Link Collection

The DoD issued a memo to guide its use of open source software--the official DoD position is that open source software is equal to commercial software in almost all cases and by law should be considered whenever making software purchase decisions. Open source software already makes up to half of all DoD software:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/102709-dod-opensource.html?hpg1=bn

Airmen are *very* upset that the US Air Force requires them to wear a day-glo safety belt from the late afternoon on:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/airmen-take-to-facebook-to-protest-silly-safety-regs/

Thank you to the LOTD reader (congratulations on your new baby boy!) who sent me this link about the Tiffany gift registry that is not for a married couple...it is for the USS New York:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/a-tiffany-registry-for-the-uss-new-york/

Australian scientist says that police should use ear biometrics for fast, cost-effective identification of people:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/28/2726269.htm

Health clinics may need to increase its security to protect workers from angry mobs upset that they cannot get the swine flu shot:
http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/clinic-ups-security-due-anger-over-swine-flu-vaccine-shortage-006377

Article about how we are moving away from large expensive spacecraft and instead moving to lots of expendable low-cost robots for space exploration:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=2343

The Japanese government says that they can save Japan Airlines via a huge bailout:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/business/global/30jal.html

Analysis of whether or not Android 2.0 is a threat to the iPhone:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/android-20-iphone-killer-last-985?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2009-10-29

Apple fans struck back at Verizon's marketing for the Droid phone:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/video-apple-fans-struck-back-verzions-anti-iphone-marketing-campaign/2009-10-29?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

NBA League Pass is now available for Android-based devices and the iPhone, with a BlackBerry version coming soon. For $40, users can watch all NBA games on their cell phones for up to 48 hours after the game ends:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/mobile/e3i0a82a4070f2192ecfdba9865661bfeaa

China's telcoms are rolling out 3G service, but so far their customers do not seem interested in 3G data services. Even the 3G iPhone isn't selling in China:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gloom-seen-for-chinas-telecoms-as-3g-price-2009-10-28?pagenumber=1

Verizon says that they aren't worried about Droid users with unlimited data plans burdening their network. The Droid phone is also a big departure for Verizon--instead of selling subscriptions for Verizon Navigator, Droid gives away free turn-by-turn navigation, and instead of using the Verizon App store, the Droid will use the Google App store:
http://telephonyonline.com/3g4g/news/droid-nonstrain-3g-network-1028/

Sprint is continuing to struggle, losing another 545,000 wireless customers last quarter:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-continues-lose-postpaid-subscribers/2009-10-29?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Motorola's stock is up over excitement over the Droid smartphone and the fact that they surprised analysts and reported a $12 million profit last quarter:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/motorola-makes-strides-3q-posts-12m-profit/2009-10-29?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Google launched an expansive music search capability that directs users to MySpace Music and Lala:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/search/e3ib2e664ce05ad759c61d21106c46ae942#at

The US Postal Service will sell greeting cards to try to earn additional revenue:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/28/AR2009102804489.html?wpisrc=newsletter

Instead of wearing masks, two Iowa thieves tried to disguise themselves by using permanent markers on their face...they were easily identified and arrested:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33519617/ns/us_news-weird_news/

Security camera footage shows how the drivers of a BMW SUV horribly misjudged his parking attempt and drove over two cars (totaling the cars!), then reversed over them...then drove away without leaving a note:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/10/28/344757.aspx

Two students at the University of Nevada were asleep in their bed when a drunk driver drove into their home (he thought he was going to run over his ex-girlfriend, but he drove into the wrong home). The students were in bed pinned under the car for an hour until emergency workers could free them:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/nevada.car.crash.home/