Google just released several short films to promote their very own Chrome web browser. A few talented artists and illustrators were invited to create these videos to simply show the importance of a web browser and at the same time introduce Chrome to a much a wider audience.

Several months ago, I remembered posting here a collection of cool Firefox video ads. I think they are a bit old already, so it's probably time for Firefox fans to create some fresh videos to beat those Google Chrome short films.

Ubuntu has finally eclipsed Windows XP in terms of popularity. --That is according to the most recent data from Google Trends. See graph below:

You may say that Windows XP is too old that’s why it’s losing its appeal and is going downhill. So how about we will compare Ubuntu with the fresh Windows Vista:

These statistics from Google Trends are another solid proof that Ubuntu is key to Linux mainstream adoption. Let’s just hope that majority of those who searched for “Ubuntu” in Google were actually using Linux or would end up using Linux for good.

The freshly released Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" is said to have significantly improved its boot speed. So I got curious and decided to compare its boot performance to Fedora 10 and PCLinuxOS 2009.

I did the test by installing the three distributions through Parallels Desktop virtual machine utilizing the same configuration on my Mac (Macbook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo). Note that I decided to use Xubuntu to give some variation on desktop environment as we already have GNOME in F10 and KDE in PCLOS 2009.

To measure the boot speed, I started the timer immediately after GRUB, and then stopped it until the desktop has loaded completely.

Now if you are ready for our boot speed war, see the clips below:

Xubuntu 9.04 won, but only by a slim margin against PCLOS 2009. I was surprised to see Fedora 10 as being the slowest to boot among the three.

Additional Info (Key Virtual Machine Configuration):
VM Memory: 512 MB
VM Hard Disk: 8 GB
CPU: 1

What if Free Software icon Richard M. Stallman got married with Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie and had a child? What will their baby look like? I know most of you out there are curious so let’s find out with the help of this interesting website called makemebabies.com. –-They have the technology to generate images of future babies by combining photos.

Before you go on, do take note that these are all for fun and should not be taken seriously. Now let’s make babies with some of the famous geeks paired with some of the hottest Hollywood celebrities:

UPDATE: A fan of Steve Ballmer emailed us and wanted his idol to make babies with Hollywood celebrities too. So let’s give him a chance folks by pairing Ballmer with the beautiful Paris Hilton. Here’s the result:

GDM or GNOME Display Manager will easily allow users to fully customize the login screen theme without having to use the command line.

There are tons of ready-made, user-submitted GDM themes available that we can just download and effortlessly install. In celebration of Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope's release, I’ve collected some of the most beautiful GDM themes for Ubuntu enthusiasts to appreciate:

The final and stable version of Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" is about to be unleashed. So expect another server-clogging release day, as excited Ubuntu enthusiasts from around the world will simultaneously download their favorite Linux distro.

For those of you who want to get Ubuntu 9.04 as quickly as possibly once it is out, I have here some tips on how to avoid congestion and in effect put less amount of strain on Ubuntu servers.

Upgrade:

For those who wish to upgrade, utilize an apt mirror and choose the best server by opening Synaptic Package Manager, and then navigate to open "Software Sources" window. Or, you can go to:

System -> Administration -> Software Sources


Under "Ubuntu Software" tab and inside the "Download from" drop-down menu, select "Other..."

You will then be prompted to choose a download server. Click on "Select Best Server" button and wait until it is finished testing the download servers. Once completed, click on "Choose Server" and close.

In the main Synaptic window, click on reload and wait until it finished downloading the package information from your new mirror.

Now, you can upgrade by simply following the steps posted HERE.

Fresh Install:

For those who want a fresh copy of Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope", I would highly recommend that you download the ISO via torrent. Note that links will be posted on Ubuntu download page. If you have no idea what to do with a torrent file, maybe this will help: How to Use BitTorrent in Linux.

For the first time in history, the Philippine national elections to be held in 2010 will use an automated (electronic) polling system. At this point in time, our lawmakers are debating on the issue of security of the voting machines that will be used in the polls. One Senator even filed a resolution to set aside 100 million pesos (more than $2 million) to anyone who can convincingly hack the new polling system.

In a country filled with dishonest government officials, there’s no doubt that there are people out there who would do anything in order for them to win the election. So to prevent fraud from happening or at least minimize it, I have two simple suggestions:

1. Use Open Source

Utilizing open source software will contribute to a more transparent automated system as anyone with the knowledge can read and review the code and determine if the system is capable enough or find out if it’s being manipulated.

2. Use Linux

We all know how secure an operating system Linux is when compared to the more widely used Windows. So I think one of the best ways to achieve an extra-reliable hard-to-hack automated polling system is simply to use Linux.


To our dear readers, please share with us your views regarding this matter via comment.

Our two weeks long rejuvenating vacation is about to end. Our flight to Bohol will be tomorrow, and it’s all business after that. To reminisce the good times we had, I’m posting some of the road trip photos I’ve taken using only the 2 megapixel camera from my iPhone. Enjoy!

One of the many rice fields we passed by


A broken bridge


A lone bridge to Vigan City


Passing a river at dusk


A pretty horse


A beautiful sunset we saw at Baguio City

A nice view from a restaurant in Subic


A kid that looks like my son. Wait, it is my son!

TPLinux is owned by Wincor Nixdorf, a German corporation that provides retail and retail banking hardware, software, and services. TPLinux has the capability to run on other vendors’ hardware as well as Wincor Nixdorf’s own systems. Puregold is the first Filipino company that will utilize the German firm’s open source-based software.

Puregold is looking to cut overall licensing costs in terms of security while standardizing on an open-source platform, covering both current and future store openings.

In an interview by Lawrence Casiraya of Inquirer.net, Ruel Magat, the company's IT Manager said,

“We wanted to cut the cost of buying anti-virus licenses and save on the cost of the license of (Microsoft) Windows per POS.”

Christian Charlton, Wincor Nixdorf’s Asia Pacific head of retail solutions, added that Puregold also intends to use the open source-based software to boost its customer-related initiatives such as promos and discounts.

In these tough economic times, I hope more and more companies here will follow what Puregold has done and will somewhat realize the true value of open source software.

Since a lot of you loved our collection of some of the most beautiful Plasma Themes for KDE 4 desktop, we decided to give you more. This time, we compiled the very latest, good-looking plasma themes for all the KDE lovers out there to appreciate and perhaps to download. So without further ado, here they are:

9. Cream