Firefox 3: rocking on Linux.
A few people have been noticing how good our support on Linux has gotten during the Firefox 3 development cycle and I thought I would post to try and point out some of the good stuff that we have coming down the pipe. more...

The Five Open Source Business Models.
Open source has become standard in Silicon Valley, with nearly every software startup planning to release at least some code. So far, they've found five main business models: more...

Securing Joomla! installations.
Joomla! is a well-known content management system, mature enough to be used by thousands of amateur and professional Web portals. Installation is a breeze and consists of six click-next steps. However, a default Joomla! installation is not necessarily a secure one, so let's see how we can protect our portal from potential attackers. more...

Picasa 2.7 a slick upgrade on Linux.
Google has released a public beta of its Picasa photo organizer for Linux. The new release adds some important features for image browsing, image searching, and creative image export. If you haven't tried it before, now is the time. This beta release is a preview of Picasa 2.7, which will bring the Linux version of the application up to speed with the Windows edition. more...

Rocket gOS 2.0, the latest Ubuntu-Google marriage, days away.
That was fast. Only two months ago, Good OS, a startup Linux distributor, exploded on the scene with gOS 1.0, an Ubuntu-based desktop Linux with dedicated links to Google applications. Now, the company has announced that it will release the next version, gOS 2.0 more... and gOS Rocket Improves Cheap PC OS, Adds Webcam Support.

Sony BMG Plans to Drop DRM.
In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet, more...

A reverse engineer finds Kindle's hidden features.
A significant amount of skill with a soldering iron and some custom firmware has revealed a number of interesting features Amazon.com hid within its Kindle e-book reader. more...

BitMicro preps 832GB solid state drive for launch.
BitMicro Networks Inc. today will announce that it is putting the finishing touches on an 832GB version of its E-Disk Altima 2.5-in. Serial ATA flash solid-state drive. The device is slated to start shipping in volume by late-2008, the company added. more...

Keep Internet junk at bay with content filters.
Each day, I come across someone on the blogosphere complaining about the design of a Web site. Some don't like screaming text, others don't like banners, and still others hate ads. My pet peeves include pop-ups and unwanted JavaScript and cookies. Here are some tools you can use to filter the content a Web site renders to you. more...

Applications.
ISO Master is an open-source, easy to use, graphical CD image editor for Linux and BSD.
eSpeak is a compact text to speech engine for good quality English and other languages.
EasyTAG is an utility for viewing, editing and writing the ID3 tags of different audio files, using a GTK+ interface.
Picard is the next generation MusicBrainz tagging application.
GtkOrphan is a graphical tool which analyzes the status of your installations, looking for orphaned libraries.

Misc.
DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware for many ieee802.11a/b/g/h/n wireless routers based on a Broadcom or Atheros chip reference design.
OpenWrt is an open source project to create a free embedded operating system for network devices.
Tomato is a small, lean and simple replacement firmware for Linksys' WRT54G/GL/GS, Buffalo WHR-G54S/WHR-HP-G54 and other Broadcom-based routers.
Linksys WRT54G Ultimate Hacking.
PaulDotCom's Web Site Security. Kung Fu. Geek Stuff.

How To Tips.

See you next Thursday 7 P.M. at 420 Cafe, 420 Washington Ave, Eau Claire, WI.

EC_LUG