with the intention of shaming business and home users into getting legitimate copies. The message said “This copy of Windows is not genuine.”

It was quite successful. At that time, there were about 5.1 million pirated copies of Windows XP Pro and after the exercise, about two million of the copies were validated, said Microsoft Malaysia.

“We are encouraged by that response,” said Ng. "So this time, we have escalated the penalty to a black screen that reappears every hour until the user validates his or her copy of Win XP Pro.”

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive officer of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), lauded the WGA campaign.

MDeC is caretaker of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative, which is working to build up the nation’s knowledge economy.

“MDeC respects the rights of companies to protect their intellectual property. It’s a reminder that software piracy doesn’t pay, especially when Malaysians are themselves putting a lot of effort into creating original software,” he said.

Not clear
Several users and industry pundits that The Star spoke to believe Microsoft is using its WGA campaign to herd business users into upgrading to its newest operating system, Windows Vista, which hasn’t garnered interest among companies because of its higher hardware requirements.

“Microsoft has stopped selling Win XP in the market, so you have to wonder why it is spending time and money to take down users of pirated copies of this OS,” said a PC user, who asked for anonymity. “Why isn’t it also targeting users who have pirated copies of Windows Vista?”

“So if I’m using a pirated copy of Vista at this time, I won’t be hassled? Got to wonder about that.”

Ng replied that the concern now is XP Pro, which is widely pirated. “Vista isn’t pirated as much. WGA is continuous and should there be a Vista piracy problem, we will address it down the road,” he said.

Firefox market share exceeds 20%,

WebWalker — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:08:26 +0800

Firefox market share exceeds 20%, Internet Explorer dips below 70%

By Wolfgang Gruener
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 15:22

Chicago (IL) – It has been six weeks since Firefox 3 has been released and if we believe market share numbers provided by an ongoing survey of NetApplications, then it appears that Mozilla has had a successful launch with market share gains, especially at the expense of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Examining NetApplications’ numbers, it is almost certain that this data is highly dependent on daily user behavior and that any results have to be taken with a grain of salt. But if the numbers are any indication then it is clear that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer market share is trending down, while Mozilla is playing with the 20% range and is successfully jumping over this mark more often.

The average market share for Firefox was 19.27% in June, up from 18.41% in May. Internet Explorer dropped from 73.75% to 72.95% in the same time frame.

According to the most recent data made available by the market research firm today, Internet Explorer stands at 69.88% today, while Firefox 2 and 3 account for a combined market share of 20.68% (Firefox 2: 13.75%, Firefox 3: 6.92%.) Since the launch of Firefox 3 on June 17, IE’s share was as high as 74.30% and played at least 12 time with numbers below the 71% mark, while today’s estimate is a new low for the browser in NetApplications’ chart.

On the other side, Firefox was estimated to have accounted for a market share of 17.81% on June 17 (Firefox 2: 16.19%, Firefox 3: 1.62%) and was able to jump over the 20% barrier eight times since then. Firefox 3 has been continuously gaining market share since launch and Firefox appears to be making a slight comeback in recent days, after falling as low as 12.37% on July 23. July 26 and July 27 have been the first two consecutive days on which Firefox was able to maintain a market share above 20%.

Since the day of the introduction of Firefox 3, Firefox was able to add 2.85 percentage points to its market share, while IE lost 4.20 points in the same time frame.

Source : http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-38653-113.html

Apacer Service Center

WebWalker — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 01:07:09 +0800

I need to warranty claim some Apacer RAM, anyone know where are their service center location?

Thanks in advance.

Streamyx free upgrade from 512kb to 1MB

WebWalker — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:25:38 +0800

Yes, I got my free upgrade today from 512kb to 1MB after subscribing it for exactly one full year with prompt payment

But sad thing is that I am about to move out

10 years of Palm handhelds

WebWalker — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 23:58:38 +0800

http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6053916-1....?tag=ne.gall.pg