2
I’m not getting a Zune because I use linux (a true pointless rant)
Today I was talking to Trevor and something dawned on me… I’m not buying a new Microsoft Zune because I use linux(Ubuntu). Years ago I bought one of the first generation 30gb Zune’s and it has served me well, until 2 years ago when I fully switched over to Linux. I tried to make it work with linux, I really did! I loaded up a VM with my old XP Pro installation and hooked up my media library to it (via shared folders), and this worked for a little while, but as time progressed something started to happen. The months rolled on an soon I realized that I wasn’t booting into this virtual machine I had built to sync my library…podcasts…vodcasts…all the changing media that I used to listen to was being left behind(well atleast as far as the Zune was concerned). Now I wasn’t any less up to date with the information that was contained in the media that I wasn’t syncing with the Zune, I just wasn’t using the Zune. Now I’m not sure if it was the extra step of firing up another operating system or if it was the hassle of trying to get USB to pass through to the VM, but I discovered something…..
25
On Android’s Market Share
Ever since Android was announced by Google a while back, Linux geeks everywhere have been hoping it would take a chunk out of the iPhone market. Though Android hasn’t really taken off as expected, hopes have been renewed recently with projections that the mobile OS would outpace the iPhone in the next year or two, especially with an armada of new phones intending to run it out of the box.
Personally, I doubt that Android will really dent the iPhone market. That’s not to say I don’t think it won’t be popular, I just think it will cut into a different mobile OS: Windows Mobile. Android and the iPhone do not really compete in the same arenas. The iPhone is a high-performance device with some core (limited) functionality. Android, however, is more of an all-purpose OS, as demonstrated by the diversity of hardware it can run on. To date, the all-purpose mobile OS has been Windows Mobile. In fact, it’s so all-purpose that the mobile checkout devices used by sales reps in Apple Stores run Windows Mobile.
As Android takes off, I’m guessing that Windows Mobile’s days are numbered. I haven’t heard anything about it in some time, and media share sometimes counts for more than market share. After all, if you looked around, would you guess that only 1 in 10 people use a Mac?
7
Setting up for Python development in Ubuntu
I’ve been working on a Python graphics library and trying to do some development in Ubuntu. It wasn’t going well, and most of the development took place on Windows XP. Much of the difficulty in Ubuntu was trying to make Python see the library as an installed library. To do that in Windows, I merely put the code in C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\balthasar, but trying to do the equivalent in Ubuntu with the dist-packages folder was a mess and, I gathered, a really bad idea altogether.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to edit the .bashrc file in Ubuntu to add a home directory folder to Python’s search path. read more
26
Podcast Episode #6 – Way behind Schedule
Well we are extremely behind in recording these. I hope to get caught up at some point.
Here’s some of what we talked about…
- Topics
- Win 7 RC – is it worth getting hyped up for, windows mobile sweetness – gAlarm
- Agile/processes – New toys (Macbook Pro, Nokia BH-503), boxee
- OS X Java Vulnerability
- IT Conversations (Stackoverflow)
5
Windows 7 RC – It’s Here for a Year!
For all you Windows fans out there sink your teeth into this. Windows 7 Beta, Build 7000, has been replaced with the Release Candidate (RC), Build 7100. The newly updated RC build will be in-service without interruption until March 1, 2010. The RC will continue to function until June 1, 2010 but will shut your PC down every 2 hours. read more
23
How to get a Sansa Clip working with Rhythmbox in Ubuntu
So I got me an 8gb Sansa Clip from Walmart the other day for $50. Yeah I know pretty decent deal for an 8gb. Anyway I was trying to get it to work with Rhythmbox, and I was having some trouble but then I ran across this post on Ubuntu Forums.
So apparently all you have to do in order to get the player to show up in Rhythmbox is to add a file called “.is_audio_player” in the root directory of the Sansa MP3 player.
2
Episode #4 – A Day Late and a Dollar Short
Yeah we’re burnt out, tired, failing classes but we’re podcasting for you! Just for your enjoyment! Because we love you all!
- News
- Stock market 12 year low?
- MS wipes winmo 6.5 from stolen phone – engadget.com
- Windows 7 to Kill Quicktime ? techradar.com
- Google joins European Union in antitrust case for IE in windows tech.slashdot.org
- Gamer Skin disease idle.slashdot.org
- Topics/Rants
- Management Woes/Rewards
- Will there ever be a “Perfect” OS?
- College burnout How to remedy?
