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Nearly everyday, I have people e-mailing me with questions regarding my choice of the distributions that I highlight. Many of them feel that Ubuntu is too simplistic and that I should consider something like Gentoo. Others, however, ask me why I’m not more supportive of more entry level distributions like PCLinuxOS and Freespire.

I can honestly say without reservation that the GNOME Mobile & Embedded Initiative (GMAE) is a novel idea, and I certainly support the hard work that has gone behind bringing GNOME to the mobile world. However, I can't help but feel like the desktop Linux world will likely be left out in the cold as their embedded siblings continue to embrace the Microsoft desktop platform. Will this initiative be enough to get developers to finally offer desktop Linux users the options for keeping their data in sync without hours of command line and config file editing? To date, I remain unaware of any successful, user-friendly instances where embedded Linux has given the time of day with regard to easy “syncability” to desktop Linux. Sure, there are a number of hacks, workarounds and other such solutions, but it’s not a simple solution. It just goes to show just how sad this whole thing really is.

To this day, I still have to smile when new Linux users decide to take the plunge because they want the cool looking visual effects that Beryl offers. To some limited degree, I can understand the motivation. The stunning videos on YouTube are certainly compelling to those who have never tried to use the setup themselves. Unfortunately, there are still some valid reasons for sticking with the alternatives for the time being. Let's explore some of the issues that I have found with using Beryl.

I’m thrilled to report that the latest beta of Audacity is indeed, just what the doctor ordered. If you have been an Audacity fan with your favorite distribution, you likely remember the headache of doing something as simple as assigning the proper sound device settings when working with something like a USB headset. Seriously, with the exception of higher end equipment, who is going to use that lousy mic jack built into their sound card when I can enjoy the noise canceling goodness of my USB headset?

It's actually kind of funny how the news of Windows XP being phased out was received by most people. It seems that most users are concerned that they will be completely out of luck when it comes to obtaining XP should they wish to avoid Vista for the time being. To these concerned souls, I would point out that I can still find copies of Windows 2000 Pro incase I want to avoid XP and Vista.

Now, I’m not 100 percent in favor of taxed net sales. After all, one of the great benefits of shopping through online retailers is to find great deals and avoid taxes simultaneously. That’s an absolutely ingenious concept that has allowed online shopping to grow at an amazingly fast rate. But things are looking gloomy, and we might as well brace ourselves for the inevitable: taxed net sales.

What do the EFF, Google, Linspire, IBM, O'Reilly and Ubuntu all have in common? Seeing me in person at Linuxfest Northwest here in Bellingham, WA. With my public speaking days well behind me, I’ll be attending the event as a simple visitor this year to see what my local LUG has put together for us to absorb. I will also be reporting back throughout the week following the conclusion of the event.

Nokia’s latest device, the N800 Internet Tablet, is unique, to say the least. It’s not a smartphone, yet it can send and receive e-mail messages; it’s not a phone, yet it can make phone calls; it’s not a portable multimedia player; yet it can playback audio/video files; and it’s not a notebook, yet it can browser the web.

Just when I thought I had seen it all, I discover another issue that could, at some point down the line, spell trouble for those who are interested in keeping their Vista machines safe from malware. But for the time being, it is more of a potential threat than anything immediate.

I have seen my fair share of attempts at getting Linux into the mainstream, but the latest marketing ploy nearly raced right by me. What makes this so unique, so different is that this is an endeavor that is set to promote Linux as a concept, a collective mission even.

A number of readers have called me a Linux hater due to some straightforward points that I’ve made in previous articles. In reality, I’m not a Linux hater, and I try to make that clear as much as I can because the operating system is getting better all the time.

If there is one constant thing between the different platforms, it’s the abundance of BitTorrent clients for each of them. But there is one application that has quite literally redefined how we look at this method of file transfer. Did you know that some people are using it to watch television shows that they may have missed in their how country? As crazy as it sounds, it's true. Check this out.

By now, everyone has at least heard of the noble project to bring the world of computing to children in countries where this might not normally be possible. It's been appropriately called the One Laptop Per Child project.

In the past, I have been rather put off with trying to use existing desktop recording software for Linux. Whether it is closed source or open source, it simply felt like one hassle after another just trying to keep it from crashing. Then I stumbled upon RecordMyDesktop for GNOME.

One of the first things I happened to notice was how much Firefox-like this browser seemed. It's true, and after looking further into it, the only real similarity is that it’s build upon the Gecko engine. Everything else is pure GNOME design.

I have been keeping up with most of the reviews for the new beta release of Ubuntu Feisty with great interest. As a full-time user of Ubuntu Dapper and Edgy, I’m, to say the least, "comfortable" in all aspects of getting the most from my Linux experience.

Most of us have seen more than our fair share of freedom. And again, for the majority of us, we maintain the ability to choose which OS we want to use and be able to use the said OS without the fear of our privacy being invaded by our respective governments.

For a software programmer, one of the ultimate projects that you could ever be involved with is an operating system. We're so used to building applications for the OS that the idea of actually working on the mother ship itself can seem like something that could never happen.

With Novell, SuSE and Ubuntu rocking the headlines lately, for sometime, locating news about Red Hat meant that you had to really dig for it. I don't believe it was because they stopped trying or even ignored making new developments available to the press as a whole.

Even those of us who have not played the "game" yet, we have at the very least heard of this virtual world. For me to even refer to Second Life as a game is criminal. This seemingly infinite place with all of its possibilities has a way of getting a person's mind going.