Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

Intel recently released its PowerTOP utility, which builds on work done by kernel developers to make the Linux kernel power-efficient. PowerTOP gives you a snapshot of what apps are consuming the most power. Turn off these apps or modify their behavior, and you'll notice an instant increase in the battery life.

Following the attacks earlier this week by Microsoft on the free software movement the Free Software Foundation has set up a new activist wing to fight back.

BitTorrent clients are all over the place these days. One of the newcomers, FoxTorrent, is a fully functional cross-platform Firefox BitTorrent client created by Red Swoosh, a company that is now part of Akamai. What FoxTorrent lacks in features it makes up for in simplicity.

Mark Mitchell announced the availability ofGCC 4.2 saying,"GCC 4.2.0 is a major release, containing new functionality not available in GCC 4.1.x or previous GCC releases." He then linked theGCC 4.2 Release Series Changes, New Features, and Fixes document for more details as to what is new in this release.GCC is the GNU Compiler Collection which includes C, C++, Objective-C, Fortran, Java, and Ada compilers. Download GCC 4.2.0 from your nearest gcc.gnu.orgmirror.read more

Almost everything that can be said has been said about the latest moves by Microsoft to create Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) about Linux. Countless pundits and analysts have pointed out that Microsoft threats are toothless. Some have noted that Microsoft has singled out Linux and OpenOffice, the biggest threats to its monopoly on operating systems and office suites. Surely Microsoft could claim that the *BSDs infringe on similar patents if not the same ones. But the *BSDs do not pose as great a threat to the company. Others have pointed out that Microsoft would be insane to pull an SCO and sue its own customers. Still others have noted that IBM and/or OIN could respond to a patent war with a massive retaliation in patent infringement claims.

Clay Claiborne was an early Linux advocate, and his company, Cosmos Engineering, was one of the first computer builders to offer Linux-based PCs and servers. But Clay has never been as much about business as he's been about social activism. He cofounded the Linux Users of Los Angeles (LULA) group back in 1999, but lately he's dropped out of Linux activism and is spending most of his time on social (mostly ant-war) activism. He'll still happily build you a Linux-based entertainment center PC, but his current passion is making a Vietnam War video retrospective he hopes will help Americans remember how poorly that adventure ended, and how the experience we gained in Vietnam should should be applied to our occupation of Iraq.

Linux/Java has topped CEO Ed Zander's list of things to look for from Motorola as it attempts a financial turnaround, according to a story at LinuxDevices.com. At a New York press conference May 15, Zander introduced Linux-based "Rokr" and "Razr2" models, along with new top-level executives.

Companies announce joint support for customers running SAP on Novell's SuSE Linux. Customers want integrated stack and support, says Novell chief.

Even though I'm a die-hard Emacs user, there are times when I have to use the vi editor -- specifically gVim, the graphical face of the popular vi clone Vim. Since I use gVim so infrequently, I don't readily remember many of the editor's basic commands. Either I muddle through or reach for my well-thumbed copy of the vi Editor Pocket Reference. That was until I discovered Cream. With Cream, gVim becomes an easy-to-use editor -- so easy, in fact, you might not believe that you're using vi.

Many users can't avoid Windows applications for one or two tasks, or a game -- and that's where CodeWeavers Inc. comes in with its CrossOver platform. CrossOver 6.1, released May 15, enables enables Linux PCs and Apple Mactels to run more Windows applications and games, and with higher 3D performance, according to CodeWeavers.

EduWiki is a new wiki-type site aimed at providing, and gathering, information related to schooling in South Africa. Besides age-specific information to help children with school, there will also be various community related information for the family.

A video tutorial on how to install GNUmed's client and server part (including postgresql) on MS Windows has been produced and uploaded for public viewing. This is meant as a supplement for people who find the material on our Wiki (wiki.gnumed.de) too low level.

Friendly Fox writes in with news of an unofficial build of Mozilla Firefox with features to help eBay users: "My eBay Fox is a customized version of Firefox that helps people use eBay more effectively. It includes an eBay Toolbar for Firefox, which gives users easy access to all of the important parts of eBay and a handy set of tools like price comparison, consumer reviews, and shipping information.

One of our developers has put together a set of screencasts on how to install GNUmed:client installation (10 minutes)server installation (27 minutes) Enjoy, Karsten

C-SPAN covered a talk given at the New America Foundation promoting the newBest Care Anywhere. Thepanel featured the books author Phillip Longman as well as Kenneth W. Kizer, MD. No mention of theunderground railroad that I could tell (corrections welcome). You candownload the video from CSPAN. Does anybody know how to get this video to play under GNU/Linux?Fred Trotter

In 2000, when Theresa Friday, Ray Waldin, and Jeff Luszcz were working for dot-com startup Cacheon, they saw firsthand the power of open source software to impact a business model. In Cacheon's case, it looked like open source had dealt a death blow to the company, but it was really careless use of third-party code that was the source of the trouble, Friday says. The three colleagues were so impacted by what they had seen that they launched a new business designed to help other companies prevent implosion from software licensing issues.

Tiny Tiny RSS (TT-RSS) is an excellent little Web-based RSS aggregator that, despite its tiny size, sports some clever features, including an AJAXified interface, a multiuser mode, tags, content filtering, and a lightweight interface for use with mobile devices.

Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz has blunted whatever public niceties existed between his company and Microsoft with a revealing attack on Redmond's lawsuit threats around open source software.…

Unlike a typical Linux get-together, at the Libre Graphics Meeting (LGM), half of the attendees are developers and the other half are artists. The conference, which was held earlier this month at the Polytechnique Montréal, featured speakers from as far as Australia and Europe. In three rooms, speakers presented techniques for everything from generating photorealistic vector drawings to producing full movies to magazine production.

The OSHCA Conference 2007 is shaping up to be the best and biggest yet. Presenters and participants are attending from around the globe.