Danny's Space

We are all familiar with the default search engine of the computing world. We have used it at least once if you happen to be stuck or lost in the world of the internet. Then... It offered us an email service with 4 gigabyte storage. I can access it through my email client using POP and through my mobile phone if I want to. I'll get back to this point later. Then... Google bought YouTube. YouTube is the video posting web site of the world. Period. Google Earth came to map the world and let us geographically pin our photos and videos just as we would on a map on the board. Then it offered Office productivity softwares in the web. These applications are not downloaded to your hard drives but are accessible in any computer, whatever the operating system, as long as it is connected to the internet. These applications live and work with you in your browsers. In my personal computing, I also use Picasa and Google reader. I have waited for a service like Picasa because when you ...

Despite the controversy over the increase in the fees internet radio will be paying, I am glad to see visible signs that internet radio continue to flourish and hold its own. The technology to broadcast in the internet has never been more simple and cheap. Most internet radio are kept by hobbyist and dedicated enthusiasts. Rhythmbox is prepared to play music from Live365 stations. Just go to the Live365 web site and pick your station. Rhythmbox will play the content by default. The next time you want to listen to the particular station in Live365, just open Rhythmbox. No need to open the browser. There are however dedicated browser only internet radio like AccuRadio - www.accuradio.com. I hear they are offering AccuHolidays stations. Good for the Yuletide season. I also like their cross-platform policy. You can play their music in IE, firefox and Opera. I don't understand why certain people would want to stick to only IE or only Windows media player. It's dumb.

Since I downloaded Ubuntu 7.10 gutsy gibbon last October 18 it has delighted me with its fine integration. I like the update to firefox with its add-on manager. I can say that this is the firefox that conviced me that there are much better applications out there than any put out by Microsoft especially compared with Internet explorer. Unlike the firefox version used in windows, the Ubuntu version is simple and lightweight. The necessity of keeping the windows version more secure added to its bloat. Security should have been an OS issue and not a browser issue. Most malware and hackers attack the browser application but if the operating system itself is secure then the issue is contained. The latest version of Ubuntu uses Apparmor to address the issue of application security. Ubuntu gives me all the time to work on my work rather than being the provider of additional worries. Internet surfing is safer therefore I can get back to writing, research and getting my music and informat...

Today is the final release of Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon the version designated as 7.10, the most stable release of Ubuntu for October 2007. I started the upgrade process by opening my upgrade manager and looks like it is going to be an all night session of download. Everybody who had the chance to preview the beta and alpha versions are excited and praised the new features which should solidify the improvements already included in Feisty Fawn. Ubuntu has another winner with Gutsy Gibbon. If this works on my computer after the install, you'll hear all about it in the morning. Or not. The estimated download time is from 10 to 14 hours. See you tomorrow. I leave the computer on to download the upgrade because this is important. It did not go as planned. Somewhere down the fetching process my upgrade stopped. I reset the download and finished it when I got home at 7 in the evening. When I reboot, the fresh install did not recognize my graphics card and it shows me the log in page in...

The science of global warming and climate change has a lot of open questions yet to resolve . This means a lot of research and study to be discussed by scientists and validated in scientific labs and controlled experiments. The equally mounting evidence to its being a fact of science is undeniable now. Our generation is in fact living its initial effects. The major producers of carbon emissions are the manufacturing activities of the economy. Our dependence on carbon fuel for our cars and other vehicles and machines to produce our electricity to power our homes and everyday activities put us, man, in the center of this science. Much like the controversy when Darwin first put out his theory of evolution, global warming and climate change put us and science too close to exercise our detached observations. A lot is at stake, only the future of the world and its finite resources. While most educated men adopts a positive attitude of recognizing the conclusions of scientists and globa...

I have made some changes in my desktop. Having two panels in the screen really flattens the view and I figured I have space to give horizontally. I pulled the upper panel to the left side to maximize my mouse movements on the left area. I made a couple of nice background images to complement the new order and set them up to fit nicely within the 30 pixel panels and to enhance the icons. I added a gedit application icon. I noticed I kept clicking Applications when I could put the icon out in the panel. I resisted the urge to put more icon in the panel as the vertical space there proved to be becoming a little bit crowded. I disabled beryl and compiz all together because that is not how I work and it just does not fit with my work flow. It is nice to the eye but I made my decision. It made my job faster, more efficient. I guess until the next eye candy comes around.

To appreciate the Gnome desktop for all its sensible functions and the simple interface, I have to use the default elements that come with it. I am using Evolution for my email client, Totem for video playing and Rhythmbox for audio/music playback. I downloaded Epiphany to replace Firefox, the default browser of Ubuntu. I wanted a tighter running of the Gnome desktop and to achieve this a default Gnome browser. It is quite easy to migrate my Firefox bookmarks to Epiphany. Typing and remembering bookmarks in Epiphany is more intuitive and convenient. I just had to do some editing to the titles so they'd reflect the pages appropriately.

What are the most important things that customers expect from a call center? When I call a help desk or tech support number I don't expect to wait more than 10 minutes before my call is even answered by a recorded voice. Customers don't want to wait. They will voice out their displeasure. Filling up that waiting time with ads about your product and promos is not going to add to a better customer experience. When I call customer service I do expect a resolution to my concern and a fixed time when I will see that resolution. Else, customers call back. It is a good policy to be honest about resolution times and work flow. Explain to the customers why this takes that long. State the company policy and the reason for such a policy. Give the customer options, even third party options. Basic information to the customers should be free. I don't understand why customers have to pay for information about a company's product. Free customer support is testament to the com...

Since switching to Ubuntu Linux I have been using the default email client for Linux Gnome - Evolution. I set up my account at first using my service provider's mail service. They are using pop for incoming mail and smtp for outgoing mail. My service provider is not using authentications just a password system. After giving my password I set it up so my computer remembers my password. For outgoing mail I set it so there is no security nor authentication too. I chose to set security so smtp follows pop set up since there's a choice in the options provided in the account set up. I decided to open a Gmail account with Google because I recently open also an account with Bloggers. Gmail uses a pop and smtp set up too but uses authentication. They are using SSL. I also gave my password to my account and set it so my computer remembers. There is not much difference between the two accounts except that Gmail servers are configured by default not to delete any mail. They are conf...

Every time I read about an invention nowadays, I rolled my eyes and mutter "not another one". A group of researchers at Harvard University successfully lit up a light bulb without a wire. They sent an electrical charge wirelessly from the source a few feet away and lit an electrical device (light bulb). Another group of students successfully stored electricity in a paper media. Imagine rolls of paper that can now function as battery. If a company could now commercially make or print batteries the applications to electrical devices that needed flexibility and weight is endless. The holy grail of electrical storage is really how to pack more energy efficiently in the least space and the least weight.

Don't worry we will protect you. Sleep tight now my baby. The wind may rise now but listen to it die down. I will sing you a lullaby, and rock you to sleep. The world saw the birth of the nuclear age with the detonation of an atomic device over the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Allies sought the unconditional surrender of Japan in the earliest time possible and save American lives by avoiding a land invasion of Japanese islands. The bomb ended the Pacific war with the Japanese surrendering in 1945. Since then US possession of the technology to make nuclear weapons began a world nuclear arms race with most of the victors of the war quickly joining. They refined the bomb. They are soon measuring their new weapons in terms of how many Hiroshimas their new versions could destroy with only one of their bombs. Major powers stockpiled these bombs in their vaults, bomb bunkers and equip their bombs rockets so they can hit targets across the globe. The United States and the Soviet Uni...

Why do people hate so much it got to hurt? Now I have thought about the world full of misunderstanding and how that fuels hatred but what about hatred so deep it is ready to consume the world and everything in it. I once stepped in the middle of a fight to stop two friends from hurting each other and I ended up with a fist in my face. The sad thing is it made me feel like a fool whenever I feel like stepping in again. I always feel unsure now even as I grew older. Older but not surer of what is morally bad about fighting or just letting two man go at it.