The Barrel

With Vista breached, Linux unbeaten in hacking contest

 
The MacBook Air went first; a tiny Fujitsu laptop running Vista was hacked on the last day of the contest; but it was Linux, running on a Sony Vaio, that remained undefeated as conference organizers ended a three-way computer hacking challenge Friday at the CanSecWest conference.
Really folks was there ever a doubt as to [...]

Posted in News, Security

Creating a Home Inventory with F-Spot (video)

 
With fires, thefts, and natural disasters it is a good idea to have a home inventory. In this video I am going to show you how to inventory your house using a digital camera and F-Spot on a Linux desktop.
 

Creating a Home Inventory with F-Spot (video)

Posted in How-To

Hacker Super Bowl Pits Mac OS Vs. Linux, Vista

 
It’s the most anticipated matchup in the hacker world: Linux versus Mac OS X versus Vista. Who will get hacked first? That’s what organizers of the CanSecWest security conference hope to discover this week as they give show attendees a shot at hacking into the three laptops they’ve put on display here in Vancouver. The [...]

Posted in Security

The Best Linux Marketing Tip: Don’t Mention Linux

 
CostCo’s in-store promotional materials for the Eee PC from Asus barely mention that the sub-notebook runs Linux. That may be a smart move. Here’s why.
Now I really have to disagree with this. Why you ask, I have been watching and for a while helping with the GoS help forum and you know what 60% [...]

Posted in Linux

How CBC torrented a TV show

Here’s a great, insider account of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s internal process leading up to their decision to put a high-quality torrent of the show Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister online:
Okay now what is wrong with the article? First the ISP’s are “avoiding” P2P and then the Goverment Television Network puts out a hugely popular [...]

Posted in News

Canadian ISPs forced to filter P2P [News]

 
Smaller ISPs in Canada are finding that their wholesale connections are being ‘managed’ due to changes made by Bell Canada to shape P2P traffic without consent.
Darn and just when I get ready to head north again this pops up. Not that I use a lot of P2P but when I want to I would [...]

Posted in News

Why doesn’t Linux need defragmenting?

That is a question that crops up with regularity on Linux forums when new users are unable to find the defrag tool on their shiny new desktop. Here’s my attempt at giving a simple, non-technical answer as to why some filesystems suffer more from fragmenting than others.
Rather than simply stumble through lots of dry technical [...]

Posted in Linux

Ask Linux.com

 
Got a question about Linux or free and open source software? You’ve come to the right place. In the left column of every page, directly below the Distributions link, you’ll find a link labeled "Get Linux help" that will take you to the Linux.com discussion forums — your best bet for getting Linux-related troubleshooting and [...]

Posted in Linux

Linux: A Tempting Target for Malware?

 
The Linux operating system is not immune to virus infections, although Linux-specific viruses are extremely rare. Linux servers face more risk of virus attack than Linux desktops. That said, IT security and control firm Sophos recently issued a warning about potential virus infections targeting Linux servers that could pose risks to the Linux operating [...]

Posted in Linux, Security

Google, Yahoo Join in The Tangled (Open)Social Web

In a day of openness among the giants of the Web, Microsoft’s announcement is dwarfed by the joint venture between ardent rivals.
Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) has joined forces with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and MySpace to announce the OpenSocial Foundation, a nonprofit venture to support the development of portable, interoperable applications under the OpenSocial standard.
This comes the [...]

Posted in Networking, News