Mint Linux Debian edition

It is highly regarded here, and may provide a way from Ubuntu to Debian.

Here is another positive review.

Gnome 3 looks nice

I tweaked my ubuntu 11.04 and replaced the default window manager with Gnome 3. It took a while to get used to it but eventually I like it a lot. I think part of the reason ubuntu is turning to unity instead of the old gnome2 is that the new gnome represents such a drastic shift away from the old gnome2, which is no longer under active development.

The overall experience is positive. I expect the next release will get rid of the few annoyance such as the lack of easy-to-use configuration tool to tweak things like screensaver, sound, etc.

Touchpad review

Here is a not so favorable review of HP Touchpad. Here is another one. It is interesting to see how Ipad and Galaxy tab were often used as reference of comparison.

Use JAGS with ggplot2

Here is a short demo of how to use JAGS with ggplot2.

Course materials for spatial analysis using R

The PDF slides are very informative.

List of PDF reader for Android

Here is the list.

Using shape files in R

Here is a good demo. Here is another one.

Qgis and google map

Here is an illustration of how to combine them together. This post explains how to do geocoding.

Info on open source GIS

This provides some helpful information.