May the FOSS be with You: FOSS Bill Update

One of the highlight of the Software Freedom Day sessions in the University of Santo Tomas yesterday is the a brief update on the proposed Free/Open Source bill by Representative Teddy Casiño of the Bayan Muna Partylist. 

Technorati Tags: FOSS Bill, Philippines, Software Freedom Day

I Hate Linux So Much!!!

Yes, you heard me right, it’s official: I totally hate Linux! I hate it because it doesn’t need me to install an antivirus and antispyware program! I hate it because there is no more defrag! I hate it because your install doesn’t degrade with time anymore! I hate it because it doesn’t give me an administrator account by default! I hate it because I don’t need to reformat my install very often! I hate it because, most of the time, I don’t need any help when a problem arises, I can resolve it by myself or search for a solution using the evil thing called Google. I hate because it saves me a lot of dough! Darn it! It won’t force me to upgrade my lowly computer I got now! Grrrr! I don’t have to buy “stick-up” software, “stick-up” because it feels like being robbed! The problem is… I want to get robbed! Hu hu hu… And most of all: I won’t be able to help my bigtime idol, Bill Gates! I won’t help him became even more rich! Hwaaaahhhh!!! I won’t help his glorious company Microsoft anymore

Yup, I totally, absolutely hate Linux! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!!!

(This is my reaction to this blog post. )

Technorati Tags: Linux, Windows, Hate, FOSS, Open Source

Google Chromium for Zenwalk!

Yeah, I’m at it again! >:) Since I heard of the news that development preview of Google Chrome for Linux (a.k.a. Chromium) now has early support for Flash, I decided to make a Zenwalk package (may work with Slackware too) from one of the daily snapshots (3.0.194.0 SVN 20472). Yup, it is true. I gone by YouTube.com on Google Chromium with the symlink to the Flash plugin on my Zenwalk system and it works! Others, well, not so… But then again, Chromium is considered experimental So if you willing to bite the dust, here you go. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Google, Chrome, Chromium, Linux, Zenwalk, Slackware

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 for Zenwalk!

I was getting impatient for the release of Iceweasel 3.5 on Zenwalk. So I decided to create a binary package of Mozilla Firefox 3.5. It may work on Slackware too. The package is right here. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Mozilla Firefox 3.5, Zenwalk, Slackware, Linux

Yoono: Online Social Life Unified!

Are you beginning to hate wrestling back and forth between your Facebook and Twitter accounts? Wishing you could access both in one place? Well now, yes you can! Thanks to Yoono. Yoono is a Firefox/Iceweasel plugin in that let’s you access Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Imeem, Flickr, FriendFeed, MSN, AIM, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger all in one sidebar! But don’t let the word “sidebar” make you cringe (due to used browser estate). Yoono, has a nice hide feature so it won’t be a nuisance.

Yoono makes the management of my Facebook and Twitter accounts easy by giving me a unified timeline for both accounts. Add to that, notifications will appear for newly-arrived Facebook and Twitter status updates, not to mention, unified status posts for both or individually. It also feature link sharing for both services or one of them, very handy for sharing web finds.

If you spent much time on Firefox or Iceweasel for your social media, take Yoono for a spin. I bet you will love it! Sure beats having to install Adobe AIR on a non-supported Linux distro or half-done Microblogging clients. Go get it here!

Technorati Tags: Yoono, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Flickr, Imeem, FriendFeed, MSN, AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Social Media, Social Network, Online Social Life, Firefox, Iceweasel, Linux

Episode 2 of Ubunchu! :)

Finally! An english translation (left to right version) of the latest installment of Ubunchu! is now online It seems this issue/episode is all about the command line (don’t cringe, the CLI is your best friend) Get it here!

Technorati Tags: Linux, Ubuntu, Ubunchu, Manga

It’s Better With Windows – Is It? : Windows on Netbooks

It seems there is now an intensified Windows campaign on netbooks called “It’s Better With Windows”. The question that begs to be answered is “Is It?”.

Netbooks are generally scaled down version of laptops, which means low-powered, hardware wise. It is a general notion that Windows is a resource hog, most especially on computer with low hardware specifications. Linux is the exact opposite. If you install Linux on a such a machine, chances are, it will have very desirable performance (or you could “cut down on the fat” much further). Add in to the performance mix is the that most of the filesystems Linux can be installed, no defragmentation is required because it’s non-existent. You can’t say that with, let say FAT and NTFS.

Another obvious point is that Windows is a breeding ground for malware (virii, spyware, trojans, adware, you name it). Linux, on the other hand is “virtually virus free” mainly because of its pragmatic system design and its well-versed userbase (which I can’t say much for the most of the Windows users out there, that the only thing they know is startup and shut down).

Heck, I read somewhere that a factory-fresh Windows netbook got malware already! (LOL)

Also, most of the stuff you do on a netbook are generally basic stuff (web surfing, email, word processing, spreadsheets etc.) can be gone on Linux.

I have a hutch: Microsoft is giving more incentives to netbook makers to put and advertise Windows on netbooks. Also they’re banking on stupid marketing BS to get people buying. It is known the netbook industry is the sunniest part of the computer sector today, that why the big Windows push on netbook today.

The sad truth is while a consumer may know and accustomed to using Windows, the downsides attached to Windows outweights the real benefits of Linux usage.

Windows is a joke, and they just don’t know it…

Technorati Tags: Windows, Linux, Netbooks, It’s Better with Windows, FUD, Microsoft

Hayden Kho Scandals: A Technological Perspective

Here in the Philippines, one of the hottest news around is the public circulation of the lewd videos of celebrity doctor Hayden Kho. I actually didn’t give a damn about the whole fiasco, well, until now. I found out (while having watch the latest episode of TEN: The Evening News a while ago) one of the possible angle on how the video got loose into the wild. Apparently, Vicky Belo has Hayden Kho’s hard drive (where the lewd videos are contained). Kho seems to be assured that Belo will not spread those vile contents because of his knowledge that Belo is computer-illiterate. That, my friend, is a big point of failure. Complacency begets stupidity. Even if she is computer-illiterate, why would you give your hard drive to your girlfriend if you have shameful files within? Also, there is a chance that not only she has access to it. Here is where my second point comes to play: Why (oh Why!) Mr. Kho didn’t create an encrypted folder to hide his evidence of wrong-doings OR put those in an encrypted storage container? In that way, those files are not easily accessible. Now, it begs to be asked: Who’s the fool now? Obviously, Hayden Kho is just one of those “Johnny Six Pack” types of computer users. For that, he paid the big price for it. I rest my case.

Technorati Tags: Hayden Kho, Vicky Belo, Scandal, Data Encryption, Computer Security

Acer: A Company Without a Heart

If you are getting an Acer product, you may want to reconsider. Apparently, Acer slams Ken Starks (a.k.a Helios), one of the famed Linux advocate around. Helios calls up Acer for assistance in relation to 2 Acer Travelmates enabled with a BIOS lock based on Trusted Computing. Unfortunately, the Acer guys insists on a 100 dollar fix, in spite the reasoning given by Ken Starks that it was for charity work. What a heartless company, trying to milk some dollars off a non-profit. Such practices should not be tolerated, but condemned. After this fiasco, no Acer for me. If you want to, please don’t buy Acer products.

Source: Acer Tells Kid’s Charity – Pay Up or Shut Up

UPDATE: Seems that Ken Starks’ problem is now solved, as chronicled on his latest blog entry “The Acer Debacle – Closing The Chapter”.

Technorati Tags: Acer, Trusted Computing, Ken Starks, Helios, Boycott, Travelmate

A Bayanihan Act from Helios

According to Wikipedia, Bayanihan is a Filipino word that refers “…to a spirit of communal unity or effort to achieve a particular objective”. I can’t think of a better word to best describe the latest entry of Ken Starks (a.k.a Helios). Helping is a easy as making this your home page, do your search there and click on some ads to time to time. I did my part spreading the word, now it’s your turn

Technorati Tags: Bayanihan, Ken Starks, Helios, Loye Young, IYCC