This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have posted a new ebook (in EPUB format) reader for Ubuntu: Lucidor. This software is not a simple ebook reader but it also allows you to search ebooks through an embedded search engine which is able to scan Google Books, epubcatalog.org, Lexcycle, Feedbook and – of course- your personal local library. Unfortunately, the Lucidor search engine does not support the Project Gutenberg that, we believe, at the moment, is the most interesting free project for ebooks. Lucidor is complex, well structured and flexible. To conclude we would also suggest another reader FBReader that has not any search engine but it manage very well the EPUB ebooks and offers very readable texts. Something to try!

This week in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we posted a brief suggestion about a problem (better a bug) we found when you used Imagewriter. In fact we tried to write an image on a USB key but it stopped different times reporting in “Details”, as last information /dev/sdh successfully unmounted; where sdh was obviously our USB key. First of all, using (System – Administration) Synaptic Package Manager, we tried to reinstall Imagewriter but only after some time on internet we solve the mistery… For some reasons Imagewriter runs better if the .img file is as near as possible to the Home folder. In our case we copied the image file on the User folder after the Home and in the next test we made we successfully wrote the file on sdh (our USB device). We hope this simple tip could be useful for some of you!

As some of you have already noticed, yesterday we decided to add a tweeter option to this blog. Please, feel free to enjoy it!

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we tried to find how to freely convert pdf to html files. Unfortunately we have not been able to discover a satisfying solution. In fact, first of all (1) we upload our complex pdf file (text, color drawing and pictures) on Gmail email and we sent it to ourself. When we opened the email we click on “view as html” option and we were able to read the text (unfortunately too tiny) without drawings and pictures. It was not bad but we were really far from what we were looking for. As second experiment (2) we tried to use Kword and we had (as html) text and pictures but there were many incongruences between the texts and the borders and we missed some phrases. In few words, we had a better look but a worse result. Then (3) we installed pdftohtml using Synaptic Package Manager but unfortunately we were not satisfied from the html file we obtained. At this point we concentrated our researches on a free online solution and in order we tried: “Online conversion tools for Adobe PDF documents“, “convertpdftohtml“, “pdftextonline“, and “pdf-search-engine” but the results were not good. Unfortunately, we dismissed and I confess we could not find a solution to solve the task but we think that the “Kword solution”, if improved, is not far from a good solution in converting the file from pdf to html.  Please, if you have suggestions about this topic, feel free to add a comment. Thank you.

This week, in our Freeware Page, we posted a brief review about Gmail Tips, a terrific pdf printable guide with tons of useful information to better manage your gmail account. You can decide to read online the document at www.gmail.com/tips or download the printable pdf version. As for martial arts the tips you receive are related to your skills and are progressively more difficult. At the “white belt” level, I am sure, you will find some feature you have been using for years but when you become a “black belt” or a “Gmail master” you are able to deeply enjoy all the Gmail’s most useful “secret” features. For example you learn how to remotely sign out your Gmail account when you forget it open at the office or in an internet cafe’. Moreover, properly using the Gmail  filters, you will able to send automatic responses reducing the  time wasted in routine replies. We are sure that everyone will find other useful tips depending on what he/she is looking for. Useful!

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we added a brief post about www.linux-on-laptops.com: a very useful website where you can find tons of useful information about the best Linux version for your laptop. Linux-on-laptops is graphically very poor but the information it contains are terrific; in fact you just select your laptop brand and in a new webpage you are able to find all the laptop models related to that specific brand. With a couple of clicks you select your favourite Linux OS and you are redirect to external webpages and blogs where you receive all the necessary information to quick install that specific Linux version on your laptop. In a week time we made many tests and we found all the infos we were looking for. Moreover, linux-on-laptops is really updated with the most recent laptop models and Linux versions. Recommended!

Today, in our Freeware Page, we posted a brief review about SmartViper, an online search engine which allows you to analyze your website and all the similar sites built by your competitors. SmartViper is very simple to use: you can directly insert the web-address of the site you want to analyze or a keyword to find your direct competitors and find datas related to their websites. SmartViper has a double goal: you can study deeper your site and try to improve it or find the “winning” features your competitors use to predominate. SmartViper generates complete and interesting reports which are full of links to its blog where you can learn more about developing some peculiar characteristics of your website. Something to try!

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we added a post about a new fantastic online service to manage and add software sources to your Sources List (System – Administration – Software Sources). Adding the right repository sources in Ubuntu is essential for a more practical and fast management of your OS. In fact, using the correct sources list you can be sure that your system is always updated and safe. RepoGen has been created for all these reasons. It also automatically compiles all the necessary GPG keys and you have just to add them (one by one) running the suggested command in the Terminal. We tested RepoGen on two different PCs running both Ubuntu 8.04 & Ubuntu 9.04 and were able to update our Software Sources in less of 15 minutes and without discovering a single problem. To conclude we strongly believe that RepoGen is an online service that can help you to save a lot of time and keep your Ubuntu always up-to-date! Strongly recommended!

Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we posted some brief information about the new Linux beta version of Skype (2.1.0.47). The updated Skype distribution contains a new chat feature with an integrated SMS service. Also the audio and video codecs have been developed and a bluetooth option has been added. This beta release seems to be very stable and we hadn’t any problems during our tests. Skype released different versions related to main Linux distributions: Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSuse and a very useful tar.bz2 for all the other Linux versions. Recommended!

This week, in our Freeware Page, we posted some thoughts on pdf readers. Some days ago I had some problems with my office Windows XP PC because the hard disk space was ending. As usual, I cleaned up the disk using CCleaner and I earned ca. 200MB of space and proceed to compress  the hard disk. Unfortunately, this strategy did not solve my problems so I decided to have a deep look into the numbers of Kb each program occupied on the HD and I was surprised in noticing that Acrobat Reader needs more than 200MB of HD space to work. Then I focus my attention on Foxit Reader and I discovered that it occupied more or less 7MB of HD space. Obviously I disinstall Acrobat Reader and earned ca. 190MB of hard disk. Today, I am not able to affirm that I solved all my problems with my PC but I am confident that, with an intelligent use of CCleaner, I will able to go ahead for another couple of months without contacting the administrator for a new HD and stop my work for (sic) at least a couple of days. Something to think about….