"
The Black Screen of Death
The Black Screen of Death: "
"
I hate to point and laugh, but…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8388253.stm
From the article:
Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating a problem described as the “black screen of death”, which affects its latest operating system.
The problem has different causes, appears in every Win OS since 2000, might be caused by a security update two weeks ago, and might be fixed by another patch now…
I like Windows 7. It’s better than XP. But it’s still Windows.
San
opensourc3.org | The Premier Unified Computing Magazine for IT Professionals
opensourc3.org | The Premier Unified Computing Magazine for IT Professionals: "Open Source Unified Computing Magazine
Welcome to the premier Unified Computing magazine for Information Technology Professionals. Published on a monthly basis, opensourc3 is available for FREE download in PDF format, or can be read on-line.
Welcome to the premier Unified Computing magazine for Information Technology Professionals. Published on a monthly basis, opensourc3 is available for FREE download in PDF format, or can be read on-line.
Calibre – Brilliant eBook Library Management Software
Calibre – Brilliant eBook Library Management Software: "
When I wrote a post on reading books in ePub format, I forgot the most important cross-platform eBook reader, manager, and converter out there, Calibre. It can import books, documents, comics, and newspapers in various formats, including, .epub, .lrf, .pdf, .mobi, .cbz, .cbr, .cbc, , .lit, .zip, and .rar formats.
So what does Calibre actually do? There are five main features, converter, viewer, news fetcher, send to device, and save to disk. Each one of them have various sub-features.
When you run the app for the first time, select the type of device you own. It has options for Amazon Kindle, iPhone, Android, Sony Readers, and various other ebook readers.
Once you are in, hit the Add Books button and start organizing your books, documents, news, comics, etc. If you have hundreds of books, there is an option to search them(advanced search is also included).
To convert book into any other format, hit the Convert E-books button. Choose the output format from the upper-right corner and other settings from the left sidebar.
To view a book(irrespective of which format it is in), hit the View button. This will open a build-in e-book viewer with various useful options. You can increase/decrease font size, choose to move/jump to any page, search any text, change settings, switch to fullscreen mode, print any page(s), and more.
To download any news(both newspapers and blogs) or comics hit the Fetch News button. You can select the desired category and the news from the left sidebar and hit Download Now. You can also put the download on schedule.
Send to Device and Save To Disk are two other options that are very easy to use. The options in send to device would depend on the type of eBook reader you selected in the wizard, this can however be changed.
You can save the eBook in the library to any format of your choice. Have a look at the screenshot below to see the number of output formats it supports.
Overall, Calibre is one slick, easy-to-use, powerful, cross-platform eBooks manager.
It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Most users were complaining about this app crashing while importing large library of books, I guess they have fixed this issue. Enjoy!
"
Rushers Blog » Blog Archive » Make Ubuntu kinda like Gentoo.
Rushers Blog » Blog Archive » Make Ubuntu kinda like Gentoo.: "Make Ubuntu kinda like Gentoo.
The script below will tell Ubuntu to compile all the system updates. Before running the script, please install apt-build first (apt-get install apt-build). The benefit of compiling your updates from source will leave you with an optimized system for your hardware. Since most CPU’s are not used for their potential, why not do something when your “not actually doing something” ?
After installing apt-build, please run dpkg-reconfigure apt-build so that your sources and cpu is configured properly.
In /etc/apt/apt-build.conf, please adjust the following line to the amount of cores in your cpu: (The numerical value should be # of cores + 1)
make_options = ” -j4″
—————
#!/bin/bash
apt-build update
dpkg –get-selections | awk ‘{if ($2 == “install”) print $1}’> /etc/apt/apt-build.list
apt-build upgrade –force-yes –yes"
The script below will tell Ubuntu to compile all the system updates. Before running the script, please install apt-build first (apt-get install apt-build). The benefit of compiling your updates from source will leave you with an optimized system for your hardware. Since most CPU’s are not used for their potential, why not do something when your “not actually doing something” ?
After installing apt-build, please run dpkg-reconfigure apt-build so that your sources and cpu is configured properly.
In /etc/apt/apt-build.conf, please adjust the following line to the amount of cores in your cpu: (The numerical value should be # of cores + 1)
make_options = ” -j4″
—————
#!/bin/bash
apt-build update
dpkg –get-selections | awk ‘{if ($2 == “install”) print $1}’> /etc/apt/apt-build.list
apt-build upgrade –force-yes –yes"
Onion OS - Anonymous internet browsing with a 20MB live CD
Onion OS - Anonymous internet browsing with a 20MB live CD: "
"
One of the main reasons why OnionOS is so little know is because it has no official website.
This small operating system is only 20MB and with it you will be able to browse the internet and chat anonymously through the tor network with it.
You can download it from:
"
Recipient of First Software Patent Defends Them
Recipient of First Software Patent Defends Them: "Arguendo writes 'Martin Goetz, who obtained the first software patent in 1968, has penned a thoughtful defense of software patents for Patently-O. Goetz argues that there is no principled difference between software and hardware patents and that truly patentable software innovations require just as much ingenuity and advancement as any other kind of patentable subject matter. The Supreme Court is of course currently considering whether to change the scope of patentable subject matter in the Bilski case, which we've discussed before.' Does it weaken Goetz's argument that his description of the software lifecycle harks back to the waterfall days and bears little resemblance to current development practice in open source and/or Internet contexts?
Move Over BSOD, Black Screen of Death is Here
Move Over BSOD, Black Screen of Death is Here: "
"
In a nutshell, the affected Windows machines simply stop working and start displaying a (mostly) black screen, in some cases showing only a “My Computer” Explorer window.
The problem was first noticed by UK security company Prevx, which already offers a software fix. The folks at Prevx claim that this is no small matter, and that this “massively debilitating” issue could potentially affect “millions of Windows users.” However, no official fix is yet available from Microsoft.
A Microsoft representative said that “Microsoft is investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers. Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues.”
Have you had similar issues with your Windows machine after installing the latest security patches? If you have, please let us know in the comments.
Tags: Black Screen of Death, BSOD, microsoft, Windows
"
Patent Tax and Microsoft Tax in Europe: An Update
Patent Tax and Microsoft Tax in Europe: An Update: "
Summary: A look at the Gemstar case, ACTA-EU leak, Microsoft’s second “TV tax”, and an older video reedited
EARLIER today we mentioned the Gemstar case, but the article cited was in German. The president of the FFII passes around a link to this document [PDF], which is a leak. He claims that it “shows they are trying to include patents in the ACTA treaty.”
The EU is “trying to define “non-commercial hyperlink” in leaked ACTA position paper,” he adds later. But more importantly perhaps, he also found this report in English about the Gemstar decision. It opens as follows:
Virgin Media has succeeded in the patent dispute brought against it by Gemstar TV Guide. The London High Court rulings call into question the ability for intellectual property rights holder Rovi to enforce its patents both in the UK and with operators around the world.Gemstar, now part of Rovi, had claimed the cablenet’s EPG had breached three patents – EP 0969662, EP 1377049 and EP 1613066 – which were involved in the display and transfer of programme information and metadata. BSkyB, Foxtel, Portugal Telecom, Sky Italia and UPC Broadband have all signed up to Rovi’s patent programme.
What will be the final verdict about this patent parasite, which is going after cable companies everywhere? Virgin Media seems safe in the UK. And speaking of which, one of our readers argues that “Microsoft [may want] to charge UK TV License payers twice”
Here is the reasoning in a nutshell:
You may be a UK license payer, but that means nothing to Microsoft. (IMO)Xbox 360 owners who were hoping for a BBC iPlayer experience may have to hold off a little longer (or maybe even for good).
In my opinion the following comment made allegedly by a source close to the BBC shows exactly how Microsoft likes to operate. How much money can it make out of a product? As much as people will blindly shell out! (IMO)
[...]
It could be said (and its my opinion) that Microsoft never really grasped the online TV market. Since ITV and Channel 4 both dumped Silverlight, that must have been a cutting blow to them, Microsoft didn’t even seem to see the potential in the Bluray, opting instead for the HDvd and then getting burnt when it lost to Bluray. Microsoft mainstay in the home? I don’t think so.
UK taxpayers have already paid hefty bills to Microsoft, for the development of a Windows-only BBC iPlayer.
Going back to FFII’s president, he has also just done some cropping of an older video to show that “Nellie Kroes [is] strengthening Microsoft monopoly with software patents”
We have the full video (as Ogg) right here. Nellie Kroes is now removed from Competition Commissioner chair, so it remains to be seen how Joaquin Almunia succeeds. █
"
EU: E-procurement and e-invoice management tools published as open source
EU: E-procurement and e-invoice management tools published as open source: "Open e-PRIOR (electronic PRocurement, Invoicing and ORdering) has been published as open source by the Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) of the European Commission. The software is made available at the OSOR Forge, the open source software development platform of the Commission."
Estonia's Open Source Shame
Estonia's Open Source Shame: "
On Open Enterprise blog.
"
Last week I wrote about the curious case of Mr Kallas, vice president of the European Commission. He seemed to have problems with the word “open”, imagining that this meant “unprotected”, judging by his comments. I put this down to some linguistic misunderstanding as a result of the distance of the Estonian language from English, rather than an intentional and wrong-headed attack on openness. Looks like I was wrong....
On Open Enterprise blog.
Automatically Download All The Wallpapers From National Geographic (Almost 500 Wallpapers) [Linux]
Automatically Download All The Wallpapers From National Geographic (Almost 500 Wallpapers) [Linux]: "
"
I like changing my wallpaper automatically with a script (but alternatively, you can use Desktop Drapes or a similar app) every few minutes, but for that you need a lot of wallpapers.
You can already download hundreds of wallpapers with just one command but I really like the National Geographic wallpapers which are actually professional, amazing photos, so I made a really easy script which automatically downloads all the wallpapers (to date, the script will have to be modified when they add new wallpapers because the link is not fixed) from he National Geographic website.
To download all the National Geographic wallpapers from the 2008 or 2009 contests, simply download my scripts (download links at the end of the post), place them in a folder where you want to download all the wallpapers and run it like so:
You can already download hundreds of wallpapers with just one command but I really like the National Geographic wallpapers which are actually professional, amazing photos, so I made a really easy script which automatically downloads all the wallpapers (to date, the script will have to be modified when they add new wallpapers because the link is not fixed) from he National Geographic website.
To download all the National Geographic wallpapers from the 2008 or 2009 contests, simply download my scripts (download links at the end of the post), place them in a folder where you want to download all the wallpapers and run it like so:
./natgeo2008.sh
or
./natgeo2009.shThe 'natgeo2008.sh' automatically downloads all the wallpapers for 1280 width screen resolution. To download the wallpapers for 800 or 1024 width screen resolution, edit the script and on top of it, replace:
with
The 'natgeo2009.sh' script downloads all the wallpapers from the 2009 wallpaper contest but the wallpapers are only available for 1600px screen width so simply run the script as stated above (don't change anything inside the script).
Note: The script for 2008 will download 226 wallpapers, and the script for 2009 will (w)get 170 wallpapers, all from the wallpaper contest.
Download the script: for 2008 wallpapers | for 2009 wallpapers
res='1280'with
res='1024'
or
res='800'The 'natgeo2009.sh' script downloads all the wallpapers from the 2009 wallpaper contest but the wallpapers are only available for 1600px screen width so simply run the script as stated above (don't change anything inside the script).
Note: The script for 2008 will download 226 wallpapers, and the script for 2009 will (w)get 170 wallpapers, all from the wallpaper contest.
Download the script: for 2008 wallpapers | for 2009 wallpapers
"
EU ACTA Doc Shows Plans For Global DMCA, 3 Strikes
EU ACTA Doc Shows Plans For Global DMCA, 3 Strikes: "An anonymous reader writes 'The European Commission analysis of ACTA's Internet chapter has leaked, indicating that the US is seeking to push laws that extend beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and beyond current European Union law. The document contains detailed comments on the US secret copyright treaty proposal, confirming the desire to promote a 'three-strikes and you're out' policy, a Global DMCA, harmonized contributory copyright infringement rules, and the establishment of an international notice-and-takedown policy.'
CanYouSeeMe.org Checks for Open Ports Behind Firewalls [Internet]
CanYouSeeMe.org Checks for Open Ports Behind Firewalls [Internet]: "
"
CanYouSeeMe.org's open port check tool is a simple but useful web-based utility for figuring out if your ISP or firewall is blocking certain ports you need to get things done on your computer. It's a handy way to determine if connection issues you're having—like difficulty sending email or trouble accessing an instant messaging client—are a problem with your internet connection or the computer itself.
The pared down webapp is useful for running a quick check to see if a port you need is open. For a more robust look at your accessible ports, check out previously mentioned MyPorts to get detailed information on any open port, including its state, remote IP address, and app that's currently using it.
What are some of your favorite port troubleshooting tricks and tools? Let us know in the comments.
"
Microsoft investigating B(lack)SODs after Windows patches
Microsoft investigating B(lack)SODs after Windows patches: "
"
Last week, a number of Windows users started complaining their computers were locking up and displaying a Black Screen of Death (BSOD, not to be confused with Blue Screen of Death, which is usually due to hardware or driver failure) after the last Microsoft Patch Tuesday on November 10, 2009. We contacted Microsoft but the software giant isn't yet ready to confirm (or deny) the reported issue. 'Microsoft is investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers,' a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. 'Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues. The successful deployment of security updates is the ultimate goal of the Microsoft Security Response Center. Because of this, we continually work with our Customer Service and Support teams to keep a close eye for issues that may impact customers' deployment of security updates.'
"
Debian 6.0 Squeeze to be released in summer 2010 (The H)
Debian 6.0 Squeeze to be released in summer 2010 (The H): "While the headline overstates the commitment to a northern hemisphere summer release of Debian 'Squeeze' (6.0), there is an interesting tidbit in The H's brief article: 'Due to the postponement of the final release until the summer, the code freeze has now also been rescheduled for March 2010. This thwarts Mark Shuttleworth's efforts to synchronise the release cycles of Debian and the Debian-based Ubuntu distribution, at least for Squeeze — the release of the next version 10.04 of Ubuntu is planned for April 2010.'"
Dell Defect Turning 2.2GHz CPU Into 100MHz CPU?
Dell Defect Turning 2.2GHz CPU Into 100MHz CPU?: "jtavares2 writes 'In what is being dubbed as Throttlegate, scores of users on many message boards have been complaining about inexplicably aggressive throttling policies on their Dell Latitude E6500 and E6400 laptops which cause its CPUs to be throttled to less than 5% of its theoretical maximum even while in room temperatures. In many cases, the issue can be triggered just by playing a video or performing some other trivial, but CPU intensive, task. After being banned [PDF] from the Dell Forums for revealing 'non-public information,' one user went so far as to write and publish a 59-page report [PDF] explaining and diagnosing the throttling problem in incredible detail. Dell seems to be silent on the issue, but many users are hoping for a formal recall.'
How to Establish Simple Remote Desktop Access Between Ubuntu and Windows
How to Establish Simple Remote Desktop Access Between Ubuntu and Windows: "
"
So let’s get started right away.
Adept Ubuntu users would already be thinking about the System > Preferences > Remote Desktop menu entry. Of course we will use that. However, it lets you configure your computer to allow/disallow remote desktop access. It doesn’t let you connect to a remote computer. Extra software is required for that, which we now look into.
Allow Remote Desktop Connections
First off, you would need to enable remote desktop on the Linux computer that you want to access via remote desktop. Doing so is easy by using the System > Preferences > Remote Desktop option. In the dialog that shows up – check “Allow other users to view your desktop”. You can also configure additional options like requiring password for remote access and notification icons. It is advisable to use a password for remote access, so that only trusted users may be able to establish a connection.
With all that set up, its time to connect to it from another computer. Two possible scenarios arise: you can connect using another Linux machine, or you might want to connect using a Windows PC. Both require slightly different approaches. Here’s how.
Connecting From Another Linux Machine
Ubuntu uses Virtual Networking Connections for remote desktop. Your best bet would be to use a VNC viewer to access the remote desktop. Use the command sudo apt-get install xvnc4viewer to install VNC viewer. Now all you have to do is to issue the vncviewer <hostname/ip> command. You will be asked for a password (if it is configured on the remote machine) and you can then view and interact with the remote desktop.
Connecting From A Windows PC
If you would to connect from a Windows computer, you can use TightVNC or uVNC (There is also a seemingly portable version available that would run off your USB drive without installing, however it stores entries in the registry). Specify the IP address and the port number (default is 5900 and is not required to be mentioned explicitly), specify bandwidth that is available to you, hit Connect and you can access the desktop of the remote machine easily.
Mac users can also use their favorite VNC client (like Chicken of the VNC) and you should be able to remotely access the desktop of the said Linux machine.
Keep in mind that none of these clients support encryption and you have only established an unencrypted connection up until now. Teamviewer and LogMeIn encrypt the the data flow between the two computer. You can use a SSH tunnel to encrypt the flow of data. Here are the steps in brief:
- You need OpenSSH. (sudo apt-get openssh-server).
- Create the tunnel using ssh -L 5900:localhost:5900 <ip address>, where IP address is the address of the remote computer. If you are connecting using a Windows computer, you can use PuTTY to create a tunnel.
- Establish the connection as before however, this time you need to connect to localhost at port 5900 (or whatever port you specified in the command above). VNC client will then utilize the tunnel you just created and traffic between the two endpoints will now be encrypted.
While this a lot of work compared to the one-click solution offered by Teamviewer or LogMeIn, it is certainly more configurable and caters to a wide variety of needs. Moreover, you only need to do the configuration once and you can also establish a VNC connection with a headless server (with some more configuration though!).
If you use a simpler or still better – a one-click solution, we will be happy to know about it. Tell us about it in comments.
Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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"
How to Print Large Posters in Ubuntu / Debian Linux
How to Print Large Posters in Ubuntu / Debian Linux: "
PosteRazor cuts a raster image into pieces which can afterwards be printed out and assembled to a poster. As input, the PosteRazor takes a raster image. The resulting poster is saved as a multipage PDF document. An easy to use, wizard like user interface guides through 5 steps.
It is a nice utility with lot of features and easy to use. it having a great file format support.
Dimension Unitsm, mm, cm, inch, ft, pt(72th inch)
How to Install PosteRazor in ubuntu/debian Linux
open a terminal and type
$ sudo apt-get install posterazor
or use Synaptic Package Manager for Installation.
"
It is a nice utility with lot of features and easy to use. it having a great file format support.
Supported Formats
BMP, DDS, Dr. Halo, GIF, ICO, IFF, JBIG, JPEG/JIF, KOALA, LBM, Kodak PhotoCD, PCX, PBM, PGM, PNG, PPM, PhotoShop PSD, Sun RAS, TARGA, TIFF, WBMP, XBM, XPMImage Types
Monochrome, Grayscale, 4 Bit palette, 8 Bit palette, 24 Bit RGB, 48 Bit RGB (only via TIFF and PNG), 32 Bit CMYK (only via TIFF) Dimension Unitsm, mm, cm, inch, ft, pt(72th inch)
It supports the following page Lay outs
DIN A4, DIN A3, Legal, Letter, TabloidOutput Format
PDFHow to Install PosteRazor in ubuntu/debian Linux
open a terminal and type
$ sudo apt-get install posterazor
or use Synaptic Package Manager for Installation.
"
