Saturday, March 27, 2010

Googles Newest Advertising Methods Invade Privacy

I am all for Internet advertising. After all it is what keeps the content free and flowing on the Interent. Without advertising revenue many sites would go belly up. Over the years I have seen many sites disappear from the lack of funding. I have seen others that started as free start to charge a fee for the same services. Some of those sites are still around and others are not. If we dislike the ads so much we need to support our favorite sites in some other manner. But when it comes to privacy, I am for the advertisers being a bit more transparent. Google certainly has a Privacy page complete with policies but have any of us ever read it? I admit to not having read it but now I am  thinking I really need to do just that. This article on Gizmodo made me realize just how far Google is willing to go and how far am I willing to allow it. I have advertising on this blog because I hope to make enough to buy a cup of coffee someday. I admit I would like to earn some revenue but I also realize I need to provide content people enjoy. I don't however want my ads following the user everywhere they go. If they click on them to support this site that's fine but it should end there. After all the next site you are on needs their revenue too. Google shouldn't be getting the entire pie now should they? They do have an opt out page but remember it must be done on all machines and in each browser you use for the computer. Please remember one thing, ads do drive the Interent and keep the content free. This is the very reason I do not use the no script plugins in my browser that are so popular. Yes I take a bit more risk from the bad ads and sites but at least I am giving the site a page hit at the very least (some may produce revenue in this manner). It is a choice everyone needs to make on their own whether to opt out, not display or support the sites they like to frequent. Google has done much in helping content providers earn revenue but I think they can be more proactive in letting this information be a bit more visible.

Privacy and the Internet Your Expectations and Rights Under the Law (Oceana's Legal Almanac Series Law for the Layperson)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Design A T-Shirt Logo Contest

This is a contest I can get behind and support. The Linux.Com Store will be featuring the best design from the contest in its apparel. You only have until April 11th to get your design submitted. Five lucky people will have their design chosen to be displayed on Linux.com. These five will be the ones open for the community vote through June 6th 2010. The winner will also get a trip to LinuxCon in Boston with the Linux.com folks. The store not only has cool Linux stuff to purchase but the proceeds help support the Linux Foundation. Good luck to those submitting designs and for the rest of us let's support the OS we all love and use.

Embedded Linux System Design and Development

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Blog of Helios: Indie Gamers See The Linux Market

This post is for all the gamers out there who are wanting native Linux games. They are coming via Indie Gamers and others willing to port their code to Lynux. The Blog of Helios is highlighting and reviewing one of these games Caster. I am in the same class as he is and my gaming skills leave much to be desired. I left them behind after Doom 2 and really haven't played much since. But for those interested in first person shooters hop on over and read the review. Then I recomend buying the game for the $5 which is more than a reasonable amount to pay. Coding for games takes a lot of time and effort and they should be rewarded for their efforts. I'm sure they would accept more if you like the game. Give it a try and tell us what you think.
The Blog of Helios: Indie Gamers See The Linux Market

One more thing to mention is how it is installed. I asked the developers of Caster and this is the reply from Frank:
"They're installed via an installer, called mojoinstaller, that was developed by Ryan Gordon another Linux game port developer. The main reason for this is that there is to be a distribution neutral as possible with the game as there would have to be a .deb, an .rpm, and at least a tarball or installer for "everyone else" if you did more than just the installer. Having said this the installer plays nicely with all distributions and uninstalls it's stuff gracefully."

This is good news since there are so many distributions the game can be played on installation will be a snap. I want to extend my gratitude to the developers of Caster for responding so quickly to my installation questions.