Pidgin is one of those neat/slick/awesome applications for all those Linux fans out there. It supports almost all the popular chat applications including Yahoo! and AIM. You can also send/receive free text messages. Let me show you how to use Tweet using this wonderful app in Ubuntu.

A plugin called mircroblog-purple will help you Tweet via your Pidgin and with easy.  Here’s how you install the plugin:

1. Based on what your Ubuntu version, you will have to add these software repositories:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/sugree/ppa/ubuntu *version* main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/sugree/ppa/ubuntu *version* main

where your Ubuntu version can be hardy/intrepid/jaunty.

2. Add your software sources by launching synaptic package manager and then goto  Settings > Repositories > Third Party Software. Close the Synaptic Package Manager.

3. Open a terminal and enter the following command:

sudo apt-key adv –recv-keys –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0CF459B8DF37ED8B

This gets your import key for the plugin. Then update it by entering:

sudo apt-get update

4. After installation, open Pidgin. Goto Tools > Plugin. Check Twitgin.

5. Next open ‘Manage Accounts’, select TwitterIM from the Protocol drop down menu.

6. Enter your Twitter username and password. Thats it!

Try these commands to get instant tweets: /replies for all the replies aimed at your tweet and /refresh for new tweets.

The other day one of my friends forgot his Windows Admin password and was as usual panicking and acting like the whole world had come to an end. And how do I get it back? By neatly showing off my expertise in Ubuntu which I used to get back the Windows Administrator Password.

Note: You will be needing an Ubuntu Live CD.

Here’s how you get started with the *cough* hacking the Windows Administrator password:

1. First, insert in your Ubuntu Live CD or load it. There’s no need for installing.

2. Navigate to the desktop. Next, install chntpw.

$ sudo apt-get install chntpw

3. Now, we have to access the Windows NTFS partition by mounting it and allowing read/write support. We need to install NTFS config from the Ubuntu Repository. Get it from here.

4. Next install the NTFS config,

sudo apt-get install ntfs-config

5. After installation, goto Applications > System Tools > NTFS Config.

6. Enter the root password when prompted to.

7. It will show the partitions that are configurable. Select the partition and enter the mount point as Windows. Not it should show /media/windows partition. Click Apply.

8. Select the NTFS write support of the internal/external device. External if you are using an external hard drive.

9. Now you should see an ‘Windows’ mount point on your desktop. Double click and you can see the mount point.

10. For now, double click the Windows folder and goto System32 > Config.

11. Inside the Config directory, give the following command:

$ sudo chntpw SAM

12. Next it will now ask to reset your password. Its better if you leave the field empty except with a ‘*’ (asterix).

13. Thats it. Restart your system and now you should be able to get into Windows.

Even though, Palm Pre has done that well as the RIM’s Blackberry, it is in a league of its own. Since RIM’s Magnum hasn’t revealed itself yet, Palm Pre is the only one with a QWERTY keyboard. Therefore, for now it has the edge over Blackberry atleast in technology.

Here are some Palm Pre Tricks and Tips that might make your time with Pre a lot better. And oh yeah, this might also improve your tapping skills:

Mute Ringtone When Call – You can mute the ringtone when someone’s calling by tapping the Power button once.

Airplane Mode – Holding the Power button for five seconds will prompt you to select Turn Off/Airplane mode. Choose Airplane mode. While in this mode, you will not be able to place calls but you can still use the Wi-Fi.

Sleep Mode – Tapping the Power button once will put your Pre into the sleep mode. Tap again to wake it up!

Forward Incoming Calls to Voicemail: If you want to re-direct a phone call to a Voice mail, just double tap the Power button in quick succession.

Copy Selected Text – You can copy selected text by tapping the upper left corner menu of the Pre. Next, click Edit.  And then choose copy. The selected text will now be copied to the Palm Pre clipboard.

Paste The Text Copied – After copying the text, goto the place where you want to paste your text. Tap the display’s upper left corner menu. Choose Edit and click Paste.

Switching between Applications – Launch Screen & Lock that is found on the Launcher Screens. In Advanced Gestures, Slide the Switch Applications from off to on.  Next time you want to switch applications, slide your thumb over the whole Pre gesture area to goto the previous active application. Or right for the next active app.

Setting Speed Dial – Navigate to the contact apps. Then tap the upper left corner menu of your display. Tap Set Speed Dial. Your Pre will now display all the numbers available for the speed dial. Next, it will display the keyboard keys available for it. Hold these when you want to make a quick contact.

Resetting Your Pre – Sometimes your Pre apps and other programs  might slow down or start lagging. Its time to soft reset your phone. Press the Pre’s power button and flick the Ringer switch back and forth 4 times. The shut down menu appears and after that the device will reboot on its own.

Add Web Pages To Launcher – You can add web pages to your Pre Launcher screen. While surfing the page, tap the upper left menu of the screen till you see a Menu and then select Page. Next click Add to Launcher and you should now be able to see the page on your Launcher.

Capture Screenshots – This can be done by pressing Orange key, SYM and the P key. The screenshot will be available under the Pictures icon and under the screencaptures heading.

Hope you liked these tips/tricks for the Palm Pre. If you got some really good ones of your own, feel free to share it here.

Love Bitorrent ? But all those stupid ads, popups and clutter everywhere on most torrent sites makes you think otherwise. Nerrot is a new BitTorrent site that seems to the cleanest and simplest torrent websites we’ve ever seen. Its so simple that only thing you got to do is login to the homepage(by the way that’s the only page as it seems) and type the most accurate search you can come up with and sumbit. Nerrot will search for the closest match while looking for the highest ratio of seeders and then automatically it will download the best determined file for your search.

Nerrot seems to a surprisingly simple yet still a little too new for usual BitTorrent users. As usually before we download any torrents we check the comments and see for ourself the best possible quality. But really if u don’t care about all this clutter and nonsense that comes with torrent sites Nerrot is the way to go.

Nerrot

I have never seen an iPhone be able to synchronize with Linux and this one takes the cake. Our friend at gHacks has finally figured out a way to sync your iPhone/iTouch with Linux. But only music for now.

The sync was performed on a Ubuntu 9.10 desktop Box, so I suggest you rather adjust according to that. Lets get started.

1. Add a repository to your apt resources by entering the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pmcenery/ppa

2. Once its updated, give in the following command:

sudo apt-get install gvfs gvfs-backends gvfs-bin gvfs-fuse libgvfscommon0 ifuse libgpod-dev libgpod-common libiphone-utils libiphone0 python-iphone libplist++1 libplist-utils python-plist libusb-1.0-0 libusb-1.0-0-dev libusbmuxd1 usbmuxd

3. That process might take some time. Next, edit the fuse.conf file. First open etc/gvfs.conf. Change the #user_allow_other to user_allow_other and save the file.

4. Now add the user to the fuse group. Navigate to the User and Group Entry in Administration menu under the System menu. Click the Key button to get the tools for the administrative purposes. Click Manage groups and find fuse group. Double click it. Check the user you want to include and then close all the windows.

5. Log out of your desktop and login back again. Plug in your iPhone. Two devices will be recognized i.e a) camera b) phone. If this happens, you are nearly done.

6. Installing Gtkpod: Enter the following command.

sudo apt-get install gtkpod

7. Next, in the Applications menu, you will find the Gtkpod in the Sound & Video sub menu. Execute the app.

8. Configuring Gtkpod: Click the Edit menu. You will now be able to see a Repository/iPod Option.

9. Find out where the device is mounted. The mount point will be in ~/.gvfs/ and will be under the name of your device. Next, open a terminal and change it to that directory to find its name. Here, in the above picture, it’s ~/.gvfs/Jack Wallen. Enter the name in the iPod Mountpoint config section.

10. Next select your iPhone model from the drop down menu. Double check what you have selected. Click Add. Close the previous window by clicking OK.

11. Back to Gtkpod. Click the Load iPod button and your iPhone should now be displayed. Now add music flawlessly and be sure to click Save Changes.

Via gHacks [Image Courtesy: gHacks]

I find it very annoying when my friends come over my place to hang out and meticulously checks up my files and folders especially the photo albums and other stuffs . I hate it really especially when they copy all my music and movies without even asking me once. I’m sure even you guys have the same problem of sneaky friends and parents.

No Drives Manager is a simple tool that removes drives from the Windows Explorer so that casual users won’t see them and prey your private data’s. Thou the drive is still technically visible through your command line or run dialogue its still inaccessible to most non intrusive users. But believe me most of the people using this application would be guys who keep huge stash of porn or other NSW stuffs. Yet we still found one interesting feature, say you got a multiple-cardreader on your computer, depending on the hardware Windows will randomly assign each slot- one for SD Card, one for MicroSD. What NoDrives Manager does is, it helps declutter Windows Explorer so that only the drives that you really want to use shows up.

NoDrives Manager is freeware, Windows only.

NoDrives Manager

Windows 7 is probably Microsoft stablest OS in recent years but you never know when disasters strike. One of the coolest new feature Windows7 lets you create a System Repair Disc that can be use to boot up and recover your malfunctioned OS. Here’s how you can.

Creating System Repair Disc

Type system repair into the search box in the Start menu and click on Create a System Repair Disc.

Make sure you have a blank CD in your Drive. A dialog box should appear letting you selecting your drive, now click Create disc. A CD will take upto 142MB of space.

How to use the Disc

Now if for some reason if your OS become unbootable, all you got to do is insert the recovery disc in your drive and boot from it and enter into Windows Setup [EMS Enabled].

After it boots up you can access recovery options like Startup Repair, System Restore, System Image Recovery.

All you got to do is select the appropriate recovery option and your system should be back to normal.

Make sure you have a System Repair Disc as you never know when Operating System disaster occurs.

Okay, its like Linux and Windows. Its like Ferrari and Suzuki. Its like Water and a Strawberry milkshake. Alright, I stop. But Google Android is here and here to stay. Anything Google, you can immediately relate it to speed and simplicity. This is Google’s answer to Apple’s app-o-holic handsets.

Lets make you a pro at using Android. And you will discover that it was good decision to buy this stuff anyway.

Silence Your Email Notification Sound - You don’t have to put up with that annoying noise everytime you get a mail. Head over to Gmail’s settings menu and set the ringtone to silent. Other applications can be configured in a similar way.

Use a File Manager – It is best to use a file manager for phones with huge memory space. An application like Astro will help you browse through the data of your Android phone and carry out other file operations just like you would do on a computer.

Keyboard Shortcuts – Its best to use keyboard shortcuts wherever possible. Just Google search Android keyboard shortcuts to make yourself at home and increase speed with your use of the Android.

Pop Ups – It occurs anywhere and everywhere. If you want to make a pop up message disappear, just hold it and drag it down to remove it.

Google Voice – Install Google Voice and register. This will let you have a number of addon options with the normal ones.

Free Talk Time – An app like Fring, will let you make calls over Google Talk or Skype and that too for free.

Use MP3 As Ringtones – By default, MP3 aren’t available on the selection list for ringtones. For this, create a folder name Ringtones and shift all your songs over to the same folder. Your songs must be available now in the selection list of ringtones.

Alternate Browsers – There are other browsers than the inbuilt ones on the Android like the Dolphin Browser. These browsers offer tabbed browsing and other awesome stuff.

Backup Your Data – using the app MyBackup which saves everything from A to Z on your Android phone with no problem.

Music Junkie – If you are the music junkie, an app like TuneWiki will be really handy. It finds you lyrics of the current song and also lets you listen to internet radio.

Cut, Copy And Paste – Unlike Apple’s fussy cut, copy and what nots to do, here you just keep pressing on any text. In a browser, select Menu and then Select text.

Music Manger – If you got a lot of music, you can manage it by using Double Twist, a handy software. It also lets you import iTunes playlists.

Import Bookmarks – Import important links and pages from your PC to your Android Phone by using an app like MyBookmarks.

RingDroid – This is a handy app that lets you cut a certain part of a song and lets you keep it as a ringtone.

Track your Phone – Mobile Defense is an app that lets you keep track of your phone via the PC on GPS and then wipe off important data.

Photo Editing – Adobe is an expert at this stuff. Download Photoshop.com app to edit photos. Its free and compact too.

Return Policy – If you have purchased an Android Application and you certainly don’t like it, you can always return and get the full refund within 24 hours of purchase.

Firefox might be the coolest browser considering the amount of extensions it supports that give its additional capabilities, but we have a new kid in town. Google Chrome is setting eyes on becoming the best browser and with the launch of the Chrome Extension Gallery we can affirm their bet. One of the coolest extension we dearly missed out while Chrome was in its dev stage was Adblock Plus, but the wait is over.

Adthwart is a Google Chrome Extension that blocks intrusive ads using EasyList filter. Using some of the code from Adblock Plus it manages to do well considering Chrome extensions coding is still limited in functionality. Just head over to Adthwarts extension page and install it, ads in Chrome will be history now.

Adthwart Chrome Extension

Have you ever forgot your Google account password yet you can sign in and out of your Google Talk, Desktop Search because you configured it automatically to login on start. Here’s something that might just be the help you need. GooglePasswordDecryptor is a powerful application that can decrypt passwords from popular Google desktop applications in Windows. Most of us don’t know that Google uses a special algorithm to encrypt saved passwords on files so that users don’t need to enter the password over and over again.

GooglePasswordDecryptor simply reveals the saved passwords after decrypting in a simple list view. The supported apps include Google Talk, Picasa, Desktop Search, Gmail Notifier and Chorome. It can also decrypted stored passwords of Google in Internet Explorer. A pretty useful application for anybody who is having troubles logging into there Google accounts. But if someone gets hold of your computer, consider yourself doomed.

All you got to do is start the application and hit Start Recovery. Google Password Decryptor will automatically show Google account names with passwords in the window.

Its very startling how easy it can it be for somebody to recover your passwords and wreck your life. So its very important that you make sure to lock down your computer when not in use.

Download GooglePasswordDecryptor