April 25, 2009

Top 10 Ubuntu Downloads

Ubuntu help

To enable proprietary hardware drivers in Ubuntu:
  • choose Add/Remove Applications on the Applications menu
  • search for hardware drivers
  • check the box next to the Hardware Drivers application in the search results
  • click Apply Changes
  • Next, choose System, Administration, Hardware Drivers
  • Follow the instructions for activating the driver
Also, Ubuntu doesn't offer proprietary software by default, such as the codecs necessary to play back MP3s, DVDs, Flash animations, and other media.
  • To enable most of these proprietary plug-ins and codecs in one step, go to the Add/Remove Applications utility and search for, and install, Ubuntu Restricted Extras
  • Super Ubuntu (now known as Super OS) is regular Ubuntu with such things installed

April 17, 2009

Back In Time Does Full Linux Backups in One Click

"Back In Time, a Linux backup app inspired by Macs' Time Machine and offering the same kind of no-worry, space-saving snapshot protection, is worth adding to your must-install list."

Audiophiles can't tell the difference between Monster Cable and coat hangers

Coat hangers. Excellent.

April 14, 2009

YouSendIt and Websense and the "Special Yearly Offer" (Special Retention Offer)

I was a happy YouSendIt (yousendit.com) account holder for some time. Then my workplace, or rather the Websense service they use, classified the site as "Personal Network Storage and Backup", and blocked it at our firewall. YouSendIt's service is not usable for either network storage or backup, but my own company's IT group would not or could not understand that (or more likely, were not willing to contact Websense regarding the improper classification), so I was forced to cancel my $30 a month Business Plus account, which had served me well up until then.

When I tried to cancel my account, I was presented with a "Special Retention Offer" that listed several major components of their service (that I already had as a Business Plus customer), detailing max file sizes, bandwidth, etc. and then said "In other words, you get the same great YouSendIt service at a lower price." Figuring I could still use the service from home, I signed up for this deal, only to find out shortly thereafter that several major components of the Business Plus plan were *not* included in the Special Retention Offer, including the big one, the Dropbox (which allowed people to send *me* things). Of course they'd already posted the $20 charge to my credit card, even though I had weeks to go on the old plan, and I had to wait until that time to cancel my account (because my account was already in a "pending downgrade state"), and then they refunded the $20 as a "service gesture".

Next time I'll use the "NO THANKS" button.

April 08, 2009

Quote of the Day

"When we go online, each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper. We select the kind of news and opinions that we care most about.

"Nicholas Negroponte of M.I.T. has called this emerging news product The Daily Me. And if that's the trend, God save us from ourselves.

"That's because there's pretty good evidence that we generally don't truly want good information -- but rather information that confirms our prejudices. We may believe intellectually in the clash of opinions, but in practice we like to embed ourselves in the reassuring womb of an echo chamber."

- Nicholas Kristof, in The New York Times

April 03, 2009

Giving Linux That 'XP' Factor

"...there's an increasingly common consensus amongst the Internet digerati is that there are four operating system choices: Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and 'other Linux'." And Super Ubuntu is even one step better.