Netgear has recently announced the first native open-source consumer router.

The WGR614L’s capabilities are a bit murky at this point as Netgear representatives have not been able to give additional details except that it is now available in the US and will retail for $69.

The basis for this development though is on projects like Tomato, which has allowed a way of replacing firmware (albeit illegally) on Broadcom-based routers like Linksys WRT54G with new programming instructions that let users customize the router as well as give additional features like more robust security and more simultaneous connections.

Netgear’s router will encourage users to develop new projects. An example would be this firmware project that allows WPA2 support as well as guest SSIDs that allow guests to a network to use the internet without being allowed into the host network.

I’m inclined to get this kind of router because of my love to tinker with electronics and the special firmware would also make it harder to exploit especially with war drivers.

Bill Gates may be one of those rare polarizing personalities who you either love or hate. But whatever you may feel about him and the behemoth that he created, Bill Gates has left a lasting impression on the world and has made so many things that we take for granted now possible.

The visionary has officially left Microsoft to pursue his philantrophic interests through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charity, which is partly funded by his own personal fortune. Gates bid his Microsoft employees farewell at the Campus and was joined by CEO Steve Ballmer as he delivered a short speech.

Gates will not be entirely out of Microsoft though as he will remain the chairman of the company and will still work on special technology projects.

I’ve been partitioning my hard drives ever since storage capacities reached the 80gb level. I think there is a lot of practical wisdom in partitioning a drive and segregating system files from data files and programs because when the system files get corrupted you won’t have to worry about any of your data getting affected. All you need to do is just reformat your System partition, reinstall your OS and you’re good to go again.

I recently read an article though that partitioning is not that important anymore and is actually counterproductive because it fragments virtual memory, which ultimately slows down the computer.

I’d love to hear what your thoughts are about this topic. Do you partition your hard drives? And what are your reasons for doing so?cc

Panasonic’s impressive Toughbook series will now also join the UMPC market with the announcement of the release of the Toughbook U1.

The new device weighs just 2.3 pounds and considered to be tougher than the Toughbook 19. The cool thing here is that it even goes beyond Mil-Spec tests–military standard specifications that certify a product can work even when subject to extreme conditions.

The U1 can withstand being dropped from a height of four feet and can operate even in extreme temperature conditions because it uses an SSD. It also has a QWERTY keyboard that is best used for thumb typing. It will also come equipped with a bevy of nifty features like a barcode scanner, fingerprint reader, webcam, among others. It will be powered by an Intel Atom processor.

The U1 is actually one of the best spec-ed UMPC’s on the market. The only thing where it loses (and I mean LOSE) is in the price department. At $2499, I’d rather get the Alienware laptop of my dreams with change enough to buy me several games.

Microsoft has officially confirmed that it will stop supporting Windows XP beginning on the 30th of June. But a small oversight on the part of Microsoft would mean that you’ll still be able to buy the OS throug OEMs or original equipment manufacturers.

The loophole is actually the same reason retailers like newegg.com has been able to sell extremely discounted OEM copies of Windows Vista (up to 50 percent off) to consumers. What happens here is that even though Microsoft will stop selling Windows XP for retail on June 30, it will license it to PC OEMs. The said OEMs, on the other hand, are being asked to stop selling them to retail after the deadline set by Microsoft. The contentious issue happens after the deadline, when XP is officially done being sold to retail but with Microsoft relaxing its restriction allowing affordable (or cheap) nettops or netbooks to use XP, essentially allowing the system to be sold after all.

All the legal acrobatics to exploit something is just too comical sometimes.