ZDNet UK reports: “On the heels of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’ prediction
that an “avalanche” of third-party Mac OS X software will land
by summer, longtime Mac developer Macromedia took the
stage at last week’s Macworld Expo here to promise new
versions of its core multimedia apps for Apple’s
next-generation OS.”

eWEEK reports: “As IT managers rush to embrace mobile
commerce, many are quickly realizing that wireless
technologies such as PDAs (personal digital assistants)
and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) phones present
unique and urgent security challenges, particularly as they
are increasingly being used by internal employees and
external customers to access critical enterprise data and
systems.”

Slashdot readers discussion the (developmental) resurrection of miniSQL.

CNet reports that MP3.com is making its extensive online music database and streaming technology available for free to developers. “The move effectively gives rivals access to music rights bought by MP3.com for some $150 million in lawsuit
settlements with the record industry. MP3.com said it hopes the move will jump-start online music innovation.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
RLX Technologies, led by CEO Gary Stimac (co-founder of Compaq) announced today that it is launching a new line of servers that will make use of the Transmeta Crusoe processor and the Linux kernel.
RLX is designing an entire line of server products that will run on Red Hat and Debian. According to the RLX Technologies Web site, the company’s target audience will initially be Internet Data Center customers “in the XSP space” — meaning application and Internet service providers.

A publicist for the company confirmed that there are no products available yet. The new servers will roll out sometime in the first half of 2001. “They are in alpha-testing with the manufacturer,” said Vyonne Donaldson. RLX has not released the name of the company it is working with to produce the machines, but Donaldson said that information would be forthcoming.

The “triple-threat” combination of low power requirements (due to the Crusoe processor), low space requirements, and lower price due to the use of Linux, promises to make RLX a strong competitor in the Web server market, and it is this holy trinity that makes RLX unique, because while other companies use dense server technology and offer Linux operating systems, no one else is selling Crusoe-based servers.

Other companies already involved in the ultra dense server arena include Compaq (RLX CEO Stimac’s old haunt), with its ProLiant DL360 whose users have a choice between NT, Linux, Novell, and SCO Unix; VA Linux (ed. note: VA Linux owns Newsforge) with its Linux-based 2U architecture, and Dell, with its PowerApp line.

NewsForge editors read and respond to comments posted on our discussion page.

From LinuxToday: “Transmeta’s Crusoe processor and Linux will be key to a group of ex-Compaq executives’ plans to “redefine server
economics” with a high-efficiency server platform aimed at Internet data centers.

RLX Technologies was unveiled in a teleconference today. Headed by former Compaq Systems Division chief Gary Stimac,
and former president of Compaq’s North America operations Michael Snavely, the company has yet to produce a prototype
of the new platform, code-named “Razor”, but they promise it will leverage Transmeta’s low power consumption and heat
output to provide a more cost-efficient server platform.”

Fredericksburg, VA (January 16, 2001) — Digital Creations, the leader in Open Source web-application services, announced that it has hired industry executive Thomas Morling to expand its sales and marketing operations.
Mr. Morling spearheaded all sales and business development activities for Viant Corporation’s (NASDAQ: VIAN) New York operation and was responsible for many of the key reference accounts cited in its Initial Public Offering.

He served as Northeast Regional Sales Manager at Anatres Corporation (a joint venture of Amdahl and Electronic Data Systems (EDS). Mr. Morling helped establish the New York office of NeXT Computers Inc. He began his career as a research and development engineer in memory systems at the Intel Corporation in 1978.

“We are thrilled to have Tom on the Digital Creations team,” said Rob Page, co-founder and COO of Digital Creations. “He has perfected a career in delivering state-of-the-art technology to customers for several of the premier software/hardware companies of the digital age. The market for our technology and services solutions has dramatically expanded over the last year. Tom will help us achieve the market reach and customer expansion envisioned for 2001. He will help us communicate our vision of the future of highly dynamic, interactive web-based services.”

“I have known the folks at Digital Creations for almost a year and have been very impressed with the power and flexibility of the software they have created,” said Morling. “They are focused on rapid execution of very high-quality and market-leading content management solutions. Additionally, the open source nature of the offering creates unique benefits for the market. I look forward to working with a great team!”

“I have had the privilege of working with Tom Morling many times over a 15-year period” says Hadar Pedhazur, Chairman of the Board of Digital Creations. “He is one of the most accomplished salespersons I have known, always putting the customer’s needs and interests above his own.”

About Digital Creations
Digital Creations develops next-generation web applications, particularly content management solutions, based on the Open Source Zope development framework. Using Zope allows Digital Creations to rapidly create and deploy large-scale systems, and to deliver reliable, high-performance, scalable web sites that are easily maintained, even by non-professionals. Customers include the Gannett Company, WebMD, the U.S. Navy and HomeGain.com. Digital Creations recently received $12 million in funding from a group of investors including Whitney & Co., the Intel 64 Fund and Opticality Ventures. Digital Creations, which is headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia, maintains a web site at www.digicool.com.

For more information, contact Melissa Light at 540/372-4119, melissa@digicool.com”

IBM and the Natinal Center for Supercoming Applications at the University of Illinois at Champaign are trying to create the world’s fastest Linux supercomputer, reports eWeek. The NCSA will install two Linux clusters, including more than 600 IBM xSeries eServers.

Dan Marlin tells us that Project Mayo has unleashed “OpenDivX,” an MPEG-4 compliant natural video encoder and a decoder.

“OpenDivX is the mothership of all ProjectMayo projects. This is an Open Source project that at it’s core will consist of a compliant MPEG-4 natural video encoder and a decoder. There are also other projects that are springing up under the OpenDivX roof. Including “The Playa” Which is an open source player for DivX. It includes advanced features like progressive download (unlike the old DivX ;-)) and plays “broken” or uncompleted video files. The first version will be on Windows but they are also planning Linux and Mac versions.” Read more at projectmayo.com.

The New Zealand Herald reports that a Linux supercomputer will help a sailmaker use a program which calculates the
way air will flow around sails.