April 21st, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
The world of Linux distributions is wide and varied. There are distributions like Debian and Red Hat that have been around for years, long enough that other distributions build on top of them (such as Ubuntu, which uses Debian as its base). And then there are even newer distributions, such as elementary OS – the [...]
April 20th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
With devices like the Kindle and Nook becoming more and more popular, there are a wider variety of computer applications available to help create and edit eBooks. One of the simplest to use is called Sigil, and it’s available for Mac, Windows and Linux. But while the Mac and Windows installers do just what you’d [...]
April 19th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Have you ever owned a DVD of your favorite performer in concert? Sometimes you’ll find a great concert DVD that for whatever reason isn’t available as an audio CD. So what are you supposed to do if you want to listen to the music from the concert on an iPod or other portable music player? [...]
April 18th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Since 2007, Microsoft Silverlight has been an option for developers looking to create and present rich content on the Web. It’s used for games, videos, embedded players, and more. Unfortunately for Linux users, there is no official Linux version of Silverlight. However, Novell and others are working on a Linux port, called Moonlight. Moonlight is [...]
March 22nd, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
In this article we talked about ripping and encoding CDs; here, we’ll cover how to make sure those files are properly tagged. We’ll do this using a program called EasyTAG. First, though, what exactly is tagging? ID3 tags are little bits of text stored inside the MP3 file itself. These tags are what make it [...]
March 21st, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
There are many ways to convert a CD to MP3 or other format, many of them as simple as point-and-click. Sometimes, though, there’s nothing quite like getting your hands dirty and using the Terminal. That’s what this article covers: ripping a CD in the Terminal using cdparanoia, and then converting those files to MP3 using [...]
March 20th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
A number of newer Linux applications (GNOME Do and Docky are two examples that quickly come to mind), either don’t work, or are less than optimal without using a compositing-enabled window manager. The best example of a compositing window manager is Compiz. Compiz allows for a great number of 3D effects and animations that add [...]
March 18th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
One of the more popular virtualization options for Linux users is VirtualBox, from Oracle. VirtualBox makes it possible to run other operating systems inside Linux. You can install Windows, other Linux distributions, and even Mac OS X (if your hardware supports it), among others. Prior to VirtualBox 4, there were two editions available. The open [...]
March 15th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Every time you install Linux, you’re given the option to partition your hard drive. This is necessary because – in most cases – Linux needs its own partition to operate. Partitioning a hard drive is basically slicing the hard drive into separate, discreet sections, each of which is viewed by the computer as an individual [...]
March 11th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Ubuntu offers a nice wallpaper slideshow which cycles through outer space images every few hours, but doesn’t provide a way to customize it or create your own. Fortunately, it turns out to be pretty simple. You’ll need to get down and dirty with a little bit of XML creation, but as long as you understand [...]