Awesome - Hopefully it'll be launched in other part of the world outside the United States.





Google has recently added a function to Gmail to allow a user to make calls to "normal" telephones right from Gmail. All you have to do is click the phone button in the chat window, select your country, enter the telephone number and click "Call". This allows you to call internationally at very reduced rates and apparently it's free to the United States. It seems that each user has a token $0.10 credit by default to give it a try. so... why not? I've tried to call my cellphone and... well, it works!

YAY! Eventually Google has added video call support for Linux. This allows a user with a web cam to initiate a video call with another user from within their browser. This feature has been around for a while in the Windows though, but can finally be installed from within the browser by clicking on a button in the chat window. So far, apparently, only Ubuntu/Debian based systems are supported with RPM's to follow.

Cloud computing in the extreme - Is this really the "future"? I'm doubting it a bit in spite of this being the big buzz word in IT at the moment. I've come accross eyeOS (http://eyeos.org/) and the excellent OOS (http://oos.cc), which is a complete "OS" running in the could. In the eyeOS case,  you can run it in your cloud. WHAT? Basically, it's a complete operating system which runs on a server somewhere on the Internet, or it can be deployed on servers within a company's network and is accessed via a standard web browser. What are the advantages of this? There are numerous theoretical advantages from security (fewer viruses and better document security hopefully), low hardware requirements for end users and associated cost benefits, instant upgrades to universal accessiblity from numerous devices. So for all the advantages, it seems an obvious direction.

Well, back in the day, this was largely what the IT world looked like - There were servers and dumb terminals which had a network connection and little else. Everything was executed, stored and processed on the server. So what happened? PC became more powerful and useful as standalone devices and so we ended up with disconnected home computers, being able to play video games movies etc.  So, it seems as though we're moving back to the "old way"... OK, this time round is a little different as many devices have a 24/7 internet connection and therefore network connectivity is less of an issue, but there are still many applications that don't lend themselves to fully online operating system such as 3D graphical games. Ok, once again, there are exceptions to this rule as I've seen Quake running over the net. But just because it can be done, it doesn't mean that it's ideal. There are plenty of other classes of software that doesn't lend itself to this either.

There wouldn't be the huge amounts of money pumped into this if it wasn't a possibility... Well, I believe it's going to be a mixed world. There will be numerous online apps which we will (and already do) use, but there will always be a need for the "normal" desktop computer. So... will the online operating system become the defacto standard...? I doubt it.



Hmmmm.... Gave Gnome Shell a try recently to try get a peak at what the new upcoming Gnome 3 may look like.
Apparently Gnome shell won't be compatible with Compiz. I.E. you can't run both at the same time - So it's a question of which one? I've used it for a while now and not sure i like it... It's better than the "standard" interface (minus compiz), but all in all, I'd rather use Compiz. Not considering any technical reasons such as speed, memory use etc. the reason is because a few of my favourite features wont be available, "Wobbly windows", Desktop Cube, Expo, Ring Switcher etc. So... If the new Ubuntu/ Gnome does ship with it, for now I'd rather change back to Compiz. Fortunately it's should be easy enough. though. And once again... the beauty of Linux - use whatever you like.



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