Free Software Linux

IPv4 addresses are an increasingly rare resource. But I'd not spotted the parallel with oil until this: the US was still the largest user of new IPv4 addresses in 2008 with 50.08 million addresses used. China was a close second with 46.5 million new addresses last year, an increase of 34 percent.

There's nothing like a mature, balanced view of the world: 2009, Go China! Lead: Snowstorm, freely falling down to earth, like western valuesLead: Despair fills the sky, ice covers the earth Lead: Did China retreat?All: No. The Olympics were a success! We are victorious!Lead: Hot blood and iron will of Chinese people, lighten up the dark world like burning the holy flameAll: The rivers and mountains, ever more colorful and beautiful Lead: Earthquakes, shifting back and forth like the positions of Sarkozy, with his dirty tricks, trying to shake the great ChinaLead: Did China retreat?All: No. The Shenzhou-7 launched. We are victorious!

The free software organisation Asianux continues to grow in importance: Viet Nam has officially become a member of Asianux, an organisation dedicated to the development of free software, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Thang has announced. ... Over the past four years, Viet Nam has adopted policies designed to encourage the development and application of the OSS, resulting in a total of between 14,000 and 20,000 personal computers using OpenOffice, Firefox, Unikey and other free software. ... Prior to Viet Nam joining Asianux, its membership consisted of Japan, China and South Korea.(Via LXer.)

I recently needed to purchase two replacement batteries for Apple laptops. One for a MacBook 13-inch white, and one for a MacBook Pro 17-inch. I decided to purchase third-party batteries since the saving was about 30% and they came with a 12-month warranty. While I had the original and third-party replacement batteries in one place, I decided to snap some photos so that others can see the differences between Apple's replacement batteries and third-party ones. The photos are on flickr; read more

You would have thought this represented a real opportunity for free software: Nanchang, the capital of China's eastern Jiangxi province, has required Internet cafe operators to replace pirated server software with licensed versions. Cafes that don't will lose their license to operate, but some are grumbling about the cost of installing legitimate software. ... "We recommend the use of Red Flag Linux server operating system or Microsoft Windows Server operating system," said the directive issued by Nanchang's Cultural Department on Oct. 22.

It's become something of cliché in recent weeks to invoke the rise of China as an economic superpower. But what about its role in the world of free software?On Open Enterprise blog.

Here are my slides from last night’s presentation at the BLUG. I continue to be amazed about how interested some people in Beijing are about FLOSS, Network Services, and guangxi! We had a good discussion about why some people contribute to open source. Similar to many trends with FLOSS communities, most people were into contributing because they wanted to learn more. Some said they were interested in meeting new people while a couple of folks mentioned how their contributions got them a job — something recurring with many of my friends (myself included).

This looks tiny: A Chinese Internet company has sued Microsoft for patent infringement over its use of RSS* in Windows Vista. Wang Jianbo, chairman of China E-commerce Info Tech Company, said his firm applied for a patent on RSS services in 2005 and was granted patent ZL 2005 1 0022721.3 in December 2007 from China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). Wang says Microsoft adopted RSS technology in Vista without his company's authorisation.It's actually huge. Here's what is going on.

I am working hard and trying to stay in and on regimen right now knocking off the backlog, killing yer tasks you wondering about, making code, projects, and more before heading off to CNBloggerCon in Guangzhou this weekend!

...can Jacqui be far behind? All visitors to internet cafés in Beijing will be required to have their photographs taken in a stringent new control on the public use of cyberspace. ... According to the latest rules, by mid-December all internet cafés in the main 14 city districts must install cameras to record the identities of their web surfers, who must by law be 18 or over. There are more than 250 million internet users in China, approximately 10 times more than there were in 2000. ...

On Monday of this week, myself, Lu, Mitu Hopu, and our friend Lu Jia visited the closest point of desertification near Beijing, Tian Mo. It took alot of turns to get there to the point our off-license taxi looked ready to give up on this pursuit. We prevailed to find our beloved sand dunes with 2 camels out front and a Chinese park troll trying to charge us all 25 RMB per person to enter the park, which semi-sadly consisted of only two massive sand dunes. Regardless the size of the dunes, we had an amazing experience with the strangest set of characters also seeking out these bald spots forming in the landscape.

eBay is not going through the happiest of times. Not only has it found it necessary to make 1000 people – 10% of its workforce – redundant, it has had to own up to a serious breach of trust with its Internet telephony program, Skype....On Linux Journal.

If you're interested in Xinjiang and its uighurs - and everyone should be - don't miss these extraordinary goings-on.

Lu made a post about the Cantocore Export which I got to the last 15 minutes of after a trip to SF -> KC -> HKG -> Guangzhou Here is a nice glowing image from the opening: