Category: Computers, Science & Technology

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the basis of the Web, and it is changing! For the first time since we entered the new millennium, HTML will get new elements!

New elements in HTML 5

“Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) 5 introduces new elements to HTML for the first time since the last millennium. New structural elements include aside, figure, and section. New inline elements include time, meter, and progress. New embedding elements include video and audio. New interactive elements include details, datagrid, and command. Development of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) stopped in 1999 with HTML 4. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) focused its efforts on changing the underlying syntax of HTML from Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) to Extensible Markup Language (XML), as well as completely new markup languages like Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), XForms, and MathML. Browser vendors focused on browser features like tabs and Rich Site Summary (RSS) readers. Web designers started learning Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and the JavaScriptâ„¢ language to build their own applications on top of the existing frameworks using Asynchronous JavaScript + XML (Ajax). But HTML itself grew hardly at all in the next eight years. Recently, the beast came back to life. Three major browser vendors—Apple, Opera, and the Mozilla Foundation—came together as the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WhatWG) to develop an updated and upgraded version of classic HTML. More recently, the W3C took note of these developments and started its own next-generation HTML effort with many of the same members. Eventually, the two efforts will likely be merged. Although many details remain to be argued over, the outlines of the next version of HTML are becoming clear. This new version of HTML—usually called HTML 5, although it also goes under the name Web Applications 1.0—would be instantly recognizable to a Web designer frozen in ice in 1999 and thawed today. There are no namespaces or schemas. Elements don’t have to be closed. Browsers are forgiving of errors. A p is still a p, and a table is still a table…”

Freespire Linux, the free version of Linspire Linux, based on Ubuntu, is now out!

Linspire Releases 2.0 Version of Free OS

“Linspire on Wednesday released the second version of Freespire, the community-based operating system based on Canonical’s Ubuntu Linux distribution, enhancing it with its own proprietary software, drivers, and codecs. The San Diego company’s announcement comes a little over a year after the company first announced its plans to split its Linspire efforts into a commercial and free variant. The company hopes the free version will help spur use of Linux. Linspire says that the proprietary software, which comes from a variety of sources, not only Linspire itself, would provide a better user experience for those who install it. Freespire 2.0 also provides access to the CNR Server, which allows one-click installation of open-source applications. Freespire makes improvements to out-of-the-box support for several types of hardware, file types, and multimedia. This includes MP3, Windows Media, Real Networks, Java, Flash, ATI, nVidia, WiFi, among others. Support for Open XML allows users editing documents within OpenOffice to open and write to Microsoft Word .docx files, the company added. ‘Freespire 2.0 picks up where Ubuntu leaves off by adding proprietary software, drivers and codecs, to make for a more complete turn-key solution for mainstream desktop computing,’ Linspire president and CEO Larry Kettler said.”

The tide is beginning to roll in! Soon Lenovo laptops will be available with Linux!

Lenovo to sell laptops with Linux

“Lenovo Group Ltd., the world’s No. three PC maker, said on Monday it would start selling laptop computers preloaded with Linux software from Novell Inc. instead of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system. The laptops are slated to go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year and will be sold to Lenovo’s business customers as well as to consumers. Lenovo announced its plans at the start of LinuxWorld, an annual conference for information-technology managers being held in San Francisco this week. The Linux operating system has been one of the fastest-growing types of software on servers and other types of powerful business computers over the past decade.”

So, you know I am not a gamer… but my son, Benjamin, is the Gamemaster! So, he would be more interested in this story than I would… not because he uses illegal games… all his are fully legal (I should know… my wife, Belinda or I buy them for him!) But, he does stay on top of what is going on in the gaming world.

US Gov’t Cracks Down On Pirated Games

“The US Government said Wednesday that it had executed 32 search warrants in 16 states as part of a crackdown on devices and chips which allow pirated games to be played on gaming consoles. Government officials say the targets of the raids were company’s that produce devices to circumvent copyright protections on Sony’s PlayStation 2, Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s Wii, among others. The industry claims these chips cause billions of dollars in lost revenue each year. The raids were the largest of their kind to to date, and were the result of investigations by the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office in Cleveland, Ohio. ICE says that in 2006, seizures of pirated works increased by 83 percent. ‘Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections,’ ICE Homeland Security assistant secretary Julie Myers said. ‘These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering.'”

I sure hope not! Microsoft Works is terrible in the first place… computer companies already tend to give it away with cheap systems, and if I see it, I delete it. Now, M$ wants to give it away, but with built-in advertisements! You HAVE GOT to be kidding!

Microsoft Works Goes Free, Ad-Supported

“Microsoft Corp. will test a free, advertising-supported version of Works, an already inexpensive package of word processing, spreadsheet and other programs, but would not say whether it is exploring a similar Web-based suite. The company said Wednesday that a limited number of computer makers will pre-install Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news – people ) Works 9 SE on new PCs in certain markets, and that the test of the business model will last about a year. Microsoft’s announcement comes a week after its top executives sketched out a strategy for supplementing traditional packaged software revenue with subscriptions and Web-based services, during a day of meetings with financial analysts at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters.”

But… do they care? OK, OK, some do… I guess I am letting my Evil Empire detector buzz too much! But, there’s always OpenOffice!

Mac Users Left in Office 2008 Waiting Room

“Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft announced on Thursday its anticipated retail release date of the latest Office suite for the Macintosh Latest News about Macintosh will be delayed until January. Quality checks in June and July turned up problems that could not be resolved before the previous release target set for this fall, according to a posting to the Office for Mac Team Blog by Craig Eisler, general manager of Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit. Achieving the right quality level is “super important” to the company and the team, he wrote. Such slips are common in the software world, Laura DiDio, research fellow with Yankee Group, told MacNewsWorld. ‘This doesn’t cause me to raise an eyebrow.'”

Imagine a single Linux instance with 4 terabytes of memory (not diskspace… RAM!) Now imagine is has 2048 dual core processors (CPUs!) DEWD! 13.1 teraflops of computing power, connected to 240 terabytes of disk storage! Can I have one?

NASA Selects SGI to Provide Largest Shared-Memory System in the World

“SGI and NASA today announced that the agency has selected a record-setting SGI(R) Altix(R) supercomputer in its evaluation of next-generation technology to meet future high-performance computing (HPC) requirements. The system was acquired as part of NAS Technology Refresh (NTR), a four-phase procurement process that eventually will replace the Columbia supercomputer system, powered by SGI Altix. NASA’s new SGI Altix system is expected to be installed in August at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. The new system will be the first supercomputer to operate 2,048 processor cores and 4TB of memory under a single copy of Linux(R) — creating the largest Linux single system image (SSI) in the world. A larger SSI can accelerate scientific research by making all of the system’s processors and memory available to solve a single problem, or several problems at once. Driven by 1,024 Dual-Core Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, the new system will generate 13.1 TFLOPs of compute power. The system’s dual-core processors allow more computing power per square foot, enabling NASA to pack more computing power into its supercomputing center. NASA also acquired an ultra-dense 240TB SGI(R) InfiniteStorage 10000 system to efficiently handle the massive data storage requirements.”

Digg started out as a neat idea… have people “vote up” (or, “Digg”) good stories and “digg down” bad stories so that you get interesting information that “floats up to the surface.” Pretty neat. But in recent days, more and more, it is being “hijacked” by groups (it seems to me) that have an agenda. For instance, it appears that Ron Paul groupies are “voting up” stories favorable to their guy. Also, the anti-conservative folks seem to “vote up” stories that appeal to the far left. But, whatever, if they can “organize” and vote the stories up, then one might say that that is how the site is “supposed” to work. Personally, I liked it better when the content was driven only by tech stories that folks thought were interesting… but that’s just me!

Now, a new chapter has begun. Digg, Inc. and Microsoft, Inc. have climbed into bed, and Microsoft will be providing the advertising content on Digg. Ouch. Come on, Kevin!

Microsoft Press Release on Digg

“Digg Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced an agreement in which the two companies will collaborate to bring relevant advertising to the more than 17 million unique monthly visitors to Digg, an innovative Web site that harnesses the collective wisdom of the world’s online audience to prioritize the overwhelming amount of content available on the Web. Microsoft’s advanced advertising technology and sales force combined with Digg’s unique and growing user community make possible the three-year collaboration, grounded in the companies’ commitment to technological innovation and user experience. As part of the relationship, Microsoft will be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg. The two companies also agreed to work together on future technology and advertising initiatives.”

There is an excellent article on the new “$100.00 Laptop” by Jim Raposa. Check it out!

Meet the XO!

“When you first see the XO the thought that immediately jumps to mind is ‘kid’s toy.’ With its bright green color, built-in carrying handle, funny rabbit ears and rubber membrane keyboard, it looks like something that Fisher-Price might produce. But when you pick it up, you realize how sturdy and well built the XO is. And when you turn it on, you discover that you are connecting wirelessly to the Internet and to other XO users that are creating a local network. You find lots of software designed for kids but also find some groundbreaking collaboration tools that let you work with others in ways that outshine some of the best corporate groupware. Oh yeah, even though bright sunshine is beating down upon the laptop screen, you’re having no trouble reading the display. But the sunlight is OK since it’s powering your system through a small, low-cost solar cell. And the XO doesn’t need much power since it runs at a fraction of what laptops that are considered ‘green’ run at. This is the XO, a system that was born when MIT legend Nicholas Negroponte set out to build a $100 laptop, in order to make it possible to deliver computers to kids and schools in developing countries. And while the XO didn’t make the $100 target price (instead it’s currently coming in at around $175), it does now sit nearly ready to be deployed around the world.”

That’s Steven J. Vaughn-Nichols, of course! Our ol’ buddy from DesktopLinux.com. He sees a future in which Dell isn’t the only major PC manufacturer that is selling desktop Linux on PCs in their lineup.

Next major PC company to go Linux will be HP

“Opinion — People used to think the very idea that a major PC vendor would offer desktop Linux was beyond a joke. It was, as Vizzini from The Princess Bride would have said, ‘Inconceivable!’ But, as events turned out, to quote Inigo Montoya from the same movie, ‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.’ HP will soon be joining Dell in offering at least one Linux desktop line in its SKU sales listing. Here’s why I believe this. First, Dell successfully broke the Windows-only wall when it added Ubuntu Linux 7.04 to three systems in its consumer line in May. While Dell hasn’t released any sales numbers, its Linux sales must be doing well. You don’t start offering Ubuntu on another brand-new laptop line and announce that you’ll soon be selling Ubuntu to SMBs (small to midsize businesses) and internationally unless you’re making money from it. Offering Linux once could have just been a good PR move. Expanding the Linux offering means Dell must actually be selling units. The other PC companies aren’t idiots. Many of them, like Lenovo, have been toying with desktop Linux for years. Hewlett-Packard has been offering desktop Linux for enterprise customers willing to make special orders via its HP Factory Express service service for anywhere from several hundred to several thousand systems for years. These customized Linux desktops have been progressively selling better as the years go by. ‘We are involved in a number of massive deals for Linux desktops, and those are the kinds of things that are indicators of critical mass. So we are really looking at it very hard,’ said Doug Small, HP’s worldwide director of open-source and Linux marketing. How big is massive? Try thousands of Linux desktops in a single deal.”