Cinnamon: my desktop of choice.

Though I've come it to like running GNOME on Ubuntu, I found it that after a while GNOME became quite a RAM hog. A few weeks ago, I ran into Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix, which brings my favorite desktop environment, Cinnamon, to Ubuntu as default.

So far, I haven't used more than 4 GB of RAM with the same usage I had on GNOME. And, I've come come to realize how much more of a better fit Cinnamon is for my daily need. And, even though I like Linux Mint, being able to use Cinnamon as default on Ubuntu is something a like a bit more. Mainly because I prefer Ubuntu over Linux Mint, though I admit is mainly because Ubuntu was the first distro I used full time when I made the jump to Linux.

Yet, I don't discard making the jump back to Linux Mint if Ubuntu using Cinnamon doesn't become an official flavor when 2021 come around. In a way, Linux Mint could be considered the official Cinnamon flavor, since its based on Ubuntu, yet it follows the long-term release schedule. What I'd like to see, is a release schedule mirroring the one Ubuntu has, though Linux Mint releases have been solid so far.

True being told, I'll probably go back to Linux Mint. I don't see much chance that Ubuntu welcoming Ubuntu Cinnamon remix an official flavor soon, so I rather support Linux Mint. Though I'd rather stay on Ubuntu, I rather go to a distro that uses my favorite desktop environment that has a better chance to continue support in the future.

Technology needs to be guided to be a force of good.

I find it interesting how some people seem to see technology as either as something that'll save us, or what doom us. It seems that most don't seem to realize that most of the time, technology won't do either on its own.

At the end of the day, technology on itself won't save or destroy humanity. It rather comes down to how we use it to interact with other people, and the world around us. All technological devices are merely tools that help us to complete a task, which on its own is not good or evil.

The user is the one who is good, or bad, not the tool that was used to do the task at hand. The people who use any tool, are the ones who are responsible for the end results. To blame the tool, is to take the responsibility away from the one who used it. By doing so, we are shielding that person from the consequences that should come for the use, or misuse, that person has to face.

If we want to people to use technology in a way that benefits all, or at least doesn't do harm to others, we need to do two things. One, is to teach them to use them effectively. If not, people won't be able to make the best use, and even misuse it without realizing it.

The other thing, is that we need to let people face the consequences of their misuse they make. If they aren't allowed to face any consequence, we won't be able to curb unwanted behavior.

Most importantly for me, we need to come to terms that new technologies mean that we'll have to change how we relate to the world around us from time to time. This change is necessary, specially if it means that we'll improve life for as much as people as possible.

This change needs to be stop seen as something undesirable, but as something to be embraced and actively guided so it gives the best results as possible for as many people as possible.

Technology, and the change it brings, can be positive if we take the time and effort to make it so. It's time to be an active participant, and make it happen.

Linux has become more user friendly for the average person.

I find it somewhat funny that most people still believe that using a Linux distro would be using a command line interface like this:

When most distros would use a graphic user interface like this:

Although the user interface varies from distro to distro, most of the time there is no need to use a command line interface. Most of the daily tasks can be made without the need of entering the terminal emulator, which makes life a lot easier and less daunting for the average user.

In the seven years I've been using Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, the amount of time I've to use the terminal has been dropping significantly. So much so, that it can be more than a month before I make any use of the terminal, and most of the time is to uninstall old kernels to make space for the current one.

As such, it has become more user friendly for the average user. This is specially true for distros like Ubuntu, and Linux Mint, since most, if not all, can be done without the use of the terminal. Meaning that you don´t need to be a geek, or have much technical knowledge, to use or solve most of the daily issues that can come up.

To be honest, now more than ever I´m more comfortable and willing to advise the move to those users that want to move out of Windows, or MacOS, to an OS that they´ll be able to use that just works. Yes, there will be some learning curve, but it won´t be as bad as one might think.

It seems like Linux, with some of its distros, finally has become a solid option for the average user.

I like to be on the move, as such I prefer my computer to come with me.

On daily basis, I use a laptop at home and a desktop at work. As such, I've found that if given the choice I'd rather use a laptop the whole time.

Though desktops will always be more powerful, for my workflow a laptop is just a much better fit. It gives the flexibility of use I like, and especially I don't need to have that much of a powerful CPU, or GPU, for what I do both at work and at home.

The most important thing for me, is that a laptop is a much better fit for my lifestyle. I'm always on the move, not liking to stay at home for long periods of time. So, I like to go to a coffee shop to do some work just so I don't get to restless or simply to change my surrounding a bit.

Not only that, even at the office I'd love to be able to move the computer around. Set it at my lap, or just move next to a window just to change the scenery a bit from time to time.

Most importantly, I like the ability to take my work with me without worrying about having how to access to my files, or the software I use, no matter where I'm at or what time it is. Just be able to pick up work where I left it independently from of where I'm at that particular time.

Laptops give me that ease of use, and a sense of empowerment to do what I need to do wherever and whenever I need to get it done.

It's a balance between form and function, not prioritizing one over the other.

It seems that Apple finally understood that prioritizing function over form isn't always the best idea to create products that just work.

The best products, the ones that just work, and look great, are the ones on which the designers understood how to balance the form and the function to make the product that works great and looks awesome. Putting to much emphasis on either the form, or the function, is the recipe for creating the kind of products that will fail big time.

If you put to much attention to form, you'll get a product that won't work at least at well as people needs it to work. At wort, you'll get something completely unusable, since many of the items that need to be there for the product to work as the user needs it to won't be there.

On the other hand, if you go only by function you'll get products people won't use because they are uncomfortable to use, there is no easy way to figure out how to use it, or simple people won't pick it up simple because they don't like it. In some occasions is a combination of those three things.

This is why striking the right balance of form and functions is something that must be considered a priority when designing any product. People don't buy things based just on form or function, but on how these two are balanced. Though there are exceptions, the vast majority of the thing we use on daily basis strike the right balance of form and function we seek. We use things because they look how we like them to look, and also work in a way that gives us the results we are looking for.

In a way, we get those things that appeal to our sense of taste while they do the things in a way we expect them to work. The products we love, are those that do what they say they will while looking good doing so.

While some people may say they prefer form over function, or the other way around, the truth is that people ends up using what strikes the right balance of the two. It must be said that form is not just making things look pretty, but make them so people use them easily, and comfortably, for the intended purpose of each product.

As with everything else in life, form and function need to live in balance to achieve the best possible product.

Critical thinking is sourly lacking, and its really bad in the worse possible ways.

With so much misinformation, and lies being spread around social media, media in general and the Internet, it has become harder to know what to believe or who to trust. Specially when that misinformation resonates with core beliefs of people unwilling to do some extra research, or just look for more information to collaborate what they came by before making up their mind.

All of these becomes more insidious, when you add into the mix the fact that there are many that aren't capable to question what they come the information they come by. Many just take it on face value, which in some cases can lead to the wrong conclusions about the subject of the news they heard about.

Critical thinking is a skill that needs to be learned, and even easier to take for granted for those who learn to think in such a way. So much so, that it takes many by surprise that many people out there didn't learn to think critically. Which makes it hard to communicate with them, since some don't take kindly when someone not only refuses to take their ideas, but also questions them.

Sadly, the education we receive both at home and school doesn't always gives us the tools to think critically. Kids are thought to memorize information, and not to actually take it to be understood and be processed to come to their own conclusions. They aren't allowed to ask why do things work the way they do, jut to accept that things just work that way.

If we want a stronger society, one that can actually make the best use of democracy, all the people needs to be able to think critically. The root problem isn't that social media can be used for people to exchange ideas, rather that people aren't able to discern misinformation because they don't have the tools to recognize it.

Time has come to make sure that our education systems equips people with the tools that help them to think critically. It isn't just the way to build better a better society, but actually save our democracy.

Eoan Ermine 19.10 might be the one that brings me back to Ubuntu.

One of the things I look forward every October, is the release of a new Ubuntu comes along. Although I currently use Linux Mint, Ubuntu's 19.10 Eoan Ermine release is tempting me to make the jump back.

Ubuntu holds a special place for me, since it has the first Linux distro I used full time. Also, its the one of the OSes that I find that are better suited for the uses I give my personal computers. So, I always keep an eye on what's new with each release in order to see if there is enough there to make me want to make the jump back.

I've to admit that ever since the 19.04 Disco Dingo came out, the idea of coming back to Ubuntu has grown stronger. In some ways, is a sense of nostalgia that makes me want to return to the distro on which that started me on the use of a Linux distro. But there's the fact that how Ubuntu implements GNOME's on the desktop environment, makes a bit of a better fit for my daily use. It simply helps things flow when I'm using my computer, no matter what I'm doing.

I'm still looking into it, but it seems that it's just a matter of when I'm making the jump back. Even if it ends up being for a couple of months, the it feels like I just need to give Ubuntu the chance.

Technology is as good, as bad, as what we use it for.

It's somewhat interesting, or sad, how people tend to see technology either what will save or destroy humanity. It seems that for most of these people it's hard to understand that any technology just has the potential help us go either way.

At the end of the day, it all depends how we use technology which will determine if its impact on our lives will be positive or negative. All new technologies will change how we relate to the world around us, but its the use we give that will determine the benefits we can expect from them.

Most of the time, most will take the easy path of blaming any technology rather than accept that it was misused. While is true that some technology has been proven to do more harm than good, most of the time is the misuse of technology that brings harm. Even fear, in many shapes, has come into play for either not accepting it or for its misuse.

In a way it seems like people loves how technology makes their life easier, but they don't want to take responsibility for its misuse.

People are ready to call how any technology is being misused, and sometimes its ironic that they use that they are using the same technology. Its easy to forget the most things are a double edged sword. It can be use for our benefit, and also to harm us.

The time has come to take the responsibility the technologies we use for the better. Until then, we are exposed to the consequences of its misuse.

We are in a new brave world that no one truly saw coming.

One of the things that science fiction writers got wrong, was how computers would develop. Most of them thought that they would become ever bigger, and we would all interact with one via a terminal.

Yet, the opposite came to be. Computers became not only ever more powerful, but they also become smaller. And although with the advent of the Internet, it could be argued that in the essence each of our computers connected to it acts like a terminal, they didn't become just a terminal dependent on a central computer to operate.

Computers have become so small, that in our smartphones and tables we got truly portable computers that we can carry around with us all day long to do much more than many science fiction writers, scientist and engineers could have even imagined even a few decades ago.

Its both interesting, and a bit scary, how much data we don't only have access to with smartphones, but also how much data we generate while using them. In a way, we all have become content creators at some level. Yes, most of the time we consume content, but we also create some by modifying in some way the content we share with others.

Media has become truly interactive, allowing people to become active participants. So much so, that people expect to be able to participate in some way each time they come in contact with any content they come across. Media has truly been democratized, though I still see it the whole thing being in the process of maturing. While in some ways, some artist and content creators have figured out how to manage the whole thing, there is still plenty of room to actually improve and to make it work better for everyone involved.

Though we are in living in a world no one fully predicted, we are getting better at making the best out of it. One of the best things about it, is that it has truly made it easier for more people to actually have a hand in making of a better world. Now, we not only make sure that those who are only in stay in, but also give more people the chance to have a say on it.

I'm on Android because it works for me.

When I say that I prefer Android over iOS, has lead to some funny reactions from people that expect the usual fan boy arguments that have been thrown around when discussing why you prefer one over the other.

It seems that some people can't seem to understand that I do believe both are rather good OSes, and even that iOS does somethings better than Android. Yet, I've found that Android is a better fit for me, and its drawbacks aren't an issue for me. And for the things that iOS does better, don't really matter for me because I simple don't have an actual use for those features.

I simply found in Android an OS that just works for me, and it actually helps me set my smartphone just the way I want it to be. The only thing I'd like to have more options is on the cases front, but its something I don't really care about. I just prefer to be able to change the launcher, and the icon set.

My favorite, and go to, launcher is Evie Launcher. What I like most about Evie, is that it quite simple, minimalist, and it can be customized to suit your taste. It has extra points for having a dock option, which makes my home screen look clean while giving me access quick access to my most used apps. The rest of the apps that I use can be accessed with a flick, while those apps that I don't really use that much or I can't uninstall can be hidden.

Would I use an iPhone? Only if I've no other choice, but not because I think that its bad. It simply doesn't give me what I want, or need, on my smartphone. Apple has done great things with it, and has made things that have jumped to Android because they are useful things to have on a smartphone. But those things are not enough to make it an option for me.

At the end, I'm quite happy with Android.

New technologies always change our relationship with the world around us.

I find it both amusing, and frustrating, how some people seem to always be complaining how technology has changed things from what they used to know. It makes everything different, and how they wished all would go back to how things used to be.

What most people seem to miss, is that new technology changes the world around us. The printing press, the steam engine, radio, the car, all these technologies meant changes so big that they mark a before and an after. The thing is, that the people who where at the middle of the change can't conceive a world without the technologies that they used. They seem to forget there was a time when people had to make do without a telephone for example, or a steam engine that make certain tasks easier.

For those who experience the world before, during, and after certain technologies became common place are able to compere. Yet, many bemoan the evils of those new technologies while reaping the benefits of their use. Or sometimes, they fail to adapt to the changes that come with them making it hard to connect with those who actually came to use the new technologies with ease.

The main difference today, is that new technologies seem to keep coming our way faster than ever before in human history. And it has been this way for over a century now, making even hard to keep up with them and at the same time to gauge how those changes impact us. Now we have to learn how to keep our ability to adapt on for far longer longer, because learning how to use new technologies as they come is now vital to keep current.

I don't think that technology dehumanizes. It rather makes us question what it means to be human, and how we interact with the world. It brings what is already inside all of us, making it visible to more people. Technology is amoral, we are the ones who are moral. Humans are the ones who decide to use things for good or evil, not the other way around.

We should be asking ourselves how to teach the new generations how to think critically, so they can act in a way that'll bring the best out of them in order to benefit the most people as possible. Its not technology that is good, or evil, in itself. The answer lays on how we use it.