Firefox 3 will Kill 3 Birds with 1 Stone

The release date of the third major edition of the hottest web browser on the planet is just around the corner. If all things went according to planned, Firefox 3, codenamed "Gran Paradiso" will be unleashed some time this June.

Firefox has really come a long way and has already revolutionized the way people browse the web. Let's look ahead and analyze the potential impact of this forthcoming mega release.

*Firefox 3 user share will continue to rise

It will start with the grand release plan -- Download Day (Can I call it D-Day?). Mozilla is aiming to set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24-hour period. I think this is a brilliant publicity stunt that will surely pique the curiosity of non-firefox users -- they will try Firefox, they will like Firefox, and they will spread the word. End result = shocking rise of Firefox user share.

*Firefox 3 will give free and open source software a much-needed boost

What's good for Firefox is good for free and open source software. As growing number of people will embrace Firefox, the "free-software-is-bad-quality" mentality will be eliminated. People will be more aware of the importance of free and open source software, and they will never lock themselves again from the bondage of proprietary software.

*Firefox 3 will make Microsofties pee their pants worry

The wound that Microsoft got from their failure to buy Yahoo is still fresh. The release of Firefox 3 will definitely add insult to injury since Microsoft have dreams of stealing some "Search" market share from Google. We all know that Google and Mozilla are best friends -- now you do the math. As Microsoft's IE user share dwindles, so does Steve Ballmer's patience. If I were he, I would throw the desk this time instead of the chair. What if Microsoft will try to buy Mozilla to get Firefox? Now that would be a good idea for another article :)

What are your expectations of the upcoming Firefox 3? Ask me again and I will answer you this time with only 3 words:

IT WILL ROCK!

Ubuntu/Xubuntu 8.04 Macbook Pro Sound and Keyboard Fixes

After getting the wireless card (Wi-Fi) working in Xubuntu Hardy Heron on my Macbook Pro (Penryn), I went on by fixing the keyboard (special keys) and the sound.

The keyboard fix is actually very simple. I haven't seen a detailed tutorial on fixing the special keys for the MBP (Penryn) anywhere, so I'm writing this as a guide to others that might also need help.

A package called "pommed" is all that is needed to get the special keys (like brightness and volume controls and eject button) to work. However, the pommed version 1.15 that is currently available from Ubuntu repo doesn't work at all on the Penryn Macbook Pro. You will need the version 1.17. Where to get it? Thanks to Debian for already including pommed 1.17.deb binary installer from their repo, so you don't have to compile it from source. All you have to do is this:

1. Open Synaptic Package Manager.

2. Go to "Settings", and then "Repositories".

3. Click on the "Third-party software" tab, then click add...

4. Copy and paste this:

deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian lenny main

5. After adding, you have to "Reload".

6. Search for pommed 1.17 and install it.

7. You are done.

Fixing the audio problem is a lot easier. In fact, sound is supported in Macbook Pro, but it has detection glitch. You can resolve this by simply adding:

options snd_hda_intel model=mbp3 to /etc/modprobe.d/options.

Here's how:

1. open /etc/modprobe.d/options in a text editor, or just use this command in Xubuntu:

sudo mousepad /etc/modprobe.d/options

2. Simply paste this at the bottom:

options snd_hda_intel model=mbp3

3. Save and reboot.

4. Open the "volume control" and make sure to put the volume level up when testing the sound.

5. You are done.

My Macbook Pro and Xubuntu Hardy Heron are getting along quite well now. However, I'm still in the process of tweaking because there are still some minor issues that need to be addressed. Like the CPU temperature is several degrees hotter when running extensively in Xubuntu than when in OS X. Any suggestions?

That's all for now. See you later.

The Anatomy of a Crappy Linux Distro

All Linux distributions are not created equal. Some are superior in quality while others are so full of crap.

I have tried plenty of distros my entire life and have experienced using those that made my blood boil. I'm naturally a patient man, however, I have to be honest and share to you (based on my own experience) some of the things that can make me think of a distro as a piece of rubbish.

For me, a Linux distro is crappy when:


1. Installation takes hours to completely finish despite using a high-end machine.

2. It fails to install even after using every given boot parameter.

3. The installer fails to configure the boot loader properly.

4. The size of the system installer is more than 1GB but its included or out-of-the-box applications are mostly not what I wanted.

5. Its package manager can mess up the installed applications after a software update.

6. It sacrifices performance for beauty.

7. It tries to look like Mac OS X or Windows Vista.

8. It has a lightweight window manager but it's slower than a walking turtle.

9. Its project website and help forums treat you like s#!%.

10. It fails to give you necessary updates and security fixes.

11. Its latest distribution version is way buggier than the previous version.

12. Its stability is equal to that of Windows 2000 Me.

13. Have you used a crappy Linux distro? Feel free to add your annoyances here.


I hate those crappy distros, but I still love Linux :)

12 Essential Exercises for Geeks

Sitting all day in front of the computer is not exactly a healthy habit. However, if your job demands you to be at your desk all day long, then perhaps you should try some of these simple exercises that could help save your life in the long run.

1. Try to stand up every hour to stretch or walk around a bit.

2. Give your eyes a break from focusing on your computer screen. Stretch your calves as this will help prevent blood clots from developing in your legs -- very common among middle-aged computer users.

3. From time to time, stretch your neck. Flex your head forward/backward, side to side and look right and left.

4. If you spend a lot of time typing, roll your wrists regularly to help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.

5. To help improve blood circulation, roll your ankles regularly.

6. If you tend to hunch in front of the keyboard, you can counter this by performing this exercise: open your arms wide as if you are going to hug someone, rotate your wrists externally (thumbs going up and back) and pull your shoulders back.

7. Contract your abdominal and gluteus muscles, hold them there for a few seconds, then release. Repeat this for every few minutes all day long while you are working at your desk.

8. Stretch your arms, legs, neck and torso while sitting. This will help prevent you from feeling stiff.

9. Purchase a hand gripper. They are cheap, small and light. When you have to read something on the screen, you probably won't be using your hands very often so squeeze your gripper. It is an excellent forearm workout.

10. Get an elastic band (also cheap, small and light) and use it to do the actions mentioned in #6. As you are stretching, you are also working the muscles to some extent.

11. While sitting, lift up your legs on the balls of your feet and set them down. Repeat these until your legs are comfortably tired. Then repeat it again about 10 minutes later. Do this whole routine for about an hour or so. This will exercise your calves.

12. If you have a long downtime, like when rebooting after a program installation in Windows Vista/XP ☺, take advantage of it to get up and try something more ambitious such as doing a few push-ups, sit-ups, and/or jumping jacks.

Although the exercises above can contribute to a healthy and balanced lifestyle, our body needs a more active and stressful workout at least 3 times a week. I'm no health expert, but I strive each day to follow these simple geek-saving tips. As they say, a healthy mind requires a healthy body, and vice versa.

You might also want to check out 15 Healthy Snacks for Linux Gurus.

Five of the Best Free/Open-source Wiki Software

Wiki software is a kind of collaborative software that runs a wiki system. This usually allows web pages to be created and edited using a common web browser. It is generally implemented as a software engine that runs on one or more web servers, with the content stored in a file system, and content changes kept in a relational database management system.

In addition to the Wiki engine itself that employs the wiki technology, Wiki software could include all of the software required to run a wiki, which might contain a web server such as Apache. In some cases, like in ProjectForum, or in some WikiServers, the web server and wiki engine are bundled together as one self-contained system that can often make them easier to install.

The most popular of Wiki engines are Free/Open-source software, often available under the GNU General Public License (GPL). I have here a list of five of the most widely used Wiki software at present:

TWiki
TWiki is a structured wiki, typically used to run a collaboration platform, knowledge or document management system, a knowledge base, or team portal. Users can create wiki applications using the TWiki Markup Language, and developers can extend its functionality with plugins.

Major features:

* Revision control - complete audit trail, also for metadata such as attachments and access control settings
* Fine-grained access control - restrict read/write/rename on site level, web level, page level based on user groups
* Extensible TWiki markup language
* TinyMCE based WYSIWYG editor
* Dynamic content generation with TWiki variables
* Forms and reporting - capture structured content, report on it with searches embedded in pages
* Built in database - users can create wiki applications using the TWiki Markup Language
* Skinneable user interface
* RSS/Atom feeds and e-mail notification
* Hundreds of plugins

MoinMoin
MoinMoin is a wiki engine implemented in Python, initially based on the PikiPiki wiki engine.

The feature set of fine grained access control, simple user groups, GUI editor, easy install, simple but efficient spam protection, easy theming combined with a simple code base makes it often the wiki of choice for many open source projects like Apache, Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora, as well as many corporate wikis.


MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a web-based wiki software application used by all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, all wikis hosted by Wikia, and many other wikis, including some of the largest and most popular ones. Originally developed to serve the needs of the free content Wikipedia encyclopedia, today it has also been deployed by companies for internal knowledge management, and as a content management system. Notably, Novell uses it to operate several of its high traffic websites.

MediaWiki is written in the PHP programming language, and can use either the MySQL or PostgreSQL relational database management system. MediaWiki is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License while its documentation is released under the GFDL and partly in the public domain, making it free and open source software.

The current software was originally written for Wikipedia by Lee Daniel Crocker, based on the user interface design of Magnus Manske, a developer and student of the University of Cologne. Wikipedia had originally used a small wiki engine called UseModWiki written in Perl. Wikipedia was later switched to Manske's PHP-based software to offer more functionality. Increasing usage caused load problems, leading Crocker to re-write the software with a more scalable MySQL database backend. Later, Brion Vibber would take up the role of release manager and most active developer.


PmWiki
PmWiki is free wiki software written by Patrick R. Michaud in the PHP programming language.

PmWiki is designed to be easy to install and customize as an engine for creating professional web sites with one to any number of content authors. The software focuses on ease-of-use, so people with little IT or wiki experience will be able to put it to use. Despite having such low barriers to install a basic wiki, the software is also designed to be extremely extensible and customizable.

The PmWiki wiki markup shares similarities with MediaWiki (used by Wikipedia). The PmWiki markup engine is highly customizable, allowing adding, modifying or disabling markup rules, and it can support other markup languages. As an example, the WikiCreole specifications can be enabled.


DokuWiki
DokuWiki is wiki software aimed at small companies' documentation needs. DokuWiki is licensed under GPL 2 and written in the programming language PHP. It works on plain text files and thus needs no database. Its syntax is similar to the one used by MediaWiki and makes sure the data files remain readable outside the wiki.

Main features:

* Revision control - stores all versions of each wiki page, allowing the user to compare the current version with any older version.
* Access control - can be handled by a user manager which allows users and groups of users to be defined, and an access control list where an admin user can define permissions on page and namespace level.
* Plugins - has a generic plugin interface which simplifies the process of writing and maintaining plugins. There are over 300 plugins available.
* Templates - the appearance of the wiki can be defined by a template. There are already various templates provided by the development community.
* Internationalization and localization - supports Unicode (UTF-8), so languages such as Chinese, Thai, and Hebrew can be displayed. DokuWiki can be configured in about 40 languages.
* Caching - stores the rendered output of parsed wiki pages to reduce server load.
* Full text search - has an integrated indexed search with which a user can search for keywords on the wiki.

What wiki software are you using? Tell us about it by leaving us a comment.

Pinoy Python User Group -- Pinoy PUG

This is an update to my post entitled “Will Real Python Hackers Please Stand Up”.

I would like to inform everyone that our Pinoy Python User Group (shall we call it Pinoy PUG?) is finally up and running. Thanks to JM for having the initiative to kick things off. JM is currently managing the group and is now sending invitations to those who are interested. You can comment here or drop me an email if you want to become a member of Pinoy Python User Group.

We’ve only just begun, so we need more Python enthusiasts to help take this group to another level.

That's all for now. Thank you and happy hacking ;-)

UPDATE: Join us at Pinoy Python User Group

Dual-booting Fedora 9 and Xubuntu 8.04 on Macbook Pro

I wrote a preview of Fedora 9 "Sulphur" during its release day and said that I'm going to post an update soon. Now that I have tried and tested F-9 on my 4th gen. Macbook Pro (Penryn), it's time for me to give you a concise summary of the Sulphur experience and how it compares to that of Hardy Heron.

As most of you may know, Linux distros and Apple hardware are not meant for each other. Running Linux on a Mac will almost always give you headaches, as wireless card, audio, and keyboard among others will usually not function as normal. I have personally encountered this while using Ubuntu/Xubuntu on Macbook Pro. Because Fedora 9 is more recent than Ubuntu 8.04, I was hoping against all hope that I would get better hardware support for my MBP. So, I dived into dual booting Xubuntu and Fedora on my Mac.

Since I've already installed Xubuntu, setting up Fedora for dual boot was pretty straightforward. It was my first time installing Fedora via Live CD, and I must say that it was a breeze compared to the old and standard installation method that utilizes Anaconda. The Fedora Live CD installation was Ubuntu-like in terms of newbie-friendliness. The only difficult part was the partitioning. I resized my Xubuntu partition to make way for Fedora. After that, it was smooth sailing until the system installation was completed. And then there were the headaches that I have mentioned above.

Fedora 9 and Ubuntu/Xubuntu Hardy Heron are almost the same in terms of hardware support for the Macbook Pro (Penryn) -- no Wi-Fi, no audio, no keyboard special keys, and no backlight functions. However, I find it interesting that the "eject" button is working out-of-the-box in Fedora while in Ubuntu it did not.

In terms of desktop features and ease-of-use, Fedora still can't beat Ubuntu. If you are used to using Synaptic, then you will be easily frustrated with Fedora's slow and slightly buggy package manager. Like after updating the installed packages, I was informed that there were dependency issues that need to be resolved. Also, I was not given an option to install the essential proprietary driver for my NVIDIA graphics card unlike in Ubuntu.

Despite the difficulties that I have encountered in Fedora 9, I'm still impressed about several things. One is its speed -- its Gnome desktop is at par with the lighter XFCE in Xubuntu in terms of quickness and responsiveness. The speedy boot/start-up process in Fedora is also worth mentioning. Another thing that I love about Fedora is its excellent font and HTML rendering in Firefox. I didn't have to tweak or install anything to get it right.

Although I must admit that I still need more time to fully explore this latest version of Fedora and to fix the hardware issues that I've talked about, I am relatively at peace. Wondering why? Because it feels good to have the best of both worlds inside my MBP -- the stable and secure Fedora and the light and hassle free Xubuntu.

Free/Open-source Statistical Software

If you are looking for a computer program that can help you get the results of standard statistical procedures and statistical significance tests without the need for low-level numerical programming, then a statistical package is what you need.

A statistical package is a suite of computer programs that are specialized for statistical analysis. Most statistical packages also provide facilities for data management. Statistical software is both available commercially and for free. However, I can only recommend those that are free and open source not only for the reason that it comes without a price tag, but also because it has the same quality as most of those that are proprietary.

I have here a list of some of the most known Free and Open source statistical packages as a guide to those who are looking for one:

HippoDraw
HippoDraw is a powerful object oriented statistical data analysis package written in C++, with user interaction via a Qt-based GUI and a Python scriptable interface. It is being developed by Paul Kunz at SLAC, primarily for the analysis and presentation of particle physics and astrophysics data, but can be equally well used in other fields where data handling is important.

HippoDraw uses ROOT and implements many of the features also found in Java Analysis Studio. HippoDraw by default reads and writes files in an XML-based format, and can also read astrophysics FITS files and read data objects produced by ROOT.

HippoDraw can be used as a Python extension module, allowing users to use HippoDraw data objects with the full power of the Python language. This includes other scientific Python extension modules such Numeric and numarray, whose use with HippoDraw can lead to a large increase in processing speed, even for ROOT objects.


gretl
gretl is an open-source software application for compiling and interpreting data mainly for econometrics. It is an acronym for Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library. It has a graphical user interface and can be used together with X-12-ARIMA, TRAMO/SEATS, and R. It is written in C, uses GTK as widget toolkit for creating its GUI, and uses gnuplot for generating graphs. As a complement to the GUI it also has a command line interface.

gretl includes the possibility to output models as LaTeX files. Its own data format is XML, and it can also import Excel, Gnumeric, OpenDocument Spreadsheet, Stata, EViews, RATS 4, GNU Octave, Comma Separated Values, PcGive, JMulTi, and ASCII files. It can export to GNU Octave, GNU R, Comma Separated Values, JMulTi, and PcGive file formats.

Besides English, gretl is also available in Basque, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.


OpenEpi
OpenEpi is a free, web-based, open source, operating system-independent series of programs for use in epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, and medicine, providing a number of epidemiologic and statistical tools for summary data OpenEpi was developed in JavaScript and hypertext markup language (HTML) and can be run in browsers supporting these languages, such as Microsoft Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera, on a number of operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. The program can be run from the OpenEpi website or downloaded and run without a web connection. The source code and documentation is downloadable and freely available for use by other investigators.


Ploticus
Ploticus is a free, GPL, non-interactive software package for producing plots, charts, and graphics from data. It was developed in a Unix/C environment and runs on various Unix, Linux, and win32 systems. Ploticus is good for automated or just-in-time graph generation, handles date and time data nicely, and has basic statistical capabilities. It allows significant user control over colors, styles, options and details.


R (programming language)
The R programming language, sometimes described as GNU S, is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It was originally created by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and is now developed by the R Development Core Team. R is considered by its developers to be an implementation of the S programming language, with semantics derived from Scheme. The name R comes partly from the first name of the two original authors, and partly as a word play on the name 'S'. The S language has become a de facto standard among statisticians for the development of statistical software.

R is widely used for statistical software development and data analysis. R's source code is freely available under the GNU General Public License, and pre-compiled binary versions are provided for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and several Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. R uses a command line interface, though several graphical user interfaces are available.


Shogun
Shogun is written in C++. It offers numerous algorithms and data structures for machine learning problems.

The focus of Shogun is on kernel machines such as support vector machines for regression and classification problems. Shogun also offers a full implementation of Hidden Markov models. The core software itself is written in C++ and offers interfaces for MATLAB, Octave, Python and R. Shogun has been under active development since 1999. Today there is a vibrant user community all over the world using Shogun as a base for research and education, and contributing to the core package.

As Shogun was developed with bioinformatics applications in mind it is capable of processing huge datasets consisting of up to 10 million samples. Shogun supports the use of pre-calculated kernels. It is also possible to use a combined kernel i.e. a kernel consisting of a linear combination of arbitrary kernels over different domains. The coefficients or weights of the linear combination can be learned as well. For this purpose Shogun offers a multiple kernel learning functionality.


ROOT
ROOT is an object-oriented software package developed by CERN. It was originally designed for particle physics data analysis and contains several features specific to this field, but it is also commonly used in other applications such as astronomy and data mining.


Weka
Weka (Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis) is a popular suite of machine learning software written in Java, developed at the University of Waikato. Weka is a collection of machine learning algorithms for data mining tasks. The algorithms can either be applied directly to a dataset or called from your own Java code. Weka contains tools for data pre-processing, classification, regression, clustering, association rules, and visualization. It is also well suited for developing new machine learning schemes.


JMulTi
JMulTi is an open-source interactive software for econometric analysis, specialised in univariate and multivariate time series analysis. It has a Java graphical user interface.

25 Coolest and Funniest Tux Wallpapers

People just can't get enough of Tux, the world-renowned penguin mascot of Linux. I'm saying this because my collection of "30 Coolest and Funniest Tux Icons" has already received a mind-blowing number of hits in just a short period of time. Because of that, I decided to give Tux lovers another treat by handing out my list of twenty-five coolest, funniest, and maybe cutest Tux wallpapers. So without any more delay, here they are:

Note: click on the images to see full size

1. Tux Pirate


2. Black Tux


3. Stone Age Tux


4. Tiny Tux


5. Star Wars Tux


6. Rocket Tux


7. Prisoner Tux


8. Homer Tux


9. Evil Tux


10. Grammatically Incorrect Tux Pirate


11. iPhone Tux


12. Tux Art


13. Gambler Tux


14. Techie Tux


15. Apple-eating Tux


16. Tux of Zorro


17. Sky Tux-apple


18. Tux Guevara


19. South Park Tux


20. Tux Graffiti


21. Glowing Tux


22. Silver Tux


23. Killer Tux


24. Tux World


25. Giant Tux



You may also want to checkout my other wallpaper collections:
*20 Coolest Linux Distro-themed Wallpapers
*25 Coolest Linux Wallpapers

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