Hasta La Gadget!

Remember when the UK started distributing free laptops to poor schoolchildren in order to encourage them to get online? Well, a new, more frugal government is now in charge, and while the original scheme has been scrapped, today we’re hearing of alternative plans to help economically disadvantaged people leap onto the worldwide surfer’s web. The coalition government intends to offer £98 ($156) computers — which include an LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, warranty, and a dedicated helpline — paired with subsidized £9 ($14) per month internet connections in its effort to show that the web doesn’t have to seem (or be) unaffordable. The cheapest machines will be refurbished units running open-source Linux distros, meaning that if this Race Online 2012 trial turns out well, we could see a whole new group of Linux loyalists rising up. The more the merrier!

UK aims to improve access to technology, internet with £98 Linux PCs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on July 11, 2007 by CyberNet.

There are lots of TV listing fetchers out there, but OnTV is certainly different. OnTV is not a stand-alone program. It’s a GNOME applet, which means that you can put it anywhere on your GNOME panels.

When setting up OnTV, you can choose which channels you want to be shown. This little applet supports over 25 countries including the USA, the United Kingdom and most countries in Western Europe.

OnTV also allows you to set up reminders for upcoming programs. Right-click the OnTV icon, click ‘Search Program’, type in the name of the program you want to set a reminder for, right-click it and finally choose ‘Add reminder’. When your program is about to begin, something like this will pop up:

Note that this reminder window even displays a countdown clock (bottom right).

How to install OnTV on Ubuntu systems:
1) Enter sudo apt-get install ontv in a terminal
2) Right-click one of your GNOME panels
3) Click ‘Add to panel’
4) Drag the OnTV applet to one of your panels

If you’re not satisfied with the default logo of a certain channel, you can change it in Preferences. OnTV has the tendency to stretch channel logos if they are not square. You can do away with this little annoyance by opening the logo in an image editor, making it square and finally reloading the channel image. Here’s how you can do this using The GIMP:

1. Locate the logo you want to edit and open it using The GIMP. OnTV’s logo database can be found in /home/username/.gnome2/ontv/logos.
2. Go to Image > Canvas Size.
3. Click the chain (near Width and Height) to unlink it.
4. Have a look at Width and Height. Change the lowest value to the highest one. In my case, the width and height values were 56 and 41, so I had to change the height value to 56.
5. Click the Center button.
6. Press OK and save the image.
7. Right-click the OnTV icon and click Preferences.
8. Go to the second tab.
9. Right-click the TV channel you edited the logo for and select Properties from the menu.
10. Click the logo and re-select the same logo. The logo should be displayed correctly now.

If you prefer full listings instead of the Now/Next-style listings that OnTV offers, you should take a look at gTVlistings. Unfortunately, it cannot be installed from the Ubuntu repositories.

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Ambidextrous, capacitive, programmable, open source, five simultaneous touch inputs. The Misa Digital Kitara has quite the laundry list of goodies to boast about, but we couldn’t let it slide through CES without getting our fingers on it and exploring for ourselves. The first thing that strikes you about this guitar-shaped synthesizer is its weight distribution — it’s no heavier than a good electric guitar, but a lot more of that weight is contained within its neck — and the second will inevitably be its lightning-quick response to touch. Misa tells us latency is less than 5 milliseconds and it felt like it.

There are two main modes of operation: a string mode, as seen above, and a ball mode allowing for even more adjustability. Both modes can then be further tweaked by choosing between the red and blue setting, with the former allowing for the performance of hammer-ons. Sliding your finger around the 8-inch touchscreen can do all sorts of wonderful things as well, such as altering pitch, tempo and volume, while those fearful of having no tactile feedback in string mode can apply a clear sheet over the screen that has tiny little ridges where the strings would usually reside. We say “usually,” because you’ll be able to configure the distance between the imaginary strings for yourself. The Kitara runs an open source Linux OS, which will be updatable via USB and is already compatible with Mac, PC and, naturally, Linux machines. It also has more than a hundred sound presets and we’ve been promised the option to customize them and create new ones by playing around with the algorithms in the future.

The black Kitara is made out of good old plastic (but it’s made very well) and costs $849 whereas the silver one you see in the gallery below is constructed out of a single block of aluminum and will set buyers back $2,899. Pre-orders are going on now through Misa Digital’s online store and shipping is set to start on April 3. Video follows below.

Continue reading Misa Digital Kitara hands-on preview (video)

Misa Digital Kitara hands-on preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on March 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

I never thought that Dell would actually get serious about offering Linux PC’s for consumers. I figured the IdeaStorm site would have been another one of those feedback systems that are there to make consumers feel like they were being listened to, but I think Dell may really be getting serious about this.

Just a short while ago on the Direct2Dell blog they posted about a Linux survey that will take just a few minutes to complete. They are not able to offer every Linux distribution on their PC’s, so they are trying to figure out which ones would be the most important to you the consumer.

Not only that but they are also trying to figure out what you would do with the computer once you received it, such as browsing the web, listening to music, and editing videos. This is probably so that they can pre-install the software many of you would need to minimize what you have to install once you receive the computer.

Then the survey goes on to ask which distribution Dell should set as a high priority. The list consists of:

• Commercial: Novell/SuSE Linux Desktop
• Commercial: Red Hat Enterprise Desktop
• Community Supported: Fedora
• Community Supported: OpenSUSE
• Community Supported: Ubuntu

I prefer OpenSUSE myself, but I voted for Ubuntu simply because I think that is what users would have the best experience with. Ubuntu undoubtedly has the best support community out of all the Linux distributions, so new Linux users would easily be able to find the help that they need.

Yesterday, OpenOffice.org actually contacted Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, about being the second most requested option on the IdeaStorm site. The letter (PDF, JPG) they sent to Dell begins by praising Dell, then throws in why Dell should offer OpenOffice.org, and pretty much concludes saying “call me, we’ll do lunch.” Okay, maybe it isn’t exactly like that, but that was the initial impression that I got out of it.

One thing is for sure, and that is more people would benefit from Dell offering OpenOffice.org on computers because people buying a Windows PC would also be able to use it. I would love to see OpenOffice.org as an option when purchasing a PC because it does all the things that more than 95% of computer users need. Hopefully the OpenOffice.org team keeps us posted on any progress they make with Dell.

Having a Linux option would be cool, but I’m a little worried that it is going to be a waste of Dell’s time and resources. Do you think this is going to be as popular as the IdeaStorm site makes it seem like it will be?

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Putin orders Russian federal agencies to switch to open source software, galavant topless in the out-of-doors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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