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Trepidity writes "In stark contrast to the plethora of false alarms recently, there's a pretty clear-cut case that Vidomi, a DVD ripping product by SloMedia, is composed of a great deal of code from VirtuaDub, a GPLd product. As SloMedia have refused all requests to either release their source or stop using the code, the developer is planning to file suit with the aid of the Free Software Foundation, in what could be the first legal test of the GPL's enforceability."

Trepidity writes "The Opera web browser appears to be the first to add gesture-based navigation (made popular recently in the game Black&White) as a standard feature. You can perform a bunch of common actions with simple gestures, such as holding down the right mouse button moving left and releasing to go back, or moving up then down while holding the button to reload the current page. A list of the various implemented commands can be found on their site." I've been playing a fair amount of B&W lately - the interface took a bit to learn, but once you['ve got it done, it's actually a very efficent system of getting around - the use within the Web might finally take the Web beyond just a point and click interface. Maybe. Probably not. CT: Just don't try it with a thinkpad style nipple mouse. My wrist lost feeling. Update: 04/18 02:55 PM by T : Read more below for a software project that promises to spread some gestural goodness even further.

Mike Bennett writes with news of his "free software project. It's called wayV, and provides gesture recognition for X. Version 0.1 was released a while ago and let you start applications with gestures, version 0.2 will be released this week and also includes the ability to send keypress, e.g. make a gesture to change desktops, etc." This looks like a modestly conservative 0.1, too;)

Trepidity wrote in to tellus about GeekCruises.com which is apparently selling cruises for the sort of folks interested in going on a cruise entitled "Perl Whirl 2000". It leaves on May 29 (CT:2000) and the speakers include Larry Wall, Randal Schwartz, Tim Bray, Tom Christiansen and Joseph Hall. I don't really know what to think about it. I mean, do they offer net access?

Trepidity writes "Wired is reporting that IBM is working with at least three other companies about the possible use of their ~350MB microdrive in portable MP3 players. Sure beats having only 32MB on a flash card. "

Trepidity informed us that the Senate unamimously passed a spending bill with the "CDA II" amendments attached to it. These would make allowing children to view "harmful" material a crime. The amendments would also require schools and libraries to install censorware on all computers accessible to minors. If the bill were to pass the House and be signed into law, the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation have vowed to have it overturned like they did with the first CDA. Click below to read more... But the cool thing about this, is that it apparently contradicts WIPO. Now some of you may know that Einstein had great difficulties persuading his friend Goedel to swear that he would abide by the American constitution (necessary to become a US citizen) because it was logically inconsistent. If 2 contradictory laws are passed, are both invalidated? Or does it become a lawyer free-for-all?

All in all, both measures are quite amazing: WIPO can even render cookie managing software such as Junkbusters illegal, and CDA reduces the freedoms of those who cannot afford their own internet connection, instead of ensuring that children learn to think critically about what they encounter.

Trepidity writes "NEC claims to have created the world's fastest supercomputer, the SX-5. At its maximum configuration, it can reach speeds of up to four teraflops, and can be equipped with a main memory of four terabytes. If I win the lottery I'll buy one. "

Trepidity writes "Due to massive overproduction of RAM chips, prices are plummeting. Prices on DRAM (DIMM) 8-megabit (2MB) chips have fallen from over $20 each to as little as 99 cents in Korean clearance markets. The 64-megabit (8MB) chips are also falling, with prices about $10-$15. Companies are complaining they can't make any money at these prices. Oh well, I like it. Now if only those 512-megabit (64MB) chips would come down in price..."