Yesterday Ubuntu’s community manager, Jono Bacon put up a post calling for people to test their brand new idea for the Unity interface they currently use.  They call it HUD.  HUD will be included in the next relse of Ubuntu, version 12.04, code named “Precise Pangolin”.

With HUD, you can do many different things like post to Twitter, Search your web history or find a drop down menu in Firefox or any other app.  You can do some of this even if you don’t have that app loaded.  Above is a video that shows you just what you can do with the HUD.

To try the HUD, you have to install Ubuntu… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Late on the December 2nd, Ubuntu released the first Alpha quality code of their next version, 11.04, due out in April.  An alpha release is code that isn’t ready to be used for production work.  This release is designed more to get people testing and looking for bugs that cna be fixed before the beta, release candidate and final release.  Today I downloaded the iso so I could share a little of the future of Ubuntu.

Those like myself already know a lot about this upcoming release as Mark Shuttleworth had announced in November that the new default desktop will be in 11.04.  The new desktop takes queues off of the desktop in the Netbook Edition… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Just getting ready to do a review of a upcoming product that Neuros is targeting for the Neuros Link and I spied a deal!  TODAY only in the Neuros store you can get the ultra quiet Neuros Link “Phantom” for $249.99 with a free upgrade to a 320 GB hard drive.  You will have to add a controller to your order or provide your own controller.

The specs of this machine are:

PC, it is customizable and expandable:

• Dual Core 2.5Ghz CPU
• 1GB DDR SDRAM memory (expandable up to 8GB)
• Up to 1080p H.264 video playback
• Support an extensive list of video and audio formats: MPEG2, MPEG4, .vob, .mp4

For a long long time, Linux users never really had a built in music store like Mac and Windows users do.  That all changed today IF you use Ubuntu, specifically the 10.04 “Lucid Lynx” Beta 1.

The service is run by 7digital in the US and pretty much everywhere.  Songs are 320 Kbps MP3′s with no DRM.  The store is access directly through Rhythmbox, Ubuntu’s default music player.  I did not see a per track price higher than 99 cents so they aren’t going the same route as iTunes with most tracks.

I was able to purchase my song… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Image from http://anotherubuntu.blogspot.com/2009/11/lucid-lynx-timeline.html

Spring is in the air!  The trees are budding and the flowers are starting to come out of their slumber.  It also means that it is time for another release of the desktop oriented Ubuntu Linux.

Ubuntu will frequently produce what is called a LTS or a Long Term Support release.  That means unlike non LTS releases, this version is meant to be stable and to also have security updates and fixes for the next three years.  A release like this is meant for those who want to install something that will be somewhat guaranteed to work for the next 3 years.  The previous LTS, Ubuntu 8.04 codenamed “Hardy Heron” was released in 2008.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

To refresh your memory, the Touchbook is a ARM based device that has been released that has Linux installed on it.  It was their own version of Linux called AI OS.  However, today I noticed the Always Innovating site has been updated.

The Touch Book comes with an optimized home-made Linux-based OS. Guided by openness and wide support, we provide natively multi-OS boot on the device.

With a simple finger press at startup, the Touch Book will run either our AI OS, Ubuntu, or Android. Mer, Gentoo have also been adapted to the Touch Book.

Google Chrome OS and Maemo are on their way!

Gearsponsor Logicbuy sends over word of a new deal on a Dell Netbook. Take a look at this Dell Inspiron Mini 9n Netbook with 1.6GHz Atom Processor, 8.9″ LED LCD, 4-cell battery, 4GB SSD and pre-loaded Ubuntu OS for $239 – $40 instant discount = $199 + FREE shipping. Available for online customization and 4 lid colors/patterns to choose from.

Dell Inspiron Min 9

My one-year old daughter appears to take after her mother in almost all ways, which is a really good thing.  The only thing she seems to have inherited from me is that she doesn’t need a lot of sleep.  She sleeps well at night, but once she’s up, she’s up, and that’s the end of it.  She’s not much of a napper.  Getting her to sleep during the day takes a pretty fair amount of effort: reading to her, singing to her, giving her warm bottles, ensuring the house is quiet, and… well, lots of rocking her to sleep.

So why didn’t someone show me this trick before now???

Check out the Ubuntu baby rocker script in the video above.  This guy is a genius.  He’s… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Netbooks are all the rage, and while Linux did start out on netbooks, it seems Microsoft has been getting the lion share of the shipments.  Well, if you have a netbook and are tired of Windows XP, but your hardware is too anemic Windows Vista or you don’t think you are geek enough for Linux, maybe you should try Jolicloud.

Jolicloud is based on Ubuntu Linux, the Linux OS that is considered the easiest Linux distribution to use. It has been getting a lot of love from such sites as Lifehacker, PC Magazine and Cranky Geeks. How good is it? Let’s find out.

I know Linux and, based upon the preview shots, I have never seen a version that looks as good as  Jolicloud.  They have taken the Ubuntu Netbook Remix install, a version of Ubuntu optimized for Netbooks, and added some tweaks to make it fit with their concept of “cloud computing”. As you can see in the screenshot, Jolicloud goes heavy on web-based applications such as Hulu, Boxee and LAST.fm but still has a number local programs. What it special is the approach they have taken to launching applications.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Over on workswithu.com, I came across this sweet new Ubuntu Netbook.  ZaReason has released the Terra A20 Netbook.  While ZaReason is not the first to use Ubuntu, I personally think they will be one of the best!

Base specs are an Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz CPU, 10 inch 1024×600 LCD, Intel GMA 950, Draft N Wifi, a 5400 RPM 160 GB hard drive, Optional 3G modem, 3.5 hours battery life, 3 USB ports, SD card slot, VGA port and headphone and mic jacks.  Oh, and it has a Ubuntu logo on the keyboard instead of a Windows key!… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Active Media Products, maker of SSD drives and WWF series USB drives, have announced a new USB drive that is sure to interest my penguinista friends out there.

Yes it is a penguin thumb drive but not just any penguin thumb drive:  This one comes with a live image of Ubuntu Linux 9.0.4 otherwise known as the Jaunty Jackalope. 

Now in a closed beta  and currently only for Ubuntu(specifically, 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”), is a new service from Canonical called Ubuntu One.  Similar to Drop Box, Ubuntu One is a service that will sync files with multiple computers and also let you share a file with other Ubuntu One users.

Free accounts get 2 GB storage, and those who pay $10 per month get 10 GB of storage in the cloud.  Get in the queue if you’re running Ubuntu, so you can check it out

Although it may not have happened yet when you read this, the Jaunty Jackalope is now streaming around the internet to anxious Ubuntu fans and early adopters.

Some of the things that are in this release are:

• Gnome 2.26
• Improved handling of multiple monitors.
• X.Org Server 1.6
• Wacom tablet hot plugging
• Faster booting
• Ext4 Filesystem Support
• Server Edition includes “Cloud Computing” features and Turn-Key Mailservers.
• Missing on their website is the new Osdnotify system for notifications.

This press release came down on Friday, but I wanted some time to digest the lengthy press release because there’s more than just Android on a E-Ink display in this release.

First, the headline is that MOTO Development Group has the first example of Android running on a E-Ink display.

E-Ink displays are like the displays that run the Amazon Kindle.  They are low power, black and white screens for the moment.  Imagine having a color version of this with a touchscreen layer on top.  You could probably gain some battery life with these screens or at the very least have a Android powered eReader.

Also in the press release is this little tasty tidbit:

MOTO labs is working

As we prepare to give thanks for all the things we’ve been blessed with over the past year and eat a bunch of food, I was thinking of one thing I am most certainly thankful for and that’s Open Source Software.  Without it, I could not be writing this post as we are a user of FOSS or Free and Open Source Software here at Gear Diary.  Most of us use Firefox and the software that runs it is WordPress.  With out FOSS, much of the internet wouldn’t exist. So I thought it appropriate to list and write about 10 things in the FOSS community I am most thankful for.