Today, Adobe released 64-bit Flash for Linux. Finally, I can waste time watching ugly, pixelated Internet video on my 64-bit Linux desktop and laptop, just like all of my 32-bit-confined brothers and sisters on the Internet! (Yes, I know about npviewer---let's not go there.)
What's really interesting is that this is Adobe's first 64-bit release of Flash. That is, Linux users got it first, before users of Windows Vista x64 and and MacOS X. It probably does not mean anything, especially since Adobe has mentioned 64-bit flash will be released at the same time across platforms, but you can't help but feel good inside.
Go download it now and remember to report good bugs.
Update: Some quick notes...
This summer I fell in love with Starbuck's Vivanno, their high-protein, high-fiber smoothie beverage. My signature drink: a banana-chocolate Vivanno, one espresso shot, with non-fat milk. Because I was going there so often, and because the new Starbucks and AT&T partnership gave 2 hours free WiFi a day, I started buying things through a free Starbucks Card (essentially a prepaid, reloadable gift card).
Apparently, I went to Starbucks more than I thought. A few weeks ago, Starbucks invited me to be part of their Starbucks Gold program. The program provides a special card, which is quite pretty: the back is standard glossy card fare, but the front is a black matte with gold embossed logo.
Starbucks started this program earlier this summer, and they've been tweaking the benefits. The benefits my card comes with (as says the flyer that came with it):
Unfortunately, this comes at a price. It has a membership fee of $25/yr--only the hardcore Starbucks coffee drinkers (which isn't me) need apply. Also, supposedly, the card does not provide any of the Starbucks Card Rewards, such as the free WiFi, or free milk and syrup options. So far, I'm going to pass on the program, and continue using my old Starbucks Card. But I will keep the pretty-looking card.
Correction: My beta invite entitles me to the Starbucks Gold membership for free. Funny this not indicated anywhere. Also, even though the fine print says Starbucks Card Rewards do not apply, the Starbucks Gold program portal implies that WiFi is an included reward, and it does appear to work...
Update: Now that the Starbucks Gold membership has officially launched for the general public, you can get a description of the benefits in-store. With the Starbucks Gold card, you do not get all the Starbucks Card Rewards--that is, no free syrups, milk or whipped cream, refills on drip coffee, or free tall drink with purchase of whole bean coffee. However, as I mentioned, you do get WiFi.
Rob Pegoraro of the Washington post writes Don't Buy a Mac Laptop. When you click through the article, you see the the subtext, "Before the 14th." Rob is referring to an Apple's announcement stating they'd be refreshing their laptop lineup next Tuesday, October 14th, 2008.
I'm going to avoid commenting too much on why I think this is bad journalism, and how I expect more from someone associated with the Washington Post (even if it is a blog). If the point was to be sensationalist and grab my attention, it did do that, though.
Instead, I'll go into how it's misleading... Supposedly, with the laptop refresh, Apple will be introducing a new manufacturing process where components are carved from aluminum. The new MacBook model is supposed to be called the "Brick." That's great and all, but I feel as if I need to remind people that first-generation Apple products are always littered with problems. I remember when the PowerBook G4 was released, I'd be able to press down on the palm wrest and scrape along a CD in the fancy new slot-loading drive, while it was spinning. I passed on the PowerBook and bought a Sony VAIO PCG-Z505 instead.
So... before jumping the gun as soon as the new MacBook is released, you may want to wait till it's known that Apple has all the kinks of their manufacturing process worked out. It may be a while.
Dell Ideastorm is a Dell-run website where users can post and vote (anonymously) for ideas for Dell products. What's the number one thing people want...?
People want Linux on their Dell machines. Remember to click the "promote" icon and make your vote count.
I'm a T-Mobile Hotspot subscriber, but I cannot say I'm particularly happy with it. Reliability is in general pretty good, but there have been a few times a certain hotspot has been flaky, and these tend to be the times I needed access the most. It's also a pain to have to go somewhere to get Internet access, especially when, for example, I don't like Starbuck's coffee. I rather have the Internet come to me.
Enter EVDO. It's a 3rd generation cellular technology that allows for broadband-like speeds, typically almost everywhere you have a cellular phone signal. There are different speeds depending on what network is available in a particular location:
All three types of networks are available can be found in the United States, and a typical provider's access plan lets you roam between them anywhere in the country for free.
Access comes through a provider-specific modem (i.e. you cannot use one provider's modem with another provider). These usually are PCMCIA cards, reminiscent of the 802.11b network cards people used before WiFi was built-into notebook computers. Connection to a provider usually is provided through PPP software. Most the modems available on the market today are a little oddball: they expose a USB controller, which then exposes a USB serial interface which controls a virtual modem. Yes, it's strange, especially when these devices aren't actually modems (there is no MOdulation or DEModulation taking place, the devices are more “network bridges”), but thankfully it allows these devices to easily work with alternative operating systems like Linux and MacOS X.
In the USA, there are essentially three major EVDO providers: Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and Alltell, with Sprint and Verizon having the largest networks by far. What differentiates the Sprint and Verizon, I think, is pricing and policies. If you do not want to sign a contract, both providers cost the same. If you want to sign a contract for 2 yrs, you only get a discount rate with Verizon if you've a qualifying voice plan—Sprint has no such limitation to get a discounted rate.
Verizon does a bit of questionable marketing: they advertise their service as “unlimited,” but they pull a trick often used in contract writing and specifically define “unlimited” as 5 GB/month. If you go over this limit, you're breaking Verizon's terms of service. Verizon often cancels subscribers accounts, and assumes you are a criminal, downloading illegal music or software. An article in the Washington Post, Bandwidth Bandit, discusses about one subscriber's woes. Their terms of service disallows many popular Internet applications as well, such as VoIP, video conferencing, or any online gaming. Sprint's terms of service are more vague and do not explicitly disallow these things, but reports from their subscribers say that they don't have unreasonably low bandwidth limits nor have draconian policy enforcement assuming you guilty until proven innocent.
This wouldn't be a good summary without me discussing what new bleeding-edge technology was right around the corner. EVDO Rev B, allowing for at least 4.9 Mbps/1.8 Mbps speeds, has been deployed in a few places in Asia, but given how backward North America tends to be in technology adoption, won't be in the United States anytime soon. WiMAX, a 4th generation cellular technology allowing for speeds of at least 10 Mbps, will probably take the place of EVDO. Sprint is the only major provider dedicated to building a WiMAX network, with plans to begin deployment at the end of 2007.
Some external links with good information:
Lenovo, the company that bought IBM's personal computer division, including the Thinkpad brand, has decided to no longer support Linux on their computer products.
I do not see how the customer benefits from this, because Lenovo is effectively offering its customers less choice. Supporting Linux tends to not cost anything up front and instead affects design decisions, decisions that lead to a better, more high-quality product. It is not as if much was spent on marketing Linux offerings, either.
This move is probably to appease Microsoft, who almost surely offers Lenovo discount Windows licenses for shunning Linux. This will improve Lenovo's bottom line, but will not give the consumer any more quality, any more service or support, and probably no change in price.
Of course, not supporting Linux has never stopped people from trying to run it anyway. But, think of it as a sign of things to come. No longer having any inclination to support Linux means that in the future they can go with completely proprietary components. Proprietary components that won't work in Linux, and are almost universally more unstable and buggy, on Windows and Linux, than their non-proprietary counterparts.
So, I'm calling this the beginning of the end of the ThinkPad's legendary quality. Smart move Lenovo.
I am making a personal effort to avoid using Google lately. If you've talked to me lately, you know why--and to be polite I'm going to keep my psychotic ranting and hating off my weblog. So, other than Google, what is there?
If you can remember the 90s, Alta Vista was the search engine that was all the rage. In my opinion, Alta Vista's peak was when they were owned by Digital Computer Corporation, but it all went downhill when they split off into their own company during the dot-com boom of the late 90s. Today, Alta Vista clearly shows signs of neglect, and is not a very good search engine...
If you pay attention to the news, you'd know that Google does not like MSN Search very much: so much so that Google is suing Microsoft over search engine placement in Internet Explorer 7. I'm not so sure what Google is worried about, because if you use MSN Search for a while, you realize it's not very good and doesn't hold a candle to Google's search results.
However, Microsoft's "beta" search engine, Windows Live, is a different story. If Microsoft replaces MSN Search with the technology powering Windows Live, Google better start getting worried. Search results are a little bit more broad than Google, but still remain concise and accurate. Windows Live, however, has a totally horrible UI. It's awful! It's the definition of when you go overkill with AJAX and DHTML. Besides being slow, it does not work too well with Mozilla Firefox, and my personal pet peeve: it uses low-contrast greys and blues in its design, so it can be a strain to read anything.
Fortunately, you're not forced to use Windows Live's interface, because there a few partners using their search results. Amazon's A9 search engine now fetches results from Windows Live, and its UI is great. For some hard-to-quantify reason I like its UI more than Google's.
Last but not least is Alltheweb. Bought by Yahoo a few years ago, Alltheweb has always delivered great search results, but was too little to be really compete with the big boys. Being small, they've had some interesting innovative features, such as custom CSS for those who want to customize how their search results look.
Yahoo is continuing the the tradition, especially with Alltheweb's Livesearch. Unlike Windows Live, Alltheweb's Livesearch uses AJAX in quite a slick way, providing a unique search UI that is focused on providing suggestions, similar to Google Suggest, but better.
So, what do I use for my Google-free web searching? Mostly, Amazon's A9, as well as Alltheweb when I feel like it.
Samat Jain is co-founder of a web services company based in his hometown, Rhombic Networks, LLC, where he currently serves as CTO, system administrator, and programmer.
If you like his site, please leave a comment on your favorite posting, or contact Samat and let him know!