He’s a Mac, he’s a PC, but we’re Linux

Earlier this year the Linux Foundation launched a competition for budding writers, film makers and just general Linux enthusiasts to make their own grassroots advertisement to compete with Apple’s highly-successful “I’m a Mac” series of adverts. The Linux Foundation hopes to succeed where Microsoft’s short-lived Jerry Seinfeld experiment failed, namely landing a glove on Apple’s unrelenting “I’m a Mac” ads.

The Linux Foundation think, and rightly so, that a Linux advertisement is overdue and felt it time to produce their own ad they did as Linux does – they sought community involvement.

The Linux Foundation opted not to embark on their own production but rather sponsor a community contest, exploiting the minds and talents of Linuxphiles globally. The contest started on January 26th and entrants are asked to showcase their take on “I’m Linux” within 60 seconds or less.

Participants were asked to showcase their take on “I’m Linux” within 60 seconds or less. There was no requirement to mention or refer to the Apple or Microsoft campaigns. Submissions were expected to be inspirational and explain why the creators love Linux, infecting viewers with their passion. The winner has now been announced.

It wasn’t just a work of love, mind you. The winning prize is a free trip to Tokyo to participate in the Linux Foundational Japan Linux Symposium during October this year.

Over 90 entries were submitted, from across the globe. Five of these were shortlisted as the finalists, and just prior to Easter the winner was chosen, Armitay Tweeto, freelance graphic designer and user interface consultant from Bet Shemesh, Israel.

Tweeto’s winning entry was titled “What does it mean to be free?”

The two runner ups were “The Origin,” and “Linux pub.”

The other two finalists, who did not gain a place, were “The future is open” and “Challenges at the office.”

Microsoft to unveil SkyBox cloud service

Microsoft is all set to announce a new syncing service at the Mobile World Congress this year, with SkyBox set to rival the likes of MobileMe as a cloud-based system.

This gives users the ability to back up their Windows Mobile devices over the air, meaning they can backup, restore, and manage phone contacts and data on the fly.

In fact, and in quite a departure for Microsoft, the service could also be rolled out to non-Windows Mobile devices, although it’s unlikely this will extend to the likes of the iPhone.

Sky’s the limit

Other services set to be announced at the Mobile World Congress include SkyLine, which will be aimed at helping users and small business owners to set up their Exchange servers with their own domain names.

And those of you that remember Microsoft’s efforts to replicate the success of Apple’s App Store won’t be surprised to find out that SkyMarket is finally coming to fruition, but only for WM devices.

Of course, there’s always the rumour that Windows 6.5 is going to make its debut as well, and if we were betting folk we’d say it’s pretty likely, so watch this space as TechRadar reports from the MWC this year.

Monitor Internet bandwidth with BitMeter and SurplusMeter

With ISPs, such as Comcast and Time Warner, metering or limiting bandwidth, your users, particularly telecommuters, may soon need a way to monitor their Internet usage. On a September 24 episode of CNET TV’s Insider Secrets, Brian Tong discusses two free bandwidth monitors–BitMeter for Windows and SurplusMeter for OS X.

I haven’t used either of these applications, but those concerned they might get caught by their ISP’s bandwidth limit might want to give them a quick look.

Glary Registry Repair

Glarysoft Registry Repair is an advanced registry cleaner for Windows that allows you to safely scan, clean, and repair registry problems. Problems with the Windows registry are a common cause of Windows crashes and error messages. Glarysoft Registry Repair allows you to fix your registry and optimize your PCs performance with a few simple mouse clicks.Version 3 improves scan engine and fixed some bug.

Download

Edit me

Just saw an interesting bit of JavaScript that allows anyone to edit the content of a web page from IE or FireFox. This is a JavaScript trick that runs on the client side and does not have any effects on the actual file on the server. With this you can change the text of a web page to your hearts content.

Once you visit a page you are interesting in modifying, enter the following JavaScript in the address or location bar all in one line.

javascript:document.body.contentEditable=’true’;document.designMode=’on’; void 0