Gedit | Pidgin | Transmission | K3B | Libre Office | Amarok | VLC Player | Bluefish | Shutter | Eye for Gnome | Inkscape | Gimp
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Facebook has won the hearts of many over the years. This does not go without saying that Facebook has seen a fair share of positive as well as negative criticism on the trott. In the modern day, the ‘modern’ man would usually describe Facebook as an internet vicinity where everything and everyone you are interested in is readily available. This really takes us back in time (1990 to be exact) and reminds us of AOL. It is, therefore, no surprise that experts nowadays tend to compare Facebook with AOL a little too often (No wonder; both share quite a lot in common).
As it started to spread its wings and ascended even further towards supremacy, AOL saw success AND controversy. Facebook is no different in this regard. The only difference is, AOL now grimaces all that it had to lose. However, the million dollar question is: will Facebook overcome the odds and prevent history from repeating itself or will it share the same fate as AOL? Let us milk the moment (Let us not get too agricultural here) and ponder over what factors could cage Facebook in the same sort of trap as AOL.
Remember how AOL tried to be an all-rounder? Yes, it tried to be a little too many things at the same time and it cost them, dearly (Talk about multi-tasking being hazardous to health). Not only was it an ISP but it also tried its luck as a social network, a TV station AND a media empire! That pretty much explains why Time Warner did not prove to be a very successful bond and its existence came to an end in 2009, only nine years after their engagement.
Facebook has only focused and thus, excelled in pipes so far and let other firms deal with the content. Yes, Facebook is fine as long as it continues this way but in case otherwise, times of worry are about to commence for Facebook.
One major area where Facebook just can’t afford to be AOL is this. AOL was brilliant alright, but the bulk of AOL’s business relied upon charging users for every little service. This strategy used to worked fine and dandy for AOL, only until early 2000 though. This is when AOL ran into serious problems as people had now gained access to certain free services that AOL was charging a pretty penny for.
Yes, competition matters. AOL was too late in splitting its online services from the ISP and it really cost them, dearly. Speaking of Facebook, yes it has promised not to repeat any such errors. Of course, this comes at the cost of stalking people and their buying behaviours time and time again; however, if Facebook does make the mistake of doing what AOL did it is surely going to be a horrendous one.
Oh, this one can never go unnoticed, can it? Catching the attention of many, Behavioural Targetting has been a policy that Facebook had adopted ever since the very first day of launch. For those of you who really don’t know much about what the rant is about: This is a means of making use of the compiled information on a Facebook, or any other social media network, user’s browsing behaviour which may include pages liked and keywords searched.
Based on these results, the most pertinent advertisements are displayed on the page of the user so as to get maximum clicks and increase their profits, of course. Trouble is, Facebook plays a part in the (occasional?) privacy invasion and then tries to give others the impression that Facebook had no idea about what happened and how it happened. This can cost Facebook, big time.
As aforementioned, AOL wanted to be everything, all at the same time. This also meant that it was heavily spending on its partner firms. It would have been an ok thing for AOL to do as long as it was spending in the right way. Nah, no sarcasm. AOL already found itself in hot waters following the purchase of Bebo, a renowned social network, in 2008 that cost them a mammoth total of 850 dollars and astonishingly, was sold out for merely 10 million dollars in 2010.
Facebook has played its cards, amazingly well in this regard. To date, Facebook has allowed only pure and polished talent to seep through the ranks and has successfully resisted the urge of buying enormous businesses that it has nearly nothing to reap from. By these standards, it is no surprise that Mark Zuckerberg rightly points out, “we buy companies to get excellent people”.
There is no denying the fact that AOL used to be the main internet hub in its time of dominance- a service that was hard to resist. Since AOL was achieving burgeoning success and it just couldn’t register the word, ‘loss’ in its own little dictionary, AOL would especially provide incentives to its staff for deliberately retaining even those customers who wanted to delete their accounts and had even sent cancellation requests. New Facebook changes, anyone?
Facebook hasn’t really shown similar signs so far; however, killing a Facebook account did become quite a bit of a pain in the backside at one point in time. The issue has been resolved, of course. In fact, I have personally witnessed the deletion of atleast a few dozen Facebook accounts (Sorry, Facebook but I couldn’t hold it back).
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There is no denying the fact that Apple has, over the years, warmly welcomed tens of millions of iOS games developed for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Although we did talk about how the Apple iPad ‘revolutionized’ the tablet market and presented before you a list of quality gaming applications for your eyes in the not-so-recent past, we now decided to prepare a list of five best iOS games that really managed to prove their worth to date and still manage to draw gamers back to the action (which isn’t quite a battlefield; only just an IPS touchscreen but oh well). Yes, it is certainly not tough to find games on the App store (duh!) but amidst all the competition that goes it is surely a pain in the backside (of the head I mean) to enlist the best in the business. So then, let us do the favour and you sit back and admire as we present before you the top five iOS games for Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch.
Here we go..
For a game that that is becoming the fastest iOS game to manage a milestone with one million sales, surely there is no mention necessary (although we did mark it for your sheer convenience). Yes, you got that right-Cut The Rope: Experiments is the name of the deal. Already having set a number of records in the App store, Cut The Rope has made its mark as a potential breakout hit in no time, for sure. Speaking a little about the visuals and layout/model, ‘Cut The Rope’ seems to have quite alot in common with the previous best ‘Angry Birds’ in this regard; however, it seems that the former might just have managed to edge past the latter by a whisker (although it is seriously arguable). While the adorable mini-monster and nice,fluid visuals keep casual gamers interested for a good amount of time, loud and crisp sound and pick-up-and-play control schemes simply take the game to a higher level. Apparantly, your job in the game would merely be to escort a piece of candy from a flimsy dangling rope into the mouth of an Omnom (sounds like nom nom, I know). Evenly paced, this physics-based puzzler will keep you glued to your devices and will definitely make your moneys worth.
For all those of you who highly rate car racing simulations and even a handful of those who dare to belittle the iOS for making a mess of handheld gaming, Real Racing 2 is here and it is here to stay (as long as it doesn’t crash). Sequel to the original Real Racing for the iPhone, Real Racing 2 brings with it some stunning visuals, some licensed vehicles and an overall life-like racing experience in High Definition which is absolutely great watch. The game features a promising career mode along with a terrific online multiplayer mode that easily adds ten more hours of gameplay than usual. The tilt-and-touch driving mechanics coupled with adjustable thresholds and automatic breaking really adds to the breath-taking atmosphere as you pimp your ride on the racing tracks. A must buy really for all racing fanatics out there.
Epic Games and Chair Entertainment managed a feat that took the shape of a stunning, addictive and surprisingly deep epic fantasy hack n slash game among the best of the lot. This baby was named, the Infinity Blade by developers (what guardians, eh?). Undoubtedly, the game has been one of the most discussed gaming titles on the iOS and manages to immensely satisfy with its stunning visuals (courtesy of state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 3 development technology) cum unique, cyclical storyline as well as the masterful control scheme. Upon donning the suit of the warrior, feel free to take the stage and parry, block, dodge enemy attacks and swing your mighty sword to take down anyone who hinders your path. With a fancy story set in place, Infinity blade will offer some good replay value and keep you interested for long.
So, you love Street Fighter, eh? No, unfortunately Fruit Ninja won’t be catering for your Street Fighting needs; instead, what Fruit Ninja would be allowing you is to slice and slash through sweet, juicy fruit with no mercy whatsoever. Plus, you need to watch out for those bombs that keep coming up at random to mess your brains. Slice through the bomb and you shall have a piece of your own medicine (GAME OVER!). Yes, that is the main idea behind Fruit Ninja. Although the whole scheme sounds relatively simple compared to some other hardcore comes on the App scene so far, Fruit Ninja pleasantly surprises with its addictive gameplay and the sort of punch it delivers courtesy the game design and easy-to-use controls (a swipe on the screen-yes, that’s all it takes!). Being refreshing title for most casual gamers out there, Fruit Ninja is easily a must-buy for all and sundry.
It takes some longevity to make it to a collection of merely five titles categorized under THE finest, part of which is a racing game already (Up at the top, there!). There is no reason why Asphalt 6 should not have made five of the finest on iOS. Although far from realism, or more conventionally known as simulation, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline combines elements of next-gen games like Ridge Racer and Split Second to produce an overall peach of a racing game. Cash bonuses and alternative routes hang in as some great incentives in the arcade title. There might not have been too much focus on the physics of the game; yet, the need for speed seems to be the main element in question as gamers blast their way at hyper speeds while causing a few collisions here and there. With an appeal of its own, Asphalt 6 complements our list of the top five iOS games that are, without a hint of doubt, worth your hard-earned cash (Well, even black money would do).
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If you’re looking for some Windows app that could let you organize your to-do lists, help you keep things manageable and schedule your routine than here is the solution. DesktopCal is a free calendar app for your Windows desktop. DesktopCal promises to help you manage appointments, to-do lists, schedules and much more.
DesktopCal is one overlaying calendar app that provides you with the facilities of organizing your files, folder according to the calendar dates. This app either uses your current wallpaper or takes multiple pictures from the specified folder and runs a slideshow for your wallpaper.
It is a pretty simple calendar app that blends into your desktop, is less obtrusive and very convenient to use as it doesn’t block the access to your desktop icons. DesktopCal takes half of your desktop space by default but you can change the size at any time according to your convenience and need. Apart from the size, you can adjust the size and months, week views to be displayed as personal ease and suitability.
Right click on the DesktopCal from the system tray to open the Desktop Calendar’s administrative options.
Whenever on a busy day you want to add a reminder note or schedule your routine, just double click on the date box and enter your text to add a to-do list. It quickly lets you jump into the future dates to add the reminders and to-do lists. DesktopCal is a rather flexible application as it doesn’t permanently stick to your desktop and be exited at any time and opened from the system tray again.
Right click on the floating button on top of the calendar to switch between dates, week, months and wallpapers.
In Administrative options, choose the Display tab to adjust transparency, background color of the calendar, rows for displaying weeks and months, etc.
Picture tab lets you add the pictures to be run in a loop as your desktop background. Capture from Desktop allows you to use the current wallpaper.
Manage to-do lists
Advanced tab gives you options for auto-start with Windows, language selection, etc.
The highlights of DesktopCal are Muliti-language support, quick double click access to adding reminders, and a rotating wallpaper for your desktop.
DesktopCal works on Windows Vista, 7 and XP. Have fun with the wallpapers while managing your schedule, setting appointments or adding to-do lists.
Snapshot source: DesktopCAL
Download DesktopCal
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We have certainly heard of video games being ported to next-gen gaming consoles but the news of some free Microsoft applications making a mark on Nokia’s Symbian phones has caught us with surprise for sure.Nokia hopes to give these applications home following a release of a flurry of updates (three in total to be exact) in the fourth quarter of the year. It is important to note; however, that these updates will be made available for only those who own Symbian phones that run Symbian Belle (the newest version of the Symbian OS).
The very first round of mobile applications and updates to roll is has been scheduled for this year. Yes, that’s all. Let us simply move on to the first round of updates whose release is expected in year 2011.
This one is an avid application that brings allows taking notes on the go and synchronization of notes is also made possible with the SkyDrive online storage service.
This cream of an application promises to offer easy-to-use instant messaging services along with web-based meetings.
This one will make your day if you are office-going and have to view various e-mail attachments and documents stored on mobile devices and on SharePoint 2010 sites.
This application brings your Powerpoint presentations from PC directly to your mobile devices.
Both, the second and third rounds of applications and updates has been scheduled for the next year. While the second wave of applications and updates is slated for early 2012, the release date of the third round of the package has not been mentioned yet. However, Microsoft and Microsoft Excel will surely be added as native applications in the upcoming second wave, come the first quarter of year 2012.
It is worth mentioning here that Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia announced that Nokia will continue to invest in Symbian OS until 2016, despite the company making inroads into the Windows Phone OS.
Nokia’s official web blog also confirmed that, ”These updates are yet another confirmation that Nokia has not done making investments and introducing innovation into the Symbian platform.”
It further adds, ”There will be more updates in 2012 and more devices to come…Symbian is hugely important to our future ambitions and this latest announcement is just another example of the role that Symbian will play.”
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If you want to learn about how networks operate then Linux is the best choice for this purpose. Networking is the area in which Linux has excelled very fast. Even on a desktop machine you can see how networks work on a fundamental level because Linux puts you directly in contact with this technology. There is a vast integration and support for networking in Linux, using the system tools. Using these tools you can perform any networking related task including accessing a remote computer. Accessing a remote computer comes in handy if you want to perform a task remotely like installing an update and/or you don’t have extra output devices connected to other machine.
In this tutorial we’ll be using the ‘Terminal Server Client’ program that comes installed by default in your Ubuntu Linux.
Terminal Server Client
The Terminal Server Client program (Applications > Internet > Terminal Server Client) is an application that allows you to connect to a variety of remote Desktop server programs and, in particular, Windows 7, Vista, XP, or 2000 computers via the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Unfortunately, Windows XP Home and earlier versions of Windows don’t support RDP connections, which means that they aren’t able to run an RDP server and allow other computers to access their Desktops. Windows Vista Basic and Vista Premium also suffer from this limitation. You can use some other third party applications to overcome that limitation.
Before we continue, please make sure that you’re Windows operating system is configured to allow the incoming connections and also make sure that your user has a password on his/her account. Terminal server requires a password and permission to ‘incoming connections’ in order to connect to the system.
Please note that these instructions assume that you intend to connect using a Windows administrator username and password. If not, you’ll need to click the Select Users button and add the user accounts you wish to use.
The following instructions are also valid for Windows 2000 and NT. To configure Windows XP, right-click My Computer and select Properties. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Remote tab, and make sure “Allow users to connect remotely to this computer” is selected. Windows 2000 and NT might need some service pack upgrades for this to work.
Click on ‘Computer’ in ‘Start Menu’ and you’ll see your computer’s name in the bottom right corner, OR start Run dialog box by pressing WIN+R and then type ‘cmd’ to run the command prompt. In the command prompt type ‘hostname’ and it will show you the name of your computer. For Windows XP, you can see the Computer Name in the ‘Remote’ tab in System Settings too.
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\Webscopia>hostname Webscopia-Laptop C:\Users\Webscopia> |
Similarly you can find the IP Address of your Windows machine by typing ‘ipconfig’ command in the command prompt and it will return you something like below:
C:\Users\Gunner>ipconfigWindows IP Configuration
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::84ae:2db5:2593:3b84%14 IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.47.1 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : |
If you have more than one Ethernet adapters connected to your computer, you’ll see more than one output at the console. Choose the one which is directly connecting to the LAN or WiFi.
Now on the Ubuntu computer, click Applications > Internet > Terminal Server Client. When the program is running, in the Computer field, type either the IP address of the machine or its name. You don’t need to type the username, password, or any other details.
Click Connect, and a new window should appear, in which you should see a login prompt. You should then log in to Windows, using the specific username and password.
That’s it, you just connected to your Windows Computer remotely (XP and Windows 7). Remember that this can be done over the internet too, you just need to know the IP Address of the remote computer.
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GRUB (short for GNU GRand Unified Bootloader) is a boot loader package from the GNU Project. GRUB is the reference implementation of the Multiboot bootloader program that allows you to select from different operating systems installed on your computer, in order to boot any one of them. If you followed our previous article of ‘How to install Ubuntu Linux on your computer’, you’d have noticed that Ubuntu installs a menu that shows up at the start, when you turn your computer on.
This menu has set ‘Ubuntu’ as default operating system with a time out of 10 seconds. Which means that if you don’t do anything (select any other OS by pressing up/down arrow keys), it will boot you into Ubuntu Linux. If in any case you want ‘Windows’ to be your default operating system, then follow the steps below.
A program called startup manager. This small program will allow you to select your default operating system. With this, you can also tweak some other setting like, changing the time out and resolution of the boot menu.
Since the release of Grub2. The configuration entry for GRUB menu is no more in ‘menu.lst’. It has now shifted to ‘grub.cfg’ file.
:~$ sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg |
Caution: Make sure to save a backup of this file before doing any kind of editing.
These steps should help you change the default operating system on your dual OS computer from Linux to Windows.
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Office 365 is Microsoft’s cloud-based online business application subscription service which will be launched formally on the 28th of June. It is a well known fact that Microsoft is threatened by the existence of Google Apps, which is poised to erode Microsoft’s share in the Productivity Suite market. Microsoft generates a bulk of its revenues through Windows and Office. It can’t afford to lose market share to Google Apps at any cost. Office 365 is not a new service as it’s merely a re-launch of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). Customers who have subscribed to BPOS will get an upgrade to Office 365 so they don’t have to worry about losing out.
Office 365 is a huge advantage for both organizations and Microsoft. Organizations are usually slow when it comes to adapting to a new operating system or productivity suite. It costs a lot of money to upgrade servers and maintenance costs aren’t low either. It makes sense for them to move to a Cloud based solution as the cost is usually lower and they don’t have to pay for maintenance. Small organizations tend to benefit as well as they don’t have to spend thousands on setting up an infrastructure as everything is ready for them. It is a win for Microsoft as organizations tend to be more receptive towards adapting, which in turns adds to their bottom-line.
Office 365 is not merely a web version of Office 2010. It contains Microsoft Office as well as Exchange, Sharepoint and Lync. Microsoft claims that Office 365 will have a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee, which should make it a must have solution for all windows based businesses. There are two options available for Office 365 users at the moment. High end users can opt for the $24 dollars per user option which gives them access to Office 2010 document editing via the cloud as well as an offline copy of Office 2010 Professional Plus. This is a failsafe mechanism for those businesses that fear losing out on productivity if their internet connection ever goes down. Small to medium businesses who can’t afford the $24 tag can opt for the $6 per user package. This package only comes with online access to Office Web Apps. It does not come with a local Office 2010 client. The great thing is that both packages offer access to the web version of Outlook as well as Sharepoint and Lync.
Office 365 is a good solution for all those businesses that are still on the Windows Environment. It makes it easier for them to utilize Office 365 instead of adapting to Google Apps. Office 365 has more features as compared to Google Apps. Google Apps is more suitable for those companies who don’t have much to do productivity wise and have light usage needs.Office 365 has a huge advantage over Google Apps as it allows for some sort of Offline access. Outlook Web App syncs easily with Outlook on the desktop while SharePoint Workspace offline tool will allow users to work on the desktop and sync it when they are online.
All of the components of Office 365 are on the cloud. Microsoft Exchange will sync perfectly well with a local copy of Outlook and can be accessed anywhere in the world online with the help of Outlook Web App.It is quite easy to use the Office 365 versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint on Office 365 as they work as well as the desktop version. There are no hiccups as they work quite smoothly and offer basically the same as the desktop verson.
SharePoint 2010 in Office 365 is virtually the same as its offline version but is not the full solution. It does offer easy add features but does not remove the need for a website. This is a useful solution for those companies who don’t want to spend too much on IT or time on the web by giving them a simple web presence.
Lync 2010 is the instant messaging solution with video conferencing. It is good as it helps with productivity and saves a lot of time. The only thing missing from it is telephone integration. It also allows for desktop sharing and will allow you to save time and money. It links all of the company users together and makes it easy for them to collaborate on the go.
Microsoft has come up with a great product this time round. The product is highly superior to Google Apps in many ways even though the desktop client part does not make it totally rely on the cloud. The only advantage Google has is with its price and the fact that everything is totally online. Office 365 may finally be the solution which will put Microsoft back as a real SaaS contender.
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