Owner: The tech and other cents URL:www.thetechandcents.com Join Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:27:41 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: It is a blog with opinions and reviews on almost anything Site statistics:Click here
New projects 2007-12-20 01:40:00 Hi allAs I recently became an unemployed, and until I find a job (please keep your fingers crossed for me), I have few ideas to work on.As many readers could figure out already, I'm really interested about Linux and technology, and an effect of technology on society. So I've decided to build a new blog on this issue, and add some more sweets to it. The main idea is to have some research done on there.I'll keep you updated on how it goes :-) Technorati : blog
That Which we call free 2007-12-17 12:45:00 I just read a reference to RMS' post to OpenBSD maillist. It is very him in the nature and the language, and I will not post anything here.But I started thinking then, how important nowadays the "openness" of the products? How the fact, that the product I use has a non-free parts impact its use?I'm not sure anymore it does. I see more tendencies in many market niches to move to open systems, open protocols and open implementations. And Linux is, of course, a part of that. Open architectures allow changing in a very convenient ways. For example, I worked in a company which created a NAS solutions. We took standard harware and put a Linux-based software on it. Then, it is connected to a network, and here you go - you have a network storage.There are 2 ways of creating such a product. A first one, is to create everything from the scratch - the operating system, the services, the protocols implementations, etc. The second one - the one many vendors choose these days - is to take some ope
RSSHugger 2007-12-17 02:45:00 OK, this post is about RSShugger.I'm trying to drive more traffic here to this blog, so I try to list myself in all sorts of blog listing directories. This is one of them.I do not yet know how well it works :-) only time will tell.
The way of a bully 2007-12-16 10:10:00 Hi readersAs I have stumbled through my stories with Blogger and blogging, I got to thinking about 2 things that I believe are important. Both of them have relation to technology and software. These are those issues:What impact have large vendors on open source projects?Why my is browser slow?This time I will talk about the first issue.It came to me after I read an article, about Sun being bully to a developers of CIFS server in Java. The project was open source, and its main developers were all Sun's employees. But then, in weird series of events, all developers were fired from Sun, and Sun forced its control over the project. All that while the project is still open source!!So, what is the purpose of such a project? If a large company forces its own rule on an open source project - what is the point for the project to be an open source one? I can understand the business targets of any vendor. Its purpose it to make money, and the company would do almost anything to reach that goal.
Linux Blogging Sucks no more 2007-12-13 09:06:00 I want to apologize to you all.I know I hurt some people with my post about how Linux
blogging sucks. I apologize for that. At the time of writing that post, this was exactly how I felt, and all I could think of was letting things out. I was bitter that there's no good application for Linux that I could use for blogging in offline mode using the New Blogger platform.But now its gone, I feel better and more objective (or even more subjective? You decide). I started to look around on what supports Blogger as a blogging platform, and then it had actually got me.There are no good offline tools for posting on Blogger! At least I haven't found one. Even BlogJet (which is probably my favorite application now) does not support all the features.Why is it so? Is it so hard to implement a simple feature? I'm sure the API is completely open, isn't it?Fine, I thought, I would go the way of samurai open source, and create something of my own for a change. I would at least answer my own goals for Read more:Blogging
What is blog? 2007-12-11 02:24:00 Amazing clip which explains what the blog is:
Better Than Kindle? 2007-12-09 01:56:00 OK, so by now I think there are no people left who didn't hear about the Amazon Kindle. Or read about it. Or written something. Or something.I just listened to a podcast by Leo Laporte (it's on Twit network - go check out), where he and his guests in the studio are talking about the kindle device and are not really thrilled by it. These are the sort of people who jump on all the newest and the greatest in the gadgetry, but they don't jump on this one.Why?I could probably take a guess, and to be correct as much as anyone. But here are few things that pop into my head when I'm thinking about any eBook:It has to be sorta cheapIt has to have a great screen - quality is importantThe screen size should be convenient (I know, this one is very subjective)It should be lightweightThe power should have a long life for thisWhile I'm thinking about all the things I'd do with it, this is what comes to my mind: this thing cost around $400. There are few other devices that cost that much these d
KDE4 vs. Gnome: where the passion is 2007-12-03 03:47:00 OK, so I'm not here to judge anyone, or bash anyone. I just speak my mind. And this is what I think:First, please let me announce that I'm currently a Gnome
user. I so say at the beginning, so everyone would know where I come from. Now, it's been awhile since I read first about the upcoming release of KDE4. I've read and followed the process since it was announced to the public.About the same time, I started digging into the state of Gnome and KDE in sort of a comparative fashion, and I found the one thing and one thing only - the passion has long been lost in Gnome, and in fact in KDE as well.Then I rechecked myself, on what should I use. I compared visual and resource-taking aspects of both KDE and GNOME at the time(say, about a 1.5 years ago), and have decided to stick with Gnome.Here are my reasons:I like the simplistic approach of Gnome. Everything is simple, and not more complicated that it needs to beCustomizations are not that important to me. I prefer usability over eye-ca
Accounting Web 2.0 2007-11-30 10:19:00 I have another blog of mine, where I express more targeted opinions. I said there once, that I intend to find a way for additional income, such as from blogging. While the bloggins thing is not going that well as I would like it to be, I have few friends which I help with their projects, and for that I'm getting some money. It is a sort of system consulting and integration help. I help them specifically with creating a little customized Linux distribution. But this doesn't come easy. To save on the taxes, I've opened my own business, so I'm independent now :-). Now, the only thing I have to deal with, is of course taxation authorities.According to the law, I have to prepay the income tax and insurance tax on a regular (bi-monthly) basis. But, well, I tend to forget. Besides, will all the receipts and invoices, I can loose myself. I was trying to find all sorts of different reminders, to-do lists, apps and what not.In this post I review a web app from LessAccounting - LessAccounting
Mobile likes Linux 2007-11-29 10:10:00 I've read an article today about a school in US that equipped its students with a new Asus eeePC 701 laptops. Aside the pedagogical issues, I find that very interesting from technological and social points of view.As a social effect, I think that using a computer in the classroom have long halted to surprise anyone. The fact that schools are now doing this on their own, show that technology is moving forward, making other sides and areas to consider its impact on how things are done. I'm not saying that teaching has to be accompanied by a computing systems, but I believe that it definitely can benefit from it. For similar purpose an OLPC project was created, and I have written an essay on that.Many of today's newly created small-sized computers are run with Linux
. It is well done business decision, as at that price grades, the price of an operating system can reach up to 50% of the final consumer products' cost. That's really outrageous - if I only would like to use a browser and Read more:Mobile
Installing Mac OS X on HP pavillion laptop 2007-11-24 03:58:00 Hi folksBeing affected by all "Hackintosh" series posts in Lifehacker and other places (such as installing it on eeePC 701), I've decided to get and install it on my aging laptop, HP Pavillion, model ze4508ea.Here's the laptop's specs:CPU: AMD Mobile XP 1.8GMemory: 750MB (can be expanded to 1G)HD: 20GGraphics: ATI Mobile 320M integrated up to 64MBCDRW/DVDScreen: 14"Wireless: PCMCIA RTLink 2500 series cardPlease let me know what my expectations can be regarding the functionality of the Mac OS X 10.4.8 on such a laptop.Thanks a bunch!
Zoundry Writer in Linux review 2007-11-20 11:04:00 For a few days, I've been testing different blog editors and trying to find which one I would prefer to use. My requirements are simple at the moment. You can go over them in my previous post on the matter - BlogJet editor in Linux
Review.I've written 2 articles, in which I told that Linux Editors sucks (and that was my personal feeling after I tried more than 5 different editors and found all of them either not working or sucking big time on features), and also that I've decided to try running a Windows blog editors (yes!) using WINE and I have written another post on that.So, I've found couple of editors that I succeeded to run in Linux. Here, I will talk about the second one, Zoundry. First, here's the screenshot of using this editor (click on the image to see in full size):So, as you can see, I'm writing this post in ZoundrySo here's my good feelings about this editor:Setting accounts is very easy and very good.Writing is very easy. All the regular features work (Italic, Bol Read more:review
, Writer
How much time do you spend on Digg? 2007-11-20 09:49:00 Hi allI'm having a research so I need your help first. I would like to ask you all a simple question:How much time do you spend on Digg
?Any answer is the good answer, but please be honest and true to yourself. The poll is at the top right sidebar.Thanks
BlogJet editor in Linux review 2007-11-19 07:39:00 For a few days, I've been testing different blog editors and trying to find which one I would prefer to use. My requirements are simple at the moment:Being able to publish to a blog platform I use at the moment. That's being Blogger (with a New Blogger [Google] API)Being able to publish in draft first. I don't mind to "touch" an entry before publishing, and doing so from Blogger's own web-based editor helps to "preview
" the entry how will it really look like.Adding tags to the post. Labels, categories, tags - I don't care how would you call this, I want it working if my platform supports them (and it does).as a subset, pinging to Technorati and/or other services and including their links in the posts is welcome albeit unnecessary requirement.Convenient linking to other things. For example, suggesting to use what I have at the moment in the clipboard cache is convenient, as it allows me to copy something in the browser, and then directly paste it in the editor. I would also welcome Read more:Linux
Home Theater Modeled After Enterprise Bridge 2007-11-19 02:55:00 Someone thought it would be a good idea to model their home theater after the Enterprise NCC-1701D from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The result is super geeky, but actually rather cool. The system also features "one of the largest Kaleidescape hard-drive based storage systems" ever created, amassing eight servers with 3,816 DVDs.read more | digg story Technorati : Star Trek, tech
Read more:Home Theater
Get Things Done - Things First Looks 2007-11-19 02:49:00 Cultured Code recently posted to their site about a new app they are working on called Things, it is a GTD application, but is very different then the rest.I'm saving this in my bookmarks, to keep this with me ....read more | digg story Technorati : GTD
Read more:First
, Looks
Always Use Protection 2007-11-19 02:46:00 Firefox can always protect you....like a charm :-)Take a look :-)read more | digg story Technorati : Firefox
Read more:Protection
Calling support have a negative impact on economy 2008-02-27 09:32:00 I've just read an interesting piece. It talks about the fact, that when consumers call support centers, in general, all vendors do charge for those calls. It makes an approximate $50M in costs for just basic support people need.That makes it quite intriguing information. The earlier business models of Open Source products were exactly like this - they were supposed to provide the product for free, and then charge for the support. And this would, or at least could, be a quite viable model.Just look at those Red Hat's and MySQL's - they're in pretty good shape, aren't they? Those companies worth millions and billions, and it seems to be working for them for quite awhile. I believe that charging for support might be a good business.On the other hand, if the consumer is in consideration, then Read more:Calling
, impact
, economy
La citta ideale 2008-02-24 07:00:00 Hi allI'm going to Tuscany in about a week, so I need as much information as possible - can anyone direct me to sources of "ideal city" architecture?Thank you very much
Links for 2008-02-21 [Digg] 2008-02-22 00:00:00
The keys to a blog success
It is a nice article with the simplest best advice regarding creating the successful blog! Take a look inside...
Read more:Digg
The keys to a blog success 2008-02-21 09:03:00 You all know how it is: you hear in the blogosphere about making money from blogging. Then you find and read thoroughly the major league: the Problogger.net and JohnChow.com; and then you make up your mind: "I'm going to do that too. If they can make it, so can I".And then, you go and read Darren's list of newbies tips, and John's ebook. But you decide that you're not ready to pay for the blog yet - after all, you're just trying out, right? So, you sign on Blogger or Wordpress, just to save a $100, but you do register domain, because everyone agrees that it is the most important thing you should start with.And then you start posting. At the beginning, you're on fire. Finding everything you can on the net, posting like a crazy. But, for some reason, stats do not go up. Then you say to yours
Saas conference 2008-02-20 14:40:00 Hi allI was always wondering: how good SaaS model is? Quite good I guess. Here's the idea: you have some basic platform, such as browser. Then, you use it to run all sorts of applications (Gmail anyone?). Would that be the same thing? Would this model actually show us what SaaS idea is?I haven't really thought about it yet that much. I just know a lot of vendors are looking into this area, because it allows to keep applications local and deliver them on demand. So, each delivery would bring revenue. That's a nice model, if I understand it correctly.So, now there's a conference
on the subject. SaaS Summit 2008 is a conference for all vendors in software as a service conference field. It will feature hundreds of executives from all kind of Web 2.0 vendors and companies, and will include many
Links for 2008-02-18 [Digg] 2008-02-19 00:00:00
Looking for freelance projects
asking for help of the community
Read more:Digg
Looking for freelance projects 2008-02-18 02:09:00 Hi allAfter years of handling different systems and hardware including servers and storage and also considering the fact that I want to make my life better (and much more interesting) I would like to ask your help with finding freelance projects (those that can pay internationally).Currently I can do consulting for IT technology on all levels (design, requirements, building), implementing, integrations, customizations and optimizations of complex systems (except programming), blogging and technical writing (without proofing). I'll be thankful for any ideas and leads that you can give me.Last project I did was to build customized distribution based on Gentoo for small computer based on AMD Geode processor. The distribution comes on DVD (which is based on Gentoo LiveCD) and installs complet
Fedora Kickstart installations 2008-02-17 10:40:00 Hi allI'm writing this in a hope that someone knows the issue.I'm creating a spin with Revisor (spin of Fedora
8) and while I'm including the kickstart file, the installation doesn't seem to perform the "post" part. What am I doing wrong?Thanks a bunch...
Links for 2008-02-16 [Digg] 2008-02-17 00:00:00
The Apple Product Cycle
A hilarious look at how rumors get started for new Apple Products
"Yes, There IS A Better Search Engine" - 10 Years Ago!
In an age where Go.com was new, and the Netscape and Yahoo Portals ruled the Web, one start-up company "with the unlikely name of Google.com" is showing the way. Salon.com in December of 1998 produced one of the first ever reviews or for that fact, mentions of Google.com still around on the internet today.
Quickorder app to keep iPod touch owners hooked on Starbucks
Quickorder, as you can probably imagine, would enable iPod touch users to swing by their local Starbucks, order up their favorite drink and avoid a good deal of that always questionable human interaction.
Webwise: Online guides to etiquette
Whether you are using a Read more:Digg
Links for 2008-02-15 [Digg] 2008-02-16 00:00:00
Commercial Ubuntu
Is it that bad that there will be commercial repositories within Ubuntu? Will it hurt Ubuntu as Linux distribution?I don't think so.
Read more:Digg
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