2008 November

Archive for November, 2008

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Ubuntu, Gnome Theming

I love this theme NeoDave posted in his screenshot of Ubuntu. I can pick out many of the technologies that he used to create each aspect, but why can’t we have simplified, comprehensive theme packages at this point? I haven’t looked into it, and perhaps it’s more a Gnome issue than any particular distro, but it would be nice to just download his theme in a package and run it easily. Not just the window colors/elements, but the dockbars, the position of elements, widgets, all of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neodave/2752500743/sizes/l/

Posted by md | Filed in Desktop, Linux, Technology, Ubuntu | Comment now »

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

TurboPrint releases version 2 with new GIMP printing plugin

Despite using Linux to organize my pictures, I’ve always had to boot into Windows to print them properly. I have a Canon i960 photo printer which Canon has stoutly objected to supporting on Linux. Where there’s a gap, there’s an opportunity and TurboPrint has stepped up to fill a void due to printer vendors’ lack of support.

I’ve tried just about ever trick in the book to get my Canon just to print. Last year I gave up and finally just paid for TurboPrint. It’s a decent program and while it’s not cheap, it is cheaper than buying a new printer. Today they announced a new version 2 with updated features. Take a look if you’re interested. You can download the trial version first and check it out before paying.

I’m not sure what color management and color profiling services do exactly, but they may help with printing pictures. I haven’t seen a great solution for managing color, but perhaps they’ve “fixed the glitch”. The other real challenge I’ve had is doing borderless printing…

New Features:

color management
status monitor with panel applet
duplex printing
print preview
ink management & ink saving mode
color profiling service

Posted by md | Filed in Desktop, Linux | 2 Comments »

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Adobe (finally) releases a 64-bit flash version for Linux

I can’t tell you how long ago I switched to running 64-bit Ubuntu and have been frustrated by the workarounds to get a 32-bit flash player working. While Ubuntu tries to make it painless, it creates havoc when you make changes to the “standard way”.

Well today it looks like my pain may be resolved. Adobe has let loose a 64-bit “alpha” version of Flash Player 10. I will be installing this promptly and report back, but in the meantime, you can get it yourself over here. You can read more about what’s new, etc at Adobe’s announcement page here.

Furthering Adobe’s commitment to the Linux community and as part of ongoing efforts to ensure the cross-platform compatibility of Flash Player, an alpha version of 64-bit Adobe Flash Player 10 for Linux operating systems was released on 11/17/2008 and is available for download. This offers easier, native installation on 64-bit Linux distributions and removes the need for 32-bit emulation. Learn more by reading the 64-bit Flash Player 10 FAQ.

Release versions of Flash Player 10 for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux are now available from the Flash Player Download Center.

Posted by md | Filed in Adobe, Desktop, Linux, Technology | Comment now »

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Will we finally see a broader implementation of open, mobile platform?

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony in the topics this Register article touches on, but a couple points struck me as particularly important.

Adobe, yes Adobe, is now proposing an open platform (built on a mobile version of Air) that would run applications from any carrier’s platform (albeit all those, closed). Now I’m intrigued. Will we finally see a shift from closed, single carrier channels to open if carriers adopt this strategy? And will Adobe of all companies actually lead the way?

Note, this does not mean the applications themselves or the governance of the channels by the carriers would be open, but at least the platform they run applications on could be. This would be a major change in an industry thus far plagued by closed, private and a thousand “one-off” generation implementations. Heck, even Linux mobile adoptions have been “one offs”.

I suspect the challenge here will come in testing these applications across an amazing number of devices and revisions, but if Adobe can replicate its strong Flash success on mobile platforms, perhaps we won’t be stuck in a Silverlight world ;-)

Meanwhile, Adobe is set to follow rival Apple into the mobile apps game, but is seeking to provide a common platform that will be supported across stores from many operators and vendors, rather than creating its own portal. The Flash maker, whose dominance of mobile video streaming is dented by Apple’s refusal to support the technology on the iPhone, will launch a mobile version of its Air product next year.

This will allow the same application to run across many cellphones, unlike its current mobile product, Flash Lite, which varies in implementation between different platforms. Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s CTO, said at Web 2.0: “Of all the technologies on mobile phones, none of them has more than a 50 per cent reach. As a developer, you have to implement your content about 400 times right now. That is a complete mess.”

Another point of interest is Adobe’s royalty free proposal. Adobe … will incent implementers to redistribute their implementations back? Adobe has seriously evolved its attitude… for the better.

For companies that agree to keep their implementations of Air open, so apps can be used from any online site, not just designated store, Adobe will eliminate royalties.

Posted by md | Filed in Adobe, Business, Microsoft, Mobile | Comment now »

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008