Matt Croydon::Postneo

Author: Matt Croydon

  • Mitnick on Kojo

    Kevin Mitnick was on the Kojo Nnamdi show this afternoon on WAMU.  I’ve got two words after hearing the interview/Q&A session:

    Social Engineering.

  • PyXML 0.8.2

    PyXML 0.8.2 has been released:

    Version 0.8.2 of the Python/XML distribution is now available. It should be considered a beta release. The Python/XML distribution contains the basic tools required for processing XML data using the Python programming language, assembled into one easy-to-install package. The distribution includes parsers and standard interfaces such as SAX and DOM, along with various other useful modules.

    From my limited experience, the built-in XML tools that ship with the Python Standard Library are quite good.  Of course, I’ve been parsing extremely small and simple files, and I’m sure it could be done more efficiently.

    I haven’t had a chance to check this package out, but I’ll let you know if I do.

  • New Apple Hadware

    Slashdot:

    Same old ‘scary cyclops’ quicksilver face. Up to 1.42 Ghz, FireWire 800, 802.11g and entry-level pricing has dropped.

    MacNN:

    Apple today announced speed-bumped Power Mac G4s, featuring up to dual-1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processors. The updated Power Macs also feature FireWire 800 and offer internal support for 54Mbps AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth wireless networking. Based on Apple’s Xserve (up to 2MB of DDR Level 3 cache and 333 MHz DDR memory), the new Macs offer up to 21 gigaflops (21 billion floating point operations per second) of performance. The Macs bundle both iLife and QuickBooks for Mac New User Edition. The 1GHz Power Mac G4 ($1,500) and dual-1.25GHz Power Mac G4 ($2,000) are available now, while the dual-1.42GHz Power Mac G4 ($2,700) will be available starting next month.

    • single 1GHz G4/133MHz bus/256MB PC2100/60GB/Combo drive/Nvidia GeForce4 MX — $1,500.
    • dual-1.25GHz G4/167MHz bus/256MB PC2700/80GB/Combo drive/ATI Radeon 9000 Pro — $2,000
    • dual-1.42GHz G4/167MHz bus/512MB PC2700/120GB/SuperDrive/ATI Radeon 9000 Pro — $2,700

    Mac Rumors has similar information, announcement of a 20 inch LCD, as well as some discussion on the new hardware.  Mac Rumors also reports that OSX 10.2.4 and iLife are due out soon.

    • Axis

      Sam Ruby:

      InfoWorld: The Internet owes much of its success to a core infrastructure that is free and commoditized. The Apache Axis project’s gift to the world is a powerful, high-performance, open-source Web services stack.

      Go Axis!

    • Commercial Weblogs

      Ed Cone:

      This [weblogs at Jupiter Research]  could be very useful to me. It’s a great commercial use of weblogs.

    • WSIF

      WebServices.Org:

      The Apache WSIF (Web Services Invocation Framework) team is proud to announce the first open release of Apache WSIF. A WSDL-based API for invoking WSDL-described services. With WSIF, developers work with the same programming model regardless of how the Web service is implemented and accessed.

    • Apache 2.0: I’ll Wait for the Modules

      NewsFactor has the obvious story about why Apache 2.0 is not widely adopted yet:

      Another reason Rackspace is not rushing to switch is the lack of module support for Apache 2.0. Many of the standard modules used with Apache 1.3, such as PHP and mod_perl, are still considered “experimental” in the latest version. According to Elmendorf, “Apache is great, but it really serves as a platform to build all this other stuff on…. When you look at a core module like PHP not being supported, there’s no rush getting into it.”

      [via NewsForge]

    • FreeBSD Fun Stuff

      Dru Lavigne has some really cool FreeBSD tips and tricks.

    • The effect of RSS On Design

      Dane Carlson redesigned his weblog.  (I like it btw)  This begs the question:

      If a redesign happens and everyone is reading via RSS, did a redesign happen?

    • Easy CVS Server

      nf0:

      I finally got around to setting up CVS on one of the Red Hat 8 servers today. This is an excellent guide for doing it.

    • openMosixApplet

      openMosixApplet:

      The openMosixApplet allows users to see the real-time status of an openMosix cluster. It consists of a daemon which the applet connects to in order to grab the necessary info, and uses the Chart2D library.

      Very nice.  I’ve tested a 2-node OpenMosix cluster which went quite well.  I’ve recently come across a plethora of ancient hardware.  I’m thinking of setting up a diskless OpenMosix cluster, I’m just waiting for the free time to materialize.

    • Red Hat Changes Support and KDE 3.1 Released

      Two quickies from PC Linux Online: Red Hat changes their support model and KDE 3.1 has been released.

    • Rsync, baby!

      Linux Security pointed to an Earthweb article about using rsync to do backups:

      There’s a new kid on the backup software block: rsync. rsync was originally designed to replace rcp, the venerable old Unix remote copy program. Because of its sophisticated means of synchronizing and transferring file trees, rsync is widely used for mirroring Web sites. rsync transfers only the changes in files, using the devilishly clever rsync algorithm. It calculates diffs without needing both files to be present. This little bit of magic is described in the documentation accompanying the program (for those interested in such). rsync then does on-the-fly compression, making network file transfers very fast and efficient.

    • Irony

      Irony?
      Can anyone else see the irony in this billboard shot taken outside of the Javits center during LinuxWorld 2003?

    • Document

      Rael reports in with rumors about a new Apple product possibly called Document:

      Potentially the most interesting Apple software software rumour — especially in concert with Keynote — is Document, an MS Word killer.

    • She’s In!

      Congrats to Reverand Jim and his successfull fight with the US-Canadian border.

    • Programming at Python Speed

      Thanks to Erik for pointing out an interview with Guido van Rossum about, imagine that, Python.  There are two previous interviews also available.

    • Nvidia GeForce FX

      Slashdot:

      GeForce FX NDA lifted today, reviews are up at ExtremeTech, Tom’s Hardware, and HardOCP.  So far, it is indeed better overall than the 9700Pro, but not enough for it’s price. Perhaps NVIDIA has something up its sleeve for the long term?

    • Which Version am I Running?

      David Czarnecki:

      Note to self … If you’re going to use methods present in Java 1.4, then you better fscking run your application under a Java 1.4+ runtime.

      Amen to that.  I’ve soo been there.

    • Super Bowl

      With a few exceptions, the Super Bowl ads have been ho-hum.  Where’s the Ameritrade chimp?

      Kevin wasn’t impressed with the halftime show very much.  Neither was I.  I saw Shania live once a few years ago, and I was never quite sure if she was really singing or not.  If I had to bet money, I’d bet not.

      Hack the Planet points to the new Matrix trailer [really big quicktime]