Linux, Open Source, Development & Technology

Defeating Amazon's Universal Wish List

How to stop Amazon from stealing your traffic

Amazon launched a new web browser toolbar button, called Universal Wish List that allows a user to add any page, regardless of the domain to their Amazon.com wish list. While this button currently works on any web page, it's clearly targeted at other e-commerce websites. What if you're a merchant who has your own wish list, or you just don't want Amazon stealing your traffic? Here's how to defeat it. ... read article

Tech Predictions for 2008

Scott's clueless predictions for the new year, for better or worse - and in no particular order - here they are ... read article

Facebook Application Hosting with Joyent

Virtual hosting with Solaris Zones

Early last week I set out to make my first Facebook application (more about this later).  One of the challenges a Facebook application contributor faces is finding hosting.  Luckily for me, I stumbled upon Joyent, which recently partnered with Dell to give away Facebook application virtual hosting for one year. Their Facebook Accelerator - a free virtual machine - supports Java, Ruby on Rails and PHP right out of the box. Great, everything you need plus a dedicated fiber link right to Facebook's data center, for free. But this isn't what makes Joyent intresting. ... read article

Microsoft Copies Mac OS Again with Vista

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple must be proud

Microsoft is set next week to launch the consumer version of its new Windows Vista operating system.  Vista's release will mark the first new consumer OS shipment for Microsoft since 2001 when it debuted Windows XP.  Microsoft's new operating system sports an new destop windowing sytem that the Redmond company expects to revolutionize desktop computing.  However, a closer look at Vista reveals an operating system not much different in functionality than its predecessor, Windows XP. ... read article

Sun Considers GPL'd Solaris

Could a GPL'd Open Solaris restore Sun's flagship OS to UNIX Dominance?

Sun Microsystems has been pushing its way into the open source space by opening up its key technologies under open licenses such as its own CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License) and, more rencently, the GPL (GNU General Public License). In mid-2005, Sun created Open Solaris, primarily as a repository for Solaris code it intended to open source. To date, Open Solaris has generated a fair amount of press but hasn't really garnered much communitry interest partially due to Sun's use of the restrictive CDDL. Sun, which had been promising to open source its Java software, hit the world with a suprise this past November when it annouced that it would be releasing Java under the GPL version 2. To date, Sun had never released software under any open license other than its own CDDL. Java's release under the GPL raised questions about the potential for Sun to do the same for the Solaris operating system. ... read article