Jolla is recruiting new workers - all have same salary

Jolla is recruiting! They have 50 workers at the moment and 100 until Christmas. Interesting enough, salary stays the same with every worker... plus bonuses :) which depend on whether work has been done or not. Workgroups may evaluate their own work and decide if group members are worth bonuses. Jolla says this kind of system is working just fine. Interesting!

Read more (in finnish): http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/ict/jolla+kaksinkertaistaa+tyontekijoiden+maaran+loppuvuonna++kaikki+samalla+palkalla/a833455?s=n

Windows 8 -based phone from Samsung - good or bad for Nokia?

Samsung hit Windows 8 phone market with it's ATIV S -model. Is this good or  bad for Nokia? It depends. Think about mall with only a few botuques inside. No good. Together Samsung and Nokia convince Windows Phone 8 -phones are worth buying. So it's a good thing there are many WP8 -manufacturers.

On the other hand new Nokia WP8 -phones with 20 Mpix camera might cost a lot. Cheaper WP8-phones from Samsung are offered via operators, especially in the USA, I think.

What about Microsoft? What sort of deal MS and Samsung have together? Is it different from MS-Nokia -deal? Is Samsung more flexible company that Nokia because of many supported platforms (Android, WP8)? Nokia let Symbian go just a little ago and concentrated on WP8. I still think Nokia should consider manufacturing rubber boots like they did long time ago.

Nokia: Things are about to change

Even Nokia has realized it: things are about to change. Because of new iPhone perhaps?  Maybe Microsoft will sell millions of Windows 8 -tabs? Or did Nokia mean they still have something to say?

So Nokia released a teaser. See below. In my opinion it's not teasing or pleasing, only irritating:

My bicycle looks much better :D!

Word 2013 is able to *open* PDF's

So far Word has only been able to save document as PDF. Word 2013 can also *open* PDS's for editing. In case of long and complex PDF it takes some time before file opens.

How useful is that kind of feature anyway? I guess we've been waiting for it as long as PDF's have been available. Permitting editing of PDF's is a calculated move from Microsoft. This way it's more and more difficult for Adobe to sell PDF-editing software.

Now that I finally can edit PDF's with Word I find this feature obsolete. The whole PDF-based industry works much the same way as before; there are separate editing and reading software available. Microsoft Word can't fully act as a premium editor for PDF's although is able to open complex PDF's. Adobe products still do it better!

Samsung starting with Windows Phone 8 - will Nokia survive?

Microsoft and Nokia are revealing new phone models in the beginning of September. God news for me as a customer is Samsung and Huawei are also interested in Windows Phone 8. Samsung is freezing Tizen and concentrating on Windows Phone 8.

Look at Samsung Galaxy I,II and III -phones. This product line is very popular. Although a bit expensive and premium phones they sell very well. Huawei on the other hand has offered low-end Android phones - until now. Think about Windows Phone 8 -based phone from Huawei which costs only 1 € or 1 $ offered by your local operator.

Nokia will soon reveal at least two new Windows Phone 8 -phones. They have bigger screens etc., maybe better camera as well. Will that be enough against Samsung and Huawei? I doubt.

Run Windows 8 on USB-memory stick

It's possible to run Windows 8 on USB-memory stick. Microsoft has a name for it: Windows To Go.

Ok, how to prepare Windows 8 on USB-memory stick? First off, you need these:

• A PC running Windows 7 or Windows 8
• The ISO image of Windows 8
• The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK)
• A USB storage device (at least 30GB) 

Then follow steps at Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/03/ordering-windows-to-go-how-to-create-a-bootable-windows-8-usb-thumb-drive/

Will this kind of way of using Windows be very popular? I have no idea. It might be handy for support people. Security enterprises like F-secure benefit from it since "all bad things are transmitted via Windows To Go -sticks".

Bought 32 GB stick

  

An old Android phone is like Windows - don't install anything and make factory reset every now and then

My Android 2.2 -based Huawei U8180 is not that old. Only after six months and after several app installs phone is stuck and needs factory reset. Nothing else helps. I can't help thinking of another similarly behaving system - Windows.

Ok, after factory reset Huawei is back in the business again. I wonder if this slow phone kind of thing happens to every Huawei U8180 user. No review explains what happens after the phone is purchased. Maybe I'd better get used to the idea that my phone doesn't like that many apps.

How to activate Windows 8 Enterprise

Windows 8 Enterprise installs without asking key which is then changed afterwards. Graphical tool won't work. Off to the command line:

1. Get the key! Don't know where. That's up to you! MSDN?
2. Click right key in the left bottom corner of Windows 8 and click with left Command Prompt (Admin). Click Yes.
3. Type the following command: slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX . Replace X-letters with your key. (No period in the end of command!) After pushing enter Windows 8 Enterprise is activated! I was a bit surprised since command slmgr.vbs /ato wasn't needed.

Print your own case for Raspberry Pi

There are different commercial cases available for Raspberry Pi. The best thing to do is print your own and make it look like you want!

So take a look at this pdf: http://squareitround.co.uk/Resources/Punnet_net_Alpha3.pdf . It has all the shapes and measures ready made. All you need to do is to find a wallpaper which suits you. I did a bit browsing and ended up choosing one of the Marimekko background pictures: http://www.alwaysmod.com/marimekko-wallpapers.html .

Print your favorite wallpaper on paper and place it in the printer again. Then open the pdf mentioned above and print the case. And that's it! Of course you'll need scissors and some glue but after a while your Raspberry Pi has a case no one else has.

The MagPi - free of charge mag for all of us Raspberry Pi lovers

In case you didn't know one might fall in love with Raspberry Pi single board computer. If that happen to you no information is enough and you want eat quickly everything that has to do with Raspberry Pi. Is that so? Ok, aim your browser at: http://www.themagpi.com/ . You'll find free of charge pdf-based magazines full of nice Raspberry Pi stuff. Download and read when life sucks. This mag makes us all smile!

Windows 8 comes along with ultrabook and touch screen

I've been using different versions on Windows 8 almost a year now. My conclusion is Windows 8 needs a touch screen. Otherwise it takes too much time and effort to move between those two desktops (new one is not called Metro anymore!).

So I'm looking for an ultrabook with touch screen. Asus and Acer will show up with their models later this autumn. Ok, after finding one will my productivity accelerate to the top? I doubt. Rising my hands from the keyboard and touching screen might be as slow as working with mouse with no keyboard shortcuts. Let's hope Windows 8 graphical user interface still developes. PC-industry is only 30 years old and there are many years ahead.

Will floppy drive work on Windows 8? Quick answer - yes!

Ok, I must admit it. Floppy drive is obsolete. However, in case someone has old floppies still around; Windows 8 recognizes USB-attached floppy drive. Floppies are both readable and writeable.

Run Risc OS on Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi is able to run different operating systems. Most of them are based on Linux. Risc OS has it's roots in UNIX and belongs to the same UNIX-family as Linux. And, of course, one can run Risc OS on Raspberry Pi!

Since Raspberry Pi only has 256 MB RAM it needs a light yet powerful operating system. Debian-based Raspbian does a good job but is a bit slow after all. Risc OS is much more faster. Downside is Risc OS UI is not yet ready for Raspberry Pi. One can try it but it's not intended for everyday use.

First off, let's download image of Risc OS. It can be foud here: http://www.svrsig.org/RISCOS_Distro.zip . Unzip the package which has Risc OS inside.

Next thing to do is to download Win 32 Disk Imager for Windows and burn Risc OS image on a SD-card. See picture below. Burning is pretty straight forward. If you face any problems google around or leave me a message:

Now place newly burned SD-card and power up Raspberry Pi. If everything went fine Risc OS boots and show up.

Raspberry Pi is my favorite hardware because it takes me to another level compared to Intel-based computers. I can run different operating systems thanks to different processor which in Raspberry Pi's case is ARM.

MeeGo UI by Jolla ready

Jolla, a little company from Finland, is developing MeeGo (OS for mobile phones) and is going to unveil two MeeGo phones with their new UI (User Interface) this autumn. In addition, new MeeGo -phones can run Android apps! Jolla now has an ecosystem and is a real rival for Nokia! Zdnet has more: http://www.zdnet.com/jollas-meego-ui-is-ready-to-go-and-its-on-the-hunt-for-mobile-talent-7000002728/ .

Chromium OS boots on Raspberry Pi - not usable just yet

Chromium OS does boot on Raspberry Pi but is not usable just yet. This is due to lack of graphical acceleration. So Chromium OS is very slow on Raspberry Pi. Inspite of that Hexxeh has made Chromium OS available for anyone. No image though. See for yourself: http://hexxeh.net/?p=328117867 .

FirefoxOS boots on Raspberry Pi

FirefoxOS by Mozilla Foundation is a mobile operating system which can be run on mobile phones. But there's more hardware support on the way. Raspberry Pi is able to run FirefoxOS! I look forward to see fully working image sooner or later. Before that, let us enjoy video by Oleg Romashin: