I can’t believe this is happening, twice in a week two Microsoft proposed changes to allow more functionality and portability are squashed like a bug. This is not going to make consumers happy, and will drive some of them into Apple’s arms, and possibly Ubuntu’s.

Microsoft flip-flops again: now no Vista Home on Macs –

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We’ve seen our fair share of flip-flopping in the past, and Microsoft is yet again adding its name to the frowned upon list by retracting previous intentions to allow Windows Vista Home and Home Premium operating systems to run under virtualization. After reportedly stating that it would “change the EULA after listening to customer feedback on the issue,” it appears that the suits in Redmond have thought better of said decision. Now, the firm has “reassessed the Windows virtualization policy and decided that maintaining the original policy announced last Fall” would be best. Ben Rudolph, Parallels director of corporate communications, noted that he was “obviously disappointed” in Microsoft’s change of heart, but if the two-faced Mac users out there can persuade Google to take their side, we’re sure this little spat could be cleared up in no time.

[Image courtesy of ElliottBack]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

[EnGadget]

At least this is practical, unlike the Mircosoft Touch Screen Table.

Ralph Lauren unveils "touch-sensitive window shopping" in London –

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets

Alright, the whole touchscreen thing is getting a little out of hand. In the latest example of touch-frenzy, luxe clothier Ralph Lauren is converting a large window at its London flagship store into a giant touchscreen shopping experience as part of its Wimbledon marketing campaign. Much like Microsoft’s Big-Ass Table, the 78-inch window is coated with touch-sensitive foil, and the image is beamed onto it by a hidden projector — allowing users to purchase Ralph’s latest duds and even take in a tennis lesson or two. Purchases are paid for via phone or email the next day — so you can’t explain away that $75 pink polo by saying you accidentally brushed the screen.

[Via Switched]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

[EnGadget]

youtube-dl 2007.06.22 (Default branch) – youtube-dl is a small command-line program for
downloading videos from YouTube.com.

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License: MIT/X Consortium License

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Changes:
This release adds support for the new
international YouTube sites in the video URL.

[FreshMeat]

BetterAWstats 0.12 ALPHA (Default branch) –
BetterAWstats is an Web server log analysis tool that provides better statistics from the data provided by AWstats. It is not a replacement for AWstats. The most significant features are rolling months and days, and support for new types of charts (pie, max/min, etc.).

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License: GNU General Public License (GPL)

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Changes:
Last month daily data was fixed for the case where
current has no hits. The menu sorting was fixed
for vertical layout. A different format for
external links is used now. Unknown browsers and
OS are now interlinked with respective tables.
Slashes in OS icons were fixed. All functions and
globals were renamed to baw_* to make sure they
work when betterawstats is included into other
projects. Highlighting of current month/day was
fixed. Var fixes were applied. A configuration
option for inclusion in other projects was added.
Datelist-creation was improved.

[FreshMeat]

Shiny new Dell XPS M1330 pics –

Filed under: Laptops

You’ve seen a little of it before, and you know it’s coming, but here’s a few more photos to hold you over. Finally, a Dell you can take out in public.

[Thanks, Chris]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

[EnGadget]

samhain 2.3.5 (Default branch) – samhain is a daemon that can check file integrity, search the file tree for SUID files, and detect kernel module rootkits (Linux only). It can be used either standalone or as a client/server system for centralized monitoring, with strong (192-bit AES) encryption for client/server connections and the option to store databases and configuration files on the server. For tamper resistance, it supports signed database/configuration files and signed reports/audit logs. It has been tested on Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, and Unixware.

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License: GNU General Public License (GPL)

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Changes:
This release fixes some minor bugs. The portcheck module tears down connections for some common protocols more gracefully.

[FreshMeat]

DIY: Make a laptop sleeve with a FedEx envelope –

DIY site Instructables posts a tutorial on making a laptop sleeve from FedEx envelopes:

I was looking for a strong and waterproof material to make my own sleeve from and remembered that FedEx and the US Postal Service both use Tyvek (or similar) material for their envelopes. My sleeve fits a MacBook, but the design is easily adaptable for other sized laptops.

The project requires 3-4 envelopes, some felt and some sewing, and the result is a pretty good camouflage for your lappie as well. Thanks, Annie!

Laptop Sleeve from a FedEx Envelope [instructables]

[LifeHacker]

Troubleshooting: –

Laptop magazine offers 11 DIY cures for common laptop ailments, like overheating, a battery that doesn’t hold a charge or a missing letter on your keyboard.

[LifeHacker]

AT&T Hires 2,000 Extra Employees For iPhone Launch –

Never again do I want to hear people complaining that they couldn’t find a summer job. Seems AT&T is so confident that people will show up for the iPhone in droves, it has taken the liberty of hiring an extra 2,000 employees to prepare for the madness. To make sense of how big the iPhone launch is going to be, here are some hot statistics:

1,800 AT&T retail stores exist and will all be selling the iPhone

AT&T sales staff have received a total of 100,000 hours of training to sell the device, with each employee receiving about six hours of individual training

AT&T stores will close locally at 4:30 p.m. on that Friday to prepare for the launch, then reopen at 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. that night.

I’m going to be laughing all the way home if Apple and AT&T do all this training and preparation, only to find three dudes with fat wallets sitting outside a store on June 29. It’s almost here kids.

AT&T hires 2,000 extra workers for iPhone launch [Yahoo! News]

[CrunchGear]

Featured Mac Download: Monitor your Mac with iStat menus –

Mac OS X only: Donationware application iStat menus integrates system statistics like CPU, RAM, HD, and Network usage into your Mac’s menubar.

iStat menus is completely customizable, so you can include only those stats that you want (enabling all of the available stats would mean a lot of menubar clutter). In the past we discussed how to display your system activity in the dock, but iStat menus takes this idea to an entirely new level of system monitoring. iStat menus is donationware, Mac OS X only.

iStat menus

[LifeHacker]