Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by ayob99

How Does Ubuntu 9.04 Measure Up to Mac OS X?

ayob99 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:00:11 +0800

QUOTE

Bucking the historical trend of comparing desktop Linux with Windows, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth recently told journalist Bruce Byfield that he was looking to Mac OS X as the operating system to beat for future Ubuntu releases — particularly in the areas of usability and user experience.

Read more here:

http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7419/1/

Microsoft released code for Linux kernel

ayob99 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:51:07 +0800

QUOTE

You may have already heard, but the unthinkable has happened. That’s right, Microsoft, the self-proclaimed enemy of Linux and free software, has announced that they will be submitting some 20,000 lines of code to the Linux kernel. Come again? Yes, Microsoft wants to get its code into the Linux kernel. You read that right!

Read more here:

http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7439/1.html

Super OS

ayob99 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:02:42 +0800

Are you trying out Linux for the first time and struggle with the multimedia codecs and the Linux alternative applications? You might want to try this distro because somebody has done all the dirty work for you and you could just use it right away!

QUOTE

Super OS

Super OS (formerly: Super Ubuntu) is just a modified version of Ubuntu 9.04 with the goal of making it more usable (see: Is this Ubuntu?), but includes:

* Better Multimedia Support: VLC, support for DVD-playback, MP3 support and other multimedia codecs
* Better Internet experience: aMSN, Opera, Firefox, Flash, Moonlight and Google Gears
* Portable Applications available (you need to install RUNZ - it will be inlcuded in the next release)
* Programs are easier to run: App Runner is included
* Other software: Java, Ubuntu Tweak, StartUp-Manager
* System beep is disabled
* NEW: Super OS now has it's own repository, in addition to the official Ubuntu repositories
* NEW: Live USB creator (cd2usb) right from the DVD menu (see second image)
* NEW: Most commonly used KDE and QT libraries included (for easier deployment of software and portable apps)

http://hacktolive.org/wiki/Super_OS

The top 10 most dangerous internet search terms

ayob99 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:54:26 +0800

[/QUOTE]Users surfing the web for song lyrics, free music tracks and screen savers are most at risk of accidentally downloading malicious software, a study has found.

Many of the websites purporting to contain this content also harbour virus, Trojans and other malware, the computer security experts at McAfee found. As a result, many web users are unwittingly exposing themselves to dangerous content that could compromise their machine and even lead to hackers and cybercriminals gaining access to their personal information or banking login details.

Among the most dangerous search terms were “free music downloads”, which carried a 20.7 per cent risk of exposing web users to malicious software, “game cheats”, which carried a 16.7 per cent risk, “word unscrambler”, which carried a 16.1 per cent risk, and “lyrics”, which carried a 14.8 per cent risk.

McAfee also analysed the risk levels by search category, and found that “screensavers” was the riskiest group of products to search for online, with a 34.4 per cent chance of exposing web users to malware, while searches for “free games” carried a 6.8 per cent risk.

Other dangerous search terms included “iPhone”, “Jonas brothers” and “Rhianna”.

“The web is a great resource, but consumers need to understand that it has risks,” said Shane Keats, a research analyst at McAfee. “Those risks are magnified if you search in popular categories.”

McAfee’s report said that cybercriminals were becoming increasingly savvy about finding new ways to ensnare web users, and that targeting keywords associated with downloading content was one of the most-used.

“One key tool cybercriminals use to snare victims is to get them to download a computer file or program that comes with a malicious payload,” said the report.

“Hackers are most successful when they can attract a large number of victims. One way to target big crowds online is to track current events – everything from celebrity meltdowns and natural disasters to holidays and popular music.”

The McAfee study analysed more than 2,600 popular keywords from a wide variety of sources, including Google Zeitgeist, a tool that monitors hot search terms.[QUOTE]

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/5406066...arch-terms.html

Run Linux natively on Windows

ayob99 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:20:48 +0800

QUOTE

andLinux is a complete Ubuntu Linux system running seamlessly in Windows 2000 based systems (2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7; 32-bit versions only). This project was started for Dynamism for the GP2X community, but its userbase far exceeds its original design. andLinux is free and will remain so, but donations are greatly needed.

andLinux uses coLinux as its core which is confusing for many people. coLinux is a port of the Linux kernel to Windows. Although this technology is a bit like running Linux in a virtual machine, coLinux differs itself by being more of a merger of Windows and the Linux kernel and not an emulated PC, making it more efficient. Xming is used as X server and PulseAudio as sound server.

andLinux is not just for development and runs almost all Linux applications without modification.

http://www.andlinux.org/index.php

Mobile Phone running Windows XP

ayob99 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:33:11 +0800

Specifications:

CPU: AMD Super Mobile CPU
Memory: 512M/1G
SSD: 8G/16G/32G/64G SSD
HDD: 30G/60G/80G/120G
LCD: 4.8” TFT Touch-screen LCD 800*480
Operating System:Microsoft Windows XP Network: 
GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA (HSDPA/HSUPA) 
CDMA/CDMA2000 1X/CDMA1X EVDO 
TD-SCDMA，TD-HSDPA
Wireless: 
WiFi 802.11b/g 
WiMax(optional) 
Buletooth 
Stand-alone GPS
Camera Specifications:
CMOS, 300k/1.3 Million,
Ports: 1 x earphone jack, 1 x microphone jack
Docking Connector (include VGA output singnal )
1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB mini-B
SIM Slot
Power Management:
Battery: Removable Lithium-ion
Talk time: about 5 hours
Standby time: about 5 days
Real life: about 7 hours (Standard), about 12 hours (Large)
(Talk time，Standby time，Operation time may vary depending different usage)
Weight: 400g (include battery)

Is this product available locally?

Why web pages looks weird on a GNU/Linux machine

ayob99 — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:52:34 +0800

Visit any random web page and chances are it expects your machine to have a set of fonts which have become the de-facto standard on the Internet. The fonts being Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New and so on.

While it may not be illegal to install these fonts on a GNU/Linux machine, they are proprietary and are owned by Microsoft. And Microsoft does not licence third parties to redistribute these fonts - a reason why you don't find these commonly used popular fonts installed in Linux by default.

Red Hat in association with Ascender Corp has developed a set of fonts which are the metric equivalent of the most popular Microsoft fonts and they have released it under the GPL+ exception license.

1. Sans - a substitute for Arial, Albany, Helvetica, Nimbus Sans L, and Bitstream Vera Sans

2. Serif - a substitute for Times New Roman, Thorndale, Nimbus Roman, and Bitstream Vera Serif

3. Mono - a substitute for Courier New, Cumberland, Courier, Nimbus Mono L, and Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.

Are there any Blues fans out there?

ayob99 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:59:19 +0800

I know this type of music is kind of 'old school' in these days of Techno, Hip Hop & Rap but I've been listening to the Blues since I was 13 years old and wondering whether are there people out there who are still listening to it and I don't mean Gary Moore or Eric Clapton but Robert Johnson, Son House, Johnny Shines, Freddie King, Otis Rush, B.B. King, Albert King, Buddy Guy, Joe Louis Walker, Robert Cray, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jonny Lang...

Automount NTFS drives in Linux - Tutorial

ayob99 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:00:26 +0800

If you are dual-booting or multi-booting Windows with one or more Linux distributions, you must have come across the following situation: your Linux distribution can read and write to the Windows partitions (NTFS, most likely), but they are not mounted automatically when Linux boots. You must mount them manually, every time ...

But you would like to have the partitions mounted automatically.

Luckily, there is a number of very easy solutions for your situation:

* Edit the configuration file for all mount points (/etc/fstab) and add the missing drives.
* Install the ntfs-config utility and let it do all the hard work for you.

Note: This tutorial is not written by me but by Dedoimedo, read the rest here:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/automount_ntfs.html

Create Your Own Live CD

ayob99 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:08:58 +0800

Help spread Linux to your friends without broadband connection by making them a custom Live CD.

Remastersys - Create custom Ubuntu (live) CD - Tutorial

Remastersys is very handy application that allows you to clone and backup your Linux distribution, including root, home, other partitions, and all personal, custom configuration to a fully deployable, bootable live CD.

Remastersys works for several distributions, including Ubuntu and its derivatives, like Linux Mint and Klikit Linux.

Other distributions with similar capabilities include PCLinuxOS (remasterme), Fedora (Revisor), and several versions of Mandriva live CDs (MCNLive editions). In this article, we will focus on Ubuntu.

Using Remastersys is a very simple procedure. It does not require any advanced knowledge or the use of the command line (although it is possible). A very friendly GUI allows you to create your own bootable CD, along with all your documents and carefully arranged settings, in just a few minutes.

Tutorial:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/remastersys.html

Download:

http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/...tersystool.html

Software To Back Up & Restore Drivers

ayob99 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:04:10 +0800

Welcome to Double Driver

One of the main reasons why you would want to collect installed drivers is if you don’t have the Driver CD that came with the computer or they are unavailable online. This comes in quite handy if you purchase a computer and want to backup the initial set of drivers. It can be quite difficulty for example to find drivers for hardware installed in a notebook if the operating system has to be setup again. Luckily Double Driver can now lend you a hand with that and save you a lot of time.

Double Driver is a very simple and useful tool which not only allows you to view all the drivers installed on your system but also allows you to backup, restore, save and print all chosen drivers simply and reliably.

Double Driver analyzes your system and lists the most important driver details such as version, date, provider, etc and offers you the chance to update to the latest version. All drivers that are found can easily be backed up the application and easily restored at a later point in one go.

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

A future so bright Tux needs shades

ayob99 — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:43:11 +0800

QUOTE

To hear Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin tell it, the operating system war is over and Linux has won. (Rockies Brewing makes other fine beers, too.)

“Linux represents the ultimate flight to safety in troubled times,” he said while offering some predictions for 2009.

“People want a platform they trust, that’s low cost, that allows them to consolidate infrastructure, and that’s Linux.

“Everyone uses Linux. It’s in the TV, it’s in your TiVo, it’s in all the settop boxes, it’s in your Sony camera. Make a trade on the NYSE and it’s there, search on Google and it’s Linux. Linux owns 85% of the supercomputer market. I’ve seen Linux in a milking machine.”

If Linux were a corporate effort its CEO would be into champagne wishes and caviar dreams. As it is, however, Zemlin is just looking for steady growth next year.

Read the rest here:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3126

AVG Virus Scanner Removes Critical Windows File

ayob99 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:29:43 +0800

from slashdot.org:

"The popular virus scanner AVG released an update yesterday that caused their software to mark user32.dll as a virus. Since this is a rather critical file, AVG's suggestion to remove it caused problems for users around the world who are now advised to restore the file through the Windows Recovery Console. AVG just posted an update about this (FAQ item 1574) in the support section of their site. Their forums are full of complaints."

source: http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08...319209&from=rss

Anybody got hit?

Pulse Audio Connection failed/refuse

ayob99 — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:00:22 +0800

Anybody know how to fix this?

Ubuntu with Enlightenment E17

ayob99 — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 01:52:24 +0800

Look at the beauty of this desktop manager with the Chrome theme with an animated wallpaper a bouncing chrome ball). [attachmentid=660488]

What type of dog food?

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:30:00 +0800

What type of dog food?

ayob99 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:19:15 +0800

I often bumped into this stray dog on my to the LRT station after work. It is usually straying on it's own looking lost and hungry and sometimes when it rains it takes shelter in one of the abandoned shop lots, wet and cold.

It makes me feel sad to see it the way it is and I thought to myself perhaps I can provide some food but I'm not sure what kind of food is best for a dog. Can I buy those pet food from the supermarkets and feed it? I was thinking of carrying it in my bag with some disposable plates. Would those pet food be suitable?

US$98 MiniNote from China

ayob99 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:14:22 +0800

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bKQbN6tpYXw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bKQbN6tpYXw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

Is it available locally?

The 64 Bit Question

ayob99 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:01:48 +0800

The 64 Bit Question

By now, most of you have heard of 64 bit computers, even if you do not have one. And some of you may even have one and not know it, because you're not running a 64 bit operating system. 64 bit processors are actually nothing new; 64 bit RISC CPUs have been in use since the 1990s, but they were used primarily for servers and very high end workstations. And you might be surprised to learn that IBM and Cray supercomputers of the 1960s and 1970s were based on 64 bit architecture. Only more recently, however, has the technology trickled down to the rest of us.

The more mature among us may remember the transition from the 16 bit Intel 8086 and 80286 processors to the 32 bit 80386 in the mid-1980s. If you are really getting up in years, you might even remember the 8 bit 8080 model that was used in game consoles and the early home computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But what do these numbers mean, anyway?

As you probably know, a bit is one binary digit (a 1 or 0). As an aside, in the standard x86 32 bit architecture, a group of 4 bits is called a nibble, a group of 8 bits is a byte, a group of 16 bits is a word, and a group of 32 bits is a double word or dword (now you know what that "DWORD Value" refers to in the registry editor). In the context of this article, the number of bits refers to the amount of data that a CPU can access in a single operation.

When you double the number of bits that can be accessed in a single operation, you make it possible for a computer to process information more quickly. This also affects the total amount of system memory (RAM) that a computer can reference. 32 bit machines can reference 232 (two to the thirty-second power) addresses, which is equal to 4 GB of RAM. That's the reason you're limited to that amount of memory on a 32 bit computer.

With a 64 bit operating system, larger amounts of RAM can be used to full advantage. In fact, the theoretical limit is 264, which is roughly equal to 16 exabytes. What's an exabyte? It's 16.8 million terabytes or 17.2 billion gigabytes - a huge number.

Both the 64 bit hardware and the 64 bit operating systems available today place a lower, artificial restriction on the amount of RAM that will be recognized. The 64 bit version of Vista Home Basic supports up to 8 GB, 64 bit XP Pro and Vista Home Premium both support 16 GB and Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions support 128 GB.

But even if your hardware supports 64 bits, you cannot take advantage of it or enjoy those higher RAM limits unless your operating system also supports 64 bits. Most computers sold today have 64 bit hardware, but many of them are running 32 bit operating systems. Windows XP Professional and all editions of Windows Vista except the Starter Edition (which is sold only in "emerging markets" outside the U.S.) come in both 32 and 64 bit versions. Vista Ultimate includes both versions in the box.

Just about everyone agrees that 64 bit architecture is the future of computing. On the server side, with some applications you have no choice. For example, the production version of Exchange Server 2007, the R2 of Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization platform are all 64 bit only.

It makes sense for server applications that require large amounts of memory. Hyper-V, for instance, needs to be able to allocate sufficient memory to multiple virtual machines, OCS has to process real-time audio and video streams, and Exchange is a memory-intensive application. Of course, some of us push the memory limits of our workstations, too. On my 32 bit Vista Ultimate computer with 4 GB, RAM usage typically stays in the 65% to 75% range if I have a few browser windows, Outlook, and Word open. In fact, RAM usage is over 50% when I first boot up, before I explicitly open any programs.

Vista is known to be memory-hungry, especially if you use its features to their fullest. If you're like me, you may also have lots of programs that load at startup and run in the background. For instance, I run Orb (for connecting to my computer remotely to access recorded TV and music through Media Center), MOE (the Mesh Operating Environment for connecting my various devices for easy synchronization), Groove Monitor (for using Microsoft's office collaboration system) and others at startup.

You can see what processes are using your memory by opening Task Manager (right click the task bar and select it, then click the Processes tab). Click the column labeled "Memory (Private Working Set)" to arrange the processes in order of their RAM usage. On my Vista workstation, Windows Sidebar is using 80,844 K (I do have a large number of gadgets). Vista Media Center, on which I'm watching a recorded program, is using 72,704 K, Outlook is using 35,716, the Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe), which is responsible for the 3D effects, window transparencies and other graphical effects in Aero.

If you're using Internet Explorer 8 or Google Chrome, you might notice that you have several instances of those processes (iexplore.exe and chrome.exe), each taking up a chunk of memory. The way these browsers are able to provide better stability and prevent crashing the entire browser when one web site has a problem is by using tab isolation, which opens each tab in its own separate process. The tradeoff is that it takes more memory to run tabs separately.

source: http://www.vistanews.com/

Linux Install Fest - have it been held before?

ayob99 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:53:38 +0800

A Linux Installation Festival - where users can bring their rig to get it installed/diagnosed/troubleshoot by other experienced Linux users. Have we have this type of event before in Kuala Lumpur or anywhere in Malaysia before?

Maybe we can also have some workshops for newbies where the experts can give talks/guides as well. Wouldn't be great?