Education, science and research are investments...

I find it to be discouraging and angering that education, science, and research are areas that suffer some of the first cuts when times get though. Worse when the ones who make those cuts talk about how important these areas are for the continued development of people and communities.

Theres is a dire need to see educations, science and research not as expenditures. They are investments, we need to have them well founded so they can bear the fruits we need them to make a better world. These are pillar that make our modern world, and without them we wouldn't have the things we have now, nor we can hope to make the world we live in a better place.

Through education, we can enrich peoples lives while making better citizens. Well educated citizens are beneficial not only to the community they live in, but to themselves since they can actually do something for themselves in various ways. They are only limited by they own imaginations and capabilities, that can help them to go far in life while doing constructive things for themselves and others they come in contact with.

Science has given us all things that have improved the quality of life exponentially in the last century, and can do much more. Yet, to be able to deliver on that, science needs to be well founded to attract the minds to work on the projects that show more promise to deliver the results.

If we can't give them what they need to work, and live, we can't reasonably expect the results needed.

Last, we need to have good research facilities if we want to be able to find a way to apply what science learns. Knowledge by itself is not very useful, if it can't be applied in some way, shape, or form to solve a practical problem. But, it takes time and money to find a way to put them in use.

If that research is well founded, and correctly managed, it becomes an investment. Research is a necessary step to bring science to use in as many areas of human experience as possible. Avoiding it is a risky move, since a potentially beneficial concept can do harm if it's not properly tuned to do its best work.

Without making substantial investments on these three areas, we have more to lose than what we can imagine. Investing on education, science and research, is not only investing on the present; but in a better future too.

Science and technology are not intrinsically good or evil...

Science, and technology, should always be at service our needs and interests first. The interests of companies should come second, while governments should be limited to manage laws and regulations to make sure that the people are not being limited in a harmful way.

Science gives us a better understanding of what happens around us. With this understanding technology can produce new things that improve our lives in several ways. It also helps protect the things that make our lives, or we need to keep ourselves and what we love healthy. There should be regulations that helps to keep science on a track that helps to have a better understanding of our surroundings, giving us the knowledge to better protect what's needed while improving our lives.

Then, we can apply that knowledge to produce technology can apply to produce the devices needed in each case. Well developed technology should produce as little impact as possible, while giving the best possible results for the intended purpose it was meant for.

We need to educate people to understand that science and technology are not evil, or harmful, in themselves. Nor they are intrinsically good in themselves, all depends on how they are applied.

The issue lies on the people who do the scientific research, and those who develop the technology that use the results from the research. It comes down to the ethics that the people involved have, and they way they apply it.

In many ways, at the end it comes down to the people. Not the tools themselves.

We need the Internet to remain free and neutral...

It's hard not to see the community building that the Internet has, since it allows people come together in ways that wouldn't be possible in any other way. In some cases it gives some people access to things, like the ability to learn or communicate, that they wouldn't have in any other way.

There is a true opportunity not only to engage people at the local level, but from your state to the rest of the world. The Internet has been a mayor factor in allowing the construction of a global village, by giving the average person the chance to engage people from all around the world without having to live their respective cities or towns.

The Internet can give people a way to share with others things that would be difficult to do, like pictures or videos with people that live far away and can't afford to see frequently. Keeping in touch is much more easy, with a variety of ways to fit the level of intimacy and what is to be shared with who.

Options consist from email to video chats, all of them becoming easier to do with each passing day. Suddenly, one can share what they want with the ones intended without having to wait to see them in person or on-line.

As with any other tool, the Internet can be used in ways that are harmful. Yet, it would do a lot more harm to just shoot it down or restrain its use by everyone. This is why its control should remain with the people, with no single government, or private entity, so that it remains free and neutral.

It's in our best interest that the Internet to stay as unregulated as possible, since only this way it'll be the tool we all need to really have a smaller and safer world.

As technology advances, it actually gives the people the chance to be more self sufficient. It helps by allowing people get to more information, and people, that helps them do more by themselves or getting in contact that can help them.

It truly helps to build communities to do what's needed to solve almost any problem, in a way allowing people to have more control over their lives. Communities build this way are becoming more powerful, and self sufficient, with each passing day. In many cases, those communities can develop the tools they need to get the job done.

Not only that, communities can also interact directly with each other to get what they don't have or the help needed to solve a particular problem that it hasn't faced before.

This could lead to communities that are more self contained, and that are self governed by the individuals that conform it. Communities would be able to truly have more control on what happens within them, and how they interact with other communities. In many ways, the individual would be the one that benefits the most with a more self sufficient communities.

Mainly because in a smaller communities give the individuals to have a bigger say on what, and how, choices are made. Not only that, when it comes to enact those choices the individual has the possibility to be active in making it happen.

Technology has the potential to truly empower both communities, and individuals, in ways that couldn't be imagined in a few years ago. I just hope we can take this chance, and make the most out of it.

Two great products, ducking it out at the wrong place...

On the mobile space there the two main operating systems out there are Android and iOS. Both are great, and bring different thing to the table.

Not withstanding what many people say, the choice between the two is mainly one of taste and which one most of your friends use. Most users won't tinker with their phones much, so at the end the choice of which one the user will choose will come down to which one gives the user the best experience.

Personally, the one that cuts it's Android. No matter how much I try the iOS, I can't seem to like it or the iPhone. But, I just love the Android in every way that matters to me. There are several handsets out there that I'd love to have, the main ones being the Samsung Nexus or the Motorola Driod Razr. These two handsets are the ones that give me the user experience that I want from a smartphone.

I really believe that some people, and some companies, should let the users make their choice by themselves. Yes, there has been some very bad behavior by Apple and should stand down of their sue everyone campaign. All of this is bad for the costumer, since it distorts what's really going and that's what really confuses the costumer.

Competition should be taking place at the market place, by companies giving information and comparing the their products with others with facts. And market observes, and experts, should be helping the users to make their choice by giving fair independent criticisms and comparisons.

We have two greats products that are doing their fight at the wrong place, the court room.

Mind your digital information....

As we share more of what we do on the Internet, we should be more careful about it. It's easy to forget that much of the information about ourselves on the Internet can actually harm us on the outside world, because the divide between the physical world and the Internet is becoming a fainter.

Many might argue that in some places, such divide longer exists. Our life on the real world and on the Internet are one and the same, since there is an easy way to be at both places at the same time. We can share what is happing to us, where did it happen and with who we are at the moment almost instantly.

So, we need to be careful how we thread. It's not longer all that sure that what we do on the Internet, will not come and bite us if we don't take care. Not only that, we should be claiming the control of how our information is handled and with who it is shared. The information we generate should remain in our control, and possession, until we give explicit permission to be used for other means by a third party.

Even then, we have the right to choose what part of the information can be used for what purpose. We should be the masters of what we generate, and be able to share it as we please.

As in the real world, we should be careful with who we share what. The interconnections that the Internet gives us can be a blessing or a curse, all depending on how we use it. So, being careful and paying attention on with who we are shearing our information is a must.

Not doing so, could mean something much worse than losing your digital information.

Let's give even more importance to the average user...

I find the idea of trying to crown a sole Linux distro as the best distro is not only shortsighted, it doesn't help Linux to grow among users. That's because the distro that is best suited for a certain group of user, is not what other users need or want.

It doesn't have to do with the technical merits of the distros, but it has more to do with what users are going to be using the distro they choose for. Not all users have the same needs or expectations from the OS they use. If they face a distro that fails them, they won't think about moving to another one. They'll just move back to Windows or OS X, because they know those OS and they fulfill the their expectations on how computers are suppose to run.

So, instead of trying to get users to adopt a certain Linux distro we need to change tactics. Let's match the distro to the user, that way users will get the experience that will make them most likely to stick with Linux.

Rather than name a single Linux distro as the king of the hill, let's separate distros into categories defined by their target audience. That will make it easier for users to pick the distro that best matches their needs and expectations, by giving them the package that better suits the way they use their computer.

What we need, is a solid base on which to build those distros. We already have the engine to run them, that being Linux. All that's left is to have to add the rest of the software.

There great web browsers like Firefox and Chrome. On the office suite side there's LibreOffice to begin with, and the list goes on.

So, let's shift some of the focus to the user experience without loosing the great things that Linux and the distros already have. We need to give users something that will not only make them want to stay, but to share with others around them. 

It can be done. If we want to see Linux being even more successful than it already is, there is no other way to do it.

Users must be the ones choosing which desktop environments survive...

When it comes to desktop environments, having several options is a good thing. I like the idea of having different desktop environments available, because it give the users a choice about which one to use.

No two people work the same, or have the same way of doing things, so being able to select a desktop environment that better fits the way the user does things is a good thing have. Not only that, it gives the user, and distros, the option to change to another one if the desktop environment developers take a road that they disagree with.

At the end, it's a good thing to have since it means that people are free to choose what fits better.

The desktop environment should shouldn't get in the way of the user's work flow as it can. It should be almost unnoticeable to the user as it can be, as if it isn't there as all.

One size doesn't fit all, and user's shouldn't be forces to accept a desktop environment just because someone else says they have to. User's should have the freedom to select what desktop environment works for them, and their choices shouldn't be limited by any one else.

A desktop environment success should be determined by how many users adopt it because they like it, and want to use it, not because it was forced to them to use.

If users flock to 2-3 desktop environments, that good. Let the users be the ones who determine which ones survive, and how many of them can co-exist in the market.

Technology has become almost invisible...

It's impressive how most technology out there goes almost unnoticed. Thing like computers, mobile phones, HD flat TVs, even cars loaded with computing capabilities that no one though possible a few years ago.

We are so used to have technology in our lives, that we have arrived to the point that we don't really notice it. We expect it to work, and since it mostly does it's notices when it stops doing what it's supposed to do. We like it or not, we have become dependent on technology to get through our daily routines.

Also, we expect it to become even more helpful, and do thing better, with each passing day. We expect, and want, that with every new version of any gadget some new feature to be added. Or at least, it does things better than the last version.

But, the catch is that we don't want out gadgets change much. We want them to be familiar, and not to have to relearn to use it with every new version. And if we need to do things differently, we expect to be able to transition almost seamlessly to the new version. After all, technology is supposed to adapt to us, not the other way around.

I do believe that most tech companies are doing a good job. They are coming with new technologies that are making life easier in a wide range of subjects. Which are good news for all of us, since this will not just make life easier for people. It will help to improve our quality of life.

Don't be a jack of all trades...

Let's face it, no software is perfect or fits every user needs. All depends what the software is needed for, and how it was developed.

It's important to keep in mind that users needs are not the same, in a sense in some case the one size fit's all isn't the best way to do things. That's why software that tries to do everything doesn't really strike the sweet point, and disappoints everyone. When you try to cover everything, you never do anything well enough to give users a good reason to adopt your software.

There are few areas where it's acceptable to cover several things in one, but in most cases it's not a good idea.

In a way that's why I think that Linux has an advantage, since it can be tailored to fit as tightly as to the target users need it to be. If they need a general purpose OS, it can be that.

But if they need something really specific, you can build it to meet those specifications with ease. At the end, it's up to what users need Linux to do and how they need Linux to get things done. After all, Linux is the engine that runs the OS you want to build.

In a sense, what you need to build around Linux is the car that suits your needs.

That you can do it, and then redistribute it, freely is what makes Linux so flexible. It empowers users to do what they need to do, as they need to do it, knowing that they can do it within very acceptable rules. Rules that don't restrict them to do things their way.

Linux truthfully gives users freedom to do.

Let's talk to people about Linux in a different way...

For me, one of the main reasons why Linux distros aren't that successful is the way they are promoted.

Many tend to focus on the technical side, which most people don't really fully understand or really care about. For most those are just numbers, or technical jargon, that means little since they don't really know how to translate on how it will benefit them.

If there is to be a gain of new users, the focus needs to change to what people want from they computers. They want them to be easy to use, and that it just works when they need them to.

To get them to realize that there are many Linux distro that easy to use, and that they come with all the software people needs or wants, direct interaction is crucial. Just telling how easy it is to use this or that distro, or showing a video, is far from enough. Hands on experience, ideally with someone that helps them understand what's going on, is the best way to get people to make the switch.

Of course technical specifications need to be given, but shouldn't be the priority or given at the beginning of the interaction with a person that's new to Linux or is just the average computer user. As I said before, their focus is elsewhere.

Let's talk to them in a way we communicate how Linux can help them do what they want, in a better way. More importantly, let's talk to them with respect. Their focus is different, but just as good as any other.