Category Archives: Noticias

Google Reader will be soon out of service… What’s the next best solution? netvibes.com or theoldreader.com?

At this point it’s history: Google will be out of service by the next July. It could appear nonsense but I still think that RSS readers are the most flexible solution for people who need to stay updated. Social media represent a possible solution but, in my opinion, nothing is better and more powerful than RSS.

Digg.com has promptly announced the launch of its own alternative online reader but, for now, none is able to say when it will be ready. Moreover Digg has not provided any information about this new RSS reader and so we cannot comment any of its potential feature neither compare it with the “old” Google Reader.

Surfing the web, many possible alternatives will pop-up but just few are the right ones if you don’t want to wait Digg.com. At the moment netvibes.com (in the past it was also known as bloglines.com) is the most immediate solution because allows you to import OPML – XML setting from your Google Reader. In fact, you can save all your Google Reader settings in a OPML – XML file just using the Import/Export panel into the Settings Menu (Download your data through Takeout) into the Google Reader. Netvibes.com represents an easy and fast alternative but I personally don’t like the graphic layout offered by this free online service. It is easy to use, really flexible and cozy but it doesn’t run properly on old computers because dated hardware, with inadequate graphic cards or small RAM, will slow down your OS when you visit netvibes.com. Last but not least you can decided to keep private your RSS selection, share it on social media or allow people to visit directly the webpage containing all the feeds you selected and/or just a single RSS box.

My other choice is represented by t heoldreader.com that is the real successor of Google Reader. Theoldreader.com has the same features than the Google Reader and it is really nice to see and read if you like the clean, evergreen layouts. Theoldreader.com allows you to sign in using your Google account and it is possible to import the OPLM -XML configuration file you saved from your personal Google Reader. The only problem with theoldreader.com is represented by the time you have to wait before it will import the OPLM – XML file you uploaded from Google Reader. In my experience I had more than 22,000 people before me in the queue and I had to wait for, more a less, a week before I was able to use it with the imported parameters… Theoldreader.com has some advanced features which allow you to share your RSS selection and save the most interesting in order to create a more private collection for your specific interests. Not bad and useful!!

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!

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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!

Video – Instalar LibreOffice en Ubuntu 10.04/10.10 by orthusnet

How to uninstall OpenOffice and install LibreOffice on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

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At the end I decided! I want to uninstall OpenOffice on my Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and substitute it with an always updated LibreOffice. After some researches on the web I decide to develop my own procedure to be sure that LibreOffice will be always updated with the last available edition.

First of all it is necessary to remove OpenOffice:

– go to System –> Administration –> Synaptic Package Manager –> Quick Search and type OpenOffice

– Mark for Complete Removal all the installed OpenOffice software and Apply your choice, then exit the program

Now, open Terminal and add the PPA repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Update the system:

sudo apt-get update Last but not least, go back to Synaptic Package Manager –> Quick Search and type LibreOffice

Select the LibreOffice software and all the add-ons you prefer then Apply your choice.

That’s all! You have the last version of LibreOffice installed on your Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and you are also sure that Synaptic will update the packages when a new version is available!

Video – Change GRUB menu list by curemind

How to Install Sopcast for free live TV in Ubuntu

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Sopcast represents one of the most popular technologies for live TV streaming, being based on the famous p2p system. However, until recently, there was no version of this software for Ubuntu and Linux in general. But now every single user can enjoy live TV right on their desktop or laptop computer with this absolutely amazing program.

In order to install Sopcast on your machine, here is what you need to do:

1. Open a new terminal. This is a classic step and is used in most of the installation processes you will encounter in Ubuntu.

2. In order to add Sopcast to Synaptic (the package administrator software integrated into Ubuntu) you will need to type the following command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jason-scheunemann/ppa

3. The next step is related to the update of the sources list. This can be done with the following command, which needs to be typed into the same terminal in order to achieve the right effects:
sudo apt-get update

4. Now you will need to run Synaptic in order to finalize the process. This is usually done through the System menu (System -> Administration -> Synaptic). Alternatively, you can use the following simple command:
sudo synaptic

5. Look for the Sopcast package and install it. A very important step at this point is to not forget about all its dependencies. If you do not install everything, then Sopcast will not run correctly or not at all.

This is basically all you need to know if you want to install Sopcast on your machine. Whenever you need to run the player you can find it in the Application menu -> Multimedia -> Sopcast. You will surely enjoy the great variety of the channels available for every user through this system.

July, 6: how to censor the web. The Italian way…

Including a Ubuntu Machine into a Windows Domain

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One of the great problems of interoperability between Linux and Windows has been the impossibility of Linux systems for joining a Microsoft Windows network. Subsequently, several standards to achieve this were developed over the years (see Samba), but they were far from offering normal user the chance to achieve this easily.
The infrastructure of many companies around the world, of all sizes, also relies on the use of a Windows domain. In all companies, one priority always stands out. That is to reduce information costs and expenses. Because of this, many of them have opted for the use of computers with Linux operating systems. But in many cases their integration into Active Directory environments was a problem.
Recently, a new tool was created to facilitate the full integration of a Linux system in an AD environment. And as far as today, it seems very promising. Thanks to likewise-Open5 (http://www.likewiseopen.org/), the difficulty of integration is almost null.

The following lines will illustrate the inclusion of Ubuntu in a Windows domain via likewise-Open5.

Installation

Likewise-Open5 Installation process is very simple. It can be done both through the graphical environment and command line. We will use the second variant. Therefore, a new terminal window must be open, in which you specify the following command:

sudo apt-get install likewise-open5

This command should resolve all the dependencies necessary to prepare the machine to be integrated in the Windows domain.

Adding a new machine

To actually add the machine, specify the following command in the terminal window:

sudo domainjoin-cli join domain used

Where DOMAIN is the area used for integrating the machine, and USER is the username that has the corresponding rights. You will be asked for your user password, and once successfully logged in, you are officially added the desired machine.

Rediscover Prism by Mozilla (Ubuntu, MAC and Windows tips)

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In 2007, when Prism was launched, there were some enthusiastic reviews about this application. Then the widget era began and Prism popularity decreased. Anyway, Prism is still a powerful application for all that people who desire to run their more often used web application saving RAM and CPU resources. Prism, based on XULRunner, is multi platform, easy to use and very flexible. To use it on Ubuntu you can launch the Terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install prism

or using the Synaptics Package Manager (System —> Administration —> Synaptics Package Manager). Then go to Applications —> Internet —> Prism and a small windows appears. Now, fill in all the required information: the web application URL, the name you prefer, settings and do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut option. At this point you will find a new rough icon on your Desktop with the name you chose. The first time you use it, with the right mouse button click on it and go to Properties —> Permissions and Allow executing file as program. If you want to change the icon you have to click on it (with the right mouse button), go to Properties —> Basic and choose your favorite icon clicking the icon on the upper left corner. If all are steps are annoying for you, it is possible to use Prism as add-on for Firefox. In this case, on Firefox, go to Tools —> Add-ons —> Get Add-ons and type Prism on the search bar. You will install Prism as a simple add-on for Firefox. Now, you can automatically generate a Prism application just clicking on Tools —> Convert Website to Application when you are in the web application page.

On Windows or MAC we suggest to download the standalone package directly from the official web page or install Prism as Firefox add-on following the same steps we described for Ubuntu. If you use the Prism standalone package you have to decompress it in your favorite location. For Windows users: when you set up a new Prism application, try the tray menu option but do not forget to click on the Desktop shortcut or you will not be able to find again the application after you close it.

In my experience, Prism is really useful with all the Google web applications, with Zoho services and Pandora. Try and enjoy it!

How to speed up Firefox on Ubuntu 10.04 (or Windows and OS X)

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In the past three months Firefox was updated more than we were used in the past also because it had some “speed problems” expecially on Ubuntu 10.04. Now, after the last updates, Firefox seems to go fast but for people who like to try some hacks we have collected some tips from the web:

– start Firefox

– in the address bar type about:config

– find and modify these lines:

– network.http.pipelining > Make it True

– network.http.pipelining.maxrequests > Make it 8 or 10 (we made it 30 and it really works fast especially on websites as ebay)

– network.http.proxy.pipelining > Make it True

– network.dns.disableIPv6 > Make it True

– last but not least restart and Firefox should work fine and a little bit faster.

Before trying these changes, please consider that changing advanced settings on Firefox can be harmful to the stability, security and performance of the program. Take notes of all the changes you are doing in case you need to revert them later.