Linux / Ubuntu

I was browsing sites that I regularly visit and I come across this notebook that I thought Ubuntu users would probably love to own. I’m a Ubuntu user and I simply drooled over it when I saw it. Not only is it thin. It is also very light. At first I had some apprehensions about its sturdiness but there was simply one feature that I absolutely love about the notebook — you don’t need a wall outlet to charge it.

Well at least if there’s some sunlight lying around you at least because the notebook runs on solar energy. The Andrea Ponti concept solar notebook is simply gorgeous and I hope it would see the light of day and become a reality in my lifetime. Imagine, not having to ever need to charge a notebook from an electrical outlet ever again — that would really be cool and awesome.

For quite a while I have been having a recurring problem with sound on a Windows guest OS under Virtualbox. After a while it will just hang up and when I restart the Virtualbox session under Ubuntu I will get an error message saying that the host’s sound system isn’t working. Since I don’t use Virtualbox that often I forget about it and moved on.

I know it has something to do with the Pulseaudio system on my Ubuntu set up but was a bit lazy to google for a solution. Anyway my sound was quite fine under Ubuntu so I didn’t mind it at all.

Continue reading …

One of the social sites I like is twitter.com. I’ve heard about identi.ca but really haven’t tried it yet. Recently, I came across a twitter client that runs on Ubuntu that I liked a lot. It’s called Gwibber. It’s actually not just a Twitter client but also supports identi.ca, laconi.ca, digg, ping.fm, facebook and some other stuff.

It’s very easy to use and can handle multiple accounts so I’d probably try out identi.ca now that I use Gwibber. One of the things I like about Gwibber is that it lets you have your own customized theme. If you know basic HTML and CSS, it’s actually easy to customize.

Continue reading …

Linux.com is now owned by Linux Foundation. I hope that SourceForge is okay. I’ve read that the deal might be because Sourceforge has been having financial woes. Sourceforge has helped many open source projects in its infancy so it would be a sad thing if they’re having serious money problems. Anyway Linux Foundation and Sourceforge have partnered to create a fresh direction for the linux.com website.

Here’s a copy of the Press Release from the Linux Foundation regarding Linux.com.

I remember as a child having to pull a bag filled with books going to school. When I got my first PC in the ’80s, I imagined a classroom where students are holding electronic “pocketbooks” that serves as their library of books, their electronic notebook / magic slate …

The recent news of a big deployment of Linux in schools got me back into thinking just how near the reality of my concept is actually unfolding. One thing caught my attention though, the deployment will use virtual Linux desktops using a CPU sharing scheme. The scheme that uses a single computer connected with several monitors is not something new but I wondered if it’s still feasible in this day and age.

After some checking and comparing alternative solutions and schemes, here’s what I found out — electronic “pocketbooks” are in.

Continue reading …

This weekend while surfing the Net, I came across a blog about an average Mom who started to learn Ubuntu. She was trying to rate how appropriate tagline “Linux for human beings” really is and it got me curious. I started to read her series of posts entitled “The Ubuntu Chronicles: The Saga of Amber and Ubuntu“

What’s very interesting about Amber’s series of posts is that it gives some very good points on how well Ubuntu (Linux) has moved forward in terms of usability on the desktop. And some very good points which may very well help the community identify some improvement areas in terms of usability. Although I wouldn’t rate her as the average typical Mom, she has pretty much written things that provides some insight to how an average user might react to Ubuntu.

Continue reading …

l found (courtesy of Bigbrovar’s post, thanks) a piece of software called Blueman that provides better bluetooth management under Ubuntu Intrepid (it’s also available for other Ubuntu versions). It basicall replaces the current bluetooth manager under Intrepid.

What’s cool about blueman is that in addition to better bluetooth management under Ubuntu, it is also able to manage wireless broadband (GPRS/EDGE/3G) connections hand in hand with Ubuntu’s Network Manager. I’ve tried it on my Motorola RAZR mobile phone and it is able to setup HAL so that I can easily connect / disconnect to the Internet using Network Manager.

The last time I tried if my cell phone is supported by the Network Manager, I had to use the mobile phone’s cable to be able to connect to the Internet. If I wanted to connect to the Internet via bluetooth on my cell phone, I had to setup ppp manually. With Blueman, it’s done automatically for you. Great!

Continue reading …

If you’re using Virtualbox, you can now update to a newer 2.1.4 version. Lots of fixes and improved stability (been using it for a couple of days and I observed less ooops on Windows XP guest under a Ubuntu host).

Here’s a list of what has been fixed or added on VirtualBox 2.1.4. Download Virtualbox.

Since the last time I tried out how to setup a 3G connection on Ubuntu Intrepid, I’ve been trying out other cell phones that works with the new feature in Intrepid to allow users to easily connect via their mobile phones.

So far I’ve tried the following GPRS/3G/HSDPA mobile phones and they work under Ubuntu Intrepid.

Current list of supported cell phones in Ubuntu Intrepid’s mobile broadband automatic connection feature:

If you have made your mobile phone to work on Ubuntu Intrepid, please leave a comment so I can try and make a list of supported handsets. Thanks.

Here’s something to think about. Geekzone has published a step by step guide on how to create a virus under Linux. I’ve always had the idea that viruses and malware is possible even in Linux and the only thing it’s not talked a lot about is because:

What do you think?