IT. Techware Labs - Articles - Introduction to Linux. Preface Some of my readers today will be aware of a beautiful operating system called GNU/Linux, more commonly known as just Linux.
For those who are not already familiar, here is a brief introduction: Linux is a free open-source alternative to Windows and Macintosh. Based off of (but not derived from) Unix, a man named Linus Torvalds laid the framework for the kernel many years ago and then made the source code open to all. He still works on the kernel today, but he's not alone; millions of programmers around the world work to improve Linux with their free time. They've worked hard to bring Linux to maturity, and as of the past couple years, it has reached a mature stage where the average computer user is more than capable of using it. So why am I bringing up this topic? Whether it's because you've never heard of Linux, have an interest, or tried it years ago when it was still young and was disappointed, one thing is certain: you're missing out. What do you mean by open-source? Will Life Be Worth Living In 2,000AD?
What sort of life will you be living 39 years from now?
Scientists have looked into the future and they can tell you. It looks as if everything will be so easy that people will probably die from sheer boredom. You will be whisked around in monorail vehicles at 200 miles an hour and you will think nothing of taking a fortnight's holiday in outer space. Your house will probably have air walls, and a floating roof, adjustable to the angle of the sun. oors will open automatically, and clothing will be put away by remote control.
You'll have a home control room - an electronics centre, where messages will be recorded when you're away from home. You'll have wall-to-wall global TV, an indoor swimming pool, TV-telephones and room-to-room TV. The status symbol of the year 2000 will be the home computer help, which will help mother tend the children, cook the meals and issue reminders of appointments. Cooking will be in solar ovens with microwave controls. There's a lot more besides to make H.G. How To Get Your Computer to Boot Faster. Six Ideas That Will Change the World. The Next Plastic Plastic has changed little since its heyday in the 1960s.
It's still ubiquitous, oil based, and dirty as hell for the environment. Makes you wonder what we've been doing all these years. For one thing, not listening enough to chemist Geoffrey Coates. In his lab at Cornell University, he's been reinventing plastic. The key is limonene, a citrusy-smelling chemical compound made from orange rinds that when oxidized and mixed with carbon dioxide and a catalyst can be turned into a solid plastic. Since 1999, when Coates and his colleagues first began experimenting with limonene, they've discovered a number of other natural materials, such as pine trees and soybeans, that can be manipulated into biodegradable polymers as well. While Coates's natural polymers are more expensive to produce than most current plastics, he stresses that this isn't just another radical innovation that will never make it out of the lab.
--Doug Cantor.