Patrick E. Bennett, Jr., Computer Consultant ... computing support for small business

Database Journal: "MySQL is a great database for web-facing applications, however, it tends to be a bit rough around the edges. Enter Maatkit, a great toolkit with a bewildering array of command line tools that fill the gap where MySQL's native tools leave off. From data replication to query profiling and optimizing, Maatkit has tools to make you smarter, and help you get your job done."

Now close to 15 years old and used by some 360 million people, Hotmail is getting an upgrade. The revamped email service is expected to roll out in July or August. The elephant in the room, of course, is Google -- and to a lesser extent, Yahoo, said Laura DiDio, principal of ITIC. Google has steadily enriched the feature set of its relatively young Gmail service. "Microsoft knows it needs to step up Hotmail if it wants to compete with Google," DiDio said.

Marcel Gagn�: "She was directed to me by a colleague of mine who suggested that I might just be the sort of person she wanted to talk to. Specifically, she wanted tech-savvy parents so she could find out how they explain copyright violations to their children."

Trailrunner7 writes "Microsoft today announced plans to share pre-patch details on software vulnerabilities with governments around the world under a new program aimed at securing critical infrastructure and government assets from hacker attacks. The program, codenamed Omega, features a 'Defensive Information Sharing Program' that will offer government entities at the national level technical information on vulnerabilities that are being updated in their products." There's a stream the bad guys would dearly love to tap into.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

ARM based superphone N900 running the x86 wine binary via a statically compiled arm qemu binary, within an x86 chroot.

Netstat --vat: "The release was pushed back by a week to fix a number of blocker bugs, among them is an interesting one that many users might simply consider to be just a papercut nuisance."

The H Open: "The Arch Linux developers have announced the release of the project's official 2010.05 installation images."

FlorianMueller writes "Can a patent troll ever be fair? Yes. The primary concern over the upcoming Defensive Patent License — a GPL-like non-aggression pact for patents — is that it might be too defensive to have the desired impact. But actually the DPL could grow very big if one or more 'Fair Trolls' are brought to life and enforce patents against companies that don't support the DPL. The 'Fair Trolls' would commit to the DPL's terms, so they would have to leave other DPL backers alone. In exchange for this, the community would gladly feed them with patentable ideas (financial rewards for contributors included). Over time, staying outside the DPL alliance would become a costly choice for companies whose products might infringe patents. The bigger the DPL pool gets, the more valuable it becomes to its members. The more aggressive the Fair Trolls are, the better for the cause."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

ERACC web log: "Old Unix hands already know this, but new Unix (Linux) users may be asking, �What is a �watchdog script�?' Basically it is a bash or other script that is run via cron periodically to check on a persistent service"

The company suggests workarounds for a problem Apple says can occur with certain third-party routers, but some users point to bigger issues.

New entry-level routers debut expand the networking giant's consumer play, promising easy configuration for home networks.

With about 700,000 customers and slow increases in revenue per customer, Clearwire will require more investment and greater reach to meet its potential. The company's CEO is optimistic, though, saying he expects to show a profit within 18 months, and provide coverage to more than 120 million people.

AT&T is responding to enterprise IT criticisms of the iPhone by providing an app that beefs up the device's security and makes it easier to manage.

Lots of telecommuters say they're more productive working remotely, but their employers are less certain that's the case and it shows in the lack of widespread, formal support for telework.

WEP and wardriving probably sound quaint to modern ears, but that doesn't mean the Wi-Fi security landscape is that much safer. Bad clients, evil twins and wireless phishing should provide plenty to keep network security busy.