openSUSE 11.2 Release Party

Layanan informasi oleh : LinuxJakarta
Komunitas openSUSE Indonesia akan mengadakan acara pertemuan bulanan (Kopdar) sekaligus sebagai acara openSUSE 11.2 release party yang rencananya akan dilaksanakan pada awal bulan Desember 2009 ini. Pertemuan kali ini juga akan membahas pergantian pengurus Komunitas openSUSE Indonesia yang sudah tertunda beberapa kali.

Seperti halnya acara Kopdar #18, Kopdar kali ini juga akan berupa kopdar gabungan dengan rekan-rekan dari Komunitas Zimbra Indonesia.
Pertemuan rencananya akan dilaksanakan pada :
Hari / Tanggal : Minggu, 06 Desember 2009
Waktu : Pkl. 09.00 WIB S/D Pkl. 14:00 WIB
Tempat : Restoran Sami Kuring, Jl. Raya Industri (Jababeka) Cikarang Bekasi

Agenda pembahasan :

1. openSUSE 11.2 Release Party
2. Penggantian pengurus Komunitas openSUSE Indonesia
3. Tips instalasi & konfigurasi software RAID pada openSUSE
4. Setting openSUSE sebagai Router secara mudah dan cepat
5. Tips Improvement Zimbra Mail Server
6. Tips Integrasi Zimbra & Microsoft Exchange Server/Aplikasi Email Server lainnya
7. Preview openSUSE Edu-Life

Acara ini terbuka untuk umum, tidak mengikat dan tidak dibatasi pada pengguna openSUSE. Setiap peserta yang hadir akan mendapatkan 1 DVD openSUSE 11.2, CD Zimbra Appliance & materi presentasi+tutorial.

Biaya kontribusi sebesar Rp. 50.000,- ditransfer paling lambat tanggal 2 Desember 2009. Bank BCA - CIMB NIAGA

Bagi rekan-rekan yang ingin mengisi materi atau memberikan presentasi tambahan, silakan kirimkan rencana materi dan presentasi ke alamat email vavai@vavai.com.

Mengingat pertemuan kali ini menggunakan booking tempat, , peserta yang hendak datang DIWAJIBKAN untuk mendaftar melalui email dengan mengirimkan email bersubyek “Registrasi Release Party openSUSE 11.2 ” ke alamat opensuse@opensuse.or.id dan melakukan transfer biaya sesuai informasi diatas. Registrasi & transfer biaya ini diperlukan untuk mendapatkan estimasi jumlah peserta yang akan hadir sekaligus sebagai asumsi jumlah booking tempat.

Mengingat acara ini didedikasikan sebagai acara komunitas, mohon dipahami bahwa kontribusi ini sifatnya atas dasar partisipasi dan tidak untuk menafikan kedatangan rekan-rekan dalam mendukung suksesnya acara pertemuan.

CATATAN RUTE LOKASI :

Detail, lihat http://www.samikuring.com Dari Bekasi Timur (K50), Bekasi Barat (K45) dan Cawang – UKI (K59) pangkalannya ada di bypass halim bukan di UKInya bareng dengan pangkalan K56 yg ke Cileungsi (Harap diperhatikan, BANYAK YANG KELIRU NAIK, sadar pas sudah masuk tol …. Krn mobilnya mirip …, naik Angkot ELF tujuan Cikarang, turun di Pertigaan (Lampu merah tol) setelah Keluar Tol Cikarang Barat. Posisi ada di sebelah kanan jalan (50m dari pertigaan) (Sebelah Carefour Cikarang) jalan kaki dikit deh dr lampu merah.

CONTACT PERSON :

Untuk contact person jika tersasar :-D atau butuh informasi lebih lanjut silakan hubungi pihak-pihak sebagai berikut :

1. Masim Vavai Sugianto – vavai at vavai.com
2. Muhammad Yamin – yamin.suse at gmail.com

No telp masing-masing contact dapat ditanyakan langsung melalui email dan tidak dipublikasikan untuk menghindari penyalahgunaan.

Info : Komunitas OpenSuse Indonesia

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Zmanda Recovery Manager 3.0 for MySQL on Ubuntu Server

Linux Journal by Alolita Sharma.

Introduction

Responding to growing demand for a professional level backup and recovery solution, Zmanda, a leading vendor for open source backup solutions, has introduced an Ubuntu server version of their Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM) for MySQL.

At LinuxWorld 2008 in San Francisco, 451 Group analyst Jay Lyman observed that Ubuntu will continue to gain acceptance in the enterprise as organizations increasingly use free, community-driven Linux distributions and grow their own in-house Linux expertise. As a bellwether example, Wikipedia has switched its 400 servers to Ubuntu.

MySQL is equally gaining in importance to the enterprise. This same Wikipedia is also powered by MySQL. Acquired by Sun in late 2007, MySQL has been propelled further and further into the big leagues. As larger enterprises adopt Ubuntu together with MySQL, the need for a robust, well integrated database backup solution only grows.

To meet the widest possible range of backup solution requirements, Zmanda offers three versions of ZRM for MySQL on Ubuntu: the ZRM Enterprise edition, the ZRM Cluster edition and a ZRM Community edition. In this article, we'll take a tour of the features in the latest release of ZRM Enterprise edition 3.0 for Ubuntu Server. We'll focus on the product's core capabilities for database backup and recovery and then we'll look at some new features -- application configuration backup, full-text search in ZRM's management console (ZMC) and support for 64-bit platforms.

What is Zmanda Recovery Manager (ZRM)

ZRM Enterprise edition 3.0 brings a feature-complete backup and recovery solution for MySQL databases to Ubuntu Server. In this section, we look at the major components of ZRM and then survey the most important product features. We'll also describe the support options available for ZRM.

ZRM Enterprise edition 3.0 includes the following three components: Zmanda Management Console, a command line interface and a plugin framework.

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Can green cellphones ring the changes in mobile industry?

(CNN) -- The next time you go to throw away your old mobile phone, Gert-Jan van Breugel hopes you bury it in a garden instead of tossing it in a garbage can.
That is of course if the cellphone you're using is the biodegradable bamboo handset he's designed with bamboo seeds implanted in its case that should start to sprout when the mobile disintegrates in the ground.

The phone is also energy independent -- a three-minute turn of the crank on its back provides enough power for a (short) phone call or a few text messages.

"I think in a couple of years we will see a lot of greener phones on the market," van Breugel, a Danish product designer who was recognized at a green electronics competition for his environmentally-friendly phone, told CNN.

"Maybe it will even turn into something like a hype or have some other potential."

Major handset manufacturers are also hoping to tap into what some predict will be growing demand in coming years for greener mobile devices from consumers concerned about reducing their carbon footprints.

In recent months, a number of phone makers have unveiled eco-friendly handset designs featuring everything from solar panels to casings made from recycled plastic bottles in an attempt to gauge market interest in Earth-conscious cellphones.

The industry's move towards green also comes after facing harsh criticism from environmental groups for the use of hazardous materials in handsets, which often end up being released into the atmosphere and water in developing countries where millions of the world's unwanted mobiles end up in landfills or are improperly recycled or burned.

However, even as interest in green products continues to grow, the question yet to be answered is, will consumers be willing to pay a premium for green cellphones?

There is some research that says yes they will while there's other research that says people don't really care about green," said Tom Byrd, an industry analyst with UK-based CCS Insight.

"What they really care about is making things cheaper for them. As long as they've got a roof over their heads, they might start thinking about green, but if they haven't got a job, then green goes out the window," added Byrd.

A study from Strategy Analytics found a majority of consumers in Europe and the United States gave low priority to purchasing a phone manufactured in a sustainable manner with eco-friendly materials.

Yet the survey also indicated a small percentage of affluent, environmentally concerned consumers are willing to pay more for a green phone as long as it also has high-end features and a stylish design.

"Unfortunately the current products out there are low-spec, entry level products which simply won't appeal to the eco-conscious consumer," Kevin Nolan, an analyst with Strategy Analytics, said via email.

"No wonder if you ask a typical consumer to imagine an eco-friendly mobile phone, they will assume that it will be compromised in terms of design or features as a trade-off for the fact that it is green."

Even though it's generated a lot of buzz, the bamboo phone van Breugel designed is only capable of making voice calls and sending text messages.

Other green handsets, like the solar-powered one launched by Chinese manufacturer ZTE in partnership with Latin American service provider Digicel, also only have basic features.

ZTE says it is exploring other markets for the solar phone in developing countries where there is limited access to electricity but does not plan to launch such a product in China, the largest mobile phone market in the world, because consumers are largely only interested in buying flashy handsets equipped with cameras, music players and Internet access.

Customer demand for the latest mobile technology driven by phone makers continually coming out with more sophisticated products is one of the main challenges the industry faces in trying to become more green, says Iza Kruszewska, a toxics campaigner for Greenpeace International.

"We say to companies that through your marketing you stimulate customers to keep replacing their handsets because they want new features or new colors or new whatever," Kruszewska told CNN, noting the first life of a mobile phone is between 18 and 24 months.

"While we have these types of production consumption systems, even the greenest mobile phone in terms of its immediate energy use or use of hazardous substances is never going to be truly sustainable."

However some big name companies are making green phones to meet the needs of tech savvy consumers constantly looking to upgrade to the latest technology.

Samsung Electronics plans to release its Blue Earth solar-powered handset later this year in Europe. The company says the pebble-shaped phone, which is free from hazardous substances and made out of recycled water bottles, "is the first eco-friendly phone that has an attractive style without a compromise in features, product design or UI (user interface)." Watch Adrian Finighan at the Mobile World Congress testing the Samsung Blue Earth Video

Blue Earth also has an energy saving "eco mode" as well an "eco walk" function that calculates how much carbon emissions have been saved by walking as opposed to taking transportation, even allowing users to calculate the value of their carbon footprint through the number of trees that have been saved. Samsung says it has not yet determined a price for the phone.

Motorola recently released its MOTO W233 Renew, which the company says is the world's first carbon neutral phone. Also made from recycled bottles, Renew itself can be almost completely recycled and is sold in packaging made of 100 percent recycled paper. Motorola pays to offset the carbon emissions generated from manufacturing and distributing the handset as well as to recycle the phone at the end of its life.

Instead of focusing on the development of one green model mobile phone, other manufacturers, like Sony Ericsson and Nokia, are working to incorporate sustainable features across an entire portfolio of handsets.

Last year, Sony Ericsson unveiled a concept phone called GreenHeart, which is made of biodegradable parts and comes with an energy efficient charger and an electronic manual instead of a paper one. The company says it will use the concept to study how to implement sustainable features across all of its products.

"There is a risk you go into gimmicks and marketing ploys around green products," said Sony Ericsson sustainability director Mats Pellback Scharp. "If you don't do the right thing for the right reason, there is a risk the consumer will lose faith in you as an industry and you as a company."

Scharp says Sony Ericsson has opted out of adding features like solar cells to handsets because the amount of energy used to produce cells in most cases will be much more than the amount saved by using them to charge a mobile device.

"The payback time from an energy perspective is over five years for a solar cell if you don't put it in the sun all of the time," Scharp said. "We don't think it has any benefit from an environmental perspective."

Nokia, the world's biggest handset manufacturer, also has incorporated a number of green features into many of its phones. All of its devices are up to 80 percent recyclable and come with energy efficient chargers. In addition, the company operates the largest voluntary mobile recycling program with nearly 5,000 collection points around the world.

Nokia is developing eco-friendly applications that can be run on handsets as well. The Nokia 5630 Xpress Music comes with preloaded software called "we:offset" that lets users calculate their carbon emissions. Another program called "Green Explorer" enables users to plan their travel more sustainably.

"Only when we have many products with many features in large volumes that consumers start to buy then it starts to make a difference for the planet," said Mitti Storckovius, head of Nokia's environmental initiative team.

"If we just have a showcase phone in a glass podium, and we say here is our green phone, it really doesn't help anyone if it is not in use by the masses."

CNN.COm/technology

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BlackHole Internet

(Lubang Hitam Internet)

Server tidak berfungsi dengan baik dan koneksi internet sering megap-megap (lambat)bukan hanya penyebab pengguna internet tidak dapat membuka halaman situs yang mereka inginkan.Walaupun masalah server dan hosting merupakan kendala teknis utama mengapa situs tidak dapat diakses, para ilmuwan mempunyai pendapat yang berbeda ,mengenai masalah ini.

Para peneliti mengatakan bahwa beberapa paket data TCP/IP dapat tiba-tiba hilang ketika diakses. Para peneliti ini,salah satunya adalah Ethan Katz-Basset, mendirikan proyek Katz Basset Hubble yang diyakini mampu mendeteksi "informasi Lubang Hitam" agar dapat dilacak dan di analisis.

Tim ini mengemukakan bahwa walaupun terdapat dua komputer yang terkoneksi dengan internet dan jika salah satu komputer menukar data kekomputer lain, data yang ditukar dapat saja tidak sampai tujuan.
Kemudian para peneliti telah berhasil melacak lubang hitam dan membuat pengguna internet dapat memonitor status alamat IP. Proyek Hubble mengirim pesan uji coba melalui internet agar dapat mendeteksi komputer yang hanya sebagian dapat terkoneksi internet. Dalam arti,beberapa pengguna dapat meraih node tertentu,dimana yang lain tidak, terlepas dari tidak ada kerusakan pada jaringan.

Proyek ini mengambil nama dari dunia astronomi.Di mana teleskop Hubble memonitor lubang hitam di jagat raya, sedangkan proyek Hubble meneliti lubang hitam pada infrastruktur internet.

pcworld

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YOUTUBE VERSI MILITER

Tahun lalu Departement Pertahanan AS melarang semua pegawainya dan tentara untuk mengakses MYSpace dan Youtube.Tapi kini mereka sudah memiliki layanan yang mirip seperti kedua situs itu dengan nama TroopTube. Namun kontennya benar-benar diawasi dan disensor pihak Pentagon.
TriipTube didirikan dengan bantuan dari Delve Network. Video dibatasi dengan durasi 5 menit atau kapasitas 20 Mb.

Saat mengunjungi www.trooptube.tv. Anda akan melihat tampilan yang mirip dengan YouTube.Tapi untuk meng-upload video ke TroopTube,si uploader harus mendaftar terlebih dahulu dan masih aktif sebagai anggota AD, AL, AU, Cost Guard, atau National Guard. Dengan adanya TroopTube ini, apakah angkatan bersenjata Amerika lantas bersikap antipati terhadap apa yang namanya Youtube dan sejenisnya?.Rupanya tidak,sebab mereka masih memanfaatkannya sebagai sarana perekrutan dan menjangkau segmen publik yang lebih luas.

info:arstechnica.com

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Hukuman Mati Bagi Teroris Cyber

Pakistan.

Bila kejahatan cyber biasanya mengakibatkan kerusakan properti, pencorengan reputasi, kehilangan uang, atau ketidak nyamanan, maka kejahatan cyber yang bisa mengakibatkan kematian, seperti misalnya menggangu operasional rumah sakit atau merusak sistem gawat darurat akan dihukum mati.

Hukuman ini tidak hanya berlaku untuk hacker yang berasal dari Pakistan.Orang asingpun bisa terkena hukuman ini,jika mereka melakukan didalam wilayah Pakistan.

Beberapa kejahatan lain ysng bisa dianggap terorisme cyber antara lain termasuk mencuri atau meng-copy informasi penting yang bisa dipakai untuk membuat senjata kimia, biologi,atau nuklir.

Hukum yang baru diresmikan oleh Presiden Asif Ali Zardari ini juga "menghajar" para pengintai cyber, spammer, dan hacking.
Mereka tidak diganjar dengan hukuman mati, melainkan diganjar dengan hukuman penjara 10 tahun atau denda 10 juta rupee Pakistan.

info:theregister.co.id

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10 Ways to Go Green and Save Green

Adopting an environmentally sound IT strategy isn’t nearly as hard or intimidating as the phrase might seem…and it’s not just for tree-huggers, either (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Going green actually saves you green, a fact that was recently reinforced by Mike Torti, an executive technology specialist at Microsoft, who outlined ten tips to help small businesses make the world a bit greener and maybe even put some black back in their bottom line.

Torti identified the main areas where small business owners can make to reduce their carbon footprint and step into savings. This top-ten list spans those areas, and while it may not be Letterman-funny, it is a lot more useful.

1. Power Management Tools

The power management tools in your computer control panel let you select energy-reducing settings. “If you and nine people do this, it becomes the equivalent of taking one car off the road,” said Torti.

How does that translate into real savings? “The Vista operating system has more than 30 power-management tools,” said Torti. “A study by the National Resources Defense Council said that a company can save $50 per year for every computer that runs the Vista operating system.”

2. Buy Power Strips or Unplug Devices

Many of the devices and appliances we use every day ‑‑ SmartPhones, laptops and ‑‑ drain a steady supply of energy, even when the device isn’t in use. This is known as “phantom” energy, but the costs are very real.

“Staying unplugged not only this reduces energy consumption, but it also saves on energy bills,” said Torti. He also suggested using an energy-monitoring power strip to see which devices hog energy and how much it’s costing you.

3. Consolidate Servers and Save Energy

Also known as virtualization, this basically means to run more than one application – e-mail, productivity, databases, for example ‑‑ on a single server. “Virtualization reduces server hardware needs, lets small businesses do more with less, and it can reduce energy use by up to 90 percent,” said Torti.

4. Go to Sleep at the End of the Day

Turn on your PC’s sleep feature so that when you walk away from your desk, your PC will use less energy.

Something as simple as turning your PC off at night and on the weekends can save billions of dollars in the U.S. “The 2009 PC Energy Report by E1 and the Alliance to Save Energy found that U.S. businesses are collectively spending $2.8 billion to power 108 million un-used computers,” said Torti.

In that same report, the CEO of 1E went on to note that if the world’s one billion computers were shut down for one night, it would save enough energy to power the Empire State building for more than 30 years.

5. Remote Working Program

Unified communications tools, including SaaS, let you work with people no matter where they are,” said Torti. They can also reduce travel and other costs from 10-30 percent, he said.
6. Choose Laptops Over Desktops

Many modern laptops are far more efficient than their desktop counterparts, said Torti. He noted that notebooks consume less than 30 watts at full power, compared with a modern desktop PC that idles around 60 watts and can exceed 150 watts at full power -- without the monitor. New small form-factor laptops idle at less than 15 watts – less than a typical compact fluorescent light bulb.

7. Always Choose Energy Star

ENERGY STAR rated devices meet a rigorous set of energy use guidelines in standby (off mode), sleep mode and active. Also, qualified computers must include a more efficient power supply (typically an 80 Plus rated version).

Torti recommends the free Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) as a way to compare desktops, notebooks and monitors in terms of their environmental features.
8. Buy LCD Monitors

An LCD monitor can consume one-half to two-thirds as much power as the equivalent-sized traditional analog monitor, said Torti. Turning down the monitor’s brightness can save a significant percentage of energy.
9. Recycle Old Equipment

It’s important to consider the entire lifecycle of your hardware purchases. “Don’t just look at the sticker price,” said Torti. “Find out what your vendor’s recycle and disposal policies are and what materials they’re using.”

You can find a recycler near you on this Microsoft site.

10. Reduce Printing and Faxing

Small businesses rely heavily on printing and faxing, and that reliance costs a lot both financially and environmentally. Tori recommends computer faxing to cut costs and save paper, putting files on flash drives instead of printing handouts, and creating default printing policies on office printers.

Going green isn’t the latest buzzword, and it’s not a way to sell more hardware and software,” said Torti. “We all have a responsibility at work and at home, to reduce the impact we have on this world.”

Lauren Simonds is the managing editor of SmallBusinessComputing.com

By Lauren Simonds

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Nokia Gunakan Linux

Nokia salah satu perusahaan yang berada pada posisi atas pasar mobile,akan membuat alat yang memiliki fokus pada internet dan berbasis Linux.
Walaupun Linux tidak banyak digunakan dalam telepon seluler,namun situasi ini akan berubah dan platform Android Google adalah suatu contoh yang meyakinkan di Linux.

Linux tidak asing bagi Nokia,karena pernah memakai sebelumnya pada internet tablet,perangkat yang mirip telepon, namun memiliki kekurangan pada kemampuan pada panggilan. Sebagai indikasi namanya, Internet tablet digunakan untuk navigasi web dari mana saja.

Kari Tuuti,pembicara Nokia mengatakan pihaknya akan memperluas jangkauan dan percaya bahwa dengan Linux akan berkembang, internet tablet digunakan untuk mendukung teknologi WI-MAX.

Sperti diketahui,Linux free dan open source.Linux dapat menjamin sebuah solusi yang dapat berjalan untuk perusahaan seperti Nokia, mengurangi pengeluaran biaya produksi perangkat mereka,dan menambah kualitas dari software.
Dalam konferensi investor Chief Financial Officer Nokia, Rick Simonson mengatakan,Nokia akan membuat produk generasi masa depan berbasis Linux yang akan mulai diperlihatkan pada pasar.

Nokia bukanlah perusahaan pertama dari dunia mobile yang tertarik pada Linux.
Motorola, Samsung Electronics, Vodafone, LG Electronics, dan lainnya telah bergabung dengan aliansi Linux, sperti LoMo Foundation dan konsorsium industri yang mencoba untuk membuat sebuah platform software berbasis Linux untuk mobile solution.

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Russian Post Ingin Migrasi ke Linux

Linux memungkinkan untuk diadopsi dalam lingkungan besar pada Russian Post,sebuah perusahaan yang mencoba menggunakan Linux. Seperti perusahaan lain pada umumnya, alasan Russian Post untuk migrasi ke Linux adalah dalam rangka untuk menguarangi biaya pengeluaran perusahaan. Meskipun Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post tidak menyatakan secara langsung,namun spertinya perusahaan ini akan memakai distro
Red Hat Linux.
Tes percobaan ini dimulai di Pushkin. St Petersburg suburb,setelah Jim Whitehurst yang merupakan President dan CEO Red Hat Linux berkunjung ke Russia.

Tes akan memakan waktu 2 sampai 3 bulan. Pada bulan Febuari,Mr Aleksey Kuzmin, direktur umum Russian Post memberikan pernyataan bahwa Fedreal State Unitary Enterprise mengalami kerugian 4,6 milyar rubels ( $ 195.088 juta). Kemungkinan untuk memakai solusi virtualisasi diatas mesin Windows tidak dikeluarkan, dan model ini sedang dilakukan sekarang.

JIka eksperimen berhasil,maka 42 ribu kantor pos,dengan lebih dari 124 ribu komputer akan berpindah ke software berbasis Linux, Russian Post memiliki 85 cabang dan lebih dari 400.000 pegawai. Surat yang jumlahnya sangat banyak,majalah,parsel,uang dan barang lain di transfer lewat kantor pos ini.
Tujuan utama dari Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post adalah untuk menyediakan layanan postal menyeluruh di Russian Federation dan membuat infrastruktur postal modern.
Karena ukurannya yang besar,maka membutuhkan waktu yang lama, sebelum Russian Post memilih Linux sebagai solusi yang dapat berjalan dengan baik,dan distribusi Linux apa yang dipilihnya nanti.

Info:softpedia.com

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CYBERPUNK'S Definition

Info [book] The Best of the net

Explaining cyberpunk is kindly of like explaining punk rock to your grandparents.You could convey the words,but the meaning would be lost because they lack the experience required to understand and empathize with the movement.

In general, cyberpunk literature deals with people on the fringe of a society (or "system")obsessed with controling and dominating the live of ordinary citizens.The system embraces technology,to keep this members in line cyberpunks embrace technology too,but use it to combat the system's encroachment on personal freedom.

Cyberpunk,the subculture,emanate from cyberpunk literature.It consist of a group of people who feel marginalized by "the system",or who simply identify with the fringe characters in cyberpunk literatur.In order words, teenagers.

The internet is a place where cyberpunk can share information technology,pursue ideas,for a movie that truly shows the cyberpunk lifestyle,or complain about how the articles in Times and Newsweek about cyberpunk have no idea what subculture is about.

Best place to find information about Cyberpunk:

NEWSGROUPS
*alt.cyberpunk.
*alt.2600.

FTP
*etext.archive.umich.edu (/pub/zines/cyberpoet)
*rtfm.mit.edu
*ftp.csua.berkeley.edu (pub/cyberpunk)

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What is Gopher?

info [Book]:The Net After dark

Ghoper s an attemp to wring order out of the primal chaos of ther internet.If your internet site or access provider has a gopher service,you can callit up and see a menu of internet offerings,by category. You pick a category and godeeper and deeper into the menu until you get to an actual online service.Gopher then connects you that service.If you are using gopher for file access,some gophers can download it to your desktop machine at the same time it is transferring it via ftp from the remote site.
Some will even perform any necessary decompression on the fly.The range of offerings on the net that are accessible through the gopher is called "gopherspace".

Gopher is possible because many of sites that offer gopher themselves put together a gopher menu of what they offer (if anything)and post it.
These menus are gathered and compiled by sort of super gopher at the University of Minnesota.

There are,at this writing,as many as six thousand participatinggopher site.Many the internet resources mentioned in this book can be found via gopher,but not at all,and your result will vary from day to day and site to site.

With one click of your browser you've just taken several years back in
Internet time. Close your eyes and grip your terminal. Imagine there's
no Websites (it's easy if you try). Imagine that there's a Commodore 64
on your desk, or maybe a 386.

Now open them again.

You're in the year 1991, when University of Minnesota computer scientists,
fed up with the limitations of FTP for downloading files and the overhead
of having to log into computers for everything, decided to come up with
a friendlier method of accessing data over the then largely vacant and
much smaller Internet. The result was Gopher, a simple and easy to
understand menu system that allowed once hideously complicated systems
and services to be strung together for straightforward usage. And Gopher
Was Good.

In fact, Gopher was so good that for several years, Gopher sites sprang up
all over. You could get weather reports on Gopher, news, mailing lists,
even software.

Then Mosaic came out barely a year or so later and plunged the world into
darkness and all seemed lost under the choking strands of the World Wide
Web. And Gopherspace lay all but forgotten.

But Gopher's still out there. And what's more, you'll find it surprisingly
useful, even years after the Web became a household word. Why?

* It's easy to set up.
* It's easy to write content for and facilitates organization.
* It doesn't need much system power to run -- either from the server or
from your computer. It can run on systems with little CPU power or memory.
* It supports many things that the Web does, even if it looks less attractive.
You can still view images, search and download programs, and ...
* ... since Gopher has less data to transfer, it's frequently faster.

Save the Gopher! Explore Gopherspace with Veronica-2 and find out about
the hidden world the Gophers once dug. And think how different the world would
be if that darn Mosaic had never been written ... :-)

Floodgap HELP: Using a web browser to access gopher space
updated 1 April 2009 (and without any joking around)

The majority of you are probably using a web browser to explore Gopherspace.
Happily, most web browsers will still understand Gopher, but they are at
best suboptimal. No major web browser understands Gopher+, for one thing.
Also, Internet Explorer should NOT be used at ALL! (I'll explain presently).

Still, they're the easiest way to access Gopherspace, so here's some help with
using them and deficiencies you need to be aware of.

LYNX

Lynx is probably the best browser for surfing both the Web and Gopherspace
in terms of its elegance. Text mode may be a limited oeuvre, but Lynx makes
it shine. It seamlessly shifts between both protocols without crufty helpers
or proxies, is fast and respectful to servers, dizzyingly configurable, and
interestingly is the only web browser that recognises GET gopher selectors as
web pages and automatically maps them into URLs. This is more exciting than
it sounds, trust me. :-) It also supports the gamut of Gopher features,
including search servers. The only thing it lacks is Gopher+ (oh, okay, and
images ;).

MOZILLA (FIREFOX, CAMINO, ICEWEASEL, SEAMONKEY, ... )

Most of you, alas, will find text to be a stifling environment even for gopher.
Fortunately, the Mozilla derivatives have significantly improved their gopher
support to the point where they are now THE CLIENT OF CHOICE if you want a
graphical system. This specifically includes Firefox 1.5.0.1 and up, and
Camino 1.0 and up (for Mac OS X). If you are not using either of these
browsers, please download and/or upgrade. Their support is up to that of the
previous non-Mozilla Netscape versions, including i itemtype, non-sorted menus
to preserve salient link order, and full access of indexed search servers.
Although not as smart about URLs as Lynx, and although they also lack Gopher+
support, both of these are relatively minor issues and the implementation is
otherwise more than adequate. Previous versions had only limited support or
no support at all, so do switch if you are not using one of these already.
Firefox 3/Mozilla 1.9 still currently support Gopher as of this writing.

MAKE IT EVEN BETTER WITH OVERBITE FF!

Despite its adequate baseline support, Mozilla does lack several useful
modern Gopher features with its current support (such as hURLs and CSO/ph
queries), and has only basic navigation and rendering. Also, Mozilla's built
in gopher renderer is limited to port 70.

Those of us in the Gopher community, including yours truly (disclaimer: I
am the primary programmer), have created an add-on for Firefox 2 and Firefox
3 with other browsers coming soon, that gives you additional Gopher support
and restores wider port access. It also has a skinnable interface and
better item type support. You can get it from

http://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/

or

gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/overbite/

Again, let me stress that with their current support, for most users, Firefox
1.5.0.1 (and up), or Camino 1.0 (and up) for Mac OS X, ARE THE CLIENT(S) OF
CHOICE. If you don't want to use Lynx, use these. This also applies in general
to SeaMonkey, but these are the ones banged on the hardest and widest used.
It should also apply to other Mozilla derivatives (e.g., Iceweasel) assuming
that the support is not explicitly disabled.

Get Firefox (X11, Mac OS X, Windows): http://www.getfirefox.com/
Get Camino (Mac OS X): http://www.caminobrowser.org/

OMNIWEB

OmniWeb 5.9.2, released on 1 April 2009, adds Gopher support! Although there
are no icons, it fully renders i itemtype and supports most other item types,
and is NOT an April Fools joke! If you like Safari, then you should be using
OmniWeb for your Gopher/surfing needs, since it is built on the same core
(WebKit).

NETSCAPE

Pre-Mozilla Netscape (not the current codebase) is not spectacular but
certainly functional as a gopher client. Examining version 4.8's support,
it doesn't know how to understand Gopher+ but it's tolerant, and like
Lynx, supports the gamut of Gopher features. It properly (or at least
sensibly) formats gopher menus, accepts i itemtype, and doesn't try to
mess with selectors. It is also very quick, simple and painless to use.
While it isn't as seamless as Lynx, it gets the job done. Even though it is
aging rapidly in terms of its standards support, where gopher is concerned
it's a decent choice, and for older systems is probably still the best
all-around option for Web and gopher in a single application.

NCSA MOSAIC

NCSA Mosaic, all versions tested, supports Gopher, but does not properly
handle i itemtypes, which are used for displaying informational text;
instead, it renders them as links, which invariably fail when clicked on.
However, it is otherwise functional, and has most functions supported
except for Gopher+ (tested 1.x, 2.x and 3.x).

MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER

And now, Internet Explorer. If you are using Internet Explorer 7, there is
NO MORE GOPHER SUPPORT (disabled at the WinINet level) -- you will need to
use a proxy (keep reading) or an external application.

Internet Explorer 6 can access gopher sites, but because of security bulletin
MS02-047, if patched up, Gopher support is DISABLED BY DEFAULT. -047 suggests
that this buffer overrun reported in the security advisory is corrected, but
disables Gopher in any case. This is nonsensical by any stretch of the
imagination. To reenable Gopher, you will need to insert a registry key;
either download the registry file from the clients directory here at Floodgap,
or go into RegEdit, drill down to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\
Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings, and enter a key named EnableGopher
with type DWord and value 00000001. The reg file is available from

gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/9/gopher/clients/ie6/iegopher.zip

It has been tested to work on Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
You may read Microsoft's brightly boneheaded corporate burble on why they
did that at

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-047.asp

***If you're getting an error from IE about all gopher sites, resulting in
an inexplicable error message 'Cannot find server or DNS' which is totally
spurious (I get many complaints about floodgap's DNS, which is completely
functional, because of this completely inaccurate explanation), that's the
symptom of this error. Patch your IE, or better yet, ditch it for something
better like Firefox or Camino.***

Assuming you patched Internet Explorer 6 to reenable gopher support, or you
are still using Internet Explorer 4 or 5 for gopherspace, the news doesn't get
better: IE in any incarnation is miserable as a Gopher client. Because it
inherits the NCSA Mosaic codebase, it does not handle the i itemtype correctly,
which is used for displaying informational text, but that's just the least of
your worries. It does not allow access to TCP ports other than 70, which is a
VERY crippling limitation, and you can even outright *crash* IE 4 through 5
completely (and even Microsoft Web Proxy) by going to any gopher selector
that has a question mark '?' in it. This seems to have been repaired, finally,
in some versions of 5.0 but I still observe this bug from time to time.
There are also some reported problems with using itemtype 7 search servers,
such as Veronica-2, where some versions just hang.

Interestingly, this does not apply to Macintosh IE 5, which *doesn't* seem to
have any of these limitations other than the improper rendering of i itemtype.
Also, older versions of Internet Explorer, apparently v2.x and before, and
possibly v3.x, may not suffer from the problems that 4.x and 5.x do (quite
strange, as IE was allegedly based on Mosaic). Some users have reported that
the original webTV can also surf Gopherspace unfettered, since it's based on
an older version of IE; it appears very similarly to Netscape's presentation.
(I can't confirm this on my webTV emulator, but the functionality may be
disabled. Unfortunately, using an old IE makes your web experience suck even
worse.)

Regardless, IE is such a worthless web browser in just about every other
respect that I strongly suggest you jump to something like Firefox or
Camino -- a far faster, more secure and more capable browser -- than remaining
with IE for your web browsing tasks.

KONQUEROR

Konqueror, the KDE browser, doesn't seem to work at all out of the box.
Although it will connect, some screen shots I was kindly sent by a contributor
show that it only displays the first line sent by the server. Not much help.
This is from version 2.1.1.

However, enterprising users have come through for the Konqueror gopher
community and generated a kioslave that in my cursory evaluation seems to
cover just about all the basic tasks. I have been told by Konqueror users
that gopher support works very well with it installed, so if you'd like to
try it out, you can download kio_gopher from its home site at

http://kgopher.berlios.de/

It does not seem to support Gopher+, but supports all other features
accurately.

HYPERLINK (COMMODORE 64)

In the shameless plug department, HyperLink 2.5a and 2.5e for the Commodore
64 (disclosure: yours truly is the author) renders Gopherspace modeled on
Netscape, and does support indexed search servers. CSO searches are not
available in HL yet, however. i itemtype is supported. No Gopher+ yet.
See http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/cwi/hl/

ARACHNE

The now-open source Arachne DOS web browser supports Gopher (tested on 1.70
and up) but also does not handle i itemtype correctly, giving them all links
and (inappropriate) content icons which makes navigation a little tricky. It
also does not properly support itemtype 7, meaning you cannot search sites
like Veronica-2 with it. If you are a DOS user, try Lynx for gopher instead.
The Arachne home page is

http://www.cisnet.com/glennmcc/

OPERA, SAFARI, ...

Of the remaining major browsers, neither Opera nor Apple Safari support
Gopher at all, and I am not aware of any other browsers other than the ones
mentioned above that do.

PROXY SUPPORT

So what do you do for browsers that utterly lack Gopher support at all? For
that case, use a proxy to do the conversion and spit out pre-rendered menus.
Besides the Public Proxy we offer here at http://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/
open source also can help; a Squid developer has recently informed me that
Squid has gopher support built into it, modeled on Netscape 4.x's gopher
rendering. This is an excellent proxy server and should provide good
capabilities. Look for it in versions >=2.5. Again, user comments invited.

Please note that not all proxy servers are created equal; I am also informed
that Apache's proxy server does not support gopher at all (403 error).

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Serious exploration of Gopher still demands a more-than-basic client to get
the most out of the protocol, and we offer some here. Nevertheless, if you'd
like to go for an all-in-one browser solution, or if you're just playing
around and don't want to install something else, we strongly recommend using
Lynx, Firefox or Camino (current versions).

You can also check out a standards-based proxy that we offer at

http://gopher.floodgap.com/gopher/

if you cannot upgrade, or just want a taste of gopher; and if you use a
Mozilla-based browser, look at

http://gopher.floodgap.com/overbite/

or

gopher://gopher.floodgap.com/1/overbite/

Send your questions and your suggestions/test cases (particularly with
browsers we haven't mentioned here) to:

***

"Veronica",meanwhile,is a facility for perfoming keyword searches on gopher menu.
Veronica is a search engine system for the Gopher protocol, developed in 1992 by Steven Foster and Fred Barrie at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Veronica is a constantly updated database of the names of almost every menu item on thousands of Gopher servers. The Veronica database can be searched from most major Gopher menus.

The name, although officially an acronym for "Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computer Archives", was chosen to match that of the FTP search service known as Archie — Veronica Lodge being the name of another character from the Archie Comics.

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AMD Athlon™ Processor for Desktop

Simultaneous 32-bit and 64-bit computing
Get powerful performance for your unique digital experience. It’s not just about email, Web browsing and word processing anymore. The AMD Athlon™ processor gives you leading performance to go wherever your digital world takes you.

The AMD64 platform is leading the industry to pervasive 64-bit computing.

The AMD Opteron™ processor, the AMD Athlon™ processor family, and AMD Turion™ 64 mobile technology comprise the AMD64 family.

* AMD Opteron processor – servers and workstations
* AMD Athlon processor family – desktops and notebooks
* AMD Turion 64 mobile technology – notebooks

AMD64 is designed to enable simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. With Direct Connect Architecture, AMD64 processors address and help eliminate the real challenges and bottlenecks of system architectures because everything is directly connected to the central processing unit.

Desktop PC Platform for Home
AMD GAME
The ultimate visual experience for gaming. Sweepstakes, drivers, forums, etc.

Digital Home - AMD LIVE!™
Enjoy photos, music and movies virtually anytime anywhere.

An all-AMD processor, graphics card, and chipset for the most complete computing platform ever.

choosing the right AMD-powered system that meets your needs Get Help

Support & Drivers

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AMD Gabung ke Open Source

AMD mulai masuk
ke dunia
open source

AMD ingin membantu para developer untuk menghasilkan aplikasi-aplikasi yang lebih cepat daripada yang pernah ada sebelumnya. Untuk itu, AMD telah mmembuat open source AMD Performance Library (APL) miliknya sebagai proyek open source frameware.AMD mengklaim bahwa dirinya telah bekerja pada APL (sekarang frameware) setidaknya selama tiga tahun dan lebih dari 3200 optimisasi perfomance routine menjadi bagian dari libray

Pihak AMD mengambil kumpulan dari library yang telah mereka kerjakan dan merilisnya sebagai open source. Ide untuk membuat open source ini berasal dari pemikiran bahwa library tersebut akan lebih berguna jika menjadi open source, dan untuk mendorong para developer open source memulai optimisasi dan menambahkan routine mereka sendiri untuk core set library.

Frameware terhubung dengan sebuah kompiler (seperti GCC atau kompiler Visual studio)yang mengambil keuntungan unjuk kerja routine untuk mengoptimalkan sebuah aplikasi. Frameware dapat membantu untuk mengurangi sejumlah instruksi yang dibutuhkan dalam sebuah aplikasi ataupun dapat memberi keyakinan aplikasi tersebut dapat mendapatkan keuntungan dari kemampuan multi-threading.

Meskipun Frameware dibuat menjadi open source oleh AMD, namun routine tersebut dapat dipakai oleh prosesor dari vendor lain. Tahun lalu, Intel meng-open source-kan teknologi Threading Building Block (TBB)miliknya. Namun kedua proyek antara Intel dengan AMD merupakan dua pendekatan yang berbeda untuk memecahkan masalah yang hampir sama.

info : internetnews.com

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Distro Untuk wanita

Wanita kini tidak hanya berpartisipasi pada pekerjaan saja. Kini wanita pun hadir dalam distro Linux. dari beberapa subjek pada mailing list wanita yang ada, telah memberikan ide untuk sebuah pembangunan distro "Untuk dan Oleh Wanita". Sejauh ini, ide tersebut diterima dengan dingin. Kebutuhan atau permintaan untuk distro wanita mungkin masih sedikit. Sebenarnya proyek ini sudah terdengar pada acara feminist day pada awal tahun 1990-an. Tujuan utama dari distro ini mungkin bukan pada paket pilihanannya.

seperti telihat pada kasus Edubuntu, terdapat Mencal atau kalender menstruasi lain yang mungkin ada pada panel desktop secara default.
Project free software dimulai untuk semua alasan singkat,tidak hanya dari segi teknis saja. Jika NewSense dapat membuat sebuah distro untuk mempromosikan kebebasan software atau Ubuntu Christian Edition untuk memperkenalkan free software untuk segi agama,maka tidak ada salahnya jika ada distro untuk wanita.

Beberapa distro yang ada berawal dari hobbi seseorang atau kelompok. Kekuatan free software adalah siapa saja yang memasukkan lisensi free sotfware dapat melakukan apa saja terhadap free software tersebut dan tidak membutuhkan persetujuan dari siapapun.
Yang lebih penting, tempat special untuk wanita dalam free software tetap dibutuhkan. Telah ada banyak grup untuk wanita, seperti Debian Women, KDE Women, maupun LinuxChic

Walaupun semangat menjadi "Lebih Wanita" masih menjadi perdebatan dalam terlibat di free software namun hal tersebut telah memperlihatkan bahwa wanita telah siap untuk terlibat dalam komunitas.
Distro wanita diharapkan dapat mengurangi ketidak seimbangan gender dalam free software.

Info:www.linux.com

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Desktop Linux: Ready for the mainstream (InfoWorld)

San Francisco - It's been a decade since Linux proponents first argued their OS was ready for mainstream adoption. Yet for all intents and purposes, Linux remains nonexistent on "regular" people's desks. Sure, developers and other tech experts use Linux, but that's about it.

So when my colleague Neil McAllister, author of InfoWorld's Fatal Exception blog, made the case for desktop Linux, I snorted, "Give me a break! Desktop Linux is nowhere." He challenged me to try it myself. He had a point: It had been a decade since I fired up any desktop Linux distro. So I accepted his challenge.

[ View the desktop Linux slideshow. | See who wins in InfoWorld's OS shoot-out. | The InfoWorld Test Center compares Microsoft Office alternatives for Linux. ]

My verdict: Desktop Linux is a great choice for many regular Joes with basic computer needs. And not just on netbooks.

In fact, I found that it makes a lot of sense to standardize office workers on desktop Linux. I now understand why governments in Asia and Europe say they want to get off the Microsoft train and shift to Linux. I thought these were empty threats meant to get better licensing deals or to blunt some of Microsoft's monopolistic power, but as it turns out, desktop Linux is a worthwhile option for both public organizations and private companies. Those who standardize on Linux would save serious money on the new equipment needed for Vista or Windows 7, not to mention OS and Office upgrades as well. Your business could, too.

Moreover, Linux-based shops would require significantly less training than they would to teach staff Vista or Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007.

Let's face reality: Most people use just Microsoft Office, e-mail, and the Web at work. For that, you don't need an expensive, resource-hogging suite like Office or a piggy operating system like Windows Vista or Windows 7. You don't even need my favorite OS, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Plus, adopting Linux will solve some of IT's headaches when it comes to PC management.

Let me explain.

An easier transition from XP than going to Vista
I set up a virtual machine on my Mac and loaded Ubuntu 8.1. (Why Ubuntu? Reviewers single it out as the best desktop Linux. Many folks like Novell's Suse as well. And there are other Linux choices.) It booted like a real OS, with the familiar GUI of Windows XP and its predecessors and of the Mac OS: icons for disks and folders, a standard menu structure, and built-in support for common hardware such as networks, printers, and DVD burners.

Yes, I know that a Parallels Desktop or EMC VMware Fusion virtual machine is not a real PC, with all the variables per PC model that can make Linux not work on some models. But that's beside the point. Dell and others offer Linux-equipped PCs if you want that assurance. If you have a standard desktop configuration in your business, you'll find out quickly if it's Linux-compatible. And yes, you may discover that Linux doesn't work on your laptops, as InfoWorld Enterprise Desktop blogger Randall C. Kennedy learned when he tried Ubuntu 8.04 a year ago.

I was struck by how XP-like Ubuntu is. And that's a good thing. It took me very little time to find where standard functions are, given the similarities. In fact, it's a much easier transition. The menu structure is clear and not hidden. There's none of the "I'm so complex I must hide myself in gewgaws" nonsense that Microsoft has convinced itself, in Vista and Windows 7, makes a good UI but in fact further complicates an already hodgepodge user interface. (Gluing feathers on a platypus won't make it fly.) Users can get to work without guessing what Microsoft thinks they ought to do.

Adding Hewlett-Packard and Brother network printers was trivial -- easier than in Windows and about the same as on the Mac. But I did have to install drivers for the Brother's fax and scanner capabilities, and these required command-line installation via the Terminal. Using an external USB media card drive was also no biggie; Ubuntu detected both the drive and the SD card I inserted, saw it contained photos, and asked to launch a photo management app. You can expect to come across compatibility issues with more exotic hardware, but most business PCs don't typically include that class of consumer-oriented gear.

Well-suited for office workers, but not specialty users
After basic compatibility with PC hardware, the big criticism of desktop Linux is the state of its apps. There's good news and bad news here. Ubuntu comes with the Mozilla Firefox Web browser and the Evolution Mail client pre-installed, as well as OpenOffice.org's office productivity suite.

Firefox is my preferred browser, but if you depend on ActiveX controls for your company's Web apps (which you should not in this multibrowser, multiplatform world), the lack of Internet Explorer could be a deal killer. The Evolution Mail client is fantastic; it easily connects to Exchange Server for mail, calendar, and contacts, using LDAP and Outlook Web Access. The UI is similar to Outlook's but simpler. And in a move that should shame Microsoft, the Evolution Mail client is more compatible with Exchange than is Microsoft's Mac client, Entourage. (One example: I could set an away notice, which I cannot do with Entourage.) You can also run Mozilla Thunderbird if you're POP-oriented, though Evolution Mail also supports POP and IMAP.

OpenOffice is a sound alternative to Microsoft Office, but I spent most of my time with the free IBM Lotus Symphony, which is a slightly better productivity suite than OpenOffice, in the InfoWorld Test Center's evaluation. It's simply more refined and will be easier for Office users to adapt to, even though it lacks the database and drawing applications that OpenOffice has. I'm sure there are features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that Symphony and OpenOffice can't match, but you can bet that for 80 percent or more of your "knowledge workers," sales staff, and so on that Symphony or OpenOffice will do the job.

Adobe has made its Reader, AIR, and Flash Player apps available as well, so you can work with PDF files, AIR apps, and Flash media just as Windows and Mac users can. In addition to Symphony, IBM offers a Linux version of Lotus Notes.

All these apps work very much like they do in XP, so your users will need just an hour or two to adjust to accessing them on desktop Linux. Seriously.

Ubuntu has a handy utility to add and remove a broad selection of free Linux apps, from FTP clients to graphics editors, so you don't have to hunt for them. (But the Adobe and IBM apps aren't in it, so it's not complete.) These apps self-install, so you don't have to switch to the Terminal and use sudo privileges and other arcane commands to install them. Sure, IT techs can manage this, but not your users.

I'm disappointed that Cisco's VPN client, which my company uses, has the kind of install that gives desktop Linux a bad rep. You have to know basic Linux commands to navigate to the files in the Terminal, use sudo to get admin privileges, and follow the convoluted install script. As is common with these Terminal-installed apps, there's little documentation, and the Web is full of contradictory and inaccurate instructions on how to install them. Cisco dissuades end-users from getting information at its site, so even after I procured a copy of its VPN client software, I couldn't find reliable instructions for installing it, so I gave up after 40 minutes. I had similar problems installing Parallels Desktop's UI tools into Linux. VMware Fusion uses a Terminal script, but the program runs it for you when you first install Linux, so that's less of an issue. (Note that neither product supports cut and paste between Linux and the Mac, as they do with Windows.)

Let's face it: The app selection for desktop Linux -- especially those designed for regular folks -- is very thin. You won't find BI tools, database apps, media creation apps, and so on, as you would for Windows or the Mac. If you think the Mac has too few apps to be used in business, you'll downright dismiss desktop Linux.

There is the beta Wine app that runs many Windows apps, giving desktop Linux wider reach, as well as the commercial CrossOver version from CodeWeavers. But the list of supported Windows apps is not huge. Moreover, supported versions are often one or more iterations behind what's currently available. But Microsoft Office, Project, and Visio 2003 are all on the list, as are Internet Explorer 6 and Intuit QuickBooks. I tried to install three unsupported apps -- Adobe Acrobat Pro 9, Adobe Photoshop CS4, and H&R Block TaxCut 2008 -- but had poor results. Acrobat 9 managed to install, but the license confirmation dialog box would not close, so I could never use the software. CrossOver claimed to install Photoshop, but it did not. And it couldn't install TaxCut. So don't count on Wine or CrossOver for more than Microsoft Office and supported apps.

Also, though synchronization for Palm devices (as if they matter anymore) is included in Ubuntu, you can't sync to an iPhone, Windows Mobile device, or other handheld -- even though these are increasingly commonplace in business. But Ubuntu can access an iPod's or iPhone's photos as if it were a digital camera. (There are hacks out there to support some of these devices for data and music syncing, but IT doesn't want to rely on hacks.)

Essentially, desktop Linux makes sense as the desktop OS only for those employees who do common work in Office and Web apps. But that's a lot of people.

Solving some of IT's control issues
Desktop Linux's app limitations mean that you'll still need Windows PC or Macs for users who require specialty apps. But they also provide an easy way to assert control over the desktops you manage.

Think about it: Most of your malware worries go away, as does the constant effort to stay up with the latest anti-malware patches. You don't need to worry about users installing games, iTunes, or spyware -- those are designed for Windows (and sometimes the Mac) -- so the need to monitor rogue apps is greatly reduced.

Of course, you won't have the same kind of central system management options that you do for Windows PCs. So you'll need to rely on your Linux distro's update manager, as well as your apps. This automated, client-level approach is also standard on Windows and Mac OS, even though many IT organizations don't like it and instead want to validate and apply such patches centrally. The more control you want, the less you'll like desktop Linux (just as you probably don't like the Mac).

But desktop Linux does support basic Active Directory authentication for user access management.

I'm not suggesting every organization chuck its Windows or Mac OSes for desktop Linux. But many companies, government agencies, and educational institutions can chuck at least some of them. Those based on XP -- or Windows 2000, which still has a huge installed base in government agencies -- can look to big savings on licensing, hardware, and training costs.

Desktop Linux and its core productivity apps are solid and worth serious consideration for many of your users' PCs. Try it yourself.

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Apple releases Battery Update 1.4 for all MacBook models (Macworld.com)

Apple on Monday released Battery Update 1.4, an update for all MacBook models designed to improve the ability of MacBook batteries to maintain a charge when shut down and not used for an extended period of time.

To determine if you need the firmware update, Apple says to open System Profiler on your MacBook and click on Power under the Hardware section. If you see a device name of ASMB016 or ASMB013 in the serial number, a Pack Lot Code of 0002, and a battery firmware version of 0110, your battery needs updating.

To run the update, you must be using OS X 10.5.6.

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Microsoft goes intercontinental via cloud and Surface

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Microsoft announced on Monday that it is going intercontinental with touch-screen Surface computers and a suite of business software offered online as services "in the cloud."

Microsoft said it would expand availability of its surface computing platform to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The product is already available in Canada and the United States.

Surface computers feature multi-touch and object-sensing screens in table-top designs, allowing people to work collaboratively.

They can also allow businesses to automatically track what comes and goes. For example, a bottle of wine could be placed on a surface computer table in a cafe, with the price instantly posted to a customer's tab.

"We've received an overwhelming response from companies worldwide that are looking for innovative ways to engage with their customers and developers who want to create applications that were not possible with other technologies," said Surface general manager Panos Panay.

Microsoft says it has more than 120 partners in 11 countries developing ways to use surface computers in retail, health care, government, tourism, media, travel, banking, manufacturing and other sectors.

The US software giant is also stepping further into cloud computing, by letting businesses in 19 countries test its Business Productivity Online Suite.

The cloud computing trend has intensified as businesses struggling in dismal economic conditions reduce costs by using applications online as paid services instead of buying, installing and maintaining software on their own machines.

Microsoft is adding to its international menu Office Communications Online and Deskless Worker Suite software that handle tasks such as email, calendars, collaboration, and instant messaging.

"These services open up new possibilities for businesses to control costs while continuing to enhance the productivity of their employees," said Microsoft business division president Stephen Elop.

"Customers can save between 10 percent and 50 percent in IT-related expenditures as a result of deploying Microsoft Online Services."

Exchange Online and SharePoint Online are available for trial in several European countries, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.

Organizations worldwide will be able to try the entire Business Productivity Online Suite in April, according to Microsoft.

Use of Business Productivity Online Suite software currently costs 12.78 euros per month per user. Deskless Worker Suite programs providing email and collaboration software costs 2.56 per month per user

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Belajar Linux dan Jangan Pakai Windows Bajakan lagi

Anda masih pakai windows bajakan ? Ehmm….. sebaiknya jangan deh bukankah sekarang sudah ada Operating System gratis dan juga handal seperti Linux ? Mungkin anda masih “takut” untuk mulai belajar Linux karena kabarnya Linux itu “sulit dan tidak lengkap”. Sebenarnya sulit atau tidak itu sangat tergantung dari kepribadian kita masing-masing saja koq, jika kita memang punya tekad kuat untuk menghindari pemakaian software bajakan plus punya semangat belajar yang tinggi, pasti apa yang kata orang lain adalah sulit malah akan berubah menjadi suatu hal yang sangat mengasyikkan, seperti yang sudah saya alami sendiri saat belajar Linux.

Linux yang sekarang sudah sangat berbeda dengan beberapa tahun yang lalu, bisa dibilang bahwa generasi Linux saat ini sudah sangat user friendly dan sudah sangat cukup lengkap jika hanya digunakan untuk urusan kantor dan pekerjaan rumah saja, bahkan sekarang sudah banyak software - software untuk keperluan khusus seperti pemrograman, animasi 3D, dll yang tersedia secara GRATIS di sistem Linux. Berikut ini adalah contoh - contoh software di Linux yang mempunyai kesamaan fungsi di Windows :

* MP3 Player => XMMS, Amarok, Banshee, BMP, dll
* Pemutar Film / CD / DVD => Kaffein, VLC Media Player, Xine, dll
* Pengganti MS Word => OpenOffice Writer, AbiWord , Koffice, dll
* Pengganti MS Powerpoint => OpenOffice Impress, OpenOffice Presentation, dll
* Pengganti MS Excel => OpenOffice Calc, OpenOffice Spredsheet, dll
* Pengganti MS Acces => OpenOffice Data Base , dll
* Pengganti Acrobat Reader => Acroread
* Pengganti Yahoo Mesenger, MSN mesenger, dll => Gaim, Kopette, dll
* Pengganti Photoshop => Gimp, dll
* Pengganti Nero => K3B, dll
* PDF Viewer => KPDF, KGhostView
* Web Development => NVU, Blue Fish, Quanta, dll
* Web Browser => Firefox, Mozilla, Konqueror, Epiphany, dll
* Emai Composer => KMail, Thunderbird, dll
* Download Manager => KGet, Wget, dll
* FTP Client => GFTP, KFTP, FireFTP, dll
* Internet Dialer => KPPP, GnomePPP, KInternet, dll
* Dan masih banyak lagi softare aplikasi lain yang tak kalah dengan sofware-software di Windows.

Jika anda menginstall satu Operating System Linux, biasanya hampir semua fasilitas-fasilitas standard seperti yang saya sebutkan di atas sudah termasuk dalam CD paket Linux tersebut, jika anda membutuhkan software - software khusus lainnya dapat anda download dari internet atau melalui fasilitas repositories di system Linux anda, bahkan beberapa software yang ada di Windows pun juga bisa dijalankan di Linux dengan cara memakai software Emulator yang bernama : Wine .

Setelah saya coba berbagai macam jenis ( Distro) Linux, maka saya menyimpulkan untuk lebih menyarankan anda menggunakan Linux dari Distro Ubuntu saja karena cocok untuk pemula, mudah penggunaannya, systemnya juga sangat ringan sehingga cocok untuk komputer yang processornya nggak terlalu tinggi, dan anda dapat meminta CD Ubuntu ini secara GRATIS di http://shipit.ubuntu.com yang akan dikirimkan ke rumah anda langsung dari Belanda, atau bisa juga beli CD nya di toko-toko pusat penjualan produk IT dengan harga Rp 5000 s/d Rp 7500 per CD.

Pilihan lain yang bagus dan lebih lengkap adalah OpenSuse atau Suse, Linux dari Distro ini terkenal bagus graphics nya dan sudah menyediakan banyak sekali tambahan software aplikasi yang lain dalam CD paketnya, biasanya anda akan dapat sekitar 5 atau 6 CD untuk 1 paket. Atau jika anda ingin bereksperimen, silahkan coba juga : Mandriva, PcLinuxOS, Fedora Core, dll.

Pokoknya jika anda memang adalah tipe - tipe orang yang suka belajar, maka anda pasti akan sangat suka sekali menggunakan Linux ini dan yang lebih pentingnya lagi adalah anda bisa memakai software Linux untuk komputer atau Laptop anda tanpa harus beli Windows Asli yang mahal dan juga tanpa harus “terpaksa” memakai Windows bajakan.

Jika anda masih belum siap meninggalkan Windows bajakan seutuh-utuhnya, anda pun sebenarnya bisa menginstall 2 Operating System di komputer anda yaitu Linux dan Windows, setelah anda cukup familiar dengan Linux, maka anda bisa membuang Windows bajakan tersebut dari komputer anda. Oh iya…. jangan lupa juga untuk memback-up data penting di harddisk anda jika anda masih baru belajar untuk menginstall Linux.

Selamat belajar Linux, ayo kita galakkan gerakan sadar memakai software asli dan bukan bajakan!

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Samsung picks Via Nano CPU for its NC20 Netbook

Samsung Electronics is adopting the Nano processor from Via Technologies for its NC20 Netbook.

The NC20 is set to be Samsung's successor to the NC10, which, like most Netbooks on the market, has an Intel Atom central processing unit.

Via's Nano chips are its first 64-bit, superscalar processors in its x86 platform portfolio. When coupled with the Via VX800 system media processor, a Nano chip supports full Microsoft DirectX 9.0 3D graphics, high-definition video and audio playback, and up to 4GB of DDR2 system memory.

The Samsung NC20 will feature the 1.3GHz Via Nano CPU and a 12.1-inch display with 1,280-pixel by 800-pixel resolution. At 3.4 pounds, it will be a tad heavier than its 2.8-pound, 10.2-inch NC10 predecessor.

The Netbook will come equipped with Wi-Fi (802.11g) and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, and a six-cell battery that provides up to 6.5 hours on a full charge. You'll be able to choose between a regular SATA hard drive or a solid-state drive for storage. Other than that, the computer will also have an integrated 1.3-megapixel Webcam, a 3-in-1 memory card reader, and three built-in USB ports.

The Samsung NC20 will be available for purchase soon, with an estimated price of about $650 that will vary with configurations.

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Latest Ubuntu News

Canonical Announces Update for Ubuntu 8.04 Long Term Support Release

LONDON, January 27, 2009: Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor for Ubuntu, announced today an update for the Long Term Support (LTS) release of Ubuntu 8.04 – including more than 200 updates for security, added stability and compatibility.

Long Term Support releases offer businesses, individuals and the ecosystem around Ubuntu a stable platform on which to build multi-year initiatives. To ensure the stability and reliability of that choice, 'point releases' are issued on a six month basis with rolled-up bug fixes, security and maintenance updates and new hardware support.

“This is the second maintenance release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS in a series of updates and security fixes planned through April 2011 for desktops and April 2013 for servers,” said Rick Clark, engineering manager of Ubuntu Server Edition at Canonical. “With the enhancements this time, our focus was providing even more stability and compatibility for LTS users, allowing them a robust platform for their business strategies.”

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS has proven an extremely popular platform for businesses looking to perform common workloads, particularly on the server version in datacenters. It has the convenience of the full version being freely available while being backed by global services such as support, migration, deployment and training. Organisations such as Wikipedia have announced their migration to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS as their core server infrastructure. Canonical and the Ubuntu server community's continued commitment, as evidenced through this point release, ensures these organisations have made a sound choice.

In all, more than 200 updates were integrated – from security updates to corrections for other operating issues. The main purposes of a point release are to aggregate corrections that were made to the LTS release in the past six months and provide support for installations on additional hardware. Updated installation media is available with 8.04.2 so that fewer additional updates are required following installation and our installation process detects more hardware that was released in the last few months.

A full list of corrections and new hardware support is available at:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyReleaseNotes/ChangeSummary/8.04.2

To download Ubuntu 8.04.2 LTS, or to obtain CDs, please visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

News from Ubuntu site

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