Showing headlines posted by Scott_Ruecker

Most images on the web such as JPG, PNG, and GIF are raster images – grids of pixels that each hold a color value. Raster images are great for photos of real people and events, but they have drawbacks. When you scale a raster image up or down in size, you’re losing data and/or clarity in the image. Color intensity can also be lost in conversions and compression, leaving you with a mangled version of what you once wanted. A great alternative for many situations is to use vector graphics. Inkscape is a powerful free vector drawing program for Windows, Linux, and Mac, and this guide will get you started with using it to create your own smooth, colorful, scalable graphics.

Microsoft has come under heavy criticism for its role in the standardisation process for its Office Open XML (OOXML) standard at the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). In a blog entry on the second anniversary of the specification's adoption as an ISO standard, Alex Brown, convenor of the Office Open XML (OOXML) Ballot Resolution Meeting at the ISO, has stated that Microsoft is failing to implement commitments on transforming OOXML into an open ISO standard. He summarises the situation thus, "It seems to me that without a change of direction the entire OOXML project is now surely heading for failure."

It was both an honor and a surprise. When I was notified by Mr. Hugh Forrest that I had been nominated for the Dewey Winburne Community Service Award, it was surprising. When I was named as the 2010 Dewey Award winner, I was humbled... And a bit bothered. The Dewey Award is traditionally given to individuals and having come to understand a bit more about the man, Dewey Winburne, I fully appreciate the recognition and the reason behind it. Still...

One of the favorite activities of journalists, bloggers, and other putters-of-things-in-print is to declare the impending doom and/or death of this or that. We won't be engaging in the practice today, but we will happily report that the Browser Wars are alive and well, and continuing to take a toll on the market leader.

IBM is threatening to pursue legal action against TurboHercules, a company that sells services relating to the open source Hercules project, an emulator that allows conventional computers with mainstream operating systems to run software that is designed for IBM System Z mainframe hardware. In a letter that IBM mainframe CTO Mark Anzani recently sent to TurboHercules, Big Blue says that it has "substantial concerns" that the Hercules project infringes on its patents. The letter is a brusque half-page, but was sent with nine additional pages that list a "non-exhaustive" selection of patents that IBM believes are infringed by the open source emulator.

There are plenty such tools which are definitely very useful for Linux admins. Here I am just trying to figure out 5 of such useful tools which are used by a normal Linux administrator in day to day operations. A tool which I think is most useful may not fit in your usage and its definitely possible that you know some awesome tool which I forgot to include here, for such case, I am requesting hereby to please mention the tool in comments. One more thing, I am mentioning here tools which are somewhat optional and not absolutely required for everybody and excluding tool which have no viable alternative and every Linux admin have to use them.. such as SSH, SCP etc.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported that worldwide semiconductor sales in February decreased 1.3 percent from January, but were 56.2 percent higher than Feb. 2009, led by sales to emerging economies. On Friday, meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted a slight dip in computer-related jobs in March, after months of steady gains, reports eWEEK.

I have accounts on a number of Linux machines that I ssh into from my MacBook, using Terminal. On some -- but not all -- of them, I've found that if I run screen after connection, the backspace key is interpreted as a delete (giving an error if the cursor is at the end of the line), and I have to use Ctrl-H to backspace. After poking around a little online, I found several possible ways to fix this.

The Linux Foundation, the non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting Linux, has announced that digital office solutions specialist Ricoh has become its newest corporate member. Ricoh, best known for its multi-function printing products and digital cameras, says that it hopes to further advance Linux, while developing "more user-friendly devices and useful services for Linux users." Tetsuya Morita, general manager of GW Development Center at the MFP Business Group in Ricoh, said that, “Our Linux Foundation membership is a natural extension of our support for Linux and demonstrates for our customers our commitment to the platform”.

The Ben NanoNote keyboard has improved sensitivity in comparison to many other netbooks. The keys are not only more sturdy, but also reside under a protective clear plastic surface, which helps avoid wear and tear. Additionally, the lid's rigid hinges resist wobbling and the lid itself (which could be a bit heavy, as the device often tips backward) has a small clasp to store it securely. The mini-USB port has a decent rubber covering and the bottom of the device has some convenient, small rubber pads. The labels for the MicroSD port, mini-USB port and reset button are etched recessed in the case. In fact, the only noticeable flaw in our test model had a second Delete key in place of the Enter key, though the Enter function itself worked as intended.

Last year about this time we reviewed the VIA ARTiGO A2000 and found it to be a great hardware complement to the FreeNAS distribution. This time around we take a look at the latest incarnation of the small server box from VIA named the M'Serv S2100. We had to look pretty close to see the differences in the two from the outside. On the front panel they're virtually identical with the exception of one LED. On the back panel the two audio ports have been replaced with a second Ethernet port.

IDC has offered to charge $500 to tell you what's commonly felt in the Valley: Java faces a potentially better future under Oracle than under Sun Microsystems. You can pay for the report here or read extracted highlights from entrepreneur and Cnet blogger Dave Rosenberg here. In short: Oracle's software business is so dependent on Java and so important to Oracle, compared to Sun Microsystems' old software business to it, that Oracle needs to keep Java open and cannot afford to alienate a community that keeps the platform and language alive and modern.

Just a year ago -- April 21, 2009 to be exact -- I installed a Linux distribution. I installed it from a DVD of Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex, that came with an issue of Linux Pro magazine I bought from a news stand, and I put it on a hand-me-down eMachine with 384MB RAM (the other 128MB being dedicated graphics). It was the first time I had ever installed an operating system. In fact, it was the first time I had ever installed anything at all, anytime, anywhere. I had always just called for (and paid for) professional help from a neighbor who extended me rates more favorable than his enterprise customers paid. Raised at IBM, he had become a born-again Microsoft True Believer and wanted to keep us all happy Windows users.

Invoicing is one of the necessary evils for freelancers and small business owners. It's a pain in the neck to bother with but, on the other hand, it's always nice to get paid. Here are four open source invoicing applications that make the job a little easier.

Lets face it. Nothing lasts for ever. No matter how much we enjoy that perfect meal, movie, romance or whatever it will always be relegated to the past. The same with operating systems. They have come and gone. While there still may be pockets of them floating around in obscure places, such operating systems like DOS, OS/2, AmigaOS, GEOS and windows are either dead, dying or, like a turtle on its back, scrabbling around feverishly but going nowhere.

Texas Instruments (TI) announced the availability of a version of its WiLink 6.0 WL1271 wireless module for the Mistral-manufactured Cortex-A8-based OMAP35x Evaluation Module (EVM). The tiny 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+ WL1271 chip is pre-integrated and optimized for TI's OMAP35x system-on-chip, thereby accelerating wireless development time, says TI.

Emacs is not so much a text editor, more a way of life - an "extensible, customisable self-documenting real time display editor" with thousands of ready made extensions that take you way beyond its original remit as a text editor, some of which can be found at the Emacs wiki or on the Emacs Lisp list.

OpenOffice.org (OOo for short) is a great office suite for Linux and pretty much any other operating system, but can always use improvement. This is especially true for templates and clip art. Fortunately, the open source community provides many add-ons or extensions.

In my last article, Quick and Dirty with Open Office Base, I described my initial experiences with building a simple database application for my wife in Open Office Base, having had no prior experience with the program. In that article, I described how easy it is to get started, and how easy it is to build usable software with Base. In this article, I'm going to discuss mitigating one of Base's major weaknesses by connecting it to an external SQL back-end.

The radio stations Deutschlandradio and Radio Orange received the awards from the Free Software Foundation Europe and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure because they transmitted over the Internet in the Ogg Vorbis media container format. The free Radio Orange 94.0 in Vienna and dradio.de (Deutschlandfunk in Cologne and Deutschlandradio Kultur in Berlin) were honored with the awards (and a cake) the afternoon of March 31 under the slogan "rOGG on!"