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Being a RISC OS user is an odd experience. It's normally baffling to non-believers why so many (mostly British) computer users persist with the eccentric beast. It's easy to list reasons why no self-respecting geek would trouble with it: many old or under-developed applications, poor streaming media support, lack of compatibility with key standards and technologies, limited hardware support, and there are many more. For most, RISC OS is a thing of the past, a curio, a once-promising minority OS trampled on by the juggernauts of Windows, MacOS and Linux.

[Its got another one of those big MS ads. but it is a decent article. - Scott]

A series of one-day trade shows on embedded systems and real-time computing will be held during the next four months in cities around the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The Real-Time and Embedded Computing Conference (RTECC) events will include embedded Linux sessions and demonstrations.

Motorola is readying a slim, Linux-based PDA phone, according to several sources around the web. The E690, a tri-band GSM phone with QVGA touchscreen and 2 megapixel camera, will reportedly ship to China Mobile customers at an unspecified time.

Underneath the familiar KDE desktop, DesktopBSD is still FreeBSD; in fact, you will find more references to "FreeBSD" than "DesktopBSD" throughout the system. That's because, as the DesktopBSD FAQ says, "DesktopBSD isn't a 'fork' [of FreeBSD] -- it's a customized FreeBSD installation that mainly consists of the DesktopBSD Tools and a collection of configuration files and software for desktop use."

Fluxbuntu.org states - Fluxbuntu is a Ubuntu-based derivative that uses FluxBox as the desktop environment (window manager). It is lightweight, swift and efficient compared to Gnome or KDE. These features makes Fluxbuntu suitable for vast range of computers, from low-end to high-end. OSDir has some great shots of the first ever public Fluxbuntu release in the Fluxbuntu nBuild1 Alpha Screenshot Tour.

At this year's International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) a system that goes by the Italian name of Piero, which is capable of calculating the position and movement of people and objects on the basis of TV footage, is one of the projects shortlisted for the IBC2006 Innovation Awards.

Open source seems to present a number of obstacles to those making technical purchasing decisions in those businesses that are classified non-profit. The interesting facet of this discussion, however, is that the same business needs exist in not-for-profit institutions as it does in for-profit ones. At the end of the day, each organization has to have money in the bank to conduct its affairs. Ian Hodge files his debut report for LinuxPlanet.

Release includes virtualisation technology based on the open source Xen project, despite Red Hat executives' disparaging comments about Xen

Links IT Service Management with Infrastructure to Close Change Control Gap

[How in the world they figure WIndows is an 'open' system is beyond me. Oh, maybe they mean 'open to attack'. - dcparris]

When I was investigating the Abilene/Internet2 network sometime back, I found its "network weather map," which graphically shows the load on network segments, to be an interesting tool. I thought something similar could be helpful on our network. Today, we're using Weathermap4RRD to show a high-level graphical representation of our network.

The UNC School of Medicine turns to an open-source system to reduce the costs of course materials.

Before the WinMo-running Q came along, Motorola's smartphones were predominately powered by Linux. It seems that they are returning to the penguin with their next offering, the E690 PDA phone. Naturally, it rocks quite the slim profile (what else would you expect given the relative popularity of the Q and the RAZR); in fact, its styling is eerily reminiscent of the SLVR L7, less the numpad.

PIKA Technologies announced the upcoming release of a new addition to the PIKA Connect product line. The second generation PIKA Connect for Asterisk is a channel driver for the popular open source Linux-based Asterisk PBX, enabling connectivity to Skype.

[It could be a really nice tool. Unfortunately, non-libre software doesn't meet our requirements. Of course, they would need a Wengophone connector anyway. - dcparris]

Ohio Linux Fest -- The name says it all. Don't miss out if you live near Ohio, because the biggest Linux event in the area is about to go down September 30.

SGI Altix 4700 Server and InfiniteStorage Solutions Allow University of Tasmania to Apply Coupled Cluster Theory to Key Chemistry Problems

Last night's Nova program entitled Building on Ground Zero was memorable for many reasons, one of which was its focus on both the importance as well as the economic calculus of standards. Another was the degree to which the US is lagging in the upgrading of crucial standards identified in the wake of the 9/11 catastrophe, although a number of Asian nations have apparently taken to heart the lessons learned five years ago today.

[So how do you see this applying to open standards in the software realm? - dcparris]

Leading Open Source document management system reaches significant download milestone illustrating very strong community interest

On the fifth anniversary of the attack on America, I would like to take a moment and remember those that died on this day. While I and many others were going about their daily routines, America was attacked by misguided individuals who thought that murdering innocent people would make their point that America was an evil nation. Instead of seeing the worst out of America though, this event brought out the best that this country has to offer. It brought out the compassion and patriotism in all Americans. We all did what we could, from those who actually were on site to help, to those who simply prayed for the victims and the survivors.

[It's a good idea to pause from your hacking and writing for a moment to reflect on the tragedy of 11September 2001. Thanks to 'Augustus' for the pause. - dcparris]

Emrupdate.com is an interesting website that is a:'...independent healthcare technology site for a wide range of opinions on the best and worst EMRs as well as heated discussions by thought leaders over government policy, technology trends and other initiatives and the positive or negative impact these will have on the practice of medicine.'

One of the great things about Amazon and other online shopping services is that they usually list items for pre-order months before they're actually released. This allows your anticipation for the product to build more and more until your wait is justified with the release of the item that you've been in expectation of.

[Let me get this straight. 5 versions of Windows Vista will confuse consumers because they're too lazy (your description here) to read the feature label, but they can choose from at least 20 different mainstream versions of GNU/Linux? It must be Microsoft's marketing prowess. Does this mean we're better at helping newcomers figure out which distro to choose? Anyway, I don't disagree about the price tag - along with other issues - driving folks to GNU/Linux. - dcparris]