Computer and Technology | Ubuntu Linux | Web Development

Soon, the days for finding Wi-Fi hotspots will be gone. Thanks to the companies who fought for the use of white-space – the unused television spectrum from 512MHz to 698MHz. Among these companies are Dell, HP and Google. With a vote of five to zero, the FCC had unanimously approved the conditional unlicensed use of white-space television spectrum.

What does this mean? Well, this means cheaper Wi-Fi with a wider coverage. What makes it cheaper is the fact that internet providers will need to put fewer base stations because this frequency range covers wider areas (think of television). Google co-founder Larry Page calls it Wi-Fi on Steroids. Dell on the other hand is taking steps by choosing to add a new wireless option to future laptops by installing radio chips that provide connectivity over the unused television spectrum.

I’m personally excited and want to see this technology implemented in the Philippines soon – but deep inside, I know I’ll have to wait.

I know, the offer of having 10GB of “Spam-free” email is indeed tempting but here are the reasons why I won’t be jumping into Fanbox just yet.

1. I don’t need another email. Geez, I already have like 5 email accounts so no, thanks.
2. I don’t need another Desktop. My current Linux desktop is doing just fine. And oh, I don’t think any browser will be a good interface to any “online operating desktop” and allow the user to be productive at the same time. Browsers are just, well browsers so I love to keep it that way.
3. The online desktop’s “your file anywhere” feature is tempting but with my internet connection, I don’t think I will be uploading my files up there anytime soon. Plus of course, I won’t trust any free service for any of my files.

I may have more reasons why but I guess these three are the main ones.

On the other end, I’d say they did a good job on the interface. Upon logging in, you’ll be greeted by a nice looking splash screen with a progress bar.

Then as soon as you’re in, you’ll see the desktop that looks a lot like Windows Vista – maybe another reason why I didn’t like it.

Yeah, I admit it looks good but that’s about it. Using it is another story…

I recently downloaded a cool free icon set called “Bright” by Min Tran. His website can be found at min.frexy.com and the direct link to the icon set download is here.

The icon set is currently in EPS (vector) format mainly because Min wants to the icons to be editable and scalable. There are however some who just want the icons to be in plain bitmap so I chose to export it to BMP, zip it and put it here.

Download the BMP format here

I hope this helps.