About stereo: It is OK now, but noticeable. IMHO, it can be a real problem for some mobile listening scenarios. How about reducing the stereo effect by half for the next show, and also test yourself how it sounds with only one earbud?
OK, let me clarify this. I was on vacation, hence the delay.
@bryanlunduke has been traveling recently. At the last minute on our previous recording Bryan said that networking issues were going to mean he couldnât join. Sadly, this happens from time to time with all of us - just the nature of how we record the show.
So, we recorded the show without @bryanlunduke, but were always hoping his connection would mean he could dial in at some point if his connection restored. Sadly this was not to be.
The LibreOffice segment was actually a segment from a few weeks back that we kept in the can (well more specifically, I am an idiot and left it out of the edit), hence we kept it for the show.
Now, this is where it gets nafarious.
@sil, @jeremy, and I thought it could be funny to just not mention @bryanlunduke and see if anyone freaked out about it. This is why I said âgleesome threesomeâ in the intro and why we deliberately mentioned the three of us a few times in the intro/outro.
Our social engineering seemed to work.
To be quite clear: @bryanlunduke is still very much part of the team, there has been no falling out: just three arseholes playing a joke on the very people that support our show.
As to mobile office, wouldnât Canonicalâs Convergence plan address this in that, one could use a desktop program? Also, could not one run Libre Office on a Microsoft Surface tablet or another running Windows?
Ok, for the later question, I know it is probably considered heresy here. Is that a stake being set up and the gathering of wood I hear?
Yep. But in both of those cases youâre running a desktop app on a touch screen, and the app isnât designed to be controlled with touches. Itâll work, but itâs wildly unpleasant to use. There are certainly some people who think that this is fine and donât have a problem with using it, but itâs not any approach which ordinary people in general will find pleasant!
I donât agree about not using a tablet for Office suite. Since six months I use almost only an iPad. Yes. I was inspired by an article by Bryan about Nexus. But as Garageband is an essential app for me I went with iOS instead. However I write everything from meeting minutes to short stories and would love a Libre Office alternative. Since I got a good stylus and Fiftythree Paper I do all presentations on the iPad as well. Then transfer to a presentation application like Google Slides, Keynote or PowerPoint. Libre Office suite, yes please.
I totally agree that you can run an office suite on a tablet! There are such office suites â as youâve said, they exist for the iPad, and they certainly do for Android tablets as well. Thatâs not the same thing as running desktop office suites (designed for a mouse pointer, right-clicking, a keyboard, click-and-drag) on a touch-screen tablet. Itâs possible, but itâs not a pleasant experience.
Sure. I was thinking of Jonoâs comment that no one would use a tablet to write larger things or create presentations, only do touch ups. I have a bluetooth keyboard but actually donât use it much since getting the Fleksy keyboard app.
Hi all, Iâm the Henrik from the feedback segment of this episode.
Just to be clear, I did not want the show to be completely in mono, just less âwideâ. Some of the episodes have been a bit annoying when listened to using headphones (I use in-ear plugs at work) becase it felt like the conversation was bouncing back and forth in my head.
I listen to a couple of podcasts which use this effect, and when done right I do appreciate it.
Anyway, for this episode the audio was much more pleasant and did not distract at all. I donât know if you did something differently, or if it was the flow of the conversation itself which helped, but I did not even consider toggling to mono.
I still think that for larger and more complex projects a mouse and clicking is required. I can imagine people knocking up quick things on a phone or tablet, but not complex documents.
Simple documents with lots of text are definitely possible, particularly with a bluetooth keyboard.
Thank you. Much better listening experience this episode. I only listen while commuting and in headphones and I was constantly checking if I was loosing an ear piece since the sound bounced.
The most important part of an online version of an office suite is actually the collaborative work. I donât care if I can run my word processor in Firefox, but I do care if I can share a document with other people and modify it in real time.
I did a quick search on LibreOffice to see what was the status and the only thing I could find is this video where the guy shows an ODF document being scrolled up and down⌠Well, thatâs a start, I guess?
Agreed - I donât really like the idea of adding another layer of bloat to a piece of software, and LibreOffice is currently much faster than the other suite I use on Linux - Google Docs, since LibreOffice is run via native code and not the web.
I donât see why they canât have the collaboration happen in the native version of the program - thatâs something that we havenât seen yet, and it would be interesting. I guess itâs to make it easier for other people to access it via the web, making open source more accessible, but that doesnât prevent them from doing both.
Also, hopefully they donât stretch themselves to thin. Adding another platform, developed in near-complete isolation from the main suite, will add additional workload, and the open-source world already has their work cut out.
iâm told that the efficiency of top-end PV panels is expected to double from 30% to 60% in 3 to 4 years, although granted those will then be priced at double. Neverthless expect a signifcant reduction in the cost per kWh from PV panels, including installation, every year for the next 10 years, and probably beyond. PV is the new silicon revolution.
For the advanced PV R&D industry of Germany et al, and arguably the entire solar revolution, we should thank the German taxpayer. Thanks guys.
Apparently the Powerwall is a âgame-changerâ or so a PV practitioner tells me. Itâs not your granddaddyâs Lead Acid battery. Itâs more robust technology, and hence the 10 year warranty, which makes it cheap at the price. Iâm sure it has scope for further improvement - and cost reductions because of the Giga Factoryâs economy of scale.
The Powerwall means that the cost of solar + storage will dip below the cost of household electricity in some regions, now if not sooner than otherwise. With the declining cost of both PV and storage, the curves cross, and economics drives the switch to (self)sustainable energy by means of roof-top PV panels.