I still have a laptop that my wife uses that has Windows XP. She needs it for some online classes that she is using. I decided to give Google Chrome a try so I went ahead and installed it on her laptop. I liked what I saw. Chrome is a new browser that was developed by the folks a Google that is an open source project. It has been out for a couple of months already, but I never really sat down to play with it.
The tab setup is a little different and takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it is a breeze. There is also a panel layout were you can see all of your most popular sites on one page.
The one thing I really like about Chrome is its speed. It is way faster then Explorer, and even Firefox. I have found that Firefox is getting a little slower with each release. I am not sure why, I try to keep the extensions, and other junk disabled. Firefox 3.0.5 on my Ubuntu laptop has become a real dog of a program. It seems to start OK, but it seems to have a memory leak somewhere and starts to slow down after some use. Plus it crashes quite often.
Google has promised a Linux release for Chrome and you can even sign up to be notified when Google releases a Linux version of Chrome.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Friday, December 26, 2008
CentOS, Java, and RPM Hell
I was trying to use a Java application within my web browser on a CentOS box I set up, and was a little disappointed to see that the folks over at Redhat still have not figured out how to make the act of simply surfing the Internet with a PC using Linux easy. You still have to go through the process of symbolically linking your java plug in file file with your Firefox browser.
What is the deal with simply including the command lines needed for int installing this plugin? Ubuntu has been doing this for what seems like ages now. Granted, Centos 5 is an older flavor Linux, being an Enterprise OS. But, I did a search and found that in Fedora 10, the latest and greatest offering STILL does not get it right.
It is stuff like this and the problems people have had with rpm installs that are causing Redhat to fall behind Ubuntu in the "user wars" Getting Java to work on browser in a desktop with Ubuntu is as easy as a sinlge click or two.
What is the deal with simply including the command lines needed for int installing this plugin? Ubuntu has been doing this for what seems like ages now. Granted, Centos 5 is an older flavor Linux, being an Enterprise OS. But, I did a search and found that in Fedora 10, the latest and greatest offering STILL does not get it right.
It is stuff like this and the problems people have had with rpm installs that are causing Redhat to fall behind Ubuntu in the "user wars" Getting Java to work on browser in a desktop with Ubuntu is as easy as a sinlge click or two.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
PC Equals Windows. NOT!
We have all seen them. The Mac vs. PC ads that Apple uses for their main advertising campaign. Apple has poured millions into the ad campaign, and why not? It has been hugely successful for them and the commercials are funny.
The Mac ads mock Microsoft in a fun-loving manner, by pointing out many weaknesses that are inherent with Microsoft products. They also reinforce the idea that there is only one operating system that you can run on a PC, and only one operating system that is able to run on a Mac. They leave it up to the public to decide one or the other. Are you a (Conservative) Republican (Windows) or a (Liberal) Democrat (Mac)?
Ahh, but there is a third party that is on the scene, and that is (Independent?) Ubuntu. It can run on either machine. I think the Linux community should do more to promote the fact that the Mac ads are misleading. Other options are out there that work just as well, if not better than Microsoft or Apple.
Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu has stated that he wants to make Ubuntu as easy to use and seamless as a Mac. This is a hefty order when you consider the variety of devices that Ubuntu and Linux as a whole is tasked to run on. It may not be possible since hardware is always evolving and Linux is always playing catch-up. Apple will always have the advantage since they basically create the hardware around their software, not the other way around.
However, the past year I think there have been great strides in bucking the two party system. I have come across certain PC advertisements in print that are starting to showing Ubuntu PCs along side their Windows brethren. Perhaps there is hope!
The Mac ads mock Microsoft in a fun-loving manner, by pointing out many weaknesses that are inherent with Microsoft products. They also reinforce the idea that there is only one operating system that you can run on a PC, and only one operating system that is able to run on a Mac. They leave it up to the public to decide one or the other. Are you a (Conservative) Republican (Windows) or a (Liberal) Democrat (Mac)?
Ahh, but there is a third party that is on the scene, and that is (Independent?) Ubuntu. It can run on either machine. I think the Linux community should do more to promote the fact that the Mac ads are misleading. Other options are out there that work just as well, if not better than Microsoft or Apple.
Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu has stated that he wants to make Ubuntu as easy to use and seamless as a Mac. This is a hefty order when you consider the variety of devices that Ubuntu and Linux as a whole is tasked to run on. It may not be possible since hardware is always evolving and Linux is always playing catch-up. Apple will always have the advantage since they basically create the hardware around their software, not the other way around.
However, the past year I think there have been great strides in bucking the two party system. I have come across certain PC advertisements in print that are starting to showing Ubuntu PCs along side their Windows brethren. Perhaps there is hope!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ubuntu Setting Its Sights on College Students?
I has been a little while since I visited the Ubuntu website. Usually, I make a visit or two once or twice a month, but sine Ubuntu 8.10 was released, I have just been having fun using my recycled and old PC to some productive work. Plus, I am thinking that we are still a few months off from the next release.
But today, I did pay a visit to the site, and noticed that they upgraded the number of products that are being offered in the Ubuntu Shop. There a a couple of new bags and newly designed T-shirts, and other items. It looks like to me that these would make for desirable items for college students looking to make a statement on campus.
If a student wants to make a statement about oneself, why carry around an Ipod. Everyone has one!
Could it be that Canonical be looking to make inroads on college campuses just like Apple?
This is where Apple is killing Microsoft and Dell in PC sales. It may be that this is the start for an Ubuntu push onto college campuses.
And why not? I think this is the right move for the Ubuntu folks.
But today, I did pay a visit to the site, and noticed that they upgraded the number of products that are being offered in the Ubuntu Shop. There a a couple of new bags and newly designed T-shirts, and other items. It looks like to me that these would make for desirable items for college students looking to make a statement on campus.
If a student wants to make a statement about oneself, why carry around an Ipod. Everyone has one!
Could it be that Canonical be looking to make inroads on college campuses just like Apple?
This is where Apple is killing Microsoft and Dell in PC sales. It may be that this is the start for an Ubuntu push onto college campuses.
And why not? I think this is the right move for the Ubuntu folks.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Christmas Music on Ubuntu Rhythmbox
I have been learning to use Rythmbox's Radio Station a little more, and found that it is pretty easy to get all of Sky.fm's radio station feeds integrated with Rhythmbox. I added the Christmas Music stream offered by Sky.fm and it was very easy to do.
Simply go to this link, and mouseover the Listen Now! tab to select the the channel you want, the MP3 streams and 96K. Once you have the channel you want selected then right click to select "Copy Link Location."
Next open up Rythmbox and right click on Radio and select "New Internet Radio Station" then paste in the link into the url window that come up.
You then have the radio station saved in your radio list. You can right click on it to change the title from the properties menu.
With a little time spent, you can get the entire Sky.fm directory integrated right into Rythmbox.
Simply go to this link, and mouseover the Listen Now! tab to select the the channel you want, the MP3 streams and 96K. Once you have the channel you want selected then right click to select "Copy Link Location."
Next open up Rythmbox and right click on Radio and select "New Internet Radio Station" then paste in the link into the url window that come up.
You then have the radio station saved in your radio list. You can right click on it to change the title from the properties menu.
With a little time spent, you can get the entire Sky.fm directory integrated right into Rythmbox.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Running Linux on a Slow Computer
I use a pretty old computer to keep this blog up to date. Some of you may be surprised to hear that it is a Dell L667r sporting a 667 Mhz processor with 320 MB of RAM. Yep, that's it! Everything works great on this old beast. The only 'upgrade' I made to it was to drop in a 160 GB hard drive. I use the disk space to dump in my music database.
I easily run Firefox and Rythmbox at the same time and can listen to music and surf at the same time. I use just one add-on in Firefox to help with performance, and that is Flashblock. This add-on keeps flash video advertisements from running as you surf the web. You have the option of clicking on them if you want to see them, but who wants to see adds, right? It really helps when visiting sites like CNN and ESPN which use a lot of Flash.
The version of Ubuntu I am using is 8.10. I figure to have another couple of years of support with this version of Ubuntu. This is what makes this operating system so great! I wont have to buy hardware for a long time! At least as long as it does not burn out...
I easily run Firefox and Rythmbox at the same time and can listen to music and surf at the same time. I use just one add-on in Firefox to help with performance, and that is Flashblock. This add-on keeps flash video advertisements from running as you surf the web. You have the option of clicking on them if you want to see them, but who wants to see adds, right? It really helps when visiting sites like CNN and ESPN which use a lot of Flash.
The version of Ubuntu I am using is 8.10. I figure to have another couple of years of support with this version of Ubuntu. This is what makes this operating system so great! I wont have to buy hardware for a long time! At least as long as it does not burn out...
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