Practical Technology

for practical people.

May 10, 2012
by sjvn01
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Is Microsoft blocking Chrome and Firefox from native Windows RT a big deal?

Mozilla and Google, makers of the Firefox and Chrome Web browsers, don’t have a problem with building new versions of their popular browsers for Windows 8’s Metro interface. Firefox for Metro is on its way and so is Chrome. What they both object to though is that Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer 10 and its successors will be the only browser that will run natively on Windows RT.

To catch up, Windows RT is the Windows 8 version for ARM-based tablets and, eventually, laptops. Windows RT has two user interfaces: Metro and very restricted Windows 7-style desktop that can only run Microsoft customized applications To be exact, Windows President Steven Sinofsky said that the Desktop experience on Windows on ARM, it will be limited to specially tailored “Office 15? versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote; the Windows File Explorer; Internet Explorer 10 and some operating system tools/components.

No problem though right? You’d still be able to run the Metro style Firefox and

Chrome on Windows RT’s Metro interface right? Well, not really, not well.

Is Microsoft blocking Chrome and Firefox from native Windows RT a big deal? More >

May 9, 2012
by sjvn01
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Dell readies Ubuntu Linux laptop for developers

Dell has been on good-terms with Linux vendors for ages. The Austin, Texas-based company was the first major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to ship an Ubuntu Linux PC. Long before that, Dell was shipping Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) on its server lines. Now, Dell is renewing its Linux ties with a new Ubuntu Linux-based developer laptop.

Barton George, director of marketing for Dell’s Web vertical, announced that Dell is working on creating an open-source laptop targeted directly at developers. It is based on the brand new Ubuntu 12.04 and Dell’s XPS13 Ultrabook.

Dell readies Ubuntu Linux laptop for developers. More >

May 8, 2012
by sjvn01
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Copyrights, APIs, and Oracle vs Google

We still don’t know what will happen with Oracle’s accusations that Google violated its patents. Given that Oracle itself doesn’t value the two remaining patents as being worth much, that decision won’t matter much. No, the real question is what will U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup will do with notion that Java’s application programming interfaces (API)s, and hence all APIs, could be copyrighted. That’s the real $64-million (billion?) question

Alsup instructed the jury to treat APIs as if they could be copyrighted, and they agreed with him on that. What they couldn’t do is decide though whether Google had violated fair use in what it did with Java’s APIs in creating Android.

As Pamela Jones, intellectual property law reporter, paralegal, and founder of Groklaw explained to me, “The jury didn’t decide API are copyrightable. They can’t. That’s a question of law, and the judge is the one that has to decide that issue.”

Jones stated that Alsup “decided that he’d let the jury decide the fair use issue first, and then if they found fair use, he wouldn’t have to reach that decision. But if they found infringement and no fair use, then he would decide if APIs are copyrightable and more specifically if their arrangement is protectible.”

Copyrights, APIs, and Oracle vs Google, More >

May 8, 2012
by sjvn01
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Ready, set, broadcast with Google+’s Hangouts on Air

With Google+ Hangouts, you’ve long been able to do free videoconferencing for up to ten people. Now, with Google+ Hangouts on Air, anyone can also broadcast to a world-wide audience.

According to Chee Chew, a Google Engineering Director, “If you have something to say-as an aspiring artist, a global celebrity, or a concerned citizen-you can now go live in front of a global audience. With just a few clicks, you’ll be able to:

  • Broadcast publicly: By checking “Enable Hangouts On Air,” you can broadcast your live hangout-from the Google+ stream, your YouTube channel or your website-to the entire world.
  • See how many viewers you’ve got: During your broadcast, you can look inside the hangout to see how many people are watching live.
  • Record and re-share: Once you’re off the air, we’ll upload a public recording to your YouTube channel, and to your original Google+ post. This way it’s easy to share and discuss your broadcast after it’s over.”

People are already using this to broadcast news, town hall meetings, classes, and concerts. In short, with Google Hangouts on Air, people are already reaching a global audience from their living room.

Ready, set, broadcast with Google+’s Hangouts on Air. More >

May 7, 2012
by sjvn01
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The muddled mess of the Oracle vs. Google trial

On the surface, it may look like Oracle won the first round of its intellectual property (IP) lawsuit with Google. Look again. No one’s won anything and that includes Oracle.

While we wait to see what the jury has to say about the two remaining patents, let’s take a closer look at what the jury decided. They said that Google’s Android mobile platform infringed on part of the Java programming language. So, could this be, as one writer would have it, “be a major blow to Android, Google’s mobile operating system?” Nope.

You see the jury, however, couldn’t decide if Google’s violations of Java and its application programming interfaces (API)s were actually OK because its use of them in Android fell under fair use. Ack!

Google, immediately asked for a mis-trial. Judge William Alsup, who’s presiding over this case, had previously said, that “I’m not going to let this court go to waste.” It sure looks like a waste to me.

The muddled mess of the Oracle vs. Google trial. More >

May 7, 2012
by sjvn01
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Searching the Internet B.G. (Before Google)

When I started using the Internet in the 1970s, it didn’t look anything like it does today, and our search tools were primitive. But when all you have is stone knives and bearskins, you make do.

Before I began writing for a living, I put myself through graduate school by doing research on the very first online database systems: NASA RECON, Dialog, and OCLC. These systems, which are still around, are part of what’s called the Matrix, and, no, I don’t mean the movies. The Matrix, as defined by Carl Malamud, is the superset of all interconnected networks. Today, unlike back then, you can get to these networks over the Internet, but you’ll be blocked from venturing deeply into them without permission.

As for the pre-Web Internet itself, it didn’t have search tools at first. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that the Internet became searchable. When I started, we had to go through ftp file directories screen by screen and hope that the file was in there somewhere.

The first major search advance was Archie, which beginning in 1990 made it possible to search through a site’s file directories. Archie was painful to use, but compared to what we had been dealing with, it was wonderful. Archie was quickly followed by the University of Nevada System Computing Services’ Veronica, which tried to provide Archie-style searches for plain text files.

Searching the Internet B.G. (Before Google). More >