Uncomplicating the complicated, making life easier
If you love Ubuntu, but wanted a lightweight version for your older computer, then WattOS maybe what you are looking for.
WattOS is a new lightweight Linux distribution that has low power requirement and can be used on computer with older hardware. It is in fact, a stripped down version of Ubuntu, with many of the heavy-duty applications such as OpenOffice removed, and/or replaced with a faster and smaller alternative.
For those shortcut key lovers out there, here is a long list of keyboard shortcuts for Ubuntu Hardy. Most of them should work in the previous version of Ubuntu as well. Enjoy the list.
360Desktop released their first public beta a week back. It is a Windows-only software that extends your desktop to a360 degree panorama view. In other words, it allows you to have a lot more desktop space to place all your files, shortcut icons, widgets etc. If you are one of those who always run out of desktop space, or who are always lost in the sea of shortcut icons, give this software a try.
After upgrading to Firefox 3, if you find that you cannot get java to run and you are 100% sure that you have already installed the latest version of java, here is a simple fix (for Ubuntu Hardy Heron).
Open up your Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal).
Type the command
sudo apt-get autoremove icedtea-gcjwebplugin
to remove the icedtea-gcjwebplugin package from your system.
Restart your Firefox 3. The Java runtime should be working now.
(icedtea-gcjwebplugin is a little web browser plugin to execute Java applets. It is targeted for Mozilla and compatible browsers that support the NPAPI. It seems that this has some compatibility issue with Firefox 3.)
What seems to be a simple task in Linux turns out to be almost impossible in Mac. One of my favorite feature in Ubuntu is the ability to keep some of my application windows ‘always on top’ so that I can refer to them easily. When I switched to Mac, it turns out that this feature is not available at all. Considering how user-friendly Mac Leopard is, I am quite disappointed that this feature is not available by default. Luckily, Afloat from Infinite Labs manage to the tackle the problem.
iPhone/iPod Touch users will know that while it is easy to sync music from iTunes to your iPod, it certainly does not work the other way round. It may be a great security feature by Apple, but it has definitely caused lot of inconvenience to its users. Luckily, there are lots of easy way to get this done.
Reconstructor is an Ubuntu GNU/Linux CD Creator that allows you to modify an existing Ubuntu distribution and save as your own Linux distribution. It uses the Desktop(Live), Alternate(Install), or Server disc as a base, and then allows for user customization.
You can basically customize the entire environment, such as add/remove software, change the default look (splash, themes, fonts, wallpaper, etc.), add desktop links, etc.
Before you have fully accustomed to WordPress 2.5, The WordPress team is releasing the version 2.6 soon. I took the opportunity to download the WordPress 2.6 Beta 2 and give it a test drive. While there is no change to the design and interface, there are quite a number of improvements and new features that are worth mentioning.
VirtualBox is an open-source cross platforms virtualization application that allows anyone to create a virtual machine on their computer. It is similar to the popular VMware, but much smaller in size and handles the virtual machine more efficiently.
Before you attempt to install any Windows OS as a virtual machine, make sure that your computer has enough memory (at least 1GB of RAM) and hard disk and you own a genuine Windows installer CD with valid license key.
Often, you have heard a rare nice song from a particular YouTube video and you wish you could just save that song (without the video) into your hard disk. Well, in Ubuntu, you can use UTube Ripper to extract audio from YouTube video and save it as mp3 file.
