Practical Technology

for practical people.

September 21, 2011
by sjvn01
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Microsoft tries to block Linux off Windows 8 PCs

If this wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. After Microsoft recently declared victory over Linux, it turns out that Microsoft appears is still trying to arrange it so that Linux won’t even boot on the next generation of PCs that come with Windows 8. Yeah, Linux isn’t on your enemy list anymore right Microsoft? Sure.

Matthew Garrett, a Red Hat engineer, gets the credit for spotting Microsoft’s latest anti-Linux move. In a blog posting, Garrett explains that Windows 8 logo guidelines require that systems have Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) secure boot enabled. This, in turn, would block Linux, or any other operating system, from booting on it.

There’s nothing in UEFI that’s wrong. Indeed there’s a lot of good in UEFI. It’s a 21st century replacement for your PC’s basic input/output system (BIOS). Its job is to initialize your hardware and then hand over control over to the operating system.

Where the Microsoft sneak attack comes in, Garret writes, is with the UEFI secure boot protocol:

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September 20, 2011
by sjvn01
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Google+ is now open for everyone to try

It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed like you couldn’t get an invite to Google’s new social network, Google+ for love or money. Those days are gone. Today, Google has opened up the network for everyone and anyone.

In a blog posting by Vic Gundotra, Google’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, he announced that “For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups. This way anyone can visit google.com/+, join the project and connect with the people they care about.”

Hurray!

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September 20, 2011
by sjvn01
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The Linux desktop is dead. Long live the Linux desktop.

I’ve been running Linux on my desktop for about 18 of its 20 years; I used to be the editor-in-chief of DesktopLinux; and today I use Mint 11 Linux as my main desktop. In short, I know a thing or two about the Lnux desktop. Today, though, I declare traditional Linux desktop to be dead.

It’s never going to catch up with Windows or Mac OS X in user popularity. It’s never going to show up as a common option from mainstream vendors. And, you’ll never be able to buy it at your local Best Buy or other big box store.

Why? Well there are a lot of reasons; but none of them have anything to do with its quality. I use desktop Linux distributions not because of some romantic attachment to free software or because I hate Windows, but because they work better and they’re far more secure than Windows or Mac OS X.

Historically, desktop Linux never got a fair shot because of Microsoft’s Windows monopoly and strong-arm tactics. For example, when Linux-powered netbook started eating Microsoft’s lunch on low-end laptops, Microsoft brought XP Home back from the dead and almost gave it away to vendors to stop the Linux bleeding.

It also didn’t help any that Microsoft finally realized what a total flop Vista was and brought back XP for all users. Indeed, Vista’s failure hurt Linux. If Microsoft had actually stuck with that dog of an operating system, desktop Linux would have gained more fans.

That was then. This is now. Those factors have always been around. They still are today. Several other things have arisen that makes me doubt that the traditional Linux is going to go anywhere.

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September 19, 2011
by sjvn01
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Thunderbolt: Beyond USB and eSATA

When I started in computing, we had two main peripheral interface choices: RS-232 serial and Centronics parallel ports. Neither was fast. RS-232, which was the more generally useful of the pair, topped out in early days at 20 kilobits per second (kbps). That was then. This is now.

Today, USB 3.0 can hit 625 MegaBytes per second (Mbps) and eSATA can handle up to 300 MBps. Intel’s creation and Apple’s newest darling interface technology, Thunderbolt can blast data along at 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps).

hat’s great news! If, that is, you have a PC and operating system that supports Thunderbolt and peripherals that can work with it. There aren’t many of any of these at the moment. Apple and Intel want that to change as fast as possible.

Indeed, one reason why USB 3.0 has so slow off the mark was because Intel still hasn’t built in support for it in its motherboards. Thunderbolt, though, is already available on some hardware, and will include this new technology, along with USB 3.0, on its 2012 Ivy Bridge motherboard architecture. In the meantime, Apple is already building Thunderbolt into its latest model MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini computers.

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September 18, 2011
by sjvn01
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Google Needs to Clean Up its Android Market’s Malware Mess

“Google! Stop playing with that copy of Angry Birds and go up to your Android Market room and clean it up right now!” Alas, Google is as likely to pay attention to my command as my once four-year old daughter was.

Listen, I like a lot of what Google does. For example, I think Chrome 14 is the best Web browser around, but have you seen the mess of malware in the Android Market? It’s shameful!

The security software company McAfee recently stated that the amount of malware targeting Androids phones jumped 76% in the last quarter (PDF), making it the most heavily attacked of all mobile operating systems. “Overall attacks are becoming more stealth and more sophisticated, suggesting that we could see attacks that remain unnoticed for longer periods of time,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee, in a statement.

Of course, they don’t need to be stealthy. Most people download their malware right off the Android Market.

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