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Spy Handler writes "In a Microsoft-esque move, Google threatened Acer with banishment from Android if it went ahead with its new cellphone project with Alibaba (China's version of Amazon), using an OS called Aliyun. Acer has remained silent on the issue, but Alibaba reports that they received notification from Google, stating 'if the new product launch with Aliyun went ahead, Google would terminate Android product cooperation and related technical authorization with Acer.' A possible reason for Google's upset is that the Aliyun OS, which is not Android, can run Android apps as well as its own."

A Crowd of Cowards submitted the news found in this LA Times article that Yahoo! will now sell pornographic videos though an online store. The new section ("Adult & Erotica") is not exactly flashing on the Yahoo! front page, but it's only a few clicks away. (And wants your valid credit card number as proof of age, btw.) Does this mean that all of Yahoo! will be blocked by the various censorware companies? Reader fezzgig points to coverage on CNN as well.

xlogan writes, "I just received my FreeBSD 4.0 subscription CD in the mail today. According to a memo inside, they will NOT be shipping a 3.5 CD (the last of the 3.X series) and instead sent out this 4.0 CD. 3.5 will be available for FTP download in May." S'true. It was decided that the extended testing period before releasing 4.0 was so effective that the CD sets would continue with the 4.x releases, rather than the 3.x branch. This is contrary to earlier releases (in particular, 3.0). Of course, 3.5 will still be available for download, but if you've got a CD subscription from WC you'll get 4.0.

xlogan writes, "The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals on Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation (EHPA). The agency has put their proposal online. " The sheer number of mundane tasks I could accomplish with an exoskeleton is amazing. Why, I could rearrange furniture in the blink of an eye, all while defending the Earth from Evil! And with my super-enhanced vision and hearing, I might finally be allowed to join The Justice League of America ^[?] .

xlogan writes "I received my FreeBSD 99 catalog in the mail today from Walnut Creek and The FreeBSD Mall and it included a little brochure about FreeBSDCon '99. Hope I can get work to pay for the trip ;-) "