GHABUNTU

UEFI, or the Age of Useless Computers...

2012-07-23T13:15:00.003Z

Your next Intel x86 computer with UEFI secure boot...

Much has been said of the UEFI and one of its features, the Secure Boot. The launch of windows 8 is near , and the UEFI is just around the corner.

UEFI is the talk of the town, but what is it?
It is a specification of a software layer between the old computer's BIOS and the operating system.
Intel created the specification to solve various problems in its 64-bit Itanium platform, those problems caused by incompatibilities with the old BIOS, which was designed for a 16-bit architecture.
It will replace almost entirely the calls to the BIOS, for all operating system services.
Yes, it would be very interesting to do this, since our old BIOS is more than 30 years old.
It turns out that, currently, no operating system makes calls to the BIOS anymore. They all have routines for interfacing with the hardware already built-in, the BIOS only works at boot (memory test, and that's about it).

Specifications inspired by Windows ...
Exactly when the UEFI was thought, its design was very similar to that of Microsoft Windows, with calls for protocols and practices inspired by the Microsoft product.
Interesting, no? Does it look like something made for everyone? No, no, but one thing made for just a few to benefit just a few.

How UEFI works
The UEFI would work more or less like this:

That is, would be present in all the user's system, like a shadow controlling everything.
But if this is something that comes from Intel and Microsoft, what is there to fear? Much as it is a black box running inside your computer, and with the ability of a complete operating system.
Hence, very interesting questions are raised, since no one knows what is inside UEFI, unlike the good old BIOS, which is already very well known (and documented).

But, The Security UEFI Brings is what matters...
Ha, how nice it would be if it were true. But, as it has already happened ( The FLAME malware has been spreading with valid keys from MS) is all a big crock. And, as mentioned here, the possibility of an attack at boot time is almost nonexistent.

But So What's the grand plan to use the Secure Boot and UEFI?
Intel is suffering from a heavy attack of the ARM platform. ARM chips are ubiquitous, they are in mobile phones to video games, and now are entering the server room.
Microsoft is not doing well also, its windows XP system is still the most widely used worldwide, after almost three years of the release of Seven, and five years of the release of Vista.
Microsoft already knows that windows 8 will flop, so with the help of Secure Boot, it will lock the machines so that only its operating systems will be allowed to run, do not allowing users to know that there are other options, and much better, an attempt to freeze the market waiting for their next OS, 9.

What to do to fight this fierce competition?
Simple, use a standard and exclude the competitors from the standard. And the restricted UEFI boot fits perfectly there.
Consumers are choosing smartphones and tablets (with ARM chips) over x86 desktop computers. How could Intel leverage its sales?
Easy, to sell more x86 processors, just make computers that have a shorter lifespan. Hence, it will force consumers to buy more and more x86 computers.

Now, Apple already does this, with machines that are not repairable nor upgradeable (the latest MacBook Air comes with welded memories, so, not even memory is possible to add to it).
The next step for rapid obsolescence: An operating system slow, bloated and that drags the machine, coupled with applications with useless options - Anyone for Office 15 ? (for, obviously, make the whole system more cumbersome and slow).

Let's face it, a computer with windows lasts no more than three years. After that, or it must be added more memory, or more HD or a more powerful processor (if possible).
Add to that the fact one can not install any other operating system to the machine, and you have a beautiful pile of useless junk.

Now, I wonder if this little UEFI secure boot detail Intel will also push in its server market.
I doubt it, since Intel is doing very well in the server market, mostly thanks to the Linux distros. It's something they want to push down the throats of the domestic consumer and SOHO.
And, with Intel, Apple and Microsoft doing the same thing, this practice will become a standard.

What Can Happen?
Many things can happen. One that will certainly occur, is to increase the ignorance of the average user regarding Information Technology, which is not good, thanks to Microsoft and Apple, and will only tend to worsen. Imagine a Fahrenheit 451 world where books are banned, and most of the population lives in complete ignorance, where few can read and remember the culture and the old books (I have not read the book, just watched the wonderful film by François Truffaut, but the overwhelming impact of the message makes you think, a lot).
And worse, students of Information Technology related matters(software, hardware, computer science), will have their hands tied, they will not be able to experiment with their hardware / software and learn from it.
Imagine, there won't be a next Linus Torvalds, because he can not run an operating system made by the user in his/her computer. And no next Steve Jobs also, since he began building computers in the Homebrew Computer Club. This will be a thing of the past.
Increase the junk in the world, the e-waste, since the machines will have a lifespan much shorter, it surely will happen. So long greencomputing.

But As For the time being, UEFI Secure Boot is not Mandatory...
Exactly, but with so many laws being passed by fear of terrorism or as protection of intellectual property (ACTA, SOPA, PIPA, etc ...) how long to be illegal to run programs (and operating systems) not authorized by the vendors / manufacturers?
Just remember, there are countries where making a legitimate copy of a DVD, for security purposes, is illegal.

And is there an Option?
Sure. And, a much better than UEFI. The CoreBoot, the free, open, auditable specification, made in partnership with the Open Source community and the company AMD.
And, its block diagram is as follows:

Extremely simple, unobtrusive and lightweight, CoreBoot covers several platforms: x86, ARM, and various operating systems: GNU / Linux, BSD, and even windows (with SeaBios).

Even Linus has spoken out against the UEFI ("It has few real advantages, and add a greater layer of complexity" - http://kerneltrap.org/node/6884).
Not to mention that the user has no control over it.

How to Fight UEFI Secure Boot?
There are several ways.
1º Legally - Act to push investigation on the UEFI secure boot, to make the DOJ investigate anti-trust unheticall moves, by Microsoft and Intel.
2º Politically - Pressure on your congressmen, senators, legislators, to do not allow to become a common practice restricting the boot of the computers.
3º Boycott Intel and Microsoft (and all companies that sell machines with the UEFI secure boot). I do not like to advertise products or companies, but support AMD, the CoreBoot standard is supported by it, and do not buy from companies that offer machines that do not allow you to run your favorite distro.

Finally, a famous text (adapted to our Free, Libre and Open Source reality):

"First they came for Gentoo.

And I did not speak up because I don't use Gentoo.

Then they came for Arch Linux

and I said nothing because I don't use Arch Linux.

Later, they came for Slackware.

And I kept silence, because I don't use Slackware.

Then they came for Pardus Linux.

And I remained silent because I don't use Pardus Linux.

Finally, they came for Puppy Linux

And then there was no one left to speak out for me."

Adapted from Martin Niemoller - First they came ...

Further reading:

http://www.itwire.com/opinion-and-analysis/open-sauce/55683-secure-boot-much-to-be-scared-about/55683-secure-boot-much-to-be-scared-about?limitstart=0

“Ueﬁ homepage.”: http://www.ueﬁ.org/

“Gnuﬁ homepage.”: http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuﬁ/

Intel, “Beyond bios,” Intel Software Network, November 2008.

Jeremy, “Linus on the extensible ﬁrmware interface,” Julho de 2006. http://kerneltrap.org/node/6884

Uniﬁed Extensible Firmware Interface Speciﬁcation, Version 2.3, errata b ed., UEFI Forum

Fevereiro 2010.

P. L., “New technology beefs up bios,” Computer, vol. 37, 2004.

Intel, “Intel platform innovation framework for ueﬁ.”: http://www.intel.com/technology/framework/index.htm

1 thing you should know before buying the new Apple MacBook Pro

2012-06-14T17:24:00.002Z

Apple's newly announced MacBook Pro, available for $2199, has already got Apple aficionados drooling. But before you part with your money in exchange for the latest and greatest from the trail blazer in everything tech known to man, you might want to be aware of this: you cannot upgrade parts of the box and it's also the "least-repairable!"

According to Computerworld, citing an email from iFixit, "The new MacBook Pro is virtually non-upgradeable -- making it the first MacBook Pro that will be unable to adapt to future advances in memory and storage technology. The teardown revealed that Apple used many of the same assembly techniques as it does with the self-contained and virtually un-upgradeable MacBook Air, including proprietary screws, copious amounts of glue, expensive parts -- the screen in particular -- that must be completely replaced even after the smallest failure, and fused components that will likely break when a neighboring part must be removed."

Basically, you order the MBP with the amount of memory and storage you require. Trying to do that after purchase will be analogous to the camel going through the eye of the needle. The reason for such restricted hardware is simply in line with Apple's whole strategy of breaking whole products into individual components, a move that quickly adds up for you the buyer, financially. It's little wonder actually, seeing that the MBP does not come with an ethernet port and optical drive, both available as extra add ons from...guess where.

So before committing funds to the shiny all trail blazing, retina-display MBP, you might want to know that: You cannot upgrade the memory or storage(at least for now) after purchase, limiting your chances of having a future proof box, at least for the foreseeable one.

Skype 4.0 for Linux available for download

2012-06-14T16:30:00.002Z

After like forever, Skype version 4.0 code named Four Rooms for Improvement for Linux is available for now for download. This version comes with four main changes:

Conversations View for tracking chats in a unified window
Improved audio quality
New Call View
Improved video quality and support for more cameras

There are a host of other improvements and bug fixes in this new version of the ubiquitous voip app.

5 things I can do with the value of the new MacBook Pro in Ghana

2012-06-14T14:10:00.000Z

The new Apple MacBook Pro is going for a $2199 starting price. As someone who once read economics at both first and second years in the university, I decided to just list a few of the innumerable things I can do with that money in Ghana here, assuming an exchange rate of Gh¢1.9 to the Dollar. Here's a shortlist of 5 of those:

1. Pay for 2 of the 4 years of university education at Ghana's Institute of Professional Studies in Legon. The tuition there goes for approximately $789.47/year. I could have some change to pay for about 70% of the third year's as well.

2. Buy a plot of land for development. A 70 X 100ft parcel of land goes for roughly Gh¢4100 or $2157.

3. Buy 4 of these locally made desktop computers and donate them to these kids. Who knows how far that can go into shaping their IT future. I would also be helping grow a local computer assembling company, helping increase employment.

4. Buy this laptop with roughly the same specs and be able to upgrade the hardware as and when I want, with change leftover for other things.

5. At a current rate of 20% for the 91 day government of Ghana treasury bills, I could make a quick $440 in 3 months.

This is in no a slight or anything whatsoever on those who have the money and are willing to spend the fortune on the shiny new MacBook Pro. No. It's just me thinking out aloud, day dreaming about how my life could be transformed in not so an insignificant way if I get the value of the MBP in my hands.

Update:

My compatriot on Google Plus, Kwabena Brenya passed a comment that I believe deserves a place in this post. So we now have 6 instead of 5. He wrote:

You left out the most important thing $2200 can do in Ghana:
Feed a kid in an orphanage with 3 square daily meals for a whole year!

Video- Why Augmented Reality is the Future

2012-06-14T11:50:00.001Z

Erstwhile Nokia exec and mobile consultant Tomi Ahonen in this Ted video talks about the Augmented Reality and why it's the next big thing in the fast paced world of technology.

Windows RT to cost OEMs $85 per device in licensing fees?

2012-06-12T16:37:00.000Z

According to VR-Zone, Microsoft's Windows RT - the iteration of the Windows OS for ARM powered devices- will cost OEMs willing to load the software onto their devices between $85-$90 per device in licensing fees. According to the site, initial estimates were that Redmond would charge $35 but "the reality is that Windows RT will cost staggering USD$80-95 dollars, with $85 being the most commonly quoted price."

At this price, we should expect to see Windows RT (sounds like retweet to me, really) tablets are going to be at par with the iPad rather than Android devices. With expected prices to range between $500-$900 for a device, it's going to be interesting to see how Microsoft plans to take on both Android powered tablets and Apple's iPad.

A late to comer to the raging table battle, one would have expected a more overwhelming strategy from Microsoft to take on Android instead since it cuts across both the high and low spec'd spectrum, but instead they chose to go after the iPad. The next year is going to be really interesting in the tablet market for observers and consumers alike.

Infographic- International Internet Scam Hotspots

2012-06-12T10:33:00.000Z

With a lot of people getting scammed everyday, the world of online scammers is vast. This infographic from Background Check sheds some light on where these scams originate from, broken down into country specific percentages. Some of the highlights are

The Internet Crime Complaint Center receives over 300,000 complaints each year.
These internet scams amounted to an almost $600 million loss in 2009.
Men lose $1.25 for every $1.00 loss reported by women.
Nearly 66% of the complaints originated from the US.
The more than half of internet scams originate from the US

From: Background Check Guide

Google acquires Quickoffice

2012-06-05T16:49:00.001Z

Quickoffice, the popular mobile office productivity suite has been acquired by Google. Alan Warren, Engineering Director at Google wrote on the official Google blog regarding the acquisition

We're happy to announce that we have acquired Quickoffice, a leader in office productivity solutions. Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite.

Clearly this is part of Google's strategy of making the use of Google apps seamless regardless of device or platform. It does not come as a surprise seeing how the battle for domination has shifted over the last few years to the mobile terrain. Google naturally is bolstering its mobile arsenal, chiefly Android, in the face of increasing competition from the other platforms.

How to pin NetBeans to the Windows 7 taskbar

2012-03-26T15:09:00.000Z

Based on the JGoodies Java library, SevenBeans is a NetBeans module that makes pinning the IDE to the windows task bar easy. There seems to be an issue with NetBeans not being able to pin itself to the taskbar of Windows 7 x64.

My personal experience was that NetBeans would not pin at all, and for others, the icon duplicates itself. But with SevenBeans, you can pin the IDE to the taskbar and start menu without any icon duplication, icon overlays, a jumplist to recently opened projects and tabbed thumbnails of opened documents.

So if you're a NetBeans user and experiencing the problem of pinning it to the taskbar on Windows, you might want to give SevenBeans a try.

Lenovo Sucks- Never buy this box

2012-03-24T18:05:00.001Z

Being both a student and worker means having a lot to carry around. One of the things I did not have to let weigh me down is my laptop since I carry it around pretty much everywhere. Looking for a much lighter laptop with reasonable specs, I settled on this Lenovo Ideapad S205 netbook.

It's a nice notebook packed with reasonably powerful specs, but unless you want to run with Windows as your OS, avoid this box like the plague. It ships with a faulty bios that cannot boot any Linux distro that ships with GRUB2 as the default bootloader. I've read GRUB2 itself is not fully done yet, but so far every box I've tried installing a GRUB2 distro on has simply worked. Since virtually all the Linux distros out there ship with GRUB2, it effectively means running Linux on this notebook is nigh impossible.

I've seen tedious workarounds that involve chrooting and other long winded methods. Unless you're a masochist or have enough time to spare, you're better off shopping for another box than buying this. So far I've not seen any bios update from Lenovo to correct this anomaly even though their forums are flooded with similar complaints.

This was my first Lenovo purchase and with this experience, they can sure count it as my last, not just purchase but will also not recommend it to anybody. Get a better brand that you can install

Ghana- Of voter registration and wasted computer science graduates

2012-03-24T17:25:00.000Z

It's the year 2012 and Ghana is gearing up for her presidential and parliamentary elections slated for Dec 7, 2012. As has always been the custom, the voters' register is revised to take out the names of the dead, add the names of those who turned 18 within the 4 year period from the last elections, and also those who for one reason or the other could not register are given the chance to do so.

This year, the Electoral Commission of Ghana in agreement with all the political parties, has decided to usher in the era of so called biometric voter registration, a move aimed at curbing the incidence of minors who register, double registration and voting among others. This on the surface it's a laudable idea, but- and there's always a but- upon reflection, one cannot help but notice how the entire exercise makes the thousands of computer science students that the nations universities produce each year irrelevant.

How so do I mean? Four years ago the National Identification Authority started what was a nationwide exercise to register every person living in this country for a so called Ghana Card. The one card to rule them all, in LotR speak. One of the main objectives of this exercise was for the data collated to form the basis for a voters' register since the Ghana Card was going to be biometric. Millions of Dollars was spent in carrying out this exercise.

Fast forward four years and the biometric voter registration kicked off this morning, with the goal of- guess - registering voters to be issued a biometric voter registration card. I've been asking the simple question of what happened to the NIA Ghana Cards? What has happened to the data that was collected? The NIA exercise was very comprehensive. Why can't we just use that instead of spending another US$125M in conducting this exercise? If I can use the voter registration card both for voting and as a national ID, then of what use is the Ghana Card then?

Is it that we don't have the brains to be able to write a bunch of if-else statements to sort the data collected? What is needed for a voter register? Every data set needed to make up a voter register was collected during the NIA exercise. The same data is going to be collected again, at the expense of time, energy, money and at a considerable disruption of both work and school activities. If we have to keep duplicating duties and wasting hard cash doing so, then what becomes the use of the thousands of CS students graduating each year? Is data sorting, collating and arranging so difficult that the cost of starting from scratch is better than building on what is already available?

We live in a country where we keep hearing the rhetorics of how we're moving forward and becoming the beacon of ICT in the Sub-Sahara region, yet almost every public act belies this. A causal walk into any IRS office will testify to this. If the politicians won't let the young, fresh CS brains they train help cut down costs, then I really don't see why they should complain about brain drain and how graduates keep leaving the country en masse.

Desktop - Android's Next Frontier

2012-02-07T02:14:00.001Z

Android, soon in a desktop near you

The Android operating system is an indisputable success. A few weeks ago, it was with an average of 400,000 activations per week.

But not only that: Tablets, E-readers, portable gaming devices, everything seems to go in the direction of Android (and ARM).

And as a natural evolution, the ARM architecture is slowly entering the server room.

And, it seems inevitable.

ARM on the server? What a joke ...
Yeah, all the critics cite that the ARM architecture is only 32 bits, can not do mult threads effectively, and besides, what operating system would run on this architecture?
Even more as a server ...

But several factors are driving the development of servers with ARM architecture: ARM chips are much cheaper than Intel ones, and much more efficient in terms of power consumption and heat dissipation, the so-called Green Computing

So, after this information, is not surprising the announcement that ARM would be working to launch 64-bit versions of their processors, targeting the server's market

But what does the expansion of ARM processors and their journey towards the server's room has to do with the Android desktop? Many things, since the expansion of the ARM chips is forcing Intel to move...

Android on the desktop - Increasingly close ...

The growth of the ARM architecture, and therefore, the entire Android ecosystem is pressuring Intel to do something.

After years and years making more powerful processors (and therefore) more expensive and energy hungry, Intel is trying to leapfrog in the mobile sector , feeling the pressure of the ARM chips closer and closer, and watching its influence being undermined. Not that Intel has not tried, it tried, with Meego (thanks to the Nokia / MS deal, it went down the drain) and now with a new attempt, the Tizen. But these efforts are still timid.

The power of x86 fades...

Even Microsoft, Intel partner for many years, is failing to become relevant in this new mobile market (phones, tablets, netbooks), and their new systems are greeted with yawns (at the best).

Intel is cornered, feeling that the legacy software (which always helped Microsoft & Intel) no longer has so much importance (nor relevance). And Microsoft's attempt at the ARM architecture begins already flawed
The new ARM platform, however, already has Linux as one of its traditional operating systems (Debian Arm has existed for a considerable time).

If you build it they will come

Exactly, and since Intel can not depend anymore on its largest partner (Microsoft is also going to the ARM side of the force - has become a licensee, to produce its own ARM processors), it is working to improve Android in the x86, and of course, making mobile x86 chips to compete with ARM ones.

So, Intel is pushing Android to run on x86 architecture very well, even releasing SoC x86 chips, that rival ARM chips capabilities.

And some say that Intel will dismantle the reign of ARM in the mobile

And there's more: The Android kernel is being inserted back in the Linux mainline kernel.

What this might mean?

As Mr. Pogson wrote, this means a whole ecosystem now quite mature (all Android Apps) becoming available for Linux, yes, that common Linux (Ubuntu, Debian., etc...) could run Android applications. And thus, the Android would go the opposite way of what Microsoft intends with windows 8, making a mobile operating system run on the desktop.

But, What About Chrome OS?
Despite being a radical concept, having an operating system that only works "in the cloud" is something that is not ready to happen yet. Not now, we do not have the infrastructure that such a system requires. And besides, who will rely on storing files in the "cloud"? Sensitive files ? Webmail services(a cloudy example) have already given many evidences that they may fail, and fail badly.

What to expect ...?

The strengthening of the Android platform on the desktop will be a great evolution for Linux. The operating system that was received with contempt by some IT companies, as a hobbyist's toy. It will bring more applications to the Linux ecosystem (that are now exclusive to the Android platform) and will certainly make Linux very popular.

However, two companies, Microsoft and Apple are not being able to compete with Android in the market, and are resorting to lawsuits to stop the growth of the platform, how will they react when Android begins to appear on the desktop?

Google to Murdoch- This is just nonsense

2012-01-17T14:31:00.001Z

Rupert Murdoch, owner of a world renowned phone hacking newspaper accused Google of making money by slapping ads over pirated content and pouring millions into lobbying, in a tirade in which he also accused the Whitehouse of being in the employment of "Silicon Valley paymasters."

Well, Google has fired back and called the accusations "nonsense."

"This is just nonsense," wrote a Google spokeswoman. "Last year we took down 5 million infringing Web pages from our search results and invested more than $60 million in the fight against bad ads...We fight pirates and counterfeiters every day."

It's nice to see the public row between supporters and opponents of both SOPA and PIPA acts that have the potential to derail some of the fundamental tenets of the free web as we know. Is Murdoch right in his accusation against Google? You be the judge.

Meet the Intel Atom Powered Android Phone- Lenovo K800

2012-01-16T10:11:00.001Z

We're not far off into the time when x86 based chipsets will power smartphones. With the demo of the Lenovo K800 running Android at the just ended CES 2012, we can only wait for the time when the difference between the power of our smartphone and desktop computers become incredibly blurred.

Windows Phone 7? 5 Reasons Why I Have no Faith in it

2012-01-15T10:00:00.001Z

In my last and final goodbye to Nokia, a commeter asked the question, "what about Windows Phone 7?" Indeed, all throughout the post, there was not one mention of Microsoft's answer to both Android and iOS. Is it because I think WP7 is no match for the two dominant OSs? Or that because it's from Microsoft? I don't think so. WP7 for me, is not a viable contender for the following reasons

1. Lateness: I really don't know what Redmond was doing when Google bought Android Inc back in 2005 or when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone back in 2007, but somehow they chose to turn a blind eye to the then budding ultra smartphone market and instead concentrate more on their desktop offering. As the adage goes, the early bird catches the worm, and both Google and Apple were those early birds. If Redmond had thrown down its gauntlet at that time with the introduction of WP7 then, at least they would stand a chance today.

2. Miscrosoft bullying: Rather than focus time and resources on marketing and making WP7 attractive to both developers and those who don't want either iOS or Android, Microsoft prefers to spend its energy on bullying Android OEMs into paying so called royalties for infringing never-shown Microsoft patents. But there's no surprise here, it's one of Microsoft's hallmarks to use the bogus patent system as a trump card if it cannot compete.

3. Nokia: Perhaps the biggest reason why WP7 will find it tough on the market is the unholy alliance with Nokia. For years, Nokia had been a company known to make profits by selling high volume, low cost "dumb" phones to hundreds of millions of people across the world. Now with WP7, it will have to focus on the highend spectrum of the market. With Elop giving Symbian just a few years more for "harvesting," Nokia is left with WP7 as its primary OS. We don't know when Meltemi will finally take the place of Symbian, but for now, we can safely assume Nokia is going to alienate its core market.

To also hammer home the point of Nokia being a disaster for WP7, take a look at the press coverage the release of the N9 and N950 MeeGo powered devices enjoyed and compare them to the Nokia Lumia, even Engadget, an ultra Apple centric blog was drooling over the N9. The Lumia? Yawn. The market logically expected Nokia to overhaul Symbian and fire up MeeGo, not sell out to Redmond.

4. Apps, apps and apps: The Apple App Store and Android Markets both have hundreds of thousands of apps available for download. Think of anything and you're likely to find an app for that in those two markets. WP7 is yet to catch up, and with Microsoft busily suing other OEMs rather than go all out to attract developers, it's going to take an eternity for WP7 to reach the scale of Android and iOS in terms of apps.

5. The OEMs just love Android: Why? Because it gives them the power to differentiate themselves completely from their competitors. Given its open nature, it is always easy and safe to model Android into anything one can think of, an example being what Amazon did with it on its Kindle Fire tablets. Which company would not love such an offering? It's little wonder that even the home pages of almost all the device makers readily feature Android phones, with WP7 a few clicks down the menu. I don't know the extent of customization Microsoft allows the OEMs, but it sure will not be on the scale Google gives them with Android.

There could be even more reasons why it's going to be a monumentous act for WP7 to climb out of the bottom, but from where I sit, these are the 5 basic reasons I see which work well against Microsoft's comeback in the mobile spectrum.

A Final Goodbye to Nokia and a Hello to Android

2012-01-14T13:14:00.001Z

Just a little over a year ago, I detailed why I opted for Nokia's Maemo powered N900 instead of an Android device. To be precise, I purchased my Nokia N900 on the 4th of Jan 2011, and wow, what an excitement it was to hold such an incredible device. A full blown, Debian based GNU/Linux OS in my pocket.

However, it was not long to be before the groundbreaking, expertly leaked burning platform memo to Engadget and the subsequent Elopcalypse of Feb 11 2011. For long time Nokia loyalists like yours truly, it was like a dream shattered. We'd always dreamed of having MeeGo as the third force in a fiercely competitive arena dominated by the two tech giants of North America: Google with their Android offering and Apple with iOS.

But the all knowing Nokia board knew better. To salvage Nokia from its not so desperate situation, they had to bring in a former Microsoft employee to head a company that was at the forefront of pushing GNU/Linux to millions of people around the world. And as was expected, the inevitable happened: the bringing to its knees of one of the most powerful and recognized technology companies on Earth.

Using the N900 is an experience worth savoring. But the device was rapidly ageing(aged?) given it only shipped with 256MB of RAM, Nokia had discontinued support for it, leaving only the very wonderful Maemo community on their own, new applications rarely got published among a myriad of other factors. Thus I felt the need for a new device, and quite naturally I opted for Android this time around.

Of course I know of the Nokia N9 and N950 both running MeeGo, but with the frantic effort Nokia's CEO is making to sabotage the success of the those devices, I logically shunned them, fearing Espoo will pull another N900 on users of those two phones.

You're wondering what device I went for right? Haha. I opted for the Motorola Atrix. After a long and careful searching and considering the price range of the various devices on the retail market here in Accra Ghana, I opted to go for the Atrix which is both a good bang for the money.

Retailing at $400 on Amazon, it packs all the goodies of a modern Android device (yea well not considering the slew of devices being announced at CES 2012). Running Gingerbread on an Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 with 1GB of RAM, it's more than adequate for an intensive mobile user like myself.

As I've stated before, the Nokia N900 was my last Nokia device, until perhaps Elop is fired and the Nokia board wakes up and realizes gallows they're being led into, it's a goodbye Nokia and all your offerings and hello Android. It was really nice knowing you, Nokia, for more than 10 solid years of my less than 3 decades old.

Why I love Android

2011-11-20T11:04:00.011Z

Earlier this week I misplaced my beloved Samsung Nexus S. I only realized when arriving at home my Android device was missing. After a frantic backtracking of the places I had visited just before, the phone was nowhere to be found. Every time I tried to dial the phone I heard it ringing but no one picked it up. I suddenly found myself in great distress as I very much live by my Android phone.

There are several apps for locating a lost Android device. However, they require you to have had the foresight to install the app before the phone is lost which - to my regret - I had not done. So my chance of recovery was looking ever slimmer.

Then, I came across Lookout Labs' Plan B. Lookout Labs claim that Plan B can locate your device after it has been lost even if you did not install it beforehand. Sounds unbelievable right? Well here's the punchline.... it actually worked!

Somehow Lookout Labs has found a way to install the app remotely from a browser via the Android market - pushing the app to the lost device. It will start tracking the device immediately and the phone's GPS location is sent to your Gmail address every minute. If you are unable to locate the device within 10 minutes you need to SMS the word 'locate' to the device and the tracking will continue for another 10 minutes.

Immediately the emails started coming in. I could see the phone was still in the area where I suspected I lost it and from the email updates it became clear the the 'finder' must be on foot following the road. This gave me hope that I could still recover my phone.

I called up a friend for some backup and we got in the car - me with my laptop running a 3G USB modem on my lap tracking the phone.

When we approached the location where Plan B claimed the device was located we saw a man walking towards us on the side of the road. As there were no one else in the vicinity it was apparent that - if Plan B was right - this person had the phone. We pulled over the car and got ready to confront the man. Fortunately, my friend is the level-headed sort and managed to talk the person into revealing that he indeed had picked up the phone and give it back without any hostile confrontation taking place.

You can see some of the screenshots of this quite intensive hunt for the Nexus S below. I just love that Android is open enough to allow Plan B to work. Surely, for most other platforms this would be close to impossible and the device would be unrecoverable. I also admire Lookout Labs for developing Plan B to work as well as it does. Well done!

HTML5 and Mobile JSF for the Java Web Developer

2011-11-10T11:20:00.001Z

With the apparent death of Flash on mobile devices, all eyes are now on the emerging and powerful HTML5 development stack. The following video shows how to use the worlds most widely used programming language - Java- and HTML5 to create near native mobile apps. This video is directed at Java EE developers.

To Ghana's Minister of Education- Can we please Open Source the CSSPS?

2011-11-06T06:54:00.001Z

Hello Madam Betty, this mail is being written to you on an OS called Xubuntu, it's open source and developed by people from all walks of life. The underlying skeleton, or code as it's called, is open for anybody's inspection. Anybody who thinks there's something wrong with it can have a look at the code and if need be, suggest changes that will better the OS for all who use it.

You may be asking why this long preamble? Well because as a youth of this dear country of ours, I always get headaches, heartaches, fever, high blood pressure among others anytime the senior high school placement- you know, that piece of algorithm that supposedly auto selects which school to place every junior high school student- system kicks in every year. To the best of my understanding Madam, that system was put in place to curb the annual frustrations that hard working, tax paying parents of this country go through every year in getting their wards placed in high schools.

That old system we were told- and we agree- was fraught with irregularities, corruption among others thus the need for a computerized system that does all the placements automatically, without any human intervention. Wow, that was an awesome idea for a country that still is technophobe at the government level. Until the computerized system became worse than the old system. You're a witness to it Madam, year in year out, parents keep going through untold agonies because the so called computerized system that we were told could not be comprised, is not doing what it was intended to. Far from it.

We, and by we, I mean myself and like minded youth like me, don't have any evidence to suggest the computerized selection and school placement system has been compromised. However, what we are humbly demanding as a matter of urgency and desperation is for the system, the entire piece of software that makes up the CSSPS be open sourced. We want the government of the Republic of Ghana to make the code of the CSSPS available as an open source project for anybody to be a watchdog over it.

We want to be able to see what the code looks like, keep an eye on it so no single entity has complete control over it. We don't know who the government did contract to write that software, but as tax payers, and as a democratic country that prides itself on the tenets of transparency, we the youth of this country want to be vanguards of the code that has been the cause of so much controversy in our educational system for sometime now.

You may be wondering what's there to gain by open sourcing the code right? Well for starters the government won't need to spend hard cash in paying whoever it contracted to write that code. Me, him, they, us and everybody around the globe can be a maintainer of that code once it goes open source. We save money which can be used elsewhere. Secondly all doubts will be cleared and trust restored in the system. You know for sure parents have lost trust in the entire selection and placement process. They strongly believe the system is corrupted. And what's there to stop them from believing that when only a select few know what the code is like and have access to it?

Third, we can be a model for other African countries when we open source the code. They can look at it, adapt it to their needs and then on we move as Africa. To give you an example of what open source can do, take a look at that massive, 800lbs gorilla called Google. Yea. That company whose annual revenues is almost equal to our GDP runs on open source. It's a central, necessary part of that company. It's Android OS is a prime example of the power of making code available to all and sundry.

I could go on and on about the benefits of open sourcing the CSSPS. But I know you're hard pressed for time so I'm just going to end here. Just a recap Madam, we're asking that the gov takes the CSSPS project and make it available as open source so the entire nation can be vanguards of the process and we assure you that the entire hiccups that have become a necessary annual ritual and characteristic of this school selection and placement exercise will be a thing of the past in no time.

This is my first mail to you Madam, but you can bet it won't be last. We're waiting to hear from you.

3 iPhone Apps That Make Divorce Much Easier

2011-11-01T11:42:00.001Z

Modern-day technology can be of great help when it comes to getting a divorce. The divorce process is not only painful but also quite senseless at times, with people struggling to understand it, and that’s where phone apps come in. Fortunately, Ipod Touch and iPhone users dispose of a number of apps, which are sure to assist in terms of learning new things about the process of divorce.

Cost of divorce
One app worth mentioning is the Cost and Prep App. This app will tell you how much money you will probably end up spending on the divorce, as well as what kind of information you need to have. This can be very helpful because we usually end up spending a lot more than we planned, which is a cause of stress on top of divorce being an extremely stressful event in life as it is. So, this app offers two advantages – you spend less money than you otherwise would, and you face a lower degree of stress.

An app within the one mentioned above, which is called Divorce Cost Estimate, is what helps you establish the costs and differentiate between soft and hard costs. Hard costs are those that can be measured in exact dollar amounts, while soft costs are more subjective – they involve the impact on you personally.

Another feature of this app, Divorce Preparation, gives information on the type of documents you need to get and at which time. You will be told when to file, which documents can be printed off a web site and which cannot.

Estate division
A second useful app for divorcees-to-be is the so-called Estate Divider App. This app is like a calculator in that you can enter the cost of your assets and liabilities depending on how much each of you own and owe. Then you can divide these costs and values based on the percentage of your choice. This app can also give you the values of the alimony, the respective amount in taxes, and whether either of you will be liable for any kind of tax advantages or deductions by structuring and adjusting the alimony payments. The app also lets you email the estate division to your soon-to-be-ex, if you are no longer on speaking terms, and wait for their reply.

Divorce goals
Another option, this one for men only, is the Divorce Source. This app comes with two helpful books on divorce. One feature of the app, Divorce Goals Assistant, lets you set your divorce goals. This includes issues like child custody, division of assets, establishing the divorce cost and more. You can email these to your future ex and your divorce attorney. The app also features access to thousands of family law articles, answers to common and not-so-common questions, and a Family Law Reference Section. The app allows you to find divorce attorneys near you, email stories or share stories on Facebook and more. This app can be used by iPhone and iPad users. Having said all this, do not rely on apps only. Divorce is a very complicated process.

Melissa Dean writes about , Credit Cards in Credit Cards Canada

4G – A Brief Discussion Of Its Usefulness

2011-10-31T16:57:00.000Z

The first question that comes to mind for a person with a completely nontechnical background is ‘what is 4G?’ There have been several levels of up-gradation you have seen in the mobile phones available in the market since it was launched. The variations have been available not only in the designs and looks of the phones but also in the engineering and technology with which they are made. This has initiated various changes in their features and functionalities.

The earliest mobile phones were black and white with no cameras and color options or even the same for ringtone and caller tune downloads. With time there were successive launches of newer phones that brought in newer features and uses of technology. In the sphere of telecommunications there are several standards that have been laid down; 4G refers to the fourth level of mobile phone technology standards.

Before the initiation of 4G there were phones that were based on the 2G and 3G standards of telecommunication technology. In each of the previous launches there have been a few aspects which were specialty areas of functions for the particular technology. In this case it was declared that in many years after the initialization of mobile phone technology there would be freedom of usage; this means that you will not experience call drops and network related problems any more. There is a high speed access within these phones and which also means that you can say hello from a moving train and a fast moving car as well.

With a 4G system there is an all in one service available through your Smartphone devices. You can also look forward to IP based mobile broadband service with wireless modems of laptop computers as well as other mobile computing and communication devices like tablets. Typical features will include ultra-broadband through internet access, IP telephony, streaming of audio and video and gaming application services.

A practical understanding of the features that you can enjoy with this standard of the technological advance is a high range of megapixel in cameras that will be available with these devices. There is a greater clarity and resolution of video shoots capacitated within the devices which also includes video calling features in the phones.

4G devices are also enabled with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capacity which makes internet access easier and faster. There is a lightning speed at which access is enabled along with faster downloads and software installations through online resources. Chief objectives of this technological approach have also been the capacity to fulfill personalization of the device to suit one’s needs.

There is a greater adaptability with different software applications which are enabled through the device for various work related and entertainment objectives. It makes for easy access and multimedia support at cost-effective prices. A modern range of smartphones makes it easier to access the internet with features of scanning and email or fax from the devices.

With 4G network you are ensured with of quicker access to the internet that will support a wide range of your work even when you are on the move.

6 Cool Video Streaming Apps for Your Android Device

2011-10-31T09:06:00.000Z

Android Smart phones are increasingly popular because of their plethora of features and reasonable pricing. One of the best things about them is the variety and quality of the available apps, many of which are developed by the same folk who create apps for the Apple App Store. Video streaming apps are well-represented on Android, and have had a bit of a boom in recent months.

The relatively large high-resolution screens and powerful processors used by many Android Smart phones make them excellent devices for video streaming on-the-go. It's likely that in the near future we'll see more and more apps and video streaming services especially for Android devices. Yet until then, check the following already existing apps.

·TV.com

One of the best live TV streaming websites on the web, TV.com lets you watch your favorite channels either through Wi-Fi or through your phone network. With TV.com you can watch many TV channels live on your Android device, including CBS news, Showtime, and CNET. The app is free.

·Netflix

One of the most important video streaming services on the web, providing tons of full-length movies as well as recent TV shows, Netflix features a free Android app. To enjoy video content with it you first need to subscribe to the service. Although a great app for streaming, Netflix gets thumbs down for being a big eater of resources. The streaming quality, however, is flawless.

eHow Mobile

The popular 'How to' website's DYI video guides are now available on your Android device. With eHow Mobile you can watch the best 'how to' videos on the website, read top rated articles, and play with a few extra features. The app is good to have for all of its features, but it's especially notable for streaming videos. The app gets a thumb up for working flawlessly with Android Smart phones.

Howcast.com

An alternative to eHow, Howcast provides many how to videos, some of which are not only informative, but also downright hilarious. The app works well with Android, and it's quite fun to use, especially when you explore the available videos. Provided that you have a decent Internet connection, Howcast is well worth checking.

TScinema

If memory space prevents you from carrying all your videos with you on the your Android phone all the time, then you'll appreciate TScinema. This free app enables you to view videos not stored in your phone's memory, after first uploading them online. Supporting many formats, and boasting a sleek user interface, TScinema is a must-check app.

Vevo

The list ends with possible the best music video streaming app for Android currently available: Vevo. The splendid UI, which has been clearly optimized for the small screen of mobile devices, as well as the perfect streaming make the app a must-have. It runs best with the latest version of Android OS.

The list is by no means exhaustive, many other cool apps being available through the Android Marketplace. However, the apps listed here have all been tested on Android Smart phones and they provide a flawless or almost flawless video streaming on-the-go.

Calvin Scott is smitten by gadgets and etches to buy one as soon as it’s introduced in the marketplace. He has one room dedicated to all the interesting and unique gadgets at his home. Visit his site for internet and mobiel internet.

5 Reasons to Learn a Programming Language

2011-10-30T02:25:00.001Z

At this point in time, there are many programming languages that you can learn and, doubtless, there will be many more such languages devised in the future. There was a time when C was the only well structured and popular programming language around and it is still being extensively used. In fact, many people regard it as the skeleton on which many modern programming languages have been designed.

The first major advantage of knowing a programming language is that you will be able to understand the mentality of a development team. Programming is never an easy job and if you know something about it, you will get to make the optimum use of your development team. They will stop regarding you as a pain in the neck and regard you as a useful resource in implementing their project objectives.

The second major advantage of learning a programming language is that you will find that a good problem-solving approach can be a great help in good programming. A really good programmer takes a problem and divides it into a number of small pieces for each one of which he will try and find an elegant solution. You do not need to be a great programmer but you can certainly understand what makes a good programmer tick. Once you have understood the programming mindset, you can evolve some really great strategies for any project that you undertake.

In any project that involves Search Engine Optimisation, you will need to collect and tackle lots of numbers. If you bothered to learn a little about scripting languages, you can access Application Programming Interfaces (API) by yourself and collect all your data from one conveniently accessible space. You can then evolve any kind of marketing strategy that you choose. For instance, you can make use of Google Spreadsheets and use their App Script.

Again, in the SEO business, you would probably be working closely with development teams that include software developers and Web designers. These people will routinely try and give you a run around including a number of reasons for shooting down what you want. If you know a little bit about programming, you'll be able to see through all this because you'll have a clear idea of what is possible and what is not possible with your Web site project.

If you know what you are doing, you would be treated with respect instead of triggering defensive responses from your development team. You may even be able to suggest a possible solution to the problems (couched in the most diplomatic terms of cause) and accept their estimates and schedules without ridiculing them.

You should note that for many people, HTML does not really count as a programming language and you might want to learn other more useful languages such as Python or SQL (Structured Query Language). Learning SQL, for instance, can be a great deal of help whether you're handling simple search queries or complicated content management systems. It doesn't help to argue with your project development team but it certainly can help if you demonstrate an understanding of their problems and contribute to possible solutions.

Many of us take the time to learn new skills, but do we take the time to learn about the people who surround us? Use background check services and surround yourself with good people.

Secure Boot and your choice for Linux

2011-10-28T17:08:00.000Z

Canonical, the parent company of Ubuntu together with Red Hat, have weighed into the controversy surrounding the so called Secure Boot setup that requires OEMs to lock down your BIOS allowing only "approved" software to boot from it. This is of course being pushed by Microsoft.

The two companies today issued a white paper that seeks to educate Linux users about what the Secure Boot is and what it means for them. The paper also makes recommendations as to how to implement the Secure Boot to achieve its original goal of prevent security breaches while maintaining user freedom at the same time.

Any new Windows 8 PC will have Secure Boot switched “ON” when it leaves the shop and will be able to boot Microsoft approved software only. However, you will most likely find that your new PC has no option for you to add your own list of approved software. So to install Linux (or any other operating system), you will need to turn Secure Boot “OFF”...This is why we recommend that systems manufacturers include a mechanism for configuring your own list of approved software. This will allow you to run Windows 8 and Linux at the same time in your PC with Secure Boot “ON”. This should also include you being able to try new software from a USB stick or DVD.

This goes without say about the real motive behind why Microsoft is actively pushing for the Secure Boot. With a lot of people happily conceding ownership of their devices to the very manufacturers they bought the device from, a lot of education needs to be undertaken by Free Software companies to create awareness about the danger of this move.

[VIDEO] Nokia N900 portable brain scanner

2011-10-27T10:15:00.000Z

Looks like the venerable Nokia N900 phone should not be written off just yet. It's now being used as a portable brain scanner.

Arek Stopczynski from Technical University of Denmark talks us through this innovative breakthrough product that works by connecting a commercially available wireless 14-channel EEG headset to a Nokia N900 smartph one.