12/13/2017

Ubuntu and Cinnamon are a match made in heaven for me.

My favorite Linux distro has been Ubuntu, with Linux Mint a close second. For a while, my favorite desktop was Ubuntu's Unity, which has been sadly discontinued in favor of GNOME.

Ever since I heard that Unity was being replaced for GNOME around February, I jumped to Linux Mint. Linux Mint desktop, Cinnamon was my second favorite for quite some time. Yet, when I came back to using with its 3.2 version it quickly became my favorite desktop.

I come to love how you can customize almost every aspect of it, and it integrates rather nicely with all my favorite apps. I've found it to be even faster and more responsive than Unity was for me. And to be honest, Cinnamon feels like a modern desktop should work and aesthetically it simply looks better for me with a few relative tweaks.

Personally, I just change some of the typography and use Numix icons.

When Ubuntu released the 17.10 Artful Aardvark, I decided to give GNOME 3 a try. Though the experience was not all that bad, I simply missed how Cinnamon works for me.

This putted me at a crossroad, since I wanted to stay with Ubuntu, but I wanted to use Cinnamon as my desktop. And here comes one of the best things about Linux, I'm able to do so since I can install and use Cinnamon on Ubuntu. Now more than ever, Ubuntu feels like home for me.

Now, the only thing lacking for me is to have an official flavor of Ubuntu running Cinnamon out of the box.

11/28/2017

Firefox Quantum, a great leap forward for Firefox.

Firefox has always been my favorite browser, with Chrome a close second, ever since it was released. I've found that Firefox is the better fit for both my needs and my tastes, its the browser where I feel more comfortable at.

Now, with the release of Firefox Quantum (aka 57) it has cemented its position. Not only I've found it actually a big step forward in terms of performance, I found that the user interface looks a lot better.

While the performance enhancements are really nice, and welcome, the new user interface is what I enjoy the most. One of my favorite tweaks is now I can get rid of the search box altogether, since I stopped using much once I was able to use the navigation box for internet addresses input and for search.

There is also the fact that now there are more options to personalization options to make Firefox look even more like you want it too.

With this release, Firefox has become a truly modern browser and a worthy contender.

10/18/2017

Nokia Has Come Back With Some Great Offerings.

When I read the news last year that Nokia was coming back, I felt really happy since Nokia was my favorite mobile phone brand. What made things better, was that it was making a come back using Android, which is my favorite mobile OS, made it all that better.

To be honest, the Nokia/Android combination is one I wanted to see a long time ago. Nokia had been one of the top smartphone manufacturer, and Android seem to be the best choice to keep on top of their game. But, it didn't happen that way and we know how that went. For me it was a sad thing to see Microsoft Mobile being abandoned.

So, when it was announced that Nokia was to make a comeback I felt quite hopeful. Specially since it was making a comeback using Android, I felt that it has a fighting chance depending on the quality of the devices they released.

Then, last weekend I had the chance to get some hands on experience with Nokia 3 device. I didn't want to get my hopes all that high, yet the device managed to leave a great impression on my. It' solid, and in black it looks really good.

The price point in Mexico is of $3,499.00 MXN(about $186.15 US), which is about mid range. And its the sweat spot for me.


9/30/2017

A Happy Spotify Premium user...

A couple of months ago I decided to subscribe to Spotify Premium, and I've really pleased with the choice.

The have been several things that I've really liked about Premium account over the Free one. The main one is the ability to listen to my playlists offline, which it's really nice since I don't have to use my mobile data if I don't want to and maintain access to my favorite music. For me it's quite a big deal, since I tend to use the app on my smartphone most of the time.

I mainly use the desktop app at home, where I do use the online features to discover new artists and their music. Spotify has been where I have discovered new music the most for a while now, and while I like the mobile app, the desktop app is the one I feel most comfortable in for music discovery.

Another feature I like, and I've come to really a bit on the mobile app, is the ability to choose with what song I want to begin with and then shuffle the rest of the playlist I'm listing to at the time. It might be something of an idiosyncrasy of mine, but it has enhanced my experience.

I never minded the adds that much, but I've found that I don't miss them that much. It has really helped to have less distractions, either from the music or whatever I'm doing at the time.

One of the things that I personally thought I wouldn't notice much, is the how much better the sound quality is when using the high quality streaming option. I've been proven wrong, since I've noticed quite a noticeable difference and I help to enjoy music even more.

Here in Mexico, the subscription goes for $99.00 Pesos a month, that would $5.46 US Dollars. And for me, it has been quite a good deal. Specially since is one that pays the artist for their work.

8/17/2017

Evie Launcher has become my go to Android Launcher...

I've been using Evie Launcher on my Android device for a month now, and it has my go to launcher. I favorite set of icon pack is Numix Circle, and combined with Evie lets me configure my smartphone just the way I like it.

I tried some other Launchers before I got to Evie, but none really gave what I wanted in any way. And Numix icons didn't go along with most of them either, so I ended up jumping back to the launcher my device had and using the icons that came with it.

Yet, since I wasn't satisfied with the look and feel of the Launcher of my current device I decided to look for a launcher I hadn't used before. After some research, I came across to Evie and I had a initial good impression. So, I looked into some reviews and I got convinced to give it a try and installed it.

And I haven't looked back since then, and I haven't enjoyed using my device as much as I do now. Now I feel like it's mine, and it does things how I want it to. What cemented Evie as my favorite launcher, was when I installed the Numix Circle icon pack.

I've used Numix icons on Ubuntu and Linux Mint on my laptop, and it's one of my favorite icon packs. So, I when I install it on my device and saw how well it went with Evie I was sold.

Ever since I made the jump to Android, I've found that there are always more things that make it my favorite mobile OS. And now that I've found Evie, I'm even more an Android fan.

7/17/2017

Linux Mint, using Cinnamon, has become my favorite OS...

It has been three months since I came back to Linux Mint, and I've really enjoyed coming back.

I've always had a soft spot for Linux Mint, the distro is one of the best out there and Cinnamon is just really good looking. Cinnamon has gotten better with time, and with the 3.4 version it has become my favorite desktop.

In general, Linux Mint in general worked great for me. But, Ubuntu with Unity did a slightly better job and work a bit better for me. It seemed that Cinnamon just had to mature a bit more to surpass Unity, and become the better fit for me. It truly just works from the onset, and the design of Cinnamon makes it one of the most elegant desktops out there.

There are many ways to configure the way Cinnamon looks, and works, to make it your own. I know there are other distros out there that give the user more options on how to configure it, but Linux Mint gives more then enough options for the average user. And there are ways for advance users to change things, but that up to each user to decide how deep they want to go.

Linux Mint is one of those distros that I can recommend to user of any level; since it's easy to use and configure for beginners while advance users can expand it's capabilities if that what she or he wants.

And for that, Linux Mint has become the way to go for my personal computing.

6/19/2017

Geekdom includes many kinds of people.

As a geek, one of the things that personally I find most annoying is that often people tell me I'm not because I don't fit the stereotype of how geeks are supposed to look, or act. Most often this comes from people who don't know me that much, since most of those who do really do see me as one.

It seems that most people don't realize how big the spectrum of interests and passions that geekdom cover, that they might not realize how many geeks they know and are close to. Most often than not, geeks have several interest that we follow with various degrees of interest.

Also, being a geek doesn't equate to social awkwardness. Yes, some geeks are somewhat awkward around people, but many of us can socialize quite easily with several kinds of people. Many actually are quite adept, and they love to, socialize since they pursuits mean they have to interact with people often. While sometimes they are just people persons, and socialize because they actually enjoy doing so.

I'm on those geeks that likes to socialize now and then, even go to have some beers to places not normally associated with geeks. I can enjoy a nice chat with people, though I prefer hanging out with close friends, or reading, much more.

While I embrace my geekdom, as do many of my closest friends, there are many who hesitate to do so because they fear the negative aspects of what being a geek is supposed to be. Don't be afraid, since its up to you how you define your geekdom.

Being a geeks isn't about being better, or worse, than those around you. Its about being yourself, and finding what makes you yourself.

Lack of computer literacy.

After almost a decade of  using three ERP  software at work, and the three of them being under utilized, I've come to realize that is no...