Tuesday, April 29, 2008

After All These Years Windows XP, (Service Pack 3) Still Having Glitches! Or Is It M$?

News Com is telling me that XP Service Pack Is delayed due to incompatibility with it's own software package. So people why wait, Ubuntu is set to take on the windows! Go Get your Ubuntu.
Even if Windows service pack comes, it will be loaded with all the spy tool in the world like WGA, You cannot get even regular upgrades without WGA now!

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Free Your PC, Notebook And Your Server With Ubuntu 8.04 LTS!

Canonical has announced the release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS desktop and the server editions to the general public. I have been using both of them for a while. In fact I am in the process of upgrading one of our servers facing public with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition. It will be doing a quite a bit of work together with another cluster of Ubuntu Servers, like a vertical market search engine!

I also have it on my notebook, an AMD 64bit desktop replacement machine and on this I have the Kubuntu due to my adoration to KDE. Complete with Open Office and plathora of other applications that I use for my work.

Talking about my work, I visit multiple client locations and partner locations that have windows networks. I have accounts on all these servers and I login to these networks from my Ubuntu/Kubuntu without any hassle.

Windows, start moving, we are ready to take you on!

Here is the press release on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition; read install and enjoy!;


LONDON, April 21, 2008 – Canonical Ltd. announced the upcoming availability of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition for free download on Thursday 24 April. In related news, Canonical also announced the simultaneous release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Server Edition.

Ubuntu 8.04 Long Term Support (LTS) provides a stable platform for software and hardware vendors, developers and users. With three years of support and maintenance on the desktop, 8.04 LTS is a great choice for large-scale deployment. A substantial and growing ecosystem of free and commercial software built for Ubuntu provides a rich set of choices for desktop users. This is the eighth desktop release of Ubuntu. Ubuntu's track record in delivering - on a precise schedule every six months - a commercial operating system that is free, stable, secure and fully supported, remains unique.

“Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition is a very significant release as it will take Ubuntu squarely into the business environment," said Jane Silber, COO of Canonical Ltd. "Our business and home users have told us that they want a longer support cycle to make Ubuntu a better deployment option. We have responded to that and added a commitment to much broader software and hardware support that we and our partners are excited to deliver. With enhanced commercial support through Landscape, combined with our always excellent community support, expect to see 8.04 LTS drive Ubuntu into new arenas."

"Ubuntu's polished, user focused version of the Linux desktop has built itself a wide enough following to compel significant ISV interest and support,” said Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst at Redmonk. "By coupling a very capable desktop offering with long term support options, Ubuntu is becoming an increasingly viable option for enterprises as well as consumers."

"Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino bring highly scalable messaging and industry-leading collaboration to the Ubuntu desktop,” said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president of IBM Lotus Software. "We believe the extended multi-year support for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS makes it an excellent desktop solution for corporate users who wish to deploy Lotus Notes on an open platform."

Latest and Greatest Applications

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS raises the bar on the Linux desktop experience. It includes the latest, stable version of many core products, and in that spirit is the first distribution to bring Mozilla Firefox 3 (Beta 5) to millions of users. The combination of Linux and Firefox make Ubuntu 8.04 LTS a superb web desktop, with fast browsing and greatly reduced exposure to viruses, web forgery and spyware.

Enhanced photo experience: The enhanced default photo manager, F-Spot, together with improved camera and phone recognition means users can upload, tag, manage, display, delete, print and share photos with friends and family more easily.

Music sharing and download: Users can plug in a PSP, share playlists with friends, buy from the Magnatune online music store, stream live radio and plug in more devices than ever (with UpnP).

Better video: The new default movie player now allows users to browse YouTube and other video sources across the web and to share their videos with others. It integrates with Myth TV, the open source TVR, so users can watch their favourite TV shows straight on the desktop. Brasero allows them to easily burn all content to CD or DVD.

Productivity enhancements: Clock and calendar integration is available to manage time across the globe with a single click to set, attend and receive alerts about appointments.

Slick desktop: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS combines the latest GNOME applications with desktop visual effects, giving users a smoother, better-looking and more intuitive experience.

Breadth and Depth of Services

Longer support: Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is supported with security updates and maintenance for three years so corporate and individual users have a longer upgrade planning cycle. Those who want the newest applications will be able to upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10, due in October 2008, those who prefer longer deployment cycles can stay with Ubuntu 8.04 for three years before moving to the next LTS release.

More applications: More than 30 commercial ISVs plan to support and distribute their applications on the 8.04 LTS desktop platform, including Adobe, Google, Real Networks, Nero, Skype, Corel, Parallels and Fluendo.

More accessibility: Gesture support allows users to navigate Ubuntu in a more natural fashion. Also available are increased language support for voice command, support for keyboard accessibility, slow keys, zoom and more.

Pricing and Availability

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Edition is free of charge and available on Thursday from http://www.ubuntu.com/download.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

A Lot Of Broken Vista Machines Tomorrow?

Microsoft has announced that starting today, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is being distributed over Windows Update through the Automatic Updates feature. Only English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese Windows versions are slated to be (broken) Updated. So if you have automatic update enabled, Vista SP1 will be will download in the background as soon as you access internet, means any time. Once down loaded, you will be prompted for installation. Other language versions are available for download but will soon be available via Automatic Update. The process of getting to everyone through Automatic Updates could take some time, so don't be surprised if it doesn't happen quickly, even consider yourself lucky, You might not see these crashes for a while.
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Another Threat From M$ to Yahoo.

SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp gave Yahoo Inc no hope of a higher takeover price, saying it was ready to go hostile or even call off its bid if Yahoo maintains "unrealistic expectations" of a better deal.

"Speed is of the essence for the deal to make sense," Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said on a conference call on Thursday. If no deal is reached by this weekend, Microsoft will reconsider its offer and reveal new plans next week, he said.

"Unfortunately, the transaction has been anything but speedy and has been characterized by what would appear to be unrealistic expectations of value," he said of Yahoo's moves to frustrate Microsoft's unsolicited merger proposition.

Microsoft sees Yahoo as a way to compete with arch-rival Google Inc in the Internet search and advertising arena, but company executives have repeatedly said they have limits to what they are willing to pay to get a deal done.

"We have yet to see tangible evidence that our bid substantially undervalues the company," Liddell said, referring to Yahoo. "In fact, we see the opposite."

Liddell reiterated a threat Microsoft made three weeks ago to Yahoo's board of directors that it would consider cutting its bid, now worth about $44 billion, and take its case to Yahoo shareholders if a deal is not reached by this Saturday.

Continue reading at Reuters..

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Monday, April 21, 2008

The Norway's YES Vote on OOXML - What really happened

The Chairman of the Norwegian mirror committee for SC34 (K185) for 13 years until resigning a couple of weeks ago in protest against Standard Norway’s decision to vote Yes. tells us the story from his side.
A good read, be prepared to get perplexed!
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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Microsoft Corp. honors its 2008 Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)

REDMOND, Wash. — April 14, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. honors its 2008 Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), a highly select group of experts who represent the best and brightest in technical communities, at the 2008 MVP Global Summit April 14–17 in Seattle at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center and at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. MVPs are recognized by Microsoft as outstanding leaders who voluntarily share their expertise in technical communities worldwide. MVPs also provide invaluable feedback to Microsoft by serving as early adopters of new technology and assisting in the product design and development processes.

More than 4,000 MVPs worldwide cover 90 different Microsoft technologies in 94 countries. Mirroring the wide range of real-world challenges and applications that MVPs represent, the summit will feature more than 600 technical sessions on topics ranging from enterprise security and virtualization to gaming and digital media.

This year’s summit also marks new leadership for the MVP program, as Toby Richards takes on the role of general manager of Community Support Services for Microsoft. The MVP Global Summit will conclude with closing remarks by Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer, and Ray Ozzie, Microsoft chief software architect.

“Microsoft MVPs are an amazing group of individuals,” Richards said. “By sharing their knowledge and experiences and providing objective feedback, MVPs play an integral role in the improvement of Microsoft products, while also helping people solve problems and discover new capabilities. It gives us great pleasure to recognize and thank MVPs for their demonstrated commitment to helping others.”

MVPs drive customer satisfaction through direct interaction with Microsoft users, answering more than 1 million user-group questions annually. They can also directly affect the quality of Microsoft technology and processes through early testing and feedback. MVPs have contributed to the development of almost every recent Microsoft release including Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista. One MVP’s feedback drove substantial performance improvements to Windows Mobile 6.1 and enhancements in the improvement and re-release of the Microsoft Junk E-mail Reporting Tool. In addition, 268 MVPs participated in Windows Home Server Connect programs worldwide.

“The worldwide technical community is growing at such a rapid pace,” Richards said. “Microsoft is privileged to collaborate with exceptional leaders in the world of technology through the MVP program. At this year’s summit we hope to energize these leaders as well as use their independent, objective feedback for the betterment of Microsoft’s products and services.”

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Monday, April 14, 2008

(Jump) Start Your Career At Google Mailroom

If you ever dreamed of getting a job delivering, handling or anything to do with postman, now it is time to make that dream come true. Gmail is saying;
Official Gmail Blog: We're hiring
Start At Your Career At Google Mailroom

Updated:
Since more people seems to be lost at finding the directions (Just click on the header line) I am posting more info on the hiring part.
You can learn more and apply on new gmail hiring page.
Current openings are;




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Project Management with Google Docs

I use Google docs for multiple tasks. But this team from New Zealand has done something creative.
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KML 2.2 Is An Open Geospatial Consortium Standard.

Today where every company is trying to make their formats standards with big fights and expenses, there are some that become standards by themselves.
Google has given us a few open standards, the Google Geo APIs and the way that KML has been used all across the web to express geographic content, and people have been using them for long time in internet standards that they have become part of the life through mashups, directions, waypoints etc.
But now the the KML has been crowned as an official OGC standard by the Open Geospatial Consortium. This means that KML is not just a Google Earth standard, it's not even just a Google standard. It is now an official standard for presenting geographic data. Read more about this great news on the LatLong blog;
Google LatLong: KML: A new standard for sharing maps

But also don't forget to read this post by EarthBrowser which sees a whole different side of it;
EarthBrowser: KML, libkml and the "standard" mistake
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Saturday, April 12, 2008

Windows Is Collapsing! Is? I thought it Started a long ago!

I was reading this lively conversation ignited by a Gartner report. The author is bit a M$ biased and makes valid points that he thinks is valid. But as I am the opposite, without people like him I might miss the points. Like he attributes peoples dislike to embrace Vista, (I would not go in to writing versions be cause I might run out of space!) to that XP is still kicking and a classic.
One thing he got right though, most corporate desktops are running Windows. Forcing us to dual boot, to make money. Those corporate people make us good deals just installing supporting and upgrading major versions and service packs!
Anyway as I said conversation lively over there, come join here, to hold windows from collapsing or give it a kick!
"There are several news reports from a Gartner conference in Las Vegas this week that included a session titled "Windows Is Collapsing: How What Comes Next Will Improve." Gartner may not be stellar at identifying industry trends, but they sure know how to pick controversial session titles."

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Microsoft's top lawyer Cries Foul, On Yahoo Google Ad tests.

It seems Microsoft's top lawyer does not like Yahoo and Google getting cozy, He on Thursday warned that any deal between Yahoo and Google would hurt competition. WOw! This coming from a company that has been sighted as a monopoly!

"Any definitive agreement between Yahoo and Google would consolidate over 90 percent of the search-advertising market in Google's hands. This would make the market far less competitive, in contrast to our own proposal to acquire Yahoo," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.

The statement follows reports that Yahoo is considering a limited test of using Google to deliver some search advertising.

Smith said Microsoft will "assess closely all of our options." Microsoft is looking and even threatening to purchase Yahoo!

Iread it at CNET.

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Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Google App Engine Blog: Introducing Google App Engine + our new blog

Google just started a new service called Google App Engine. I signed up as it will make my life much easier with projects and application that I am bringing forth in the near future. With 500MB of storage, 200M megacycles of CPU per day, and 10GB bandwidth per day, I have no complaints but admiration. You too can get your Web Application on Google platform, follow the link to read the blog post and join the force.

Google App Engine gives you access to the same building blocks that Google uses for its own applications, making it easier to build an application that runs reliably, even under heavy load and with large amounts of data. The development environment includes the following features:

  • Dynamic webserving, with full support of common web technologies
  • Persistent storage (powered by Bigtable and GFS with queries, sorting, and transactions)
  • Automatic scaling and load balancing
  • Google APIs for authenticating users and sending email
  • Fully featured local development environment

Google App Engine packages these building blocks and takes care of the infrastructure stack, leaving you more time to focus on writing code and improving your application.

Google App Engine Blog: Introducing Google App Engine + our new blog

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Saturday, April 05, 2008

Balmer To Yahoo Board! I Will ..........

Microsoft sent a letter to Yahoo board of Directors saying / Threatening that Yahoo has three weeks to negotiate a decent deal, after which time Microsoft / Steven A. Ballmer is going to go postal. So if Balmer has his way, we might see a new Yahoo! board selected by Share holders / M$.
If you like to read the letter it is here.
"Given these developments, we believe now is the time for our respective companies to authorize teams to sit down and negotiate a definitive agreement on a combination of our companies that will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders, creating a more efficient and competitive company that will provide greater value and service to our customers. If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board. The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you. If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal.

It is unfortunate that by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees. We think it is critically important not to let this window of opportunity pass
."

Misappropriation Of Apple Logo!


After reading today about Apple’s legal challenge to the GreenNYC logo on New York Times, claiming that the looped green apple below, right, would cause “consumer confusion resulting in damage and injury” to Apple, and will “cause dilution of the distinctiveness” of Apple’s trademark, the first thought around City Room was: They’ve got to be kidding.
Yes, Apple you should have thought about it when you choose a common word for logo and trademark, Like Microsoft did with Windows. Why do you think they settled with Lindows! Anyways what is Big Apple? New York was known as Big Apple even before Steve was born.
On the other hand all trademarks and photos belong to their owners.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008

O3Spaces Workplace, An Essential Web 2.0 Enterprise Extension for OpenOffice.org And Beyond

I just downloaded the VMWare version (Community Version) of the famous O3Spaces appliance. I am very pleased with it that I will present it to some people who is in dire need of document management solution.
The version I tested out was 2.2.1 which is the current version. O3Spaces Workplace integrates easily into office productivity suites such as OpenOffice.org, StarOffice and Microsoft Office, and delivers its Document Management and Document Collaboration solutions for teams distributed or local, workgroups & departments, across different operating systems. The solution I will be presenting is a mixed shop, ranging from Linux, Windows to Mac OS X. If you like to read more about the workplace, download the following document.

Download O3Spaces Workplace 2.2.1 whitepaper (PDF - 299 kB)

Following information is obtained verbatim from the O3Spaces website.

Workplace 2.2.1 is available as one of three well known editions; the popular Community Edition (over 30000 downloads in 5 months), the enterprise grade Professional Edition and the no hassle Software As A Service On-Demand Edition.

O3Spaces Workplace 2.2.1 incorporates a greatly enhanced Workplace Assistant. This trademark desktop component now sports an 'application style' user interface, with a generic Workplace repository file browser. It allows you to upload multiple files and folders to the Workplace by drag & drop, or download a selection of files and folders for off-line work. The new Workplace Assistant makes it even easier to share any type of file from any application, while retaining the benefits of the Workplace repository's security, versioning and locking mechanisms.
Download O3Spaces Workplace Assistant File-Explorer whitepaper (PDF - 142 kB)

Another unique Workplace feature is the template-management module. This functionality addresses one of the few remaining OOo/SO enterprise blind spots. The module covers template storage, versioning, as well as, controlled distribution of templates to the end user in one integrated system.
Download O3Spaces Workplace Template Management whitepaper (PDF - 119 kB)

O3Spaces Workplace 2.2.1 is the first Workplace release offering a Spanish localization, catering to the popular demand of Spanish speaking Workplace users across the globe.

O3spaces Workplace has a rapidly growing global customer base. Our customers can be found in the educational, health care, government, SMB & enterprise markets.
The O3Spaces Workplace 2.2.1 Community Edition is available from the O3Spaces community website: http://community.o3spaces.com and at: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/.

On the community website you will find:
Community downloads (VMware Appliance, Windows installer, generic Deb package or a generic RPM package)
2.2.1 Update Kit (Update a 2.x.x to 2.2.1)
Professional Edition trial download (Workplace Deployment Kit)

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Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Be On Time (Cheat On) With Gmail Custom Time.

All I had to say was Wow! I can be "on time" now! (Only on April 1st)

How do I use it?

Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient's inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option.

Is there a limit to how far back I can send email?

Yes. You'll only be able to send email back until April 1, 2004, the day we launched Gmail. If we were to let you send an email from Gmail before Gmail existed, well, that would be like hanging out with your parents before you were born -- crazy talk.

How does it work?

Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (see Grandfather Paradox).

How come I only get ten?

Our researchers have concluded that allowing each person more than ten pre-dated emails per year would cause people to lose faith in the accuracy of time, thus rendering the feature useless.

Their findings:

N = Total emails sent
P = Probability that user believes the time stamp
φ = The Golden Ratio
L = Average life expectancy

Man What am I going to do after April 1st?

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Mozilla Is Ten Years Old!

I will let Mitchell Baker, the chief lizard wrangler, tell you the story of Mozilla, the bringer of this browser, Firefox, that I am using to write this post and Thunderbird, my day to day email application.
March 31, 1998 is the date that Mozilla was officially launched. It’s the date the first Mozilla code became publicly available under the terms of an official open source license and a governing body for the project — the Mozilla Organization — began its public work. It’s always been known in Mozilla parlance as “3/31.” We’ll be celebrating Mozilla’s 10 year anniversary throughout 2008. Today I want to look at our first ten years, and a bit at the next ten years.
The
post by Mitchell Baker
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