Smartphones have change more than we realize.

For me, its mind-blowing that having a device on your pocket that allows you not only to connect with others in real time, access wealth of information on any subject, but also create content or contribute any way you in an instant, has become so normal.

Smartphones give us the ability not only of being consumes of knowledge, or content. They also give us the chance to contribute with knowledge to be used by other, or create content in a way that years ago would be unthinkable. In many ways, they also have made harder to control how knowledge spread and how we consume content.

More than ever, this abilities gives people to take ownership of both knowledge and content in more immediate, and powerful way. And even though we are still far from being something that everyone can take advantage of, we are well in the path of it becoming a reality in just a few decades.

Now, the importance of making sure that our children have the tools to process all of this vital not only for them to make sense of it. Also because they need to be able to discern misinformation, lies and the such to be able to give the best of use of the tools smartphones are.

The genie is out of the bottle, so to speak. As such, what we need to do is not to put it back in, but give people the tools to make the best use of what this means. If we do so, all the changes that smartphones have brought will be for the better.

Nostalgia for the past doesn't make our childhood better.

It irks me somewhat when people compare their childhood with the one of the today's children, and proclaim that theirs is far superior just because the children won't be able to experience what they did. They seem to willfully ignore that every generation's childhood is different from generations past and future.

The world each generation experience their childhood in a different context from each other. To compare how we experience our childhood to the one of today's children is not fair, since their world isn't the one we grew up in. We see our childhood with tainted eyes, ones that in some ways make it a bit better than it actually was.

People forget that we have to give them the tools to be able to face a world that'll be different that the world we are now. Trying to give children the same childhood that we had, is not the best idea. We need to let them be children in the context of how the world is now, while giving them the tools to make them able to face the world they'll have as adults.

The thing is, that it'll be different from the world we live now. And trying to keep change, won't stop it from getting to us. And stubbornly holding to the memories from what was, doesn't exonerate us from allowing our children their childhoods in the way that allows them to face the world we are all living in today.

We all had the childhood dictated by the time we lived it in. We have to let each generation live, and make the best, of their childhood. Each generation has to face the problems of their times, at the best of their abilities.

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.