Both text and video appeals from Free Software Foundation executive director Peter Brown describing the FSF's plans for 2008. Brown talks about DRM on music and video, a major new campaign against software patents, and more. The FSF's target is 500 new members this year. Join today!

"Jamison Young is a musician who records endlessly and plays live as often as he can. Young releases all his music under a CC licence, some through ‘fairplay’ label (and former Featured Commoner) Beatpick, who helped get Young’s track 'Memories Child' into the soundtrack for new feature film 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe'.

Warner Music has bent beneath the force of the anti-DRM winds sweeping the globe. The label will now offer its complete catalog, DRM-free, through Amazon's new MP3 store.

Wal-Mart officials said Wednesday that the retailer plans to re-stock a hot selling, Linux-based PC that is currently sold out on its Web site. The Everex TC2502 Green gPC will again be available at Walmart.com "in the coming weeks," said a spokesman for the company.

When Seiko Instruments said it is now offering Linux drivers for its Smart Label Printer 450 and offered to send me one to test, I was happy to hear it, because it seemed like an example of how Linux is being recognized for even non-mass-market hardware devices. While the printer does work as advertised, it is clear that Linux support is a work in progress.

At kde-apps.org there is a little KDE package available for Sony Ericsson mobile phones which enable the user to control different (KDE) applications via the mobile phone. It works like a charm and is easy to set up.

It seems that a full scale mutiny and rebellion against the music labels has begun. Several major bands, including Oasis, Jamiroquai and Radiohead as well as rock band "Throwdown" have gone together to encourage their fans to download their music. The bands are doing this because they've realized that by allowing the fans to share music, they're selling more music in the end.

In October 2006, Terra Soft announced its plan to build the world's first supercomputing cluster using the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), which utilizes the IBM Cell Broadband Engine and the Linux operating system. The idea emerged when Sony Computer Entertainment came knocking on Terra Soft's door, interested in showing that the PS3 is more than merely a game box.

There's an interesting comparison on CNN Money between the Apple MacBook Air, the Everex Cloudbook, and the Sony VAIO Tz 298N. Cost wise the Sony was at the top at nearly 4 grand, while the Everex nailed the low end at $400. A nice order-of-magnitude cost spread there. I'll let the Gentle Reader find out on their on what the writer's favorite machine was, but it wasn't the Cloudbook: