Jim Lynch: Tech Analyst and Community Manager

Last week I caught a lot of heat for my column about Safari 5’s Reader feature. The column seemed to go a bit viral and I got quite a lot of visitors, many of whom were angry. They felt that they were entitled to a quiet reading experience, totally free from web clutter and ads.

Steve Jobs gave his usual keynote address at WWDC today. The iPhone took center stage, as expected. But there was another announcement that web publishers should take note of and should dread: Safari 5.
The release of Safari 5 does not bode well for web publishers. Specifically, the inclusion of a feature called “Safari Reader” may [...]

Amazon’s Kindle applications are one of the most popular ways to read ebooks. Oh sure, some people actually own a Kindle reader but quite a lot of people don’t. They simply use the Amazon Kindle application for their particular hardware.
To date, Amazon is supporting the following platforms:
iPhone
iPad
Blackberry
Mac
Windows
Hmm. It seems that one VERY prominent platform is [...]

In addition to Ubuntu, Canonical also produces or recognizes a number of Ubuntu derivatives such Kubuntu and Edubuntu. These derivatives offer different desktop environments or a more focused selection of software, geared toward a particular purpose.
But Canonical has a big problem with these derivatives. Ever hear the phrase “red headed stepchild?” The Urban Dictionary defines it [...]

I don’t know about you but I’ve been amused at the amount of coverage in the media about Sony pulling the plug on alternative operating systems on the PS3.
Have you been following this mess? Talk about a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing whatsoever of importance. If you read any of the media coverage, [...]

By now I’m sure you’re familiar with all the inane blather being spewed about the iPad. Questions such as “Will it replace a laptop?” and “Is it the end of netbooks?” have been beaten to death in columns and reviews across the Web.
Who cares? Could there be more meaningless questions to analyze? There will always [...]

I have bad circulation in my legs.
It’s been getting progressively worse over the years, and I know exactly why. I sit too much. I’m in front of my computers a lot, and my favorite place to sit is in the living room in my beat-up recliner. This chair is a piece of junk I bought [...]

You might have noticed that a new Apple product launched recently. I’m not going to name it here, because the presstitutes have already flooded the Web with coverage of it to the point where people are suffering from the-Apple-device-that-must-not-be-named fatigue.

But an interesting controversy has arisen as a result of this release: Adobe’s Flash doesn’t run on it. People have been weighing in on article comments and forums, mocking the product and pointing out that “without Flash you don’t have the real Internet experience.”

Is that really true? Do you need Adobe Flash to actually enjoy being online?

As you may have heard, Apple’s new iPad tablet is coming out on Saturday. Some places already have reviews up. And, predictably, Apple freaks are already swarming, waiting for the chance to waste more of their money on yet another piece of overpriced crap.
Yep, here we are again with yet another overhyped Apple product and [...]

Once again, it’s time to answer some reader responses and cover a few potpourri items.
An iMac’s Death and Rebirth
Regarding part one of the saga of my dead iMac, aep334 tried to be a buzz kill with this comment:
A 27″ iMac? You mean the model with the known display issues? Good luck with that.
Well, so far [...]

Valve recently announced that it will be releasing Steam for the Mac:

Valve Software, whose Steam download services has become a successful content distribution platform for the PC, will expand to the Apple Macintosh, the company said.

More importantly, Valve will also port its Source graphics technology to the Mac, giving both platforms access to the same games. Valve also confirmed that it will launch a sequel to its highly acclaimed game, Portal, which it will simultaneously launch for both Macs and PCs.

Last week I covered the problems I had with my 24-inch iMac and how I ended up exchanging it for a 27-inch model. This week I want to share some of my experiences with my new iMac.
After the Apple Store employee brought my iMac out to my truck, I carefully loaded in the computer and [...]

Over the course of my computing life, I’ve had mostly good luck with hardware. But every once in a while a computer or component comes along that just keeps crapping out over and over. So it has been with my 24-inch iMac, and two weeks ago it finally came to its end.
When I first bought [...]

It’s that time of the month again: Time for me to respond to some reader comments and cover a few potpourri items.
Eye on the iPad
sverrisson, writing in response to my “5 Reasons Why I Won’t Buy an iPad” column, said this:
Who cares if the name resembles a female product? Would anyone care if it resembled [...]

Back in the old days, Linux used to be a tough cookie to get installed. It was way more challenging than Windows and certainly nothing like Mac OS X. You never really knew if it would work well with all of your hardware until you tried it. Sometimes things went great and other times—well, let’s just say that things didn’t go well at all.

These days, it’s more or less a snap to get Linux working on your computer.

I have a confession to make that might shock you. I used to smoke.
In my late teens and early 20s, I was a chain smoker. I enjoyed it. I loved having a cigarette in my fingers and I enjoyed the experience of smoking. I especially enjoyed it in college while I was writing papers; there [...]

The ridiculous hype is finally over and Steve Jobs has given birth to yet another neat consumer device. The iPad isn’t even shipping yet, and it’s already made a huge splash in the press. Coverage of the iPad has been everywhere and Apple fans are swooning and waiting to whip out their credit cards to [...]

Remember when your local librarian would shush you up so you wouldn’t disturb others? Well, she knew that noise can be a terrible distraction when you’re trying to read a book. But what about when you’re trying to read an e-book? The usual kinds of noise—dogs barking, kids screaming, teenagers blaring music, etc.—can be just [...]

For the last few years, Firefox has been the only browser I use regularly. I’ve never cheated on it. Oh sure, I’ve had brief flings. I tried my best to really like Safari on my Macs, but it always left me cold. I don’t use Windows enough to have Internet Explorer as my main browser. [...]

It’s a sad time for Ubuntu users. Canonical has announced that it is removing the GNU Image Manipulation Program, aka GIMP, from the default Ubuntu installation routine.
Canonical hosted its biannual Ubuntu Developer Summit (UDS) last week in Dallas, Texas. I was one of many open source software developers who attended the event and participated in [...]