Monthly Archive:: November 2005

Faktum: Business Made Simple

Thom Holwerda 2005-11-14 Zeta 7 Comments

"Beyond just having an operating system, it's important to have applications that make the operating system interesting and useful. A long standing problem for yellowTAB's ZETA has been the absence of business software for bookkeeping, accounting, inventory, and other office tasks. One of our developers has had his nose to the grindstone for quite some time now, working almost exclusively on a project to fill this gap."

Review: The Linux-based Pontis MX2020 Portable Media Player

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-14 Multimedia, AV 38 Comments

We were pleasantly surprised when we discovered (by snooping on its firmware files) that the Pontis MX2020 multimedia device that Geeks.com sent us for a review actually uses Linux (embedded distribution uCLinux, kernel 2.4.19). If it's video, audio, pictures, recording or even basic PDA functionality via its touch screen, the Pontis MX2020 can do it all. And for very cheap too.

Sun Enters Phase 2 Java-.NET Interop

Submitted by Truthseeker 2005-11-14 Java 8 Comments

Sun and Microsoft engineers continue to work on up-the-stack interop between Java and .NET. Sun pledged to enable Java interop to Microsoft’s Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) by developing and distributing open source implementations of key WS-specs.

Set up the VNC Server in Fedora

Submitted by Rahul 2005-11-14 Fedora Core 9 Comments

This article describes in brief how to configure VNC server instances for one or multiple users on a remote machine, how to use VNC to start graphical applications on boot and finally how to enhance security by connecting to the server through encrypted SSH tunnels.

Intel Brings Virtualization to the Desktop

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-14 Intel 16 Comments

Intel is expected to launch new processors on Monday starting with its Pentium line that have the ability to subdivide tasks in a hardware feature called Virtualization Technology--or VT.

New Linux Phone Standards Effort in the Works

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-14 Linux 2 Comments

PalmSource, France Telecom's Orange and several other companies plan on Monday to announce an effort to standardize aspects of Linux running on mobile phones. More info here.

More Effective Use of Shared Memory on Linux

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-14 Linux 11 Comments

Making effective use of shared memory in high-level languages such as C++ is not straightforward, but it is possible to overcome the inherent difficulties. This article describes, and includes sample code for, two C++ design patterns that use shared memory on Linux in interesting ways and open the door for more efficient interprocess communication.

Mandriva Linux 2006 ISO Images Available

Submitted by wrochal 2005-11-14 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 18 Comments

Five weeks after the formal release of Mandriva Linux 2006 to members of the Mandriva Club, the CD and DVD images of the "Free" edition (GPL software only) are now also available for free download.

OpenSync 0.18 Released; KDE Co-Operation

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-14 Wireless 4 Comments

OpenSync is a synchronization framework that is platform and distribution independent. It consists of several plugins that can be used to connect to devices (e.g. phones, PDAs etc), a sync-engine and the framework itself. It is capable of synchronizing any type of data, including contacts, calendar, tasks, notes and files. Version 0.18 was released a few days ago and its team and KDE's have joined forces.

Wish List for Windows on Its Twentieth Birthday

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 Windows 66 Comments

The calendar turns over and Windows is now 20 years young. Although Redmond has plenty of changes slated for the upcoming Vista release, what would you wish for in Windows if you could wave a magic wand? The analysts of eWEEK Labs offer a "what-if" remaking of Windows history.

PSP Vs iPod: What’s Better for Video?

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 Multimedia, AV 24 Comments

This is part two of a head-to-head comparison of the Sony PSP and the iPod with video. The first installment was a hands-on comparison of the technical specifications.

Linux Scheduling and Kernel Synchronization

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 Linux 9 Comments

The Linux kernel is a multitasking kernel, which means that many processes can run as if they were the only process on the system. The way in which an operating system chooses which process at a given time has access to a system’s CPU(s) is controlled by a scheduler. This chapter covers the Linux scheduler, preemption in Linux, and the Linux system clock and timers.

Generic Classes in C# 2.0

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 .NET 1 Comment

Code once. Use many. That's what generics are about. Called templates in C++, C# generics support separating code by algorithm and data structure. For example, the generic list means that you'll never again have to write a strongly typed collection. Paul Kimmel shows just how easy it is to define and use generics, long considered one of the most advanced and difficult idioms. This article is adapted from Paul Kimmel's book C# Express.

Java Perspective: Key-Value Protocols on OSX Development

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 Java 1 Comment

KVO? KVC? Say what? Key-Value Observing and Key-Value Coding, that's what. As an introduction to Apple's new Cocoa/Objective-C API called Core Data, Marcus Zarra shows you why KVO/KVC is an incredibly useful feature in its own right and deserves the attention of any developer new to the Cocoa/Objective-C arena.

Unsustainable Software Development and Its Causes

Eugenia Loli 2005-11-13 General Development 1 Comment

Unsustainable development is an all-too common situation today in the software industry. Unsustainable development is a development pace that is typified by stress, frustration, and a sense of not being in control. It is most evidenced by a continually increasing cost of change and defect rate and a corresponding decreasing ability to respond to changing conditions. This chapter explains how unsustainable development begins, and how to head it off before it spirals out of control.

How Microsoft’s Enterprise Desktop Stifles Linux and How to Fix it

Submitted by LinuxFanBoy 2005-11-13 Windows 46 Comments

A story of how Microsoft went from 5% of the enterprise market to 90% in three years during 1996-1999. This story shows how they did it and reveals a little known fact that GNU/Linux has had the technology to challenge Microsoft for six years.

Tutorial: The Perfect Xen Setup For Debian And Ubuntu

Submitted by Falko Timme 2005-11-13 Debian 21 Comments

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen on a Debian Sarge (3.1) system. It should apply to Ubuntu systems with little or no modifications.

How to Secure Windows XP on a Home Desktop

Submitted by DKR 2005-11-13 Windows 75 Comments

This guide contains the practical security measures to secure your Windows desktop at home. This guide is not necessarily intended for business or enterprise use, but it might come in handy for some.

3D Acceleration on MorphOS Tested

Submitted by Andrea Maniero 2005-11-13 Morphos 11 Comments

The german site dedicated to Linux on PPC systems PPCNUX has benchmarked the 3D drivers available for MorphOS using the three generations of the famous FPS Quake, in order to test the quality of indipendently developed drivers on a non-mainstream OS running on non-mainstream PPC hardware. You can find the english version of the article here.

Using Software RAID-1 with FreeBSD

Submitted by SQwerl 2005-11-12 FreeBSD 10 Comments

Have you ever needed a software RAID solution for a low-end server install? Perhaps you've wanted your workstation to take advantage of the redundancy provided by a disk mirror without investing in a hardware RAID controller. Has a prior painful configuration experience turned you off software RAID altogether on Unix systems? Read more at OnLamp.