Archive March 2010
Element 1.1 Review
Element 1.1 just released today march 28, 2010
Element is an Ubuntu-based distribution for home theatre or media-centre personal computers featuring a ten-foot user interface and designed to be connected to a HDTV for a digital media and Internet experience within the comforts of a living room or entertainment area. Element comes pre-loaded with dozens of applications that will allow listening to, viewing, and managing music, videos, photos, and Internet media.
Check the release notes and announcement
LinuxNov Review for Element 1.1
Used it on virtual machine “virtual box” as a live session with this hardware specifications
- single core processor 2.1 Ghz
- 1 GB of Ram
- 12 MB of video memory
- with extended hard driver space in case installed it
Booting time was really good, I didn’t expect a quick booting time for live session, I believe it will be much better if you installed on machine not on virtual machine.
A lot of people are really big fans with media centers applications, this one it awesome it’s using xbmc my favorite media center application, it’s really customizable with a lot of themes and extra plugin follow these links for plugins and scripts for xbmc 1 2 .
xbmc website Follow this link
xbmc skins Follow this link
Versions of most important packages:
linux 2.6.31, glibc 2.10.1, gcc 4.4.1, python 2.6.4, pidgin 2.6.5, gtk+ 2.18.3, xfce 4.6.1, xbmc 9.11, firefox 3.5.8, transmission 1.83, decibel-audio-player 1.01, vlc 1.0.2, brasero 2.28.2, element-app-finder 1.0
Using Desktop environment Xfce 4.6.1 awesome modifications for the desktop. for easy access for main applications on the distribution itself such as ” firefox, Home directory, VLC, Xbmc, …”
Pros :
It’s Awesome distributions specially for multimedia files, watching many movies with different extensions using xbmc and vlc, and for sure it’s customizable to download extra packages or multimedia applications, “maybe you will need to install extra codecs”
Really liked the Xfce desktop environment with this customizations “ middle dock for main applications”
Awesome booting Time
Cons :
Many windows don’t fit on the screen, maybe cause I am using it on virtual machine with 800X600 resolution
Not all applications are up to date.
Screenshots time :
Please leave your feedback, and enjoy it.
6 Google Chrome extensions every web developer must use
Hello guys,
When google released version 4 with extensions compatibility Google chrome extensions comes really handy.
I like how google chrome separate tabs and extensions with each process for task manager, to get access to it press ” Shift + Escape “.
so, here are 6 google chrome extensions for web developer, Development, SEO, quick customization, CSS, HTML, validations, page ranking, …
1. iPageRank | SEO Tool
More information and installation
2. CSSViewer
CSSViewer shows the css parameters of any element in a web page, to enable/disable it simply click the toolbar icon.
More information and installation
3. Chrome SEO
The Google Chrome SEO Extension provides easy access to Search Engine Optimization Tools that can help you with Competitive Analysis, Keyword Research, Backlink Checks, PageRank Checks and other daily SEO tasks.
More information and installation
4. Web Developer
The Web Developer extension adds a toolbar button to the browser with
various web developer tools. This is the official port of the popular Web Developer extension for Firefox written by the same person.
More information and installation
5. Resolution Test
Resolution Test changes the size of the browser window for developers to preview their websites in different screen resolutions. It includes a list of commonly used resolutions as well as a custom option for you to input your own. It also gives users the option to turn on Google Browser Size, more info on that here - http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/
More information and installation
6. W3C (x)HTML Validator
Display one of 3 icons (valid, invalid, processing) in navigation bar related to validity of (x)HTML document currently shown.
NEW IN VERSION 0.2 (Let's call it Beta, after the comment from Jörn) - If valid by clicking the icon, you get the doctype as found by the w3c. - If invalid, number of errors/warnings is displayed directly on invalid icon. - By clicking the icon of an invalid page, you get a summary of errors and warnings and can navigate through them, infos are : Line and column where error was found and the message explaining the issue. - You can also click on the link at the bottom of the popup to get every details about issues encountered in the page.
How to show system menu icons for ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1
1st
Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 with Radiance theme “Light theme”
Radiance theme ” light theme” for ubuntu 10.04 beta 1
Looks really good, also, their some reported bugs about this theme. please if you got any problem or any kind of crashes report it so the ubuntu community able to fix it on next release. enjoy it.
Ubuntu 10.04 beta 1 Review
Hello guys,
Already reviewed ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 here, as you will see in this post a big difference between ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 and beta 1 version, New default theme that mentioned on ubuntu fresh look post ….
Release notes & Download Release announcement
Hardware specification:
this is the hardware specification used to run this version of ubuntu 10.04
- 1 core processor 2.1 Ghz
- 1 GB of ram
- 12 Mb of video memory
with this hardware spec it was working great guys, so i believe if you have a decent machine it will work better.
Installation process :
Installed on Virtual machine “sun virtualbox”
First Boot after completing the installation
“Close, minimize, maximize” button in the left side of the title bar
More option added to right click menu for sharing to ubuntu one, moving to and copy to even it’s a file or folder
Pitivi default video editor
New look for Ubuntu software center
Yahoo is the default search engine for firefox 3.6, but it’s up to you can change it later to any other search engine
Terminal background color looks really good specially with this theme, also it’s up to you can change it later.
New menu to control your chat account what ever it’s ” pidgin or empathy” , controlling Gwibber, and ubuntu one
Gwibber works really good here , I faced many problem with using it on ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 version. but it’s working great now even it’s a development version till now.
Sound preference with better control access menu.
Overall after the installation:
It was working really good, much better than the older version “alpha 3″
Ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 will release at 8th of April, and the final version will release 29th of April.
with first installation on virtualbox with 16 mb of video memory it was working a little bit slower.
Please guys leave your feedback, try to install it in your machine and report any bugs you faced so the development community able to fix many bugs for next release.
Thanks guys,
Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 Released
According to ubuntu 10.04 schedule, it was released yesterday, but Steve Langasek announced that it will be delayed one more day to Friday March 19 ,
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2010-March/000695.html
Dear developers, Owing to some late image rebuilds for a couple of critical issues that we didn't want to leave our beta users subjected to, validation of 10.04 Beta 1 is still in progress. This means that Beta 1 will not be released on Thursday, March 18 as planned; it will be released tomorrow, March 19. To help us release the beta with confidence tomorrow, please consider participating in the ISO testing today, as described at <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO>. Also, as you're going through ISO tests, please also help us fill in the blanks on <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/Plymouth> so we can complete our understanding of the remaining boot-time issues affecting Beta 1 and make Beta 2 truly spectacular! Thanks, -- Steve Langasek On behalf of the Ubuntu release team
Fixed a lot of bugs since alpha 3 version, improved nvidia graphics driver, ubuntu one syncing, new themes, we reviewed in ubuntu fresh look.
Will review it as soon I done download it.
also you can Download ubuntu 10.04 beta 1 from here
And more information, mirrors Here
Common Problems with Linux First use
Hello guys,
This is your first time you use any linux Distribution “Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, ….”
Some users have a lot of problems when they just starting to use any distributions, beginning with hardware problems, Drivers, Booting, dual Booting, Grub, package dependencies, NTFS mounting for removable hard driver, Graphics card “Nvidia, ATI”, resolutions,………………
so here will mention quickest resources it might help you out with those problems.
1. Display Resolution.
This is really common problem with most old machines, first time you use this distribution even it’s a live session or installed version, maybe you will find you display resolution is 640X400
with this resolution will be really difficult to use.
How to fix it?
- Installing your graphics card driver. “Nvidia, ATI“
- Modifying “xorg.conf” this helps if you want to use dual screens, CRT Display, LCD, for editing resolution
EX. Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName ""
ModelName ""
HorizSync 30 - 70
VertRefresh 50 - 160
Modeline "1024x768_75.00" 82.00 1024 1088 -hsync +vsync
EndSection
2. Grub , Dual boot
this is one of the most common problem happen after installing Linux distribution specially with users already using windows operating system or other operating system on the same machine.
usually using grub version 0.97 , but with the new release grub version 1.97 beta faced a lot of problem, then stable version 1.98 working really good with new features for customization. much more multi booting option.
Problems
- Dual Boot, disappear older operating system already installed after installing new distribution
- Modifying menu timer for auto select
- visual customization for the grub
How to fix it?
Grub documentations and wiki are really useful. and really easy to use Here
3. Mounting point, NTFS, FAT, Removable media, Fstab
“Understanding Fstab” post Thanks to bodhi.zazen
This is really useful post, I believe it cover all point about Mounting point, removable media, mounting for NTFS, FAT.
That’s it for now.
Ubuntu Swap
Hello guys,
In this post will talk about Swap, how to improve your machine performance using swap, and how to manage it.
========================================================
1. What’s Swap?
it’s a part used on your hard drive to be as virtual memory combined with your random access memory (RAM), and it’s a customizable space can be changed any time “will get to this point in no.4″
2. What’s the idea of using Swap?
Using swap improve your distribution performance and you will notice that if you didn’t used swap before. running time of big application which has many dependencies such as Gimp, Open office, …..
also it will help with processing application specially video editing applications.
I didn’t use swap in my laptop when I installed ubuntu 9.10 and this really make big difference specially with running openoffice and video editing applications. Otherwise my desktop with same distribution “ubuntu 9.10″
with swap and nearly same hardware specifications it was working great with all these applications.
3. How to manage Swap before the installation?
This is the easy part. In preparing partition window add new partition and set it as swap volume.
For example : you have 2 GB of RAM installed, you have to make swap size equal your installed RAM at least, and make it bigger it’s up to you. ” You can make the swap lower than installed RAM if you have low hard disk space it’s okay”
4. How to manage Swap after the installation?
- Creating a file the size you want.
- Formatting that file to create a swapping device.
- Adding the swap to the running system.
- Making the change permanent.
For Adding a 512 MB swap
- Creating a file for 512 MB size you want:
We will create a /mnt/512Mb.swap swap file.
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/512Mb.swap bs=1M count=512Here count=512, means we want our file to contain 512 blocks of bs=1M, which means block size = 1 MegaBytes. Be careful *not * to do this dd of=/mnt/512Mb.swap bs=1M seek=512 count=0 Though the file grows to 512Mb immediately, it will have holes that makes it unusable.
- Formatting that file to create a swapping device:
sudo mkswap /mnt/512Mb.swap
- Adding the swap to the running system:
sudo swapon /mnt/512Mb.swapThe additional swap is now available and can be seen by “cat /proc/meminfo”
- Making the change permanent:
Edit the /etc/fstab:
gksudo gedit /etc/fstabAdd this line at the end of the file:
/mnt/512Mb.swap none swap sw 0 0Save and reboot.
Resource helped in this post 1
That’s it for now.
Destroy Twitter
Destroy Twitter 1.7.2 Beta
This application built using Adobe AIR, many features to access you twitter account for you tweet, upcoming twitte, massages, replies, also you access search and groups.
I was using Gwibber for a while for multi using for different social network such as ” FaceBook, Friendfeed, Twitter,…”
But I liked Twitter on “Destroy Twitter” more than Gwibber, also there are many application for Twitter Social Network.
Also you can customize your own themes for Destroy Twitter.
Here some screenshots for it and Downloading instruction
Before Downloading you will need to install Adobe AIR Package Here
Website Themes Theme Builder Download
Peace out
Virtualization on Linux
It’s the best way to run multiple operating systems at same time on your running operating system, in this article I will talk linux virtualization only, but some of these application I will mention works on many operating systems such as “Linux, Macintosh,Windows, …”
Virtualization not just for these operating systems only, also virtualization works on mobile and pocket PCs and I will talk about that on other article.
- Why I want to use virtual machines ?
It’s a really good way run multiple operating system at same time, I use it a lot to try new distributions release like this one I reviewed for ubuntu 10.04 alpha 3 Lucid I was using sun virtual box.
Some users want to use Windows and any linux distribution on same time, not for testing, with complete installation on virtual machine.
Used to use sun virtualbox, KVM, and Virtual machine manager.
1. Sun Virtual Box
VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). See “About VirtualBox” for an introduction.
2. VMWare including “VMware server and player”
VMWare is a commercial virtualization platform that currently offers two free products: VMWare Player and VMWare Server (the latter with a free renewable yearly license). VMWare Player can play virtual appliances that have already been created, whereas VMWare Server (which has a broader range of features) allows the creation of virtual machines. In general, VMWare Server is recommended unless you only need to play an appliance. (Appliances will also run in VMWare Server). Users that wish to run servers (or processes) that need to be available to a network from within the virtual machine should use VMServer. If you wish to install a new OS within a virtual machine (other than in an appliance), you will need VMWare Server.
3. KVM
KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko. KVM also requires a modified QEMU although work is underway to get the required changes upstream.
4. Xen
The Xen® hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization, offers a powerful, efficient, and secure feature set for virtualization of x86, x86_64, IA64, ARM, and other CPU architectures. It supports a wide range of guest operating systems including Windows®, Linux®, Solaris®, and various versions of the BSD operating systems. More
5. QEMU
QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.
When used as a machine emulator, QEMU can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performances.
When used as a virtualizer, QEMU achieves near native performances by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. QEMU supports virtualization when executing under the Xen hypervisor or using the KVM kernel module in Linux. When using KVM, QEMU can virtualize x86, server and embedded PowerPC, and S390 guests.
http://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page
6. Virtual machine manager
The “Virtual Machine Manager” application (virt-manager for short package name) is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines. It presents a summary view of running domains, their live performance & resource utilization statistics. The detailed view graphs performance & utilization over time. Wizards enable the creation of new domains, and configuration & adjustment of a domain’s resource allocation & virtual hardware. An embedded VNC client viewer presents a full graphical console to the guest domain.
De/compression Files
Compression and Decompression operation really easy to do with GUI application but some times you want to pack or unpack files. this operation I believe it much more easier sometimes with terminal than using GUI application. and I will show how easy to do it now.
Using file called : “Nov” with different compression extensions
Extensions
1. “.bz2″
bunzip2 nov.bz2
2. “.zip”
unzip nov.zip
3. “.lha”
lha e nov.lha
4. “.tar.gz” or “.tgz”
tar -zxvf nov.tar.gz
tar -zxvf nov.tgz
5. “.gz” or “.z”
gunzip nov.gz
gunzip nov.z
6. “tar.z”
uncompress nov.tar.z use this command if you used “compress’ command to compress this file
7. “.tar”
tar xvf nov.tar
8. “.zip”
compress to files into one file called nov.zip
zip nov.zip nov1 nov2
nov1 and nov2 are files will be compressed into nov.zip
That’s it for now.
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