A free user’s manual, the “User Guide to Using the Linux Desktop,” published by the International Open Source Network
(IOSN), a subsidiary of United Nations Asia-Pacific Development
Information Programme (UN APDIP), includes training materials and
presentation slides in OpenOffice.org format, intended for spreading
the word that Linux is suitable as a no-cost desktop operating system.
Looks like their site has been totally overwhelmed by being featured on Slashdot and ZDNetUK, but check the site out in a day or two, when it has recovered.
Archive | Home Page
Articles to appear on the home page (nearly all)
It’s good to inform, but don’t forget to ask for the order
Useit.Com: Informational Articles Must Ask For the Order.
“Numerous companies are now producing informative websites that are
rich in content and thin in commercial messages. This is good, because
users are more interested in facts than hype. Unfortunately, many of
these sites are so focused on providing information that they lose the
sale.” Link via Tomalak’s Realm
Windows XP SP2 rollout continues, resistance is futile
Despite some glitches and Microsoft delaying the rollout for a week, Service Pack 2 is on its way to all Windows XP users via Windows Update. Many large installations have turned off or disabled the update out of concern for the many programs Microsoft has documented as not working or needing updates in order to work with SP2. Firewalls, VPNs and SQL Server based applications seem to be the primary casualties. FoxPro applications using DBF-based data appear to be unaffected.
Microsoft is enabling the firewall by default, a reversal of their earlier configuration. While it is a step in the right direction, the firewall is still far too weak to be the sole line of defense for a machine attaching directly to the internet. The firewall included with Microsoft XP doesn’t deserve the name. A firewall is an internal structure in a building that is designed to stop fires from spreading by imposing a solid barrier. In the Windows XP case, this firewall is one-sided, blocking some traffic from ourside, but letting anything exit from inside. So, if your machine develops a problem and starts broadcasting SMTP spam, or calls the mothership and transmits your last tax return, there’s nothing in the XP firewall to prevent it. That’s dumb. Look for better solutions elsewhere.
If you are connecting directly to the internet, or take your machine on the road and connect to foreign networks, look at a software firewall like Kerio or ZoneAlarmPro. I notice that grisoft.com is promoting a nice package of their excellent AVG anti-virus software with Kerio for USD $55. Worth looking into.
Grokster decision: ‘prudent for court to exercise caution’
Dan Gillmor’s eJournal notes “Important Copyright Ruling Favors Freedom. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has upheld the Grokster decision,
in which a peer-to-peer file-sharing service was ruled not to be
violating copyright law. In that decision, a federal judge ruled,
essentially, that a product that has legitimate uses can’t be deemed
illegal because some people use it for unlawful purposes.
The appeals panel’s ruling (PDF) makes vital points including these:
“The
Copyright Owners urge a re-examination of the law in the light of what
they believe to be proper public policy, expanding exponentially the
reach of the doctrines of contributory and vicarious copyright
infringement. Not only would such a renovation conflict with binding
precedent, it would be unwise. Doubtless, taking that step would
satisfy the Copyright Owners’ immediate economic aims. However, it
would also alter general copyright law in profound ways with unknown
ultimate consequences outside the present context.
Further, as we have observed, we live in a quicksilver technological
environment with courts ill-suited to fix the flow of internet
innovation. AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 216 F.3d 871, 876 (9th
Cir. 1999). The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to
old markets, and particularly to those copyright owners whose works are
sold through well established distribution mechanisms. Yet, history has
shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in
balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a
copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a
karaoke machine, or an MP3 player. Thus, it is prudent for courts to
exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the
purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent
present magnitude.”
“This is an important ruling, and let’s hope its logic spreads widely.
(Via Michael Geist via Interesting People.) “
Those who fail to learn from history invent their own
Dan Gillmor’s eJournal journals How History Gets Twisted. “A short way into this review of a new book about Microsoft, a Boston Globe correspondent writes:
“A
guilty finding was overturned on appeal, and the government settled
with the company, imposing restrictions on its business practices. The
resulting introspection persuaded Gates to stand aside as chief
executive in favor of Steve Ballmer, who would be his partner in
remaking the company.”
“The number of misstatements in just these two sentences is fairly amazing.
was not overturned. (And there are no “guilty” or “not guilty” findings
in civil antitrust cases to start with; this wasn’t a criminal matter,
though it probably should have been.) The appeals court specifically
agreed with Judge Jackson that Microsoft was a serial offender, though
it did back Microsoft’s position in a small portion of the charges.
seen outside the company (and probably inside) as next to meaningless,
and certainly haven’t had any visible effect on competition in an
industry that Microsoft still controls.
ordered the breakup of the company, and long before the appeals court
overruled him.
I bring all this up mainly to point back to the first item — the
notion that the company was cleared of wrongdoing. This has become
popular “wisdom,” and it’s incorrect. Every judge that has had to rule
on this has agreed that Microsoft broke the law to maintain its
monopoly.
Let’s at least remember that much. “
John Perry Barlow 2.0
Reason: John Perry Barlow 2.0.
“Weâve got two distinct strains of libertarianism, and the
hippie-mystic strain is not engaging in politics, and the Ayn Rand
strain is basically dismantling government in a way that is giving
complete open field running to multinational corporatism.”
“I personally think intellectual property is an oxymoron. Physical
objects have a completely different natural economy than intellectual
goods. Itâs a tricky thing to try to own something that remains in your
possession even after you give it to many others… Royalties are not
how most writers or musicians make their living. Musicians by and large
make a living with a relationship with an audience that is economically
harnessed through performance and ticket sales.”
Well worth reading.
Link via Hack the Planet
Linux: An Alternative to WIndows?
OSNews links to an MIT Technology Review article called “An Alternative to Windows“. A great quote: “When I plugged in my Wal-Mart machine and hit the power button, I got a
look at an alternate future that ought to be fueling Pepcid sales among
Microsoft executives.”
Microsoft Security Bulletins
Microsoft released their monthly securty bulletins identifying yet another cross-site scripting error, this time with the beleagured Outlook Web Access (OWA) in Exchange 5.5. OWA has a long history of issues. I don’t think that exposing Exchange via an HTML interface is a good idea. SMTP and POP with authentication, SSL, passwords and perhaps VPNs offer a far more secure way for clients to access Exchange remotely. Better yet, find a secure mail server. http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=29234 for more details.
The second email I got was a “re-release” of MS04-020 showing that more products are affected. If you are running INTERIX 2.2 (what’s that?), you’ll want to review the bulletin at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS04-020.mspx
Microsoft Releases Windows XP Service Pack 2 to Manufacturing
Yes, WinXPSP2 RTM’d.
Microsoft comes through with Windows Service Pack 2.
“After some last-minute waxing and buffing, Microsoft finally sent its
Windows XP Service Pack 2 to manufacturing early Friday. The product is
expected to be available shortly through the Windows Updates feature in
Windows XP, company officials said.” [InfoWorld: Top News]
Garrett Fitzgerald’s Blog advices: “Getting your website ready for XP SP2.
If your website uses scripting or ActiveX controls, your users may have
trouble with it after they upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Microsoft recently published a guide to updating your site so that it works properly for SP2 users. With the release of SP2 widely reported as “imminent”, now would be a good time…”
Three-paned pseudo-table layout with CSS
A while ago, Laura took on the redesign of one of our sites, http://www.ucoes.com. We thought we’d use a layout similar to the three-paned table layout of http://www.tedroche.com,
but I suggested she try it in CSS rather than with tables, separating
the style from the text and modernizing the page. Little did I know I
was asking for the nearly-unobtainable “Holy Grail” of web layout,
according to glish.com. With the help of that site, and some great pointers from “Creating Liquid Layouts with Negative Margins”
at A List Apart, and a lot of hard work on Laura’s part, she came up
with a site design that looks consistently good in IE (our 94% test
case), Mozilla (version 1.7 only, though), FireFox, Safari and Camino.
Unfortunately, the site is not so good in Opera, which seems to refuse
to load the background colors for the left and right panes.
Following her lead, I’ve started working on the same type of makeover
for the tedroche.com web site. It was only a few hours to get a similar
layout working in FireFox, my preferred browser, but another few hours
of tweaking to get the same look in IE, fiddling with the interplay of
margins, borders and padding, which each browser seems to interpret a
little differently. Of course, that layout then broke in FireFox.
Lather, rinse, repeat. I’ve almost got it down now. Hope to post a new
website early next week.