Category Archives: Tech

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Save your status, energy and time using the Hibernate shutdown option on Windows XP

Usually, when you shut down your Linux OS, you have the option to Hibernate your computer. Using this option you are 100% sure that, when you power-on again your PC, you will find exactly the same programs, browser tabs and system configuration you. In Windows XP you have the same option but often it is hidden. If you have access to your XP computer as Administrator, you can follow the following instruction to restore it: Start —> Control Panel —> Power Options. Find the Hibernate tab and then click on Enable Hibernation. That’s it! AddThis mp3 link

How to protect your profile and emails on Thunderbird 3 (Ubuntu and Windows instructions)

On Thunderbird, the only way to be 99% sure nobody will read your emails is to save your profile on an encrypted folder (or disk partition) using e.g. TrueCrypt but if you are not concerned that you are under surveillance, you can simply use a quick and useful trick that allows Thunderbird to ask for the Master password every time you launch it.

In Ubuntu you have to follow two different steps. First of all, go to Edit —> Preferences —> Security —> Passwords and create your Master Password. Secondly, go to Edit —> Preferences —> Advanced —> Config Editor (click on “I’ll be careful, I promise”). Then in the filter bar, type password and change the parameter for mail.password_protect_local_cache to True. The next time you will launch Thunderbird nothing will be displayed (old and new emails) before you insert the correct Master Password.

If you are using Thunderbird on Windows you have to modify mail.password_protect_local_cache going to Tools —> Options —> Advanced —> Config Editor (click on “I’ll be careful, I promise”). Then, as for Ubuntu, in the filter bar type password and change the parameter for mail.password_protect_local_cache to True. AddThis mp3 link

How to uninstall software on Ubuntu

UbuntuInstalling software on Ubuntu is really easy but sometimes we can have problems to uninstall it if we have not used the Package Manager (Synaptic till Ubuntu 9.04 and later through the Software Center) or a .deb package. To fastly uninstall all the software you do not need or you are not fond of, you can type in the Terminal:

sudo dpkg -r your_file

An alternative and powerful way is typing:

sudo apt-get remove your_file

(where your_file it is the name of the software you want to remove)

or, if you want to completely cancel also the configuration files:

sudo apt-get --purge remove your_file

If you want to check what software is installed on you Ubuntu you can use:

dpkg --list

and you will obtain a complete list of software and a very short summary for each package. 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

CLI Companion: una ayuda concreta para utilizar la Consola añadiendo una lista automatizada de comandos

Hace unos días he encontrado esta nueva aplicación para Linux, se llama CLI Companion. Aunque Linux ha evolucionado muchísimo y hay que reconocer que ya casi no hace falta hacer uso de la Consola para ejecutar programas y tareas varias, pero también hay veces que gracias al uso de la Consola se puede solucionar pequeños problema que de otra forma seria bastante mas complicado. En esos casos CliCompanion nos hecha una mano añadiendo una lista con diferentes comandos junto a nuestro terminal. La lista de los comando no es infinita, viene con unos cuantos; para cada comando hay una referencia donde se explica la función, también es posible añadir comandos y los parámetros correspondientes. Además CliCompanion tiene un apartado de búsqueda donde es posible encontrar el comando que mas nos interese en cada momento. Desde cuando lo instalé en mi Kubuntu 10.04, tengo que confirmar que es una muy buena aplicación y puede ser instalada con lo repositorios correspondientes y tener futuras actualizaciones o directamente através el paquete .DEB. Os dejo el enlace de la Web: http://okiebuntu.homelinux.com/okwiki/clicompanion AddThis mp3 link

Ubuntu 10.10 is here but perhaps something is going wrong…

Since few hours, the new Ubuntu 10.10 is available for the download and installation. This version has some new tasks as a better look and a powerful Software Center that seems to be easier than ever also thanks to the feature “where is it?”.  Moreover, F-Spot has been substituted by the more powerful and complete Shotwell as main photo manager. The new sound menu included in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat displays more useful information and song you are playing in Rhythmbox. Last but not least, some new delightful Themes and Backgrounds have been added.

On the weaknesses side, we focus our attention on the first paid application (It is really necessary? Do we need it?) and the hardware requirements. In fact reading the Ubuntu wiki the only requirement is a RAM of more than 256MB but Pleia2 and  WebUpd8 believe that the 10.10 version does not run properly on processor below i686 and this is a real uncomfortable limitation! Ubuntu has always run on all types of hardware (this is one of its main key features) and this news, if confirmed by tests, could influence users choice to other distributions as Knoppix or Fedora. We really hope that Ubuntu 10.10 will have just the declared 256MB of RAM limitation but today we have to ask ourselves if a new Knoppix era is coming. AddThis mp3 link

How to add a text/word watermark on OpenOffice Word Processor and Microsoft Word

Just a quick reminder to add a text/word watermark in OpenOffice Word Processor or Microsoft Word:

In OpenOffice Word Processor

a- Create an image using GIMP

– insert a Text field

– choose your favourite font, size, colour (25-30% grey is suggested)

– use the “Rotate Tool” to rotate your text to 45.00 degrees

– save the file in a light graphic format (e.g .gif)

b- Create the watermark

– open OpenOffice Word

– go to Insert —> Picture —> From File and select your graphic file

– click on the image using the mouse’ right button and select Wrap —> In Background

– Done!

In Microsoft Word

– Go to Format

– Select Background and choose Printed watermark

– Click on Text Watermark

– Type “Your Text Here”

– Select Diagonal and then click OK

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PPASearch: la mejor herramienta para buscar repositorios PPA en Ubuntu

Hay veces que queremos instalar alguna aplicación y no sabemos muy bien cuales son los repositorios correctos PPA de Launchpad. gracias a PPASearch esto se hace todo muy muy fácil. Lo primero que hay que hacer es instalar esta aplicación en nuestra Distro con los siguientes comandos:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wrinkliez/ppasearch
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ppasearch

Cuando ya tengamos instalada esta aplicación, podemos buscar el repositorio que mas nos interese, para hacer eso lo único será ejecutar PPASearch y el nombre del programa de lo cual buscamos el repositorio: ejemplo

ppasearch skype

Buscando por los repositorios de Skype me salieron diferentes repositorios y cada uno identificado con un numero, para instalar alguno de ellos, lo único será elegir el numero correspondiente y PPASearch se ocupará de instalar el repositorio seleccionado. ¡Muy buena herramienta!

Agradezco mucho el Blog Ubuntulife por su labor y por todas las informaciones y ayuda incluida esa entrada  http://ubuntulife.wordpress.com/ AddThis mp3 link

Mozilla Concept Phone: Seabird

Recently, Mozilla presented a concept phone created by Billy May, a Mozilla Labs community member. Perhaps this phone will never be available for sale but the ideas behind it are really innovative and it let us dream. Compliments Billy!!!! AddThis mp3 link