Waiting for Ubuntu Touch

When Ubuntu for Phones was announced,it is the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices which will become the reference device for developers and app makers. Now that the Preview version of the Ubuntu Touch is out, there are now 25 other devices to add there.

I’m in the market for a smartphone and I really want Ubuntu Touch but I can’t decide which device to get. In a perfect world, the manufacturers themselves make sure that their device works great with the OS. But this is Linux. But this is Ubuntu. But this is Open Source. You say I can’t have it, I say I will port it.

Some reports are coming in (and it’s not even a week yet) that Ubuntu Touch developers and voluteers are working to make the OS available to as many android smartphone and tablet as possible. The tech blogs are mostly giving the Ubuntu Touch high marks for elegance and smooth operation.

Unless the OS becomes available in many manufacturers’ phones and tablets as pre-installed, porting it will be the solution. Canonical, the corporate backer of Ubuntu Touch, can do better than that.

Firefox and Chromium

I’ve had this issue before and I thought I had it licked. Chromium doesn’t render my blog at Danny’s Space properly. Everything is black and dark. I know I’m connecting because when the mouse hovers over the dark page links are showing.

So use Firefox I heard you say.

Ya well, I’m a heavy Google Drive user and upload a lot of stuff. It works a lot better with Chromium. I can upload a folder with a mouse click and forget about it. Firefox fails to run the necessary javascripts and applet. I can still upload individual files though.

Outlined

Libraries aren’t just storage spaces for books. I was nine years old and in 4th Grade when my refuge at school was the library. It’s two classrooms with bookshelves on all sides. It was right next to the principal’s office. I guess they put them on this side of the school building because most kids don’t want to go purposely there. It was quiet and secure and I love books.

My first stop in the library are the travel books. Well I like to read adventure stories and history as well as geography. I like that that they put these books at eye level and they put the math books on the high shelves. I would read for hours and then try to find the meaning of the words later in the dictionary and the encyclopedia. This was before the internet.

This library has only one door. It’s the entrance and exit in one. I go around the room, finding the books I want to read. The reference books are in the middle of the room. I will sit on the floor for hours after classes. Feed the fishes in the aquarium or volunteer to return the books in their proper places. I like the colored pictures of the Amazon rain forest and the Grand Canyon. It has a great collection of National Geographic magazines too.

On the left hangs a mural of Jose Rizal, our national hero, with his eyes looking directly at me. He has a pen in one hand and he is turning a page of a book he’s reading. I will learn later that he wrote those books himself. It must be tremendously rewarding to have written books and people read them years afterwards.

Libraries are a lot like a carousel. You start the ride and it’s fun. Fun feeds your imagination which opens you up to possibilities. I ride my imagination around this room, feeding the fishes and being watched by a big man with strange eyes. I’m quite sure I’ll be all right even if I over reach for that math book. At the end of the day, there’s just one door to exit.

Firefox introduces PDF viewer to browse the Web without interruption

Sent to you by danny via Google Reader:

Firefox introduces PDF viewer to browse the Web without interruption

via The Mozilla Blog by Mozilla on 2/19/13

Firefox for Windows, Mac and Linux introduces a built-in browser PDF viewer that allows you to read PDFs directly within the browser, making reading PDFs easier because you don’t have to download the content or read it in a plugin like Reader. For example, you can use the PDF viewer to check out a menu from your favorite restaurant, view and print concert tickets or read reports without having to interrupt your browsing experience with extra clicks or downloads.

Firefox for Android now available to 15 million more phones, in more languages and with more personalization

Firefox for Android is now available to more Android devices with ARMv6 processors, bringing a better Web experience to almost 15 million more phones. This includes popular phones like LG Optimus One, T-Mobile myTouch 3G slide, HTC Wildfire S and ZTE R750.

There are many ways to personalize your Firefox Web experience and to customize the look, features and functionality. Firefox for Android introduces easy-to-use themes that let you change the look of Firefox without getting in the way, personalizing your mobile Web experience in just a few taps.

Firefox for Android now includes Traditional and Simplified Chinese locales to support a growing set of language preferences

For more information:

• Download Firefox for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android
• Detailed release notes for Firefox for for Windows, Mac and Linux
• Detailed release notes for Firefox for Android

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• Subscribe to The Mozilla Blog using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites