In an unanticipated move, Case Western Reserve University has announced that they are opening their expanding network of 1200 access points to the public. In the press release, CWRU states that access will be available from the campus and the University Circle neighborhood, (containing institutions such as the Cleveland Museum …

In good news for Linux and OS X aficionados, Federal Computer Week is reporting that the US OMB has added OS X and Linux to the list of supported operating systems for federal use. Previously, only Microsoft's Windows and Sun's Java 2 platforms were supported.

Because of the recent (to me, remember I've been gone for 2 weeks) internet worm, Microsoft has apparently contracted with Akamai to serve their crucial web pages under load conditions. An article from CNet reports the systems as using Linux (although I thought they were running FreeBSD), but either way …

If you use FreeBSD, you are undoubtedly familiar with the ports collection and its thousands of easy-to-install utilities and applications. This article from O'Reilly Press's Onlamp details a number of cool tricks with the system. Among the tips are: How to make a web-browsable set of readmes for the entire …

A recent review of Bluetooth headsets is available from HowardChui.com. The review compares the HBH-60 from Sony Ericsson, Bluetake BT400, Jabra BT200, Nextlink Bluespoon, and Nokia HDW-2. In the end, the HBH-60 was the winner.

IBM let loose a fusillade of legal firepower today aimed squarely at blowing away SCO. The computer giant, considered three decades ago to be the most controlling, powerful, and anti- competitive company in the industry (like Microsoft is today) is in the interesting position of being the "defender of the …

That's right, according to an article from EETimes, SCO (everyone's favorite whipping boy) thinks they deserve $32 for each product with a copy of embedded Linux containing post-2.4 Linux Kernel.

New to me, at least, is WiFi411, a web site that provides a list of hotspots from various suppliers world-wide. I don't know how accurate their information is, but Reston and Herndon are reasonably correct. However, search through menus only (no "type in your current address" or "zip code" searches …

Not a huge surprise for those of us who know people like this, but an article from the Associated Press (courtesy of Wired) indicates that the growing trend is pushing 7.5 million people who have eschewed land lines for a cellular-only lifestyle. Although the article mentions that the number …

If the folks at Red Hat needed any more proof for their allegations in a Deleware court that SCO is using scare tactics to frighten customers away from their 'wares, they got it today when the company announced their pricing for Linux users. According to an article from CNet, the …

Lexar Media released a 4GB Compact Flash II card running at 40X with Write Acceleration today, according to a press release from the company. $1499 Do be careful, though, only some cameras support the FAT32 file format that is required.

Makayama software (makers of video encoding software for handheld phones) have released software to compress movies using Apple's QuickTime so that they can be watched on a Sony Ericsson P800. The software costs $9.99 and can be purchased online. A two hour movie can be compressed to fit on …

According to an article from CNet, the Department of Homeland Security is preparing to fund $1B per year in Homeland Security research. So, grab your friends and ready your proposals, because the funding gates are open. Patterned after the Department of Defense's DARPA, HSARPA is intended to provide funding for …

I know, you're sick of hearing me complain about these guys, but here are some more choice complaints from users and musicians. A lengthy article of complaints from a Windows 2000 user who has bought tracks from BuyMusic.com enumerates the following problems: You must download each track in an …

An article from ComputerWorld relates the story of the Rolling Stones use of WiFi networks while on the road. The band and their entourage uses 1.5-3Mbps connections at each venue to update their website and connect to business associates, as well as handle personal email and other communications. Their …

This is total geek fare, but if you need to administer your unix box (or Mac for that matter) from your telephone, here's an SSH client for the Sony Ericsson P800 phone. If that's not sick enough, there's also a VNC client.

Those of us with an affinity for the Python programming language will be happy to hear that version 2.3 has now been officially released. For Macintosh users, the number of fixes is large, and you can get the MacPython install today, or grab your own copy of the source …

A wonderful story from BBspot about an upcoming Fox television show that is currently searching for a name. If you aren't one of the programmers thrown out weekly, you could win the prize of $1M.

Not that anyone familiar with running software on a Windows box would notice, but another hallmark of bad customer service has reared its ugly head at BuyMusic.com, insufficient testing. According to an article in USA Today, the company's new music system has not been appropriately interacting with digital music …

When I read the article in the Washington Post, I decided not to post a link to it, because it was just more "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" being spread by people who didn't really understand the internet or security. I'm happy to report that a blogger, Cory Doctorow, has saved …