Category Archives: Technology News

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

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!

XAMPP: how to easy install an Apache server with MySQL, PHP and Perl.

Sandboxie: the best sandbox for your Windows peace of mind!

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There are almost two different good reasons to install a sandbox on you Windows OS: email/internet security and the possibility of trying new software without risking to damage your OS configuration. About the first point we can say that it is useful to read the attachments of your emails or freely browsing the web without risking to infect the PC. I know, we all do not usually open attachments from unknown email senders but at least, once a month (for example when we are under pressure at work) it happens and then we have to scan the PC with antiviruses and antispywares to check if we have involuntary open one or more backdoors. Moreover, when we decide to test a new software we could prefer not to take unnecessary risks running them. This week, in our Freeware Page, we have tested Sandboxie, a freeware which allows you to use one or all the programs installed on your computer with no risks. In fact all the data are stored in a temporary area (sandbox) and not written on the hard disk of your PC and they are deleted as soon as you decide to quit them. You can legally use Sandboxie free of charge for any length of time that you desire but, after 30 days, the software will occasionally remind you to consider paying the 30 USD registration fee. Last but not least, Sandboxie is simple to install and after not more than one hour you will be able to use it in a complete way. Very useful!

The best way to always have your favourite mind-mapping with you: FreeMind and WiseMapping!

How to add a cool “MAC OS X” dock in your Ubuntu: Avant Window Navigator (AWN)!

Security package (Rev. 1.2) for Ubuntu: antivirus, firewall and P2P stealth

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Last May, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we posted some suggestions about a basic security package for Linux. After less than one year we are back on this topic also because more than something has changed. As you know, Linux is the safer OS you can use today: specific Linux viruses are few and malware is rare but with the increasing of users some threads are becoming real. For this reason, I strongly believe that nowadays a firewall, like Firestarter, is not enough and we all need also a good antivirus and Moblock: the program which allows to use the Peer Guardian lists on Ubuntu protecting your privacy. Today, in our Linux package we’ve posted a short updated manual where we explain how to install a firewall (Firestarter), an antivirus (ClamAV) and a P2P stealth (Moblock). We have tested all this software on a Ubuntu 7.10 without relevant problems; the combined use of this triplet is strongly recommended for people who desire to preserve their data and privacy. Read us!

“Remember the milk”: the best on-line Task Manager for Calendar, Gmail, Iphone…

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This week in our Freeware Page we have posted some short instructions about installing “Remember the milk” in Google Calendar. It is important to say that “Remember the Milk” can also be installed on Gmail, Iphone/Ipod Touch, Twitter and there is also a “Milk Sync” version for Windows Mobile. In my opinion, the best feature is represented by the integrated to-do list for Google Calendar. Anyway, “Remember the Milk”, is easy to manage and very simple to use and share with your team. Moreover, this particular task manager contains many interesting and useful features; just for example you can add an active link to a web-page directly in your to-do note. If you prefer, you can also organize your tasks in a -tag cloud- style. Last but not least, it is possible to receive reminders via email, SMS, and instant messenger (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are supported). As you can imagine, “Remember the Milk” portability is very wide and it has 100% passed all our tests; in few words: we have not found any bugs! Recommended!

Linux Distribution Chooser (LDC): a simple but effective tutor to choose the best Linux distribution for your needs!

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This week in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we decided to add a short review about LCD (Linux Distribution Choose) a very basic but (we think) effective on-line test which allows people to better choose the most effective Linux distribution for they specific needs. The on-line test starts with few generic questions about your HD partition, Linux skills and if you want to install Linux on a desktop or a laptop. LDC continues asking you some more information about your favourite package management and the preferred desktop environment. The last key answer is about the hardware (you can choose between Mac or PC) and finally you will receive your personalized suggestion about the ideal Linux distribution for you. Simple, useful (for beginners) and fast test. Recommended!

APTonCD: the best solution to save your Debian and Ubuntu software configuration!

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Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have added a post about APTonCD: a useful and time efficient software solution for Debian and Ubuntu. APTonCD is very simple to install and allows you to save copies of all the packages you have installed on your Debian or on your Ubuntu. Anyway, it could be very useful to create “clones” when you want to install the same programs on different computers and you do not want to create your own portable distribution. The menus are very intuitive and well structured, moreover, the graphical interface is clean and enjoyable. Last but not least APTonCD could be worthless in case of PC crash: with just few click you can restore your full OS. Recommended!

FLAC: our favourite multiplatform (Linux, Windows, MAC OS X) Free Lossless Audio Codec!

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It is true! MP3 format is the most common format we normally use in our everyday applications but MP3 is a lossy compression algorithm and it is not comparable with the quality of uncompressed audio formats as Monkey’s Audio, ALAC, WMA. This week, in our Freeware page, we posted a brief review about some particular features of FLAC: a multiplatform (Linux, Windows, MAC OS X) Free Lossless Audio Codec. Nowadays, FLAC is well and constantly supported by many music player producer. We compared FLAC and MP3 formats using the “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major – Allegro” by Bach and the results were very interesting. For common listeners (as us) the audio quality was, more or less, the same but when we asked to a couple of friends (authentic music “hooligans”) to describe the difference between the two music files (FLAC and MP3) they spent more than 15 minutes of their (and our) time talking about “tones”, “pizzicato” and something else that I really do not remember at the moment! After the listening, when we compared the file extensions, we discovered that the FLAC file was five times bigger than the MP3 (25.6MB vs 5.1MB)… To conclude, we really think that FLAC represents a fantastic (and the best) lossless format for home stereo systems. On the other side, if you are not a music purist, MP3 could be the best choice for listening music on portable audio devices.