intodimensions.com

CNET:

Although Microsoft is recommending that computers be pretty modern to fully run the next version of Windows, Longhorn will probably also run on a good number of older machines.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that Longhorn is going to look and run quite differently on those older systems. Computers with a 3GHz processor and 512MB of memory, for example, will get all of the bells and whistles including fancy graphics and the ability to handle multiple video streams. According to its early testing, Microsoft says that older PCs–probably those with as little as 128MB of memory–will be able to run Longhorn, but the OS may not look like it does on a newer, more powerful machine.

Many of these older machines that run Longhorn will have experiences that are “quite XP-like,” said Richard Russell, a developer in Microsoft’s Windows core operating system division.

There are at least four different levels of graphics for the new Windows. Two of them–Aero and Aero Glass–will have new composited graphics, with the high-end Glass shell adding more three-dimensional effects and transitions. Another view, dubbed “To Go” is designed for laptops and other new consumer machines and has many of the same color schemes as Aero, but not the fancy graphics tricks. Finally, a classic mode will look much like XP or even Windows 2000.

But there are performance differences as well, with more-capable systems able to do more things in the new OS.

Longhorn is everywhere in the news these days and this particular story is certainly good news I think. The more an OS can be customized to an individual user’s needs and particular hardware the better it is. I’m sure I would want to run Longhorn on some “older” hardware but if I couldn’t turn off some of the fancy graphics I probably couldn’t. I’d be perfectly ok with doing without the Aero and stuff if I could only get some of the other enhancements that they promise in Longhorn.

On Google News Technology page this morning appears news about Nokias new cell phone, apparently the first ever with a hard drive in it. That’s not very peculiar in itself. What is though is that the same news story appears twice only four items apart. Sure there’s a different picture and sure the links are for different stories but it’s all about the same thing. This seems to be another effect of automatic news-gathering.

CNN:

Technology publisher John Wiley & Sons said Tuesday that Apple Computer Inc. had removed all of its books from Apple store shelves ahead of the publication of a biography of Apple CEO entitled “iCon Steve Jobs.”

“There were conversations with an Apple executive and following that the books were pulled,” said Wiley spokeswoman Lori Sayde-Mehrtens. “It’s an unfortunate decision for us and we’re clearly disappointed in their decision.”

Perhaps we don’t know all the details about this, and I’m not too surprised if Jobs decided to ‘punish’ the publisher for something he didn’t like, but it’s just plain stupid of Apple. Personally I think it would be better for them to foster an atmosphere of openness rather than to close themselves off like it seems they’ve been doing lately. When it comes to protecting their products and intellectual property, on the other hand, I don’t blame them a bit for fighting so hard.

I often get questions about what PC notebooks people should get, and I ask them what they expect to do with the computer and then form my recommendation on that. Overall, my personal favorite PC notebooks have for many, many years been Dell Latitudes. The Latitude-line is Dell’s business line of notebooks, and although they share much with some Inspiron models, they are in my view, clearly superior. You don’t buy a Latitude to play games, or even to get a high-spec notebook. Instead, you buy it for reliability, dependability, serviceability, and affordability. You can get a Latitude Pentium III notebook for around $300-500 and it will be more than enough to do regular computer things like word processing, presentations, web, email etc. My Latitude C610 (1.2GHz, 256/30, CD-ROM, AC-adapter) cost me $369 on eBay. I added 2×512Mb RAM (2x$80), a DVD-ROM drive ($61), extra battery (four for $25), Intel BG200 mini-PCI wifi $30, an AC-adapter ($10), and a docking station ($25), and I had a complete system. Here are some of my main reasons for liking the Latitudes so much:

Durable: I’ve used many PC notebooks over the years, and I’ve yet to come across any as durable as the Latitudes, and that includes Apple Powerbooks. Sure they suffer the usual cracks, nicks, scratches, etc. but they keep together and they keep on working. Seems to me, only Apple iBooks and IBM ThinkPads can compete with Latitudes in terms of durability.

Modularity: They have two modular bays in which you can stick optical drives, floppy drives, and batteries (in the left bay you can only stick a batter). You can also put in a light-weight travel module to keep the weight down. I typically keep two batteries in my Latitude which gives me up to six hours of running time without charging. Even the hard drives are modular and all you need is a little hard drive kit and by just removing one screw you can switch hard drive. Many other notebooks you have to take it apart completely to be able to switch hard drives. I installed Linux on the 30Gb drive and keep Windows 2000 on my main 60Gb drive.

Easy to repair: The Latitudes are easy to open and fix since the screws are identified on the bottom, and Dell provides service documents on their web site. What about spare parts? Well, eBay is full of thousands of spare parts – pretty much anything you might be looking for.

Docking stations: Many other makers of notebooks provide docking stations but the ones for Latitudes are the best in my experience and they are available for next to nothing on eBay. Make sure you get one with a monitor stand to save desktop space.

The Inquierer:

FRENCH LEGISLATORS ruled that anti-copying digital rights management software on DVDs should be banned because it prevents a user making copies for private use.

A Parisian court of appeal on Friday threw out a complaint from Films Alain Sarde and Studio Canal and sided with consumer’s body, the Union Fédérale des Consommateurs (UFC).

The case revolved around a bloke who wanted to watch the film Mulholland Drive round his mum’s house. Our hero had the film on DVD but his dear old mum had stuck with the video recorder. The court decided the man was within his rights to expect to be able to copy the film from his DVD and stick on a video cassette so that he could watch it.

Vive la France! Liberte - Egalite - Fraternite - Free to copy DVDs! Seems like French courts have common sense, something lacking in the US legal system sometimes.

CNet:

Incoming college students seem to have developed an allergy to computer science during the past four years–with women particularly being uninterested in the field.

That’s the gist of a new report from Computing Research Association (CRA), a group made up of academic departments, research centers and professional societies.

The study could fuel concerns that the United States may be losing its edge in the realm of information technology, especially when measured against emerging powers such as India and China. The dot-com bust and offshore outsourcing have been mentioned as factors to explain declining interest among Americans in computer science.

Citing research from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, the report says the percentage of incoming undergraduates indicating they would major in computer science declined by more than 60 percent between the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2004, and is now 70 percent lower than it was during its peak in the early 1980s.

Just a minute ago I went to Monster.com and got a surprise. There was a message saying the site is going through schedule maintenance. That was a surprise but not the main one. A bigger suprise was that the message was posted in ten (!) different languages (original page [PNG]). Monster.com must be a very international place.

ABCNews:

Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids. The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes.

It’s long been known that popcorn kernels must have a precise moisture level in their starchy center about 15 percent to explode. But Purdue University researchers found the key to a kernel’s explosive success lies in the composition of its hull.

It turns out there is an optimal hull structure that allows kernels to explode, and leaky hulls prevent the moisture pressure buildup needed for kernels to pop.

I know it must have been keeping you up at night, wondering about those unpopped kernels.

Desktopos.com:

With spyware, worms, and viruses continuing to grow in number, questions have arisen whether Microsoft has been doing enough to protect their users from these threats. Whenever a security flaw is discovered or a new virus has been release into the “wild,” some discussions on computer news forums and websites are usually geared toward blaming Microsoft for providing an insecure operating system. Windows XP users have the right to complain about the security issues that surround Windows XP, however it is not like Microsoft is not trying to improve the security situation in Windows XP. With the release of service pack 2, which has be viewed as a major improvement to Windows XP security, has almost fallen on deaf ears, in some circles, because of the animosity held by some users toward Microsoft for various reason. Does Microsoft really deserve all the blame for the security issues in Windows XP? As the maker of Windows XP, Microsoft has the responsibility to supply its costumers with a quality and secure product, at least in the minds of Windows XP users. In reality Microsoft is not legally require to make a secure product, but attempts to provide one because the purpose of Microsoft is to be a money making entity and Microsoft can not make money if their product is not somewhat secure. The thing about computer security is that many people are forgetting that nothing can be a 100 percent secure. Not even the Linux Kernel, which is know for its security and has been incorporated with other open sources components to form hundreds of Linux distributions, is not 100 percent secure. So, why does it seems that there are less people complaining about Linux distributions security issues than compared to Windows XP. Some of it is because some people refuse to see flaws in something they support, some people say Microsoft is guilty of that. Others people are looking for a scapegoat that they can vilify for the security issues in XP, namely Microsoft since they are the markers of Windows XP. However, it seems that computer users are leaving out other parties that are responsible for the securities issues in Windows XP, namely themselves and the people who create viruses, worms, and spyware. Microsoft, computer users, and malicious hackers all share in the responsibility, in some way or another, for the security issues that surround Windows XP and previous Windows operating systems.

MacDailyNews:

Microsoft Corp. today kicked off a new global awareness campaign designed to “showcase how people can explore, enhance and pursue their passions with Windows XP and related technology.” It’s sort of an “ignore that Apple Mac OS X Tiger stuff” misdirection play.

Microsoft so thoughtfully posted one of the new “Start Something” ads that is part of the new global awareness campaign for Microsoft Windows XP and invites users to click the image for high-res version.

Well, various MacDailyNews readers clicked to view the image, downloaded it and checked the file’s info by using iPhoto’s “Get Info” and other methods to view the file’s EXIF information which shows it was created with “Adobe Photoshop CS Macintosh.”

As one reader wrote, “Isn’t it ironic? A picture launching their big campaign designed to steal the thunder from Apple - is made on a Mac!”