Ubuntu Switches Cloud Software

By Joab Jackson, IDG News




Canonical has switched its cloud software stack to the open-source OpenStack, the company announced Tuesday. The current version of its Ubuntu Server, version 11.04, uses the Eucalyptus platform.

Ubuntu Server 11.10 will include the OpenStack stack as the core of the company's Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) package. The server release will also include a set of tools to help users move their cloud deployments from Eucalyptus to OpenStack.

Canonical still plans to support Eucalyptus as a standalone application in future versions of the server software. Users of the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support) edition will be supported until April 2015. The next LTS release, version 12.04 -- due in April 2012 -- will feature OpenStack.

Rackspace and NASA first launched OpenStack in 2010, as a fully open-source cloud platform. NASA developed the technology for its Nebula internal cloud.

Canonical did not offer a reason for the switch, which it announced at the Ubuntu Developer Summit, being held this week in Budapest.

The core components of Eucalyptus are open source, though the eponymous company behind the technology retains some advanced features only for commercial releases. Some observers have also expressed worry about Eucalyptus' reliance on the Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) APIs (application programming interfaces), which limits the number of public clouds that could be used to host a cloud instance.

Competitors such as VMware have pointed out that the EC2 API is proprietary, even if Amazon allows its reuse in projects like Eucalyptus. Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus Systems, however, has argued that the Amazon EC2 API is a de facto standard, one widely used across the industry.

Canonical noted that 53 commercial companies--including Dell, Intel and Cisco--have joined the OpenStack initiative. Eucalyptus recently touted that more than 25,000 clouds have been built with its software.

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Computer Hardware Higher - Technology Lower - DELL, NTAP, HPQ, STX

New York, May 11th (TradersHuddle.com) - Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), the 3rd largest personal computer maker in the world is trading at 16.57, which represents 0.98% versus its previous trading session close. Dell is the computer hardware index best performer today, it's helping the sector outperform overall technology shares, with the Technology Select Sector Spider (NYSE:XLK) trading -0.42% from its previous trading session close.

Technology shares trading flat with the S&P500, which is trading lower by -0.42%.

The Index best performer, Dell the 3rd largest personal computer maker in the world, is helping push the Computer Hardware Index (NYSE:^HWI) Higher by 0.03%. The index is having a mixed day with only 4 components trading higher.

Also among the top performers, NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP), the storage and data management solutions provider is trading at $54.67 representing 0.84% Versus the previous trading session. Shares of NetApp have defined support at $45.40 and resistance at $52.88.

Practically no Relative weakness in the index today, however today's worst performer is Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), with the stock trading at $41.15 representing -1.01% versus the previous trading session. Shares of Hewlett Packard, the maker of printers and personal computers have defined support at $39.16 and resistance at $41.20.

The other worst performer is Seagate (NASDAQ:STX), which is trading at $17.66 representing -0.5% from its previous close. Seagate, the maker of hard drives and storage solutions has calculated support and resistance levels at $39.16 and $41.20 respectively.

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More than 2,000 jailed by Bangladesh mutiny courts

By (AFP) 

DHAKA — A special military court in Bangladesh has jailed 84 border guards, bringing the total incarcerated for their role in a bloody 2009 mutiny to more than 2,000, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Scores of senior military officers were killed in the 33-hour uprising that began when soldiers at the Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka went on a killing spree, later dumping the bodies in sewers and shallow graves.

The mutiny swiftly spread to BDR posts outside Dhaka and across the country, with thousands of guards taking up arms against their commanding officers in the worst military rebellion in Bangladesh's history.

Dozens of special courts -- run by the military using a mix of martial and civil law -- were set up to prosecute mutineers, with the first verdict convicting 29 soldiers being handed down in April, 2010.

A Dhaka-based special court convicted 84 people on Tuesday.

"Of the 2,147 guards who have now been tried, 63 have been acquitted and 2,084 jailed," military spokesman Mohsin Reza told AFP

A further 3,899 guards are still awaiting trial, he added.

The special courts, which do not allow defendants to have lawyers, can hand down maximum sentences of seven years in jail. There is no right of appeal.

Soldiers accused of more serious offences -- including murder, looting and arson -- are being tried separately in Bangladesh's civilian courts, and can face the death penalty if convicted.

The BDR has since changed its name to the Bangladesh Border Guards in an effort to distance itself from the mutiny.

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Bangladesh rejects rights group's criticism

By JULHAS ALAM
The Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh has rejected an international human rights group's claim that the government's special anti-crime force is involved in torture of suspects and extrajudicial killings.

"The allegations are baseless. The special force acts only in self-defense. It does not kill anyone," Home Minister Sahara Khatun told reporters Wednesday responding to a report by New York-based Human Rights Watch.
In its report released in Dhaka on Tuesday, the rights group called for reform within six months of the Rapid Action Battalion, which it alleged has killed about 200 suspects since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took power 2009. It said the force should be disbanded within six months if not reformed.
The Rapid Action Battalion itself denounced the report as "baseless and one-sided."
"The force has been working under the laws of the land, and we are not above law," spokesman Wing Commander M. Sohail said.
Human Rights Watch said a total 732 suspects have been killed since the battalion was formed in 2004 under a previous government.
The special force usually describes such killings as the result of shootouts triggered by Islamist militant suspects who opened fire on battalion members.
The Muslim-majority nation of 150 million people has struggled with terrorism in recent years after the Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh group, which wants to establish strict Islamic law, bombed government offices and courts. The battalion captured the group's top leaders, who were later hanged.

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Bangladesh kicks off UN road safety decade

By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka


Bangladesh will join the first United Nations Decade of Action for Road safety, along 
with dozens of countries.

The programme will be marked by special events in Bangladesh, which has one of the most high-risk roads in the world.According to official statistics, every year about 10,000 people are killed in road accidents in the country.The campaign seeks to prevent millions of traffic deaths and injuries. It is estimated that road accidents will kill 1.9 million people annually by 2020.
Road crashes kill more people than Malaria and by the end of the decade it is projected they will become a bigger killer than HIV-Aids.So, the UN has launched a campaign to stabilise and then reduce road fatalities and injuries over the course of the decade.
The problem is acute in Bangladesh, which has one of the highest fatality rates for road accidents in the world.The highway from the capital, Dhaka, to the north-eastern city of Sylhet is considered to be one of the most dangerous roads for drivers.
With a rate of 0.6 deaths per km, the fatality rate on the N2 highway is 10 times higher than Britain's most persistently high risk roads.The UN supported programme wants to create awareness among people about road safety and also help developing countries to attract investment from multilateral institutions to improve their accident-prone highways.Priorities also include awareness programmes to influence the behaviour of road users and improving care and rehabilitation following accidents.

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