UBO's Top Websites/Services of 2012

Category: Techtoday

With the coming end of the year, it's only appropriate to finally release UBO's top websites/services of 2012. In no particular order, the sites on this list are:

1. BBC News Service
2. Ars Technica
3. Skydrive/Outlook
4. Amazon.com
5. Blogger.com

BBC News Service

Despite the recent scandal that rocked the hallowed halls of BBC, BBC's online service still beats out the Times, China Daily, MSNBC, Channel News Asia, and CNN. Their coverage of Latin America, Asia, and U.S. events is impressive and thorough. They also break down the economic events that have brought the downfall of the EU and the Euro for non-economists like me with a glossary of terms and a map of events. I've already praised BBC's exceptional library of podcasts in a different blog entry, but I'd like to throw in the ring their underrated BBC radio, which even has entertaining audiobooks running 24/7. What really impresses me with BBC, however, is that they don't charge readers despite their consistent and balanced content.

Ars Technica

PCWorld is nothing more than a facade for online stores with embarrassing articles such as those written by their sole "Linux" correspondent who only repeats whatever she reads online in 6 paragraphs or less. PCMag and CNET are only worth reading for the sheer ignorance, bias, and poorly written articles by its writers. Meanwhile, Ars Technica offers a wide range of intelligent articles on science, technology, hardware, software, Linux, consumer electronics, and industry trends. They don't offer much multimedia but they make up for it with a usable interface and diligently written articles. Once in awhile, they throw in an occasional human interest piece on gaming and comic books, too.

Microsoft SkyDrive and Outlook.com

Unlike the early adopters, I didn't sign up impulsively when Microsoft offered a new Outlook e-mail address. I didn't need one considering how I've kept my old Hotmail account all these years and I'm still using it despite the unfair comparison it gets with Gmail. These days, I open up my Hotmail account in Outlook.com whether I'm in my Linux machines or in Windows 7. Dependable and speedy transfers to the reinvigorated SkyDrive make it invaluable even if you aren't a Windows user. Dropbox's cross-platform abilities make it pretty awesome, but I've neglected it recently for SkyDrive, which has apps for iOS and Android. Even if you don't like the Windows 8 tiles they integrated into Outlook and SkyDrive, you have to admit it makes switching back and forth from one service to the other quick and easy.

Amazon.com

After being shipped to Shanghai, I found myself relying on 360Buy for my online shopping (which is only once a year anyway). However, Amazon remains invaluable even if you aren't one of those crazed Black Friday enthusiasts. Amazon, ironically, serves as a good benchmark for available products out there and is useful for an online version of "showrooming". Buyer reviews are generally also more intelligent and dependable (check out reviews for the complete DVD set of The Real Ghostbusters). You also have to give Amazon credit for trying to muscle in on Apple's turf with their Kindle products. It's always fun to visit Amazon even if you don't have the cash to buy anything - you'll read rants from audiophiles, tech geeks, fanboys, movie buffs, and spoiled consumers complaining about how much they paid for shipping and how it was cheaper elsewhere.

Blogger.com

Unlike that guy from Three and a half Men, I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me. I've been tempted to open a Tumbler account for years but realize that Blogger is just fine for my needs even if Blogger is blocked in China (Tumbler isn't). My e-mail posts (such as this entry) get uploaded just fine and Blogger hasn't complained about the images I've uploaded.  Unsolicited But Offered's small successes is due in no small part to Blogger being part of Google's network. Blogger is also less pretentious than Wordpress and gets more online visibility than other free services like Weebly. And the best part of Blogger? It's not Twitter. It's not Facebook. I can still tell myself I'm not part of the "social networking" phenomenon.

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The Poor Man's Tech Gift Guide this Holiday Season

Category: TechToday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and I still can't help but be surprised by the amount of tech shopping that occurred just a few weeks ago. Europe and the U.S.'s unemployment rates are at its highest in a long time, bank operations are in tatters, and most places (including the U.K.) are struggling for growth. But people are still spending their dollar/euro/RMB as if 2012 was the end of the world. Even in China, where online shopping has become a national pastime despite slowing growth, online sales in 360Buy and Taobao rocketed to unforeseen records last November 11 during Singles Day  (which coincides with huge online sales).

With every misspent penny a crucial mistake,  I can't recommend gift-givers to go out and buy those expensive headphones or headsets this holiday season. Instead, I humbly offer Unsolicited But Offered's the "Poor Man's Tech Gift Guide this Holiday Season."

1. RAM. Users today are notorious for replacing their laptops at a regular clip. For those with extra RAM quietly sleeping inside an unused netbook or desktop, you can upgrade a friend or loved ones' home desktop without spending a dime. You may know the different types of RAM and terms like unbuffered, MHz RAM speeds, and dual-channel, but your recipient probably doesn't. If grandmother's aging Dell Dimension could use a few more GBs, then pop open your old equipment and salvage a few RAMs. If you do have the extra cash lying around, $20-$30.00 can get you plenty of memory from a Crucial or Corsair stick over at Newegg.com or even Amazon. Lucky expatriates can get 8GB of RAM for a cool 80RMB-130RMB (US$22.5) over at China's aforementioned 360Buy.




2. Micro-SDs, MMCs, Sony Memory Cards, and SD cards. As long as you format a memory card properly (preferably with a Linux disk utility) and didn't leave any personal sex videos that can be retrieved using file recovery tools, there's no harm in giving an unused memory card to a nephew or cousin. I probably wouldn't give my old 512MB SD card which came with my Canon A2000 digital camera to anyone for X'mas, but that 1GB Sony M2 card from my now broken Sony Ericsson phone would be very useful to a friend or two. All you need is a good box and some nifty gift wrapping and you're good to go.



3. Hard drive. Everyone needs more disk space considering the amount of downloaded material available online and the size of photos taken from digital cameras these days. Even your old 80GB hard drive may be useful to some college joe out there with debts to pay. Follow the steps in #2, taking note of removing everything on the drive and debugging it, too. You certainly don't want to start 2013 as the next Edison Chen, Olivia Munn, or Kim Kardashian Internet scandal. It's also nice if you can get a cheap enclosure or install the drive for the recipient. I'm pretty sure they'll appreciate the gesture.



4. Technical Support. I may not be able to treat that cute secretary out to a nice dinner this holiday season (I can barely afford that new Starbucks Christmas drink everyone is lining up for), but I can certainly offer to fix her loose video card, backup her laptop/desktop using a Knoppix LiveUSB, teach her Windows 8, repair her Adobe installation, and get her wireless/Internet connection working on her smartphone or home network via proxy.  I'm also willing to edit her photos for those greeting cards she intends to send out, create an image of her new Macbook or Windows 8 hybrid using Clonezilla, and upgrade her device drivers too. I just hope she doesn't expect me to fix the macros on her Excel spreadsheet.  

5. Linux LiveCD, LiveUSB, and dual-boot. Chances are, you probably have some well-off relative, friend, or loved one who bought a new desktop, ultraportable, or even one of those new iMacs. Give them the gift of rock-solid Linux. You can teach them the basics, install it as a dual OS, or just give them a LiveUSB/LiveDVD in case they need to back up their files. Tell them they can learn plenty just by running the OS and trying out useful packages/applications for school/work/entertainment. Chances are, they might prefer it over Windows 8 and even MacOSX. Let them try the sheer joy of running Linux Mint, Fedora, and openSUSE this holiday season.  And if they say you're cheap, tell them Linux comes with more free software than Windows, MacOSX, iOS, and Android combined. Plus, geek cred. Now that's priceless.

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Lubuntu Basics: Power management and display settings

Category: Linux

Lubuntu is a fully functional desktop but its spartan selection of visible desktop management utilities may surprise new users. If you find your screen annoyingly dimming while you're watching Goldeneye but can't seem to find where the power management settings are then you're not alone. By default, power management is not found in the LX Menu System Tools or Preferences.

To change display and power management settings:

1. Right-click the battery icon on the system tray.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Click On Battery or On AC on the left panel.
   
4. Click the Monitor tab and drag the slider to adjust the time interval. By default, the display will dim and go to sleep in 5 minutes when a laptop is running on battery.

Lubuntu actually uses Xfce Power Manager to manage power and display settings. To run the Xfce Preferences using the command window, click ALT+F2 and type Xfce-power-manager-settings.

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Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with a Touch of Cinnamon Part 3

Hardware Support
 
Every long-time Linux distribution hopper and reviewer knows that checking for hardware compatibility is the least fun part of trying out a new release. Thankfully, Linux's alleged hardware issues are a thing of the past especially when it comes to Bluetooth, wireless, and audio problems. As long as you know how to switch on your wireless card using your laptop or desktop's hardware, you shouldn't have any problems with your WLAN. Linux Mint has always benefited from Ubuntu's strong hardware support and Mint 14 Nadia is no different. If you've already tried recent Ubuntu releases on your rig, Mint 14 Nadia should work fine. 

I've had issues with my Lenovo Ideapad Z360 when running LiveCDs but Linux Mint worked without any problems. Mint's Network Manager works in the background and is anecdotally superior to KDE's somewhat inconsistent KNetworkManager. As usual, the Nvidia Optimus video card on the Ideapad defaulted to the Intel graphics chip. Unlike Gnome 3 and Unity, however, Cinnamon does not switch to a lower "version" of the desktop due to graphics card requirements. Cinnamon worked the same way on the Optimus-powered Ideapad as it did on the Intel HD-equipped ASUS 1000H.  
 
I wasn't able to run informal tests on the battery performance of Linux Mint Cinnamon on either the Ideapad or 1000H. However, I did appreciate that Cinnamon was able to gauge battery life more accurately than Ubuntu Unity's battery manager, which notoriously vacillates from one value to another every minute or so. Although it's unfair to compare Mint on LiveCD/LiveUSB, Lubuntu and openSUSE was able to hit battery life approximates much better.
 
Applications
 
Like hardware, the default applications of most Linux distributions is really a moot point because all it takes is a quick visit to a distro's package manager to install your utility/application of choice. Linux Mint Nadia 14 still comes with one of the worst screenshot utilities in any Linux distribution, but it doesn't take anyone very long to install Shutter considering Mint uses the same well-supported repositories as Ubuntu.
 
The emphasis of Linux Mint since its inception is basic desktop productivity and entertainment. The usual suspects for Linux Mint releases are on hand: Tomboy Notes, Thunderbird, Pidgin, Firefox, Transmission, XChat, and LibreOffice.  I was somewhat depressed at seeing Brasero though I would admit that the buggy disc-burner has improved considerably since its last release. I still prefer K3B though K3B fits better on a KDE desktop. Finally, Linux Mint Cinnamon's curious inclusions are a standalone Font Viewer, a sound recorder, and a desktop sharing utility.
 
Linux Mint includes three video players (VLC, Gnome, and Movie Player) in case you want to watch Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Aoi Sola, and Will Ferrell's Semi-Pro at the same time.


 
I was terribly happy to see Gimp 2.8 (with the full screen view) included. gThumb, a competent image manager with an integrated editor somewhat like Google Picasa, is also included with Cinnamon Nadia. I can certainly see myself using gThumb when I'm writing blogs and cropping screenshots on the go although I don't necessarily use image managers except when I'm in Windows running Adobe products.


 
Nemo, Linux Mint's file manager, is a worthy follow up to the classic Nautilus (Gnome). It fits perfects with the Cinnamon theme and functions across shared folders almost as fast as Thunar (XFCE) or PCMANFM (LXDE). Plus, Nemo has the F3 split window option that Thunar and PCMANFM don't have by default (but is found in KDE's Dolphin and Nautilus).


 
One my biggest complaints about Linux Mint is the ALT+F2 run window. It's not the best at running applications (type "Screenshot" and it won't run Linux Mint's Screenshot application). I will concede though that it's certainly better than Ubuntu's Dash but nowhere near as accurate or usable as KDE's ALT+F2 command utility (which can execute context searches and do some math to boot). Lubuntu uses a similar command window but benefits from its simple arsenal of applications and utilities.

MacOSX comes with almost everything a user needs but at a price while Windows 8/7 is barebones compared to most Linux distributions. It's also easy to say that Linux Mint lacks the advanced utilities found in openSUSE KDE, which includes several network utilities such as KNetAttach, a screen ruler, the excellent KSnapshot, Blue Devil, and several file editors. At the end of the day, however, Linux Mint, like most desktop Linux distributions such as Fedora, PCLinuxOS, and Mageia, is not only a good bargain, but a good starting point for users who intend to expand their desktop productivity little by little.
 
The Cinnamon Control Center
 
Most operating systems have a control center to manage desktop environment settings. Mageia/Mandriva Control Center, Unity's System Settings, and Windows Control Panel are just a few examples. Cinnamon, like XFCE, has a central settings window to manage customizations and applets while providing a separate window for hardware/user configuration settings. openSUSE KDE uses the same approach with the powerful Yast taking care of heavy global/enterprise configurations while the Configure Desktop window provides options for more user-relevant settings. Unlike Windows Control Panel or MacOSX's System Preferences, Cinnamon's control center is a frugal affair and only focuses on superficial settings at best. True to Linux Mint's overall approach, it keeps things simple without overwhelming the user with hardware, security, and network settings.

  



Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with a Touch of Cinnamon Part 4 - Package Manager, Looking Glass, and Conclusion

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Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with a Touch of Cinnamon Part 2

It's the Small Things

The Hot Corners feature of Cinnamon is nothing new to MacOSX and Ubuntu users, but it's a head above Windows 8's new application snap feature and openSUSE's virtual page. Virtual workspaces aren't that useful for users with a second monitor, but are infinitely invaluable for laptops, netbook, and ultaportable Linux enthusiasts. Linux Mint retains the traditional CTRL+ALT+arrow keys to page through workspaces but the Hot Corners still remains a visible and noteworthy addition compared to the Workspaces shortcut in Ubuntu's Launcher.



Another seemingly insignificant addition to Cinnamon's desktop is right-clicking on an application in the menu. The entry expands to reveal options to add the application to the desktop, Panel, or Favorites bar on the main menu. Again, it's the obvious enhancements that make Cinnamon friendly and amiable to users coming from the mysterious workings of Gnome 3 or the bland world of XFCE and LXDE.



Lubuntu comes with several window and desktop color themes to spruce up its admittedly bland desktop while Windows 7 (and Windows 8) has a website devoted to Microsoft-approved downloadable themes. Cinnamon, on the other hand, comes with exceptionally well-designed themes. I reiterate that it's a small aspect of a distribution to have themes, but as a regular user of openSUSE, I'm always disappointed when a new release comes with the same stock color, wallpaper, and desktop themes. When you're busy with your tasks, you really don't take time out to switch wallpapers or desktop themes but having a nice set ready and accessible via the previously mentioned notification tray options makes for a great desktop experience.




Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with  a Touch of Cinnamon Part 3 - Less is More
 

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Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with a Touch of Cinnamon Part 1

Category: Linux

I've avoided trying out alternative Linux distributions over the last year because I'd never get any work done if I was constantly tempted to migrate over to a new desktop environment or platform. In particular, I've avoided Linux Mint, a dependable distribution that I've supported for the last seven years. When news of MATE and Cinnamon came on the heels of the initial versions of Gnome 3 and Unity, I tried both and was impressed but hesitant. MATE, as expected, was nothing new and though Cinnamon held a lot of promise I settled on lightweight LXDE and modern KDE as my desktop choices instead.

After spending the last six months working extensively with Windows 8 and juggling my MacOSX and Windows 7 workstations, I needed a break. I heard that developments for Cinnamon were coming in fast and furious and since it's the holiday season, it seemed apt to try a little bit of Linux Mint with a dash of Cinnamon.

The Bottomline? Exceptional and highly recommended.

I have no issues with Windows 8's highly controversial Start screen. I made peace with my irrational dislike of Gnome 3's suffocating shell and Unity's screen estate grabbing Launcher and amazingly inefficient Dash. This generation may very well prefer touch-friendly and smartphone-like desktop interfaces, but I'm a traditional desktop user through and through (with a classic ALT+F2 command window thrown in). I've had enough of OSX's Launchpad and wince at the sight of the Dock. It's with this mindset that I downloaded Linux Mint and burned a LiveCD so I can get the full experience of a rejuvenated Cinnamon release.

After booting up to a Live desktop on my Lenovo Ideapad Z360, I ran Linux Mint+Cinnamon through its paces. The end result was a ridiculous urge to switch from KDE to Cinnamon permanently.  Cinnamon doesn't try to imitate Windows 7 and (thankfully) MacOSX. There are shades of Gnome 2 and XFCE thrown in, but it doesn't pretend to be as lightweight as LXDE. As a fan of lightweight desktop environments, it's surprisingly a good thing. Although the DVD-ROM drive churned quite a bit as I ran Linux Mint, I never felt any lag except when I ran the bundled Mozilla Firefox.

I'll take liberties with the names of Cinnamon's screen features since they haven't received as much press as Unity, but the primary areas that are impressive are the Linux Mint menu and the Panel's default notification tray.  Both are functional without being clunky. They look slick without being pretentious. As a quick example, the shutdown, standby, and lock buttons appear on the menu's quick access panel by default. In comparison, you'd have to click Windows+I in Windows 8 to even get the option while Ubuntu Unity's Dash is absolutely useless for shutting down the system. I suddenly realized that although the KDE Kickoff menu was sophisticated and professional, it wasn't nearly as practical as Cinnamon's implementation. Moreover, the Linux Mint Cinnamon menu was certainly more impressive than LXDE and XFCE's somewhat simple list of applications.



The notification tray gets some serious functionality in Cinnamon. Traditional tasks such as disconnecting devices and desktop messages from the notification tray are standard in openSUSE, Windows, and Ubuntu, but Cinnamon adds customization and troubleshooting options. When openSUSE's KDE 4.x came out, the system tray was slick as butter but didn't have features such as Looking Glass and quick access to Applets, Themes, and an option to lock or unlock the Panel for editing. Now, all Linux distributions can have this feature just by adding a package or two but Linux Mint Cinnamon includes it as default - a welcome and functional addition too.



Now, I know it may not seem like a big deal to have quick access to Themes, Applets, and Panels from the notification tray. I certainly don't use any of the above in my Lubuntu system. But having the options accessible reminds you that you have the choice to make your desktop look better. openSUSE KDE, admittedly one my favorite desktop environments, suffers from overloaded widgets and applets that I never use. Cinnamon wisely focuses on themes and panel settings instead - customizations that don't bog your system's performance.

Linux Mint 14 Review: Mint with a Touch of Cinnamon Part 2 - Cinnamon vs. LXDE, Unity, KDE, Windows 7/8, and MacOSX

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The Ultimate Reason to buy an MP3 Player

Forget about using your smartphone for playing MP3s, get a nice MP3 player with solid audio performance to drown out the Christmas songs that keep playing in malls this holiday season. Even the predominantly non-Christmas celebrating Shanghainese are bombarded with looped versions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. As I struggled to finish buying my groceries at Tesco Minhang, I fervently wished for a better noise-cancelling headset like Dr. Dre Beats or one of those huge Sennheiser headphones. I knew it wouldn't be long before I would once again memorize Santa's Avengers team of reindeers. Now I know why high-end headphones cost so much.

What happens when Spidey forgets his Audio-Technica headset before going X'mas shopping . . .

Art by Mark Bagley from Amazing Spider-Man #351

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