Blog feedThe money matters
A project can be a good solution for a problem but if it has no financial support it will disappear. This happens specially in the world of software.
I would like to talk about one of the most famous open source web browsers currently, Firefox.
It comes from a hard battle against Internet Explorer. After many years fighting it seems that FF is gaining more and more supporters. In deed, FF got money from Google for long time to remain in the battlefield.
But now Google has changed his mind launching his own browser, open source and crossplatform too. This implies that Chromium (or Chrome is the close version) is a direct competitor of FF.
The money now will go to improve Chromium instead of FF. I hope this won't stop FF from being the good alternative it is.
This week, after knowing some of the Oracle's plans about Sun's products, this situation could be spread to projects like Virtualbox or Netbeans. The game is the same, just the players change.
2010-01-30 16:10 by pichulines (0 comments)
Belkin, Belkout
Recently Belkin has announced his new router N+ double. This makes me think of mine, a N+ modem router (F5D8635), the previous release I guess.
Some days ago I had some problems with it. The wireless connection from my mobile phone dropped after a while over and over again and the only way to be online was to renew the connection. Searching for a bug I couldn't find much information at Belkin website in Spain. Finally I got a firmware update (1.00.25) at UK website but after installing it didn't work. I have tried several wifi networks with different config with no problem so definitely my Belkin is not fine. For now I will wait for a new update.
Nowadays there are lot of devices oriented to home networking including many features, file sharing, torrent client, high speed/range, multimedia and so on. The point is that these multifunction devices usually are not tested enough which turns in a lack of stability.
The market is forcing the manufacturers to launch complex hardware with poor quality. And usually it is bought by a unexperienced user for a high price.
2010-01-20 22:30 by pichulines (0 comments)
Handcraft is back
Some years ago it was unthinkable for a developer to work as a freelancer. I mean, the software was developed by a company and only within a company it could be distributed.
But fortunately the things have changed, more accurately, internet changed things. And now it is sustainable a new way of produce software. A small group of developers launch a product and accept donations through a website. From this point, the business luckily would become successfull.
This ideal situation happens not only with software developers but also with musicians, photographers, consultants, designers and so on. Usually the services and products are so good as the ones offered by a big company, sometimes better.
This makes me think of an old way of working. A tailored way of doing things. A passionated way, truly proffessional. Handcraft is returning to our days.
2010-01-13 21:53 by pichulines (0 comments)
N nine hundred
After several months analyzing the last smartphone of Nokia N900 I decided to buy it. I thought of several options to buy it: amazon, newegg, nokia online store, vodafone or even ebay. But finally I chose the nokia online store in Spain. The price was higher but safer than other options, as far as warranty is concerned. Therefore they included an external charger and a bluetooth hands free set.
The shipment was really fast, I ordered it on Dec 22nd and I received it on Dec 23rd. But I'm aware of the delays some people suffered in November, when the first shipments were announced.
This is a post just to introduce my first impressions with the phone, but I will write more in the future.
I prefer not to call it phone, just because it is a real small computer. Phone calls are only one of the features. You can understand it as a computer with a 3G modem.
Another remarkable feature as a computer is the multitask, but this is "easy" knowing that the operating system it runs is Maemo, a debian based distro. The landscape screen mode and the full keyboard turn it in a true computer.
The hardware is amazing. Everything is in such a "small" device. The software is not so polished but it is getting better. Nokia is working on a important update fixing lot of bugs and unexpected behaviors.
Another important point is the built-in browser, based on mozilla code. It supports flash quite well and also runs fluently. I can say the Nokia did a great job. I also have tried Fennec RC1, the mobile version of firefox, but it runs pretty slow. I'm afraid we'll have to wait for a more usable version.
Anyway I don't care very much for the software as I expect a hard work from Maemo community. The forums are very active and you can find even some alternatives to Maemo, although in a testing stage. I mean, the powerful hardware and its openness are more important than the current software running on it. If it works as the computer world, the software will grow step by step, features and stability.
2010-01-04 21:20 by pichulines (0 comments)
Google Land
Today Google has announced a new programming language (Go). They already announced a new web browser (Chrome), a new operating system (Android), cloud services (App Engine) and other well-known services. They have choosen the main pillars in the tech world and they have built their own versions.
They could create an unexisting service or even more, improve an existing project. But they decided to reinvent the wheel. For sure this is according to their interests.
So what happens with that friendly face they showed at the beginning that now it's turning to a controller face.
Google ensures they contribute to the open source and also they use it. But this is not sustainable for such a powerful company. They have the ability of reach the user through manufacturers, through internet, millions of them. The effects of using and participating in the open source world are not the same as a medium or small company.
I'm not saying this with rage and regret, they have done a lot for all. They offer good services and for free, helping to understand and define the net. But now that has turned into a dependency for the user. Microsoft did it the same. They allowed the medium user access to the technology and computers, they tried to charge for it but that was the way of doing business at that time.
Ladies and gentlemen, Google is the new Microsoft, Google is internet for the end user.
2009-11-11 17:53 by pichulines (0 comments)