You might not have noticed, but it’s been a wee while since we last featured an ‘Ubuntu in the Wild’ spot (excusing my little editorial last month).
The gap isn’t because Ubuntu isn’t being spotlighted in projects. It was more that a couple of readers were vocal in telling us such articles were trivial and didn’t call for a post. So, for the past year or two we’ve been tweeting the odd Ubuntu in the Wild spot rather than posting a blog post about it.
Despite this a great many of you have diligently continued to ping us every time you spotted Ubuntu in the wild be it on TV, films, YouTube channels, magazine adverts, etc.
It’s a) really awesome of you to do that so b) we didn’t want to let your efforts go to waste.
And so, this post.
Ubuntu The Space Brain
Most of us know that helps play a big role in various space-related projects. And this first ‘in the wild’ tip shows how integral the open-source OS is in one mission.
Spotted by in a BBC News new video (link removed as no longer working) reader Alex explains: “This is great, it is Tim Peake controlling a Mars Rover, check the Unity desktops of the engineers at one minute in.”
Space is awesome, robots are cool, and Ubuntu rocks. All three together? Out of this world.
Ubuntu The Matchmaker
The second spot in April comes, again, from the BBC.
Embarrassingly for me, I spotted Ubuntu in the April 25 episode of popular BBC science series ‘Horizon’, an episode that focuses on ‘finding love online‘
(I was bored not looking for tips, honest).
The documentary itself sought to see whether mathematics and algorithms were successful at matching people together. Alongside the unbearably charismatic Dr Xand Van Tulleken, who tries out different dating techniques, you’ll also see Ubuntu (and the Unity desktop) makes a few appearances. It’s used to present data from a BBC-created dating site.
Ubuntu The Tank Driver
The latest version of the PC game ‘World of Tanks’ features improved physics for vehicle movement.
But just how did they get data from real-world tanks and translate it into movements for digital ones? By making use of Ubuntu, of course.
Check out the WoT development progress video above, which was sent in by Obed S (thanks!).
Ubuntu The Engineer
The next April spot comes by way of reader Jimmy M.G., who mailed us to say: “I think Ubuntu has a very prominent place in this video. I am not sure what the application is, but it looks like it might be some JetBrains software.”
Skip ahead to the 39 second mark in the video above to spy the familiar Ubuntu Unity interface with your own peepers (and if you can discern the software being used, give it a shout out in the comments).
Have you spotted Ubuntu being used in a prominent tv programme, advert, magazine or YouTube video? If so remember to send your spots in using the Tip Form at the top of the page!