Showing headlines posted by BernardSwiss

When the firmware update (which also applied to the EA4500 and EA2700 router models) rolled out, attempting to connect to the browser's internal administrative Web interface brings the user instead to a signup page for the “Cisco Connect Cloud,"... In exchange for the convenience of Connect Cloud, you have to agree to some pretty onerous terms. In short, Cisco would really hate it if you use the Web to view porn or download copyrighted files without paying for them.

UPDATE: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/07/cisco-backpedals-afte...

In addition to critiquing the implementation methods pursued by the Linux distributors, the FSF also commented broadly on the general premise of secure boot. Although the organization likes the concept in theory, it finds that the model pursued by the hardware manufacturers will raise serious problems in practice.

Another trade-injunction run-around as a bludgeon against competition. Another Judge who apparently doesn't get technology. And so the inanity/insanity continues...

I love listening to open source gurus explain open source to those who have never encountered it, and especially to those with little computing background. In conversations with folks who may have never heard the term 'source code,' open source advocates don't typically have recourse to related words like 'Linux,' 'copyleft,' or 'binary blobs.' That comfortable vocabulary suddenly fails them, leaving them frustrated and stammering.

One of the most outspoken judges in the craziness that is the US patent system made a bold move tonight, throwing out a lawsuit in which Apple and Motorola were seeking injunctions against each other's mobile products.

US District Court Judge Richard Posner previously canceled a jury trial in Chicago in the case, and then castigated both Apple and Motorola while calling the entire US patent system chaos. Posner issued a ruling late today (Scribd link) that shows he wasn't just joking.

After indie succeses, Linux is finally attracting mainstream game publishers.

Meltemi was a Linux-based operating system that was intended to be Nokia’s successor to the S40 feature phone platform. Used in conjunction with the Qt development toolkit, Meltemi was going to be the cornerstone of Nokia’s strategy for connecting the “next billion” smartphone users.

We've covered plenty of stories concerning Apple's ridiculously arbitrary nature as the gatekeeper for iOS apps, approving or pulling them with little reason. And, of course, we've discussed a variety of ridiculous patent lawsuits -- including one we wrote about back in March, concerning a fight over an iPad app for "augmentative and alternative communications." This was the case of the mother of a 4-year-old girl, whose daughter Maya was unable to speak, but had finally found an iPad app, called Speak for Yourself (SfY) which actually helped her communicate with her parents. There were alternative products on the market, but most did not work for Maya -- and were many time as expensive (one is described as running $7,000 -- which the family appeared to be willing to pay, but not after they realized it wouldn't work for her). And, of course, a patent dispute threatened all of this. Two companies who make some of the expensive offerings, Prentke Romich Company and Semantic Compaction Systems (PRC/SCS) have sued SfY for patent infringement, over a patent (5,920,303) on a dynamic keyboard (held by SCS, but licensed by PRC), which they claim SfY violates.

A new patent granted this week aims to stop students from sharing textbooks, both off and online. The patent awarded to economics professor Joseph Henry Vogel hopes to embed the publishing world even further into academia. Under his proposal, students can only participate in courses when they buy an online access code which allows them to use the course book. No access code means a lower grade, all in the best interests of science. For centuries, students have shared textbooks with each other, but a new patent aims to stop this “infringing” habit. The patent in question was granted to Professor of Economics Joseph Henry Vogel. He believes that piracy, lending and reselling of books is a threat to the publishing industry.

The Supreme Court will soon hear a case that will affect whether you can sell your iPad -- or almost anything else -- without needing to get permission from a dozen "copyright holders." Here are some things you might have recently done that will be rendered illegal if the Supreme Court upholds the lower court decision:

1. Sold your first-generation iPad on Craigslist to a willing buyer, even if you bought the iPad lawfully at the Apple Store.

2. Sold your dad's used Omega watch on eBay to buy him a fancier (used or new) Rolex at a local jewelry store.

3. Sold an "import CD" of your favorite band that was only released abroad but legally purchased there. Ditto for a copy of a French or Spanish novel not released in the U.S.

4. Sold your house to a willing buyer, so long as you sell your house along with the fixtures manufactured in China, a chandelier made in Thailand or Paris, support beams produced in Canada that carry the imprint of a copyrighted logo, or a bricks or a marble countertop made in Italy with any copyrighted features or insignia. Here is what's going on..

I really cannot see the Judges upholding this one - Scott

The International Trade Commission has rejected HTC's attempts to use five patents on loan from Google against Apple in smartphone-related complaint. ITC Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender agreed with Apple's arguments that only Google, and not HTC, has the proper legal standing to assert those patents.

In a newly approved patent, an economics professor hopes to bring to the academic publishing world what seems to be forthcoming in the video game industry—new restrictions that would seemingly eliminate a secondary market for digital goods and prevent legal borrowing.

Samsung will be the foundation’s seventh platinum member, alongside industry heavyweights such as IBM, Intel, and Qualcomm. Samsung uses Linux extensively throughout its product line, particularly in the mobile space. Samsung said in a statement today that it intends to continue expanding its support for the open source operating system.

"We’re looking forward to increasing collaboration and support for our growing portfolio of Linux-based devices and to making contributions that advance Linux for all," said Samsung Electronics Vice President WonJoo Park in a statement.

Judge William Alsup today ruled that the Java API packages Oracle claims were stolen by Google for use in Android were "free for all to use under the Copyright Act."

The coalition of authors suing to stop Google Book Search scored a key victory on Thursday as the judge overseeing the case ruled that three individual authors and the Author's Guild could represent the class of all authors whose works had been scanned by Google.

Ubuntu 12.04, codenamed Precise Pangolin, rolled out last month. The new version of the popular Linux distribution brings updated software and new features, including the highly-anticipated Heads-Up Display (HUD) interface. The HUD is one of several excellent improvements that have helped to make Ubuntu's Unity desktop shell even better in Ubuntu 12.04

When Unity was first unveiled in 2010, it was introduced as a new graphical frontend for the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Canonical later brought Unity to the desktop, making it the cornerstone of the company's Linux usability enhancement efforts. Ubuntu 11.04 (released last year) was the first version that shipped with Unity as the standard environment on the desktop.

Unity has come a long way since Canonical and the Ubuntu community began working to iron out its rough edges on the desktop. The performance and stability issues that afflicted earlier versions have largely been remedied. It was already in great shape back in October when version 11.10 was released, but it has benefited from further refinement.

I love buying gadgets, and I'm not one to deprive myself. My house has just about every piece of equipment I've ever lusted after, from a Mac Mini hooked up to an Apple Cinema Display to a Sony Bravia 3D TV connected to my PS3. I have a MacBook Air, PS Vita, iPad, Nintendo 3DS, Kindle touch—the list goes on.

I wouldn't want to do without any of them. But out of all my gadgets and computers, there's one I respect above all others, and it's an old piece of junk.

Something is in the air – and it's certainly not spring, judging by the weather. But everywhere we turn in the digital world, we seem to find monopolies. That's worrying, because monopolies are generally regarded as bad things, for reasons Wikipedia explains: Monopolies are thus characterized by a lack of economic competition to produce the good or service and a lack of viable substitute goods. The verb "monopolize" refers to the process by which a company gains the ability to raise prices or exclude competitors. In economics, a monopoly is a single seller. In law, a monopoly is business entity that has significant market power, that is, the power, to charge high prices.

According to a report by the 451 Group, many companies are now identifying freedom from vendor lock-in as an important reason for switching to open source software. In a recent survey by the group, 60% of respondents said that the top factor that made open source software "attractive" was the absence of the dependency on one particular vendor.

A few minutes after the Oracle v. Google verdict, the ten jurors filed out to the elevator. A group of several reporters, including me, had hunkered down close to the elevators to wait for the jury as they walked out. Several Oracle lawyers stood farther back, also eager to hear from the ten men and women who had dealt their side a major setback.

A court security guard, who had been outside the jury room throughout deliberations, walked the jurors straight to the elevator, saying the jurors didn't want to talk to anyone. That wasn't quite true. The foreman of the jury, Greg Thompson, stopped and answered reporters' questions for about twenty minutes, while Oracle lawyers listened quietly to his answers.