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Topics - zridling [ switch to compact view ]

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26
Living Room / Science is hot! or at least symphonic
« on: September 07, 2011, 09:01 AM »
The BBC and the Science Channel remixed by the Symphony:

symphony-of-science-2011c.jpg
http://youtu.be/DZGINaRUEkU

Turn up your volume!

27
Living Room / Superman's Troubles with Google+
« on: September 02, 2011, 05:44 AM »
Funny and probably true for every superhero out there!

superman-1584.jpg

28
Living Room / G-Male -- Google's creepy, perfect boyfriend
« on: August 30, 2011, 11:42 PM »


Imagine if Google was your boyfriend: G-male (you can imagine the same for a girlfriend). It would be amazing: such a great listener, he would answer your every need, the perfect boyfriend!

Oh wait, he would also know your every secret, would tell you what you need, what you should do...

Watch this 3 mn video, it's one of the most amazing videos I've watched so far about Google. And it's hilarious (and very scary, too).

How can we give you everything you need if we don't listen to everything you say?
Google: We are very good listeners...

source: Comediva ~ http://goo.gl/QQaUs

29
stressed-woman-computer-l.jpg

Even when you do something because you love doing it, it doesn't mean that you can't burnout on it. Open source developers talk about the stress of coding in the Linux world.
http://www.datamatio...unity-burnout-1.html
_______________________
"Hang around the free and open source software community for any length of time, and you can't help seeing examples of burnout. A colleague takes on too much, and suddenly they're working harder for fewer results. They have a hard time concentrating on their work. They neglect their personal life. When challenged, they become defense and unusually hostile. Eventually, they withdraw -- and, sometimes, they don't come back."

30
Developer's Corner / Lost Programming Skills
« on: August 07, 2011, 10:59 AM »
Daniel Dern makes some good points on What today's coders don't know and why it matters
http://www.itworld.c...t-programming-skills

Today's coders may know how to whip up a PHP script or a Drupal extension, create a mobile app for both the iPhone and Android, and run DOOM on their car's GPS (which has been done, it turns out). But there's a lot that their predecessors knew that today's programmers don't.

Some of these skills aren't likely to be needed again, any more than most of us need to know how to ride a horse or (sigh) drive a manual-transmission vehicle. But other skills and "lessons learned" may still or again prove relevant, whether developers are banging their heads against legacy systems, coding for new mobile and embedded devices... or other devices and applications we haven't yet thought of.

Here's what some industry veterans and seasoned coders think the younger generation doesn't know ... but should.

31
General Software Discussion / Software Patent Absurdity Catching On
« on: August 07, 2011, 10:44 AM »
patent-dilbert.gif

Glyn Moody lists the followers who have finally awoke to the bizarro reality of software patent law.

Andy Vandervell has more on how boring this is for consumers despite Google's stupidity and Apple/Microsoft/Oracle's greed:
http://conversation....sung/comment-page-1/

32
Living Room / The social network icon flood is getting crowded
« on: July 30, 2011, 10:26 PM »
social-network-icons11.jpg
Saw this line of social network icons on an article page today. This is crazy. It's almost a cry for help -- "Look at me! Comment on me! Tell your friends about me!"

33
General Software Discussion / The Case Against [mobile] Apps
« on: July 28, 2011, 07:37 AM »
googlebooks.jpg

Christopher Butler from Imprint talks about why the web is a far better way to access, appreciate, and create content.
http://www.salon.com.../27/web_apps_imprint
______________________
Suppose I read the center article in the "timeline" interface above (a meritable UI idea, to be fair) and then wanted to share it with a friend or among my social network. There is really no good way to do so; the article itself doesn't have a specific address of its own, nor does the issue as a whole. The best I could do would be to link to Wired Magazine's listing at iTunes. The article I read is an undifferentiated, un-locatable piece of the issue -- the 500mb glorified PDF that we're calling an "app." Sadly, this is not just a hypothetical scenario; this very conundrum presented itself to me within an hour of downloading that first issue. Being the savvy and resourceful Web user that I am, I went to Wired.com, found the article I liked, and sent a link to that URL -- the Web version -- to my friend. Just a second or two later, after clicking "Send," I thought, Why didn't I just start here in the first place?  You know, on the Web, where, for the most part, the exact same content offered by the $3.99 app is available for free, along with additional sharing and engagement opportunities the app version lacks.

34
multi-tenant-vs-office-365.jpg
http://www.zdnet.com...365-your-choice/1357

Phil Wainewright aims this critique for businesses, since, if you already use a desktop version of MS Office, then Office 365 is one path to the cloud you'll consider. Wainewright skims over features and looks at the architecture -- particularly the relationship between desktop Office and the Office Web Apps in the cloud -- and holds that this isn’t really a cloud architecture. But if you're a smaller firm and can't justify implementing and supporting Sharepoint and Exchange, Office 365 might make sense. Then comes the bad news:

  • Microsoft offers 11 different plans for professionals and small businesses, enterprise customers, and education. Here we go again.
  • The Office Web Apps are pretty weak versions of desktop Microsoft Office. They exist mainly to permit collaboration online and storing accessible documents in the cloud.
  • Microsoft would not only like you to be a desktop Office user, they would like you to upgrade to Office 10 Professional Plus, with its retail price of $499.99 -- upgrades are cheaper. Ouch.

For the $6-$24/month plans for 365 compared to Google's free (or $50/year per user for support), I don't see anyone making the switch to 365 from another platform. (Unless Microsoft pays you hundreds of thousands like they did the Univ. of Nebraska.) Meanwhile, I'll stick with good ol' desktop LibreOffice.

35
Living Room / Why Are Hackers Becoming So Angry?
« on: July 22, 2011, 07:38 AM »
hacker-wallpaper-1574952.jpg

Glyn Moody asks: Why Are Hackers Becoming So Angry? Among the reasons:

-- "Political clout needed to abuse the narrow commercial scope of copyright protection," i.e., taxpayer monies paying for research that is then sold back to the public and institutions at exorbitant prices.

-- "Copyright maximalists have co-opted governments to attack ordinary citizens for sharing things, with huge collateral damage to basic liberties." (Severe copyright enforcement legislation like ACTA, HADOPI, the Digital Economy Act, La Ley Sinde, and the US PROTECT IP.)

Against this background of three-strikes legislation, plans for widespread Web censorship, huge fines for sharing files even when there is zero evidence any financial damage was caused by doing so, and disproportionate threats of extradition, I predict we will see many more such actions from angry hackers frustrated by the continuing abuse of existing legal, economic and political structures by a few powerful groups - particularly in the media world - for their own self-interest. As to why it seems to be mostly hackers that are angry in this way, the reason is simple. In addition to being well placed to understand the profound implications of the transition away from a closed, analogue world of scarcity, they are also one of the few groups that have the ability and means to fight back by harnessing the power of the open, digital abundance that is replacing it.
__________________________
I'd call that righteous anger.

36
General Software Discussion / Google+ Extensions thread
« on: July 15, 2011, 05:29 AM »
[via John Walkenbach]
google-plus_usability-boost.png

Here's one called Usability Boost for Google Plus:
"It's small CSS changes that put the focus on the content, separating visually posts and comments."

It's a subtle change, but it definitely improves readability.

37
General Software Discussion / Will facebook ever be the same?
« on: July 12, 2011, 06:50 AM »
facebook-vs-google-circles.jpg
Suddenly Zuckerberg don't look so smart anymore. Like a pop phenom or hot actor, internet apps fall far faster and harder than anything we remember on the desktop. Google's using its rules against the social giant:

Rule No. 1
When launching a social network: Make everyone wait in line. Exclusivity was how, in its early days, Facebook built buzz. For more than two years, you couldn't get in unless you had an email address ending in .edu. Google is using a similar strategy with Google+.

Rule No. 2
Deliver a better service. Adopting a new social network could prove similar to adopting a new email address: Many will try it out, but to keep using it, they have got to be given good reason. That Gmail offered significantly more storage space than typical Web mail meant millions were willing to make the switch. Similarly, Google+ offers upgrades on what many perceive to be Facebook's shortcomings. For starters, Google+ gives users a handy way to organize their social contacts into different "circles"—friends, relatives, colleagues, etc.—with which they can share appropriate things. Though Facebook now offers the option to create "Groups," users broadcast their information to everyone by default. Google+ also offers group video chats. That is why Facebook's announcement of one-on-one video on Wednesday seemed to fall short. Facebook has yet to introduce group video chat.

38
Rolled out quietly this morning. It's even better for searching big topics, such as "opera," "wormholes," or "climate change." It's essentially a range of Google products on one page.

wdyl-01.jpg
http://www.wdyl.com/#

39
Living Room / NSFW! -- IBM's Watson Topless
« on: June 28, 2011, 12:59 AM »
watson-topless.jpg

Hide the children!  ;D

40
Yun Xie interviews Vikram Savkar on digital, interactive science texts:

A_highres-xie.jpg

The main problem is that textbooks are not research-oriented, nor are they up-to-date. Most are already behind the times by the time you buy them.... Textbooks are also falling behind when it comes to technology, as any interactive content has to be provided via separate media. Thus, it was exciting to see the implementation of what's being claimed as the “first interactive textbook” called Principles of Biology.

...These textbooks are not free, but they are affordable. We think it’ll be possible to be affordable. The price will be around $49 per student, and it’s a lifetime access. A person will always have access to the book. Our editorial team will also keep the textbook current. Twenty years from now, you can still read it and get updated on the world of biology. It’s a living edition, not something stagnant.


http://arstechnica.c...l-and-accessible.ars

41
[via Jean-Louis Gassée]

Google periodic table.jpg
http://code.google.com/more/table/

Would love to see DC do something like this! I like the table more than the article, and while Jean-Louis Gassée makes some valid points based on the history of big, fat software megaliths, Gassée's premise is based on "could" and the fact that he thinks 13 tabs in Gmail settings are overwhelming (really?). He does strike at the heart of Google's weaknesses -- underestimating Facebook, missing Twitter altogether, and the bigger Google gets, the bigger target (as in threat) they are of governments around the globe.

42
Living Room / Sean Connery ain't Apple's bitch!
« on: June 21, 2011, 05:35 AM »
Steve Jobs asks Sean Connery to appear in an Apple ad. Here is his reply...

sean-aint-apple's-biatch.jpg

(via http://twitpic.com/5emlf7)
More of the story:
http://scoopertino.c...ter-that-almost-was/

43
tmux109.jpg

Is tmux the GNU Screen killer? by Chad Perrin
http://www.techrepub...u-screen-killer/1901

Terminal multiplexer applications are a great boon to Unix and Linux sysadmins all over the world. They allow sysadmins to start long-running tasks on remote machines, terminate the SSH session to that machine, then connect to the machine again and resume watching the task or check its results very easily. They also allow sysadmins to run several shell sessions within a single virtual terminal, which is of great use for remote administration as well. The uses to which a terminal multiplexer can be put are numerous and, at times, indispensable.

By far, the best known terminal multiplexer is GNU Screen. In fact, many people who use it in their day to day work are not familiar with the term “terminal multiplexer”, in much the same way that many people who use Microsoft Windows every day are not familiar with the term “operating system”. GNU Screen has been around for a long time, and to many it is synonymous with the very concept of a terminal multiplexer application.

This is changing somewhat, however. A relatively new terminal multiplexer, known simply as tmux, is beginning to gain some traction in the world of open source Unix-like operating systems. Those who try it out often find that it is actually the superior terminal multiplexer for their use.

____________________
tmux2.jpg

Sorry screen, tmux is better by Tyler Mulligan
http://www.doknowevi...-screen-lik-hotkeys/

TMUX – The Terminal Multiplexer by Cody
http://blog.hawkhost...erminal-multiplexer/



44
Living Room / Why ebooks are bad for you
« on: June 10, 2011, 05:10 AM »
kindle_newspaper_s.jpg

That old guy Richard Stallman makes the case against ebooks vs. print because they go far beyond copyright restrictions (and I agree):
http://www.pcworld.c...are_bad_for_you.html

-- Books printed on paper can be purchased anonymously with cash without signing any kind of license that restricts the purchaser's use of the book, Stallman notes. No proprietary technology is required, and it's sometimes even lawful under copyright to scan and copy the book.
-- Once it's paid, the purchaser owns the book, and no one has the power to destroy it.
-- Contrast that situation with Amazon e-books, where users are not only required to identify themselves to purchase an e-book, but also to accept "a restrictive license" on their use of it, Stallman notes.
-- "In some countries, Amazon says the user does not own the e-book," he asserts. "The format is secret, and only proprietary user-restricting software can read it all."
-- Copying such e-books is "impossible due to Digital Restrictions Management in the player," he adds, "and prohibited by the license, which is more restrictive than copyright law."
-- Not only that, but Amazon can remotely delete purchased e-books through a back door, Stallman points out, much the way it did in 2009 on "thousands of copies of George Orwell's 1984."

45
Susan Linton over at ostatic.com provides a short take on the Zenix distro:
Back when I used to write full-length distribution reviews for a living, I always kept my eyes open for unique offerings. Unique distros were few and far between, but when those jewels were found - fun followed. Well, one of those gems of the Linux world appeared on my radar this evening. Zenix GNU/Linux is a Debian-based distribution that uses Openbox and Awesome WM to create something that's just a little different.

zenix_openbox.png
http://zenix-os.net/index.html

If you're a Debian fan, check it out.

46
gadget-vs-os2011.jpg

Which is more important: the gadget or the software and apps that runs it?
Let me explain. It seems we are on the edge of either gadgetopia (wunderbar!) or gadgetphrenia (oh damn!), pulling us away from the desktop as fast as they can to the cloud where mega-corporations can soon charge us for every click, swipe, or tap. There's android, iOS, and Windows, among others. With ereaders you have broad fragmentation as the market and the industry is racing to find ways to charge as much as possible -- in as many creative ways as possible -- for content, device, and its features. Amazon announced a discounted ad-supported Kindle this week. (The ads will only gain you a 17% discount, however.) Every week brings a new ereader, but I'm still on the fence until they're open devices running on open formats.

Therefore, does the device/gadget win you over or is it the software/apps that run it?

47
Living Room / Tech shopping tips
« on: May 20, 2011, 05:28 PM »
6424535-hi-tech.jpg

It takes a lot of research to make a tech purchase with conviction. Sam Grobart reduced a lot of hard-earned and complex wisdom to seven rules of thumb in the New York Times. I was pretty impressed with this list because I think his advice is sound and he was able to reduce it to short rules of thumb. His seven rules are a trade off, as most tech advice is. When buying hi tech...

-- Pay for RAM, not speed. The speed of the computer chip does not matter; the attention-span or RAM memory does matter.
-- Pay for messaging, not minutes. On your phone, your texting is more expensive than your voice time.
-- Pay for components, not cables. Buy the best components, and the cheapest cables.
-- Pay for speed, not channels. For cable internet, with enough speed you can watch TV channels on the internet for free.
-- Pay for screen size, not refresh rate. On TV screens, bigger size makes a difference while refresh rate does not.

What tips do you have for tech shopping?

48
Three things that got my attention:

HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST (AND 9 OTHER THINGS NOBODY TOLD ME) by Austin Kleon
http://www.austinkle...ings-nobody-told-me/

do-good-work_991f883c43_o.gif

Zombie Lie -- No matter how many times you refute it, it keeps coming back and people keep believing it.
http://www.wordspy.c.../words/zombielie.asp

How Microsoft Caused the DotCom Bubble and why their Skype ‘Hail Mary’ is irrelevant
http://www.ritholtz....d-the-dotcom-bubble/

miicrosoftfightingback.jpg

Microsoft remains hugely profitable today, but increasingly irrelevant. Their purchase of Skype is an attempt to buy back some relevance. They are the rich, uncool fat kid at school, trying desperately to buy their way into some popularity.

49
google-chrome-x-os-linux-1.png
http://blogs.forbes....ome-laptops-20month/

Forbes announces that Google will announce a $20/month Chrome laptop offer today: "Having students try out the product — at a price cheaper than buying a laptop for school — amounts to a shakedown cruise for the eventual product. If successful, it also seeds the market for future demand, as students move into the workforce with expectations of working in cloud-based systems."
___________________________
I might try this out if I'm not tethered to keeping it and paying for it in full. Overall, it's not cheaper than a cheap Windows laptop/netbook. And why do business idiots always crap statements like this out: "Google Apps, an online product with features similar to Microsoft Office...." Excuse me, Google Apps doesn't even pretend to be on the same planet as MS Office; why do business media fools write it?

50
brilliantly-simple-apps.jpg

No matter your OS, there are programs out there -- past and present -- that were so simple, so effective, that they are brilliant. An old one no longer developed is VuePrint (for me). Few apps are simple anymore; most have grown to complexity by successively expanding their features. But if you know of such a program, please share it with us.

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