Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Videolan Releases VLC Beta Version For Android Devices



Earlier this month, VideoLAN affirmed the news on twitter that VLC beta version for android devices has been launched. Now, you can play almost any audio or video files on your android devices because VLC beta version is enriched with following intriguing features;


  • Plays all files, in all formats, like the classic VLC
  • Audio and video media library, with full search
  • Support for network streams, including HLS
  • Subtitles support, embedded and external, including ASS and DVD subtitle
  • Multi audio or subtitles tracks selection
  • Multi-core decoding, for Cortex-A7 A9 and A15 chips
  • Experimental hardware decoding
  • Gestures, headphones control
However, this beta version supports android devices from 2.1 version (platform-7) that means all the devices based upon the ARMv6, ARMv7 and the ARMv7+NEON Engine. In other words, the devices it supports encompass of Galaxy Nexus (OMAP 4460), HTC One X (Tegra 3), Samsung Galaxy S3 (Exynos 4 Quad), Motorola Defy (OMAP 3610), HTC Desire (QSD8250 Snapdragon) and Nexus one (QSD8250 Snapdragon). Moreover, the beta version is available to download on Google Playstore for the android users. So if you are the one then hurry up and get your hands on one of the finest media players, now, available on one of the finest mobile devices. Bare in mind, this is a beta version which meant it may prone to discrepancies as it’s not the finalized version.


To get the beta version on your android device, follow the link;
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=VLC+Mobile+Team

Free Upgrade To MOUNTAIN LION OS X For Post 10 June Buyers Of MAC



A definite felicitation to those who purchased a MAC after 10 June 2012 as they have qualified to upgrade their OS to new Mountain Lion OS X which is dated  to release later this month. Ain’t it a blazing news, well it’s not a stroke of serendipity rather a promotional plan by Apple. Mac Rumors further elaborated about the upgrade that qualified candidates would be able to directly download new Mountain Lion OS X from the app store. However, they have to claim the opportunity within 30 days of Mountain Lion release.


To claim the free upgrade to Mountain Lion, qualified candidates have to adhere by the following steps;
Launch the Up-to-Date Program page (An online form asks to enter contact information, date and location of purchase, and the serial number of the Mac)


  • Having done with this, you will receive a redemption code via e-mail
  • Go to Mac app store
  • Submit the code at the Mac App Store to download the update.
Lastly, as an add on, the new version of OS X is expected to launch this week probably by tomorrow. However, those who do not qualify to avail the spunky opportunity can purchase the Mountain Lion for meager cost of $19.9 from the app store.
For more details, follow the link: http://www.apple.com/osx/uptodate/

Conky 2: A Nice Conky Desklet For Your Desktop - Ubuntu/Linux Mint



In this tutorial, we will see another conky desklet that has a cool design. Conky2 will display on your desktop system info such as CPU usage & temperature, network activities, hard drive I/O, date, laptop battery level, etc.



To make the installation of this conky script easier, I have packaged it in a Debian package and uploaded it to our custom PPA. You can find here the original creator of this desklet.

Conky 2 Installation

To install conky2 on Ubuntu 12.10/12.04/11.10 or Linux Mint 13 or older, open the terminal and issue these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/conky
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install conky2-desklet

You can start it now from the Unity Dash:



For Linux Mint 13, start it from the start menu, or run this command from the terminal:

conky2

To stop it, run this command:

killall conky

Enjoy!

Piggydb: An Easy Web Solution For Building Knowledge Repositories Under Ubuntu/Linux Mint



Piggydb is a web-based application (run in a web browser) that allows users to build knowledge repositories. Piggydb allows the user to input into the repository knowledge fragments that can be easily organized, categorized, and searched so that data can be easily and quickly retrieved. It's similar in concept to blogging. You can find more information about Piggydb in this page.



In this tutorial, we will help you install Piggydb on Ubuntu (12.10/12.04/11.10) and Linux Mint 13 or older. The tutorial is also applicable on other debian-based systems.

Piggydb Installation

We will install Piggydb in the home directory. If you want to select a different location, you can set your own path in the commands given below. Open now the terminal and download and install Piggydb 5.1 (stable) with these commands:

sudo apt-get install unzip


cd /tmp && wget -O piggydb-all-in-one-5.1.zip http://goo.gl/zjjTh


unzip -q piggydb-all-in-one-5.1.zip -d ~/


chmod +x ~/piggydb/run.sh

You can now start Piggydb with this command:

cd ~/piggydb/ && sh run.sh

Open now your web browser at this address:

 http://localhost:8080

The default login details are as follows:

username: owner
password: owner


You need to change them once you are logged on under owner > Change Password. To stop Piggydb, press Ctrl+C in the terminal.

GUADEC Conference 2012: 26th July - 1st August


The GNOME Foundation announced today, July 25th, in a press release, that in collaboration with the Linux Users and Developers Group GPUL, the University of A Coruña and the Galician Free Software company Igalia, will organize the 13th GUADEC Conference.

GUADEC Conference 2012 will start tomorrow, July 26th, and it will end on August 1st, 2012. The event will be held at the Faculty of Computer Science, at the University of A Coruña, Spain.

The GUADEC event is a great opportunity for free and open source software experts from all over the world to  gather together and share their knowledge. More than 250 GNOME developers, users, foundation leaders, governments, individuals and businesses will be present at the event to discuss the future of the GNOME desktop environment.

Among the Silver sponsors of the event we can mention Canonical, Collabora, Google, Igalia and Red Hat. For more details about GUADEC Conference 2012 please visit its official website.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Comes to Dell Laptops


After the announcement for Dell XPS 13 laptop with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), Dell announced a few days ago that they would expand their range of Linux laptops with a new Precision mobile workstation pre-installed with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 operating system.

Two new laptop models were announced by Dell, the Precision M6700, which is the lightest 17-inch mobile workstation that features a 17.3-inch LCD, nine-cell battery and weighs 3.52 kilograms, and the Precision M4700, which features a 15.6-inch LCD, six-cell battery and weighs roughly 2.78 kilograms.

Both Precision laptops will feature Intel's latest third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs, optional Nvidia Quadro or AMD FirePro high-definition GPUs, USB 3.0/USB 2.0/eSATA ports, and 256GB/512GB SSDs.

The prices will start from 1,649 USD (1,359 EUR) for the Precision M4700, and 2,189 USD (1,800 EUR) for the Precision M6700.

Project Neon KVM Officially Launched


Project Neon is an initiative that helps users get daily builds of KDE modules for Kubuntu, but now The Project Neon team has developed another one, called Project Neon KVM Image.

If Project Neon was for people that were using Kubuntu, Project Neon KVM is aimed at people that are using a Linux distribution other than Kubuntu or a non-Linux operating system.

According to the developers, “without disturbing the host environment, Project Neon KVM can be used to test new KDE releases, to try out new features, or to develop something entirely new”.

Users will need 2GB of RAM to run the images and, alternatively, ubuntu-vm/run.sh in the tarball can be edited to allocate less memory to the KVM.

The Project Neon team is on Freenode IRC at #project-neon. Mailing list information and archive are available at https://launchpad.net/~neon.

Epidemic GNU Linux 4.0 Beta 2 Available for Download


 The second Beta release of Epidemic GNU Linux 4.0, a completely free Debian based operating system that’s fast, efficient, modern in every way, plus extremely simple and easy to use, is now available for download.

Epidemic GNU Linux 4.0 Beta 2 is a distribution built in Brazil and codenamed “New Generation”. It's the first one to be released for the 64-bit platform, and it contains features like:

• The eMod application has been added. Users can now change more easily themes, remove applications, and implement changes when running from a penndrive;
• The eUpgrade application has been updated, providing and alternative mode of updating the operating system;
• German support has been added;
• eKwin, an application that can shutdown KDE effects with one click, has been added;

A complete list of changes and updates can be found in the official announcement.



Download Epidemic GNU Linux 4.0 Beta 2

Scientific Linux 6.3 Beta 2 Available for Testing


The second Beta release of Scientific Linux 6.3, a recompiled Red Hat Enterprise Linux put together by various labs and universities around the world, is now available for download and testing.

Highlights of Scientific Linux 6.3 Beta 2:

• GPG key list has been updated, CERN's key is now listed here too;
• Support for --final feature that was added in anaconda buildinstall has been added;
• Kickstart files have been renamed for simplicity;
• A script for making a disc containing published errata has been added;
• yuminstall.py has been updated to the latest release.

A complete list of changes and updates can be found in the official announcement.


 Download Scientific Linux 6.3 Beta 2

Things-To-Do Before Upgrading Your MAC To New OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion



Apple is going to release its next Mountain Lion OS which is said to be available by early this week as speculated by many. This means, all the Mac holders have to wait a bit more before getting their hands on the new OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. However, in meantime, its encouragingly recommended to first check whether your device is able to be upgraded to new OS without any harm or not and to help you in that, we bring a few things-to-do that you should adhere to, before upgrading your MACto the new OS.



Does Your MAC Meet The Requirements Of New OS??
In the first place, you should check the requirements of the new OS and compare them with your owned device. As the new OS upgrade would contain some advancement that have the probability of leaving out few of the Mac hardwares. In this case, the requirements primarily revolve around graphics capabilities and support for the system’s 64-bit kernel. As there’s an official list of hardwares that apple supports, you can compare your model with that list to see if your device is eligible for upgrade or not. However, if you own following models then you would not be able to avail this mountain lion OS X upgrade.
  • iMac6,1 or earlier (polycarbonate cases)
  • MacBook4,2 or earlier
  • MacBookPro2,2 or earlier
  • MacBookAir1,1 or earlier
  • MacMini2,1 or earlier
  • MacPro2,1 or earlier
  • XServe2,1 or earlier
Now to look up for your model no. follow these steps;
  • Go to the Apple menu and choose About this Mac
  • Click the More Information button (If you are already running Lion, then the system should show you the model’s time frame that you can compare to Apple’s official list)
However, if you are not running Lion already, then;
  • Click System Report (you will see the system information tool open)
  • In the Hardware section of the tool, check the Model Identifier and compare it to the list given above
Secondly, to avail this up-gradation you will have to access Mac App store which requires at least OS X 10.6 to be installed and upgraded to its latest version. If you currently have OS X 10.5 on your system, then you will need to purchase & install Snow Leopard before the up-gradation takes place. Moreover Apple also has an Up-To-Date Program for those who have purchased new Mac hardware. They can get help from there.
Lastly, the final hardware requirement you should check for is RAM. Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 requires at minimum 2GB of RAM but the more RAM you would have in your system the more better it would be. Preferably you should have 8GB or more RAM so things could workout smoothly under the new OS.
Does Your System Ensure Routine Backup?
Once you are done checking your hardware requirements, next check is for backing up ways of your system. If you do not have back up system enables in your system then get an extra hard drive and enable Apple’s Time Machine backup routine to keep restorable backup of your system on routine basis. Moreover, you can also opt for system cloning tools for keeping backup of your boot volume i.e. SupreDuper & Carbon Copy Cloner.


Does Your System Contain Any Resolvable Issues?
If yes then you have to get rid of them before getting your hands on the new OS. Before upgrading to Mountain Lion OS X 10.8 try to clear up as much of the issues like slowdowns, application freezes and crashes, or other unwanted behaviors and for that, you should run general maintenance routine on your system. Moreover, you should also go to software updates and install any update for your version of OS X as well as do update your third part softwares as they will be releasing Mountain Lion specific updates in meantime. Lastly if you could not get rid of these problems despite trying everything then go for the upgrade and if any problem occurs during that, you can restore back your system due to the backup system.
How To Create Mountain Lion Installation Drive?
To create the Mountain Lion installation drive optionally, follow these steps;
  • Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the Mac App Store.
  • Quit the installer when it automatically launches.
  • Locate the installer in your Applications folder.
  • Right-click the installer and choose “Show Package Contents.”
  • Go to the Contents > Shared Support folder (In the Shared Support folder you will see a disk image called “InstallESD.dmg,” which contains all the files to boot to the OS X installer and upgrade your system)
  • Use Disk Utility to restore this image to an external drive (However, in doing so you may run into a couple of differences. First, you will likely need a drive that is larger than most standard 4GB USB drives, and second, you might get an error when restoring the disk image file directly to the external drive. If you get an error, then first mount the image by double-clicking it, and then drag the mounted “Mac OS X Install ESD” volume to the “Source” field when restoring it to the destination drive of choice)
Having answered all the above-mentioned question by your system, now your MAC is prepared for the upgrade to new Mountain OS X 10.8. As a suggestion, instead of upgrading the system on first day of release, you should wait to see if any problem arises on the devices of those who have downloaded it already. However, Apple undertakes rigorous testing of OS but still this suggestion could save you from many hidden and unforeseen anomalies.
Source:
Cnet.com

VortexBox 2.1



Andrew Gillis has announced the release of VortexBox 2.1, a Fedora-based distribution designed to turn an unused computer into an easy-to-use music server or jukebox: "This release is a roll-up of a lot of features and fixes we have been working on since the last release. This release includes Logitech Media Server 7.7.2. Backups now support more than 2.2 TB drives. This is great for 3+ TB VortexBoxes. We have the latest Fedora kernel with upgraded audio drives. The new ALSA drives now have better support for USB audio devices. We are now using ALBUMARTIST instead of BAND tag in the FLAC to MP3 mirroring. We have experimental support for some leading-edge features. VortexBox Player now has DSD support. You can play your DSD rips directly. We now support Bluetooth audio devices through VortexBox Player. Blu-Ray ripping is working well but it still not 100%. We added Plex Media Server to the applications available for installation." Here is the full release announcement. Download (MD5): vortexbox-2.1.iso (698MB).