Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Monday, August 18, 2003

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RMS on free programs: "A non-free program is a predatory social system that keeps people in a state of domination and division, and uses the spoils to dominate more. It may seem like a profitable option to become one of the emperor's lieutenants, but ultimately the ethical thing to do is to resist the system and put an end to it."

Testing iSight and iChat AV -- Comment()
I wrote an article about videoconferencing, and will be writing another (a more technical and Mac-oriented). I have been satisfied with iSight. Even on a 600 MHz iBook the video quality is good.

Here is a screen capture of iChat AV and Hydra (recently renamed to '#####') in action:

Writing other things instead of blogging -- Comment()
I have become a bit worried about blogging. I don't want to be just a "blog jockey", who mixes and matches bits and pieces from other blogs with some personal commentary in between. On the other hand, I don't have the time to write extensively about my views, at least daily.

I hardly have time to fulfil my other writing tasks and assignments. For example, I'm currently preparing the third edition of my textbook Solving optimization problems (in Finnish, Optimointitehtävien ratkaiseminen). The second edition has been sold out, so I should finish the third edition as soon as possible.

Thus, there is not much time for other writing. Also, I have found a natural forum for my writing in the columns and book reviews I write for various magazines in Finland. Thus, this blog will be short of original ideas for some time.

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Blog Stuff: "I'm bored of roughly 90% of the blogs that I "read" I enjoy life more when I tried to avoid computers on the weekend. Therefore: I'm going to either read fewer blogs or find some new blogs to read. Any suggestions?" [Jeremy Zawodny's blog]

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NYT: G5 to be in stores "today": "The New York Times reports that Apple has over 100,000 pre-orders of the Power Mac G5 and that the new 64-bit computer will be available in US "today" (Monday)." [The Macintosh News Network]

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InfoWorld examines Apple's IT potential: " InfoWorld features a cover article and several analysis pieces related to Apple in their August 15 edition, all available for online review or download via PDF. [...] InfoWorld looks specifically at what Apple has to offer the IT market [...]" [MacCentral]

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Ricardo Semmler's Guide to Stress Management : "Give yourself time to think. Spend half a day every week away from your office."

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Linux will have 20% desktop market share by 2008? Siemens Business Systems, after conducting an extensive survey on non technical workers ("secretaries and managers, not IT people") is predicting that the Linux desktop will capture 20% of the market for desktop computers in large enterprises within the next 5 years." [Slashdot]

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Power Up: The World on One Grid: "Thirty years ago, Buckminster Fuller came up with a plan to plug all the world's continents into the same electrical grid. Once it's fully functional, the only excuse for power shortages will be greed. By Patrick Di Justo for Wired magazine." [Wired News]