Tag Archive
IMD 4005 Open Source Presentation
This is a presentation on Open Source I created for Interactive Multimedia & Design (IMD) students enrolled in the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) Degree program (a joint collaboration between Carleton University and Algonquin College). Audio: Presentation audio (MP3 format) [37.4 MiB] Presentation audio (Ogg Vorbis format) [36.4 MiB] Slides: Download now or preview on [...]
New year, new OS?
So far it’s shaping up to be a year of changes. Some milestone birthdays, the family website on a content management system (at long last), and now, a change of operating system. After about 3 years of running Kubuntu on the family desktop, I’ve switched to openSUSE. Not a huge change I guess, switching from [...]
On Free Culture
I love free. I blog about it; I tweet about it; I consume it; I produce it. Free Culture is a difficult concept for some to understand, primarily because we have been born and raised in a capitalist society where few things in life are truly free, both in terms of their monetary cost and [...]
Open Formats and Open Source for Better Government
The Government of Canada is currently reliant on proprietary file formats and proprietary software applications, which lock it into a licensing bind with a single software manufacturer — Microsoft. There is not only a question of cost — as we pay a monopoly corporation for per-seat licenses to run software that already dominates the market [...]
MythTV – The Do-It-Yourself DVR
My television watching has decreased exponentially with every passing year. It wouldn’t take much statistical analysis to determine a correlation (and probable causal relationship) between this trend and the additional children that have also arrived at Chez Lyons over the years. I’m not complaining; it’s two blessings in one. More tangible enrichment; less etheral mind [...]
Kaffeine: Can’t check DMA mode. Permission denied or no such device: “/dev/dvd”
I recently ran into trouble trying to play copy-protected DVDs on my new installation of Kubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron beta). Initially it seemed that there was a problem with the installation of libdvdcss2, because Kaffeine kept offering to re-install it. However, after a re-start of Kaffeine from Konsole with wizard mode (kaffeine -w), I got [...]
Will The Canoniclique Finally Listen To Kubuntu?
Yesterday, Ubuntu tore a page from The Book of Dell and launched Brainstorm, an opportunity for its users to contribute their ideas for software development and marketing. To my own surprise, I signed up for an account. It’s not that I don’t enjoy giving my opinion. Tirades and diatribes are my raison d’être. If you [...]
Mark Shuttleworth Reveals Definitive List of Ubuntu Code Names
As has been widely reported, Mark Shuttleworth announced last week that Ubuntu 8.10, (due in October) will be codenamed “Intrepid Ibex“. Today, in response to numerous requests on the Ubuntu listserv, Shuttleworth made a public appearance to provide free software fans and curious onlookers with a glimpse into the future of Ubuntu development. Leaflets distributed [...]
Persnickety Linux Isn’t Doing Itself Any PR Favours
I spent last Saturday fixing up an old computer. For the last 7 years or so, I’ve donated equipment to needy kids and families. This computer was a generic 1GHz Pentium-III: a local computer shop house brand. Apparently the previous owner tried to do a bit of fixing-up himself and got in over his head, [...]
How do I love KDE? Let me count the ways.
No, I’m not actually going to count, but it was the first title that popped into my head and if I’ve learned anything about the creative process, it’s that your first instinct is usually the best. The GNOME vs. KDE war is not new. Since their very beginnings where one claimed to be the first [...]
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This work by Todd Richard Lyons is licensed for use, distribution and remixing under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License (en français).