Tag | tech buzz

Why you should switch your desktop to UBUNTU yesterday. Make your desktop, the sexiest workstation and the most powerful and easy to use without worrying about privacy issues and security online.

Not too long ago everybody was raving about Compact Fluorecent Lamps as energy saving solutions, But their heavy metal content was a problem during disposal and recycling. Enter LEDs,. If all households used them, energy costs from lighting go down by up to 80 per cent. Read on what the technology promises for the future.

Off the Grid, you will need a tool for wilderness and even urban survival. How do you choose the best survival knife for your chores and as a self-defense weapon? Check out our list.

Worried about your privacy getting invaded by everything from Big Brother, to identity thieves, to busybodies using infrared to monitor your activities from next door? Surf securely with the Tor Browser.

You'd think that a windmill or those ultra sleek modern wind turbines were what you needed to get the most out of wind power. Tech for wind turbines has evolved so much that smaller and more portable gear is available for community, home or personal use. Keeping a portable wind generator and using one regulalry will help you deal better with off the grid situations and save you a bundle on energy costs.

For design oriented work on the go, Autodesk's Sketchbook Pro for the iPad is one of the best mobile sketchpad apps anywhere for a steal too! Download your copy now!

Looking for an Ubuntu OS to migrate to? Choose Kubuntu which runs on the KDE environment. KDE is the eye candy desktop user interface packed with its own suite of power apps from graphic design packages to an office software suite. Some may prefer the clean look of Unity, Mate, or GNOME, but for getting people to switch to Open Source OS, show them all the gorgeous free goodies that'll blow them away.

We often take for granted that surfing online at internet cafes can cause irreparable harm if we are not aware of privacy safety and anonymous surfing. When we are mobile and need to use another computer we can install TAILS on a USB thumb drive and use that as our OS when booting up ANY pubicly accessed computer to keep safe when surfing online. We can request for this option and if we are denied, it is better to be safe than sorry and find another PC to access that allows you to boot with TAILS. Know more about TAILS and online privacy and security.

Unsure about changing to an Open Source Linux system like Ubuntu? Check out Sparky Linux! It is a compact OS designed for low resource computers that packs all the apps you need. Best of all, it is FREE.

Don't want to bleed for paid software for media design solution? Open Source solutions like Ubuntu Linux distros are now as cutting edge as paid software and MORE. Check out the latest version of UbuntuStudio and see what you're missing.

Digital audio has enabled everybody to enjoy high end music playback with more economical home gear. But many music lovers are still buying top end vintage equipment to set up their own pimped up home entertainement system the old fashioned way. What makes people want a listening room or just a home system based on older technology?

Edubuntu is already a complete Linux package most usefful for ALL learning levels with a pre-installed suite of educational apps targeted for each student group. Save money for good books instead and a better library. Use Edubuntu for your institution's software and OS requirements. You won''t believe how much you can save.

The best part about Ultimate Edition is that you can use a distro from 3 years ago or the latest distro, and it will still run better and look sweeter than the current Windows OS and any paid software. For one of the most complete Ubuntu versions for all your computing needs, you cannot lose with Ultimate Edition.

GIMP 2.8 may be a better value over Creative Cloud in the long run even for professional image editing requirements. Don't lose sleep over paying up a premium for converting to Cloud service subscription for your work software. Open source software is readily available and FREE for download and use. It is an advocacy that we must all support to change the way we all use the good stuff. By sharing tech and resources!

Audiobooks used to be clunky as cassette tape format or CD format, character actor narrated versions of books and novels. Now as digital MP3 files, you can zone out to your favorite book while doing odd chores from laundry to taking your morning walk and exercise. Even kids get to learn reading and language better if they are weaned on audiobooks!

If you use Ubuntu Studio (Or any Linux OS distros where you can install Scribus), you have a steal of an awesome desktop publishing rig designed by typographers and layout aficionados in Scribus. Scribus might be different from your usual desktop publishing work process but once you get the hang of the more elegant interface, you'll never go back to paid license, cloud based publishing software. Open source computing is the wave of the future. Open source is FREE.

Looking for a Windows alternative? There are many low resource alternatives among the Ubuntu and Linux shells for Open Source operating systems. We review CrunchBang, a very low resource, fast install, Linux OS with all the best apps packaged with it. This one comes for FREE. But do please find it in your heart to donate to Open Source workgroups if you can so that we can still get the best they can offer for the Open Source community.

Manga artist or digital painter? GIMP is the open source alternative to Photoshop if you are using most Ubuntu distros but if you happen to prefer Kubuntu, you can use Krita, the KDE paint and draw program that is better than GIMP and tops Photoshop and Painter in more ways than one. Open source is FREE and you don;t have to worry about technical support because user communities as well as developers from krita.org all assist Krita users to have the best work tool always.

Music streaming portals are always popular among us music loving Pinoys. Especially those among us who hoard a playlist like it were secret prayers of bliss. Among the most popular include Spotify and Beatsmusic. Not too known but equally useful for their own features are Soundcloud and Live365. Here's a look at the most popular and useful music streaming apps for your audio entertainment fix.

Nations around the world are instituting a major change in all state learning institutions, moving from paid software licenses to open source free computing via Linux and Ubuntu. Russia and Germany, as well as France are discovering that Linux and Ubuntu and LibreOffice are faring just as well as MS apps and Linux network management is more secure and stable than Windows has ever been. Check out which world learning institutions are going open source via Ubuntu or other Linux distros.

Innovation also works with retro methods. Like delivering data and media by bike messenger service than sending 100s of gigabytes of data via your connection anywhere. Way faster than uploading and donwloading big data from even cloud storage sites. Given special circumstances, bike messengers are as hot today as they were in the 80s. Don't clog your connection with huge gigabyte size uploads or downloads, you're better off running your connection doing smarter things. Send your data across town via the Sneakernet!

The German, British and Russian governments are all re-equipping most of their agencies where sensitive data is produced and stored with the retro document machine--the typewriter. The only way this piece of archaic tech can be hacked from the Cold War days was to place a tiny microphone inside each machine and record the keystrokes. Since tech is screened like a sieve these days, it's safe to say that the hum of a tyewriter will be safe wherever you use it.

You don't need an expensive smartphone, tablet, or PC to watch or listen to HD media files anymore. A very nice gift this Xmas or for any occasion will be the latest portable 4K--UltraHigh Definition--media players that can plug into any TV monitor or computer monitor for your music or movie marathon fix. An HD media player will be your cheap and portable home theater system that also works off-grid with any TV.

While everyone else is looking for a steal of a deal for new smartphones this Black Firday and Cyber Monday's inventory clearance sales, it might be better to look for useful and underrated stuff you can use for off-grid situations and for growing food at home! Survival gear and electronics such as LED lamps, water filters, cheap hand crank radios might be the best buys you can make during pre-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy of online promos.

Solar battery banks might be one of the best home improvement options for keeping your home ready for off-grid situations. Emergency power via gas or diesel generators may not be an optimal choice because of the fumes generated by burning fuel. A solar battery bank can last for 10 years and be used optimally to reduce your power bill over the lifetime of the battery bank. With Tesla now making their own battery tech open source, it opens up the arena for making battery banks for solar more affordable for everyone.

The Raspberry Pi 3 is a pocket computer board that can be configured into a gaming console emulator, a media center for digital files, a robotics A.I., or used as a cheap alternative to a fully-rigged PC for basic functions such as web surfing or word processing. It is a DIY hobbyist gadget for building your own portable compact device or as a test computer for running anything you might want to code. If you want to set up better than PISO NET workstations that can double as video game consoles and media center, buy several for a fraction of the cost for a fully set-up PC network.

Don't pay through your nose for branded cloud based apps when you can use Free and Open Source like Sandstorm OS. Easy to use. Fast. And you can even host it on your own servers for internal use. Keep your data your own and safe from spooks. The entire business side of Sandstorm as a brand has run its course and with no further dev funding the owners of the technology decided to offer it as a full time community open source cloud app. It still has everything strong going for it as the web OS of the future.