Karaoke Software for Linux

Asians, especially Filipinos, really love to sing. I can easily say this because in our country, it’s normal to see karaoke machines at the malls, restaurants, bus stations, prisons, mental institutions, and even on the streets. Also, a lot of people here have their own karaoke players at home.

I’m not really a hardcore karaoke singer, but before, I have karaoke software installed on my PC just in case I can’t hold my urge to sing.

Lately, I’ve been looking for a karaoke program that I can use on my Linux box. That’s why I bumped into this open source Python-powered karaoke software appropriately called PyKaraoke.

PyKaraoke is written in Python programming language with features such as:

* CDG (MP3+G, OGG+G, WAV+G), MIDI (.MID/.KAR), MPEG playback
* Ability to Queue up songs
* Searchable song database
* Search inside ZIP files - Play MP3+G/MIDI files wrapped in ZIP files
* Mini Frontend - Additional mini-frontend for low-resolution displays and handhelds
* Export to MPEG - Convert CDG and KAR files to MPG files (command line only)

PyKaraoke, originally made for Linux, is also available on other operating systems like Windows and Mac OS X. If you are using Ubuntu, you can install it (minus the hassles) via Synaptic Package Manager.

And so I installed PyKaraoke on Ubuntu and tested playing a CDG file. Here are a few screenshots:

Not really my kind-of-song, but I can sing it if you want me to (hehe).

PyKaraoke still lacks the features particularly when you compare it to great karaoke software like KaraFun. However, it's really easy to use, and I think it’s capable enough to get you singing in no time. All you need is some good selection of karaoke song files, decent desktop speakers, and a microphone.

By the way, if you know of other karaoke software for Linux, please share it with us via comment.

How to Use BitTorrent in Linux

Though file sharing is extremely widespread nowadays, it amazes me that lot of people still don't know how to use a BitTorrent client or perhaps don't know what to do with a ‘.torrent’ file. Just take a look at this data (Google Trends):

Because of this, I decided to make a quick and easy tutorial on how to start downloading files via BitTorrent in Linux. Windows and Mac users can also learn from this, as the concept is basically the same on any platform. But before that, I would like to give you a brief intro about BitTorrent taken from Wikipedia:

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of data. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and by some estimates it accounts for about 35% of all traffic on the entire Internet. The initial distributor of the complete file or collection acts as the first seed. Each peer who downloads the data also uploads it to other peers, even after they have dismounted the original seed. Because of this, BitTorrent is extremely efficient. One seed is needed to begin spreading files between many users (peers). The addition of more seeds increases the likelihood of a successful connection exponentially.

Now that you have learned a little about BitTorrent, let’s get down to business.

The first thing that you have to do is download a BitTorrent client. If you are using Linux, there are tons of free and open source BitTorrent clients to choose from. And, if you are using the latest versions of popular distributions like Fedora or Ubuntu, a BitTorrent client is already included out-of-the-box. For this tutorial, let’s use Transmission on Ubuntu.

Now that you have a BitTorrent client, it’s time to get a ‘.torrent’ file. We can use popular BitTorrent search engines (a.k.a. tracker) like isoHunt and The Pirate Bay to get what we want. As an example, let’s go to isoHunt and download the short movie Elephants Dream:

Suppose you like to get the first search result, just click on it to go to its download page.

Click on 'Download .torrent' then open it with Transmission.

You can set the destination folder or just use the default and click on ‘Add’. After that, the download will start…

The more peers or seeders you have, the faster the download. If the download is interrupted, it can be resumed anytime.

I guess those are the basics to get you started downloading porn, I mean files via BitTorrent :-)

Tuxmachines.org Unusually Down

Tuxmachines.org has been unusually down for more than a day now. I've been wanting to contact 'srlinuxx' to express my concern on what’s happening. Several people have already emailed me and wanted to know why the site is still offline so I expect there are plenty of you out there who are also looking for answers.

To give everyone a little peace of mind, here is what I know:

I've read a post at PCLinuxOS-Forums from 'Linuxera' (forum administrator) that she has sent a message to srlinuxx and got a reply.

Quote from Linuxera:

I pm'd srlinuxx late yesterday and had a response waiting for me in my inbox this morning... Seems like her IP Host is playing games.. She should be back on line in a few days. In the meantime http://67.33.45.3/ should work for ya... :-)

Did she just say in a few days? I hope srlinuxx can clarify that for us. I know a lot of people can't live without a daily dose of Tuxmachines so I hope the downtime will not be that long.

For now, let’s wait and be patient. Anyway, as what Linuxera has posted at PCLinuxOS-Forums, you can still visit Tuxmachines.org via here: http://67.33.45.3/.

Weekly Ten (1-26-2009)

10 Latest News, Blogs, Tips, and Reviews that I find Interesting and Useful:

1. Linux's role in Microsoft's decline
Microsoft today laid off 1,400 workers, with another 3,600 on the block within 18 months. We asked Linux Foundation Director Jim Zemlin what role if any Linux played in Microsoft's misfortunes, how Microsoft will react, and what the news means for Linux and open source.
More @ LinuxDevices

2. What Does It Mean To Be An Internet President?
FDR was our radio president, JFK was our television president and Barack Obama will be our Internet President.
More @ OreillyRadar

3. Apple thriving on 25th anniversary of the Mac
Born at a time when people assumed desktop computers were all about text, the primarily visual Macintosh is marking its 25th anniversary on a mostly high note with some of its best-ever sales and influence beyond just desktop computers.
More @ AppleInsider

4. Adding right click to a Macbook Pro
Surprisingly, one of the most common complaints we hear from people trying out macs are the fact that there isn’t a right click. The latest version, the unibody, has an option that remedies this, but older versions are stuck without. While you could always plug a USB mouse in, that is hardly a hacker’s solution.

More @ HackaDay

5. Windows 7: the untold story of how the enterprise gets snubbed
There is a lot to like about Windows 7 for the consumer. For the enterprise, not so much. While Microsoft has added some fancy new features aimed at the enterprise it seems to have treated the enterprise's needs as an afterthought, contends Windows guru Paul Thurrott in an interview with Microsoft Subnet.
More @ NetworkWorld

6. Announcing Google's Employee Option Exchange Program
Today we announced our plans to do something more for the people who are responsible for Google's success — our employees. Recognizing that about 85% of our employees have at least some stock options that are underwater (i.e., have an exercise price higher than the current market price of our common stock), we plan to offer our employees the opportunity to exchange those options.
More @ Googleblog

7. Gates Commits $255 Million to Help Eradicate Polio
The fight to eradicate polio has been given a significant monetary boost through new funds pledged by the Bill Gates' charitable foundation, Rotary International and the British and German governments.
More @ PCWorld.com

8. World's smallest working fuel cell has high potential, low voltage

More @ Engadget

9. 3 ways to turbocharge your Linux desktop
If you've been using Linux for a while, you'll already have discovered lighter alternatives to some of the platform's bloatfests – for example, using AbiWord and Gnumeric in the place of OpenOffice.org.
More @ TechRadar

10. The Zen Of Real Food: Keeping Eating Simple
Along with sleep, what you eat is likely the biggest determinant of how healthy you are. Not exercise. Not supplements. Sleep and nutrition. We’re not here today to discuss sleep, but you probably need more of it, so go to bed…after you finish reading this and leaving a comment.
More @ ZenHabits

Healthy Goals for 2009 + Must-have Geeky Exercise Machines

Coding, web browsing, and writing tech stuff all day sure is fun, but knowing that your health is slowly but surely deteriorating isn't. A common problem in people with tech jobs is the lack of exercise and the total absence of consciousness to stay fit.

Sure you can accomplish plenty of tasks if you spend most of your time in front of the computer and never ever care to have some physical workout. However, if you keep on doing this, you will become less and less productive and may end up being dumb and lazy. Believe me because this is happening to me right now.

Last year was my unhealthiest year ever. I gained 30+ pounds of 100% juicy fat, and right now I feel like sh%#t. I know my weight-gain may not sound much to some of you, but I've been fairly fit all my life so this washed out feeling is new to me.

Because I value my health a lot, I have a goal to make 2009 my healthiest year ever. Who knows that by December, I will end up having a body like that of Manny Pacquiao :-)

I hope some of our readers here and fellow geeks can join me in this quest to stay in good shape all this year and perhaps throughout our lives. We can start by taking a few baby steps like following some of these tips that I once wrote:

*12 Essential Exercises for Geeks
*15 Healthy Snacks for Linux Gurus

And if you are really really ready to be healthy, get up, hit the gym, run, swim, or simply play your favorite sports. Of course you have to eat well and as much as possible stay away from fatty foods to keep the balance.

Right now, I feel comfortable working out at home since I have some dumbbells, jumping rope, and a few fitness CDs. But what I really like to have are these geeky exercise equipments that I’m about to show you. I'm sure others with very limited free time will also love these:

The Geekcycle...


The Treadputer:


We can also improvise and do what Bo Sanchez did here:

If your goal is to achieve overall wellness and if you need some inspiration, I recommend reading ZenHabits. If you are still hesitating to start living a healthy life, I have three words for you: Just do it!

Linux Keyboard Shortcuts: Safe Way to Exit During System Freezes

In Windows, when your system hangs, you can always press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, wait for the Task Manager to open, and kill the process that doesn’t respond. However, Ctrl-Alt-Delete don’t always work the way you want it to leaving you no other option but to do a hard-reset, and perhaps as a result corrupt your data kissing your important files goodbye.

In Linux, when your entire system freezes, there are plenty of safe ways to exit and get back on track immediately. Alt + SysRq + (a selection of other keys) will do the magic trick. Note: 'SysRq' key is equivalent to the 'Print Screen' key.

Alt + SysR + K
Kill all processes (including X), which are running on the currently active virtual console.

Alt + SysRq + E
Send the TERM signal to all running processes except init, asking them to exit.

Alt + SysRq + I
Send the KILL signal to all running processes except init.

Alt + SysRq + L
Send the KILL signal to all processes, including init.

Alt + SysRq + S
Run an emergency sync (cache write) on all mounted filesystems. This can prevent data loss.

Alt + SysRq + U
Remount all mounted filesystems as read-only. This has the same effect as the sync combination above, but with one important benefit: if the operation is successful, fsck won't have to check all filesystems after a computer hardware reset.

Alt + SysRq + R
Turn off keyboard raw mode. This can be useful when your X session hangs. After issueing this command you may be able to use .

Alt + SysRq + B
Reboot immediately without syncing or unmounting your disks. Using this, you will likely end up with filesystem errors, so this is not highly recommended.

Alt + SysRq + O
Shut the system off right away.

If all these ‘Alt + SysRq’ keyboard combo are hard to remember, you can press Alt + SysRq + H to display a helpful list of the shortcuts above.

The Way of the Hacker

If you are aspiring to be a hacker or a Unix/Linux guru, then you have probably read some of Eric S. Raymond's writings like 'The New Hacker's Dictionary' and 'The Art of Unix Programming'. You may have also visited his website and read some of his articles there.

If you haven’t been to ESR’s site, there are interesting pages there that contain some ‘koans’.

From Wikipedia:

A kōan (公案; Chinese: gōng-àn, Korean: gong'an, Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chán (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. A famous kōan is: "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?"

Raymond’s own version of koans entitled, ‘The Unix Koans of Master Foo’ is filled with humor and wisdom that every wannabe hacker should enjoy. Here are a couple of Unix koans that I took from ESR’s website:

Master Foo and the Unix Zealot

A Unix zealot, having heard that Master Foo was wise in the Great Way, came to him for instruction. Master Foo said to him:

“When the Patriarch Thompson invented Unix, he did not understand it. Then he gained in understanding, and no longer invented it.”

“When the Patriarch McIlroy invented the pipe, he knew that it would transform software, but did not know that it would transform mind.”

“When the Patriarch Ritchie invented C, he condemned programmers to a thousand hells of buffer overruns, heap corruption, and stale-pointer bugs.”

“Truly, the Patriarchs were blind and foolish!”

The zealot was greatly angered by the Master's words.

“These enlightened ones,” he protested. “gave us the Great Way of Unix. Surely, if we mock them we will lose merit and be reborn as beasts or MCSEs.”

“Is your code ever completely without stain and flaw?” demanded Master Foo.

“No,” admitted the zealot, “no man's is.”

“The wisdom of the Patriarchs” said Master Foo, “was that they knew they were fools.”

Upon hearing this, the zealot was enlightened.


Master Foo and the Script Kiddie

A stranger from the land of Woot came to Master Foo as he was eating the morning meal with his students.

“I hear y00 are very l33t,” he said. “Pl33z teach m3 all y00 know.”

Master Foo's students looked at each other, confused by the stranger's barbarous language. Master Foo just smiled and replied: “You wish to learn the Way of Unix?”

“I want to b3 a wizard hax0r,” the stranger replied, “and 0wn ever3one's b0xen.”

“I do not teach that Way,” replied Master Foo.

The stranger grew agitated. “D00d, y00 r nothing but a p0ser,” he said. “If y00 n00 anything, y00 wud t33ch m3.”

“There is a path,” said Master Foo, “that might bring you to wisdom.” The master scribbled an IP address on a piece of paper. “Cracking this box should pose you little difficulty, as its guardians are incompetent. Return and tell me what you find.”

The stranger bowed and left. Master Foo finished his meal.

Days passed, then months. The stranger was forgotten.

Years later, the stranger from the land of Woot returned.

“Damn you!” he said, “I cracked that box, and it was easy like you said. But I got busted by the FBI and thrown in jail.”

“Good,” said Master Foo. “You are ready for the next lesson.” He scribbled an IP address on another piece of paper and handed it to the stranger.

“Are you crazy?” the stranger yelled. “After what I've been through, I'm never going to break into a computer again!”

Master Foo smiled. “Here,” he said, “is the beginning of wisdom.”

On hearing this, the stranger was enlightened.

More Unix koans can be found HERE. Hope you will be enlightened.

Watch the Obama Inauguration Live on Linux with Moonlight

Linux users rejoice. It is now possible to watch the Barack Obama Official Inauguration live via video stream. Thanks to Moonlight, the open source implementation of Microsoft Silverlight, we will finally be able to see the much-awaited presidential inauguration from the comfort of our own Linux desktop.

As reported earlier by OSNews, Linux and open source supporters were quite upset that the Presidential Inaugural Committee chose to utilize Silverlight. At the time of the report, Moonlight, which is still in beta stage, is far from finished.

However, Migel De Icaza confirmed through his blog that Moonlight is now ready to handle the video stream. Hats off to Microsoft for giving Moonlight developers access to the code that will be used during the Obama inauguration.

To download Moonlight and for installation instructions, you can go HERE. You can then go HERE to watch the Obama Official Inauguration video stream live as it happens.

Since the event is still a few ours away, you can read some technology quotes by Barack Obama to learn more about his plans on technology related matters.

Weekly Ten (1-19-2009)

10 Latest News, Blogs, Tips, and Reviews that I find Interesting and Useful:

1. Google Terminates Six Services
The ax fell on Wednesday at Google, not just for some of the company's employees but for six of its services, too.
More @ InformationWeek

2. The LXF Guide: OpenSolaris distros
OpenSolaris is the much talked-about open source version of Sun's industrial strength operating system. It's a Unix derivative aimed at the same general demographic as Linux or the free BSDs: system administrators, developers, and desktop users.
More @ LinuxFormat.co.uk

3. Wikipedia Beefs Up for Multimedia
ikipedia is gearing up for an explosion in digital content with new servers and storage designed to handle larger photo and video uploads.
More @ PCWorld.com

4. Forty Years Ago, A Cosmonaut Experienced What Can Only Be Described as 'Hell'

More @ Gizmodo

5. Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bit security
Over the last eight years, Mac OS X has enjoyed a tranquil existence in stark contrast to the high profile security threats and attacks suffered by mainstream Windows users. Microsoft's monopoly over the PC world has long meant that anyone interested in creating extensive, easily spread damage through software exploits would focus their efforts on Windows.
More @ AppleInsider

6. Proprietary Barriers to Education
The story about the college student who purchased an Ubuntu netbook from Dell, and who couldn't figure out how to use it, was met with the predictable storm of "well she's too stupid to use a computer" derision. Which is such a fine way to attract new Linux users!
More @ LinuxToday

7. 100,000th knol published
A few weeks ago the 100,000th knol was published, and we figured now is an excellent time to reflect on the first five months of Knol's existence.
More @ Googleblog

8. Viliv uncovers gorgeous X70 Atom Communication MID

More @ Engadget

9. 6 Reasons Why the Palm Pre Is Special
At a time when every new touchscreen phone looks like yet another rehash of the iPhone, except with a clunkier operating system, the Palm Pre comes as a breath of fresh air.
More @ WiredBlog

10. How A College Dropout Became A Mega-Millionaire
That day, I was having lunch with the Chairman of the Board of a few mega-companies. (I never knew that this was going to be the first of many, many lunches with Mr. Edward Lee. He has now become one of my best business and life mentors.)
More @ BoSanchez

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Windows 7 Edition

Windows 7, the much-hyped upcoming version of Windows operating system is now in Beta. And though it’s kind of promising based on reading some of the positive reviews, one thing is for sure; it will never become the 'awesomest' operating system that everyone will love.

To our readers, I know you all love seeing the infamous Blue Screen of Death. So I present to you some videos of Window 7’s own version of BSOD:

BSOD at start-up:



BSOD after logging in:



BSOD while looking at themes:

So there you go. Nothing much has changed really, and even the error message is presented the same way as some of the previous versions of Windows. Still counting on Windows 7?

You may also want to check out our “Screens of Death Humor” article that takes a look at the funny side of various error screen messages.

Hacking Windows Administrator Password (with good intentions) Using Linux

In case you or a friend of yours has forgotten his/her Windows administrator password, there’s no need to panic as you can easily hack it by resetting the password provided you have the right tools. One way to do this is to use Linux as your knight in shining armor.

I’m going to show you how you can smoothly hack a Windows Administrator password using Linux. You will only need a Live CD, and for this example, we will utilize Ubuntu. Also, I assume that you have the basic knowledge on using the Linux command line.

Now let’s start hacking:

The first thing you have to do is of course load your Ubuntu Live CD. You don’t have to install it, just boot straight into the desktop. Then, install a program called ‘chntpw’:

$ sudo apt-get install chntpw

After successfully installing ‘chntpw’, you have to access the Windows NTFS partition by mounting it and allowing read/write support. A good tutorial on how to do this can be found HERE.

After that, use your command line skills by navigating to ‘WINDOWS/system32/config’.

Once inside the ‘config’ directory, issue this command:

$ sudo chntpw SAM

A long display of information will follow. Just ignore them.

Once you are prompted to reset the password, it is recommended to leave the password blank with an asterisk *. Reboot, and you can now login to freakin’ Windows.

Free Software Song Rocks!

I still find the Free Software Song inspiring in some way although I know it will never ever win a Grammy Award or whatever. So, I thought I would share this to all of you especially those who are starting to lose faith in free software. Also, to all FOSS developers and advocates who are looking for some motivation, perhaps this will help.

No less than Richard M. Stallman wrote the “Free Software Song”. Here’s an interesting and rather funny story on how it was written:

I wrote the free software song at a filksinging session at a science fiction convention. It was a "bardic circle" session, which means each person in turn around the hall had the chance to either sing or ask someone else to sing. I had just had my turn, and there were 20 or more people there, so I knew it would be a long time before I had another turn. I decided to pass the time writing a filksong. This meant I was not starting with any particular inspiration in mind. I had to look for what to write about and how.

So first I asked myself, what topic should it be about? I realized I had never written a filksong relating to free software, so I figured it was time I did.

Then I asked myself, what tune should I use? I realized I had never written a filksong using Bulgarian dance music, so I figured that would be a good thing to do for once. I chose Sadi Moma because it is not too fast or complicated, and is easy to sing.

By the time it was my turn again, the song was ready. After I sang it, someone else in the room said, "That has an anthem-like quality. You should show it to Richard Stallman." (That year was the time I was a little famous and I was a guest at the convention.)

I said, "I am Richard Stallman."

She said, "Oh, I'm sorry!"

I responded, "Don't be sorry, it's fun when that happens."


Now, here’s the lyric:

Free Software Song
by RMS

Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2

Hoarders may get piles of money,
That is true, hackers, that is true.
But they cannot help their neighbors;
That's not good, hackers, that's not good.

When we have enough free software
At our call, hackers, at our call,
We'll throw out those dirty licenses
Ever more, hackers, ever more.

Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2

You can listen to a recording of Richard M. Stallman singing the Free Software Song HERE. You can also download it in Ogg Vorbis format HERE.

A cool rhythmic version of the song can be found HERE, or download it in Ogg Vorbis format HERE.

Jono Bacon recorded a heavy metal version of the song but I can’t seem to find it now. So if you know where it is, please drop us a comment.

UPDATE:
Here’s a video of RMS singing the song...

7 Great Free/Open-source Platform Games for Linux

A platform game (also known as platformer) is a video game genre distinguished by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles. A very famous example of a platform game is the best selling video game of all time, which is the Super Mario Bros.

If you are exhausted from playing your favorite FPS games like Urban Terror or Alien Arena, how about you relax a little and play some good old "platform games" on your Linux box.

I have here a list of some great free and open source platform games that you may enjoy.

SuperTux
SuperTux needs no further introduction, as it is definitely one of the most famous games for Linux. However, if you want to know more about SuperTux, perhaps you should just read my quick review of the game HERE.


Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid
Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid is an open source 2D arcade platform game developed by Parallel Realities. The aim of the game is to rescue Blob MIAs lost while fighting a battle against alien invaders led by their leader, Galdov (the Metal Blob). Metal Blob Solid features numerous different weapons, locations, boss battles and around 9 hours total gameplay.


Secret Maryo Chronicles
Secret Maryo Chronicles is yet another 2D jump-and-run game that’s based on Nintendo’s Super Mario Series. The game is a SourceForge project that began in 2003. Until now, it is still actively developed and maintained by the Secret Maryo Chronicles development team, led by Florian Richter ("FluXy").


Yo Frankie!
Yo Frankie! is the famous 3D game created by the Blender Institute. The universe and the characters of the game are based on the open source animated short film entitled Big Buck Bunny. Yo Frankie! was recently released this November of 2008 and is currently available for download.


X-Moto
X-Moto is a 2D motocross platform game where physics play an all-important role in the gameplay. Although the game is completely 2D, it uses 3D hardware acceleration (OpenGL) for faster rendering. The game also utilizes the Open Dynamics Engine for a realistic-feel physical simulation. X-Moto is extensible with user-created custom levels that can be automatically downloaded.


Neverball
Neverball is a 3D platform game similar to Super Monkey Ball. Its main gameplay is based on moving a ball using gravity by tilting the game world, not directly controlling the ball. The mouse (or a similar pointing device), keyboard, or joystick tilt the level to help guide the ball to a goal, via an obstacle course, with a set time limit. Moving platforms and other crazy objects get in the way, making levels progressively harder.


XEvil
XEvil is considered as one of the most graphically violent games ever made. Before you play or let your kids touch this game, read this disclaimer first (taken from its website):

"O.K., kids... let's get this straight. XEvil is not for meek, peace-loving, "I love you, you love me..." types of people. The fans of XEvil enjoy it because of its shameless displays of blood and violence, of people getting lit on fire, getting shot, being ripped up by chainsaws, getting high on drugs, and burst open by aliens."

Weekly Ten (1-12-2009)

10 Latest News, Blogs, Tips, and Reviews that I find Interesting and Useful:

1. A search for habitable planets
"The Kepler Mission will, for the first time, enable humans to search our galaxy for Earth-size or even smaller planets," said principal investigator William Borucki of NASA's Ames research Center, Moffett Field, California. "With this cutting-edge capability, Kepler may help us answer one of the most enduring questions humans have asked throughout history: Are there others like us in the universe?"
More @ PlanetQuest

2. Latest Chrome a Step Closer to Linux, Mac
The latest release includes a major new version of the WebKit rendering engine, new customization options, security and speed enhancements as well as a new HTTP (define) engine that could herald the introduction of Chrome for Linux and Mac.
More @ InternetNews.com

3. Google's new favicon
Back in June, we rolled out a new favicon — the small icon that greets you when you access Google on your URL bar or your bookmarks list — and we encouraged our users to submit their ideas for this important piece of Google branding. We were impressed by the volume of submissions we received, and today we are happy to introduce a new Google favicon inspired by those submissions by our users.
More @ Googleblog

4. 30’s style regenerative receiver

More @ HackaDay

5. New PowerVR chip may give Apple's future iPhone HD, OpenCL
Hidden among the many announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is a new PowerVR mobile graphics chip that could power advanced 3D, HD video and even general computing on an eventual generation of iPhones.
More @ AppleInsider

6. A Software Populist Who Doesn’t Do Windows
In December, hundreds of these controversial software developers gathered for one week at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. They came from all over the world, sporting many of the usual signs of software mercenaries: jeans, ponytails, unruly facial hair and bloodshot eyes.
More @ NYTimes.com

7. Are We Killing The Planet One Google Search At A Time?
Right now the top stories on Techmeme revolve around a new piece in The Times of London that focuses on The Environmental Impact of Google Searches. In it, Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross (a star MIT graduate who is now at Harvard) posits that a single Google search generates 7g of CO2, versus around 15g for a tea kettle - something he calls a “definite environmental impact.”
More @ TechCrunch

8. Windows 7 gets installed on MacBook Pro, explained

More @ Engadget

9. The Dark Art of Sound on Linux
I've been trying to get a USB headset to work gracefully with a variety of applications on Linux for quite some time. Recently I had a bit more time to investigate why this is so difficult, and to learn a few things about ALSA.
More @ Deciphering Glyph

10. Work on Stuff that Matters: First Principles
I spent a lot of last year urging people to work on stuff that matters. This led to many questions about what that "stuff" might be. I've been a bit reluctant to answer those questions, because the list is different for everyone. I thought I'd do better to start the new year with some ideas about how to think about this for yourself.
More @ OreillyRadar

“World's Lightest” 8-inch Netbook is embedded with Linux

Weighing in at exactly 1.4 pounds, there's no doubt that the Sony VAIO P is currently the lightest 8-inch notebook computer on the planet. However, its Windows Vista operating system can be anything but light. Thankfully, the Sony VAIO P also comes with a super-fast Linux-based environment called Xross.

Xross (pronounced "cross") reportedly loads in about 20 seconds and will allow users quick access to web browsing, email, music playback, IM, and VoIP client. With these capabilities, I don’t think there will ever be a need to boot into Vista.

Sony has not published Xross’ source code yet since the VAIO P is still not available to consumers. Although, it could be identical to the InstantMode 1.22 Linux stack utilized in VGN-TX VAIO devices.

Freshly launched at this years CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, the Sony VAIO P has 1.33GHz Atom processor, 2GB of DDR2 (non-expandable) RAM, 60GB HDD, 64GB SSD, or 128GB SSD of storage, and an 8-inch, 1,600-by-768-pixel display. Other features include a high-speed cellular (3G) modem, 802.11b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Artistic Representation of Linux Distributions

If you sometimes wish that your favorite Linux distro should have a mascot, then you may like what I’m about to show you. But before that, let me give you a short intro.

Some of you may have heard of the "OS-tan". To those who haven’t, here’s a description taken from its wiki page:

The OS-tans are an Internet phenomenon that started on Futaba Channel. The OS-tan or simply OS Girls are the personification of several operating systems by various amateur Japanese artists. Although a pure fan creation, the appearance of each OS Girl is generally consistent across artists. The OS Girls are typically depicted as women and usually depicted as sisters of varying ages.

Here are some examples:

Windows Vista (Vista-tan):


Mac OS X Leopard (Leopard-tan):


Linux (Linux-tan):

An Italian graphic artist named Francesca Poppi (also known as juzo-kun) created some amazing OS-tans that portrayed various Linux distributions including Fedora, Ubuntu, and Gentoo among others.

From juzo-kun’s Deviantart page, I took some of her distro OS-tans so that I could show them here.

Ubuntu-tan:

Slackware-tan:


Fedora-tan:


Gentoo-tan:


Mandriva-tan:


For more distro OS-tans, you can visit juzo-kun’s Deviantart page HERE.

P.S. juzo-kun also created this:


Who do you think will win?

20 “Really Cool” Netbook-optimized Linux Wallpapers

If you want some high-quality Linux wallpapers for your large monitors, you can visit my collection of “25 Coolest Linux Wallpapers”. However, if you happen to own a netbook, it is best to use medium-sized wallpapers that are optimized for small display. Because of that, I decided to collect and share to you all some really fresh, cool, and cute Linux wallpapers that will surely look good on any netbook monitor. --No more resizing hassles. So without delay, here they are:

1. Bottled Tux's


2. Use the source Dude!


3. Linux Big Smiley


4. Free As In Freedom


5. Get Your Fix


6. Linux Inside


7. Powered by Debian


8. I'm Free!


9. Linux Crystal


10. A New Age


11. Lonely Tux


12. Ubuntu Studio Art


13. Powered by Fedora Linux


14. World Domination


15. Big Tux



16. KDE Box


17. Sleek Ubuntu Studio


18. Got Linux?


19. Tux Art


20. Ubuntu-free



You may also want to check out my other wallpaper collections:

* 25 Coolest and Funniest Tux Wallpapers
* 20 Coolest Linux Distro-themed Wallpapers

Turn Your Linux Desktop into an Alarm Clock

Several months ago, I posted here a rather geeky tip on how to turn your Linux box into an alarm clock using a Python script. This time, I’ll keep it simple by showing to you some free and open-source programs that you can easily install and use to make your Linux desktop as an alternative or shall I say an improvised alarm clock.

KAlarm
KAlarm is more than just a personal desktop alarm clock application as it can also be used as a notifier, email scheduler, and it can run commands at a specified time. It supports the scheduling of multiple alarm-times and alarm-dates. KAlarm is really easy to use and it has both graphical and command line interface. It is probably available in most Linux distro repositories so there’s no trouble getting and installing it. Here are some screenshots of KAlarm installed on my Ubuntu desktop:

Setting it up

Custom alarm sound

Alarm Clock
Alarm Clock is like KAlarm minus the email scheduler. With it, you can schedule commands, shell scripts, and tasks like locking the screen and shutting the computer down. But since we’re talking about desktop alarm clocks, I would say that "Alarm Clock" is really cool as you can simply use or set any audio files as your alarm sound with it.

XMMS
Yes, I’m talking about the famous Linux audio player. XMMS has an alarm plugin that could come in handy if you are in need of an easy-to-use desktop alarm clock. See screenshot below to know what I mean:

There are probably other Linux desktop alarm clock applications and utilities that I haven’t heard of, so if you know some, please share it with us via comment.

Weekly Ten (1-5-2009)

10 Latest News, Blogs, Tips, and Reviews that I find Interesting and Useful:

1. Richard Stallman on the state of GNU, 25 years on
25 years after Stallman first set the GNU project in motion, what have these ideals achieved, and what can we do to ensure the future of free software?
More @ TechRadar

2. Why It's Time for Steve Jobs and Apple to Split
Is Steve Jobs dying? Larry Ellison thinks so — the prospect reportedly moved the Oracle CEO to tears. A Gizmodo source thinks his "health is rapidly declining." For Apple, it could be good news.
More @ Valleywag

3. Google blogging in 2008
This is our 368th post of the year on the main Google blog, which is 23% more than in 2007. In addition to more posts, we are thrilled to know that we have many more readers now — 78% more, to be exact.
More @ Googleblog

4. Automated wire cutter and stripper

More @ HackaDay

5. Obama Moves to Counter China With Pentagon-NASA Link
President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.
More @ Bloomberg.com

6. 30GB Zunes Killing Themselves In Droves
The internet is awash with reports that the 30GB Zune is committing suicide across the planet. Not just one of them, either. It seems that some weird bug is simultaneously causing the music players to kill themselves, like lemmings leaping from a cliff.
More @ WiredBlog

7. Tech Jobs May Increase Despite Economic Trends
The outlook for IT jobs in 2009 may not be as bad as some observers suggest. While some indicators and surveys are showing some declines in tech jobs, none predict a precipitous drop. In fact, a federal economic stimulus package may even add IT positions.
More @ PCWorld.com

8. Aerial7 Graffiti Headphones One Pacifier Short of a Personal Rave

More @ Gizmodo

9. Revised Slackware keeps it simple
At a time when new and buggy features cloud basic computer functions, it's refreshing to see a new release of a distro like Slackware that stays true to its core philosophy. Slackware has an unfair reputation of being a distro only for experienced users. Granted it doesn't sport many graphical configuration tools, but it balances that with stability and speed.
More @ Linux.com

10. Top 15 Tips Designed To Save You Time
Some of us seem to have all work and no play, and what free time we have is never free, it is lost to endless hassle and mindless tedium’s. So why not take time into your own hands by making it work for you for a change?
More @ ListVerse

7 Best Free/Open-source Backup Software for Linux

A computer application utilized to perform a complete backup by duplicating the original source of data is called backup software. Obviously, the main purpose of backup software is to create order out of chaos by recovering essential files in the event of a disaster.

If you are using Linux, there are plenty of backup software to choose from. I have here a list of some of the best free and open source backup software that you may want to check out.

Time Vault
Time Vault is a GNOME-based Linux-equivalent to Time Machine from Apple. Like many backup utilities, it creates incremental backups of files that can be restored at a later date. Its snapshots are copies of a directory at a certain point in time. Snapshots use very little space for the files that haven't changed since the last snapshot was made. This is because instead of backing up the entire unchanged file, snapshots use hard links that point to the existing backup of the unchanged file.

Clonezilla

Clonezilla is an open source clone of Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition. It is based on DRBL, Partition Image, ntfsclone, partclone, and udpcast that will allow you to do bare metal backup and recovery. Two types of Clonezilla are available, Clonezilla live and Clonezilla SE (server edition). Clonezilla live is suitable for single machine backup and restore. While Clonezilla SE is for massive deployment, it can clone many computers simultaneously.

Duplicity

Duplicity backs directories by producing encrypted tar-format volumes and uploading them to a remote or local file server. Because duplicity uses librsync, the incremental archives are space efficient and only record the parts of files that have changed since the last backup. Because duplicity uses GnuPG to encrypt and/or sign these archives, they will be safe from spying and/or modification by the server.

screenshot credit

Bacula

Bacula is an open source, enterprise level computer backup system for heterogeneous networks. It is designed to automate tasks that had often required intervention from a systems administrator or computer operator. Bacula supports Linux, UNIX and Windows backup clients, and a range of professional backup devices including tape libraries. Administrators and operators can configure the system via a command line console, GUI or web interface; its back-end is a catalog of information stored by MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite.

AMANDA

AMANDA (Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver) is a backup system that allows the administrator to set up a single master backup server to back up multiple hosts over network to tape drives/changers or disks or optical media. Amanda uses native dump and/or GNU tar facilities and can back up a large number of workstations running multiple versions of Unix.

rsync

rsync is an open source utility that synchronizes files and directories from one location to another while minimizing data transfer using delta encoding when appropriate. An important feature of rsync not found in most similar programs/protocols is that the mirroring takes place with only one transmission in each direction. rsync can copy or display directory contents and copy files, optionally using compression and recursion.

FlyBack

FlyBack is based on rsync and modeled loosely after Apple's Time Machine. Like many rsync-based backup utilities, it creates incremental backups of files which can be restored at a later date. FlyBack presents a chronological view of a file system, allowing individual files or directories to be previewed or retrieved one at a time. FlyBack presents the user with a typical file manager style view of their file system, but with additional controls allowing the user to go forward or backward in time.

Mysterious New Developments in Reiser Case

I just got back from a short and intoxicating vacation so I’m not really in the groove to post today. However, I have intriguing news that I thought I should share to you all.

I received an email from Louise Bashi, Communications Director at CBS News, with the subject: New Developments in the Case of Hans Reiser.

I thought the case is already closed after Hans Reiser proved his guilt by leading authorities to the body of his ex-wife Nina. However, there are some strange revelations that made me think otherwise.

A special report by CBS will feature these mysterious recent developments in Reiser case including an interview of Sean Sturgeon, Hans’ best friend and Nina’s former lover. A testimony by Reiser’s son is also equally intriguing as it talks about the possible involvement of the KGB.

Here’s a clip from this CBS special report:

You can also read the preview HERE.