Linux | Gear Diary

BOOX Mira Pro Color Version Is a 25.3″ E Ink Monitor Delivering Eye-Friendly Comfort, Full Color, and Serious Desk Appeal

Let’s be real: Staring at a bright screen for hours is basically a modern form of torture. Whether you’re a designer juggling color-coded dashboards, a coder drowning in lines of logic, or someone just trying to read and write without your retinas staging a revolt, your eyes deserve better. That’s where the BOOX Mira Pro Color Version struts in, bringing a huge 25.3″ E Ink screen with full color and a personality that says, “I’m here to make your workday look and feel better.”

Events

OWC Jellyfish Studio and Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD Are Game-Changing Storage Solutions for Creators

At this year’s IBC2024 in Amsterdam, Other World Computing (OWC) will introduce a couple of exciting new products designed to enhance the work of content creators, filmmakers, and media professionals. Among these are the Jellyfish Studio, a media-centric storage solution, and the Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD, both of which could be game-changers for the industry.

Gear Bits

Lenovo Expands Linux Program to Include ThinkPad and ThinkStation PCs

Lenovo supports the Linux community. That has never been more evident than with their announcement of expanding their certification program that we covered in June to include PCs preinstalled with Ubuntu. There will now be nearly thirty Ubuntu-loaded devices available from Lenovo, including thirteen ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series Workstations and fourteen ThinkPad T, X, X1, and L series laptops.

Gear Bits

Lenovo Leans into Linux Workstations

Linux may not be the first operating system that springs to mind for the average user, but it has plenty of ardent fans. According to Lenovo’s citations, 2.87% of computer users are opting for Linux, which may not sound like much, but imagine if the entire population of Washington State switched to Linux en masse. Yea, there’s a market there, and Lenovo doesn’t want it left behind.

Reviews

Choetech Aluminum 4 Port USB 3.0 to Type-C Hub: Just What Your MacBook Needs

So, you bought a new MacBook, and you’re freaking out a little bit because there isn’t a single USB port to be found. Not to worry, Choetech has you covered with their Aluminum 4 Port USB 3.0 toType-C Hub.

Game Diary, News & Features

Valve Introduces Minimum Payment to Unlock Features to Fight Steam Fraud

There are many variations on the common phrase, but the sentiment remains the same: you know you’ve made it when you find yourself fighting fraud in absolutely trivial areas. Steam, the online gaming service, has found itself increasingly dealing with phishing and fraudulent activities in the social areas of their service – and now they are taking action.

Game Diary, News & Features

Hiveswap Episodic Adventure Game Annouced, Check Out the Trailer!

A few years ago my son and his friends were really into the webcomic Homestuck, a quirky adventure created initially in MS Paint that became quite the sensation based on the characters, setting, humor, stories and imaginative variations. Developer Pumpkin Studios captures that feeling in Hiveswap, an upcoming adventure game out this summer. Check out the teaser trailer!

Reviews

Cities: Skylines Towers Above the City Builder Game Competition

Cities: Skylines is THE new next-gen city building and management simulation game. Developed by Colossal Order, a small Finnish team with a passion for high quality games, Cities: Skylines towers above the competition when it comes to deep gameplay and customization. Cities: Skylines is available for $29.99 TODAY on Steam, and is compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux.

Game Diary, News & Features

High Seas Sandbox Action Game ‘Windward’ Coming to PC, Mac and Linux!

I remember playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! for the first time – I had missed the 1987 game but fell in love with the 2004 release, playing it on every platform since. Now a new sandbox action Windward is coming to Steam Early Access with plans for a Q2 2015 release on PC, Mac, and Linux! Ship’s Ahoy, indeed!

Game Diary, Reviews

Grim Fandango Remastered Review – Bringing the Joy of Death Back into Style

It is hard to separate the nostalgic of replaying Grim Fandango for the first time since sitting in front of a big old 17″ CRT in 1999 from the reality of playing it on a 5″ Playstation Vita screen in 2015. But regardless, a great game remains a great game – and Grim Fandango is a great game.

Crowdfunding, Game Diary, News & Features

Surreal Puzzle Platformer ‘Tulpa’ Now Available on Steam

Whenever I see a game like Tulpa, I go back several years when it seemed the small developer was gone, that everything was headed to AAA games on consoles. Fortunately that didn’t happen, and innovation is alive and well, as demonstrated in Tulpa, described as a surreal puzzle platformer. It is now available for PC, Mac and Linux on Steam.

Game Diary, Reviews

Avernum 2: Crystal Souls Takes Us Back to the Massive Subterranean World!

When I wrote about the official announcement of Avernum 2: Crystal Souls last year I noted that I had missed the initial release of the first three games, and only played parts of them since. In 2012 I played and replayed Avernum: Escape from the Pit, and now I have played Avernum 2: Crystal Souls and completely loved it!

Game Diary, News & Features

Soldak Entertainment Announces Zombasite Coming in 2015!

Soldak Entertainment is an indie developer making great games, mostly in the RPG genre. From the incredible Depths of Peril, the never-old Din’s Curse, light-but-fun Kivi’s Underworld to the sprawling space adventure Drox Operative. Now for their next game they are dipping into the undead with Zombasite, a post-apocalyptic fantasy action RPG coming in 2015 to Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Game Diary, News & Features

Defense Grid 2 Now Available for PS4, XBOX One, PC, Mac, and Linux!

Back in 2008, Hidden Path Entertainment released Defense Grid: The Awakening, which catapulted the popularity of the resurgent ‘tower defense’ genre into the mainstream. In 2012 they launched a Kickstarter project to help fund the sequel, and this week it arrived! Defense Grid 2 is available on PlayStation®4 and Xbox® One and Steam (PC, Mac, Linux).

News & Features

Laptop Shopping with Linux in Mind

For the first time in many years, I was in the market for a new personal laptop You would think that buying a laptop to run Linux on would be easy, but with recent changes it’s more difficult than it has to be. With some research, and a few preparation steps done ahead of time, it won’t be a huge challenge.

Editorials

Can the New Intel Based Tablets run Linux?

I was at Staples the other day and saw some of the new Windows 8 based tablets that have recently been released. Specifically, the Dell Venue 8 Pro. It is based on the new quad core Atom chip and uses a whole lot less power than the chips they used in netbooks. The question is: Will it run Linux? The answer is complicated.

Gear Bits

Eschalon Book III Announced for February 14th Release!

While I never reviewed Eschalon Book II beyond my first impressions, the series remains one of my favorites of the last several years. I declared Book I ‘Indie RPG of the Year’ for 2007 at another site, and have been anticipating Book III for quite a while. Now Eschalon Book III has a release date: Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2014. The game will be simultaneously released on Windows, Macintosh and Linux platforms – and based on past releases all are native code and perform equally well. Here is some info from the official site: On February 14th the game will…

Gear Bits

GoG.com Launches New 100% Guarantee Program on Digital Games

If you have been gaming for long enough, chances are you have come across a game that wouldn’t install or that you couldn’t keep running for more than a few seconds without a crash. You used all the tricks you know, consulted support and forums, and ultimately had to face the reality that the game would never work for you.

Gear Bits

TiVo Is the Hidden Linux of the Week

The internet and Linux were both relatively new things in 1999 for much of the world outside of academia. It was at that time that a new device came out that has since been eclipsed by other services. What am I talking about? What many consider the first DVR, the humble TiVo. And yes, TiVo runs Linux. TiVo was originally started by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay, via the original company which was named Teleworld. Teleworld was then renamed TiVo Inc at a later date. The first TiVo was demonstrated at the 1999 Consumer Electronics show and then released in…

Gear Bits

The Hidden Linux of the Week is Your TV

Valve’s announcement of SteamOS it reminded me of another hidden Linux system. It is the GPL software license that has allowed many devices to adopt Linux. Android and kiosks are just two of them. This also can include devices you wouldn’t think would need an operating system like your TV. Your TV probably runs Linux. The GPL or GNU Public License is the license that the Linux kernel and the surrounding pieces of code that make a Linux system use. It is this reason that many hardware developers started looking to Linux to run the core of their devices. This…

Gear Bits

The Hidden Linux of the Week Is a Vending Kiosk

Today’s hidden Linux system is one you probably never think about. Have you ever seen a kiosk like at the airport quick check in counter or running a vending area? Well my friend Dan Frey did at his office and he found out that the kiosk that Avanti Markets uses runs Linux. Dan, who is one my fellow co-hosts of The Linux Link Tech Show found this out when the vendor that runs his cafeteria at work was installing them. They needed help setting up the network connections as the installers were primarily familiar with Windows networking. They asked him…