Fedora 20 is here -- an early Linux Christmas present
Many Linux users have been holding their breath in anticipation for the 20th version of Fedora Linux, codenamed Heisenbug. While not the most popular distribution overall, it is the distro of choice for one influential user -- Mr. Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel. Not to mention, many other users around the globe.
Sadly, version 20 has missed its deadline a couple of times. While those delays were disappointing, it was also appreciated. After all, you do not want a buggy operating system, do you? Luckily, Santa Claus came a little early to the Linux community -- the final version of Fedora Linux is here now!
Google Zeitgeist -- 2013 in search
It's hard to believe it's been 12 months since I last wrote about Google's year-end video. That one featured the tragedy of Hurricane Sandy and the thrill of Felix Baumgartner's amazing leap from the stratosphere. At the time, we had no idea what the next 365 days held in store for us. Now, as the year winds down, Google has put together another of its annual summaries to illustrate what we been through.
Many companies release lists in late December, with lots of nice statistics, but Google, using the power of YouTube, wraps up everything in a nice tidy video.
Be yourself… but be all you can be!
I believe that every individual possesses within them the innate ability to be great. To me, being great means being yourself... to the power of 10. It means tapping into your full potential so that you can be all you can be.
In today’s digital era, there are a myriad of opportunities for expressing your inner greatness and allowing it to shine forth for all the world to appreciate. Self-publishing has become easier than ever, whether that be via personal blog, social media, website or ebook.
Moving to VoIP? 10 things you need to know before ditching the PBX
If you haven't heard of VoIP (voice over IP) by now, you've been living under a bridge. This broad term blankets a ton of technologies, from things as simple as Skype and Google Hangouts, to more business-esque offerings like Lync and IP desk phones. "The cloud" is already passe and so 2012 -- the next hot item in tech is without a doubt unified communications, or simply UC, as the industry geeks call it. And chances are, based on the latest stats, your organization either has UC on the timetable or is already putting some form of it into place.
The numbers behind VoIP adoption and growth back up its reputation as the up and coming attraction in the way we do business. Mobile VoIP is poised to hit roughly 1 billion users within the next five years. Residential VoIP subscribers hit a massive tipping point of 203 million users as of the first half of this year. And Microsoft recently let loose that over 60 percent of 500+ seat enterprises surveyed are either deploying or in the planning stages for rolling out its Lync UC environment in the workplace.
Keep desktop icons out of sight with AutoHideDesktopIcons
Is your desktop a cluttered mess of shortcuts, files and folders? If you can never quite find the time to clear it up, then you might appreciate AutoHideDesktopIcons, a free tool which hides any desktop icons until you need them.
The program is portable, no installation required; just run it, click "To-Tray", and wait. Within five seconds your desktop icons will vanish. When you need them, left click the desktop and they’ll return. Easy.
Compliance audits increase as software publishers crack down on licensing
A report by IT and software asset management specialist Express Metrix shows that over the last two years software publishers are conducting more and more compliance audits, with 53 percent of those surveyed having been audited, and 38 percent within the last year.
Most likely to come knocking at your door demanding to see your software license is Microsoft -- over 65 percent of those audited having been targeted by the company. Adobe comes next followed by AutoDesk, Oracle, SAP and IBM. Though in organizations with more than 10,000 employees IBM rises to fourth place.
iPhone 5s users aren't 'Misunderstood', they really, really love spending quality time with their phone
Call me old-fashioned, but I dislike people who actively use their phone when they are hanging out with friends and family. It is both disrespectful and a clear sign that they do not want to be there, as far as I am concerned. Smartphones only make this problem worse, as addictive apps and games keep the user hooked even longer.
But if you see someone clinging to their iPhone 5s during the holidays Apple suggests that you should not be quick to judge, and perhaps label such behavior as anti-social, because those people are doing it for the sake of making everyone else happy. In other words, they are "Misunderstood". Or, at least this is one of the messages that Apple's new ad tries to convey.
Kindle Fire HDX: the tablet that made me realize size matters
I've worked my way through a fair share of tablets over the years. An iPad 2 with its 9.7 inch screen, a Sony Tablet S with a slightly smaller 9.4 inch display, followed by a series of 7-inchers -- the Nexus 7, Tesco's Hudl and the GOCLEVER Aries 7o. Oh, and the Surface Pro; I have a tendency to forget this is a 10.6 inch tablet as I use it in laptop mode.
All of my tablets have been used for much the same things: checking email, writing the odd document, viewing photos, watching videos, updating Facebook and Twitter, browsing the web and playing a few games. Taking the Surface Pro out of the equation, I've always found the circa 10-inch tablets too big. I thought I was settled on 7 inches as offering the best dimensions. It seems I might have been wrong.
Apple releases OS X 10.9.1 Mavericks
While using the initial OS X 10.9 Mavericks release on my 2013 Apple MacBook Air I noticed major issues with Gmail accounts in the built-in Mail app. Emails were not syncing properly, resulting in a malfunction of the archiving feature and other similar problems. Apple issued an update shortly after launching its new Mac operating system, that aimed to cure the Gmail woes.
Today, Apple released another update for Mavericks, which brings OS X to version 10.9.1 and, among other changes, incorporates improved support for Google's consumer email service in the Mail app and fixes for custom Gmail settings.
I love Google, so I bought an iPad Air
Despite their similarities, Android always seemed to exist to be the opposite of iOS. In other words, if Apple's mobile OS was popular culture, Google was a counter-culture. In the earlier days, Android had copy and paste, removable batteries, expandable memory, the ability to tinker, but many of those differences are virtually gone -- through Apple's additions and Google's subtractions. It was because of those differences, that I entered into the Google ecosystem with Android -- I have been rather happy. Lately however, I have been a bit unhappy with the direction of Android. Locked bootloaders, lack of SD card slots, non-accessible batteries. Sure, these things are technically not a part of the Android OS, but they are a part of the overall experience. While iOS doesn't offer these things either, at least Apple was upfront about that from the start.
When Apple announced the svelte, yet powerful iPad Air, I was immediately in love. The dark holo theme of Android is just utterly depressing. Conversely, the iPad Air is bright and beautiful, thanks to iOS 7. My problem though, was that I was deeply entrenched in Google's world -- I was worried about moving to a competitor's platform. I love Google services like Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome and YouTube. Quite frankly, I cannot live without those things. Despite these fears, I bought an iPad Air and couldn't be happier. Not only is the build quality better than any Android tablet, the overall experience is better thanks to the superior UI. Not to mention, all of my desired Google apps are on iOS and they look and work better on Apple's operating system too.
Forget Gmail, Google announces Blackmail service [NSFW warning]
Many of us complain, some more than needed, about companies like Google and Microsoft and the possible ties each has to our personal information and potential spying accusations. But now, Google is pulling back the curtain on all of this, revealing what data it has and what the plans for it are.
Okay, I am being a bit facetious, but a new video posted by the folks at College Humor takes a look at what one potential future could look like. I'll try to give you a bit of background while simultaneously also attempting to not spoil it for you.
Redbox Instant slips onto the Kindle Fire HDX
Amazon has refreshed its tablet lineup, adding the HDX alongside the already solid HD, making a good product that much better. If you haven't used one of the retailer's devices, then you should know that, despite it being Android, the lineup is really about media consumption, and is particularly well suited for those who have Prime subscriptions.
But now there is another option for those who either do not subscribe to Amazon's video service, or simply want more choice. Redbox Instant by Verizon has landed in the Amazon Android App Store.
Executing a 'devices & services' strategy
Today, Microsoft finds itself in a curious predicament -- the Company is in search of a new CEO even as it remains in the midst of an company-wide reorganization towards a "devices & services" strategy.
While I will refrain from speculating on the identity of this mystery CEO, it would seem that his job will be to effectively execute this strategy, instead of undertaking a strategic review. This may seem like a handicap, but is there more than just one way to execute this strategy.
Notepad too limited? Give Poet a try
If you’ve finally given up on Notepad and its extreme lack of features, then Googling for "Notepad replacement" will point you towards plenty of alternatives. But these can be very complex, packed with developer-oriented features, not so welcome if you’re mostly only interested in simple plain text editing.
Poet is a little different. While it can be used as a simple programmer’s editor (there’s customizable syntax highlighting, for instance), it doesn’t pile on the unnecessary extras. You can’t sort or split lines, there’s no column editing, no XML manager, no built-in telnet client. And although the program has some useful bonus tools of its own, they generally stay out of your way, only appearing when you need them.
Fluffyapp makes file sharing in CloudApp easier than ever
After an extended three years in beta, developer Richard Wang has released FluffyApp 2.0, a major new release of his freeware client for Windows users wishing to share files using the CloudApp file-sharing service.
Version 2.0 introduces a new flyout, Internet Explorer trigger plugin and adds various tweaks and improvements, such as using Windows’ own shortcut key mechanism for greater reliability.
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