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Fragmented Viewing – Streaming Service Nightmares

November 24, 2019 0 Comments

Some groundwork being Laid

It is no secret that the world of entertainment consumption changes to keep up with the times, after all, Netflix disrupted the established norm for home viewing and essentially killed (or took part in killing) established norms like Blockbuster Video. With that knowledge should it come as any surprise that Netflix is in turn being disrupted by niche streaming services? I am getting ahead of myself though so let me start at the beginning.

For years after the rise of giant Netflix companies have tried to tobble the giant by making their own version of an true digital experience for consuming content. Out of all the competitors, the biggest ones to gain any kind of foothold were Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. However, none of them offered direct competition as the content providers for these services oftentimes would license content to all 3 streaming service.

Netflix was not always the streaming giant that it is now though, once upon a time they were a DVD mailing service one Blockbuster I am sure saw little to no threat from. It was not until Netflix decided to focus a majority of its time and resources into becoming the Streaming service it is now that Blockbuster started to worry and subsequently would relent to. Sure they tried to stay relevant by starting their own DVD mailing service for a while, ultimately it failed resulting in a void in the home entertainment market.

Hulu came about as a way to allow traditional Television networks to host their content in a digital platform without maintaining their own Digital infrastructure, something which at the time was largely needed. Over time both Netflix and Hulu branched out and began making their own content in an effort to stay relevant as Networks were now experimenting with VOD platforms allowing their shows to be viewed a week sometimes a day after it aired on TV. Amazon, of course, followed suit with their own original content and so the start of the digital entertainment empire began.

Now for several years we got Netflix and Amazon basically dishing out tons of original content while continuing to make digital access to other studios content easier for the masses. Hulu would occasionally release an original series but had nowhere near as much success as the two giants in the new emerging industry. As the studios watched the success of these three main entries into the Digital space they secretly began to make plans that would result in the eventual creation of several streaming services specific to their IP (Intellectual Property).

Rise of studio-specific streaming services

It started slow of course and oftentimes free, as we got services like CW Seed, a streaming service that was add supported but allowed old shows WB and the CW had either abandon or canceled to be revived in a digital format for consumption. Over time they started adding old movies as well and toyed with small run animated series that were based on their popular tv shows like The Flash and Arrow.

As time went on the larger studios behind the characters in these shows began to see the benefit of an online presence that was unique. Slowly rumors of things like DC Universe and Disney Plus became more frequent, eventually resulting in those services becoming reality. Each service offered something that you could not get from the giants like Amazon or Netflix, such as digital forms of comic books or concept art included with your subscription to these services. DC Universe, for example, offers access to most of their DC-related movies and content (with the exception of stuff they have licensed out like The Flash tv show which ironically is on CW which is part of DC) as well as a huge backlog of comic books in digital form free of charge to those who subscribe to the service.

For a while these services were not as disruptive as they might have seemed at first glance, enter Disney Plus. Disney Plus, however, was disruptive before it even launched just the idea of it coming caused concern among fans that content related to Disney IP would be pulled from existing platforms such as Netflix in favor of their own service. By this point shows like Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were popular on Netflix as they were Netflix original creations but the characters belonged to Marvel which was purchased by Disney.

You may be able to see where this is going, after a few years Disney pulled the plug on a lot of their licensing deals with 3rd parties such as Netflix quietly preparing for the giant that would become Disney Plus. Shows that we as fans had grown to love (or hate depending on your views on the later seasons) were canceled and pulled from Netflix and no explanation was officially given while the general consicous was Disney Plus. This went further than Netflix however, shows that were slated to be made were later canceled for again mysterious purposes, shows like the Ghost Rider series that was supposed to launch on Hulu starring Gabriel Luna’s version of the character as first shown on Agents of Shield.

Again Disney stays quiet on the reasoning for this not wanting to admit what fans had suspected (though we have not been able to confirm), Disney Plus! All of this is happening and Disney Plus is still a year or so away from launching, it is having this much of a polarizing effect and it is not even launched yet at this point. Fast forward to November 12th, 2019, Disney Plus is unleashed on the world. So far it has been everything Disney claimed it would be allowing access to almost all of their IP including several Animated Classics. The Launch did not go without its own issues however but that is beyond the scope of this post.

Around this time we have started getting what I call Micro streaming services starting up by the premium TV channel companies like HBO and Starz. These are all at first welcomed additions as it allows people who have canceled their cable to watch content originally only viewable through these channels. However lately they have branched out into a separate streaming service altogether (different from the one you purchase to watch shows online from the actual channels) such as HBO Now.

Content goes Service Jumping

Now, this is where it gets confusing and frankly irritating, Content platforms such as DC Universe (a paid service remember) start offloading their shows to other streaming services! I am not a huge business guy so I am sure from some weird marketing/Business perspective this makes sense, however, Taking a show such as the Doom Patrol (exclusive to DC Universe well for season 1 anyway) and moving it off one paid streaming service to another new paid streaming service for season 2 is well insane. DC wants you to buy their service to watch the first season of this show and then pay HBO for their service to watch season 2, while this is the only show I know of to do this so far it may not be the last.

In a similar fashion but not quite as annoying, is the new show set to start airing in Q2 of 2020 Stargirl. This show will premier on DC Universe but the next day shows up on the CW like its cousins The Flash, Supergirl and the like. This does not bother me quite as much as it allows for those who may not want to pay to see it on DC Universe the chance to see it on the CW, what is kind of annoying about this is it dilutes the benefit of having paid for DC Universe. Sure there is other content that makes the subscription worth it to people however if this kind of movement becomes a trend it would be both a blessing and curse, It would help those who can not afford the service but weaken the reasons behind continuing to pay for the subscription.

Closing Thoughts

All of this is my roundabout way of saying that the sheer number of streaming services that are rising up can end up making the decision to cut the cord with cable and go online only more expensive than just sticking with cable. As more and more studios launch their own streaming services places like Netflix will become more of a collection of random movies no one needs or really ever wants to see or maybe will result in more original content.

I welcome a few streaming services but when my list of subscription services (or potential ones) becomes longer than 3-5 then, in my opinion, there is an issue. Until someone comes up with a way to pay one Reasonable subscription fee and gain access to all these streaming services I may just have to limit our households to 3.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with the above? Let me know below let us start a real conversation about where you think Digital content consumption is going.

The above comments are my own personal opinions and should not be taken as the way everyone looks at the situation. I encourage you to do your own research and make your own opinions.

Full Disclosure for the sake of transparency, I currently subscribe to Hulu, DC Universe, Disney Plus and Netflix. I have access to a few streaming services like HBO and Showtime that came with my cable subscription, I do not subscribe to HBO Now or any other similar micro streaming service.

General, General Stuff, Shows

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Legion

June 15, 2018 0 Comments

WARNING: the below contains spoilers for the FX series Legion if you have not watched it be warned plot points will be talked about below a few paragraphs into the article.

I have to admit most new tv these days is becoming less and less interesting as it becomes more watered down for the P.C (Politically Correct) crowd. Increasingly it follows a more cookie-cutter approach to the plot that is often predictable and in the end boring.

Even with this approach some shows still grab my interest, Arrow, Flash, Super-girl just to name a few. Also, I do enjoy a few non-traditional shows ones I call mold-breakers like Doctor Who for example. Another example of a mold-breaking show and the one this article is about is called Legion on FX here in the states (not sure the partner channels in other countries).

From the beginning, this show has intrigued me and at times confused me with its very non-linear perspective and narrative. While the show has just wrapped season 2 and one would assume has begun planning/shooting season 3, it still has an amazing story that keeps you interested from day one and always leaves you wanting to know just what is going. When it finally reveals what is happening, it only leaves you with more questions.

Season 2 was the embodiment of this with its constant time jump showing future Sid contradicting what past Sid was doing/saying. This coupled with the increasingly confusing relationship of Amahl Farouk (A.K.A the shadow king) to David, at times it’s a fatherly feeling relationship at other times its a nemesis feeling relationship.

The season focused on two points early on, where David had Disappeared to at the end of Season 1 and his true motives for wanting to find Farouk’s Body. Consistently they show future Sid throughout the first part of the season warning David that regardless of what her past self-states Amahl needs to be revived in an effort to help solve some crisis in the future, purposely being vague with David it creates a sense of mystery about her true motives.

Slowly, you begin to question just weather David is a good guy (spoiler alert if you read the comics he does go evil for a bit), David himself has no doubts about his intentions and very much views himself as the victim. If you have watched season 1 you as the viewer might start sympathizing with David, this is by design and part of the genius about how this series is written.

When writing a multi-dimensional character like David that also happens to have multiple personalities, its I imagine would be most difficult to show which person is the core or true personality. For Season 1 we see him struggle with Farouk trying to control him and later we see him struggling with his fractured mind trying to retain control of himself. With a being as powerful as David, violate his trust or betray him and it is possible for him to become a serious threat. This is what brings me to the meat of this article his ultimate arc through the season and the place he was left at the end.

Leading up to the Finale we witness his friends start to question his true motives and become guarded, Eventually leading to their betrayal of his trust which as mentioned above is not the best option regarding a being this powerful. To be fair David does some questionable and very bad things in the last episode, however, the fallout of that to me seems a bit out of place.

After his battle with Farouk he is threatened by Sid who then tries to kill him, he then tries to erase her memory and proceeds to rape her. Again, this is a horrible act by David and should be dealt with, what does not make sense is that in the next few scenes, David is put on trial by Sid and the entire Division 3 crew. Sid, the person who just hours ago tried to kill David is not trying to reason with him claiming his act of rape and future acts he has not yet committed justify their actions. The rape I get he should be punished for that but judging him on future crimes is a bit extreme, couple that with the fact that the entire season was about finding and destroying Farouk’s Body, they are now allies against David.

Somehow, the entire body of people who he thought his friends are not judging him on events he has not yet committed all the while ignoring that one of them tried to kill him just hours ago. Eventually, try to explain his actions and tells them he is a good person. They apparently feel pity for him but do not believe him so they suggest the one thing that they feel would help Medication and treatment, basically putting him back in the asylum.

This angers him and he makes one final plea to them to reconsider, thinking they have the upper hand they refuse. He then succumbs to the inner demons (his alternate more violent personality), Tells them they had their chance and begins to shake the building to break the barrier holding him. He is successful in his escape and leaves his former friends with the knowledge knowing they basically created the version of David they feared from the videos they received from the future.

Here is where I think the writing is brilliant, in trying to prevent David from becoming what they fear he will become they end up making him that version of himself. What I mean by this is by removing his support system (whether they realize it or not) and making it appear his friends had turned on him especially Sid who he loved, they ended up paying the way for his darker half to take control and begin his reign of torment which undoubtedly will be the premise of season 3. Whether Division 3 realizes this at first is not clear but from my perspective, everything they did to him coupled with what Farouk did to him has to lead him to this. It also was not helpful to have the one person he hates most in the world, the one who in essence killed his sister being there trying to justify their actions against him.

So, while the events may not have played out the exact same way they did in Future Sid’s timeline, he ultimately ended up in the same place. Also, the entire reason she started to suspect him was the way he was acting which they viewed as different, this was a direct result of Future Sid kidnapping him and making him swear not to reveal where he was. If you watch Doctor Who you undoubtedly know the term bootstrap paradox, this is very reminiscent of that by trying to warn past David what Future David would become she set in motion the events that would make David become what she feared in the future.

This leaves me with the question, if Future Sid had not interfered in the past would David still become the monster he is portrayed as in the future? It’s unclear whether this is the case, or even if the thought occurred to current day Sid and company after David disappeared.

I could go on and on but this again is why I love this show it makes you think and keeps you guessing it breaks the mold most shows use nowadays and I love it. What did you guys think of the finale or Legion, in general, is it as intriguing to you guys as it was to me?

General, General Stuff, Shows

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Netflix – Is it killing traditional Television?

March 3, 2018 0 Comments

We all have at one point or another turned on the TV and clicked through channels trying to find something interesting to watch, however fewer of the young generation remember what it was like when we only had 30 some channels or even when you had to get your tv through an antenna which would oftentimes cause the channels to not be as clear as they could be.

When cable was introduced it caused a paradigm shift that most people ended up adopting to the point that you would be lucky if you found anyone who still used Antenna based television by itself usually this would be paired with Satellite TV or cable. Eventually, TV became flooded with channels and suddenly you had tons of content to watch, the only question was what did you want to watch.

As time went on Over the air tv became even less common and was really only ever seen in rural communities where cable was not yet available. However, with all those channels people can access now we began having a different problem, suddenly there was nothing on! This is of course a false statement but one which again most of us have said, we have become so used to instant content that it no longer matters that we have hundreds of channels instead of just 30 or less.

Now in 2018 we are facing the blunt of another paradigm shift one in which cable is becoming more scarce and instant content platforms such as Netflix are taking center stage. When you can get most of the popular tv series and movies by using a combination of services that compliment each other, like Netflix and Hulu for example, it causes that feeling that nothing is on even more when you do click through your cable channels.

This movement to instant content has been a long time coming and really has been gaining speed since high speed internet has become more affordable. As internet speeds continue to increase, content will become even more readily available and thus the cycle will continue. This shift to me is much faster than the one from Over the Air TV as there are way more avenues to explore then when cable was introduced and the fact that most houses can  ironically use the same wiring they previously used to watch TV to get internet.

I am curious as to weather we will see the death of Traditional television in my lifetime, people are already joining the movement that has been coined Cable Cutting in an effort to reduce monthly bills is generally the instant content providers are free or cost a very reasonable monthly fee when compared to that of most cable companies.

Netflix being the king among content providers as of the time I am writing this article in March of 2018 , its a fair question to ask “Is Netflix killing traditional TV?” . In my opinion I think it is but its dying a slow death one in which we may not see the actualization of for several more years to come.

These are just my observations, I am curious what you guys think on this subject let me know.

 

General Stuff, Shows

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Updates, goals and struggles

February 11, 2012 0 Comments

Wow, so it is been a while since I’ve written a post on my blog, I hope to rectify that with a brief update into what’s going on with me.

Linux

Not much different as happened in the world of Linux with regard to me, I have recently picked up an android tablet (recent as in August) which I had to give for school but now that that class is over I have a $500 toy! Okay so it’s not really a toy but now it’s just a gadget I can use to fool around on as the class that needed it is over.

It is the Asus Transformer tablet, the first one that came out not their newer version they just released. I do rather enjoy the tablet even though I have no practical use for currently, however I downloaded a handful of children friendly applications (a drawing application as well as in teaching games) and my daughter absolutely loves playing on it. While I needed one for school it was never said exactly what I had to get I was just told I needed a mobile device, cell phone was out of the question as I’m not going to pay for a cell phone plan, so I did some research to look into what options were available and this is the one I had decided on.

What sold me on this particular tablet over say the iPad 2 is mainly a few factors, price, flexibility, and liberation from iTunes the worst piece of software ever created. Okay so maybe that’s a little harsh iTunes is not the worst software ever created but it certainly ranks up there. Now before I get several common saying you get what you pay for and the quality of the iPad 2 is worth the additional cost, let me just explain my justification behind the price point;

Looking at the tablet from strictly a practical standpoint, what purpose was a going to serve after my class is over. The answer is simply it will serve no practicality other than entertainment value when the class was over , I’m not currently employed so they can help my work life be more productive, I could read electronic versions of my textbooks on it but that’s not really something that would greatly increase productivity in terms of school work.

Based on that information I had to say that I want to spend $600 and get the iPad 2 or spend $400 and get the Transformer, the latter was a much better option because since the practicality of this device is not really going to be there was my class was over I went to spend the least amount of money possible.

This brings me to my next point which was flexibility, while the iPad has thousands if not millions of apps available to it, it is very restrictive with what you can and can’t do with it. I have never been one to be a fan of a company that tries to dictate which can and can’t use their device for. I’m not talking about using it for illegal purposes, I’m mainly talking about choice of content as well as the technologies the browser for example chooses to utilize. While I see great value in the iPad and would recommend it to somebody who is looking for a tablet that was easy to use, and something they could just pick up and go, that was not what I was looking for.

With an android powered device such as the tablet that I have feel much less restricted, it feels much more like a desktop environment with a touchscreen. The more I think about I guess it could kind of the rooted in the fact that I’m a huge supporter of Linux and open source, that’s not to say that I do not like Apple, in fact it’s the opposite I would love to get my hands on a bran new Apple Macintosh with Mac OS X, but until I can get a job that pays me enough to be able to spend extra money that’s just not an option. If somebody were to offer me a free iPad or iPad 2 I wouldn’t even have to think about it I would gladly take it because I am a technology junkie :-). I love getting my hands on new gadgets in various forms technology and just fiddling with them until I know them inside and out.

The last point, the liberation from iTunes, this is huge as I have mentioned I’m no fan of iTunes having been for quite some time, I will admit that iTunes is making strides towards a much better user experience to meet it’s still way too restrictive, has too much overhead, and acts as a freaking lockbox where any items that I purchase are locked tightly away in iTunes and not allowed to be put on any device but an Apple device. Now I’ve heard that iTunes is change their policies recently to where music videos and things that you purchase through iTunes are no longer restricted to only iTunes or only Apple devices, but heard such rumors in the past and I’m not likely to test it out now.

If you’re interested in learning more about the tablet, I did a review on it on my tech site located here

Computers

I have been called by family members and friends a computer geek or nerd or sometimes both, while generally speaking these terms are looked at by some as derogatory I wear them like a badge of honor.

It’s no secret I’m a huge technology buff, I love anything and everything having to do with technology. Last time I had to upgrade my computer I was faced with the dilemma, that I go back to Dell computers (a fantastic company by the way) and have been billed me a computer that would work flawlessly and then turn around and have to replace it five years, or do I save money by all the parts and build it myself. After thinking about it long and hard the choice was obvious, build it myself. Now this is nothing new you can go back and read a post from several years ago where I talk about the new system that I built. However, I have since upgraded the system to the point where I may as well have built an entirely new system.

Basically the upgrade consisted of a new power supply, a new case, new motherboard, a new RAM everything else is the same. I reviewed the case on Tech Jam if you’re interested in reading it and click the link a few words back. Because so many of the elements that I upgraded allow me to essentially have enough spare parts to build a second computer, using my old case and components I rebuilt my old computer and gave it to my wife which was a significant upgrade from the computer she had. The purpose of this upgrade was basically due to a few factors the biggest of which was the fact that being in a Network Administration degree I often times need to run virtual machines with various different types of operating systems, the old components were struggling to keep up with what I needed such with the opportunity to upgrade them, I am now on a system that’s more than capable of running several virtual machines.

I was supposed to do a review of the new motherboard but I just never had time to get this review done, I might try to go back in attempted sometime in the future.

Games

Generally speaking I don’t have a lot of money to spend on video games, nor a lot of time. However, a friend bought me a Christmas present that I just couldn’t pass up, they purchased Star Wars: the Old Republic for me complete with playtime all the way until May! In a way I kind of wish they hadn’t because this game isn’t credibly addicting! I’m loving every minute of it, though I have been trying to balance everything and only really play that game when I get time.

Micah go to into depth about the videogame here, but I will say this if you have the time and the money in your fan of Star Wars this game is for you. One thing I do like about this game is the ability to buy game time cards, this allows you to budget for gameplay or if one month you can afford gameplay you just don’t buy a card and your card is and billed. This is a method that World of Warcraft has been doing for a while, and when I used to play the game all the time (when I had a job on my days off) it was something that I used exclusively.

School

As I mentioned above I’m still in school for network administration and if everything goes well I should be graduating from that of the summer! I’m kind of nervous about this because I feel like I’m going to forget everything I’ve learned, I just don’t want to be thrown into a situation where now all the sudden I’m responsible for this huge corporate network and I have a brain fart and do not remember anything.

I’ve been told by my teachers that school was more or less the foundation, or I will really pick up knowledge and experience is on-the-job. While this was slightly comforting I’m still skeptical but I will do my best. I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets nervous about entering a potentially new field especially one that has the potential to change my current financial situation from one of destitute to actually being able to breathe and have the money I need for living expenses and maybe a little extra.

I’ll find out in about six months just what the schooling has prepared me for, there’s only two possibilities I either sink or swim, I am aiming for swimming!

The Job search

Yeah this is the one area that I’m struggling the most at right now, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. I can’t seem to get a job because of the large amount of time I’ve been unemployed, and also seems that Michigan is not exactly the best place for jobs. Sadly moving even across town is just out of the question way too expensive.

My game plan going forward is this, I plan to go to the advanced temporary services here Michigan and try to get placed in a temporary position if nothing more than to eliminate that large gap of unemployment, ideally though I would like to see one of those temporary positions turn into a permanent position. As well as that I’m going to also be resubmitting applications to all the fast food chains in the area, and hitting up the department stores such as Walmart, Meijer, Kmart and so on.

I’ve also considered opening up my own business, but I’ll save that for another post.

Everything else

In other news our daughter is turning four at the end of this month, February 28 to be exact! It’s hard to believe she’s already four. We’ve been trying to find a place that’s fairly inexpensive that we could hold her birthday party so she can invite all of her friends from preschool, so far we’ve narrowed it down to one of the fast food chains or possibly a skating rink. I welcome suggestions however, our budget doesn’t really allow for extravagant things like the zoo or places like that.

We do not have enough room at home to have the party here so any suggestions please leave them in the comments.

Android, BioWare, Category5, Computers, Fedora, Games, Star Wars: The Old Republic

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Out of the ashes, comes great television

June 27, 2011 0 Comments

With the large amount of TV shows that were canceled last season, is incredibly surprising to me how many decent shows have cropped up this season.

The issue I find now is more trying to figure out which of these TV shows actually want to watch. There’s just so many and I don’t watch TV all the time.

So far out of the new shows the ones I found to be the most entertaining our: the voice, falling skies. While there are certainly more than two shows that have recently begun, these two to me at least stick out as the most memorable of the new shows.

There are still plenty of returning shows they continue to watch such as: swap loggers, dual survival, American chopper, deadliest catch, how it’s made, Conan, and sons of guns to name just a few.

I know which might be thinking how I find time to watch all this television, the answer is I don’t really. I set my DVR up to record each one of the series and then I watched them when I get time. The only shows him he could point to watch live are the voice, falling skies, dual survival and American chopper. Those are by far my favorite of the ones listed above; even so I still miss some of these occasionally. Thank God for the invention of the DVR!

In addition, I found a series that started over in the UK and was recently ported United States; however, the series is fairly old. I am of course talking about Merlin; this show to me is absolutely fantastic. It incorporates all the elements that I enjoy science fiction, fantasy and good acting. Of course, I’m catching up using my Netflix subscription to watch the first two seasons, honestly, I am not even sure if it made it past two seasons.

There is of course when show that neglected to mention, this is because am not sure if the show is going to be returning or not. The show I am referring to of course is called Being Human; this is another show that originated in the UK. However, instead of porting the original UK version over they decide to recast with American actors. I never watched the original so I can’t say which one is better or worse.

What shows do you watch the season? Have you seen any of the shows that I mentioned? If so, which one of these shows do you like?

Let me know in the comments below.

General Stuff, Shows

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Final thoughts on Ubuntu 11.04 and Fedora 15

June 23, 2011 0 Comments

For some time now I’ve been wrestling with the idea of writing my final thoughts on Ubuntu 11.04 and Fedora 15, the reason for me taking so long to figure out if I wanted to write this post in the first place will become clearer after you read this post.

It’s no secret by reading my previous first look review, that I was not a fan of GNOME-Shell, or Unity. While was hoping that the experience would become much more fluid in the final releases, I was still left disappointed.

However, I gave both a fair shot using both for roughly 2 to 3 weeks to try and determine if after using it for a prolonged period of time, my views would change. In addition to my own experience I also turned to the Linux community and looked at both positive and negative reviews centering on both interfaces. Surprisingly, what I found was a mixed set of opinions; however most of them had only a handful of nice things to say about the interface and a bucket full of negative. The main reason for me viewing these reviews was to ensure that I was using them correctly, I did not want to base my opinion solely on the fact that I was struggling to figure certain aspects of it.

While all of the reviews I looked at nitpicked about small things some of which had no relevance to stability or even usability, others touched on small problems that could easily have been fixed prior to release. While I haven’t touched either one of these distributions and about a weeks’ time, last time I did some of these mistakes were still present. To give you an example of how silly some things are in terms of mistakes, I will point out one in Fedora 15 specifically.

Fedora decided to take a different approach and separate the software repository lists tool from the actual updates tool, this in itself is fine in my opinion. Were the silly mistake part comes in is that loading GNOME-Shell, and looking for the update tool to get the current updates for your system. You are presented with two tools with exactly the same icon in virtually identical names; one is called update and the other updates. Through trial and error I discovered that the one with the S at the end of it actually pulls up a repository configuration dialog you can select which repositories are used for installing packages and receiving updates. I know this sounds like nitpicking however it is very confusing and something that is easily corrected, and something that should’ve never ended up in the final version.

Update: as of right now the icons have changed. But they’re both still named exactly the same with the exception of an S

If your computer is not powerful enough to run GNOME-Shell or you just don’t have the proprietary graphics drivers installed, you will go into a fallback session of GNOME 3. This is not to be confused with GNOME 2, I have read a lot of misconceptions that the fallback mode is in fact a stripped down version of GNOME 2. This is in fact false; GNOME-Shell is merely a GUI interface on top of the GNOME 3 libraries. You can tell this by looking at the version of GTK that the fallback session uses, its version 3. Below is a screenshot that might explain why a lot of people confuse the two.

Fallback session

GNOME 3 Fallback Session Warning Dialog

I’m not sure why exactly, but the icon on the dialogue reminds me of the old sad Macintosh, icon that you use to get when your Mac would have a fatal error.

Next to that screenshot you can see one of the desktop that’s loaded in a fallback session.

Fallback Session Desktop

GNOME 3 Fallback Session Desktop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updates Dialog Panel 1

Updates Dialog Panel 1

Updates Dialog Panel 2

Updates Dialog Panel 2

 

Virtual Box can run GNOME-Shell or unity just fine after you install the guest additions, below is a screenshot of the update, updates, issue I was talking about.

Most other distributions used their repository configuration dialogue with a different name that distinguishes it from the update program, such as sources.

 

Update, Updates issue

Screenshot showing how both tools are named Similarly

I put a circle around the two specific programs to draw attention so that it would be easier to pinpoint them.

To further illustrate how this could be confusing, below are two screenshots that show the two tabs on the updates dialogue, below that is a screenshot from the update dialog.

Update Dialog

Update Dialog

This is not an incredibly huge error; it’s not even one that will affect stability of your system. No this is more a cosmetic and user experience related issue. Some might argue that they’ve been labeled this way for several releases now, however when using GNOME-Shell they show up right next to each other under the applications section, which is the cause for the confusion. In a fallback session, or on previous versions of GNOME, these two tools showed up in completely separate menus, which made it less confusing because you are less likely to see both of them side-by-side.

Again, I know this is a long that of a rant to go on about such a small problem, but I just wanted to make it clear what the confusion was and say that if I’m confused, having used previous versions of Fedora that the average user coming from another distribution might be even more confused.

 

That aside, once you get past GNOME-Shell Fedora 15 is a fairly solid release despite the multiple reviews; I’ve read that point to the contrary. On my last review Fedora 15 was in the alpha stages, and I talked about a lot of the new features that the average user would recognize most of these have not changed (other than getting more stable).

I did notice one quirk they kind of bugged me, while this is not a bug, and it is in fact an intentional change, I don’t understand the methodology behind the change. I’m talking about the fact that if you ever create your own RPMs and Fedora things have become slightly more confusing. It used to be that all you needed to do in order to sign and build RPM packages was to install the development tools group from Yum. It seems for whatever reason they’ve taken the GPG signing integration out of RPM by default. This functionality can of course be added back, but it requires installing a separate package. There’s absolutely no documentation that I’ve been able to find that explains the reasoning behind this change, or even that the change took place. I literally spent three hours trying to sign a package through RPM only to find that some person on a forum somewhere discovered that this RPM signing functionality was moved into a separate package called rpm-sign.

I’m not a developer and certainly not in a position to question Fedora’s policies on what to include and what not to include in a default installation. However, if they insist on breaking this functionality of RPM out into a separate package, then the least they could do is added to the development tools group, this way and somebody does a group install of the development tools this packages pulled down alongside other packages necessary to build and sign rpm’s. As I said, this is not a bug; it’s an intentional step, though the reasoning behind it at least to me is not known.

I did have one other bad experience out of my entire Fedora 15 experience. I’m not sure if this was specific to my machine, or if this happens with everybody. What happened was this, I installed Fedora 15 with the default package set, then once Fedora 15 was loaded I updated it decided I didn’t like GNOME-Shell and didn’t want to use the fallback session. I then began looking at other desktop environments that I could install; naturally, my first replacement was KDE which installed perfectly with no issues. However, upon having installed KDE and booting into it at least once GNOME stopped working altogether, in fact when you try to log into GNOME you we get an error message similar to the one in the screenshot above. The differences this error message would tell you that GNOME had a fatal error, and was not able to start. No amount of logging out and logging back in would make this message go away. Ironically, however, installing Fedora 15 with KDE and GNOME from the installer seems to bypass this issue, at least for me.

I know you guys are pricing report it, file a bug report! The problem is I’m not exactly sure what caused the error so submitting a bug report with the small amount of information I have would not be useful to anybody, especially the person that would help me try to solve the problem. Again, this issue may not be present for everybody; it may have just been some quirk on my specific machine.

Ubuntu – Alternatives

Party did a review of Ubuntu 11.04 stable, some not to repeat the same information. I will however link to that blog entry below. What I will do however is tell you a few alternatives to Ubuntu that I found that are based off of Ubuntu, but don’t have that pesky unity.

This is going to be a very quick section. Basically I’m getting give you a list of two or three distributions that have tried that are derivatives of Ubuntu and give you a brief synopsis of my experience followed by a link to the website to get more information.

Zorin – this distribution is extremely cool looking, and I’m not just saying that because I love the color blue (which this distribution has a lot of). There are a lot of custom tools included that let you change the look of this distribution to match other operating systems, including Mac OS X. This distribution is every bit as user-friendly as Ubuntu is and as I mentioned even includes several tools that are unique to this distribution to make the experience that much easier.

Linux Mint – most of you reading this who have had any experience with Ubuntu it all have probably heard of mint, some like to go into too much detail here. I will however say that the newer version of mint is the best version I have seen to date. I’m not exactly sure which version of Ubuntu. This was based off of, what I do know is that it uses GNOME 2. This is good news for everybody out there who hates unity is much as I did.

Ubuntu with XFCE – yes I understand there is a officials then of Ubuntu that includes this as the default desktop, but in order to get an experience that you’re used to as Ubuntu user, I recommend installing Ubuntu and then going to synaptic and installing XFCE. This will allow you to use XFCE while main containing a lot of the GNOME libraries and utilities that you’re used to.

Well, that wraps up this blog post. Sorry for being so long-winded, but I had a lot to say. As always, comments are welcome, one thing I prefer not to see in the comments are remarks like “unity rocks you’re insane for not liking it”, or “GNOME-Shell makes Fedora faster, it’s the future” those kinds of comments to me serve no constructive purpose as they are opinions usually ones that a majority of the people may not agree with or could agree with. Bottom line if you want to tell me why you think unity or GNOME-Shell is worth keeping around try to do in a constructive way. Don’t just say it rocks.

Ubuntu Unity Review

Category5, Fedora, Linux, Reviews, Shows, Ubuntu, Uncategorized

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Category5 – Talks about an open Source program the GIMP touching on basic image enhancement

July 25, 2010 2 Comments

The GIMP – Basic image enhancement

I am a regular viewer of Category5.tv and recently (last Tuesday) he went over some basic tips on how to edit images to make them look a little better. I thought this was particularly useful and given the tool he used GIMP which is open source i thought i might just briefly touch on it here as well as embed the video for you to watch.

Ok so normally I do not post about shows I watch on-line or otherwise but this particular show I found somewhat useful. To give a quick synopsis he shows you how to lighten pictures and crop it in a way that does not kill the image, In the words of Robbie however “Always make a backup! Never edit your master images”

Some other points he touches on in this episode are

  • Reinstall Linux with a just a  full backup of your home folder – He specifically mentions Ubuntu here since that is his distro but you could use his strategy for any distro Including Fedora with a few minor tweaks that are Distro specific.
  • How do you share iTunes music to Linux?

He covers these points with regards to GIMP

  • Adjusting the levels in a photograph using the GiMP.
  • Zooming in and out of images in the GiMP.
  • Removing blemishes from a photo using the GiMP.
  • Resizing an image in the GiMP.
  • Cropping an image in the GiMP.
  • Resizing a marquee in the GiMP.
  • Saving your image in the GiMP.
  • Preparing images to be shared by email or on a web site or blog.

Now as I said this is mostly a post to show others in the Fedora and other Linux community  that might read this, that editing of images can be done fairly easily and that videos such as the one below do exist to show you how. While there may be videos out there that dive more into the workings of GIMP this one stays pretty simple so anyone can use it to achieve what they want.

I should note that the video is embedded from his video host blip.tv and it has about a 30 second ad prior to the video starting, I have no control over this and as such I do not necessarily condone any of the content that the ad may demo as it changes over time. As it stands when i posted it the ad was about Windows 7, but by the time you watch it the ad could be different.

[bliptv ga4Fge_TEQI]

If you liked the video please make sure you check out Robbie””s site he put a lot of effort into this show. If not then thanks for taking the time to read this post. I will not be making a habit of posting about his show but this one seemed worthy of passing along via the fedora channels and the like.

Again he uses Ubuntu so pardon all the Ubuntu centric stuff most of what he mentions can just as easily be done via Fedora or even a different distro.

Host of the show: Robbie Ferguson

Show notes: http://www.category5.tv/show_notes/episode_148.php

Category5, Linux, Non-Specific, Shows

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