Jolicloud 1.0 Has an HTML5 UI 99
kai_hiwatari writes "Jolicloud 1.0, a Linux based OS for netbooks, was launched a few days back. In this new release, the developers have completely replaced the old interface based on Ubuntu Netbook Remix in favor of a new one based on HTML5. Jolicloud 1.0 also features a new syncing feature using which you can sync installed applications across all your systems running on Jolicloud. Other interesting features includes new app center, social stream, etc."
Re:Headline (Score:5, Informative)
No. You're wrong. Read the note at the bottom of your source:
Note: The choice of article is actually based upon the phonetic (sound) quality of the first letter in a word, not on the orthographic (written) representation of the letter.
Because HTML is an abbreviation, you say the name of the letter 'H', and not the 'H' sound itself. Because the name of the letter H begins with a long 'A' sound, "Jolicloud 1.0 Has an HTML5 UI" is correct, and "Jolicloud 1.0 Has a HTML5 UI" is not.
Re:Headline (Score:5, Informative)
I don't do prescriptivist "grammar" (I'm a linguist and value language as it is actually used, and many prescriptivists "rules" don't even make sense), but even if you do follow their advice, note:
Note: The choice of article is actually based upon the phonetic (sound) quality of the first letter in a word, not on the orthographic (written) representation of the letter.
Therefore, "an HTML5," as in the original headline, is correct, unless you really pronounce the letter "H" as something other than "aitch" (which, in all fairness, a minority of speakers in Britain and other places do). But note also the status of the sound /h/ itself isn't readily identifiable as a consonant or vowel--in fact, some consider it only a breathy version of the vowel it precedes or to be a segment marked only for phonation type and not place or manner (as with "real" consonants). I'll refer you to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) or any of Ladefoged's other phonetics books for more.
Re:Cloud? (Score:5, Informative)
It makes me think of the scene in an old B-movie (Flashdance)
You don't seem to understand what a B-movie is. Flashdance is certainly not one. In fact, Flashdance was released in an era when the B-movie was basically extinct.
A B-movie is a formulaic low-budget film that is intended to accompany the A-movie in a double-feature screening. Flashdance was not low budget, and was not intended to be seen as part of a double-feature screening. In fact, it was a huge box-office success.
Re:Cloud? (Score:5, Informative)
Not to drift off topic, but B-movies never died, they just became "Direct-To-Video" in the '80s....
No to belabor the point, but I think that is a fairly different realm. The B-movie is a relic of an era when people didn't have TVs, and would go to the cinema for a whole evening's entertainment. And they would go regularly. There would be newsreels and short films in addition to the feature films. The B-movie exists in this context, where it is a companion to other films.
The direct-to-video low budget movie is a different phenomenon, that caters to individual viewers in their homes. They are not intended to complement other films, and they are often very niche in their targeted audience.
I think we need to draw this distinction, because what is happening now (YouTube, etc) is very different to the B-movie phenomenon. B-movies were made industrially, as a part of the studio system. Much like tins of processed food. The direct-to-video and Youtube phenomenon are more about smaller (and individual) producers doing their own thing, not something that's made-to-spec by the studios to act as filler.
Re:Synergy Syncopy (Score:3, Informative)
Cloud html5 app syncing
They call it syncing but isn't it just centralisation?
Perhaps you were asking a serious question -- and the answer is: No, it isn't JUST centralization.
Syncing isn't just between a device and cloud storage. It can accommodate multiple devices of multiple types, and "current state" information, not just files.
Fully implemented, you should be able to stop reading a book on your tablet, open it on your phone, and automatically pick up the same paragraph. Or stop writing midsentence, go home, and continue.
Data can be backed up into cloud storage but reside wherever it makes sense, so disconnected operations should Just Work. HTML5 supports local storage, and there are other tools than HTML 5 at your disposal.
We already have parts of this. For example Google Chrome syncs all bookmarks across multiple devices via the Google mothership. Tomboy on Ubuntu syncs notes through Ubuntu One. Google Docs have had offline functionality through Gears for years now (you can even write/edit while on an airplane without wifi) and will be moving to HTML5 soon. All my contacts sync between work and home and phone and laptops. My calendaring is still a frakking mess, but that's because Microsoft is both evil and incompetent, and we use Exchange, but that too shall pass.
You stop thinking about "where did I leave that document" because all your documents are always available on all your devices, and you can leave your thumb drive on your dresser without being rendered helpless.
Over the next five years there's going to be a huge push for this sort of thing.
Things to worry about include privacy and stability (including financial) of the cloud service provider. Things to not worry about include blowing a hard disk and losing all your stuff, because there's lots of redundancy in the system.