Electronic Frontier Foundation just posted an article discussing “Apple’s Crystal Prison and The Future of Open Platforms” in which they characterize Apple’s and Microsoft’s restrictive policies as affronts on users freedom, and call on Apple to lead the way by aligning with Steve Wozniak’s call for Apple to open up. They also outline a “bill of rights” outlining four rights they believe mobile computer owners should enjoy. I generally support the idea of more openness in computing, but I see a couple of key issues with what they wrote. It’s Read More

Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation recently mused on the topic of non-free games on Linux, and unsurprisingly he rejects them, even though admitting that they “might encourage users of the games to replace Windows with GNU/Linux”. His position has been consistent for decades. What’s important is teaching users about their freedom as software users, and making that a priority, and not so much increasing the Linux market share and mind share. In reality, however, I believe freedom rests with choice, and not with terms of various license agreements. Read More

HP’s EliteBook line of notebook PC’s is designed with both form and function in mind. Each EliteBook is constructed on a magnesium alloy “DuraCase” chassis with an anodized aluminum exterior. The result is both attractive and durable. Keyboard The EliteBook “Durakey” keyboard is spill-resistant and designed to stay clean in the messiest environment. The flat keys are surprisingly comfortable to type on and they allow little or no dirt to find it’s way underneath them. On the other hand, the <ENTER> key is too small and the function keys could Read More

Today we use computers to aid us in music composition and production, but still retain much of the creative control over the outcome. Sometimes we play actual musical instruments and use computers to mix it all up, add effects, and balance the sound. Other times we use sound synthesizers and sequencers that allow us to fine tune the composition to utmost precision, and with relative ease, but we still control the outcome. What if the role of a human musician was drastically diminished, or completely eliminated? Could computers make music Read More

Linux and quirkiness tend to be synonymous, if looked from the perspective of a user who doesn’t want to fiddle or deal with workarounds to make things work smoothly. Release after release Ubuntu has been no different in this department, even when it seemed closest to the goal of a perfectly user-friendly system. It’s become somewhat of a running joke among some circles to go test out the shiny new hyped Ubuntu thinking this is finally it, and they’ve finally done it, and then leave with a bit of a Read More