10 Desirable features in Ubuntu

Ubuntu is no doubt a fabulous Linux distribution. And it is gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds - thanks to Mark Shuttleworth and his team at Canonical. As an end user, what would you like to see in Ubuntu which would tempt you to ditch your current OS and embrace Ubuntu with gusto ?

Kumail Hunaid has a wonderful post describing what he feels are the 10 things the developers should include in the future releases of Ubuntu. The intelligent icons and the icons that talk do look rather enticing. Incidentally, Kumail is also the co-developer of Xenon - a web based operating system (still in alpha stage) designed with netbook users in mind.

Musings from Search Masters 2009 Conference at Google

The Google SearchMasters' 09 conference was held in Bangalore on 28th February 2009. I was one of its attendees, rubbing shoulders with an eclectic group comprising of webmasters, SEO experts, online marketers, entrepreneurs and bloggers from across India. The conference was worth the time and effort I spent to reach the venue - The Google Office at Benniganahalli - around 11 odd kilometers from the Bangalore Kempegowda Bus Station.

The Google India team rolled out the SearchMasters 2009 conference to introduce the web masters to the various tools developed by Google which can help enhance their respective web sites and make them more friendly to search engines. The conference also included talks on best SEO practices, building mobile friendly websites and a hands on session on two select websites providing tips on how to make them more search friendly. Earlier I had written about the Google Bus aimed at bringing Internet to the masses. This was a similar event albeit targeted at webmasters, SEO experts and bloggers.

Here is a run down on the speakers and the talks they gave at the conference.

Vivaik Bharadwaaj who is manager of the Search Quality Evaluation team in India and Korea kick started the event by giving the welcome address.

Then the stage was taken over by Adam Lasnik. Adam is considered Google's first Search Evangelist. He talked on the various search engine optimization techniques that webmasters can use to make their sites more search friendly. Specifically, he mentioned ways in which you can use the freely available Google Webmaster central tools to boost your website traffic.

Then after a brief respite, Koti Ivaturi who is a Strategist at the Search Quality team at Google introduced the audience to the Google Webmaster Help Forum where, you can post queries regarding the problems you face with your website, and participate in the discussion.

Adam Lasnik later selected two websites at random from the audience and went on to give his views on what could be wrong with these websites and how to rectify their anomalies. By the time he finished the hands-on session, it was time for Lunch (Buffet). And as with all things Google, Lunch was exceptionally good with a plethora of side dishes, salads, fresh fruits, sweets and what not.

Post lunch, Dr Rajat Mukherjee introduced the audience to Google custom search. Dr Rajat is a group product manager at Google working on the Google custom search platform. An alumni of IIT madras, he has worked with Yahoo, IBM and Verity before joining Google. He talked on how Google custom search can be effectively leveraged in various ways by bloggers, web masters, non-profit websites, syndication partners, governments, application developers and search enabled applications.

Ankit Gupta - a graduate from IIT Delhi, now working at Google, conducted a really informative session on building mobile friendly websites.

The last talk was by Deepak Kumar who introduced the Google Analytics and website optimizer to the audience. He explained in some depth the different features of Google Analytics and how it can be used to track goals.

The closing note by Adam Lasnik involved a question and answer session which gave the participants a chance to win some prizes - Courtesy Google.

All in all, the day long Google SearchMasters 2009 conference was very informative and every bit enjoyable.

GMail has gone down (and it seems I lost some setting...)

It's sort of a news I won't tell you anything new because all of the world is talking about this: GMail has been down for hours and Google hasn't (yet) given any explanation about the service outage. The thing that drives me crazy it's that it seems I lost the labels' configuration: they all reset their color to that pale yellow they had before customizing (each of) them.

Yes, it's not that bad: I could have lost data, who knows... and it wouldn't be the first time for it to happen with GMail. But these little details throw a shadow about the reliability of a service I'm running without any concern or doubt about its stability. I'm acting as if I thought it was absolutely bullet-proof. I do no gmail backup and never store a copy of my emails in any of the computers I use. I don't even backup my contacts or calendar details.

My fault, I admit, but Google service quality and ubiquity made me accustom to them: I know they're there, when I want, wherever I want, whichever device I could be using.

Should think about that very famous beta tag and value my personal data for what they're worth.

Edit on 02/25/2009: Today I opened the browser and discovered that the settings made their way back into my account! Google accustomed us to high levels of service and we tend to magnify the importance of every problem, even though taking into account the critical importance these services have for the tenths of thousands of users that every day log in in Google servers. If I paid for it, I would expect something more from it, especially in terms of post-mortem diagnosis and explanations from Google. Today, I still don't know what happened yesterday to GMail.

Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 Lenny Released

A new release of Debian GNU/Linux namely version 5.0 aka Lenny has happened. The previous release version 4.0 code named Debian Etch was made 22 months ago that is 2 months short of 2 years. Debian is infamous for its long release dates. For example, a transition from Woody to Sarge took a whooping 35 months to happen. Though Sarge to Etch happened in a mere 22 months. But compared to some of Microsoft Windows releases, this time duration can be considered to be fair play. Having said that, Debian is widely respected for rolling out a robust and secure GNU/Linux distribution that supports a broad machine architecture. And the latest official stable release "Lenny" is no different.

Debian Lenny doesn't come bundled with the latest versions of software. For instance, you will not find OpenOffice.org ver 3.0 in it's repositories. And KDE is still at ver 3.5.10, and GNOME at 2.22. But you can rest assured that what you have is a rock solid Linux distribution which will never roll over and die on you.

For the very first time, Debian has rolled out a Live system which you can try without installing it on your computer's hard disk. It is made available as a Live CD, on USB Sticks, or via netboot.

Debian GNU/Linux version 5.0 (Lenny) can be downloaded at Debian.org.

TuxRadar has published an indepth review of Debian Lenny dwelling on its pros and cons. The site also carries an interview with Steve McIntyre, the Debian Project Leader providing us more insight behind the new Debian release.

A fun game for movie buffs who happen to use Linux

With the Oscar fever running high, there is towering expectations all around for all the Oscar nominees. So it was only a matter of time before someone jumped into the fray and created a game featuring all the movies, directors and actors nominated for the Oscar award. The beauty of the game is that it is played exclusively in YouTube - the popular video sharing site of Google.

The game titled "2009 Oscar Interactive Photo Hunt" is simple to play. You will be shown two nearly identical photos (there is just one subtle difference) of the people and movie stills associated with the Oscar Awards and you have to find the difference between the two images. You get 30 seconds to spot the difference and click on it. Once you click on the part you feel is different, you are taken to another YouTube video depending upon whether it is the correct answer or not.

There is only one rule... No pausing of the video at any stage is allowed. There are 30 levels in the game. The first 14 levels are quite easy. But from the 15th level, the solution gets more and more elusive. A fabulous idea, great game surrounding the Oscar theme and intelligent use of a popular free service. The game has been developed by DailyFill.com. To start playing the game, watch the following video and do as you are directed.

If you are unable to watch the preceding YouTube video, in all probability you do not have Flash player plugin installed on your machine. Read the following article to install flash player plugin in Linux.

Google's Bus to Internet Nirvana launched in Tamil Nadu

Google India has launched what is being dubbed the Google Bus. It is a specially furnished bus with Internet connectivity, which will be touring different towns in Tamil Nadu - a state of India. The aim of the bus is to introduce, inspire and educate the general populace on the power of the Internet and how it can benefit common people.

Seeking to attract more people on the information superhighway, the bus will be touring 15 towns in Tamil Nadu over a span of 45 days. India is projected to have Internet connectivity of around 20 million by the year 2010. And perhaps, the Google bus is Google's way of ensuring it gets to garner maximum portion of this pie. Google is providing updates of the bus trip at the specially set up The Internet Bus Project web page.

Do you pay for the services you use?

And here the word service could mean everything: from software, to music.

This usually start with a dialogue like this:
Somebody: "Use Word. Now!"
Me: "I haven't got a license for Microsoft Word"
S: "I can burn you a DVD"
Me: "Still, I wouldn't have a license for Microsoft Word"

You can change "Word" with whatever you like, I'm sure most of the PC you're using are stacked up with mp3 or software you haven't paid for, even if you should.

I made a living out of programming, that's why I'm more sensitive about software than other things, but the point is the same. A world is really free if somebody wants to be paid for the work he's done. Period.

Don't flame me before reading on. I'm always been a supporter of free software and I couldn't even imagine a world without it! My workstation wouldn't even have an OS installed, in that case. Myself, I gave for free many of the things I've done. But in those case, it was me who wanted that software to be free. Paying for commercial software not only is an obligation; it's also an act of respect and appreciation towards people who worked for that piece of software to be as good for you. You chose it and you paid for it, there's some reason why.

In a world without free software, I wouldn't approve the use of unlicensed software either. But in a world full of alternatives, I cannot understand why some people simply ignore alternatives and stick with illegally hijacking software. On one hand, you're performing an illicity; on the other hand you're also damaging the community you could be member of if you only chose a free software that fitted your needs. Being an user is one of the most valuable ways you can contribute to the community: you could give impressions, spread the software, write documentation and, obviously, report bugs.

A few examples (if you still need them...)

Did you know that you can probably use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office? Sure, they're not the same thing. But I'm sure that OpenOffice is as much as suitable as Microsoft Office, for the average user. Are you using some complex Visual Basic macro? Are you developing programs using automation? Probably no... And even if you were, OpenOffice could probably be the tool for you. As far as it concerns my own experience, the typical user uses just a small percentage of Microsoft Office functionality. Just the small percentage that made notice no difference, if you just switched.

Or maybe you're burning your CDs and DVDs using some commercial application, while you could use some valid free alternatives.

They're plenty of examples, right there in your PCs.

Music is the same

I always respected every form of art. It's the product of someone else's talent you're glad to enjoy. But many aren't glad to pay for it. Why? I really don't know.

The typical vicious circle I detect is the following reasoning: "CDs are expensive and average low quality (artistically speaking)... That's why I don't pay for them. Producers are losing money so prices continue to rise." Well, who's the guilty? That's an
infinite loop. I just think that, if I like something and I can afford it, I buy it. That's just the compensation I deserve for my own work, why shouldn't I pay for somebody else's? If you don't like it, don't buy it, that's freedom (of choice, too). But why stealing something you don't like?

Another reasoning is driven by envy: "I'm not paying twenty bucks to an incredibly rich guy that could live without them for the following two hundred years." So what? If you like it, that's something good into it, isn't it? And if he's rich, well... in part it could be part of the game (he's a rock star while you're not), in part could a bit of luck (maybe you're as skilled as him, but your glory days hasn't come, yet), in part it could simply be that he deserves the millions he earns, while you don't. It tastes bitter, probably, but those are the rules.

What happens if you don't pay?

Maybe nothing. Maybe a disaster. I can't think about Bruce Springsteen going flat broke because I'm not paying his last CD. Whenever I buy a CD of his, after an usually long and difficult wait, I really feel good! I'm happy that there are some Springsteen or McKennitt out there writing the music I like. That's their job and they earn their livings with it. I have no problem with that. I couldn't even imagine a young Springsteen trying to make his way into 2009 hit parade and giving it up because he's not earning what he expects. Or a Bill Joy opening a restaurant instead of writing software because software is something to steal, and not to pay for.

Shivering? You shouldn't. If you, like I do, wake up every morning and go to an office, you do it because you like it, maybe, but because they pay you for it, too. And you're probably striving to get better conditions or higher responsibility. Every day. Why? Because you think you deserve it.

That's the real point. Don't steal, just choose. And give a reward to somebody who deserves it.