Can your OS make some ice-cream for you? Well, Linux can!!

We have the OS wars raging like the Cold War down under and ready to erupt any given time. In this time, I have a question for you - Can your OS really churn out some delicious ice-cream? Most probably the answer would be in the negative. But if you happen to run Linux - the answer is YES!!

Well, a company called MooBella (what a name to Moo around with) has come up with a rather geeky invention - a Linux-powered ice cream maker which is currently undergoing demo runs in New England. This is not the size of your average PC though for home use, but a full fledged ice cream machine that reportedly churns out Fresh Dairy Ice Cream in 40 seconds and has a whooping 96 varieties. All this being 100% natural dairy stuff.

The ice cream machine sports a 15" touch screen but under the hood it is basically an off-the-shelf PC Hardware that is in use and best of all it happens to runs Redhat Linux. Well, the basic interface happens to run off Firefox too. This seems to be a cool innovation and also a great example of what Linux can do.

I am sure that in near future we will have refrigerators / TVs / ACs coming with a choice of OS like Linux / Android / Chrome / Windows. Any takers yet?

How to easily Install Ubuntu 8.10 in a USB/Flash drive from the Live CD

It's been quite sometime since I have visited the world of Linux. So here's a small tutorial I have pieced together to help you get started on having a Ubuntu Linux installion right on your USB/Pen Drive. This tutorial is very simple and lucid - the end of which it will enable the reader to install Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) into a USB flash drive / pen drive. It's basically having a Live CD installation in a USB drive.

I have also gone a step further to harness the the persistence or casper persistent feature that allows you to automatically save changes back to the thumb drive as you work, and then restore those saved changes upon subsequent boots - that's gonna be very useful for people on the move or people who change systems often.

Please Note that the final version of Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) will only be released on October 30th but you can download the beta version right now which is pretty close to the final version.

Before we get started, here are the list of things you will need to make an Ubuntu 8.10 USB installation:

• A working CD Drive and ofcourse - an Ubuntu 8.10 CD (in a moment I'll let you know how you can get a Ubuntu CD off the internet for free)
• An established internet connection - I would prefer a broadband one.
• and the Most Important - 2GB or larger USB flash drive (2GB+ if you want some special script to be installed too).
  

Here's how you can create an Ubuntu 8.10 flash drive automatically, without much hassles.
With this method, you must use a completely free 2GB or larger usb drive - anything lesser will cause problems in later stages.

• Now go ahead and download the latest Ubuntu 8.10 ISO and burn it to a CD.
• Next, restart your computer and boot from the Live CD you have created.
• Insert the 2GB+ USB flash drive.
• Open a terminal window and type the following into the terminal window:
  wget pendrivelinux.com/downloads/u810/u810.sh
chmod +x u810.sh && sh u810.sh

• From here on, just follow the onscreen instructions - that'll be a breeze (trust me).
• Once you have the complete installation of the script - reboot your computer and set your BIOS or boot menu to boot from the USB device.
• Volla - You now have a working Live Installation of Ubuntu Linux on a Pen Drive.

What are NetBooks and NetTops really? - Demystified

Netbooks and Nettops are a a new category of simple and very much affordable computers(much like notebooks) for the Internet. Netbooks and Nettops offer both emerging and mature markets an easy-to-use device with simple interfaces and targeted performance for a good online experience.

The best thing is that Netbooks are very rugged and extremely compact in design, and offer the freedom and flexibility of wireless connectivity whereas nettops offer an affordable at-home experience on a reliable computing device.

As far as I know both these are simply Made for the Internet, Netbooks and Nettops are an affordable option for education, photo and video viewing, social networking, voice over IP, e-mail, messaging, browsing and other Internet activities as well as a whole host of basic applications.

But at the same time, Netbooks are not very powerful, and often do not have much storage space unless - you carry loads of removeable storage. I personally think they are way too small and also they do not have a very powerful processor or much of RAM. But again, if you are a Linux or basic XP user - you don't have to worry much about the RAM useable that will remain. The current offerings in the market usually offer Linux and a few variants offer Basic XP - which I feel is perfect. I know of some people who have personally considered them for the simple fact that they come with Linux.

Most NetBooks(atleast the ones currently in market) have a 7' inch diplay and sport a Intel ATOM processor with about 256MB RAM and 1-10GB of Hard Disk space. What I personally feel is that at present netbooks aren’t really touted as a complete replacement for most notebook users. These are extremely niche machines that are really only useful for those with specific needs(maybe my pal who does a lot of embedded coding on Linux). It also serves very well for those users that aren’t aware or simply not bothered by these machine’s limitations. But I suppose that one day they may become ready for business use, but unless you have a jet flying employee who travels a lot or someone who always has to have the neatest new gadget, you may be better wait for more features and add-ons.

How about running 27 Copies of Windows Vista Enterprise SP 1 on a single Windows Server 2008

Well, Microsoft to my knowledge has never - ever contested the fact that Windows Vista's hardware requirements made the latest Windows OS as resource hungry, but at the same time, on the contrary Microsoft did point out that, given the right system, the platform would deliver quite a performance.

And what is mean't by performance in the Microsoft World- Well Keith Combs a Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist has a good explanation and quite a lot of fun experimenting on the same. Combs managed to get 28 Windows operating systems running simultaneously on the same machine. The 28 Windows operating systems consisted of a whooping 27 copies of Windows Vista Enterprise Service Pack 1 on a single Windows Server 2008.

"Twenty Seven Windows Vista Enterprise SP1 Virtual Machines executing courtesy of Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V. All of this is running on a single laptop, Lenovo ThinkPad T61p with 8GB of Kingston memory," Combs explained.

That's really superb - Hope the guys over the fence are hearing too.

List of Cool Freeware Alternatives for Microsoft Office and OpenOffice Suite

Many have run into troubles with OpenOffice, hence I thought let me post some Cool Freeware Alternatives to Microsoft Office and OpenOffice. I have used OpenOffice during the days it was called StarOffice and shipped by Sun Microsystems. But most of the times the constant pain point was with alignment of text and it's compatability with Microsoft Office Platform.

The first software I see as a worthy alternative is called Abiword. It is today's fast and most powerful word-processor. It makes it very easy while writing a large letter and/or document due to it's fast and simple word processor engine. Open source, compatible multiplatform and easy integration with Microsoft Office is all there with Abiword. The main reason that this can be considered is due to its reduced footprint on your hard disk and RAM.

Other nearly indispensable software nowadays that one can use in order to create and modify calculation sheets (the equivalent of Excel of Microsoft), is called Gnumeric. Gnumeric is again Open source, multiplatform, fast and light.

Did you feel that we lack one good alternative to Outlook (which isn't there with the Openoffice.org Office Suite)? Obviously not, we have Evolution. It's again multiplatform and also open source.

And at last, only for the Linux users, an optimal software in order to create and to modify Presentations is Kpresenter. Obviously open source and can also edit and display Microsoft Powerpoint Slides.

YamiPod a iTunes Freeware Alternative :: A good iPod Manager

YamiPod is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod. It can be run directly from your iPod and needs no installation.

The cool thing is that it also has extra features such as rss news and podcast support, remove duplicates, easy notes editor (with multipage support), songs synchronization, playlists export and much more. It has also been translated in 12 languages.

So what's stopping you to be struck with iTunes(except if you always use the Online Store).

There are versions for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

You can download this amazing Freeware at the Official Website.

ScreenShot - Click to Enlarge

New Version of Skype 3.2 Released

As you know Skype is software for calling other people on their computers or phones. Download Skype and start calling for free all over the world. The latest version of Skype 3.2 has been released officially on the Skype Website.

The technology used by Skype is extremely advanced - but super simple to use. The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption.

Additionally it doesn't just work on Windows. Skype is also for Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using Pocket PC, with a native look and feel for each platform. Talking, sending instant messages or even file transfers work between different platforms like a charm.

Here is a complete list of features that are available with Skype 3.2 version:

• Skype calling - Skype has all the features of an ordinary phone so its even easier to manage your calls.
• Video calling - see who you are talking to at the same time as speaking to them.
• Add Skype and SkypeOut contacts - Add contacts who use Skype and those who use ordinary phones so you can call more people.
• Organising groups - group contacts under certain names and share them with your contacts so they can talk to them too.
• Basic chat and emoticons - when it's not convenient to call, chat or Instant Message (IM) your contacts.
• Group chat - for when it's easier to chat or Instant Message (IM) all your friends at once.
• Profile settings - change how you appear to the world and let people know a bit about you.
• Conference calling - talk to more than one friend at a time.
• Import contacts - search your address book to find friends and family that already have a Skype name and start calling them for free.
• View Outlook contacts - view and call your Microsoft Outlook® contacts quickly and directly from your Skype contact list.
• Quickfilter and Speed-Dial - find Skype contacts, recent chats and SkypeOut contacts quickly and easily, then enter their Skype name to call them back quickly.

How to easily play MP3 files in (K)Ubuntu Installations

After some searching, I've found the fix to repair or install MP3 support in (K)Ubuntu distributions. It is actually a pretty simple process. Please follow the instructions below exactly:

• Close your favorite player (Amarok, Juk, etc)
• Delete the .xine folder from your home directory. Beware that the folder is hidden and you must first activate the 'Show Hidden Files' option in your file manager.
• Open your audio player and enjoy all your MP3 music files.

Please Note: This will also fix the problem with the thumbnail generation of your video files in Konqueror.

The above fix is for systems with MP3 support already installed, but I think it's a good idea to let everyone know that Ubuntu doesn't ship with MP3 support and to fix this problem as well, follow the instructions below:

For Kubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)

• Open Amarok and play an MP3 file. Amarok will ask if you would like to add MP3 support.
• Open Synaptic Package Manager and install the libxine-extracodecs package.

For Kubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)

• Open Synaptic Package Manager, search and install the package libxine1-ffmpeg.

Be advised that in Kubuntu 7.04 there is also a new package that contains some restricted software (Flash 9, JRE 6, Gstreamer Ugly plugins etc) called ubuntu-restricted-extras. You can install this package as well.

Netscape releases version 9 of its browser with Social Networking in built

Do you guys know Netscape? Well - I definitely do!! Because it was one of the few other browser(or only other browser) available than Internet Explorer when I started sufing the web in its early stages. The browser was once dominant in terms of usage share, but it has lost most of its share to Internet Explorer during the first browser war I suppose.

Well, recently Netscape has announced the availability of the new Netscape Navigator 9.0, available as a standalone installation for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. I guess this is just to once again prove to its critics that it is very much in business!! This 9.0 version is based on Firefox and has a couple of unique features built-in.

Some very notable features of this new browser are :

Direct browser integration with Netscape portal which is now a social bookmarking site.

You can share and vote for web pages you'll find interesting without visiting the website.

One can read the latest news directly from the browser.

A link pad allowing you to save interesting links without cluttering the bookmarks.

You can download and try Netscape 9 from the offical website.

How to easily back-up your about:config settings in FireFox?

You can now easily take a back-up of all the settings in the about:config of Firefox. Firefox does show which about:config changes have been set manually, but this isn't always the most accurate way to find out what you changed - So I would always recommend you to take a back-up.

To make a backup of your preferences in Firefox, just make a copy of the file prefs.js, which is kept in your Firefox profile folder. If you mess something up, you can always copy this file back in. (Be sure to shut down Firefox before making a copy of prefs.js or moving a copy back into the profile folder!)

In Windows XP, the profile folder is
\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\.default\

In Windows Vista, this folder is
\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\.default\

Note that Application Data and AppData are hidden folders by default, so they may not show up unless you force Explorer to show hidden objects. (Open the Control Panel, double-click Folder Options, select the View tab, select "Show hidden files and folders" and click OK.)

In Mac OS X, the profile folder is
/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/.default/

and in Linux it's
~/.mozilla/firefox/.default/

but on those platforms it's usually quicker simply to search for prefs.js.

Alternatively, you can use the handy Firefox Extension Backup Extension (FEBE). It backs up not only the prefs.js file but just about every other thing in Firefox -- extensions, themes, cookies, form history and so on.

DiffMerge : Visually compare and merge files in Windows, Mac OS X and Unix

DiffMerge is a very cool application that allows you to visually compare and merge files. This is very useful when you want to find minusucle differences between two very identical files. The best thing is that this software runs in all the three major Operating Systems - Windows, Mac OS X and Unix.

Here are some of the features of this cool software :

• Diff. Graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing.
• Merge. Graphically shows the changes between 3 files. Allows automatic merging (when safe to do so) and full control over editing the resulting file.
• Folder Diff. Performs a side-by-side comparison of 2 folders, showing which files are only present in one file or the other, as well as file pairs which are identical or different.
• Configurable. Rulesets and options provide for customized appearance and behavior.
• International. Compatible with 42 different character encodings.
• Cross-platform. Identical feature set on Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix.

The Best of all feature is that it is a completely FREE software. So head over to the website and grab it.