Region restrictions on DVDs serve no one's interests by greedy studios. Why shouldn't I be able to play an Indian DVD on my American DVD player? Or take my DVDs with me to play on my British cousin's DVD player? Ridiculous! If you want to end the tyranny of DVD region encoding, check out "How to make your DVD-ROM region free", which will walk you through the process. Just be careful: if you brick your DVD player, don't blame me, OK? (Check out all of our posts on DVDs.) ...

Today is SUSE day on the Open Source Weblog, and to finish it all up I'm pointing you some ISOs so you can try the latest 'n greatest out yourself. SUSE 9.3 is out, and it's getting good reviews. There's a lot of cool stuff in 9.3, including Firefox 1.0, OpenOffice.org 2.0 (it's still beta, so expect some roughness), GIMP 2.2, Beagle (the search tool I've discussed before), Xen (kinda like built-in open source VMWare), and a VoIP client. Now you can download a Live DVD of SUSE 9.3 - here's a direct link, but remember, this is a 1.5 GB file! What you really oughta do is view the mirrors page and pick something close to you. And if you wanna know more, view the README first (one ultra-cool thing: it's available for i386 AND AMD64!) (Check out all my postings on SUSE, Firefox, GIMP, Beagle, OpenOffice.org, Xen.) ...

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You'll find links to the hottest posts from the past week after the jump including coverage of the most overrated shows of all time, DVD disagreements, and even a Picasso. Enjoy the full listing after the jump. ...

Yup, that's right: I says fer free! Wanna use that hot new SUSE 9.3 distro? Why then, just go download yourself the DVD from a mirror site & get crackin'! If you'd rather grab a small ISO image for CD & then FTP the rest of the install, why, you can do that too! You now have no reason not to try SUSE, so do it already. (Check out all of my posts on SUSE.) ...

I've written quite a bit about SUSE on this blog, and especially the latest release: SUSE 9.2 Pro. SUSE doesn't provide a free download of its new distros right away; instead, it waits a bit after the release in stores before finally providing a free download of a network install ISO (that's a whopping 64MB! Teeny tiny.). In other words, you boot off the ISO and then install SUSE over the Net. If you don't have broadband, don't bother. What's new this time is that SUSE is apparently providing a DVD ISO (a 3.3 GB ISO! 3.3 GB!!!) that you download & install, and this ISO contains the whole furshlugginer thing: the whole distro. If you've got a big ass Net connection & a DVD player, this might be your best choice. Either way, you should check out the mirrors list; just know that some of those mirrors take a while to get updated, so look around. (If you're looking for Live CDs, those are available too - using BitTorrent, dude!) ...

The new SUSE 10.1 is getting great reviews, & is undoubtedly the best SUSE yet. However, even something that is great can always be made better, & that's where Jem Matzan's "Hacking SUSE Linux 10.1" comes in. Want to know how to add support for Java, Flash, Acrobat, Windows Media, RealPlayer, ATI & nVidia graphics cards, XGL/Compiz (only the coolest eye candy EVER), & commercial DVD movies? Then go read that article & follow its advice! (Check out all of our posts on SUSE.) ...

Well I'll be danged - it finally happened! Libranet 3.0, my favorite Linux distro, is out and available for purchase & download! That's pretty funny, 'cause I literally was thinking as I woke up this morning, "If Libranet doesn't release today, that's it - I'm installing Kanotix on my laptop." Well, now Libranet goes on the laptop. I'll let y'all know how it goes. Some things to know about this distro: it's 5 CDs (!) or 1 DVD (yay!). I costs $65 if you're a student or if you're upgrading, or ~$80ish if you're a new purchaser. It has a radically improved Adminmenu (screenshots available here). And that's all I know right now - I'm downloading it as I post. I've almost brought down the 1st CD, which is enough to begin the install. This is very exciting! Woohoo! ...

Among Linux distros, Mandrake is quite popular; in fact, at DistroWatch, it's often #1 in the rankings. A lot of people like it 'cause it's relatively easy to use and it's RPM-based, which a lot of folks find very comfortable. The current version of Mandrakelinux is 10.1 (released in October 2004), & it includes the following software: Linux Kernel 2.6.8 Xorg 6.7.0 KDE 3.2.3 GNOME 2.6 Mozilla 1.7.2 OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 & a lot more! Check out the big ol' list of features, & then download the CD ISOs or the DVD ISOs (available via ftp or you can grab 'em with BitTorrent). Notice that you'll have to promise to join the MandrakeClub (& eventually pay $$$), but it's just a promise. If you don't like Mandrake, delete it and don't pay, since you didn't use it. There's a new review of Mandrakelinux 10.1 out called "A Month later with Mandrake Linux 10.1 Official". The reviewer loves it, ...

I'm cleaning out my bookmarks, Bloglines clippings, & del.icio.us links, & here are a bunch on Knoppix. Enjoy! TechBookReport: Knoppix Hacks Kyle Rankin wrote a really good book for O'Reilly a while back: Knoppix Hacks. Now, granted, I've got a book coming out soon about Knoppix (Hacking Knoppix), but I've got to give props to Kyle - his book is really good. For a short review of the book, check out TechBookReport's look. Hint: they like it. Fun with Knoppix Another look at Kyle Rankin's Knoppix Hacks, this time from the awesomely geeky folks at Ars Technica. It includes an interview with Kyle, as well as some good info on the book and Knoppix. It's not hugely in depth, but it's a quick read, and you'll probably learn a little sumpin' sumpin'. Download Knoppix 4.0.2 Hey, it'd be silly of me to talk about Knoppix without telling you how to go get it for yourself! There are now 2 versions of Knoppix: a maxi version that comes on ...

2 more reviews of Xandros have been published. You know the drill: read 'em if you use Linux but don't use Xandros, so you can learn what your distro lacks (or what Xandros lacks compared to your distro); read 'em if you use Xandros, so you can learn more about your distro; read 'em if you don't use Linux at all, so you can learn why you should. LinuxPlanet's review kinda gives it all away in the title: "Xandros Desktop OS 3.0: A Solid, Modern Replacement for a Windows Desktop". It's 7 pages, with an especially nice discussion of the Xandros File Manager, which really is pretty cool (although it's missing a few features in Konqueror). And the reviewer finishes with some words I completely agree with: "Xandros Linux is not the distribution to use if you are a hardcore Linux hacker, want to use a traditional X Window system window manager, or are doing advanced code development". Know the audience: Linux newbies, Windows transplants, and those who don't need the most hackerish Linux distro. For ...

Ubuntu Linux 5.04, also known as "Hoary Hedgehog", is now available for download as a 500 MB ISO in either install or Live CD editions (& you can download via FTP or HTTP, or, better yet, use BitTorrent). Software includes GNOME 2.10.1, Firefox 1.0.2, OpenOffice.org, and X.org 6.8.2. If you want to do some reading, check out the announcement or the release notes (and I strongly encourage you to read the release notes!). Ubuntu, as you probably know, is a GNOME-based distro; for the KDE fans (I'm one), there's Kubuntu, also newly released at 5.04. It's also available for download as a 572 MB ISO in either install or Live CD editions (FTP, HTTP, or BitTorrent). Software includes KDE 3.4, that very nice Ubuntu-powered hardware config, OpenOffice.org, Gwenview for images, amaroK for music, K3b CD or DVD burner, and Kaffeine for videos & music. Read the announcement. I've actually installed Kubuntu, & it was pretty good, & I've played with Ubuntu as a Live CD, and it ...

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 80 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You'll find lots more links after the jump. Enjoy! Engadget's J.D. Lasica interviews Orb Network CEO Jim Behrens, offers a how-to on accessing iTunes from a cellphone, and reveals that Japan has plans for a Robot Moon Base, while Barb Dybwad solicits readers' Motorola RAZR wishlists. Autoblog's Eric Bryant predicts what's next in the parade of recalls and opines that the big three maintain truck supremacy. John Neff spies a BMW crossover coupe. Walter Keegan Jr. treats us to an illustrated tour of Saturn Vue 2006 updates. ...

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You'll find links to the hottest posts from the past week after the jump including a review of Google Talk, the latest television spoilers and a Flash-based gas pump. But first up is our newest blog, SlashFood. Enjoy. Slashfood just opened for business, and we're already planning a Grilled Cheese party. Plus Karina Longworth makes fun of Gwyneth Paltrow's junk food intolerance and Keith McDuffee lists the top 25 food hacks. ...

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You'll find links to the hottest posts from the past week after the jump including the Die Hard 4 foreshadow, and iPod cemetery, and a special request for a Macromedia donation. Enjoy the full listing after the jump. ...

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You'll find links to the hottest posts from the past week after the jump including the Macromedia MAX ticket giveaway and exclusive Treo 700w information. ...