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In 1985, AppleMatters carried this story, If the Mac has ever had a bigger fanboy than Bill Gates it is unclear who it was. In the days before the release of the Mac, Microsoft had more people working on software for the Mac than Apple had employees.
Check this for the text of the memo – http://www.scripting.com/specials/gatesLetter/text.html
Ubuntu, which has become one of the world’s most popular Linux distributions in recent years, launched its latest version on June 1 following months of intense testing. The new release is titled Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Long Term Support), and has a specific emphasis on the needs of large organisations with both desktop and server versions.
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS introduces functionality that simplifies common Linux server deployment processes. For system administrators setting up large numbers of web, mail and related servers, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS offers the fastest and most consistent path to deployment, combined with the availability of global commercial support where needed. “Ubuntu has a reputation for working well out of the box on desktops, and we have worked to bring that same ease of deployment and configuration to the server marketplace” said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the Ubuntu project. “Based on our analysis of the ways people were already deploying Ubuntu on servers, we have aimed to streamline their experience while expanding the range of software available to people deploying Ubuntu in the data centre.”
The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.
Apple has activated its previously announced free computer take-back program, offering to recycle old computers for US customers when they buy a new Mac.
While it does not yet offer this service in its other global markets, in the US the company has begun offering a service in which the online and high-street Apple retail stores will recycle old PCs for new Mac buyers, regardless of the manufacturer.
Customers who use the scheme are sent an email with instructions and a label for free shipping and recycling. They just need to pack their kit up and attach the label provided. All equipment received by the program is recycled within the US, the company claims. No hazardous material is shipped overseas.
Apple also claimed its recycling programs have processed more than 21 million pounds of electronics worldwide since 1994. It also subsidises an iPod recycling program across its US retail stores, providing environmentally friendly disposal of any unwanted iPod and a 10 per cent discount on the purchase of a new iPod.
There’s also a free drop-off recycling service for consumers who live close enough to its Cupertino HQ to drop kit off.
Barely two weeks after shipping an Internet Explorer security makeover to cover a wave of drive-by malware downloads, Microsoft is scrambling to address the public disclosure of a new zero-day vulnerability that could be used in code execution attacks.
The Redmond, Wash. software maker confirmed it was investigating a warning posted on the Full-disclosure mailing list that the latest versions of IE causes various types of crashes when visiting Web pages with nested OBJECT tags.
A spokesman for Microsoft said the initial investigation has revealed that the bug would most likely result in the browser closing unexpectedly or failing to respond.
“Microsoft will continue to investigate the public reports to help provide additional guidance for customers as necessary.”
Michal Zalewski, the researcher who discovered the flaw and published the advisory without notifying Microsoft, said the issue was confirmed on fully patched versions of IE 6.0 and Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2).
“At first sight, this vulnerability may offer a remote compromise vector, although not necessarily a reliable one,” Zalewski said.
U.S. software maker Oracle is considering launching a version of the Linux operating system and has looked at buying one of the two firms dominating the technology, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday.
The report, citing an interview with Oracle’s chief executive officer, Larry Ellison, said the move would redraw the software landscape and open a new front in Oracle’s long rivalry with U.S. rival Microsoft.
It said Ellison told the newspaper that Oracle wanted to sell a full range of software that, like Microsoft, included both operating system and applications.
“I’d like to have a complete stack,” Ellison was quoted as saying.
“We’re missing an operating system. You could argue that it makes a lot of sense for us to look at distributing and supporting Linux.”
The report said that like IBM, Oracle has counted on Linux–an open-source system whose code is open to anyone to view and adapt–to act as a counterweight to Microsoft’s Windows, which has expanded rapidly from desktop PCs into corporate IT systems.
As part of a recent study of the open-source software market, Ellison told the newspaper, Oracle had considered buying Novell, which after Red Hat is the biggest distributor of Linux.
I just saw this on the Firefox Flicks Backstage blog and the given pic rocks 
Nice to see that Microsoft can Sponsor Firefox article 
News.com is reporting on Flicks. They pulled a nice quote from me (from the press release) that I think really says a lot about how this effort is going. This is really fun!
“We’re very impressed with the videos that have been contributed so far,†Asa Dotzler, Mozilla community coordinator, said in a statement. “Our community is not only producing some great ads, they are also having a lot of fun.â€
update: and now they’ve added the videos to the article. Nice of them to do that. Even nicer to see that our ads have a new sponsor
The master of text-based search is looking to lend a voice to Internet users everywhere, or so it appears based on Google’s latest patent. Patent #7,027,987 issued today by the US Patent and Trademark Office covers a “Voice interface for a search engine,” which is described as:
“A system provides search results from a voice search query. The system receives a voice search query from a user, derives one or more recognition hypotheses, each being associated with a weight, from the voice search query, and constructs a weighted boolean query using the recognition hypotheses. The system then provides the weighted boolean query to a search system and provides the results of the search system to a user.”
Translation: the system listens to your spoken query, does its magic, and returns the results.
Google has not publicly commented on this voice search effort, although the company’s Alexander Franz did co-author a an article on the topic back in 2002 (PDF). Nevertheless, it is clear that this service would be ideal for users of Google’s mobile search. In fact, voice recognition could possibly power Google’s mobile search right into competition with local 411 services.
And while those 411 services and other voice-to-text providers are working on their own voice-powered systems, Google’s looks to leapfrog the competition by attempting to support a wide-ranging voice vocabulary. According to the patent itself, existing solutions often require multiple steps to make voice queries manageable, at times foisting limited vocabulary support onto users. A system may, for instance, require the user to respond to specific voice queries with a limited set of options pre-determined by the system.
“Current speech recognition technology has high word error rates for large vocabulary sizes. There is very little repetition in queries, providing little information that could be used to guide the speech recognizer. In other speech recognition applications, the recognizer can use context, such as a dialogue history, to set up certain expectations and guide the recognition. Voice search queries lack such context. Voice queries can be very short (on the order of only a few words or single word), so there is very little information in the utterance itself upon which to make a voice recognition determination.”
Google’s system is aimed at making the voice-based search process more like a standard text-based search query, where the search engine itself attempts to provide the most relevant results with as little interaction with the end user as possible. They key to this the weighted approach. By using an algorithm to weight reconstructions of user’s queries, the system looks to tap into the Google search system in order to increase the accuracy of their voice recognition system.
Can it handle Massachusetts accents, though? That would be wicked smaht.
More than three years after rival Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices has managed to launch processors that officially work at 3.0GHz clock-speed, a landmark speed-bin. While performance-wise such chips are much faster compared to central processing units (CPUs) from Intel at the same frequency, AMD does not advertise the achievement, as the main focus now is on dual-core processors.AMD has quietly added AMD Opteron models 256 and 856 processors for 2-way and 8-way systems into its price-list without even publishing a press release on the matter. The chips are made using 90nm process technology, operate at 3.0GHz, sport 1MB L2 cache and integrated dual-channel PC3200 memory controller with ECC support. The new chips are likely to be drop-in compatible with existing Socket 940 infrastructure and have thermal design power of around 95W.
While 3.0GHz is certainly a milestone for AMD, the accomplishment is not publicized any significantly, as the corner-stone of AMD’s current focus are dual-core and multi-core microprocessors, not just boosted clock-speeds of single-core CPUs. For instance, maximum clock-speed of AMD desktop single-core processors is 2.80GHz now and it is unlikely to rise from there until dual-core chips hit the speed-bin.
AMD Opteron models 256 and 856 cost $851 and $1514 in 1000-unit quantities. It is unclear which server and workstation builders will use the new AMD Opteron processors.
Well finally I got an invitation to Writely today. For those who do not know what it is “Writely is a collaborative word processor that runs in a web browser” and it was recently acquired by Google. And as far as I have used it its wonderful. You can read more about it here. Another Good News is that whoever uses Writely can invite others so if you need an invitation just leave a comment on this post asking for it.
Note: I also found another just word processor on the internet and its good too and doesn’t require any invitation. It is called Goffice.
Intel on Thursday night announced the second rugged computer platform in an initiative designed to bring PC technology to developing nations.
The fully featured, high-quality, low-cost desktop PC platform is aimed at first-time computer users and the design is meant to be carried out by PC makers. The platform was unveiled by Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini at a press event in Mexico as part of Intel’s “Discover the PC” effort.
While Intel has not yet released details, the platform is promised to be small, inexpensive, energy efficient and reasonably priced for the average developing nation family, according to a statement.
The desktop PCs will also have high-speed Internet access.
Intel is participating in the expansion of WiMax broadband in Mexico. WiMax is a wireless Internet delivery system that can travel much longer distances than Wi-Fi, enabling users in remote locations to pick up signal.
The “Discover the PC” initiative follows Intel’s announcement earlier this week of a $50 million venture capital fund in Brazil for the purpose of promote technology businesses in the developing country.
Most consumer PCs are not designed to withstand unusually adverse climate conditions or handle fluctuating power supplies, and that has severely limited their use in parts of some developing countries.
On Wednesday, Intel unveiled in India a fully functional computer called the Community PC. It’s well-equipped to handle adverse conditions, according to Intel spokeswoman Agnes Kwan.
Intel’s Community PC is designed to withstand temperatures of 113 degrees Fahrenheit and up to 85 percent relative humidity, and has a removable dust filter. To keep the motherboard cool, the chassis houses an integrated fan. The computer operates on a “customized power supply unit,” and is designed to consume less than 100 watts while operating, which is another way of keeping the computer’s heat in check.
Intel has partnered with Wipro and HCL Technologies to produce the components. Wipro is India’s second-largest IT company. HCL Technologies is an India-based company that specializes in remote IT infrastructure.
According to Kwan, Intel is also working with local Internet service providers to develop Internet capabilities for wireless and land-line services.
Previous PCs-for-the-poor projects, such as the Simputer and Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 crank computer, have focused on making it possible for people living in rural areas of the developing world to own computing devices. The Community PC, as the name suggests, tunes in to the concept of community sharing that is prevalent in many developing areas.
“Our experience shows that ICT (information and communication technology) adoption in developing nations requires much more than providing a standard PC; the technology often needs to be adapted to the local usage and environment of a particular country or region,” William M. Siu, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Channel Platforms Group, said in a statement.
Rather than offering several PCs for private ownership in a village, the Community PC program focuses on installing one machine in a village kiosk, where time on the PC can be rented and assistance can be supplied by the kiosk owner.
Because the PC is also a source of income for the kiosk owner, the cost can be higher than other developing world devices that have been limited in functionality by price point. Intel declined to name the price of the machine but said in a statement that it is partnering with local banks to offer payment plans to village entrepreneurs looking to set up a Community PC kiosk. The kiosk program is called “Jaagruti” (pronounced Zhah-grew-ty), which is Sanskrit for “awakening,” according to Kwan.
The Jaagruti kiosk Community PC platform will have certificate-based access that will allow lending banks remote-access control over payment plan participants.Based on several pilot projects conducted throughout India, Intel sees the Community PC as most attractive to villagers seeking a registry for government paperwork they would otherwise have to travel extensively to retrieve and file. (The Community PC, according to Kwan, will also include a printer port.)
Kwan noted that Jaagruti is only part of a long-term and comprehensive commitment to expanding use of technology in developing areas, and that more platforms custom-tailored to emerging markets can be expected from Intel.
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