Jabber and file transfer

Today marks a major breakthrough in information exchange. You can now be chatting with anyone of your gmail contacts and then send them a file (picture, movie etc) that you have been working on. The 10 Mega Byte limit has always be a hindrance to the amount of data you can exchange. Now this paper cut is forever gone in the Open Source World People that learn about computers from now on will aways think this was part of the computer experience. Come join gmail and start enjoying what Google can do for you.

Hug Empathy Day

Making useful food can take quite a long time to grow. Making useful software like Empathy can take longer. With -4C on June 8 and a the same temperature expected 2 months later, you have to be on the ball here if you want farm fresh produce. It takes a minimum of 60 days to grow lettuce, peas, onions and beans. It has taking over 3 years from when Google released libjingle and Nokia released Telepathy till we now have an open source voice/video communications like skype. In that time skype users have doubled. I still think open source will be able to take back the Voice Video exchange of the Internet. If some people want to become hip now you can join early. By joining early you can help make Empathy better by join the Ubuntu Global Jam.

Tips for those humans who desire more.

Helping people isn't always about the money. Every time we go out to a fancy restaurant I wonder if the waiter/waitress is being nice because they are being real or if it is because she might get a bigger tip. Or does the employer have a knack for hiring people that actually care for the people they serve food to a few time per life. How are these servers different than the ones at McDonalds who don't get tips. They make 3 times the money for the same amount of work. With more self esteem you can demand more money. I just sometimes feel guilty for giving more tips to the higher paid person.

Shareaholic for Firefox :: Add-ons for Firefox

Shareaholic for Firefox :: Add-ons for Firefox

Empathy is a software program

I guess my last post used too many strange words like Speex, Theora and Jabber. What is Jabber and why should I care. Jabber is a method of connecting people via a packet based networks. Gone are the days when running 2 22 gauge copper wires to your business meant people could use your services. Jabber is built on XMPP The last 2 Ps stand for Presence Protocol which is an idea that copper wires don't afford. If my icon is green then I am available, if it is yellow then you take your chances and if it is black then you can't get a connection. It makes a lot of sense if you are trying to get a hold of someone in the morning and you are not sure if they are awake and the other person after waking up goes online to read the news. At the bottom of this post is a little green light if I am available to chat and hey you don't even have to sign up. You will just chat with me as guest.
Arthur Amendt

Speex + Theora = Empathy

Ok, ok you might need telepathy and few other files like telepathy-sofiasip if you want to make sip calls. Guillaume Desmottes does a nice job of updating the empathy personal package archive. Google search It sure takes a lot of time to get all the parts of the software together. We are almost there. Christian Schaller is even doing video already. I have been using it for file transfer and chatting. In 2.27.2 it shows that option, but there are some bugs. By the time Ubuntu 9.10 is released we should be communicating via open source files like Speex and Theora.
To install the latest Empathy software just search for "ppa empathy" in google which will take you to launchpad. Add Desmottes ppa to System > Administration > Software Sources. Click on 3 party and click add. Copy and paste. Remember to add both
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/telepathy/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/telepathy/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
Remember to add the public key which can be found at Ubuntu key Server here The advantage of adding a repository is that the developer's improvement are automatically updated on your computer. If you want to watch a nice video of someone doing this click here.

Android vs Iphone

Well, I just got off the phone with Rogers. There is nothing I can do short of buying the Android out right to get one of those phones. O well I guess I am going to add the word Android into my Grande Prairie kijiji rss feed to see if someone has one for sale. Maybe I can swap someone for my iphone or Black Berry. This is the last time in human history that open source will lag behind proprietary companies.