Thursday, November 1, 2001

MSN Still Blocking Opera -- 2:35 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

BrowserWatch is reporting that parts of MSN are still blocking Opera. Most notable is MSN's CarPoint service (the only reason to visit MSN, IMO). Thanks Linux Today.

Report: DoJ/MS Agreement -- 9:43 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The AP is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft have reached an agreement on settling their court case. No specific details have the agreement were announced, but here are a few rumors floating about:

• Letting Microsoft add new features into its flagship Windows software, but requiring the company also to offer a version that doesn't include those additions.
• Banning restrictive contracts that would force computer makers to buy versions of Windows with new features, but allowing financial incentives such as discounts to make those versions more enticing.
• Forcing Microsoft to reveal parts of its Windows blueprints relating to its Internet browser software, but not the blueprints to Windows.

We'll see what comes of this. Thanks Slashdot.

J.t.Qbe comments: This morning there's a lot of howling that this is a sellout by the DoJ. Let's wait and see. It doesn't look promising, but who knows? With the new restrictiveness of XP and M$'s new licensing schemes, with the impending failure of .NET, maybe Microsoft doesn't need the government to kill it. It's funny, though--Microsoft and others really believe that turning M$ loose will boost the economy. Sure.

Meantime, yesterday it was reported that Amazon saved $17 million by switching to Linux instead of Microsoft. Microsoft whined about the "hidden costs" of going to free software but as usual couldn't explain them. R.I.P. Microsoft.

Wednesday, October 31, 2001

VAX/VMS Fun -- 8:37 pm CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

These days Windows and Linux seem to get most of the spotlight, but one noteworthy article about OpenVMS was published in October's OpenVMS Times: at this year's DEF CON 9 Hacker's Conference in Las Vegas, OpenVMS was declared to be unhackable. An OpenVMS system was set up and hackers were invited to crack it. To make things easier, an open guest account was set up on the system, and some games were loaded for hackers who got bored trying to crack the system. At the end of the contest, the system was declared unhackable. You can read the (scanty) details in the PDF version of the Times, here.

Two weekends ago I hauled home my newest addition, a MicroVAX 3800 and disk cabinet. Very big, very heavy. They look nice here in my office. Now I just need to get it configured and online!

The Master comments: Heh-I had an old Apple /// for awhile. Just not enough room for it in the apartment. When are you going to write up some more cool VAX articles for us Qbe? :-)

Take a Meteor Shower -- 1:27 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Wired is reporting that the Leonid meteor shower on November 18 will be the most spectacular shower we are likely to see for a century. Here's a snip:

A typical Leonid shower yields about 10 to 15 meteors per hour, but this year Jenniskens estimates the meteor shower will have as many as 4,200 an hour at its peak. Viewers along the East Coast will likely see the meteors fall directly from above, while in the West they will shoot across the sky at an angle.

The perfect viewing time is estimated to be between 4 and 6 a.m. EST, on Nov. 18.

Thanks to Ars Technica for the heads-up.

J.t.Qbe comments: Ok, call me a skeptic, but they've been predicting this meteor storm for at least the last 5 years, if not longer. Every year they say, "this could be the year." There have been elevated levels of Leonids in recent years, but nothing to match the predicted storm. I hope they're right this time, and I'll be out there watching again, but I don't know if you can call this prediction a sure bet.

Episode 2 Trailer on Monsters, Inc. -- 1:20 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

The official Star Wars site announced that a "teaser" trailer for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones will appear before the new Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. I would assume that this trailer will appear on the Star Wars website soon thereafter.

Happy Holidays! -- 12:03 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

I hope everyone gets a mess of candy and that we have some leftover on this Halloween. Also, more importantly, have a happy Reformation Day!

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