A tough lesson to learn, in regard to Ubuntu, that first there is often a reason certain updates are held back, usually unless you know how to fix it, you should try not to break it.
It’s about darn time: Google has joined the ranks of tech companies relegating Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 to the archive tapes of history.
In a post to its official enterprise blog, Internet giant Google has announced it will begin phasing out support for Microsoft’s nearly decade-old Internet Explorer 6 Web browser. Beginning March 1, IE6 users will start to find Google’s Web based applications and services—starting with Google Docs and Google Sites—will stop working well with Internet Explore 6. Eventually, IE6 won’t be able to use the services at all.
via Digital Trends
For Far to Long has Internet Explore Six been the bane of a web developers existence, the one browser to many still use, even if it is as old as XP is now. A browser that never has followed standards, had been the one browser developers had to modify, every little aspect of their design just so that it could look right on this browser that should have been phased out a very long time ago.
With Firefox taking the lead, and Open Source becoming the standard, the time has finally come to be able to develop, based on standards, for the browsers of the market today, Chrome, Firefox, Flock and Others. Most if not all being based on standards, making development more straightforward and simple then ever. The next challenge seems to be that we need to step it up to move the browsers in the market today to HTML 5 to make things even more straightforward.
The sad thing is still many may not be aware of it being phased out, but these are also the same people who were happy just as long when the power was pressed, the computer turned on and they could browse the connected world, even if they were using an otherwise antiquated browser that is Internet Explorer 6. To many of those who buy computers today have no idea what they have on the system and in that selective ignorance have no idea that each time they are using this browser, that should otherwise be placed in the throngs of the history like DOS, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 as something that does not and will not work in today’s world.
These are the same people who have to long kept it the same because they had no idea, at least with Google phasing out support perhaps more will realize that needs upgrades or like this quote puts it;
You can’t see anything from a car; you’ve got to get out of the goddamn contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thorn-bush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail, you’ll see something, maybe. ~Edward Abbey
Though IE6 is not a vehicle it was a means to access the community based initiative that is the Interconnected Web, and the quote is proper in that if these users never step out and see what is outside of IE6 they are more likely to stick with this flawed browser. Literally slowing down the world-wide web, as still others need to recode specific aspects of a page just so IE6 can see it how it was founded.
With Google at least taking this step, more will recognize, at least hopefully that there are options, that there are upgrades if only they took the time to update their system, but the only way they will do such a thing is if more of those who Advocate Open Source, write-up their own views, and thoughts on what the Internet should really be about.
That the internet started as a collaborative medium, when it was still considered ARPANET the worlds first packet switching network and what the Global Internet started as, though there is more about the History of the Internet, it is important to recognize that it was a way to share information between professors and universities. Today it has not really changed even though Microsoft would have you believe otherwise, the internet that in this day and age is behind locked doors, at its roots is still community based, even blogging as a medium is community based. Why the logical future should be a world, of computers based on Open Sourced Ideas, on Linux, Firefox and others.
In closing it is beneficial that this step is being taken by Google, perhaps now that IE6 is being phased out can we truly grasp the possibilities and the potential long hampered by non standards based ideas that IE6 is the embodiment of.
Let us move forward, and take the steps in a new direction, nearly forgotten but recognized when a Giant of the Internet World are determined to break away from those false views and make the progress, that we have long needed, what do you think?
For many traditional IT companies, the lure of energy efficiency efforts is two-fold: data center costs are becoming dominated by power use, so greater efficiency will both save them money and provide them with products and services that they can sell to other companies. These efforts also fall nicely in line with the goals of the Department of Energy, which is now using some of its stimulus money to fund data center efficiency projects from companies like Alcatel-Lucent, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Yahoo. Meanwhile, Google has decided it needs greater control over the power coming in, and will be launching its own utility, which will focus on supplying it with renewable energy. via ArsTechnica c/o Twitter_Tips
An amazing article found via DrugStorCowboy on Twitter via Ubuntu101 with the stimulus money flowing at least through the end of 2010, Google and other hard hitters in the industry are grasping a piece of a Green Movement in a new direction of using renewable energy instead of the standard energy helping the environment while also moving forward in their own steps in making Google more than it has been before. To be self-sustaining, through the use of green energy in powering their data centers which can often be interpreted as the backbone of some of the biggest networks in the world.
This is a remarkable step in a new direction, of living a greener life, but the question remains as mentioned in the article, what happens to all this progress once the funding dries up? What then will occur in the future, will all these great steps in a new direction end in a stalemate? Once there is no more income coming from DOE (Department of Energy) when the stimulus money runs out, will that be the end? Or will it be self-sufficient, and growing by the time the money is gone?
There are many questions but at the very least this is a step in a new good direction, in helping the environment continue to exist, and increasing the understanding that the future is green, Just as Ubuntu should see it, and just as many of the Linux Distributions understand it. It is the future, and it is better on the overall if each do what they need to do in progressing this change to a cleaner energy source for some of the most energy dependant resources, the systems that run the interwebs, the data centers around the world. Be interesting to see where it goes from here, what are some of your views on making things greener? How are you also doing your part to help improve the environment? Share your view in the comments, look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Using Open Source by Choice, To promote and enhance, community based initiatives.
Read More about Ubuntu below.
Follow Me On Twitter via www.twitter.com/ubuntu101/
The wonders of open source, the excitement of countless developers coming together playing a part in making Firefox the de facto standard. This is only a few of the many benefits of Firefox. Following is a list of some of the features are think are most pivotal.
Let us first define what exactly is open source, with each day passing more and more individuals are seeing open source products come out on the market. Some examples include, Open Office, which very much like MS OFFICE without the high price tag and frustrating non standard formatting, Firefox which we are exploring here, a Internet browser with increased security and easy to use add ons improving on its ability to be the way you want it not what Microsoft decides to throw at you. Open source simply means something that is truly built and operates for the people without the extensive commercialization. Constant updates with each moment numerous developers are doing there part to make that Firefox suite the best it can be. Improving usability and availability for the masses. There are many others worth mentioning, though another topic entirely will not explore them now.
To understand to see why Firefox has been open source and standards based from the beginning, the article quoted above goes into more detail. To speak about Firefox is to speak about a revolution, an opportunity for something that is not corporate based to have a fighting chance in a market that was long being strangled, by the likes of Internet Explorer, the only browser that came preinitialized with windows for far to long. A program that is not standards based and has caused more pain then it was worth.
Firefox as the alternative has continued to gain momentum, in the same field as Google Chrome which itself is a recent addition to this war. The wonders of Firefox is it’s extensibility, standards based and community based, being more stable and more secure then Internet Explorer could be in it’s most simple form. What is your chosen browser and why do you choose that over the others?
As I was talking with a good friend of mine, that I have known for so many years, she reminded me even if indirectly of the idea that to many still use Windows in Philippines, and other third world countries, partly because Microsoft was so happy to offer them a free version because they were third world, and at first it seemed a great act of charity. Once I started thinking about it though, really what Microsoft was doing is setting in place, the idea that Microsoft is the only Operating System. Which of course we who are in the states, are aware is not at all true though that is the truth Microsoft presents to the seeing eye of the public. The monopoly that was supposed to be long ago broken up, had already put a solid foothold in the market. The difference is that in time, Microsoft became to comfortable in fact they started becoming lackadaisical in updating there Operating System, as they thought theres was the only Operating System in the market so why not just update every now and again, once in awhile. In that decision, one of the worst ever made, hackers started realizing that this Operating System that has ended up on far to many systems, stopped putting focus on security, and since every was using Windows at the time became the perfect target, and so begin the spread of viruses, simple ones at first that over time became far more advanced. It took awhile for the Microsoft folks to catch up and in that time there system was compromised many times over
The point of that post was quite simple, there needs to be an increase in awareness and to do that people must unite together to help people become aware of Open Source Alternatives to Microsoft’s Proprietary Ideas and System full of Security Holes, so why not come join the cause help me help these countries recognize there are other options and through those other options better awareness of what could be. To expand their mind even a bit is the first step in a necessary direction.
By becoming part of this cause as it is mentioned in the referenced post we are each taking a step in a direction that has long been withheld and views that have been limited, with the improvements of Linux and Ubuntu Specifically, there is still a learning curve but it starts with getting this new operating system in the hands of those less fortunate. Through the understanding of community based initiatives such as Linux, countries across this world can see there is power in uniting, and putting forth every little bit of effort because every little bit helps.
Microsoft has pulled yet another aspect of their attempts at control, of trying to fortify their hold on end users. As I found out when I did some research on UDF files, and found, that that is one more proprietary extension that only runs on Vista. Which I guess you could say was of no surprise since the most recent version of Microsoft Office did the same, with some extension that only worked with Microsoft Word. A proprietary based extension that surprise surprise, is used to burn CDs which of course can only be read only on Windows Vista. Any file with the UDF extension is exactly that, the disk cannot be read on anything but Vista, purposely I would imagine. So that someone who is not aware trying to do a good thing for a friend, burns the disk on Vista, not understanding that since it was burnt on vista it cannot be read by any device besides. It’s clearly not universal and definitely not standards based. The end result a series of useless disks, that can serve only one individual purpose as Ubuntu coasters with the Ubiquitous Penguin that is Linux. Read More
As I have now been using v9.10 of Ubuntu “Karmic Koala” since the first release of v9.04 of Ubuntu “Jaunty Jackaloupe” I have had a great opportunity to explore the improvements and enhancements, so much so I felt I should share some of those improvements within Linux in the Ubuntu Distribution here on the blog that has been dedicated to the goings on in the Open Source World, and FoSS as well as go into detail. So let’s get to it … Read More here.
The internet is a medium, one in which creativity is abound and readily apparent in blogs and other creative outlets. Why tax what has grown to the point it is today, because it offered the common person to make a presence available to the world along with an ability to make something they enjoy, without the hassle of dealing with the cut throat business world. The internet is a wonderful opportunity keep it free.
Why tax such a medium, that has made such a difference in so many peoples life. You give your Uncle Sam, so much money already, should you not be able to keep some for yourself. To tax the internet is like taxing your creative rights. Does that make sense to you? Though often the case is one in which the brick and mortar economy would rather money be spent in the many stores instead of via an access point to the world.
via Helium by Raymond Marr
This was a very early article I put together when such things mattered just as much as they do today, where people understood the internet as an Open Sourced, Community Based Initiative, not just another commercial medium. It has become more that then it ever has been before but that is not to say something cannot be done, by all matter something should be done, by reading this article, by sharing your view in the comments below it will be much clearer that people care about where the tax dollars go and would rather the internet remain what it started as being so long ago. An effort to share information, not to be taxed for every little thing, that should not be taxed at all. What are your thoughts? Read the Article and Comment Down Below.
After dealing with Space Issues from trying to run about 6 gigabytes as a root directory, I figured I would have to step it up, because really 6gb is nowhere near enough for Ubuntu, at least for the purpose I wanted to use it for which included video productions and as a secure link to the outside world.
As I have only recently made the transition from Jaunty to Karmic, I am still learning more everyday, but the objective of this post is to be more or less about the experience thus far. When Jaunty came out I used it for awhile, but as it became stable, and more of a functional Operating System I went from using Karmic Koala as a virtual machine to the primary O/s but there were things that needed to be done first.
As when I first started exploring Ubuntu – as a user of Windows for probably to much, as I was first introduced to Windows when it was Windows 3.1, as I took classes on Business Applications through the local Regional Occupational Program when the word processor that was being taught was Wordperfect v5.1, and Lotus 123. I don’t even remember what version they were then but that was the schedule using Windows 3.1 which at that time was top of the line or all they could afford with the State Run Program. Before that point I only knew Disk Operating System (DOS) as that was the only way to use a system, at least before I knew about Unix and the wonders of the Open Source Movement as is explored in Peter Wayner’s Awesome book which is now available in Electronic Form can be found at his website wayner.org, that really opened my eyes to what is Open Source. At the time though when I was a Student at the Local ROP I had no idea, and only recently had an opportunity to read through his book via John Steinbeck Library here in town which on the 27th of this month will be officially celebrating 100 years in business.
When I look back on it as hindsight is always 20/20 would of been better to know about it at such an earlier developmental stage in my life, though fortunately I did learn a few things about the windows system in my training there, once finished I went back to DOS on my home computer because at that time I was not as aware as I should of been of the other options, at the time I was running a Tandy 1000 RL if any you remember those. That was a system I bought from a friend of mine who I had interacted with on BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) the closest many of the early adopters or explorers of community based ideas, long before the Internet as we know it today became prolific would use almost exclusively via dial-up. Instead I figure I was learning a bit more about computers and how Windows can work.
The very first version of Ubuntu, which may be telling, was v7.04 and that was really when I figured I would take the steps and see what all the hype was about, at first it was similar to Windows at least with it’s GUI, but as I started messing with it I started realizing it was almost like going back to DOS as much more could done from a terminal session then from the Point and Click Interface. At the time I had no idea and when I first installed it, but knew I wanted to at least get a internet connection working, as at that point the Tandy had been retired and was using a computer I had build that initially was running Windows Server an Windows XP in a dual boot system with Ubuntu as the third on a separate partition. Initially I could not get the wireless working so I had to go back to Windows in order to do the necessary research to find out the best way to solve this wireless issue which was and continues to be a bit of a annoyance depending on the card you are using, on the system I have a Linksys WRT 54g so I learned by reading on Ubuntu Help as well as the Ubuntu Geeks and perusing the extensive information on Ubuntu Forums as that often becomes a primary reference for anything Ubuntu that to use that specific wireless card it requires the firmware to be installed once I figured that out it was as simple as getting the system connected via wires to a pre established network using a shared connection to get the firmware installed, at least with 7.04, once done though wireless worked but not as well as would of liked. It was one of the first things I begin troubleshooting and once the connection is established more can be done with that particular system including a system update using; sudo update-manager -d which then opens up the Update Manager to get the Distribution Update which at that time was v8.04 so I went for it and found it was quite a bit of an improvement over 7.04, and begin using that exclusively, though I still had Windows on the Separate Partitions just in case something broke and I had to do some reading online. Eventually I was able to remove the Windows Partitions and used Ubuntu exclusively from 8.04 – 8.10 – 9.04. The challenge I found though as it was initially installed in a separate drive that was only about six gigabytes – what happened is that eventually the root directory started running out of space so much so that I was not able to update to 9.10 when it first came out, which may of been better as am still a bit of a noob, but have learned in leaps and bounds on how to make things work by fixing what broke on the Ubuntu System, in fact I even set my brother up with Ubuntu on his system using Wubi though as I found out later, and I will talk more about in another post, that his system uses Intel Graphics, one of the few that Ubuntu does not play well with. So that is still ongoing though as I understand it Karmic has better support for that but need to be sure.
Though I have gone on a few tangents as the primary objective of this article is to speak on Karmic Koala, which I am using on my Franken Computer and thus far is doing the trick quite nicely, I especially like the updated Computer Janitor which has more functionality then previously, there is still much to explore but thus far Karmic seems quite solid for it’s release date next month.
The support seems to be solid and it continues to be my choice Operating System with Virtualbox setup and ready to go for any other computing needs, so up to this point Karmic Koala seems to be in a solid situation for it’s release date and it is yet to be seen what will be after that. What has your experience been with Karmic Koala? Why not offer your view in the comments down below.
For this last week I have been looking for the right software to sync my Motorola SLVR L7 on Ubuntu. I tried Wine but the software I was thinking of did not work with it, and wine is a great bit of software but it still did not solve my challenge. From my Windows days, though I hate to remember them to fondly, I had found a program online that did the trick, without the need to pay the forty dollars it would usually cost for Motorola Specific Software.
Instead reverting back to the days of Shareware, Freeware in the like once so apparent on community based Bulletin Boards when 14400 was a fast connection and the only way to access it was through a dialer. The specific software that I recalled is Sync Cell which can be found @ the download area of the sync cell site. The catch is to make it work, I followed these steps:
Let’s break it down step by step:
First to install Virtualbox if it is not already installed you have a couple of options depending on what type of install you are looking for generally the easiest would be the OSE version which can be installed by simply navigating to VirtualBox in the download sectionand follow the steps outlined there. Once you have Virtualbox in order to install windows xp you need the original Windows XP Disk, and follow the simple wizard that is offered once you add a new virtual machine.
Once you have windows installed in your virtual machine then you navigate to SyncCell Downloads and choose either try or buy, for this article though I am speaking about the trial version which you are able to work with for 15 Days, to give you an idea how powerful this software is, and from there you can decide to Buy if you like. The nice thing is for the Slvr L7 at least you can also with the most recent addition sync it with your Google Account, which is simple enough to sign up for by navigating to G! Signup which is a simple process, and once complete you also have much to implement through your singular account, course all the options will have to be spoke about in another article, as they are outside the scope of this one.
With Sync Cell as you will see everything is pretty much click and go, soon as your phone is setup and connected, there are many things you can do, from pulling pictures from your phone to syncing your calender and contacts. Not to mention you can use OneSync, which is the proprietary version of this program that the creator owns the rights to which then enables you to do pretty much all you need to do with a singular click. I have not used it much as I am more interested in the abilty to take videos and pictures off my phone and locate them on my computer for later modification using programs such as;
As far as setting up Shared Folders on VirtualBox in order to copy, the files from the mobile phone, to a local directory on your computer when running Windows XP on VirtualBox, it is as simple as setting up shared folders on VirtualBox before you even start the guest operating system. To do that requires going through the settings for the Virtual Machine, in this case Windows XP, until you find the shared folders and then move your mouse down to Other and choose your directorie(s) one at a time, and once that is complete start up the XP Virtual Machine. I would suggest XP simply because Windows 7, however exciting it may be makes the accessing of shared folders far to involved, and since many know XP I figure it makes sense, as with Shared Folders, you can just navigate to My Network Places/Entire Network and from there you will see VirtualBox Shared Folders and then can use them like any other directory.
Overall this is a spectacular program and it is also nice you can run something like VirtualBox, and run it without the need to have a separate partition with Windows on It.
Many a windows user has entered the Linux fold after a host of bad experiences with malware in the Windows world ---viruses, and all sorts of other malicious bits of software code, too numerous to imagine. Windows is also plagued by a seemingly endless array of security vulnerabilities, leaving the system easy prey to invaders with less than nobile intentions. Every trip out into cyberspace thuse becomes something like a run through the infectious ward of a hospital. For a Windows user, it can sometimes seem that more time is spent ridding the system of viral pests and defending it from invaders that is actually spent getting things done.From Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks
by Rickford Grant
Or Take some time to explore 