Brian Fagioli

The old saying about real estate is that the three most important things are location, location and location. In other words, if you buy a beautiful home next to a garbage dump or angry neighbors, you will be miserable. When it comes time to sell, you will be hindered by the horrible surroundings.

Well, it seems that Auction.com was in the right location at the right time today, as Google Capital invests $50 million dollars in the real estate website. If you aren't familiar, that is a Google-backed growth equity fund.

Continue reading →

When Canonical decided to shun the Wayland display server for its own, called Mir, the Linux community was up in arms. Many people felt that Canonical was not being a team player. While I understand that point of view, the company is well within its right to go in a different direction with Ubuntu. After all, open-source and free software is about choice -- not falling in line.

Unfortunately, getting things up and running on Mir will take time. Today however, a major milestone has been achieved -- the Chromium browser has been ported to Mir.

Continue reading →

Linux users do not like change. Well, actually, they do not like change for the sake of change. If something works, they typically hang on to it until something truly better comes along. A good example of this is GNOME 2. People love it and it works well. However, the GNOME Project moved to version 3 and radically changed how it works. GNOME purists were angry as version 2 worked just fine -- for them. And so, many hung onto the outdated version, shunning version 3.

Luckily, Linux and open-source software enables forking. Forking is basically taking source code, but taking it in a different direction than the original creator. And so, The Mate Desktop was created as a fork from the ashes of GNOME 2. Today, Mate 1.8 releases to the world.

Continue reading →

I'll confess, I'm not a Yahoo user. Well, I do use one of its services -- Fantasy Sports. Yes, I am one of those guys that enjoys pretending I am a coach in the NFL, while sitting on my couch in my underwear, eating snacks.

However, I access Yahoo Fantasy sports with my Google credentials. The reason being, I am not a believer in Yahoo's security. After all, the recycling of email addresses is appalling. Today however, Yahoo informs me that it will no longer be allowing Google or Facebook accounts to be used to access Fantasy Sports. Instead, a Yahoo login is being forced on users.

Continue reading →

My first-ever Chromebook was a Samsung. The 11.6-inch laptop was inexpensive and revolutionary. Heck, it looked like a plasticy Macbook Air -- very sexy. However, all that glitters is not gold. While my relationship with the laptop started strong, the dual-core ARM processor and paltry 2GB of ram proved underpowered. Pages would load slowly, and the lag could be extremely frustrating.

While many people think of Chrome OS as being just a web browser, remember, it is actually a Linux distribution running a web browser. The more RAM the better, with 4GB being the bare minimum for an enjoyable experience. Today, Samsung announces two new ARM-based Chromebooks to serve as a follow-up to the original. Not only is the RAM increased, but the CPU is supercharged too.

Continue reading →

Crowdfunding is a relatively new phenomenon. If you aren't familiar, it is essentially begging on the internet. However, the beggars are not unmotivated slackers -- quite the contrary. No, these people are begging for money to fund their dreams -- electronics, books, movies, etc. When someone chooses to pledge money, they often get perks, like early access to the product being funded.

There are many companies that facilitate crowdfunding, but the most popular is still Kickstarter. While pledges on the site can be very small, like $5, they can also reach into the thousands of dollars. Today, Kickstarter reaches a milestone -- one billion dollars in pledges. In other words, crowdfunding is legit and here to stay.

Continue reading →

As a Surface 2 owner, I have come to grips with the fact that Windows RT, the operating system on my tablet, is a bastardized version of "real Windows". However, I love the OS, as it works great and is very secure. On the RT variant, the user cannot install classic Windows programs. While many see this as a negative, I see it as a positive -- classic Windows viruses and malware cannot be installed either.

While the user cannot install classic programs, many come pre-loaded. Favorites such as Notepad and Paint are all here, but even better, RT devices come with Office 2013 preinstalled. Recently, there has been much news about Office 2013 Service Pack 1, but the RT version has been seemingly forgotten. Believe it or not, Office 2013 RT also got updated to SP1. But if you cannot download and run an upgrade file from the web, how do you upgrade? Read on for instructions.

Continue reading →

Kids these days don't know how good they have it. In my day, we had CRT monitors that were round and lifting them caused severe back pain. We didn't have wireless internet and broadband; no, we had dialup internet and our moms yelled at us for tying up the phone line. Don't get me started on search engines; we didn't have your fancy Googles or Yahoos.

Believe it or not, even though Yahoo still feels like a "new" company to some, it is celebrating its 19th birthday today. In other words, if Yahoo was a person, it would be old enough to drive but not old enough to drink a beer.

Continue reading →

Children are the future and education is key to creating valuable members of the workforce. Sadly, the USA is no longer a leader in producing quality engineers and scientists.

Luckily, President Obama has been focusing on technology in the classroom, with universal access to faster broadband. Also, Barack is pushing the education of teachers to keep up with advances in technology. The President has mentioned working with the public sector as well and today, Adobe answers the call with a promise of $300 million.

Continue reading →

Working in the corporate world can be pretty soul-crushing. This is particularly true for engineers and programmers. You see, they all start out as young men and women with big ideas and ambition. However, office politics and bureaucracy can quickly destroy all promise. While this isn't true of all companies, let's face it, not everyone is going to be a hero -- the world needs grunts.

Wouldn't it be great if some companies could sponsor an outlet for creativity? Imagine, the minds of employees being free to create. Even if it is just one day, the fun and memories would make the rest of the year palpable. Well, Netflix has done just that, with what it calls, "Netflix Hack Day".

Continue reading →

Linux is on a roll lately, as Android and Chromebooks continue to gain marketshare. While this should be a win for the open-source community, many purists do not consider Android or Chrome OS to truly be Linux. Of course this is not true, as both operating systems utilize the Linux kernel. However, I understand where Google detractors are coming from; a distribution like Ubuntu is more the traditional approach to using the kernel.

While I too love Ubuntu, I am not a fan of Unity. While I do not hate Canonical's environment, I simply prefer and adore GNOME 3. Today, the first Beta of Ubuntu GNOME 14.04 is here. It's time to brush off that DVD burner, and write that .ISO!

Continue reading →

As smartphones and tablets evolve, they get faster and gain more features. However, there is one place where they are still lagging -- battery life. Many devices still require daily charging. Not only is this annoying, it is dangerous too. After all, you cannot call 911 from a dead phone.

While some newer devices such as the Droid Maxx and iPad Air are class-leading in battery longevity, people still want more. A good way to increase battery life is to avoid using apps that suck your battery like vampires. Today, KS Mobile announces its list of the top 10 Android vampire apps.

Continue reading →

When Microsoft was forced to change the name of its cloud storage from SkyDrive, many people thought it was unfair -- myself included. After all, SkyTV is an entirely different product. But oh well, what's done is done. Truth be told, I like the OneDrive name better; it was a blessing in disguise.

By default, the service comes with 7 GB -- more than enough for the average user to store documents. However, users can get an additional 3 GB for enabling auto-backup for pictures on their mobile device. Today though, Microsoft announces a way to get a 100GB for free, with Bing Rewards. That is a lot of space!

Continue reading →

Chickens and eggs are pains in the butt. No, not the actual bird and its ovum, but the causality dilemma. The old argument asks if a chicken or egg came first. Of course, both answers are a dilemma as you need a chicken to lay an egg and you need an egg to get a chicken.

This applies to computer platforms and apps too. People may choose to buy an Android or iOS device because there are a lot of apps. Developers make the apps because a lot of people choose the platform. So, how can a new platform get apps if no one develops for it? In other words, if you don't have users, you wont get apps and if you don't have apps, you won't get users. In an effort to get developers interested in its mobile platform, Canaonical announces the third edition of Ubuntu App Showdown contest.

Continue reading →

Music is my biggest hobby and passion. Whether happy or sad, it helps enhance my moods. When I am feeling good, I may put on some Ben Folds Five and conversely, Radiohead when feeling blue. Believe it or not, I also like Hip-Hop and Country.

Even though I love music, I have never been a huge fan of American Idol. This is surprising, as it is a wildly popular singing competition. However, I am a fan of one aspect of the show -- the voting. I love being empowered to pick a winner, regardless of the competition. Today, Google announces a partnership with FOX and American Idol to make voting even easier.

Continue reading →