SGI supercomputer: Two records in one day

Even as Silicon Graphics trumpeted on Tuesday a new speed record with the Columbia supercomputer it built for NASA, CNET News.com has learned, it quietly submitted another, faster result: 51.9 trillion calculations per second. SGI also plans to announce a new Linux computer Nov. 1, a machine that uses Intel's newest Itanium 2 processor and packs the chips twice as compactly as current machines do.

MySQL Version 4.1 Certified as Production-Ready

MySQL announced the general availability of MySQL 4.1. Certified by the company as production-ready for large-scale enterprise deployment, this significant upgrade to the MySQL database server features advanced querying capabilities through subqueries, faster and more secure client-server communication, new installation and configuration tools, and support for international character sets and geographic data.

Second Mono Summit Notes

Miguel de Icaza has just posted his minute of second mono summit. This provides a lot of interesting information about mono improvements. Among others mentions "stetic" the new Gtk# GUI designer, Gtk# databindings, and a better way to package mono.

Search wars hit desktop computers

Another front in the on-going battle between Microsoft and Google is about to be opened. By the end of 2004 Microsoft aims to launch search software to find any kind of file on a PC hard drive. The move is in answer to Google's release of its own search tool that catalogues data on desktop PCs. The desktop search market is as Google, AOL, Yahoo and many smaller firms tout programs that help people find files.

Microsoft to Release Communication Server; ‘Whitehorse’ dev tools

Microsoft plans a Dec. 1 release for the latest version of its server software that aims to give companies more secure instant messaging and other corporate communications tools.The standard version of Microsoft's Live Communications Server 2005 will start at around $750, said Taylor Collyer, senior director of product management, about the same as the previous version. An enterprise edition, which can be coupled with other servers to allow for many more users, will start at $3,000. Microsoft also released on Tuesday a preview version of new tools intended to make it easier for companies to create custom Web applications.

The Software Industry’s Identity Crisis

The software industry is undergoing a gradual transformation, and consumer fatigue is at its root. The licensing model that has formed the basis for the modern software industry is facing challenges on many fronts, and the industry is scrambling to keep its footing. Where this period of change may lead software producers and consumers isn't quite clear, but some trends are emerging. Since the proliferation of the internet, unauthorized redistribution of digital goods has become rampant. But although software sharing probably won't kill the software industry, the reasoning behind it shares some pedigree with the customer revolt that promises to transform the way software is sold.

Installing Debian GNU/Linux the hard, but flexible and fast way

My preferred way of installing Debian is booting from a livecd like Knoppix and then using debootstrap. This is a fast and flexible way of getting a system running and results in a very clean installation. Unlike the old Debian installer and the New installer, this makes setting up an entire system on a software RAID 1 system very easy. Besides that, Knoppix supports more hardware than Debian installation CDs. I documented very simply and clearly how I prefer to install a basic Debian system.

A week in the BSD CLI

"I've always been comfortable using the command line interface to get specific tasks done. I already knew that I could do pretty much anything from the command line if I was willing to sit down, read manual pages, and learn -- or if I really had to. To prove it, recently I forced myself to use only the CLI for a week. I ended up learning a lot more than just a few command line arguments." Read the article at NewsForge. Jeff also writes: "I used Lynx as my browser; I don't really like Lynx, but what else is there?" May we suggest eLinks 0.10.x, Links and w3m? They all have way better rendering than Lynx!

Red Hat Hit by Security Update Email Scam

An email purporting to be from Red Hat alerts users to download a patch that actually contains malicious code. Red Hat's Mark Cox notes that security notices from his company "are never sent unsolicited, are always sent from the address [email protected] and are digitally signed by GPG." This kind of ruse has been used many times in the past to try to fool Windows users.

Security for Internet Users Deemed Weak

Home internet users are suffering from a variety of worms, viruses, and spyware on their machines, and though they are often aware that their computers are acting funny, they often don't have any idea why. Typical home users are not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves from these online threats. These are the findings of a recent study on internet security.