Why dual-boot? Try Ubuntu flavour inside Windows

Do you know what Ubuntu is? If you know that it is one of the most popular Linux distribution, you might be tempted to give it a try. But then you may not be willing to change your existing operating system for giving it a try. Wished if there was any spare PC to install Ubuntu and check what this OS has to offer, which is so widely talked about on the internet?

If you are among those who are afraid to install Ubuntu on their PC, here’s a way how you can taste Ubuntu on your own PC without having to create a dual-boot or harming the existing Windows, which is infamous for crashing every now and then.

Wubi: The way to Ubuntu

An open source application Wubi allows you to install and taste the Ubuntu flavour on your Windows system. Wubi is an Ubuntu installer for Windows that takes you inside the Linux world with a single click. It allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other application.

Convert your PC into a web server

When I was new to computers and the internet, I used to wonder how websites were available. And once I knew that sites are hosted by web servers, I wanted to have one of my own to host my own site. I thought it would be difficult to have a web server but now i know it’s not that difficult. It’s really easy to have a small web server on your own PC.

What do you need to convert your Windows PC into a web server ?

• Web server application like Apache and Windows Server
• Database server [optional]
• Mail server [optional]
• FTP server [optional]
• Broadband internet

Get a web server application

The web server that’s very popular is Apache. But handling it on your own can be a bit tricky. Instead, we would like to use pre-configured packages which will gives us Apache, My SQL (database server) , a mail server and a FTP server.

NetServer: It is the most easy-to-use server package that I have come across. It’s controls are very indicative and can be easily tweaked to create your own aliases [domain names]. It also has My SQL database server, FileZilla FTP server and a mail server. The only minus point– you won’t get the latest applications as the package has not been improved since years. But this will not be a problem for us.

It does not require installation. Just unzip the package and run the server by clicking the NetServer icon. This works with Windows NT/2000/XP. It should work with Vista as well. [Freeware]

XAMPP: It a more popular server package. But I found it difficult to configure and handle. It is also free and does not require installation. It is available forWindows, Linux and Solaris.

WAMP: It is also a Windows freeware but requires installation.

Now you need to configure the server. I will tell here just about NetServer which I feel is the easiest to handle for enthusiasts like us.

Calm down your DVD drive

[Windows Only] Do you ever get annoyed by the loud noise that your CD/DVD Drive makes? This is because the optical disc in the drive rotates at a very high speed, not at all necessary unless you are transferring data to or from your optical media. If you are working on a laptop, things get even worse because the optical drive is way too close to you and is attached to the entire body. You do not only have to tolerate the loud whirring noise, but also bear with the vibration.

Nero DriveSpeed is one of the solutions to the problem, which lets you control your DVD or CD drive’s read-speed so that you can keep excessive drive noise at bay. After you load a disc into the drive, you can run DriveSpeed in either Silent or Fast modes. If you are watching a movie or listening to some music, you can select the Silent mode for a quite entertainment. If you need to transfer data and files quickly to your hard drive, choose the Fast mode.

Nero DriveSpeed is a freeware for Windows. It works with Windows XP/ Vista/2000 and ME. After installation, DriveSpeed can prompt you whenever you insert a disk and you can choose whether to run in Fast or Silent mode. Nero DriveSpeed is freeware, Windows only, and less than 750KB in size.

Download Nero DriveSpeed

[Via LifeHacker]

Carry your Linux on thumb drive

In the last post, I mentioned how to carry your applications in your USB stick but it would work only for Windows. Linux fans can also take their essential on their thumb drive, rather they can get an entire operating system. They can install a complete Linux distribution on a USB drive. How? Read this post on LifeHacker

Booting Linux from an external drive with the applications and settings of your choice has never been easier after this week’s release of Puppy Linux 3.0. Like Damn Small Linux, Puppy is small enough to fit on a USB thumb drive, and like Knoppix , you can boot it from CD. Puppy can also add your favorite open source applications to the desktop and save multiple user profiles back to your writable CD or thumb drive, too. Let’s take a look at how you can take your operating system, apps, data and user settings to go with Puppy Linux.

What You Can Do with Puppy

The two main uses for Puppy Linux (or any Linux live CD) are to:

• Rescue files from the host PC’s hosed hard drive or perform various maintenance tasks (like imaging that drive)
• Compute on a machine without leaving a trace—like browser history, cookies, documents or any other files—behind on the internal hard drive

While there’s a wide range of Linux live distro’s available, Puppy Linux is a fantastic option which offers a full computing environment with rich graphical apps like the Mozilla Seamonkey suite, Word and Excel equivalents, calendar, chat and photo editors, too.

Carry your PC on a thumb drive

Every day new technologies are coming and with every passing minute our dependence on them is growing. Many people prefer carrying their laptops in their backpacks. If one is not willing to carry that load to places, he can easily get a computer to work almost everywhere. But then there is a problem. You may not always get a computer that meets your requirements.

Thanks to the large amount of memory at our disposal in pen drives, we may not need to carry a laptop place for being able to surf, word-process, read mails and store files the way we want to.

Make full use of your USB stick

Your USB stick can double as a portable computer — that too the slimmest of the world. There are a number of executable applications available for various purposes. These executable applications do not require installation and can be run either from disk or from external storage devices like a USB drive. I prefer executable applications for the ease of using them without making your computer cluttered. This allows me to have any number of applications even if I may use it rarely.

Who should one use portable applications on USB sticks?

• Who are always on the move and need to carry their applications and files along with them.
• Who need to work on several computers, maybe at home or offices, or has to keep using many computers at home and office.
• If the user account is a restricted one, allowing only limited control. In such a case one is not able to install any application of choice.

Where to find portable application to be run from USB?

PortableApps is the best place to look for portable applications. The site also gives you a convenient Portablapps Suite for easily accessing applications on your USB. This suite comes in three versions.

Standard Suite: It comes with several applications pre-installed to get started immediately. It includes ClamWin Portable (antivirus), Mozilla Firefox – Portable Edition (web browser), Gaim Portable (instant messaging), OpenOffice.org Portable (office suite), Sudoku Portable (puzzle game), Mozilla Sunbird – Portable Edition (calendar/task manager) and Mozilla Thunderbird – Portable Edition (email client).Lite Version: It includes AbiWord Portable (word processor) instead of OpenOffice.org Portable. This helps save lot of space on your stick. This should be your pick if you do not need Office Suite and a word-processor is enough for you

Base Edition : It includes just the backbone platform where you can install your own portable applications. This is the one if you want a fully customized version. You can download portable applications from PortableApps and install them on it.

You may also just download the appliations and install them in your USB drive without the PortableApps Suite. This wil, however, require you to go to the folder and click the application icon to start it. You can also install other executable versions of applications like Audacity (Audio Editor), BitDefender (Anti Virus) to run from USB.

Plug-and-play desktop

Now a days, all monitors come with plug and play facility that allows you to use your monitor by simply plugging it to your computer. There is a similar thing that will convert your pen drive or any USB drive into your own plug-and-play computer.

Install MojoPac with desired applications on your pen drive. Now whenever you plug this USB to a computer running Windows XP in an administrative account, you immediately get your own desktop on that computer.

Here onwards you can work as if you were on your own PC. Once done, you can unplug the device without leaving any trace on the host computer. MojoPac can be installed on any USB 2.0 compliant storage device.

Assemble a PC under Rs 25,000

This is what I found while browsing, a PC that remains within Rs 25,000. The price does not include a genuine Windows. You know better what to do, or go for Ubuntu or any other Linux or OS.

Since the last time we did this article, the shift to dual-core processors has been near-complete. Single core processors have become virtually extinct, and with prices of powerful dual-core processors dropping below Rs 3,500, you don’t need to consider anything else.

Another trend is that AMD is being replaced by a series of cheaper Intel C2D budget processors offering very good value for money. Keeping all this in mind, we present to you our latest iteration of the Rs 25,000 machine. As usual, wherever prices/specs have remained unchanged, we have simply carried the products forward.

This is the specification of the PC suggested.

Specification Table

Components	Model	Price (Rupees)
Processor	Intel E2140	2,975
Motherboard	Biostar GF7050V-M7	3,350
RAM	Kingston DDR2 800 MHz	2,200
Sound	Onboard 5.1 Realtek ALC662 audio codec	N/A
LAN	Onboard, 10/100/1000	N/A
Graphics	Onboard Nvidia GeForce 7050	N/A
Optical Drive	Lite-On LH-20A1P	1,275
Hard Disk	Seagate 160 GB	2,275
Monitor	Viewsonic VA1930WM	9,450
Keyboard/Mouse	Microsoft Keyboard and Optical Mouse Set	695
Case	Zebronics Bijli i648 (400W PSU)	1,550
Speakers	Creative SBS 370	1,200
	Total	Rs. 24,970

Read the article on Tech2.0

Internet desktop: Access and share files, music, videos

Okay. I agree that streaming your media right from your PC can work the best only for sharing it with others, and not when you are out, your home being locked and your PC shut. So where do you head to? A no brainer, isn’t it?

The web offers a lot of options to store and share your stuff on the web. Here you will find some of the available options listed in this post.

FanBox (Internet Desktop) (2GB)

FanBox is a web-based desktop. Yup, it’s your own desktop that you get in your web browser, anywhere, anytime. The basic version of this service comes for free and gives you 2GB storage space. The site also offers free upgrade to 5GB for those registering with an educational email id. By default your web-desktop comes with Mozilla Firefox web browser and a word processor. You can also use other applications, but for a fee. If you wish you can use trial versions of various applications available on FanBox desktop. The site also offers social networking option for its users. You can also share your files using this service. This service is available only for windows users.

Access your music, photos, files on your PC from anywhere

Have you ever been listening to your friend’s collection at his home and suddenly wanted to let him listen to your collection? Or wanted to show him pictures of your last college bash, only to find yourself away from your computer? What about turning your computer into a media center capable of streaming music and sharing images. You know the solution — setting up a server that allows you to share files and photos, and stream your media. But even if you are not courageous enough to set up a home server on your system, there’s a solution — use web-based services that allow you to do this without having to set up a web server right on your system.

Now you can convert your computer into a online media sharing center without having to install a web server and setting a domain name for your computer. All that you need is a always-on broadband connection and an application that you can download and use for free.

WeBot (Windows, Linux, Mac)

WeBot is a free web-based solution to sharing photos and music. It allows the user to access and share music and images from anywhere using Internet. You download ehat the site calls a Bot and install it on your system, register and you are ready to go. Just configure your Bot and you have your media center up and running. Just access it from any other system or share it with your friend sitting somewhere else. It is also very secure and personal.

CyberLinkLive (Windows)

Record streaming audio using Audacity

An updated version on using Audacity is available on my current blog Nyutech. It also lists a simple hack that will allow you to overcome the problem of not having a Stereo Mix or Wave Out option. No matter what, you will be able to record streaming audio. Read the updated article.

Have you ever wished if you could save the audio that you listen to on the web? So did I. And to enable myself to capture streaming audio, I first downloaded and installed FreeMusicZilla on my system but the free streaming audio and video capturing software did not sniff any streaming audio on my Windows XP system. Then I installed Orbit Download Manager for capturing audio. Though I found Orbit very useful for downloading large files, I was still not able to capture streaming audio. So, I did uninstall FreeMusicZilla from my system but retained Orbit for enhancing my downloads by allowing me to pause and resume my downloads any later time.

Still I couldn’t capture streaming audio. But with a simple method I was able to capture streaming audio and save it as .mp3 or .wav.

I would suggest you first try Orbit Download Manager to capture streaming audio before trying my method. [I have read on the Internet about both FreeMusicZilla and Orbit that they are really good for capturing streaming audio and video. I don't know why they didn't work on my system. If you know the solution please let me know.]