Category Archives: Technology

Basket Note Pads: a powerful multi-purpose note-taking application for Linux

This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have posted a review about Basket Note Pads, a well developed note-taking program for KDE Linux. Basket is nice to look and very well structured. One of the first things you notice are the import – export features which allow you to easily manage text, hiperlinks, images from many different notepad applications. In particular we were really impressed by the Tomboy notes imports on Kubuntu. Moreover, Basket has detailed setting menus you can use to set a password to a specific group of notes or use any PGP key stored on your PC. Unfortunately our tests on Ubuntu – Gnome were unsuccesfull because the program crashed many times and we decided to come back to NoteCase, more graphically simple but stable on every desktop environment. Recommended for Kubuntu!

Best 10 Freeware Sites

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This week, in our Freeware Page, we would like to share our personal list of the 10 best freeware websites. Of course, this is just our personal opinion but we are 100% curious to learn new website from your comments!

#1 http://sourceforge.net/
In our opinion FileHippo is the #1, a lighthouse for all the other freeware distribution sites. The programs here are open-source and you can find freeware for all the most used OS: Linux, Windows and Mac

#2 http://www.filehippo.com/
Full of real freeware, well structure and it has developed a powerful “update checker” http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

#3 http://www.techsupportalert.com/
Well organized, contains brief but effective review about each software

#4 http://download.cnet.com/
The software is categorized between Windows, Mac, Mobile and a very interesting Webware category for the online stuff. Use “The Download Software Finder” to be sure to surf between real free programs

#5 http://majorgeeks.com/
Good site, full of stuff and Shareware programs are clearly labeled!

#6 http://www.tucows.com/
An evergreen site; it was one of the first to share freeware, interesting but it does not contain a huge variety of freeware as others site

#7 http://www.nonags.com/
Elementary graphics but it contains a site menu and the proposed software is really freeware so….

#8 http://www.freewarefiles.com/
Interesting site but sometimes you find old version of proprietary software distributed as free…

#9 http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/
Well structured, easy to navigate and updated. Watch the tags (freeware or free trial) before downloading programs!

#10 http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Freeware/
Basic graphics; it has many freeware but you have to dig them from the lists.

We wait your comments!

How to manage podcast and RSS reader on Firefox!

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we posted some lines about editing and changing the feed/podcast reader on Firefox when you have previously chosen a specific program to automatically subscribe to podcasts. If you are using Firefox 3.5 on Linux, you can simply go to Edit -> Preferences and type Feed in the search bar. At this point you have a button menu with all the different options; we suggest to select the Preview in Firefox one. If you have an older version of Firefox that does not allow you to follow the above path (or for some reason, by default, you prefer the most difficult way) you have to open a new Tab and type about:config in it. After a brief warning message you can type Feed in the location bar and find the browser.feeds.handler line. At this point it is necessary to change the value field to Ask and next time you will decide to subscribe a podcast you will free to choose your favourite program. We hope this few lines could be useful and easy to execute for you all!

How to create your personalized Linux OS using SUSE Studio

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we uploaded a brief post about SUSE Studio an online service which allows you to create new distribution based on openSUSE 11.2. The online OS builder allows you to choose between 32 bit or 64 bit system based on SUSE, GNOME, KDE, Minimal X or text only Server. In the next menu you will be asked to choose all the software you prefer (7,876 different packages). After this, you can also choose and personalize, for example: language, keyboard, network, firewall and users. Moreover, you can personalize the boot-up and all the programs you want to automatically autostart. SUSE Studio is very interesting and allows you to create the best Linux OX for all your needs. Recommended!

Create a portable wifi hotspot using your Nokia mobile and Joikuspot Light

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It is not always possible to find a wi-fi hotspot everytime you need but now it is possible to create you own portable hotspot on the go. This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we reviewed Joikuspot Light: an interesting software to create a wi-fi hotspot with your Nokia. The first thing you have to focus on your attention is your data plan on your mobile. In fact, if you have not a flat plan we really do not recommend to use Joikuspot because your mobile bill could be very expensive! For all the people with flat mobile plans we can affirm that Joikuspot Light is very easy to use and the connection are stable. In our tests we use a Nokia based on Symbian and we were able to surf the internet without any problem. To install it you can download the right version on the official website http://bit.ly/7I4zG8 and install it later on your phone or you could decide to send the link directly to your Nokia mobile using the “Send to phone for Free”. Enjoy it!

How to repair a bad upgrade on Ubuntu!

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we posted some tips about repairing a bad Linux upgrade. In fact, it is rare but sometimes, unfortunately, it happens. I mean one or more error during an upgrade installation on Ubuntu. In my case the problem was caused by a blackout and a battery which did not worked properly. When I restarted the PC it worked only in text mode and it asked me the login and the password to enter into the Ubuntu root mode. Obviously, as usual, I typed the requested data and then, after reading how to solve similar problems on internet, I decided to go forward with sudo apt-get update. At this point Ubuntu advised me that something had been wrong during the last update and suggested to try with sudo dpkg –configure -a. I followed the suggestions and I concluded the “repair session” with sudo apt-get upgrade –fix-broken. Fifteen minutes later and after rebooting all the “bad upgrade” problems were solved. Recommended!

Rocketdock 1.3.0: a light but powerful dock for Windows 7, Vista and XP

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This week, in our Freeware Page, we posted a brief review about Rocketdock, a terrific “Apple style” dock for Windows. We decided to test Rocketdock on a Windows XP and the results were positive and we did not find bugs. Rocketdock is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and the brand new Windows 7 using just 10MB of RAM. To add a new icon it is sufficient to drag and drop it into the bar and it will be automatically added. To cut off an icon you have to drag it from the dock to an empty space on the desktop and it is immediately removed. To conclude we suggest this freeware because it is really customizable and easy to add & tune to your existing desktop. Recommended!

How to easily install programs on your Windows or Ubuntu computers: allmyapps.com

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This week, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we have added a brief post about allmyapps.com a useful website which allow you to easily install software on Ubuntu (8.04, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10) and Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7). After a simple registration you can choose the free software you prefere to install and in few clicks and some minutes you are ready to use your new programs. Allmyapps.com, automatically recognizes the OS you have installed on your PC. On allmyapps we found many useful softwares and every month more programs are submitted by readers and added to the website for the installation. For Windows we also positively tested another website ninite.com where we found many free softwares ready to be dowloaded and automatically installed. Easy to use and useful!

Lucidor: a good ebook reader for Ubuntu

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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!

How to solve a bug in Imagewriter (write a.img file on a USB device)

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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!