Categories
GPL Linux Software Windows

Firefox Sync: Take Your Browser Everywhere

Mozilla has just rebranded their Weave add-on as Firefox Sync, and I've been using it for the past few weeks. This is exactly what I've been waiting for: the ability to continue my Firefox session from one place to another without losing context.

The Browser Sync Problem

How many times have you left your computer at work running or hibernated because you had dozens of important tabs open and couldn't bear to lose them? Or needed to access a password you'd saved at home while you were traveling? Or wished you could see your work browsing history when you got home?

Categories
Linux Review

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx: The Free Man’s Mac

Yesterday, Canonical released Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support), codenamed Lucid Lynx, and I've spent the last 24 hours exploring it. This release represents something significant: Ubuntu has finally delivered a desktop experience that rivals Mac OS X in visual polish and usability, while maintaining everything that makes GNU/Linux powerful—freedom, flexibility, and zero cost.

I've always had mixed feelings about Apple. While I dislike their marketing strategies and closed ecosystem, I have to respect their focus on design consistency and user experience. But there's always been one massive factor: price. Mac OS X requires expensive Apple hardware with no flexibility in configuration or customization.

Categories
Games Linux Review Windows

Urban Terror: A Free FPS for Linux Gamers

Urban Terror is one great game that deserves more attention. As someone who recently tried it, I'm impressed by what the FrozenSand team has accomplished with this free, open-source first-person shooter.

What is Urban Terror?

Urban Terror is a free tactical shooter built on the Quake III Arena engine, released under the GPL license. It's a standalone game that doesn't require Quake III to play, and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Think of it as a middle ground between Counter-Strike's tactical gameplay and Quake's fast-paced action.

Categories
Graphics Open Source Software

GIMP: The Ultimate Free Graphics Tool

I'm not a graphics design professional, but I'm also not new to image editing. I've used various tools over the years, and I keep coming back to GIMP. Recently, while creating a poster for an office event, I discovered just how powerful this free tool really is.

The Discovery

I needed to create some eye-catching text for a poster and decided to explore GIMP's Script-Fu features. For those unfamiliar, Script-Fu is GIMP's built-in automation system—essentially pre-programmed effects and operations that would take many manual steps to create.

Categories
Review Software Technology

Curl – A gentle slope system

Note: This post is about the Curl programming language, not the curl command-line HTTP tool. They're completely different things that happen to share a name.

I recently learned about the Curl language, an MIT-DARPA project that's taking an interesting approach to web development. It's a multi-paradigm hybrid functional language that is reflective, homo-iconic, and object-oriented. It supports closures, macros, and declarative layouts.