Grande Prairie is going green!

On the way to Grande Prairie, Alberta we saw Golden Sheep Power making our county a better place, by installing 20Kwatt generators.

$180,000.00 vs Free -- Not a hard decision.

McDonalds plans to stop charging for its Wi-Fi in mid-January in the US. you aren't even required to make a purchase — 'free is free,' With around 20,000 free hotspots between McDonald's and Starbucks (who went free[ish] earlier this year), anyone still charging for Wi-Fi is going to look foolish, if not downright greedy. Compare this to Rogers (see chart) $3/MegaByte -- plus plus plus. I think when I am in the US I will just use wifi. So instead of paying Rogers and Microsoft to get information. I will use McDonalds and FON wifi and use Open Source software. I guess I need to donate more to FON and Wikipedia and Ubuntu. Better than paying Rogers $180,000 for my 60 gigs of data I normally get in a month. How can the same data be charged at so different a rate?

Skype vs Jingle (Jabber)

Every time a big company like Google backs a standard it becomes the standard just because Google backs it. Google has now bought Gizmo and with this comes Google's entrance into the SIP/Jingle protocol.
Their are quite a few advantages of using Jingle over Skype.
Here is just a few:
1. Off-line message - If the contact you are trying to reach is off-line just send them an email. In Skype you can't send emails.
2. You can use your domain name as a address. In Skype you have to use Skype's domain
3. It is part Multi-protocol client list. In Skype only the Skype protocol is allowed.
4. The software is Open Source-- it can be checked by someone not working for Skype to make sure there is no spy-ware in it.
5. It supports fast file exchanges, I think Skype doesn't have enough money for good proxy servers.
6. Remote Desktop is just a click away in Empathy. Skype needs third party software like yuuguu.

Dell's Canadian Ubuntu Laptops

In the US, Dell is listing 4 different Ubuntu systems for sale. In Canada they are listing only one. Like most retailers if you move lots of product the mark-up can be small, but if the returns are high then the mark-up has to include the product to offset the cost of processing those returns unless you are using it as a lost leader. The problem Dell has in Canada is not the return rate, but the fact that Microsoft pays for the sys admins to manage dell.ca for the price of an add on every page. Yes, the ad says something to the effect of buy M$ latest software. So to encourage Dell to make Ubuntu more prominent on their website I propose the following:
1. Offer Dell a less than M$ return rate or
2. Have Ubuntu Laptop sales go to another product dispenser. However, Dell has been doing a reasonable job. Like my friend Norm says "Dell is trying hard within the constrictions of the North American legal system"
3. Have Canonical host the selling system Dell is using. Forcing M$ to pay fair market value for advertising.
Every time you sell a new product there are lots of risks. It's sad M$ would sue Dell if they pre-installed Ubuntu-restricted-extras and Dell has to pre-install the fluendo codecs. So, let's keep on buying from Dell and hopefully pre-installed Ubuntu laptops will be a money maker for them.

People who search for "Ubuntu" who live in Alberta

I was thinking this year as we head south for warmer weather that we would stop in at the towns who use "Ubuntu" in their googleing. You know me I am willing to talk to anyone about Open Source. If I wear my Ubuntu shirt with my Ubuntu bag slung over my shoulder and lots of stickers on my laptop, who knows we should be able to find lots of people to talk to.

Facebook vs Twitter vs Jabber

Today I was online with Empathy and chatting with people from 5 of the 7 continents (5 different countries) I have yet to achieve that with skype even though I have been a skype user for over 10 years and only a voip jabber user for 1 month. This happens so quickly because a lot of my gmail users have already been invited to chat (see my online presence). A lot of teenagers have moved away from msn to use facebook to chat with their friends. Some are even using Twitter. Both facebook and twitter and jabber use XMPP as their server protocols, but that is where their similarity ends. Jabber can be used on any domain, but Twitter and facebook use walled gardens locking people in ie. I can send messages within their domain, but not to other domains. A twitter person can't message a facebook person and vise versa. Reminds me when an CompuServe user couldn't email a Prodigy user. Where are these companies today? I update my Jabber status 3 times as often as my Twitter status. Facebook is using too much deceit by saying only "friends" can view your updates" The reality is far different. I use it as a police line up to tell me the quality of my future renters. It is getting to be better than equifax. As time goes on more and more will be using twitter rather than facebook, because it represents the headlines of a person's life, with a short link, Blogs can be used to fill in the details.