Category Technology

Why can't MySQL Workbench be like Sequel Pro?

There is a saddening shortage of proper MySQL administration/query browser tools on linux-based systems. MySQL Workbench is a free tool that consolidates what used to be MySQL Query Browser and the MySQL Administrator and introduces a data modelling editor that promises round-trip design and generation of DBs. It’s great news that Workbench is being implemented […]

Google Chrome ∞

There is an untold general, cross-platform, inter-device rule regarding versioning: Major versions are major because they expose significant improvements and functional upgrades to the user whereas minor versions are typically either minor feature upgrades or bugfix releases. Many projects, corporations and communities deviate from that loosely defined rule, but none do so more than Google […]

Typeracer

Addicted! What a great way to vent some steam. My performance typically ranges from 90 - 100wpm (my best is 112wpm and my worst is 91), which puts me firmly into the megaracer category, but is peanuts compared to some of the guys (and gals) on the site. Wanna join us? =)

Ubuntu Unity: Just Bad.

Ubuntu Unity is Canonical's netbook UI, introduced in Ubuntu 10.10. It is, by far, the worst netbook graphical shell I've ever used: extremely slow on Atom-based netbooks, clumsy, inconsistent and of arguable 'retro' æsthetics reminiscent of 1990s NeXTSTEP and clones, only with half of the usability those had. Needless to say, vanilla GNOME with Docky as a launcher is --- in my opinion --- a vastly superior and usable solution for both netbook and desktop use, until something better (viz. GNOME 3.0) comes along. So, it seemed almost like a joke when Shuttleworth announced earlier today, as reported by the linked Ars Technica article that Ubuntu 11.04 won't feature the GNOME Shell, but Unity as the default shell, for both the netbook and desktop editions. Pathetic, really, no matter how you slice it.

The Saga Called Java and the Mac.

The Macintosh has always been unique in terms of software, ever since it came out in 1984. From the now almost disappeared ‘Resource Fork’ of MFS/HFS, the pascal slant of Mac OS releases up until the early 1990s, the multiple architectural and design transitions, the Carbon/Cocoa duality of early Mac OS X, ‘Classic’ and ‘Rosetta’, […]

The return of the DPI

Ross Anderson writes about how the newly elected 'coalition' government in the UK plans to proceed with a controversial plan to mandate the installation of Deep Packet Inspection kits at ISPs in that country. I've written about DPI in the past, how it affects our liberty and provides little, to no, advantages for safeguarding national security. A few years ago Hellas was one of the best countries to live in, in terms of privacy; that was more due to the fact that the country has practically little to no governance where it comes to security than due to liberty and privacy respecting government agencies. DPI has been proposed under the pretext of national security and economic purposes (piracy fighting, bandwidth optimisation) and the technology has --- for a several years now --- allowed relatively cheap devices to be installed to practically all medium-sized or larger ISPs. I'd like to hope that sanity will prevail, but in a post 9/11 world civil liberties are not exactly a priority.

Rollercoaster.

Για την ομάδα του AthensBook οι τελευταίοι μήνες είναι ένα rollercoaster από πολλές πλευρές. Μια αέναη ακολουθία projects, χτίζοντας υποδομές, λογισμικό, συνεργασίες. Προχθές ανακοινώσαμε τον κύκλο Private Beta για το Android, μια έκδοση για την οποία πλέον λαμβάνουμε πολλαπλά email την εβδομάδα — και ήδη μέσα σε περίπου δυο ημέρες από την ανακοίνωση έχουμε δεκάδες […]

Hellenic in the Ubuntu font

Ubuntu 10.10 is just around the corner. In this version some preliminary signs of Ubuntu’s design efforts are slowly showing, although there’s still a vast amount of work to do. One of the ‘new’ things in 10.10 as far as the user experience is concerned is the new Ubuntu font. I am very happy to […]

The Document Foundation

The greatest news for the project-formerly-known-as OpenOffice.org, since it became free software a decade ago. Let's hope that the new maintainers/leaders of the project and the commercial 'supporters' listed on the web site will make LibreOffice a worthy competitor in the age of cloud computing, SaaS and Google's impending dominance (viz. Google Apps) of the market.

Blender 3D. Professional 3D graphics commoditisation in progress.

I’ve mentioned blender before; it’s one of the open source projects that I’ve followed for years, a project that I love and one that’s has consistently impressed me since I spent a weekend learning the basics of its operation in 2002. At Cosmical Technology, we’ve been using blender for quite a while; some of the […]