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Saturday, October 31, 2009



Motorola DROID: A Sleek and Powerful Android Phone

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 09:27 AM PDT

After Motorola Dext (CLIQ), one of the leading handset makers will release another Android-powered phone that is appropriately called the DROID. It is poised to become the most advanced Android device on the market with its high-end specifications and extra features.

The Motorola DROID has a beautiful 3.7 inch multi-touch display (854x480 resolution) which is rather huge when compared to other smartphones, and it has a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard. It runs on Android OS version 2.0 (Eclair) and its processor is similar to that of Palm Pre, which is a Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 with a clock speed of 550MHz. It has a separate PowerVR GPU, 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM.

Other Important Tech Specs:
Storage: 512MB onboard flash memory (expandable through MicroSDHC slot);
Connectivity: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Dual band CDMA2000/EV-DO Rev. A 800 1900 MHz;
Camera: 5.0 megapixel with auto focus and flash;
Power: 1400 mAh Internal rechargeable removable lithium-ion polymer battery;
Other features: digital magnetometer, accelerometer, and proximity sensors;

Web browsing on Motorola DROID

The Motorola DROID is the first Android 2.0 device, and like other excellent competing smartphones it is being advertised as an iPhone-killer. With its sleek look and powerful features, I think it could become as successful as the RAZR and possibly surpass iPhone's popularity. But it will depend on whether or not its OS can really deliver the goods.

Firefox 3.6 Beta Released, Loaded With New Features

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 05:19 AM PDT

Firefox 3.6 "Beta 1" is now available for testers to download. This version utilizes the Gecko 1.9.2 web-rendering engine and contains tons of enhancements for users as well as web developers. If you are using the latest stable version of Firefox and want to know what's in store for you in version 3.6, here is a list of features and improvements of this development release:


* The add-on Personas is now built in allowing the users to change the Firefox themes or appearance with a single click.
* Users will now be alerted if the plugins are out of date to keep them safe.
* Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
* Support for the WOFF font format.
* Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.

For web and add-on developers, support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies are implemented. For more details, see HERE.

If you want to download Firefox 3.6 Beta 1, you can get it HERE. But expect some instability and be aware that at this point most add-ons are still incompatible with this version.

Thursday, October 29, 2009



How To Enable Root (Super) User in Ubuntu

Posted: 29 Oct 2009 07:46 AM PDT

If you are new to Ubuntu and have been using other distros like Fedora or openSUSE before, then you may find it frustrating that when you issue the "su" command it will result to authentication failure.


By default, access to root account password is disabled in Ubuntu for added security measures. But if you really want to enable root (super) user in Ubuntu just like you can on other Linux distributions, you can do it in two ways.

One way it to set a root user password by:

$ sudo passwd root
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully

After this, you will now be able to successfully use the "su" command:

$ su -
Password:
#


You can always disable the root user password through this command:

$ sudo passwd -l root


The second and probably the simplest method of enabling root user in Ubuntu is by executing either of the following:

$ sudo -s

or

$ sudo su -


That's about it. I hope some of you out there will find this simple tip on how to enable the root (super) user in Ubuntu useful.

[HowtoForge] Newsletter 10/29/2009

HowtoForge Newsletter 10/29/2009
================================

New HOWTOs:
===========

* The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.4 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2]
* Preparing An Ubuntu Machine For Upgrade
* How To Enable Networking In Xen Guests On Hetzner's New EQ Servers (Debian Lenny)
* Virtual Hosting With PureFTPd And MySQL (Incl. Quota And Bandwidth Management) On Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)
* Virtual Hosting With Proftpd And MySQL (Incl. Quota) On Ubuntu 9.04
* How To Install Django On Mandriva 2009.1 (Apache2/mod_python)
* Troubleshooting Common DNS Misconfiguration Errors
* Evolving A Database With MySQL

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Perfect Server - CentOS 5.4 x86_64 [ISPConfig 2]
====================================================

This tutorial shows how to set up a CentOS 5.4 server (x86_64) that offers all services needed by ISPs and web hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Dovecot POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc. This tutorial is written for the 64-bit version of CentOS 5.4, but should apply to the 32-bit version with very little modifications as well. In the end you should have a system that works reliably, and if you like you can install the free webhosting control panel ISPConfig (i.e., ISPConfig runs on it out of the box).

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect-server-centos-5.4-x86_64-ispconfig-2


Preparing An Ubuntu Machine For Upgrade
=======================================

The Debian / Ubuntu upgrade mechanism is a wonderful piece of software. When the new release comes out, just follow the instructions given by the update manager and the upgrade will be done almost automatically. Sometimes Ubuntu asks for your help when you made other changes than the upgrade program itself wants to make. This howto gives a few tips on how to make your Ubuntu installation more upgrade-friendly. I tested it on Ubuntu installations, but the mechanisms in this howto should not be different for Debian.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/preparing-an-ubuntu-machine-for-upgrade


How To Enable Networking In Xen Guests On Hetzner's New EQ Servers (Debian Lenny)
=================================================================================

This tutorial shows how you can enable networking in Xen guests (domU) on Hetzner's new EQ servers. With the new EQ servers, you can get up to three additional IPs that are in the same subnet as the server's main IP. The problem is that these additional IPs are bound to the MAC address of the host system (dom0) - Hetzner's routers will dump IP packets if they come from an unknown MAC address. This means we cannot use Xen's bridged mode, but must switch to Xen's routed mode where the host system (dom0) acts as the gateway for the guests.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-enable-networking-in-xen-guests-on-hetzners-new-eq-servers-debian-lenny


Virtual Hosting With PureFTPd And MySQL (Incl. Quota And Bandwidth Management) On Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)
================================================================================================================

This document describes how to install a PureFTPd server that uses virtual users from a MySQL database instead of real system users. This is much more performant and allows to have thousands of ftp users on a single machine. In addition to that I will show the use of quota and upload/download bandwidth limits with this setup. Passwords will be stored encrypted as MD5 strings in the database.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-hosting-with-pureftpd-and-mysql-incl-quota-and-bandwidth-management-on-ubuntu-9.04


Virtual Hosting With Proftpd And MySQL (Incl. Quota) On Ubuntu 9.04
===================================================================

This document describes how to install a Proftpd server that uses virtual users from a MySQL database instead of real system users. This is much more performant and allows to have thousands of ftp users on a single machine. In addition to that I will show the use of quota with this setup.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-hosting-with-proftpd-and-mysql-ubuntu-9.04


How To Install Django On Mandriva 2009.1 (Apache2/mod_python)
=============================================================

This tutorial explains how to install Django on a Mandriva 2009.1 server. Django is a web framework that allows to develop Python web applications quickly with as much automation as possible. I will use it with Apache2 and mod_python in this guide.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-install-django-on-mandriva-2009.1-apache2-mod_python


Troubleshooting Common DNS Misconfiguration Errors
==================================================

DNS (Domain name system) may not be known to most people who use the Internet but it is the real invisible force driving the Internet without which everyone would be seeing numbers and IPs. The whole meaning of domain names exists today just because of DNS.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/troubleshooting-common-dns-misconfiguration-errors


Evolving A Database With MySQL
==============================

This tutorial explains how to "grow" your own database definition in a way that is maintainable, by using so-called "recreate" scripts. These scripts can be used to both create a database from scratch and update an existing database.

You can find the document here:
-------------------------------
http://www.howtoforge.com/node/4833


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

You can now support HowtoForge by becoming a subscriber:

HowtoForge Subscription
=======================

For a monthly fee of 5 EUR or 25 EUR for half a year, you can become a HowtoForge supporter and help us cover our costs (servers, bandwidth, etc.) and support ISPConfig development. In return, you receive the following benefits:

1. Access the whole HowtoForge web site without any ads.
2. Download the results of our tutorials as VMware images (where available) (a list of downloadable VMware images is available here: http://www.howtoforge.com/list-of-downloadable-vmware-images).
3. Download our tutorials as PDF files.
4. View our tutorials as printer-friendly pages.
5. You will be marked as a "HowtoForge Supporter" in your forum posts.

If you have the free VMware Server or Player installed, you can import our VMware images and start playing around with the results of our tutorials immediately. It's a great way to track down problems with your own setup or simply to save time. ;-)

More details can be found on http://www.howtoforge.com/subscription.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Best Regards,

Your HowtoForge Team
Email: info@howtoforge.com
URL: http://www.howtoforge.com

To unsubscribe or update your records, click here: http://newsletter.howtoforge.com/howtoforge/user/update.php?email=matrixunix.ubuntu@blogger.com&code=d8531959c7da2982ec3a7f8f82a13961

Tuesday, October 27, 2009



Top 10 Firefox Themes (Skins) for Halloween

Posted: 27 Oct 2009 04:21 AM PDT

Halloween is just around the corner so you may want to pimp your desktop a bit to suit the occasion. A good way would be to change the look of your Firefox web browser to make it a little bit spooky. That can be easily done by first installing the Firefox add-on called Personas, and then choosing or wearing the skin that you like.

Currently, there are about 90 themes available but we will get to that later on. In the meantime, here are my top 10 favorite Firefox Personas Halloween themes that you should check out first:


Halloween Cuties

Get it HERE


Spooky Halloween Tree

Get it HERE


Halloween Haunt

Get it HERE


Spooky Delights

Get it HERE


Halloween Silhouettes

Get it HERE


Halloween Smileys

Get it HERE


Halloween Glow

Get it HERE


Autumn Wind

Get it HERE


All Hallows Eve


Get it HERE


Halloween Foxkeh

Get it HERE


The full gallery of Firefox Halloween themes can be found HERE.

On a related note, I've been looking for some Google Chrome themes for Halloween but sad to say I can't find any.

On another related note, you can also check out our collection of scary tux icons that you may like.

Monday, October 26, 2009



Weekly Ten (10-26-2009)

Posted: 26 Oct 2009 12:04 AM PDT

10 Latest News, Blogs, Tips, and Reviews that I find Interesting and Useful:


1. Billionaire Aids Charity That Aided Him
Thirty years ago today, Sergey Brin, a 6-year-old Soviet boy facing an uncertain future, arrived in the United States with the help of the society.
More @ NYTimes.com

2. White House opens Web site programming to public
The online-savvy administration on Saturday switched to open-source code for http://www.whitehouse.gov - meaning the programming language is written in public view, available for public use and able for people to edit.
More @ Physorg

3. Darl Is Out, Farewell Master Gamer
Darl McBride, to the glee of many, is out of a job. I think this signals the real end of all The SCO Group litigation, because I think Mr. McBride was hired specifically to litigate rather than run a software company.
More @ LinuxToday

4. Ps3 laptop courtesy of Ben Heck

More @ HackaDay

5. Hasta la Vista, baby: Ars reviews Windows 7
With much fanfare and even a few parties, Windows 7 has arrived. In this extensive review, Peter Bright dives deep into Microsoft's new OS offering to see what's new, what's still the same, and whether it's worth upgrading.
More @ ArsTechnica

6. Facebook Makeover: The Good, the Bad, and the Backlash
Facebook gave its homepage a makeover ...again. Last Friday the social networking site quietly rolled out some fairly significant changes to the way information is displayed on your homepage.
More @ PCWorld

7. Apple shuts down ZFS open source project
Apple's efforts to support the development of ZFS, an advanced file system originally created by Sun, were officially terminated today in a notice posted by MacOS Forge.
More @ AppleInsider

8. Pentax's limited edition Korejanai K-x DSLR reminds us of Harlequin VW Golf

More @ Engadget

9. Inside the Nobel Prize: How a CCD Works
This year's Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded, with the inventors of the CCD getting recognition for the invention which enabled modern digital photography. It has taken a while: Whilst the invention took just one hour, the prize took 40 years to arrive.
More @ Wired

10. 15 Bogeymen From Around The World
The bogeyman is a legendary ghost-like monster. The bogeyman has no specific appearance and conceptions of the monster can vary drastically even from household to household within the same community; in many cases he simply has no set appearance in the mind of a child, but is just an amorphous embodiment of terror.
More @ Listverse