Practical Technology

for practical people.

January 23, 2011
by sjvn01
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Ubuntu opts for LibreOffice over Oracle’s OpenOffice

The Ubuntu developers met last week in Dallas to make final design decisions about the popular Linux distribution’s features and decided to use LibreOffice for its office suite.

This comes as no surprise to Ubuntu watchers. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told me back when LibreOffice developers were forking away from Oracle’s OpenOffice had told me that, “The Ubuntu Project will be pleased to ship LibreOffice from The Document Foundation in future releases of Ubuntu.” It wasn’t a sure thing though that Ubuntu 11.04, aka Natty Narwhal due out on April 28th, would have LibreOffice. It is now.

First, Canonical started packing LibreOffice in the daily alpha releases of Ubuntu 11.04, but I decided to check further. So, I gave Canonical a call and Neil Levine, Canonical’s VP of corporate services told me that the Ubuntu developer team had indeed decided to make LibreOffice its default office suite over OpenOffice.

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January 20, 2011
by sjvn01
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With Page as CEO, Open Source is stronger than ever at Google

When Google announced that Eric Schmidt was stepping down as CEO and Google co-founder Larry Page was moving up to the CEO chair, you could have knocked Wall St. analysts over with a feather. They didn’t see this coming. They’re already debating about what it will mean.

I’m no business expert, but I do a few things and I don’t see much change happening here. After all, as Eric Schmidt wrote, “As Executive Chairman, I will focus wherever I can add the greatest value: externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach.”

Isn’t that where Schmidt has always shone? I think so. And, where has Page shown? Well, of course, as the search maven. Many of you know that Google’s PageRank isn’t named because of the connection between Web pages and how they rank in Google; no PageRank’s name comes from Larry Page. In addition though, Page, along with his friend and fellow Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, have always been ardent open-source users, developers, and, dare I say it, fans.

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January 20, 2011
by sjvn01
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Easy Network Quality of Service Management for Windows Users

When I’m called in to consult on network traffic management, I usually end up recommending heavy-duty, network traffic solutions such as Cisco’s IOS NetFlow, F5 Network’s BIG-IP, or Juniper’s Network and Security Manager (NSM). These are serious tools for serious networks. But, if you’re using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and all you really want is do is keep your users from eating up your Internet connection’s bandwidth catching up on the episode of Modern Family on Hulu that they missed last night, Windows’ built-in URL Quality of Service (QoS)-based traffic management is all need.

Windows has had QoS traffic management for a while now, but it used applications, IP addresses, and port numbers to determine which traffic got priority. That’s both overkill and more complicated than you might need for your business network.

Starting with the latest versions of Windows, you can set traffic priority by Website address. This way, as a network administrator all you need do is set up policies by Website address, instead of digging around for IP addresses. So, for example, you could set the ZDNet Website to have a high-priority while locking down ESPN.

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January 20, 2011
by sjvn01
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4G mobile broadband and you: Coverage, cost, and, yes, caveats

Who doesn’t want a faster Internet connection? What with Netflix, Hulu, and other Internet video rising in popularity, everyone wants more and more bandwidth. If your phone company and cable provider can’t provide it, maybe your mobile phone company can instead with 4G technology.

After years of slow deployments, all the major wireless telecomms — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all rolling out nationwide 4G data communication plans. Now, you can argue whether any of the technologies behind these rollouts are actually 4G, but whether you call it 3G+, 3.5G, or 4G, the bottom line is that in ideal conditions users can expect to see from 4Mbps (Megabits per second) to 23.5Mbps. Compared to what a lot of people are getting from their DSL or cable connections, no matter what the technology is called, you can see why some folks are considering considering dumping their landlines not just for voice phones but for their data needs as well.

Whether they’ll actually be able to do that is another matter entirely though. You see, 4G in 2011 still comes with many caveats.

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January 19, 2011
by sjvn01
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The EU won’t stand in the way of Microsoft & Friends acquiring Novell’s patents

CPTN Holdings–a Microsoft-led group with fellow-members Apple, EMC, and Oracle–isn’t just still try buying Novell’s patents, the group’s patent acquisition attempt recently received an OK from the European Commission (EC) vice president and competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia.

As Florian Mueller, an European intellectual property activist pointed out in his blog, Emma McClarkin, a British conservative from the East Midlands, asked the EC, on behalf of a constituent, that they were concerned about “Microsoft recently purchasing a large number of patents from Novell. This move strengthens the hold Microsoft has over its competitors, which could potentially harm consumer choice and increase prices. Is the Commission aware of this situation? If so, does the Commission believe there have been any infractions by Microsoft of EU competition laws?”

On behalf of the EC, the European Union’s (EU) executive branch, Almunia replied, “The Commission is aware of the proposed acquisition by CPTN Holdings, a consortium of technology companies which includes Microsoft Corp, of a portfolio of 882 patents from Novell. On the basis of the information currently available at this stage, it appears unlikely that the proposed transaction requires a notification to the Commission under the Merger Regulation.”

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January 19, 2011
by sjvn01
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Cisco introduces new top-of-the-line Linksys Wi-Fi Router

Cisco doesn’t want to be just the number one networking hardware company for the enterprise, it also, through its Linksys brand, wants to be the number one network equipment company for your small-office and home (SOHO). So, it is that Cisco unveiled today, January 19th, 2011, it’s latest top-of-the-line Wi-Fi home router, the Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Router.

According to Cisco, the E4200 is “designed for optimum home theater performance, the E4200 works seamlessly with the latest entertainment devices, including Internet TVs, iPad tablets, game consoles, smart phones, e-readers, and VoIP devices. This new router not only helps boost performance and range in the home, it provides industry-leading speed of up to 450 Mbps* for smooth streaming of video and music and uninterrupted gaming.”

How does it do it? With simultaneous dual-band wireless-N, four Gigabit ports, and a 3×3 antenna configuration that help give it unparalleled speed and range. Additionally, a combination of internal and external amplifiers coupled with six antennas help increase the signal strength across greater distances, providing improved home network coverage and reducing dead spots. The E4200 also features a next-generation industrial design that combines sleek contours with advanced functionality.”

Well, it all sounds good. I myself like the Linksys line. At this very moment, I’m using an older Linksys Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router WRT610N for my SOHO network. But, and this is a big but, some newer Linksys routers, such as the Linksys E3000 had some really serious heating problems.

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