Tsikbal: from my perspective

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'...

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 m...

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 ...

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...

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 m...

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 ...

It seems that not many people realize that the world hasn't become just interconnected with the raise of the Internet, and truly global media. Trade has managed linked the economies of many countries so tightly together, that they need each other for their continued growth.   Borders are losing their current meaning each day with the flow of goods, ideas, and information. In many ways, borders are becoming just a geographic reference to place the point the origin, or where a product is consumed. As time goes by, more people are seeing themselves not only as a citizen from a certain country, but as part of something bigger. While they jury is still out on what will all this ultimately mean to humanity at large, so far it seems that we will be able to make it work for the better since there are more people actually working to make it so. So much so, that trying to stop this global may prove to be impossible since the benefits of making it happen seem to out wight the pains o...