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Comment Re:Yes, without reservation (Score 2) 982

My Grandma is happily uses Linux. All she cares about it being able to get to email.
My Parents actually asked me to switch them back to Linux because they kept having troubles with Windows 7.
My Uncle uses a Chromebook, because they are really hard to screw up and easy to repair.

Encouraging the people I know to switch to Linux has dramatically cut down the number of times I get asked to fix something. Something like Linux Mint just works and tends to be more responsive. It also doesn't have Windows' bad tendency to demand that you restart because it just installed updates.

On the flip side, there are plenty of people I would recommend Windows or OSX to. Normally it's because they need/want to use an application that just isn't available under Linux. I feel like the learning curve for casual use for someone going from Windows 7 to Windows 10 might actually be worse than going from Windows 7 to Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or OSX though.

Comment Re:That was easy (Score 1) 867

Ubuntu gives you an option to do an in-place upgrade through their upgrade gui, and it's worked just fine for me the several times I've used it.

Under Linux Mint it's been a bit trickier, but not really that bad. I wish they handled the in-place upgrade stuff a bit better, but on the flip side the rest of the OS works really well for me and has many of the tweaks I'd normally apply to Ubuntu already done. With Mint 17 you actually can upgrade in-place to the point releases which seem to be tracking some upstream changes.

While I find the short support times annoying, I find it acceptable that a short term release becomes unsupported quickly. The LTS releases from Ubuntu get security patches for 5 years, and you don't have to pay them any money for the service.

Also whining about having to use the command line is like whining about having to drive stick instead of automatic. Automatic is pretty easy, but once you learn it, driving stick is not much more difficult and many people actually enjoy driving that way.

Submission + - Mozilla Updates Firefox OS to 1.1, Prepares for 2nd Round of Device Launches

SmartAboutThings writes: Mozilla has oficially introduced the first update to its mobile Firefox OS. The very first update to Firefox OS adds some important new features, performance improvements and additional language support. Some of the most important changes include MMS support, Push Notifications API, Contact Management enhancements, Firefox browser downloads, Keyboard improvements and much more. In a separate announcement, Mozilla also said that new launches of Firefox OS smartphones will begin soon with more devices and in more markets around the world.

Submission + - Guardian Ignores MI5 Warnings, Vows To 'Publish More Snowden Leaks' (bbc.co.uk) 1

dryriver writes: Summary from BBC article: Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger says he plans to publish more revelations from Edward Snowden despite MI5 warning that such disclosures cause enormous damage. Mr Rusbridger insisted the paper was right to publish files leaked by the US intelligence analyst and had helped to prompt a necessary and overdue debate. Mr Rusbridger said more stories would be published in the future as the leaked documents were "slowly and responsibly" worked through. His comments come after criticism from the new head of MI5, Andrew Parker. Making public the "reach and limits" of intelligence-gathering techniques gave terrorists the advantage, he said. He warned that terrorists now had tens of thousands of means of communication "through e-mail, IP telephony, in-game communication, social networking, chat rooms, anonymising services and a myriad of mobile apps". Mr Parker said it was vital for MI5 to retain the capability to access such information if it was to protect the country. Mr Rusbridger said those on the security side of the argument wanted to keep everything secret and did not want a debate. "You don't want the press or anyone else writing about it. But MI5 cannot be the only voice in the debate," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One. He added that his newspaper had revealed the "extent to which entire populations are now being potentially put under surveillance". "I just spent a week in America where everybody is talking about this, from the president down." Asked about Mr Parker's suggestion that publishing the documents was helping terrorists, Mr Rusbridger said: "They will always say that. You read histories of intelligence and you go back to the 1990s and the security people were saying the same."

Submission + - Arduino Gaming: Not So Retro Any More (kickstarter.com)

beckman101 writes: Two years ago the Gameduino brought retro-style gaming to the Arduino. This week its successor launched on Kickstarter, still fully open-source but with a video that shows it running some contemporary-looking demos, plus it has a touch screen and a pretty decent 3-axis accelerometer. Farewell to the retro?

Comment Re:don't be a chump (Score 1) 242

That particular link doesn't work for me, but the point does stand. Velcro ties are the way to go.
I've got these Velcro cable ties from Home Depot. 50 8 inch Velcro Ties Though at $5.27 each you can definitely find better deals. But being able to just walk in and buy them without waiting for shipping is worth it for small jobs.

If you want to be really fancy then I would also get some kind of way to label or at least mark your cables on both ends. It really does pay off when you have to move, or fix something. My wife went through our entertainment center and labelled all the cables with some blue painters tape and a sharpie. I'm glad for that every time I have to go back there and mess with something.

OS X

Submission + - Humble Indie Bundle V (humblebundle.com)

Splintercat writes: The Humble Indie Bundle V has just been released featuring Psychonauts, LIMBO, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, and Bastion for Windows, OSX and Linux.
Ubuntu software center support has also been added as a method of downloading.

Comment Always Innovating Smartbook (Score 1) 168

What about the Always Innovating Smartbook? It's 8.9 inches, but it comes with root access by default, and it runs both ubuntu and android.
http://alwaysinnovating.com/products/smartbook.htm

The only downside is that I don't know how long it'll be from when you put in your order to when you get it. The upside is that if you spring for it, you get a device that can be a pocket computer, a tablet, and a laptop.

Comment Re:Other Interesting Hardware (Score 1) 104

I actually own a Pandora.
Besides the one usb port on it being a little strange, it's worked wonderfully for me. I had preordered it, but ended up just paying the extra money to get it shipped sooner. I have yet to regret it. I would advise getting at least one fast 16GB SD card for it, so you can have plenty of programs, but the Pandora is able to emulate psx games. I've also watched videos on it without any problems. (PanPlayer works the best).

The keyboard is a little strange, but the screen and battery life is amazing. Wifi works pretty well, especially if you run 'sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off' to turn off power management of the wifi. (The power management thing is a problem I've had with many wireless cards under linux. In this case the wireless works fine without the command, but if you're transferring a bunch of data over wireless, you'll want to turn off the wireless power management.)

And yes, it does fit in your pocket. It's a bit bigger than an original GBA.

If you're willing to pay around $500 for a pocket computer that gets 10-15 hours of battery life, I would say the Pandora is worth it.
I personally do wish that the Pandora team was more transparent, but from what I understand, they've been spending all their time working, and building pandoras, instead of soothing the community. I hope they can get enough support to keep the project going, but I imagine it's pretty difficult to make something like the open pandora when you don't have a boatload of starting capital.

YMMV.

Comment Re:Blimey (Score 2, Interesting) 819

One of my college professors told me this:
"I left windows years ago, and ever since that day I've just found more reasons not to go back."

I switched to linux a few years back, and I feel much the same. I still boot up into windows just to play some games, but more and more I find myself playing less games and spending less money on them. I know that's not the ideal for some, but I'm pretty happy.

>
Looks like you Mac folks will probably get Starcraft 2, I'm a bit jealous.

Comment Re:So what? (Score 1) 819

Yes, it is. The trouble is that not going to the polls isn't exactly counted as a vote, is it?

Exactly.

The other trouble is the sheer amount of non-technical users who don't know better. Not to mention trying to buy a pre-built computer without windows on it. Just because you or I can build a computer from scratch doesn't mean everyone can. (DIY laptops are out there, but still not common)

I remember seeing netbooks that came in windows and linux versions. And the damnedest thing was they were two separate products (probably to hide the cost of windows) and that the windows version had better options. The hp mini mi? Anyone get a chance to look at those? You could opt for a higher resolution screen, but only on the windows model.

Does making your own machine even count as a vote?

Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft looking into Windows 7 battery failures 1

Jared writes: Microsoft says it is investigating reports of notebooks with poor battery life with Windows 7, as first reported by users on Microsoft TechNet. These users claim their batteries were working just fine under Windows XP and/or Windows Vista, and others are saying it occurs on their new Windows 7 PCs. Under Microsoft's latest operating system though, certain machines aren't doing so well, as Windows 7 spits out the following warning message: "Consider replacing your battery. There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly."

The warning is normally issued after using the computer's basic input output system (BIOS) to determine whether a battery needs replacement, but in this case it appears the operating system and not the battery is the problem. These customers say their PC's battery life is noticeably lower, with some going as far as saying that it has become completely unusable after a few weeks of use. To make matters worse, others are reporting that downgrading back to an earlier version of Windows won't fix the problem.

Comment Re:Am I the only one (Score 1) 186

Motion controllers won't be that great until we have some good feedback in the system.

I've thought it would be cool to have an fps where you have something like the wiimote except you can point off screen. If your point comes over an enemy the controller could vibrate and you could shoot. Feeling like a badass for shooting without looking.

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