Due to many complaints from users of LiveJournal the company announced it will again offer basic accounts. Unlike most other free blogging platforms, LJ's basic account has limited capabilities but the bonus of no advertising.

The option of signing up for a basic account was removed in March. Makes sense considering a free account with no advertising generates no money for LJ and in fact, probably costs the company money in storage space at the very least.

Apparently, LJ bloggers have grown accustomed to blogging without the distraction of ads. When the basic accounts were removed as a new user choice, many current users decided to hold a one day protest, refusing to blog or comment. In a news post LJ announced that basic accounts will return by the end of the summer for those in the Northern Hemisphere. The LJ team has also started a new blog specifically to discuss options and ideas for the future of basic accounts.

The LJ team admits it was probably a bad decision in the first place to remove the basic accounts but it looks like the developers plan to work with users on ideas to make things work to everyone's satisfaction.

[Via Profy.com]

Russian authorities are backing Linux for schools in a somewhat significant way. According to Webplanet.ru, a recent 3.1 billion ruble funding package for school software includes 50 million for the development of a school-centric version of Linux.

We reported some time ago on a copyright infringement case against a Russian teacher, and a program such as this could help push copyright protected software out of the Russian classroom, making way for a whole generation of Linux literate school kids.

In an interview with Russian IT news site CNews, Microsoft Russia President Olga Dergunova responds to critics of the piracy crackdown which caught school-teacher Alexander Ponosov in the cross-hairs and prompted a personal request from former Soviet Premiere Gorbachev for Bill Gates to intervene on the teacher's behalf.

Dergunova avoided most questions about Microsoft's reaction to, and position on, the criminal prosecution of Alexander Ponosov for using unlicensed software in the Sepych school. However, Dergunova was very quick to react when asked about the Education Minister Nikolay Karpushin and his new plan to avoid legal hassles; Convert the school system to open source alternatives, eschewing Microsoft products. She retorts, "We are confident in the high quality of our products, in the way Windows develops, in our superb Microsoft Office product. Considering the fact that the right price policy is chosen, when education facilities might have a special software price offer, the competition is quite decent. We will continue our work to bring all the necessary information on our price policy on Microsoft products for schools to educational departments," adding, "Microsoft products are being successfully used at schools, they help children become literate computer users."

Meanwhile, Alexander Ponosov faces a possible five year prison sentence and up to $10,000 US in fines. His defense rests on the supplier of 16 PCs to the Sepych school district. Ponosov admits that when he took delivery of the new computers he was mostly unaware of what software had been pre-installed, or what documentation to expect would be included. The Business Software Alliance estimates that up to 83% of all software installed in Russia is pirated, and admits that computer resellers in that nation often pass illegal copies on to unwitting consumers.

See Also:
Gorbachev asks Gates to show mercy on pirate teacher

Bill Gates has been asked by former Soviet Premiere Gorbachev to show "mercy" in the case of a Russian teacher accused of software piracy. Gorbachev's open letter to Gates is available on the website of the former Premiere's charitable foundation. According to CNN, in the letter Gorbachev calls accused pirate Alexander Ponosov, "A teacher, who has dedicated his life to the education of children and who receives a modest salary that does not bear comparison with the salaries of even regular staff in your company." He warns Gates that Ponosov faces, "detention in Siberian prison camps," if convicted.

As part of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization the country has undertaken a massive crackdown on piracy. Russia often appears on the world's top-list of intellectual property gray areas for reasons including but not limited to its mostly hands-off handling of illegal MP3 download site AllofMp3.

Google Dublin hosted the finals for the Code Jam Europe 2006. 10,000 registrants competed in Three rounds, with 50 finalists being flow to Dublin for the major final competition. 15 Countries were represented in the finals.

Earlier this year, Google had Code Jams in China and India. Another Code Jam is set for this Fall. Tomasz Czajka won the €2500 grand prize, and Petr Mitricheve from Russia took home second, with Roman Elizarov from Russia taking third, both grabbing €1000 each.

You can ensure that these winners will be watched, or have offers from Google, and other high end tech companies in the upcoming days. Google has some video of the CodeJam on Google Video. Good show!