Date: 01/16/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: mysql, software, database, sql

Sun announced Wednesday that it is buying MySQL for about $1 billion -- $800 million in cash and $200 million in options. The news comes on the same day that mega proprietary database software giant Oracle announced its intent to buy middleware giant BEA. The deal,...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1889

Date: 01/16/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: software, java, microsoft

We knew that Sun has been lusting after a real software business in addition to Solaris. We knew that Sun "shares" -- that it digs open source, including Solaris and Java. And we knew that Sun had a love-hate relationship with Oracle and a hate-hate relationship with IBM and Microsoft....

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Gardner/?p=2596

Date: 01/16/08 (Open Source)    Keywords: mysql, software, database, sql

Sun announced Wednesday that it is buying MySQL for about $1 billion — $800 million in cash and $200 million in options. The news comes on the same day that mega proprietary database software giant Oracle announced its intent to buy middleware giant BEA. The deal, which awaits regulatory approval, should allay any talk that [...]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zdnet/open-source/~3/217643715/

Date: 01/16/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: mysql, software, sql

This morning, after digesting Oracle's acquisition of BEA and Sun's consumption of MySQL, I headed down SAP's Palo Alto offices to hear how the enterprise software giant will digest its latest acquisition, Business Objects. SAP CEO Henning Kagermann said Business Objects gives his company number one leadership...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7606

Date: 01/16/08 (Open Source)    Keywords: software

Oracle’s $8.5 billion dollar buyout of BEA dramatically shifts the enterprise applications software market once again, as well as additional pressure and opportunities for Red Hat’s JBoss Division — and the whole open source apps community in general. The deal, if approved, expands Oracle’s immense enterprise applications software kingdom, and should give CIOs pause before [...]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zdnet/open-source/~3/217769307/

Date: 01/17/08 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: php, software

I was doing research to see if it makes sense to upgrade my system from 3GB of RAM to 6GB (the 3GB is to stay under Windows XP's usage ceiling) for my copy of Vista 64bit Business that I'm dual-booting XP with, and I found this article:

http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4276

The results are basically saying that going from 2 to 4 and even 8GB doesn't help in Vista 64. Here are some snippets:

-----------------------------------
Windows Vista 64-Bit

Cinebench (This test 3D rendering.)

2GB Patriot 6400 1322
4GB Crucial 6400 1369
4GB SuperTalent 6400 1307

The 4GB Crucial had a 3.5% increase in performance, but the 4GB Patriot had a 1.3% decrease in performance.

DVD-Shrink (Video and Audio Conversion Software.)

2GB Patriot 6400 3.39 Seconds
4GB Crucial 6400 3.39 Seconds
4GB SuperTalent 6400 4.15 Seconds
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 4.09 Seconds

=================================

Company of Heroes

2GB Patriot 6400 58.5 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 58.6 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 58.4 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 58.5 fps

Again no real difference.

Lost Planet

Outdoors
2GB Patriot 6400 63 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 59 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 63 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 64 fps

Outdoors there was no real performance increase or decrease, aside from the 4GB Crucial sliding down 4 fps.

Indoors
2GB Patriot 6400 72 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 71 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 67 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 65 fps

As for indoors we lost 7 fps by the time we got up to the 8GB setup.

======================================
After seeing that I decided to not ratchet up the RAM any further than what I have already.

Hope this proves helpful to some of you who are being tempted with deals on 4GB kits :P

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1143351.html

Date: 01/19/08 (Computer Help)    Keywords: software

Okay, I hope someone on here can help me! I'm completely lost. The sad story here is that my husband cheated on me and we're getting a divorce, and he was the person that always helped me with my computer problems... haha. So I'm relying on the kindness of people on the internet now...

Problem: My computer freezes at random. When I say freeze I mean a total lock-up. It's extremely sudden, the mouse won't move, the harddrive appears to be doing nothing, EVERYTHING is totally frozen. The only solution is to press the reboot or power button on my tower. If I use the reboot button it just locks up during boot-up so I have to shut it down completely and wait a few minutes.

When it happens: During boot-up, right after, sometimes in the middle of nowhere after hours of being on, sometimes DAYS after. I had a theory that it was only during or around booting up so I left it on for days and for 2 it was fine... today I got home and it was frozen. There are no patterns that I can see in when or why it happens. There are no specific programs that seem to cause it as sometimes it freezes during boot up.

When this started: It originally started when I got a substantially better video card. I'm not sure what kind it was because my soon-to-be-ex returned it and put an older but still better-than-what-I-had video card in mine. The current card is an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (256 MB). Originally the problem WAS worse with the previous card, but it IS still happening.

Theories: Power source isn't strong enough? But if it's that, why isn't it more consistent? Or the power source is just dying?

Here are the stats I could get off my computer to share... I'm not a total n00b, I swear. I do know my way around a computer quite well. Hardware is just something that's new to me.

Suggestions would be awesome. I could buy a new power source and install it if that's the issue, but I don't want to if that's not going to fix it... I don't have the money to waste on that, it would have to come out of grocery money and stuff, haha... but my computer is important to me. XP

Windows XP Pro version 2002 Service pack 3, v3180
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz
2.41 GHz, 786 MB of RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 256 MB
Direct X 9.0

I also have a dvd burner, two harddrives, and a rather large fan on my current motherboard. I don't know if those would be draining a lot of power or anything.

I also just reformatted and put windows back on this machine about... a month - two months ago. So I'm not sure it would be something software based... but if there is anything that I should try, please let me know!

Any help is really appreciated!!!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/857339.html

Date: 01/19/08 (Open Source)    Keywords: software

Here's my position. If you give me 10 Mbps of Internet service, without blocks to any Internet protocol, I don't need your phone network, nor do I need your TV service. Give me the bits and software can do it all.

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zdnet/open-source/~3/219447965/

Date: 01/22/08 (Microsoft Windows)    Keywords: software

About half a year ago, My brother installed an upgrade of Windows Vista Home Premium on my notebook (it had Windows XP before, but the computer is Windows Vista Capable).

Anyway, because my laptop was really slow, I decided to format the disk a few weeks ago and to install Windows Vista again.

But now, I have a problem with the online registration. When I try that, I always get a message that the registration code has already been used. Which is kind of the truth, six months ago with my laptop…

My brother, the computerwizard of my family, doesn’t know what the problem is. According to him it shouldn’t be a problem installing the same uprade/software again on a pc. We haven’t used it on any other pc!
Anyway, he has checked all his sources but hasn’t come up with any solutions. The deadline is closing in the meantime, I’ve only got 5 more days for the registration before I can’t use my laptop again.

Can someone give me some advice on how to solve this problem?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/ms_windows/88271.html

Date: 01/22/08 (Security)    Keywords: software, security

Phone Scoop reported on the RIM announcement that BlackBerry owners will be receiving updates for their devices that adds enhanced functionality and security. These new software updates will be phased in over the first half of 2008 and if you buy a new device in mid to late 2008 it...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=805

Date: 01/22/08 (Security)    Keywords: software, security

Fresh off a series of security problems with software included on HP laptops, the company is under the gun again, say security researchers. One common thread: HP vulnerabilities due to ActiveX issues. The latest HP vulnerability--discovered by security researcher Elazar Broad--involves the HP Virtual Rooms Install. Virtual...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=822

Date: 01/24/08 (Open Source)    Keywords: software, linux

In a speech before the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week, mega-billionaire Bill Gates is calling for a “creative capitalism” in which businesses build and target products for poorer nations. Question for Bill: Like Linux and open source software, which has been widely embraced by less affluent nations because of its lack of pricetag [...]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zdnet/open-source/~3/222310498/

Date: 01/25/08 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: software

I have bought a cheap USB adaptor for my computer which unfortunatly comes with some software called "bluesoleil". I really don't want to use this software, and was hoping that there was some alternative to this that I could use. I was able to get the driver loaded from the disk, but that doesn't do much of anything since there is no way (w/o installing the software) to send files, create a cable connection etc.

I did find this instruction guide, however it doesn't seem to work with my USB adaptor.

Any Ideas?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1146699.html

Date: 01/25/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: mysql, software, sql

Sun Microsystems has made a lot of progress in recent quarters: It has become more efficient, stabilized spending, transitioned to new products and made smart acquisitions like MySQL in a quest to offer a complete software stack. But there is one lingering question: Can the company grow? ...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7714

Date: 01/28/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: software

Did you know that PCs and computer monitors account for roughly 13 percent of the total electricity used each year by commercial enterprises? That statistic from the Department of Energy, which actually is pretty outdated at this point, is just one of the arguments used by power management software company...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/green/?p=732

Date: 01/28/08 (Microsoft Windows)    Keywords: software, microsoft

There are three different personal computers in my household, and each computer is incapacitated by its own individual problems. One machine runs Win98, another runs WinMe, and the brand new one runs Windows Vista. (Yes, I'm aware that Win98 is old, and WinXP usually preferred to both of the latter. I'm not changing their operating systems.) I'm somewhat experienced with troubleshooting problems on the computers of family and friends, and I've had some successes with machines that seemed to be lost causes, but I'm at my wit's end with these particular problems. Can you help diagnose these problems, and/or suggest any fixes or work-arounds for these problems?


Nine-year-old(?) desktop PC running Windows 98:

1. This problem started last August. Computer shuts down spontaneously, often at startup. Rarely makes it far enough for Windows to boot up in the first place. Happens so fast that it's probably not overheating, and isn't kept in conditions where it would overheat, either: room temperature, not in an enclosed space, well-ventilated. Several knowledgeable people have said that its symptoms might mean that it has bad RAM. Supposedly replacing the RAM would be so expensive that the computer might as well be junked and replaced. Is that true, or does more affordable RAM exist? Is it possible that the symptoms mean something else?

Seven-year-old desktop PC, a Compaq running Windows Millennium:

1. Can't play streaming .rm (Real Media) files through RealPlayer or through alternative players such as SMPlayer. Problem is not with the .rm files themselves, which play okay on the other computers. How can I get .rm to play?

2. I installed a DivX codec that was too new to run on WinMe. The official Microsoft site said that the codec was compatible with WinMe, but other sites said it was not. Result is that games like Zuma do not display. Supposedly can't downgrade DivX to a compatible version without uninstalling whole OS. Upgrading the OS isn't possible because the machine is supposedly too old to run WinXP. Can I do something so that Zuma will run?

New (bought last September) desktop PC, a Dell running Windows Vista:

1. Computer is not communicating with flatbed scanner at all, and communicating intermittently with USB keyboard. The problem is not with the scanner or keyboard hardware themselves. Scanner has been tested on another computer and worked fine. The scanner connects to the computer by USB, so this may be a problem with the computer's USB ports or drivers. On this computer, when I tell it to scan, the software says "Warming up the scanner bar," the scanner hardware makes a noise like it's about to scan, and then it locks up and has to be closed by ctrl+alt+del. The scanner software won't open again until the computer has been rebooted. As for the keyboard, sometimes it communicates with the computer in a normal way, and sometimes the computer seems unaware that anything is being typed into that keyboard. What can I do to make the computer communicate with the USB scanner and USB keyboard?

a) draque and kistaro suggest: plug into different USB port, because the USB ports I've tried so far might be defective. (I've tried plugging the scanner and keyboard into a few different ports, but I haven't exhausted this possibility yet by trying ALL the ports.)

b) draque suggests: install any drivers that came with the keyboard. (No drivers came with the keyboard that I'm aware of, but I'll dig through my CDs to make sure.)

c) baxil suggests: for keyboard, Add New Hardware wizard, then plug it in, then manually select generic "new USB keyboard" driver. (I've tried this before, but it's worth another try. Sigh.)

d) ridayah says this (or the Bluetooth problem below) is an inherent problem with Windows Vista, although Kistaro begs to differ, having not run into it on a Vista machine.

e) kistaro says a USB problem is so uncommon that it's almost certainly a problem with the computer's hardware, so the computer should be sent in for repair or return.

2. Computer is intermittently failing to communicate with Bluetooth devices, including the Bluetooth mouse and the Bluetooth keyboard that came with the computer. Problem is probably not with the Bluetooth devices themselves: their batteries have been changed, their status lights look okay, they have no signs of physical damage. Sometimes I have to go through the Add Hardware wizard to re-introduce the computer to the Bluetooth keyboard or mouse. What can I do to make the computer reliably communicate with its Bluetooth peripherals?

a) kistaro suggests: the computer's bluetooth antenna is internally connected by USB, so this is part of the same USB problem described above.

3. New Wacom Intuos 3 tablet mouse recognizes a single-click as a double-click, although its option screen claims that it's recognizing a single-click as a single-click. (Likewise, the tablet's pen sometimes recognizes a single-tap as a double-tap.) Previous Wacom tablet worked perfectly on this computer, and its drivers were uninstalled before installing this one, so probably no conflict from older drivers... although there may well be a conflict in something else. Maybe there's another options screen somewhere, where I can change the setting so that it works...? Is this another USB communication problem? What can I do to make the tablet recognize a single-click as an actual single-click?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/ms_windows/89213.html

Date: 01/28/08 (Computer Help)    Keywords: software, microsoft

There are three different personal computers in my household, and each computer is incapacitated by its own individual problems. One machine runs Win98, another runs WinMe, and the brand new one runs Windows Vista. (Yes, I'm aware that Win98 is old, and WinXP usually preferred to both of the latter. I'm not changing their operating systems.) I'm somewhat experienced with troubleshooting problems on the computers of family and friends, and I've had some successes with machines that seemed to be lost causes, but I'm at my wit's end with these particular problems. Can you help diagnose these problems, and/or suggest any fixes or work-arounds for these problems?


Nine-year-old(?) desktop PC running Windows 98:

1. This problem started last August. Computer shuts down spontaneously, often at startup. Rarely makes it far enough for Windows to boot up in the first place. Happens so fast that it's probably not overheating, and isn't kept in conditions where it would overheat, either: room temperature, not in an enclosed space, well-ventilated. Several knowledgeable people have said that its symptoms might mean that it has bad RAM. Supposedly replacing the RAM would be so expensive that the computer might as well be junked and replaced. Is that true, or does more affordable RAM exist? Is it possible that the symptoms mean something else?

Seven-year-old desktop PC, a Compaq running Windows Millennium:

1. Can't play streaming .rm (Real Media) files through RealPlayer or through alternative players such as SMPlayer. Problem is not with the .rm files themselves, which play okay on the other computers. How can I get .rm to play?

2. I installed a DivX codec that was too new to run on WinMe. The official Microsoft site said that the codec was compatible with WinMe, but other sites said it was not. Result is that games like Zuma do not display. Supposedly can't downgrade DivX to a compatible version without uninstalling whole OS. Upgrading the OS isn't possible because the machine is supposedly too old to run WinXP. Can I do something so that Zuma will run?

New (bought last September) desktop PC, a Dell running Windows Vista:

1. Computer is not communicating with flatbed scanner at all, and communicating intermittently with USB keyboard. The problem is not with the scanner or keyboard hardware themselves. Scanner has been tested on another computer and worked fine. The scanner connects to the computer by USB, so this may be a problem with the computer's USB ports or drivers. On this computer, when I tell it to scan, the software says "Warming up the scanner bar," the scanner hardware makes a noise like it's about to scan, and then it locks up and has to be closed by ctrl+alt+del. The scanner software won't open again until the computer has been rebooted. As for the keyboard, sometimes it communicates with the computer in a normal way, and sometimes the computer seems unaware that anything is being typed into that keyboard. What can I do to make the computer communicate with the USB scanner and USB keyboard?

a) draque and kistaro suggest: plug into different USB port, because the USB ports I've tried so far might be defective. (I've tried plugging the scanner and keyboard into a few different ports, but I haven't exhausted this possibility yet by trying ALL the ports.)

b) draque suggests: install any drivers that came with the keyboard. (No drivers came with the keyboard that I'm aware of, but I'll dig through my CDs to make sure.)

c) baxil suggests: for keyboard, Add New Hardware wizard, then plug it in, then manually select generic "new USB keyboard" driver. (I've tried this before, but it's worth another try. Sigh.)

d) ridayah says this (or the Bluetooth problem below) is an inherent problem with Windows Vista, although Kistaro begs to differ, having not run into it on a Vista machine.

e) kistaro says a USB problem is so uncommon that it's almost certainly a problem with the computer's hardware, so the computer should be sent in for repair or return.

2. Computer is intermittently failing to communicate with Bluetooth devices, including the Bluetooth mouse and the Bluetooth keyboard that came with the computer. Problem is probably not with the Bluetooth devices themselves: their batteries have been changed, their status lights look okay, they have no signs of physical damage. Sometimes I have to go through the Add Hardware wizard to re-introduce the computer to the Bluetooth keyboard or mouse. What can I do to make the computer reliably communicate with its Bluetooth peripherals?

a) kistaro suggests: the computer's bluetooth antenna is internally connected by USB, so this is part of the same USB problem described above.

3. New Wacom Intuos 3 tablet mouse recognizes a single-click as a double-click, although its option screen claims that it's recognizing a single-click as a single-click. (Likewise, the tablet's pen sometimes recognizes a single-tap as a double-tap.) Previous Wacom tablet worked perfectly on this computer, and its drivers were uninstalled before installing this one, so probably no conflict from older drivers... although there may well be a conflict in something else. Maybe there's another options screen somewhere, where I can change the setting so that it works...? Is this another USB communication problem? What can I do to make the tablet recognize a single-click as an actual single-click?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/861264.html

Date: 01/28/08 (Security)    Keywords: software, spam

A few items of note: There's a Western Union spam with Trojan payload; Beware Super Bowl hijinx this week; And if you really want to be a malicious hacker move to Japan. Among the notable: Western Union spam with Trojan Sunbelt Software reports...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=834

Date: 01/28/08 (Open Source)    Keywords: software

So long as people are replacing their phones every year, you're going to need help connecting them to mobile networks. And even if Volantis gives away its software, there is a lot of money to be made helping folks make those connections.

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/zdnet/open-source/~3/224618340/

Date: 02/01/08 (Data Management)    Keywords: software

I am on the conference call with Steve Ballmer (CEO), Chris Liddell (CFO), Kevin Johnson (President PSD), and Ray Ozzie (Chief Software Architect). Chairman Bill Gates is sitting this one out, a sign of his pending departure from the day-to-day grind in Redmond. We have...

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7850