Lock Your PC with a USB flash drive to Stop Others From Using it in Your Absence

WinLockr isa great tool that allows us to lock our computer just insert your USB flash drive. This is useful for those who do not like that we use the computer when we are absent or downloading something.

Its use is very simple and Acon block insert the USB, so if you do not enter the password can unlock the computer.

Link: WinLockr

Your files on Linux from Windows with Disk Internals Linux Reader

If you are a fan of Linux but you have not been able to take off from Windows, you may have noticed that it is not possible to access files on your Linux partition from your Windows partition, this application is for those who manage the two systems and has gray out not having access to information stored on Linux without being in it.

Disk Internals Linux Reader is designed

Basenji 0.8 (Tool To Index Your CDs/DVDs, USB Devices And Network Drives), Released

Basenji is a cross-platform tool you can use to index your CDs/DVDs and USB devices so you can later search the database without having plug the media into your computer.

Basenji is very useful for those with large movies / music collections but not only. You can also use it to easily search some backups you store on removable media or your photos, etc.

Basenji features:

• Audio CD Support
• Metadata Extraction (image dimensions or MP3 tags)
• Thumbnails
• Optional daemon that automatically scans a device you plug in and adds it to the Basenji database

Basenji 0.8 was released yesterday, getting lots of useful features. These were already available (some were already there for quite a long time actually) in the Basenji daily PPA - such as the daemon that automatically scans inserted drives, but these are finally stable enough for a wide audience. Here's the Basenji 0.8 changelog:

• Added support for network drives and mountpoints
• Added option to disable the iteminfo panel
• Added option to hide hidden files
• Added support for metadata searching
• Added debugging options
• Added daemon for automated drive scanning
• Many new translations
• Many optimizations and bugfixes

Install Basenji 0.8 in Ubuntu (stable PPA)

Add the Basenji stable PPA and install it in Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04 using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pulb/ppa 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install basenji

Also install the Basenji daemon using the following command (but the daemon is not available for Ubuntu 10.04!):

sudo apt-get install volumedb-tools

To learn how to use the Basenji daemon, run the following command:

volumedb-scanner-daemon --help

More about setting up the Basenji daemon @ Basenji Gets A Scanner Daemon Which Automatically Adds Inserted Volumes To The Database

Download Basenji for other Linux distributions and Windows @ Launchpad.

Basenji 0.8 (Tool To Index Your CDs/DVDs, USB Devices And Network Drives), Released

Basenji is a cross-platform tool you can use to index your CDs/DVDs and USB devices so you can later search the database without having plug the media into your computer.

Basenji is very useful for those with large movies / music collections but not only. You can also use it to easily search some backups you store on removable media or your photos, etc.

Basenji features:

• Audio CD Support
• Metadata Extraction (image dimensions or MP3 tags)
• Thumbnails
• Optional daemon that automatically scans a device you plug in and adds it to the Basenji database

Basenji 0.8 was released yesterday, getting lots of useful features. These were already available (some were already there for quite a long time actually) in the Basenji daily PPA - such as the daemon that automatically scans inserted drives, but these are finally stable enough for a wide audience. Here's the Basenji 0.8 changelog:

• Added support for network drives and mountpoints
• Added option to disable the iteminfo panel
• Added option to hide hidden files
• Added support for metadata searching
• Added debugging options
• Added daemon for automated drive scanning
• Many new translations
• Many optimizations and bugfixes

Install Basenji 0.8 in Ubuntu (stable PPA)

Add the Basenji stable PPA and install it in Ubuntu 11.04, 10.10 and 10.04 using the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pulb/ppa 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install basenji

Also install the Basenji daemon using the following command (but the daemon is not available for Ubuntu 10.04!):

sudo apt-get install volumedb-tools

To learn how to use the Basenji daemon, run the following command:

volumedb-scanner-daemon --help

More about setting up the Basenji daemon @ Basenji Gets A Scanner Daemon Which Automatically Adds Inserted Volumes To The Database

Download Basenji for other Linux distributions and Windows @ Launchpad.

Install Wine 1.3.17 on Ubuntu [PPA]

The Version 1.3.17 is available from Wine ,Application that allows the execution of Windows programs on GNU/Linux.

To install this release on Maverick, first add the PPA repository and validated by opening a Terminal and typing: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.3or upgrade if you already have the PPA added to our sources:sudo apt-get

How to Install Wine and configure it to the maximum

here I leave the info on how to install wine, and set the maximum, I tested the latest games on the market and work well, more fluid than in their own win2

Eliminate the one you already have-sudo apt-get autoremove wine --purge
$ cd
$ rm -rf .wineto delete the folder. wine and all its contents in my home directory.
As I mentioned before (I is that I delete all wine and everything installed to

UMPlayer: New Cross-Platform Mplayer GUI Based On SMPlayer

"UMPlayer (Universal Multimedia Player) is the multimedia player that fills all your needs. With dozens of advanced features and built-in codecs it can handle any media format, and can play Audio CDs, DVDs, (S)VCDs, TV / Radio cards, YouTube™ and SHOUTcast™ streams and even incomplete or damaged media files."

UMPlayer is a new cross-platform SMPlayer fork. Since it uses Mplayer, it can play most video formats and comes with some very interesting features. For instance, it supports CSS skins so it's very easy to theme. For now, there are just a few themes available but more should be available soon.

Here's an example of a UMplayer skin:

Another interesting feature is that it allows you to search, play and save YouTube  videos straight from its interface. However, this seems to be broken for the moment, most probably because YouTube changed something once again, breaking Mplayer.

UMPlayer also comes with ShoutCast support and a huge list of radio stations so if you're missing this being removed from VLC, try UMPlyer. You can find this under Tools > ShoutCast.

Other features include: audio and video equalizers, take screenshot of running video, find subtitles on OpenSubtitles, audio & subtitles delay adjustment and many more. Check out the UMPlayer features page for more info.

Overall, UMPlayer has a great potential, but it's a bit buggy for now. For instance if I play a video, open the equalizer and close it, the video starts from the beginning. I've found a few other minor glitches but overall it looks pretty good and you should definitely give it a try.

Download UMPlayer (available for Linux - .deb and .rpm, Windows and Mac OSX)

Thanks to rAX for the tip!

Firefox 4, Officially Released

I'll make this short:


Firefox 4 has been officially released and is available to download @ http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/new/

If you want to run it on Linux, close any running Firefox instance, extract the downloaded archive and double click the file called "firefox" (not firefox-bin!).

Ubuntu: see how to install Firefox 4 from a PPA

To see what's new in Firefox 4, check out the following video:



For a complete list of new features, see http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features/

LibreOffice 3.3.2, Released [Minor Bugfix Release]

LibreOffice 3.3.2 has been released today, bringing further improves and stability. This is a bugfix release and is identical to LibreOffice 3.3.2 RC2 (so if you've already installed LibreOffice 3.3.2, you basically have the latest stable version).

Here's the LibreOffice 3.3.2 changelog:

• translation and dictionary updates
• en-US fallback strings for incomplete translations
• calc: Properly invalidate cached sheet XML streams during reference update.
• Make sure these values are positive; we use them to resize arrays.
• Fixed incorrect cursor navigation.
• Go through all tokens to look for a volatile one.
• Enable import of macros for docxm
• ensure a valid mediatype is set up for the ooxml
• ensure node outlives xpath
• prevent null pointer access when no ffdata available
• remove Online Update and Improvement program
• occasional blank first slide in presentation
• some pythonsamples not visible on Mac OS X
• work around IM problems with KDE4 integration
• Writer looses information in tick boxes
• Fix for non-working VBA container controls
• updated de_CH and de_AT dictionaries
• fix mis-paint of right Impress pane headers
• Fix to prefer gcc __sync functions over pthread on arm

The next major LibreOffice version - 3.4 -, is expected sometime in mid May.

I for one really appreciate the "Enable import of macros for docxm" feature as I have to work with such files at work, but I'll be waiting for the PPA to be updated (the Ubuntu LibreOffice PPA currently holds version 3.3.1 for Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx and 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and as usual, it will take a while until the latest version will be uploaded, but it'll get there eventually) and won't manually install the .debs because the Ubuntu packaging usually comes with some Ubuntu-specific fixes/tweaks.

Download LibreOffice 3.3.2

Firefox 4 (Stable) Available For Download!

Firefox 4.0 (stable) has been released. Not officially, but is available for download via the Mozilla FTP servers.

The latest Firefox 4.0 stable is not yet available in any Ubuntu PPA and will most probably be uploaded to Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal official repositories firstly, tested and only then uploaded to the PPAs we were talking about last week.

If you want to run Firefox 4 in Linux already, you can download it from HERE, extract the downloaded archive and double click the file called "firefox" (not firefox-bin!).

I for one will wait for the PPAs to be updated because I've always encountered issues running Firefox downloaded via the Mozilla website, especially regarding the font rendering. However, these might be related to some packages installed on my computer so it might work great for you!

Download Firefox 4 | alternate download link (for Linux 32/64 bit, Windows and Mac)

Thanks to Carlos for the tip!

Internet Explorer 9 vs Firefox 4

Much has been said lately about the new internet explorer 9, Which broke records for downloads in the first week, which has a new interface, etc etc ... and probably at any time hasefroch people going to publish data that is the fastest, the safest, the most beautiful, etc etc. ... as always.

But Internet Explorer 9 is really a modern browser?

Let's look at these details and we will realize

Install Wine 1.3.16 on Ubuntu [PPA]

Version 1.3.16 is available from Wine ,Application that allows the execution of Windows programs on GNU/Linux.

To install this release on Maverick, first add the PPA repository and validated by opening a Terminal and typing:sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.3or upgrade if you already have the PPA added to our sources:sudo apt-get update

Internet Explorer 10 accompany Windows 8

It's a rumor with some substance and coherence. Microsoft has just released version 9 of Internet Explorer and as usual after a launch, and you think the next evolution of the product. By logic and because it looks like it version 8 operating system may advance the launch date, See also the plans of the competition, in Redmond may have that intention.

The information comes from Win7China, Which

Red Eclipse 1.0; 0AD Alpha 4 [Game Updates]

2 quick game updates:

0AD alpha 4

0 AD alpha 4 "Daedalus" was released recently. 0 AD is a historical real-time strategy open-source game.

Changes in the latest 0AD alpha 4:

• Added initial prototype version of opponent AI: It can train female citizens, collect resources, build houses, farms & barracks, train soldiers & send them to the enemy civ center.
• Improved fog-of-war rendering.
• Fixed terrain texture blending.
• Added opt-in automatic feedback system.
• Fixed foundation obstruction handling.
• Added support for build limits.
• Extended animal AI: Animals like Lions, Elephants, etc. can now fight back, and some escape farther away from perceived threats.
• New units, weapons and sounds
• Many other improvements

For more details, see the release announcement.


Here is a 0AD alpha 4 video:



To install 0AD (from SVN - currently it's alpha 4 but new SVN packages will probably be uploaded soon) use the following commands - available for Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:wfg/0ad
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install 0ad

There's also a PPA repository that provides bleeding edge builds for those who want to constantly stay up to date with the latest 0AD from SVN - currently, this PPA provides the same version as in the PPA above.

I did not test the latest 0AD because I got the following message: "You are using 260.19.* series NVIDIA drivers, which may crash the game. Please upgrade to 260.19.21 or later" but hopefully you have some other graphics card / drivers.

Please note that while 0AD is available on GetDeb, that's an older version and not the latest alpha 4.

For direct downloads (other Linux distributions, Windows and Mac OS X), check out the 0AD website.

Red Eclipse 1.0

Red Eclipse 1.0 has been released yesterday. This is a "single-player and multi-player first-person ego-shooter, built as a total conversion of Cube Engine 2, which lends itself toward a balanced gameplay, with a general theme of agility in a variety of environments".

Check out the following video demoing the latest Red Eclipse 1.0:



Install the latest Red Eclipse 1.0 in Ubuntu using the following PPA - available for Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10 and 11.04:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:arand/redeclipse
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install redeclipse

The above PPA currently provides the latest Red Eclipse 1.0 but will probably be updated with Red Eclipse SVN builds later on.


For Windows, Mac OS X and source files, see the Red Eclipse Sourceforge page.

[via Muy Linux & Ubuntu Forums]

Download DraftSight - Free AutoCAD-Compatible 2D CAD Software For Linux

The first DraftSight - an AutoCAD compatible CAD software - public beta for Linux was released today.

DraftSight is a free 2D CAD application that lets you create, edit and view your DWG / DXF files. Even though it's free to use, the download page suggests that if you work for an organization that needs five or more DraftSight licenses, you should consider purchasing a Premium Pack.

I've only used DraftSight for a couple of minutes but I have to say that so far I'm impressed. And just like advertised, it was able to successfully open all of my old AutoCAD files.

DraftSight is currently available for Ubuntu (.deb), Fedora, Suse or Mandriva (.rpm) as well as Windows and Mac OSX.

Download DraftSight


Also see:

• Bricscad: .dwg Based CAD Software Available For Linux
• CADuntu (2D CAD Drawing Tool) Becomes LibreCAD, Gets Ubuntu PPA

[via OpenNet]

Install Pinta 0.7 (Drawing / Image Editing Application) in Ubuntu

Pinta is a cross-platform drawing / image editing application inspired by Paint.NET designed to be very easy to use.

Pinta 0.7 was released with mostly bug-fixes such as: crop selection only crops to a rectangle, transparency doesn't work, paintbrush size 1 doesn't work and more. There's also a new feature: Pinta now supports outlined text.

A complete Pinta 0.7 changelog can be found HERE.

As usual, the latest Pinta is available in the WebUpd8 Ubuntu PPA so to install it, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pinta

Download Pinta 0.7 for other Linux distributions, Windows and Mac OS X.

Thanks to Grof Aty for the Pinta 0.7 tip!

First Adobe Flash Player 11 "Incubator" Preview Available For Download

Adobe announced the Adobe AIR and Flash Player Incubator program a few days ago. This is a place where the Adobe team shares features under development or experimental with the community so they can test it and give feedback.

The first Adobe Flash Player build has already landed in the "Incubator" - but please note that this is a preview release so only use it for testing purposes. This release brings Cubic bezier curves (using the cubicCurveTo drawing API, developers can easily create cubic beziers without requiring custom ActionScript code) and new 3D APIs:

Today, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, renders thousands of non z-buffered triangles at approximately 30 Hz. With the new 3D APIs, developers can expect hundreds of thousands of z-buffered triangles to be rendered at HD resolution in full screen at around 60 Hz.

Download Adobe Flash Player Incubator Preview release (11.0.0.58) - downloads available for Windows, Linux and Mac OSX

Make Windows 7 Look Like Ubuntu With Maverick For Win7

And now for something different... Maverick for Windows 7!

If you dual-boot or have to use Windows 7 for work and miss Ubuntu, here's something you can use to make Windows look more familiar: a Windows 7 theme called "Maverick for Win7" designed to look like the Ubuntu Ambiance theme (the latest version in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick).

Besides the actual style, the Maverick for Win7 package also comes with fonts, the Ubuntu 10.10 default wallpaper, a start Orb image and Ubuntu Sounds Scheme for Windows. Besides these, the Maverick For Win7 page also links to various applications and other tricks you can use to make Windows 7 look like Ubuntu. For instance you can use Gdipp to make the Windows fonts look like in Ubuntu or an application to change the Windows 7 start button and even a port of the DMZ Cursor theme for Windows. You can read about all these at the Maverick for Win7 DeviantArt page.

The theme is of course not perfect. The author explains that some applications don't look too good with this theme, for example Firefox 4 (which used to look ok but then an update broke it), some elements of the original Ubuntu theme couldn't be implemented because of Windows limitations and there are some other bugs too. Also, the theme only works with Aero.

I haven't tried Maverick for Win7 because I don't use Windows, but I must say then even with the these limitations, the theme looks quite good in the screenshot, don't you think?

Download Maverick for Win7 @ DevianArt (remember to make a backup before installing the style!).

via UbuntuPortal; image credits: dpcdpc11 @ DeviantArt

Install Wine 1.3.14 in Ubuntu [PPA]

Version 1.3.14 is available from Wine ,Application that allows the execution of Windows programs on GNU/Linux.

This version brings the following changes:Many cleanups to address Valgrind and Clang warnings.
Support for creating compressed cabinet files.
Translation updates.
Various bug fixes.To install this release on Maverick, first add the PPA repository and validated by opening a Terminal and

TeamViewer6 Stable For Android, Released [Remote Desktop Application]

TeamViewer is an application for remote control, desktop sharing and file transfer between computers. It runs on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux (even though it comes in a .deb or .rpm, it uses Wine which comes bundled with it).

While TeamViewer is proprietary and only free for personal use, it has the advantage of being very easy to use and comes with a cool feature: you don't need to know the IP of the computer you want to connect to: all you have to do is open TeamViewer, give the person you want to connect to your computer the user ID and password and they will be able to connect to your PC, even if you have a dynamic IP, you're behind a firewall or router and so on.

A while back we were telling you that TeamViewer released an Android application you can use to control your computer (be it Windows, Linux or Mac OSX) using your Android device. Until today, the TeamViewer Android application was in beta but today they've finally released a stable TeamViewer6 for Android. The application remains free of charge for non-commercial users just like the beta version.

Using the Android TeamViewer6 application you can easily access a computer at home or office, administer some server, reboot a computer and so on - all using your Android device.

Since our last post, TeamViewer for Android got quite a few new features and improvements: more intuitive userinterface, support for Swype keyboards, better keyboard handling, Trackball/D-Pad can be used for mouseclicks and lots of bug fixes. The latest version also feels a lot faster.

Here are some more screenshots taken on my Android device (connected to my work Ubuntu desktop):

Download TeamViewer6 for Android: the application is not available in the Android Market but you can download it from the TeamViewer website: teamviewer.com (to install it, navigate to that website using your Android device and click the download link). You'll also need TeamViewer 6 on your computer: download.