Quote:The Rain Forest Wind Chinese company presented a few days ago their brand-new operating system, a hacked Ubuntu distribution that looks just like the ever-popular Windows XP operating system from Microsoft. Not only has the GTK theme been tuned to be like the Windows XP desktop, but the icons are also identical and the Wine software is present to allow the users to employ Windows applications. Above all that, there are also a lot of "under the hood" enhancements and many of those useful programs and tools that are not available in Ubuntu. Have a look below at some of the most important features added in Ylmf OS, compared with an original Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Highlights of the Ylmf Operating System:

· Fully skinned with a Windows XP look-a-like theme;
· Wine integration to emulate Windows applications;
· Ability to extract RAR archives with a single click;
· 3D desktop effects via Compiz Fusion (also includes a configuration utility);
· Integrated CHM viewer with the Chmsee gadget;
· Added the "Open in Terminal" add-on for Nautilus;
· Added aMule P2P file sharing software;
· Added Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger;
· Added FileZilla FTP client;
· Added Claws e-mail client;
· Integrated the multi-threaded Downloader For X (D4X) file download tool;
· Integrated Dr.com graphical client for easy Internet;
· Lots of enhancements to the Mozilla Firefox web browser (FlashGot, D4X support, FlashAX, Alipay, etc);
· Added SMPlayer video player;
· Added Gecko Mediaplayer web video player;
· Helps files for OpenOffice.org;
· PDF reader;
· Chinese time zone;
· Tweaked the system menu and rearranged the shortcuts for easy usage of included apps;
· Various tweaks for mounting Windows partitions.
· Many other minor, but useful, enhancements!

All in all, you can download the Ylmf OS right now from Softpedia, and Happy New Year!

Quote:Ylmf OS looks like Windows, it is very practical, you can learn office, Internet and entertain yourself.

Our mission: to develop the most suitable OS for the Chinese people to use the Linux operating system.

Here are some key features of "Ylmf OS":

· Maximum analog interface and Windows XP operating habits, allowing you to quickly start with Linux
· All the software and database updates to December 24, pulled out during installation without cable, but also do not need to wait a long time
· Enhanced Integrated FireFox plug-in, electric donkey download, instant messaging client, Dr.com the GUI client ... ... for your convenience users to surf the Internet
· Remember that Windows partition mounted license, do not enter the system each time to access Windows partition needs to enter a user password
· SMPlayer and Gecko Mediaplayer: Integration of powerful user-friendly SMPlayer, Gecko Mediaplayer and other media players, user-friendly audio and video entertainment to enjoy life
· Integrated CompizConfig Desktop Effects manager, almost all of the visual effects can be achieved to meet your visual needs
· Integrated Wine emulator platform for your Linux can also run Windows programs

Quote:Everyone was waiting for this, so... we are proud to announce that the upcoming release of the popular Ubuntu operating system, due for launch in late April this year, will come with a comprehensive manual! The manual is created as we speak and it will be ready to accompany the final release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. The Ubuntu manual will be designed for beginners in Linux and Ubuntu (of course) and it will contain essential how-tos, guides, basic information about Linux and its components, and everything one needs to know after installing Ubuntu.

"As a beginner user once upon a time, I found myself struggling to find useful and easy to understand documentation in an accessible location. The Official Ubuntu Book is great, but it is expensive. The Pocket Guide by Keir Thomas is informative, but doesn't delve into enough detail in some areas, and is now out of date (written for 8.04/8.10). The Community Docs are excellent, but are not structured and do not follow a consistent writing style. The Ubuntu Help pages inside the Operating System are the best option for newcomers, but are often underused and lack screenshots." – the Ubuntu Manual Team said.

The Ubuntu manual is distributed as a PDF file and it will be revised every 6 months. The manual will be well written (it appears that only in English, but no one stops you to translate it), with a professional appearance and very easy to follow, even by the users that just heard about Linux or Ubuntu. And it is created and maintained by the Ubuntu community!

At the moment, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) is in an alpha state, with just one release out. The second alpha release is expected next Thursday, January 14th.

We remind everyone that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) will be a quality and stable release. Canonical plans to make Ubuntu 10.04 LTS a bug-free operating system, with lots of quality improvements to the user interface, installation & boot experience and support for the latest hardware components. Another important goal for the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) release will be to improve the startup speed to about or less than 10 seconds!

The Lucid Lynx will be the 12th release of the Ubuntu operating system, and the third LTS (Long Term Support) release, supported for 5 years on the server and 3 years on the desktop. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) will ship on April 29th, 2010.

About Ubuntu:

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can imagine available from the network, and professional technical support from Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies around the world.

Quote:ANGRA DOS REIS, Brazil - At least 30 people were killed and 10 injured early Friday in two mudslides in a coastal region near Rio de Janeiro.

A rain-loosened slab of hillside collapsed on three houses and an upscale waterfront lodge after New Year celebrations at an island resort in Angra dos Reis, killing at least 19 people, Brazilian authorities said.

About 120 rescuers scrambled through mud and around toppled trees and large rocks to search for other survivors of the mudslide that also injured at least 10 people. Police helicopters and navy vessels were helping in the rescue efforts.

"People had never seen so much rain in this region," Rio de Janeiro's vice governor, Luiz Fernando Pezao, told Globo TV, and he indicated he feared the death toll could rise. "We'll have to wait for the rescue efforts, but we'll likely encounter a very sad outcome."

A civil defense spokeswoman added that "rescue crews told us there is just so much mud" that removing all the debris would take time.

In another section of the same city, 11 people died in a second mudslide.

The rain-related deaths in Rio de Janeiro state from the past three days of heavy rains reached 50, authorities said, and more rain was predicted across the region.

The lodge mudslide apparently happened after tourists had returned to their rooms following the New Year's celebration in the Pousada Sankay on Ilha Grande, a 90-minute ferry ride from the city of Angra dos Reis, said fire department commander Pedro Machado.

Globo TV reported that a boy and a teenage girl were among the victims, but authorities could not immediately confirm the information.

Tourists rented homes
Police said some of the dead may have been in the houses. They did not immediately release the identities or nationalities of the victims.

"We were told that many of these houses here were rented by tourists for the holidays," Pezao said.

Witnesses told local media the hillside lodge and the houses, which can only be accessed by boat, collapsed after being struck by a slab of land 300 yards wide.

A broad, raw scar of dirt remained on the jungle hillside above the lodge that was smashed by mud, trees and other vegetation. Only a handful of houses and small patches of vegetation were left unscathed.

Wooden parts of the lodge were seen floating near the shore and on the beach.

Lodge reportedly full at time
The hotel, which advertises nightly rates of about $200 and which can accommodate 50 guests, was reportedly full at the time of the mudslide. The lodge was inaugurated in 1994, according to its Web site.

Other mudslides had killed 20 people across Rio de Janeiro state on Thursday, mostly when as shanties collapsed under mud or rain in the greater Rio de Janeiro city area. A 3-year-old girl died in a hospital on Friday after being rescued from one of the mudslides a day earlier. Her parents also died.

Authorities said nearly 80 mudslides have been reported throughout the region, toppling trees and destroying power lines.

Local officials declared three days of mourning and canceled the town's annual celebration on Jan. 6.

Quote:PERTH, Australia - Wildfires possibly sparked by fallen power lines roared across a swath of western Australia on Wednesday, razing almost 40 homes and sending hundreds of people fleeing for their lives, officials and witnesses said. At least three people were injured.

Two major blazes burned out of control overnight after breaking out Tuesday afternoon in a wheat and sheep farming district north of the coastal city of Perth, forcing the evacuation of the township of Toodyay and threatening a second town, Badgingarra, farther north.

The two fires scorched a combined total of more than 33,000 acres of forest and farmland before cooler conditions on Wednesday helped hundreds of firefighters contain them.

Western Australia state Premier Colin Barnett declared a natural disaster — freeing up emergency funds for survivors — and praised authorities who battled the blazes.

"There is no doubt they saved lives last night," Barnett said Wednesday after visiting burned-out homes in Toodyay. "If you saw the destruction, houses were totally destroyed and people were got to safety by the emergency services."

The state Fire and Emergency Services Authority said at least 37 houses had been razed.

Two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and a third was treated for a heat-related illness. Farmers also reported stock being killed. The extent of the damage was still being assessed, said emergency authority spokesman Allen Gale.

Police say falling power lines likely sparked the Toodyay blaze, since there were no other ignition sources in the area.

The managing director of Western Power, Doug Aberle, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that an independent investigator would head to the scene on Saturday.

"If it's determined that it's caused by our negligence, we will be paying compensation as appropriately determined, as we always do," he said, expressing his sympathy to the victims.

Wildfires are common across Australian during the summer months, but they rarely claim so many homes.

Fire officials say the Australian summer could be one of the worst wildfire seasons, with a series of catastrophic warnings already issued for big fires in at least three states.

In February, Australia experienced its worst wildfire disaster on record when hundreds of blazes raced across huge parts of southeastern Victoria state, killing 173 and destroying more than 2,000 homes in a single day.

Australia's wildfire danger period is from October to March, covering the end of spring, all of summer and the start of autumn, when temperatures are highest and humidity lowest.

A decade-long drought and hot, dry interior outback winds have left much of Australia a tinderbox.

Quote:SYDNEY - Red Outback grit shrouded Australia's largest city Wednesday, blotting out such landmarks as the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge and even reaching underground to coat subway stations. The country's worst dust storm in 70 years diverted planes and produced an eerie orange sky.

The haze was visible from space, appearing as a huge brown smudge in satellite photographs of Australia.

By afternoon, the dust had moved on from Sydney, heading north to the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, where the sky was clogged into the evening.

No one was hurt as a result of the pall that swept in overnight, bringing an eerie orange dawn to Sydney, but ambulance services reported a spike in emergency calls from people with breathing difficulties, and police warned drivers to take it easy on the roads.

The dust clouds formed in Australia's interior — parched by the worst drought on record — when gale force winds snatched up tons of topsoil and threw it high into the sky before carrying it hundreds of miles eastward.

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the day the country blew into town."

The dust so thoroughly blanketed everything in its path — clothes, cars, train seats — that Queensland promised to lift water restrictions, imposed because of the drought, so residents could clean their homes and vehicles.

Suburban rail trains carried the dust into underground stations in Sydney.

"When I got on the train at Cronulla, our seats were covered in this red dust," Robyn Jaques said, referring to a station south of the city. "It's got over all of my clothes."

Flights diverted, canceled
International flights were diverted from Sydney to other cities — three from New Zealand were turned around altogether — and domestic schedules were thrown into chaos as operations at Sydney Airport were curtailed by unsafe visibility levels.

Even after Sydney's skies cleared, severe flight delays persisted because of diverted and late-running planes, according to national carrier Qantas. Passenger ferries on the city's famous harbor were also stopped for several hours for safety reasons.

Helicopters carrying water to douse bush fires raging in Queensland were grounded in the afternoon because of poor visibility.

But forecasters predicted normal conditions would return to Sydney on Thursday, and flights were expected to be back on schedule.

Such thick dust is rare over the city, and came along with other uncommon weather conditions across the country in recent days. Hailstorms have pummeled parts of the country this week, while other parts have been hit with an early spring mini-heatwave, and wildfires.

"It did feel like Armageddon because when I was in the kitchen looking out the skylight, there was this red glow coming through," Sydney resident Karen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The storms are the most severe since the 1940s, experts said. One was recorded traveling from southern Australia all the way to New Zealand some 1,400 miles away.

Dozens of calls about breathing
Officials said particle pollution in Sydney's air rose to the worst on record Wednesday, and the New South Wales state ambulance service said it had received more than 250 calls before midday from people suffering breathing problems.

People with asthma or heart or lung diseases were urged not to go outside and to keep their medicine inhalers handy.

"Keeping yourself indoors today is the main thing to do if you have any of those conditions and particularly if you're a known sensitive sufferer such as children, older adults or pregnant women," said Wayne Smith, a senior state health official.

Sydney residents coughed and hacked their way through their morning commute, rubbing grit from their eyes. Some wore masks, wrapped their faces in scarves or pressed cloths over their noses and mouths.

"These dust storms are some of the largest in the last 70 years," said Nigel Tapper, an environmental scientist at Monash University. "Ten very dry years over inland southern Australia and very strong westerlies have conspired to produce these storms."