Practical Technology

for practical people.

July 31, 2009
by sjvn01
1 Comment

One billion Firefoxes

Let me give you an Internet history lesson. Less than five-years ago, unless you were one of die-hard Netscape Navigator users or a handful of Opera users, your Web browser choices were Internet Explorer or… ah… Internet Explorer. AOL was already abandoning Netscape, but, before they pulled the plug, they started an open-source Netscape spin-off group, which was first called the Mozilla Organization, which became the Mozilla Foundation, so that Netscape would live on. I’m sure AOL didn’t expect anything to come of it. Boy, were they wrong. Mozilla’s Firefox has just been downloaded for the 1-billionth time.

Wow.

Now, Linux is probably more important, there are hundreds of millions of Linux-powered Web sites and business servers. And, Apache is the Web server behind almost all those Linux Web sites. But, for sheer number of end-users, I don’t think you can beat Firefox. And, this success has lead to improvements in all Web browser software.

More >

July 30, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Canonical to offer Ubuntu desktop support

Do you want to save desktop support money? Do you have Windows and Mac-using friends or co-workers who want to try desktop Linux? Well, in either case, you’re going to want to check out Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, latest desktop support offerings: Starter, Advanced and Professional.

Canonical will be announcing these new support services for the Ubuntu desktop for individuals and small businesses tomorrow, July 31st, in London. These services are particularly designed for small business owners who are looking for cost effective alternatives to Windows and Apple Mac.

You may not have know it, but Canonical has long been in the Linux support business. With this new offering, though, Canonical is making a special effort to reach individual users and SMBs (small-to-medium businesses) users.

Steve George, director of Canonical’s Corporate Services division, said, “Canonical’s Desktop Support Services provides an easy, inexpensive way to get Ubuntu up and running in the home, home office and small business – reaching the vast majority of computer users. With our team supporting them, Ubuntu is ideal for people who just want their computer to work, where the goal is to get up and running with no fuss, focusing on the things they want to accomplish.” George added, “So, if you have an old computer, or you’re just stuck with Vista, you can install Ubuntu and experience peace.”

More >

July 29, 2009
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Night of the living Yahoo

“Brains! Must have Yahoo advertising brains!” That might have been Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s call as he finally made a deal for Yahoo. Sure, it looks like Yahoo still exists as an independent company, but in reality, Ballmer’s bite has turned it into a Microsoft zombie.

Yahoo has agreed to let is search engine brain, the only thing of value it really had, to be replaced by Bing, Microsoft’s “decision engine.” That’s a fancy Microsoft marketing phrase, which means it’s a search engine with a built-in bias towards giving pro-Microsoft search results.

As expected, Bing hasn’t made a dent in Google’s search share. Indeed, despite some reports of it hurting Yahoo’s search market share, I haven’t seen any proof that it did any real damage to Yahoo. Of course, Yahoo was already in a world of hurt and new CEO Carol Bartz quickly proved she wasn’t up to the job of reviving the ailing Internet giant.

With this deal, Yahoo has become a dead company walking. Yahoo has clearly given up on search. If you look closely you’ll see that even its ad platform Panama, is being replaced by Microsoft’s adCenter.

More >

July 28, 2009
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Buying with the Penguin

I’m not much of one for affinity credit cards. You know, the ones bearing the logo of your favorite sports team, school, or what have you. But, I have to confess I like this new affinity Visa Platinum credit card that’s being issued by the Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux.

As Jim Zemlin, executive director at the Linux Foundation, said in the card’s announcement, “This credit card is in response to requests by individuals who want to get involved and support the Linux Foundation’s community activities. Some people write code while others work on marketing or defending Linux. The Linux-branded credit card is an easy way for anyone to contribute to the growth of Linux and identify themselves as supporters of the community by carrying Tux in their pocket.”

More >