LibreOffice vs. OpenOffice, Which one do you prefer?

Apr 172011
 

Microsoft Office is being used by hundreds of thousands and even millions of people per day. However, not everybody can afford it and i’ve always wondered if there was another type of software, maybe a little less expensive or even free.

Well there is and it is called OpenOffice. OpenOffice.org is a free and open source cross-platform office suite, which can read and write MS Office .doc, .xls, and .ppt files. It actually has more to it than that, there is a drawing program, a database, a math equation editor and more. OpenOffice has been in development since 1999 when Sun Microsystems bought the code from a company called Star Division. (StarOffice.) This application was designed as an alternative to MS Office and can do practically everything the same for FREE.

But, then came along LibreOffice after Oracle bought Sun. After Oracle shut down the OpenSolaris project, people got worried that OpenOffice.org was going to be discontinued in the same fashion. Therefore, an organization called “Document Foundation” forked the code from the 3.3 release of OpenOffice and named it LibreOffice. (Ah, the beauty of open source software.) Many of the large Linux distributors are going to include LibreOffice, and even some as the default office application. A few friends of mine have been using LibreOffice and seem to want to stick with it.

So, which one do you prefer and what opinions do you have on it?? Let us know and comment!

Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 2 Ready For Download Name: Natty Narwhal

Apr 152011
 

I love Ubuntu and yes, MWD runs on multiple Ubuntu Web Servers too . To be exact 90% of my application and web servers at home and MWD cloud space are on Ubuntu distribution, and now that Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 2 is out, I can’t wait until my download finishes so I can start testing it with new features they added.

Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 2 Picture

 

I like Ubuntu updates like this one because I don’t have to spend money, I get to play with it before I even consider upgrading from lets say Ubuntu 10.10.Another thing I love about the whole Ubuntu is that I don’t even have to install that operating system in order to test it, all I do is download image file, and run it via CD or if you are bit lazy to burn CD then you can use software like Daemon Tools. Now I do admit that I have to use Windows from time to time  but the only reason is because most applications that I really like are not Linux friendly.  Anyway, back to the topic, right?

So what are the changes with Ubuntu 11.04?

Since Firefox 4 was just released not too long ago, Ubuntu 11.04 Beta 2 snapped it and included Firefox 4 in this distro.

 LibreOffice 3.3.2 has also been included and is a default Office to manage your files like Docs, Spreadsheets etc. Yup just like current Microsoft Office.

Banshee 2.0 is now also a standard music player and Ubuntu integrated it into sound menu.

ShootWell 0.9.1 which helps you organize your photos and do stuff with them.

 

I mean there is lots of things that got changed for example new Linux Kernel 2.6.38 which is a stable version and brings few new functionalities and bug fixes.

So have you heard enough? Well now its time for you to download Ubuntu 11.04 so please visit this link.

Remote from your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch via VNC to any Operating System (+Giveaway)

Apr 042011
 

As a tech guy who has been in tech industry for over a decade now, I am always in  different places doing some sort of web-development and most of my time I spend remoting into my servers whether that is from home or some other place.

Now that technology has advanced, I can remote to my web servers and home pc’s straight from iPad 2 and iPhone 4 which I recently got for birthday (April 1st!). Today I would like to introduce you to one of the best remote applications for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch basically any iDevice that runs on iOS 3+  and that app name is Remoter.

I downloaded bunch of remote apps for my iPad 2 and waisted my money so to say, but with Remoter everything paid it self off.

Remoter (Remoter: Remote Desktop VNC – iTunes Link) application allows you to remote into ANY operating system that has VNC (I use TightVNC) or SSH.

With SSH (I am more of a linux guy) you can do pretty much everything you would do on any linux machine, it gives you all the controls that you could possibly use as you would be upfront of that PC.

Same thing goes with Windows and OS X , as I said above you can remote to any operating system, and use it just like you would use it when you are upfront of that computer.

About the GIVEAWAY:

Since I have been using Remoter for two weeks, I contacted developers and gave great feedback on what amazing application they built, in return I have been given redeem codes that will allow winners to install remoter for free. Current price on remoter is 99c which is cheap considering that other applications run for $10-$20!

To win free redeem code, all you really need to do is tweet this article , and the winner will be chosen randomly. We have 3 codes to giveaway, so your chances to win this are really high. I will chose the winner tomorrow after 5PM (CST)

Some snapshots I took of my demo servers with remoter (there is still stuff to read under pix):

IMG_0009IMG_0010IMG_0011IMG_0012IMG_0013IMG_0014

 

Now that I got your attention, I would like to say that with this tool you can , type, move mouse, right and left click, view it full screen on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Anyway, hope you are going to win this cool remote desktop application , so tweet this and stop by tomorrow, winners will be announced via Twitter (52.000 followers) and in commenting section below.

UPDATE: Winners are @dreamartist @dolton @suhastech

10 Things To Prevent and Not Get Hacked Like Gawker

Dec 132010
 

When I first read about Gawker Media being hacked it was a bit weird to be honest, just because its a network of blogs that bring in thousands of dollars in a month, yet security of theirs was lacking.  You can have best network infrastructure and firewalls all over the place but if you do some stupid common things , you are wasting your money.

I am not saying that MWD is secured, nothing that contains WAN IP address is secured enough for somebody to breach, but there are things you can do to protect your sensitive data or prevent attacker to get any further.

 

1. When it comes to web server I will always argue to have Linux server over Windows just because it’s more secured, harder to hack and you can update things without restarting server.

2. Never use accounts that password is password (duh)

3. Keep your personal information at home not on WWW especially on server that is available to public, if files do need to be shared, make sure they are encrypted and password protected.

3. Change all login passwords at least once every two months but once a month is even better. Use special characters and numbers, never use full words for password like: technology, tarantula etc…

4. If you run WordPress, make sure its updated to the latest version, if you see that update is available, backup your files and database and upgrade it that same day. Don’t wait for more convenient time, do it right away, it takes only 10 minutes to do that all. Use plugins like WordPress Firewall, WP-Secure to prevent script kiddies to hack your WP. If you want to get bit advanced, run database and files backup every day, ftp files to your local hard drive, encrypt the whole file on local hard drive and delete it from the web server.

5. Don’t ever leave password in clear text on your server, this was one of the biggest mistakes by Gawker, they had file on server that contained personal account info and more with clear text passwords.

6. If you run Linux server, never use Root user to run things, create new users with enough permissions to run your web server, apache-tomcat-wordpress-php-mysql. Make sure that sensitive folders can be accessed only from your IP range most likely your ISP (internet service provider) IP will never change the first two octets for example 92.11.x.x  and if they do, they don’t change it very often.

7. All password you create on various websites should be different, get  creative. For example if your usual password is what3v3r use that password and add first letter of website at the beginning or end. So if I go to Gawker.com my password would be Gwhat3v3r or what3verG

8. Never use your email password on other websites, because if your password is same, and that “other” website get’s hacked, hacker most likely is going to try to compromise your email as well with the password you provided.

9. If you have money, use an RSA key for your webserver: RSA key is like addition to your password that changes every 60 seconds.

10. File permission is very crucial , don’t let everyone view your sub folders and files not even Google :)

 

Well those are just 10 things that will keep you safe out of 100+. I could go on and on but for now I think it’s enough. If you have questions, let me know in the comment section below.

How did Windows 7 Phone Sale Go? Not So Good

Nov 102010
 

Michael Cote from Cote Collaborative said “Mondays aren’t great launch days…” which commented as to why Windows 7 Phone sale by T-Mobile did not pass 50.000 units. Let me guess: Friday’s are better?

Latest reports by Apple and Google stated that they sold or activated over 250.000 devices per day, whether that would be Samsung Galaxy Tab, iPad or iPod Touch. Microsoft apparently sold only 40.000 units this past Monday via T-Mobile and I think that is pretty good sale if you ask me. T-Mobile spokesperson concluded that Windows 7 is “already receiving strong interest from our customers right out of the gate.” and let’s face it, Windows 7 Phone is just 1 unit compared to 4 from Apple and 20-30 from Android. So I think that selling 40K Windows 7 Phones in one day is pretty good for a start. The Street added that Microsoft will probably going to reduce the prices for Black Friday Sale and Christmas.

Windows 7 Phone might not outrank Android OS, iOS or RIM but I am confident that it will rank up close.

By the way, can you imagine that I actually said something positive for Microsoft, being Linux user at home and 100% Android owner? :)

FaceTime for Mac is Out You Can Start Downloading Now

Oct 202010
 

Yo! Mac users, now you can connect with your iPhone 4 friends via Facetime, because Facetime is now available on Mac. It is beta version but as simple app as Facetime there really should be no bugs.

We knew that this is going to come out but we were not sure when exactly. Most Mac’s nowadays have webcam so, as I said it was just matter of time when it will launch.

facetime mac vs iphone

Anyway, here is the link where you can download Facetime on your Mac. So tell me folks, do you see the need for Facetime app on your Mac? I personally wish it would be available for PC and Linux too, but I can just dream about that.

VLC for iPhone Review

Oct 162010
 

One of my favorite applications on one of my Linux box is VLC! Now I can use VLC Media Player on my iPhone too! I love the fact that I can play videos in high resolution but then again I wish it had tools like VLC does on my Linux box :(

Thing about VLC player is that you can play almost any file you want and that I guess is best part of it. Currently VLC was only offered on iPad but now its also available on iPhone. To get most out of it I would recommend using it with iPhone 4G because on 3GS is just not working as it should. By the way when you search for VLC on iTunes just make sure you don’t download VLC because that is Very Low Cost app! Make sure you search for VLC Media Player, that’s the right keyword and app.

Thanks to Mark who shot this video review how VLC works on iPhone:

Android Phone Plus Google Equal Amazingly Awesome Gadget

Aug 182010
 

Android is a software platform for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.

Hugo Barra, Google’s director of product management showed its first new feature and that is to send text messages using you Android phones using only your voice. This is a part of Google’s new Voice Action feature in their new version of the Search Application. But wait, this is only one out of twelve applications. You can also listen to the music on the entire web, the ability to call any business that is in Google Search, the driving directions app.

Also, it has the ability to dictate email messages. Google showed this off in a live demo on stage and it works!

Another thing to be loved in Androids phone app is the ability to set an alarm on it by simply speaking. Isn’t it amazing? Another feature is that there’s a “Note to self” feature, it is a vocal reminders that are sent to your email.

I make a summary of what can be the voice actions feature of Androids are:

You can send text messages to your contacts, the ability to call contact and business in Google Search, send email to the contact, a note to self, search the web, listen to your favourite songs on the web, directions and locations.

Apple offers similar voice control features for the iPhone, but it’s extremely limited compared to this. This feature comes pre-installed on the new Droid 2 phones, we’re told. Sadly, this is only available for Android 2.2 and later.

These voice actions are only available in U.S. English for now, but Google promises other languages will be coming shortly.

Firefox (Fennec) for Android Pre-Alpha Version is Out

Apr 282010
 

Until now Fennec (Firefox Browser for Cell Phones, Maemo Linux) was only available for Windows Platform but now you can download it on Android OS too. Sure it’s pre-alpha release which might not be as stable as other default browsers, but at least now we know it’s closer to first Alpha release and possibly beta soon too.

All I can say thanks to developer Vladimir Vladimir Vukićević and his blog post for releasing info on his blog. The only problem I have is that the original package is almost 11MB.

You can download Fennec by going from your mobile phone to http://bit.ly/fennec-android

fennec-n1

Ubuntu Web Server on Cloud Computing, Hosting

Apr 222010
 

Ubuntu Web Server on Cloud Hosting is cheaper and more manageable  vs Dedicated Server Hosting, at least in my opinion from previous experience.

See few years back I had my own managed Dedicated Server. Cost was split with few of my friends because at that time, who could afford paying $400 per month to host few forums and websites? (I am not son of Bill Gates)

It’s 2010 Dedicated Hosting and VPS Hosting got cheaper, you can buy Dedicated Server for roughly $150 per month and VPS starting at $39 per month.

Now, to me that’s still pricey, when you think that, you actually do not fully manage those servers. Sure you get that little CPanel and maybe pay $20-$40 for SSH login.

I looked into Cloud Computing (Hosting) for past umm…6 months and finally back in January decided to quit hosting with ‘Web Hosting Company’ due to their rules. One rule being: If site hits 10% of CPU utilization (That’s about 6.000-15.000 page views per day) they have the right to shut it down or sell you higher package which could cost  around $250-$350, F*** that!

Anyway, my topic was Ubuntu Web Server and Cloud Computing…ah..Yes! I love Linux been Linux user for almost 10 years now. Fast forwarding the story, I bought Cloud Hosting Service which was $10 per month and 1.5c per Hour for fully built server. You can install any kind of Linux Distribution: Red Hat, Ubuntu, CentOS, Suse etc… and Windows Server was 3c per hour.

So basically your monthly cost is $10 for membership, and about $10 for server, that’s $20 to have fully installed server, you manage it, and has no restrictions. Sure there are some rules but nothing like “Web Hosting” Companies have.

If you are interested into this option what I just wrote above, do good research which cloud computing hosting company is right for you. Amazon EC? Rack Space Cloud? Grid? (By the way, I love the fact that there is not thousands of them). Check the Server, Bandwidth and Membership Cost = Total Price. And also if you are just some regular user that don’t know much about webservers, I would suggest you to go back to Web Server Hosting companies and in the mean time learn about Jboss, Apatche, PHP, SQL –MySql.

But if you are still interested and new to web servers etc, my best advice: Install Linux Distro, Install XAMPP (Web Server Software) and pray that it magically works.

Well I just gave you some of the options for cloud hosting you have now days with Web Hosting, but it’s really up to you…how much do you want to spend and also how much skilled you are depends on price too.

Google Chrome is Fast but Still I Can’t Use it for Default Browser

Dec 212009
 

google chrome logo While many people adore Google Chrome and write–speak highly about it, all I can say: It’s fast but needs some things done before I start using it.

Google Chrome is great and fast I must say but if you are like me …someone that loves to multi-task and have few things embedded in Browser to make life easier, than you probably are using Firefox am I right or am I right?

Since Firefox came out with extension and was available on Linux, I never looked back on any other browser but Firefox. I tried many but non of them satisfied me in the way Firefox does. For example: Firebug and ScreenGrab those are my favorite Firefox add-ons . Chrome, IE, Safari does not have it (Ok, Chrome has Firebug Lite). Another thing I miss is security settings or when I close the browser I want all of my cookies and data to be deleted, in Google Chrome I have to do it manually.

I might be just picky like woman choosing the right husband on the first date, but there are just certain things I love about Firefox vs Chrome. Now that Chrome has Extensions I might switch but not as long as it say’s “beta” or does not have some decent extensions.

What’s your thought on Chrome? You like it? You like Chrome more than Firefox? Lets Debate! :)

How to install Google Chrome OS on Mac or PC

Nov 202009
 

loginscreen

Here is quick tutorial on where to download Torrent and How to install Google Chrome OS on Mac or PC.

First download Google Chrome OS Torrent (You will need BitTorrent Client to download it)

Than you need Virtual Box which will allow you to run Google Chrome OS on top of your OS , you can get Virtual Box for Mac PC or Linux OS Here

Once you installed Virtual Box .extract the .bz2 file (I used 7Zip it’s free and fast!) and you will end up with the file called “chromeos-image-999.999.32309.211410-a1.vmdk” attach that file on Virtual Box as Hard Drive and start your VBox.

Some of you might be tech gurus and this quick and dirty tutorial will help you go through the full installation.

For best visual installation for those that aren’t familiar with Virtual Box or how to attach files as Hard Drive, follow this step by step tutorial from our friend Jason at TC.

Here is the link link

Thank you again for visiting and please let us know in the comments below if you encounter any problems and if you like the new Google Chrome OS?

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Screenshots and New Features

Oct 292009
 

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is going to be released tomorrow you can download it via Ubuntu Website. Ubuntu Karmic Koala is Linux distribution operating system that might change your mind about using Windows or Mac anymore. Anyway, I usually order DVD which they say it takes 6-8 weeks for shipping but I never waited longer than 1 week.

Specs and New Features Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala:

  • Faster Boot
  • Improved Sound Control
  • Simpler Add/Remove Programs
  • “Ubuntu One provides an enhanced desktop experience, simplifies backup, synchronisation, and sharing of files with an expanded set of features including Tomboy Notes and contacts synchronisation”
  • Upload easily to your favourite social network or photo-sharing sites inlcuding: Flickr, Facebook, Picassa and many others.
  • Ubuntu One – Gives you 2GB of free online storage and you can share those files with friends etc. Really cool!

Few screenshots to give you an idea what’s new:

Sharing photos, really easy! PS: They forgot Twitpic :(

ubuntu-910-manage-photos

Music and Videos – Share playlists with friends, access last.fm from Rythmboxubuntu-910-music-videos

It’s Not Microsoft office but, OpenOffice v 3.0!

ubuntu-910-office

Talking games? There is more than 400 free games

ubuntu-910-games

NEW!! – Ubuntu One gives you 2GB of online storage for easy file sharing or pay cheap to get more GB’s

ubuntu-910-share-files

Software Center – Now with easy Add/Remove software, must say reminds me of Windows Add/Remove programs but better!!

ubuntu-910-software-center

Well that’s about it, sleep over read bit about Keramic Koala today and start downloading/installing tomorrow!

 

How To Recover Deleted Pictures and Lost Files

Aug 012009
 

photorecI am all platform user Window Mac and Linux(mostly) and from time to time I do have to recover lost files so here is how to recover your pictures and files which you accidentally deleted.

Simply Said: use PhotoRec it’s really one of the best and fastest tools to recover your lost data. I use it on all my pc’s/laptops especially in Linux that is where I accidentally delete some files the most. And best of all it’s FREE!

Best Free DVD Ripping Software For Windows Mac and Linux

Jul 312009
 

Sometimes you just want to start ripping DVD’s but don’t know what software to use for your Mac Windows or Linux. Well let us help you chose some free DVD Decrypter software that is out there.

For Windows : DVD Shrink ( it’s free , fast and does what it suppose to do! Rip DVD’s!)

All Platforms: Hand Brake ( This Free DVD ripping software supports ALL platforms Windows, Mac and Linux!)

For Windows: DVDFab Decrypter

Let us know which one do you like or use.