I should mention that I'm currently recoding parts of my theme to make it as XHTML complient as possible. Unfortunately, this may break compatability with older or lesser-known browsers. I'll of course be testing against as many browsers as I'm able, however I wanted to make sure everyone was aware that there will very likely be some page errors appearing here and there until the transition is complete. If you notice anything that doesn't look or work correctly, please let me know.

Also, I thought I'd mention that I added a bunch of new avatars. You can select one for your profile in the "Change your info" page. There's some cool stuff available, although, to be honest, I haven't found a use for the avatars yet.

One more thing. I'm sure you've noticed that David has posted quite a few articles on this site. Anyone/everyone else is also welcome to do so. If you see anything that looks interesting or noteworthy, just click the Submit News link to send it in.

Thanks, and stay tuned!

Yes, it's a day late, but certainly worth mentioning. Yesterday, AMD formally launched Opteron, their 64-bit server and workstation processor. Unlike Intel's Itanium, however, Opteron also natively supports 32-bit code, which will make migrating to the new platform easier and much cheaper.

Read the full article on CNet for additional details about the technology behind the chip:
http://news.com.com/2100-1006-997529.html?tag=nl

In a very nice contrast to the SCO story posted earlier, IBM has announced that its Linux business is growing at a rate of 65% per year. Eat that, SCO!

Full story

This 30 page document analyzes many of the differences between the GNU GPL and Microsft's current EULA, represented by the Windows XP EULA.

As you read through it, there does seems to be a bias towards the GPL, however I'd have to say that the facts speak for themselves. The GPL is very simply less restrictive than any Microsoft EULA.

To quickly summarize:

... the majority of the Microsoft EULA appears to protect Microsoft and limit the choices, options and actions taken by the users... In contrast, the majority of the GPL is designed to apportion rights to the users ... with a secondary emphasis on protecting the originating developers of that software... In all, a marked contrast to the EULA.

A marked contrast, indeed.

Read the full .pdf

Earlier today I came across this interesting interview with SCO CEO Darl McBride, in which he quite righteously defends his company's lawsuite against IBM. Honestly, not since the last interview with Steve Balmer did I here such nonsense. There are several choice quotes in the interview, but this one is probably my favorite:

Everyone just says we're a company going out of business, and throwing a Hail Mary pass, but once we get to court, those who say that will look as strange as the Iraqi information minister on TV saying the infidels are defeated and did not get into Baghdad.

Riiiiiight. In the middle of all that, he also threatened other Linux-friendly companies, including Red Hat and SuSE by name.

Darl, do the world a favor and get a life. And a real name.

Full interview

In this article this guy talks about his experiences with Linux in general and where it has taken him. He is now using RedHat 9 and seems to be pleased with it... now if only dep hell could go away i might use it ;)

Read the article here

For anyone unfamiliar with the product, Crossover Office is a highly polished, commercialized version of Wine. It's main claim to fame is support for running Microsoft Office applications under Linux, but it also supports many additional applications, a very nice front-end and configuration program, and great integration between Linux and Windows apps.

Version 2.0 is an important release because it fixes numerous issues with glibc-2.3, as well as Xfree 4.3. In addition it adds support for Office XP and Photoshop 7, as well as enhanced support for existing Office Apps, Viso, Quicken, and Lotus Notes.

While using FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) is always encouraged, it's an unfortunately fact that some Windows applications will still need to be used. If this is the case for you, then give Crossover Office 2.0 a try. Evaluation copies are available.

Here's a link to the main application page, as well as the change log for what's new in the version.

Yeah, buddy! New Line announced their plans for the upcoming LotR: The Two Towers DVD releases. Yes, releasees. As with Fellowship of the Ring, there will be multiple versions of the DVD.

Coming August 26 will be the 2-disc theatrical cut, in both widescreen and full screen versions. Quite a few extras are included, but true fans will want to save themselves for the 4-disc extended edition due on November 18. No specs have been released yet for the extended edition, but with an additional 40 minutes of movie footage and 4-discs to play with, you can rest assured it'll be on par with last fall's phenomenal Fellowship of the Ring extended edition release.

Now, that only leaves 6 months and 28 days to wait. D'oh!

Additional details

Ok, I agree that this is a rather sad first posting in the News and Current Events topic, but it was just too good to pass up.

According a Yahoo TV article, 44-year-old Andrew Carlssin turned an $800 stock investment into a $350 million portfolio in only two weeks. How'd he do it? By traveling back in time from 2256.

Duh.

Full (and amusing) Story

Microsoft sucks, on so many levels. In their latest anti-piracy scheme, they've managed to screw over all of their largest customers.

Corporations using the Select version of Office, which includes a site distribution license to eliminate the need for individually registering each installed copy of Office, have recently been hit by a bug that's prompting users to register Office with Microsoft. Of course, this is precisely what the Select version is supposed to get rid of.

But wait, it gets better.

When prompted to register, you can select "Remind me later." Well guess what? You can only select this 50 times, and then Office will refuse to load.

But wait, it gets even better!

Becuase of another known bug, the registration wizard will refuse to start after the 50th try! So, now users are unable to use Office at all, nor can they register it to enable it again.

So why am I posting this on my site?

Guess who discovered the problem affected a certain "Select" corporate customer that signs his paycheck.

Bastards.

Full story on The Register:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/30301.html