"The Contiki operating system is a highly portable, minimalistic operating system for a variety of constrained systems ranging from modern 8-bit microcontrollers for embedded systems to old 8-bit homecomputers. Contiki provides a simple event driven kernel with optional preemptive multithreading, interprocess communication using message passing signals, a dynamic process structure and support for loading and unloading programs, native TCP/IP support using the uIP TCP/IP stack, and a graphical subsystem with either direct graphic support for directly connected terminals or networked virtual display with VNC or Telnet."

If you want squeeze every ounce of computing power out of your Windows XP box (and have lots of time), check out 99 Performance Tips for Windows XP. (via Mike Mills)

Ariya Hidayat kindly wrote in to suggest Musik "an open-source, cross-platform multimedia player and library." Supports mp3, ogg, icecast, and shoutcast; embedded SQL database makes searches fast and easy.

PgmText v.2.00 [36k] + Edit text parts of program files, including wide character text (text in menu items, buttons, etc). Free for non-commercial use. (via ShellCity)

Introduction to Reverse Engineering Software - online book which covers reverse engineering software under Linux and Microsoft Windows.

If you still haven't tried PearPC (mentioned in this space a few weeks ago), perhaps this screenshot will interest you:



The entire setup and install process from start to finish was surprisingly fast and easy, requiring only several hours on a 1.2GHz Athlon with 384MB RAM. OS 10.2 under PearPC is slow but usable.

Detailed Guides:

PearPC: Installation Guides, Tips and Links

Installing OS X (10.2) on a PC

"LNX-BBC is a miniature Linux-based GNU distribution, small enough to fit on a CD-ROM that has been cut, pressed, or molded to the size and shape of a business card. It provides a portable rescue system or temporary workstation OS for any system with a CD-ROM drive." | Review

didtheyreadit claims to invisibly track email and report the following information:

• When, exactly, the email was opened.
• How long the email remained opened.
• Where, geographically, the email was viewed.

This "tracking" is incredibly easy to circumvent: use plain text email. Reminds one of last year's Shift key breaks CD copy locks.

DVD Decrypter 3.2.2.0 [770k] Freeware DVD Ripper. Screenshots | Review

"The purpose of hymn is to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law. It allows you to free your iTunes Music Store purchases from their DRM restrictions with no sound quality loss. These songs can then be played outside of the iTunes environment, even on operating systems not supported by iTunes. It works on Mac OS X, many unix(-ish) variants and on Windows." Note to potential pirates: unlike its predecessor PlayFair (which was shut down by Apple), hymn does not strip your Apple ID from "liberated" files. (via Slashdot)

"Whenever, in the course of the daily hunt, the (Native American) comes upon a scene that is strikingly beautiful and sublime -- a black thunder-cloud with the rainbow's glowing arch above the mountain; a white waterfall in the heart of a green gorge; a vast prairie tinged with the blood-red of sunset -- he pauses for an instant in the attitude of worship. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, since to him all days are God's." - The Soul of the Indian

In addition to Furl (mentioned last month), there are several other personal Web archiving services:

Del.icio.us
MemeStreams
Stumble Upon
Spurl

(via Information Pollution)

 A43 File Management Utility version 2.30 [713k] + File manager with integrated text editor, zip/unzip, file search, quick launch, more.   (via anonymous email)

Map24 provides fast-loading, detailed maps of North America and Europe.

OpenBSD may very well be the most secure PC operating system. If you thought it was only for servers, or lacks a decent GUI, check out the screenshots.

PearPC - Open source PowerPC emulator for x86 machines. (via OSNews)

HTML email considered harmful is another thorough look at why plain text email rules. The primary reasons (which are explored in detail):

1. HTML email is large and wastes your Internet connection
2. HTML email is a spammer's dream
3. HTML email is a privacy risk
4. HTML email is useless on handheld devices

Want a Segway but think $4500 a tad on the steep side? Build your own like Trevor Blackwell did for less than half the price.

 Simple Socket File Transfer 1.0 [9k] + Transfer a file between two computers using the TCP port of your choosing. Partially completed transfers can be resumed, and files are automatically checked with MD5 to ensure they were received error-free. Supports very large files (up to about 4 petabytes).  

PC-Pipeline is like Slashdot for Windows admins and users. (via Ordinary-Life.net)

 miniaim [45k] + Tiny AOL instant messaging client.   

Please sign this petition calling for an immediate, full, and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture in Iraq. Tech posts to resume tomorrow.

"True patriotism is not blind patriotism, as true love is not blind love. We have not only rights but responsibilities as citizens in a democracy. Those responsibilities include remaining informed about what is being done in our name, and speaking truth to power when conscience demands. To ignore these responsibilities is to sell our country down the wide and muddy river of history's failed experiments." - Anita Doyle

• U.S. troops, guards stop using hoods to blindfold Iraqi prisoners
• President orders tough punishment
• U.S. to Stop Certain Interrogation Practices
• Prisoner abuse may be more widespread
• Civilians ID'd in abuse may face no charges

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

"The scandal over the treatment of Iraqi inmates at Abu Ghraib prison continues to grow. The Guardian newspaper reported Monday that US prison guards and interrogators attempted to hide the systematic abuse of Iraqi inmates from the International Red Cross."

"The allegation by Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the former head of US military prisons in Iraq, is the first hint that the 'patterns of abuse' (as she described it) could go farther than originally expected. Brigadier General Karpinski was relieved of her command earlier this year during the investigation into abuse at the prison."

"A fifty-three-page report, obtained by The New Yorker, written by Major General Antonio M. Taguba and not meant for public release, was completed in late February. Its conclusions about the institutional failures of the Army prison system were devastating. Specifically, Taguba found that between October and December of 2003 there were numerous instances of 'sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses' at Abu Ghraib. This systematic and illegal abuse of detainees, Taguba reported, was perpetrated by soldiers of the 372nd Military Police Company, and also by members of the American intelligence community. (The 372nd was attached to the 320th M.P. Battalion, which reported to Karpinski's brigade headquarters.) Taguba's report listed some of the wrongdoing:

'Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.'"

Full article

 PMGlobe 3.25 [479k] + A beautiful, programmable world globe for Windows 2000/XP.