open-source construction

security_class_101 Day_2

2012-06-22T09:36:00.001-07:00

security 101:

Day 2:

LastPass

LastPass is my cloud based Password data-base management application. I personally use KeePassX for local, and LastPass for my Internet passwords alone. I like different features in either app better. The major advantages to LastPass are the full range of Browser compatibility(IE,Opera, chrome/chromium, safari). The browsers it does not play well with are:Maxthon, Avant, and a bunch of the Linux web-browsers(epiphany{gnome}midori), while a bunch of Linux browsers are based on the source code of firefox.

I will say that I am reviewing this from a free user perspective. If anyone wants to see a review of the pro, and how yubiKey works with LastPass. Although Hak5 has done a bunch of episodes on using yubiKey's, and LastPass.

LastPass advantages:

~ compliant w/ all of the major operating systems:Linux/mac/windows/BSD(sadly no haiku)

~ has a two factor authentication w/ cards, to perform two factor auth. with the free version.

~ has a security check for checking the strength of your passwords.
(there were three fast screens that flew by encrypting passwords, sending passwords, calculating password strength...)

~share the results to brag to your friend's or like in my case be disappoint by a mere 86%...:~{

~ Imports from almost any format, but doesn't export into many formats.

Import

VS.


export

~ Secure notes for keeping "secret" Lists.
(you can also copy/paste anything in one of thise lists you want.)

~ one click filling of form-data
(although I use AutoKey 2 automate strokes portably from inside a encrypted volume)

~Generate secure Passwords...

The LastPass Password generator, to give you an unlimited amount of random passwords.

~ It is my opinion that LastPass strength's lay in Cross-platform/browser, security check you can share with your friend's, a strong encryption focus. You can also use your Last Pass from the local Encrypted Vault. The Vault does work off-Line from your web-browser, but will alert you to off-Line being used. So even if Last Pass is doing maintenance, your still golden. I use my KeePassX local Linux password data-base, to fill in the Master-Password for my LastPass every time I log into most any of my browsers(I like Maxthon/Avant, Midori, and Epiphany as well...:/).

Although I think the main advantage from using any kind of password dataBase, is going to be the ease of use it is for (possibly-incompentent non-tech. users)to enter propperly strong passwords, and to easily change them if they find out their NT was attacked.

security Class101:Day 1 KeePassX && Linux

2012-06-19T17:56:00.001-07:00

Using KeePassX 2 increase your security in Linux

I have been using KeePassX for my passWord data-base manager, for over a year now. That not only means that my pass-words are as long and complicated as possible, and all completely unique. Although I sometimes use web-services like twitter, google, my launchpad Oauth link, or facebook to login to my passwords. I have been switching one of these per week, which makes cracking my passwords, highly unlikely.

I like to make notes during the creation of an account, any information I found out about what types of passwords the data-base supports. I really wish there were simple tags on web-sites when creating passwords so I can know the most complicated I can make the passwords. Which I have found in the past, but it is generally rare.

You can easily install KeePassX on any GNU/Debian/Ubuntu(Linux) by running the command:

$ sudo apt-get install keepassx

<enter>

<PW>

<enter>
(install keepass2 for more M$ compatibility)

I do want to make clear that KeePassX is compatible w/ LastPass, but not many windows/mac based password managers. Since I use only Linux keePassX is perfect for my situation.

I usually keep keePassX on my toolbar dock. In Unity or Gnome-shell just open the application(app), then just right click and select "lock to panel" or similar command in "G-S".

So you may ask why I use keePassX and LastPass. I say that I like having my web-passwords mainly kept in LastPass, while I like the extra options for generating passwords, and there are other passwords that I only keep in my KeePassX data-base. Some of these passwords are: SSHkeys, IceCast Server, LastPass Master-Password(My LastPass Never remembers my Password, so I have 2 copy it in each time), and my public-pvt. OpenGPG keys.

Power-user top:

Ctrl + P generate semi-random password.

You can also check/uncheck options like:

allows you to do custom characters, exclude look-alike characters, make sure the passwords contain char. from different groups.


you compare and tell me.

Also if you do like me and generate passwords from KeePassX, then all it takes is clicking that "save site" in the box that drops down from LastPass in your browser. From that point onwards you can just click "auto-fill to fill in your pass-words. Then just click the regular "log-in" button to get logged in.

the lock screen. You must unlock, before your next copy/paste. I set my desktop to be very lenient; while my net-book keePassX locks and deletes the paste buffer.

you could also use a stupid-complicated password in a text file, called a keyFile.

What I highly recommend in getting started w/ a secure pass-word data-base is to make a list of your most often used/needed passwords: Here would be my list:

~Amazon/Ebay/pay-pal
~Google/twitter/Facebook/OpenAuth(my OpenID Link 2 my LaunchpadID)
~del.ic.ious/digg/reddit/stumbleupon/P2PU/identi.ca/linkedIn
~facebook/mySpace/couchSurfing/
~tumblR/wordPress/ping.fm/seismec/everNote(on-line notebook)/diigo(highlighting)
~mint-forums
~liveMocha/typingWeb/lumosity
~digsby/trillian/aol/icq/yahoo!
~last.fm/pandora

That is a lot, but I share a lot of articles on the Net. Most people will probably only need a dozen or so passwords to be satisfied, especially w/ most web apps having facebook, twitter, google, && OpenID link. Along w/ a few like E-bay, Amazon, and Pay-pal. Although I would suggest getting a second factor authentication token for your on-line banking either from your $ site(paypal for example), or get a yubi-key for $20 tied to your LastPass.

read fields for tips. repeat is red, because it does not match the first PW field.

Evil CSS vs. Open CSS and why M$ is doomed to fail...

2012-06-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Evil CSS vs. Open CSS and why M$ is doomed to fail...

#written by:Kevin James Lausen for Http://open-source—construction.blogspot.com

#I only had time to write the article, but not the tags, sharing, and so on b4 leaving for work this #morning.

#feel free to use any/all of this article it will be up on my blog by night-fall...

My first step is going to have to be to define Evil CSS, as well as it's saintly brother Open CSS. Evil CSS I(personally) define as “corporation supported software”, as well as “community supported software”. I came up with the idea of “community supported software” after attempting and failing to teach people what FLOSS(Free/Libre Open-source software). On the flip side of the coin, I have found that when I tell them Linux is a “community supported software” platform the concept seems to stick.

Ways to get support in Open Vs. Evil CSS:

Evil:

~buy a book or magazine about the Window$ or Adobe software you need help with.

~There are usually more You-tube videos for closed source projects because they are @ the moment more popular.

~Call the sometimes toll-free number on the back of the products package.

~There are User groups, and Blogs dedicated to any kind of software.

Open:

~Blogs(Muktware, Open-source—construction, OMGubuntu, webUpd8)

~Podcasts(audio and video)(Linux action show{jupiter-broadcasting-Bryan Lunduke && Chris Fisher}, FLOSS weekly{twit.tv}, Osalt{nixie-pixel rev3})

~User Groups(UseNet does still exhist)

~E-mail lists.(open to the public unlike many Evil CSS mailing lists are internal only)

~Personal developer web-site(Lunduke.com/opentablets.org/

~community forums(Linux forums

~IRC(Internet-Relay Chat) The original free Internet chat, where you can chat directly w/ your software's developers.

~Man(manual) pages. Now also on-line, and built into your Linux distribution. (where the old-school hacker term RTFM—read the freaking manual came from)

~Word of mouth. Generally your super geeky friend's are using Linux, and are willing to share their knowledge and time with you to further “Open CSS”.

Besides the many more ways to get support from a passionate community of users, there are many other reasons I think OpenCSS Linux, is going to trounce EvilCSS. The number one I believe is that Linux is going to be the go to gaming platform of the next century. This is mainly to do with a native steam client able to run the core steam games(portal, half-life, counter-strike...etc), as well as a great show of interest from Ubisoft, and EA games for Ubuntu(Linux). The Humble-indie-bundle has consistently proven that Linux users have extra $ to pay for great games. We have extra money because we don't pay the extortion rates of Micro$oft, Apple, or Adobe.

The other main reason I believe that Micro$oft is going to fail is the cost of Upgrade. Windows 8 is going to be 64-bit ONLY. That means that you are going to need a minimum of 4gb of RAM, with a preferred amount of 8gb or more. One of the major problems with 64-bit on windows, is that Mal-ware scans are going to take days, instead of hours; because 64-bit files are generally much larger. So that makes running a 64-bit Window$ system on a HDD impractical. That means you will need to upgrade @ least your Operating System partition on an SSD(Solid State Drive). So in order to upgrade my desktop computer to Windows 8 I would have to buy an SSD($150+),memory($80+), on top of the minimum hundred dollars to Lease(License) your software. The main draw-back is that you never truly Own all of the software on your computer.

I also want to briefly mention that there are entire countries(Russia, China, and Germany), that are either moving away from Microsoft's vendor lock-in; or have even written Laws to out-law Microsoft software. I would also like to mention that Microsoft software is not allowed in Google, although Apple is because it has roots in Unix. Unix is the grand-Father Operating system, before all of the modern pretty graphics started showing up.

I don't really know if the terms I enjoy using to explain free software will become popular, or enrage the FLOSS community; but I have found them to be the best way to teach the foundational concepts of Free software to Microsoft or Apple prone users.

Humble indie bundle...only one week left.

2012-06-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

Humble-Indie bundle...only one week left...

I want none of our readers no matter what platform they use to lose out on this incredible Bundle.

I will talk briefly about what games I am most looking FWD 2, my thought's on the USC(Ubuntu-software-Ctr.) installations, && a little bit of controversy surrounding one of the games and where I stand personally on that issue. Especially as a recent purchaser of the Humble Bundle-V.I definitely wanted to play all of these games before I publish this review; so I can talk about it in the post this time around.

While I could have said forget writing another Blog post about the humble-bundle, I decided it's my duty as a geek to write about games I enjoy on a free-software platform. I will also speak about some of the possible far-reaching consequences of the Humble-bundle to the Linux/BSD communities.

I would also really like to see the humble bundle folks to make widgets that Bloggers such as us can embed within their web-pages. That we we could get spontaneous && hopefully close to instantaneous facts, and figures about who is giving more, how many bundles have been sold, how many days left...etc..

When this will be posted there will be about 9 days left with well over 3 Million dollars for great charities like the FSF(free software foundation), and child's play charity. Linux has consistently won in donations where the Users have the choice to pay as much or little as they so choose. I believe that this is the case for two reasons: one>Linux folks don't have to pay outrageous fees for their hardware/software, so they have extra cash for games, and B>we're sick of getting looked over by companies making AAA titles.

I had mixed results with the ubuntu software center. So please do yourself a favour and only pay for one game @ a time, although I am sure they will work all of that out in time. Also please note that in my opinion the more private(paid software private repositories)that you have on a system, the Longer your update command will work. I often stop just the private * PPAs so that my updates go faster. Although this could just be my horrible Internet connection once again.

Although all that will change once Linux gets steam, and the source engine for Linux natively. I think this could start the famous Bell curve for Linux. two things that could accelerate this trend even more is if Linux gets seen as enough market share to make adobe fully supported on *NIX systems, or if NetFlix(a co. w/ Linux behind the scenes to run the streaming)were to drop Silverlight making Netflix instantly compatible with most computer platforms. While that is a best case scenario, it does fall within the realm of plausible within the next five years. Especially with the vavaldi/Ubuntu open-source tablets in the near future. Also Ubuntu will look mighty attractive to NetFlix once they start shipping to people's home with an OpenOS.

Who knows one day there might be a fair and balanced market between "community-supported software", and "corporation developed software". In the more short term I am drooling over the games I have recently downloaded. Although that is subjective, because these are pretty large games compared to previous bundles. Psychonauts is 4.4GB with really intensive gfx. There are really only two games that will work on my netbook more than likely:Limbo, and superbrothers sword and sorcery. All of the other games should play fine on my desktop as soon as I get them. I hope that will be soon. I managed to get superbrothers:sword & sorcery and Limbo, and Bastion installed on the desktop.

To install Bastion from the .sh file just type this command into the terminal while located within the download directory:

$ sudo bash ./Bastion-HIB-2012-06-01-1.sh <enter> <password>

follow the on-screen prompts...it works fine to keep the defaults, and check register the software upon installation.

I recommend either Vuze, or deluge bit-torrent clients within Linux. This way you help take some of the server costs upon yourselves as part of the community. Torrenting legally has a purpose like to share your favorite Internet show...say...the LinuxActionShow(LAS). I am also torrenting all of the soundtracks, once again seeding until the close of the humbleBundleV.

There was a little bit of controversy surrounding the game Limbo. Basically the developers worked with the codeWeavers project(paid support--customization of wine) to wrap the neat little game inside of a wine wrapper. Although to be fair it is distributed as a 32 or 64bit .deb/.rpm files for end of distribution. Also if the installer for bastion just compiles a temporary .deb package on Ubuntu

I played the first story...do deaths round on Bastion, and I know I could get hooked way too easily. It ran great on my Desktop HP Ubuntu 12.04LTS. I did manage to get my dart gun, shield, and hammer. :D

In Sword brothers:sword & sorcery didn't really hold my attention, which is weird b/c usually I luv pix-elated old-school styled games. In the games story it explained that the entire game takes 35-45mt.

In Limbo I was able to make the little shadow boy, jump over a moat and that was that. I will probably end up watching some you-tube videos on how to kick butt in Limbo. The launching, smooth audio/video, and a clean shut-down, along with no lag between menus. All thanks to the Code-Weavers project. Although I don't really mind a well working whine wrapped in a .deb Debian package, but I did sign the partition to try to keep as much of the games as native as possible in Linux. I also think source-tarbell, .rpm, and .deb should be the only really needed packages should keep 95%. These are all my opinions.

I played Amnesia, for just a few minutes. I didn't need to play it very long to be blown away, and to feel my future free time slipping away...

I was slightly limited by space available in my different distrobutions on my desktop PC. the only distro w/ enough space was my KDEmint. Although the installer finished unlike Ubuntu, I was unable to successfully launch the game. I don't mind it being so huge, because the cut-scenes looked really entertaining.

UPDATE:

The humble-bundle foldks have added three more games to the humble-bundleV:Super-meat boy, Braid, and Lone Survivor. Superr-meat boy and braid are already available in the ubuntu software-center(I also wrote about them in my post about the humble-bundle4. Braid was a downloaded from the x-box360 game for a while, and Braid has consistently topped the charts of the most bought Ubuntu game. Lone-survivor looks to be a retro 16-bit styled, post-apocalyptic survivor hallucination story.

bryan Lunduke w/ radicalbreeze.com && theLAS going open-source...

2012-06-04T09:57:00.001-07:00

Bryan's self-portrait.

Bryan Lunduke w/ radicalbreeze.com && theLAS going open-source...

Let me first say that I have been a Huge fan of the Linux action sow since Ubuntu 10.10...;D I appreciate most every week Bryan's intelligence, common sense, and zany style when it comes to his passion for Linux, gaming, comic books, goats, and the freedom dimension.

Bryan is a Hard working is using his computer skills to support his wife and daughter. He also hosts for free the House of LundukeBBS telnet server, for nostalgic geeks who remember the Internet before interactive pictures, audio/txt/video of the web.

I would also add that Bryan's BBS is running the server(netbook) that runs on his desk out of his own nostalgic goodness(out of his own pocket).

2299:The game Official trailer.

Last Monday(when I should have been writing this Blog post)Bryan made a pitch 2 get two thousand people to do recurring 2 dollar support monthly contributions. That would equal out 2 $4k/mo & $48K/yr.; not including donations and regular sales.That would mean a slight pay-cut, but possibly more reliability in the long run. We were half way On Saturday.

I just got done watching the "Linux Acton Show" where Bryan spoke of Open-sourcing every piece of software/game under the GPL(GNU{GNU is not Unix} Public License). He also spoke of releasing the statistics win or fail. That excites me to see new Free Software(RMS approved...;D)open-source software, and games.

I was probably the last guy to buy the the "help a guy out" sale after Bryan was getting jerker around by a famous fruit company. So I got the first two issues Bryan's comic book "Rod sign hank" I am hoping if he goes GPL, he will be able to crowd-source some help to his projects; and have more time to work on "road-sign hank". Although Bryan also puts out a daily web comic for free. The software he uses that he wrote himself, is still only 5$(although I suspect not much Longer). If you like the comic book the game is only 5 dollars, much like Linux tycoon, or 2299 the game.

I wish I could give even 2 dollars a month, but unfortunately after this month, I am job searching again. I have been gathering signatures for future legislation in MA, but there is not much time left of that. I heartily promote free/low cost entertainment/software/gaming. I am going to buy the humble indie bundle today, along with Linux tycoon, and the comic creator. I also remember back to just one year ago when Bryan's Illumination was one of the first 6 apps available to pay for from the Ubuntu S0oftware center, along with Fluendo codec/DVD players and Vendetta.

BLABA:video game creator

Radical Comic Designer

Click here 4 the already open-source:LundukeSDK wiki

Click here 4 the Lunduke.com forums:http://lunduke.com/forum/

Here is the Blog post announcing the drive to GPL Brian's software:Please Donate!

All of these images have been linked in from Lunduke.com.

Noob Ubuntu install party...

2012-06-03T07:40:00.000-07:00


the now endangered pangolin...

Noob Ubuntu Install party.....

I might be exaggerating a bit when I say noob. She's been using Ubuntu since @ least Karmic Koala. She just had a different friend install it for her. By install it I mean install it badly...

There were actually three separate SWAP partitions. SWAP is what caches the applications, along with the Main system memory. I had to use the built in "disc tools" && "Gparted" to delete & set new partition boundaries, and the Ubuntu installer 2 set format/mount points:35(GB) /(root/base of the file system)/(100gb /home). I like keeping the system files(that keep the Operating system operating), separate from the user files/settings. That way even if the noob user fills their hard drive w/ different Linux distributions they want to try the operating system will keep well...Operating.


official logo

Although she is new to the Unity interface. She has never really taken to multiple workspaces, until 12.04 Precise Pangolin. I also showed it off to her friend who is always asking me about why her window$ computer does crazy things. I haven't Used windows in almost 6 months...:/

I always make sure that codec/dvd support are configured, along w/ all updates. I also did the fastest server test. I set the updates to security(auto update/install), regular updates weekly, and kept it LTS(Long-term support 4 the next 5 years version updates only selected. I installed very few apps:Google chrome/talk-plugin, FBreader(e-book, pdf, epub...etc reader), synaptic(mainly so she can search wallpapers & get former Ubuntu/Gnome/KDE wallpapers. The initial backup of the /home folder(w/ the downloads folder included) to her external hdd. Before the backup, we backed up a dying Ipod and verified that her Ipod-touch works perfectly.

baby pangolin...their @ least cut when their Little.

All in all the whole operation was about 3 1/2 hours long give/take. It would have been much faster w/ My readt to go USB thumb drive. On older laptops it is common for the BIOS to have options for USB HDD, USB CDrom, USB super disk, but none of those options work. As was the case yesterday when my usb flash drive, and external DVD burner refused to boot the OS. I ended up installing from the HP from the internal combo drive.

Overall this was one of the smoothest installations I have done in a long time.

Thank you Bryan Lunduke from Radialbreeze

2012-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank Bryan Lunduke independent software/comic-book creator and co-host of the Linux Action show.

He has been getting jerked around by the world's largest fruit co.

Don't believe me go check it out for yourself...
savemyhousefromapple.com/

Although some accuse him of "being negative in the freedom dimension", he open-sourced his Lunduke_SDKsoftware development kit, Lunduke_compiler, Lunduke_forums, Lunduke_Language; which form the basis for an application building software called the "illumination software creator". Which is basically software that writes for software. It is an easy way to turn a diagram of what you want your software to do, into an actual app that will work on almost any platform available. Also you can run the program from Linux, as source, Ubuntu-Linux, RPM redhat/fedora/SUSE, windows, and even osx. Even though they are determined not to pay him for his time. I finally got a copy for myself. My roommate has it on her computer, when a name your own price sale was going; so I have already looked at some of the tutorials. Also illumination is now, and possibly forever on a "pay what you feel it is worth($5-100) sale."

Bryan also writes a really neat web-comic called 2299 8-bit comic strip where all of the characters are space-ships. follow him at twitter to keep up w/ the daily web-comics. I was able to get a copy of the game based upon this web-comic: 2299:The Game.

Although I am genuinely more satisfied to Bryan's comic "road-sign Hank & the alien".
I have been hearing about it for many moon's now on LAS, but waiting to have even a few extra dollars. I am even more hoping for more renditions of Road-sign hank, and the Aliens~! I almost forgot to mention that Bryan's software was/is/always will be drm free. Bryan respects the user's right to help spread the word of his comic

The only thing I did not get in the Save_his_house_from_Apple sale, was bryan's beta app. the Linux Tycoon: Linux builder Game...it's like I said in beta so it's only four mere dollars, and it might go up to five one it's out of beta testing.

Bryan is a goat-hearder, nerd, and comic creator. Bryan is so old-school he runs a forum, and a BBS...
I follow him on
Twitter/identi.a
RSS feeds
facebook/G+: Bryan Lunduke
radialbreeze
Lunduke.com
jupiterbroadcasting

my Jan. 1st OSc show...

2012-04-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Introduction segment:

Welcome to open-source construction...

We are here today to talk about building computer skills with open-source software.

I want to first welcome all of my guests today, who are privileged to catch our very first episode.

I am broadcasting today from Cambridge, MA near Boston on the first Sunday of the year 2012. I thought this day would be a very symbolic launch date for our new channel.

I chose the name OSC_T.V. for my channel after my Blog(open-source--construction.blogspot.com) open-source construction. open-source construction is also the name of this community as a whole.

I chose the name open-source construction to represent my community, because I want to help people to build computer skills, with open-source software tools. The best part is that if you are watching me, right now you already have a construction site of your own...your computer. Because you are watching this broadcast it also means that you have Internet access, which means you have access to all of the tools that you will need to Learn about your computer with us.

I want to take a moment and say that here @ open-source construction, we will never judge your choice of Operating system platform. I honestly don’t care whether you choose to use windows, mac, or Linux. What I do care about, is that you are Learning about your computer using open-source software.

Although I will admit that I know very little about using a mac OSX computer. I know windows, and Linux quite well.

Are there any Linux fans in the audience today?

How many of you are using a mac, or windows Operating system?

If anyone wants to know what flavor or distro.(short for distribution) that I use, I use primarily debian/Ubuntu based distribution’s. My favorite distribution is Linux mint 12, which I am using right now. I am primarily a gnome user, although I sometimes use KDE, or LXDE Desktop Environment. A DE(or desktop environment) is a fancy way of saying User interface. I multi-boot many different Linux distro’s on my net-book, and my desktop computer. many have special purposes, such as Mythbuntu for using my HP multimedia ctr. PC as a T.V. tuner.

I want to take a moment and let people know where they can follow OSC on their favorite social Networks.

~Twitter: osconstructinl

Twitter is where I follow (OS)software announcements-newsletters, and tweet about my Blog posts.

~facebook: o.s.construction;

I would really appreciate it if I can get some of my viewers today to “Like” my group so that you can keep in touch with o.s.construction on your facebook.

~Google+: open-source construction;

On Google+ what I am looking for is people to Circle my page so they can follow me, as well as +1 as many stories that I share as possible.

~reddit: 0sconstruction(please note that the first character is a “Zero”);

I get a ton of material for my Blog, and inspiration for this show from reddit. Reddit lets you vote up or down, the stories that you like or dis-like.

My favorite subRedits are:

{

technology, technewstoday, techsnap, cyberlaws

google, google+, googlechrome, firefox, software,

Linux, linux4noobs, linuxactionshow, mintcast,

todayilearned, WTF, && askreddit

}

~Digg: open-source construction;

I get a ton of topics from digg.com. I am a consistent leader in the digg open-source newsroom. Usually I am in the top three. I like how digg rewards you with emblems for reading, commenting, and submitting high quality stories.

**I have also created a youtube channel for open-source construction, where my videos will get reposted, after I have finished with Ustream. **

***Also note that I am using Google Docs, and evernote to research, and write the notes for today's broadcast. My evernote Username is turtle_711.***

Main topic: What is open-source?

the GNU foundation definition of free software: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

>>>What are the 4 freedom’s of software...

open-source initiative definition: http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd

>>>10 qualifications to be approved by the open-source initiative...

>>>Open Source Education

a list of open-source initiative Licenses by category...

>>>copy left vs. Non-copy left (why not copy-right???)...

>>>What is gratis software?

>>>did you know that freeWare is most of the time not even open-source developed, or shared to the greater Internet community to allow for innovation...

>>>the war between open-source software && free-software???...

>>>How does open-source prevent “Vendor Lock-in”???

Their underlying motives, and principles almost perfectly coincide with each other. The main & simplest difference between open-source software, and free software is that; open-source software took the implied openness of the code, and added open-development & education services.

...the open-source education...

RMS talks about the philosephy of open-source software...

http://www.muktware.com/bitsnbytes/3117/russia-today-interviews-richard-m-stallman...

Let’s not be open-source free-loaders...

There is a chance for anyone, of any skill level to help the community. Let’s try not to complain unless there is thought behind, possible improvements. Let’s try as open-source users to be corteous to all of our fellow software users.

protect_I.P. how it breaks down...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_w4NGp1e50

Sub-topic: SOPA/PIPA

Stop SOPA! A Plea from the Inventors of the Internet

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/246516/stop_sopa_a_plea_from_the_inventors_of_the_internet.html\

how the Protect IP / SOPA Act will break the Internet

Google, Amazon, Facebook may shut down to stop SOPA | Matador Network

EA, Nintendo, Sony Quietly Withdraw SOPA Support - Slashdot

anonymous speaks out on +sopa +pipa

reactOS, a very beta stage product to better run windows sofware, from the ground up; but this time it will be much more naturally usable...I am hoping that it could run my zune software, my legos games(including...Legos_on-line), or even another challenge to...

What if a fully GNU Licensed project could be developed to run macOSX totally from scratch(because remember apple would never release their source code into the public...

2 general questions for mac users asked to the chat room???

>>what is the rename keyboard shortcut on a mac??

>>what do people think of the “natural scrolling”???

What sonic the hedhog thinks about dns blocking intimidation...

help mozilla fight the spread of anti-freedom legislation in the #U.S.

open-source initiative approved licenses by category...

I also gave a quick 5 minute talk on how to switch windows with a really handy keyboard method. I went over using the alt-tab switch. I forgot to mention the windows key(“Super” key in Linux) will often activate a seperate graphical effect like on compiz I like ring switcher, and windows vista & 7 has the 3D flip. I think I might have forgotten to mention that you can use the shift to switch between other modes...

five things that I wish Ubuntu could Learn from Kubuntu & KDE

2011-12-30T20:05:00.000-08:00


KDE Logo

I learned Linux from a gnome/Ubuntu point of view and I will continue to use gnome on my desktop. With that said I have really been digging on my Kubuntu installation on my netbook for the last week, so I decided to post a list of things I wish Ubuntu could do. I will also list some things that frustrate me about Kubuntu.

What I really wish Ubuntu would Learn from Kubuntu:

~ 1 I wish the nautilus file mgr. would have a pause button for file transfers.

This is one of the greatest strengths of the dolphin file manager. There have been a few times where my laptop was almost out of charge in the middle of a file transfer. If I could have just paused it, then hibernate/suspended the transfer until I plugged in my charger; I would not have had to franticlfy look for my charger. I used to use the terra copy freeware program to get this functionality in Windows, and it is being bundled into windows 8. I don't understand why a pause button isn't standard on all Operating system file managers. :/

~2 I wish that Nautilus would have a one click way to select/de-select multiple files.

In dolphin when you hover your mouse/tracpad cursor over a selected item, there appears a Plus button which selects the file with one click. If you select a bunch of files, but change your mind about one of them; then just simply click the minus button, and it will be de-selected from the list of files. This feature is extremely handy when sorting files to copy/move, as well as delete. Windows has a similar feature, that shows a check-box that allows you to select/de-select files; but it is buried within the file options...;D~ In all fairness you could still do what I learned to do in Windows XP and Ubuntu, which is just hold the ctrl. key to select/de-select files in Kubuntu as well.

~3 I wish that Ubuntu would learn to integrate desktop customization like KDE has.

What I mean by this is that in Kubuntu KDE user created themes are installed, with ridiculous ease. For example if I dig into the the workspace appearance, under the system settings, you will find the cursor theme tab. Under the cursor theme tab, there is a "Get new theme" button. This button will show a dialouge that will show a ton of cursor themes. After which with one button, you can install the theme of your choice.

This is the case with the several other options, and one is the login screen. Which I chose to install a "stargate" 9 chevron theme for when my Kubuntu is loading. I still have not figured out how to change the lightDM theme on my Ubuntu side YET.

~4 wish that Ubuntu would have made it as simple to re-install the xScreensaver package.

I guess that Ubuntu was trimming, and that is OK, by me. Especially since in modern computing screen-savers aren't really necessary. Kubuntu did the same thing, but they included a pop-up notification that directed me to a one-click install of a package to extend the functionality of the screen-saver, beyond just a plain boring black screen. I was disappointed that the xscreensaver-gl package in Kubuntu didn't have the matrix-gl screen-saver, until I found the ascii aquarium.

~5 I wish that Ubuntu allowed for more advance control of the Interface.

In Kubuntu I found myself able to easily disable the caps lock key. Kubuntu has mouse/tracpad gestures built right into the distribution. For the record I do really like Unity's gnome shell implementation, except for one major thing. If I zoom out into window switching mode in Unity I can only close the last active window, if I am careful with the global menu. But in the gnome 3 fall-back and Kubuntu when zoomed out in window selection mode, I can choose to select or close any of the windows displayed and the screen. Window switching mode is accessed via the top Left corner in both Kubuntu and Gnome 3 shell.

My only major frustration with Kubuntu as a whole is the plasmoid widgets did not work very well for me. I could not get half of them to work, and the other half looked like crap on my screen.

For the record I will continue to use both desktops. Ubuntu is the only Linux OS on my net-book that I can use, as a modem for my desktop, because my wifi source is in a different room.

If you want to check kubuntu out for yourself, you can download it below:

www.kubuntu.org/getkubuntu

Introducing OSC_T.V.: the OSC new year's resolution

2011-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

I have decided to do a weekly U-stream event, starting this Sunday. I am really excited to be doing this. I came up with the idea to start my first weekly show on 1/1/2012 @ 1:11 PM.

The first show will explain what Open-source is, and how it has changed our world. I will explain some of the myths about open-source software. Things like you cannot profit off of selling open-source software, or only real techno geeks can understand open-source software like Linux.

I will also be speaking out against the clear and present danger to our way of life, that is the SOPA/PIPA legislation working it's way through congress. I am a strongly apposed to any legislation that blocks the freedom of speech in the United States of America.

I am also working on a segment on teaching how to increase computer productivity through keyboard/mouse shortcuts.

My purpose from all upcoming broadcasts, is to find people who hunger for knowledge & wisdom.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/osc-t-v-open-source-construction-television

Sintel: A Blender movie

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-08:00

I was stunned by an incredible movie produced by the Blender foundation a few days ago. This movie truly felt like a masterpiece to me. The movie was only 15 minutes long, but it felt like it was an hour long. I mean that in the most respectful way possible. I felt like at the end of the movie that I had bonded with the main characters, and that their struggles connected with me on a deep emotional level.

On a technical level I was visually blown out of my seat. I remember a time when in the early days of CGI(computer generated imagery), that watching a characters lips move while listening to them was almost painful. The way the characters moved seemed so life-like. I also really enjoyed the Celtic sounding music. This could be because I am descended from Nordic people.

For those of you who may not yet have heard of Blender, or the Blender foundation; Blender is a piece of Open-source software capable of stunning 3D animation.

a you-tube video on the making of Sintel with Blender.

You-tube is full of tutorials to help independent animators/artists Learn how to create awe inspiring works of art.

http://www.blender.org/

http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/

http://www.blender.org/features-gallery/blender-open-projects/

Below I have am embedding from you-tube the first and second movie's created from the Open movie project:

Elephants dream

This was the first Open Movie project, that was created in 2006.

Big Bucky Bunny

Big Bucky Bunny was the first Open Movie, that I saw back in 2008.

Sore with SUSE...

2011-12-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

I decided last night that I wanted to check out OpenSUSE gnome on my desktop computer. The reason for this was that I wanted to play around with the gnome extensions web-site, and create a really custom UI(user-interface). I have the gnome 3 UI on Linux Mint 12 working perfectly, but I cannot install extensions directly from the web-site. The web-site tells me that I need an updated version of gnome.

I honestly did not know what to expect from OpenSUSE. I have read some recent reviews that had pointed to openSUSE in a positive light, and I wanted to give it a try.

The First thing that blew me away was that it had a really cool graphical Holiday boot menu.

I thought this was a good sign, and that I would be able to install , and test the newest version of gnome 3 shell without a hitch. The problem is that I was wrong.
There was also another shocker that came with this install, and that was having to agree to a software agreement. I haven't had to do that since the last time that I installed an OEM version of Microsoft.

There were two main problems with OpenSUSE. For starters I was unable to boot into the gnome 3 shell, and was forced to boot into a gnome 2.3.+ fall back mode. My computer is by no means ready for retirement. I have an Nvidia mobo chipset, 2gb RAM, dual core ATI 64 bit CPU(although I chose to install the 32-bit version, because I only have 2gb RAM), and an Nvidia Geforce 210 1gb DDR3 GFX memory graphics card. I am taking this to mean that gnome 3 is not ready for all the hardware out there. I am doubting there is much I can do about this, except for be patient; and wait for the Linux community to code better gnome 3 hardware support.

Also when the install had finished I was greeted with only one Operating system, and that was the Non-working OpenSUSE. I have a half dozen other Linux distribution's installed on this PC, for various purposes. So what I chose to do was to re-install peppermint OS, because I had decided to try btrfs on it, but was not given the option to boot from it. I had assumed this was because Linux Mint 12 was unable to see the peppermintOS btrfs file-system.

I have not given up on NovellSUSE, but I am going to do more research, before I attempt to do another install. Perhapse I will try a KDE install next time. The only KDE OS I am running currently is Kubuntu on my net-book, which is working out quite well.

Drivers, drivers, Drivers

2011-12-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

What I have found in my technology driven life is that Drivers are an on-going issue in any Operating system. A Hardware Driver is a piece of software that is in charge of controlling a piece of Hardware. For example a Wireless network card. Many times this is because the old saying is true that:”People who make good hardware make bad software, and people who make good software make bad hardware”

Windows approach is that for every device there will be a download, that will need to be installed. Usually these drivers come from the Hardware Mfg.(Manufacturer). For example Dell, HP, Asus, Logitech, MS, apple...etc. Windows often over-complicates the process by adding on-line lookup of drivers. Which could slow down the system depending on hardware power. Keeping all of your Hardware up to date to keep your system stable is a holy pain in the rear end. Ever heard of a BSOD? It means Blue Screen Of Death. When Windows has a driver issue is gives a blue screen w/ white writing to say OH efF we have a problem. A while back I was taking the “T”(subway red-line through Cambridge, MA), and I saw a BSOD at the train station.

Microsoft in recent years has made strides to make sure that only Microsoft signed drivers get used on Windows operating systems. The testing process for a driver to pass WHQL(Windows Hardware Quality Labs)certification is quite a slow process.

Linux on the other hand, has backwards engineered most of the drivers needed to run a system right into the tiny little kernel. I would say in the last two years of my running Linux 98% of my drivers worked right out of the box. No need to click anything. No need to search the Internet. No need to pay for driver update programs. No BSOD. USB drives just work. My Clear-wire hot-Spot which took an hour for vista to find the drivers for on-line, instantly works even before chrome web browser finished loading. When I say hardware works within seconds, I mean literally within a few seconds(3-5.)

The only exception to this for me have been: Nvidia, ATI, and broadcom wireless. Usually with Nvidia & ATI graphics drivers(and some bcml) all you have to do is click activate driver in “restricted drivers” , then reboot and all is right in the world. Once have I had to use NDISwrapper to install windows drivers in Linux. That was recently, and I will explain that another time. That was on my friend's Dell laptop.

Increase your update speed using Linux Mint: apt-fast script

2011-12-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write today about how you can use a simple script to increase your update times. Speeds, up to four times as fast have been reported using this script. It is ridiculously easy to install this script, that any script kiddie can use it.

First of all you will need to install the axel download framework. So your first step to installing this script is to install the axel framework, from the terminal.

$ sudo apt-get install axel

After which you will enter your user password, press "enter", and also press "y" when prompted. After which you will just wait for the "$" prompt to appear, that signals your software is installed.

The rest is really easy. Start by downloading the script from this link, here. Make sure to download this to a place, that is easy to remember.

Next go to that location. I often right click on the Firefox download manager, and select "go to location".

Next you will need to place the script into the /usr/sbin folder.

If you still have your terminal open you can use the following commands:

$ cd Downloads

~cd is much like it is in the DOS command line shell from MS, because it stands for change "Change Directory", and performs the same function.

$ sudo mv apt-fast.sh /usr/sbin/apt-fast

~sudo is needed to add, remove, or modify files within system file directories.

~mv is the command for moving a file for one place to another. This is the same as cp(copy), except that after the copy from place A, to place B the file is deleted from the original location.

~when using a mv, or cp command the first file name is the original name/location of the file. The location of the file was not used in this command because it is assumed, that you are already located in the directory(folder); that contains the script file.

~Notice that the second file has not ".sh" extension @ the end of it. This is how files are renamed within the Linux terminal, by the destination being different from the original file.

The main benefit from this command is that you can move the script to the correct location, and rename it at the same time.

You will also need to add permissions for the script to be executable with the following command.

$ sudo chmod +x apt-fast

Now for the GUI(graphical User interface) way of doing things.

(this assumes that you downloaded the script to your Downloads directory(folder), within your User home folder.)

Step 1)Change the file name to just apt-fast.

*Downloads is the default location for your Firefox downloads.*

First rename the scrip to just apt-fast.

After the following screen, just move your cursor to the end of the line with the "end" key, or three presses of the arrow key. Once your cursor is at the end of the file name, then just simply press the backspace key three times. This will get rid of the .sh file extension. After you have done this press the "enter" key to finish renaming the file. By the way this is the same way you rename files in Windows.

Step 2)Change the permission of the file to allow for the execution of the code.

This involves a few simple clicks. First you will need to right click the menu, and select properties, at the bottom of the context menu.

PRO USER TIP: context menu
keyboard- shortcut.

"shift" + "F10"

*This will only help if the file is selected(highlighted)*

Then the following menu will appear.

Now you will need to click on the "Permissions" tab. The "permissions" tab is located in between the selected "Basic" tab & the "Open with" tabs.

Now all you need to do is to click the check box "Allow executing file as program", and click close the window.

To open up Nautilus with root privileges, you will first need to open the run dialogue, and then type in the following command:

"alt" + "F2"

gksu nautilus

Make sure to substitute <your_user_name> with the user account you are logged in under. If not you will not find the folder when you open Nautilus with root permission.

This will open up a nautilus file manager with root power.

Enter your password, and select "OK".

Next you will need to navigate to your users Downloads folder.

From this screen there are two ways to navigate to the "/" of the file system. You could either use the keyboard shortcut "alt" + <up arrow>, or you could click on the little Less than sign, and the small hard drive that appears.

select the highlighted home folder.

You will find a folder within this "home" folder, that is named <your_user_name>; that contains your "Downloads" folder.


I have two user folders within my "home" folder, because I have separate user accounts for me and my roommate.

PRO USER TIP: In order to use the split view for easy drag/drop of your files within nautilus you can use the "F3" key to toggle split pane view, or navigate the view drop-down menu and select "extra pane". When you are in split pane view the window that has a white background, is the one that is active.

Now you will need to double-click the "Downloads" folder.

Now that you are within the "Downloads" folder as root, you will need to right-click & select the copy option.

Now you will need to navigate to the / of the file-system, before navigating to the /usr/sbin folder. You can do this by selecting the small Hard drive icon, just to the Left of the home button. From here you will need to double-click on the "usr", and "sbin" folders in turn; until you end up at the following location.

Click through the highlighted /usr folder, and also double click the /usr/sbin folder within the /usr folder. Make sure not to put it in the /sbin directory on the base of the file-system.

congratulations you finally found the /usr/sbin folder.

Now you will need to right click anywhere that is not a file, until you find the following menu; and select "paste".

Now your apt-fast script is installed, and here is how you use it. When you would normally use a command like apt-get update, now you will use apt-fast update. It is that simple.

Let's open a terminal to check it out:

"Ctrl." + "alt" + "t" :opens a terminal window, without having to search for your distribution's terminal program within a burred menu.

PRO_User_TIP: Notice how I added the apt-fast upgrade, and the apt-fast upgrade commands together with the double ampersand symbols; so that I don't have to wait for one command to complete before starting another.

Enter your password when prompted, and don't panic if you don't see anything when you type your password; just do it and press "Enter".

notice the three connection's, all collecting bits of the file; all at the same time.

type "y", and "enter" when prompted by the [y/n] prompts. All activity will stop until you choose "y" or "n".

Done already? verify that all packages are installed properly. If errors are found, run apt-get clean as root and try again using apt-get directly.

Humble bundle 4: Get it b4 it's gone

2011-12-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce that the humble indie bundle 4, was just released yesterday. Now if you have not heard of the Humble indie bundle, then you have probably been hiding under some sort of digital rock for the last year or so.

These games are now fully cross platform on all modern operating systems. What that means is that you can purchase the games, and play them on either your windows, Apple, or Linux operating system. This is super exciting to me because it is a fantastic way to usher in a host of games into the Linux gaming arena. I still run into the myth on a regular basis, that Linux has no good games for it. This couldn't be further from the truth. Actually Linux users in previous indie bundle, have consistently been the most charitable givers.

Did I mention that the proceeds of these games are going to incredible charities. The two main charities are Child play, and the American red-cross.

First off is the child's play charity, which has been around since 2003. Child's play charity works with hospitals worldwide to find what kinds of games and gaming systems can be used in various hospitals to help make the recovery process an enjoyable experience. Let's help bring children in need of hope a light in their dark, and scary times.

The American red cross is a disaster relief organization. These days it seems like every where you turn there is a natural disaster getting ready to strike. When the disastrous Earthquake in Hatti struck, the American Red-cross was there to do everything in it's power to end the suffering of the local Haitian people.

Now for a sneak peak @ the games:

Super Meat Boy

The game I am most wanting to play.

Jamestown:

Shank:

Bit.Trip Runner:

NightSky HD:

Now if you pay above the average price, you also get the following two games. The avg. price was only five dollars and some change when I was there, which was amazing considering the retail value of the games all together is $100 and the proceeds go to charity.

Gratuitous Space Battles:

Cave Story+:

How 2: take screen-shots with Linux.

2011-12-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Many of you have probably noticed how many screen-shots I use within my Blogs, so I have decided to demonstrate just how easy it is to capture screen-shots on a Linux Operating system.

Most of the time when you want to take a screen-shot of your desktop, you want to either take a picture of either your whole desktop or an individual window. In order to do this you will need to Learn two hot-key keyboard combinations.

hitting the print screen button by itself will take a simple screen-shot of the entire desktop. This is usually abbreviated as "prt scr".

If you are on a smaller computer, the "prt scr" might be a dark blue colo, which is the case on my LGx120 netbook. So when I want to press the "prt scr" key on my netbook I have to hit the "fn" + "prt scr" keyboard combination to trigger a screen-shot of my desktop. On my net-book the "prt scr" button is inegrated with the "pg up"(page up) key.

The next key combination you will need to Learn is the what triggers a screen-shot of the active window on a Linux computer. The key combination is "Alt." + "prt scr". Which also means that if I want to take a screen-shot of an active window, while using my net-book; I have to hit "fn" + "alt" + "prt scr".

What happens next, is what makes taking screen-shots in Linux so much easier than windows. In windows the key combinations are the same, but what happens after a correct key combo press is very different. Watch what happens in Linux:

a screen-shot save preview window, of me starting to write this Blog within Blogger.

Now you may think that I have an incredibly expensive wide-screen at home. This is actually a dual-screen desktop PC, thanks in part to my friend Robert who gave me a second monitor.

If you want to know how to configure you Linux PC, with a dual-screen setup then please check out a previous post here.

If the save in folder is where you want to save your picture, then just click save. You could also just hit enter, or hit "alt." + "S". If you want to save to a different folder, like the a folder that you create just for a series of screen-shots; then select other from this drop down menu.

Windows in contrast does not give you a preview window, of the image you just captured. This confused me when I first learned the windows way. Windows assumes that you already have a window open that you want to place the image in. Once a program is open like an office document, or the GIMP on windows then you paste it in. You can do that with the "ctrl" + "V " keyboard shortcut, or right click and select paste from the context menu options. For a better explanation than I can give please click here.

Wilber the GIMP mascot.

I sometimes choose to use the (GNU Image manipulation Program) to crop, and re-save my pictures.

Here is a short, and simple video that describes how to crop, and re-save an image that you have captured using the GIMP.

Now that will cover your needs 98% of the time. But what if you want to capture a menu in action. You may want to show your viewers what the menu looks like, that you are trying to describe. In Linux you cannot take a screen-shot while there is a window menu active. You also cannot take screens of tool-tips.

That is where the screen-shot tool shutter comes into play. There are many things that you can do with shutter that really help you speed up the screen-shot process, if you are like me and take tons of screen-shots.

main shutter application of shutter.

Shutter features:

Screen-shot session management.
Blur sensative data from pictures.
Highlight important data in multiple ways.
Crop your selected picture.
Set a timer for when to snap the screen-shot.
Select an active menu, or series of menus for a screen-shot.
Select an active tool-tip for your screen-shot.
Upload to an FTP file server.
Upload directly to your Ubuntu one account.
Choose whether or not to include the cursor in your screen-shot.
Choose to let shutter handle your key-board combinations, for screen-shot. (aka..."prt scr" && "alt" + "prt scr")

Shutter is included in both the Ubuntu/Linux, and Linux Mint repositories.

Although the preferred way to do this is through the Linux terminal. That way when a new version is available you will have access to it right away. There is generally a lag in time between when a new version is posted to a repository, and when it is available for your distribution's software manager.

If you wish to earn geek credit, and get the newest application updates as soon as they are released; then do the following:

"ctrl" + "alt" + "T" ~ Launches a terminal window

copy and paste the following commands into your terminal:

$ sudo apt-add-repository ppa:shutter/ppa

press [enter] when you reach this screen to add the PPA.

{enter password when prompted, and hit return}

gpg keys are encryption keys that verify your software is malware free, and was not corrupted during download.

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install shutter

**you may need to type a [y] if prompted.**

I truly hope everyone who has read this post, has learned as much as I did writing it. It is highly likely that I will write a follow up post on the screen-shot tool "shutter".

DJL-Linux gaming evolved

2011-12-11T11:00:00.001-08:00

I have heard many people think that there is no good games for Linux. Now I could get furiously mad, because I know the truth; or I could just show you truth.

Featurs:
~Inspired by Valve's Steam platform for windows.
~simple install_I will walk you through it.
~works on any Gnu/Linux distribution.
~has 156 current games as of this writing.
~written in python 2.5
~Licensed under the GNU public license, so it is fully open-source.
~allows for easy one-click install/un-install of games.
~Through the use of plugins allows for in-game chat on certain games.
~98% of the software has a free-ware or GNU public license.

Easy install:

step one:

click on this download link to download the compressed archive. I recommend saving this file to your Downloads folder within your User's home folder.

step two:

uncompress the archive. To do this simply right click on the compressed archive, and click "extract here".

step three:

navigate within the newly created djl folder. next right click anywhere in that folder, that is not a file or folder. In the context menu that shows up, you will need to click "open in terminal".

step four:

type in the next command:

$ sh djl.sh

***Please note that you may need to input this command into your terminal before step four will complete successfully and launch djl....$ sudo apt-get install python-Qt4***

**Also note that in my Linux mint 12 install I had to click the button on the main screen of djl "add a shortcut on KDE/Gnome panel".**

step five:
Install games.
Next click on the repository tab. Once you have found a game that you want, all you need to do is to click the install button. to watch the downloads/installations click on the Downloads tab on the far Left of the screen.

notice that I am downloading to install the game Wolfenstein: Enemy territory.

Now I would like to show you some of my top ten favorite games within the djl game manager.

open sonic-A well done sonic the hedgehog game licensed under the GPL.

This game has an innovative tag team system.

smokin-guns-A firt person 3D shooter game in a spaghetti western style.

Alien-Arena-A 3D FPS, where you destroy random aliens.

ASCIIportal-A 2D portal game, that looks like it came from the days of the comidore 64.

digital paint paintball- A paint-ball 3D FPS.

Neverball-A 3d ball rolling game. you control the tilt of the landscape through your mouse/tracpad, while you try to get enough stars, avoid obstacles, and finish by ending in the finish hole.

NeverPutt-A 3D miniature golf game similar to neverball.

warsow-A cell-shaded 3D FPS game. Also available for mac or windows, so your friend's can play along.

super tux-kart-a fun little game similar to mario-kart in play style, but with open-source mascots for characters.

racer-a great Racing simulater, that started as a driving simulator. This game was based on the source code from the open-source racing game torcs.

djl home page
djl description
Download djl

list of available games on djl game manager

turn your laptop into a modem with Ubuntu(Linux)

2011-12-08T12:58:00.001-08:00

How to turn your Ubuntu laptop into a modem

There are many good reasons that you may want to turn your laptop into an Internet source. Maybe you have a friend who comes over, and you want to share your Internet, without giving him/her the password. Maybe your a computer tech. like myself, and don't want to enter your wifi password into a customers computer.

Step one:

Click on the "system settings" on the Unity tool-bar on the far right side of the desktop. When you hover your cursor over the tool-bar the "system settings" notification bubble will appear.

click "System settings" box.

Step two:

Click once on the Network button, in the system settings menu.

Step three:

During this step you will need to click the configure button to advance to the next menu.

Please note that at this step if you do not have a cable connected to another computer, the configure button will be greyed out. Any time something is greyed out, you cannot select it.

Ubuntu shortcut: Click on the Network icon in the top tool-bar, and scroll all the way to the bottom to select "edit connections." That will bring up the next window.

click "edit..." button on the far right middle of the screen,
while "wired connection" is highlighted.

***Please note that if you Use the Ubuntu shortcut you will not need to worry about having a physical cable connected, until after a the reboot during step 6.***

Step four:

Click on the "IPV4 settings" tab down below.

Step five:

Use the Method drop-down box to select Shared with other computers.

Automatic (DHCP) is the default option, that you should change.

What your settings should look like before you hit the save & restart.

Step six:

All you have to do now is save, close all running programs, and restart your computer. Once you have restarted your computer you can feel free to use your Ethernet port just like a modem, provided you are connected to a wifi, or mobile broadband NT. I tested this with a direct connection to my desktop computer, and also connecting through a four port hub, that I had laying around. If the connecting computer is a windows box it should connect automatically, and if it s a gnome 3 box you might have to click wired connection toggle switch in the network applet. This should work on any computer running any version of gnome 3, although I only tested it on Linux mint 12. Also on Linux mint 11 and below, you can use the Ubuntu shortcut.

How to enable dual-screen monitor in Linux w/ Nvidia X server config.

2011-11-30T11:22:00.001-08:00

I have shown in an earlier post that dual-monitor works great on Linux Mint 12. Dual monitor is great if you are coding, and like doing a ton of things at the same time. Although there are times when dual-monitor can be a pain in your brain.

enhanced productivity, or distraction.
The choice is yours.

Like for example when I tried to play the incredible game ZAZ"Zaz aint zaz" full-screen, it tried to take up both monitors. Although this is one of the funest games I have played in a long time. In theory you should be able to play your favorite game, in one window while browsing or chatting in another. But your mileage may seriously vary.

I often use Fire-fox in one window, and chrome in another. Or you may need to have a file browser open on one window, and a web-browser handy in another.

So here is how it is done.

STEP ONE: Install your most video drivers.

type: "super key"

type: "additional"

hit the enter key to open the additional drivers program.

This will box will show up briefly,
while your hardware is being checked.

In this screen-shot I had already highlighted the recommended driver, and clicked activate. After which you will be prompted to enter your password, provided you are an administrator.

After you have entered your password, the installation of the Nvidia drivers will happen. The reason my screen-shot says it is not currently in use, is you will need to reboot after the installation is complete.

STEP TWO: Configure the Nvidia X server.

Do a search for the word "nvidia", just like you did with additional. Then strike enter to open the Nvidia X server configuration tool.

In the Left hand box make sure to check the "server Display configuration option".

You may or may not see your secondary monitor in the layout box, like mine does. When I first opened up this box, there was only my Dell monitor showing. I had to Left-click/HOLD the monitor icon, and drag it from on top of my other monitor until they were directly side by side.

Notice the Monitor icon on the Left is highlighted, showing that it is selected. Notice that the selected monitor, is the same as the controls in the Display box.

In the resolution drop-down menu, you will need to set the resolution to auto. Also you will want to choose the monitor on the right to have the "Make this the primary display for the X screen" checked.

You may wish to choose the position of the main monitor, to the position "Left of" as the screen-shot below shows.

After you click apply you have 15 seconds to hit the OK button to keep the settings.

Notice Cancel is highlighted.
Press enter to cancel emmediately.
Press Left, then Enter to keep settings.

You could even choose to have your monitors in a stacked array if you wish, although that would be confusing if your monitors are not physically stacked.

There is one final thing that you must do, in order to make your changes permanent. You must click "Save to X configuration file."

After you select save, you will be prompted to enter your password. This is due to the fact that you are changing a system configuration file. Any changes to configuration files, must be done by an administrator. Once you have done that your configuration will be permanent.

PRO-tip: If you want to know the current operating temperature of your GPU(GFX Processing Unit), you may click on "Thermal Settings". Although that is a bit misleading, because there is nothing to set, only a chart of your current temperature as shown below.

Once this is done you will be able to move the cursor freely from one display to another. You could drag a running program to your secondary monitor, for ease of reference if you wish.

With these simple instructions you can easily double your productivity. Good luck to all of you curious geeks out there. Although don't blame me if your games don't work perfectly in dual-screen mode.

Linux Mint 12 review: wrap up...getting used to gnome again.

2011-11-29T08:30:00.000-08:00

Linux Mint 12 review: wrap up...getting used to gnome again.

I am happy with the polish that the Mint developers did polishing Linux Mint 12. I enjoy having my menu back. I have found myself slowly transitioning away from the menu-bar, as I get more used to using gnome 3. Although I have noticed that tabs in the menu bar, are not universal throughout all of the work spaces. So If I have fire-fox on one work space and chrome on the other, only one tab will show up per workspace.


Mint menu expanded.

The far Left side of the mint menu directly relates to the gnome 3 Dash bar automatically.


Notice the favorite bar on the right side.

I like the fact that there are many ways you can choose to get to your applications.

If you need to get to your clean desktop use the show desktop button,
which is directly next to the menu button.

I was slightly disappointed that the only way to search with only the keyboard, is to use the gnome shell method. Gnome shell does not seem to base their search results on how often I use a program, but the program I am looking for always shows up somewhere in the list within the first three key-strokes.

USER TIP:

Use the "super" key(aka windows key) to initiate the "activities Overview" (dark) portal.

I was expecting to want to throw gnome 3 out of a window, by the end of day 2. But I am already feeling like a gnome shell ellite user after just 3 days. I think if you approach Linux Mint 12's new interface w/ an open-mind you will be very happy, and be able to stay on topic.

I added the canary-yellow background.
The default was plain white.

I found out that there is no longer any sarcastic ascii art animals to welcome you to the Linux terminal mode. Although I do get the same Humor from the AWN(avant window navigator) dock, through the animal farm applet.

PRO TIP:

After you initiate search, you can click one of two search tabs at the bottom of the window. These search tabs when clicked or "return", will automatically launch a new tab in your web-browser to either Google or Wikipedia. Also if you ever need to exit the dark portal, all you need to do is to hit the "esc" key.

Below I have included a couple of youtube video's about gnome 3.

FEWER INTERRUPTIONS:

messaging with gnome 3.

Working with Windows.

Linux Mint 12 review: pt. 3 (B) 10 things 2 do after fresh install.

2011-11-29T07:53:00.001-08:00

Top 10 things I do after a fres install continued:

3~ Disable auto-run. This is irritating to my control freak nature.


Notice the check box, at the bottom.

All settings button leads you back to the main settings menu which looks like this.

4~ set up any necessary user accounts, depending on your specific situation.


I set myself as the admin, and my rommate's account to a standard user.

The plus and minus keys add/remove accounts. You must click the unlock button, as administrator to change any account settings.


Notice auto-login is switched on. I only recommend this, with a standard user account on a Desktop PC.

5~ Change the Wallpaper of the back-ground. I chose the cube wallpaper. Although I really like a lot of the mountain backgrounds in Mint 12.


Notice the Dual-screen working very nicely. I had to set this up in the Nvidia X server settings.

6~ Install Drop-box to sync my documents.

7~ mouse settings


I increased acceleration & sensativity, and checked show position of pointer when the control key is pressed.

8~ set the nautilus file manager to open folders w/ a single click.

Just click the single click to open items radio button,
and the change is instantly applied.

To get to the File Management preferences go to the edit menu, and down to preferences.

9~ Make sure the Power/Screen settings are set properly for my situation.

On a laptop my main concern is power consumption, and on a Deskotp my main concern is making sure that I can watch movies from start to finish.

The default setting was to turn off after a half an hour.
I also switched the screen lock to off.

I choose Don't suspend when inactive.
Since this is a Desktop critically low power is pointless.

~10 customize my web browser(s) to my individual needs.

In chrome this is super-simple, because I have my g-mail account linked to my browser settings. So all of my extensions, web apps, and book-marks are linked in one easy step.

In Firefox I have to manually re-install all of my extensions, theme, and most common sites I visit I sync as well. I protect my Fire-fox passwords with a Master password.

After I have synced Fire-fox on-line, I choose to sync my fire-fox data with chrome. Then I put a similar Master password to Google chrome.

Please check out Linux Mint on Distrowatch.com for more information & download it for yourself.

Link: Linux Mint's distrowatch page.

I would also encourage you to go to the Linux Mint page, and create a user account so that you can help create the ratings for the software you enjoy. After all that is what has made Linux so resilient from the beginning, was peer review of the code. This gives every Linux mint user the chance to be a much needed part of the community. Microsoft or apple tell you what is good by marketing to you, but Linux Mint asks you to Learn from your peers. The Linux Mint community, also has an incredibly helpful community. My (LM) U/N is: zarr0BoogZ.

http://community.linuxmint.com/

Linux Mint 12 review: pt. 3 (A) 10 things 2 do after fresh install.

2011-11-29T06:39:00.001-08:00

I would like to start this post with the first things that I do after a clean install.

1~update video drivers
2~initial update
3~Disable auto-run
4~ set up any necessary User accounts/permissions.
5~change the default Wallpaper.
6~Install DropBox to sync my documents.
7~ modify mouse settings.
8~set nautilus to open folders w/ a single click
9~ set the power/screen settings.
10~ modify my Firefox && chrome web-browsers to suit my needs.

One of the greatest things about Linux mint, is that you don't have to install your codecs to be able to play your media manually after installation.

CODEC: " co der- dec oder" a piece of software that is installed to decode your media files. Fore example MP3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec

1)update to the newest stable video drivers since I have an Nvidia graphics accelerator card. Nvidia Geforce 210. Cheapest card I could get that was slim enough to fit, a gigabyte of video memory, and HDMI/VGA/DVI.


Searching for available drivers...

I always choose to activate the recommended driver version.

2) initial update. This takes the longest, but is the most crucial.


Your update time may vary, based on your Connection speed to the Internet.


If you are really curious about what files Linux Mint is downloading, click the Right arrow to open up this dialogue.

The first window of the update manager.


Taking a peek at where the real work getting done in Linux Mint 12 I hope you enjoy this Blog post, and be sure to check out part B...

Mini Post: Linux mint 12 installation slides.

2011-11-28T20:12:00.001-08:00

This is what happens after you successfully finish entering your user data, during the Linux mint 12 installation.

Welcome to Linux Mint.
Welcome and thank you for choosing Linux Mint. This slide show will show you around while the system is being installed on your computer.


Browse the web. Be fast and safe on the web with Mozilla Firefox. Enjoy Java, Flash, and multimedia content.


Listen to music and CD's. Enjoy your music with Banshee. Plug-in your MP3 player or extract songs from your audio CDs. Listen to pod-casts and on-line radios. Discover new artists on last.fm, the Internet Archive and the Amazon MP3 store.


Watch videos and DVD's. Insert a DVD and enjoy a movie. Watch high-definition videos with VLC.


Manage your photos. Organize, enjoy and share your photos with gThumb or Picasa. Export your albums to CD, to the web, or to on-line services such as flickr or PicasaWeb to share them with friends and family.


Stay connected. Keep in touch with your friends and contacts, by email, messenger, or on your favorite social networks. Linux Mint provides all you need to interact with Twitter, Facebook, MSN, ICQ, GoogleTalk, AIM, Yahoo and many other networks.


Be productive. Use Libre Office to create4 professional documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that are fully compatible with Microsoft Office. Archive documents, emails, or web pages to PDF. Send and receive files with Giver on the local network. Share printers or access them remotely.


Install software. Browse through 30,000 free applications from the Software Manager. Enjoy screen-shots and user reviews. Install software with one click of the mouse.


Run Windows software. Install Wine and run Windows software in Linux Mint. Or install Virtual-box, and run Windows itself within Linux Mint.


Customize your desktop. Make yourself at home and modify any aspect of your desktop. Choose from a large variety of themes, icons and backgrounds. Linux Mint is open and easy to customize.


Keep your system up to date. Receive fixes and security updates all in one place, for the entire system, including the software you install.

Find help.
If you're curious about something or if you're facing a problem, simply ask around. Linux Mint is the 4h most widely used Operating system in the world. It comes with a user guide, a community website, a collection of tutorials, active forums, and chat rooms, and one of the most dynamic communities on the Internet.

Linux mint 12 review: pt. 1 Installation

2011-11-28T15:18:00.001-08:00

This slide-show shows you around, while you are waiting for the installer to finish.

I had so much to say about this Linux distribution, that I am breaking it up into several parts.

Live mode worked great for me to poke around, and get my bearings within Linux Mint. I am really grateful that my task-bar has been returned to me.

I used k3b on Linux mint 11 to burn the project. Which is great, because it takes a check-sum of the .iso before attempting the burn. Then after the disk is burned you can choose to save, &/or verify your data. Although I have had the problem, of k3b being rather picky about accepting discs.

k3b is my preferred Linux burning program, no matter which platform it is on. I really wish that it had a windows equivalent. I have never had any burn failures, while using k3b.

BIOS chip.

Because my windows refuses to do the factory reset from the main HDD(hard-disk drive) hidden rescue partition. I am guessing because I had to replace the mother-board. The mother-board has the same exact physical make-up, except for a slightly newer version of the BIOS(Basic Input/Output system).

All that means is that I have another whole HDD to install and test Linux distribution's in bare-metal form. Although I do plan to test many Linux installs within Linux Mint 12. I have decided to keep my Linux Mint 11 intact on my other internal 360 GB HDD.

I want to go into some of the basics of choosing a partition scheme, file-system format, and mount-points. I do this so that you won't have any trouble making changes on your own computer. I will include slides from my own desktop, and net-book.

The complicated part of the install doesn't even start, until you get to this screen. Many people get scared of this step, because it could wipe out other operating systems, or personal data. If you have properly prepared, you will have nothing to worry about.


It is crucial that you click something else, if you want to multi-boot Linux mint 12 with other Operating systems. I would only use erase/install if you are sure your files are backed up, and you just want a simple

PARTITION SCHEME:

notice the 10gb partition(far right)_windows restore(primary)
Notice that the extended partition has two sub-partitions.

creating a SWAP file.

Well There are two types of primary partition's main primary, and extended primary.
Extended primary partitions, are partition's that have been sub-divided into logical partitions.
Lucky for Linux is that it can boot from logical, or primary partitions.
A SWAP partition is used when your programs can't fully fit into RAM, those files will be swapped to the HDD.

Although HDD's are slow compared to RAM. So Ideally you want to have as much memory as possible. Windows has the same principle with it's Swap file. Although windows swap file is on the main system drive. This is a huge success in ensuring a stable Linux Operating system install.

FILE-SYSTEM FORMAT:

Linux mint HDD partition scheme viewed
with Gparted partition editor.

NTFS is the default windows file-system for many years now
Ext4 journaling is the standard Linux desktop file-system right now.
btrfs aka butterFS is getting ready to replace ext4 in the future.
the SWAP file should be @ least equal to double, the amount of physical memory in your computer.

MOUNT-POINT selection:

My primary Linux drive partition scheme.

/ is the base of the Linux file-system. Also known as root.
You can remap parts of the file-system to other partition's.
/boot is often put on a separate 100-200 MB partition to ensure proper working of the GRUB2 boot loader.

GRUB is what switches between Operating systems at boot time.
/media is often set aside on a separate file system, So that the / partition including system files will not overfill. That would cause a real slowdown. I would give as much as possible to this partition. These are where your personal files will be stored
I am going to finish up this review with a slide-show from the install.

Just click continue if you Live in the USA.

just click continue if the right time-zone has been selected.
It does not matter if the city is correct, only the time
zone.

Compared to the partition steps all the rest of the steps as you can see, are really simple.

Although I will not show it here There is a step where you input your user name, real-name, and password. On that same screen you can choose to login automatically, although I only choose this for guest accounts on desktop computers.

You can also choose to encrypt your home folder, so that all of your personal files are safe from prying eyes. I choose not to do this, on my desktop, but do do this on my net-book. It is a lot more likely that my net-book could be compromised.

Which brings us to the final step:

Just click install now. You still have the user information screen, but after which you are treated to a slide-show to introduce you to Linux mint. It will tell you when to reboot your computer, marking the finish of your Linux mint 12 install.

Windows Monday: Wine vs. Windows

2011-11-28T08:13:00.001-08:00

Many people out there might not have heard of the wine software project before now.

So let's start with what wine actually stands for:

W~wine
I~is
N~not
an
E~emulator

Wine is free software that allows you to run Windows software on a Linux Operating system.
Wine is free software in every sense of the word. The Wine project wrote it's code from the ground up. And that means that Microsoft has no claims to the code. Which also means that it is perfectly legal to run your windows software on a Linux Operating system. Provided you will still need a valid license if you want to run something like Photoshop or MS Office.

Wine is not technically an emulator for the windows operating system, but it is a series of API (application programming interface) calls so that wine can access your base hardware in the same way that windows does. There is no CPU emulation with Wine, like traditional emulators.

Wine myths:

1~wine is slow, because it is an emulator.
2~Wine is bad for Linux
3~You need windows anyways.
4~Wine won't work with my game/software because of copy protection.
5~Wine hurts native Linux apps.

* for the complete list of debunked Wine myths please check out: Debunking Wine Myths from the official Wine web-site.

There is a big stigma surrounding Linux, that Linux is not a good platform for PC gaming. I pose the opposite stance. That if you are not installing Linux on your machine, first of all you are missing out on a ton of really great Free/Independent games. But the chances of your Windows game working on Wine is very probable. Also popular closed source software like adobe or Microsoft software usually run very well on wine.

Here is a list of compatible Wine software:

Wine application dataBase growing every day.

I want to make sure and mention that Wine funds it's development mainly through community donation, and the code-weavers project.

Donate financially to the Wine software project.

code weavers When you purchase code-weavers What you are purchasing is support for Wine, from the developers of Wine. Available for Linux/Mac. Proceeds directly affecting Wine Dev.

If you are a programmer who believes in open-software, and would like to get involved please visit:

WineHQ development FAQ

I hope that I have made you want to take wine for a spin. If you are running Linux I would suggest to install Linux from your distro's repositories && software manager. Although that method makes it very easy, it is usually slightly behind the curve. Mainly because distro's test their software for bugs before letting people download/install it. You could download it directly from WineHQ. Athough that install is slightly more difficult.


notice the 10gb partition(far right)_windows restore(primary) Notice that the extended partition has two sub-partitions.


just click continue if the right time-zone has been selected. It does not matter if the city is correct, only the time zone.