First theorized in the 1970's as the fourth basic circuit element, a practical memristor implementation has finally been discovered at HP Labs. If practical manufacturing can be scaled up, memristor technology could become the new standard for computer memory -- memory that combines the speed of DRAM, the persistence of Flash memory, and the bit density of hard drives. In addition, memristors can work as analog as well as digital devices, and hold promise as the basis for building neural networks

Just yesterday Mozilla Europe's Tristan Nitot predicted that Adobe might open source Flash one day if competition from Microsoft's Silverlight got too fierce. It seems as if he can look into the future, as today Adobe has announced the Open Screen Project. While not exactly an open source announcement, it does open the door a little bit more.

Security consultant Howard Fosdick has contributed the latest entry in the 2008 OSNews Article Contest: a highly detailed examination of security and privacy on the Windows platform, and how to use free software tools and a little knowledge to protect your privacy online.

Theo de Raadt has lifted the veil off OpenBSD 4.3. "We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 4.3. This is our 23nd release on CD-ROM (and 24rd via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of more than ten years with only two remote holes in the default install." Boasting as always, but when it's justified, arrogance is a virtue.

Despite the fact that Windows is the world's most-used desktop operating system, it lacks certain features and gimmicks that other operating systems do have (no, really?). PCWorld made a list of 18 features Windows should have, but in fact doesn't. While some are spot on, others are a bit of a stretch.

Back in 2007 when Apple released Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a much-heard criticism was the lack of support for Java 6. Leopard shipped with an older version of Java, 1.5, even though 1.6 had been released by Sun almost a year prior. Sun had already released Java 1.6 for Linux and Windows, but did not do so for Mac OS X, since Apple insists on developing their own version of Java, according to Sun. Now, 6 months later, Mac Java programmers can rejoice.

After being released to manufacturing last week, SP3 for XP is now available as either a standalone installer (direct download link) or at Windows Update. PC Magazine has coverage of the new service pack, including launch details, a hands-on review, slideshows, and expert tips.

People hoping for the demise of Web 2.0 social media won't like the latest report from Universal McCann, which investigated the use of social media among 17000 participants in 29 countries. The report is the third instalment of a yearly investigation into the use of social media, and it concludes a worldwide rise in participation.

In October 2006, Hans Reiser, creator of the ReiserFS filesystem, was arrested under the suspicion of the murder of his wife, Nina, who had disappeared off the face of the earth after dropping their two children off at Hans' home. The two were divorced, and fighting a legal battle over ownership of the Namesys company and the custody of their children. Even though the body was never found, he has been declared guilty of first degree murder.

The trash can metaphor in computing is as old as the desktop metaphor itself. It was first introduced with the Apple Lisa user interface, and found its way to the Macintosh. Apple patented the whole idea, and sued anyone who tried to use the same name, resulting in other user interfaces implementing the exact same principle but just named differently. Despite its old age, and the fact it barely changed over the decades, many people have issues with the traditional concept.

Last week, the Ubuntu guys released Ubuntu 8.04, named "Hardy Heron". Instead of posting 24408 news items pointing to different reviews of this new Ubuntu release from all over the world, we decided to collect a few of them over the weekend and present them all in one gulp. I have a feeling some of you might like not seeing three Ubuntu items every day.

The latest version of Whitix, V0.1, has been released for download. "Whitix is a simple open-source operating system for your PC. It offers a range of applications, so you can do what you want without worrying about instability or poor performance. How often have you wondered why modern software is too complicated, too buggy or just too unclear? Whitix is a return to the ideal of simple software that works the way you want it to. Although the software itself is still in its early days, our vision is well established."

Just about everyone using Windows XP runs the operating system as administrator - or root, if you come from a UNIX background. Such is the case because Microsoft, in its infinite wisdom, figured it somehow made sense to give every user full access to the system, and to more or less completely ignore the intricate and advanced security systems in place in Windows NT and the NTFS file system. This kind of turned out to be a very bad idea, and allowed Microsoft and its 3rd party developers to become hopelessly sloppy; most Windows applications more or less assumed they were run by administrators. It also allowed malware full access to the system when executed. Cue User Account Control.

As you surely know by now, the latest hype on the web is stories, news, or supposedly new quotes regarding the potential availability of Windows XP after June 30th, when Microsoft will cease selling the seven year old operating system. The latest development? Big PC companies like Dell and HP have found a backdoor to keep on selling XP after 30 June. And no, it doesn't involve Windows 2003.