Wired: “What you see on your computer screen is the document or Web page you opened, right? Wrong.

In an attempt to protect sensitive information from would-be pilferers, Alchemedia’s Mirage 3.0 plays tricks on users — so what you see is not always what
you get.

What happens if you want to share confidential information with employees, business partners or vendors — but you don’t want them to copy, save on disk,
print, forward or otherwise hold onto the data?

Until now, you had only one choice: to encrypt the document. But Mirage 3.0, the newest application from Alchemedia, offers users another option.”

Wired: “Information overload — including billions of e-mails, instant messages and cell phone minutes — poses a challenge for law enforcement agencies that monitor communications.”

Kelly McNeill writes: “Internet service providers such as America Online and EarthLink have begun cooperating with the investigation into Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, and now privacy advocates are bracing for what they see as an assault on civil liberties. They’re expressing concern that, for the sake of security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other authorities will push for increased electronic surveillance of communication networks, including stepped-up use of Carnivore.”

LinuxSecurity: “This week, advisories were released for fetchmail, sendmail, xinetd, bugzilla, apache-contrib, uucp, and xloadimage. The vendors include Caldera,
This week, advisories were released for fetchmail, sendmail, xinetd, bugzilla, apache-contrib, uucp, and xloadimage. The vendors include Caldera,
Conectiva, Red Hat, and SuSE. It has been a tragic week. Our own Dave Wreski writes, “Today’s events mark more than a display of courage by
Americans, an effort to exact retribution on those who committed this senseless act, and how this country will be changed as a result. It directly impacts us
all on an international scale as individual architects of the global Internet.”

MSNBC: “In proclaiming Friday a national day of prayer and remembrance, Bush
urged community groups and places of worships nationwide to hold noontime
memorial services, ring bells and set aside time for candlelight vigils. He also
encouraged employers to let their workers off to attend.”

Wired.com: “Some lawmakers say encryption laws can let terrorists plot attacks such as Tuesday’s assaults on the East Coast. Congress is considering a crypto-crackdown.”

Kelly McNeill writes: “In response to recent customer complaints that Microsoft’s volume licensing for Windows was being issued far too soon, Microsoft revised the licensing deadline to February 28, 2002. If your organization requires new computers and the revised timeline is still inadequate, consideration for the purchase of older Windows editions might be in order. Large organizations might want to even consider stockpiling such software if significant numbers of new employees are expected in the future.”

IDG: “There’s more bad news for companies seeking to make a profit from the open-source Linux operating system, as an embedded operating system maker announces layoffs, and a supplier of Linux-based server hardware files for bankruptcy protection.”

tjhanson writes: “Due to circumstances beyond my control, all progress on VarLinux.org will be
suspended until further notice. I do not know at this time whether or not
progress will resume in the future. I do not know how long or whether or not
the existing content will remain online. I cannot comment further, so I regret
that I cannot post answers to questions. Thanks to everyone, participants and
contributors alike for all your support.”

– by Tina Gasperson –
Our review site this week is very commercial. But that’s almost a welcome thing. It’s like, Linux hit the big time. I know some people don’t want that to happen ever, and I don’t mean Microsofties so much as some of the real hardcore old time Linux fogies who want to keep it all to themselves. But that’s another story.I’m talking about linuxberg.com, which is actually the Linux section of Tucows.com. It’s just an aggregation of Linux software, kind of like our own linux.davecentral.com, but flashier. Tucows actually makes Linux software look cooler, somehow. Maybe it’s all those colorful animated ads.

I already have all the Linux software I need to conduct business. After all, just about any distribution out there already comes with a plethora of applications — more than you’ll ever need, regardless of who you are and how much you rely on your computer. But if you’re a software aficianado like me, you like to keep up with what’s new out there.

And certainly, freshmeat.net is the place where all the really down-with-it people go to look for … well, fresh meat. But there’s a lot of crud floating around that pond. The stuff at Tucows is rated, so you can get an idea, if not a rock solid guarantee, of how useful it’s going to be for you.

Also, if you’re like me and never have the patience to download the second CD of your latest favorite distribution, you get short-changed on the games. Games are a must-have if there’s a 5-year-old boy in the house. Come to think of it, even if the boys are 25 and you’re one of them, the games are still very important. Fortunately, Tucows.com has a long list of games, many of which are tempting even to me, a relatively game-neutral being. Again, they’re all rated, so start with the “five cows” selections and work your way down.

There’s a nifty little page that gives you a comparison of several Linux distributions, which are also available for download at the site. One application is chosen each day for a detailed review, and you can look at all the newest additions each day, as well as the most popular downloads.

Skim the interesting glossary with its satisfyingly hefty list of entries before you leave. The help desk page is nice, also, with a big FAQ, howto’s, man pages, and other links.

Tucows isn’t the be all and end all of Linux software aggregation sites, but it is a worthwhile addition to your bookmarks file.