Nylas N1, nice open source alternative...

I've been using Nylas N1 as my main email client for almost a couple of weeks now, and I've liked it very much.

To be honest, I've been used it mostly as it came out of the box. I found that the base functionality and I liked the themes that came with it, since they are minimalist and elegant at the same time.

I had been using Mozilla Thunderbird for some years now, and though I still like it, Nylas N1 has become my go to email client. Mostly because Nylas N1 fills my needs better, and I simply like Nylas N1 better. There is also the fact that Thunderbird's future is becoming more uncertain as time goes on, as Mozilla is prioritizing Firefox's development.

One of the things I like the most of Nylas N1, is the fact I can see all my inboxes together or one of the time. Personally, I prefer seeing all of them together since it means I don't have to jump to different folders to read my emails. Or if I want to concentrate on just one of my accounts, I can do so.

While Nylas N1 has some way to go, I can see it getting momentum and a community of users to give it some love. It has been getting better with each update, and gaining usability.

For me, the fact that it's open source software and it looks so good makes me a fan. I strongly recommended it, since it's an email that can be used by everyday users,with the option for extended functionalities for those who want to hack it.

FOSS is more than good enough...

As a free and open-source software user(I run Ubuntu on my personal laptop and Android on my smartphone), every time I hear that it isn't user user friendly or that you can't get things done on it I can barely control my eyes from rolling.

Specially when the person that said that uses Firefox, or on a lesser degree Chrome. The over kill is when they use an Android power smartphone, since Android is the how user friendly and good a FOSS powered device can be. And if you add OSes like Ubuntu and Linux Mint to the mix, it gets harder to make the point that the average user can't use, or be comfortable with FOSS.

I agree that FOSS is far from perfect, then again most software isn't made to be perfect at everything. Every FOSS project is intended to be used at a certain field, and that gives it a set of strengths and weaknesses to make it work in the best possible way for the task it was design to do.

When someone ask me if I recommend FOSS, the first question is what do they do. After I know what they want from their computer, I can direct them to what FOSS they can use. Ubuntu and Linux Mint being my go to OSes for the average users, and something like Ubuntu Studio for those who want an OS geared for someone who is a multimedia producer.

There is something for almost every user needs, with SteamOS now covering gamers on the FOSS community. There are some areas that aren't covered, or at least not as they should be, as of yet. But, as more people are becoming aware of the benefits of FOSS it isn't all that far fetched to think that soon every user will have a place in the community.

As such, users that already can prove that FOSS is a viable alternative to come forward and bring more people in to use FOSS. Now more than ever, I'm certain that FOSS can be used even by non-technical people, and we need to bring those users in. Every user is as valuable as the developer, and both should be equally welcome to the community.

Technology made by the people for the people...

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make, is to think that technology will solve their problems.

Any technology by itself won't solve any problem, since it's just a tool built to help solve an specific problem. Yes, as any tool it can be adapted to solve more than the problem it was originally built for, but that doesn't mean that we can relay on it to save humanity. People using technology will save humanity, or at least give it a fighting chance to see a tomorrow.

It's easy to forget that people are the ones that will lead other to a better tomorrow, and that technology will be forever changing and adapting to the needs of the people. And as time goes on, every new technology is going to be able to be ever more democratized.

We live at the time when people are able to be a part of new technologies, or at least of movements that make use of these new technologies, in a way that its hard to imagine in other time period. As such, its harder for elites keep the people out from these new technologies, much less keeping them from sharing them among themselves in any meaningful way.

As such, the information that is contained by the new technologies is harder to control or censor. And with more individuals being better educated, the people will have a better guide to make the best use of both the new technologies and the information contained in them.

Now more than ever, social revolution is at our hands. Most importantly, the revolution won't necesesary mean bloodshed. Even if said revolution doesn't come easy, it doesn't mean that blood will have to be sacrified for said revolution to come.

It seeems that revolution will come without much fanfare.

All software can be maliciously exploited...

This article points out the obvious, that Mac OS X isn't more secure that Windows. Or than any Linux distro for that matter.

Most of the safety in Mac OS X and Linux, comes from the fact that they are used by much less people than Windows. As such, most black hat hackers used to bypass Mac OS X and Linux in favor of Windows, since the odds of hitting valuable information, or money, was most likely to be found targeting Windows users.

Yet, with more people moving to Apple's ecosystem it has become more worth while target for black hat hackers. Most Linux users still are relative safe, since most Linux distros aren't worth targeting yet due to their relative shallow user base numbers.

Let's face it, all software has vulnerabilities that can be maliciously exploited. What made OS X different from Windows wasn't it's security, but the audience that it was targeted too. While Windows has been mostly a Jack of all trades, or a gamer's rig, OS X has been mostly been used by people that are more on the creative side of things.

All that is needed for black hat hackers to target an OS is incentive, for some is just it's to prestige while for others is financial gain. And as Apple's products gain market share, it's software will make a bigger target.

Safety doesn't really on the software development, it also relies on how savvy the user is and a certain degree of paranoia.

Social awareness and the Internet...

With Bernie's rise, even though he might just not get the Democratic nomination, might spell a change not only in America, but in the world in general.

Since most of Bernie's popularity is among the young people, who are becoming more socially aware and sensitive on social justice, one might ask how much of that awareness comes from being able to share and access information over social media on the Internet rather than on a more restricted media.

I hypnotize that the Internet has enabled socialism to become indirectly, by making people more aware and sensitive to social injustice. The Internet has allowed for people to come closer in a less restrictive, and sometimes with less censure that one could get from more traditional media outlets. As such, a larger amount of people comes to ideas that be dismissed as socialism pipe dreams and see that they are needed, and must be taken, if we want have a fair society and to build a better world.

The Internet, without it being design for it as such, has made the people not only aware of social injustices, but it has given us a tool to bring social justice about by allowing us to organize ourselves in ways that weren't possible before. It has become a platform that helps unite people across the world, in ways that are hard to control from a centralized point and allow different movements to have several ways to organize themselves.

We don't have to think if we can organize, rather we have to think how we can organize. More than ever, change is more a matter of will. If there is the will to fight and bring change about, the way to make things happen will be found by those who want the change to come about.

Most importantly, if you use well all the tools that the Internet has, more than one way to rally people can be used to bring social justice. All of those ways can be used as effectively as they can, to work together for the same goal. Good coordination is key, but the Internet allows this coordination to be possible if the different tools are used correctly.

At the end social justice doesn't mean we all must be the same, or think the same way. Social justice means that we all get a level playing field so live our lives as we see fit, and live our lives as we see fit without harming others. We can work together, while not being the same.

Socialism is about social justice, without taking the individuality of the people who compose said society. As such, how socialism is applied depends on each society to making better for those who live in it. The aim is to balance what's good for the individual and the good for the society. And the Internet is a vital tool to get this balance right.