[How To]: Convert Ogv To FLV using simple Nautilus Script

Posted on June 6, 2010 by mhnassif

I found this script really handy to convert Ogv to Flv directly, I thought to share it with you guys. helps you to quickly convert out Ogv files to flv with different resolutions.

Download and install Ogv to Flv Converter 1.3 check the installation instructions there.

after you done the installation simply right click on the file you want to convert and select script then convert from ogv to FLV 1.3

then it will ask you to select required resolution for the Flv output file

it will take a while then comes a successful message to inform you that the process done. Thanks “Siafu Linux” for this simple tool.

That’s it for now.

[How To]: Control Ubuntu from your phone using Bluepad

Posted on May 21, 2010 by mhnassif

it’s quite good to take control of your machine using your phone with bluepad application the idea of the application two packages 1st one installed on your distribution for example Ubuntu 10.04 and the 2nd one the phone and will list the supported phones for this application.

Using Bluepad on your phone will let you to do a lot of things to control you machine such as control multimedia files for playing audio and movies files, presentations files for open office, even games you use this application as game pad.

check this video show how Bluepad working

Here some screenshots

This is the supported devices for BluePad

Benq-Siemens EF81 – Tomas R
Motorola V360 – Claudio
Motorola Razr V3x – ourselves
Motorola Razr V3xx – Michael Ellis
Nokia 5300 – Samuel Sieb
Nokia 6126 – Samuel Sieb
Nokia 6131 – Alejandro Lázaro
Nokia 6230 – David
Nokia 6230i – Lars Friedrichs
Nokia 6234 – Juan
Nokia 6280 – Patrício Fernandes
Nokia 6288 – ourselves
Nokia 6300 – Phil (despo)
Samsung E390 – Nelson Vinagre
Sony Ericsson k610 – Ruben Silva
Sony Ericsson k750 – Anna Filipova
Sony Ericsson k510 – Anna Filipova
Nokia 6110 Navigator – ourselves
Nokia 6680 – ourselves
Nokia E51 – Tito Garrido
Nokia E61 – Tomasz Dominikowski
Nokia N80 – Vitor Nogueira
Nokia N95 - Mike Cronenworth

For more information about Bluepad follow this link

Download Bluepad

Inform Bluepad community if you tested this application on other devices listed up there.

That’s it for now.

[Reviews]: Puppy Linux 5.0 Review

Posted on May 16, 2010 by mhnassif

Puppy Linux 5.0 or called Lucid Puppy it a minimal distribution based Ubuntu 10.04 LTS release, built on binary packages on Lucid Lynx. comes with a lot of installed packages even you can get more using “Puppy package manager”, using JWM desktop really cool window manger ” Joe’s window manger ” to get more information about JWM desktop follow this link

Using it as a live session on SUN VirtualBox with this hardware specification

Single core processor 2.1 Ghz
384 MB memory RAM
12 MB Video memory

First Impression

Really quick release with a really small size distribution just 128 MB it’s not the smallest distribution released but it comes with a lot of installed great packages and internet applications,

Graphics packages ” light inkscape application “, Network manager, Multimedia applications “burn ISO to cd/dvd, Pburn for cd/dvd/blue-ray, ISO master to modify ISO files. and a lot of multimedia application ” Asunder audio CD ripper, Gxine media player, Pmusic player, Pcdripper CD songs ripper, Zmixer audio mixer, mhwave edit audio recorder/editor ” default writing application abiword, Gnumeric spreadsheet application.

First run configuration window comes up with first time boot up that help you out to modify you keyboard layout, languages, Location, time and date, and resolution setting.

when first used it felt it’s messy a little bit with all these icons on the desktop and after using it for a while and getting used to JWM desktop you will find out that distribution is really cool.

Chthemes GTK themes chooser with GTK+ 2.0

Installing extra packages using Puppy packages manager. you will find a lot of recommended applications listed under many categories and Repo s ” Ubuntu lucid-main, Ubuntu-Lucid- multiverse, puppy-woof, puppy-5″

before turn off the live session it will ask you to save your files and settings you already done on the live session.

Who should use this distribution

This distribution is really light weight distribution, if you have an old laptop or any machine with really low hardware specification this will be a really good choice for you, cause it’s totally awesome and quick. that’s not mean decent computers can’t use it. working great on all.

More information, release Notes and Download Options Follow this link

Direct Download link for Linux Puppy 5.0

Benchmark platforms with Phoronix Test Suite

Posted on May 13, 2010 by mhnassif

Phoronix it’s a cool way to benchmark and test your system, with a lot of different testing suites, also this applications is opensource licensed under the GNU GPLv3.

Different testing suites such as ” disk suite, disk SSD testing, encoding, GUI testing, Ioquake3 game engine testing, software gaming, Database testing, Darwin, Gaming benchmarking, …….. ”

130+ Test Profiles

60+ Test Suites

Extensible Testing Architecture

Optional Linux-based LiveDVD/USB Testing Distribution (PTS Desktop Live)

Automated Test Installation

Dependency Management Support

Module-based Plug-In Architecture

PNG, JPG, GIF, Adobe SWF, SVG Graph Rendering Support

Automated Batch Mode Support

Global Database For Result Uploads, Benchmark Comparisons

Detailed Software, Hardware Detection

System Monitoring Support

GTK2 Graphical User Interface + Command-Line Interface

You can get a great benchmark comparison between different operating system with same hardware specifications, and able to make side by side comparisons. Phoronix working on many platforms ” Linux, Mac OS X, windows 7, BSD, Open Solaris ”

System logs able to achieve system log such as “Xorg.0.log, Ispci, dmesg,… ”

For more information about The Phoronix Test Suite Follow this link , and this application available on ubuntu software center and you can download it from here also for different distributions.

That’s it for now.

[How To]: Convert Multimedia files using VLC

Posted on May 13, 2010 by mhnassif

VLC is free opensource applications for playing multimedia files and working as server for streaming. and there a really cool feature available on this application to convert multimedia files with different extensions. Before I go any further Download VLC from here if you don’t have check the compatible version for your operating system.

Open media then convert/save or press ctrl+R

1. select the multimedia file you want to convert

2. select convert or press Alt+c

select the output destination and and the file the extension you want to convert to.

If you want to convert with specific scale, different “video, audio” codecs, or adding subtitles to this videos press the small settings button beside the profile menu.

then it will take some time to convert the file.

That’s it for Now.

[How To]: Burn ISO files on “Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu”

Posted on May 9, 2010 by mhnassif

Most Linux distributions released with .ISO file extension it’s quite easy to burn it on CD or DVD, Many applications you can use for burning ISO image by default on Ubuntu and Xubuntu using applications called Brasero disk burner. support Data disk burning, Audio, Video, copy disks…

Found a really Handy Ubuntu documentation to help you out with burning ISO files on Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, even Mac OS X, and windows.

Documentation Link: BurningIsoHowto

6 Things I like about Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Posted on May 3, 2010 by mhnassif

With the new release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS many changes comes up, using it for 3 days so far and it’s working great, even after I installed many applications still working great, really nice looking themes with it ” Radiance and Ambiance “.

so here are things I like about Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

1. Nautilus upgrade comes with Gnome 2.30

that help you to split your windows. using extra pane to activate it press F3 or go to view and choose extra pane.

The good thing about it you use it to easily move or copy files and folder form pane to other.

2. Social Drop down menu

a quick access to change your empathy or Pidgin status, also access your empathy accounts, Gwibber accounts and ubuntu one.

also you update your twitter, facebook, or any other social media by typing there any thing there it will be automatically updated by Gwibber to you active accounts there.

3. Gwibber Social broadcast messages

you connect to your social websites easily using Gwibber such as Facebook, Twitter, Identi.ca, Flickr, Digg, Feedfriend,….

I had a lot of problem with in ubuntu 10.04 beta 1, but now it working great. I love it.

4. Ubuntu one Music Store

Ubuntu one Music store integrated with Rhythmbox, really cool you can listen and download music using it.

5. Themes and background

” Radiance and Ambiance ” new themes comes with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, both of them looks really good. comes with a really cool wallpapers collection. this link for who want to download ubuntu 10.04 LTS wallpaper.

6. Booting time and ext4 performance

Really awesome booting time, even after I installed many applications still booting time is great. processing time for many applications is quick. installed on ext4 formate partition. I used to use ext3 on ubuntu 9.10. but with this release ext4 performing really well.

That’s it for now. enjoy Ubuntu 10.04 LTS it’s for HUmans :)

Distribution Release: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS released

Posted on April 29, 2010 by mhnassif

Great news, finally ubuntu 10.04 LTS version released, with other based relased for ubuntu such as Kubuntu, Xbuntu, check this release notes and download options for ubuntu.

Ubuntu main new features , release announcement, you can download for server edition, desktop edition, and netbook editon “Download”

Review : xPUD 0.9.2 Review light distribution

Posted on April 20, 2010 by mhnassif

xPUD 0.9.2 Review

xPUD distribution light wight distribution using simple web interface called plate user interface. this is a really good choice distribution to use if you want to get a quick access to internet or directories, multimedia files, document files, …..

You can install it in your USB, laptop, Notebook, Desktop, … the good thing is the boot time really good booting time even in this review i was using it in my virtual machine “sun virtualbox”.

screenshots

main installed application mozilla firefox, mplayer, document reader, also you can get extra application using opt-get software center, it’s like synaptic package manager we using on ubuntu or mint distributions. you can find openoffice, skype, extra codecs for playing multimedia files, …. all this application located on opt-get software center.

System requirement for this distribution

256MB RAM and 64MB free disk required.

also check the full video review “screencast” play in HD for better quality

To download xPUD 0.9.2 here

enjoy it, Thumb up if you like it :)

Mobile : 10 free Android Applications

Posted on April 6, 2010 by mhnassif

Android operating system become really popular, a lot of new applications released everyday, android market place contain many free applications, and other paid applications.

Many applications will list it here will help you a lot with multimedia files, system files, internet, Browser, phone book, PDF reader, Ringtones, Twitter app, IM messenger,……..

10 free android applications

so here we go,

1. Documents To Go

really good applications to open document files, excel files, PDF, and a lot of other formats (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx & pdf)

also you easily edit files formated for microsoft office 2007

really easy to access this application don’t take a lot of time, also really easy to use for regular day use.

More information and Download options

2. mVideoPlayer v1.6.2

This is really good application for playing multimedia files and the good thing multimedia files support mp4, m4v and 3gp

The good part about this application it’s support subtitles .srt extension.

other features with version 1.6.2

- Playlist
- Full screen
- Auto rotate

- IMDb info scraper to view movie information from Imdb.com

-On screen information: Time, Battery Status, Elapsed Time

More information and Download options

3. ASTRO File Manager 2.3.1

simple applications to access your files with really good interface, can read zip, tgz files.also backup, restore files, searching inside for specific file or folder

More information and download options

4. Steel version 0.1.9

Simple web browser application, light and quick access, work really good if you are on the run and you want a quick access for website

More information and download options

5. Phonebook 2.0

Inspired by instant messaging, social networks and life streaming applications, Voxmobili combined them into an all-in-one, easy to use application, Phonebook 2.0. It secures contacts, notifies end-users when they are online, displays birthday reminders and helps centralize all communications.
Phonebook 2.0 is a white label product for mobile operators. They can customize it, brand it as they wish and create a mobile social network from their subscriber base. This application is ideally suited to teenagers who always want to be in touch with their friends and businesses to help their employees keep valuable contacts secure and up-to-date.

More information and download options

6. Ringdroid 2.2

Awesome applications for modifying media files for making quick ringtones.

Features:

Open an existing audio file

View a scrollable waveform representation of the audio file at 5 zoom levels

Set starting and ending points for a clip within the audio file, using an optional touch interface

Play the selected portion of the audio, including an indicator cursor and autoscrolling of the waveform

Play anywhere else by tapping the screen

Save the clipped audio as a new audio file and mark it as Music, Ringtone, Alarm, or Notification.

Record a new audio clip to edit

Delete audio (with confirmation alert)

Launches automatically in response to the GET_CONTENT intent with a mime type of audio/ if any other application wants to pick an audio file – for example the “Rings Extended”application.

Assign a ringtone directly to a contact.

Supported file formats:

MP3
AAC/MP4 (including unprotected iTunes music)
WAV
3GPP/AMR (this is the format used when you record sounds directly on the handset)

More information and download options

7. Opera mini 5

Popular applications for internet web browser, really quick access for websites, working in full screen browsing.

great access for bookmark, zooming features, manage download for files through opera mini

More information and download options

8. twidroid

Awesome Twitter client, easy to access your last twittes, your followers twittes, posting photos to twittes, access lists maded by you or or other friends.

video posting inside twittes, this applications comes with two version free version and other one paid with extra features

More information and download options

9. meebo

one of the most popular IM messenger applications , really good interface, and awesome way to chat with your friends all the time.

Log into all your IM accounts and send messages for free! With Meebo for Android, you’ll never miss a message. Available now from the Android Market for all Android devices.

More information and download options

10. Quick Settings v1.8.5

Really handy applications to get a quick access to many settings and easily to change this options such as Brightness, Ringer type, Volume control, WiFi, Network data (on/off & 2G/3G setting shortcut), Bluetooth, GPS (shortcut), Screen Timeout, Airplane mode, Auto-sync, Auto rotation, and Lock pattern

More information and download options

will post more soon

That’s it for now.

Element 1.1 Review

Posted on March 29, 2010 by mhnassif

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

Download

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