The GNUstep project has released a new version of its Live CD, including many GNUstep software and developer tools. As a bonus you get some classic games like nethack, and quite a few network and system recovery and administrator tools. There are also a few 3D and audio programs on it. It's based on the 2.6.31 Linux kernel and Debian Linux distribution, and is created using the live-helper package. It is available for i386, powerpc, ultrasparc, and amd64. It comes with some added multimedia software packages like mplayer, lame, lives, vamps, mypaint, milkytracker, schismtracker, goattracker, opencubicplayer, and a nice selection of free fonts (like M+) and fontmatrix. Google Chrome is installed too.

The ripples caused by Google's Eric Schmidt's words are spreading further and further throughout the internet. Asa Dotzler, Mozilla's director of community development, wrote on his blog, urging people to switch away from Google to Bing, which he claims has a better privacy policy. Dotzler points users to the Firefox Bing add-on.

I was reminded of Sun Microsystems' Scott McNealy's infamous sound byte (used as the title of this article) when I read about Google CEO Eric Schmidt's foot-in-mouth moment during a recent CNBC interview (YouTube Link). Here's what Schmidt said: "I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines -- including Google -- do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."

A clever little Mac utility : "Airlock allows your Mac to lock itself, plain and simple. Using your iPhone or iPod Touch, Bluetooth, and a smidgen of pixie dust, Airlock determines whether you're near your computer. When you leave the room - poof! - your Mac locks itself. "And when I come back?" You guessed it: your Mac unlocks. You can also customize Airlock to perform specific actions as you come and go - have your computer talk to you, log-in or out of iChat, walk the dog, and such."

"Tabs, tabs, tabs. The specialist subject of UI experts everywhere. Should tabs just rearrange horizontally or also detach? How much vertical scroll buffer should a tab have before it detaches? Under what circumstances should it detach? What about reattaching? This is a short piece concerned only with the different behaviours when closing tabs in Google Chrome, as I think these behaviours are fantastically thought through."

UMPCPortal reports on a new 3G-connected handheld computer called the PsiXpda: PsiXPDA UMPC Launches in UK, US, Europe. Apparently, PsiXpda is made by a former Psion engineer with rights to use the Psion 5 series design, which explains that familiar sliding clamshell shape.

"In a much anticipated move, Microsoft has created the Server & Cloud Division within the Server & Tools Business that merges the Windows Azure and the Windows Server & Solutions groups. The move shows that Azure isn't just an advanced development project for the software giant, and the company is ready to make money from it. Microsoft says its strategy is to create 'a single organization focused on delivering solutions for customers that span on-premises data centers and the cloud'. Windows Server, Windows Azure, SQL Server, SQL Azure, Visual Studio, and System Center are all part of this strategy that includes both on-premises and cloud solutions. Microsoft notes it is the only company in the industry that can offer its customers the choice to tap into a server platform, a cloud platform, or both."

"Apple announced an RSS feed for iPhone developers, opening a communication channel for news and announcements surrounding the App Store. Although the App Store has proven a considerable success for Apple, currently hosting more than 100,000 apps, its size and exponential growth have led to outsider calls for more proactive regulation, including the weeding-out of useless apps and fake positive reviews. Apple also announced that iTunes Connect, a tool for managing applications and accessing reports, will be offline from Dec. 23 to Dec. 28."

Samsung has finally lifted the veil a bit on its new mobile platform, Bada. While some of us were expecting a whole new mobile operating system (perhaps built on Linux), reality is a little different: Bada is actually a platform (APIs, programming tools, etc.) which can run on top of different mobile operating systems.

AROS distribution Icaros Desktop v1.2 has been released. AROS is a lightweight, portable and independent operating system aiming to recreate the original AmigaOS experience on any platform and, after many years of development, has finally reached a good degree of reliability. Icaros Desktop provides a full, already pre-configured Amiga-like desktop environment on any PC, packing it with many useful or entertaining applications, games and so on.

On a number of occasions, Apple has stated that it cannot design a laptop at around 400-500 USD that isn't total crap. This seems like a reasonable point to make - but why, then, is Dell - of all companies - seemingly able to do so? Dell just launched the Dell Vostro V13 (official press release), and it looks pretty good.

And we have news of yet another massive copyright infringement lawsuit in the music industry. This one takes place in Canada, and the infringed party is placing a truly massive claim on the infringing party: 50 million USD, with the possibility of it exceeding 60 billion USD. Bad news? Well, no, not really - you really need to consider the infringing party in this one. This is irony not even the ancient Greeks could imagine.

"Keeping Windows up-to-date can be a pain for an enterprise IT department, but Microsoft's new Windows Server Update Services can help tremendously. Ars shows you how to use WSUS to move beyond Automatic Update and take charge of your entire network."

InfoWorld's Mel Beckman conjectures on the functionality necessary to make the Google 'smartbook dream' a reality, prioritizing the features any smartphone/netbook hybrid would require to succeed. From multitouch, to SSDs, to dual-boot capabilities, the list goes beyond what early Android-based entrants have to offer but remains within the realm of possibility, especially if Google CEO Eric Schmidt's hints at a future Chrome/Android OS convergence come to fruition.