Treading On Water, An Important Life Saving Technique! (Swimming)

Let me start with a little story (a true one). For a long time I thought I could swim. I mean seriously, for a long time I was fooled by the fake confidence that I had about the very popular swimming Technique called "Freestyle". I used to think, I had figured it out all.The thing was, once you started swimming in freestyle, you could just go forward and as long as you do the strokes, your body ... it would just float.It's never too late to learn...

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How to Install GNOME Activity Journal 0.6 in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal!

GNOME Activity Journal is an automated log creator based on user activities in GNU/Linux environments. So as with a the conventional system log, activity journal lets you view your past "activities". Do I really need one?.GAJ in action...It depends, for instance say that your wife asked you ..."Man what the heck were you doing with your computer around 2pm yesterday?, no lies!" :P. And being a brain-damaged geek you couldn't possibly remember what...

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SliTaz, Another Fast Loading Lightweight GNU/Linux Distribution!

SliTaz is so light in size and system resources... say that you burned the 30MB of the full OS into a CD and created a live CD... then when running you can even eject that CD still SliTaz is so small it'll still run within your RAM!. Impressed??.Don't get fooled by the 30MB of size, it does come with a graphical environment called OpenBox + several other programs such as...*. Midori - Fast loading web browser written in GTK+.*. TazPkg - A graphical...

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Will Your Graphic Card Let You Run Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Smoothly?

I always had troubles with Ubuntu (started around 10.04 I think) with my ATI GPU, which is an old one actually - Raedon Express 200m. But the same VGA or the Laptop, had no problems whatsoever with Fedora or Debian in general. This was due to the fact that Ubuntu heavily depends on a OpenGL widow render manager called Compiz.  Is it that important?...If you don't know what the heck that means, then Compiz is the one behind all these fancy effects...

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Ext2Read, Read All Your "Ext2/3/4" GNU/Linux File Systems in Microsoft Windows!

Microsoft will never include the ability for their operating system to read GNU/Linux partitions by default. It's amazing what few years can bring. I remember, not that long ago, around 2004-2005, how hard it was to find something that can read "Ext" file systems in Microsoft windows.Although a certain partition manager did come with a one but you had to pay a big price for the software.Anyhow, if you dual boot with Microsoft Windows a GNU/Linux...

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Acer Might Introduce a Chrome OS Based Netkbook in the Near Future!

Few days ago Sony introduced their first sets of Android Honeycomb based Tablet PCs called S1 and S2. Now it's rumored that Acer in the near future might come up with a sleek looking Netbook that's powered by the Google's Chrome OS!.Although no one could predict that how we would "define" the ultimate, all purpose operating system of the future... but one way or the other... Google has two of 'em (Android or Chrome, smart move eh :D ).Upcoming Acer...

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Install Skype in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty!

By default Ubuntu does not come with Skype (obviously... it's not even an open-source app). But since VOIP is fast becoming a part of our lives... having Skype installed feels like a must these days, no matter what operating system that you use.So after installing the newly introduced Ubuntu Natty Narwhal... you can easily install Skype by using two methods. By using the Software center or the Terminal. But since it's supported by Ubuntu repositories......

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Install VLC Media Player in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal!

Well, I don't think anyone would want an introduction to VLC media player. Although I'd still prefer MPLayer or SMPlayer back-end yet VLC is one of the most popular + fully featured multimedia players that is widely in use nonetheless. One good thing about it is that, once installed, VLC plays almost all the codecs known to mankind :P and lets you do things such as ...*. Enhance video and audios with various filters.*. Add/Change brightness/hue......

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Wanna Install virtualbox 4 on ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal?

Virtualization gives you the ability to run several operating systems on top of each other. For instance, GNU/Linux cannot be run on Microsoft windows as a program. But with a Virtualization software you can actually run not just GNU/Linux but any other OS independent of the operating system that the virtualization utility is installed.The power of Virtualization..., Ubuntu running in Windows 7Just like that with Virtualbox, developed by GmbH (the...

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Install Torrent Search 0.9.2.1 in Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

If you haven't heard, torrent search is a small application that lets you search for torrent files in various tracker web sites. It integrate with Gnome desktop thus makes it easy for the users to search for a torrent file in few tracker sites from a single GUI.So what's actually the benefit here?Well, unlike many other file "sharing" protocols, bit-torrent uses a protocols which requires to know the others having the same file as the one you're...

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Here Comes the Lubuntu 11.04!, Yep It's also Out Out!

If you don't know much about Lubuntu, then it is another derivative of Ubuntu that's designed for PC users with low-end hardware. It's not an official Ubuntu project and not more than two years of age, yet, the OS is already widely used by users with OLD PCs (no need to feel bad, I do have a very old Laptop, no can't even discuss the hardware with you :P).Lubuntu 11.04, looks very promising...Anyway, recently they announced a new theme (which looks...

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Kubuntu 11.04 is Released!

Simultaneous to the Ubuntu Natty Narwhal (11.04) release which brings the long waited... talked Unity desktop... the official KDE version of Ubuntu called Kubuntu has also released their 11.04 version as well. Unlike many other previous versions... this does bring some important new features according to their release log. *. Comes with the KDE 4.6 version which brings the Kwin manager (default window handler for KDE).According to the Kubuntu team,...

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Notebook Hardware Control (NHC), Powerful ACPI Manager for your PC!

Windows Vista and 7 do come with advanced ACPI options when comparing with windows XP. For instance, if you have a never CPU (AMD or Intel) with Vista or 7 you can easily set-up different speed settings (if your CPU support that) and other hardware power related settings ... especially for Laptops which can help to get a longer battery life which is very handy.Main GUI... (use it at your own risk)But with Windows XP, the OS is so old that even if...

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Wanna Know Ubuntu Unity's Keyboard Shortcuts with Ease!

One of the key differences that we'll see not just in Ubuntu but all the major operating systems in the future is their support for touch screens and less emphasis on the mouse (I may be wrong on that one but that's my conclusion after seeing some of the "features" offered by may OS developers). Anyhow, when concerning its GUI and behavior... with a help of a keyboard, you certainly can speed up launching apps to doing your daily activities with...

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Chromium 11 Is Released, PPA (Stable) Channel is ready for Natty Narwhal!

Chromium has released the version 11 few hours ago and according to Ubuntu developer Fabien, the official packages for the recently released Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal should be available within the next few (2-3) days.But if you can't wait for the official release for the Chromium 11 for Ubuntu... then the packages are already in this Stable Chromium PPA channel. If you subscribe to this channel, you'll receive the updates when the official channel...

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Install Kdenlive 0.8 in Kubuntu

Kdenlive is one of the best video editors for GNU/Linux. Although being a KDE project, it is written in Qt. So unless you want to have something that's written in GTK+, this I must say again, is one of the best of its kind.Like two days ago they updated it to the latest version which is now the 0.8... this does bring a lot of changes according to their official announcement page.Main features in general... *. Few GUI improvements.*. Add/Remove multiple...

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A Little Piece of Advice when Downloading Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

OK, today I was busy (had to service my dad's car) and Canonical had no choice but to release Ubuntu without my presence :P. And when I finally came home... damn.. it was released. Anyhow, I "could be" writing a review of Ubuntu but if you haven't tried it when it was already in beta stage and want seriously to give a try now since it's officially released then first......you might want to read the excellent review written by Andrew from Webupd8...

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Install Backlite DVD Video Backup Tool in Ubuntu

If you're looking for an easy to use DVD video backup tool that can be used in GNU/Linux then you might be interested in a utility called Backlite, which in fact is the "lighter" version of the k9copy actually. It's written in Qt and has the ability to backup both single layer and dual layer DVDs as well.Main features...*. Make ISO image files of your DVDs.*. Add/Remove or skip copying subtitles or certain audio/video track before copying.*. If you...

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S1 and S2, Meet the Sony's First Android Honeycomb Tablets!

Wow!, that's what came to my mind when I saw Sony's latest Android Honeycomb tablets for the first time (yep... only saw the pictures, not for real). Even before going into the details when looking at the below pictures.. seriously I'm excited!.S1 (to the Left), S2 (to the right)A little about "Honeycomb"...Honeycomb's "approach" to Tablets...Now, not that long ago when Android was getting some serious market share in the smart phone industry, it...

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Few Tips To Enhance Your Android Phone's Battery Life!

Thanks to the Google powered Android OS... mobile phone manufactures that use Android as their OS are getting more and more popular as a result, without a doubt in the near future, they'll start dominating in all sorts of ways like Tablet PC (oh they already are :D) markets, etc.Anyhow, these days we're seeing android smart phones that come with dual processors!... which is tempting but...Some of these smart phones are actually faster than some of...

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Install Feedindicator in Ubuntu, Access Feeds via the Notification Area

Reading websites using their Feeds is a huge time saver. I mean, say that you have 20-30 sites and want to read the latest updates, then traditionally one would have to go from site to site, browsing from bookmark to bookmark... oh it sucks :). But Feed-readers came to the rescue by letting you read thousands of web sites via a single application.  The Feedindicator (Version 1.02) is a feed notifier that runs in your notification area which...

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Wanna Go to the San Francisco "Natty Party"??

Since almost everyone (including Obama and Mr. Gaddafi) is aware of the fact that tomorrow is a really big day for Canonical because it's the day (28th April, 2011) that they're going to release the next major Ubuntu OS, 11.04 version called Natty Narwhal.Not Beer... Bear :)If you're near San Francisco then few Ubuntu enthusiastic are gathering a little celebrating party simultaneous to the Natty's release. Below are the full details (extracted from...

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Grsync, Sync Two Directories Easily in GNU/Linux

Grsync is a very powerful application that you can you to easily backup your data in GNU/Linux (actually it's also available for Windows as well). It's written GTK+ but does not need any Gnome libraries to run either. Although not the most professional looking app but still, for its purpose, it's pretty good nonetheless.From syncing local directories to network drives... Grsync is a pretty handy tool to have around!.Main features...*. Supports backup...

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Few Known Risks of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a big thing these days. And it seems apparent that having a "cloud" integrated business module is something that is inevitable at the end. Although cloud is not something new actually... for a long time most of the activities that we've been doing in the internet are actually a lesser version of a "cloud", in a way.Definition Of Cloud Computing (in me own words :D)...The process of managing data (accessing and processing) online...

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Plank, A Very Simple Yet an Elegant Dock for GNU/Linux

A "dock" that lets you keep your running programs or application shortcuts are very popular these days. Although it was Apple who introduced it first with their earlier versions of Mac OS... but since Gnome does praise Apple's way of designing UI... having a "dock" is a must these days it seems, especially for the Gnome Geeks :P.Anyhow, the Plank dock is created by the Docky Core Team thus it inherits a bit of this and that from docky as well. It...

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Install GMailWatcher in Ubuntu, Easily Read Your G-mails in GNU/Linux

GMailWatcher is a simple yet a very useful application which lets you read e-mails that are fetched from your current G-mail account. It runs in the notification area and lets you know when new mails arrive automatically. A cool thing about it is that whenever a new message arrives it shows a preview of your inbox as well.For extra security you can integrate it with Gnome-Keyring password manager. It also supports audio notifications and lets you...

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How to Install Basenji 0.8 in Ubuntu, A Powerful Media Indexing Tool for GNU/Linux!

Say that, you have a lot of CD/DVD or USB devices that you would like to create an index of, so you could easily search through that index even when the media/s are not mounted ... then that's what the Basenji does. When you insert a media such as CD/DVD, Network drives or even USB drives, etc Basenji lets you easily make a complete database of those devices (including thumbnail previews!).It's not just for GNU/Linux and also available for Microsoft...

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Install Nautilus Facebook Uploader in Ubuntu 10.10/11.04

Facebook is becoming an important part of most of our lives. And as a GNU/Linux user, don't you think it would be nice to have the ability to upload your pictures, video directly from the Nautilus file manager to Facebook??. If so, you should try the Nautilus Facebook Uploader.Main features...*. Upload videos/pictures. *. Upload to any album in your FB account.*. Post directly to the wall.*. Schedule uploads.If you use Ubuntu 10.10, 11.04, the installation...

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Drakfire Caffe GTK3, A "Coffee" Looking Theme for Gnome3/Shell

Drakfire Caffe GTK3 is another shell theme for all you Gnome3 geeks out there!. Although personally I'm not much of a fan of these type of colors in themes but then I guess just because I don't like doesn't mean there won't be others, right?.If that's the case and if you're looking for another Gnome3/Shell theme that uses a lot of dark brown type colors (or Yellow... seriously I'm a bad artist... can't even say what color it is :P) then you'd love...

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A Computer Repair Man's Rant

Computers in general are volatile systems. One minute they're crunching data by the gigabyte the next they've run across a script error and will be shut down immediately. Of course all computers are not built the same. Some larger companies, HP, Dell, Acer, Gateway, Sony, to name a few, offer great support in terms of drivers and help information. They protect their reputation by building the systems that last longer. Alas there will always...

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