Omar's Blog

After all the the trouble I’ve had with WUBI these last few months. I decided, over the weekend, that I’d suffered enough. I gave up on WUBI and on Windows all together. I downloaded the latest ISO file from Ubuntu.com, I burnt it onto a CD, and booted-up from it. I told the installation to format everything and just run native Ubuntu from an ext4 file-system.

You know what? I couldn’t be happier! The whole computer feels more responsive, I think it may also have something to do with the fact that I installed 64bit Ubuntu rather than the 32bit version I was using before.. (Although I know a whole bunch of people that’ll probably argue that THAT has nothing to do with it).

Oh, and what about those far and between times that I need to use Windows for something at the office? Well.. I installed WindowsXP in a VirtualBox Virtual Machine that I run whenever I need to use Windows for something. It’s not fantastic, but I can do my Windows stuff quickly, then turn off the virtual machine, and get back to work in my Ubuntu environment.

I’m very glad I took the plunge to 100% Ubuntu all the time. I’m happier for it! No more Windows-related hassles. I even get back home from work in a happier mood, because there are so little technology related annoyances throughout the day.

If you’re having trouble with WUBI and kernel updates, and my previous posts about how to fix it aren’t working anymore… I recommend this: Get rid of Windows and just install Ubuntu as your primary OS.. then run Windows in a VirtualBox.. you’ll be happier for it! And as an added bonus, you’ll be using the ext4 file-system, which is a thing of beauty!

This news item has been re-tweeted all over Twitter. Basically it talks about Apple working on a deal to get TV Programmers to line up and make their shows available to AppleTV and iTunes users for a flat $30.00 a month.

I think it’s worth noting that for quite a bit now, I have been consuming most of my television via download. Ironically I’m now more interested in watching live streaming shows on my computer than watching my favorite TV shows in my living room, because I know I can always watch those at my leisure later via bittorrent. Also, live web content is more interactive, whereas scripted television shows are designed to allow the viewer to veg-out.

Will Apple be able to get a deal going? I really hope so, because I have been an AppleTV user for a very long time now, and the convenience of having my favorite show stream or download directly to my AppleTV or my iPod rather than having to hunt for it on bittorrent, convert it to the correct formats and sync everything up is kind of a hassle.

If they do get a deal going though, I hope it will open the door for other players like Boxee to move in with their own offerings. Boxee is a fantastic product as it is, and has become my favorite way to watch TV shows on my Netbook.

Will this be the Future of Television? I doubt it. There are too many greedy players involved and already the big production houses fear that Apple has too much power when it comes to consumer entertainment. I’m certain the cable companies and network television don’t want to see their cash cows die, so they will undoubtedly try to somehow block the deal. Also, you can’t ignore the whole regionality thing either, where some content cannot be watched in certain areas… policing and or enforcing this could be a headache for the programmers.

I am all for Apple’s proposed model, but frankly I’m very skeptical that a deal will be struck.

My dad has had a beach house ever since I can remember. Now, in El Salvador, beach houses are usually located in places where basic utilities are scarce. Until the early 90′s reliable electricity at the beach was only a dream. Drinking water is still a dream, most houses have their own wells, with electric pumps to feed water into their homes for showering, toilets, etc. Drinking bottled water is distributed in trucks down the streets early every morning. Land-line phones are still not available in many areas, as well as cable television.

Going to the beach house to spend a few days there meant disconnecting from the world. Spending time within nature, no phones, no television, just sun, water and friends.

As of last year, though, a few things have changed. Cellphone towers have sprung up all over the place optimizing coverage pretty much in all mayor beaches. 3G service at the beach is a reality now.. and netbooks are now starting to take over as the main entertainment hub at the beach.

Night-time at the beach-house usually meant gathering around the TV with a or DVD player (or iPod and dock lately) to watch rented movies. More and more people are now starting to gathering around Netbooks and laptops to watch YouTube, Rented Movies, Facebook, etc.

More and more I read Tweets from Salvadoreans out in the country having a great time, and sharing it with the world because of they are connected.

Will this make us more productive, will this make us more neurotic, will this eliminate the only place where we could feel disconnected from the world? I don’t know the answer to any of those questions.

But I am grateful for living in a age where we can choose to either relax at the beach by hanging around the pool, or sit by the pool with a netbook and write  blog post about relaxing at the beach with a netbook by the pool.

A lot has been written and speculated about Google Chrome OS, even though there is still nothing tangible. I think it’s rather funny that so many people are talking about a product that is frankly very far away from becoming a reality. Nevertheless, Google carries a lot of weight in the tech world, even if the product itself may not be that impressive to begin with (or even exist yet, as is the case with Chrome OS).

Most of the talk surrounding the topic has been around whether Windows, Apple, or Linux is in trouble because of the arrival of the new Operating System. Personally, I think none of the main operating systems are in trouble in the short term, and they will have plenty of time in the mid to long term to figure out effective strategies for net-based or rather net-optimized operating systems.

As we discussed in our latest episode of Latin Tech Talk, the trend towards computing on the cloud is clear. As the infrastructure is built and hardened to accommodate the new cloud-computing model, it becomes increasingly obvious that, in the mid to long term, the idea of turning on your computer in the morning instantly and being connected to the web (or a web-based interface) is going to come true. My wife, for instance, uses her brand new, shiny iMac pretty much exclusively for Facebook. It’s always on her screen… Firefox (I set it up for her) is constantly maximized on her screen with the Facebook interface blinking notices at her.

All these great services like Flickr, web-mail, YouTube, Hulu, GoogleDocs, Ms Office for web, are starting to give us an idea as to what the future will be like, but let’s not kid ourselves… it’s still a long way off before we ditch our desktops with their video editing software, local music libraries, video games, productivity software, etc. Why? Because we still have to figure out new models of doing all these things remotely, and seriously, the infrastructure is not quite there yet.. but.. it’s coming.

Apple and MS are the kings of the desktop at the moment. Their products are mature and the amount of things you can do with them are simply amazing, which is something that will take many years for a web or cloud based system to even match. And, when the infrastructure and new paradigms are finally feasible… there is nothing to stop you from using your desktop from taking advantage of it, plus the myriad of other things you can do with a fast local processor.

There has also been a lot of talk about the Linux community losing out because of Google’s efforts, which I think is also kind of crazy. The linux community has the most to gain from Google’s efforts because the model of working on Open Source is so drastically different from traditional development models. The development of the new OS, drivers, display layer, etc. will all be Open Source… meaning: if its proves to be a winner, there’s no stopping you from incorporating it into your distribution.

Just as Google is benefiting from using the open source kernel that is linux, plus all the great GNU and open source projects out there, all the other distributions and projects will benefit from the open software and patches Google returns to the community. I find it funny that people still think of linux distros as competitors, when in truth they turn out to be great collaborators and move the whole platform forward. In the end, users have choice, and the better executed or most popular ideas will grab hold and get implemented into all the other distros as well. It’s a very organic way of development that corporations tend to have difficulties with, but communities strive on.

This is why I think Linux, in the end, will be the biggest winner from all this. No doubt MS and Apple will come out with their own ideas and products to take advantage of the future web-world, and it will be very interesting times… but I predict the constant growth and adoption of Linux and the open model will prevail in the very long term, precisely because the model is just so disruptive.

Who knows, perhaps MS will concentrate in the future on software as a web-service, and leave the basic OS stuff to the linux crowd, or come out with it’s own MS-Linux subscription (with Chrome or Firefox as the defaut browser), and of course all the MS support your $75 a year can buy! Most likely not, but a fellow can dream, right? More likely we’ll see Windows 7, Windows 8, etc. etc. etc., each one inching more towards the MacOS and Linux model of doing things.

Apple, I think, will focus even more on elegant hardware. They have already benefited greatly from the open source community by adopting most of it’s MacOS and Safari browser from open source projects. Will there be an Apple Linux… nope… MacOSX is already as close and useful as a Linux as anything out there. Where Apple will shine is in Hardware, and that is something they know and keep pushing constantly.. they are the BMW of the computer world, and I foresee them to stay in that spot for a long time yet. And the iPhone, iPod Touch and whatever next touch-based device they come out with, based on MacOsX (Darwin Un*x) will undoubtedly create much buzz and revenue for the company and keep them positioned as the innovators of the gadget world.

All of this, however is many years into the future.. for the time being, the desktop (or laptop) is king and it will take a lot more than Chrome OS to change that.

Thanks to my buddy Britoman from Comic Geekos, who sent along this great picture of Darth Vader personal R2 droid.

On one of the latest episodes of Los Comic Geekos, we were discussing the future of comic books. As we look around us and watch the world change from paper to digital, we could not help but wonder what will happen to comics in general. Most mayor publications (newspapers and magazines) have had to change or are in the process of changing their models of distribution from paper to digital distribution, which in itself is a very big paradigm shift. The meticulous layout and expertise in publishing a print version of a periodical is practically worthless when it comes to digital distribution because of RSS and multiple device screen real-estates. The shift for comic books creators is even more profound.

For most serious comic book readers the use of CBR’s has turned into the preferred way to consume comic books. Yes, real fans still purchase their favorite comic books in paper form either in single issues, trade paperbacks, or other collections, but even before they receive the paper version, they have mostly all read it in digital form (cbr), and then keep the paper version for re-reading, or for archival purposes. 

We have seen a few attempts at making comics into semi-animated video (with audio), but frankly none of the real comic book geeks seem to like this idea. It’s like watching a cartoon… and there already is a very good model for cartoons. Frankly these semi-animated comic books don’t look or sound that good when compared to cartoons and traditional animation. And, I should add, they typically annoy most comic book readers because they hate having somebody read their favorite comic book to them.

We eventually came to the conclusion that perhaps a legal version of a cbr must emerge and a new business model based on world-wide advertising should be thought up. At the end of the discussion I thought we had come to a wise decision. I felt very comfortable with the idea, until….

One of our listeners sent me an e-mail to Balak01′s DeviantART Page. More precisely, he sent me a link to one of Balak01′s works called: About DIGITAL COMICS, which is a wonderful experiment at digital storytelling. No sound, no gimmicky animation, just basically an incredibly well executed slide show that the reader controls with the front and back arrows of the keyboard. As Balak01 says, he is simply trying to “Create time with space”. The reader is not forced to go at a pace that is uncomfortable for him or herself, there are no voices or sounds to distract or interrupt your reading or to mark a different timing.

I must say I was blown away by it. Balak01′s concept is by far the best I’ve seen at conveying the true spirit of comic books to digital form. I could immediately picture myself reading a graphic novel on my iPhone using this concept. I could, for a moment, see the future where comics books would be sold on the iTunes store, and every month you would download it to your device and read it at your leisure, or consume it on your laptop, or preferred digital device… It would look amazing on my AppleTV!

Perhaps the only feature I would add to the idea is a way to move quickly to a single page like a little drop-down or something to select the page you want to quickly move to. Other than that I think Balak01 is on to a radically wonderful concept. One that I hope will be adopted. It is what comics need to thrust them in to the digital future.

As of today I’m officially off Microsoft Messenger in any of their incarnations. Not because of any technical or inherent philosophical problems, but mostly because I kept getting spammed to death with really stupid IM’s that included a link, to what I can only presume was either a phishing site or an ad site.

Of course I never clicked on the links, and I immediately blocked the spammer accounts, which never seemed to do any good, because it only took like 10 minutes to get another IM from a different account with basically the same text and link. After battling with this for over a month I decided to take a look at my MSN contacts… most are people from work that I already have on our company’s jabber server, most of the other accounts are from people whom I can usually reach more effectively on Facebook or e-mail.

So.. as of today I’m officially leaving the whole Microsoft Messenger platform and am going to focus entirely on Google Talk and Facebook IM. If you need to get in touch of me, you can reach me there.

During the last episode of Latin Tech Talk, I talked extensively about how Microsoft is getting a bad rap from everyone and how I didn’t think it was justified. “I have not had any problems with Microsoft Vista”, I said, “I think it’s a lot better than Windows XP, more stable,  bla bla bla…” Well this morning I got this little pop-up window on my computer. Thank you Microsoft!

Well, we didn’t win. At least we got to sit in on a lovely event and make fun of everything (one of me and my buddies favorite past times). After much deliberation I think we all agreed, it was a SCAM! But a well produced scam with a lot of very happy people getting their websites noticed.

It would have been nice to win, but then again I still think winning does not really get more traffic for your site. It’s more of a nice thumbs up, and it would feel really nice to get a trophy, and I’m sure the sites that got the trophy are great sites… I just think the jury’s still out on weather winning a trophy, or the process of being picked as one of the  finalists actually drives more traffic to your site.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Why is it a scam, you ask? Because the only site that actually got traffic throughout the whole event was the newspaper’s site, where you had to go to vote and where you had to go back to check out who won.

Today Open Office 3.0 was released on the www.openoffice.org website, which was immediately bogged down with people trying to download the latest version of the office producivity suite. I’m currently downloading my copy of the software for my Windows Boxes as I type. I had been using the release candidates on my wife’s iMac, and I must say the overall look and feel is quite attactive. I’ll give a full review as soon I have it in use here on a more constant fashion.

Also, later this month Ubuntu 8.10 will be released, which no doubt will be an easy evolutionary upgrade in the Ubuntu family of Linux-es. I’m very much looking forward to the new version of that as well. With so many great releases this year, I hope people start to notice that it has been a great time for Open Source this year: Laconica, Google Chrome, FireFox 3, Open Office 3, Ubuntu 8.10, etc etc etc.