How does it work?

Gnome Pie is triggered by keyboard shortcuts. Then a “pie” appears on the screen. By default there are five kinds of pies. One is a main menu pie which ports your main menu entries to a pie. The others are a media playback pie, a bookmarks pie, a window controller pie, applications pie and a session pie. There is an option to add custom options as well.

Here is gnome-pie in action :

How can I try it !!

You can install gnome pie on Ubuntu by adding a PPA. Run the following to do so:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:simonschneegans/testing
sudo apt-get update sudo
apt-get install gnome-pie

Arch Linux users can install gnome-pie from this AUR package. Others can find the code hosted at Github.

Chrome OS is the first consumer OS designed from the ground up to defend against malware and viruses. The OS provides multiple layers of protection, including sandboxing, data encryption, and verified boot.GOOGLE calls this principle as “ defense in depth”.There is no anti-virus software to buy and maintain.

The built in Wi-Fi and 3G always allows you to stay connected to the web. Teamed up with Verizon Wireless in the U.S. users are provided up to 100MB of data per month for two years.For those who want more an additional 1GB comes just for $20 per month.

The cloud store all your apps and documents which can be accessed from anywhere.Chromebook provides its users with wide range of web apps.There is no need to spend time for the updates as it grows faster and newer with regular updates when turned on.It has got a long battery life and comes at lower cost. The price varies from $380 -$500.

Chromebooks brings us all – speed,security,and simplicity.

An Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is a processing system that includes additional processing capability designed to accelerate one or more types of computations outside of a CPU. This may include a graphics processing unit (GPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or similar specialized processing system. Eg:- Intel HD Graphics, AMD Fusion, Nvidia’s Project Denver.

The Llano series which shipped 6 April, hits India today which AMD’s current flagship APU’s which will be followed by the Bulldozer and Bobcat platforms. The following is brief utility overview of the said upcoming architectures.

The awesome features of the Llano(Fusion) are :-

• Leverages the AMD Radeon™ design DNA for discrete-level graphics in a single-chip PC.
• Extends real-world battery life without compromising the visual experience.
• Systems in the form factors and designs that consumers want, from ultra thin and mainstream notebooks to all-in-one desktop.
• Delivers lower-cost systems that still meet growing demand for high-definition computing capabilities.

AMD’s Llano line of APUs will feature an embedded GPU with the AMD Radeon SKU of HD 6550 which can work in tandem with HD 6570 & HD 6670 in laptops through Hybrid CrossfireX delivering better graphics than even the 2 GB Nvidia Graphic cards shipping with Dell XPS laptops at 60 % the price and 30 % the heat generated and power consumption.

AMD is all set to shove Intel from its dominance in the laptop processor segment with a series of laptops by DELL, Acer, MSI (who have shown great interest) already launched and others set to follow soon. So now would be a good time to wait until July 15 when HP, Toshiba, Lenovo also bring out the Llano powered notebooks. Current models are :-

• Dell Inspiron M102z
• MSI CR 650 & GX 680

The following video shows how the quad core AB – 3510MX Llano APU outstrips the Sandy Bridge based Intel i7 – 2630 QM in image & video processing  and other multi-tasking scenarios which is much costlier than the APU and it does not even have a bundled DX11 discrete GPU.

What is Thunderbolt ?

It is an I/O port technology just like USB or Firewire. It was developed by Intel under the code name Light Peak. It lets you move data to and from peripherals up to 20 times faster than with USB 2.0, more than 12 times faster than with FireWire 800 and TWICE as fast as USB 3.0. Apart from this, with two independent channels, a full 10 Gbps transfer rate will be made available for both input and output !! Also You can run multiple devices from the same port !!

The Thunderbolt port on MacBook Pro

Specs

• Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port.
• Support for multiple connections from same port. (with no loss in performance !!)
• Support for PCI-e and DisplayPort protocols.
• Support for chained devices.
• Uses native protocol software drivers. (So its ready to use on any OS!!)
• Power line for devices to be powered.
• Small Port (goes with thinnest of laptops)
• Electrical or optical cables supported.

And there is more !!

Thunderbolt I/O technology provides native support for Mini DisplayPort displays. It also supports DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI and VGA displays through the use of existing adapters. You can connect your High Defenition display devices using Thunderbolt to your laptop. It would offer low latency and highly accurate time synchronization features.

With Thunderbolt enabled products, video editing and sharing using Intel Quick Sync Video technology is even faster and easier.

Backup and sharing will be really fast. The Thunderbolt site claims that you can transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds and backup 1 year of continuous MP3 playback in just over 10 minutes !!

I’ll wind it up quoting the Apple site,

“One small port. One giant leap in possibilities.”

What Dropbox does is to create configuration files in your Home folder with information about your account. It does not allow multiple account configuration in the same Home folder. Hence what we will do is to run the Dropbox setup from the terminal for which we will set a changed $HOME variable. (smart huh? )

Say X and Y are the Dropbox accounts we need to run it simultaneously on our Linux machine at home.

• So first install Dropbox. Installers can be obtained from the Dropbox website.
• Create folders X_dropbox and Y_dropbox in any location you wish. For this example I assume that the folders are created in Desktop.
• Open a terminal and run the following commands

Source code

export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/Desktop/X_dropbox
dropbox start -i

This will start the Dropbox setup process. Enter the account details of the Dropbox User X. Use typical settings and then a folder called Dropbox will be created inside the folder X_dropbox. This folder is the user X’s synced folder. A Dropbox icon will appear in your GNOME notification area.

• To set up user Y’s account, run the following commands

Source code

export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/Desktop/Y_dropbox
dropbox start -i

This time enter account details of user Y. Again the folder Dropbox inside Y_dropbox acts as the synced folder. Note that an additional Dropbox icon has popped up in the GNOME notification area !!

The next time you reboot, you will have to run the above commands without the “-i” option in second line. So it is better if you write it into a file, make it executable and add it to the start up applications. For this particular example, the file, say automate_dropbox.sh will look like this :

Source code

export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/Desktop/X_dropbox
dropbox start
export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/Desktop/Y_dropbox
dropbox start
export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/

Make this executable using right click > properties > permissions > allow execution or by running the command :

Source code

chmod +x automate_dropbox.sh

Now add it to start up applications from system > preferences > start up applications. Click on add, and give a name and browse to the file automate_dropbox.sh. This will ensure that dropbox starts up, without you typing in any command.

Now you are running multiple Dropbox instances using different accounts simultaneously !! Go on and sync as much as you want !!

Source code

export HOME=/home/$USERNAME/Desktop/X_dropbox
dropbox start -i

A screenshot

Requirements

• USB drive, preferably with capacity more than 1 GB.
• Unetbootin
• A Computer with BIOS that supports booting from USB drives. ( all computers support this unless you have a REALLY old machine – maybe of the vacuum tube era )

Installation

For Linux users, just download the executable form here. Make it executable (Right click > Properties > Permissions > Allow execution). You are ready to go !!

Windows users can download the exe file from here.

Usage

Its a very easy to use tool. Just select the iso file from which to create the live USB. Select your USB device (generally done automatically) and click OK. It now copies the necessary files and informs you when it is ready to reboot !! After usage, you can reset the USB drive by just delting the files inside (No need of formatting) !!

Supported Distros

Unetbootin allows you to create Live USBs of most Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Suse and many more. Be sure to get the latest version of Unetbootin from the site above mentioned.

So go on and seamlessly enjoy the vastness of Linux based Operating Systems !!

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This problem of the clock setting to get reset to incorrect time happens due to the fact that OS X and Linux use GMT time while the Microsoft Windows use the Local Time Zone and that is why Windows is unable to put up the correct time thereby resetting the clock with incorrect time. In fact Apple has got the Boot Camp drivers for the Windows which are responsible for correcting this error but still many users are facing this problem and in addition to that Linux users can’t find a solution and those using Hackintosh are not able to install the Boot Camp drivers.

Well now you need not worry about this problem as in this article I am going to explain you how exactly with a simple tweak you can fix this issue.

1.Click Start->Type “regedit” in the search box->Open the registry editor by clicking on “regedit.exe”.

2.Find this registry key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation”

3. Open the key and right click ->Select new DWORD(32-bit)->Name it as “RealTimeIsUniversal”.

4. Open “RealTimeIsUniversal”->Set the Value “1”->Click OK.

5.Now Restart the system for the changes to take effect.

Now when you will reboot from the Hackintosh, OS X or Linux to Windows it should display the correct time.

NOTE: Always create a Backup Point before you perform any tweak on your system.

Angry Birds running under WINE on Ubuntu 10.10

How to setup ?

• Get a desktop version of angry birds for $4.99 here.
• Install latest wine

To play Angry Birds perfectly well you need latest wine version 1.3.x. So first you have to add the wine ppa to your sources list.

Go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager > Preferences > Repositories > Other Software.

Click the “Add” button and paste ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa in the text box. Click “Add Source”.

Click th “Reload” button and search for wine 1.3 and install the package.

• Now run your Angry Birds installer as you do on Windows. ( Right click on exe file and run with wine ).

So what are you waiting for ?? Declare your allegiance with the Angry Birds and launch your war with the Pigs !!!

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All these junk pieces can be removed manually one by one but it may take time and patience in some cases. I have come across a nice piece of software that is actually useful but will also make this work hassle free.

This software PC Decrapifier will automate the process. Download the software and run it on your system following the given steps and you will be done.

1.Pass the basic welcome, license and warning by clicking on Next.

2.Select the type of computer you are running it on and click on Next.

3.Do not miss the next step avoiding the System Restore point because at any time if things do not work out you have the option of reverting back to the previous settings.

4.Deselect all the unnecessary programs that come up on Startup. They play a role in delaying your log on time.

5.Confirm the changes by clicking on OK.

6.Select all the applications that you want to be uninstalled from your computer and click Next. If you do not know about some application or you have some doubt just go to Google and check it before taking an action.

7.Confirm all your changes by clicking on OK.

Now this application will work on its own cleaning your computer and making it perform better for you by cleaning all the trash. Some further confirmations may arise while uninstalling certain softwares which can be confirmed thereby.

I have actually found two methods out of which one is a manual method. So I will share both the methods with you.

MANUAL

Engineers at Apple are very smart because they have embedded the setting for device backup deep down in the system and thus making it very difficult to alter. For this alteration to happen you will require a high grade XML text editor like Notepad++.

Now follow the following steps:-

1.Close the iTunes and create an iTunes preferences backup file in C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\ called iTunesPrefs.xml

2.Now open “C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iTunesPrefs.xml” in Notepad++ and go to “<key>User Preferences</key>”.

3.Paste the given below code after the “<dict>” node:-

<key>DeviceBackupsDisabled</key>
<data>
dHJ1ZQ==
</data>

Save it and open up iTunes. It will not perform the sync process.

AUTOMATIC

The automatic process is really very simple and for those who don’t like to do the technical stuff.There is a free application available called iPhone /iPod Backup Switch. This application can be used to automatically switch between the backup options.

1.Open the application and run it.

2.Close the iTunes and then disable the backup by clicking on “Disable iPhone Backup in iTunes”.

The problem will be solved.