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As a .NET developer, you’ve probably heard IronPython mentioned in a blog post or an article, but do you know what it is? IronPython is Microsoft’s implementation of the Python language. Python is known for readability and its’ proponents claim that applications written with Python are done faster, use fewer lines of code and are more maintainable than those written using more traditional languages. The great thing about IronPython is that you get the advantages of the language, while being able to leverage your knowledge of the .NET framework. In this article, we will cover a few basic aspects of IronPython and use them to create a Windows Form.

The Mini 10 netbook has been around with Windows XP for two months and now comes with Ubuntu at least in the U.S. and Canada, according to DELL-Anne C in Dell's community blog. The Ubuntu version costs $400, while the XP model is steeper at $500. The Linux version provides a further benefit: because the netbook isn't bound by Microsoft's requirements for Windows XP, the Mini 10 comes with a 32-GByte ($75) and even 64-GByte ($125) solid state disk (SSD) option.

Last week, blood was shed in the Firefox community as two popular extensions to the browser - NoScript and Adblock Plus - finally started slugging it out over a conflict that had been underground for quite some time. It came to a head when Adblock Plus developer Wladimir Palant woke up in the morning next to a severed horse's head. What followed was a series of public fire-bombings, shootings, and unprovoked tire-iron beatings that left a trail of blood winding around the world. Ha, no, just kidding. Two passive-aggressive nerds, each acting in their own self-interest, got into a blog slap-fight, the only collateral damage being several thousand Twitter messages.

The Mozilla Foundation has released version 1.0 beta of its Prism software. Formerly called WebRunner, this program closes the gap between local applications and web applications. Under Windows, Linux or Mac OS X you can, for example, use Prism to run web applications directly from the desktop or the dock. They then become dedicated program icons and can be accessed directly, without using a browser's navigation bar or having to type in a URL. Web sites can also be treated in this way and assigned a direct launch icon.

Every year we make chocolate truffles for the holidays. This year, we made Thanksgiving-themed truffles with dried cranberries and freshly candied orange peel, labeled with a little curl of red-colored white chocolate. We've decided to name this particular treat a "Chocolate Debian," for reasons that may be obvious to some.

Drew Clark's Broadband Census is a worthy effort: find out what Internet connection speeds people actually get, vs. what's promised. read more

The ability to login graphically into any computer from a remote location has a number of uses. In my case it allows me to create a setup were students in my school can easily login graphically into the universities computer lab and use many of the applications which are installed there

Well Major League Baseball just hit a home run. Looks likes they do have some common sense after all the steroid issues.

The Port Report Project is essentially a Switch Port Mapper Tool or a Switch Port Mapping Tool like a few other commercial products out there, except The Port Report Project is free. Right now there is no GUI or WEB interface for the project but it is in the works. This project started off as being a simple 150 line script that did something quite simple... Its only purpose was to find MAC Addresses on a switch. Then I was asked could you also search by IP, so I added that. Now I was asked to search by Port, so I added that. Well you get where this is all going.... My goal now is to build the equivalent of other commercial port mapping tools, but Open Source....

Recently many have noted a comment made by Mark Shuttleworth in response to Canonical’s support of WINE and Microsoft Windows compatability). The community response to Shuttleworth’s comments were of mixed results. I must admit, that I agree with Shuttleworth.

This tutorial shows how you can set up a Mandriva One 2009.1 desktop (with the GNOME desktop environment) that is a full-fledged replacement for a Windows desktop, i.e. that has all the software that people need to do the things they do on their Windows desktops. The advantages are clear: you get a secure system without DRM restrictions that works even on old hardware, and the best thing is: all software comes free of charge.

The first of a series of events that will bring together implementors of OASIS OpenDocument Format/ISO 26300 to unilaterally test and discuss implementation issues of ODF with each other. All ODF implementors and/or those looking into the matter are invited to participate in this event on behalf of the Netherlands government and OpenDoc Society. The aim is to provide a low-level hands-on interoperability testing environment in which vendors and community members can fine tune the interoperability capabilities of their ODF implementations and make test cases, recommendations and create best practices for implementors.

The first annual openSUSE Community Week starts on Monday. I interviewed Community Manager Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier to find out how the event came together and what he hopes to accomplish with the week long event.

If the trustee is successful, and given the way the relevant law reads, he should be, everything SCO has so desperately been trying to sell in order to feed their litigation habit will instead be sold in order to pay off their creditors - a thought we're sure chills old Darl McBride's cold, black heart right to the core. SCO, of course, says they plan to oppose the motion and present a new reorganization plan, but given the success their previous plans have had, we suspect the effort will be a lot like stretching out chewing gum to stop a 747. The hard-working guys at Groklaw, as always, have the text of the Trustee's motion along with commentary, as well as the whole lurid story for anyone who has managed to miss the three-ring circus.

Sun Microsystems Inc, a hardware maker that Oracle Corp is buying for more than $7 billion, may have broken a U.S. law prohibiting companies from bribing foreign officials, Sun said in a regulatory filing on Friday. "We have identified potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the resolution of which could possibly have a material effect on our business," Sun said in a 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said Oracle was aware of the matter before it agreed to buy Sun.

The Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor MP, today announced a bold and substantive “ Teacher Laptop Initiative”. This is part of a critical strategy to take forward the objective of improving Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in teaching and learning. The initiative aims to ensure every teacher owns and uses a laptop, by providing them with a monthly allowance which will cover the purchase costs as well as the costs of connectivity. The details of the initiative are attached [PDF].

[They will buy you a laptop, as long as it has "XP or higher" on it - Scott]

A news aggregator is software which collect news, weblog posts, and other information from the web so that they can be read in a single location for easy viewing. With the range of news sources available on the internet, news aggregators play an essential role in helping users to quickly locate breaking news.

A cool little screensaver I found online. A bit dated, but still very cool.

Digital storage is fragile. I'm sure this not news to you. If you have any computer files from the 1990s can you still read them? Are they on a readable medium? In a readable format? It is a chronic problem for businesses, but I think it's a more significant problem for normal, everyday people. Is the history of you and your family going to survive beyond the latest fad file format or storage widget?

They might be, if a new European Commission consumer protection proposal becomes law. Although the idea of Microsoft paying billions of dollars might sound an appealing prospect, one knock-on consequence might be that open source coders would also be liable for any damage that errors in their software caused.