Mandriva is the only Linux maker that offers a version of its distribution packaged with and designed to run off a USB stick. True, you can install virtually any Linux distro onto an external USB device, but Mandriva Flash 2008 offers you a complete solution, including a USB stick with pre-installed version of Mandriva Linux and a CD containing a few useful tools. It's a worthwhile package, though not without room for improvement.

In 1991, DUX Software licensed the rights to port Maxis Software's SimCity to Unix. Don Hopkins, working then as a contractor for DUX, rewrote the Mac version of the game to run on numerous Unix platforms. More recently, John Gilmore, an advisor to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, suggested the idea to Hopkins of bringing the game to the OLPC's XO laptop. Hopkins told SimCity creator Will Wright, who was enthusiastic about the idea and got the ball rolling at Electronic Arts, the current owner of Maxis.

ASUS released a press release yesterday clarifying their position on the yellow “Warranty void if removed” sticker on the bottom of the Eee PC devices that covers the RAM slot:

myths about OPLC's shown as "False" and "Falsehood" (inaccuracies) misunderstandings, and other responses where appropriate.

tried to pick some features that I have not seen mentioned before - these are some of the things that change my everyday use of the computer, so I feel they are worth mentioning. Some of the below features are provided by Gnome, some by Compiz Fusion. All are not exclusive to Ubuntu, but as that’s what I have installed at the moment I’ll demo them on that.

Anyone who reads any of my blog posts should know by now, that I am quite enthusiastic about Amarok2. I think our initial release, Amarok 2.0, is going to push the boundaries of what a music manager is, and how it can integrate with some of all the great internet services out there.

One of the best features in Linux is the way you can control processes from the command line, so if you have an application that locks up your GUI, you can always SSH over from another machine and just kill the offending process.

A talking penguin is the latest Linux loving gadget to hit the market.