This scrolled across my desk thanks to a list.
This may be of interest to some.

Subject: “Squeeze” based Debian Edu version released
Resent-Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:50:22 +0000 (UTC)
Resent-From: debian-news@lists.debian.org
Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:49:01 +0100
From: Francesca Ciceri
To: debian-news@lists.debian.org

————————————————————————
The Debian Project http://www.debian.org/
First “Squeeze” based Debian Edu version released press@debian.org
March 11th, 2012 http://www.debian.org/News/2012/20120311
————————————————————————

March 11th, 2012

The Debian Edu Team is pleased to announce the release of Debian Edu “Squeeze” 6.0.4+r0! Debian Edu (aka “Skolelinux”) is a Debian Pure Blend specifically targeted at schools and educational institutions, and provides a completely configured school network environment out of the box. It covers PXE installation, PXE booting for diskless machines, and setup for a school server, for stationary workstations, and for workstations that can be taken away from the school network. Several educational applications like Celestia, Dr. Geo, GCompris, GeoGebra, Kalzium, KGeography and Solfege are included in the default desktop setup.

Besides including everything provided by the fourth update of Debian “Squeeze” (6.0.4), this new release of Debian Edu introduces some interesting improvements, including: replacement of LWAT with GOsa² as the LDAP administration interface; updated artwork and new Debian Edu / Skolelinux logo; a new LXDE desktop option, in addition to KDE
(default) and GNOME (LXDE and GNOME are available only with the CD installation method); faster LTSP client boot; improved handing of removable media on thin clients; a new roaming workstation profile for laptops; full Samba NT4 domain support for Windows XP/Vista/7; etc.
The Debian Edu Team has also worked intensively on the documentation, improving and extending the manual which is now fully translated to German, French and Italian, while partial translations exist for Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Spanish. The installation process has also been improved, integrating the new version of debian-installer, allowing copying of ISO images to USB sticks and changing partitioning for Standalone installs to have a separate /home and no /usr.

When asked about the [1] advantages of Skolelinux/Debian Edu, Nigel Barker
replied: “For me the integrated setup. This is not just the server, or the workstation, or the LTSP. It’s all of them, and it’s all configured ready to go. I read somewhere in the early documentation that it is designed to be set up and managed by the Maths or Science teacher, who doesn’t necessarily know much about computers, in a small Norwegian school. That describes me perfectly if you replace Norway with Japan.”

1:

http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_Edu_interview__Nigel_Barker.html

For those who want to give Debian Edu “Squeeze” a try, [2] complete download and installation instructions are available, including detailed instructions in the [3] “Getting Started” chapter of the manual explaining the first steps, such as setting up a network or adding users.

2:

http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/en/debian-edu-squeeze-manual.html#Installation

3:

http://maintainer.skolelinux.org/debian-edu-doc/en/debian-edu-squeeze-manual.html#GettingStarted

Those who are already using rc1-3 can upgrade to this version by using for example “apt-get upgrade” – users upgrading from beta3 must make sure they keep the existing gosa.conf file when dpkg asks how to handle the changed file during upgrade.

The sha1sums of the released ISO images:

f4184237f0eb2a509c6729b3f8039b71f5f4394a debian-edu-6.0.4+edu+r0-CD.iso 64681588fffa7a20f5d9e67c726f010580e35b9f debian-edu-6.0.4+edu+r0-DVD.iso
087d0c69da17b4a98a2966ff752fcfea8e30ec23
debian-edu-6.0.4+edu+r0-source-DVD.iso

Would you like to give your school’s computer a longer life? Are you
tired of sneaker administration, running from computer to computer
reinstalling the operating system? Would you like to administrate all
the computers in your school using only a couple of hours every week?
Check out Debian Edu Squeeze!

Skolelinux is used by at least two hundred schools all over the world,
mostly in Germany (in 2009 the region of Rhineland-Palatinate decided
to use it in all its schools) and Norway.

About Debian Edu
—————-

The [4] Skolelinux project was founded in Norway in 2001 with the aim of
creating a GNU/Linux distribution for schools and other educational
institutions. After merging with the French Debian Edu project in 2003,
Skolelinux became a [5] Debian Pure Blend. Today the system is in use in
several countries around the world, with most installations in Norway,
Spain, Germany and France.

4: http://www.skolelinux.org/
5: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianPureBlends

About Debian
————

The Debian Project was founded in 1993 by Ian Murdock to be a truly
free community project. Since then the project has grown to be one of
the largest and most influential open source projects. Thousands of
volunteers from all over the world work together to create and maintain
Debian software. Available in 70 languages, and supporting a huge range
of computer types, Debian calls itself the “universal operating system”.

Contact Information
——————-
For further information, please visit the Debian web pages at
http://www.debian.org/ or send mail to .

Popularity: 40%

As someone that’s been watching the
rogers
vs
crtc
go round and round since october, 2010, it came as no surprise when the following
story
rolled across my desk.

CRTC Slaps Rogers for Throttling Non-P2P Traffic
Posted by Jason Koblovsky on Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 01:38
January 20, 2012 – The Canadian Gamers Organization got word today that the CRTC’s enforcement division has found Rogers to not be non-compliant with CRTC net neutrality policy, and that it’s throttling software and hardware are actively misclassifying a wide range of applications and communication ports. The CRTC has cited evidence obtained and published by Cisco Systems (the hardware and software vendor Rogers uses for throttling), and has threatened a show/cause hearing on this subject if Rogers’ response is insufficient or fails to respond. If it goes to a hearing, the CRTC could file an order with the courts to force Rogers to reimburse affected customers.

In its letter the CRTC stated:

As you know, prior Commission approval is required pursuant to section 36 of the Act, as described at paragraphs 126 and 127 of TRP CRTC 2009-657, for implementing a technical ITMP that results in:
• noticeable degradation to time-sensitive traffic, or
• the slowing of non-time-sensitive traffic to the extent that it amounts to blocking the content and therefore controlling the content and influencing the meaning and purpose of the telecommunication.
Within two weeks, I look forward to you either presenting us with a rebuttal of our evidence or providing us with a plan to come into compliance with the Act. Failure to provide a meaningful rebuttal or an effective plan will result in my recommendation to Commissioners to hold a show-cause hearing. I look forward to your response by 12:00 pm, February 3, 2012.

“This is a historic day in Canadian tech and telecom history. This is a big win for not just Canadian Internet users but also for game developers, who have also been extremely frustrated with the use of throttling. We hope that the evidence uncovered today by the CRTC’s investigations will also help game developers improve online environments. Their product is being hindered by Cisco’s throttling equipment causing problems with connectivity and lag in a lot of gaming environments.” Co-Founder Jason Koblovsky stated.

Co-Founder Teresa Murphy added, “I think we’re all just glad that the CRTC looked further into the issue and essentially agreed with our October 14th response to the Commission where we stated other games and programs were being affected by faulty throttling equipment and software. Jason, myself, and I’m sure many other gamers on Rogers Cable Internet, are all looking forward to the day that this entire fiasco is resolved, as its been a long time coming now. I hope in the future, Rogers will run more extensive testing of their throttling rules before pushing them to all their systems. I also hope that in the future, if a Rogers employee promises to their customers that they’ll have the update reverted because it caused problems with multiple programs (as what happened in October 2010 on the Rogers forum on DSLReports.com – a forum which Rogers employees release official statements on), Rogers will actually follow through on the promise instead of leaving customers blowing in the wind.”

In other words, they got owned, hard.
Because I was curious, I pulled the PDF copy of the letter from
here

Letter Ottawa, 20 January 2012

Our Reference: 545613

BY EMAIL

Mr. Ken Thompson
Director and Counsel Copyright and Broadband Law
Rogers Communications Inc.
333 Bloor Street, East
Toronto, ON M4W 1G9
ken.thompson@rci.rogers.com

Dear Mr. Thompson:

Re: File 545613,
Internet Traffic Management Practice (“ITMP”),
Section 36 of the Telecommunications Act, S.C. 1993, c. 38, as amended (“Act”), and Paragraphs 126 and 127 of Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-657 (“TRP CRTC 2009-657”)

I am writing with respect to the above noted file that was transferred to the Compliance and Enforcement Sector by the Telecommunications Sector on October 27, 2011.

Compliance and Enforcement Sector staff has been reviewing this file since its referral to our sector. Based on the preliminary results of our ongoing investigation, Commission staff is of the belief that Rogers Communications Inc. (“Rogers”) applies a technical ITMP to unidentified traffic using default peer-to-peer (“P2P”) ports. On the basis of our evidence to date, any traffic from an unidentified time-sensitive application making use of P2P ports will be throttled resulting in noticeable degradation of such traffic. Enclosed please find a summary of our evidence. Full details, if necessary can be obtained by request through my office.

As you know, prior Commission approval is required pursuant to section 36 of the Act, as described at paragraphs 126 and 127 of TRP CRTC 2009-657, for implementing a technical ITMP that results in:

noticeable degradation to time-sensitive traffic, or
the slowing of non-time-sensitive traffic to the extent that it amounts to blocking the content and therefore controlling the content and influencing the meaning and purpose of the telecommunication.
Within two weeks, I look forward to you either presenting us with a rebuttal of our evidence or providing us with a plan to come into compliance with the Act. Failure to provide a meaningful rebuttal or an effective plan will result in my recommendation to Commissioners to hold a show-cause hearing. I look forward to your response by 12:00 pm, February 3, 2012.

Sincerely,

Andrea Rosen

Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer

Summary of Evidence

File 545613

This attachment summarizes evidence pursuant to the above noted file, which is an ongoing investigation of Rogers Communications Inc.’s (“Rogers”) Internet Traffic Management Practice (“ITMP”) by the Compliance and Enforcement Sector.

The Compliance and Enforcement Sector’s ongoing investigation includes examining a number of key performance indicators (“KPIs”), such as:

TCP resets, TCP syn/acks, connection status
Latency in milliseconds
TCP Window size
Packet loss
Packets per second
Average packet sizes
Retransmission of packets
Dropped connections
Active connections/sessions
Upstream available bandwidth limits
Packet sequence numbers
Other TCP and UDP traffic statistics and analysis.
As Cisco is Rogers’ vendor,1 the Compliance and Enforcement Sector had and continues to have tests conducted against information from the website of Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”). Preliminary testing results indicate that unidentified traffic using default P2P ports, as identified in the Cisco SCA BB Protocol Reference Guide,2 is throttled. Such results further indicate that:

default P2P ports for TCP traffic are subject to throttling, except port 6969, and
until December 20, 2011, all default P2P ports for UDP traffic were subject to throttling.
Compliance and Enforcement Sector staff also notes Rogers’ disclosure of its network management policy, which indicates that an application may not attain full speed if encrypted and not using a standard port for the application/protocol in question.3 Moreover, while Rogers has stated that misclassification occurs in only a few cases,4 staff notes that Cisco identifies various applications that may have been misclassified.5

——————————————————————————–

1 Rogers letter dated September 27, 2011, at 3.

2 Cisco SCA BB Protocol Reference Guide: protocol_ref_guide/protocol_ref_guide.html> [Cisco SCA BB Protocol Reference Guide].

3 Rogers Network Management Policy: [Rogers Network Management Policy].

4 Rogers letter, supra note 1 at 3.

5 Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband Protocol Pack Notes, available online: protocol_pack/PP_Note_current.html> [Cisco PP Notes].

So I monitored this story to it’s conclusion this February, and we have a
promise
from rogers indicating they’d stop throttling by the end of 2012.

Rogers promises to end internet throttling
Phased-in approach will begin next month, with all customers included by end of year
Prithi Yelaja CBC News Posted: Feb 3, 2012 3:33 PM ET Last Updated: Feb 3, 2012 6:55 PM ET
Rogers has decided to end internet throttling by the end of this year in response to a CRTC probe.
net throttling?Rogers has promised to stop “throttling” internet traffic on its network by the end of this year, in response to an investigation by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

In a letter to the CRTC Friday, Rogers stated it would stop all traffic shaping including bandwidth throttling — limiting a user’s upload or download speeds — through a phased-in approach that is to begin next month.

“New technologies and ongoing investments in network capacity will allow Rogers to begin phasing out that policy starting in March 2012,” wrote Kenneth Engelhart, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs.

“These changes will be introduced to half of Rogers existing internet customers by June 2012 and to its remaining customers by December 2012.”

The move follows a similar decision by Bell to cease throttling on its network starting March 1.

Internet traffic management
Internet traffic management refers to techniques used by network managers to slow down some types of traffic in favour of others. In particular, some internet service providers say they slow down applications that use large amounts of bandwidth, but don’t dramatically affect the user’s ability to use the application when they are slowed down, such as peer-to-peer file sharing.

They say that allows them to guarantee higher speeds and better quality of service for time-sensitive applications such as video streaming that don’t work properly when they are slowed down. However, problems can arise if the technology used to distinguish different types of applications mistakenly classifies time-sensitive traffic as peer-to-peer.
“This is a huge step for internet openness in Canada, and [comes] after a long uphill battle with big telecom,” said Steve Anderson of OpenMedia.ca, a grassroots advocacy group that has protested usage-based billing and is credited with preventing bills allowing electronic surveillance from being tied into the government’s omnibus crime bill.

“Within months of one another Bell and Rogers have announced that they will stop throttling the internet and limiting online choice. This has been a long time coming — more and more Canadians are up in arms about threats to internet openness, and it’s about time that big telecom bends to the public interest.”

OpenMedia.ca pushed for and won Internet openness rules in 2009, but has since been pushing for enforcement of those rules, said Anderson.

“The consumer complaints process is the sole mechanism in place and Rogers’ response to the CRTC represents a potential first step in changing this broken system,” he said.

However, Jason Koblovsky, founder of the Canadian Gamers Organization had some concerns about Rogers’ intention to end throttling.

“Rogers failed to provide the CRTC with technical data as to which games and applications they have tested themselves. Without the technical data from their tests on online games, [we] worry that Rogers’ response may be an attempt to mislead the CRTC and the public. We continue to call on Rogers to make these numbers public,” Koblovsky said.

Last month, the CRTC notified Rogers it was violating federal net neutrality rules by deliberately slowing or throttling time-sensitive internet traffic, specifically online games.

The CRTC based its findings on the results of an investigation in collaboration with Cisco Systems, the hardware and software vendor that Rogers uses.

The probe was launched last year after a complaint by the Canadian Gamers Organization that accused Rogers of hindering online games, such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty: Black Ops, in violation of the federal regulator’s guidelines.

The Telecommunications Act and CRTC regulations allow throttling of peer-to-peer file sharing programs like BitTorrent, but not of time-sensitive internet traffic like video chatting or gaming.

Rogers had until Friday to either rebut the evidence gathered by the probe or provide the CRTC with a plan to comply with the act — or face a hearing on the matter.

As part of its rebuttal, Rogers said it would cease all traffic shaping by the end of 2012.

The company successfully dealt with the issue of throttling last March, and the CRTC’s “tests were of an issue that had nothing to do with gaming,” Engelhart told CBC News in a phone interview Friday.

“We’re pretty confident we solved those problems last year,” he said.

However, “out of an abundance of caution we have toggled the equipment so it does not slow down unclassified traffic on peer-to-peer file sharing ports.”

What’s this tell me about the major cable provider?
They can’t manage their network to save their lives, they’re looking for ways out and not providing all the data, because they want to Hhide.
As this year progresses, we’ll soon see what changes are committed to the network over the year.
Happy commenting.

Popularity: 40%

Yep I haven’t been around in awhile. But today’s blogging starts out with this little ppiece of information about a security leak in HTC android phones. Here’s the article in it’s entirety. and all I gotta say is smooth move, HTC.

HTC Phones Suffer Major Security Exploit
Latest Update Provides Easy Access to Personal Data
by Karl Bode
The folks over at Android Police note that several HTC model smartphones suffer from a rather major security exploit that can give a hacker access to personal information, e-mail addresses, and your location. The vulnerability is part of HTC’s Sense UI and affects several popular HTC phones, including the EVO 4G, EVO 3D, Thunderbolt, EVO Shift 4G, MyTouch 4G Slide, and several more. The problem began with a recent HTC update that introduced a suite of logging tools that creates a HTCLoggers.apk file accessible by any app with Internet permissions. That provides easy outside access to:

•The list of user accounts, including email addresses and sync status for each last known network and GPS locations and a limited previous history of locations phone numbers from the phone log.

•SMS data, including phone numbers and encoded text (not sure yet if it’s possible to decode it, but very likely).

•System logs (both kernel/dmesg and app/logcat), which includes everything your running apps do and is likely to include email addresses, and phone numbers.

HTC was contacted on September 24th but has yet to comment on the vulnerability. “In my experience, lighting fire under someone’s ass in public makes things move a whole lot faster, which is why responsible disclosure is a norm in the security industry,” notes the website. Only stock phone firmware is impacted — users who have modified their Android HTC devices to run CyanogenMod are not impacted.

Update HTC is telling news outlets they’re “investigating” the security flaw.

according to further research, this issue only effects factory firmware for the android.
We’ll see what HTC does about this in the coming days.

Popularity: 35%

Hello all;
All of you may have heard about the demise of the
qwitter
project developed and maintained by
christopher
If not. I’ll simply quote the
qwitter_hg
twitter accounts last post.

Qwitter Mercurial: Q: Closing up shop, it’s been fun.: 13 hours ago 9/19/2011 11:08:07 AM Qwitter Client

after reading that, I got curious and poked around Q’s timeline and the thoughts that ran through my head were mixed.
I was composing in my head a response I was going to put up here, outlining my thoughts and views, but
JonathanMosen
did a much better job of it then I could ever do. So I’ll simply quote his ressitation who’s original can be found
over here.

Billy Joel once said, “I once believed in causes too, and had my pointless point of view, but life when on no matter who was wrong or right”. I was mindful of this as I saw the considerable volume of tweets exchanged over the apparent halt to development of the Qwitter client, the Twitter client for Windows designed specifically for blind people. I say apparent, because this is in my recollection the third time such a threat has been made, so I suppose only time will tell if this one is real or not. Initially, I felt compelled to comment, then I decided there was no point, and now finally, I’ve felt moved to write an extended post about this subject because I think the conduct of a number of people in the latest Twitter drama represents a pattern that is all too typical in the on-line blind community.

Although I have been using Twitter since 2007, I actually was a late adopter of the Qwitter client, beginning to use it in around November of 2009. My reason for this was because I felt uncomfortable with the aggressive online behaviour of its lead developer. A friend of mine convinced me that it was appropriate to separate the behaviour of the developer from the quality of the application, and there’s absolutely no doubt that the software is first class. It is a feature-rich, efficient means of interacting with Twitter. Without Qwitter, I am sure much fewer blind people would be using Twitter so regularly. The award given to Chris by ACB this year recognises all of this, and that recognition is richly deserved.

I have, however, remained very disappointed by the extraordinary rudeness, even contempt, that Chris has shown to many users who have made suggestions or come to him for advice. I am mindful that I am making these comments with around 20 more years on the planet than him, and in this case I think that does make a difference. I hope that if Chris is unfortunate enough to be able to review some of his tweets in 20 years time, he will do so with genuine regret. What makes our world so diverse and interesting, is that we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Some people can write code, others conceptualise great user interfaces, others struggle with very basic computer concepts that just come naturally to some. Abrupt, rude, confrontational replies, many of which give the impression that the program’s author is somehow superior to or better than his fellow blind people are hardly going to remain unremarked upon.

Developing software is of course a very different skill from supporting it. Chris is obviously superb at the former. With a bit more good will towards people, I’m very confident the Qwitter Support account could have had a large number of volunteers, and Chris could have politely directed users to that account. We can wish that users would RTFM all we want, some simply will not, it is the reality of software development, and nothing is going to change that. Nor does the fact that the software is free make it any more acceptable to treat end users with rudeness.

Chris is, of course, absolutely right that there is a high proportion of blind Twitter users who are unemployed, may have difficulty getting out and about due to financial or transportation issues, and who therefore have plenty of time to generate Twitter drama. We do have a very high unemployment rate. Just as with sighted people, there are those who have never tried to find a job, those who in the current climate have become demoralised and have given up, those who spend hours every day looking for that big break. We seldom know each other’s stories, and it is sad when we choose to make very personal, sweeping assumptions. We do tend to sew what we reap. If we dish out confrontation on Twitter, chances are very high that confrontation will come right back at us. And it has been rather like watching a school bully crying when one little kid finally plucks up the courage to hit back, to see the lead Qwitter developer complaining when some of the hurt he has caused others comes back to him.

Does that make the behaviour of those who’ve responded in that way right or justified? Of course not. The best response to confrontation is often no response at all. Various Twitter characters in the blind community who’ve come and gone, have thrived on the fact that they know which buttons to push to get a reaction. Stop responding to them, and they’d have become bored and gone away long ago.

Then there is of course what we in New Zealand call the tall poppy syndrome. There is no doubt that Chris has considerable talent. In the blind community, we are good at building people up, to tear them down. Confrontational behaviour notwithstanding, there are some people who have sought to make his life a misery, almost as if they resent what he has been able to achieve. More than that, they are jealous of it.

Developing an app such as Qwitter obviously involves a very significant commitment of time. It has not completely been a labour of love, however. I haven’t taken the time to go back and do the sums, but I know I’ve personally donated at least US$100 to Qwitter, and that many others have donated what they can. I don’t regret doing so for a moment, nor do I expect that donations have created any kind of contract, expressed or implied, that Qwitter’s development would continue indefinitely. I raise this to simply point out that while a few users may have been vexatious, some provoked, some not, the project hasn’t been totally without its financial compensation.

Whether a piece of software is commercial or not, there is no guarantee that its development will continue forever. There are many examples of software used by a large number of people where development has simply stopped. Microsoft Money is a case in point. The issue I have is the point in the development cycle at which Qwitter development is apparently ceasing. It is in beta right now. Because it is beta software, there are problems, as one would expect. Does Chris have a legal obligation of any kind to tidy up the critical bugs? Of course not. He can walk away whenever he likes, and apparently has. The question is one of moral obligation, and of his personal brand. Would I be as willing to support any future project, commercial or otherwise, by a developer who leaves a user base in the lurch like this? No, I’d think twice, because I don’t believe that this is an ethical way to treat people. Anything we do online impacts on our personal brand. If we’re abusive, people make a mental note of that. If we walk away because a few people, again some provoked, some not, have been abusive, even though the majority of us have been supportive with our praise and with our wallets, then that leaves a sour taste and a reputation that is hard to recover.

Whether you volunteer or not should not make a difference to one’s conduct. I’ve volunteered over many years for a range of positions, including leading New Zealand’s blindness consumer organisation which would be the equivalent of NFB and ACB, serving on various committees, and of course managing Internet radio projects like Mushroom FM. In all of those cases, the work involved has been considerable. It’s involved a huge investment of time and effort. And there are times when circumstances require you to walk away. But if you have to do that, you should do so by tidying up as many of the loose ends as you possibly can.

I don’t begrudge for one second the fact that Chris may have concluded that he has better things to do with his life, that it’s just not rewarding anymore. If you are copping a lot of abuse, especially when you’re younger, it’s hard to shrug that off, and easy to say, why on earth am I bothering. My only issue is that I hope he will recognise how his own conduct as contributed in part to some of the grief that has come his way, and that to protect his reputation, he at least get Qwitter 5 to a production release and make it clear that that’s the end of the project. If he does not, then I fear the bad taste the half finished Qwitter project has left in so many mouths will continue to haunt him. That would be a pity when he is clearly such a gifted young man.

As for the rest of us, maybe there’s a good number of us who might like to think twice before joining in the flame war. Most of us in the blind community are online in such a way that our interactions are filtered to us through a mechanical sounding speech synthesiser. It is easy for us to forget that the tweet we send in a quick burst of anger or sarcasm may be the one that tips a real human being with feelings over the edge. We don’t know what else is going on in their lives, how they may be feeling. If we showed a little more on-line empathy, just empathy in general really, imagine how much of a peaceful place the online world would be.

I urge Chris to reconsider wrapping up the project in this stage in the cycle, but regardless, thank him sincerely for a very significant contribution to bringing blind people around the world closer together, and assisting us to interact with equal efficiency with our sighted peers.

A few final thoughts.
Is qwitter the only accessible client on windows?
No, it’s not.
Their are others like
TWInbox
that can do the basics.
Yes, not as feature rich, but qwitter’s development cycle ending isn’t the end all of twitter for the blind community.
Would I, like Jonathan, think twice about supporting another project, weather free or paid put out by this individual if he doesn’t at least take qwitter 5.0 to a stable release before shutting down?
Yes, I honestly would reconsider ever supporting future projects developed by him because of the way he handled qwitter and it’s closure.
I understand open source, but leaving those in the blind community with extremely buggy code because your being a nazi and don’t want to at least head for a final release before giving up is insane, and rediculous.
What are others thoughts and views.
I’d love to here what you have to say on this, spoken in a constructive, adult manner.
No childish bashing.
Constructive critisisms and pieceful debate are the name of the game.
See you on the comment boards.

Popularity: 58%

1. Clearly, now, I have a choice between purchasing $995.00 software with my looks, or paying someone to scan and convert proprietary file formats for me because I can’t be diplomatic and the next best thing to diplomacy is keeping your damn mouth shut. Also, clearly, the latter, i.e., paying someone to scan, is gonna cost um… that thing called money. which I don’t have.
2. Also, eye doctors, when I ask you to fix something the answer is not take it apart, and then confuse me for half an hour. Also on a random sidenote, you better have someone with good fashion sense helping me pick frames for my new pair of eyes next Thursday or I’ll scream.
3. Stalking me is not how this rolls, has rolled, or will continue to roll. I asked it to stop. It didn’t. The appropriate authorities are being notified shortly after this posts, and it *will*, be dealt with. I’m not calling anyone out specifically, but when I’ve almost gone to the hospital 3 times, because of you people over there, and you know who you are, there’s a problem.
4. That long and actually civil conversation I had with my mother about alternative roads, let me just say that putting a plan together for January is looking better and better. I get that there are a few people out there who wanna put me in the hospital, but this’s gotta stop.
I don’t wanna walk around certain areas and not know if I’m being followed or watched. I don’t wanna have to feel like somebody’s shadowing me constantly, even if they aren’t doing it physically, well, how the hell would I know? I feel like I’m being stalked. I feel unsafe. I want it ended.

Popularity: 44%

Well ok. My floor. Since I don’t have a desk to speak of at this current time. . You know, because give it a few days and I won’t have a place to live. But we already went over that earlier. So let’s just um, go down here, use my limited web design skills, and learn about what happens when stupid people/organizations do stupid things.

So, there’s this dude. You know, the guy who wrote this thinggy over here.

That guy who wrote that thing up there that’s used for the social network which shall not be named of which I may or may not be a member, goes to Florida State University.

Well, Florida State’s math department, you see, has this nasty little habit. They like to force their blind students to use inaccessible software for math courses.

Well, this dude doesn’t like this very much. You se, he, ladies and gentlemen, is blind, in the event you didn’t read that thing over there in your other browser tab. So what did Florida State do that pissed him off enough to get the NFB involved? Well, to refresh your memories, and mine, because it’s half past holy crap o’clock in the morning and I haven’t even had dinner yett, let’s play a li’l game. One of my favorites. it’s called Peel and Stick. It works, kinda like this, wherein I take a piece of that article in that other tab of mine and go… Well, let’s see what they did, now, shall we?

The suit alleges that FSU’s Department of Mathematics discriminated against Mr. Toth
and Ms. Principato by failing to provide them with proper accommodations so that
they could successfully complete required math courses for their respective degree
programs. The violations include requiring the students to use an inaccessible Web-based
application to complete homework assignments, tests, and quizzes; requiring the use
of clickers that cannot be used by a blind person to respond to in-class questions
and obtain bonus credit; failing to provide Braille versions of the required textbooks
in violation of agreed-upon accommodation plans; and engaging in retaliatory actions
when the students complained of these violations. In all cases, faculty members
in the Department of Mathematics were generally uncooperative, unhelpful, and even
hostile, and did not provide meaningful alternative methods for Mr. Toth and Ms.
Principato to successfully complete the required courses. As a result, both students
are currently unable to continue their degree programs and find their careers indefinitely
on hold.

Who are you, FSU math department, to deny these two blind students an education? And who are you, FSU disability services, for allowing the math department to treat students who *you* are supposed to be assisting, so poorly? And don’t even get me started. Inevitably, some fucktard’s gonna waltz on in here and say disability services could have known nothing about it. I’m calling bullshit. I’m calling bullshit based on the fact that other students in other state universities all across the country get treated like this daily. But you know what? As long as the books look pretty, it doesn’t matter how students are treated. Because nobody who works for a state university actually gives a fuck about the students. No. All they care about is their form letters and their handbooks and their rules. as long as it looks good on paper, nobody actually cares! Nope, because as long as their reports look pretty for whomever the hell they report to, they can just carry on treating people like garbage and get away with it.

You can’t rightfully sit here and tell me Florida State didn’t know about the treatment these two students were receiving. (In fact, I wish I could grab the one I have on my mesenger and ask him what disability services actually did about the situation, but unfortunately, right now, I can’t seem to find him.) Um, well, it is 1:26 AM. You normal people that are lucky an that have everything, you’re sleeping right now, wile I’m scrounging for a place to live. yeah. Especially you lucky sighties, who have jobs. And you all sat at home, in your normal houses, with your normal families, this evening, and did normal things. While I bounced around the state with a backpack, a duffel, a cane and a person guiding me, trying to find a place to crash this evening that wasn’t gonna get a friend of mine from high school evicted from her apartment, you people, probably some of the very ones I’m currently being persecuted and treated like a criminal by, get to live your lives like nothing’s wrong. You get to sleep in your own bed, in your own house, while I worry about whether my next move is to court so I dont get put in a group home by my insane mother, or worse, end up under her guardianship, and living in my house for the rest of my pathetic, broken, useless life. Hope you’re proud of yourselves, because I would rather like to start planning ways of getting rid of myself so you all have nothing to worry about anymore. Yeah. remember how someone told me I should kill myself? Suicidal ideations. again. thanks assholes. Just how I wanted to spend an evening in an unfamiliar place. and I thought I was gonna get away with not being a medicated zombie for the rest of my life? Well, guess I’m quite sure who to thank for that.

Popularity: 60%

My brain officially aches. I have had the…what, almost 2 weeks? From hell. Naturally, this computer was the cause of it.

I woke up on the morning of the 5th to one hell of a mess. I restarted the machine, got tossed into a never-ending boot loop. I swore in all kinds of pretty and colorful ways, then I called Shane and explained the problem because at 7 PM on a Sunday evening when I finally got around to it, Lenovo technical support were the last people I wanted to talk to. His theory: My Windows install’s trashed. Well…Shit,

My next course of action, grab the 12-year old. “Here. Read this.”

“But why?”

“Because I asked you to, and this computer’s on crack. Now, read.”

So the child manages with my help to get Windows installed, but no drivers, because, well, going to hunt for those required an Ethernet cable that we didn’t have. So my mother gets it in her head that she’s gonna take it to our local fixit shop and they’re gonna wave their magic wand and make it all better. Yeah ok, smoke some more of that why don’t ya?

She takes the machine in on friday, the 12th, after loudly and screamily insisting that she could take it in by herself and me loudly and screamily insisting that no, I was going with her, it was my machine and she didn’t have to use it, I did. I didn’t care if she paid for repairs, but I wanted to speak to the person(s) fixing it. So grudgingly she took me with her, I suppose because I’m the only one who knew where my personal Windows CD was and well, they asked her to take it in with the machine.

So I walk in, described to the guy what the underlying issue was, what I did to fix it. Now I knew this guy was 1. an arrogant prick and 2. a stupid son of a bitch, because he’s standing in front of me saying he likes Lenovo, and that’s just not something you say to me after I get 2 phone calls within 3 months of each other saying that other students’ exact makes and models, same machine, had literally began smoking, in their faces. (Hi dead power supply nice to see you.)

So I tell the first dude, “We’re bringing this in for a software issue, but I want the hardware looked at too. I’ve suspected a dying hard drive since June.”

I get it back Friday night, hey, cool, it’s working, and they said the hard drive wasn’t dead. I wake up Saturday morning to discover I’m jammed in another endless boot loop! The word of the morning, at top volume, was “Son of a bitch!”

I leave for my grandparents’ place that day because I’m staring at this thing and I can’t fucking take it anymore. I was ready to overdraft my bank account and rush order myself a netbook even though I hate them on principle just because I needed a working computer, and my mother had just pissed $120 into this thing, having the Windows install fixed and putting a 2GB stick of ram in it. All I’d done the previous night was uninstall Open Office and VLC Media Player, which are two programs that are completely fucking useless with a Windows screen reader, and the next morning I wake up and it’s boot looping again.

So Tuesday, Mom drags it back down to the shop. The second ass-clown who worked on it was at least not a complete ass-clown, as he did discover the dead hard drive right away, even though his buddy over there swore to god that Lenovo hardware never failed, but now we have this other issue.

“Oh, she screwed up the hard drive by uninstalling software.”

What? What? As in, the fuck? Which is to say, are they smoking? Also, what kind of drugs are in the water over there? Uninstaling a piece of software should not fuck up the hard drive, unless the hard drive was already fucked over in the first place, which means that *somebody*, ain’t doin’ their job!

I blow up Shane’s phone again, and drop this cute little tidbit of bullshit on his desk. Naturally, he’s about as pleased as I am, but he’s got the net, he’s got a working computer and can do more than I could at the time. He busts out google, does a reverse lookup of their phone number which I had somehow managed to beg borrow and steal. Then, the Better Business Bureau gets involved.

I didn’t do it. During Shane’s conversation with whomever he spoke to over there, we found out that these twerps were operating under expired credentials. So not only were they doing this, but they were sticking inaccessible software on a disabled person’s computer, blaming said person’s removal of the software for their incompetence, then telling said person not to remove said software. Reportedly, someone from the state of Massachusetts paid them a visit yesterday evening. If we find out more, we’ll let you know.

So. that’s been, what, my last, 2 weeks? Freaking out over a broken computer, dealing with incompetent tools, freaking out because it’s broken a second time, sending it in, then finding out the retards who were supposed to have fixed it the first time blamed me for screwing it up, and finding that they were operating a repair business with expired credentials! And on top of all this, I start classes in 2 weeks! I almost didn’t have a working computer for college. Can we say heart attack? Can we say nervous breakdown? I can!

Popularity: 62%

Among the many purchases I’ve made for my iphone is
papaya broadcaster
This app cost me $4.99CAD, in the US for some reason it’s $6.99USD. I didn’t make the pricing structure, so I have no freakin’ clue why the $2 difference.
On an accessibility scale, all controls are accessible, and read well.
It takes some fiddling to get things configured properly, but if your compitent enough, you’ll do fine.
One note I do need to make, if configuring for an icecast/icecast2 server, you *must* specify a username.
This username is source.
Don’t ask me why, it’s just what you have to do.
I never said it made sense.
As for it’s price tag?
In my opinion, if your going to charge $4.99CAD/$6.99USD for a product, make it worth the money.
In other words, it’s great that you support multiple mountpoints, multiple server types, but where’s archiving?
If your broadcasting mobally, you should, in my opinion have the ability to archive your own broadcasts directly on the iphone, and hey, intigration with dropbox? Not that hard, it’s done in a lot of free apps, so why nott make the ability to upload your archives if that ability was their, to dropbox?
Once the upload to dropbox is complete, you give the option to delete it from the phone, leaving the copy in dropbox.
This, in my opinion, would make the app more worth the price.
I don’t regret buying this app, I’m just making observations on what could make the app even better.
Speaking of things, if you get a phone call/lose internet connection? You have to manually reconnect, serious pain in the behind.
While on the topic of annoyances, if you have a headset plugged in when you tap broadcast? It switches everything to the iphones speaker/microphone and you have to unplug and replug in the headset.
Rather annoying and something they need to fix.
I hope this review helps some.
It’s not meant as a walk through or demonstration, these are meant to give my thoughts and views about applications I’ve bought/gotten for free for my iphone.
The comment boards await you.
What are your thoughts and views.
Have you bought this app?
What are your experiences with it, what would you like to see improved.
What do you think should be removed.

Popularity: 44%

as a fairly knew user of the iphone from Apple, I found myself looking for apps to replace those I used to use on simbian/windows mobile.
It has been a struggle, but you wouldn’t think so by the number of apps I have amassed since april of this year.
I was concerned because their weren’t demos. You have to buy before you can actually try said apps.
I found ways around this particular hurtle, I subscribed to the viphone list, and used other resources to find information on applications for the iphone.
I was inparticular, looking for a GPS app that could do a lot of what Mobile Geo, on windows mobile, and combine a lot of the sighted GPS features sighted users were used to.
I had heard a lot about apps from sendero, and others.
I also heard about navigon.
That one, at least. I had the pleasure of playing with on a friends iphone.
I wasn’t to impressed with it, especially it’s accessibility and lacking of monitoring features, etc.
I then heard a lot of talk about
ariadne gps
and how great it was, beating out the compitition for blind users right out of the gate.
Costing $2.99 and availabhle in both the US and canadian app stores, among others, I watched the discussion on the viphone list I’m on and today, finally decided to give it a wirl.
I purchased the app, it installed, and right from jump it was accessible, and no need to really tweek anything, it switched from wifi to 3G efortlessly, no need to stop and restart the program to make the change.
The map was accessible, I could explore things, and really get to know my surroundings with no trouble.
As a first time user I was really impressed.
A couple of things I’d like to see improved/features I’d like to see added.

• points of interest

a lot of the GPS apps for the blind, as well as GPS systems for sighted people contain a database full of points of interest from banks, to stores, to malls, etc.
I’d like to see ariadne do this either locally, or get it’s data from the remote servers.
If I remember correctly navigon has this type of information, via a local database, or remotely. hense the size being so huge.

• monitoring while locked or in the background.

It would be useful if when the application was in the gbackground, or the phone was locked, the information presented while monitoring was on would still be spoken.
This would allow, for example, the user to take a call and still keep moving on their route.
This would also allow for the user to toss the program into the backgroun out of the way.

I’m not sure about route planning, destination usage, etc. but I’m sure if it exists I’ll find or use it.
I’m also sure that readers of this blog will be happy to comment on their own experiences with this particular application.
All told, this application is totally worhth the $2.99.
Until next time, take care.

Popularity: 44%

Some tweets from this morning hit my radar almost 19 hours later, and I feel I need to say something publicly. Over the past few months, Christopher Toth has developed and distributed Hope, a third-party application that allows a Windows user using a screen reader to access the popular Pandora service. He charges $10 US for the program, which, considering he’s a student and is doing this in his spare time, is pretty damn fair. it’s even more so when before he stepped in, this demographic was unable to use Pandora unless they also used a Mac, or an iPod Touch or iPhone. anyone who doesn’t already own one will tell you that spending upwards of $200, so they may have access to Pandora via an iDevice, though it has many other uses, is out of their budget. I’m in a constant state of broke. I get broke, I live broke, I freakin’ electrical taped my laptop charger so I wouldn’t have to blow approximately $100 on a new one. Now, let’s be honest. You may not like the developer. You and he may have had a history in the past, you pissed each other off, had a fucking teenybopper snit, whatever. Maybe you have a hair across your ass because he told you to, oh my god, read the Qwitter Readme, (which, by the way, is common sense. Download software, read the documentation). But there is no excuse as to why you cannot pull $10 out of your tight asses, to buy this program. If I did it, anybody can. Maybe the registration scheme isn’t the niftiest, most awesome and most secure thing ever, yet. I get it. But there’s no reason to be a tool and steal a $10 piece of software. If you’re that much of a spoiled brat and need everything handed to you that badly, then you have some serious entitlement issues.

Yes, I’ve punked (legal) copies of software off Shane before. Four pieces of software on this machine are legally registered to him. They’re either there because I’ll need them eventually, because I needed them on the *BOUNCE*, meaning, I couldn’t wait any longer for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind to stop scratching their asses long enough to actually do their jobs, because they were put here to help fix the broken that is this computer, or, in one case, because shane thought one particular piece of software would make this thing work a little less like a brick than the other. Also, as some of you know, I share a dropbox with shane. Why? Because he has tons of space and said I could share. The difference, folks, is that most everything he gave me, if not all of it, is way the hell out of my price range! However, everything on here that is his, is legally registered to him, and he knows I have it, because in 3 out of 4 cases, he’s slapped the software on this machine himself. In his words, per my conversation with him as I write, “You have my permission to use it, the company *is* aware that it’s on your system. As I was using your system for a time, and felt it wasn’t to anyone’s bennifit to clean up after myself, you still have access to that software.” In other words, it’s legal, shut up, keep it, and like it. also re: The one thing he didn’t put on here himself that he handed me from 400 miles away, it became a matter of, I need this, because if the university’s networking policies eventually force me to make a certain upgrade, certain stuff of mine will be out of date and quite useless. We made the decision that him handing me a particular authorization for a piece of software was, for now, the best way to put a BandAid on the issue. What else was I going to do, learn a new screen reader in 2 days? Pull money out of my ass? Wait for a moneytree to appear? How about not? Now, if it were $10 software, I could simply go and buy it. However, there are certain pieces of software that cost more than both my parents make in a week put together. if somebody hands me a legal license, because I need that software, I won’t be kickin’ a gift horse in the ass. I will, as Shane’s fond of jokingly telling me to do when he does something major to help me out, “shut up and like it.” But people. Seriously. Hope’s a $10 piece of software. I’ve probably spent $10 in the last 2 weeks on caffeine alone. the developer may not be your favorite person, but that’s no excuse to publicly ask for a free copy of his software on Twitter. Would you like someone to do the same to you? Think about it. A little common sense and courtesy might get some of you a little farther in life.

Popularity: 50%

throughout today, it came to light that
SW Cast
had been shut down by
Sound exchange
but their’s a lot of wining that this is not valid.
Firstly, have the
original
post that sparked this

> SWCast shut down >

Posted on April 19, 2011 by David Oxenford

SoundExchange Claims Credit for Shutting Down Webcaster Who Was Not Paying Royalties

SoundExchange claims on its website that webcaster SWCast.net was shut down when SoundExchange complained to its ISP that the service was not paying royalties for the use of the music played by the site. SWCast was an aggregator of webcast channels created by other individuals, who paid the company – allegedly for the streaming and for the royalties that were due for that streaming. According to the SoundExchange press release, the webcaster was shut down when SoundExchange “sent a letter requesting that the hosting ISP disable access to the SWCast site.” SoundExchange’s statement says that, despite repeated attempts to engage the webcaster, SWCast neither paid royalties nor filed reports of use for the songs streamed by the service, leading to SoundExchange’s action. As far as we know, this is the first time that SoundExchange has taken such an action.

How did this work? While we have not seen the letter that SoundExchange sent to the ISP, we can assume that it alleged that SWCast was infringing on copyrighted materials by not paying the required royalties. ISPs have a safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, protecting them from liability for the infringement of users of their services, if the ISP does not encourage the infringement, registers an agent with the Copyright Office, and agrees to take down infringing content when properly notified by a copyright holder (see our post here). We can only assume that SoundExchange or the copyright holders themselves notified the ISP that the material streamed by this webcaster was infringing as no royalties were being paid and, to protect itself, the ISP blocked access to the site.

Does this action reflect a new aggressiveness on the part of SoundExchange? We have noted before that, from time to time, there seems to be a flurry of collection activity by SoundExchange. We have heard from several streaming companies that they have recently received notices from SoundExchange inquiring about various compliance issues. SoundExchange has been staffing up, and they have an attorney on staff whose principal job is enforcement. Perhaps, with a new President, and with the last webcasting royalty proceeding done but for the appeals, this is a time when SoundExchange feels comfortable enough to act to ensure compliance with its royalty requirements.

We’ve summarized the Internet radio royalty rates recently, and reminded webcasters not to forget their minimum fee payments and yearly election requirements. If you are streaming, this might be a good time to check your royalty compliance to make sure that you are doing all that is expected by SoundExchange. They may be watching!

so I headed over to the linked in portion of the sound exchange website, and found
this
here’s that article, as well.

Public notice of disabling of access to SWcast services
April 18th
In recent days, SoundExchange requested that access to Internet radio service SWCast.net be disabled by the hosting ISP in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the ISP’s terms of service.

While regrettable, this step was necessary given SWCast’s repeated claims that it is a “provider of blanket music licensing and enhancement services” for online radio stations. SWCast collected monthly fees from webcasters using its service, in exchange for (it claimed) satisfying all of the reporting and royalty obligations of its webcaster clients. Among the obligations specifically listed on its site are those reporting obligations and royalties paid to rights-holders by webcasters through SoundExchange.

SWCast, however, does not provide the promised services. Specifically, and despite its claims, SWCast has failed to abide by its obligations under the statutory license, did not pay anything to SoundExchange for years, and, as of the date of this letter, has not even attempted to make any payment to SoundExchange for any period after 2005. SWCast has also never provided the reports of use that are clearly required by the statutory license.

SoundExchange repeatedly reached out to SWCast to seek its compliance, to no avail. Accordingly, SoundExchange sent a letter requesting that the hosting ISP disable access to the SWCast site. Individual webcasters who had been using SWCast’s services are free to rely on the statutory license going forward, either by submitting the necessary materials and payments to SoundExchange directly, or relying on a different third party service to submit such materials and payments on their behalf. Learn more about SoundExchange’s Licensing 101.

Thousands of webcasters have been able to thrive and to provide valuable services to their listeners while operating legally under the statutory license. It’s unfair for SWCast or anyone else to use artists’ work without compensating them, and it’s unfair to the webcasters who believed they were abiding by the law.

We’re sorry that SWCast chose not to comply with the law, and we hope SWCast fans will find another (legal) provider by which to enjoy the tracks we all love. Meanwhile, we’ll be holding down the fort here, making sure that artists and copyright holders see returns on their hard work, and have the means to continue creating new music.

If you have any questions, please review www.soundexchange.com or feel free to contact our licensing and enforcement department at 202.559.0555 or L&E@soundexchange.com.

so as a member of staff on both
JJRN
and
Mojo Radio
and a concerned listener, I contacted the phone number listed, and spoke with Mandi Nash of the licensing and enforcement department.
I determined, during that conversation that what I was reading was true and accurate, and as further proof, she sent me what all stations were receiving upon request.

________________________________

From: Mandi Nash [mailto:anash@SOUNDEXCHANGE.COM]
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 3:43 PM
To: shane@shaned.net
Subject: Notice of Violation of Terms of Statutory License by SWCast

Re: Notice of Violation of Terms of Statutory License by SWCast

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is a courtesy notice provided to you by SoundExchange regarding the current compliance status of your webcasting station. As you may know, SoundExchange, Inc. is the non-profit entity designated by the Copyright Royalty Board to collect royalties owed under the statutory license for the public performance of sound recordings via certain noninteractive digital audio transmissions (e.g., “webcasting”) and the making of certain ephemeral phonorecords. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 112(e), 114; 37 C.F.R. Parts 370, 380 (the “Statutory License”). SoundExchange, in turn, distributes the royalties it collects to the performing artists and copyright owners of such sound recordings.

We write to you regarding your webcasting service that has been made available through SWCast.net (“SWCast”). SWCast purports to be an Internet radio service for small webcasters and a “provider of blanket music licensing and enhancement services” for online radio stations. As part of its services, SWCast offers a so-called “Joint Performance Licensing Program” (“JPL Program”). Through the JPL program, SWCast offers, for a fee, to satisfy all of the reporting and royalty obligations of its webcaster clients whose streaming it hosts and manages (the “Webcaster Clients”). Among the obligations specifically listed are those reporting obligations and royalties paid to rights-holders by webcasters through SoundExchange. SWCast promises to provide “small U.S. Webcasters with the licensing coverage, expertise, and peace of mind they need,” in exchange for monthly payments from its Webcaster Clients.

SWCast, however, does not provide the promised services. Specifically, and despite its claims, SWCast has completely failed to abide by its obligations under the statutory license, did not pay anything to SoundExchange for years, and, as of the date of this letter, has not even attempted to make any payment to SoundExchange for any period after 2005. SWCast has also never provided the reports of use that are clearly required by the statutory license.

SoundExchange has tried for months to rectify this unacceptable situation with SWCast, to no avail. Accordingly, on March 28, 2011, SoundExchange sent a letter to the Internet service provider for SWCast.net informing the ISP that SWCast.net had failed to comply with the terms of the statutory license, was engaging and/or assisting in infringing activity and had violated the ISP’s terms of service. The letter requested that the ISP disable access to the SWCast.net site, in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the ISP’s terms of service.

We are writing to you to inform you of SWCast’s failure to comply with the terms of the statutory license. If you wish to rely on the statutory license for your webcasting service going forward, you may decide to submit royalty payments, statements of account and reports of use directly to SoundExchange, or you may decide to rely on a different third party to submit such materials and payments to SoundExchange on your behalf. Please let us know by May 6, 2011 how you intend to proceed. If you wish to submit materials and payments directly to SoundExchange, you may use the rates, forms and other information provided on SoundExchange’s web site at www.soundexchange.com/service-provider/how-do-i-pay/ . Please note that SoundExchange does not endorse any particular third-party service and that – should a third-party service fail to meet its obligations on your behalf going forward – you remain ultimately responsible for your own service’s compliance with the terms of the statutory license.

If you have any questions, please review our web site at www.soundexchange.com or feel free to contact our licensing and enforcement department at 202.559.0555 or L&E@soundexchange.com.

* * *

This letter does not constitute a waiver of our members’ right to recover damages incurred by virtue of any unlicensed transmissions or reproductions of copyrighted sound recordings, and such rights as well as claims for other relief are expressly retained. Also, please be advised that SoundExchange does not make any determination as to whether a service is in fact eligible to use the Statutory License. Instead, the applicable authorization for such services to publicly perform sound recordings derives from federal law, and eligibility for such activity is thus a matter of law. Accordingly, SoundExchange’s acceptance of notices of use, payments, statements of account, or reports of use does not express or imply any acknowledgment that a service is in fact eligible for or otherwise in compliance with the requirements of the Statutory License. If you have questions about whether your service is eligible for the Statutory License, you should consult your own legal counsel for advice.

Regards,

Brad Prendergast
Counsel
SoundExchange, Inc.
1121 Fourteenth St. NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202-559-0550
Fax: 202-640-5883
email: bprendergast@soundexchange.com

In other words, SW cast is dead. and you’ll need to find an alternate licensing source before may 6, 2011.
Feel free to comment as either a station owner, a listener, or what have you. It’ll be interesting to see your views.

Popularity: 29%

so as a long time tech geek, I have this bad habbit of keeping up with firmware upgrades for the various blind products,
pacmate
braillenote family of products
and the
braille sense family of products
once distributed by
GWMicro
now sold and distributed by their manufacturer
hims INC.
It’s come to my attention that the braille sense plus has a knew firmware upgrade coming out or that’s already out, ok, that’s special, great, spantacular. Except for one major off pissing issue.
This firmware, will have burnt into the rom, five, yes five, different versions of the bible.
I see a few issues with this
List time, you know how this rolls.

• not everyone’s freakin’ religious, stop trying to ram it down our throats.
• noting the item above, if I wanna freakin’ remove it, give me the ability to for christ sakes.
• Actually, here’s a better idea, during the upgrade, give us the option, we want it, grate, let us pick a version, or all five if the person wants it. Don’t want it? Don’t install it for peet sakes!

People have religion, believe in god, are cathlic, whatever. I’m not knocking that, what I’m freakin’ knocking is this freakin companies ramming religion by burning 5 different bibles into your note takers rom, without your consent, and their being no way to remove it or know way to tell the updater, thanks, but no thanks, I *don’t* want this.
Ok, if you *must* install it, stick it in flash, as files, so they can be deleted!
So me getting a braille sense plus?
Not after I read that.
Comment away.
Let’s see what this sparks. This should be interesting.

Popularity: 38%

Their are times when I sit back and go

why the hell didn’t I think of that?

Short version, my computer decided that not reading in windows explorer would be cool and stalling more then a 1912 ford would be nifty.
So I decided to blame freedom scientific and ring them up and scream at a few people.
We do the basic troubleshooting and figure out, ok, it’s not the video mirror driver, so the tech goes, let me tandum in.
We dig around, bounce a few oh shit ideas around, he goes, what’s this do. He hits alt+p. this disables the preview pane in windows 7, and holy shit all my problems go away.
Yes I know, me and
james
fail at the whole tech thing, this time.
Better luck next time. I suppose.

Popularity: 24%

so I’ve been eyeballing these iPhone tthings since voice over now comes built into the phone.
I got to play with a 3gs thanks to a friend I got to meet while in fitchburg.
Who ever knew a phone could
survive
a 1000 foot drop from a moving airplane.
Shows you apple’s durability, maybe?

Popularity: 17%

Once again, we here in canada proove we have a better handle on this digital thing than the united states.
We took the year by storm with
18% growth
over the united states impressive 1%.
Oh, wait, it gets better.
In 2009, our digital growth was 38%, and the united states was… what’s that? only 8%? sorry you suck, again.
It’s impressive to see that our digital and non digital markets rank the same, number 7 in the world.
Again, united states? RIAA/MPAA, head out of your asses, right the hell now.

Popularity: 27%

I won’t reidderate my view on bandwidth caps.
this person over here, known as my roommate, does it quite well
for me.
while covering the crtc’s ruling and simarily blasting the hell outta of it, for what that’s worth.
Now, the federal government has simarily told the CRTC, either you recynd your ruling or we’ll
do it for you

it’s their choice.
Here’s that article, minus all the sighted advertisement shit.

CRTC will rescind ‘unlimited use’ Internet decision – or Ottawa will overturn it
STEVEN CHASE
OTTAWA— From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2011 10:17PM EST
Last updated Wednesday, Feb. 02, 2011 10:59PM EST
The Harper government will overturn the CRTC’s decision that effectively ends “unlimited use” Internet plans if the regulator doesn’t rescind the decision itself.
Industry Minister Tony Clement made the surprise announcement late Wednesday night via his closely-followed Twitter account.
He confirmed reports by The Globe and Mail and other media that the Tories were prepared to take this step.
“True. CRTC must go back to drawing board,” he tweeted after being asked if it was true the government would act “if the CRTC does not back down.”

Given this ultimatum from the Tories, the options facing the independent regulator are to reconsider the ruling of its own volition or see the cabinet use its power to reverse it.

The Harper government has taken a keen interest in the CRTC ruling that’s sparked a massive consumer backlash and caught the attention of all political parties in Ottawa.

Mr. Harper has personally intervened on the file to signal his displeasure this week.

If the Harper government is forced to act, it would mean that independent Internet service providers would not be forced to switch to per-byte billing from “unlimited access” accounts.

It would also not prevent the big Internet providers from continuing to use metered billing as they have for years.

But the fact that smaller providers could offer unlimited accounts has likely acted as a competitive check on the market and helped keep prices from rising.

Earlier Wednesday night, Mr. Clement turned up the heat on CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein on the eve of the regulator’s Commons committee grilling over the decision.

The minister used his closely followed Twitter account to broadcast his unease about the ruling, raising the stakes for Mr. von Finckenstein’s appearance Thursday.

The regulatory chief has been called on the carpet before MPs to explain the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruling.

Mr. Clement, who only this week announced his government is probing whether to overturn the decision, late Wednesday served notice that he will be closely scrutinizing the comments of Mr. von Finckenstein, the very regulator whose decision he’s now second-guessing. The CRTC is independent but cabinet has the power to amend or rescind its rulings.

Using his Twitter instant messaging account – followed by more than 8,300 people, including journalists and many in political circles – Mr. Clement hammered home how skeptical he is of the CRTC decision concerning what Internet providers call “usage-based billing.”

“I’m looking forward to the CRTC chairman’s appearance before the House Industry Committee … to explain his support for the UBB decision,” the Industry Minister said via Twitter.

To drive home his point, Mr. Clement quickly added: “I remain very concerned by the UBB decision of the CRTC and look forward to my review being completed ASAP.”

Mr. Clement is the most avid Twitter user in the federal cabinet, having posted more than 2,500 messages. He’s shown a knack for careful tweeting that avoids missteps. While he discusses music and his personal life, his political-themed messages are normally worded to make a point rather than repeat blandishments.

Mr. Clement and the Harper cabinet have overturned the CRTC before, of course, by striking down the regulator’s ruling that Globalive, which now operates Wind Mobile, couldn’t launch service in the regulated sector because of foreign financial backing.

A CRTC official said this week the agency has received thousands of complaints about its decision, which allows large Internet providers such as BCE Inc.’s Bell Canada to charge smaller providers who lease space on their networks on a per-byte, or usage, basis.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself took the unusual step of intervening in the controversy, putting more heft behind Mr. Clement’s move to review the CRTC ruling – a strong sign of the Conservatives’ displeasure with the regulator’s decision.

It’s an unwelcome development for major Internet providers, which have fought for years for the CRTC ruling that effectively ends “unlimited” Internet download plans.

The Conservatives said the probe of the ruling will be finished by or before March 1.

While the Conservatives insist they have not yet decided what to do, the government is sounding very sympathetic to CRTC critics who say the verdict will hurt Internet commerce and consumers.

“We want to ensure that the Internet is available for consumers, small businesses, innovators and creators. That is what we are all about,” Mr. Clement told the Commons Wednesday.

needless to say, the CRTC’s been told, your choice, but either way, this will get reversed, either voluntarily or forcefully.
This is one thing I don’t mind eyeballing, and have been eyeballing since my last
primus
bill showed up wherein this was mentioned.
working off that, while I was putting the above together, we have
this
from
OpenMedia

The CRTC’s Usage-based billing rules will be reviewed by the CRTC, or overturned by the government.

We’re not at the finish line yet, but this is a massive win for all 330,000 of us who signed the Stop The Meter petition.

What we do not know:
1. Will the CRTC review all of it’s UBB decisions pertaining to Indie ISPs or just those pertaining to the specific billing rules?
2. Will UBB be suspended until the CRTC finishes it’s review?
3. Will the CRTC actually do a complete reversal in the end, or will they try to save face by doing a half-measured response (giving the Indie ISPs a better deal on UBB, but not removing it’s imposition)

What we do know:
1. From what the Globe reports, major telecom companies (Bell, Shaw, Rogers, Videotron), will still be allowed to impose UBB on their retail customers
2. They will now face more competition from indie ISPs who will, to some degree, be able to decide on their own pricing.

In short, this is an amazing and unprecedented victory for innovators, entrepreneurs and Canadians of all stripes…. But we are NOT at the finish line. There is nothing that big telecom would like more than to change the channel on this debate. Lets take a minute to pat ourselves on the back, but not this victory act as veil on the work that still needs to be done. Bi

The next round will likely be with the CRTC. We have momentum behind us, we have the government and major opposition parties behind us, we have over 330,000 of us who have taken a firm stand in favour of an accessible open Internet. If we keep the momentum going we can stop the meter, and fix the structural problems in our communications system.

Big telecom lobbyists are waiting to back to business as usual; the backroom meetings, the captured regulator, the uninformed citizenry. Lets not go back there – this has been too fun.

We’re just about there – please keep raising awareness amongst your friends, family and networks – let continue to grow our community of supporters:

To further the point, please submit the following form.
If the below form doesn’t work, go over
here
and fill it out.

Thanks for your continued support and let’s here your comments.

Popularity: 27%

so this blog, among other things, including e-mail, is now hosted on
dream host
and a couple nights ago, their entire network infristructure went down for scheduled maintenance, and this was posted on their
status
twitter.

DreamHost Status: Network Maintenance: Friday, January 28th – 22:00 through Saturday, January 29th 02:00 PST http://dhurl.org/1io at 2:49:38 PM on 1/28/2011

so being the individual I am, I immediately visit the post, in the event I’m effected, and in
visiting that post
we see it’s tagged for 9:30PM.
Those of you with half an inkling of a clue about the power of
wordpress
will know you can future date a post, and it’ll show up as being posted at that date and time.
This is what dreamhost had done in this case.
The influx of fuckin’ winers after this post went up, supposedly 30 minutes before the network maintenance window, was outstandingly dumb!
These people supposedly have technical nowhow?
These people supposedly run websites and businesses?
You wouldn’t know it, reading the comments after that particular post even today over 48 hours after things went to hell and the maintenance went longer than expected.
People, a few things in list format, because I don’t feel like expanding my ideas right now and I’m undercafeinated and food deprived.

• dream host
  can’t control if things go straight to hell and the network maintenance window needs to be expanded
• secondly, dream host has better things to do than to bend to your every beck and call and issue you status e-mails when shit’s gonna fall over. this is why their
  twitter
  and
  status blog
  exist, and ohmygod, the status blog has an rss feed!
• further to that, you are supposedly technical, and you have time to post comments and wine, follow the rss feed of that status blog, or create a rss feed of their twitter, ok? use that technical knowledge for something else then pissing off dream host. they might shut you down, except not, but the thought was their and needed to be said.

the long and short of this post is this.
You run a website, your supposedly technical, dreamhost has many a way for you to know about this stuff, and their twitters updated hella frequently, so for the love of cheese and bacon, use the resources available to you and quit wining!
I’m done, now.
food calls.
I do like comments, use them.

Popularity: 30%

When I purchase something, I expect to be able to do whatever I want with it, whenever I want, on whatever freakin device I so choose, right?
Up to now, kindle users couldn’t do this.
It’s a long standing given that I hate DRM, especially when on the rare off chance I purchase something, that DRM protection is on.
This means I can’t do whatever I want with said purchase, weather it’s an MP3, or an ebook.
Until now.
From
life hacker
we have the
solution
to your kindle drm protected wo’s.
somehow I’m not saddened by this.
The reason?
I bought the book, let me do whatever I want with it. So thanks to the above linked source for giving me an actual way to use what I buy wherever I want.

Popularity: 26%

I thought I’d seen it all until
this

WASHINGTON – US coffee chain Starbucks on Wednesday began allowing customers in its US stores to keep their cash and credit cards in their wallets and pay for their drinks with mobile phones.

Starbucks said the mobile payment system, which has been tested in selected cities since last year, was being expanded to the nearly 6,800 Starbucks around the country and the more than 1,000 Starbucks located in Target stores.

While Japanese shoppers have been able to pay by mobile phone for years for certain purchases, the practice is still in its infancy in the United States.

The Seattle, Washington-based Starbucks said its mobile payment program will be the largest in the country.

Starbucks said owners of a Blackberry smartphone, an iPhone or an iPod Touch who have downloaded the free Starbucks Card mobile application can buy drinks by waving their mobile phone at a scanner at the cash register.

The scanner reads an on-screen barcode and debits the purchase from the Starbucks Card, which can be reloaded with funds using a credit card or with PayPal.

“Starbucks anticipates mobile payment will be a draw for customers looking to experience the speed, ease and convenience of paying with their mobile phone,” the company said in a statement.

Google last month unveiled a new mobile phone, the “Nexus S,” powered by its Android software, that allows for another form of mobile payment.

The Nexus S is equipped with a near field communication (NFC) chip that turns the device into a virtual wallet, allowing users to “tap and pay” for financial transactions.

NFC chips store personal data that can be transmitted to readers, say at a shop checkout stand, by tapping a handset on a pad.

Reading that makes me wonder how accessible that app would be ont he iphone with voiceover.
related: aughta check that out while I’m down their. methinks.

Popularity: 20%

so over the past month my computer had decided that being made of fail, was grand, but it’s
lenovo
running
microsoft
windows, so you’d expect things to generally suck, right?
yeah, except not on the magnitude of this.
My wireless adapter was sorta being a pain in the ass, since my last trip to the states.
I just thought it was the fitchburg state network, because we know that university networks generally suck, on principle.
Well, over the past couple of days, I’ve been losing total network connectivity, etc.
Without boring my readers with the details, it was determined that my network adapter, is simarily, hozed, shot, whatever you call it.
The resolution?
Wire into the router, and use the kitchen table, as my desk, until a better solution can be found.

Popularity: 19%

I’m on the
jaws for windows list
hosted on
rfree lists
Why? because I’ve got nothing else better to do with my inbox, so why not, righht?
Sure, but over the past few days, the list has been less than on topic of late.
I politely, one list member to another, issued mild clues, just to say, this isn’t official, just one member to another back the off topic crap down before the owner/mods, mainly,
james
and/or
jessica
have to officially step in and squish this.
It didn’t help, kept up, and finally james very bluntly told the list membership, straight. just like this.

From: jfw-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:jfw-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of James Homuth
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 5:18 AM
To: jfw@freelists.org
Subject: Admin: The off-topic messages end right here, right now.

Folks, I’ll make this rather straightforward. Windows mobile does not have anything to do with JAWS. Nor does your particular iDevice of choice. Nor does Facebook shutting down, or not, depending on the time of day. If you can’t keep your messages confined to the topic of the *JAWS For Windows* list, you will be invited to leave. If you have a problem with the rules as laid out by Jessica earlier and myself now, take it up with me off-list. Another message that doesn’t have to do with JFW, and that person will spend some time on moderation. The guidelines are not hard to follow, folks. You all received them when you subscribed. If you’d like, they can be re-sent to you as a reminder. Please, for the love of all that is sane, follow them. The admin staff will not be asking again.

James,
List Admin

in other words, get your shit in order, leave quietly, or simarily get tossed out the window.
The list membership has been told how it’s gonna roll.
Welcome to the Friday cluestick, people.
Now, keep your shit on topic, ok?
related: free lists mailing manager needs to be shot, on basic principle.

Popularity: 18%

So yesterday everyone and their mother was wining about
facebook shutting down
but sadly, it’s
not
so please do be shutting your mouth and do your research before you wine.
More proof that the claim was
false
can be found right
over here
so in short, please get your facts straight before believing things like
this
thanks for coming out to play, though.

Popularity: 19%

people always ask me, why won’t you buy a mac.
My simple answer, I’m happy with what I’ve got.
If I want to play in the mac environment I’ll crank it up in a VM.
Well, I’ve found another reason.
Reading RSS feeds, we see that an apple
service provider is
suing
a customer for complaining online.

An Apple authorized Service Provider called System Graph is suing a customer who complained online about poor service from them. The customer Dimitrios Papadimitriadis took his iMac to them because he was seeing gray spots on his LED panel.

The Greek company System Graph recommended a full interior cleaning of the iMac and performed the service for Dimitrios. He then got his iMac back and noticed moisture behind the screen and that it still did not work properly and took it back to the repair center. System Graph then told him that they needed to keep his iMac to replace the LED screen and he would be without it for another week.

Dimitrios was now angry and demanded that his iMac be replaced pursuant to Article 540 of the Civil Code and section 5 of Act 2251. System Graph refused saying they were not the original retailer that he purchased the iMac from.

Dimitros has posted the entire story on a forum (Google Translated) and is now being sued by System Graph for 200,000 euros which is approximately $267,000 USD for slandering their good name. He has already gotten a large amount of support on both twitter and the forum.

What I don’t understand is what the company System Graph expects to get out of this suit. They will not be clearing their name by suing a customer, and what will Apple think if one of their Authorized Service Provider is suing an Apple customer. With the explosion of this news all over the web it will undoubtedly bring more attention to the company than they ever wanted.

if that’s the level of service we get from authorized apple dealers? Thanks, but no thanks apple, I’ll stick with windows, even though it does suck.
I’d rather avoid getting sued, when I file a valid complaint.
Apple, time to clean house, k? get rid of that service provider and i *might* consider switching, unlikely, but it had to be said.

Popularity: 16%

I’d like to state for the record that microsoft office outlook, is a pain in the ass.
I installed.
google
apps sync as we were going to use google apps to provide our mailing services, (on a professional level). Ever since then outlook’s decided, that in it’s infinant wisdom that running multiple IMap accounts under one profile is gonna throw it into a tailspin and nothing I do will correct it.
So now, I have to setup each account under it’s own profile.
in other words, microshaft’s technology falls on it’s face, yet again.
related: cleaning up after it fell flat on it’s face is no fun.
I’ve got roag profiles kicking around I can’t get rid of. bleh!

Popularity: 10%

Since I’m lazy, have the following small notes to three companies, crammed into one post, and in list format.

1. Freedom scientific
   it’s good practice not to break your access to windows mobile applications right after an upgrade.
2. Windows mobile:
   When your told to send mail on an alternate port, actually doing it, without throwing 7 types of fits, would rule to.
3. primus
   This blocking of port 25 is not cool, kindly quit it.

With no love, the other geek in this apartment.
Refer to
this
for james view on this same thing.

Popularity: 20%

I read
this
earlier today on
james
blog.
Then I ran across
this
story that in it’s summary stated

Yahoo will not shut down Delicious and instead is trying to sell it to another company. At least, that’s what Yahoo wrote on the Delicious blog Friday, a day after reports circulated that it planned to shut down the social bookmarking pioneer.

so I did some digging, and followed this link to a
blog post
and I give it to you in it’s entirety.

Many of you have read the news stories about Delicious that began appearing yesterday. We’re genuinely sorry to have these stories appear with so little context for our loyal users. While we can’t answer each of your questions individually, we wanted to address what we can at this stage and we promise to keep you posted as future plans get finalized.

Is Delicious being shut down? And should I be worried about my data?

- No, we are not shutting down Delicious. While we have determined that there is not a strategic fit at Yahoo!, we believe there is a ideal home for Delicious outside of the company where it can be resourced to the level where it can be competitive.

What is Yahoo! going to do with Delicious?

- We’re actively thinking about the future of Delicious and we believe there is a home outside the company that would make more sense for the service and our users. We’re in the process of exploring a variety of options and talking to companies right now. And we’ll share our plans with you as soon as we can.

What if I want to get my bookmarks out of Delicious right away?

- As noted above, there’s no reason to panic. We are maintaining Delicious and encourage you to keep using it. That said, we have export options if you so choose. Additionally, many services provide the ability to import Delicious links and tags.

We can only imagine how upsetting the news coverage over the past 24 hours has been to many of you. Speaking for our team, we were very disappointed by the way that this appeared in the press. We’ll let you know more as things develop.

it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming weeks and month’s.

Popularity: 14%

as posted
previously
I threw a clue by 4 at the
Ottawa citizen
and
1310 news
regarding their
assumption
that the iphone was
specially designed
for the blind.
I wasn’t disputing the fact that the IPhone wasn’t a barrier remover and hasn’t enhanced the lives of blind users.
I’m saying that, their was no special software installed on victoria’s phone to allow this access, apples putting it in every phone, sighted or not, and that you don’t pay extra for it.
Both 1310 news and the ottawa citizen are making it out that it was specially put into the phone for victoria as a blind user.
This assumption is not correct.
That’s all I’m saying.
Comment here and voice your thoughts.

Popularity: 10%

as
james
posted
here
We’ve got everyone up in arms about this, well, a reminder to the
ottawa citizen
it’s
great
their was an arrest made, but the IPhone 4, isn’t specially adapted for the blind, the speech software is built into the phone even for you stupid sighted fucks to use, so enough already, ok?
Put the theves in jail, an move on with your lives.
We do thank the
rogers
employees for replacing the phone, but enough of this the software’s specially designed for the blind, and it only built into the phone for blind users, crap, because it’s not!
thanks for playing.

Popularity: 11%

So when I got home today, under a lot of stress, still going through mild bouts of mind implosions, still am, to this hour, I decide, I’ll take a shower, then crank up the computer and go through e-mail, twitter, etc. etc. etc.
Come to realize, I had no dsl sync, at all.
I swore mildly, and immediately dialed my
ISP
to get answers.
Tech support was baffled about why I had no service, when my move order, in fact stated service cancelation was dec 2nd.
I demanded a manager and was immediately granted an audience with elizibith, the sales manager of teksavvy.
We were able to determine that someone in data processing made a major error in processing the service cancelation order, and accidentally entered november 12, 2010 instead of dec 2, 2010.
The move order itself for knew installation was in good shape, someone just needs to learn how to.
1. read.
2. type properly.
Elizibith made it clear to me that it was totally 100% teksavvy’s fault, no bullshitting around, no funny business.
at this point I was given 2 options.

• Reconnect the current service within 5 business days, with a disconnect properly scheduled for dec 2nd.


• leave service deactivated at the old address and proceed with the reconnect at the knew address dec 2nd, 2010.

• a credit for the days of service not used from november 12, to december 2, 2010.


• a credit of the move charge
  of $19.99

Popularity: 13%

so a couple of days ago, the
fitchburg state university
student network started having massive issues that were made of utter failure.
Packet loss, dropping us on the floor, horrid DNS resolution, etc. etc. etc.
We chocked it up to students on this router being bandwidth hogs, and generally a detriment to the ability for anyone to get anything done, in a timely manner, so we powered everything down, and crashed.
Yesterday, things were going fine, and krista decides to make dropbox her bitch to move over 30Gigs of shit from one machine to the other, so we can have her on one machine instead of bouncing between a netbook and a laptop depending on the task she needs to perform.
The speeds are absolutely disgusting, and believe me when I say disgusting, I mean, We’re used to, at peak hours, things flying at 775KB/sec upstream, and off hours, welcome to 1500KB/sec bitches.
No, not yesterday.
We saw maybe 200KB/sec, if that, when it decides to move.
the downstream? hi, did we roll back to the dialup days?
Normally with the two of us being bandwidth bitches, we’d see speeds between the two of us topping 2MB/sec down. really? we saw maybe, if we were lucky. 600K down.
so I got it in my head, kill anything we weren’t using, skype, mail, etc.
No change.
we started being tossed on the floor again, packet loss, dns resolution issues, etc.
So I then pick up the phone, and ring the helpdesk and start applying drop kick to peoples heads.
I end up getting this half assed response, well, here’s what you can do, we’re not seing any issues, call us back if it persists.
5 minutes later, neither of us can get online, it’s all exploded. It’s like we’d never used the network before.
Someone over their had reset the permissions on krista’s account, when clearly, I’d told them to leave it alone until the morning when I would call them back for a follow up.
We get her machine, and my machine, back online, but the netbook refuses to do what it’s told, I can surf the regular net, but get e-mail or do other essential tasks from the netbook? not happenin!
I beat it around for a bit, reinstalling the driver, trying to fix it, no go.
so I simply shut it down, and go to bed.
This morning rolls around, and I decide, fuck automatic registration, I’ll do it manually.
In other words, from a working computer, pull up the
self-registration
portal of the FSU student network, delete the netbook’s mac address from the system, reboot the netbook and reconnect to the network, forcing it to reregister with the systems.
That’s,. not how it rolled.
The webpage refused to load, either on my machine or krista’s.
So I pick up the phone again, and sit on hold for a million years, and finally get through to someone with a brain, and explain the entire situation, she reviews the ticket, then she herself, attempts to access
ENAC
and it tells her to go to hell as well.
So that tells me that it’s not just me and I’m not losing my mind, (not that I had anything to lose to begin with.)
After some digging, she escalates the ticket and reminds me of the policy of only having 3 devices per ID on the network.
I ask her where that’s documented, she tells me well it should have been in the paperwork you signed.
I then inform her that the residence agreement available to students online via the student portal, or the TOS/AUP available during registration make no mention of this stipulation and that I think she’s lying to me.
She hims and haws telling me I must have missed it, I don’t know how to read, it went on and on.
I told her politely but firmly, that she has to choices, either quit bullshitting me around or put me through to her supervisor, because I was done dealing with her giving me the run around.
so She then says, well you can get a special request to lift that limit, I ask her to make it happen.
She adds that to the ticket.
Then informs me that I will be hearing from her or teer 2 support by the hour of noon, today with a resolution to the matter.
I tell her that’s fine, and that I’d be speaking to her at 12:00PM eastern time today.
Why isn’t krista dealing with this herself, you may ask?
Because the technicians won’t listen to her, and she’s afraid to employ drop kick liberally to peoples heads, and I’m not, so, you want it done, welcome to drop kick central.
If this is not resolved by the end of the day today, they are aware that I’ll have krista file a complaint with the dean of student services, and something will get done, and someone over their, may end up jobless, or at least, severlely reprimanded.
To top it off, without a firm resolution to the matter, by the end of the day, they’ll get an introduction to my best friend.
Wanna know what that is?
It’s called.
welcome to open communication,
fitchburg state university
hope you enjoy.
With that, I’ll see you next time.

Popularity: 23%

Dear readers,
With the influx of people attempting to start drama between me and krista over the past few days, and attempting to post unneeded and unwarranted comments to this blog, as of now, any and all comments will have to be approved by me or another administrator.
I never thought I’d have to resort to this, as it retracts from the freeform way I like my comments to run, and the discussion unmoderated comments allow, especially when a topic really gets going here, as I’ve seen in the past, but it had to be done.
I do apologize to those of you who are legitimately posting valid discussions to the blog.
If you have questions, or other less… manual ways, I can keep the unneeded/unwanted comments off the blog without manual intervension, I’m open to ideas.
Please note that akismet is already installed.
I’ll post later, hopefully with something more happy.

Popularity: 13%

So I saw
this article
about Verizon’s Galaxy Tab priced at $600.
I saw it on
Computerworld’s
website.
You may be defending your pricing, but not offering any discount at all on this device with a contract, or offering a contract at all, makes me wonder how good this’ll play with pr and popularity once it’s officially out.
Verizon, in my opinion, your making yet another mistake with this one.

Popularity: 9%

I used to have this mild dislike for
Cpanel
that is supposedly the leading control panel, or so it’s
website says.
After tonight, that mild dislike has turned into utter hatred.
as
james
has also
posted
It started out as a mild
wordpress
issue that I asked
him
to help me fix.
actually it was more like I wanted
google analytics
to better provide tracking and other useful things.
Well, the plugins wouldn’t install, nothing would update, it was just a giant cluster fuck, so we decided, maybe the install’s hozed, so back your shit up, let’s reinstall that.
This is when we found all the broken things
so, Well a five minute job turned into 2 and a half hours, of nothing but headaches, and just stupidness!
I swear to god, when you install apache, it shouldn’t have shit barried under every fucking conceivable location in the linux operating system, and some spots, you wouldn’t think of!
Cpanel seriously, I hate you, if this hasn’t been made clear by now.
We came to the conclusion that apache was partially hozed, with miscompiled modules, etc, so simple fix, right? recompile the missing shit, and carry on, right? not so much!
The entire apache install was hozed, causing me to have to rip it apart, and basically take it down to the barebones, then rebuild the entire fucking thing back to spec, and to my standards.
I swear to god, cpanel, if you weren’t the one my customers liked, and what made me money, I’d fucking shoot you!
I seriously, and utterly, hate your goddamn guts.
you are the biggist piece of shit this side of the mississippi.
you stupid thundercunt of a control panel.
your supposed to be easy? your supposed to make things easier? really?
Tonight’s issues were deffinitly not easy to resolve, eeven with cpanel.
If i’d been able to get away with it, I’d have recompiled every goddamn package on that system from ground 0 from source and told cpanel to kiss my fucking ass.
But because it’s the thing that makes me able to pay the bills, I keep it around, but let me tell you, from now on, I’m not going in their, I know where all the shit is to do everything I need to from the command line, if it doesn’t exist, I’ll fuckin’ write a script to accomplish a task.
I’m not touching your useless web interface that’s made of so much fail, i’d have better luck talking to krista’s mother vanessa then making you do what your fucking told, and that, for the love of fuck, is saying something!
With that said, I’m done, for now.

Popularity: 20%

Hello fellow blog readers
It’s been awhile since I posted something of major substance to the blind community here.
On
this blog
We have some very interesting posts to reference.
I’m going to post each of them below, exactly as posted, and I’ll follow each one of them up with my comments.
The first one is entitled

Critical security flaw in JAWS

and was posted on october 16, 2009.

Critical security flaw in JAWS
October 16, 2009 by Tyler Spivey
I have found a critical security flaw in the JAWS Screen reader that allows an attacker to gain full system-level access to

the machine. I have tested this on 32-bit Windows Vista
with JAWS 10.0.1154 and 32-bit Windows 7 with JAWS 11.0.611 Beta.

Instructions:

1. From the Windows logon screen with JAWS running, press insert+f2. Run JAWS Manager will appear.
2. Select Settings Packager, and press ok. Settings Packager will open.
3. From Settings Packager, go to File menu > Open, or press ctrl+o.
4. In the open dialog, type “%windir%\system32\*.exe” into the file name field (without the quotes) and press enter.
5. In the list of files, find cmd. Right click on it, or press the applications key and select Run as Administrator.
A system-level command prompt should open. To get out of it, type exit and press enter, then close the Settings Packager.

my comments on this one
Note that this was during the last public beta build of jaws 11, build 611. I was able to varrify this issue with this build of jaws on all machines I have access to. After build 729 the final release to the public on DVD version of jaws came out on october 19 2009, tyler reported in his next post, see below, had been fixed. but as this next will show, this problem still exists using a different set of varrifiable instructions.
The next post entitled

JAWS security flaw, round 2

has this to say.

JAWS security flaw, round 2
October 19, 2009 by Tyler Spivey
In my First Post, I described a security vulnerability that allowed local users to gain system-level access to a machine. A quick test with JAWS 11.0.729, the release build of JAWS 11, reveals that it is fixed. Here is a slightly different set of instructions that will do the same thing.
1. From the login screen, press insert+j, and navigate to utilities/configuration manager.
2. When configuration manager opens, press control+o.
3. press the Import button. The open dialog will appear.
4. On my Windows 7 test machine, I got an error box that can safely be dismissed. Once done, type %windir%\system32\*.exe into the open dialog.
5. find cmd in the list, and press the applications key on it. Select Run as administrator if it appears. If not, keep following these steps.
6. From cmd’s context menu, pick select. answer no to the question asking you to overwrite settings files, if it comes up.
7. press import, and pick cmd from the list again. Activate the context menu, and select Run as administrator.
If done correctly, you should have an administrative command prompt

I took that set of instructions and again tested them on as many systems as possible, and low and behold, I received an administrative command prompt.
But the ensanity doesn’t end there.
On the same day, this post

Gathering passwords with the JAWS builtin keylogger

hit his blog.
The text is below.

Gathering passwords with the JAWS builtin keylogger
October 19, 2009 by Tyler Spivey
JAWS so helpfully contains a built-in script that logs all keys pressed on the keyboard. This method has a better chance of working on XP than the others. You must have a user account on the machine to make this work.

1. Open Keyboard manager, and open the default file. Add a key to the “ToggleKeyboardLogging” script.

2. Once done, log out of the machine. Your profile will still be loaded. Press that key. The only thing JAWS will say is “enabled”. Log into the machine, then open keystrokes.log in your jaws program directory. all keys pressed will be there, from the last time the script was enabled

At the time of writing, do to my keyboard manager acting up, I have not been able to test this particular vulnerability relating to the keylogger.
At the time this went to press, Freedom scientific LLC,
http://www.freedomscientific.com
was closed.
But the following e-mail was dispatched to both the support and info addresses.

subject: freedom scientific’s response to the security wholes found in jaws 11?

To whom this may concern,
I am writing this message in reference to three blog posts available at:

http://tspivey.wordpress.com/

and who’s text and my comments were placed on my own blog at

http://www.shaned.net/blog

To summarize these posts, it was discovered that not only can system level access to the computer be gained using your software, but your program includes a hidden keylogger that isn’t even documented that logs all keystrokes entered and can gain sensative information from a users computer?
These keys hense are logged to keystrokes.log.
I would like to ask, what is freedom scientifics stand on these issues, and is freedom scientific willing to comment publicly for airing on ACBRadio’s main menu and in other public venues regarding these security wholes?
I Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Shane Davidson

We shall see what comes of this.
until then.
piece yall.

Popularity: 23%

Blind Web surfers sue for accessibility

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business WriterTue Oct 24, 1:45 PM ET

“Links list dialogue.” “Links list view.” “Your Account — Two of 164.” This is what the Internet sounds like to Chris Danielsen. Danielsen is blind. He’s
using a software program called Jaws that converts the text on a Web page into a computerized voice that comes out through a speaker, allowing him to surf
the Web using keyboard commands instead of a mouse — the same way lots of blind people use the Internet.

In this case, his computer is listing all the Web links on the page he’s on and telling him that the highlighted link his cursor is on now will take him
to the “Your Account” section on Wal-Mart’s Web site.

Danielsen, who writes a blog called “The Voice of the Nation’s Blind” for the National Federation of the Blind, says accessing the Internet has been a “huge
boon” for blind people. It’s allowed them to accomplish a great number of tasks on their own that would otherwise present difficulties or require the help
of a sighted person, such as banking, buying plane tickets and shopping for things like groceries and music.

But like any evolving technology, accessing the Internet has hardly been a smooth ride for the blind. Some sites can be difficult to navigate, particularly
if they contain relatively few text links and rely more on graphics and other visual elements that screen-reading software such as Jaws can’t interpret.

That’s why the NFB, an organization that represents blind people, is suing Target Corp., saying that its Web site is inaccessible to blind Internet users.

Last month a federal judge in California allowed the NFB’s case to proceed, rejecting Target’s argument that its Web site wasn’t subject to the Americans
With Disabilities Act, a 1990 law that requires retailers and other public places to make accommodations for people with disabilities. Target argued that
the law only covered physical spaces.

The case, which is entering a pretrial phase called discovery in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, could set an important precedent
for applying federal accessibility law to the Internet.

Target said in a statement that its Web site was “committed to providing an online experience that is accessible to all of our guests. Despite the lawsuit
brought forward by the National Federation of the Blind, we have always and will continue to implement new technologies to our Web site.”

John Pare, a spokesman for the NFB, said most Web sites are far easier to navigate than Target’s. In a demonstration of screen-reading software for The
Associated Press, Danielsen showed that many links on Target’s side were unintelligible to the Jaws software, and that the final purchase required the
use of a mouse, something even the most sophisticated blind Web surfer would have trouble with. However, he was able to navigate other sites and purchased
a CD from Amazon.

Jaws, made by Freedom Scientific, is a popular kind of screen-reading software, but there are others, including Window-Eyes, made by GW Micro, and Hal,
made by Dolphin Computer Access.

Many Web sites already have made major progress in becoming accessible to the blind, and some, such as those run by the government, are required to do so
by law.

Yet surfing the Internet is not always worry-free for the blind. Crista Earl, the head of Web operations for the American Foundation for the Blind in New
York, said graphics that don’t contain textual labels — which can be read by screen-reading software — are a common obstacle for blind Internet users,
as are “forms” that are unlabeled. Forms are the little boxes where you insert data, such as a book title you wanted to search for.

The decision to hold Target’s Web site to the same standards of accessibility as its physical store under the Americans with Disabilities Act was considered
a victory by many advocates for the blind, but at the same time others worry that the ruling could be read too narrowly.

Not every business or Web site is subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act, said John D. Kemp., a lawyer with the Washington law firm Powers, Pyles,
Sutter & Verville P.C. The ADA applies mainly to public places such as restaurants, retailers, movie theaters and health care institutions, explained Kemp,
who has long worked on compliance issues related to disabilities, employment and technology.

For an electronic retailer such as Amazon.com, which has no physical store, the law is unclear, Kemp said. “There is no well defined policy in this area
at all.”

However, Kemp noted that many businesses, such as banks, see a strong business rationale for making their sites accessible, and have moved aggressively
to do so.

Meanwhile, other retailers are also moving to adapt their Web sites to screen-reading software. Kelly Groehler, a spokeswoman for Best Buy Co., says the
company has made a number of changes to its site since late last year, including incorporating “alt tags” — or text that labels items like graphics — into
its site.

Best Buy also moved code for drop-down menus to the bottom of the page, where it’s less likely to duplicate other elements on the page. “We’re trying to
be proactive here,” Groehler said. Walmart.com spokeswoman Amy Colella says the site has made sure it is “reasonably accessible” to the blind.

Other retailers are making similar efforts, but it remains a challenge due to the continuing evolution in the technologies used by blind people to surf
the Internet, says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation for online retailers.

“As the retailers’ Web sites continue to evolve to stay competitive in the marketplace, sometimes the technologies necessary to do that are a little bit
ahead of where the screen-readers are,” Silverman said. “It’s a very fast-moving environment. Retailers want to serve all their customers, including blind
people.”

Internet search giant Google Inc. is getting into the act as well. In July it launched a project to identify and rank Web sites that offer significant accessibility
to the blind.

As more information and services migrate online, keeping access open to it is of paramount importance to advocates for the blind.

“The blind have more access to information than they ever had in history — but that’s only true to the extent that Web accessibility is maintained,” Danielsen
said. “The technology is out there, and we don’t need barriers to be put in our way. Give us a way in.”

___

On the Net:

National Federation of the Blind: http://www.nfb.org

Google Accessible Search:

http://labs.google.com/accessible/faq.html

American Foundation for the Blind: http://afb.org/

Popularity: 5%

>Blind Web surfers sue for accessibility

By SETH SUTEL, AP Business WriterTue Oct 24, 1:45 PM ET

“Links list dialogue.” “Links list view.” “Your Account — Two of 164.” This is what the Internet sounds like to Chris Danielsen. Danielsen is blind. He’s
using a software program called Jaws that converts the text on a Web page into a computerized voice that comes out through a speaker, allowing him to surf
the Web using keyboard commands instead of a mouse — the same way lots of blind people use the Internet.

In this case, his computer is listing all the Web links on the page he’s on and telling him that the highlighted link his cursor is on now will take him
to the “Your Account” section on Wal-Mart’s Web site.

Danielsen, who writes a blog called “The Voice of the Nation’s Blind” for the National Federation of the Blind, says accessing the Internet has been a “huge
boon” for blind people. It’s allowed them to accomplish a great number of tasks on their own that would otherwise present difficulties or require the help
of a sighted person, such as banking, buying plane tickets and shopping for things like groceries and music.

But like any evolving technology, accessing the Internet has hardly been a smooth ride for the blind. Some sites can be difficult to navigate, particularly
if they contain relatively few text links and rely more on graphics and other visual elements that screen-reading software such as Jaws can’t interpret.

That’s why the NFB, an organization that represents blind people, is suing Target Corp., saying that its Web site is inaccessible to blind Internet users.

Last month a federal judge in California allowed the NFB’s case to proceed, rejecting Target’s argument that its Web site wasn’t subject to the Americans
With Disabilities Act, a 1990 law that requires retailers and other public places to make accommodations for people with disabilities. Target argued that
the law only covered physical spaces.

The case, which is entering a pretrial phase called discovery in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, could set an important precedent
for applying federal accessibility law to the Internet.

Target said in a statement that its Web site was “committed to providing an online experience that is accessible to all of our guests. Despite the lawsuit
brought forward by the National Federation of the Blind, we have always and will continue to implement new technologies to our Web site.”

John Pare, a spokesman for the NFB, said most Web sites are far easier to navigate than Target’s. In a demonstration of screen-reading software for The
Associated Press, Danielsen showed that many links on Target’s side were unintelligible to the Jaws software, and that the final purchase required the
use of a mouse, something even the most sophisticated blind Web surfer would have trouble with. However, he was able to navigate other sites and purchased
a CD from Amazon.

Jaws, made by Freedom Scientific, is a popular kind of screen-reading software, but there are others, including Window-Eyes, made by GW Micro, and Hal,
made by Dolphin Computer Access.

Many Web sites already have made major progress in becoming accessible to the blind, and some, such as those run by the government, are required to do so
by law.

Yet surfing the Internet is not always worry-free for the blind. Crista Earl, the head of Web operations for the American Foundation for the Blind in New
York, said graphics that don’t contain textual labels — which can be read by screen-reading software — are a common obstacle for blind Internet users,
as are “forms” that are unlabeled. Forms are the little boxes where you insert data, such as a book title you wanted to search for.

The decision to hold Target’s Web site to the same standards of accessibility as its physical store under the Americans with Disabilities Act was considered
a victory by many advocates for the blind, but at the same time others worry that the ruling could be read too narrowly.

Not every business or Web site is subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act, said John D. Kemp., a lawyer with the Washington law firm Powers, Pyles,
Sutter & Verville P.C. The ADA applies mainly to public places such as restaurants, retailers, movie theaters and health care institutions, explained Kemp,
who has long worked on compliance issues related to disabilities, employment and technology.

For an electronic retailer such as Amazon.com, which has no physical store, the law is unclear, Kemp said. “There is no well defined policy in this area
at all.”

However, Kemp noted that many businesses, such as banks, see a strong business rationale for making their sites accessible, and have moved aggressively
to do so.

Meanwhile, other retailers are also moving to adapt their Web sites to screen-reading software. Kelly Groehler, a spokeswoman for Best Buy Co., says the
company has made a number of changes to its site since late last year, including incorporating “alt tags” — or text that labels items like graphics — into
its site.

Best Buy also moved code for drop-down menus to the bottom of the page, where it’s less likely to duplicate other elements on the page. “We’re trying to
be proactive here,” Groehler said. Walmart.com spokeswoman Amy Colella says the site has made sure it is “reasonably accessible” to the blind.

Other retailers are making similar efforts, but it remains a challenge due to the continuing evolution in the technologies used by blind people to surf
the Internet, says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation for online retailers.

“As the retailers’ Web sites continue to evolve to stay competitive in the marketplace, sometimes the technologies necessary to do that are a little bit
ahead of where the screen-readers are,” Silverman said. “It’s a very fast-moving environment. Retailers want to serve all their customers, including blind
people.”

Internet search giant Google Inc. is getting into the act as well. In July it launched a project to identify and rank Web sites that offer significant accessibility
to the blind.

As more information and services migrate online, keeping access open to it is of paramount importance to advocates for the blind.

“The blind have more access to information than they ever had in history — but that’s only true to the extent that Web accessibility is maintained,” Danielsen
said. “The technology is out there, and we don’t need barriers to be put in our way. Give us a way in.”

___

On the Net:

National Federation of the Blind: http://www.nfb.org

Google Accessible Search:

http://labs.google.com/accessible/faq.html

American Foundation for the Blind: http://afb.org/

Popularity: 2%

the following comes from
humanware
enjoy.
Trekker 3.0 Now Available:
HumanWare expands the possibilities of GPS guidance for blind people.

Longueuil, October 18, 2006 — HumanWare is proud to announce the release of the new version of the GPS orientation system most used by blind people in
the world. Trekker 3.0 boasts an array of new features, including using multiple GPS maps, maps covering wider areas, turn by turn instructions guidance
while in a vehicle, capabilities to handle various sources of points of interest, and other innovations providing more information.

New generation of GPS maps

Moving from one region to another is now easier, with the new generation GPS maps used by Trekker 3.0. These cover larger territories and are divided into
regional maps for more convenience. Multiple maps can now be activated and stored in the memory.

More flexibility to manage points of interest

Trekker 3.0 also expands the sources of geographical information with the capability to integrate complementary points of interest coming from other users,
or databases downloadable from the web. Searching for points of interest is now easier because different search criteria can be used and combined (postal
code, categories, distance, etc.). Personal points of interest can be organized into categories, transferred to and backed up on a PC, and even shared
with other users.

More comprehensive routes

Whether you are travelling on foot or in a vehicle, Trekker 3.0 provides more information than ever before. When a route is activated, the initial direction
is now announced. Navigation information is provided step by step, giving the next instruction and the distance to it.

Superior information system

Trekker 3.0 offers the user an unsurpassed access to information. This includes shortcut keys for instant information about speed, direction, city name,
altitude, latitude, longitude and number of satellites in view.

“Since Trekker was introduced 4 years ago, the lives of sightless people have been literally transformed: they now have more freedom and can take full advantage
of their environment,” says product manager Lucia Gomez. “With Version 3.0, we have expanded the concept of “freedom to explore” even further, offering
a product that is both more comprehensive and more flexible”.

Trekker 3.0 is now available from HumanWare subsidiaries and distributors. A free upgrade is available for users of earlier versions at this:
location
A detailed list of the new features in Trekker 3.0 is also available at:
this location.

Popularity: 4%

>the following comes from
humanware
enjoy.
Trekker 3.0 Now Available:
HumanWare expands the possibilities of GPS guidance for blind people.

Longueuil, October 18, 2006 — HumanWare is proud to announce the release of the new version of the GPS orientation system most used by blind people in
the world. Trekker 3.0 boasts an array of new features, including using multiple GPS maps, maps covering wider areas, turn by turn instructions guidance
while in a vehicle, capabilities to handle various sources of points of interest, and other innovations providing more information.

New generation of GPS maps

Moving from one region to another is now easier, with the new generation GPS maps used by Trekker 3.0. These cover larger territories and are divided into
regional maps for more convenience. Multiple maps can now be activated and stored in the memory.

More flexibility to manage points of interest

Trekker 3.0 also expands the sources of geographical information with the capability to integrate complementary points of interest coming from other users,
or databases downloadable from the web. Searching for points of interest is now easier because different search criteria can be used and combined (postal
code, categories, distance, etc.). Personal points of interest can be organized into categories, transferred to and backed up on a PC, and even shared
with other users.

More comprehensive routes

Whether you are travelling on foot or in a vehicle, Trekker 3.0 provides more information than ever before. When a route is activated, the initial direction
is now announced. Navigation information is provided step by step, giving the next instruction and the distance to it.

Superior information system

Trekker 3.0 offers the user an unsurpassed access to information. This includes shortcut keys for instant information about speed, direction, city name,
altitude, latitude, longitude and number of satellites in view.

“Since Trekker was introduced 4 years ago, the lives of sightless people have been literally transformed: they now have more freedom and can take full advantage
of their environment,” says product manager Lucia Gomez. “With Version 3.0, we have expanded the concept of “freedom to explore” even further, offering
a product that is both more comprehensive and more flexible”.

Trekker 3.0 is now available from HumanWare subsidiaries and distributors. A free upgrade is available for users of earlier versions at this:
location
A detailed list of the new features in Trekker 3.0 is also available at:
this location.

Popularity: 1%

Hey,
I’m apart of the
langa
newsletter.
He runs a
blog
that I find interesting.
enjoy all.

Popularity: 4%

>Hey,
I’m apart of the
langa
newsletter.
He runs a
blog
that I find interesting.
enjoy all.

Popularity: 2%

Good morning everyone.
this
article
from
beta news.com
entitled:
Qualcomm Hands Off Eudora to Mozilla
is interesting.
I will post the article in it’s entirety below.
enjoy.
Qualcomm Hands Off Eudora to Mozilla

By
Nate Mook
and
Scott M. Fulton, III,
BetaNews

October 11, 2006, 2:57 PM

Qualcomm on Wednesday joined up with the Mozilla Foundation to announce it is transitioning
Eudora
into an open source e-mail client that will be based upon
Thunderbird.
In turn, all future versions of Eudora will be free and Qualcomm will discontinue the current paid client.

Although it may seem like Eudora is simply abandoning its e-mail software, which has a small but strong following of loyal users, the company claims the
Thunderbird-based client will retain “Eudora’s uniquely rich feature set and productivity enhancements.”
The first release of the open source client is expected in early 2007, at which point Eudora will cease selling the product commercially. In the meantime,
Eudora will be priced at $19.95 USD and come with three incidents of support in a six month period. Until today, Qualcomm sold Eudora versions for a suggested
retail price of as high as $49.95 USD.

Current Eudora users can choose to keep running the ad-supported version indefinitely after upgrading to version 7.1 for Windows and 6.2.4 for Mac OS X,
released last week but announced only today. Qualcomm says it will stop displaying advertisements in the client sometime early next year.

“Qualcomm has decided not to remain in the email market because it is not in alignment with the core business or strategic goals,” the company said. “By
moving Eudora to an open source product, Qualcomm can exit the Eudora business while still supporting Eudora users and advancing the Eudora e-mail client
at a faster pace than before, through the power of the open source development community.”

“We’re pleased to welcome Eudora and its millions of users to the world of open source,” said Frank Hecker, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation.
“This effort should further enrich the Thunderbird technology platform and provide users of both products with an even richer email experience.”

In recent months, reviewers continued to give Eudora the performance edge for use with enterprise e-mail, compared against Thunderbird (though not against
Microsoft Outlook). However, in practice, some have noted Eudora has suffered limited performance problems with recent versions, prompting in at least one case suggestions that users (in this case, students) try Thunderbird instead.

Popularity: 6%

>Good morning everyone.
this
article
from
beta news.com
entitled:
Qualcomm Hands Off Eudora to Mozilla
is interesting.
I will post the article in it’s entirety below.
enjoy.
Qualcomm Hands Off Eudora to Mozilla

By
Nate Mook
and
Scott M. Fulton, III,
BetaNews

October 11, 2006, 2:57 PM

Qualcomm on Wednesday joined up with the Mozilla Foundation to announce it is transitioning
Eudora
into an open source e-mail client that will be based upon
Thunderbird.
In turn, all future versions of Eudora will be free and Qualcomm will discontinue the current paid client.

Although it may seem like Eudora is simply abandoning its e-mail software, which has a small but strong following of loyal users, the company claims the
Thunderbird-based client will retain “Eudora’s uniquely rich feature set and productivity enhancements.”
The first release of the open source client is expected in early 2007, at which point Eudora will cease selling the product commercially. In the meantime,
Eudora will be priced at $19.95 USD and come with three incidents of support in a six month period. Until today, Qualcomm sold Eudora versions for a suggested
retail price of as high as $49.95 USD.

Current Eudora users can choose to keep running the ad-supported version indefinitely after upgrading to version 7.1 for Windows and 6.2.4 for Mac OS X,
released last week but announced only today. Qualcomm says it will stop displaying advertisements in the client sometime early next year.

“Qualcomm has decided not to remain in the email market because it is not in alignment with the core business or strategic goals,” the company said. “By
moving Eudora to an open source product, Qualcomm can exit the Eudora business while still supporting Eudora users and advancing the Eudora e-mail client
at a faster pace than before, through the power of the open source development community.”

“We’re pleased to welcome Eudora and its millions of users to the world of open source,” said Frank Hecker, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation.
“This effort should further enrich the Thunderbird technology platform and provide users of both products with an even richer email experience.”

In recent months, reviewers continued to give Eudora the performance edge for use with enterprise e-mail, compared against Thunderbird (though not against
Microsoft Outlook). However, in practice, some have noted Eudora has suffered limited performance problems with recent versions, prompting in at least one case suggestions that users (in this case, students) try Thunderbird instead.

Popularity: 2%