Category: Computers, Science & Technology

Jeffrey Powers from www.geekazine.com asked us Techpodcast Network folks to give our predictions for 2009. Well, here’s my two cents for 2009:

Linux will continue to make in-roads on the desktop as “netbooks” become more popular.

Video via the Internet, or “IPTV,” will continue to increase, and set-top boxes for Internet viewing will increase in general acceptance instead of just being a “geek toy.”

Smart-phones will become many people’s platform of choice for Internet surfing as phones like the iPhone and Blackberry Storm become more “the norm.”

We’ll see how I do next year!

Justice has prevailed! The greatest evil since Microsoft themselves has finally been laid to rest!

Final judgment: SCO owes Novell millions (plus interest)

“Federal district judge Dale A. Kimball has handed down the final judgment in the SCO case. The decision dismisses SCO’s latest claims, grants declaratory relief to Novell, and sustains the court’s previous judgment that SCO owes Novell over $2.54 million (plus interest) for unjust enrichment. SCO’s protracted legal shenanigan has been running for roughly five years now. The company originally claimed that it owned the UNIX SVRX copyrights and that incontrovertible evidence had been uncovered that the open source Linux kernel was written using a significant amount of code that was misappropriated from SVRX. In reality, SCO’s own internal audits of Linux source code turned up no evidence of copyright infringement; meanwhile, Novell has turned out to be the rightful owner of the SVRX copyrights. SCO managed to use its false claims to extract licensing revenue out of companies that were apparently uninterested in contesting its claims. Novell took SCO’s claims to court and eventually triumphed, which pushed SCO off of the precipice and into bankruptcy. Judge Kimball determined that SCO was subject to a contract with Novell, which it violated by lifting SVRX confidentiality provisions in a licensing agreement with Sun. This move exceeded the authority granted to SCO under the terms of a 1994 asset purchase agreement that enabled SCO to sell limited SVRX licenses to third parties on behalf of Novell. Judge Kimball also determined that SCO breached its fiduciary duty by neglecting to remit the requisite portion of the licensing revenue to Novell. In addition to the $2,547,817 that SCO was originally ordered to pay to Novell in a previous judgment, SCO will also have to pay $918,122 in prejudgment interest and $489 per day from August 29 until November 20. SCO is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings and does not presently have the resources to pay the amount in full. A constructive trust has been established with $625,000 of SCO’s remaining resources.”

Wow! There are id-jits, and then there are id-jits! Sigh!

Oregon Woman Loses $400,000 to Nigerian E-Mail Scam

“Janella Spears of Sweet Home says she simply became curious when she received an e-mail promising her $20.5 million if she would only help out a long-lost relative identified as J.B. Spears with a little money up front. Spears told KATU-TV about the scammers’ ability to identify her relative by name was persuasive. Spears, who is a nursing administrator and CPR teacher, said she mortgaged the house and took a lien out on the family car, and ran through her husband’s retirement account. ‘The retirement he was dreaming of — cruising and going around and seeing America — is pretty much gone for him right now,’ she said. She estimates it will take two years to clear the debt that accumulated in the more than two years she spent sending money to con artists.'”

You wanted to see it, you were curious… and now… viola! Here it is! And, a nifty article in ARS Technica details the changes we must now get used to. Sigh.

First look at Windows 7’s User Interface

So, there you go!

Not to be outdone, Adobe has released Flash 10 on the heals of Microsoft’s new version of Silverlight!

Adobe launches ‘Astro,’ Flash Player 10

“Today, Adobe has launched Flash Player 10 after nearly six months in public beta, the day after Microsoft released Silverlight 2, Flash’s most high-profile competitor. Adobe’s Flash release has been timed more to accompany Creative Suite 4 — also officially available today — than to follow Silverlight. As John Dowdell of Adobe says, Flash is already ‘the world’s runtime.’ Flash Player 10 offers native 3D object support, and rich text layout support with features especially designed for bi-directional and right-to-left written languages. There is also support for Adobe’s Pixel Bender custom filter technology, which was previously a fixture of Adobe After Effects. With Pixel Bender, custom effects can be parameterized to animate at runtime.”

Yep… it exists. Got a Mac? Need to view Silverlight content? Check out the link below:

Silverlight Plug-in for the Macintosh (OS/X)

“Microsoft Silverlight (formerly WPF/E) is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of media experiences and rich interactive applications (RIAs) for the Web. It is intended for developers and designers interested in learning more about how to build experiences with Microsoft Silverlight.”

Released today… and, completely awesome! Take that, Evil Empire!

OpenOffice.Org 3.0 is Out!

The site has been overwhelmed by the demand… so, if you have to keep trying, hang in there! It really IS worth it!

It’s almost here… and you will get it (the upgrade) auto-magically. (I’m not sure if that is good, or not!)

Final Silverlight 2.0 to ship tomorrow

“In a teleconference today, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Scott Guthrie told the press that the company’s 2.0 version of Silverlight will be ready to ship tomorrow, October 14. Windows users who have already downloaded and deployed Silverlight 1.0, or any of the betas of Silverlight 1.1/2.0, could very well wake up tomorrow to find their platforms have been automatically upgraded, as the platform is capable of silently upgrading itself using the WSUS service. Brian Goldfarb, who directs the Developer Platform Group, also added that a number of Silverlight-related projects will be launched for the open source community. Most interestingly, a community technology preview is being released of a development environment that will bridge Silverlight 2.0 with the Eclipse environment. This CTP will include an IDE that enables XAML editing and C# authoring within Eclipse.”

That’s what some scientists are saying may be in the offing! Turning Carbon Dioxide into fuels! Now, THAT would rock!

Turning carbon dioxide into fuel

CNN – “Carbon Sciences believe they have made a breakthrough with their technology, which they say can transform CO2 back into basic fuel building blocks efficiently. Their biocatalytic process converts CO2 into basic hydrocarbons – C1 (methane) C2 (ethane) and C3 (propane) — which can then be utilized to make higher-grade fuels like gasoline and jet fuel. ‘We are very excited by what we’ve seen in the lab. We’ve had some promising results,’ Derek McLeish, President and CEO of the Santa Barbara-based company, told CNN. By employing biocatalysis — using natural catalysts to perform chemical reactions — Carbon Sciences hope to bypass the problem of inefficient energy ratios which can render many CO2 recycling projects pointless.”

OK, I am all for NOT using babies for stem cell research… fer sure! But, NOW they are saying that men’s testicles are a possible source for stem cells. Ah… no! I am NOT contributing!

Stem cells from testicles an option to embryos

“Cells taken from men’s testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived from embryos, researchers reported Wednesday in what may be yet another new approach in a burgeoning scientific field. The new type of stem cells could be useful for growing personalized replacement tissues, according to a study in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature. But because of their source, their highest promise would apply to only half the world’s population: men. Embryonic stem cells can give rise to virtually any tissue in the body and scientists believe they may offer treatments for diseases like Parkinson’s and diabetes and for spinal cord injuries. The testicular cells avoid the ethical dilemma of embryonic stem cells, which are harvested in a process that destroys the embryos. For that reason, some people, including President Bush, oppose their use for ethical or religious reasons. ‘The advantage these cells have in comparison to embryonic stem cells is that there is no ethical problem with these cells and that they are natural,’ said study lead author Thomas Skutella, a professor at the Center for Regenerative Biology and Medicine in Tuebingen, Germany. Using testicular cells isn’t the only promising method that avoids embryos; there have been impressive experiments in reprogramming ordinary body cells into stem cells by slipping certain genes into them. The new findings and the reprogrammed cells — which still have technical hurdles — ‘take some pressure off the stem cell issue,’ said White House science adviser Jack Marburger.”

Okaaay! Ouch.