Ubuntu 9.01: Jaunting with the Jackalope

Disclaimer to linux gurus and open source experts: You may find this article too noobish

My first tryst with Ubuntu, one of the most popular flavours of Linux operating system, was about a year back based on the recommedation of my brother-in-law. For the uninitiated, Ubuntu is a 100% free, operating system that is much more stable and secure than the farthest Microsoft can get. And thats not an exaggeration. I can tell you that after seeing successive versions of MS Windows getting more unstable, more resource hoggy, while offering no significant performance/ utility improvements. Guess what - you need a license to own a piece of porous operating system which gets heavier and buggier with every bundle of patches.

Ubuntu comes to you as a free download. You can even order a free installation CD, and i have read they deliver it in India too! You can have a fully functional trial of the operating system, by simply booting from the "Live-boot" CD, as it is called. The operating system, including key software like Open Office Suite, runs from the CD itself, without affecting your existing windows installation.

If you like the experience, you can go ahead and install ubuntu on your hard drive on a separate partition, and run a dual boot with windows.

Teething Troubles

The first version i used was Ver. 7.10 nicknamed, the Gutsy Gibbon. Ubuntu versions are named cutely after an animal preceeded with a rhythmy rhymie adjective. (Hardy Heron, Feisty Fawn are some other names i recollect). I had initial teethers to get used to the new file structure and with the fact that for installation of some software i had to use command prompt.

Inspite of being a total newbie, with a decent level of computer literacy, i was able to find my answers on the forums.

Ubuntu clearly gave me freedom from viruses, and visibly faster internet browsing speeds. (most of the virus writers are busy proving microsofts security claims wrong, and find it tough to crack linux )

Jackalope is here:

I was happy to find the latest release of Ubuntu - 9.04 aka Jaunty Jackalope, which has better wifi abilities among various other improvements. This development came just days after i upgraded my home PCs to wifi . I had a preview of the latest release through the live CD.

Open office suite thats bundled with the operating system seems to be much more convenient than the badly screwed up Microsoft office 2007. It contains most of the features that i use in MS Office (older version than 2007, thank heavens) I am itching to make the Jackalope jaunt on my machine.

My Gadgets- episode 1 - HTC 3400i

2008-09 happened to be quite a gadgeted year for me. Not that i went on a buying spree of some of the most expensive flaunty devices around, rather settled for some devices that had genuine utility. Some of my real gadget freak friends would dispose these as cheap as compared to the "deeply desirables" in the market. But these devices have really helped me in my day to day.
The first gadget, i would like to feature is HTC 3400i, a windows based touch-screen smart phone. Priced at Rs.9000+, you will find this on the entry level pricing as compared to other popular touch phones from the stable of HTC as well as others.

Features that i recall instantly : The phone is equipped with reasonably good browsing capabilities that helps you surf the mobile web. It has MS office and outlook which helps you handle docs, spreadsheets and check your email. If you have a windows live (hotmail et al) account you can send and receive emails pretty fast. But be warned, the whole list of your wanted and not wanted MSN messenger contacts barge into your phonebook the moment you map your windows live account.

The 2 megapix camera can help you click some good photos on the move just for snippets, rather than exploring finer photography.

How the phone helps me:
1. The first thing i do on my morning bus to office is check the Reuters India Mobile site for the latest news with least noise and celebrity crap that you find in other dailies.

2. I use Fring, a gem of an application that helps me logon to Gtalk, Facebook, orkut, and my latest favorite - Twitter. Most of my tweets you would find talk about my long bus journey back home. Once it did happen, that my wife and i tweeted the same thing, She from our home pc and me on my mobile.. ahh how romantic that was!

3. GMail and google search - Use these occassionally on the phone. Great utility

4. Quick Photography of things - funny and notable, on the road

5. Oh yes i make and receive phone calls too!

I haven' t tried watching movies or hearing music on the phone as yet. Since i use my laptop and Sony walkman mp3 player for the same. The phone is however loaded with windows media player, with alternatives of better mobile media players available.

Disadvantages:
1. The phone navigation could take you some time to get used to, since it doesnt have blackberry-type Querty keypad or for that matter even a mechanical key number pad.. In the beginning you would be too dependent on the stylus, which can cause finger fatigue after sometime.

I would highly recommend using application like PCM Keyboard which helps you type with your fingers, much better and accurate. The keyboard application does have a hyper allergic auto-correct, which you would eventually get used to.

2. For all you guys waiting for 3G service.. the phone doesnt have 3G capability. It doesnt have wifi too. It does have bluetooth for wireless data exchange.

3. The phone is a bit bulky compared to the newer and slimmer models coming up

4. Well its a windows phone.. do i need to spell it more? Alright.. the phone sometimes does hang, and unlike your PC here you dont have CTRL ALT and DEL. But it doesnt hang too often though.

In case you are looking for trying out a good entry level smart phone with web browsing capability, HTC 3400i is definitely a great value for money buy.

Face of America (or the lac of it)

Many citizens in the US may wonder, why do so many people in the world dislike them? why is their innocent presence at the crosshairs of terror attacks? Inspite of being a great icon of freedom and democracy, what's the problem with people around the world?

When you look at the US as a lay outsider with some facts from history, you would come across a behavioral pattern of fear - of losing the superpower status, fear - of inability to feed the gluttonous US consumption, someday.  It is this fear that makes US today:

1. The country with the maximum weapons of mass destruction, which is on a desperate hunt to disarm the rest of the world

2. The only country that used a weapon of mass destruction

3. The country that aided creation of Taliban, to counter the soviet "threat"  - Was silent during its conquest of afghanistan. And today the militia is the biggest threat to the US and the good world. 

4. The country with a greed to keep its citizens consuming, invaded Iraq with a mask of fighting terror, only to gain control on oil and to boost its war-driven economy.

Here's an example of a country that showed itself to its citizen as a great idol of freedom and democracy. While to the rest of the world it pressed upon its tyranny.

Will change arrive in the US with Obama at its helm? At least the first hundred days of the charismatic leader indicate otherwise.