The Seesmic desktop app is a free cross platform Adobe Air based application. This very usable Adobe Air based desktop application was designed by the same folks that made Twhirl. If you have used the Twhirl app before, you should definitely give the Seesmic app a try. It is a happy medium between having too many features which can make it hard to use, and too little features which would make it not very helpful.

In a nutshell, the Seesmic desktop application allows you to save searches, post to multiple accounts, make user lists and see one or many streams of updates through multiple columns. I know this may sound a little too simple, but that is kind of the point. Other desktop or web based apps out there might have more features or a shinier packaging, but do you really need the extras? The main reason why people dread social media is the time that it takes to keep up with it; having a simple set up with pretty much everything you need and nothing you don’t is a good thing, isn’t it?

Here are some of the features:

While looking at the column of tweets and Facebook updates, if you see something that interests you, you can open another column. This is done by selecting a person, doing a search for a keyword or looking at a userlist, then clicking on the detach column button at the top. You can open several of these columns side by side, usually two or three in addition to the main column will probably fill the screen left to right.

If you have an account for a specific URL shrinking site, Bit.ly for example, Seesmic lets you log in and use your own account. Some of the URL shrinking sites give you stats on the links you post.

Notifications come via a Growl-like pop up  window at the bottom of the screen. In the settings menu, you have the option for the duration the window stays on the screen and whether or not it makes a sound each time it pops up.

Much like on the Twitter site, you have a search option. Unlike the Twitter site, you can save searches. This gives you a list of of past searches right in the side bar. Having selections in plain view makes it easy to compare keyword searches to a new topic or hashtag.

Adding media to a post is drag and drop simple. Much like the URL shrinking sites, you can choose what image sharing service to use.

Like most things these days, there is an iPhone app in the works. There wasn’t any information on the Seesmic site about what you would be able to do from your iPhone, but I would venture a guess to say it will have pretty much the same functionality as the desktop application.

The folks at Seesmic are also working on a web based version. I like the way they decided to do the desktop version before the web version. It makes more sense based on the intended use to have a desktop application. Being able to log in while your at a different computer and manage your accounts is a good back up option.

How do you keep track of your Facebook and Twitter updates?

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. ShoZu - Social Network Updating Made Easy
2. 8 Useful Tools To Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts Simultaneously
3. Manage Your Ebook Library with Calibre
4. How To Use Zimbra To Manage Your Email Accounts
5. How to Manage Your Email More Efficiently With Postbox

FriendFeed is increasingly becoming a popular social media tool for being a social aggregator with community features. It was one of the first to use the “Like” functionality that more and more web sites (e.g. Facebook, Digg, Seesmic, etc.) are adopting. Additionally, FriendFeed has built a social community that allows you to quickly find an answer to any kind of question that you ask, or get to know other people who share similar interests. New users are usually overwhelmed by the social media site, and are not sure what to do or where to begin. Here are ten useful tips to enjoying all that FriendFeed has to offer:

1. Aggregate All (or Majority) of Your Feeds

If you plan on only aggregating Twitter into FriendFeed, you won’t get the full experience of the service. Add as many feeds as you can, so others are able to get a full picture of your interests and you.

2. Setup Your Notifications

You are able to receive email, IM, and/or desktop notifications for your and other people’s posts. It comes in handy when you are away from your computer, but want to ensure that you respond to users’ comments.

3. Select Twitter Publishing Preferences

FriendFeed provides a variety of options to publish items to Twitter. Select the options that you want to post to Twitter. It’s a good way to bypass the Twitter character limit, but still have your Twitter followers see your posts.

4. Choose a Theme

There are seven themes to choose from so you can have a more personalized feel to your page.

5. Edit Your Profile

Enter a brief description about yourself, so that people can get to know you better. An avatar also helps. It doesn’t have to be your picture, but something that represents you.

6. Follow Some People

To get the most out of FriendFeed, follow some people. FriendFeed offers a suggested list that will start you off on the right path. Another great resource is Louis Gray’s monthly list of the “Top Ten People to Follow. It compiles a list of people with a variety of interests who provide value to FriendFeed.

7. Join Some Groups

FriendFeed users have created all kinds of groups that will appeal to someone. This is a great way to find users, who are not on the FriendFeed Suggested List or Louis Gray’s list, who will have items that you are interested in.

8. Get the Bookmarklet

Add the FriendFeed bookmarklet to your browser and ease the way you share interesting items. The great thing about the bookmarklet is that it allows you to share with different groups or individuals, embed images, and publish it to Twitter.

9. Comment and Like on People’s Posts

The only way that people are going to get to know what you think is by the comments and clicking “Like” on their posted items. One great feature is the Friend-of-a-Friend option. You are able to view the content of the people your friend has subscribed to. It helps because you are able to also get to know people who you were not initially subscribed to.

10. Have Fun

Regardless on the reason you are using FriendFeed, whether for business or pleasure, remember to have fun. I have met many wonderful people on FriendFeed and I’m still loving it after being on there for over a year. It can be addicting, so be careful. Other than that, enjoy yourself!

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Top Three Web RSS Readers to Manage Your RSS Feeds
2. ShoZu - Social Network Updating Made Easy
3. 8 Useful Tools To Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts Simultaneously
4. OnlyWire: One Bookmark Tool to Rule Them All
5. Instantly Track Popular Software with Wakoopa

To follow this guide, you’ll need the following:

- Client computer with openssh-client installed (for Windows, use Putty)
- Server computer with openssh-server installed (Available on any UNIX-style system)
- A working set of login credentials on the server

If you don’t have a computer with an SSH server, you can use the same PC as both client and server for the sake of trying all this out. If you do have a (Linux, Unix, BSD) computer available to act as server, make sure to install the OpenSSH server software. Debian and Ubuntu users can get this easily with

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

1. Using SSH to securely copy files

This is my second favorite use for SSH. When you install the OpenSSH client on your machine, it typically comes with a file copy tool called SCP (Secure Copy). This can be VERY useful as a way to not only send files to your friends (who have openssh-server running) but to do it in a completely encrypted way.

For example, a friend of mine in Michigan is a studio engineer. He mixes audio tracks for a recording studio. Sometimes, when he wants a second opinion, he’ll send me what he’s working on so I can give him my opinion. Now, since this is all copyrighted music which has not even been released to the public, he’s naturally reluctant to post it on a filesharing service or web site, and the files are often too large for email. Instead, we transfer using SCP.

The format for an scp command is:

scp filename user@remote-host:/where/to/save/it

So my friend, on the other side of the country, would enter something like

scp MyNewMix.wav nick@joshs-computer.com:/home/nick/mixes

This example is assuming my computer is accessible from joshs-computer.com and that he has a user account on it named nick. His file will be copied to my computer over a fully encrypted connection without having to be stored at some third-party website or email server.

2. Mount a network drive securely

Now here is my #1 favorite use of SSH. If you’re a Linux user, you’re probably familiar with mounting drives. You have a device like a cdrom drive (say, /dev/hdc for example), and to access it, you mount it to a directory such as /media/cdrom. Well you can use that same principle with a program called SSHFS to mount a filesystem over a network/internet and attach it to a directory on your computer.

SSHFS is not part of the standard openssh package. It’s a separately developed program that you’ll install independently using your normal package manager.

Let’s go back to the example with my friend at the studio. Perhaps he’s got several new mixes for me instead of just one, or perhaps we do this so often that using SCP to transfer back and forth starts to become a hassle. Well, if he’s got openssh-server installed and I have an account on his computer, I can mount his hard drive to any directory I wish. The command follows the structure:

sshfs user@remote-host:/what/I/want /where/to/put/it

So to connect to Nick’s computer I’d use something like:

sshfs josh@nicks-computer.com:/home/nick/mixes /home/josh/nicks-computer

That would make it so that any time I access the folder /home/josh/nicks-computer from my machine, it would actually connect to Nick’s computer over SSH and give me access to all those files just as if they were sitting in a normal directory on my computer. Any changes I make are made to the files on his computer, it’s completely transparent. I can use whatever audio software I like to work with the files, they are completely oblivious to the fact that they’re really reading the file from 2500 miles away.

A word of warning about SSHFS: since it’s reading the files over the internet instead of locally, combined with the encryption overhead, SSHFS can be SLOW. You probably wouldn’t want to use it to access files that need lots of speed or are constantly being read or written.

There are many great uses for SSH and related tools. I’d love to hear what other tricks you may have. SSH tunneling, for example, can be hugely beneficial for some people, but doing it justice would require an article of its own. Do you have any other tips to get the most out of SSH?

Related posts:

1. How to use SSH X-forwarding to Run Remote Apps
2. Create a Private Encrypted Folder On Ubuntu Hardy With eCryptfs
3. 5 Reasons Why You Should Use VirtualBox Over VMware Server
4. Basic Bash Command For New Linux Users
5. How to Mount ISO Images In Windows

Poor application programming is usually the cause of these apps retaining system resources and the usual fix is to perform a soft reset of the device – although a Task Manager is included on Windows Mobile 5 and later, it usually only assists in closing difficult to exit programs.

CleanRAM therefore is a vital tool in managing memory resources on Windows Mobile devices, and is available free from FreewarePocketPC.net. We’re going to look now at how to use CleanRAM in different ways to control allocated memory.

Getting Started

Once installed, cleanRAM displays two icons in your Windows Mobile programs view - the basic launch/clean app and the cleanRAM Config app.

cleanRAM Config determines the type of clean up that will be performed when the cleanRAM app is launched, with three cleaning “depths”:

Level 1 is a “Basic Purge”, best for closing non-responding tasks without resorting to Task Manager. Some versions of Task Manager – particularly that found in Windows Mobile 5 and 6 – are slow to respond when instructed to close the application in question, and fail to fully end all related processes. Basic Purge is quick and is the default setting on cleanRAM.

Level 2 is known as the “Quality Purge”. This option is recommended for best performance – in reality it cleans deeper than the basic option, but in around the same sort of time frame. Quality Purge is a good option to choose to save you performing a soft-reset. It will exit virtually all Windows Mobile apps and non-required processes, leaving your device to run as if it had just been switched on.

Level 3 is the maximum clean up option, “Fundamental Purge”. This option is vital for cutting ties with bad applications, perhaps online services that are hanging due to a poor data connection or those that the Quality Purge option failed to end. Fundamental Purge can take a bit of time to complete and as such should only be used in the most extreme cases.

These three options provide the best memory cleaning available to a Windows Mobile user free of charge, and using cleanRAM is a simple case of selecting the purge option, setting it as default and launching the clean up via the cleanRAM app button.

Advanced Customization and Scheduling Options

Along with these three options, cleanRAM offers a variety of options for customizing and scheduling your Windows Mobile system clean up.

The Customized Processes List allows you to select the running processes you wish to clean up (or end) whenever the cleanRAM tool is used. These processes can be added to the Customized Processes List, which means they will be the only ones cleaned when cleanRAM is run. The Customized Processes List is disabled by default, and must be enabled via the check box.

Conversely, the Exceptions List allows you to select processes that are never cleaned. The Exceptions List is activated via the check box.

Scheduling is accessed via the cleanRAM config menu and must also be enabled via the check box.  Using scheduling you can choose your purge level, set a time (hourly, every 4 hours, etc) and choose which days of the week of the cleanRAM runs.

Finally, it’s a simple task to backup your cleanRAM settings. This means rather than resorting to careful reselection of exceptions and scheduling following an uninstall of the tool or a hard device reset (restoring the factory settings of your Windows Mobile device) you simply restore your cleanRAM configuration settings from a backup stored on your Windows Mobile device memory card.

cleanRAM is one of the best utilities available for the Windows Mobile platform. If you do use it and gain benefit from it, remember to consider contributing a donation to the developers at www.htcaddicts.com.

Related posts:

1. Windows Mobile: Installing Viigo And Managing Your RSS feeds
2. Things You Need to Check Before Installing Software on the Windows Mobile
3. How to Use Windows Mobile for Wordpress Blogging
4. Manage Remote Storage with Microsoft My Phone
5. ShoZu - Social Network Updating Made Easy

One of the iTunes features that I like most is the rating system. Users can tag any song with one to five stars based on their preferences, and users can sort or filter the playlist based on the rating. A quick glance at someone’s iTunes display and you can clearly tell which songs he/she likes and dislikes.

The rating system really is a great idea; but, and this is a big but (no pun intended), the bigger the song list, the more difficult for users to give rating to each and every song. Can you imagine editing 2376 songs one by one? That’s the size of a tiny part of my current song list. (And I don’t know anybody who has less than 100 songs on their list).

AutoRate to the rescue

Luckily, there’s an application called AutoRate which can help iTunes users to rate their songs. This app tries to ‘guess’ user’s listening preferences and give rate to each song automatically by looking at how often each track is played and how many times each track is skipped.

The formula uses a combination of play and skip frequency (averaged out over the life of each track), and the play and skip count. Tracks that are frequently skipped are penalised, while often-played tracks are given a higher rating.

Both the track play count and skip count are used in conjunction with the length of time each track has been in your library to determine, on a relative basis, how much you like each track. Ratings become dynamic and change with your taste in music following how you listen to your songs.

That is why you will get no rating for the track that has never been played.

The Simplicity

Before using AutoRate, please make sure that you have iTunes version 7 and above, and Mac OS X 10.5 (and above). If those requirements are met, download and install the app.

The usage is simple: you just open it, and click the “Begin” button. It will analyze your playlist, then assign the ratings automatically based on the result.

There are some adjustments that you can make via the Preferences, such as:
- which playlist folders to be given ratings to. (General)

- how would you like to set up the rating system. (Rating)

- whether to use full star or half star rating. (Advanced)

With AutoRate, my iTunes playlist has grown a little bit more mature without me having to do the hard work.

One last note, you would want to run AutoRate every once in a while to keep the rating system up to date.

Have you use AutoRate? Or do you have other alternatives of similar app? Please share using the comment below.

Related posts:

1. [Mac OSX] Remote Control Your iTunes via iChat
2. TuneUp Cleans Up Your iTunes Collection
3. How To Purchase DRM-free MP3 From Amazon Via iTunes
4. Amarok 2 Brings Fresh Changes
5. Manage Your MP3s In Mac with Tagr

Many KDE 3 users depended on Krun, a simple yet effective application used to execute commands. Executed simply by pressing “Alt-F2″, it was much easier to start applications using it, rather than navigating through a launch menu or opening a terminal window. The only catch with Krun was that you had to know the exact name of the command you intended to launch.  With the advent of KDE 4, that has all changed.

Krunner operates independently of the Plasma desktop system as a standalone application. It includes a ton of features that make it useful beyond simple command launching.  It has retained many of the features present in KDE 3 and greatly expanded them. We would fail to do it justice if we did not give it a top ten list.

10. Calculator

Do you need to figure out how much money you have left for groceries after subscribing to three MMORPGs?  Just press “Alt-F2″ or right click on the desktop and press “run command”. To use Krunner as a calculator, type the = sign and then enter the equation.  For example, type “=890*12″, and it will output a calculator icon and the answer: “10680″. Simply select the answer to calculate the next equation with it. KDE 3 had a similar calculating feature that automatically opened Google’s calculator.  With this you can calculate multiple times without leaving the Krunner window.

9. Spellchecker

If you are anything like me, you are obsessed with spelling things correctly and yet could not spell to save your life.  If you happen to be typing a blog post in OpenOffice.org or using Firefox’s spellcheck feature, you will be safe. But if you are in the middle of one of those MMORPGs and need to spell “elemental” correctly, hop into windowed mode and press “Alt-F2″. Then type “spell:” followed by  your best attempt at spelling the word you need. Krunner will offer suggestions.

8. Unit converter

Are you planning to visit any country outside of the U.S. and cannot understand why people “don’t speak American”?  KDE will rescue you again. Open Krunner and enter a number and any unit you can imagine. By default, it will convert that unit to meters. Add “in” or “as” followed by another unit, and it will immediately output the conversion. For example, type “5 miles in cm” and it will output: “804672 centimeters”.

7. Contact finder

Whenever you need to shoot off a quick email, just type in the name of a person in your address book (You must use Kaddressbook for this work). Krunner will pull up any names close to what you type and display: “Mail to so-and-so”.

6. Website launcher

Krunner can launch any website you type in your default browser. It will also use konqueror shortcuts. For example, to search Google Images, enter: “images: pandas”. It will display its function before you press enter: “Search Google Image Search for pandas”. It can also launch bookmarks and browser history.

5. Location launch

Are you tired of navigating through file folders? Just type in the folder you want to reach in Krunner. If you want to open your Music folder, just type “Music”. It is really that simple.

4. Desktop search

You know you typed a paper two years ago on tectonic plate shifting, but you just cannot find it. If you are using Strigi, KDE’s desktop search system, Krunner can find it. Type in any search terms you want and let the desktop searching do the rest.

3. Task manager

A slimmed down version of ksysguard, KDE’s task manager is available as a component within Krunner. Users can access it by clicking on the second icon from the left in the Krunner window or by pressing Ctrl-Esc anywhere within KDE. It is quick and easy, allowing you to monitor CPU and Memory usage. You can also kill applications at will. Use with care.

2. Application search

Suppose you want to launch a card game but cannot remember the name. Just type in “card” into Krunner, and your card game applications will appear. You can also begin typing the name of an application, and Krunner will display all the applications that start with those letters while you are typing.

1. Command launcher

Even with all of the new features, nothing beats the original. Krunner is still a command launcher and still keeps a history of commands you have launched, which you can display either by beginning to retype them or opening the drop-down menu. Therefore, you only have to type “kdesudo kate /etc/X11/xorg.conf” once, and Krunner will remember it the next 20 times you want to tweak your X server.

Perhaps the greatest thing about Krunner is that it is extensible. Many of the plugins mentioned above were authored by users who were not on the original Krunner development team. Anyone can write a plugin, making the possibilities endless. Any plugins you do not like can be disabled, so KDE 3 purists can return it to command-launching-only status anytime they like. That is also useful on slower machines. With each release of KDE, however, Krunner will be even faster, with more awesome features to add the list.

*Note: These features are presented as they currently appear in KDE 4.3, scheduled to be released at the end of July 2009.

Related posts:

1. GNOME Do: A Fast Launcher For Your Linux Desktop
2. How to Get The Most Out Of KDE4’s Folderview Widget
3. Screen Recording With RecordMyDesk
4. Gnome-Do Docky: A New Dock On The Block
5. How To Setup Dual Monitors With XRandR

When a picture or video and the accompanying text is uploaded, ShoZu will CC your email and/or other destinations you choose. If you upload the same thing to all of your sites, that feature alone will save you immense amounts of time. Below are a couple ways media can be uploaded a couple different ways:

The Desktop Application

The ShoZu desktop app runs with Adobe Air, so you need to have that installed along with the most recent version of Adobe Flash installed before the app will work. Once the desktop application is installed, if you have previously set up an account, you will need to log in. If not it takes a minute or two to set up a new account.

When logged in, you will see the list of destinations you have previously chosen on the web page. This can be a couple, or it be a lot; I have a few here that I use.

The process for uploading pics, video or text is super easy. Simply drag and drop the media you want to share into the window. The picture or video will show up in the window. Type a short caption in the small box and any additional text into the big box. Some sites won’t show the extra text.

*For those wondering, the picture is of a 12 pound bowling ball painted pink with lots of metal flake. It was chained to the soon to be groom’s leg for a bachelor party.

If you would like to send the same thing to multiple sites from time to time, click the next destination; the picture and text stay in the windows making it super simple. The program remembers what you upload to where. After you upload a picture, a check will be by the destination so you don’t post the same thing on the same site multiple times.

From a Mobile Device

These day more people than ever have data enabled phones. One of the main reasons people like yourself purchase this kind of phone is so they don’t need to be tied to their computers for work. This also applies for uploading pics to their social media accounts. The device I use is a Blackberry Curve; it is a little limited compared to other devices I checked into. Some of the features like the feeds from Twitter, Facebook and Podcasts do not come to to the Blackberry app. I was a little sad about this, but I have other apps that I have grown accustomed to using for that stuff. From other devices, having the ability to see what your friends are doing, makes ShoZu a one shop application for mobile social networking needs.

The upload of the pictures, video and text is very similar to the desktop application. Select the picture, add text and the destination. Quick and simple, exactly what you want from the your mobile device.

Mobile Blogging

If you fancy yourself a blogger, being able to add posts on the fly is great. Sites like Blogger, Wordpress, Livejournal, Windows Live Spaces and more let you post on the go. Here is a post to a Wordpress blog to give you an idea of how it will look.

Other Features

Citizen Journalism Sites sites like CNN, BBC News, and Reuters let you upload newsworthy pictures  Some other places you can upload your photographic wonders to via ShoZu are Email and FTP sites.

With the laundry list of features ShoZu has, I am sure it will fit it well with anyone who has the need to share media online.

How do you update your social networks?

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Easy Twittering and Facebook(ing) with Seesmic
2. Yoono: The Social Media Plugin For Firefox
3. Getting Social With Last.fm
4. 10 Useful Tips to Using FriendFeed
5. Scribefire: A Full Featured Blog Editor For Firefox Users

Below are the top three web RSS Readers that you can use to manage your RSS feeds:

1. Google Reader

Google Reader provides its users with a simple interface that gives them a lot of options to manage their RSS feeds. You are able to sort feeds into folders and tag the feeds’ content. Google Reader provides a variety of ways to share feeds:
1. Email the information to different recipients, or
2. Share it on your personalized, public Google Reader page.

Google Reader also gives you the capability of connecting with your friends and seeing their shared items. If there is a particular item that you want to bookmark to read later, but don’t want to share it, Google Reader allows you to star it. Recommendations are given according to the feeds that you subscribe to. Overall, it’s a robust and easy RSS Reader that can be read from any computer or mobile phone.

2. Feedly

Feedly is a Firefox-only add-on that builds on top of Google Reader. It interfaces with Twitter and FriendFeed, so you are able to keep up with the conversations on the two sites as well. Like Google Reader, you are able to see your friends’ shared items, star items to read later, and hide the items you have already read.

One of the best things about Feedly is that gives you three ways to view your feeds: Cover, Digest, and Latest. Cover gives summary view of all your feeds, tweets, visuals, etc. Digest is more of a detailed view. Latest provides a chronological view of all your feeds, starting from the most recent. It provides a prettier view of Google Reader, but it doesn’t give the flexibility of using your browser of choice.

3. Bloglines

Bloglines is a web-based RSS feeder that currently has two versions – Classic and Beta. The beta version provides you with the capability of customizing your own front page. Additionally, it allows you to drag-n-drop feeds into this page. You can choose to “mark as read” individual posts or the entire folder, which is the only option in the classic. Bloglines can be accessible via mobile phones, and it provides you with the capability of customizing your personalized mobile site. It also works with OpenID technology, which means you can quickly login with your OpenID and bypass the troublesome process of registering a username.

As with the other two readers, you are able to save and email individual content. The drag-n-drop function, modifying the front page and mobile site, and OpenID settings are pretty nice. However, it’s missing the sharing functionality within the reader, like the other two readers support.

Which Web RSS Reader do you use?  What would you say is the best functionality of it?  Regardless of your RSS reader of choice, if you read numerous RSS feeds, you need one. It provides a great way to organize and maintain your feeds, and relieve some of the stress of having to sift through all of them.

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Instantly View Thousands Of RSS Feeds With Awasu
2. Better Manage Your Oneline Bookmarking With SpeedTile
3. 10 Useful Tips to Using FriendFeed
4. 8 Useful Tools To Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts Simultaneously
5. How To Create A ‘Maintenance’ Holding Page When Upgrading Your WordPress Blog

Sometimes, however, the package doesn’t exist in your distribution’s repositories. Often, in cases like that, your only option is to download a tarball (usually .tar.gz, .tar.bz, or .tgz) which contains the source code for the program that you have to compile yourself. While it may be a little intimidating at first, compiling from source is normally a quick and easy process. Today, we’ll learn how.

First off, I should note that not all tarballs are the same. This guide will be assuming that the program you’re trying to install is a normal GNU-style source code collection. Most require all the steps noted below, but many skip one step or another. For the purposes of the tutorial I’ll be compiling the source code package of Python 3.0.1 from the Python homepage.

Step 1: Extract the tarball

For those new to Linux, tarball is a term commonly used to refer to a file which contains other files. It’s a lot like a ZIP or RAR file in Windows, except that the tar program, on its own, does not compress the files. Tar works with a compression program like gzip to actually compress the files, which is why you commonly see two extensions (.tar and .gz). This is sometimes abbreviated to just .tgz.

Fortunately, we don’t need to run two separate programs to extract the files, we just tell tar to run the files through gzip to decompress. You can use a graphical utility to extract those files by simply double clicking the tarball from your file manager, or you can do it from the command line with:

tar -zxvf mytarball.tar.gz

The options we gave tar are as follows:

• -z to tell tar to run this file through gzip to decompress (use -j for bzip files)
• -x to extract the files
• -v for “verbose”, so we can see a list of the files it’s extracting
• -f to tell tar that we’re working with a file

For easier unzipping, see the Tips section at the bottom of this page

Configure

Once the files are extracted, open a command terminal and go to the directory where the files have been unzipped. Before we can compile, we need to run the configure script. The job of the configure script is to check your system for all the software necessary to compile the program from source code into a usable binary program. It looks for things like gcc version and other tools needed to build the software. So once you’re in the directory with all the files that were unpacked from the tarball, type in

./configure

If all goes well it’ll go through a check of various parts of your system, then drop you back to the command line like below:

The most common cause of errors in this step is a missing dependency. Look closely at any errors you may get to determine what package is missing.

Make

This is the real meat of the process - where we compile the source code into a runnable program. This is normally the easiest step, only requiring a single command. If the configure step completed without errors, simply type in

make

On a large program, this step might take a few minutes. Once done, you’ll be dropped back to the shell prompt as shown here.

Technically, your program is now ready to use. Under most circumstances, however, you’ll want to run one more step so that she program can be fully installed into the correct locations for it to be run from anywhere.

Make install

All this really does is copy the now-compiled program into the system directories like /usr/bin so that it can be run from any directory without having to specify a path to the files. Since it’s copying to a directory outside your home, you’ll probably need root privileges. If the make step completed without errors, simply run

sudo make install

to copy the files. At this point, you’re all done! Your new program can be used like any other.

Tips

Chances are, you’ll be compiling from source more than once in your life. In fact, for those who like to use the latest and greatest software, this can be very common. To make it a little easier, open your .bashrc file from your home directory, and add the following aliases to the end:

alias ungz="tar -zxvf"
alias unbz="tar -jxvf"
alias cmi="./configure && make && sudo make install"

Related posts:

1. How to Backup And Install Your Linux Applications With AptOnCD
2. Install Adobe Air For Linux In Ubuntu Intrepid
3. Making The Linux Command Line A Little Friendlier
4. How To Install Dreamweaver CS3 In Ubuntu Hardy
5. Basic Bash Command For New Linux Users

To download the beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials, you need to first login to your Windows Live account and complete a survey. Once that is done, you will be able to download the respective software for your Windows version (Win XP or Vista/7).

At MakeTechEasier, we will take you through the software and show you what to expect from this yet another Microsoft product.

Simple Interface

One thing that anyone will notice immediately after the installation is that it is simple in design and user interface. You don’t find plenty of fanciful icons or even several levels deep of tab menu. All you find is only a simple window with some simple, but important options.

There are four main tabs on the window: Home, Update, History and Settings.

Home is where you view the current status while the Update tab show you the last virus definition update time. The History tab shows a list of all the virus detected on your computer and the actions taken to combat the virus. Lastly, the Settings tab contains the common configuration options found in almost every anti-virus software, including scheduling regular scan, actions to take when viruses are detected, scan files and attachments as they are downloaded etc.

Low on Memory Resources

I have tried several anti-virus software, both paid and free, on my Windows over the years and there is always one thing in common: The CPU and memory usage spike up whenever I run a full scan of the computer. When I test-drive with Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7, I was surprised that while scanning my hard disk, it didn’t cause my other applications to hang. I am pretty impressed by the low memory usage and how it can get things done without causing the whole system to hang.

Screenshots tour:

After Thoughts

With the bitDefender firewal, User Account Controll and now the anti-virus software, it seems that Microsoft is making a serious attempt to combat the all securities issues that are troubling them all this while. While this won’t stop hackers from developing new viruses, it does make the system slightly harder to crack.

What other anti-virus software do you think is worth the mention here? Shout it out in the comments.

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Maintain Up-To-Date Software In Your PC With SUMo
2. 4 Tools To Make Vista’s UAC Less Annoying Without Compromising Your Security
3. Easy Ways to Keep Your PC Running Smoothly
4. Download EASEUS Partition Master For Free – 24 Hours Only
5. TreeSize Free Makes Disk Space Analysis a Breeze

Now, the question is: can this search process get any easier?

The answer is Yes, if you are using Inquisitor. You’ll be surprised how much faster, quicker and easier you can now search with the search bar.

Inquisitor is a browser plugin that extends the functionality of the search bar. It makes the search bar more intuitive, responsive and much easier to use. As you type in the search bar, Inquisitor starts to search the web and brings back the result on the fly, and enabling you to access to your search result faster.

Inquisitor is owned by Yahoo and is compatible with Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, 8. It also works in Mac, PC and iPhone.

Once you have installed the respective extension for your browser, it will automatically replace your search bar. To perform an intuitive search, simply type in the search bar. A list of suggestions will appear as soon as you type. The initial result is based on your browser history, but as you type, the list get refined and brings in more relevant result for your search term. In most cases, I am able to find what I want without having to complete the search terms.

Inquisitor also comes with several configuration options that you can set to suit your preferences.

Options that you can configure include:

Auto-complete settings

Inquisitor will attempt to auto-complete your search term as you type. You can either make it auto-complete the entire phrase, current word or do nothing. Personally, I have found that choosing the “auto-complete current word only” option gives you better control of your search results.

Instant result setting

In the dropdown list of suggestion, you can You can choose how the result is displayed, whether website result first or keyword suggestions first.

Display count

Number of website results and keyword suggestions to display in the dropdown list.

Search Engine

The default search engine is Yahoo. You can also set it to Google.

A thing to note here: If you set the search engine to Google, the website result search will cease to work. You will only see keyword suggestions in the dropdown list.

Display links to additional search engines

If you are frequently using Wikipedia, Flickr or any other search engines to perform your search, this is where you add in the additional search engine to the dropdown list.

Conclusion

Depending on how often you use your browser’s search bar, this plugin can be useful/useless to you. For me, it has definitely improved my productivity and enabled me to get my search result much faster and easier. Being cross-platform/cross-browser compatible also make it a highly versatile tool, not to mention that it works great in iPhone and iPod Touch too.

What do you think?

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. How To Perform A Power Google Search (and get almost everything out of it)
2. Find What You Want With Google Specific Search
3. How To Be More Efficient With Firefox Keywords
4. Great Alternatives Search Engines That Are Unknown to Many
5. How To Use Wolfram|Alpha Search and Firefox Extension

Installation and setup

Before you begin you need to make sure that SSH client and server are installed on the correct computers. The host computer that will have the actual running applications needs to have SSH server running. On Ubuntu, it is not installed by default. Look for the packaged called “openssh-server” and install it. On the client computer, you will need “openssh-client“.

The other important preliminary step is to make sure both computers are connected to a network and that you can reach them via SSH. If the computers are in the same building, it will be easy. If not, you might have to configure the host computer to receive SSH connections through the firewall. See your router’s documentation for the correct method of port forwarding.

Connecting

1. Open a terminal emulator: Gnome terminal, Konsole or something similar.

2. Now connect to the host computer. As an example, if the host IP address is 192.168.254.76 and the host username is “bobolina”, you would type the following:

ssh -X -lbobolina 192.168.254.76

This tells SSH to forward the X server calls to the client computer.

3. At the password prompt, enter the password.

4. Run the application. For example, if you want to run Kwrite, just type the command:

dbus-launch kwrite &

(Note: you will need to have “dbus-launch” before KDE 4 applications. Other applications that do not require D-Bus should work without it).

Other Considerations

That is all it takes.  You should now be able to run remote X applications at will. This can be very helpful if, for example, you are running a computer with a very small hard drive, no hard drive at all or even one without a CD-ROM drive, all of which are common with many netbooks and low-cost mini desktops.

To automate this process, you could setup SSH public keys to connect without passwords and write an executable script. Also, if you need a full X session forwarded, you can use NX technology, available with the commercial NoMachine NX or with FreeNX (a free and open source alternative).

As with any network solution, security is always a concern. Using SSH provides a secure connection, but it does little good if your password is easy to guess and your firewall allows anyone to gain access to it. Once you have a secure plan in place, remote X forwarding is an excellent way load remote applications on demand and manage remote machines. The possibilities are only as limited to your imagination and the speed of your network connection. Experiment with different techniques, and let us know what you discover.

Related posts:

1. How to Set Up a VNC Server In Ubuntu Hardy Heron
2. 2 Useful SSH Tricks to Improve Your System Security
3. How to Get The Most Out Of KDE4’s Folderview Widget
4. How To Configure A Firewall In Linux Using Firestarter
5. 4 Easy Ways To Stream Your Music Online

However if you’re blogging to a Movable Type or Wordpress platform blog, the best solution is Pocket Sharp MT  for touchscreen “Professional” Windows Mobile devices (or Phone Sharp MT for non-touchscreen WinMo handsets). Pocket Sharp MT is available from www.randyrants.com.

Once the installation is complete, you can configure Pocket Sharp MT to connect to and publish to your Wordpress or Movable Type blog, and comfortably blog from the comfort of your Windows Mobile device, employing basic formatting, assigning categories and even uploading images.

Setup Your Blog Connection

To begin, you need to make a connection to your blog. This first of all requires that your Windows Mobile deice is connected to the Internet, either directly via your network operator or via a WiFi connection. Note that prolonged use of Pocket Sharp MT can result in a high data usage charge.

When you first launch the blog software, you will need to setup the connection to your Movable Type or Wordpress blog. This can be done by going to Tools -> Options.

The options screen requires:

• Web Server
• CGI-BIN Path
• Username
• Password

You should already know your blog username and password; you should also know the URL of your blog, which is entered as the Web Server. (Enter the full path, including the ‘http://’)

The CGI-BIN part can prove to be more difficult. The default is set in Pocket Sharp MT for Movable Type blogs - /cgipath/mt-xmlrpc.cgi – so if you’re using Movable Type as your blogging platform you’re laughing at this point.

Wordpress platform users need to change this entry to refer to the Wordpress version of this linking gateway script. Thankfully it’s a lot easier to type in: /xmlrpc.php

With a correct username and password entered and a connection to the Internet established, click on refresh. The Blog List drop down will now display your blog, so you can click OK to continue or if necessary update the Proxy tab with any relevant information you need to connect to the web and try again.

Note that this guide is written using a Wordpress blog connection. The Pocket Sharp MT software functions remain the same for either platform, however.

Writing a Blog Post

Once the connection to your blog is setup, you can go straight into entering the text for your blog post.

Enter a title, select a category and enter the body text – it’s all straightforward and can be entered either by a hardware device-mounted keyboard or a software keyboard.

Longer entries can continue over onto the Extended tab, while Tags (Keywords) and Excerpts can be entered on the Advanced tab, along with a list of URLs to Ping. The status of the post (Draft or Publish) can also be set here, as well as allowing or disallowing comments.

The Authored on tab lets you set the date and time of writing – alternatively you can sync Pocket Sharp MT with your server time.

Save Drafts

It’s always good practice to save as you go, particularly when blogging from a device that doubles as a phone. This can be done via the File menu, simply select Save Draft or hit the Save button on the menu bar. The saved post will be stored as a text file with the .MT file extension.

The Format menu will apply any of the preset formatting (bold, underline, italics, URL link) to the selected text, while copy and pasting can be achieved via File -> Edit.

Finally, use the Tools > Upload Media category to upload images to the specified uploads location on your server. Using the standard <img src=”[filename]”> you can enter the image into the blog post, or simply use let Pocket Sharp MT insert it into the post on your behalf.

Submitting Your Post

Submitting your blog post is a matter of deciding whether to change the status from Draft to Publish, and then hitting Post to Server.

You can check the resulting post on either your mobile or your desktop browser to check the outcome, and I think you’ll agree the results – while limited – are very good indeed.

Pocket Sharp MT is one of the most functional Windows Mobile blogging clients available, but there are other solutions that operate on similar principles.

image credit: ittsai

Related posts:

1. Things You Need to Check Before Installing Software on the Windows Mobile
2. Clean Up Your Windows Mobile Easily With CleanRAM
3. Windows Mobile: Installing Viigo And Managing Your RSS feeds
4. ShoZu - Social Network Updating Made Easy
5. Manage Remote Storage with Microsoft My Phone

Like many modern browser, Opera 10 (Unite) offers tabbed browsing, a download manager, add-ons, speed dials (up to 25 favorite sites shown as a thumbnail), bookmarks with tagging; you know all the basics. Of course there are plenty of ways to customize the look, but the layout of the browser window is similar to that of Safari, Firefox and others.

Some of its Great Features

Built-in BitTorrent client

Opera Unite comes with a BitTorrent client that allows searching for and download of torrent files.

Cross-platform syncing

Opera Link enables you to sync bookmarks, speed dials, bookmark bar, notes, etc. with other devices including your phone running. As long as device is running a current version of Opera, Opera mini or Opera mobile; your information is right there and ready for you.

Customized search

The customizable web searching gets you quick access to Google, eBay, Amazon and more with the search field in the upper right corner. Or, for even quicker searching, search directly in the address bar using built-in and customizable keywords. For example, type “e VW Rabbit” in the address bar to search for “VW Rabbits” on eBay.

Web server within browser

The innovative features Unite is bringing to the table are really going to turn some heads. The idea behind the “services” as they are calling them, is to create a web server within the broswer and make each computer accessible from anywhere on the web, allowing you to retrieve information from it just like you would from a website or server. There will be more services to come, but right now here is what Unite comes with.

• Media Player – Access your local music collection from anywhere on the Internet.
• Web Server – Host a web site from the local computer.
• Photo Sharing – Share photos directly without uploading to a middleman site like Flickr.
• File Sharing – Allows sharing files directly between users; no emailing or torrent sites needed.
• The Lounge – A chat interface hosted on your computer.
• Fridge – Lets other people can put a virtual sticky note on the your refrigerator door like back in the day.

My Experiences Using the New Features

I do have to admit that these features are a really good idea. I think for people who embrace the new browser, the services could take the place of many third party hosting and application sites for smaller scale usage. However, while playing with the services feature, I did run into a few instances where I needed to reset the sharing part of the browser. There was no specific reason, just an unnamed error. I am sure as it gets closer to the final release it will be a lot more stable.

With the growing number of data enabled mobile devices, having all of your information synced is becoming more important by the day. Both the desktop and mobile versions of Opera are very fast browsers to surf the web. Having the ability to sync my bookmarks (which I imported from Firefox), coupled with being able to surf the mobile web via a HTML browser while I’m out is a really great thing in a pinch.

I don’t see myself making a total transition from Firefox just yet. I am going to keep using it part time and keep an eye on what services they roll out in the coming months. I wouldn’t write off Opera, they have been in the background for a long time making a really reliable browser. In the end, all the bells and whistles can make a browser fancy, but speed, usability and reliability are what matters. (Sorry Internet Explorer) Download Unite here and see what you think.

What are your thoughts on the Opera browsers?

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Is Opera Good Enough For Your Ubuntu Desktop?
2. 5 Reasons Why You Should Use VirtualBox Over VMware Server
3. Better Manage Your Bookmarks With Tidy Favorites
4. Three Easy Ways to Synchronize Your Bookmarks Across Various Browsers
5. How To Protect Your Identity Online With A Proxy Server

In this tutorial, we will make use of the Vistar7 - Windows 7 transformation pack to perform the transformation. This transformation pack has a nice collection of Windows 7 themes and comes with an installation script to make the whole transformation a breeze.

Before we start, please note that:

1) The purpose of this tutorial is to illustrate the flexibility and customizability of the Linux desktop. We are not advocate of Microsoft (or Windows 7).

2) If you are not comfortable with your computer looking like any other OS (especially the one that you hate most), do not read further.

3) The transformation pack only change the look and feel of your Kubuntu Jaunty. It does not give you the functionality of Windows 7. If you want to use Windows 7, download the RC1 and install it in your computer instead.

4) This transformation pack will create a new user profile in your system and install itself in the new profile. Your personal profile will be left untouched.

Step 1: Download the transformation pack

First, download the Windows 7 transformation pack torrent file. Then with your bit torrent client (such as KTorrent), download the transformation pack folder to your home directory.

Step 2: Make the installation script executable

Open the Konsole and type in:

cd /path-to-windows7-transformation-pack-folder
sudo chmod +x install.sh

Step3: Install the transformation pack

(Before you run the installation script, make sure you are connected to the Internet.)

Run the installation script by running the following command in the Konsole:

sudo ./install.sh

The installation script will do the following:

1. Add new software package to your existing software repository.

2. Install several plasma related software.

3. create a new user - vistar7.

4. prompt you to set password for the new user.

4. Extract the required files to the corresponding theme directory.

5. Change the configuration path.

When the installation is done, you have to switch to the new user profile - vistar7 to see the Windows 7 interface in action.

Screenshots:

Kubuntu’s menu bar.

Dolphin and Konqueror passing off as Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer 8.

List of Windows 7 wallpapers that come with the transformation pack

Install the theme in your personal profile

For those who want to bring it further and install the transformation pack in your personal profile instead of the new user - Vistar 7, here is the steps:

(This is not recommended as the transformation is not fully supported by the creator. Do this at your own risk.)

In the Windows 7 transformation pack folder, open the install.sh file in Kate.

At the third line, change the NEWUSERNAME to your own username

3

NEWUSERNAME="your own username"

Scroll down to line 30, put a # in front of the statement from line 30-33

30
31
32
33

#echo "Creating user."
#useradd -m $NEWUSERNAME -s /bin/bash && \
#echo "User created. Enter password for new user."
#passwd $NEWUSERNAME

Save the file.

Run the script in Konsole:

cd /path-to-Windows-7-transformation-pack
sudo ./install.sh

Log out and login again. You should be able to see the Windows 7 theme in action now.

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Make Your Windows XP/Vista Functions Like Windows 7
2. How to Upgrade Windows 7 Beta To Windows 7 RC1 Without Formatting Your Hard Disk
3. How to Dual Boot Windows Vista And Windows 7
4. How to Integrate Google Gadgets With Plasma in Kubuntu
5. Linux Howto: Miss Your Windows Application? Try WINE

Luckily, you can turn off this pop up feature easily and switch back to the old icon-appear-at-system-tray mode.

Open up a terminal, type

gconf-editor

This will load up the gconf editor window

Navigate to Apps->Update Notifier. On the right, unchecked the auto_launch box. Close the window.

That’s it.

To recover the auto launch pop up function, simply repeat the above step, but place a check in the auto_launch box.

Alternative method (via the terminal)

If you are just plain lazy, here’s a much easier step.

In your terminal, type the following command:

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch false

To recover:

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch true

Related posts:

1. How To Upgrade From Ext3 To Ext4 Without Formatting The Hard Disk
2. What’s New In Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
3. Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard
4. Fancy A Slick Screensaver As Your Wallpaper?
5. Ubuntu Tutorial: How To Redesign Your Desktop The ‘WOW’ Way

This free open-source mail client (available for Mac and Windows) combines few great features that can help users manage their emails better.

The developer’s site have a comprehensive list of Postbox’s features and abilities, but here are few that I personally find useful.

1. Create new accounts

The first time Postbox is opened, it will offer you to create a new account. You can also create another account later by going to File -> New -> Account menu. Compared to other email client that I’ve used so far, Postbox’s new account creation is the easiest. It supports major web mail services like GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo and even MobileMe.

2. Browse mails with tabs

Each time you select a mail, it will be shown on one of the window’s pane. There are two pane’s layout that you can choose: Classic View and Vertical View. You can toggle between these two views from the View -> Layout menu.

If you double click on one of the messages, it will be opened in a new tab instead of window. I think the idea is nice and produces less cluttered workspace.

3. Organize messages with topics

In Postbox, you can organize messages by topics. You can set and add any topics that you can think of according to your preferences.

The easiest way to add topic is by right clicking on the favorite topic pane and choose “Create New Favorit Topic” on the popup window. Then you can to assign messages to the topic by clicking the Plus (+) sign next to the “Topic” option in each message.

But if you need to assign topic(s) to many messages automatically, use filtering option for the fastest result. Go to “Message -> Create Filter From Message” menu.

4. To Dos

Postbox comes with the ability to create to do list easily. Not as elaborate as Outlook, but most people - like me - do not need advance organizing capability.

You can create a to do entry manually by clicking “New To Do” icon, or you can ‘tag’ a to do entry to a message by selecting a message and clicking the ‘To Do” button in the message view.

After that, if you go to “View -> Pin To Dos” menu, all the message with the ‘To Do’ tag will be listed above other message.

5. Attachment (and other) List

This app also has a attachment list feature that will show all the attachments from all of the messages in one page. Just click on the Attachment button under the search field. There are 3 other list buttons that you can choose: Images, Links, and Contacts.

The list will open up in a new tab. From here on you can choose to Save (to your hard drive), Send (to others via email), Upload (to Google Docs, but I don’t think this service is compatible with every filetype), or just to have a Quick Look.

This list is based on my short encounter with Postbox for Mac, but the feel for Windows version should not be far off. As time goes by, I’m sure I’ll add more to the “what I like about Postbox” list.

Have you tried Postbox? Whether you will like it or not, this nice app deserves at least a try.

And as always, share your thoughts and experiences in the comment below.

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. How To Use Zimbra To Manage Your Email Accounts
2. Download Webmail to POP & RSS Reader Tool
3. Manage Your Ebook Library with Calibre
4. Better Manage Your Bookmarks With Tidy Favorites
5. Get Your Desktop Organized With Stardock Fences

Locking your screen can take a couple of different forms, but the one I’m going to focus on is fast user switching.  This allows multiple accounts to be “logged in” to your machine with processes running on each account.

To activate fast user switching, you’ll need to be logged into the administrator account on your machine.  Head to System Preferences -> Accounts. At the bottom of the accounts list, you’ll see a “Login Options” button you should press. Check the box that says “Enable fast user switching”. A menu bar item will pop up next to your Spotlight icon that presents a list of accounts you can log into, with your own name greyed out. To switch users just select the account you want from the list and you’ll be taken to the login screen and password prompt.

This is certainly a nice feature to have, but for some of us our menu bars are getting quite crowded.  If you have a long account name, it’s nice to have something more compact.

Enter third-party solutions. Note that all of these do the above steps for you- fast user switching does not have to be enabled for these applications to work.

1. MacLoc

MacLoc, from ourapples software, comes in two flavors; a simple, standard-sized menu (MacLoc ME- for “Menu Edition”) or the traditional MacLoc app you can put in your Dock or on the Desktop.  Free.

2. ScreenLock

Available for download from HandyMacApps, ScreenLock is more or less the same as the standard version of MacLoc.

3. Lock Desktop (Automator)

This is an Automator action available for download on Apple’s Software website. What it does is to lock your desktop by running a simple script. This will keep all applications running, eliminating the hassles of logging out.

Do you have any screen lock options that I left out?  I purposely didn’t include the password prompt when waking from sleep/screensaver because Sleep (obviously) affects system processes.  Leave a note in the comments!

Related posts:

1. 4 Useful Applications To Prevent Repetive Strain Injury While Using Your Computer
2. 10 Free Mac applications You Can’t Live Without
3. 5 Simple Drawing Applications for Mac
4. 10 Useful Portable Applications to Run On Your USB Drive
5. Easy Twittering and Facebook(ing) with Seesmic

Nokia advertises it as an “Internet Tablet” rather than a PDA, so perhaps they expect you to rely on cloud services, such as Google Calendar.  Very well, we will, but we will do it with style.  mCalendar is a small application for the Maemo operating system that allows you to have an appointment calendar on your tablet and also sync it with your Google Calendar.  It is finger-friendly and easy to use.  It is available for Maemo/Tablet OS2007 and OS2008 and should work on Nokia 770, N800, N810, and N810 WiMax models.

Installation

The easiest way to install mCalendar is to go to maemo.org and click the big green “Install” button next to mCalendar.  This will add the extras software repository and also install the application.  If you prefer to add the software repository yourself, simply open your Application Manager, open the menu, click on Tools and click “Application catalog…”.  Click the “New” button and add this repository:

Catalog name = maemo Extras
Web address = http://repository.maemo.org/extras/
Components = free non-free

Setup

1. Start mCalendar.

2. Open the menu and click “Preferences”.

3. Click on the “Google Syncronization” tab.

4. Enter your Google login (usually your email address) and password.

5. Click on the “General” tab.

6. Optional: You can select “google popup reminder” to receive notices of appointments and “auto sync” if you want to keep mCalendar automatically in sync with your Google calendar.

Start Syncing

You should test synchronization to make sure it works.

1. Add an appointment to your calendar and save it.

2. Open the menu and click “Synchro”.

3. Open a browser and login to Google Calendar.

4. Check the appointment to make sure that it is the right day and time.

5. Edit the appointment and re-sync to make sure two-way communication is working.

Alternatives

While mCalendar is quick and easy, it is hardly robust.  If you prefer a calendar with a few more options, such as GPE Calendar, you can use a third party application called Erminig to sync it with your Google calendar.

Erminig is in the maemo extras repository and is configured in roughly the same way as mCalendar’s sync function.  One advantage is that you can sync with a specific calender from  your Google account and a specific GPE calendar, if you have more than one.  You can then setup multiple entries and sync all of them at once.  Furthermore, it has a “read-only” feature, if you prefer not to make changes on the tablet side.

Beyond the tablet

Once you have your tablet synced with your Google calendar, you might also want to sync with your desktop calendar.  I have not found an easy way to sync directly from the Nokia internet tablet to the desktop.  Instead, you can sync it with your Google calendar and then sync Google with your desktop, using GCALDaemon.

KDE4’s data backend, Akonadi, currently only supports read-only functionality with Google Calendar.  If that is all you need, you will not need GCALDaemon.  There are plans to add read-write functionality in KDE 4.3

Now you have the ability to wirelessly sync your calendars on the move.  This certainly does not come close to full PIM synchronization, but you will at least have your important appointments in order.

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. Syncing To Google Calendar
2. Access Your Google Docs Offline
3. How To Access Gmail on your Desktop
4. How to Run Google Chrome in Ubuntu
5. Sync Your Passwords Across Different Browsers With LastPass

I went on a hunt and found a couple different choices. To be honest, I tried the Firefox add-on Scribefire first; I never quite got to the second one. The reason I didn’t go any further is it did what I needed it to do and it did it well. Scribefire lets me post to multiple blogs, storing of notes and uploads images. I can work on multiple posts at the same time by opening different tabs. This smart little Firefox add-on auto saves my progress while I work and also when I close the editing window.

Adding Visuals

This feature rich editor gives you a few ways to add a few pieces of flair to your post. Video is becoming wildly popular and very common in every kind of site. Scribefire lets you search for videos on Youtube right from the editing window. The videos can be previewed in the search window before you embed it in the post. Here is a look at the preview window.

When its time to add pictures, there are a few more options. Pictures can be uploaded from your computer, the web, Flickr or Zementa. Below is a sample of the search results when looking on Flickr.

Never having used Zementa before, I found a few of the features pretty neat. When searching, the pictures show up in the sidebar (not the neat part). As you hover over the picture, the text tells you if it is free to use.

When you decide on a picture, it adds in credit for the photo and a link to the picture on the web. Some editors have a specific way they want things laid out, so a simple copy and paste can move the credits where you want them.

Add Some Ads

Off to the side there are a few tabs, one of which is aimed to help monetize your blog. Currently inLinks (the provider of the HTML ads) only supports Wordpress, Drupal, Moveable Type, Joomla and Ruby on Rails sites. None of the free hosted blogging options are supported.

Share your Post

Another tab offers options to share your post. I personally would like to see a few more options, but I am not going to complain too much.

Under the Hood

In the sidebar, there are tabs to set up and select the blog you want to post to. The next tab lets you see all of the entries and notes. The notes are essentially autosaving drafts. In the categories tab, this is where you apply any tags or categories to your post. The fourth tab lets you modify the timestamp, add Technorati tags, trackback URLs and choose what sites to ping.

If you prefer to use it, there is the source code editor option. I am not much for doing the extra work if I can drag and drop it; Everyone has their preferences though.

What blog editor do you use to write your posts?

Slow computer? Try Auslogics BoostSpeed!

Related posts:

1. 10 Firefox Extensions For Better Tab Management
2. ShoZu - Social Network Updating Made Easy
3. How To Create A ‘Maintenance’ Holding Page When Upgrading Your WordPress Blog
4. Useful Firefox Shortcut Keys (and Cheatsheet Download)
5. OnlyWire: One Bookmark Tool to Rule Them All