Linux

If you want to recover your Acer Aspire One netbook to its default state, Acer uploaded a disc image on its FTP server from the default Linpus Linux installation. Acer also published several source codes on its FTP Server.

The Linux and Unix Menagerie: "Today's post was found on LinuxNut.org. They actually have funnier stuff on that site, if you want to check it out at your leisure, but I found the below story of recovery more moving than every episode of "Celebrity Rehab" ever aired. Actually, that isn't saying much since I hate reality television."

Here is my question: Are “cyEma7;IkmH!” or “hot1BA-Bitso69” secure passwords? Yes definitely, but who (the hell) can remember it! YOU WILL - after reading this article! Your passwords play a crucial role in protecting your computing accounts and the personal information that can be accessed through them. One of the problems with passwords is that users forget them. For that reason people use simple password phrases like their dog’s name, their kid’s first name and birthdates, the name of the current month or everything in different combinations.

I’ve been using Fedora (Core and all) on and off for a few years now and its parsimonious attitudes to codecs notwithstanding, the thing that always reduces me to a whimpering, pleading wreck is watching Yum installing a piece of software. I can forgive its tendency to handhold and even to confabulate, but Yum moves with all the speed of a treacle flow at the North Pole. Apt-get has already done its stuff and gone home for tea but Yum is still setting the table and polishing the silver. Once you’ve used Yum for a while you will know why it puts the V in verbose. Find out how to light a fire under Yum. Read the full article at Freesoftware Magazine.

Google Code: "PPSS is a shell script that processes files or other items in parallel. It is designed to make full use of current multi-core CPUs. It will detect the number of available CPUs and start a thread for each CPU core. It will also use hyper threading if specified. Please note that you can start any number of processes in parallel if you like."

Phoronix has the details on AMD's release of 3D drivers for ATI R600 and R700 graphics processors. "Since earlier this year we have been waiting for AMD to release documentation and/or code on the ATI R600 series concerning 3D acceleration so that the open-source Linux drivers can begin to support the newer ATI graphics processors. It has taken longer than expected for AMD to complete and release this information, but it's now available. AMD has released the fundamental Linux code needed to begin fostering the development of an open-source R600 3D driver. Furthermore, this code also concerns the latest R700 series of graphics processors! The microcode for the newest GPUs has also been released."

The U.S. economy is bleeding jobs, but -- at least, so far -- the high-tech industry is something of a safe haven. That's not to say there haven't been tech losses or that it's easy to find an IT job. However, people with the right skill sets and the savvy to sniff out the particular areas of demand are much better positioned than professionals in some of the more-beleaguered industries.

A Centre for Advanced Training in Free and Open Source Software (CATFOSS) will be opened in Kochi soon. The new centre will be a joint venture of Kerala State IT Mission and Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT). It will be opened before 20th of this month, according to officials. The centre is intended to develop a resource pool of trained manpower for inducting free software in the information and communication wings of public sector units as well as various government departments. The absence of trained personnel in the field had been hampering the government move to introduce free software pioneered by Richard Stallmann.

Phoronix: "However, one of the latest companies to join the netbook bandwagon here in the United States has been Samsung with the introduction of the NC10. Is there anything special about this 10.2-inch Atom-powered netbook? We will tell you in this Linux review of the Samsung NC10."

Computing Tech: "The hdparm utility can be used by root to set and tune the settings for IDE hard drives. You would do this to tune the drives for optimal performance. Once a kernel patch and associated support programs, the hdparm program is now included with Ubuntu."

A few server admins had reported Linux crashes right at the New Year's Eve countdown. Linux developers are currently investigating if they had anything to do with the leap second phenomenon.

Datamation: "Authentication is yesterday's problem, and it's been fixed. That's the conventional wisdom, at least, but it's a myth. Despite a flurry of new regulations, user names and passwords still rule the enterprise. Tokens and one-time-password generators are making inroads, but it's slow, plodding progress."

Wi-Fi Planet: "Looking to track your bandwidth to scope out malware, conform to metering policies from your ISP, better utilize limited resources--or just because you're curious? Our Wi-Fi Guru walks you through Tomato's sophisticated bandwidth monitoring tools."

Watch out Windows and Solaris, says ZemlinWith the new year under way and all of the problems in the old year still largely unsolved, people in the IT sector are looking around for a little good news and some prospects for growth. There are a lot of clouds out there right now, and Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, thinks the rain is going to be good, particularly for Linux.…

Cyber Cynic: "Some people say I like to beat Microsoft up. Not really. I just dislike bad technology, and Microsoft makes a lot of poor-quality hardware and software. Anyone unfortunate enough to own a 30GB Zune knows exactly what I mean."

Boycott Novell: "Finally -- solid proof of targeted Microsoft dumping against GNU/Linux and Free software"

A typical Linux system comes with all kinds of help documentation built-in, and a lot of users don't even know it's there. Juliet Kemp is your guide to finding man, info, and HTML help pages.

Debian Admin: "Flash Player is a cross-platform browser plug-in that delivers breakthrough Web experiences to over 98% of Internet users. If you run Etch you will want to use backport.org"

Tech Republic: "In the past, Linux was not overly blessed with decent budgeting software, and installing GnuCash was regarded by many as the epitome of a descent into dependency hell. Thankfully, things have since changed...."

Thanks to contributions of $6.2 million, the financial future of the free encyclopedia Wikipedia in 2009 is secured. The record donations have surpassed the $6 million expectations of the Wikipedia Foundation, the non-profit body behind the free project, with a personal appeal by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales back in December rousing a huge amount of support.