Friday, December 26, 2008

Merry Christmas! Back from the Beach and on the Net - And Hello! to Blogging Beans!

Dannybuntu spent the Christmas holidays, house hopping relative's houses, Island hopping in Pangasinan and opening so many gifts. These last few days I have had the privilege of speaking with the members of our tribe.

I am also nursing a bad back because I lifted a 50 kg sack of rice. Will post pictures later (of the vacation not the bad back ;)). Whew, officially I am just too tired.

And btw, I'd like to say hello to a new pinoy linux blog which on Dec. 22, 2008 launched their linux blog - blogging beans. I added you to my blogroll of many many pinoy linux bloggers.

Cheers!

Whew, that was quick, I am still nursing a bad hangover....

Friday, December 19, 2008

Post 200: Whew...*Poof*

200 blog posts. Wow. I really can't believe I am still doing it. Though I must admit that I have blogged not just about Debian or Ubuntu, but other stuff as well. You really can't expect me to keep on blogging whenever my PC died, right?

Hehehe, but today, died it did. Hopefully not because of me or ubuntu. The power supply made some scary **fizzling** **crackling sound** while I was watching Manny Pacquiao beat the shiite out of Grampa Oscar dela Hoya in vlc.

The smell of burning copper wires and rubber *sometimes* smells sweet. In a manner of speaking. After ignoring the fizzles and the crackles up to Round 7, the monitor just went blank. I could still hear the hard drive whining. And my USB mouse's infrared light was still on.

That means there must still be power on the motherboard, right? Whatever the case, I think I have stretched my ever faithful Pentium 3 PC's life for more than it's lifetime.

We bought it, sometime between 1997 and 2000 and it has been a long long long ride. I am now using my dad's office PC. Which isn't that fast. It's a Celeron after all. Still running ubuntu though sans 3d video.

So, for my 200th post, I propose a toast for Ubuntu and to new beginnings. We actually have some red wine here given by our neighbor.

Cheers!

 

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Daily Stumble: Source Code Art of Tux

The Most Painstaking Most Excellent Most Awesome ASCII... er Linux Source Code Art? Rendition of TUX the Penguin

I do not know whether source code could qualify as ASCII art. But nevertheless, this er Source Art of tux the penguin is very very awesome.

Go there now!
http://www.100mb.nl/

According to digg, this thing is actually old, but what the heck.

Here's a snippet of the er... source code art?

StumbledUpon: Why Linux is Better

With the recent "departure" of some Filipino Linux pillars and others who they themselves have become lost, I find myself soul searching about my operating system fanaticism.  I wandered about the barren and trash strewn landscape called the internet hoping to find a glimmer of hope. While traversing the arid desert, I pondered on the core of an operating system. What makes an operating system - THE operating system?

I have seen a constant decline in Linux related blogs recently or their subversion to the main stream "I don't know you so you don't have to know me" blogosphere - that impersonal hands-off my personal life plague that has crept from the fringes of cynical insecurity.

What with all the black hat raiders riding their trojan horses and the nigerian scammers dressing up as princes and doctors, all peddling their warez for the generally trusting public, these days the internet has become a haven for garbage.

Luckily, in this desert I stumbled upon an oasis containing a few things about Linux today and found several interestingideas on why linux is better than say Microsoft and Mac.

This is that oasis.
http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net

Enter the Chocolate Factory

1. Forget about viruses
2. Is your system unstable
3. Linux protects your computer
4. Don't pay $300 for your Operating System
5. Freedom
6. When the system has installed why would you still need to install stuff
7. Forget about drivers
8. Update all your software with a single click
9. Why copy software illegally when you can get it for free
10. Need new software? Don't bother searching in the web. Linux gets it for you.
11. Jump into the next generation of desktops
12. Does your digital life seem fragmented?
13. Choose what your desktop looks like
14. Why does your Windows get slower and slower everyday
15. Do something for the environment
16. No backdoors in your software
17. Enjoy free and unlimited support
18. Use MSN, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo and Jabber with a single program
19. Too many windows, use workspaces
20. Don't wait years for bugs to be solved, report and track them down
21. Are you tired of restarting your computer all the time?
22. Let your computer have a second life
23. Play hundreds of games for free
24. Help other countries and your own
25. Get a great music player
26. Keep an eye on the weather

Like most of the teachings of the sage that one can encountered in a desert oasis, the teachings given by this sage are mostly ambiguous. Though I have been a supporter of the cause for quite some time now (entering my 2nd year - I am still a Linux Newbie ;) ) I still reserve a certain inkling of skepticism and internal rationalism.

I objectivize and dissect every argument, because nobody mortal - can create something immortal. Nobody imperfect cannot create something perfect.

1. Viruses - or malicious, contagious and bad, bad, bad software, exists in all platforms even Linux.

2. Stability - Here there is a preponderance of evidence pointing to its truth. However, again, every computer system has its share of stability concerns. Otherwise, we would have no need for bug tracking software and platforms after all, don't we?

3. Protection - Well, what can I say? This is true. But we do know that sometimes even the best condom can break....

4. Cost - Much debate has ravaged the battlescape of Linux and Windows regarding cost. Some say, using "free" (as in beer) software has its own costs - training of personnel, maintenance, support (unless you support yourself) and of course - time.

5. Freedom - I agree.

6. Third Party Applications - There is a strong need for alternative applications to address several specialized needs. This model has helped Microsoft and is still firmly in place.

7. Forget about drivers - Oh no, you don't and can't - yet.

8. Update - Does not happen in one click.

9. Piracy - I agree.

10. Third Party Applications - Wha..? I thought we didn't need them?

11. Next Gen Desktop - I concur.

12. Fragmentation - I concur. No defragmenters necessary.

13. Desktop UI - True.

14. Performance - Agreed. However, a bare bones Windows XP, can outperform certain distributions.

15. Environment - Ummm. We all need to get there.

16. Support - is not free in most cases.

17. IM - Very good and revolutionary.

18. Workspaces - True. Very innovative.

19. Bugs - Bugs.

20. Restart - Well, I have to re-start whenever I turn off my PC

21. Second Life - True.

22. Games - How about those games with DirectX again?

23. Countries - Not when we are at war right?

24. Music player - Agreed.

25. Weather?

So the mystical sage left me with 10 points that I agree upon and 15 I partially agreed to, undecided, unresolved, incomplete, uncertain and no answers.

As I finished viewing the mystical aura of the sage I wake up to findand realize that no one sage can answer all the questions I have inside.The truth is uncertainty is the only thing that is certain.

The sage was wise enough to concede that there are instances when Linux is not for you.

1. Proprietary Software
2. Hardcore Gamer
3. Work in the Book and Printing Industry
4. Hardware not supported

The beginning of wisdom begins with the statement, "I don't know." So, with dry parchments of papyrus I write to you fellow traveller these transcriptions so that one day, when you yourself are in that desert that I once was in you may find them.

Sages and prophets abound everywhere. They will preach anything. Their golden tongues may sway you and some of their prophecies indeed do come into fruition. But ultimately, you are the master of your destiny.

Blood and sweat will uncover the truth.

For me, the journey is still continuing. Linux is better than Windows - when it comes to certain things. Other things, need to be worked upon. I consider myself as an agnostic wanderer in this war of the operating systems.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Retrogaming with DosBox 0.72 in Ubuntu Linux: Megaman 1990

I recently got bored. Very bored. So, I decided to sift over some of my recent downloads which I haven't tended to for quite a while and then I found my Abandonware collection. Awesome.

3000+ titles of good old DOS games.

The fire of my youth gaming years was rekindled and I decided to go on retro gaming mode. I found games, which I actually played in my younger years:

1. Master of Orion
2. Megaman
3. Metal Marines

And yes, you can install good old Microsoft DOS games on Linux. On Ubuntu, it's a simple matter of apt-get.

Steps:

1. Install dosbox


$ sudo apt-get install -y dosbox

2. After that, run dosbox.


$ dosbox

You will then see the familiar dos shell with a prompt.

3. In the dosbox z:/> prompt, you will then have to mount the linux directory in your PC which has the game directory together with those *.exe, *.com, *.bat files.

For example:


z:/> mount c /home/dan/dosgames


z:/> c:


c:/>dir


c:/>dosgamesample.exe

Yey! Isn't it awesome? Of course it is!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Thank Alberto Milone in Ubuntu Hall of Fame

Personally, I do not know the guy. But his name keeps popping up whenever I search for sulutions to my video card concerns in Ubuntu. Go ahead and thank the guy for the enormous amounts of work he has done particularly for video card drivers.


Thank You!!!


Visit Alberto here.


Thank Alberto here.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Microsoft Expanding Open Source Initiative in the Philippines

Microsoft: more open source projects

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:53:00 12/04/2008

MAKATI CITY, Philippines -- Microsoft Philippines is looking to pursue more collaboration with open source developers in the country through its Open Source Interoperability Lab project.

The current Open Source Interoperability Lab is housed in the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) office at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City.

As part of this increasing collaboration with the open source community, Microsoft Philippines has inked a partnership with open source software engineering firm Exist Global headed by Winston Damarillo.

The partnership will lead to development of plugins for NPanday (www.codeplex.com/npanday), a project to integrate the Java-based Apache Maven with Microsoft's .NET development environments.

Could it be that Microsoft Philippines is becoming the test bed for future Microsoft Open Source domination? Extend, Embrace and Extinguish. Be afraid, be very afraid.

From: Inquirer.net

Thursday, December 04, 2008

China Internet cafes switching to Linux

From GMANews.tv


BEIJING - Requirements that Internet cafes in a southern Chinese city install Chinese-developed operating systems are raising new concerns over cyber snooping by authorities, a US government-funded radio station reported Wednesday.

The new rules that went into effect Nov. 5 are aimed at cracking down on the use of pirated software, said Hu Shenghua, a spokesman for the Culture Bureau in the city of Nanchang.

Internet cafe operators are required to remove unlicensed software and replace it with legitimate copies of either Microsoft Windows or China's homegrown Red Flag Linux operating system while paying a fee, he said.

However, Radio Free Asia said cafes were being required to install Red Flag Linux even if they were using authorized copies of Windows.

Software freedom in a communist nation. Interesting.


Now you probably heard about the joke about if all the Chinese jumped together at the same time....

If all the Chinese used Linux on their PCs...

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