This is not a big deal … it is mainly a bug-busting maintenance release with a few new features (listed below). I mention it, however, to remind you that R exists.R is in my view the most versatile and powerful statistical system available. Many people say it has a steep learning curve, but I think this is because it does not have a commonly used graphical user interface. In fact, if you are doing serious statistics, R is not harder to learn than any other professional system. Continue reading R 2.6.2 is released →

To most desktop computer users, the difference between two “systems” (Linux, Windows, Mac, etc.) is in what you see when you turn the computer on, what you can click on with your mouse, how files are visually organized and manipulated, how menus work, and so on. This is the “look and feel” of a system. Since the “look and feel” has to do with how you actually use the computer, this can be the most important factor to a user choosing a system. But the “system” itself may have little to do with these differences.If you choose a Mac, you get a certain look and feel. If you choose Windows XP, you get a different look and feel. If you choose Vista, you get yet another. But if you choose “Linux,” you are able to choose among a wide range of LookAndFeels. Continue reading Linux X Server →

Xii Monitor, a French web survey company, came out with the 2007 market share statistics, with interesting news about the Firefox browser. The Open Source browser’s market share has climbed to 28 percent of the European market, mostly at the expense of Microsoft Internet Explorer. The trend for the year shows a steady increase [source].Speaking of Microsoft, apparently executives at the behemoth are accusing IBM of being the prime mover in the recent global war against the Office Open XML ‘standard.’ According Microsoft’s senior director of XML technology, Jean Paoli, “Let’s be very clear … It has been fostered by a single company — IBM. If it was not for IBM, it would have been business as usual for this standard.” Nicos Tsilas, Microsoft’s director of interoperability and IP policy added, “They have made this a religious and highly political debate … They are doing this because it is advancing their business model. Over 50 percent of IBM’s revenues come from consulting services.”Microsoft executives also implicated “the likes of” (a phrase that may cause some alarm) the Free Software Foundation in this lobbying effort. Is this some sort of strategic rhetoric, or is it really the case that Microsoft does not get it? Is the megacompany aware of the fact that they are so annoying that everyone hates them? [ story here]Speaking of being annoying, tech-geek publisher O’Reilly has recently released the latest book in their “annoyances” series. I won’t be needing a copy of Windows Vista Annoyances: Tips, Secrets, and Hacks, but perhaps you will.And, as long as we are on the subject of annoyances, have a look at MythBusters’ “7 Tech Headaches and How to Fix Them.” My favorite? “Computer operating systems loaded with stuff I don’t want and will never use.” The solution? ” Switch to a Linux-based OS such as Ubuntu. Since most Linux OSs are free, there’s no business reason to bloat up the system with feature frills.”