Computer Borders

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), Frank has added an interesting post about Project Neon which is the best solution for people who desire to have the new nightly builds service for Amarok. Following the simple instructions contained in Project Neon you will able to enjoy the last developing packages for Amarok 2.0 without waiting the release of the stable version. Project Neon also provides simple instructions to install Amarok 2.0 on your Ubuntu in just five minutes. Last but not least, it is necessary to remember that Amarok 2.0 is not in its final version  yet and it could potentially create some serious problems on your PC. To install it just add:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/project-neon/ubuntu hardy main

in your sources (/etc/apt/sources.list) and the install it using the following command lines:

$ sudo apt-get uptdate

$ sudo apt-get install amarok-nightly

Enjoy it!

This week, in our Freeware Page we have posted a brief review about Pictomio a very good program for “3D accelerated browsing of your photo and video”. Pictomio is more advanced than many similar software and its graphic appearance is very attractive. Pictomio has a full range of commands which allow you to easily organize and manage your photographs collections in at just few clicks. I spent, more or less, one hour to understand all (I suppose) the different features supported by this freeware and, at the end, I can say that my experience has been more than positive. What negatively surprised me is that Pictomio does not allow you to upload your images and videos to ftp servers or websites like Flickr .com. To sum up, Pictomio is something you have certainly to try because in the future with more social features it could become a benchmark for photo and video manager category. Interesting!

We are sorry for the delay in uploading this new post but we had some technical problems. It happens! This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have posted a couple of simple but effective tips to choose how many Kernels you want you see when starting up your Ubuntu 8.04. Using Add/Remove Programs it is possible to install the “StartUp Manager” program which allows you to easily choose the number of kernels you prefer. Moreover we have suggested an alternative command line “delete” and “save” solution for the people who prefer to solve this inconvenience without installing new software. Good work!

More or less two years ago, at the very beginning stage of this blog, we wrote a post about Foxit Reader, a freeware software which allows you to read pdf files without using Acrobat reader or other proprietary programs. Today, in our Freeware Page, we have written a simple but effective post about the new features contained in Foxit Reader 2.3, the new updated version of this wonderful software. First of all it is necessary to focus on the new features contained in the Tools menu which allow you to typewrite, draw or commenting your pdf files even if they are locked by their authors. Using Foxit Reader you can actually personalize your pdf documents adding notes and -de facto- improving their value for your own goals. Please, do not forgive to save an extra copy of your original pdf files if you do not want to delete all the comments/drawings you have added. Moreover, the new version of Foxit Reader includes also a  player to watch or listen the multimedia elements coming with pdf files. Last but not least, in my experience Foxit Reader 2.3 contains more features and it is simpler to use than its Ubuntu competitor PDF Editor. A freeware to try!

This week, in our Freeware Page, we have posted a review about CDBurnerXP which, in our opinion is the best freeware in its category and contains more effective features than some -commercial- competitors. CDBurnerXP is a powerful freeware which allows you to burn CD, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in a very intuitive mode and faster than using other proprietary software as, for example, Roxio CD Creator. During our tests CDBurnerXP was very stable and easy to use. Using CDBurnerXP we were able to create backup copies of our DVDs in just few minutes. Another interesting features is the possibility to burn or create ISO and to convert bin/nrg formats to a more usable ISO version. Last but not least CDBurnerXP works on Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server and Vista. Highly recommended!!!

More than one year ago we wrote a short post about creating pdf files using Openoffice (also in its portable version), now, in our Freeware Page, we would like to talk about two interesting Web 2.0 websites which allow you to publish and share your documents. On one hand, Scribd.com is an interesting website you can use to upload and share files in the following formats: Microsoft Word (doc, docx), Microsoft Powerpoint (ppt, pptx, pps), Microsoft Excel (xls, xlsx), PDF (pdf, ps), Open Office Documents (odt, odp, sxw, sxi, etc.), Images (jpg, png, gif, tiff) and Text Documents (txt, rtf). On the other hand, Issuu.com is very intuitive to use but very effective. Using Issuu you can upload a pdf files transforming it into a “cool magazine format”. In few words, you can modify, with just a click, your pdf file in a browsable magazine, with active links and notes. Moreover you can also insert your “brand new” magazine as a htlm widget directly in your blog or website. Recommended!

This week in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have tested VirtualBox: a multiplatform virtual machine for x86 machines which allows you to test an OS from a simple .iso image. VirtualBox is easy to install and, just following the instructions contained in its interactive menus, you can setup your virtual OS in few minutes. We strongly recommend to be careful when you decide the quantity of RAM for your virtual OS. It is better to well balance it with the total RAM of your PC. When configuring the virtual HD for your OS it is better to select the “Dynamically Expanding Image” option. By doing this, your virtual OS will use all the hard disk it needs when in use. Last but not least, VirtualBox has a specific virtual USB controller which allows you to connect any USB devices to your virtual machines without installing specific drivers. Strongly recommended for all that people who like to test new OS without formatting their HD each time!

Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have had a complete review about Cairo-Dock: a nice dock for Linux. Cairo-Doc is very easy to install and it has sophisticated graphic effects and it runs without installing compiz. The new Cairo-Dock version (1.5.5.4) has been released few weeks ago and it seems to have more features of the original MAC OS X dock. Personally I recommend the installation of Cairo-Dock to all that people who want to integrate a MAC OS X stylish dock in Linux without spending much time; in fact the .deb package allow you to install it in few minutes. I like this dock but, in my opinion, Cairo-Dock represents the best “second choice” after AWN (for more information about AWN, please, feel free to read our dedicated previous post).

LinTube is a new website whose purpose is to find and collect videos about Linux and all its distributions. LinTube webpage is very essential and full of Google Ads but it is very well structured and with just few clicks is possible to find the topics you are looking for and the related videos. At the moment, the main categories are: Commercials,Compiz, Distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mandriva, Slackware), Fun Stuff, GNOME, HowTo, KDE, Linux Events, Linux Gadgets, Mediacenter, Misc, Security. LinTube is always updated and on the video linked are very well selected, the majority of them are very interesting and you will discover yourself spending much time on this website. For more, brief information, please, feel free to visit our Linux Page (in Spanish).

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have posted a short description about some features regarding BitNami when you decide to install CMS under Linux. Anyway, BitNami is a powerful application which allows you to easily install your favorite software and all the necessary dependencies to run it. BitNami Stacks is a multiplatform software and all its stacks are available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. Using BitNami you will fastly able to install software for:

-Infrastructure (DjangoStack, JRubyStack, LAMPStack, MAMPStack, RubyStack, SAMPStack, WAMPStack)
-Blog (Roller, WordPress)
-Bug-Tracking (Mantis, Redmine, Trac)
-CMS (Alfresco, Drupal, Joomla, KnowledgeTree)
-ECM (Alfresco, KnowledgeTree)
-Forum (phpBB)
-Planning (Tracks)
-Poll Management (Opina)
-Portal Server (Liferay)
-Version Control (Subversion)
-Wiki (DokuWiki, MediaWiki)
-eLearning (Moodle)

Moreover, BitNami Stacks do not need any virtual machine to run and they do not interfere with programs already installed on your PC. Last but not least, all the software installed by BitNamiStacks are free to use under the terms of the Apache License 2.0, so… try BitNami and enjoy the freedom!