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Tech News: Interview With Dianne Ursini

Interview with Dianne Ursini, Pioneer Linux

Pioneer Linux from Technalign is a relatively new arrival on the Linux distribution scene. Based on Kubuntu, it includes Automatix for easy installation of some useful, non-free applications, such as media codecs, browser plugins and device drivers. While a community edition is available for free download from the project’s web site, the main value of this commercial distribution is its extensive network of partners and retailers in much of North America which makes it easy for anyone to get a boxed copy of Pioneer Linux or even a complete computer system with Pioneer pre-installed.

We spoke to Dianne Ursini, the founder and CEO of Technalign, about her courage and dedication to pursue a Linux-based enterprise, the Pioneer Linux distribution, and other topics.
from DistroWatch.com.

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

The Nokia N800 retains the same size and form factor as the 770, but in a slightly smaller package. It also costs $40 more. The button layout is roughly the same, with the scrollpad, back, menu, and home buttons all on the front. The power button has been relocated to the top of the unit next to the zoom in, zoom out, and full screen mode buttons. The right side has the headphone and power adapter jacks along with the stylus. On the right side is the new VGA camera for video chatting (more on that later). The bottom features an SD card slot. That slot is covered by the stand, which is now integrated into the device. Nokia’s focus on good design is apparent with the N800, and it’s a sexy-looking little gadget.

Inside, the N800 is a slightly different beast than its predecessor. The 250MHz TI 1710 OMAP CPU has been replaced with another ARM processor, the TI OMAP 2420, which is clocked at 330MHz. There’s now 128MB of SDRAM included along with an additional 256MB of Flash RAM. Expandability has more than doubled over the 770 with the addition of a second memory card slot capable of handling SD, MicroSD, MiniSD, MMC, and the RS-MMC cards used in the 770.
by Eric Bangeman.

The story of RPM

If you’re reading this article in Red Hat Magazine, it’s hard to imagine that you don’t know the story of RPM, the package manager that is the core of so much of Red Hat’s Linux experience. From a beginner’s first installation to the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) developer’s latest Fedora release, RPM is inherently part of the Linux user interaction. But what happens when a core piece of software suffers from politics and agendas, cruft, and bad decisions—or no decisions at all?

PM has endured a little of each and is now at a crossroads. This article examines some of the decisions, indecisions, and bungles that led to the current state of RPM.
by Matt Frye.

IBM unveils POWER6 microprocessor details

At an ISSCC session this afternoon, IBM revealed more details of its forthcoming POWER6 server processor. As you might recall from previous coverage of POWER6, the big news with IBM’s new dual-core mainframe processor is that it will debut north of 5GHz, but with roughly the same power envelope as the older (and slower) POWER5+ design. IBM’s 65nm SOI process accounts for some of this power savings, but not all of it.
by Jon Stokes.

The AMD Squeeze: Nvidia Intros GeForce 8800 for $300

Consumers currently see Nvidia having the advantage and lean to buy Nvidia-based cards. To make matters tougher for AMD/ATI, Nvidia is launching a less expensive graphics card that still outperforms the best its competition has to offer, the GeForce 8800GTS 320 MB.

The G80 processor debuted with two flavors, the GeForce 8800GTX and the GeForce 8800GTS. The processor core for the GeForce 8800GTX operates at a frequency of 575 MHz and 500 MHz on GeForce 8800GTS. While the rest of the core runs at 575 MHz (or 500 MHz), the shader core has its own independent clock generator. GeForce 8800GTX runs at 1,350 MHz and the 8800GTS’ clock speed is 1,200 MHz.
by Darren E. Polkowski.

Windows “Vienna”: hypervisor being considered

Ben Fathi, VP of Development in Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division, says that the next version of Windows (which may or may not be codenamed “Vienna”) is coming at the close of 2009. Fathi’s comments came at last week’s RSA Conference in San Francisco, but the real story isn’t the shipping target that the mainstream newswires are fixating on.
by Ken Fisher.

Zyxel PLA-400: Putting HomePlug AV into the game

The PLA-400 adapter has a line-cord (vs. “wall wart”) design, packaged in a compact silver and black plastic enclosure measuring about 4″ X 4″ X 1″. Figure 1 provides the info on the front panel lights and the rear panel is unremarkable with only a line cord receptacle and single 10/100 auto MDI/MDI-X Ethernet jack.

Input line voltage is spec’d at 100 to 240 V AC and 50 or 60 Hz, so with the proper line cord, the device can be used worldwide. Although HomePlug AV can support up to 64 devices on a network, a note in the 400’s User Manual says only 16 devices are currently supported. Support for 64 will be added in a future firmware update.

by Tim Higgins.

Organize data with HTML tables

Every Web developer is familiar with the edict of avoiding tables for page layout, but some take this too far and completely ignore tables. The original purpose of HTML tables is for marking up tabular data. This week, I’m going back to basics and examining the many features of the HTML TABLE element.

by Tony Patton.

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