Practical Technology

for practical people.

July 6, 2011
by sjvn01
0 comments

How to try to get a Google+ account

Sorry folks, I don’t have any Google+ account invites to give away. I wish I did. Google+ is great. But, there are some ways that appear to help you move up the Google+ queue.

Before talking about that though you should know that there’s already spam out there that masquerades as Google+ invites. Sophos, the anti-virus company, reports that “spammers are sending out bogus Google+ invitations that in reality point to online pharmacies.” I am so not surprised.

So, if you get an e-mail note telling you that you’ve got a brand, spanking new Google+ account, check the URL for that link before clicking on it. If it’s not going to “https://plus.google.com/,” or a similar address, don’t click on it. You can get your Viagra from a local drug store a whole lot more safely.

Here’s the real deal. Yes, Google is still letting people into Google+. But, it’s so doing very slowly .

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July 6, 2011
by sjvn01
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Could you do Linus “Linux” Torvalds job?

So you think you’re a Linux expert do you? You scored big-time on my two recent Linux quizzes: Are you a Linux guru? and Return of the Linux Quiz and you think you’re ready for the big time. Well, does The Linux Foundation have a quiz for you!

The Facebook quiz “Could you do Linus Toravlds’ job?” asks the hypothetical question that were Linus to take on another job—I understand Microsoft could use a new CEO no matter what Ballmer may say—could you fill Torvalds’ shoes?

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July 5, 2011
by sjvn01
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Is Facebook already running scared of Google+?

I’ve only been using Google’s new social network, Google+ for a few days, but I already like Google+ a lot. I’ve already said Facebook had reason to worry about its users leaving it for Google+. It looks like Facebook agrees. Facebook has blocked Facebook Friend Exporter.

Facebook Friend Exporter, like the name indicates is an open-source Chrome Web browser extension that lets you export your Facebook friend data. Or, rather it briefly did that anyway. Facebook has blocked it.

If wasn’t perfect. All it really did was export data–such as names, e-mail addresses, and birthday– that your friends had shared with you as a comma separated value (CSV) file. You could then import this into Google+. It wasn’t easy. Now it only sort of works.

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July 5, 2011
by sjvn01
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The Open-Source Car

Besides a V6 as your engine, your car is very likely to soon be running Linux under the hood. The Linux Foundation will be announcing today that Toyota is joining the Foundation.

Some of you may be wondering, “What the heck is a car company doing joining the Linux Foundation?” The answer is easy. As the Foundation puts it, “A major shift is underway in the automotive industry. Car-makers are using new technologies to deliver on consumer expectations for the same connectivity in their cars as they’ve come to expect in their homes and offices. From dashboard computing to In-Vehicle-Infotainment (IVI), automobiles are becoming the latest wireless devices – on wheels.”

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July 5, 2011
by sjvn01
0 comments

Picking the Right Web Server for the Right Job

Once upon a time, the decision was easy. If you needed a Web server, and you used Windows on your servers, you used Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS). If you used anything else — and sometimes even if Windows Server was running in your data center — you used Apache. Simple.

Things are a little bit more complicated in these Web 2.0 days of 2011. Here’s what you should know to pick the right web server for your needs.

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June 30, 2011
by sjvn01
0 comments

Five Things to love about Google+

First things first: I don’t have any Google+ invites. Sorry Ken! I had some, but only minutes after I got into Google+, Google closed the doors saying “We’ve shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way. Thank you all for your interest! ”

I’m sorry about that. I’d give you all invites if I could. Why? Because why Google+ is still just beta, it has several features I really like

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