There is no doubt that open source software developers have a sense of humour, which trickles all the way through an open source application. One would be amazed at the developer comments found in open source software code. Unknown and undocumented, many open source application have ’secrets’ often humorous and fun secrets that not many are aware of. read more… »
Open Source Software’s Secret Side
An Open Source Restaurant
Are you hungry for open source. Now you may literally eat it. A new restaurant called the Instructables Restaurant, in Amsterdam, has based it’s entire business on open source. We not talking about the systems or computer they use, but the actual food. Based on the ideology of the popular online magazine instructables.com, the restaurant will only cook and serve open source food. Open source food?? Open source or recipes that have been posted online and have been licensed with an open source license. read more… »
Ubuntu Ditches the Brown in Favour of Light
Following our recent post regarding Ubuntu’s identity overhaul. It seems as though the masses are rejoicing at the ‘dropping of the brown’. For years Ubuntu held a Unique, and often contested, colour space, as no other distribution ever has made so much use of the colour brown. However it is evident from the masses of forum and blog posts that the general Ubuntu user does not appreciate the brown default interface presented by Ubuntu. read more… »
3 Handy Temporary Email Services
Ever noticed how some sites require registration to view content or download files? With the ever increasing blight of spam and phishing scams online, handing out your email address is becoming an ever increasing risk. This is where the usefulness of a temporary email service come in hand, as it assigns you a ‘disposable’ email address to use on the internet, where your address may get sold or abused by spammers. There are several temporary email services online, however we have decided to comb through the masses and shortlist a few promising solutions. read more… »
Entire Popular Science Archive Made Avaliable Online
The Popular Science magazine in conjunction with Google have made their entire archive of 137 years available online through Google book search. Every page has been converted to digital text allowing for text searched of specific articles from within the archive. “We’ve partnered with Google to offer our entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. It’s an amazing resource that beautifully encapsulates our ongoing fascination with the future, and science and technology’s incredible potential to improve our lives. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.” says popsci.com read more… »
Cellphone Penetration Worldwide
An interesting set of visualized statistics outlining the global penetration of mobile devices. According to this data, and not surprisingly, Google owns just about 100% of mobile searches. Further more in Taiwan, according to these stats, there are more cellphones than people. read more… »
Facebook Plans to Grow Out of Facebook.com
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the hugely popular online social network site Facebook.com, recently announced a proposal that will allow Facebook to in essence expand off of facebook.com. By implementing the Open Graph API, web developers can make their pages function like native Facebook pages. Allowing Facebook users to become fans of these pages, which will then be displayed on their profile. read more… »
Confirmed: Paypal To Reach South Africa
FNB has recently confirmed the rumours of bringing PayPal to South Africa, amidst a buzz of online hype regarding the speculation of PayPal in South Africa. FNB CEO along with PayPal senior executives are to hold an official press conference with journalists regarding the PayPal FNB deal.
South African consumers until now, have not had proper access to PayPal services as the service has not been fully supported by the South African monetary system. Consumers may now look forward to accessing and participating in more online commerce as access to PayPal will make it easier for international online payments and money transfers to be processed. read more… »
A Scientific Curiosity
Science inspired photography by Caleb Charland who combines his passion for photography and his interest in physics. “Wonder is a state of mind somewhere between knowledge and uncertainty. It is the basis of my practice and results in images that are simultaneously familiar and strange. I utilize everyday objects and fundamental forces to illustrate experiences of wonder. Each photograph begins with a simple question “How would this look? Is that possible? What would happen if…?” and develops through a sculptural process of experimentation. As I explore the garage and search through the basement to solve these pictures, I find ways to exploit the mysterious qualities of these everyday objects and familiar materials.” explain Caleb. read more… »
A Rainbow in Your Hand
An ingenious ‘old tech’ method of creating a three dimensional rainbow in your hands. Rainbow in Your Hand is book published in Japan that makes use of old style animation to generate a rainbow. “This book started as a personal project in summer 2007, and was soon published from a Japanese bookstore “Utrecht”. It’s a flipbook, but rather than seeing animation, it creates a 3D rainbow in your hand. Since being published it has been featured on Japanese TV, Newspapers, major news & blogsites like yahoo news, coolhunting and found. This book won this years NY ADC silver cube.” explains the author. read more… »
Ubuntu Identity Overhaul
A new logo, a new identity. The upcoming release of Ubuntu 10.04 and Ubuntu is set to receive a major identity upgrade, from it’s logo through to its design. “We’re drawn to Light because it denotes both warmth and clarity, and intrigued by the idea that “light” is a good value in software. Good software is “light” in the sense that it uses your resources efficiently, runs quickly, and can easily be reshaped as needed.” explains Mark Shuttle worth who along with a small team of designers who are behind the recent Ubuntu re branding. read more… »
46 Firefox Features You Might Not Know About
Firefox, an open source application that needs no introduction. A browser that has succesfully been eating away it it’s competitors market share since the early parts of the decade. Firefox with it’s theming and extenibility is an incredibly adaptible and customizable browser. As of version 3 a lot of work has gone into a set of new features, mainly for HTML 5 and CSS 3. read more… »
Death to IE6, No More Google Support
Internet Explorer 6, the thorn in the side of many web developers and designers, through its rampant internet standards defiant rendering. Many developers will agree that the elimination of this decade old browser will most defiantly be a good thing. Internet Explore 6 support was dropped by Google as of 1 March, meaning that Google docs, Google Apps, Gmail and all other Google services will no longer support the ageing browser in an effort to introduce new features to these services. read more… »
The Inevitable Firefox vs Chrome debate
With the Chrome browser gaining market share, with it’s innovative feature set and interface, it is heating up competition for the open source giant, Firefox. Firefox, initially paved the way for an alternative browser lifestyle that many internet surfers enjoy today. It’s quite easily filled a need that Internet Explorer couldn’t, mainly being security and innovative ergonomics. read more… »
