Free Republic

Pajama expertise needed: Does anybody have a suggestion on a source for free, open license customer relations management software? I am thinking of something that I can train a precinct manager to use to facilitate voter involvement. I hope to cut down on nuisance contacts with each voter and maximize timely information delivery.

I'm a political junkie (who on FR isn't?). I'd like to record some of the clips and programs that air on the C-SPAN website. What sort of program or software would I need to record and be able to keep these videos? The C-SPAN file extensions are always .rm and RealPlayer is the software that opens the files. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Brett Adams, vice president of development at rPath, sees 2007 as a pivotal year for virtualization. When you are looking at the future of virtualization, few companies are as well positioned to make observations as rPath. Billing itself as the "software appliance company," rPath was one of the first companies to focus on virtual appliances and simplifying their production. "It's not entirely clear whether we're going to see it gaining momentum in the first half of the year," Adams says, "But I think by the latter half of 2007, the virtual appliance concept will have taken root. That's based on...

I have rebooted, reformatted and I am signed on. LOL I seem to have an issue with OmniPage 15 Pro. My system is XP-Pro, lots of memory, lots of hard-drive. I had installed some time ago OmniPage and had some problems with it and uninstalled it. A few weeks ago I reinstalled it but I cannot get the Service Pack update to it. I get the following message: "This patch package could not be opened. Verify that this patch package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows...

Peter Coffee, an editor of eWeek magazine has published a list of 25 killer apps of all time. This list totally reflects his personal timeline in the computer publishing business and sets a benchmark for ‘killer apps’ although I’m a fan of his work. I’ve been in technology since 197x…’ Big deal. I wrote code on a DEC PDP-11 using a Hazeltine terminal at Univ of Miami back in 1979. The technology sucked big time. Mitch Kapor made boucoup $$ from Lotus 1-2-3. Many of us cut our teeth on 1-2-3’s macros. The Lotus Magazine from the 1980’s was a...

Computer games are high on wish lists for teens this holiday season. However, some of those games could be hazardous to your computer and your privacy. The company that makes the game “Battlefield 2142” is Electronic Arts, a trailblazer in computerized entertainment. But EA is also blazing a different trail, using this particular game to reach into users’ computers. “It basically said they’re going to be using advertising and data on your computer,” said computer gamer Ryan Arp. Arp learned about the company’s use of spyware in the game after he opened the package, losing his right to return it....

Microsoft and Novell signed a historical partnership, that could not have been possible a year ago. Is that the beginning of the end for Novell? It seems the negotiations have begun more than six months ago, but have been kept secret until now due to the importance of this matter for both parties: the open source community on one hand and the proprietary software companies on the other. First of all, the folklore mentions that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Don’t be naïve to think that the Novell-Microsoft alliance will produce something good. At least not...

Microsoft and Novell signed a historical partnership, that could not have been possible a year ago. Is that the beginning of the end for Novell? It seems the negotiations have begun more than six months ago, but have been kept secret until now due to the importance of this matter for both parties: the open source community on one hand and the proprietary software companies on the other. First of all, the folklore mentions that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions”. Don’t be naïve to think that the Novell-Microsoft alliance will produce something good. At least not...

You guys are usually right, so here's a question:

As combat becomes increasingly high-tech, Pentagon officials worry that "accidental defects" or "maliciously placed code" buried within a computer program could compromise the security of the Defense Dept. network and, ultimately, hurt its ability to fight wars, says Pentagon spokesman Maj. Patrick Ryder. A task force of the Defense Science Board is in the final stages of preparing a recommendation on how to deal with the fact that some of the software the military buys is produced offshore. While task force deliberations are secret, the conversations between its members and outside technology and security experts are raising concerns among tech...

Microsoft and the European Commission appeared to be stepping back from months of conflict over the Vista operating system, after the US software group revealed on Friday that it had made significant changes to its new flagship product ahead of Vista’s launch next month.Although the Brussels-based antitrust regulator stressed that it had not given a “green light” to Microsoft, Neelie Kroes, the European Union competition commissioner, gave an upbeat assessment.“They promised they would behave and take into account our rules and regulations. Well, I’m a happy woman,’’ she told Reuters.Microsoft’s competitors said they needed more time to assess the changes...

PHOENIX -- A new state program to link video cameras with facial-identification software is causing some alarm. Alessander Meetze, director of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the program, unveiled this week by Gov. Janet Napolitano, is unnecessary intrusion into individual privacy of people who are guilty of nothing but walking or driving in public places. That assessment is disputed by Napolitano. She said the system is designed to help find terrorists and other "people of interest." Anyway, the governor said, many cities and government agencies already have cameras which are monitored. All this program does,...

Until a couple of days ago, like many others, I was looking forward to the long awaited release of Windows Vista. Then the news broke about Microsoft's intention to crack down on software piracy by putting what amounts to spyware on users' computers. Now I'm thinking twice about whether I really need or want this new operating system. Microsoft's so-called Software Protection Program (SPP) has been presented to intending users as a fait accompli just a month ahead of Vista's scheduled release. It will mean that those who use Vista and other Microsoft products will have to put up with...

Use of incompatible programs takes the rap, but behind that is a management team cobbled together from formerly separate companies. It sounds too simple to be true. Airbus' A380 megajet is now a full two years behind schedule--and the reason, CEO Christian Streiff admitted on Oct. 3, is that design software used at different Airbus factories wasn't compatible. Early this year, when pre-assembled bundles containing hundreds of miles of cabin wiring were delivered from a German factory to the assembly line in France, workers discovered that the bundles, called harnesses, didn't fit properly into the plane. Assembly slowed to a...

Computer software systems are now among the most complex, expensive artifacts ever created by humans, and some of the most sophisticated are being built by teams of volunteers as "open source" projects, where any programmer can read the code and suggest changes. A group of UC Davis researchers has just received a three-year, $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how open source software such as the Apache Web server is built. Unlike a cathedral or an airliner, there is no "blueprint" for a piece of open source software that shows all the parts in relation to each...

Two U.S. software firms are asking the European Commission to take action against Microsoft's new Vista operating system, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Adobe Systems has told EU regulators that Microsoft should be banned from incorporating free competing software for reading and creating electronic documents with Vista, the paper said, quoting people familiar with the situation. Antivirus software maker Symantec will send officials to Brussels, Belgium, next week to brief journalists about features of Vista that it says will undercut rival makers of computer security software, the paper said. Symantec confirmed on Thursday that two executives would travel...

How do you rip/encode from a cd so that it is just one file instead of individual songs, for instance a live album where you don't want a break between songs. I want to rip that medley off the back of "Abbey Road" as one song. I did this in the past with "Jesus Christ -Superstar" but I've forgotten how to do it.

For more than 150 years, photographers have wrestled with the problem of exposure. Attempting to take a picture containing a wide range of light intensity meant sacrificing part of the image--either washing it out or plunging it into deep shadow--and thus losing detail. The problem is particularly acute in security applications, where the inability to differentiate human faces hidden in shadows can be disastrous. Now researchers think they may have found a way to overcome this challenge and perhaps create a new generation of video cameras that can see clearly no matter what the light conditions. The team took its...

Does anyone out there know "spaxebg.exe"? I found this in my Windows system files, running, and tried to google it but came up empty. That shocks me, since I don't think google has ever failed to produce such a thing.

Department of Defense study urges open source adoption 8/20/2006 6:50:40 PM, by Ryan Paul The Open Technology Development road map, a recently authored government report, advises Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Sue Payton to integrate a comprehensive open source strategy into defense department procurement and development policies. Written by consultants for Advanced Systems & Concepts in collaboration with major technology companies and the Open Source Software Institute, the 79-page report advocates adoption of open technologies, support for and adherence to open standards, and discusses topics like licensing and software project governance. The report argues that the standard practices associated with purchasing...