Why linux and windows will never do your laundry

If a store opened across the street from Target, same relative inventory, same service, only difference everything was free, would Target survive?

Unlikely.

Yet in software…

"Payware" = "Freeware" (open source)

--------------------------------------

Windows = Linux

Oracle = MySQL

MS Office = OpenOffice

Ultra Edit = PSPad

…the current reality is that payware and freeware compete in the marketplace head to head.

In fact, the “for pay” software continues to thrive in the marketplace despite free software that is in many cases just as good (some might claim better).

Why is this?

When you buy a pair of jeans at the store the total cost is paid in full at the time of the purchase. There are no additional costs involved that directly pertain to the manufacturer. Of course there is the on-going cost of maintaining the pants through washing. This is a totally different market that is wholly agnostic to the brand of jeans. In other words, Tide washes Wrangler’s the same as Levi’s.

With software the game is different. Only a small percentage of the total cost of software can be attributed to its development. Support and maintenance make up a sizeable chunk of the cost. The larger one scales the software the higher these costs go. There is no singular solution like Tide to deal with both Windows or Linux. Sure you copy files in both, and make directories, but the means of doing so is very different and not interchangeable like your detergent. My trivial example has not even exposed the tip of the iceberg!

So this leaves us with the issue of market share. When you have a commodity that requires so much additional and continuing service/support, market share becomes a very important factor.

Support and service for free software is anything but free. Microsoft loves to tell us (and rightly so) that TCO (total cost of ownership) between Windows and Linux is in the same ballpark. They even claim that Linux costs more, all factors considered. But the geeks at Redmond can’t have it both ways. Open Source software that can be obtained for free does not represent communism (Remember Mr. Balmer declaring this?). Communism to my understanding was never a sustaining and growing multi-billion dollar business.

If we look back as to how Microsoft dominated the market we tend to forget some key points.

* The mainframe market viewed Microsoft as a passing fad.

[The CEO of DEC wondered why in the world anyone would every want to own a computer.]

*Microsoft was the only real game in town when it came to PC operating systems.

[Any attempts by others (DR Dos, OS2) were summarily squashed.]

*Microsoft gave away IE in order to squash then leader Netscape.

[Who?]

*Microsoft sold early versions of Office for $99.00 to gain market share.

[Other players at the time were selling there office suites for 3+ times that amount. Microsoft bought market share by thinking long term. After all, changing your word processor and spreadsheet are a bit dicier than changing your undies. Also, think of all of us who make a living off these products.]

While many software vendors have come and gone, it is the open source, "here it is for free" Cowboys and Cowgirls that are here to stay and threaten the very world of "for pay" software. But what the hey, we developers are typically more enthralled by creating things than making money. I know of no other profession on the planet where not taking and reusing other peoples work is considered the sane way of doing ones job. I believe in journalism they call it plagiarism?

You can go to jail for software piracy - why would you do it

There are many ways for a thief to perform his or her trade. In past decades, there were limited ways for thieves to steal. Most of them have perfected their craft with little chance of getting caught. However, with the ever-evolving Internet, thieves have a whole new venue for them to choose from. The latest product to come under the attack of theft is Software. With all of the software that is available and that is being developed, all a software pirate has to do is “choose” the software that they want from the Internet.

Software Piracy has been on the rise in recent years because of the cost that is associated with the software itself; however, it is the business and programmers who suffer the most from software piracy.

All software comes with a licensing agreement that the end user must agree to before they are allowed to use the software. These agreements are legal and binding and are usually only meant for the person who has purchased the software. However, even though the person agrees to this, they end up sharing the software with friends and family and sometimes even with their co-workers. When this occurs, it is considered software piracy. Although it is on a very small scale, it is still stealing.

Perhaps you and your co-workers are not aware of the consequences of sharing software files. In recent news stories, software piracy has become the focal point for many lawmakers. New laws have been passed that make fines for software piracy steep and jail time is a real possibility for those who continue to pirate software. The person who gets a hold of that software and turns around and sells it as bootleg certainly understands the penalty for getting caught. However, the temptation to make a lot of money for very little work proves to be too much for some to pass up.

Schools throughout the country and the world use commercial software and shareware. Most schools are eligible for discounts on software that allows their students to research their subjects. Freeware and Open Source software are also available to schools throughout the world, and this type of software is also vulnerable to software piracy. One way to reduce this particular piracy risk is to use older versions of the software.

Consumers have never had a high opinion of freeware or Open Source software. They have always felt that these products were lacking in performance and were very low quality. They are so wrong. In recent years, with the upgrades that have been developed, the quality of freeware has increased dramatically. The quality has increased so much, that the commercial software corporations have begun to take notice and protest that they are loosing money due to the freeware that is being developed.

When you are looking for software, it is important that you research all of your possibilities. There are literally thousands of programs both commercial and freeware, however it is important that you read and understand the licensing agreement before you accept it. It is a legal and binding agreement, and the consequences of breaking that agreement are also very real. It is also not necessary to commit software piracy, rather use the freely available Open Source products.

Want to watch movies on your psp

The Sony PSP was originally developed for playing cutting edge video games. This is what the PSP can do best. It has got superb display and sound quality and a media called UMD (Universal Media Disc) for mass storage.

But besides playing games the developers had another cool application for the console in mind: Watching movies and video clips. The display of the PSP has the perfect 'wide-screen' format to display current movies in their full wide-screen format. It turns out that the resolution of the PSP display is able to render movies in a quality that you normally wouldn't expect from a small device like this.

If you have even been on a flight were people left and right of you just watch the board movie you know how it is if you take you PSP and watch your favorite Star Trek episode. You know how good it feels to get all these envious looks. Some people may pretend they are not watching - others will openly ask you: 'Hey, I didn't know you could watch movies like that with a PSP - I bought this for my son but I thought it was just for video games.' So many times I have heard this or a similar statement.

In general people are surprised by the quality of the image displayed by the PSP. If you hold the PSP in your hand you get a sufficient details level to enjoy an entire movie.

There are two ways to watch movies on your PSP: One is to buy movies on UMDs. These are available in most electronic shops where they sell PSP games. The discs are even smaller than the old mini-CDs that the record industry tried to establish.

However, you cannot buy all movies on UMD. Especially TV-series are not usually found on UMDs. Also, if you already have your favorite movies at home on a DVD you don't want to buy them again. Especially since the price of a UMD can be even higher than the DVD.

The second option that is very trendy right now is to download PSP movies from the net or convert your existing DVDs and transfer the movie to the PSP.

Unfortunately UMDs are not writable so the only place where you can store a movie on a PSP is the memory stick. The memory stick was designed to hold saved games, but Sony quickly realized that people wanted to put all kinds of things on the PSP like music and videos. So now memory sticks with 1GB or more are easily available and affordable.

For watching movie you should have a memory stick of at least 1GB. Anything smaller will not give you're the full length or quality for a movie.

Fortunately there is software available that automatically converts a DVD into the right format and transfers it to the DVD.

Sony photo digital cameras

Sony is one of the best photo digital camera producers and this result is confirmed especially by their clients, who almost never complain regarding the product quality. Sony photo digital camera offer is wide ranging from 2 mega pixel cameras to over 8 mega pixel. In the following lines I will describe some Sony photo digital cameras characteristics with a variable price from several hundred dollars to over a thousand.

Cybershot DSC-T10 is a high performance Sony photo digital camera that is in many ways alike its predecessor the T30. What I like about it is the SteadyShot Optical Image Stabilizer that helps you take a decent shoot even in harsh conditions. Among its features I will point the 7.2 mega pixels, decent optical zoom 3x, Automatic focus and exposure, supports JPEG format, a movie mode with sound and 2.5 inch LCD. This Sony photo digital camera comes with 56 MB internal memory and Li-Ion battery.

Sony Alpha a100 is a true SLR (Single Lens Reflex), and if we are fair it is the first Sony photo digital camera real SLR. Many like to say that the A100 is the successor of the K-M Maxxum. Here are its specifications: an impressive 10 mega pixels, very nice lens Sony Alpha/Minolta A-Type. This Sony photo digital camera has image stabilization; it can switch between auto and manual focus and exposure, ISO 80 – 1600; it supports JPEG and RAW formats and has lithium – ion battery.

CyberShot H5 is a Sony photo digital camera with an awesome 12x optical zoom and 7.2 MP sensors being one of the best offers on the market. It comes with a larger LCD of no more then 3.0 inch LCD which is really nice especially if you want to actually use de 12x optical zoom. Check the specifications: 7.2 mega pixels combined with a 12x optical and 2x digital zoom. The CyberShot H5 Sony photo digital camera has optical image stabilization and can turn from auto to manual focus or exposure, ISO 80 – 1000, it supports JPEG format and has a nice movie mode, 2AA batteries, a 3.0 inch LCD screen and a 32MB internal memory.

CyberShot T50 is one of those Sony photo digital cameras that won’t stop selling, because they’re good, affordable with a nice and attractive look. The Sony photo digital camera comes in 3 colors silver, black and red. Its sensor has 7.2 mega pixels, the screen is more then enough 3.0 inch LCD, and its optical image stabilization option is a life savior. It has 7.2 mega pixels, 3x optical zoom and a 2x digital zoom, an auto focus and exposure and it supports JPEG format. You can make movie with sound, ISO 80 – 1000, internal memory of 56 MB, Optical Image Stabilization and 3.0 LCD, and the batteries are also good lithium – ion.

Why use residential voip

Are you running out of airtime minutes?

Want to reduce your long distance phone bill?

Do you spend a lot of time using your computer and find that you are losing touch with your nearest and dearest?

Well your answer to these problems may be in the latest communication technology VOIP.

VOIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol allows you to use your computer and the internet to communicate with the only cost being your broadband or dial up connection. This is known as Residential VOIP as opposed to a VOIP Business Phone System.

Residential VOIP means you can download the technology onto your computer and then communicate with your family and friends in exactly the same way that you would on the telephone but using your computer as a telephone instead. Your family and friends also need to have the technology on their computers but don't let this put you off as it is very easy to download and use. You can make and receive calls from your computer, use your residential VOIP and call their computer and they can answer, you'll be chatting, just like on the telephone, in no time. Once you get started you'll be wondering why you never used VOIP sooner.

But it doesn't stop there!

> Maybe the person you want to call using your computer doesn't have a VOIP program on their computer, no problem, you can get an adaptor.

> Maybe you want to use your residential VOIP to call a regular phone, land line or cell phone, again, no problem, an adaptor will hook you up in no time.

So, if you don't get to talk to your nearest and dearest as often as you like then get hooked up with a residential VOIP system and you won't look back.

You can also use your Residential VOIP for international calls.

There are lots of different residential VOIP systems so take your time when choosing and make sure you pick the right system for you.

Photoshop layers tutorials

Layers are a powerful feature of Photoshop that allow you to work on one part of an image without disturbing the rest of it. While the concept of layers may seem intimidating at first, once you get the hang of using layers you’ll wonder how you ever survived without them!

The transparent parts of any layer, shown by the checkered grid, allow the layers beneath that layer to show through. You can show and hide each layer in an image by clicking on its corresponding eye icon in the Layers palette.

To organize your layers, you can arrange them into layer groups by going to Layer > New > Group…. Each layer group displays in the same way as any ungrouped layers on the Layers palette. A layer group is signified by a folder icon. You can collapse or expand layer groups by clicking on the triangle to the left of the folder icon, and nest layer groups within each other by dragging one folder icon into another.

Here are 10 quick Layer Shortcuts.

1 - Rename layers by double-clicking on the layer name.

2 - Select a layer by using the keyboard shortcuts Alt-[ and Alt-] (Option-[ and Option-] on a Mac).

3 - Merge a layer into the one beneath it by pressing Ctrl - E (Command-E). If you have selected layers, this shortcut

will merge those selected layers together.

4 - Change the transparency of a layer by changing its opacity with the Opacity slider, or typing a value into the

Opacity box (which is visible when you have the Selection, Move, or Crop tools selected).

5 - Duplicate a selected layer by pressing Ctrl-J (Command-J on a Mac). You can also duplicate a layer by dragging it

while pressing the Alt (Option) key.

6 - Select multiple layers by holding down Ctrl (Command on a Mac) and clicking the layer names. This forms a temporary link between the selected layers that allows you to move them as one unit, delete them all, and so on.

7 - You can also link layers together. Select layers by clicking on them while holding down Shift or Ctrl (Command

on a Mac).

8 - To unlink all the layers, select one of the linked layers and go to Layer > Unlink Layers.

9 - To temporarily unlink a layer, hold down Shift and click on its link icon (a red “X” will appear over the link icon).

10 - Reactivate the link by holding down Shift and clicking the link icon again.

Organise and control your world with a desktop calender - a complete review

I used to have an old paper desktop calendar, which seemed to have everything that I needed. I could timetable important dates and appointments in my desktop calendar, and each day had a funny and interesting quotation which would provide food for thought, as well as a pleasant moment or two of distraction. But, for many people (and I include myself in this group) there simply is more required nowadays than a paper 2006 desktop calendar can provide. That is why you should get an active desktop calendar for your computer screen.

Desktop calendars are invaluable sources of organization for any modern executive, or really anyone who is computer literate and wants to make their life more organized and efficient. Computer desktop calendars allow you all of the functions imaginable, and many of them are free, or at least quite reasonable. Using a desktop calendar, you can schedule anything that is upcoming weeks or years in advance, and set it to remind you with tones when the time comes. If you do use your computer on a daily basis, there is simply no reason why you should not use an active desktop calendar for all of your secretarial needs, as it is much better than the old paper standbys, and you can not lose it.

There are, however, some problems with switching from paper calendars to electronic ones. One of them is that a desktop calendar is not moveable. Although the old style of desktop calendars were not moveable either, they did allow an easy way to add important notes that you took when out. You could simply tape them to the day when you got home, which was much easier than having to boot up the calendar and type it in, I am sure that you will agree. And, if your hard drive goes, your paper 2006 desktop calendar is still there, while your computer calendar, along with all record of your important appointments has gone for good into the computer happy hunting ground. That is a quite unfortunate event, I am sure that you will agree. Another problem with these new styles of desktop calendars is that they can be disturbed by Windows events. If your computer were to install some updates and reboot itself, you could be completely out of luck. If the desktop calendar did not reboot correctly, it would not remind you of all of your important appointments.