Tag Archive for: years

Pirate Bay co-founder sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment in Denmark

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Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg was sentenced Friday by the Court of Frederiksberg in Denmark to three and a half years in jail for hacking and serious vandalism.

Svartholm Warg immediately appealed the judgment and is still in custody, said Judge Kari Sørensen, who presided over the case, adding that he will stay in Denmark during the appeal but will be deported upon his release from jail.

A 21-year-old Danish accomplice who was sentenced to serve six months in prison was released Thursday. Sørensen ordered news outlets not to publish the man’s name to protect his privacy. Since he was in custody for 17 months, he might be eligible for compensation for the additional months he was jailed.

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Network World Security

Ten years of Ubuntu: How Linux’s beloved newcomer became its criticized king

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It may not be Superman, but Ubuntu has done wonders for Linux.
Nicolás Demarchi

In October of 2004, a new Linux distro appeared on the scene with a curious name—Ubuntu. Even then there were hundreds, today if not thousands, of different Linux distros available. A new one wasn’t particularly unusual, and for some time after its quiet preview announcement, Ubuntu went largely unnoticed. It was yet another Debian derivative.

Today, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, estimates that there are 25 million Ubuntu users worldwide. That makes Ubuntu the world’s third most popular PC operating system. By Canonical’s estimates, Ubuntu has roughly 90 percent of the Linux market. And Ubuntu is poised to launch a mobile version that may well send those numbers skyrocketing again.

This month marks the tenth anniversary of Ubuntu. As you’ll soon see in this look at the desktop distro through the years, Linux observers sensed there was something special about Ubuntu nearly from the start. However, while a Linux OS that genuinely had users in mind was quickly embraced, Ubuntu’s ten-year journey since is a microcosm of the major Linux events of the last decade—encompassing everything from privacy concerns and Windows resentment to server expansion and hopes of convergence.

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Ars Technica » Technology Lab

Pointing laser at police helicopter costs Texas man two years behind bars

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So you’re just some dude chilling on your back porch with friends and you think it would be fun to aim your laser pointer at a helicopter. Everyone has a good laugh.

Eight months later a judge tells you those laughs are going to cost you two years in prison.

Pointing a laser at a helicopter can’t possibly be that much fun.

From a Statesman.com report:

On Feb. 15, Austin police’s Air1 helicopter was on approach to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport when (Soza Ruedas Jr.) pointed a laser at the helicopter. The laser beam was strong enough to reflect inside the cockpit and caused the pilot to avert his eyes, officials said.

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Network World Paul McNamara

20 years ago, AT&T ad campaign ‘predicted’ technology that was well on its way

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A YouTube compilation of a 20-year-old AT&T ad campaign dubbed “You Will” is getting pass-along traffic today (and not for the first time). It’s a fun look at the company’s predictions for a range of technologies that would become the likes of GPS, online books and electronic toll collection.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that anyone could have seen these things coming back in 1994. It’s remarkable that these innovations would become not only real but commonplace so soon after this ad campaign aired. That they would become a reality at all? That’s less remarkable, because many were already well on their way.

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Network World Paul McNamara