Kollibs Kollum

Windows 7 Phone Series

2010-02-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

The competition is all geared up now. Will be really interesting to see the proprietary vs open source competition.

1. iPhone
2. Web OS - Palm Pre
3. Android
4. Blackberry
5. Windows
6. Symbian

Stillness is a powerful action

2010-02-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

I started liking Leo Babauta blogs.

“Activity conquers cold, but stillness conquers heat.” ~ Lao Tzu

Post written by Leo Babauta.

It’s a bias of our culture that stillness is regarded as lazy, as being stuck in inaction, as a negative.
It’s not. It’s an action, and a powerful one.
What’s more, it can change your day, and in doing so change your life.
You’re in the middle of a frazzled day, swamped by work and meetings and emails and interruptions, or hassled by kids and phone calls and errands and chores.
You pause. Stay still for a minute, and breathe. You close your eyes, and find a stillness within yourself. This stillness spreads to the rest of your body, and to your mind. It calms you, centers you, focuses you on what you’re doing right now, not on all you have to do and all that has happened.
The stillness becomes a transformative action.
Stillness can be a powerful answer to the noise of others. It can be a way to push back against the buzz of the world, to take control. It can remind you of what’s important.
How to Practice
Stillness, oddly, doesn’t come naturally to many people. So practice.
1. Start your day in stillness. Whether it’s sitting with a cup of coffee as the world awakes, or sitting on a pillow and focusing on your breath, stillness is a powerful way to start your day. It sets the tone for things to come. Even 5-10 minutes is great.
2. Take regular stillness breaks. Every hour, set an alarm on your computer or phone to go off. Think of it as a bell that rings, reminding you to be still for a minute. During this minute, focus first on your breathing, to bring yourself into the present. Let the worries of the world around you melt away — all that is left is your breath. And then let your focus expand beyond your breath to your other senses, one at a time.
3. When chaos roars, pause. In the middle of a crisis or a noisy day, stop. Be still. Take a deep breath, and focus on that breath coming in, and going out. Find your inner stillness and then let your next action come from that stillness. Focus on that next action only.
Let stillness become your most powerful action. It could change your life.

“Through return to simple living Comes control of desires. In control of desires Stillness is attained. In stillness the world is restored.” ~ Lao Tzu

Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment by Leo Babauta

2010-02-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

I really like this article, thought would share with you guys and more importantly I want to keep a copy for myself.

Post written by Leo Babauta.

This fantastic quote summarizes something that I’ve been trying to focus on recently in my daily life:

“Whatever the tasks, do them slowly
with ease,
in mindfulness,
so not do any tasks with the goal
of getting them over with.
Resolve to each job in a relaxed way,
with all your attention.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master

In our daily lives, we often rush through tasks, trying to get them done, trying to finish as much as we can each day, speeding along in our cars to our next destination, rushing to do what we need to do there, and then leaving so that we can speed to our next destination.
Unfortunately, it’s often not until we get to our final destination that we realize what madness this all is.
At the end of the day, we’re often exhausted and stressed out from the grind and the chaos and the busy-ness of the day. We don’t have time for what’s important to us, for what we really want to be doing, for spending time with loved ones, for doing things we’re passionate about.
And yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s possible to live a simpler life, one where you enjoy each activity, where you are present in everything (or most things) you do, where you are content rather than rushing to finish things.
If that appeals to you, let’s take a look at some suggestions for living a simple, peaceful, content life:

What’s important. First, take a step back and think about what’s important to you. What do you really want to be doing, who do you want to spend your time with, what do you want to accomplish with your work? Make a short list of 4-5 things for your life, 4-5 people you want to spend time with, 4-5 things you’d like to accomplish at work.
Examine your commitments. A big part of the problem is that our lives are way too full. We can’t possibly do everything we have committed to doing, and we certainly can’t enjoy it if we’re trying to do everything. Accept that you can’t do everything, know that you want to do what’s important to you, and try to eliminate the commitments that aren’t as important. See this article for more.
Do less each day. Don’t fill your day up with things to do. You will end up rushing to do them all. If you normally try (and fail) to do 7-10 things, do 3 important ones instead (with 3 more smaller items to do if you get those three done). This will give you time to do what you need to do, and not rush.
Leave space between tasks or appointments. Another mistake is trying to schedule things back-to-back. This leaves no cushion in case things take longer than we planned (which they always do), and it also gives us a feeling of being rushed and stressed throughout the day. Instead, leave a good-sized gap between your appointments or tasks, allowing you to focus more on each one, and have a transition time between them.
Eliminate as much as possible from your to-do list. You can’t do everything on your to-do list. Even if you could, more things will come up. As much as you can, simplify your to-do list down to the essentials. This allows you to rush less and focus more on what’s important. See this article for more.
Now, slow down and enjoy every task. This is the most important tip in this article. Read it twice. Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s a work task or taking a shower or brushing your teeth or cooking dinner or driving to work, slow down. Try to enjoy whatever you’re doing. Try to pay attention, instead of thinking about other things. Be in the moment. This isn’t easy, as you will often forget. But find a way to remind yourself. Unless the task involves actual pain, there isn’t anything that can’t be enjoyable if you give it the proper attention.
Single-task. This is kind of a mantra of mine, as I talk about how to single-task all the time. But it’s an important point for me, and for this article. Do one thing at a time, and do it well.
Eat slower. This is just a more specific application of Tip #6, but it’s something we do every day, so it deserves special attention. See this article for more.
Drive slower. Another application of the same principle, driving is something we do that’s often mindless and rushed. Instead, slow down and enjoy the journey. See this article for more.
Eliminate stress. Find the stressors in your life, and find ways to eliminate them. See this article for more.
How and why to slow down. This is such an important point, that I’m going to point you to two other articles on this: here and here.
Create time for solitude. In addition to slowing down and enjoying the tasks we do, and doing less of them, it’s also important to just have some time to yourself. Read this article for more.
Do nothing. Sometimes, it’s good to forget about doing things, and do nothing. Here’s more.
Sprinkle simple pleasures throughout your day. Knowing what your simple pleasures are, and putting a few of them in each day, can go a long way to making life more enjoyable. Here’s a list of 75 simple pleasures.
Practice being present. You can practice being in the moment at any time during the day. Here’s how.
Find inspirations. Learn from the best. Here are 5 inspirations for being in the moment.
Make frugality an enjoyable thing too. Instead of delayed gratification, try enjoying life now while saving for later.

Top 3 pocket camcoders

2010-02-06T14:31:00.001-08:00

I recently was looking for a compact pocket camcoder that is very cheap compared to high end digital camcoders but as bad in quality that someone would expect for the price.

The winner for me, atleast for now, is Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5. The below is the comparison chart of the top 3 pocket camcoders in the market and ones marked in blue indicate the winner of the three camcoders compared for that particular feature.

Product name	Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 (purple)	Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera (black)	Flip UltraHD (black)
	Sony Bloggie MHS-CM5 (purple)	Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera (black)	Flip UltraHD (black)
Price	£135 to £150	£127	£127
Average user rating	3.5 stars	3.5 stars	2.5 stars
Release date	January 25, 2010	September 01, 2009

Lens aperture	F/3.3	F/2.8	F/2.4
Flash type	None	Built-in	Info unavailable
Media type	Flash card	Flash card	Flash card
Optical zoom	5 x	No	No
Optical sensor type	CMOS	CMOS	CMOS
Video input type	Camcorder	Camcorder	Camcorder
Digital zoom	20 x	4 x	2 x
Battery technology	Lithium ion	Lithium ion	Info unavailable
Battery included qty	1	1	Info unavailable
Weight	6.9 oz	3.9 oz	6 oz
Image stabilizer	Electronic (Steady Shot)	No	No
Optical sensor size	1/2.5"	1/2.5"	1/4.5"
Service & support type	1 year warranty	1 year warranty	Info unavailable
Manual focus	Automatic	Focus free	Focus free

iPAD review David Carr, Michael Arrington and Walter Mossberg

2010-02-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

Top 10 Must Have Gadgets

2010-02-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Television	Sony Bravia	SONY 40 inch KDL-40EX1
Computing: Laptop	Apple Macbook Pro	15 inch Macbook Pro
Mobile	Apple iPhone	iPhone 3GS
Stereo System	Samsung Home Theatre	5.1ch Blu-Ray home theatre system
Camera	Digital SLR	Nikon D5000
Camcoder	Sony Handy Cam	Sony Handy Cam - HDR-CX305E
Computing: Desktop	Apple iMac	iMac 21.5 inch
Gaming	Sony PS3	250 GB Slim PS3
MP3 Player	iPod Touch	iPod Touch 64 GB
Media Server	HP Media server	HP EX490 MediaSmart Server

Android Multitouch Update

2010-02-02T16:24:00.000-08:00

Google announced an update today to its Android OS for Nexus One phones that would enable the pinch-to-zoom multi-touch feature for the first time in a few Google apps: Maps, Gallery, and the Web Browser. The below is the video (courtesy : Techcrunch) of the new functionality in action.

iPAD Top 5 Missing Features

2010-01-31T03:21:00.000-08:00

Top 5 Missing Features in iPAD:

Will I buy iPAD , no not yet, I shall wait until the below missing features are added to iPAD- may be 2011.

1. Lack of Camera: Lack of camera seems disappointing especially since the device is said to be between an iPhone and Macbook. And in today's smart phones presence of camera seems almost default - a built in isight camera would have allowed users to video conferencing.

2. Missing Flash support : Flash support is surely to be missed. As surfing the Web without Flash is not same. The `big, empty video boxes in the middle of a page' that will appear are sure to disappoint. User won't be able to watch ESPN or Hulu.

3. No Multitasking: Multitasking seems to be becoming a computing norm, with even mobile OSes offering it. However, there is no multitasking option in iPad's OS. This means users can't listen to FM while they surf the Web, or switch back and forth between Facebook at Twitter, or write an email while talking on a VOIP call.

4. Aspect Ratio : Analysts feel that a 4:3 aspect ratio may be just perfect for using iPhone apps in full screen mode. However, a similar aspect ratio may not be as good for media. Especially since the digital world is rapidly moving to widescreen formats.

5. Very less storage : With iPad coming in 16, 32 and 64 GB versions, storage doesn't seems big - consider that most of us have 35+ GB of Music, 20+ GB of photos and Videos, not much would be left to carry your Movie files. An extra storage is always welcome. And with no SD card support that option is not available.

There are still some missing features such as users wouldn't be to browse file system, giving no option as store files locally on iPAD (I am guessing that file explorer feature would be supported by 3rd party apps).

Apple iPAD features:

Safari - Browse Internet but no flash support

The large Multi-Touch screen on iPad lets you see web pages as they were meant to be seen — one whole page at a time. With vibrant colour and sharp text. So whether you’re looking at a page in portrait or landscape, you can see everything at a size that’s actually readable. And with iPad, navigating through the web has never been easier or more intuitive. Because you use the most natural pointing device there is: your finger. You can scroll through a page just by flicking your finger up or down on the screen. Or pinch to zoom in or out on a photo. There’s also a thumbnail view that shows all your open pages in a grid, to let you quickly move from one page to the next.

Mail - Doesn't work with Microsoft Exchange Server?

See and touch your email in ways you never could before. In landscape, you get a split-screen view, showing both an opened email and the messages in your Inbox. To see the opened email by itself you just turn iPad to portrait, and the email automatically rotates and fills the screen. No matter which orientation you use, you can scroll through your mail, compose a new email using the large on-screen keyboard, or delete messages, with nothing more than a tap and a flick. If someone emails you a photo, you can see it right in the message. You can also save the photos in an email directly to the built-in Photos app. And iPad will work with all the popular email providers, including MobileMe, Yahoo! Mail, Google Mail, Hotmail and AOL.

Photos - Cannot upload to Picasa

With its crisp, vibrant display and its unique software features, iPad is an extraordinary way to enjoy and share your photos. For example, the new Photos app displays the photos in an album as though they were in a stack. Just tap or pinch to open the stack, and the whole album opens up. Then you can flip through your pictures, zoom in or out, or watch a slideshow. You can even use your iPad as a beautiful digital photo frame while your iPad is docked or charging. And there are lots of ways to import photos: you can sync them from your computer, download them from an email, or import them directly from your camera using the Apple Camera Connection Kit.

Video

The large, high-resolution screen makes iPad perfect for watching
any kind of video: from HD films and TV programmes, to podcasts and music videos. You can also easily move between wide-screen and full-screen with a double-tap. And because it’s essentially one big screen, with no buttons or anything to distract you, the picture fills your line of sight. So you feel completely immersed in what you’re watching.

YouTube

The YouTube app organises videos so they’re really easy to see and navigate. To watch one, you just tap it. When you’re watching in
landscape, the video will automatically play in full screen. And with its high-resolution display, the latest YouTube HD videos will look amazing on iPad.

iPod - 64 GB not sufficient

With the iPod app, all your music is literally at your fingertips. You can browse by album, song, artist or genre, with a simple flick. To play a song just tap it, and the now playing screen will show the album art at full size. Then you can listen to your music with either the powerful built-in speaker, or with wired or Bluetooth wireless headphones.

iTunes

Just tap on the iTunes Store icon, and you can browse and buy music, TV programmes, podcasts — or buy and rent films — wirelessly, right from your iPad. There are thousands of films and TV programmes (in both standard and high definition), along with thousands of podcasts and millions of songs to choose from. You can even preview songs before you buy them. And you can sync iPad with the content you already have in your iTunes library on your Mac or PC.

App Store

iPad will run almost 140,000 apps from the App Store. Everything from games to business apps and more. And new apps that have been designed just for iPad are highlighted, so you can easily find the ones that take full advantage of its features. Just tap the App Store icon on the screen and you’ll be able to browse, buy and download apps wirelessly, right to the iPad.

Maps

See more of the world with high-resolution Satellite and Street View images. You can even see topography with the new Terrain view. You can also search for a nearby business type (for example, “Restaurant”) and then tap on that business to see the route and directions from your current location.

Calendar

iPad makes it easy to keep on schedule by displaying Day, Week, Month or List views of your calendar. That way, you can see an overview of a whole month, or the details of a single day. iPad will even show multiple calendars at once, so you can manage work and family calendars at the same time.

Contacts and Notes

The Contacts app on iPad makes finding names, numbers and other important information quicker and easier than ever before. A new view lets you see both your complete contact list and a single contact, simultaneously. Need directions? Just tap on an address inside a contact and it’ll open Maps

With its expansive display and large, on-screen keyboard, iPad makes jotting down notes easy. In landscape mode, you get not only a note-taking page but a list of all your notes. It even circles the current note in red. So you can see where you are at a glance.

Spotlight Search

Spotlight Search allows you to search across iPad and all of its built-in apps. Including Mail, Contacts, Calendar, iPod and Notes. It’ll even search apps you’ve downloaded from the App Store. So no matter what you’re looking for, it’s never more than a few taps away

Mossberg Dig Jobs

2010-01-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

Apple new creation IPAD

2010-01-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

APPLE IPAD aka ISLATE TABLET AD ?!

2010-01-26T00:48:00.001-08:00

Update 1: NAS Solutions

2010-01-07T05:37:00.000-08:00

Iomega's iConnect :

Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today announced the worldwide launch of the Iomega® iConnect Wireless Data Station, a powerful and yet inexpensive device that provides a simple way to bring all of your USB storage into your network, allowing you to connect, share and access files anywhere, even over the Internet - all for only $99.99.

If iConnect does it what it says, it is best cosumer pocket friendly solution I have come across in the recent past. Belkin Home Base, which I had written an article some time ago (http://kollibs.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-access-your-external-hard-drive.html) - is a good way to share files on your home network, but iConnect take this to a next level by allowing users to access files over the internet - meaning I can simple type in a URL and can access all my photos / documents / videos anywhere in the world.

Benefits and Features of the new iConnect Wireless Data Station

The new iConnect Wireless Data Station utilizes the acclaimed EMC LifeLine™ software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications that is designed for cross-platform support with Windows®, Mac® and Linux computers. Users of the iConnect device interact with an easy-to-understand interface that provides all the latest in multimedia serving as well as remote access features, making it a breeze to access your own data, whether in the office, the home, or anywhere else in the world.**
Among the many value-add features of the iConnect Wireless Data Station:

Easy file sharing, data backup and print serving from any networked Windows® PC, Mac® or Linux workstation.
Gigabit Ethernet and wireless connectivity by connecting directly to your router in either a wired or wireless (802.11b/g/n wireless protocol) configuration.
Remote access allows you to connect securely from anywhere in the world and get full access to pictures, videos, files - everything stored on the connected USB drives. An added bonus: remotely access and administer the iConnect device through a personalized web address.
Simple expandability means you can add storage capacity by simply connecting more or larger external USB drives.
Device-to-device replication for data protection allows you to define a job to copy and/or synchronize files to and from the connected USB drives or any other shared storage on your network. Iomega makes it easy with one-touch copying with the QuikTransfer button on the front of the iConnect device.
Print Serving with intelligent print sharing capability for up to two USB printers.
Time Machine support allows Apple users to easily backup any Mac computers running OS X (10.5 or later) using Time Machine.
UPnP™ DLNA Certified AV Media Server provides the ability to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices, such as game consoles (Microsoft Xbox® 360, Sony PlayStation® 3), audio bridges, iTunes® players, networked digital picture frames, Iomega® ScreenPlay™ products and more.
Photo slideshow capabilities with an integrated utility based on the Cooliris™ technology for quick browsing of pictures stored on the connected USB drives.
Torrent download manager allows the iConnect device to manage peer-to-peer file transfers without the need of a dedicated PC.
Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) provides no touch, automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the four USB ports on the iConnect device.

Price And Availability :

The new Iomega® iConnect Wireless Data Station, on demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show , January 7-10, in Las Vegas, will available worldwide starting in February for $99.99. (Pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) The iConnect Wireless Data Station is backed by a three-year warranty (with product registration).

doubleTwist - New Ways to sync your mobile phone

2010-01-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

doubleTwist started because they were disappointed by the quality of software applications offered by the major device manufacturers. doubleTwist vision is simple: to create a unifying media platform that connects consumers with all their media and all their devices, regardless of whether they are online or offline.

doubleTwist aim to help end users by providing one single music management softwares to manage their portable devices replacing individual softwares like iTunes for Apple products, Nokia software for Nokia phones, Sony software for Sony products, etc. The typical household today has many such devices and there is a need for a simple and powerful software that connects them.

1 Universal.
Open to any device, content or network.
2 Playful.
Always work so you can play.
3 Friendly.
Believe using different devices, formats, or networks shouldn't ruin a good friendship.
4 Simple.
Does not sacrifice ease of use as it lets you do more.

Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Droid

2009-10-31T02:28:00.001-07:00

If hype were to be believed, the Motorola DROID is the pièce de résistance of the mobile world; the conclusive creation sent down by the Great Smartphone in the sky to rid us of our woes. It would prepare your breakfast promptly each morning, tuck you in at night, and, maybe -- just maybe -- knock the iPhone down a notch or two. Beginning about a week before its launch (largely due to Verizon's incredibly intense marketing campaign) I began getting calls and tweets from friends and colleagues asking about the Droid. They always had two questions: the first would be something like "What do you think of the Droid?", followed by "Would you recommend it over the iPhone?" Same questions, each.. and.. every.. time. I've been using the Droid as my primary phone for a few days now, and I think I'm finally ready to answer them.

Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Droid

Posted using ShareThis

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta is out .

2009-10-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

We love Ubuntu, best desktop linux operating system in the world.

Ubuntu Release Schedule:

Ubuntu releases work on a time-based release schedule. Ubuntu team release Ubuntu every six months. While that requires an almost superhuman effort, Ubuntu team have the advantage of a core team of full time Ubuntu contributors who do an excellent job of the base Ubuntu platform. Each Ubuntu release is supported for 18 months with security patches, fixes for critical bugs that could cause data loss, and extra translations.

You don't have to upgrade to the next release when it comes out, you can stay on your particular release for 18 months (skipping two other releases) and continue to get security fixes on a regular basis. After that, you will want to update your computer to one of the newer versions of Ubuntu in order to continue to receive security patches.

Ubuntu Version:

The version number comes from the year and month of the release, it really is that simple. Ubuntu team release two new versions in each year, one in April (04th Month of the year) and other in October (10th Month of the year).

The first release (Warty Warthog) was released in October 2004, release number 4.10.
The second release (Hoary Hedgehog) was released in April 2005, release number 5.04.
The third release (Breezy Badger) was released in October 2005, release number 5.10.
The fourth release (Dapper Drake) was released in June 2006, release number 6.06 LTS
The fifth release (Edgy Eft) was released in October 2006, release number 6.10.
The sixth release (Feisty Fawn) was released in April 2007, release number 7.04.
The seventh release (Gutsy Gibbon) was released in October 2007, release number 7.10.
The eighth release (Hardy Heron) was released in April 2008, release number 8.04 LTS.

The latest version that is planned to release this October is Ubuntu 9.10.

The Ubuntu team announced the beta release of Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop and Server

editions, and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix.  Codenamed "Karmic Koala", 9.10 continues

Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source

technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition improves on the work of 9.04 to get you going faster, with improved startup times and a streamlined boot experience.

Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition integrates Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud setup in the installer and provides improvements to system security with AppArmor, including an AppArmor profile for libvirtd to further isolate virtual machines from the host system.

The Ubuntu 9.10 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today.

New features since Ubuntu 9.04

These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find:

http://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

Upstart

As part of our boot performance work, Ubuntu team have now transitioned to Upstart.

Boot Experience

Ubuntu team has some work on improving the overall look and feel of booting the system.

Software Center

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta includes the Ubuntu Software Center, replacing 'Add/Remove' in the Applications menu.

GNOME

Ubuntu 9.10 includes the latest GNOME 2.28 desktop environment with a number of great new features:

Empathy has replaced Pidgin as the default instant messaging client, introducing the Telepathy framework.
The gdm 2.28 login manager is a complete rewrite compared to the version in earlier Ubuntu releases, permitting a more integrated login experience.

Application development with Quickly:

Quickly makes it easy for developers to make new applications for Ubuntu, and to share those application with other Ubuntu users via .deb packages or personal package archives.

Ubuntu 9.10 ships the Ubuntu One file sharing service by default, providing tightly-integrated file synchronization of your computer with other computers and the Ubuntu One network storage service.

Linux kernel 2.6.31

Ubuntu 9.10 includes the 2.6.31-11.36 kernel based on 2.6.31.1. The kernel ships with Kernel Mode Setting enabled for Intel graphics (see below). linux-restricted-modules is deprecated in favour of DKMS packages.

hal deprecation

Ubuntu 9.10's underlying technology for power management, laptop hotkeys, and handling of storage devices and cameras maps has moved from "hal" (which is in the process of being deprecated) to "DeviceKit-power", "DeviceKit-disks" and "udev".

New Intel video driver architecture available for testing

The Intel video driver has switched from the "EXA" acceleration method to the new "UXA", solving major performance problems of Ubuntu 9.04. Ubuntu 9.10 also features kernel mode setting by default on Intel hardware, which reduces boot-time flickering and dramatically speeds up suspend/resume.

ext4 by default

The new "ext4" filesystem is used by default for new installations with Ubuntu 9.10 ; of course, other filesystems are still available via the manual partitioner. Existing filesystems will not be upgraded.

If you have full backups and are confident, you can upgrade an existing ext3 filesystem to ext4 by following directions in the Ext4 Howto.

GRUB 2 by default

GRUB 2 is the default boot loader for new installations with Ubuntu 9.10 , replacing the previous GRUB "Legacy" boot loader. Existing systems will not be upgraded to GRUB 2 at this time, as automatically reinstalling the boot loader is an inherently risky operation.

If you wish to upgrade your system to GRUB 2, then see the GRUB 2 testing page for instructions. See also the upstream draft manual. Some features are still missing relative to GRUB Legacy. Notable among these are lock/password support, an equivalent of grub-reboot, and Xen handling.

iSCSI installation

The iSCSI installation process has been improved, and no longer requires iscsi=true as a boot parameter; the installer will offer you the option of logging into iSCSI targets if there are no local disks, or you can select "Configure iSCSI" in the manual partitioner. Putting the root filesystem on iSCSI is now supported.

AppArmor

AppArmor in Ubuntu 9.10 features an improved parser that uses cache files, greatly speeding up AppArmor initialisation on boot. AppArmor also now supports 'pux' which, when specified, means a process can transition to an existing profile if one exists or simply run unconfined if one does not.

New profiles

In addition to the above changes to AppArmor itself, several profiles were added. Enforcing profiles for ntpd, the GNOME document viewer (evince), and libvirt are enabled by default. Complain mode profiles for Dovecot are now available in the apparmor-profiles package. A new profile is provided for Firefox as well, though it is disabled by default. Users can enable AppArmor sandboxing of their browser by running:

$ sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.firefox-3.5

Please see the SecurityTeam/KnowledgeBase for a full listing of readily available profiles in Ubuntu.

Libvirt

Libvirt now contains AppArmor integration when using KVM or QEMU. Libvirtd is configured to launch virtual machines that are confined by uniquely restrictive AppArmor profiles. This feature significantly improves virtualisation in Ubuntu by providing user-space host protection as well as guest isolation.

Uncomplicated Firewall

The Uncomplicated Firewall now has support for filtering by interface and egress filtering when using the ufw command. Documentation for ufw is also improved to help users better utilise the ufw framework and take full advantage of Linux netfilter's power and flexibility. See UbuntuFirewall#Features for a full list of features.

Non-eXecutable Emulation

Non-eXecutable (NX) memory protection, also known as eXecute-Disable (XD), has always been available in Ubuntu for any systems that had the hardware to support it and ran the 64-bit kernel or the 32-bit server kernel. The 32-bit PAE desktop kernel (linux-image-generic-pae) now also provides the PAE mode needed for hardware with the NX CPU feature.

For systems that lack NX hardware, the 32-bit kernels now provide an approximation of the NX CPU feature via software emulation that can help block many exploits an attacker might run from stack or heap memory.

Blocking Module Loading

To block the loading of any further modules after boot (generally for servers with unchanging hardware), the /proc/sys/kernel/modules_disabled one-way sysctl flag now exists to add another layer of protections against attackers loading kernel rootkits.

Position-Independent Executables

Building on the work done in Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04 to proactively protect Ubuntu from unknown threats by using strict compiler flags, more applications have been built as Position-Independent Executables (PIE) to take advantage of the Address Space Layout Randomisation (ASLR) available in the Ubuntu kernel.

In addition to the growing program list, PIE programs are now also built with the BIND_NOW linker flag to take full advantage of the existing RELRO linker flag. This results in PIE programs having fewer places in their memory that can be controlled to redirect program flow when an attacker attempts memory-corruption exploits.

Marking Google 11th Anniversary

2009-09-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

I started thinking how much google has got into our lives, from where it has started and to where it has reached. No more google is a search company , today it gives formidable competition to desktop operating systems an alternative over the net.

I thought in this blog, I shall list down google applications I use and compare them to them to other products in the market. I have to admit I don't have exact statistics of respective applications usage over the web, but gave a shot at it.

The blue rows, indicate where google is leading and white colour rows indicate, where google is working hard to catch up.

2009-09-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

How to access your External Hard Drive - Wireless ?

Overview

Belkin’s Home Base allows anyone on your network to wirelessly share external hard drives, printers, or other devices—wherever and whenever.

Wireless Printing

Place your printer anywhere you want and share with everyone in the home

Wireless Sharing

Saved files, including photos, music, and videos, can easily be accessed from any computer in the house

Back Up

Keep your memories safe with automatic backups to your external hard drive

Note: *Router sold separately

Data-transfer rates do not support some high-speed/high-bandwidth USB devices such as HD-streaming webcams or other video-transfer applications.

What to know about High Definition HDTV

2009-09-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

High-Definition Television (or HDTV) is a digital television broadcasting system with higher resolution than traditional television systems (standard-definition TV, or SDTV). HDTV is digitally broadcast; the earliest implementations used analog broadcasting, but today digital television (DTV) signals are used, requiring less bandwidth due to digital video compression.

Advantages of HDTV:

High-definition television (HDTV) yields a better-quality image than standard television does, because it has a greater number of lines of resolution. The visual information is some 2-5 times sharper because the gaps between the scan lines are narrower or invisible to the naked eye. The larger the size of the television the HD picture is viewed on, the greater the improvement in picture quality. On smaller televisions there may be no noticeable improvement in picture quality.

HDTV Jargons - marketing strategy - Full HD, HD Ready , 720p, 1080i bla bla...????

Ok, The lower-case "i" appended to the numbers denotes interlaced; the lower-case "p" denotes progressive. With the interlaced scanning method, the 1,080 lines of resolution are divided into pairs. The first 540 alternate lines are painted on a frame and then the second 540 lines are painted on a second frame. The progressive scanning method simultaneously displays all 1,080 lines on every frame, requiring a greater bandwidth. - so for one frame to display in interlaced, it requires two clock cycles , whereas , for progressive it requires only one clock cycle .

The signal formats are specified in the following form: [frame size][scanning system][frame rate]. Often, one parameter can be dropped if its value is implied from context. In this case the remaining numeric parameter is specified first, followed by the scanning system.

For example, 1920x1080p25 identifies progressive scanning format with 25 frames per second, each frame being 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high. The 1080i25 or 1080i50 notation identifies interlaced scanning format with 50 fields(25 frames) per second, each frame being 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high. The 1080i30 or 1080i60 notation identifies interlaced scanning format with 60 fields (30 frames) per second, each frame being 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high. The 720p60 notation identifies progressive scanning format with 60 frames per second, each frame being 720 pixels high; 1280 pixels horizontally are implied.

If you want more info.. let me know I shall post on my blog site.

Top Six Firefox Plugins you should have

2009-09-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

Feedly

Feedly is a full feature RSS reader exposed through fast/interactive magazine-like interface

* import your favorite RSS feeds and sources from Google Reader, Bloglines, Netvibes or your bookmarks

* collect and organize RSS feeds into tabs/categories

* configure multiple views: title only, title and summary, image grid, video grid, entire content

* filter the most relevant/popular content

* share articles on twitter, friendfeed, tumblr, delicious and facebook

* syncs with Google Reader

* syncs across multiple computers

* search for specific keywords within your favorite sources, twitter and friendfeed

* offers an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts and rich integration with Mozilla Ubiquity

1-minute introduction video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyYghUPI6r8

Feedly:Image Gallery

All in One Sidebar

Click on the left edge of your browser window to open the sidebar and get easy access to all your panels.

You can set the orientation to left or right, set the minimum, default and maximum width and the behavior on browser startup. Furthermore AiOS provides enhancements for many built-in features.

AiOS includes a slide-out button and a toolbar, all of which can be extensively customized.

Enjoy a clear browser window, more toolbar space and much more...

AIOS: Image Gallery

DownThemAll is all you can desire from a download manager: it features an advanced accelerator that increases speed up to 400% and it allows you to pause and resume downloads at any time.

DownThemAll is fast, reliable and easy-to-use! It lets you download all the links or images contained in a webpage and much more: you can refine your downloads by fully customizable criteria to get only what you really want!

DownThemAll is absolutely freeware and open-source. No Adware, no Spyware.

For more information : http://www.downthemall.net/howto/features/

Download them All:Image Gallery

WebMail Notifier checks your webmail accounts and notifies the number of unread emails.
You can use multiple accounts in a same host.

Currently supports most popular webmail accounts such as
- mail.google.com(Gmail & Google Apps)
- mail.yahoo.com (yahoo.com, ymail.com, rocketmail.com)
- mail.live.com(hotmail.com, msn.com, live.com)

Below sites are some of the sites supported by user script.
- aol.com(icqmail.com)
- mail.qq.com
- mail.lycos.com
- www.orkut.com

WOT, Web of Trust,

Warns you about risky websites that try to scam visitors, deliver malware or send spam. Protect your computer against online threats by using WOT as your front-line layer of protection when browsing or searching in unfamiliar territory. WOT's color-coded icons show you ratings for 21 million websites - green to go, yellow for caution and red to stop – helping you avoid the dangerous sites.

Image Gallery

Flashgot: Download all the links, movies and audio clips of a page at the maximum speed with a single click, using the most popular, lightweight and reliable external download managers.

Download one link, selected links or all the links of a page together at the maximum speed with a single click, using the most popular, lightweight and reliable external download managers. The new "FlashGot Media" command grabs video and audio clips while they're playing, too. Supported download tools are dozens, see http://flashgot.net for details.

Image Gallery

How to choose a Laptop

2009-08-31T10:27:00.000-07:00

When I was in search of buying a laptop, I was looking for the following.

1. CPU Speed.

2. L2 cache

3 Memory - RAM

4. Networking - Gigabit wired, N+ wifi and bluetooth

5. Graphics Card

6. Good LCD screen - give less strain to your eyes

7. Good Sound quality

8. Battery Life

9. Good Operating System and Upgrade features

10. Excellent build quality.

CPU : I categorized the CPU into three ; low end - mid range - high end. I was looking for mid range. In my opinion low end CPU are those T6400 in the range 2 GHz to 2.26 GHz, Mid range CPU are those penryn processor 2.26 to 2.5 GHz, High end CPU are those starting from 2.5 to 2.9 GHz

Low end are quite good for day to day web browsing, using productivity apps such as Office applications but fall short if you want to use if for games , software development or want to run multiple operating systems using VM Ware or Parallels.

I choose 2.53 GHz processor , which fall under the High end of mid range or low end of high end processor with good L2 cache that could add 5 to 15 % performance improvement - now a days you would get by default 2 MB L2 cache and I have gone for 6 MB L2 cache - too greedy to get that 5 to 15% performance boost. Please note the more high end processor you choose, you would have to compromise battery life and heat related problems. And in my view , we should call laptops with more than 2.53 Ghz processors as notebooks and not laptops - until unless you have heat resistant thighs.

RAM , you would be better off to choose a laptop with minimum 2 GB but would recommend to go for 4 GB for the simple reason, when you want to upgrade to 4 GB , you would have to throw the 2 GB RAM - as they come with 2 x 1 GB configuration. Having additional RAM is very useful if you have low end CPU or mid range cpu and you want to run mulitiple operating system.

Networking: Speed Speed Speed. The most boring part for most of us to wait; You wait for a minute you feel like you have been waiting for 60 minutes - ah 60 seconds makes us feel like 60 minutes. So the basic theory we hate waiting - your internet experience looks so boring when you have wait for a page to load or stream a video , download a file - don't want to see the egg timer -ohk now a days it the wheel that rotates.

So, very simple no compromise on netwoking go for gigabit ethernet, ofcourse most the laptops come with gigabit ethernet but watch out the wifi , which is very common in day to day usage. So , my choice was very go for 802.11 n network. I tried to depict 802.11 b/g and 802.11 n in this figure.

Graphics Card: You have two options, either go for integrated graphics card such Intel 4500 Series , Nvidia 9400 M or dedicated graphics card such as NVIDIA 9600 GT and ATI 4000 Series graphics cards. Most of the applications run quite comfortably with integrated graphics card, only when you want play games, do heavy editing of videos / pictures do you require a dedicated graphics cards - Apple has come with a solution of both worlds, where you can use integrated graphics card for all you regular processing and switch on the dedicated graphics card to play games or used video editing tools. I decided to go for dedicated graphics card, as it gives me a flexibility of changing mind. Unlike desktops, where you could easily add a better graphic card, laptops it is that easy to add hardware without real expertise.

LCD Screen : Though we tend to ignore the LCD screen pixel quality , a lot of difference it makes when you spend a lot of time on Laptop. I always feel you screen display pictures crisp and clear. I spent quite a bit of time on high street shops comparing various Laptop LCD screens and felt only two companies offer real good quality LCD screens Sony , Apple. And most other to keep the price under budget tend to compromise screen quality and I felt even Sony has compromised it LCD screen quality for some it low end models.

Operating System: I tried all three flavors Windows , Mac and Linux. Windows XP was superb, it was slim fast does what it says. Then Mac came along and showed how pleasing your computing experience could be, all of sudden, my XP started to look outdated. So I installed Vista (dual boot) and was initially impressed the look and feel , aero affects etc.but the system was very slow with my 1.86 Ghz Processor with 2 GB RAM. I was so tempted to buy Mac but the cost put me off. So, started using Linux(Ubuntu best desktop linux operating system in the market). Linux was super fast, with little bit of work you could get all the effects of Mac but there are bits like my Laptop using get hot while playing flash videos. So, here is my conclusion.

Ironically Windows are called as PC - but they are best for using business applications. Mac are the best personal computer available in the market with their iPhoto, iTunes, Garage band, iChat, iCal, iMovie etc. Ofcourse you can run Windows either dual boot (with apple bootcamp, with all drivers provided by Apple) or using parallels to run Windows and Mac simultaneously.

So, my conclusion: If you are already struck( and not planning to buy a new laptop/desktop in the near future) with Windows Desktop or Laptop and want a run your old hardware on steroids , dual boot with Ubuntu. This equation would probably change with Windows 7 - until unless Ubuntu 9.10 release comes up with some cool features.

But if you are really looking to buy a new Laptop / Desktop and you have some cash to spend- Macbook pro or IMAC is the best choice.

Best USB Hub

2009-08-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

There are several USB hubs available in the market but before that let me tell you why

I was searching a USB hub.

I have the below usb devices, which I use pretty often:

1) Western Digital 160 GB external hard disk - I carry this to office.

2) Western Digital 750 GB external hard disk - This is my main back up and storage device.

3) Sandisk 16 GB pen drive -use it as a source for digital photo frame and some time when I want to copy files easily.

4) Ipod 30 GB - Contains my entire music collection.

5) Sony NW - 2 GB mp3 player

6) USB receiver for for Logitec 710 USB mouse and keyboard.

But my macbook pro has only two USB ports, so I decided to buy a USB hub , which can accommodate all the above devices.

I was looking for a 6 or more USB ports. The one that really attracted me in design and value in terms of cost was the only company I felt was giving good quality design in USB hub space , with durable quality material and innovative designs was Belkin -so I bought a 7 port USB port and recommend to whoso ever are looking for USB hub. All other do have 4 USB port or 6 USB port but the quality was not on par with Belkin USB hub.

External Hardrive

2009-08-30T01:36:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for a laptop for personal use. First it was Sony, I liked their design, material quality and durability. Dell / HP are less expensive, compared to Sony, but when it comes to top notch quality it was Sony. My very first laptop I bought was Sony FE31Z, it was very expensive for me at that time but I did a little research and felt SONY vaio were the best. At the time of buying , I convinced myself that I am going to use to the laptop for 5 years, I didn't realize at that time that I wouldn't able to keep in control of my material needs and I would be looking for a new laptop within 3 years.

The laptop came with XP media center 2005 and it was very good for me for one year, I loved every moment I spent with my laptop and then I started getting bored with XP, Vista was released and very one said it was crap. When I bought sony, it was sold with the label vista capable. So, I installed Vista on my laptop - dual boot. I didn't have the problem of drivers as Sony provided all the drivers for Vista. I liked the look and feel of Vista but it was very slow my core 2 duo processor - 1.83 GHZ with 2 GB of RAM.

Then I started looking for operating System that has good look and feel and very fast. Due to IPOD popularity I started looking at Apple products, when I first saw demo of Leopard, I felt this was it I should buy Apple Macbook but it was too expensive. So, I started looking for cheaper options, so I bought leopard cd and tried to install Leopard on my sony laptop but I realised that I was at the risk of losing all data. So for a month I started working on my back up option.

Backup Solution:

After doing little Research, the cheapest option available was buying a external hard drive and I short listed two companies - Seagate and Western Digital. Then I settled down for Western Digital , it was giving 3 Years warranty, very good customer support, was cheap compared to Seagate. I bought two external hard drives, one 2.5 inch - USB powered hard disk and 750 GB western digital , which I use to store all my movies , photos etc. I used 750 GB as the main back up solution but maintained two copies of important files on Western Digital passport and WD 750 GB hard disk.

Now that I have a back up solution, my experiments with Operating system started.

Network Backup : Most of the house have more than one computing device - Laptop or Desktop. And it would be so easy to have single backup device that could be eased by all the members in the house.
Advantages:
                 1. You can store all you family photos, music, movies in the shared location, which could be accessed by all your family members at the same time.
                2. You can partition your hard drive and use one partition for backup of your Laptop / Desktop.
                                                     Pitfalls/ cons: 1. If your external hard drive crashes, there is a possibility of losing entire data.
2. The cost of having a network hard drive could be qutie costly.

Options: Apple Time capusule or Belkin Network USB Hub. The below are some of the alternatives to network storage.

Even if you don't have an external hard drive or other peripherals you want your computers to access, the Belkin USB Hub is one of the best ways you can share a printer on your network. Set-up takes less than three minutes with the included CD. Simply insert the set-up disk, and in five easy steps you'll be ready to go. If you have the Windows firewall activated on your PC, the Hub will automatically detect it and ask you if you wish to allow it to work from behind the firewall. (Users of other firewalls must manually add the device driver to their list of allowed programs.)
While the Belkin USB Hub works best with the Belkin N1 Wireless Router (a router is not included with the Hub), it will work seamlessly with any existing wireless router. The distance and quality of the connection of your computers to your USB devices will depend on the quality of your router and your Internet connection. And aside from having a wireless network and USB devices you want to connect to, the only requirement is that your computers are running Window XP or Vista. and doesn't work with Mac.

(Courtesy: Apple Inc) Time Machine detects Time Capsule on the network. Setting it as your backup drive is a matter of a few clicks.

Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and then click Time Machine.
Slide the switch to ON.
Choose your Time Capsule and click “Use for Backup” .
Give your Mac several hours or overnight to complete the initial backup Creating a wireless network.

Connect your ADSL or cable modem to the Ethernet WAN port on your Time Capsule.
Open AirPort Utility, select Time Capsule and click Continue.
Follow the on-screen instructions to create your new network.

Kollibs Kollum

Windows 7 Phone Series

Stillness is a powerful action

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment by Leo Babauta

I really like this article, thought would share with you guys and more importantly I want to keep a copy for myself.

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Top 3 pocket camcoders

iPAD review David Carr, Michael Arrington and Walter Mossberg

Top 10 Must Have Gadgets

Android Multitouch Update

iPAD Top 5 Missing Features

Top 5 Missing Features in iPAD:

Will I buy iPAD , no not yet, I shall wait until the below missing features are added to iPAD- may be 2011.

1. Lack of Camera: Lack of camera seems disappointing especially since the device is said to be between an iPhone and Macbook. And in today's smart phones presence of camera seems almost default - a built in isight camera would have allowed users to video conferencing.

2. Missing Flash support : Flash support is surely to be missed. As surfing the Web without Flash is not same. The `big, empty video boxes in the middle of a page' that will appear are sure to disappoint. User won't be able to watch ESPN or Hulu.

4. Aspect Ratio : Analysts feel that a 4:3 aspect ratio may be just perfect for using iPhone apps in full screen mode. However, a similar aspect ratio may not be as good for media. Especially since the digital world is rapidly moving to widescreen formats.

There are still some missing features such as users wouldn't be to browse file system, giving no option as store files locally on iPAD (I am guessing that file explorer feature would be supported by 3rd party apps).

Apple iPAD features:

Safari - Browse Internet but no flash support

Mail - Doesn't work with Microsoft Exchange Server?

Photos - Cannot upload to Picasa

Video

YouTube

iPod - 64 GB not sufficient

iTunes

App Store

Maps

Calendar

Contacts and Notes

The Contacts app on iPad makes finding names, numbers and other important information quicker and easier than ever before. A new view lets you see both your complete contact list and a single contact, simultaneously. Need directions? Just tap on an address inside a contact and it’ll open Maps

Spotlight Search

Mossberg Dig Jobs

Apple new creation IPAD

APPLE IPAD aka ISLATE TABLET AD ?!

Update 1: NAS Solutions

Benefits and Features of the new iConnect Wireless Data Station

doubleTwist - New Ways to sync your mobile phone

Top 5 NAS solution for Home use

Smartphone Showdown: iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Droid

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta is out .

New features since Ubuntu 9.04

Upstart

Boot Experience

Software Center

GNOME

Application development with Quickly:

Ubuntu One file sharing

Linux kernel 2.6.31

hal deprecation

New Intel video driver architecture available for testing

ext4 by default

GRUB 2 by default

iSCSI installation

AppArmor

New profiles

Libvirt

Uncomplicated Firewall

Non-eXecutable Emulation

Blocking Module Loading

Position-Independent Executables

Marking Google 11th Anniversary

Overview

What to know about High Definition HDTV

Top Six Firefox Plugins you should have

Feedly:Image Gallery

AIOS: Image Gallery

Download them All:Image Gallery

WOT, Web of Trust,

Image Gallery

Image Gallery

How to choose a Laptop

Best USB Hub

External Hardrive