Facebook Chat

So for all you Facebook people out there as you probably know they just added a chat feature to the site. Well my only complaint is that you can not yet connect to this network except signed in through the site. Well I found a way around this. I found a windows program called Bubbles. It is kind of like Prism that google recently released except I found it a little easier. It just runs a webpage as if it was a desktop application. I have not tried to see if this will run under wine, but it seems to be using IE6 to render the web pages even though it is not my default browser, so it may need IE6 installed under wine to run properly.

thanks and God Bless
Aaron

Facebook and Picasa

So I use Picasa from Google as my photo manager. I wanted to add a Facebook button to Picasa. Facebook has a button that does this for you at http://apps.facebook.com/picasauploader/. This however did not work for me because my Firefox did not have a protocol for Picasa ( in other words the link says picasa://... which Firefox had no idea how to handle). I tried to add the protocol manually but was having no luck. So here is how I added the button without the install script. This worked on Windows for me but should work within any operating system.

Go to your Picasa folder. For me this was c:/Program Files/Picasa2. Then go to the buttons folder. Open up a text editor, ie notepad. Paste this code inside of the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?><buttons format="1" version="1">
 <button id="custombutton/facebookupload" type="dynamic">
   <icon name="outputlayout/poster_icon" src="runtime"/>
   <label>Facebook</label>
   <tooltip>Upload photos to Facebook</tooltip>
   <action verb="hybrid">
     <param name="url" value="http://webkinesis.com/fbpicasa/picasa-post.do"/>
   </action>
 </button>
</buttons>

I got this code from http://www.webkinesis.com/fbpicasa/facebook.pbf and take no credit for it at all. Save this file as facebook.pbf. Restart or open Picasa.

Hope this helps anyone having problems.

Thanks an God bless,
Aaron

3 Way Cage Match Part 3 of 3

Linux - My favorite operating system, but only because it suits me best. The thing I love the most about Linux is that you can do just about ANYTHING with it. I can make my Linux OS look fantastic, with lots of desktop effects, screensavers, and themes and almost always at no extra cost. Linux can revive old machines that can't run an up to date version of Windows. I have my mom using Xubuntu on a P3 dell laptop, because it was running Windows NT, and running it slowly. Linux doesn't just do desktops well it does servers extremely well. Also Linux is FREE(as in pizza and source)!!! Linux does not care what you do to it. I have run Windows on my main laptop computer because of work and school, and the lack of an ability to boot from a CD-ROM. I do however use Linux as a DVR using MythTV(another function of Linux). Linux suffers from some of the same pitfalls as OS X. People think they can't get viruses and spyware when really they can there just isn't anything out there that really targets Linux. It is a little more secure than the other two operating systems, but still vulnerable to attacks. Linux's biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness, because you can do anything with Linux people have and that puts a lot of non-standard parts of an operating system out there. There is no standard for linux because of this. Sometimes updates will break your Linux install, and because you can do anything it doesn't hold you back letting you mess up your install by changing a major OS file.

As you can see all of these operating systems fall into the trap of their strength is their weakness. They all have something to offer. In my opinion Linux is the best because it offers the most versatility for the best price tag. However for some people they do not need that versatility or the small price tag. Sometimes people want a standard like Windows, or they want the OS X world of great hardware design with a slick looking system that just works and has the backing of a major corporation out there.

I say to each their own, and I will choose Linux whenever possible, and Linux will probably work for you too.

<-Part 2

Thanks and God bless,
Aaron

3 Way Cage Match Part 2 of 3

Windows - Ah Windows. Mostly here when I talk about Windows I want everyone to assume I am probably talking about XP, but most of this will refer to Windows as a whole. Windows just works. Now I know there are a lot of people out there who will disagree with me but I feel this is very true. You have to load drivers sometimes, but usually drivers are easy to find since Windows is the dominant OS out there. Just like OS X this is Window's biggest strength and it's biggest weakness. Almost everything out there supports Windows, this also attracts hackers, viruses, spyware, pop-ups and all the bad stuff. Windows is good because it is familiar. It doesn't look the best, including Vista, it doesn't run the best, especially including Vista, but rarely does someone sit down at a Windows computer and have no idea what do to next. If Windows is used properly, it does not crash often; it will freeze from time to time and needs to be rebooted, but excluding viruses, spyware, and hackers, Windows doesn't break that much. It is usually something the user has done that broke it, and this applies to all operating systems in my opinion. Windows is not free (as in pizza or source), it does not let you tinker, Microsoft is king but their are a relatively fair ruler. Sure they think of themselves first, but they don't disregard the customer all together. Apple is the worst when it comes to this in my opinion, but I am not talking about them right now. Microsoft can be mean and controlling yes, but so are a lot of large companies.

<-Part 1 Part 2 ->

Thanks and God bless,
Aaron

3 Way Cage Match Part 1 of 3

So I have heard more and more talk about how much better one OS is than another. I used to feel that Windows was the best solution, Linux was just a crazy idea, and Apple was for artsy people. Since about 2 years ago my feelings definitely changed. Two things contributed to this: Apple switched to Intel, and I tried Linux. I started to realize that an operating system is just a tool to use a computer. Sometimes one is better for somebody than another. In most cases each operating system's strength is also it's greatest weakness. I am also going to do this in three parts so the posts aren't so long.

Apple - People are always saying I love apple because it just works, it doesn't come with tons of extra bloatware, and you cant get viruses or spyware. Well I am not going to say these aren't completely true, but there are reasons behind it. Apple just works because they come with almost all the software the general user needs in order to have a complete system, the problem with this is that you pay for all this software even if you don't use it. Not every user is going to create music with Garage Band or make movies with iMovie, but they still paid for it. The reason it doesn't come with tons of extra software is because Apple is the only company allowed to sell Apple computers, which also causes them to be more expensive. The reason they don't get viruses or spyware is because it is practically useless for someone to write a virus or spyware that only effects 5% (or whatever the market share is) of computers in the world. This is also the a drawback of Apple because why develop software for only 5% of the computers out there. Apple does a nice job of making people feel good about their Apples. They add a whole lot of ooh's and ah's both with hardware and software. All of this comes standard with Apple but at the downside of high cost and very limited options, both hardware and software.

Part 2->

Thanks and God Bless,
Aaron

Welcome

First off welcome to the blog. I started this blog mostly out of personal desire. I wanted a place where I could just put down my thoughts and discoveries, so I can find them when I need to. I also wanted to put a blog out there that focuses on Linux from the viewpoint of someone who has always worked within a Windows environment. I also do not plan on abandoning the Windows platform all together. I still have to use Windows for work and for school. I use Linux whenever I can. I want to tell people about free software, open source software (OSS), and free and open source software (FOSS). I do not like to pay for stuff when I don't have to but believe that some products are worth purchasing, and do not condone stealing, including software and media. I believe that all operating systems are just tools in order to use a computer, sometimes the best answer is OS X, sometimes Windows, and sometimes Linux. I think that Linux has the most to offer and is usually the best answer and I believe in their OSS philosophy. However since I work for a lot of people who are not very good with technology Windows or OS X is a better answer for them. I love Linux but it is definitely not for everyone. Once Linux is installed and not updated it runs forever with no problems, but changing and updating Linux has definitely caused problems for me. Also my Christian walk is the MOST important thing in my life. I try to incorporate it into every part of my life. I will definitely mention it from time to time on this blog, and hope to strengthen Christians and create new Christians with this blog.

Hope everyone stays tuned for what I have to offer.

Thanks and God bless,
Aaron