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laodan

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laodan is a guy from Milford, Pennsylvania, USA

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THE WAY THINGS ARE: The meaning of life is to be found in thinking about what is reality and the beauty of reality is to be found in our DNA's memorization of all forms that have been successfully retained along the four billion years of evolution of the principle of life on Gaia our earth. In the end what I mean to say is that beauty is something objective and what we call ugliness is then simply our unconscientious feel of something evolution did not retain.
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  • Google Reader

    Rated Apr 24 2009 • 135 reviews • energy, freetools • google.com

    FreakAngels Episode 0053
    by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield

    Over on Freakangels, our heroes are experimenting with post-apocalyptic solar power.

    FREAKANGELS is a free, weekly, ongoing comic written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield.

    FreakAngels




    Stumbling on this site via WorldChanging I thought about my friend RenRutia. But while those FreakAngels guys have a quite traditional style RenRutia's style remembers me of the work of Crumb who is my favorite cartoonist.




    44K views
    Google Reader

  • Speculating About The Visual Future Of Search Results

    Rated Apr 15 2008 • 1 review • internet, search, freetools, web • searchengineland.com

    Speculating About The Visual Future Of Search Results
    via info aesthetics,in Search Engine Land by Greg Sterling

    there are a range of interesting and relatively new general purpose "visual search engines" that are seeking to offer something different than text-based results. There have always been "visual" presentations of search results (and preview features such as Ask's binoculars or more recently Snap's plug-in), as an alternative to "10 blue links." However these newer sites are on to something that may eventually take hold.

    Speculating About The Visual Future Of Search Results
    SearchMe
    RedZee


    SearchMe


    RedZee

    Search presented as images of each website.
    Not only does this do away with text it also abolishes the ranking of the sites it selects through a circular presentation of resizing thumbnails.

    Great potential.




    26 views
    Speculating About The Visual Future Of Search Results

  • Computerworld & Open source 3D printer copies itself

    Rated Apr 08 2008 • 8 reviews • open source, economy, freetools • computerworld.co.nz

    Open source 3D printer copies itself
    via kurzweilai.net, in ComputerWorld by Ulrika Hedquist

    Based in the Waitakeres, in West Auckland, software developer and artist Vik Olliver is part of a team developing an open-source, self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer can replicate and update itself. It can print its own parts, including updates, says Olliver, who is one of the core members of the RepRap team.

    Open source 3D printer copies itself



    Great. Open Source goes to Open Production.
    This is an initiative that should be given wide diffusion.




    3,599 views
    Computerworld & Open source 3D printer copies itself

  • 35 Web Based Application Alternatives

    Rated Dec 17 2007 • 2 reviews • computers, web, freetools • dailycupoftech.com

    Web Based Application Alternatives
    via Google Operating System / Ionut Alex Chitu, in Daily Cup of Tech

    Sometimes you just find yourself in a situation where you have none of the tools you need to get the job done. This typically happens when you are either working on someone else\u2019s computer or you need to perform some computer related task in an emergency.

    When you find yourself in these situations, I find it to be very helpful to have a list of web based alternatives available to me. This way, all I will need is an Internet connection and a web browser.

    This has prompted me to put together a list of applications and their web based alternatives. Now, most of the web based applications do not have all the functionality or options of their desktop counterparts but they sure are handy in a pinch. Also note that some do require you to create an account on the site in order to use the application.

    Web Based Application Alternatives
    Slowly Transitioning to Online Software

    I think that this SAAS stuff (Software As A Service) is going to redraw the way we use our computers and also our information and its storage.
    I hope this compilation of online tools is updated regularly it could be a useful archive.

    Remember all you need to use Online Apps is a good Linux system and Firefox. It's all FREE ! And you can get the hardware for less than 200 bucks.




    39 views
    35 Web Based Application Alternatives

  • Google and the Wisdom of Clouds

    Rated Dec 16 2007 • 3 reviews • internet, change, computer, freetools • businessweek.com

    Google and the Wisdom of Clouds
    via InnovationWatch, in Business Week by Stephen Baker

    What is Google's cloud? It's a network made of hundreds of thousands, or by some estimates 1 million, cheap servers, each not much more powerful than the PCs we have in our homes. It stores staggering amounts of data, including numerous copies of the World Wide Web. This makes search faster, helping ferret out answers to billions of queries in a fraction of a second. Unlike many traditional supercomputers, Google's system never ages. When its individual pieces die, usually after about three years, engineers pluck them out and replace them with new, faster boxes. This means the cloud regenerates as it grows, almost like a living thing.

    Google and the Wisdom of Clouds
    Google Gets Ready to Rumble With Microsoft



    These 2 articles supplement the article about the new Linux/SAAS office model I referred to yesterday.

    Cloud computing initially enabled Google to answer our searches in an extremely fast way. It then evolved into Software As A Service (SAAS). There is an explosion literally of new applications (apps) becoming available by the day online.
    I myself now, on a daily base, use Gmail + iGoogle + Gbookmarks + Gnotebook + Greader + Gsearch + Gimages (Picasa) + Gdocs + Gmaps and Gearth + Gblogger +... and SU! My experience with these Google Apps is most satisfactory I must say. No loss any longer of bookmarks and notes due to system upgrading or HD crashes...

    SAAS satisfies 95% of my daily needs on the computer. But SAAS is only feasible from a computer loaded with a system and a browser. That's where Linux and Open Source Applications are bound to make inroads...

    I use Ubuntu and Firefox.
    Those who use professional applications (writing, imaging, engineering or other) will not be satisfied by Online Apps at least in their present versions. They still need their specialized software. I myself, for example, often use imaging and writing software and I'm very satisfied with Open Source offerings. (Imaging: The GIMP, INKSCAPE, PICASA, XSANE SCAN,... Writing: TOMBOY NOTES, OPEN OFFICE, SCRIBUS, ...)




    476 views
    Google and the Wisdom of Clouds

  • Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs

    Rated Dec 15 2007 • 6 reviews • software, linux, open source, freetools • desktoplinux.com

    Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs
    in DesktopLinux by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

    In the next few quarters, low-end Linux-based PCs are going to quickly take over the bottom rung of computing. Then, as businesses continue to get comfortable with SAAS (software as a service) and open-source software, the price benefits will start leading them toward switching to the new Linux/SAAS office model.

    You'll see this really kick into gear once Vista Service Pack 1 appears and business customers start seriously looking at what it will cost to migrate to Vista. That Tiffany-level price tag will make all but the most Microsoft-centric businesses start considering the Linux/SAAS alternative.

    Microsoft will fight this trend tooth and nail. It will cut prices to the point where it'll be bleeding ink on some of its product lines. And Windows XP is going to stick around much longer than Microsoft ever wanted it to. Still, it won't be enough. By attacking from the bottom, where Microsoft can no longer successfully compete, Linux will finally cut itself a large slice of the desktop market pie.

    Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs


    Everex TC2502 Green gPC w/ Via C7-D Processor sold at Walmart for $ 199.

    Did you notice how the SAAS initiative is coming not from the US but from the EU?

    Microsoft's last decade costly monopoly on software seems to come to an end. The cost structure of Linux + SAAS is so advantageous that it simply can't be missed by individuals and small companies and Microsoft has no way of answering that challenge with its bulky and costly products.




    2,252 views
    Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs

  • WikipediaVision (beta)

    Rated Oct 30 2007 • 155 reviews • internet, freetools • lkozma.net

    Live anonymous edits to Wikipedia on Google maps
    via MetaFilter / stbalbach, on lkozma.net

    WikipediaVision is a visualization of edits to the English Wikipedia, almost the same time as they happen. The idea came after seeing flickervision and twittervision, both created by David Troy. WikipediaVision, however, was designed and implemented by me alone. (L. Kozma, I am a grad-student at the Helsinki University of Technology)

    Live anonymous edits to Wikipedia on Google maps



    Amazing follow-up of anonymous edits on Wikipedia




    176K views
    WikipediaVision (beta)

  • Simple Spark

    Rated Sep 06 2007 • 12 reviews • internet, archives, freetools • simplespark.com

    Simple Spark. Over 5000 Web Apps.


    Just a few months ago, we launched Simple Spark with 1000 web applications. Today, we\u2019re proud to announce that the Simple Spark Catalog has surpassed 5000 fully searchable, summarized, and categorized web apps that are ready for discovery.

    Simple Spark. Over 5000 Web Apps.

    Bookmark this site. It is one of the best web apps archives on the net.




    4,450 views
    Simple Spark

  • Open Library (Open Library)

    Rated Jul 16 2007 • 8 reviews • open source, books, archives, freetools • openlibrary.org

    The Open Library
    via Metafilter / chunking express, in The Open Library

    What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale, or every important book, or even every book in English, but simply every book's key part of our planet's cultural legacy.

    First, the library must be on the Internet. No physical space could be as big or as universally accessible as a public web site. The site would be like Wikipedia's public resource that anyone in any country could access and that others could rework into different formats.

    Second, it must be grandly comprehensive. It would take catalog entries from every library and publisher and random Internet user who is willing to donate them. It would link to places where each book could be bought, borrowed, or downloaded. It would collect reviews and references and discussions and every other piece of data about the book it could get its hands on.

    But most importantly, such a library must be fully open. Not simply "free to the people," as the grand banner across the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh proclaims, but a product of the people: letting them create and curate its catalog, contribute to its content, participate in its governance, and have full, free access to its data. In an era where library data and Internet databases are being run by money-seeking companies behind closed doors, it's more important than ever to be open.

    The Open Library



    A grandiose project that I hope succeeds.
    Try to imagine a place on the net where all the books of the world could be found. That's quite exciting indeed.




    12K views
    Open Library (Open Library)

  • The Linux Alternative Project - linuxalt.com

    Rated Jun 30 2007 • 82 reviews • linux, freetools • linuxalt.com

    The Linux Alternative Project
    in The Linux Alternative Project Linux Alternative Project (formally the Linux Equivalent Project). The goal is to provide an informational and available website for all linux users.


    The Linux Alternative Project

    An indispensable bookmark for Linux users. Its gives all the Linux aternatives for Micrisoft applications.




    83K views
    The Linux Alternative Project - linuxalt.com