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Toshiba today launched a laptop that is widely rumored to offer the choice of booting Windows Media Center Edition 2004, for full PC capabilities, or a quick-starting embedded Linux environment, for instant-on, appliance-like TV tuner, DVD player, CD player, and remote control capabilities. Toshiba is selling the Qosmio laptop direct in the US, priced at $2,699.

Internet scanning for servers running Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) has spiked in the past week, raising suspicions that hackers may be profiling targets for future attacks. SSL encrypts sensitive information for e-commerce transactions, and its presence can indicate a high-value target for crackers seeking to steal financial data. Scans of port 443, which is used by SSL, have surged since July 15.

Red Hat, the top seller of the Linux operating system, has adopted an e-mail enhancement that its rival Novell recently released as open-source software.

IceWM is a lightweight window manager for UNIX-like systems. Although widely used, it is often underrated - there is hardly any IceWM-related content on the Internet. This article is my attempt to share my experiences as a longtime IceWM user. It contains tips and tricks, usage scenarios, and makes use of examples whenever possible to better demonstrate IceWM's features and capabilities. Finally, the article is meant for those with some familiarity with UNIX, but who are new to IceWM.

MySQL started in 1995 but it was really only three years ago that we started to target businesses. Before that nobody was even cashing the cheques coming in; everyone was writing code. There was no venture capital. It started from when the founders were out there consulting. They needed a highly reliable, high-performance offering that was less complicated than the commercial databases. There was a 15-minute rule - the database had to be up and running inside 15 minutes.

Users are advised to update their systems against multiple denial-of-service and permission vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel that could be exploited by an attacker. Gentoo said the flaws are "high impact." "The Linux kernel allows a local attacker to mount a remote file system on a vulnerable Linux host and modify files' group IDs," Gentoo said in an advisory. "Also, a flaw in the handling of /proc attributes has been found in 2.6 series kernels, allowing the unauthorized modification of /proc entries, especially those which rely solely on file permissions for security to vital kernel parameters."

I'd like to propose a new term be added to the vernacular of geeks and techies alike ... "Tacking" - a combination of "Technology" and "Hacking". What's most interesting is the similarities between my proposed usage of tacking in IT circles, and how it's currently used in the sport of sailing - manipulating your sail and zig-zagging up-wind to get to your destination.

The KDE Project is pleased to announce the immediate availability of KDE 3.3 Beta 2. As another step towards the aKademy in late August, this release is named Kollege. This beta release shows astonishing stability, so the KDE team asks everyone to try the version and give feedback through the bug tracking system. For a list of new features skim over the KDE 3.3 Feature Plan. For packages, please visit the KDE 3.3 Beta 2 Info Page and browse the KDE 3.3 Requirements List. The Konstruct build toolset has been updated for this release. Please note that the kdepim, kdevelop and kdewebdev modules also compile on KDE 3.2 systems.

The OpenBSD Project released OpenBSD 3.5 exactly on schedule on May 1, adding support for new functions and devices in the kernel and updating the base system. While it may not be the most versatile operating system in the world, OpenBSD shines when it comes to security, providing a default installation that doesn't have to be locked down and partially disabled before using it.

Opening the eyes of the private and public sectors to the pros and cons of using open source software for Internet security is the SECRETS project, which evaluated two protocols in a series of trials covering e-commerce, mobile communications, network monitoring and intelligent networks. Although the IST programme-funded project ended in December 2002, “the results of the evaluations still apply today,” according to technical coordinator Ross Velentzas at Motorola.

Only the paranoid survive, and that is no less true when securing Linux® systems as any other. Fortunately, a host of security features are built into the kernel, are packaged with one of the many Linux distributions, or are available separately as open source applications. The first in a series, this article starts you on your way to understanding security concepts and potential threats, and sets the stage for what you really need to know: how to secure and harden a Linux-based installation.

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Linux Symposium is an annual limited-attendance conference in the heart of the Canadian capital. Linux developers from all over the world descend on the Ottawa Congress Centre for four days and discuss various aspects of Linux and alcohol consumption. The first day of the conference featured presentations on various topics, from running Linux under Windows and new versions of the NFS protocol, to PGP, X, Satellites, and publishing.