All about Linux

KDE For Windows - An Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:02:00 PST

KDE is turning out to be a fabulous Desktop. The latest version - KDE 4.4.0 aka Caikaku is choke full of features which gives the term "Desktop usability" a new meaning all together. What makes KDE all the more appealing is the plethora of well designed applications that come bundled with it.

Then again, considering that Windows enjoys a virtual monopoly of the computer desktop market, (with Linux garnering just over 1%), it might take some time for the ordinary lay person to savour the goodies that KDE provides.

But hope is at sight. KDE 4.x which is based on Qt4 library is truly portable and works remarkably well across operating systems.

KDE 4 on Windows

"KDE for Windows" is a very active project that aims to port KDE 4 and all the applications that are built on KDE to run natively in Windows.

This article accompanied by pictures explain the steps involved in installing a native build of KDE 4 on Windows.

Why should I run KDE 4 on Windows ?

Fair question. Look at it this way - How would you like to replace your dour Windows Explorer with a cute albeit very powerful file manager such as Dolphin ? How about ditching Adobe Acrobat Reader which is known for its sluggishness for a far more versatile PDF reader like Okular ? Perhaps you are interested in spending some quality time playing those fabulous games bundled with KDE..., Or how about replacing proprietary Microsoft Office, or even OpenOffice.org, with KOffice ?

Which ever way you look at it, KDE 4 brings with it a huge set of useful applications that will raise your productivity to a whole new level. This makes it really enticing to install and use KDE 4.x natively in Windows. The latest version KDE 4.4.0 has already been ported to Windows. Do give it a try.

Ubuntu One Music Store - An iTunes Equivalent For Linux Users

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:35:00 PST

In the next version of Ubuntu - namely Lucid Lynx, you will find a well integrated Music store in the same lines as Apple's iTunes for Mac and Windows users. With one major difference namely - Ubuntu One music store will be selling DRM free songs. Each song will use 256 kpbs (or higher) encoding which enhances the quality of the song.

The Ubuntu One music store has been developed as a plug-in and so the users will be able to use it with a variety of music players in Linux. But in Ubuntu Lucid Lynx and above, it will be tightly integrated with the default music player - Rhythmbox.

Prior to buying songs from the Ubuntu music store, you need to create an Ubuntu One cloud storage account which provides you with 2GB of free space. The songs you purchase through the music store will be automatically transferred to your cloud storage, synchronized to all of your computers, and added to Rhythmbox.

Once you purchase the songs through the Ubuntu One music store, you can burn it on to a CD any number of times, Play through any software on any computer, and sync with any mp3 music device - even an iPod.
iPod users can use the Rhythmbox plug-in libgpod for transferring the songs.

Ubuntu has teamed up with 7Digital for selling music to Ubuntu users in this way.

Check out this nice writeup from a Ubuntu One music store beta tester , where he gives his first hand experience of this new offering from Canonical.

Source(s): Ubuntu Wiki FAQ, Ubuntu One blog.

KDE 4.4.0 Ushers In New Innovations To The Desktop

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:12:00 PST

KDE 4.4.0 Software Compilation codenamed Caikaku has been released. KDE 4.4.0 brings an innovative collection of applications to Free Software users which enhances their experience while using KDE Desktop.

New Features In KDE 4.4.0

The following are a select few from the sum total of features that KDE 4.4.0 sports.

Plasma Netbook workspace - An interface specifically optimized for mobile devices with smaller screens. Similar to Ubuntu Netbook Remix or Moblin but distribution independent.
Improved window management - KDE 4.4.0 brings with it enhanced application switching using Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut. You can now maximize and tile windows by dragging them to the edge of the screen.
Plasma widgets improvements - "Add Widget" interface attaches to the user's main panel instead of opening in it's own window. Now it is possible to share Plasma widgets over a network. System tray can now embed Plasma widgets thus reducing visual clutter.
KDE 4.4.0 now supports new locales, currencies and date formats in its interface.
A new configuration module to handle automatic mounting of removable drives.

For a full list of features and lots of screenshots and videos demonstrating the enhancements in KDE 4.4.0, head over to the KDE 4.4.0 anouncement page. Also check out the KDE promotional committee YouTube Channel for all the goodies that KDE 4.4.0 has to offer.

Be Productive Using Vim - Learn These 101 Hacks

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:51:00 PST

I have always been an avid Vi enthusiast. And I have tried to keep abreast of the new features in Vi. Did you know Vi has a powerful adversary ? Yes you guessed it right, it is Emacs. But that has not stopped Vi from gaining faithful followers for itself. Myself being one of the staunch supporters of Vi.

Vim is the modern avataar of Vi and is created and maintained by Bram Moolenaar. Vim is choke full of features which would put any other text editor (except perhaps Emacs) to shame.

Once you learn to use Vim, it will bring immense power at your fingertips. With a few key strokes you will be able to accomplish text editing tasks which might otherwise take you a significant amount of time and effort.

However, you need to master a few skills in learning Vim.

Ramesh Natarajan at theGeekstuff.com has authored a very useful book on Vim named "Vim 101 Hacks".

It is a downloadable eBook that contains 101 practical examples on various advanced Vim features that will make you fast and productive in the Vim editor. The book is targeted at newbies and intermediate users of Vim.

If you are interested in buying an up-to-date book on Vim, do check out Vim 101 Hacks. It is worth the money well spent.

Happy New Year 2010 !

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:31:00 PST

On behalf of All about Linux blog, I wish you all a very prosperous, happy, and fullfilling New Year 2010. :-)

Inkscape - A noteworthy open source vector graphics software

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 08:04:00 PST

Inkscape is an open source, feature-full vector graphics environment with capabilities similar to Adobe Illustrator. Inkscape uses the W3C standard SVG file format. It supports many advanced SVG features like markers, clones, alpha blending and so on.

What is more, Inkscape is cross platform and is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X platforms.

What is vector graphics ?

Vector graphics is a resolution-independent description of the actual shapes and objects that you see in the image. A rasterization engine uses this information to determine how to plot each line and curve at any resolution or zoom level. If you want to create design compositions, logos, images with text, technical illustrations, and so on, you should use a vector graphics editor.

While a copy of Adobe Illustrator costs around $600, Inkscape is free, which makes it affordable for lay persons and home users to learn to use this very powerful albeit user friendly graphics software. It is mostly true that Inkscape does not support all the features of Adobe Illustrator. However, it's development is advancing at a steady pace to make it a viable contender in the Vector graphics software market.

Inkscape in it's current form is stable and very usable. For example, you can use Inkscape to create colorful text effects, design business cards, render realistic objects, logos, and illustrations.

Inkscape 0.47

The latest release of Inkscape namely version 0.47 adds many new features to an already powerful toolset. Some of them being numerous enhancements to the existing tools - pen and pencil tool, eraser tool, tweak tool, text tool, and so on. Inkscape -.47 has gained new extensions, and new filters that add special effects to your images, SVG improvements, and interface enhancements.

Nathan Willis provides the nitty gritty details of what you can expect from the latest version of Inkscape aka ver 0.47. Read the article at Worldlabels blog.

Start A Website On A Premier Web Host This Coming Year For Peanuts

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 03:00:00 PST

Christmas and New Year is around the corner. There are celebrations galore. Everybody is in a holiday mood looking forward to spending quality time with friends and family. What better time to provide something special to lift peoples spirits right ?

Well, a few premier web hosting companies are providing space on their servers at a price that can be called a steal.

The web hosting companies are as follows :

Dreamhost a well established web hosting company is providing a whole year's web hosting plan for a mere $9.65. That is, you get to host your websites a whole year with them and you need pay only a month's price.

Another premier shared hosting company Siteground provides a Holiday special deal which gives you a whole years hosting with them for a mere $20.10. But wait, if you dig a little deeper, or are plain lucky, Siteground has a secret Christmas offer which provides a year's web hosting with them for just $9.95.

So if you are in the mood for owning your own site on a premier web host, then this is the chance. You can host your website (or websites if you own more than one) for mere peanuts. Both Dreamhost and Siteground provide a free domain name with this offer.

Please note that the above links are not affiliate links and will take you directly to their offer. Dreamhost's offer is valid only for a short duration of time. And if you are reading this a bit late, then you may be out of luck.

However, Siteground's Christmas offer stands till December 25th or later.

Now The Big Question

What I am wondering is, will shared hosting be enough for a website or blog (such as this one) which gets around 4000 uniques per day ?

If you host your website / blog on a shared hosting server, what are your good or bad experiences ? Which web hosting companies do you think are top notch ? Have you come across any better offer ? Please elucidate.

Simple Beautiful Wallpapers to Adorn your Linux Desktop

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:32:00 PST

Who doesn't like wallpapers right? Aesthetically done wallpapers are a pleasure to view on the Desktop. I am always on the look out for beautiful wallpapers.

Now here is a collection of very good wallpapers with pleasing colors. The USP of this collection of wallpapers is that they feature simple abstract designs.

Most wallpapers you come across on the Net are very nice to look at. However, when you start using them, you will start noticing their Achilles' heel. That being, they either distract you from your work or their very color combination hides many icons on your Desktop.

Not so with these set of Desktop Wallpapers. Do check them out.

For the not so faint hearted, here is a collection of some very hot (Warning: NSFW) Ubuntu wallpapers too.

How To Build An Open Source FreeNAS Server

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:00:00 PST

Now a days, most people have more than one computer at home. If not, then there are a multitude of devices such as - laptop(s), WiFi enabled cell phones, network aware audio & video devices, and game consoles.

If that is true for you, then it is a fair guess that you will have your own private store of music, movies, and video games, not to speak of other valuable files which are scattered across any of the above mentioned devices you own.

Now here is a very nice way of centrally storing all these valuable bits and bytes and making them available to all your network aware devices via streaming. The trick is to build yourself a Network Attached Server (NAS).

One very popular NAS is FreeNAS which supports a variety of file transfer protocols like CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, AFP, RSYNC, iSCSI protocols, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication and Software RAID (0,1,5). FreeNAS comes with a full Web configuration interface and so can be remotely configured. It should also be said that FreeNAS takes less than 32MB once installed on Compact Flash, hard drive or USB key. FreeNAS is based upon FreeBSD.

Once you set up a FreeNAS server at home, it can be put to the following uses -

Storage
Media Server
BitTorrent Downloading Machine
Web Server and
Backup Server.

If reading so much has piqued your curiosity, then here is a very interesting article (Courtesy of maximumpc.com) which walks you through the steps involved in building yourself a FreeNAS server. The article starts from the rudimentary steps namely assembling the desired hardware to actual installation and configuration of FreeNAS server. You can also read a print friendly version of the article here.

All you want to know about Google Chrome OS in a Nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:34:00 PST

Google recently lifted the curtains on its soon to be flagship product Google Chrome OS - a heavily customized Operating system which runs on top of the Linux kernel. Google did this with great panache by releasing the source code of the operating system under an open source license. The open source part of the operating system is known as Google Chromium OS.

Since a lot has already been written about the Google Chrome OS, I thought of doing something different. I collected the details of the project and created a mind map providing a birds eye view of Google Chrome OS.

All you want to know about Google Chrome OS

So instead of reading through reams of text, now you need only glance at the following mind map to come upto date on the Google Chrome OS project.

Reference : Google Chromium OS Official Site

Now for some videos on Google Chrome OS.

What is Google Chrome OS ?

This video explains to you in plain English about Google Chrome OS.

Google Chrome OS UI Concept Explained

Explore the Google Chrome OS user interface in this video.

Google Chrome OS Security

A video on the security aspects of Google Chrome OS.

Google Chromium OS Explained

Chromium OS is the open-source project behind the Google Chrome OS. The following video talks about Google Chromium OS.

Adobe AIR 2 Beta for Linux Released

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:30:00 PST

Adobe AIR 2 beta (runtime and SDK) has been simultaneously released for Windows, Mac, and Linux. AIR 2 builds on the success of AIR 1 by giving developers new capabilities and even tighter integration with the desktop.

New Features in Adobe AIR 2 beta

• Multi-touch support - Track multiple touch points simultaneously.
• Gestures - Applications can listen for multi-touch events.
• Open files with default application
• Improved security.
• Support for detection of mass storage devices.
• Drag and drop support for remote files.
• IPv6 support
• Improved cross-platform printing
• Consumes less energy than its predecessor (version 1.0).

... just to name a few.

Check out the full Release Notes for the details as well as Adobe AIR 2 Developer FAQ to learn more about this release.

Currently, Adobe AIR 2 beta support is available for Fedora Core 11, Ubuntu 9.04, and OpenSuSE 11.1 . AIR 2 beta doesn't support 64-bit Linux yet. However, 64-bit support is expected to be provided as an update to AIR 2 beta for Linux.

It is for the first time that Adobe has simultaneously released a product for all the three platforms namely Windows, Mac and Linux.

You can download Adobe AIR 2 beta from the following page.

GIMP going to get the boot in Ubuntu Lucid

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:30:00 PST

It is heard that GIMP is going to be left out of the default selection of packages bundled with the next version of Ubuntu aka Ubuntu Lucid. There is an interesting write up about this at omgubuntu.co.uk.

The following are the reasons provided against inclusion of GIMP in the default installation of Ubuntu Lucid.

The general user doesn't use it.
User interface doesn't inspire confidence.
GIMP is usually used by professionals
There are simpler and easier alternatives to GIMP for basic photo manipulation.
Takes up space in the disk (CD,DVD,...).
Photoshop is not bundled by default in Windows, hence GIMP shouldn't be in Ubuntu either.

Now the pro-GIMP users (which includes me) have this to say supporting the retention of GIMP in the next version of Ubuntu.

One of the ways of introducing people to alternative software is to include it in the default installation of Linux and have it readily accessible to the users from the menu. Removing GIMP would mean encouraging people to think that Linux is "not ready for serious users."
If saving space on the disk is the major issue, why not replace OpenOffice.org with equivalent software such as Abiword and Gnumeric ? After all, how many general users of Linux (or Windows for that matter) use a word processor or spread sheet program? And OpenOffice.org occupies far more space than GIMP.
GIMP's user interface may be out of the ordinary. But to those who have gotten used to this interface, Photoshop's interface is out of the ordinary. (Believe me, I use GIMP for touching up and preparing all the images you see on this blog. And I find GIMP a lot more intutive than Photoshop). Bottom line is, it is a matter of getting used to.
Agreed, you can always install GIMP using a simple apt-get install. But what about those users who do not have ready access to Internet (and there are lots of them out there who own a computer but rely on Cybercafes for reading their email and web browsing). There will be no easy recourse for these set of Ubuntu users who wish to install and use GIMP.

For the above mentioned reasons, I vote strongly in favour of GIMP being included in the default set of packages bundled with the next version of Ubuntu aka Ubuntu Lucid. Let me go one step further, every Linux distribution out there, whether it is the best Linux distribution, big or small, should include GIMP in their default installation. Value added software like GIMP is what makes using Linux truly fascinating.

Fedora 12 Released with Huge Improvements in Tablet Support

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:30:00 PST

Fedora 12 has been released. This release touts huge improvement in support for tablets accompanied by tweaks to our favourite software such as a new pen preset tool in Inkscape, Brush dynamics tool in Gimp, Handwriting recognition tool named Cellwriter, a notes taking application (Xournal) to name a few. The following are some of the other new features you will find in Fedora 12.

Fedora 12 Main Features

Empathy, an instant messenger that supports chat, video, and audio. It lets you talk to your friends who are on AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, Jabber, Live (MSN), MySpace, and many other platforms.
Support for Bluetooth audio devices.
A redesigned NetworkManager which features IPv6 support.
PackageKit - a package management front-end which sports a re-designed interface with many new user friendly features built-in.
KDE 4.3, GNOME Shell preview, Gnote which replaces Tomboy are a few other noticable improvements in Fedora 12.

Read the full release notes of Fedora 12 to know the details. Also read an interview with Matthias Clasen of Red Hat who talks about some of the new features for desktop users in Fedora 12.

Download Fedora 12

Latest version of Fedora (version 12 in this case) can be downloaded from this page. There are also a couple of spins of Fedora 12 which are essentially customized versions of Fedora which you can access here.

World's first 80 dollar laptop which can run Linux

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:48:00 PST

After the $100 laptop OLPC project, it is the turn of the $80 laptop. You heard me right, this laptop costs only $80 if the video review that follows is to be believed.

The $80 laptop branded EasyPC is one of the products rolled out by a Chinese laptop manufacturer - MENQ Group.

EasyPC $80 laptop full specifications

EasyPC E790 comes with a modest 64MB RAM and 2 GB disk space. While the disk space is quite stingy, the good news is, it has an integrated standard SD card slot which supports cards of upto 32GB size.

These are the full specs of the $80 laptop from the manufacturer's website.

The specifications say the laptop comes installed with Windows CE by default. However, this laptop is ideal for running any light weight OS such as Google Android (which is built on top of a custom Linux kernel), as the following video review suggests.

Read the detailed review of the laptop @techvideoblog.com.

How to self publish your own book

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:01:00 PST

If you have decided to write a book, then you must be wondering about the different publishing options at your disposal. In most cases, you typically approach a publishing house with your idea of the book. However, there is an interesting alternative, which is to self-publish your book.

Self-publishing is the publishing of books and other media by the authors of those works, rather than by established, third-party publishers. The key distinguishing characteristic of self-publishing is the absence of a traditional publisher. Instead, the creator or creators fulfill this role, taking editorial control of the content, arranging for printing, marketing the material, and often distributing it, either directly to consumers or to retailers.

One of the foremost portal which helps individual authors self-publish their work is Lulu.com. But there are other active players in the self-publish business too.

So how do you go about publishing your book and selling it to make money - is the big question.

Dusty Phillips has a very nice article where he explains the various options available to authors who wish to self-publish their work. He peppers the article with his own experiences in publishing a book in this manner. And also provides formatting tips to potential authors.

Check out his article.

Free Online Book : Google Wave - Learn How to Use it.

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:30:00 PST

The Complete Guide to Google Wave is book authored by Gina Trapani (Lifehacker fame) and Adam Pash. This book is freely available for reading online. The book is divided into 8 comprehensive chapters and 2 appendices. A very good book on Google Wave indeed.

Bookmark the link for future reference and read the free online book to get to know Google Wave inside-out. "The Complete Guide to Google Wave" book will be available in PDF and print sometime next year.

Now if only someone will send me a Google Wave invite.....

Free Open Source Screencasts for Linux System Administrators and Newbies alike

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:06:00 PST

There has always been a dearth in quality training material in Linux System Administration. And if there are resources on the Net, they are hard to find. Now here is a new venture by John Yerhot who endevours to provide very well made videos which explain how to use different commands in Linux, useful to people who administer Linux servers.

FOSSCasts are short, free screencasts covering Linux, Unix, and Open Source software in general. Each episode is under 10 minutes and covers a different piece of Open Source software or a set of tips and tricks novice and seasoned veterans will both find useful.

The videos are available for download in two formats namely - Ogg Theora and Apple Quicktime. I checked out the latest episode - Sysstat Part 1 : vmstat & iostat; and the quality of the screencast is stellar.

The site is still in its inception stage and so you will find only a couple of screencasts at present. But their schedule is to provide one new screencast per week.

Do check out the screencasts - It is a job well done.

Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Released

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:40:00 PDT

Ubuntu today released its latest offering namely Ubuntu Karmic Koala version 9.10. Ubuntu Karmic Koala comes with lots of new features.

New Features in Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10

Upstart - an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising them while the system is running.
Software Center - a graphical utility for package management in Ubuntu. It replaces the Add/Remove programs tool.
GNOME version 2.28
Quickly - An easy way to develop applications for Ubuntu and package them in a deb format.
Ubuntu Karmic Koala is available in 25 languages.
Linux kernel 2.6.31
Ubuntu One - Integrates your Ubuntu machine with the cloud providing you free 2 GB of space to store and synchronize all your data like Tomboy notes, imortant files, contacts et al. More space is available for a nominal price of $10 / month.
Better support for Intel chipsets.
Ext4 file system by default.
Grub 2
Improved and enhanced AppArmor.

Of course, Ubuntu 9.10 is not without its share of glitches. Do check out the release notes for the lengthy list of issues that users might face while running this Ubuntu version.

How to download Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10

You can download Ubuntu 9.10 by visiting this page and choosing a mirror closest to your geographical location. You are encouraged to use bittorrent to download the ISO as it will ease the load on the Ubuntu servers.

Abicollab.net - A free web based collaboration service

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:35:00 PDT

A collaboration service allows multiple people spread across the world to remotely get together and edit a single document simultaneously. AbiCollab is one such service. What is interesting about AbiCollab is that it is based around the popular open source wordprocessor Abiword.

Once you create an account in AbiCollab.net, you can create Abiword documents, open existing Abiword documents for collaboration with others, even view the documents right within the web browser. If you have created any documents in Abiword on your computer, you can also upload your Abiword documents to your online account.

I do like Abiword and find it a superior wordprocessor which holds a lot of promise. Visit AbiCollab.net and give this new service a try.

[News via Slashdot]

Yahoo Geocities brings fond memories... Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:35:00 PDT

My first web page was in Yahoo Geocities. That was a time when the now ubiquitous server side technologies like PHP had yet to make an appearance. Yahoo was one of the few web hosts who were providing amateur website builders like myself a platform to host our files.

While I did find Geocities very useful to host files, I was always irritated by the protruding Yahoo ads on my website which were ruining my web page design. If you are wondering how my web site looked, then here is a screenshot I saved for nostalgic reasons.

You will be surprised to know that my Geocities website featured Linux resources as well - mostly links to useful resources on the net.

It had been a while since I have visited my very first web page though. To be honest, I had forgotten about my website till this day.

26th October 2009 is the last day stipulated by Yahoo after which, it will delete all the Geocities hosted websites.

It is my take that Yahoo has milked Geocities to make a ton of money through the ads it ran on each of the over a million websites hosted on the Geocities portal. And unlike Google, it hasn't shared even a penny with the webmasters who diligently maintained their sites.

I guess it is time to bid adieu to a portal that has well over, served a useful purpose for millions of people.

Windows 7 Gets a Thumbs Up from Linus Torvalds

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:23:00 PDT

Didn't even dream such a day would dawn, did you ? Now here is the father of Linux posing before a Windows 7 stall in Japan with a thumbs up sign.

The story behind the picture

The occasion was a Linux Symposium held in Japan in which Linus Torvalds was an attendee. Microsoft knowing about the Linux Symposium erected a Windows 7 promotion booth right across the venue.

During the break, when Linus Torvalds was dragged to the Windows 7 booth by a few of his buddies, he chose to pose as seen in the picture.

If you are wondering, No! Linus didn't buy a copy of Windows 7.

Source of News : Engadget
Photo Credits : Chris @ Japan Linux Symposium

Google Search will now include Twitter Tweets

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:12:00 PDT

Google has reached an agreement with Twitter to include real time tweets from Twitter in Google search results. All the more reason to take tweeting and tweets seriously.

So how is this news relevant to the lay person like you and me ? Twitter is synonymous with real-time updates of data. There are millions of people the world over who are tweeting information each day, which translates to billions of tweets. Now our Google search will also have real time data from people who have tweeted about the same topic. You can get real time information about disasters that have happened in a region, weather, traffic conditions in your area ... the list goes on and on. The basic premise is that someone, somewhere, is tweeting about these topics at any given time which makes this information valuable to the seeker.

This blog also has a twitter account associated with it. I concede, I am a late entrant to the twitter field. However, my twitter account already has 195 followers. You may follow my tweets at twitter.com/aboutlinux if you haven't done so already. It will contain atmost one or two tweets a day on relevant topics. So you won't be inundated with tweets from me.

[Source of news : Google Blog]

Cheat Sheet For Networking Professionals

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:43:00 PDT

Free download of a collection of cheet sheets for computer networking professionals. All the cheat sheets are in PDF and are beautifully made. The cheat sheets are segregated into different categories such as -

Protocols (BGP,EIGRP, First Hop Redundancy, IEEE 802.11 WLAN, IEEE 802.1X, IPsec, IPv4 Multicast, IPv6, IS-IS, OSPF, Spanning Tree)
Applications (tcpdump,Wireshark display filters)
Reference (IOS IPv4 Access Lists, IPv4 Subnetting, Common Ports)
Syntax (Markdown, MediaWiki)
Technologies (Frame Mode MPLS, QoS, VLANs)
Miscellaneous (Cisco IOS Versions, Physical terminations)

Courtesy of PacketLife.net

I had put together a small Cheat Sheet for MySQL a couple of years back which helped me in remembering the command line parameters used in manipulating MySQL database.

The idea of a cheat sheet is to help a person keep track of all the essentials of a topic. Thus cheat sheets play an invaluable role in brushing up ones knowledge in the least possible time.

Blogger to Wordpress Migration - Step by Step Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:03:00 PDT

I often see the Blogger domain of this blog and have a sinking feeling that I am stuck with this blogspot sub-domain. Believe me, there is nothing wrong in running your blog on a blogspot sub domain. There are instances of blogging successes on a blogspot domain too. It is just that with a custom domain and paid hosting, you have more flexibility and control over the various elements that comprise your blog. And for SEO benefits, it is advised to always run your blog on a custom domain - preferably using a blogging software like Wordpress - though Drupal would also make a good fit.

Today, I stumbled upon a very useful article written by Amit Agarwal which explains how to migrate your blog from blogger to paid Wordpress hosting and your own custom domain. What is relevant about this article is, Amit explains how to do the migration without losing any of the visitors to your old blog hosted on blogspot domain.

Check out Amit's article to learn how to do the search engine friendly switch of your blog from Blogger to Wordpress platform without losing any link juice.

How to make your website mobile friendly

noreply@blogger.com (Ravi) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:30:00 PDT

Do you run a website or blog ? If yes, how accessible is it on a mobile device ? Now a days, with more and more people browsing the net straight from their mobile devices like cell phones, it is very important to make your website as accessible to this group of users. Google teaches you how.

Steps to make your website mobile friendly

The following are the steps you need to take to make your website easily accessible on cell phones and other mobile devices.

Provide an obvious link to the mobile version of your website from the desktop version of your site.
Use a conventional "mobile URL" and advertise it. Eg: Gmail uses the m.gmail.com URL to provide the mobile version of Gmail.
Your mobile version of website should have a mobile friendly web design and should provide large, actionable, clickable UI elements.
Mobile phones can be broadly classified into different categories - depending upon the degree of internet connectivity they support. Design your mobile friendly website for all these categories.
Reduce the number of requests and the amount of data transferred.
- Sprite your images using CSS or transfer your images using a data URI scheme.
- Consolidate all your page's dependencies like CSS code, JavaScript and so on into a single file.
- Compress your HTML code where ever possible.
- Eliminate redirects.
- Transfer data when needed and preload where appropriate.
Take advantage of new features in HTML.
- Use an application cache for local content storage.
- Use CSS3 instead of images where ever possible.
- Plan for the lowest common denominator. For example, Flash is not widely supported by many mobile devices. Dito for JavaScript. So these are best left out from your mobile friendly website design.
Last but not the least, extensively test your mobile friendly website on multiple devices - which includes, actual devices like iPhone, Windows mobile and mobile simulators like Blackberry simulator, Opera Mini simulator, Android Emulator and so on.

[Source : Google]