Silicon Shecky: IT News, Opinions, and Reviews

Shecky Tweets for 2011-06-03

June 3, 2011 By Michael Kavka Leave a Comment

@rodtrent Rooted update or official push from your carrier? in reply to rodtrent #
Got #Cisco IP Phone and or Any Connect? #SANS is reporting a bunch of #vulnerabilities with them today. http://www.sans.org #Security #IT #
@rodtrent Lucky, I don't think they are doing that for my original Droid. How much better is the battery life? in reply to rodtrent #
Oracle Donates OpenOffice.org Open Source Project to #Apache #OpenSource #OpenOffice #IT #
Verizon Delivers #Gingerbread to DROID X Test Users: #Android #Droid #
RT @davidmdavis: RT @brianmadden: Brian's manifesto on "The Consumerization of IT.". http://goo.gl/C7fwE <– very wise post, must read #
RT @helpnetsecurity: Sniff and intercept web session profiles on #Android – #FaceNiff #
Windows 8 First look. Very interesting, but I wonder how some things work without touchscreen – http://t.co/WRvrnuz #Win8 #OS #Windows #
@kaspersky Link doesn't work. in reply to kaspersky #
Ok, found a big #FAIL on the #DROID . When in a pop email account, if you accidentaly delete, you can't undo it. Not even forward from trash #
@Raithnor Yeah, still sucks. Get too much spam in the account so I try to clean it off through the phone during the day. in reply to Raithnor #
@ewcaughey I can see that being an answer, but how clunky will that make it? I don't think it will be as smooth. #Win8 #OS #Windows in reply to ewcaughey #
Microsoft: Windows 8 won't require a new PC #Win8 #OS #Microsoft #
@rodtrent Can end users really get any whinier??? in reply to rodtrent #

Shecky Tweets for 2011-06-02

June 2, 2011 By Michael Kavka Leave a Comment

@briankrebs Wow, that is just.. wow. in reply to briankrebs #
Ok, so #SORBS requires you to login to request a de-lsiting. Their Registration link is a pain. what a crappy site. #
Correction. #SORBS Registration system is broken. People need to stop using this piece of crap. #
#Apple fixes #OSX security hole, #Malware writers hours later find workaround. Welcome to the big boys club! http://zd.net/kCCqJm #Security #
Eliminating trust: The zero-trust model – SC Magazine US http://t.co/jiGNFsg #Security #
RT @netForensics: NATO report threatens 2 'persecute' #Anonymous #Security #Cyberwar #
RT @edbott: China-based scam successfully targets Gmail, snags "senior US govt officials," activists, journalists. http://on.wsj.com/kF8sOJ #
RT @Techmeme: Google Apps To Pull Support For Firefox 3.5, Internet Explorer 7, And Safari 3 (@leenarao /… http://tcrn.ch/mtMNGR #

Ubuntu Unity: Nice Idea but…

June 1, 2011 By Michael Kavka Leave a Comment

I’ve been a fan of Ubuntu for a number of years. Over the last month I’ve been playing with version 11.04 which has unity. So here is my take on it.

Being one of those who is a tech person, and always wants to find a way to hook new users onto Linux, I was really curious as to the new Unity interface that Ubuntu was putting out. Could it be something that brings Linux to more people? The answer I found is no. At least not yet.

Unity is a slick looking GUI. It is lacking though. First, there is no menu scheme, access to any software is done off the new launcher bar. This wouldn’t be so bad, except to find any software not tacked to the bar, you need to really go digging. the applications window that you get to can get confusing, and won’t show you everything without at least 3 mouse clicks, and even then things can get missed. Yes, as you get used to a new layout, it becomes more natural, but this is a big deviation from what most people know. Its not intuitive, and really needs a lot of refining. While on the login screen you can switch to a classic mode, for someone new to Ubuntu and Linux, it again isn’t intuitive.

The other issue I’ve run into is with a customized dual monitor setup. Unity doesn’t seem to like it too much. I’ve had nothing but problems with that setup.

The underpinnings are fine, and yes if you know how to replace the GUI with Gnome or KDE, 11.04 is a solid system. Unfortunately for a version that is supposed to be for the everyday person, the Unity interface has a long way to go.