Waiting for the next version of Ubuntu, the countdown is over but I guess someone has to actually be awake to update the site. I do all my work on a Mac but have an old PC from 2000 with XP. It's mainly used as a second screen to look up code examples, write articles, email, Google docs, etc. This got a lot easier when I found Synergy [http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/] which lets me use the keyboard and mouse connected to my PC, I can go off to the left of my pc screen and right onto my mac. It lets me copy and paste between them, syncs the screensaver and does it all over the network. The downside is that any heavy network traffic makes it jumpy, the upside is that it works with linux too. XP is a great operating system but it's already 7 years old and Microsoft has announced plans to fade out sales. While they plan on supporting it (probably paid support and security fixes) until 2014 I think xp will start to be forgotten by developers who will want to focus on newer versions of windows. I get into it more on my other blog [http://chalk-it-out.com/blog/2008/10/how-the-internet-is-changing-media-software-and-how-we-use-computers/] but the idea that I won't have to have an anti-virus package scanning every file coming in and out of the system and updating it's definitions all the time, and the idea of being stuck with a forgotten OS (my pc will never be able to run Vista or Windows 7 and I wouldn't want it to) when I could get Ubuntu which has the security of a Mac, all the apps I need for now, it even looks better than Leopard and as I'm writing this the community built apps of linux/Ubuntu are a lot more advanced than anything free available for Windows XP and they'll still be improving off into the future. From now on Windows will just be something I have to run in parallels now and then to test sites in IE, and make sure the Windows version of AIR doesn't have any bugs that affect my apps. As a side note some of the new features in Ubuntu 8.10 that made it ok for me to switch (after trying the release candidate) are:

• Improved stability
• Better networking (It used to be a pain to setup wireless networking, now it's all automatic)
• SAMBA (my pc is also a media server and now it can easily share files with my Mac and Xbox with SAMBA built in)
• Installing software (It used to be quite complicated for someone unfamiliar with linux to install proprietary software like Flash, now it just takes a few clicks)
• nVidia (My graphics card was always a pain to set up in Ubuntu, word is that 8.10 won't make me manually change it from 640x480, but nVidia is still working on 3D graphics support for all the cool effects.)

Edit: Legacy nVidia card support still seems limited.. it defaulted to a higher(usable) resolution and eventually the developer over at nVidia in charge of writing legacy linux drivers did write some that were compatable with the new xorg, but I still can't get any fancy effects going.

Tv is merging with the internet, most if not all the major networks now put their most popular shows online and they're even producing a ton of extra content like Larry King's podcasts, blog and facebook page, or The Office's webisodes, games, and character diaries. Websites like Netflix let you stream movies online, and new hardware lets you bring that content back to your tv. The lines between watching your favourite tv show on cable, iptv, website or mobile device are becoming increasingly blurred, but nevertheless tv and film are adapting and surviving just fine. Sure the internet as triggered a boom in pirating their content but most pirates are pirates out of convenience and once the infrastructure is fully in place and perfected it'll be much easier to visit NBC[or whoever]'s fast, persistant servers to watch the latest episode of your favourite show with a commercial or two thrown in, than it will be to hunt down a pirated version. In a similar fashion software companies are having to completely rethink the way they do business. In addition to software pirates, there is a substantial push coming from Linux. With the emergence of the open source movement: free, community driven software that evolves fast, meets users' needs (most users), and is of the quality now days to directly compete with commercial software. Projects like OpenOffice and Ubuntu are becoming increasingly main stream, and with OpenOffice 3.0 and tomorrows release of Ubuntu 8.10 (which solves the networking, driver, SAMBA, application and OS installation, and ease of use that was previously holding the average user back) the choice for most between Windows, Mac and Linux will be an easy one. In addition to open source, there is a growing movement to get desktop applications online. Adobe and Google are two of the main driving forces behind this movement. The focus isn't just about getting online, it's about going cross platform while integrating offline synchronization and online collaboration. Adobe is moving it forward with Flex with which they built the new Acrobat.com including buzzword and ConnectNow. These can be looked at as sort of a proof on concept now that they've announced they'll be creating an online version of Photoshop and after realizing that Adobe doesn't need a word processor. Currently the software giant builds their apps for Windows and Mac, but they could save 10's of millions in money if they only had to build one version and have it run seamlessly on Windows, Mac, and Linux and multiple versions too&mdashenter Adobe AIR. Adobe will likely move their apps online (not full featured) and have an ad driven revenue system, to keep up with the times and compliment their desktop counterparts as well as satisfy non-pro markets and then when the time is right and the technology is advanced enough move their products over to AIR. While Adobe is pushing the creative folks to an ad driven, online, open source, free to use way of life, Google is pushing the personal experience online; your photos, videos, diaries, business(maps), websites, email/chat, office(Google docs), networking, news, code, books, finance, subscriptions, marketing, time management, health, and more, letting you keep a record what you do, and even letting you do a lot of it offline letting it synchronize automatically when you connect compliments of Google Gears. Google is trying to squeeze your OS into a browser and now they're even building that too. The state of the web is moving towards freedom and away from the traditional trappings and restrictions of big business and so is software. Initially most personal computers came with Windows, so that's what the majority of people became familiar with. Being the dominant OS most applications were written for Windows so that vendors could target the biggest audience. Recently Apple started using Intel chips and most high-end software has been ported to OSX and you can now run Windows simultaneously or independently of OSX. With everyone running the same apps and networking mac and windows becoming as simple as it has the majority of consumers still cling to Windows because of familiarity and cost but a few years after the release of XP people need an upgrade. Vista requires special hardware and a lot of people made and are making the switch to mac since they would already be getting new hardware to support Vista. As a result Apple is doing really well and Microsoft is having to give customers downgrade discs because Vista is such an embarrassment, people would rather use XP. Despite this Microsoft has announced that they'll be fading out XP over the next few months, and Windows 7(The next version after Vista) will be a big clunky Vista remake. For Microsoft Windows XP is still their top selling OS, even though they won't be selling it they plan on supporting it until 2014(13 years total since it's release). The fact that they're starting to crack down on pirates with the black screen of death and still pushing Windows Genuine Advantage demonstrates that they either want to keep XP's value in-case they have to fall back on it again if Windows 7 is a flop or that they're trying to inflate Vista's numbers buy cutting off XP a few months before they release Windows 7. The next big shift in OS will be to Linux and the reasons are numerous. Over the next 2 years (at least) Microsoft will be offering a stable but dated XP and a bloated (slightly improved from Vista) Windows 7. Office 2008 (for Mac) is already superior to it's Windows counterpart and they're planning on taking the entire suite online to compete with Google Docs and ZOHO. Apple will still be offering their high-end, overpriced, frequently updated (and forgotten about) hardware and software and will likely remain the choice when it comes to high-end media creation. For the first time there will be a distinct branching between high-end power users, professionals who need lots of computing power and the most advanced apps for creating and editing rich creative content, and the average consumer who opts for low end hardware and pays nothing for software. The difference between an $18,000 Mac pro and a $200 HP loaded with Linux. As web applications and linux evolve the average consumer will want and need lighter and lighter hardware, their desktops will be on a thumbdrive, their mobile device, or online waiting for them to connect from anywhere. The focus will be on portability, networkability, and interfacing with peripherals. Run of the mill consumers won't need anything more, it's not gonna be about having the latest office or fastest computers like it used to, we're reaching the pinnacle of what the average person needs from a computer for now, and until we drastically change our concept of a pc and evolve new needs it seems this is where we're headed.

Went to the market to buy some peas and vegetables and some other stuff for the house when I ran into a rather uncomfortable cabbage named slender. And she was like I stick my head in freezers sometimes. Who knew, {!Who knew!} and then I zoomed through the checkout and sped home. There I was standing still, just me and the freezer and the infinite possibilities. So I did it; opened the door and forcefully tore out a shelf or two and tossed it somewhere out of the way. I gripped both sides of the frame with both of my hands and stuck my face in. I have to admit it was cold and after what could have been 2 or 3 hundred minutes I still didn't quite see the point. I mean yeah it's hell-a refreshing but after getting my tongue stuck to a couple things—almost permanently, I think it'll be a while before I try this again. And I'd like to remind you also that one of the things on one of the shelves I tossed aside in the initial mayhem was a 25 gallon tub of soy ice-cream. Granted I finished more than half the tub during the last American Presidential debate but still there's just a huge mess in my kitchen right now and I really don't want to clean it up.

I've just done something completely, utterly stupid.. but it's not the type of thing for the internet so I'm commemorating the event with an image and song(not mine).

I think Larry King has a cold. I'd say about 70% of the time when the camera cuts to a guest.. NO wait 96% of the time when the camera cuts to a guest who's not in the studio with him, you hear sniffing every two seconds. HE should have a box of tissues instead of a stack of papers in front of him.. just crumpled up used cleanexes all over the desk.. at least then the sound would make sense. There's a family in my extended family that carry a toilet paper roll around town with them instead of a box of tissues so he could have a roll of toilet paper on the desk.. or even better have a bunch of them and make pyramids and structures out of them (we all know he's not listening to his guests anyway).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo. http://humanrightsactioncenter.org