Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 Released

Ubuntu today released its latest offering namely Ubuntu Karmic Koala version 9.10. Ubuntu Karmic Koala comes with lots of new features.

New Features in Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10

•  Upstart - an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising them while the system is running. 
•  Software Center - a graphical utility for package management in Ubuntu. It replaces the Add/Remove programs tool.
  
•  GNOME version 2.28
• Quickly - An easy way to develop applications for Ubuntu and package them in a deb format.
• Ubuntu Karmic Koala is available in 25 languages.
• Linux kernel 2.6.31
• Ubuntu One - Integrates your Ubuntu machine with the cloud providing you free 2 GB of space to store and synchronize all your data like Tomboy notes, imortant files, contacts et al. More space is available for a nominal price of $10 / month.
  
• Better support for Intel chipsets.
• Ext4 file system by default.
• Grub 2
• Improved and enhanced AppArmor.
  

Of course, Ubuntu 9.10 is not without its share of glitches. Do check out the release notes for the lengthy list of issues that users might face while running this Ubuntu version.

How to download Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10

You can download Ubuntu 9.10 by visiting this page and choosing a mirror closest to your geographical location. You are encouraged to use bittorrent to download the ISO as it will ease the load on the Ubuntu servers.

Abicollab.net - A free web based collaboration service

A collaboration service allows multiple people spread across the world to remotely get  together and edit a single document simultaneously. AbiCollab is one such service. What is interesting about AbiCollab is that it is based around the popular open source wordprocessor Abiword.

Once you create an account in AbiCollab.net, you can create Abiword documents, open existing Abiword documents for collaboration with others, even view the documents right within the web browser. If you have created any documents in Abiword on your computer, you can also upload your Abiword documents to your online account.

I do like Abiword and find it a superior wordprocessor which holds a lot of promise. Visit AbiCollab.net and give this new service a try.

[News via Slashdot]

Yahoo Geocities brings fond memories... Not!

My first web page was in Yahoo Geocities. That was a time when the now ubiquitous server side technologies like PHP had yet to make an appearance. Yahoo was one of the few web hosts who were providing amateur website builders like myself a platform to host our files.

While I did find Geocities very useful to host files, I was always irritated by the protruding Yahoo ads on my website which were ruining my web page design. If you are wondering how my web site looked, then here is a screenshot I saved for nostalgic reasons.

You will be surprised to know that my Geocities website featured Linux resources as well - mostly links to useful resources on the net.

It had been a while since I have visited my very first web page though. To be honest, I had forgotten about my website till this day.

26th October 2009 is the last day stipulated by Yahoo after which, it will delete all the Geocities hosted websites.

It is my take that Yahoo has milked Geocities to make a ton of money through the ads it ran on each of the over a million websites hosted on the Geocities portal. And unlike Google, it hasn't shared even a penny with the webmasters who diligently maintained their sites.

I guess it is time to bid adieu to a portal that has well over, served a useful purpose for millions of people.

Windows 7 Gets a Thumbs Up from Linus Torvalds

Didn't even dream such a day would dawn, did you ? Now here is the father of Linux posing before a Windows 7 stall in Japan with a thumbs up sign.

The story behind the picture

The occasion was a Linux Symposium held in Japan in which Linus Torvalds was an attendee. Microsoft knowing about the Linux Symposium erected a Windows 7 promotion booth right across the venue.

During the break, when Linus Torvalds was dragged to the Windows 7 booth by a few of his buddies, he chose to pose as seen in the picture.

If you are wondering, No! Linus didn't buy a copy of Windows 7.

Source of News : Engadget
Photo Credits : Chris @ Japan Linux Symposium

Google Search will now include Twitter Tweets

Google has reached an agreement with Twitter to include real time tweets from Twitter in Google search results. All the more reason to take tweeting and tweets seriously.

So how is this news relevant to the lay person like you and me ? Twitter is synonymous with real-time updates of data. There are millions of people the world over who are tweeting information each day, which translates to billions of tweets. Now our Google search will also have real time data from people who have tweeted about the same topic. You can get real time information about disasters that have happened in a region, weather, traffic conditions in your area ... the list goes on and on. The basic premise is that someone, somewhere, is tweeting about these topics at any given time which makes this information valuable to the seeker.

This blog also has a twitter account associated with it. I concede, I am a late entrant to the twitter field. However, my twitter account already has 195 followers. You may follow my tweets at twitter.com/aboutlinux if you haven't done so already. It will contain atmost one or two tweets a day on relevant topics. So you won't be inundated with tweets from me.

[Source of news : Google Blog]

Cheat Sheet For Networking Professionals

Free download of a collection of cheet sheets for computer networking professionals. All the cheat sheets are in PDF and are beautifully made. The cheat sheets are segregated into different categories such as -

1. Protocols (BGP,EIGRP, First Hop Redundancy, IEEE 802.11 WLAN, IEEE 802.1X, IPsec, IPv4 Multicast, IPv6, IS-IS, OSPF, Spanning Tree)
2. Applications (tcpdump,Wireshark display filters)
3. Reference (IOS IPv4 Access Lists, IPv4 Subnetting, Common Ports)
4. Syntax (Markdown, MediaWiki)
5. Technologies (Frame Mode MPLS, QoS, VLANs)
6. Miscellaneous (Cisco IOS Versions, Physical terminations)

Courtesy of PacketLife.net

I had put together a small Cheat Sheet for MySQL a couple of years back which helped me in remembering the command line parameters used in manipulating MySQL database.

The idea of a cheat sheet is to help a person keep track of all the essentials of a topic. Thus cheat sheets play an invaluable role in brushing up ones knowledge in the least possible time.

Blogger to Wordpress Migration - Step by Step Tutorial

I often see the Blogger domain of this blog and have a sinking feeling that I am stuck with this blogspot sub-domain. Believe me, there is nothing wrong in running your blog on a blogspot sub domain. There are instances of blogging successes on a blogspot domain too. It is just that with a custom domain and paid hosting, you have more flexibility and control over the various elements that comprise your blog. And for SEO benefits, it is advised to always run your blog on a custom domain - preferably using a blogging software like Wordpress - though Drupal would also make a good fit.

Today, I stumbled upon a very useful article written by Amit Agarwal which explains how to migrate your blog from blogger to paid Wordpress hosting and your own custom domain. What is relevant about this article is, Amit explains how to do the migration without losing any of the visitors to your old blog hosted on blogspot domain.

Check out Amit's article to learn how to do the search engine friendly switch of your blog from Blogger to Wordpress platform without losing any link juice.

How to make your website mobile friendly

Do you run a website or blog ? If yes, how accessible is it on a mobile device ? Now a days, with more and more people browsing the net straight from their mobile devices like cell phones, it is very important to make your website as accessible to this group of users. Google teaches you how.

Steps to make your website mobile friendly

The following are the steps you need to take to make your website easily accessible on cell phones and other mobile devices.

1. Provide an obvious link to the mobile version of your website from the desktop version of your site.
2. Use a conventional "mobile URL" and advertise it. Eg: Gmail uses the m.gmail.com URL to provide the mobile version of Gmail.
3. Your mobile version of website should have a mobile friendly web design and should provide large, actionable, clickable UI elements.
4. Mobile phones can be broadly classified into different categories - depending upon the degree of internet connectivity they support. Design your mobile friendly website for all these categories.
5. Reduce the number of requests and the amount of data transferred.
   
   • Sprite your images using CSS or transfer your images using a data URI scheme.
   • Consolidate all your page's dependencies like CSS code, JavaScript and so on into a single file.
   • Compress your HTML code where ever possible.
   • Eliminate redirects.
   • Transfer data when needed and preload where appropriate.
     
6. Take advantage of new features in HTML.
   
   • Use an application cache for local content storage.
   • Use CSS3 instead of images where ever possible.
   • Plan for the lowest common denominator. For example, Flash is not widely supported by many mobile devices. Dito for JavaScript. So these are best left out from your mobile friendly website design.
     
7. Last but not the least, extensively test your mobile friendly website on multiple devices - which includes, actual devices like iPhone, Windows mobile and mobile simulators like Blackberry simulator, Opera Mini simulator, Android Emulator and so on.
   

[Source : Google]

Sir Tim Berners Lee apologizes for forward slashes in web addresses

Sir Tim Berners Lee - the creator of the World Wide Web (WWW) has apologized for the mandatory forward slashes in web addresses. He says he could easily have deviced web addresses without the forward slashes.

This apology was made in the mist of a light hearted talk with a Times newspaper reporter.

However, Berners Lee need not be unduly worried. Most modern web browsers assume the http:// part and prepend it to an address when a user type a web address.

Web browsers are getting more and more intelligent. For example, if you type a phrase in the address bar of Firefox, chances are it will display the results for the query in your default search engine (usually Google). More over, if it is a well known phrase associated with a particular website, then you may even be taken directly to that website.

[Source : BBC]

Bash Examples - Mistakes to Avoid

A bash script is a text file containing a list of commands to be executed by the bash shell. A long time back, I had written a guide on Bash scripting which teaches you the basic syntax of bash scripts in a mere 10 seconds.

However, while writing bash scripts, you should keep a sharp lookout for any mistakes that may arise in your bash syntax. This is where Greg's wiki comes into the picture. Greg's wiki has a page which lists around 29 bash examples that highlight all the common mistakes that people usually make while writing bash scripts.

Google Wave Explained in Plain English

I was raring to try out Google Wave but havin't received an invite yet. So I did the next best thing which is to scrounge the Net for more info on Google Wave. Thus I chanced upon this wonderfully made video explaining in plain English what Google Wave is all about.

What is Google Wave ?

Simply put, Google Wave, as I have understood, is about removing duplicity in our communication. All the conversation that takes place within Google Wave is one huge wave. There is only one copy of a conversation stored (on a centralized server). And that conversation can be shared amoung countless people, with these people adding bits and pieces here and there to make the conversation grow. You can add not just text but videos, attach files, add voice and pictures, embed maps - all of which merge seamlessly with the wave. There is even a playback feature to help people to keep track of the conversation that is happening.

Some people are calling Google Wave a morph of - Instant Messaging, Email, and Web Conferencing - All rolled into one application.

Excited ?

Then check out the following informative video which explains the Google Wave technology to lay persons like you and me.