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If you haven’t yet started using Firefox 3 beta 5, the last of the betas before final release, then you’re missing out. Firefox3b5 is quick, very quick, lean and much better to use than Firefox 2. Firefox 3 is also neatly integrated into Mac, Windows and Linux desktops and uses native icons and themes. Javascript has also been siginficantly improved in Firefox3b5 making it noticeably quicker using online apps such as Google Mail and others. If you are already using a Firefox 3 beta then the one thing that is a frustration is that most of your popular extensions will claim to not be compatible with the latest release. In most cases it is simply that developers haven’t yet made their extensions compatible with Firefox3b5. But this doesn’t mean that most of them wont work.

Under its Open Source Collaborative Innovation (OSCI) initiative--what Red Hat refers to as an effort to encourage open source software deployment--the open source vendor launched four programs in Singapore, with three of those focused on institutes of higher learning here. Expanding the Red Hat Academy, Red Hat recruited three new partners: the Asia Pacific College of the Philippines, Singapore Polytechnic and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). Under OSCI, Red Hat also set up a training center at Singapore Polytechnic. The third program is about setting up a facility at ITE College's East campusand the fourth program involves Red Hat working with six local software vendors to integrate their applications with Red Hat's OS.

While KDE users get to boss KIO slaves for easier access to system and network resources, humble GNOME users can perform similar feats with its virtual file system, called GnomeVFS, which is an extension of the physical filesystem on a disk. Using GnomeVFS, users can work with non-local data that can come from unusual places, such as within compressed gzip archives.

Bill Gibson, CIO of the Australian Tax Office, talks to ZDNet Australia about why he doesn’t completely trust open source software; how the ATO handles security and why competing vendors will have to learn to work together. He also discusses new collaboration technologies he’s exploring within his organization, such as instant messaging and video conferencing.

The Linux Driver Project (LDP) is alive and well, with over 300 developers wanting to participate, many drivers already written and accepted into the Linux kernel tree, and many more being currently developed. The main problem is a lack of projects. It turns out that there really isn't much hardware that Linux doesn't already support. Almost all new hardware produced is coming with a Linux driver already written by the company, or by the community with help from the company.

Though I have my doubts, PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) may be on the same track towards open hardware we are seeing in some computer components and devices. Be warned, however, the effort is grounded in marketing and survival instincts that just might not suffice to become a success. Although use of open source is established for use in PHEV, the same cannot be said of the hardware components. The reader must recognize what is quoted below is mainly a self interested party pushing a marketing scheme. I would hope it works, however, I have good reasons for skepticism. Moreover, it was the individual, engineering types that created and posted the how-to instructions and schematics.

One more of the world's biggest technology companies is clamoring to enter the growing market for pint-sized computers targeted mainly for pint-sized customers.

Beginning from next term, all computers at schools in the Swiss canton of Geneva will be switched to Ubuntu Linux only.

I've been wondering if and when OpenOffice 2.3 would give way to version 2.4 in the Ubuntu 8.04 LTS beta. It finally happened with one of my recent updates of the system. Like I said in my review of the 8.04 beta, I rarely use OpenOffice, preferring a plain ol' text editor or more-fancy "development" editor (Geany, Bluefish, Scite, Mousepad, Nano, even vi) for most writing, using a lighter-weight word processor (AbiWord, Ted) on occasion. But for "fancy" writing -- i.e. stuff that needs to see print in a certain, specific format (which for me means "smart" or "typographical" quotation marks), OpenOffice is essential.

Jörn Engel posted the sixth version of patches introducing his new LogFS filesystem for flash devices to the Linux kernel. He noted that one of its big advantages compared to other solutions was improved mount time and reduced memory consumption compared to other solutions, "LogFS has an on-medium tree, fairly similar to Ext2 in structure, so mount times are O(1)." He went on to add that flash is becoming more and more common in standard PC hardware.

KDE 4 is a radical overhaul of the popular desktop. It offers broad improvements like the Oxygen desktop theme, SVG graphics, and enhanced speeds thanks to the latest version of the Qt 4 toolkit. It also offers specific improvements such as the font manager and the Dolphin file manager. In short, there's a lot to like.

Everex has announced a new Linux-based computer called the MyMiniPC. The form factor is similar to the Mac Mini, but what makes the computer interesting is that is is targeted specifically at MySpace users.

Here is the first of a two part post of benchmarks that compare the performance of CrossOver Games 7.0 against Wine 0.9.58

Discover a set of standard graphics built into the Standard Widget Toolkit from Eclipse that provide both new widget controls and an animation framework. Standard Widget Graphics facilitates the building of advanced, animated, rich-client applications, targeting business graphics.

A small group of individuals and some small, specialized companies [see CalCars poster in right hand column] have been gaining increasing public visibility in their push to entice major auto manufacturers to begin producing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles [PHEV]. More recently some very large corporate entities have joined the chorus, Southern California Edison will be using Ford Escape vehicles and even PE&G will see power sold back from one Google test fleet vehicles. In contrast, the major automobile manufactures stumbled unintentionally into the spot light.

It is with an eerie, but rejuvenating, sense of deja vu that I just received word of what may be the first public demonstration in support of open standards. And what could be more of a ratification of the concept of Civil ICT Standards than the news that ordinary citizens are taking to the streets in their defense?

The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) runs Linux, but getting it to run well requires some tweaking. The first part introduced features and benefits, and Part 2 takes a look at where all the memory goes in the PS3 and how to reclaim it, along with what significant things can impact a PS3 system's performance running Linux.

Smart cards and digital signatures are presented as among the most important components of e-government in Europe, but they are still far from being an effective, Linux-friendly solution to reduce administrative and business costs. But the same tools may become a way to make the general public use or support Free Software.

Many people know that free and open source software (FOSS) plays a role in creating the technical infrastructure of developing nations and in preserving endangered languages. With the Orca screen reader, FOSS takes on the new role of providing access to computers and the Internet to people with disabilities. The project is quickly catching up with proprietary accessibility options, and is already being widely deployed as a low-cost alternative.

The author of this article, Joe Kissell, is a man after my own heart. He doesn’t care for instant messaging, and doesn’t have much use for cell phones either. Mr. Kissell writes:

“The introvert trait of not dealing well with interruptions comes into play in a couple of different ways with IM.”

Nobody, but nobody works efficiently with interruptions and juggling multiple tasks...