posted by Thom Holwerda on Sun 8th Oct 2006 21:16 UTC
Microsoft is winding down the beta program for Office 2007 as it prepares for a release to manufacturing before the end of the month. On Oct. 25, Microsoft will close its Office Preview site and stop allowing downloads of the beta. The Beta 2 Technical Refresh, made available last month, will be the last build available to testers. As previously reported, Microsoft will not be issuing a third beta or release candidate of Office 2007, although the development team has continued to make tweaks to the product.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:29 UTC
"Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have released research detailing how molecules in chips can self-assemble, potentially reducing manufacturing costs. The researchers have developed a technique in which polymers automatically fall into place to create an integrated circuit." Uhm people, have we learned nothing?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:23 UTC, submitted by aargh
"In this article, the authors investigate the impact of DRM restrictions on the demand for music downloads. [A new model] estimates the impact of DRM on consumers' willingness to pay for songs (both favorites and nonfavorites) and on the producer revenues and profits. Based on two studies of more 2000 college students, the results suggest that despite the potential advantages offered by some DRM restrictions, on balance the elimination of DRM has a net positive impact on producer revenue, profit, and consumer welfare."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/17/10 23:19 UTC
"By encouraging more people to post videos in Wikipedia articles, we can bring theora video played in html5 to a very large audience. Currently, there are very few wikipedia articles that have videos. We hope that this campaign will bring thousands more to the site and show people how great theora can be. HTML 5 video, which plays without Flash, is a wonderful step towards a more open web - but if it depends on proprietary codecs like h.264, we will still be stuck with a gatekeeper for online video."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/16/10 16:10 UTC
"Google is changing the way it handles the unique identifier that accompanies each installation of its Chrome browser. As noticed by H-Online, a Google white paper says the company will now delete the unique ID after the browser updates itself for the first time. Google has confirmed with The Reg that the change will be made with the upcoming Chrome 4.1."
Linked by tessmonsta on 03/16/10 8:55 UTC
Today's mobile space is owned by the likes of Nokia, RIM, Apple, and Google. While some of these corporations have embraced some open source components, a full FLOSS solution has yet to gain traction. Why? Blogger Bradley M. Kuhn posts thoughtful analysis of the current state of Open Source in the mobile space.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/16/10 0:08 UTC, submitted by kragil
Jim Bray, who played a major role in the XML standardisation effort, has joined Google to work on Android, and his words for the iPhone are pretty harsh. "The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet's future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. Itâs a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord's pleasure and fear his anger. I hate it."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 23:50 UTC
"Following two unsuccessful attempts at forcing ISP Telenor to block The Pirate Bay in Norway, the IFPI and performing rights outfit TONO have abandoned their legal action. The case will not now head to the Supreme Court but instead the entertainment groups will pin their hopes on new legislation."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 19:08 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
"A number of humorous yet undocumented features are hiding beneath the surface of some of the most popular open source software applications. Although easter eggs are generally easy to spot when you can look at an application's source code, there are a few that aren't widely known."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/15/10 11:00 UTC, submitted by n4cer
"In March 2008, Microsoft and Nokia announced their commitment to make Silverlight available for certain Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system. Microsoft is finally ready to make a beta of that code available. Microsoft briefly posted, then pulled, the download of the beta of the Silverlight for Symbiancode on March 11, as well as the associated developer tools for that release. I grabbed the description of the downloads before they were zapped."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 03/12/10 15:30 UTC
New Zealand's internet filtering system went live last month - but the government forgot to mention this to its electorate until its hand was forced by online freedom campaign, Tech Liberty. Thomas Beagle, a spokesman for the group, said he was "very disappointed that the filter is now running" and that its launch had been conducted in such a "stealthy mode". He added: "It's a sad day for the New Zealand internet." It's sad indeed, that things like this are possible in modern democracies.