Hello, everyone. My name is Marcel and I'm a technology addict.I stand before you today, naked (figuratively speaking, of course), laying my deepest, darkest, secrets out for all to see. You see, I love technology. All kinds of technology. Computers. Televisions. Cars. Smart phones. Computer programs. Airplanes. Linux distributions. Keychains with tiny screens to display family photos. Bluetooth headsets. Satellites. Video games. Coffee makers. Spaceships. Remote controlled toy helicopters. H... more »
Last time I wrote about the goings on surrounding Planet *buntu, I went on about one of my favorite topics; open formats and the future of information. By information, I mean content in all its wondrous forms, from plain text, to Web content, to music, to video, and to everything in between. Sadly, I find myself wanting to rant again on this topic even if it means laying into one of my favorite corporations. So I decided to start with something positive and friendly; something of beauty to pr... more »
What can I say? It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Not just for me, but for the world in general. Well, not in general, but certainly on some fronts on which I find fascinating and, not surprisingly, I have an opinion. First off, if you wander off into the wilds of planet *buntu, you may notice an increasingly Lucid Lynx prowling around. Be warned, however, that this Lynx is an Alpha and unless you're the sort of person who likes to mess with Alphas, you might want to steer clear until this... more »
Feels like forever since I posted here. It was last year as I recall which means it's a new year. Happy New Year, everyone! Last year was also when things started going wrong with my Toshiba notebook. On the surface it might seem like a tragic loss, but I find it hard to get upset since I've had the computer for two years now, which is pretty much how long I expect any of these things to last. It was (still is, I guess) a Satellite P200-AB1 with a Pentium 4300 dual-core chip that came with 1... more »
Clouds continue to dominate my life it seems. Not just because it's December which, granted, has been awfully cloudy and dark as we push ever closer to the solstice. And while I do so love a good solstice celebration, the ever-decreasing sunlight (when it does make an appearance) at times barely makes up for it. However, the clouds I'm referring to are those associated with computing.Last Tuesday, I gave a talk at the University of Waterloo as part of their annual WatItIs technology conferenc... more »
A couple of weeks ago, I bought my five year old son an Acer Aspire One netbook. Not that he really needs a netbook, but it's another item in our ever-growing arsenal of tools designed to help him develop the skills he needs to develop. That's not really the story here. The story is that the Acer netbook came with Windows XP pre-installed. Since I primarily wanted to use the netbook as a learning tool, I installed gCompris, TuxPaint, TuxType, and OpenOffice. The latter is set to hide most men... more »
Consider this a Thanksgiving post. I know most of you are away eating, or arguing with family. Up here, in the Great White North, Thanksgiving was back in early October so I'm sort of working today. You might say I'm indulging in a different kind of bird. Just what kind of bird, however, was something I was very curious about. Like many others, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of the new killer OS... more »
There's a provocatively titled article by Robert Strohmeyer over at PC World that professes "The Future of Linux is Google". It waxes prophetically about how Google will eventually dominate all that is Linux and Open Source, and that "it's time for the Linux world to rally ". It starts off with a nod to Ubuntu, with the author telling us he used to believe Ubuntu (and Canonical) was destined to lead Linux into the mainstream. The reason I can't seem to get this one out of... more »
A few days have passed since the big exciting release of the Karmic Koala. Reviews are mixed with people claiming it's the greatest Ubuntu release of all time, and others saying it's an utter disappointment. That's to be expected, of course. People focus on different things and some people will find themselves running a trouble free release. Others will notice weird video problems, flickering screens, and application crashes. If you really must ask, my experience is mixed. All in all, I am fe... more »
I should probably start out by letting you know that it's now official! Yes, Ubuntu/Kubuntu and all the other *buntus are out in release 9.10, the very Karmic Koala. After months of running 9.10 alphas, followed by betas, I am now running the official Karmic release. Feels good to be official for a change.What about you? Did you attend any of the release parties? Heading out to one of the parties still to come? Throw one of your own, perhaps? I did pop the cork on a rather nice bottle of 2007... more »

The expanse of space surrounding Planet *buntu is getting busier and busier. As a result, achieving a stable orbit is particularly difficult when you're easily distracted. Consequently, Marcel Gagné's blog looks at pretty much anything and everything that orbits Planet *buntu. News, howtos, rumors, opinions, controversy, tech tips, helpful hints . . . you'll find it all here. Oh look! A shiny object!

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