The Beagle indexing tool takes searching your computer to another level. Beagle uses background indexing so searching is updated in real time and as files are created. Even email is indexed upon arrival, IM chats are indexed as they occur, and web pages are indexed as they load. Beagle not only searches the text of [...]

Torrents are a regular part of a geeks life. Whether it is downloading ISO images, your favorite non-licensed anime, or large-scale backups, torrents are a simple way to manage massive downloads. But how do you manage torrents in Linux? There are a number of possible clients, some command-line and some full-on graphical clients. The torrent [...]

The post Using Cron to Automate Linux Tasks by Jack got me thinking that some users might be interested in a practical example. The following tutorial will explain how to setup a small script to backup MySQL databases on a Linux server which will be run daily using a cron job. The best way to [...]

Linux is one of the most flexible and useful operating systems available. One of the tools that places Linux at the top of the flexibility and usability scale is cron. The cron system allows you to automate tasks without the aid of third party software. But because few know how to use cron, it seems [...]

Windows Vista comes with its own partitioning software that can be used to partition the connected hard drives. It can be accessed by clicking on Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. This opens a new window with the entry Disk Management under the storage entry in the left panel. The tool will display [...]

Defragment seems to make more problems in Windows Vista than it did in Windows XP. A recent test on a Toshiba notebook running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 revealed that a click on the defragment button would do nothing at all. This is apparently caused by third party disk defragmentation software programs that somehow hijack [...]

You just downloaded the newest version of your favorite Linux distribution but you remembered the first time you did it you were in Windows where you had Nero (or some similar application) to help you burn the ISO image onto a CD or DVD. Now you’re in Linux…what do you do? Simple. You turn to [...]

It might take some years from now on before most new computers will be shipped with Solid State Drives instead of conventional platter driven hard drives but the change is inevitable. SSDs of the current generation already achieve top read speeds but usually lack behind in write speeds. There are however a few tips on [...]

If you do much desktop publishing or graphics work in Linux than you might be at a place where you are struggling to get fonts installed. Well never fear – it’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds. In fact, installing fonts in Linux is quite easy. Of course the easiest means to installing fonts [...]

After only a couple of articles about The GIMP it is clear there are many users that are still unhappy with the interface. With that in mind I thought I would help users see how simple it is to clean up the interface to make usage even easier. One of the easiest ways to simplify [...]

For many people, the biggest hurdle to using The GIMP is the user interface. When The GIMP began it started out with a very different UI than any other application. That UI was sustained, pretty much as-is, until The GIMP 2.6. With the adoption of 2.6 the user interface took a turn towards being more [...]

Document scanning can be done with digital cameras. The process is very similar to scanning documents with a scanner. Instead of using a scanner that is connected to the computer to scan the document a picture of the document is taken and uploaded to the computer. The result is the same: A document in electronic [...]

If you do much work at the Linux command line then you know the bash prompt can offer you a lot of information. But by default the prompt itself isn’t too useful.  What you might not know is that you can customize the bash prompt in many ways. From configuring colors to the information bash [...]

Open windows in the Windows Taskbar are always starting on the left side if the taskbar itself is located at the top or bottom of the computer screen. Each window in the Taskbar has a maximum and minimum size. A few open windows usually means that part of the Windows Taskbar is not displaying anything [...]

I bet you didn’t know that you could change the placement of your Enlightenment titlebars. Although not necessarily pracitical, it does make for some impressive desktops, and it allows you to quickly differentiate between windows. Say, for example you have aterm and rxvt both open and are using one for admin work and one for [...]

Some would say the fact that Linux can even communicate with an iPod is remarkable. And the way Apple keeps everything secreted away, I could easily buy that sentiment where it not for an intimate understanding of the resolve of the typical developer. Although not open source, Floola typifies this resolve, and then some. At [...]

If you do any collaborative work you know how difficult some collaboration tools can be. With both MS Office and OpenOffice you can collaborate with notes and track changes. But what about collaborating in real time? What if you are wanting to quickly collaborate on a simple text document with multiple editors? Fortunately there is [...]

If you have played around with the Enlightenment window manager you know it is, for such a lightweight window manager, pretty impressive. But if you’ve not enabled compositing, you have yet to see how much you can do with transparency. Although compositing in Enlightenment will require the necessary hardware (a video card capable of using [...]

If you are using a distribution that now ships with KDE 4 you might notice the desktop is less than user-friendly. From the main menu to the panel, KDE 4 has a way to go before it fits the bill for every-day production use. But there are ways to make your KDE 4 desktop much [...]

I like my tools to be efficient. Part of efficiency is opening quickly, not sucking up all of my systems’ resources, and saving in various formats. When considering office needs one of the first tools that pops into my mind is word processing. Naturally the masses will first turn to either MS Office or OpenOffice. [...]

The specified port is unknown was the error message during the installation of a new shiny HP OfficeJet K5400n printer. The installation itself went smoothly until the installer requested to connect the USB cable to the computer. It was able to identify the HP printer but quit the installation shortly after with the specified port [...]

Observant computer users might discover the process googleupdate.exe running on their computer system after installing a software product by Google. This can be the new Google Chrome web browser, Google Picasa or many other Google products that are installed locally. The process googleupdate.exe will run automatically in the background and check Google servers frequently for [...]

Steam is the Internet gaming platform created by Valve software. Users can purchase games online, download and play them right away. It is becoming increasingly popular because it provides a solid copy protection mechanism that is integrated into the Steam platform. It is not that bad for customers either because Steam games usually do not [...]

In my recent article I illustrated how to connect your iPod to the Linux application gtkpod. Gtkpod is fairly straightforward, but there can be issues. One of the issues is playback of files. And what good is a multimedia application if it can not play back the files it manages?  Configuring gtkpod is actually quite [...]

You’re new to Linux. You have managed to figure your way around the desktop and you have become accustomed to the application installation process. Now it’s time to go about day to day business of using your newfound obsession. Of course one of the first issues you might come across is that of application abundance. [...]

If you’re like me you wind up using the command line a LOT. And when I am in the command line I prefer to at least enjoy the experience. To help add a little joy to this experience I use Aterm. Aterm is the termain emulator that was developed for the AfterStep window manager. That [...]

One of more frustrating aspects of some modern Linux distributions is that they do not ship with mp3 support rolled in. This is, by design, done because of licensing issues. And granted using the ogg format is a much better solution in the end (as well as a much better sounding format) but for those [...]

If you have used Fedora in the past you might be well aquainted with rpm (Red Hat Package Manager).  But if you have taken a gander at Fedora Core 10 you might have noticed a new sheriff in town. That sherrif? GNOME PackageKit (gpk-application). GPK makes package management a very simple task.

You have finally managed to get Ubuntu installed and you are up and running. And even though there are tons of new and exciting pieces of software on your hard drive, you still long for more. Never fear, installing applications in Ubuntu is as simple as it gets. As with everything Linux, there are multiple [...]

With the popularity of mp3 players, and the frustrations of using DRM-crippled music, it is always nice to be able to rip your own mp3 files. There are plenty of Linux tools to handle this task. But what about the mp3 collection that you want to burn onto a playable CD? Although there are many [...]

Connecting to wireless networks in Linux has, for a long time, been a nightmare. Until recently wireless was often a deal breaker in Linux (especially with laptops.) But things have changed. Now more cards than ever are supported as well as more protocols. And with the GNOME Network Manager Applet, connecting to a wireless network [...]

There are so many reasons why having a Linux distribution on a usb drive can come in handy. Fram having a “rescue” OS on your keyring to being able to install a new distribution on your EeePC, a “thumb drive” Linux has many uses. But getting Linux onto a usb drive can’t be simple. Right? [...]

Over the  years I have used countless Linux desktops and window managers. But no matter how amazing a desktop (read: Compiz-Fusion) I always seem to wind up going straight back to Enlightenment. Enlightenment is one of those window managers that has a very small footprint yet offers enough eye candy to impress. But the appeal [...]

I have had a number of requests for a step by step walk through of a Linux installation. I thought this would be a great way to illustrate how simple installing Linux is. I have chosen Ubuntu because it is a good example of how far the Linux installation process has come. This installation will [...]

GnuPG allows you to encrypt data so only the intended recipient, with a key and a password, can decrypt it. It also provides a mechanism for verifying data is from the person who has claimed to send it. GnuPG can also provide a way for you to securely prevent your files from being opened without [...]

YouTube isn’t just for watching videos. A lot of times you can find great music in the form of old songs that aren’t available anywhere else online. Or you come across a fascinating audio track and get tempted to use it elsewhere. Extracting audio from a YouTube video usually requires you to download the video [...]

As I read my feeds each day I see a whole lot of great little tech tips coming through, and often I want to share them, but that would mean either stretching a whole post out for just one little tip and that’s pretty lame. So I decided something along the lines of what Martin [...]

I got a call from a friend sometime back, frantically asking me if I knew anyone who could create a movie trailer for her. It was part of an assignment that was due in a couple of days. I figured the average video store MIGHT do it but they would probably charge a bomb. I [...]

All of us have had to take drawing classes at some point in our lives. At school, you would have had to deal with messy paints and a teacher who shook her head in dismay at your artwork. And that’s not counting the sniggers from fellow classmates. Yes, I am speaking from personal experience. It’s [...]

I never liked taking my original CDs, or any CDs at all for that matter, with me on a roadtrip or on holidays. CDs are fragile and tend to break pretty quickly, especially if kids are around. If they don’t break them they usually scratch the CDs into oblivion. I began to create backups of my CDs and take them with me on those trips which solved one problem. I still did not like carrying around dozens of CDs and decided to convert them into digital media and put them on my mp3 player instead.

Almost everyone has used PowerPoint for presentations at some time or the other. Even if you’ve moved on to apps at GoogleDocs or the Zoho suite, PowerPoint is still a handy tool to use. Most of the time, you’re limited to basic slides with bullet points and a couple of images or tables thrown in. [...]

Extracting multiple independent rar files did take some time in the past until I found out how to do this with just a few clicks of the mouse. The rar files should be in the same directory for this method. Just mark all rar files, right-click the marked area and select to uninstall all files in this location.