If you like Android you should embrace Linux?

As time has passed and I have been experimenting with both my smart phone and tablets, I have come to one conclusion, people really love their Android OS. The amount of apps and Roms available for Android driven devices are astonishing. Android is hot and it is by far the most successful Linux based OS to ever reach the masses.

Yes, Surprise!, Andorid is a Linux based OS. You have been using a Linux flavor everyday ever since you started using your Android phone, Congratulations! So why haven't you looked in to various flavors of Linux Operating Systems as your OS for home use. The Asus Transformer has done just that, some what. It is a Android tablet when you need it to be and it is a top heavy netbook when you need that laptop feel, a mouse pad and a keyboard. The real difference is in the apps, no need to surf over to facebook or tweeter to see what is going on. All you have to do is download an app and your favorite site is just a click away. No more broken internet links or slow loading web pages.

I for one think that Windows realizes that Android can easily make the transfer to laptops and desktops, their by creating a genuine threat to Windows. Windows 8 seems to be the Microsoft answer to this new threat but is it too late? The Nokia 900 Windows phone was released with praises but people are not converting to the windows phone. It appears that windows phone is smoking something but it isn't the competition. I for one would like a windows phone but after fiddling with my android devices, I must say that if Windows doesn't allow me to mod it to my liking,  it will not be my primary phone. In fact it may just become a novelty item in the end. And it isn't just the end users that aren't jumping on the Windows band wagon, the app developers are also opting out. You would imagine people would flock over from Androids over saturated market but it has not been the case.

So this posses the next question, are the masses ready to embrace Linux for their laptops or desktops? Well Android has done what every great Linux distro has not been able to accomplish. It is Linux for dummies. It is simple, you turn it on, you download apps and you launch them. How much simpler can you get?

It is obvious that Linux has a foot in the door with Android and it is up to Linux to bust the door down. Windows is late to the game and this may be the chance Linux has been waiting for. If Linux could come out with a Distro that looks and feels like Android for desktops and laptops, it may be even easier for people to make the transition but If you feel you are ready to see what Linux has to offer and want to see how Linux runs on your Laptop or desktop, you can try it before you commit to it. The universal usb installer is a program that can load a Linux Distro on to any USB stick and all you have to do is boot off of it and it will load Linux from the usb stick without modifying your current system. BTW, I recommend Linux Mint.  Go here to download the Universal-USB-Installer

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

I must mention, that though Android is a Google project and Google has Chrome/Chromium OS, it is not for the faint of heart to try to install but it appears that it could be the OS of the future, a Web based OS  but only time will tell.

Good luck and may the force be with you!

ITRobelo

Tablets can fill a void...

Tablets can fill a void you didn't know existed. I know it is easy to shrug the tablet off and say that it will never take the place of a laptop. People have been saying that about technology all throughout time. Remember when the microwave was introduced to the world? But what I have found is that tablets have their own spot in our digital world and in many cases it can take the place of a smartphone or a laptop. The same way that microwaves now live in peace with the kitchen range. Here is a list of the times a tablet has come in handy in my experience.

When my wife needed a recipe, she would take the laptop to the kitchen. It is a simple task but eventually she would run out of battery power and would be forced to get the charger and plugging it in. With the tablet it is just a matter of standing it up and opening her favorite recipe app. If she needs to read the recipe she can easily pick it up in one hand and walk around with it as she gathers her ingredients. No more rushing to the laptop every few seconds.

The tablet also comes in handy when you are twitting. At a recent event I took my smartphone thinking that I would use it to tweet. It just so happened that my daughter left the 7" tablet in the car, so I decided to take it with me. After struggling to tweet with such a small screen on my smartphone, I decided to take out the tablet and it was like night and day. Don't get me wrong I do tweet from my phone but when you have to tweet every few minutes from such a small screen, your fingers begin to cramp up. The tablet was the perfect solution and it was delight to tweet with.

Our two year old loves technology but we would rarely let her use our laptops for fear that she may drop them. But our tablets are light enough for her to handle and it has proven to be strong enough to put up with the abuse of a two year old. She props it up on the kitchen table and eats while watching Netflix. Then a few minutes later she is in the van watching her prerecorded shows on our way to the store. Can a laptop do the same, yes, it can but who wants to lug around a laptop?

If a tablet is currently not in your radar, I would suggest you keep your eye out for them. With prices dropping you can pick one up for about $150. I still find myself reaching for the laptop for some applications but without a doubt the tablet has found a secure spot in our digital world. Have you found that your tablet has replaced your smart phone or laptop in certain situations?

Twitter, get on the edge!

Over the weekend I got together with some friends for a friendly game of Texas hold'em. We do this every few months, mostly as an excuse to get together and catch up.  My friend Tim works in the IT field and I met him a few years ago. Over this time we've had more than our fair share of arguments, from OS's  to Anti-virus programs. After one of our scrimmages, I realized that I love arguing with Tim, So, I grabbed my phone and quickly pulled up my twitter account and asked Tim for his handle. He looked at me oddly and laughed, his response was "Who is going to follow me?", "I'm going to my room." as he air types as if to be tweeting. It reminds me of the Verizon commercial where the dad is updating his twitter from the porch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14CKzskjn4s

These image of twitter is what comes to mind for many people when they hear the word twitter, to be honest with you this was also the impression I had of Twitter.

 Now, Fast-forward to Wednesday, I was working on a lab with some fellow interns. We were talking about the Raspberry Pi and the Linux OS, somehow I ended up mentioning  the Anonymous Linux OS and peoples comments on twitter, one of the co-workers giggled. I asked him if he had a twitter account and he replied, "No, what for? I'm going to the kitchen!", was his response.  I explained that it is a lot more than just that. You can follow tech news better than any publication ever could, your basically on the cutting edge. That's when I realized that the person laughing should of been me and that I love living on the cutting edge and twitter allows me to do so.

People need forget what they have heard about twitter and try it. Who knows, you may find that it has a lot more to offer then you have been lead to believe, at least that is what I have found. In fact twitter is more like this AT&T commercial, So 10 seconds ago...

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvVVQGgbKk0

ITRobelo

Nook me please!

Spending the weekend at my parents house has been a family tradition for the last few years. We would find any excuse to get together.  We have great food and we bring any new tech toys we may have to the house to get feedback from our siblings.

Nothing has made a big splash like the iPad2 when my sister brought hers along on a family gathering. The screen was big and bold, the body was slick and polished, just like one would expect from Apple. It felt firm and well built. After using it for a bit it was obvious that it was just like an oversize iPod touch.  Making it easy to navigate for any current or former iPod owner. The nostalgia wore out after a while, the oversize screen seemed to be more of a pain as holding it was uncomfortable and rather clumsy. In the end the iPad2 confirmed my suspicion that tablets are just a passing fad.

Fast forward to Christmas at my parents house last year. My younger sister received a Barnes and Nobles NOOK Color. It was just a e-reader, so it didn't create a big buzz and was just left on the dining room table. I walked right past it a few times before deciding to take a look at it and see what it had to offer me, mind you the iPad2 in my opinion was a bit of a letdown.

The Nook Color was crisp and light. The screen was smaller and seemed to be a bad thing at first but after looking at some magazine pages it was actually the perfect size, no empty white space. My sister was leaving in a few days to Costa Rica and mentioned she may trade it in for the Nook tablet. All of a sudden I found myself wanting more time with the Nook.

When my sister returned  we had, you guessed it another family gathering but this time the Nook was my main draw to my parents house. My sister had upgraded from the Color to the Tablet and the visual difference was negligible on the outside. The real difference was in the internal components. Making it even more appealing to me. Within a few minutes I found myself immersed in a tech article and I had mentally checked out of my parents house and into tech mode and I LOVED IT! I was so taken in to the article that I forgot I was holding a tablet and not an actual book.

I was so impressed that by the end of this week I hope to be a proud Nook owner!

My 2yr old watching youtube, something that her Acer Aspireone Netbook can't seem to do well.

Why I'm at MATC.

I decided to attend MATC a few years out of H.S. in 1999. I took a lot of regular courses without a real focus on any core courses. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I bought a 100Mhz computer form a friend for $100 and it was mostly only because he insisted that I buy it.  I would sit around and tinker with it and eventually began over clocking it. I got it around 133Mhz by the use of some toggle switches on the motherboard. It was very exciting for me to increase the speed and to see it post.


It was at that time that I decided to go into the IT field and I decided on Networking Specialist. Even though I had never really thought of what that really meant. I just wanted to work on computers. A few years later I got married and dropped out of school. I became a father and eventually a home owner. I would still dream of that IT degree I left behind.

Their was one thing that my Data Communications class taught me in 2001, to keep current by subscribing to magazines. I subscribed to Maximum PC for the past 11 years. I have kept up on technology and hardware as best I can. I would drool over new gadgets and be mesmerized by colored hand held devices at the store and in print. I would still tinker with electronics and really took to computers like a fish to water. I would work 8 hours a day and couldn’t wait to get home and play another 5 hours with electronics.


 Finally, In 2010 I was laid-off and found myself with a chance to return to MATC and finish my career. I spoke to my wife and we crunched some numbers and decided that we could make it work. Looking back, being laid-off has been a real blessing. If it weren’t for the lay-off I may still be contemplating going back to school to finish my degree, now the sky seems to be the limit and I’m even more excited about Networking than ever before.


ITRobelo