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With quantum ‘bits’, or qubits, able to have a value of zero and one at the same time, they appear to violate physical matter’s inability to be in two places or two states at the same time. But they’re real, with scientists able to read the individual quantum values of 10,000 phosphorous atoms in a new experiment.

I'd never reviewed an O'Reilly 'Hacks' book before but the series comes highly recommended so I was looking forward to an enjoyable experience. Having time on my hands while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner (the turkey is slowly smoking on the barbecue as I write this), I pulled 'Network Security Hacks' from the stack and went to work.

When Open Source Systems got its start in 2001, the field wasn’t quite booming the way it is now, just a handful of years later, but the company could see a change coming in the way that data centers were operating. “People were getting tired of paying exorbitant licensing fees,” says Jared Giles, OSS’ vice president of marketing and product management. “Linux was gaining momentum, and it seemed that the opportunity was tremendous.”

After months of promises, and with backing from the Eclipse Foundation, Borland has released an overhauled edition of JBuilder that promises to overtake Eclipse on quality. JBuilder 2007 updates Borland's previously closed-source Java development environment by employing the Eclipse open source framework and by swapping in the Eclipse Visual Editor for Borland's own more developed Swing GUI Editor.

Like any large organisation, the GNOME Project faces a formidable challenge in maintaining an effective Web site. Trying the balance the demands of promotion, documentation, and community coordination is made all the more difficult when you only have volunteers to do the work. But over the past year the GNOME community has developed and begun to execute a well-defined process to refocus and rejuvenate its much-neglected Web presence.

World of Warcraft players using Cedega (the Linux-based Windows emulator) had their bans lifted after an investigation by Blizzard in cooperation with the Cedega development team revealed that the bans were in fact made in error.

The major version number reflects that X11 is updated to version 7.1, which is a structural modification, system wide. All X software packages have been recompiled, including a large amount of software in the ZenCommunity repository. This is the biggest change since the beginning of the Zenwalk project; however, old Zenwalk 3.x and Slackware 11 X-software packages should be compatible with Zenwalk 4.0. This version of Zenwalk uses the new stable 2.6.18.1 kernel. Netpkg has been updated with a new GTK-based user interface - a total rewrite of the software to become one of the most advanced and intuitive network package managers.

Software in the Public Interest (SPI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to further the interests of free hardware and software. It is best-known as the public face of Debian. However, after several years of relative inactivity, SPI is getting its affairs in order and expanding to include other projects. At its November meeting yesterday, the SPI board of directors discussed a wide range of topics, from the status of talks with potential member projects, the removal of an apparently defunct project, and the issue of the Debian trademark in Spain.

It is with regret that I urge all FOSS developers to treat anything Novell has contributed to the community as suspect, scrutinize any Novell contributions and purge them as deemed appropriate.This threat is real, and it is not necessarily contingent upon whether or not Microsoft would actually sue customers for patent infringements. This is a classic case of posturing. Novell is now in a position to leverage its agreement with Microsoft in a way that harms all other Linux distributions and other FOSS projects. It is actively exploiting its unique position in ways that seem beneficial, but will pose risks to anyone but its own customers.

Novell and Microsoft's software patent agreement betrays the rest of the Free Software community, including the very people who wrote Novell's own system, for Novell's sole financial benefit. Join Bruce Perens in signing an open letter to Novell's CEO Ron Hovsepian.

An uncompromising advocate of Java compatibility, Dr Graham Hamilton - Sun Fellow and VP - has parted company with the new "age of participation" Sun in the wake of its decision, announced last week, to open-source its implementation of Java.

Australia's open source industry received a boost this week with the launch of boutique consulting and research firm Waugh Partners.

Microsoft's cunning plan to be the ruler of Linux has hit a slight snag. Its Linux ally Novell is not going along with its plans to force Linux distributors to join its approved partners, pay up or be sued and the Open Sauce community has a counter attack planned. According to ZD Net, Eben Moglen, who is designing the next version of the GNU Public License GPL v3, says that the Free Software Foundation's next draft includes a new clause where those agreeing to it will not sue anyone else.

The first development build of Freespire 2.0 has been released: "Freespire version 2.0 Alpha (1.1.57) is now available for download. New features: KDM login manager; KDE 3.5.5 with user switching and SuperKaramba; kernel 2.6.18; desktop directory names (no spaces); Lbrowser with Flash Player 9 beta; Lmail including FreeLinuxEmail; Gaim 2.0.0 beta4; OpenOffice.org 2.0.4."

In a recent interview with IT Business Edge, LXer.com editor-in-chief Don Parris said the patent problem that has arisen between Microsoft and Novell could be resolved amicably — well, as amicably as anything involving Redmond and open source can be – if Microsoft would simply issue cease and desist requests to the open source coders that it thinks have infringed its patents.

With Don Parris, Editor-in-Chief of LXer.com, a news/community Web site for Linux enthusiasts, on the patent covenant between Microsoft and Linux distributor Novell. Even Microsoft admits that the patent covenant falls short of the mark and is seeking input from the open source community.

UK Members of Parliament have identified Department of Education and Skills (DfES) and Becta policies as favouring proprietary software vendors thereby blocking the adoption of Open Source software by schools and colleges. An Early Day Motion tabled by Liberal Democrat MP John Pugh, has called for a fair approach to ICT procurement in the education sector.

Linspire announced at the GITEX Dubai 2006 Trade Show last week a strategic partnership with marketer Business International to bring Linspire's desktop Linux operating system to 17 Middle East and African countries during the next several months.

Perspective: Attorney Eric J. Sinrod explains the ramifications of a recent case on the future of open-source software.

Gentoo is one of the most difficult distributions to learn, though veteran Gentoo users might point out that its friendly community and extensive documentation can help new users. Here are some tips that might make Gentoo easier for anyone who wants to give it a try.