N A KDE (Qt) desktop like mine, despite MATLAB putting a lot of effort into improving the GUI on the GNU/Linux side* (even adding a Microsoft Windows-esque “Start” button at the bottom left), QtOctave integrates more nicely with the desktop. Thanks to all those who suggested some other tools including R, Sage, Scilab, QtOctave, graphviz and so on as I make my way into the world of Free software-only research (valuable pointers in the comments too).
All the code I’ve ever produced is Free software, but whenever I worked with MATLAB only the underlying framework was proprietary. This created a sort of trap, wherein my free/libre code depended on code which was not. In the near future I hope to produce code, blog items, upload of all code I write (including code sample for explanatory purposes), screecasts, etc. I may even commit code upstream if it’s polished enough for general-purpose use. I will continue to share dents and images on a regular basis too. In the mean time, for comparative purposes, I will also use my academic licence of MATLAB. I was once ranked first in the world for my code contributions to MATLAB, but although my code was all free software it helped MATLAB (BSA sponsor and thus a contributor to an attack on the software industry) just sell more copies of proprietary software. I am not a disgruntled prominent user of MALTAB but someone who is trying to show the way out of MATLAB mostly for idealogical reasons. If everything works as I hope, I will soon be 100% free of proprietary software.
___ * It was far, far uglier a few years back.
feel as though I must apologise for hasty remarks that I made in yesterday’s audiocast when we discussed GNU Octave (so I posted an update). I was basing my assessment on a very old experience and my understanding, as I found it out today, is that more and more MALTAB users consider moving to Octave due to the increasing cost of MATLAB. Another person whose background is in Mathematica taught me some more about the state of Octave. To quote from IRC:
*Quadrescence (~Quad@unaffiliated/quadrescence) has joined #boycottnovell-social
It turns out that my employer may also allow me to move from MALTAB to Octave, thus using only Free software in my research. In fact, I’m installing Octave at this very moment.
Summary: Brandon Lozza joins Tim and Roy for the first episode of TechBytes, which covers Fedora and many other subjects
IM and I open the first show with a few words about Apple’s lawsuit against Motorola (over Android) because reports suggest that Apple — not Motorola — started it with provocation, just like in Nokia’s case. We then speak about what those cases of patent aggression (also from Microsoft) mean to ordinary gadget buyers who are hardly aware of such issues. Tim and I also discuss the choices which are made available to people and what limits the range of one’s choice.
A second segment of our show is dedicated to the Fedora project. Brandon Lozza, a Fedora Ambassador, spoke to us about the Tuesday release of Fedora 14 and we also chatted about Canonical’s Unity, which offers interface substitution for GNOME Shell (developed largely with support from Red Hat). Brandon has a Web site and an Identi.ca account where you can follow him.
A future show with Wayne Borean is expected but not yet scheduled. Wayne is quite an expert in copyrights (as a recording professional) and active participant in the debate about copyright law in Canada. He can also speak to us about Microsoft and Windows, which he has been tracking for decades and regularly writes about in his Web site.
Thanks to all those who gave feedback on [cref 41234 the pilot], which got over a thousand downloads (so far). If you enjoy the show, please consider recommending it to others.
OR about 5 days now I’ve been spending an increased amount of time over at Identi.ca, which has a very pleasant community and helps enhance interaction with people who appreciate freedom. It can be similar in some ways to Google Wave or to Novell Pulse (thus the image above), but it is built entirely on free/libre software (AGPL). May I recommend that you too, dear reader, join the site and join the fun?
As an aside, for 3 days in a row now I’ve been the most prolific user there. A new addiction? Hopefully not. Addictions are never good.
Summary: TechBytes audiocast opens with a pre-launch episode where we mostly explore the terrain
HIS IS OUR test episode, a pilot so to speak. We did it all in one go (over an hour) without any notes or scripts and it is not edited. We hope that it’ll be acceptable and in our next episode (probably in November) we’ll use experience from this first run and also refine by doing some planning, then editing. Please treat it as a beta episode if it helps and we thank you for listening.
few days ago I wrote about Mr. Fitness because it might be the last such event that I participated in. I might not have as much time as I once did to work out, but that’s okay. I got my trophies at the time and I am now 28.
Earlier today I went through some old photos of mine. It then occurred to me that I never published the following set from 2005 (I rarely ever went through some older photos due to lack of time). These are photos from a few years ago, around the time of competitions, i.e. when I was relatively slim and agile. The photos are raw and unedited, just resized for the blog. I’m also just throwing the set along with bad pictures rather selecting just few good ones.
For the record: I am natural by all means and in all senses of the word; Never took a single illegal drug in my entire life (no steroids, either) and as far as nutrition is concerned I just ate very few protein shakes, maybe once a day until I was 21. That’s when I stopped and replaced that with fish.
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N A KDE (Qt) desktop like mine, despite MATLAB putting a lot of effort into improving the GUI on the GNU/Linux side* (even adding a Microsoft Windows-esque “Start” button at the bottom left), QtOctave integrates more nicely with the desktop. Thanks to all those who suggested some other tools including R, Sage, Scilab, QtOctave, graphviz and so on as I make my way into the world of Free software-only research (valuable pointers in the comments too).
feel as though I must apologise for hasty remarks that I made in yesterday’s audiocast when we discussed GNU Octave (so 
IM and I open the first show with a few words about Apple’s lawsuit against Motorola (over Android) because reports suggest that Apple — not Motorola — started it with provocation, just like in Nokia’s case. We then speak about what those cases of patent aggression (also from Microsoft) mean to ordinary gadget buyers who are hardly aware of such issues. Tim and I also discuss the choices which are made available to people and what limits the range of one’s choice.
A second segment of our show is dedicated to the Fedora project. Brandon Lozza, a Fedora Ambassador, spoke to us about the Tuesday release of Fedora 14 and we also chatted about Canonical’s Unity, which offers interface substitution for GNOME Shell (developed largely with support from Red Hat). Brandon has 
You can 
OR about 5 days now I’ve been spending an increased amount of time over at 
few days ago 
