January 22, 2015
by sjvn01
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If you want a Linux on a laptop, it’s easy to install it yourself. You can also always buy one from a specialized Linux vendor such as System76 and ZaReason or even get a mainstream laptop, like the new Dell XPS 13 and 15 with Ubuntu installed. What you can’t do is get one with a minimum of proprietary firmware, until now.
Librem 15, the first free software GNU/Linux laptop, makes funding goal. More>
January 21, 2015
by sjvn01
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You may recall that I recently wrote about Verizon taking its cloud down. Well, it’s back now, but we still don’t know why it was down for about 40 hours.
This really is weird with a capital W. To its credit, I guess, the Verizon Cloud was down for “only” 40 hours. This was for planned maintenance to provide “seamless upgrade functionality as well as other customer-facing updates.”
I’m not sure what that means.
Verizon cloud’s back, but why was it down for almost two days? More>
January 16, 2015
by sjvn01
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Last summer Microsoft talked its partners into trying to stop the growing popularity of Chromebooks in its tracks by making a big push during the holiday season. While full retail results won’t be in for a while, we do know the laptop sales results from the most important retailer of them all, Amazon. Guess what. With that retailer at least, Microsoft and its buddies failed. Miserably.
Amazon reports that its top three computers sold over the holidays were — drum-roll, please — Chromebooks. It was that way last year too. Oh, wait, I’m wrong; Microsoft did worse this year. In 2013, one of Amazon’s top three sellers was a Windows machine, The Asus’ Transformer Book, a Windows 8.1 “2-in-1” device that transforms from a 10.1-in. tablet to a keyboard-equipped laptop.
January 15, 2015
by sjvn01
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Yes, there is such a thing as a private cloud. No, it’s not the same thing as having lots of virtual machines on your data center’s servers.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and I’ve already had someone ask me why they should bother with a private cloud when they already had lots and lots of virtual machines (VM)s in their data center.
Excuse me as I bang my head against the wall.
Guys, guys, if a cloud was just a bunch of servers, virtual or otherwise, we’d still be stuck in the ’90s. Oh, that’s right. Some of you still are.
OK, I’ll make it simple. Flip open your copy of the National Institute and Technology’s (NIST), The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing and read aloud with me from page 2:
The private cloud is not the same thing as a data center. More>
January 9, 2015
by sjvn01
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On Jan. 10, 2015, Verizon will take its new cloud service, Verizon Cloud, down for two days.
That’s not a typo. They’re not taking it down for two hours. They’re taking it down for two days. What the… !
January 8, 2015
by sjvn01
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An Internet joke that goes back at least to the early 1980s consists entirely of the phrase: “Imminent Death of the Net Predicted!” Every year, even more often than you’d hear “This will be the year of the Linux desktop!” someone would predict that the Internet was going to go to hell in a handbasket — and nothing happened. This year it’s my turn, but I fear I’m going to be proved right.