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Palm’s latest and most successful Palm OS smartphone, the Centro, has just received not only the rumored cosmetic facelift reported some time ago but an unexpected and welcome hardware boost as well. The device is also seeing special holiday pricing to the tune of $79.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

As reported earlier, the new colors sport a soft-touch finish in the official shades of “Vibrant Rose” and “Olive Green”. In addition to a RAM boost and new colors, the new Sprint Centro also comes with newer versions of Google Maps and Palm’s Facebook app that were unavailable when the original Centro shipped standard in ROM.

An Israeli firm has announced what could very well become the first shipping smartphone running the Access Linux Platform. Dubbed the Edelweiss, the GSM phone features an impressive list of features most notably a 3.5 inch 480 x 854 pixel touchscreen display.

If there are any ALP holdouts still out there, you’re going to have to likely plan a trip to Russia in order to get your hands on one. At this point, the Edelweiss is only rumored to be launching in Russia later this month. The company has created a preview site for the phone, while mainly in Russian, it does list the specs in English and shows the device from all angles.

Meshach writes “Over at the Linux Journal, Doc Searles is noting that today marks 17 years since Linus posted to Usenet, starting Linux (post). As a Linux user at work and at home I say, thanks Linus!” The anniversary is also featured on the top page of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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Programming from two of the most prestigious universities in the English-speaking world — the University of Oxford and Cambridge University — is now available on iTunes U. The two have provided lecture series, walking tours, films, “Interviews with Oxonians,” performances by the St. John’s College Choir, and video series on “Art,” the Environment,” “History,” and a range of other topics. Peruse and enjoy.

The iTunes Store offers a stellar lineup of primetime programming in HD from all 4 major TV networks, Apple today announced. That includes popular shows from ABC (Grey’s Anatomy and Lost), CBS (CSI and CSI: Miami), FOX (Prison Break), and NBC Universal (Heroes and The Office). iTunes has now sold over 200 million TV episodes, including more than 1 million HD episodes since last month’s launch of HD programming.

Evolution — one of a variety of programs on iTunes U created as part of the Cassiopeia Project — tells the fascinating story of DNA and the role it has played in the 3.5-billion-year evolution of life on earth. Other Cassiopeia Projects explore Quantum Mechanics, the Big Bang Theory, Relativity and other topics in an effort to make “high-definition science education videos available to anyone who wants them.”

ruphus13 writes “There are still places on the world where having anonymity might mean the difference between life and death. Covering one’s tracks is considered to be of such paramount importance that we are now witnessing the rise of a Linux distro catering to the most paranoid. The ‘alpha-alpha’ version of ParanoidLinux is now out. But is this the best way to protect oneself? Couldn’t it be easily circumvented? The article asks, ‘Why is it necessary to put the applications and services designed to protect anonymity, to encrypt files, to make the user nameless and faceless, all together, in one distribution? Let’s think in a truly paranoid manner. Wouldn’t it be far easier for a nefarious government organization to target that distribution’s repositories, mirror that singular distribution’s disk images with files of its own design, and leave every last one of that distribution’s users in the great wide open?’ What should truly paranoid user do?”

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A. B. VerHausen writes to tell us that over 200 release-critical bugs continue to push back Debian Lenny’s release date. Originally slated for a September release, there is still a long road to be traveled before Lenny sees the light of day. Project leader Steve McIntyre says they may consider dropping some packages for the release if they continue to cause problems, and while an end of October release is the goal, only time will tell.

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