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We’re excited to announce that Songbird is now in public Beta! This update to Songbird includes a new default look and feel, several new features, performance gains, improvements to stability and additional playback capabilities.
New Features
A New Look
We’ve completely redesigned Songbird to make it simpler and more intuitive. We’ve improved drag-and-drop throughout the application and worked to optimize music management vs. web browsing experiences.
Smart Playlists
Create dynamic playlists that automatically update based on criteria you set.
Concert Tickets
Discover upcoming shows in your area based on the artists in your library. Event listings powered by Songkick.
Last.fm Scrobbling
Integrated Last.fm support allows you to scrobble, love, and ban your tracks.
Album Artwork
Display the currently playing track’s album art and write new artwork back to the file.
Note: If you are upgrading from an older version of Songbird, be sure to get the Concerts and Last.fm add-ons so you can enjoy all the new features we’re talking about!
Performance Enhancements
A lot of users have asked us to devote cycles to focusing on performance and stability improvements. We made substantial investments in this release and will continue to dedicate much of our next release to focusing on this area. In this release we:
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Started our migration towards adopting GStreamer as our media core on all platforms. Starting with this release, GStreamer handles playback of FLAC files. In our next release, GStreamer will become our default media core and handle all codec playback and enable additional functionality, such as gapless playback.
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Improved startup performance. Launching Songbird is now significantly faster than before, in some cases by several orders of magnitude.
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Reduced memory usage on Windows and Linux by enabling jemalloc as Songbird’s memory allocator.
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Reduced the time it takes to import media and scan metadata. On all platforms reading metadata is now twice as fast.
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Improved search results and sort order by ignoring diacritics (like á, ö etc).
For Developers
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We’ve created a simple guide for updating 0.6 Feathers to be 0.7.0 compatible.
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We introduced a new Playback History API that allows add-on authors to access users’ playback history. The new Last.fm add-on is based on it.
Early Feedback on 0.7
“A marked improvement over the last release” - Jason Kincaid - TechCrunch
“Songbird’s new UI is also a major improvement” - Sarah Perez - ReadWriteWeb
What’s Next
As we march towards a 1.0 release, our goal is to improve existing features while continuing to focus on performance gains and stability issues. Stay tuned to the blog to keep up to date, or if you like to live dangerously check out one of our nightly builds and see the progress for yourself!
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If you have an old G4 sitting around that’s at the 800mhz mark, you probably should try installing Leopard, because most people agree it actually runs FASTER than Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Weird, huh? I guess they’ve optimized the code pretty well.
However, when you try to install the operating system, you are warned that Leopard cannot be installed on your G4. There are a few reasons for this:
1) Leopard requires 512MB of RAM - you have RAM, right?
2) Leopard requires over 867mhz processor
We can fix number 1 by simply getting more RAM. I find Craigslist to be of great use here. Number two is a bit more difficult as G4 processor upgrades are ridiculously expensive once you consider the cost of a Mac Mini, and also requires a bit of tech savvy under the hood as you’d be swapping CPUs.
Not to worry, though. Here’s a way to convince OpenFirmware that your CPU is 867mhz, and allow the installer to boot, install, and get you off and running:
Boot into Open Firmware, I have covered this extensively here:
Once in OpenFirmware, issue the following commands (for single CPU):
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi
For dual CPU:
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@1
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi
Note that all we are doing is over-writing the CPU clock-frequency (speed) property for each CPU installed, at boot time.
Also, if you need to boot another device, try:
printenv boot-device
This will return a list of boot devices to use when booting the installer. I used this in order to boot a Firewire device that had had a disc image (DMG) restored to it, making things a bit easy and faster.
Good luck!
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I hear this a lot, and I myself have also gone looking for it…
So without further ado, here is the script that will install kext files for you - be warned - you’ll need to know how to get the kext file in the first place, as well as the filename.
Easy right?
Let’s get started.
Open the Terminal application by going to Applications / Utilities / Terminal.app - you will see it in the Utilities folder - it looks like a command prompt.
Once terminal has launched, type in the following command:
sudo -s
Enter the root or first user password that you inputted during the setup process.
This tells it to run any other commands after this one as the root or superuser account, allowing you to edit files you normally would not have permission to edit.
Here’s an example using IOATAFamily.kext, a popular ATA driver. You’ll want to replace this by your own driver name. Also, you’ll want to make sure the file is unzipped, and sitting on your desktop. Oh one more thing, you’ll want to edit YOURUSERNAME with… your username 
mv /Users/(YOUR USERNAME)/Desktop/IOATAFamily.kext /System/Library/Extensions
chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext
sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext
cd /System/Library/Extensions
rm -rf Extensions.mkext
rm -rf Extensions.kextcache
Hope that helps!
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LOS ANGELES, July 7 /PRNewswire/ — Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of Square Enix(TM) interactive entertainment products in North America, announced the release of SONG SUMMONER(TM): The Unsung Heroes, on sale at the iTunes(R) Store worldwide (www.itunes.com) and available for play in English and Japanese on the iPod nano with video, iPod classic and fifth generation iPod.
(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080707/LAM083LOGO)
(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030403/SQUARELOGO)
SONG SUMMONER: The Unsung Heroes is a Role-Playing Game that transforms your iPod(R) songs into powerful “Tune Troopers” that you can control in battle! As the protagonist Ziggy, you will embark on an epic journey to rescue your brother from the clutches of the Mechanical Militia! Intriguing characters, an epic story and a tactics-based battle system combine for a rich RPG experience previously only available on home and handheld game consoles.
SONG SUMMONER: The Unsung Heroes
Publisher: Square Enix, Inc.
Platform: iPod nano with video, iPod classic and fifth generation iPod
Genre: Role-Playing
Launch Date: July 8, 2008
Price: 4.99 USD (iTunes Store download)
Story
From the days of old, Melodica was a land of music, a land of freedom. The people sang, played and danced to the music they so cherished. Until one day, they came — the Mechanoids, who enhanced their bodies with machinery. Those who were tempted by greed and power willingly gave away their souls for bodies of steel, forsaking their humanity to become cold, emotionless automatons. Now, they seek to destroy all that do not embrace their way of life.
But there is hope on the horizon. There are those who are fated to stand against the tyranny of the machines — the Superstars, who can turn sound into lethal weapons, and the Conductor, also known as the Song Summoner, who can summon powerful warriors born of music.
In their most desperate hour, Melodica awaits the arrival of their new Song Summoner…
Game Features
– Transform your iPod songs into “Tune Troopers” to combat the evil Mechanical Militia.
– Tune Trooper types and abilities are determined by the songs used to create them.
– Your Tune Troopers can be powered up even outside of the game - just by listening to the songs you used to create them!
– Control Ziggy, a “Conductor” that creates warriors out of music, and guide him through his journey to save his brother Zero from the Mechanical Militia.
– Experience a turn-based tactics battle system, divided into player and enemy phases where each side takes turns maneuvering their forces.
– Deploy the right troopers at the right time, and use contraptions found on the map effectively to achieve victory in battle!
– iPod Click Wheel allows players to play the game as easily as selecting music.
About Square Enix Co., Ltd. and Square Enix, Inc.
Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix), with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, develops, publishes and distributes entertainment content including interactive entertainment software and publications in Asia, North America and Europe. Square Enix brings two of Japan’s best-selling franchises - FINAL FANTASY(R), which has sold over 80 million units worldwide, and
DRAGON QUEST(R), which has sold over 43 million units worldwide — under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of
creativity and innovation.
Square Enix, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Co., Ltd. with offices in Los Angeles, California. It handles operations in North America, including development, localization, marketing, and publishing of Square Enix titles. More information on Square Enix can be found on the Internet at www.square-enix.com.
DRAGON QUEST, FINAL FANTASY, SONG SUMMONER and the SONG SUMMONER logo, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. iPod and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc, registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 26 /PRNewswire/ — Eidos Interactive, one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software is pleased to announce that Soul Bubbles, the new phenomenon for Nintendo DS(TM), available exclusively at your local Toys ‘R’ Us store. In Soul Bubbles, the player takes the role of a young shaman apprentice who is tasked with saving lost ’souls’ and guiding them to safety. He must safeguard these fragile beings by placing them in protective bubbles so he can transport them through a series of increasingly treacherous and hostile worlds. As the shaman, use your stylus to draw the bubbles, then deflate, cut or join them to other bubbles to navigate through each environment. You must fill bubbles with water or gas, escape traps, extinguish fires and avoid all the sticky or dangerous surfaces that will slow the bubbles down. “Creative and refreshing, Soul Bubbles is a unique game that DS owners won’t want to miss,” said Robert A. Lindsey, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Eidos Inc. “This is a charming story combined with gameplay that pushes the capabilities of the Nintendo DS is sure to engage all puzzle gaming fans.” Soul Bubbles features eight unique worlds, each with its own visual style and gameplay challenges, and over 40 levels to play through on your journey to becoming a true spirit herder. Check out the new screenshots and gameplay footage here: ftp.pr.eidos.com/Soul_Bubbles (Press only, no password needed)
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VMware has just announced support for their 61st OS supported by Fusion 2.0 - Mac OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard). This is great news for those looking to test things like the new Active Directory wizards, calendar server and enterprise blogging that come with the new version of the server. Not to mention that because it’s supported by Fusion 2.0, you can do it on your laptop.
Check out the full blog post on Fusion 2.0 Leopard Server support at the VMware VMTN blog site here.
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1) Regardless of connection limits or licensing issues, you will always be able to connect to a server using a console session and an administrator account
2) The console session will often allow you to see errors and popups that won’t appear in other sessions
3) As documented in this MSKB article, you will also be able to have the local user see what you are doing in this session, and vice-versa. This is called a shadowed console session, and is very handy.
There are a few ways to get a console session in Windows 2000, XP, and Vista:
- Open your default.rdp file (typically in My Documents) and add the following line to the bottom:
connect to console:i:1 - In the RDC window, after the address, use the switch
/console - From start, run, type:
mstsc /console - Make a shortcut to RDC, edit it, and add the
/consoleswitch to it - If you are using visionapp Remote Desktop, there is a console session checkbox that you can use per connection
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After a period of downtime due to issues with my current host, I’ve been able to start coding on the site once again.
Gravatars have now been fixed, and appear whenever you comment on a post.
If you don’t have a gravatar yet, feel free to signup at gravatar.com - many sites now use them, so you’re time won’t be wasted.
But how does blandname use gravatars?
We implement them using a hacked-up version of some third-party code, but the display ends up being roughly the same as everywhere else - we just create a call to gravatar(); where we want to have gravatars displayed. Sounds easy huh?
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In a security notice posted on Cisco’s web site recently, the networking giant unveiled its new patch program that will see them regularly updating its IOS software for Cisco switches and routers on a timely basis, similar to Microsoft’s “patch Tuesday”.
From the note:
“This schedule change will not restrict us from promptly publishing an individual IOS Security Advisory for a serious vulnerability which is publicly disclosed or for which we are aware of active exploitation.
Cisco is adopting this approach in response to extensive feedback from customers, who seek further predictability for support planning and deployment cycles.
The current format of IOS Security Advisories will remain the same. The software table in the Advisory includes a list of recommended releases (where possible) for each software train that addresses all of the security vulnerabilities included in the bundle.”
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UPDATE - it looks like the figure on this one is around 100M.
Microsoft has announced that they are planning to acquire VDI solution provider Kidaro today, according to Reuters.
From the Reuters article:
“Microsoft said Kidaro’s technology will be incorporated into its desktop virtualization product, which allows companies to deliver over an Internet network a “virtual” computer desktop different from the software running on the local machine.”
The VDI market is starting to be the place everyone is buying into, with a bunch of companies operating below the radar just waiting for things to happen and hoping for an offer.
Kidaro brings some nice features to the table including vDNA - the “self-cleaning” virtual desktop, and virtual desktops for enterprise data recovery.
It’s warming up in here!
An overview of vDNA from Kidaro:
Kidaro’s desktop virtualization platform works by running an encrypted, corporate-controlled virtual machine (VM) image on top of any PC, providing a secure and standardized environment for enterprise computing. Because the VM runs locally on corporate or third party PCs, the platform enables user mobility and disconnected use, without the need for expensive server farms.
Kidaro vDNA enables a stable, self-cleaning desktop by virtualizing and isolating two different kinds of “virtual DNA”:
- Personal data: includes end user files, passwords, configurations, bookmarks, and registry settings that make a desktop “yours.”
- Corporate desktop image: includes operating system, applications, configurations, and security tools that make up the standardized enterprise desktop.
By encapsulating and managing personal data separately, Kidaro vDNA enables the underlying virtual desktop image to be continually repaired and updated. In contrast to normal PC operation, where errors, corruptions, and unwanted software continually degrade performance, Kidaro vDNA insures that desktops always run clean, while enabling ongoing updates and upgrades from corporate IT. Users retain the ability to personalize their virtual desktop environment and to run personal applications on the underlying host PC.
So from what I can tell, this is a type of “sandbox” or “jail” technology similar to the “bubbles” in the SoftGrid product - a good match for Microsoft for sure, and the end of my quotes and italicized text!
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Here are three custom classes our users have submitted.
I have personally tried them all out, and they are pretty fun!
Feel free to post your own in the comments, and we’ll highlight the ones that do you good.
From Timmaigh:
HOST:
Primary: AK-74u (Silenced)
Secondary: M1911 .45 (Silenced)
Perk 1: Bandolier (or Flash x3)
Perk 2: UAV Jammer
Perk 3: Steady Aim
Woodland Camo
“Works best on Downpour and Wet Work.”
Also From Timmaigh:
SHOTGUNNER:
Primary: M1014 (Grip)
Secondary: Desert Eagle
Perk 1: (Weapon Attachment)
Perk 2: Sleight of Hand
Perk 3: Steady Aim
Gold Camo 
“Works best on Wet Work and Overgrown.”
From xX_qc3_Xx:
KILLER:
PRIMARY: M16 W/ RED DOT.
P90 SILENCED
FRAG X3
OVERKILL
DEEP IMPACT
“if you don’t like this then switch the weapons up. but i like the M16 for med. to long range maps like bog or crash. the p90 is also usefull if you are in levels like vacant or countdown. the p90 is the best cuz if u can hook it up wit uav jamma & deep impact and if you throw a silencer on dat bi#@h! you can go behind enemy lines and own them from behind” (ed: totally pwning from behind)
You can see comments on the right sidebar for now to tell when there are new comments, and as usual, you can always subscribe to comments via email as well!
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NetApp has announced a major rebranding initiative today - new colours (blue!) new (?) name, and a full website redesign.
The marketing speak:
NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today debuted a new brand identity designed to achieve a broader and deeper awareness of the company and to communicate a consistent promise on a global basis to customers, partners, and employees. Extensive market research and testing helped NetApp create a new identity system that crystallizes the company’s promise to the market and unifies the look of and the experience everyone has with NetApp. The identity system makes a bold statement about NetApp’s strength in the marketplace and is designed to drive greater understanding of NetApp as a company people want to do business with.
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A nice offshoot of MIX 08 is the public availability of Internet Explorer (IE) 8 Beta 1 as of yesterday. While the new browser has many features, the standards support is what has me tickled pink, and you’ll be happy to hear blandname still renders properly in the new version.
So head on over to the IE8 page Microsoft has put up, and grab the first beta of the new next thing.
Some general info from the release notes, including some help on using certificates from within Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, as well as a quick heads-up that the help is merely copied from IE7:
General information
Help content
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 contains help content from Internet Explorer 7. Some topics will be broken or irrelevant. The help content will be updated in a later release of Internet Explorer 8.
New home page in home page set
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 will add a new page to the home page set. This page will be automatically removed from the home page set two weeks after you install Internet Explorer Beta 1. You can remove this additional home page from your home page set at any time. Uninstalling Internet Explorer Beta 1 earlier than its automatic removal will not remove the additional home page. In that case, you can remove the home page manually.
Turning off the in-page WebSlice button
You can turn off the in-page WebSlice button in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 by using the following method:
However, when you turn off the in-page WebSlice button, WebSlice discovery is also turned off in the Feed Discovery button that is located on the frame.
Viewing certificates in Windows Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1
Windows XP
When you click the View certificates icon after you click the Security Status Indicator lock icon in the address bar, you incorrectly receive the following message:
This type of document does not have a security certificate
To view the certificate, follow these steps:
| 1. | Right-click the document, and then click Properties. |
| 2. | In the Properties dialog box, click Certificates. |
Windows Vista
To view the certificate of an encrypted page, click the View certificates icon after you click the Security Status Indicator lock icon in the address bar.
If you right-click the document, you click Properties, and then you click Certificates, the certificate is not displayed.
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You can now register to download Parallels Server Beta 2!
From the announcement:
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Key Features (Parallels Server Beta 2)
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x64 (64-bit) and x86 (32-bit) host and guest OS support, including any combination of more than 50 different guest OSes in secure, high-performing VMs. |
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4-way guest SMP and multi-core support. |
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Integrated toolset includes Parallels Tools, VM backup and Parallels Transporter (the P2V migration tool). |
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Parallels Management Console, an easy-to-use, multi-server management tool is included. |
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Support for Intel VT-d hardware acceleration extension for hardware resource dedication to VMs. |
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Intel VT-x and AMD-V hardware-assisted acceleration support. |
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Open APIs and SDK for extensible management. |
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Command line interface (CLI) and scripting. |
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As described in the VMware announcement:
[A] new security technology called VMware VMsafe™ that protects applications running in virtual machines in ways previously not possible in physical environments. The VMsafe APIs allow vendors to develop advanced security products that combat the latest generation of malware. VMsafe technology integrates into the VMware hypervisor and provides the transparency to prevent threats and attacks such as viruses, trojans and keyloggers from ever reaching a virtual machine. Twenty security vendors have embraced VMsafe technology and are building products that will further enhance the security of virtual machines, making the virtual environment unmatched in the level of security and protection it provides compared to physical systems.
“VMware already has the most trusted virtualization platform for running applications, and we are now raising the bar on security in ways that physical systems simply cannot match,” said Raghu Raghuram, vice president of datacenter products and solutions. “The industry has come out in full force to support VMware VMsafe technology with plans for a whole new class of security products that offer customers new advantages to running applications in virtual machines.”
So it looks like VMsafe will be a method that security vendors can use in order to ensure that operations in the virtual world will remain just as protected as our meatspace servers
In Dianne Green’s keynote today, you’ll note that almost all of the typical security players have signed up to be part of this platform - I’m guessing it could be quite lucrative, with TCOs everywhere looking for bigger, better tinfoil hats.
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VMware has recently updated the VMware Thinstall page and is now offering a download of what they call “Project North Star” - a Thinstall product.
Also not that there is a thinstalled version of Firefox available for download from the same page.
Through Dianne Green didn’t speak a whole lot about Thinstall at VMworld today, it’s good to see VMware at least touch on it a bit as the appvirt vendors are keen to find out what sort of developments are to come.
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From the official Riverbed RiOS 5.0 announcement:
“[]announced the launch of version 5.0 of the Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS(TM)), which powers the award-winning Riverbed(R) Steelhead(R) product line. RiOS 5.0 extends the Riverbed lead in delivering to its customers the best speed for the broad range of applications important to businesses of every size and across all industries. With the introduction of RiOS 5.0, Riverbed is the first vendor to provide application-level protocol optimization for Microsoft Exchange 2007. This makes Riverbed the first and the only vendor to accelerate Microsoft Exchange 2000, 2003 and 2007. In addition, Riverbed is building upon its lead in delivering solutions to enhance IT flexibility and capabilities with new scale, simplicity and security features, including the new RiOS Services Platform (RSP) for delivering virtualized edge services without the need to deploy additional branch office servers.
More Application-Level Acceleration
In RiOS 5.0, Riverbed adds to its existing HTTP and HTTPS acceleration capabilities by further improving the performance of enterprise Web applications, including SAP NetWeaver, Oracle, PeopleSoft/JD Edwards, Microsoft and Siebel CRM, SharePoint, and Outlook Web Access (OWA). In RiOS 5.0, Riverbed can further reduce the chattiness and delay often associated with enterprise Web-based applications. Users of RiOS 5.0 will see additional performance improvements of up to 10X for their Web applications.
RiOS 5.0 also delivers acceleration capabilities for Oracle 11i applications running in HTTP mode. This acceleration builds on the existing RiOS support for Oracle 11i Jinitiator socket mode optimization and targets the Oracle E-Business suite of applications, particularly Oracle forms traffic and reporting, as well as other application operations. Riverbed is the only vendor that provides application-level optimization for Oracle 11i.“
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More purchases and conglomeration on the way this year.
The buzz at VMworld Europe, before it has even started, is that Novell is to purchase Canadian data center management software company Platespin. Novell has now posted the news on their site, and many are scrambling to figure out where this will lead them as the software is very popular in the VM market. (UPDATE: Platespin have posted their announcement regarding the Novell acquisition as well)
Novell is starting to grow again: it now owns SuSE Linux, Ximian (original makers of Gnome), and just recently purchased open colaboration vendor SiteScape.
If you’d like more info about the acquisition, feel free to register for the Novell-Platespin webinar.
From the Platespin announcement:
On February 25, 2008, Novell announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire PlateSpin Ltd. The combination of Novell’s platform and automation management with PlateSpin’s leading solutions for workload relocation, protection and provisioning will give customers the agility to cross physical and virtual boundaries so IT can work together. Both organizations are focused on helping customers maximize the strategic value of the heterogeneous data center. Novell and PlateSpin will deliver products for complete workload lifecycle management and optimization for Linux, UNIX, and Windows operating systems in the physical and virtual data center. Below you will find details about the acquisition and what it means to current and future PlateSpin customers and partners.
From the Novell announcement:
The acquisition of PlateSpin will allow Novell to offer customers a full solution stack with a powerful virtualization platform and a best-in-class heterogeneous management solution. Together, Novell and PlateSpin will solve many of the data center challenges that customers face today, including:
- Relocation: PlateSpin provides a completely integrated product suite that automates the assessment and migration phases of data center initiatives, like server consolidation, data center relocation and hardware upgrades, to help customers reduce costs, power consumption and space in the data center.
- Protection: PlateSpin’s disaster recovery solutions offer affordable workload protection that leverages virtualization technology to protect both physical and virtual servers in the data center, for improved security and business continuity.
- Provisioning: Using PlateSpin’s technologies, customers will have a single approach to imaging and configuring physical and virtual workloads regardless of platform. This eliminates the manual install process and dramatically reduces the time to provision new server workloads. It will also enable customers to address changing resource requirements at peak demand times as well as in test lab scenarios.
- Optimization and Management: Novell and PlateSpin optimize the balance between physical and virtual infrastructure by automatically monitoring and making infrastructure adjustments based on server availability and workload demand. By automating the process and increasing the visibility into how workloads use physical and virtual resources over time, customers will be able to increase server utilization and optimize their data centers by better addressing common workload movement challenges.
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Oops!
Luckily I had a feeling that host shared folders was a bad idea…
From VMware:
“On Windows hosts, if you have configured a VMware host-to-guest shared folder, it is possible for a program running in the guest to gain access to the host’s complete file system and create or modify executable files in sensitive locations.”
The fix? For now they recommend disabling shared folders as there are no patches for any of the products affected: VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware ACE.
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From TechTarget:
EMC Corp. has acquired a startup still in stealth called Pi Corp. in
an all-cash transaction for an undisclosed amount.
Pi Corp. founder and CEO Paul Maritz will join EMC as president and
general manager of EMC’s newly created Cloud Infrastructure and
Services Division, reporting directly to EMC CEO Joe Tucci. The new
division will also include the EMC Fortress SaaS infrastructure, the
Mozy online backup service and “other upcoming EMC cloud
infrastructure systems and software offerings under development.”
This is interesting to me as I see it as the “new next big thing”.
Currently the only people really loud in this space are Google and Amazon.
I highly doubt we will see much come out of either party until the very soonest Q2 2008 (Mozy update), but expect a product by year-end.
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This list is subjective, and you’ve been warned!
All of these virtual appliances have been tested with ESX server, and may have issues elsewhere.
For appliances that needed it, I used VMware Converter, the version that ships with Virtual Infrastructure 3.5 (VI3.5).
Please note that both ESX 3.5 and Virtual Center 2.5 are available as trials from VMware currently, and I would highly recommend trying them out as it really is night and day compared to VMware Workstation, Server and Player.
That said, for the most part you’ll be fine working with VMware Server 2.0 - it’s free and has a special version of VMware Infrastructure Client to boot.
The list:
- Astaro Security Gateway - This is a must in any build for me. I use this to bridge between my LAN/WAN and the virtual networks that I create. There is a 10-device, 1000 connection “home user” license available from My Astaro that should be more than sufficient to get you up and running with a clean, secure virtual network.
- Ubuntu 7.10 JeOS Mini-image - this image weighs in at only 70MB or so, expands to roughly 200MB, has apt-get installed, and is a perfect candidate for building virtual appliances with. VMware tools is installed, so you don’t need to worry about things like date and time sync.
- OpenBSD 4.2 - The OpenBSD image is great for getting started in the OpenBSD world: learning the shell, commands, networking, and in my case, firewalling. The verison I use comes from Chrysaor.info, but feel free to use your own.
- OpenSuSE 10.3 - I can’t live without this virtual appliance - I use it for just about everything, and is the first appliance installed in any environment. Note that it is a bit bloated, containing USB, sound and other components typically not needed in a virtual environment. On the other hand, since it’s tried and tested on my end, it’s a lifer.
- Trac - I use Trac as a wiki and VM staging log. I consider all VMs, hosts and Virtual Center as software projects, and monitor changes closely. If ever I need to pull up quick info about a virtual machine, host, network, router or firewall, it’s all in Trac.
- Wordpress - I use my Wordpress virtual machine to stage different versions of blandname, to test updates, upgrades, and plugins. This also allows me to change themes, move Adsense blocks around, and generally to play without fear of losing revenue or breaking something.
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