Project: Community Computers, an example to follow...

One in a while I come across projects like Project: Community Computers really make my day. But this project in particular peaks my interest more than usual, because it's an example on how open source can be a great tool to make a difference on peoples life by providing them with the tools they need to have a better future.

The freedom that FOSS(Free and Open-source Software) gives to organizations like Project: Community Computers, is quite impressive and not easily dismissed. It grants them the opportunity to do great things, be the agent of change they need to be in our society.

The combination of people doing something to help other and FOSS, is one that I want to see being replicated a lot more. We need to give those people the tools they need to build themselves a better future, without chaining them to a particular software or hardware. They already face to many obstacles, so why burden them with another if we can avoid it?

All software, and the hardware it runs on, should be at the service of the people who use it. If it imposes any restriction on how, and where, it can be used it doesn't fulfill  the service it should be doing for the people who use it. The people who actually use it, should be the one making all decisions in every respect on the software.

In other words, people should completely own the software they run. Companies can't have a say on how we use the software once it's on our hands.

That's why projects like Project: Community Computers are so important. If you can, please help the project to reach their goal.

Firefox OS finally comes to Mexico...

This weekend I saw that a two smartphones using the Firefox OS just arrived to Mexico, via Movistar. They are priced at $999.00 MXN, or about $75.79 USD, which is priced quite well for someone like me.

Yet, what I like the most about having a couple of smartphones running the Firefox OS, is that now there are two open source mobile OSes available on the market. Which is great news for people like me, like want open source software to power their devices.

Until now, if you wanted an open source OS you had to go to Android. The only choice was which make and model you could pick, which is not that bad but not enough for my taste. With Firefox OS, you get more room to select what's better for you. Yes, there are only two devices running it on a single carrier, but I hope that it soon will extend to more manufactures and other carriers.

At least now, I'm pretty sure I'll make the jump to Firefox OS on the Alcatel One Touch Fire model.

The Internet does not solve anything, it enables the solution...

One of the main reasons why the Internet should be free and open all humanity, is because it has become one huge library of human knowledge. As such, it's one of the most important tools to share and access that knowledge in the easiest and efficient way by all.

While it's true that the Internet in itself won't ever solve anything, it gives people access to the necessary information to be able to solve what they need to. Also, by allowing people to share information with each other in an while not having to be at the same place at the same time it empowers individuals to be an agent of change.

As with books, television and radio, the Internet is just a channel by which information flows. The main difference is that the Internet that flow goes not only to the person consuming that information, the person can actually interact with that information in many ways. And many of those interactions can be in ways that the originator didn't intended.

The Internet is constantly evolving, changing and adapting to what and how people. It's a reflection of what the humanity does in real time, and many respects that Internet is as chaotic as we. We change the Internet as much as the Internet changes us, each passing day Internet and humanity are becoming ever more integrated. It's hard, almost impossible, to say where any of this is going to take us.

I only hope we can master the greatest tool for change for the better.

Free and open source software and strong encryption, our best allies...

News about how our information is being intercepted, or how our computers can be compromised either by hackers or by back doors built into it by the vendor for whatever reason. This means that our information and rights are under constant attack, meaning that we need to defend ourselves and be aware on how to protect our computers.

This where free and open source software and strong encryption tools comes in, since this combination means that the software is our best bet that is safe and it doesn't have any back doors that could compromise our information stored on it. The encryption can give us two locks, one is that it if someone gets the information we have, they can't read it since they won't have key to it's decryption. On the other hand, encrypting the information we send over the Internet, means that if it's intercepted it will be unreadable to the people who did so.

Depending on proprietary software, and not encrypting our information, is the best way to loose control of our information and to give away our privacy away. There is always a risk that we can get our system compromised or that our privacy is intruded without our consent, but with by using free and open source software along side encryption we can minimize that risk.

Now, more than ever, it's time to start doing these two things.

That OS X 10.9 Mavericks is free doesn't impress me at all...

So, OS X 10.9 Mavericks has been released and the upgrade from the previous version will be free. If I haven't been getting a great OS for free for years, since I've been using Ubuntu for 4 years as my main OS.

It bugs me is that while the new OS X will be free as it cost nothing, it's not really free in way that respects people's rights the way free and open source software does. Mavericks is still tied to Apple's hardware, not to mention that the source code is not available to be studied, modified and redistributed by users freely.

While Apple does make some good software and hardware, it really bugs me the level of control them even after you buy them. Not only that, how some features are just being added to their software are made to seem as innovations introduced by them which have been around on other OSes for some time.

Yes, sometimes their version is more polished than the previous software; but the fact that there was software that did that before them still stands.

If you want a quality OS that cost you no money at all, while it truly respects your freedoms as an user you should be looking to GNU/Linux for it. There are several distros that are easy to use, and don't require you to be an expert programmer to be able to use them at all. If you get interested to learn more to tweak your OS, or other software, there are great tools and forum where you can learn to do so and contribute to the community at large.

Yes, that the new OS X comes for free is just means that you won't be giving any money for it. But, you're still quite giving away many of your freedoms to Apple.

The Ubuntu 13.10 upgrade has been going quite well...

I made the jump to Ubuntu 13.10, aka Saucy Salamander, since it came out on last Thursday. So far, I've liked the new version of Ubuntu and the experience as a whole has been great.

What I've liked the most, is the fact that the upgrade has been seamless. Other than minor things, like new icons, things have been business as usual. Which is great, since it means that I can keep going on as before with just a few things to have to get used to.

This is one of the reasons why I love Ubuntu, with every release things have been getting better while it keeps being pretty solid and stable. Ubuntu has become the OS of choice for me, and the one that I recommend each time I can. It's not perfect, yet it's the OS that better fits me and what I use the computer for.

It's one of the best options out there for people that new to open source software, and want to jump to an open source OS; while it's also pretty solid for people like me that know their way around a computer, but not want to mess to much with it.

If you want a modern, stable and user friendly OS, the new version of Ubuntu is the way to go.

Trademarks being abused...

You know trademark law is taken out of context when anyone can make this use of it. That BSA(Boy Scouts of America) can force Hacker Scouts to change its name, or face legal consequences because BSA holds the trademark on the world Scout.

It's quite offensive that anyone can deny the use of a word because of trademark. Specially in cases like this one, mainly because BSA is denying the use of the word Scout without a reasonable explanation on why Hacker Scouts are infringing on their trademark.

Besides, Hacker Scouts aren't some shady organization. What they do something beneficial for both society and the individual, by giving kids the skills to help be better prepared to face the world or simply enjoy it more. They job is a great way to introduce kids to the world of technology in a collaborative way, while using open source methods.

I believe that we need more people that work like Hacker Scouts do, because do all of a great service in our way to make a better society. Supporting such organization is something we should all do, and shouldn't be bullying them over the use of a word.

Please, visit the Hacker Scouts web page and support them if you can.

Lost hunger of knowing...

It's rather surprising how many people lose their sense of wonder, and just stop asking questions about the world around them. They seem contempt to just cruise by, without wanting to know more about whatever they come across. Some even feel threaten by anyone wanting to know more, even if the answers to the questions being ask could be beneficial to everybody.

Many fear that knowing how something works would make it less wonderful, that by the act of knowing you take value away. Knowing the inner workings of something would make it less marvelous, that it would make it less worthy in their eyes.

I don't agree at all with that at all, knowing actually makes things more wonderful. The fact that we know more about something doesn't take away, but adds to it. That we know more, means that we've more to wonder about. Knowledge about the universe we live in, not only our world, makes for a more wonderful and magnificent place.

That hunger of knowing how things work, and are related to each other, has made our lives fuller and worth living. It has added years to our lives, while being able to enjoy them in good health and has given us the chance to share more with our loved ones.

One thing that out thirst of knowing has shown us, is that there will be more questions to answer and greater riddles to solve. In many ways we might never know everything, which is a good thing because that way we can continue to move forward and be better. It's that never ending quest to know that will take us to new places.

Instead of teaching our children not to question, we need to give them the tools to do it in a way that will improve their lives. The sky is no longer the limit, I don't longer believe there is a limit if we keep looking for answers.

Open development for security protocols and standards...

One of the good things that came from what was leaked Edward Snowden, is that security protocols and standards are being checked for flaws and vulnerabilities. Some have been found, no doubt more will come in time, with steps being taken fix them.

With all the work being done to tighten security, and people being more aware about the importance of securing their systems to protect their privacy, it's important to keep an eye on that work so that their information is safe and their privacy respected. The importance of security protocols and standards are paramount on both cases, and thus the work to harden them is vital.

That's why there is a need to have them developed in an open way, so that they can be constantly checked and improved by as a large a community as possible. They will never be completely fool proof, but the open development can help to minimize the risk by allowing patches to be submitted sooner later later.

With more of our lives taking place on the digital realm, the protocols and standards used to protect our information can't continue to be developed behind closed doors. People need, and should have the right, actually know how what they use to protect themselves work and be able to study it freely. All development should be carried out openly, in a way where the validation of those protocols and standards takes the input of a wider community.

Security will be enhance with more people working together to make it better in an open and collaborative environment, not with less people working behind closed doors.

The right combination...

I've thinking about getting a tablet, yet I don't really think that it would be all that useful for me. My needs are better covered by the laptop smartphone combo, and tablets don't really fit my needs.

When sitting at home, the laptop computer is a lot better for me. I still use the keyboard a lot to write both on my blog or emails. While on the go, the smartphone fits my needs since it allows me to write short messages, share photos or short thoughts in a more practical way for me.

The combination of computer, smartphone and tablet is still rather dependent on how do you access information and if you need to create things using a computer. What any person should get is dependent on what they are going to do with those devices, since that device needs to conform to what that person needs to do with it.

What most people will have in common in most cases, is that we all are going to be using smartphones while on the go since they are the most convenient way to access or share information quickly when you just want do it quickly and you're aren't going to do it for a long period of time.

Tablets and laptops are easier to use for extended periods of time, just that they excel at different things. Tablets, for the time being, are better suited for consuming media and information. Their format suits better to consuming, rather than creating, content. I don't doubt that in the near future you'll be able to create content as easily on them, as you do on a computer, yet the time is not now.

Computers are still the best way to create content, specially work that need a lot of computing power. Also, it's more comfortable to work for extended periods of time on a computer than it is on a tablet.

For me, the perfect coordination is the laptop-smartphone.

What could have been...

While I was reading this article at Ars Technica, I couldn't help but to feel a bit of sadness and nostalgia. I really liked Nokia's mobile phones, and I had high hopes for their Symbian OS. By the time they released the N8 smartphone with Symbian^3 on it, I was really hopeful about the OS.

Another thing I really liked, was that Nokia had open sourced Symbian and that made it an option for me. The idea that my favorite mobile brand used an open sourced OS was very appealing, since I enjoyed using it. I would loved to see Nokia throwing it's weight behind Symbian, so that by now there would be two open source mobile operating systems at the market. The other being Android, which has matured a lot since it was released.

In a way, I'd have loved to see Nokia adopting Android when it stop using Symbian on their smartphones. In that case, I would still be on Nokia's field. In many ways, I felt betrayed when by the switch to Windows. Ever since they did so, I haven't even considered buying anything from Nokia. Before that, I was loyal to Nokia.

Now, it's to late for any kind of change. Seems that Nokia really went south, and it got lost somewhere only to become somewhat irrelevant at the smartphone arena.

It's a shame where Nokia has come, it comes to show that the future is not certain for anyone.