News Archive - January 2008
HTML5; ext4; Cute cats
Saturday 26th January 2008
Category: News
Firstly, something that is of interest to many web developers: the first working draft for differences between HTML4 and 5. To help people understand HTML, the W3C have also handily explained how to describe cats as cute.
Elsewhere, there are plans to merge ext4, the improvement to the filesystem ext3, into Linux 2.6.25. ext4 brings plenty of benefits to the table, although online defragmentation isn't quite ready yet.
Another trip down memory lane at El Reg, this time taking a look at the Commodore SX-64, a quarter of a century old and still with nearly as many features as the Macbook Air.
Back to the present, and Jason Clinton finds Call of Duty 4 too real - I've often wondered whether the graphics of these games getting realistic would ever actually be detrimental - now we know.
Finally, if you have a "friendly posterior", you might like to apply as a Healthcare Informaticist.
KDE 4.0; Sun buys MySQL; SimCity open sourced
Saturday 19th January 2008
Category: News
First up is the release of the long anticipated KDE 4.0. However, many people are taking the attitude that this point zero release isn't quite ready for full use yet, and plan to stick with KDE 3.5 for a while yet.
In a move that surprised some, Sun is buying MySQL for a billion dollars, while Electronic Arts has released the source code for SimCity under the name Micropolis.
Meanwhile, there are curious web infections, some more probes from the EC into Microsoft, and accusations from John Pugh MP that the BBC is championing Microsoft.
Alternatively, you could read about Jeremy Clarkson's perfect week, or ten recurring economic fallacies.
Firefox 3; Linux not about choice; Respect please!
Friday 11th January 2008
Category: News
First up is another post on improvements in Firefox 3 on Linux.
Next is a post on a Fedora mailing list stating Linux is not about choice, despite many crowds stating this time and again. Perhaps it's just more accurate to say that choice is a pleasant side-effect?
A post by Bruce Byfield on conspiracy theorists and free software, has stirred parts of the community somewhat, with some requesting a little respect.
Finally, a couple of articles from El Reg - Becta warns against Vista and Office 2007 in the classroom, while from New York a couple of doctors warn against Java, although oddly praising the close relative C++.
Red Hat's New CEO; Firefox 3; Spacial PulseAudio
Saturday 5th January 2008
Category: News
Firstly, following the news that Red Hat has a new CEO (a choice that, naturally, hasn't pleased everyone), CNET gets to interview the man himself, Jim Whitehurst. Of course, actions speak louder than words, so we'll have to wait and see what impact he'll have on the company.
Next up is a new blog called Open Source Fact Check. Its name is fairly self-explanatory - it aims to dissect some of the more salacious "news" you will see in various places, and actually look at the facts behind it - do a bit of research, see what the situation really is..
Of course, highly anticipated by some is the release of Firefox 3. Some have claimed recently that Mozilla is forgetting its GNU/Linux users - naturally, Mozilla claim otherwise. Of note is the fact that Firefox now fits in with the GTK theme better (after what I saw as a bit of a backwards step in Firefox 2), and even uses some of the GTK icons. It is also supposedly faster than before, which would be a welcome surprise - Gecko isn't exactly slow, but its not blindingly faster either.
Matt Palmer ponders over cowboys in IT, but unfortunately sees no easy solution. He's also talked about strategists and tacticians, while others have described it as wide vs deep. However you describe it, they both explore the fact that some are better suited to taking a broad view, while others go into great detail on a single project, and what happens if that's not recognised.
Finally, following on from the news that Fedora 8 now has PulseAudio to control the sounds coming out of your speakers, there's a suggestion of spatial PulseAudio in order to best use multiple speakers, especially with accessibility.