Congratulations to @Lakshmana who landed a new job and is starting today.

Thanks to @Digium for getting the word out. We just stumbled on this one...

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/1764325-other-online-it-forums

Also very cool that SW decided to feature it and promote it. Thanks to SW as well!

Softpedia reports on a new open source project that just came to light this past week. UbuntuBSD is an attempt to merge the Ubuntu ecosystem with the FreeBSD kernel, which does not use the much maligned SystemD. This is a very new project but could be very interesting. Use of the BSD kernel means that ZFS is available as a native filesystem (and is used by default) and XFCe is being used as the desktop. Downloads in ISO form are already available for those interested in checking things out.

Scale and Spiceworks are presenting Scale's Can Your Disaster Recovery Plan Cook the Bacon (aka the Waffle House Talk) as a webinar today at noon eastern / 11:00 am central time. @scottalanmiller will be guesting on this webinar to mirror the "jump in" anecdotes from the same Waffle House presentation given in Austin at SpiceWorld back in September.

Sign up and join Scale to find out if your critical data is bacon or sausage.

Congrats to @JeffReady on his new brewery: http://www.townepost.com/indiana/center-grove/centerpoint-brewing/

...It all began five years ago when Jon Robinson invited Argiris to his house to taste his homebrew beer. The fellow Rose-Hulman graduate was intrigued. The pair began crafting their own recipes and entering competitions. They were having fun and learning a lot, but when they took the Blue Ribbon at the Indiana State Fair in 2014 for their category they knew they had something special. They started kicking around the idea of opening a brewery and developed a business plan. That’s where Center Grove resident and fellow Rose-Hulman graduate Jeff Ready joined the team.....

MangoLassi and Unitrends would like to invite you to participate in a Full day all about Unitrends May 12, 2015

• @Minion-Queen and @scottalanmiller will be posting from SpiceWorld London about the launch of the new addition to Unitrends offerings.

• There will be questions posted by a couple Unitrends installation Engineers and they will be here to answer your questions as well

• There will be giveaways!

• Follow @Minion-Queen on twitter @theminionqueen for other pics and hilarity that happens at SpiceWorld!!

In Germany, a Linux kernel author and the Software Freedom Conservancy have sued hypervisor giant VMware over allegations that VMware has used copyrighted and GPL licensed Linux code belonging to Christoph Hellwig without securing a proper license nor meeting its obligations under the GPL (Gnu Public License v2.) This is an extremely serious lawsuit as the players involved are very large and the codebase in question is very valuable. In question is the VMware vmkernel, the company's likely most valuable technological asset. VMware asserts that it has done nothing wrong.

Under the terms of the GPL, if GPL code has been used in another product, that other product is, in turn, automatically licensed under the GPL. That means that VMware faces the potential scenario where the vmkernel, and therefore the majority of ESXi itself, is GPL'd making it open and free to the world and no longer under VMware's control. Linux, KVM and Xen, for example, would have unfettered access to use the code and merge projects.

The question will likely come down to whether or not the two parties can provide that code truly was or was not misappropriated. It is a common statement made about VMware that they have used Linux code in their products, but that claim is based on the misconception that the shell used on ESXi, which has no relationship to Linux, is Linux and therefore ESXi is Linux. That misconception is nothing more than that and is completely unrelated to this question of whether or not VMware has accidentally or intentionally used copyrighted, GPL'd code in their products.

Red Hat's new Fleet Commander system is designed to manage RHEL and Fedora desktops at scale. FC combines Cockpit and FreeIPA to give group policy like control to the RH ecosystem.

https://fleet-commander.org/

Reminders on rise as WhatsApp update deadline looms

Users yet to accept new terms and conditions for the messaging platform WhatsApp will start to get "persistent" reminders after the 15 May deadline.
The changes relate primarily to the way businesses interact with customers. Since they were announced, in January, there has been concern about the prospect of increased data sharing with WhatsApp's parent company, Facebook, but this will not be changing. Most of the app's two billion users had already accepted, the company said. Those who do not will start to lose functionality - beginning with being unable to see chat lists and ending with not receiving video calls and messages - but no accounts will be deleted.

Windows 10 Update Fail: New AMD Driver Reportedly Causes Boot Issues

Small Computer System "Interference"
An issue with the AMD SCSIAdapter driver appears to be causing Windows 10 boot issues on certain hardware configurations, ComputerBase reports. The problem apparently being most commonly encountered on Gigabyte motherboards. People have complained of these problems on the ComputerBase forums, Microsoft Answers, and the /r/AMD subreddit. The issues seemed to start after the Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. - SCSIAdapter - 9.3.0.221 driver was pushed via Windows Update. So far it seems the boot issues are mostly affecting Gigabyte Aorus motherboards that use the X570 chipset. The only way to fix the issue, at least at the moment, is to roll back the driver update and prevent Windows Update from installing it again.

Jerusalem violence: Rockets fired from Gaza after major clashes

Rockets have been fired towards Jerusalem from Gaza, amid spiralling tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.
No injuries were reported, though Israel's parliament was evacuated as sirens sounded. Gaza's Hamas rulers had threatened to strike after hundreds of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police on Monday. The past few days have seen the worst violence in the city for years. More than 300 Palestinians were wounded in the confrontations with Israeli police outside the Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem.

Game of Thrones actress sues Marilyn Manson alleging abuse

Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco has sued singer Marilyn Manson, alleging sexual assault and battery.
The lawsuit claims Mr Manson coerced the British actress with "drugs, force, and threats of force". The plaintiff also alleges the singer and his manager broke trafficking laws by luring her from London to the US with empty promises of work. The artist has rejected multiple allegations of abuse against him as "horrible distortions of reality". He has been dropped by his record label and booking agent since the claims surfaced.

An ambitious plan to tackle ransomware faces long odds

Heavyweight task force proposes framework to tackle a major cybersecurity problem.
Schools, hospitals, the City of Atlanta. Garmin, Acer, the Washington, DC, police. At this point no one is safe from the scourge of ransomware. Over the past few years, skyrocketing ransom demands and indiscriminate targeting have escalated, with no relief in sight. Today a recently formed public-private partnership is taking the first steps toward a coordinated response. The comprehensive framework, overseen by the Institute for Security and Technology's Ransomware Task Force, proposes a more aggressive public-private response to ransomware, rather than the historically piecemeal approach. Launched in December, the task force counts Amazon Web Services, Cisco, and Microsoft among its members, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the United Kingdom National Crime agency. Drawing from the recommendations of cybersecurity firms, incident responders, nonprofits, government agencies, and academics, the report calls on the public and private sector to improve defenses, develop response plans, strengthen and expand international law enforcement collaboration, and regulate cryptocurrencies.

Google owner sees record profits as lockdown boom continues

Google owner Alphabet saw its earnings soar in the first quarter as people stuck at home in the pandemic used more of its services.
Net profit jumped by 162% to a record $17.9bn in the three months to March as advertising revenue swelled by a third. It comes as the tech giant faces increased scrutiny over its power and the pandemic has people turning to the internet more than ever. The firm credited "elevated consumer activity online" for its results. "Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained," said Alphabet and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai. Analysts had expected a good performance as economies around the world have continued to reopen, prompting more spending on online advertising.

Cyber-attack hackers threaten to share US police informant data

Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department has said its computer network has been breached in a targeted cyber-attack, US media report.
A ransomware group called Babuk is reportedly threatening to release sensitive data on police informants if it is not contacted within three days. The FBI is investigating the extent of the breach, US media reported, citing the Washington DC police department. Ransomware is used to scramble computer networks and steal information. Attackers target companies or organisations and can lock their systems, then demand large sums of money in return for ending the hack.

Comcast touts 4Gbps cable uploads in lab test, still limits users to 35Mbps

Lab test produces 4Gbps upload speeds but actual uploads are still 3 to 35Mbps.
Comcast today offered the latest hint of a future in which its cable customers won't be limited to 35Mbps upload speeds. Announcing a recent lab test, Comcast said its research team "deliver[ed] upstream and downstream throughputs of greater than 4Gbps" and that "future optimization" will allow "even greater capacity." This was "the first-ever live lab test" of a Broadcom "system-on-chip (SOC) device that will pave the way for Comcast to deliver multigigabit upload and download speeds over its hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) network," Comcast said. It won't require installation of more cables because the "technology works using the same types of connections already installed in hundreds of millions of homes worldwide," Comcast said.

LeBron James accused of inciting violence with 'YOU'RE NEXT' tweet targeting Columbus police officer

James, other celebrities and media outlets have downplayed Bryant's attack on fellow teen with knife
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is facing intense backlash over a now-deleted tweet targeting a Columbus police officer involved in the shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, who was Black. Bodycam footage released late Tuesday showed Bryant being shot as she was attacking another teen with a knife. However, like many other public figures, James suggested that the Columbus shooting was unjustified coming on the heels of the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd.

Middle East states dominate list of top executioners in 2020 - Amnesty

Four of the world's five top executioners in 2020 were Middle East states, Amnesty International says.
Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia accounted for 88% of the 483 reported executions worldwide, according to a report by the human rights group. It accuses them of displaying "a ruthless and chilling persistence" in putting people to death despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The global total was the lowest in a decade, but it did not include China. China is believed to execute thousands of people each year, but the true extent of its use of the death penalty is unknown as the data is a state secret.