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Showing posts from September, 2009

GNU Linux 101

What is GNU Linux ?  and why should I use it? You could use something and not understand how it works but wouldn't it be more fun if you actually care.  The first time you step inside a play court can be intimidating if you don't know the basic rules.  Why we should not use Windows (or Vista, or Windows 7)?  What's so bad about it?  Do I have a choice? Thank you www.getgnulinux.org for the links.

My Week With the Chrome browser

I've been using Google's new browser in beta, Chrome, since July 2009.  It was made available to Linux users only this year.  Chrome came out a year ago only to Windows users.  I like Chrome beta now in version 4.0.211.2 for Linux.  It is fast period.  What is it about Webkit anyway? I like how they implemented their location bar.  The drop down items are differentiated into history, bookmarks and so on.  It now comes in different themes you can download right from the browser tab.   Speaking of downloads, whenever you download a sticky banner appears below reducing a substantial real estate of your screen.  To remove it I have to lift my hand to reach for my mouse to click it away.  Still no print feature. Flash and Javascript implementation is not 100 percent yet.  Although Linux users have a workaround.    The greatest innovation done by Google in browser development by a big organization is to let the public use the beta and report bugs.  See the progress almost o

Software Freedom Day

     I read about the Software Freedom Day being celebrated yesterday.  I was not aware of this commemoration but I am a believer in open source software.  I do believe that free software should be the norm and not the fringe.  I would like to help those who are actively developing software projects under the open source methods.            I understand that we should treat software use in the same level as free speech.  If we remove the profit motive in the most basic needs of people, we will be seeing true charity and honesty championed.  I like a society that values basic human rights and puts basic needs like freedom, food, water, health and education, on top of its priorities, above the profit motive.            Profit motive is not evil.  It serves its purpose in the distribution of products and services but it should not dictate and dominate our values nor society's goals.
A few weeks ago I congratulated the Google team for enabling imports from non-google email account to my google account. But my satisfaction didn't last very long. After a few days, my google account wasn't getting my emails anymore but it is happily reporting the import completion!? I went to the Ubuntu forums once again and found a thread close enough to my predicament. No solution there either. I downloaded freepops from the repositories. Updated the freepops libraries. When I tried to fetch my email I encounter the familiar "error sending password" message. Yep I checked my password and it's correct. That's when I noticed that my password manager stores usernames and passwords and it's giving out the incomplete username for the email account. After editing the error I tried to fetch my emails again and GLORY! I have four email accounts. They are Gmail and my ISP email. I have no trouble with these two. Gmail is IMAP. My ISP ema

Back To The Future

I discovered Linux when Microsoft's Genuine Windows Advantage locked me out of my XP machine back in 2007.  I was interested in Red Hat though.  After some google sessions, my interest shifted to Ubuntu.  I ended up with a live cd of Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy.  I found this lovely post detailing his own Linux shift at 4 in the morning.  Light sleeper?

Jaunty: After Four Months

I've been using Ubuntu Linux 9.04 Jaunty for more than 4 months now. I am amazed at how this version has performed thus far. Boot time is quick but it still doesn't want to suspend or wake up after it does. I use a desktop so it isn't that crucial. I guess it is a different story if you're using a laptop.

Bad Internet Service (in its 2nd week now)

Something has been bothering me for a week now because I thought that something is wrong with my application, browser, operating system and then I checked my internet speed. I am pasting the screenshot so everybody can see how bad the service is and maybe they want to check their own isp's for that matter. My ISP is Smartbro. The download speed is 8kb/s or 63 kbps. Smartbro promises a 384 kbps speed. My speed is 17 to 23 % of Smartbro's promised speed, measured within the last 7 seven days. Actually if you go to their website, they are advertising promotions of up to 1 Mbps (that's 1,000 kbps) under their plan 999. I called their customer service and they have no satisfactory explanation.