Practical Technology

for practical people.

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
1 Comment

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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January 18, 2011
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Canonical and Shuttleworth add Qt to Ubuntu Linux

Want to start a fight in Linux desktop circles? Say, loudly and obnoxiously that Qt, the programming libraries behind the KDE desktop, are better than GTK+, the libraries backing GNOME. Or, vice-versa. Either will work. Now, though, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, Ubuntu’s corporate big brother, is bringing Qt software to Ubuntu, long a GNOME stronghold.

So far I haven’t heard any shouting from the programmers’ corner, but give it a minute.

Shuttleworth made the announcement writing, “As part of our planning for Natty+1 [Ubuntu 11.10], we’ll need to find some space on the CD for Qt libraries, and we will evaluate applications developed with Qt for inclusion on the CD and default install of Ubuntu.”

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January 18, 2011
by sjvn01
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Facebook wants to be your Internet ID Card

God knows I understand that going from one Web site to another with one login and password scheme after the other is a real pain-in-the-rump. After the Gawker password fiasco it’s become clearer than ever that using the same brain-dead simple login and password from one system to another is clearly dumb. But, the idea of using Facebook (Facebook!?) Connect as a universal Internet login and password system makes me want to gag.

You see Facebook is insecure by design and privacy is given only a minimal amount of programming and lip-service. Sure, you can make your Facebook information safe, well safer, anyway, but who has the time to be constantly plugging in Facebook’s privacy holes? Especially since Facebook keeps opening up more and more or your personal information to vendors.

For example, Facebook quietly announced just before the recent three-day weekend that they were opening up a way for third-party Facebook apps developers to get to your snail-mail addresses and phone numbers. Isn’t that nice of them? I know I want the likes of Zynga, makers of FarmVille, and all their partners, to have my home address and phone number.

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January 17, 2011
by sjvn01
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WebOS: The Other Smartphone/Tablet Linux

I think that you can have too much of a good thing. I mean, I like that there are so many significant Linux distributions to choose from for servers and desktops. And, OK, I can see there being room for both Android and MeeGo on smartphones and tablets, but, really HP, do we need yet another Linux-based operating system, webOS, for tablets, phones, and netbooks? I don’t think so!

Regardless of what I think, the rumor-mill is going full-speed ahead that, on February 9th, HP will be showing off new smartphones, tablets and maybe even netbooks running webOS. Some folks, like James Kendrick, think that this news would be the cat’s meow. “Of all the product categories HP is considering for webOS, the tablet has me excited as I believe the OS is so fitting for the tablet form that it can take the competition by storm.” Really? Much as I like the idea of Android on tablets, once Google clears up exactly what it’s doing for programmers with Android for different platforms, I can’t see anyone storming Apple’s iPad anytime soon.

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January 16, 2011
by sjvn01
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Dropbox and Google Docs Integration may be on its way

Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud services that lets you store, sync, and share files over the Internet. Google Docs is one of the most popular cloud services that lets you create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the Internet. For years, people have thought that these are two good services that would work great together. Now, it looks like Dropbox may be giving us this functionality.

During the first annual Dropbox Hack Week, a happy developer was able to set up a way to “sync files between your Google Docs and your Dropbox.” There’s no word on when this feature will show up in Dropbox, but “many of the breakthroughs made during the past week will probably be making their way to a Dropbox near you.”

Since this is a feature that users have been asking for, I suspect we’ll see it sooner than later.

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