Direct link to Adobe Reader (Acrobat Reader)

One of the major annoyances about Adobe Reader, which I have written about previously, is that Adobe insists that it can only be downloaded from its own servers. This note on Tucows summarises the problem:

The Adobe Acrobat Reader download is just an installer. This installer will lead to a much larger download that includes the Reader as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar and Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition. These items will download, however, upon installation you can opt-out of them.

The installer stub will force you to download unwanted toolbars and programs. Plus, it also installs Adobe Download Manager (ADM), which I do not want or need. Worse, ADM has a critical security hole, which even Adobe admits to.

Fortunately, the folks over at The Software Patch have figured out the latest direct FTP link to the Reader download:

http://www.softwarepatch.com/graphics/acrobatreader7.html

As I write this, the link is:
ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/8.x/8.1.2/enu/AdbeRdr812_en_US.exe

If you obtain Adobe Reader via this link, you won't have to install ADM or other useless stuff. But this link will become outdated when there is a new version, so check back at The Software Patch for the latest. BTW, they host many other patches, upgrades, service packs and hardware drivers too.

Maybe he's a phantom voter

Sometimes, the jokes just write themselves.

The Star: Body found in bus ferrying Umno supporters

"Perhaps he was just dying to vote."

"They'll just sign up anybody these days."

etc.

Linux kernel creator hates cellphones, doesn't carry one

Computerworld recently caught up with Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, at Linux.conf.au, an annual Free and Open Source Software conference held in Australia.
Other than the usual "what's next for Linux" type of questions, writer Andrew Hendry uncovered this gem: Linus Torvalds hates cellphones, and doesn't carry one.
Hendry was probably stunned when he found out, because what he had actually asked was:
"Do you have Linux on your mobile phone?"
To which Torvalds replied:
"I don't even have a mobile phone! I hate phones in general because I'm the kind of person that when I work I want to concentrate on my work and if somebody calls me that completely destroys my concentration. I hate phones because they just disturb you, and mobile phones are even worse because you have them with you all the time, so I don't do mobile phones at all."
Actually, Torvalds does own a cellphone, but only because it was "one of the early Linux mobile phones" which he got for free, and he does not carry it around or switch it on.
I'm sure most of you can appreciate the irony of an über geek god who does not carry a cellphone. A bigger irony than say, a tech journalist who really hated cellphones and only bought his first cellphone last year (*Ahem).
Anyway, I couldn't have said it better myself. Mr. Torvalds, I applaud you for resisting what most be constant pressure from your family, friends, co-workers, et al for you to get a cellphone.


This Boston Globe article from 2005 explored "tech refuseniks":
Giving up on gadgets: 'Tech refuseniks' junk their cellphones, handhelds
And, from last year, a posting on The Wired Blog (of all places) titled "Ten Reasons To Throw Away Your Cellphone". Meanwhile, MCMC stats indicated that cellphone penetration in Malaysia was 80.8% in Q3 last year, while another research firm said global cellphone penetration hit the 50% mark (or 3.3 billion people) in November last year. It's probably higher now.