Category Archives: open source

A list of the best free online University courses in USA and UK. Some tips to choose between them, successfully attend only the best ones and create your aside University career without spending a cent!

Today opportunities

During the last two years the number of free online University courses exploded on the web. Today it is possible to attend prestigious courses by important USA and UK Universities and receive a final certification without spending a cent.

The good news are that these courses are interesting, well structured and you have a real possibility to increase your knowledge if  approach them in the right way.

The first time you look for the free online University courses you are disoriented by the number and the many different topics they cover. The problem is to make the right selection in order not to waste time and energies for something you (and you career) don’t actually need.

How to select the right courses

1- Make a first selection between courses choosing only that are really interesting for you
2 – Check if you will receive a participation certificate if you complete the course
3 – Honestly evaluate your real, deep, interest for the courses that will not provide any written certification. I mean: “Do you really think that they will increase your knowledge and will be determinant for your career or life?”
4 – Don’t overestimate your capacities. Read very carefully the required background to attend the courses
5 – Don’t underestimate the time you need to attend the courses and do all the “homework” and the suggested readings
6 – Finally, select two (or more) courses and “Create” your free aside University career. Try to choose courses that have logical and “career path” connections between them. The important thing is what you are really learning on particular related topics you consider important for your career, not the number of disordered certification you can write on your resume.

A list of free online University courses in USA and UK

1- https://www.coursera.org/

2 – https://www.udacity.com/

3 – http://gtmooc.com/how-it-works/

4 – http://www.udemy.com/

5 – https://www.edx.org/

6 – https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/

7 – http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/course

8 – https://code.google.com/edu/security/index.html

Please, add a comment to this post to inform or recommend other courses we have not mentioned here!! Thank you! AddThis

How to install and manage Screenlets on Ubuntu

Screenlets are small applications to represent things such as sticky notes, clocks, calendars around on your Ubuntu desktop. You can launch a pre-installed screenlet from Screenlet Manager, or install a new one into the Manager for launching it. Here are the steps for installing and launching a screenlet, for example, WaterMark System Information.
- Install Screenlets Manager if it has not been added.
- Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Ubuntu Software Center.
- Enter screenlets in the Search Box.
- Select Screenlets, click the “Install” button.
- Download the screenlet e.g. “WaterMark System Information” to a folder.
- Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Screenlets.
- Click Install, select Install Screenlet and click OK.
- Browse to the folder, select the file downloaded and click “Open” to install the screenlet into the Screenlets Manager.
- Select the screenlet “WaterMark” and click “Launch/Add”. (Tips: you can add more than one WaterMark screenlet and set it to display other system information.)
More screenlets are available for installation from screenlets.org. AddThis

CD Burning Applications for Ubuntu

There are not many applications for recording optical media under Linux. On the other hand, applications for Windows that allows a user to write a CD or DVD are numerous, but the most important difference is that those available on Linux are free and / or open source, with some exceptions. But all have basically the same purpose – to write or copy a disk.

In the world of Linux, the most common applications for burning optical media are usually pre-installed with the operating system chosen by the user. If not, they can be downloaded and installed easily on almost any platform.

Here are some of the most common such programs for Ubuntu:

Applications for Gnome / GTK

Brasero

Brasero is one of the most popular tools in the world of burning CDs. It usually comes pre-installed in most distributions that use Gnome. Brasero provides the user with a very friendly and simple interface while keeping all the important features needed by a user. Brasero is an application that requires minimal resources, providing maximum functionality, all integrated in one intuitive interface.

GnomeBaker

GnomeBaker is another GTK application with the same functionality as Brasero, but with a different interface. GnomeBaker gives the user an interface similar to Nero and K3B. The difference in use depends on the visual tastes.

X-CD-Roast

X-CD-Roast is an application to burn discs with its basic functions, but comes with a relatively primitive interface. Many users might find its interface as hard to use.

KDE Applications

K3B

K3B is probably one of the most popular programs available in the Linux world. It has many advanced features and options that would satisfy most users of such a program. It is available for both KDE and Gnome. Generally, K3B is regarded as the Nero of Linux.

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LuckyBackup: Copias de Seguridad Sin Complicaciones

En estos días he estado buscando un programa que permita hacer Copias de Seguridad y que sea de uso practico, sencillo y muy intuitivo. Después de ver varios programas me he decantado sin lugar a duda para LuckyBackup. Para instalarlo es posible directamente desde los repositorios de nuestro sistema (Ubuntu y derivados) o directamente desde su propia Web y bajar la ultima versión 0.4.4 . Yo he instalado esta ultima versión y tengo que confirmar que es el mejor programa de Copias de Seguridad que he encontrado hasta el momento. LuckyBackup es muy fácil de configurar y permite efectuar diferentes sincronizaciones y mantener a salvo nuestros datos y todos los archivos. También he echo diferentes pruebas pasando carpetas a memorias USB, Disco Duro Externo y Disco Duro Interno, todo sin ningún problema (Descarga LuckyBackup).

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A brief but useful video about using yahoo.com (and others) through WebMail on Thunderbird 3.1 (Windows version)

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How to read yahoo.com (and many others) email accounts on Thunderbird 3.1 (Ubuntu and Windows tips)

Many on line email providers don’t allow you to use their accounts with POP email clients such as Thunderbird 3.1. To solve this “matter” we have a couple of possible solutions: FreePOPs and WebMail. Today, we  will discuss about Webmail that we  tested on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and Windows XP. WebMail is substantially a  Thunderbird’s add-ons but it is not  featured by Mozilla. Using this add-on you are able to manage Yahoo, Hotmail, mail.com, GMail, Libero, and AOL email accounts. The installation is similar in Ubuntu and Windows;  on both, you have to install the core WebMail add-on and restart Thunderbird then you can add all the other components (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc..) you prefer. Then you have to modify the Thunderbird server settings following the instructions provided by WebMail:

POP
Server Type : POP
Incoming Server: localhost
UserName : username@domain

SMTP
Server Name: localhost
UserName : username@domain

Do not forget to set the Connection Security to None.

Only on Ubuntu, you need also to manually modify the incoming and outgoing ports because when you use Thunderbird through WebMail on Ubuntu, you will have a “could not connect to server local host; the connection was refused” message.  This problem can be easily solved substituting the default ports on both WebMail add-on and Thunderbird ports:

- Thunderbird —> Edit —> Account Settings. Highlight the account you want to manage and go to Server Settings. There you can modify the POP Server Mail port setting it to a number bigger than 1000 (in my case I put 1250). Then go to Outgoing Servers and Edit the SMTP account you want to modify (I changed the default port to 1025).

- Thunderbird —> Tools —> Add-ons —> WebMail —> Preferences and put the same port numbers you have set on the previous step.

All this because ports below 1024 seems to be blocked on Ubuntu (if you know why, please post a comment).

For security, restart Thunderbird and it will immediately download and send your emails. Last but not least, if your on line email account is not supported by WebMail, do not forget to try FreePOPs. AddThis mp3 link

Prey: a multiplatform, open source anti-thefth free software for laptops

What about losing your laptop? Obviously the chances to find it and have it back are very few! But there are several software you can install on your laptop to trace the ip and geo-location of te laptop and with a bit of fortune you could find it. Prey is one of these programs you can use and it is particularly interesting because it is open source and free up to three laptops. After the download of the proper version for your OS (Linux, Windows, Mac OS X or Android) you have to run it on your machine and configure it through a very simple interface (on Ubuntu: Applications —> System Tools —> Prey Configurator). Do not forget to select Enable guest account and Wifi autoconnect to improve the possibilities to trace your laptop. You are also asked to provide an email account where you will receive the geo-location reports if your laptop is stolen. When you activate your Prey account do not forget to fill in the Configuration and Modules tabs. Personally we suggest to switch to ON the following commands: Auto update, Notify new reports and all the commands contained in the left column of the Modules tab. At this point, if your laptop is missed, you have to log in your on-line Prey account and, in the Configuration tab, switch the Missing option on YES. Since this moment, Prey software on your laptop is activated and will start sending reports to your email and to your Prey webpage. Last but not least, to better protect your laptop I suggest to hide or cancel the Prey Configurator icon from the OS menu (in Ubuntu: System —> Preferences —> Main Menu —> System Tools and deselect Prey Configurator). AddThis mp3 link

Linux on Laptops!

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! AddThis mp3 link

BitNami Stacks: a multiplatform opensource program to install your favourite applications and all the dependencies necessary to run them!

BitNami LogoThis 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! AddThis mp3 link