Tsikbal: from my perspective

I've been using Linux Mint continuously for 6 months now on my daily driver, and it has cemented itself as my go to OS . It has worked for me, and haven't had issues with it so far. And the best thing for me, it that it lends itself to my needs flawlessly. Linux Mint is a really mature OS, and one that users with any skill level can use on daily basis without running into any problem. The only reason for not recommending Linux Mint, is that the person in question needs an app only available for other OS. And more often than not, the pool of this apps is growing thin. Yet, for casual users Linux Mint is quite a good option. All mayor apps run on Linux Mint, or have an equivalent than is at least as good or better than the app they are replacing. At work I use both Window 7 and 10 , and neither is superior to Linux Mint. On the user experience side, most people wouldn't really miss much of what Windows has to offer. With time, Linux Mint has become a solid OS t...

As a geek, one of the most frustrating thing I've to face on daily basis is being told that I can't be one because I don't look the part. Most of the time, the main reasons given is that I don't look the part either because of the way I dress, or because I'm not socially awkward. It seems that most people don't realize that most geeks don't fall into either those negative stereotypes. While there are people who are socially awkward, and don't know how to dress well(sometimes both), it doesn't make them necessary means they are geeks. I do realize that there are some geeks out there that fall into the stereotype, they don't represent the community as a whole. Many of us, who identity as geeks, do so because its what better represents the interests we choose to pursue. We are inclined to video games, comics, manga, and intellectual subjects. Many of these things, don't really interest many outside the geek community. Yet, we do hav...

With the raise of the smartphone , and with some help of tablets , Android has come to have the largest user base of any operating system. While Microsoft Windows is still has the second largest user base, iOS has the the third spot with quite a lead over the macOS at fourth place. I find it interesting, that 2 out of the top 3 OSes used by people at large are used to power our mobile devices such smartphones and tablets. It means that we have shift the way we use computers, from desktops and laptops , to smartphones that we carry with us most of the time. It all happen in a relative short time, compared with how long personal computers took to become as common as smartphones have. Nowadays, people are more likely to own a smartphone than they are to own a desktop, or a laptop, in most of the world. What makes it all more impressive, is that in such a small package smartphones have more than enough power to do much of what can be done in a computer with quite an ease...

The vast amount of information we can access via the Internet, and other media, has made education ever more important to be able to accurately judge the value of the information we consume. The sheer amount of the information out there, means that there is a lot of misinformation out there. This means that education has become ever more important to be able to judge the quality of the information we are presented with, and also the content we consume, and not becoming overwhelmed on the process of doing so. With the wealth of sources out there, relying on a single one is a luxury we can no longer afford. There is a real need to have several, and that have different points of view, to have a better view of what's going on around us. All media has a degree of bias, which dictates how they relate the stories they share and the stories they choose to share. There is no such things as a completely unbiased and objective media outlet, at the end of the day they are made up ...

Windows 7 end of life is finally due on January 14, 2020. Windows 7 has been the last Windows version that I've used on regular basis, since its the OS we use at work, and the last Windows version I used on my personal computer that actually enjoy using. As such, the demise of Windows 7 got me somewhat nostalgic. Even if I've no plan to move back to using Windows on my personal laptop, as a regular user at work I've grown accustomed to using it, and I somewhat like how it works. Though I like the looks of Windows 10 better, I haven't used it long enough to say much about it and I is something I'm not looking forward to. The first Windows version I used was Windows 95 , which I remember with certain fondness mainly because it came with my first ever laptop. My favorite version would be Windows XP , and has been the only version of Windows I actually like as a whole. Windows Vista was a complete mess for me, and was the main reason I moved to Linux as ...

I regularly use three different OSes, Windows 7 at work, Linux Mint on my machine, and Android on my smartphone. With this, I've come to appreciate cross-platform software since it gives me the ability to access the things I like no matter the OS I'm using at the moment. The apps I use the most on the three OSes are Spotify , Firefox , and Dropbox . For many reasons, being able to use these three apps on every device I uses independently of which OS they are running makes them very convenient for me. Specially in the cases of Spotify and Firefox, since been able to access my accounts makes it easier to access the content and services I use regularly all that easier and practical. Cross-platform software became important for me since I moved full time to Linux, since at work I've to use Windows because some of the apps needed for the operations is Windows only. And because I wanted to keep using Firefox, and Songbird the music player I used at the time. As a ma...

The Internet has not only made access to information a lot more easier for more people than ever before. It also has made it easier to get founds for projects, either by traditional means or by crowdfunding . Sites like Patreon and Liberapay allow people that create media, or take new products to market, get funds for their project directly from people who are interested on what they offer. Which means, that they don't have to go to traditional sources to get the funds they need. Other benefit is that many ideas and product that might get rejected on traditional channels, now can get produced with the help of those who find it interesting or useful. There are less gatekeepers that decide what the people funds, where from, or the people who get to fund them. While not everything that comes out with crowdfunding, it helps to better connect supply chains with those who want what they offer. In some ways, it helps to streamline the way things are produced and delivered. ...