Archive for July, 2009

Read the following stories on 2009-07-24

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Posted 24 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General

Make your wordpress blog look like facebook

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Posted 24 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General

If you are a Facebook fan and if you want to change your Wordpress blog to appear like Facebook, then here is the theme that I came across today, that can do that. I didn’t try the Smells like Facebook theme, but the preview looked good.

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Going to Seattle and Oregon

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Posted 24 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General

I’ll be on vacation, starting next week, to Seattle, WA and from there to Portland, OR, Oceanside OR (stay in a beach cottage for few days), then to Crater Lake, back to Portland, then to Mt. St. Helens and back to Seattle. I won’t be online most of the time (Wow, that’s good for my mental and physical health). Bye Bye!!!

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Read the following stories on 2009-07-23

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Posted 23 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General

Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 relased

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Posted 23 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category Ubuntu

Ubuntu team has released the 3rd alpha of next version of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 9.10, code named Karmic Koala. Kubunt 9.10 alpha 3 is also out. I found few interesting features in both Ubuntu and Kubuntu that might appeal to end users.

The first one is Empathy replacing Pigdin. This enables users to do text, voice and video chats with Google Talk users, MSN, Facebook and Yahoo users.

The second one is making Ubuntu One ships by default in all systems. I have Ubuntu One account and it’s does it job, but it’s still buggy.

Third is, webcam moving to udev. I thought it happened already since webcam worked fine until Ubuntu 8.10 came out. Ubuntu recognized the webcams fine in Ubuntu 8.04 and the picture qualities were good, but starting Ubuntu 8.10, Ubuntu shows the webcam with general device name than the actual webcam name and the video qualities are extremely bad.

Kubuntu is getting KDE 4.3, which includes more bug fixes and new features. I think it would be better than Kubuntu 9.04.

Kubuntu has released a new netbook version. There are still few bugs to sort out, but it’s a good start.

Kubuntu is removing Konqueror as default browser and  Arora as the default. The reason being, Konqueror is not compatible with many websites. I agree with that though many KDE fans won’t like that. Konqueror is quite powerful, but it’s not simple enough for normal users. Users should have an easy to use browser like Firefox. Though they can install Firefox in Kubuntu, I believe the default browser should be user friendly. I hope Arora is user friendly and can run all plugins and websites.

Kubuntu is bringing more social network features using KDE widgets and Kopete, which is good.

Now, lets move on to the changelog. Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala Alpha 3 includes:

  • Ubuntu Karmic Alpha 3 includes the latest GNOME 2.27.4 development release.
  • Empathy has replaced Pidgin as the default instant messaging client, introducing the Telepathy framework.
  • The gdm 2.27.4 login manager is a complete rewrite compared to the version in earlier Ubuntu releases.
  • Ubuntu Karmic Alpha 3 ships the https://ubuntuone.com/ file sharing service by default, providing tightly integrated file synchronization of your computer with other computers and the Ubuntu One network storage service.
  • Alpha 3 includes the 2.6.31-3.19 kernel based on 2.6.31-rc3. The kernel ships with Kernel Mode Setting enabled for Intel graphics (see below). linux-restricted-modules is deprecated in favour of DKMS packages.
  • Karmic Alpha 3’s underlying technology for power management, laptop Hotkeys, and handling storage devices and cameras maps was moved from “hal” (which is going to be deprecated soon) to “DeviceKit-power”, “DeviceKit-disks” and “udev”.
  • Karmic uses GCC-4.4 as the default compiler.
  • The new “ext4″ filesystem is used by default for new installations of Karmic; of course, other filesystems are still available via the manual partitioner. Existing filesystems will not be upgraded.
  • GRUB 2 is the default boot loader for new installations of Karmic, replacing the previous GRUB “Legacy” boot loader. Existing systems will not be upgraded to GRUB 2 at this time.

Here are the known issues in Ubuntu 9.10 alpha 3:

  • The GNOME login manager (gdm) does not yet have a graphical configuration tool.
  • If you install Karmic Alpha 3 alongside Windows, the grub boot menu may not offer to start Windows.
  • If you have internal hard disk partitions aside from Ubuntu itself, GNOME will attempt to automatically mount them at startup and ask for your password. Just cancel the dialog, unless you actually want to work with them.
  • The GNOME desktop displays two mixer applets on the amd64 desktop CD and alternate installs.
  • Building LTSP client chroots currently fails.
  • The Ubuntu Netbook Launcher crashes on shutdown.

You can download Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 from here.

Kubuntu team has also released the 3rd alpha of Kubuntu 9.10. Here are the features in Kubuntu 9.10 alpha 3:

  • KDE 4.3 RC
  • Kubuntu 9.10 includes a netbook version of Kubuntu 9.10, suitable to install on light weight hardware like Netbooks.
  • Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 will include Arora, a lightweight and fast webkit-based web browser. Konqueror is not compatible with many popular websites, so Kubuntu team is  considering arora as our default browser in order to try to provide one that more of our users will find satisfactory. Konqueror is still installed, but in Alpha 3, arora is set as the default.
  • Amarok 2.1.1
  • Kubuntu 9.10 will include the latest release of KPackageKit. New in 0.4.1.1 are new notifications, sweet animations, a history feature, usability fixes and a more robust overall experience with less bugs.
  • K3b 1.66.0
  • New social features that include Plasma widget as part of the default desktop experience for all of your identi.ca and Twitter needs, The openDesktop Plasma widget as part of the default desktop experience and  Facebook Kopete plugin so that you can chat with your Facebook contacts from the comfort of the default chat client.
  • QtCurve 0.65.1.
  • Kubuntu 9.10 offers further control over the look of your GNOME apps in KDE using kcm-gtk 0.5.

Here are the known issues in Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3:

  • If you install Karmic Alpha 3 alongside Windows, the grub boot menu may not offer to start Windows.
  • The Kubuntu Netbook Edition is missing the “install” icon on the desktop. You can start the installation from the menu.
  • The Kubuntu Netbook Edition image does not install under Windows (with wubi).

You can download Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 here.

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Auto-unsubscribe feature in GMail

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Posted 23 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category Technology

Google team has introduced auto unsubscribe feature in GMail. When you mark a message as spam, GMail will offer you an unsubscribe tool which, when selected, would send a request to the sender that your email address be removed from the mailing list.

Google also states that mailing lists may take up to three days to process your unsubscription request, so it may take a few days for you to stop receiving mail from the list. Also, the auto unsubscribe option is not available for all mailing lists. Gmail won’t display Unsubscribe for lists that are known to be owned by spammers. When you don’t see the unsubscribe tool for a particular newsletter or mailing list that you trust, check the actual message for unsubscribe options, or try contacting the list owner about removal.

I think it’s neat feature, but you have to use with care. If you, by mistake, click unsubscribe to a spam message, then it’s like confirming to the spammer that your email address is valid.

Source: Google.
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Thunderbird 3 beta 3 released

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Posted 23 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category Announcement

Mozilla Messaging team has released the 3rd beta of Thunderbird 3.0. According to Mozilla, Thunderbird 3 Beta 3 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1.1 platform including some major re-architecting to provide improved performance, stability, web compatibility, and code simplification and sustainability. There are over 500 changes in this release, many laying the groundwork for future changes.

Listed below are the new feature/changes in Thunderbird 3.0 beta 3:

  • Thread Pane and Tab Refactoring
  • Fixes For Extension Developers
  • Tabbed Email Messages- Double-clicking or hitting enter on a mail message will now open that message in a New Tab window. Middle-clicking on messages or folders will open them in a Tab in the background. When quitting Thunderbird, visible tabs will be saved and will be restored when you open Thunderbird the next time. There is also a new Tab menu on the Tab toolbar to help you switch between Tabs.
  • New Message Summary View – Selecting multiple messages will give you a summary view of the emails you have selected.
  • Column Headings- The column headings that are displayed and the order in which they are displayed can now be set on a per-folder basis.
  • Smart Folders – The folder pane offers a Smart Folders mode which combines special mailboxes (e.g. Inbox) from multiple accounts together.
  • Improved Gmail Integration – Better recognition and integration of Gmail’s special folders such as Sent and Trash including non-English versions of Gmail. Thunderbird also uses All Mail as the Archives folder.

Thunderbird team is testing a new version of account setup wizard to make configuring email accounts in Thunderbird easier. Before you download and install Thunderbird 3.0, read the list of known issues below:

  • If you use or had previously used the master password feature, you may be prompted to enter your master password when you first start up Thunderbird.
  • Your passwords are stored in a new location. If you go back to using a previous version of Thunderbird, or switch back and forth between Beta 3 and an older version, your password lists do not get updated.
  • If using SSL or TLS, and the certificate that comes from the server is self-signed, expired, or has a domain that does not match the server domain, a dialog will be shown asking if Thunderbird should permanently make an exception for the cert. This should only be done if the error is understood.
  • The toolbar drop down folder picker does not work in Beta 3.
  • If a person has two email addresses in your address book, only one email address will be displayed during autocompletion when composing an email message
  • The new autoconfig dialog is displayed in English in localized versions of Thunderbird.
  • The extended columns in the folder pane was removed in Beta 1.
  • The compact header view was removed in Beta 3
  • Ensure extensions either come from a secure server using the HTTPS protocol or are digitally signed, or they will fail to install.
  • Windows – The keyboard shortcut for ‘Mark All Read’ has changed from Ctrl+Shift+C to Shift+C.
  • Windows – For Windows XP users, setting Thunderbird as the default email client does not work during the installation process.

If you are still interested in testing beta 3 of Thunderbird 3.0, Click here to download.

Source: Mozilla Messaging.

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Read the following stories on 2009-07-22

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Posted 22 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General

Controlling your computer with hand gesture – available for Linux too

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Posted 22 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category Linux, Technology

Taiwan’s publicly funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) developed a software that lets users control their computer with simple hand gesture. All you need is a webcam and Air Cursor software. ITRI developed the software to work with common computer hardware so people won’t have to buy anything new to get set up. The software is compatible with currently available editions of Microsoft Windows, as well as Linux. ITRI is looking for partners to start distributing the software. It’s good to know a recent technology that will work with Linux immediately. It may not be a smooth ride for Linux users who have webcam driver issues in Linux.

Source: PC World.
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Read the following stories on 2009-07-21

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Posted 21 Jul 2009 — by Arun
Category General
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