Practical Technology

for practical people.

July 11, 2012
by sjvn01
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The Linux shell will always be with us

Over at TuxRadar, a Linux site as you could guess from the name, they’ve been debating for some time the question of whether or not the Linux shell is obsolete. The argument really got kicked off with this comment: “The command line is a crusty, old-fashioned way to interact with a computer, made obsolete by GUIs, but a small hardcore of people who refuse to move on still use it to perform arcane tasks that the majority of more enlightened users never need to perform. Mostly these tasks need to be performed in this way because of defects and omissions in current GUIs.”

Oh please. For most users most of the time you’ll no more need to use Linux shell commands, than you’ll need to know how to change your oil to drive your car. But, sometimes, and here’s the point, sometimes, you do need to change your oil.

The Linux shell will always be with us. More >

July 10, 2012
by sjvn01
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Firefox: Can this Web browser be saved?

These are not good days for Firefox.

The real battle  for the number one Web browser in the world these days is between Chrome and Internet Explorer. Firefox, by StatCounter’s latest numbers, is a distant third. The latest release of Firefox, had to be patched to deal with a serious  Adobe Flash crash and many users tell me they’re not happy with it. Now, adding insult to injury, former Mozilla developer Jono DiCarlo claims Firefox’s rapid release schedule has “ruined” Firefox and “killed [its] reputation.”

Firefox started its rapid-release schedule in an attempt to play catch-up with Google Chrome. But, as DiCarlo wrote, “Credit where it’s due: the way Google handled Chrome updates was very, very smart. They recognized that updates are one of the hardest things to get right, so they solved that problem first, before releasing version 1. The first release of Chrome was little more than an empty box of a browser, but it was wrapped around an excellent updating system. This let them gradually transform that empty box into a full-featured browser, without the users ever realizing they were getting updates.”

That’s true.

Firefox: Can this Web browser be saved? More >

July 10, 2012
by sjvn01
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The perils of BYOD

Some people love the movement known as bring your own device (BYOD). Some even insist that it’s their right to bring their iPhones, Chromebooks or iPads to work. But I’ve always been wary of BYOD. Recent developments in how businesses see BYOD have moved me from being concerned to being downright worried.

What I have distrusted about BYOD is its potential to become the attractive carrot for the stick of cost-cutting. The BYOD concept was introduced with an emphasis on employee choice, but I never really bought that spin, and the recent developments confirm my fears. The whole point of BYOD, from the point of view of the senior executives who have embraced it, is to save money.

Take, for example, the state of California with its estimated $16 billion shortfall for the fiscal year. Money doesn’t grow on trees, even in fruitful California, so Chris Cruz, deputy director and CIO at the state’s Department of Health Care Services, decided to cut costs by no longer supplying or paying for smartphones at all but instead requiring employees to use their own smartphones — at their own expense. The state employee unions aren’t happy about this, so it isn’t a done deal yet. But it’s still a bad sign of what’s in store for workers.

The perils of BYOD. More >

July 9, 2012
by sjvn01
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Don’t take my iGoogle away!

Once upon a time, the 90s, Web portals were all the rage. Everyone had to have one the same way everyone today has to have a cloud. Like most such technology fads it ran its course. That doesn’t mean, that the idea of a Web portal—a single Web page from which you could get to all your most important Web applications, information and sites—was a bad idea. Indeed, when they were well done such as with Google’s iGoogle the page can become your home page for the Internet. But, now Google wants to take our iGoogle away from us.! No!!

Google claims that “ With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for something like iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding down iGoogle on November 1, 2013, giving you a full 16 months to adjust or easily export your iGoogle data.”

I disagree.

Don’t take my iGoogle away! More >

July 9, 2012
by sjvn01
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A Billion hours of Netflix and nothing to watch

Guess what? Netflix CEO Reed Hasting reported—on Facebook of all places—that “Netflix monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June. That’s even more impressive than it sounds. Netflix reported that it had delivered 2 billion hours of streaming for its entire December quarter. In other words, Netflix isn’t just growing, it’s growing at an incredible rate. Indeed, Netflix’s streaming-video now accounts for almost a third of peak downstream traffic in North America.

Richard Greenfield, an analyst for BTIG, did some quick and dirty estimates and by his figuring “Netflix would have been the 7th most watched network inclusive of broadcast and cable networks (up from #15 in Q4 2011).  It also would have been #2 among cable networks, slightly larger than ESPN and just below Disney Channel.” Indeed, “Adjusting for distribution, among households with Netflix, Netflix would have been #1 watched network overall including broadcast and cable.”

A Billion hours of Netflix and nothing to watch. More >

July 9, 2012
by sjvn01
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A Linux computer for grandpa and grandma

When I think of getting a Linux desktop, I first think about installing it myself. Next, I think about buying one with Linux pre-installed from a vendor such as Dell, System76, or ZaReason. What I haven’t thought about it is buying one from an advertisement in a Sunday newspaper magazine called Parade. Maybe I should have. I recently discovered the WOW! Computer for Seniors..

The ad loudly proclaims that it’s “A Computer Designed for YOU, Not Your Grandchildren!” And, that’s it “Easy to read! Easy to set up! Easy to use!” And, if you look closely you’ll find that it runs Linux.

I’ve also known that the FUD about Linux being hard to use was myth, My 80-year old mother-in-law, who’s also an Ubuntu 12.04 user is living proof that Linux is easy to use. What I hadn’t expected to see was a vendor targeting the older boomer generation and beyond with Linux computers.

A Linux computer for grandpa and grandma. More >