InnerPeace Volunteers writes, “This article at InnerPeace.org compares the human mind to a computer and explains how the mind’s system resources are tied up in old background programs. It offers a solution to the world’s current economic woes by freeing up those resources using InnerPeace open source software so those resources can be used for creativity.” Editor’s note: I don’t get this, can someone please explain this program to me? 🙂

Jeremy Andrews writes, “Kerneltrap interviews Keith Owens this week, an experienced kernel hacker who has long contributed to the Linux kernel. His contributions include updating ksymoops and modutils, both of which he maintains. He also works on kbuild 2.5. Earlier, he built the original Integrated Kernel Debugging patch. He’s also working on kdb and XFS.”

CNet reporpts that a 3000 Alpha EV68 processor Compaq supercomputer will be making its first public appearance at the Pittsburg Supercomputing Center this Monday.

The Daily Mail and Guardian reports: “Using a computer is daunting enough for beginners, especially if you are forced to do it in a language that is not your own. But in September South African firm Translate.org.za released the entire computing experience in Xhosa, covering the full desktop, Web browser, word procsesor, spreadsheet and e-mail application.”

In yet another chapter in the Napster saga, Wired is reporting that Napster is receiving financial support to help pay its settlement with the music industry, further prolonging the music-trading site’s life.

CNet reports that schools and libraries have until Sunday to show they’re taking steps to block
access to online pornography on public computers. The alternative is losing thousands of
dollars in federal funds.

It’s posted at LWN.net. Among the items: “DotGNU Portable.NET 0.2.0 has been released which contains a new
runtime engine. Instead of interpreting the IL bytecode directly, it
is first converted into different bytecode for a more efficient
virtual machine, called the ‘Converted Virtual Machine’, or CVM.”

IBM developerWorks has the preview of the Python-related project. “The [anygui] project is
intended as a wrapper API for a large number of underlying graphic toolkits. Once fully developed, a
Python programmer will be able to call a common [anygui] function — for example, to create a window —
then have the “best available” toolkit do the work. On Windows, the Win32 API might be used (or
wxWindows); on MacOS, native calls; on BeOS, Bethon; on Linux, TKinter or GTK; on a telnet screen,
ncurses — all depending on what is installed and available on a given machine.”

ConsultingTimes.com has an interview with Iyer Venkatesan, the StarOffice product manager, about the StarOffice 6 beta release. “So, on a purely subjective level, StarOffice 6 looks great, and appears to be a serious contender for both the home
and enterprise desktops. Will the release of StarOffice 6 open the floodgates to an era of low-cost, full-featured
computing? Should cash-strapped enterprises consider switching en masse? These questions and more are sure
to burst into flames in the months to come, fanned by charges and counter-charges, FUD and counter-FUD.”

Slashdot readers talk about an announcement XOSL, the Extended Operating System Loader, “a
free (as in beer and as in GPL), full featured, graphical boot loader that
can work in conjunction with Lilo or separately” to boot several OSes.