jeffy124 writes "Microsoft has made a slight adjustment to their recent change in OEM licensing in a direct response to AOL's hijacking of the desktop. The gist is show MSN's icon too, or don't show any." As jeffy124 points out, this comes, more or less, straight as a reaction to the AOL-Compaq deal.

BenTheDewpendent writes: "I am considering buying a Compaq iPaq IA-1 Internet Appliance if it is hackable. The IA-1 is relatively cheap and doesn't seem to be too bad in spec. I was wondering if anyone knows if they are hackable or usable beyond their intended semi-lame designed purpose?" There's a short (and lukewarm) review at TechTV about this machine which lists decent specs but objects to a highish price for what it contains. If you have a bargain, though, it sounds fun. Anyone have a succesful experiment with one of these cute boxes?

Several people sent in notes about this:"IBM research announced that it developed a wireless security auditor running on a Compaq iPAQ with Linux. The pictures on the IBM web page are much more revealing than the press release. Apparently the auditor can handle GPS input (correlate access points with GPS coordinates?) and associate with access points on demand." The main product webpage has more information about the capabilities, and notes that IBM hasn't decided yet whether to release it as a commercial product or a free tool.

Skuld-Chan asks: "I'm left handed - so is about 10%-15% of America (depending on what statistic you look at). Is there a PDA out there that has left handed support? I have a Compaq Ipaq and the problem is I have to reach over the screen to grab scroll bars - thus obstructing what I am viewing. My brother has a Palm 7 and he says it doesn't have left handed support either. I think it would be easy to impliment - just reverse all the scroll bars and I'd be happy (the menu items happen to be on the left - just the right place)." You would thing things like this would come out in the usability tests. For those of you lefty's out there who work with PDAs on a semi-daily basis, what do you do to work around this problem?

Matt Watson writes: "MSNBC is running this story on Compaq's shifting mainly to software and services. The article states that the sluggish PC market is partly to blame." More specifically, Compaq is talking about "industry-specific" packages. Niche marketing, basically, but with a very lage company that can concentrate on certain areas.

yaba was one of many who noted that Intel is apparently buying alpha from compaq. They also plan to move to their servers to Itanium. There will be at least one more generation of the Alpha chips, but you can imagine how much that'll matter. I still like alpha chips. Behold! Consolidation!Update: 06/25 02:19 PM by H :Check out my recent story about this as well.

A number of people have been writing about Compaq selling off the Alpha processor, with some coverage from different media sources. The Inquirer cites Intel as the likely buyer, which seems odd to me considering their aversion to antitrust lawsuits. Maybe AMD? Who knows - it's too bad that the Alpha technology has never realized the same commercial success as it has technologically.

stereoroid writes "LinuxGram is reporting that Compaq has nearly completed the Solaris Threading Library (STL), a set of tools that help Solaris developers port their applications to Linux (White Paper here). I suppose that when it's ready, it'll appear on opensource.compaq.com alongside the Linux PPTP drivers and the "Single System Image" Linux Clustering system they've been working on.

infodragon writes "Linux Power has a really good interview with Jim Gettys, one of the origional X developers and now actively involved with GNOME." He's also done much work with the handheld iPaq.

Ralph Cottenham writes: "tinytechnews has just put the finishing touches on its first how-to article; a complete MP3 jukebox in your vehicle with a sleek interface provided by the Compaq iPAQ. This article shows you how to use your iPAQ PocketPC to supply your favorite music wherever you go." A lot of the "how-to" work here is accomplished by adding an external hard drive to the iPAQ (running Windows, not GNU/Linux) with Addonics' PocketEX enclosure and an IBM diskdrive, but consideration is also given to various ways to pipe the sound into a car stereo system.

g8oz writes "Compaq is trying to 'visioneer' its way to the future. Cringe-worthy buzzword, yes, but check out how they've combined the notebook/desktop computer into one. Lick your lips here." Some of the ultra-thin laptop designs look interesting to me, but as to the others, there's no accounting for taste, I guess;)

TwP writes: "That new computer will cost you $1,200 - wait no $1,300 - better make that $1,500 dollars! IBM, Compaq, and Dell are experimenting with "dynamic pricing" according to this article over at InfoWorld. Amazon tried a similar idea last summer and met with quite the negative response. Hope the computer makers can spin this idea in a better light." Amazon's experience didn't work out, and as far as I know, they've ceased doing it.

toybuilder writes: "Magnequench holds a key patent on high-power neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets that they claim is worth almost 1/2 of the world's permanent magnet market. These magnets are in use everywhere including motors in CD/DVD drives and in actuators in camcorders. They are suing a whole lotta companies including Compaq and HP. You can see the AP newswire at Yahoo or read the company's press release."

David O'Brien writes " FreeBSD SMP on Alpha processors is now stable and has been checked into CVS repository on the development branch (5.0-CURRENT). John Baldwin, Andrew Gallatin, and Doug Rabson first booted single-user SMP on Friday, April 13th, and full multi-user support followed on Tuesday, April 17th. The code was stablized and then checked into the CVS repository on Friday, April 27th. Since being checking into the repository, it has been verified to work on quad-CPU DEC AlphaServer 4100s, dual-CPU Compaq DS-20s, dual-CPU API UP2000, and dual-CPU DEC AlphaServer 2100s. "

Slashing back tonight are bits and pieces on optical transistors; a genuine linux toaster; words from Nintendo's president on the real status of the Gamecube; and another potentially nice push in the world of digital archives. Please enjoy.

jaredcat writes: "The until-recently rumored new 64MB IPAQ handheld with improved expansion-card capabilities finally went on sale today at Compaq Direct for $649. Seeing as the lesser 3650 model can't currently be found on the street for love or money (I've seen it listed as high as $1000), I'm grabbing my 3670 while I still can." For some reason, I can't find the higher-end one on the site -- am I alone? With 64MB, this beats all but my most recent computer. Pop in my Merlin wireless card, and I can roam the city talking to myself all day? Excellent.

NineSeventy writes: "Infosync has a short but interesting article and photographs regarding an 'ueber' PDA project being developed by Compaq and MIT called Project Mercury. Despite being somewhat sketchy, the article explains that this new mobile compututing 'solution' will involve an expansion sleeve, a camera and a 'downscaled version of linux' running the whole thing in place of Windows CE. I want one." There are also some interesting Linux-PDA-related sidebars.

Updates and revisions for you on various and sundry stories you've seen here recently, from Parrot to Linux on handhelds to the recent judgement against MP3.com and more. Read on below to find them.

SEWilco has comprehensive report from the Spring Comdex show in Chicago. Good listing - show was smaller, but I think there was still some good exhibits put on there. Click thru to read more- you can also read the final report that Newsforge has.

Doug Miller (no relation) is an amazingly affable and unflappable man. This interview came about because I asked Doug face-to-face if he'd do it when we met after a panel discussion he was part of in Washington DC a few weeks ago. He said "sure" without even a second's hesitation, let alone checking with PR people. His answers to the 10 selected questions we sent him are 100% straight-up. You may not like everything he says (devout Free Software people probably won't like any of it), but Doug Miller deserves your respect (and courtesy) for telling it like it is -- at least from Microsoft's point of view -- without a hint of weaseling.