Ubuntu is one of the best -- if not the best -- desktop Linux-based operating systems. Many people, including me, trust it for their computing needs every day. Best of all, Canonical releases special LTS versions every two years, offering a super-long five years of support.

Tomorrow, the latest such LTS version, 16.04, will see its official release. I've been running pre-release versions of this operating system for a while now, and it has been brilliantly stable. Tomorrow's release will be the best Ubuntu ever, featuring things like new snap packages, CephFS, and ZFS-on-Linux.

Diversity is a tricky conversation. While everyone should have a fair chance at a job despite skin color, disability, gender, or sexual orientation, you can't force a certain group to enter an industry. In other words, percentages in a diversity report don't really tell the whole story.

The best approach to diversity is simply fostering opportunities for those that want it. Scholarships are a great option as it simply opens a door -- the recipient must walk through it. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been supporting such a thing -- the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security -- and today, it announces the number of 2016 recipients.

The Xbox One is a marvelous game console and media player. In my living room, it has replaced both my Roku and Blu-ray player, lessening the number of unsightly wires. Best of all, of course, are the high-quality games, providing many hours of entertainment.

Understandably, not everyone can afford such a costly piece of tech. If this game console is not in your budget, I have some good news; Microsoft is giving one away at Pax East 2016. As an added bonus, the company is including a custom controller. Don't worry, if you aren't going to Pax, you can participate from home in your pajamas -- aka PJs -- too.

If you need a great cross-platform chat solution, Telegram is one of the best. Not only does it work on Windows, iOS, and Android, but Linux-based desktop operating systems too, such as Ubuntu. Not to mention it offers encryption, but not for all messages by default, sadly.

Besides being available on many platforms, the company is constantly adding features, always making it better. In fact, Telegram is now putting up a million dollars for developers, in an effort to bolster its bot offerings. After all, bots are all the rage nowadays.

Nowadays, many computers have paltry amounts of storage. Why? Solid state drives carry a higher cost per gigabyte, meaning these faster SSDs are usually lower-capacity for cost-savings. With the emergence of the cloud, this might be OK for many home and business users.

If you need more local storage, an external hard drive is a great way to get it. Not only are these drives convenient, but versatile too. But what if you need a lot of storage -- more than the typical single, double, triple, or even quadruple bay solution? LaCie has you covered. Its all-new '12big' raid unit has a mind-boggling 12 bays, and can accommodate up to 96 terabytes. It even utilizes the super-fast Thunderbolt 3 interface, making it perfect for professional use too.

Back in the 90's, buying CDs was a passion of mine. Not only would I be knowledgeable about all of the release dates for my favorite artists, but I would go to midnight store-openings to buy them. Then, alone in my bedroom, I would listen to all of the discs and drift away.

Nowadays? Not so much. While I still adore music -- especially hip-hop tunes -- physical media is not part of the equation. Streaming media services are my gateway to music, and it is largely very satisfying. Apparently, I am far from alone in my love for streaming. Today, Pandora -- a very popular streaming service -- announces it has generated more than $2 billion in royalties for artists and songwriters. Yes folks, streaming is legit.

Minecraft isn't just a game, it's a phenomenon. When I go shopping at a store like Target, I see toys, clothes, and more featuring things from the game. When Microsoft bought it for $2.5 billion, I thought it was crazy, but between merchandising and other potential revenue generating aspects, it could end up being a bargain.

If you are a super-fan of Minecraft, you are no doubt planning to attend MINECON 2016 -- a conference for both players and developers to come together and celebrate the game. Today, Microsoft announces crucial details for scoring tickets, so you need to pay attention.

When buying a smartphone, there are many things to consider. Should you get Android or iOS? How much should you spend? Which carrier will you use? It can be very confusing.

If you are on a budget, however, Android is the best option -- Apple does not offer truly affordable off-contract phones. Choosing a value-focused, pre-paid carrier -- such as Boost Mobile or Virgin USA -- can be another way to save money. Today, Kyocera announces an affordable waterproof Android handset for those aforementioned carriers. Just how affordable is it? $99!

While many people worry about terrorism as a threat to human lives, and understandably so, mother nature can be quite destructive too. Between natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes, nature can be downright scary.

Speaking of earthquakes, Japan has been dealing with many of them lately in Kyushu, causing death, injuries, and destruction. If you have friends or family in that country, and you are worried about them, Microsoft is here to help. It is currently offering free calls to Japan through its Skype communication service.

Micro SD cards are constantly getting bigger, faster, and more affordable. I purchased a 200GB SanDisk card from Amazon recently for $59.99 -- mind boggling. This will work brilliantly in devices such as the HTC 10, which supports cards up to a theoretical 2TB.

Today, SanDisk announces its newest such card, the 128GB Extreme PLUS microSDXC. The card is fast, and should be reliable, as SanDisk says it is "shockproof, temperature-proof, waterproof, and X-ray-proof". The company is quick to tout another aspect of the card, however, but it seems very gimmicky. SanDisk explains that the card is one of the first cards to carry the new 'Works with GoPro' designation.

As a Linux user, I have stopped using Skype recently. What was once a great experience on Ubuntu, Fedora, and other such operating systems, has been seemingly abandoned by Microsoft. Skype on Linux is barely usable nowadays, as the client has not seen an update in quite a while. This is rather tragic, as it is otherwise a great service on other platforms, such as Android, iOS, and of course, Windows.

Users of Windows 10 that use the Edge web browser are getting a cool update this month, as Microsoft is rolling out plugin-free Skype support. While that is cool, the really intriguing aspect is the potential for Linux users, as it should lead to similar functionality on browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox.

Years ago, personal computing and the internet was a hobby reserved for those with a lot of money. Unlike today where you can buy a Chromebook for under $200, a desktop could cost $3,000 or more -- preventing many from participating. In other words, even in many of the richest countries in the world, many people could not afford to surf the web.

Nowadays, however, the number of people owning internet-connected devices has exploded. Heck, many households have multiple such devices and Wi-Fi is ubiquitous. Sadly, not everyone in the world has internet access, and many folks are computer illiterate -- including oppressed women in some countries. Thankfully, Mozilla is looking to change this by making the internet more inclusive.

For the past 6 months or so, I have been using an iPhone 6S Plus. After years of living in an Android world, I decided to give Apple's offering a try. Why? Well, I don't like how some Android manufacturers fail to issue regular updates for their devices. Many people use phones and tablets with known vulnerabilities that will never be patched, and that is not cool. Regardless of your opinion of Apple or iOS, you must admit that the company is timely with updates for all of its currently supported devices.

As a lover of all tech, however, I am still very interested in Android. Google's Linux-based operating system is a very rewarding experience. And so, I found myself extremely intrigued by the HTC 10. That company is known for using premium materials, while also providing a close-to-stock Android experience. More importantly, it historically offers respectable support. Can the 10 live up to my expectations?

Microsoft is both an open source and Linux champion nowadays -- on the surface at least (pun intended). In other words, while it does embrace those things, we may not know the motivation of the Windows-maker regarding them. Regardless, Linux and open source are now important to the Redmond company.

Today, Microsoft announces a CentOS-based VM image for Azure called 'Linux Data Science Virtual Machine'. The VM has pre-installed tools such as Anaconda Python Distribution, Computational Network Toolkit, and Microsoft R Open. It focuses on machine learning and analytics, making it a great choice for data scientists.

While a talented gamer can get by with any mouse, a gaming device is often preferred. These game-focused mice sometimes feature additional buttons, adjustable weights, and variable DPI. Plus, of course, they often look futuristic and have LED lights, because, you know, all gamers must have such things (sarcasm).

Today, ASUS announces its newest gaming mouse -- the ROG (Republic of Gamers) Spatha. While it looks really cool and is chock full of features, there is one such feature that I really love -- it can be both wired and wireless. If the battery gets low, or depletes entirely, you can connect a cable and continue to game. When you do need to add some juice, the magnetic charger has you covered. That's really cool.