(This is just the Executive Summary, Click on the link to see the whole PDF.)

Executive Summary

Executive Summary
Information Technology gives people the tools that they need in order to succeed. Technology provides educational systems with tools for learning and more access to information, businesses better communication, and artists a whole new medium with which they can create their art. Western countries have seen these benefits from technology while third world countries have not been so fortunate. Without access to affordable hardware, software, and the Internet, these third world countries will continue to be left behind. This creates the digital divide. If major software corporations took the initiative to help end the digital divide it would be good humanitarian work and also, good for business. Helping less fortunate people catch up to modern technology contributes to the global marketplace, helps them escape from poverty, and add innovation and a piece of their own culture to share with the rest of the world. This problem cannot be solved with a profit motive. People in these countries cannot afford food, let alone a hundred dollar software license. The language barrier is also a big issue. Major corporations are practicing social Darwinism in which only the strong survive and rest fall behind. Open source philosophy is that everyone should have access to computers and the Internet regardless of how much money they make, what language they speak, or what disabilities they have. Open source has turned into a competitive and realistic solution for corporate and personal computer
needs. Open source is free, community driven, and has less security issues. The main problem with open source software is the learning curve and compatibility with hardware. It is important to combat the digital divide. Everyone around the world deserves to have access to a computer and the Internet. It is beneficial to business, educations, news, and art. If underprivileged societies were given access to technology then their quality of life would become higher and they would be able to compete fairly in the world marketplace.

Read More…(will download PDF)

I am trying to take Avidemux (GTK+) Out for a spin and am unable to because the MOV files loose the quiality of sound.

I stumbled upon a website called media-convert.com It worked fast, and efficiently, but the end result was not the best. the video was very choppy and definantly not salvagable. Maybe I was doing something wrong with the options but I was not impressed. Now I am trying to use a program called winFF which is a GUI for the powerful videoconverter FFmpeg. I hope that I get better results. It seems to be taking a while but I dont mind the wait as long as I get decent quality out of it.

If all else fails I may have to just buy a camera that does not pump out these retarded MOV files.

EDIT: So after doing the conversion I opened the file with Totem Movie Player and it was still very choppy. I tried to open it with the more reliable mplayer and it was slow as dirt. Hmm.. no luck yet.

EDITX2: SUCCESS Okay so I opened the file with avidemux and the video was once again working but no sound. I changed the output device to pulse audio from ALSA. You can do this in the preferences. I wonder if this was the main problem to begin with. Anywho after I edit the movie I am going to export it and see how well it will run on the other movie players.

EDIT 3: Last One I promise Definantly NEED to conver to AVI I tried to play the MOV again and it was all kinds of jacked up..

I even wrote a whole section on him in my research project about the Digital Divide. But this is why I love him the most.

“When Ubuntu was created back in 2004, Mark Shuttleworth recorded
the very first bug in the online database. However, it wasn’t about
software. Instead, it was a revolutionary call to arms. It read as follows:
“Microsoft has a majority market share in the new desktop PC
marketplace. This is a bug, which Ubuntu is designed to fix”.”

He is just a bad ass, he basically declared a war on Windows and never looked back. My Hero.

Internet is still expensive in my book and I think that charging someone based on how much they use will not only stifle innovation like the article says but also create an even further digital divide than we have now.

I think its ridiculous. I find it hard to believe that companies are loosing money based on how much internet their customers use. They should take a small share of their profits and buy a bigger server or something. Its just simply ridiculous to charge someone 200 dollars a month because they spend too much time watching movies online.

I know for a fact that if this ever happened to my ISP I would continue to move away from them until i found a company that was not motivated by pure greed. Because honestly this is all that this is folks. Time Warner sees an opportunity to make a whole lot more money and they jumping on it like scavengers on a dead carcass.

In these tough economic times they are willing to strip away what little joy some people have in their lives (i.e. watching movies and listening to music online ) in order to make an extra buck.

For example, my grandfather recently discovered the wonders of broadband. After years of being in the dark with dial up I finally convinced him to switch over since broadband and DSL has become relatively affordable. Now you can not get him off of his computer. He is able to watch videos or russian and jewish music, movies, television, and listen to music that otherwise he would never be able to find. The internet has opened up a whole new world for him and i know that he probably uses more bandwith than I do! But I also know for a fact that if his provided began to charge him by the GB then he would be out of luck and unable to enjoy many of the things that he does now thanks to the internet.

We can not stand by and let this occur. We have to fight for fair computing and reasonable access to all. If this truly happens and becomes a trend in this country I think that it would be a huge step back instead of moving forward in a good direction.

1. Gnome 2.26 Desktop. The latest version of Ubuntu comes with the latest version of Gnome 2.26. This is my personal favorite desktop system and there are a lot of good things to look forward to with this release.

2. Better multiple monitor management. I have always had issued getting more than one monitor to work properly in ubuntu but hopefuly with the new display preferences applicaiton it will become much easier.

4. Ext4 Filesystem Support.

5. Cloud Computing! This fascinating new phenomenon in computer technology is going to revolutionize the way that we can connect and interact with the internet and this handy program allows it to happen in a breeze.

I am always excited when a new version of Ubuntu comes out, and this release is no differnt. Looking forward to experiencing all of this new technology!

Pictures to come!

Get it before its gone! DJ Doug Strong is Cincinnati’s Finest and one of my favorite DJ’s. His Mixes are always HOT!!! Check it out.

You can see him perform every week at the Dock. If you are ever in Cincinnati and want to listen to some GOOD house music stop on by.