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Opera Software recently released a Beta version of its new web browser, Opera Unite. The beta version offers some really cool features that are very new to mainstream web browsing. If you are not familiar with the Opera browsers, you may want to give them a look. They have been making a great desktop product since the mid 1990s; Opera is also the most popular HTML browser for your mobile phone.

Like many modern browser, Opera 10 (Unite) offers tabbed browsing, a download manager, add-ons, speed dials (up to 25 favorite sites shown as a thumbnail), bookmarks with tagging; you know all the basics. Of course there are plenty of ways to customize the look, but the layout of the browser window is similar to that of Safari, Firefox and others.

Some of its Great Features

Built-in BitTorrent client

Opera Unite comes with a BitTorrent client that allows searching for and download of torrent files.

Cross-platform syncing

Opera Link enables you to sync bookmarks, speed dials, bookmark bar, notes, etc. with other devices including your phone running. As long as device is running a current version of Opera, Opera mini or Opera mobile; your information is right there and ready for you.

Customized search

The customizable web searching gets you quick access to Google, eBay, Amazon and more with the search field in the upper right corner. Or, for even quicker searching, search directly in the address bar using built-in and customizable keywords. For example, type “e VW Rabbit” in the address bar to search for “VW Rabbits” on eBay.

Web server within browser

The innovative features Unite is bringing to the table are really going to turn some heads. The idea behind the “services” as they are calling them, is to create a web server within the broswer and make each computer accessible from anywhere on the web, allowing you to retrieve information from it just like you would from a website or server. There will be more services to come, but right now here is what Unite comes with.

• Media Player – Access your local music collection from anywhere on the Internet.
• Web Server – Host a web site from the local computer.
• Photo Sharing – Share photos directly without uploading to a middleman site like Flickr.
• File Sharing – Allows sharing files directly between users; no emailing or torrent sites needed.
• The Lounge – A chat interface hosted on your computer.
• Fridge – Lets other people can put a virtual sticky note on the your refrigerator door like back in the day.

My Experiences Using the New Features

I do have to admit that these features are a really good idea. I think for people who embrace the new browser, the services could take the place of many third party hosting and application sites for smaller scale usage. However, while playing with the services feature, I did run into a few instances where I needed to reset the sharing part of the browser. There was no specific reason, just an unnamed error. I am sure as it gets closer to the final release it will be a lot more stable.

With the growing number of data enabled mobile devices, having all of your information synced is becoming more important by the day. Both the desktop and mobile versions of Opera are very fast browsers to surf the web. Having the ability to sync my bookmarks (which I imported from Firefox), coupled with being able to surf the mobile web via a HTML browser while I’m out is a really great thing in a pinch.

I don’t see myself making a total transition from Firefox just yet. I am going to keep using it part time and keep an eye on what services they roll out in the coming months. I wouldn’t write off Opera, they have been in the background for a long time making a really reliable browser. In the end, all the bells and whistles can make a browser fancy, but speed, usability and reliability are what matters. (Sorry Internet Explorer) Download Unite here and see what you think.

What are your thoughts on the Opera browsers?

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One thing that I love about Linux (and Ubuntu) is that it is fully customizable and I can configure it to the way that I want it. Previously, I have already illustrated its flexibility by showing how you can transform Ubuntu Hardy and Intrepid into Mac OS X. Today, let’s bring a step further and see how we can transform Kubuntu Jaunty to Windows 7 in 3 simple steps.

In this tutorial, we will make use of the Vistar7 - Windows 7 transformation pack to perform the transformation. This transformation pack has a nice collection of Windows 7 themes and comes with an installation script to make the whole transformation a breeze.

Before we start, please note that:

1) The purpose of this tutorial is to illustrate the flexibility and customizability of the Linux desktop. We are not advocate of Microsoft (or Windows 7).

2) If you are not comfortable with your computer looking like any other OS (especially the one that you hate most), do not read further.

3) The transformation pack only change the look and feel of your Kubuntu Jaunty. It does not give you the functionality of Windows 7. If you want to use Windows 7, download the RC1 and install it in your computer instead.

4) This transformation pack will create a new user profile in your system and install itself in the new profile. Your personal profile will be left untouched.

Step 1: Download the transformation pack

First, download the Windows 7 transformation pack torrent file. Then with your bit torrent client (such as KTorrent), download the transformation pack folder to your home directory.

Step 2: Make the installation script executable

Open the Konsole and type in:

cd /path-to-windows7-transformation-pack-folder
sudo chmod +x install.sh

Step3: Install the transformation pack

(Before you run the installation script, make sure you are connected to the Internet.)

Run the installation script by running the following command in the Konsole:

sudo ./install.sh

The installation script will do the following:

1. Add new software package to your existing software repository.

2. Install several plasma related software.

3. create a new user - vistar7.

4. prompt you to set password for the new user.

4. Extract the required files to the corresponding theme directory.

5. Change the configuration path.

When the installation is done, you have to switch to the new user profile - vistar7 to see the Windows 7 interface in action.

Screenshots:

Kubuntu’s menu bar.

Dolphin and Konqueror passing off as Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer 8.

List of Windows 7 wallpapers that come with the transformation pack

Install the theme in your personal profile

For those who want to bring it further and install the transformation pack in your personal profile instead of the new user - Vistar 7, here is the steps:

(This is not recommended as the transformation is not fully supported by the creator. Do this at your own risk.)

In the Windows 7 transformation pack folder, open the install.sh file in Kate.

At the third line, change the NEWUSERNAME to your own username

NEWUSERNAME="your own username"

Scroll down to line 30, put a # in front of the statement from line 30-33

#echo "Creating user."
#useradd -m $NEWUSERNAME -s /bin/bash && \
#echo "User created. Enter password for new user."
#passwd $NEWUSERNAME

Save the file.

Run the script in Konsole:

cd /path-to-Windows-7-transformation-pack
sudo ./install.sh

Log out and login again. You should be able to see the Windows 7 theme in action now.

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Related posts:

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2. How to Upgrade Windows 7 Beta To Windows 7 RC1 Without Formatting Your Hard Disk
3. How to Dual Boot Windows Vista And Windows 7
4. What’s New In Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
5. Linux Howto: Miss Your Windows Application? Try WINE

For those who are using Ubuntu Jaunty, you will notice that there is a change in the way the system notifies you to upgrade software. In the past, an icon will appear on the system tray whenever there is new update available. In Ubuntu Jaunty, instead of showing the icon, the update manager will now pop up the window as and when it detects new update. While this is a good way to grab the user attention and get them to upgrade to the latest software version promptly, it can be pretty annoying for many, especially when you are in the midst of your work. To make it worst, if you close it without updating, it will keep on popping up in regular interval until you have upgraded your system.

Luckily, you can turn off this pop up feature easily and switch back to the old icon-appear-at-system-tray mode.

Open up a terminal, type

gconf-editor

This will load up the gconf editor window

Navigate to Apps->Update Notifier. On the right, unchecked the auto_launch box. Close the window.

That’s it.

To recover the auto launch pop up function, simply repeat the above step, but place a check in the auto_launch box.

Alternative method (via the terminal)

If you are just plain lazy, here’s a much easier step.

In your terminal, type the following command:

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch false

To recover:

gconftool -s --type bool /apps/update-notifier/auto_launch true

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I’ve been a web-mail kinda guy since a long time ago. I ditched my email clients (Mail, Entourage, and Thunderbird) and prefer to keep my GMail handy on any computer (or sometimes cellphone) that I use, wherever I am. But Postbox might just change my mind.

This free open-source mail client (available for Mac and Windows) combines few great features that can help users manage their emails better.

The developer’s site have a comprehensive list of Postbox’s features and abilities, but here are few that I personally find useful.

1. Create new accounts

The first time Postbox is opened, it will offer you to create a new account. You can also create another account later by going to File -> New -> Account menu. Compared to other email client that I’ve used so far, Postbox’s new account creation is the easiest. It supports major web mail services like GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo and even MobileMe.

2. Browse mails with tabs

Each time you select a mail, it will be shown on one of the window’s pane. There are two pane’s layout that you can choose: Classic View and Vertical View. You can toggle between these two views from the View -> Layout menu.

If you double click on one of the messages, it will be opened in a new tab instead of window. I think the idea is nice and produces less cluttered workspace.

3. Organize messages with topics

In Postbox, you can organize messages by topics. You can set and add any topics that you can think of according to your preferences.

The easiest way to add topic is by right clicking on the favorite topic pane and choose “Create New Favorit Topic” on the popup window. Then you can to assign messages to the topic by clicking the Plus (+) sign next to the “Topic” option in each message.

But if you need to assign topic(s) to many messages automatically, use filtering option for the fastest result. Go to “Message -> Create Filter From Message” menu.

4. To Dos

Postbox comes with the ability to create to do list easily. Not as elaborate as Outlook, but most people - like me - do not need advance organizing capability.

You can create a to do entry manually by clicking “New To Do” icon, or you can ‘tag’ a to do entry to a message by selecting a message and clicking the ‘To Do” button in the message view.

After that, if you go to “View -> Pin To Dos” menu, all the message with the ‘To Do’ tag will be listed above other message.

5. Attachment (and other) List

This app also has a attachment list feature that will show all the attachments from all of the messages in one page. Just click on the Attachment button under the search field. There are 3 other list buttons that you can choose: Images, Links, and Contacts.

The list will open up in a new tab. From here on you can choose to Save (to your hard drive), Send (to others via email), Upload (to Google Docs, but I don’t think this service is compatible with every filetype), or just to have a Quick Look.

This list is based on my short encounter with Postbox for Mac, but the feel for Windows version should not be far off. As time goes by, I’m sure I’ll add more to the “what I like about Postbox” list.

Have you tried Postbox? Whether you will like it or not, this nice app deserves at least a try.

And as always, share your thoughts and experiences in the comment below.

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If you work in a collaborative or public computer environment or share your computer with family members and want to keep individual user data separate, it’s handy to know how to lock your screen and keep your work away from prying eyes.  While the solution is simple, it’s not immediately clear to the new user how to activate.

Locking your screen can take a couple of different forms, but the one I’m going to focus on is fast user switching.  This allows multiple accounts to be “logged in” to your machine with processes running on each account.

To activate fast user switching, you’ll need to be logged into the administrator account on your machine.  Head to System Preferences -> Accounts. At the bottom of the accounts list, you’ll see a “Login Options” button you should press. Check the box that says “Enable fast user switching”. A menu bar item will pop up next to your Spotlight icon that presents a list of accounts you can log into, with your own name greyed out. To switch users just select the account you want from the list and you’ll be taken to the login screen and password prompt.

This is certainly a nice feature to have, but for some of us our menu bars are getting quite crowded.  If you have a long account name, it’s nice to have something more compact.

Enter third-party solutions. Note that all of these do the above steps for you- fast user switching does not have to be enabled for these applications to work.

1. MacLoc

MacLoc, from ourapples software, comes in two flavors; a simple, standard-sized menu (MacLoc ME- for “Menu Edition”) or the traditional MacLoc app you can put in your Dock or on the Desktop.  Free.

2. ScreenLock

Available for download from HandyMacApps, ScreenLock is more or less the same as the standard version of MacLoc.

3. Lock Desktop (Automator)

This is an Automator action available for download on Apple’s Software website. What it does is to lock your desktop by running a simple script. This will keep all applications running, eliminating the hassles of logging out.

Do you have any screen lock options that I left out?  I purposely didn’t include the password prompt when waking from sleep/screensaver because Sleep (obviously) affects system processes.  Leave a note in the comments!

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When Nokia first released the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, many Linux geeks could not resist a hackable handheld computer, even if they had no use for it.  With the subsequent releases of the N800 and N810 versions, the devices gained even wider appeal.  One of the problems I have always had with it, however, is that it has no default PIM (personal information management) software, and the free options available for it were always rather slim.

Nokia advertises it as an “Internet Tablet” rather than a PDA, so perhaps they expect you to rely on cloud services, such as Google Calendar.  Very well, we will, but we will do it with style.  mCalendar is a small application for the Maemo operating system that allows you to have an appointment calendar on your tablet and also sync it with your Google Calendar.  It is finger-friendly and easy to use.  It is available for Maemo/Tablet OS2007 and OS2008 and should work on Nokia 770, N800, N810, and N810 WiMax models.

Installation

The easiest way to install mCalendar is to go to maemo.org and click the big green “Install” button next to mCalendar.  This will add the extras software repository and also install the application.  If you prefer to add the software repository yourself, simply open your Application Manager, open the menu, click on Tools and click “Application catalog…”.  Click the “New” button and add this repository:

Catalog name = maemo Extras
Web address = http://repository.maemo.org/extras/
Components = free non-free

Setup

1. Start mCalendar.

2. Open the menu and click “Preferences”.

3. Click on the “Google Syncronization” tab.

4. Enter your Google login (usually your email address) and password.

5. Click on the “General” tab.

6. Optional: You can select “google popup reminder” to receive notices of appointments and “auto sync” if you want to keep mCalendar automatically in sync with your Google calendar.

Start Syncing

You should test synchronization to make sure it works.

1. Add an appointment to your calendar and save it.

2. Open the menu and click “Synchro”.

3. Open a browser and login to Google Calendar.

4. Check the appointment to make sure that it is the right day and time.

5. Edit the appointment and re-sync to make sure two-way communication is working.

Alternatives

While mCalendar is quick and easy, it is hardly robust.  If you prefer a calendar with a few more options, such as GPE Calendar, you can use a third party application called Erminig to sync it with your Google calendar.

Erminig is in the maemo extras repository and is configured in roughly the same way as mCalendar’s sync function.  One advantage is that you can sync with a specific calender from  your Google account and a specific GPE calendar, if you have more than one.  You can then setup multiple entries and sync all of them at once.  Furthermore, it has a “read-only” feature, if you prefer not to make changes on the tablet side.

Beyond the tablet

Once you have your tablet synced with your Google calendar, you might also want to sync with your desktop calendar.  I have not found an easy way to sync directly from the Nokia internet tablet to the desktop.  Instead, you can sync it with your Google calendar and then sync Google with your desktop, using GCALDaemon.

KDE4’s data backend, Akonadi, currently only supports read-only functionality with Google Calendar.  If that is all you need, you will not need GCALDaemon.  There are plans to add read-write functionality in KDE 4.3

Now you have the ability to wirelessly sync your calendars on the move.  This certainly does not come close to full PIM synchronization, but you will at least have your important appointments in order.

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Not too long ago I started looking around for an easy way to post to some of the blogs I write for. The first thing that came to mind, since I was already using it to write, was to use the publish option in Google Docs to post. If you use the free hosting sites like Blogger, Wordpress.com or Livejournal to name a few, this will do the trick. This is also a viable option if  you post to a site using that uses the Blogger, Metaweblog or Moveable Type API. Where Google falls short is if you need to post to multiple sites.

I went on a hunt and found a couple different choices. To be honest, I tried the Firefox add-on Scribefire first; I never quite got to the second one. The reason I didn’t go any further is it did what I needed it to do and it did it well. Scribefire lets me post to multiple blogs, storing of notes and uploads images. I can work on multiple posts at the same time by opening different tabs. This smart little Firefox add-on auto saves my progress while I work and also when I close the editing window.

Adding Visuals

This feature rich editor gives you a few ways to add a few pieces of flair to your post. Video is becoming wildly popular and very common in every kind of site. Scribefire lets you search for videos on Youtube right from the editing window. The videos can be previewed in the search window before you embed it in the post. Here is a look at the preview window.

When its time to add pictures, there are a few more options. Pictures can be uploaded from your computer, the web, Flickr or Zementa. Below is a sample of the search results when looking on Flickr.

Never having used Zementa before, I found a few of the features pretty neat. When searching, the pictures show up in the sidebar (not the neat part). As you hover over the picture, the text tells you if it is free to use.

When you decide on a picture, it adds in credit for the photo and a link to the picture on the web. Some editors have a specific way they want things laid out, so a simple copy and paste can move the credits where you want them.

Add Some Ads

Off to the side there are a few tabs, one of which is aimed to help monetize your blog. Currently inLinks (the provider of the HTML ads) only supports Wordpress, Drupal, Moveable Type, Joomla and Ruby on Rails sites. None of the free hosted blogging options are supported.

Share your Post

Another tab offers options to share your post. I personally would like to see a few more options, but I am not going to complain too much.

Under the Hood

In the sidebar, there are tabs to set up and select the blog you want to post to. The next tab lets you see all of the entries and notes. The notes are essentially autosaving drafts. In the categories tab, this is where you apply any tags or categories to your post. The fourth tab lets you modify the timestamp, add Technorati tags, trackback URLs and choose what sites to ping.

If you prefer to use it, there is the source code editor option. I am not much for doing the extra work if I can drag and drop it; Everyone has their preferences though.

What blog editor do you use to write your posts?

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Maintaining a remote backup of your Windows Mobile contacts, calendar, schedule, tasks and other documents, pictures and MP3s has traditionally been a problematic task, leaving Windows users looking on in envy at the owners of Apple Macs and iPhones and their iDisks and other solutions.

Thankfully as part of an overdue concerted move to develop the Windows Mobile and Hotmail/Live platforms, Microsoft have developed the My Phone, a secure online repository for contacts, SMS messages and other vital information stored on your Windows Mobile device that can be added to or cut down as the user sees fit.

A great storage facility for MP3s, videos and photos, Microsoft currently offers 200 MB of space to My Phone users – enough to keep a back up of vital documents, ringtones and videos.

To use My Phone, you need a Live or Hotmail account (sign up at accountservices.passport.net), and a Windows Mobile device with an internet connection. When using any web service on a mobile device it is vital to have a generous data plan setup. There’s a potential of up to 200 MB of data being transferred to your My Phone storage from your Windows Mobile device – as such a flat-rate monthly data transfer tariff is vital unless you have reliable, regular WiFi access.

Download My Phone from myphone.microsoft.com and install on your Windows Mobile device; meanwhile visit the sn1-p3.myphone.microsoft.com domain in order to login to your My Phone account on the web.

Once installed on your Windows Mobile device, run Microsoft My Phone. You’ll be prompted to login – use your standard Microsoft Live or Hotmail details here, the same credentials you use to login to the web service.

Once logged in, My Phone will determine which type of synchronization to run. The vital contents of your Windows Mobile device can be backed up to the My Phone storage either automatically on a schedule determined by you, or manually, whenever you command the app to sync.

Depending on the volume of data to be stored, Microsoft My Phone can take a while to complete synchronization on the first attempt. Subsequent syncs are appends however, meaning that only information that has changed is synchronized.

To decide what to synchronize, in Microsoft My Phone go to Menu > Options and choose from:

• Contacts – all contacts from your phones address book. This is a good way to backup the contacts from your SIM card.
• Calendar and Tasks – if you sync your phone with Outlook or an Exchange server, your calendar and tasks will also be synced with Microsoft My Phone, so these might be options to ignore.
• Text Messages – a great way to keep a backup of vital text messages.
• Photos – the chances of losing vital photographs are long gone with My Phone providing remote online storage
• Videos and Music – depending on the type of device you use, videos and music might be no-goes, or you might find that with the limited 200 MB of space you choose one of the other. Modern Windows Mobile devices come with 3 MP cameras or better, resulting in higher file sizes, which means your My Phone server space could get eaten up.
• Documents – Photos, videos, music and documents can all be uploaded from your PC or from your phone. Vital documents in particular can benefit from this functionality, with My Phone giving you a remote backup option that means documents can be restored to your Windows Mobile device or your PC. Sadly at present however there is no synchronization client for Windows XP or Vista, meaning that uploading to the My Phone storage area must be done manually, one item at a time.
• Sync storage cards – if there is any space left on your My Phone storage space it can be used to backup any storage cards installed on your Windows Mobile device.

From the same Menu, you can also access the Schedule screen to set a daily, weekly, monthly time for the synchronization. Microsoft My Phone will synchronize in the background without causing any serious interruption to your general phone use – however it is a good idea to schedule syncing to take place during the night.

Microsoft My Phone is a free service, one that brings the matter of remote storage for the Windows Mobile platform into line with other smartphone providers such as Apple and various mobile networks.

The 200 MB capacity is modest; however it is expect that Microsoft will increase this considerably over time, so now in this post-beta phase it is the best time to get to grips with Microsoft My Phone.

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Everytime after you have reformatted the hard disk and reinstalled the Linux distro of your choice, the one troublesome thing that you need to do is to re-download all your applications and restore all the settings. This is made worst when your wireless connection just don’t work with the newly installed distro. How are you going to download all your applications when you can’t even connect to the Internet?

APTonCD aims to solve this problem by backing up all your packages into a Cd/DVD. You can then install your applications right from the CD/DVD. If you want to save up on CD, you can even store the data as an iso file and restore your system right from the ISO file.

Here’s how it is done:

Install APTonCD

sudo apt-get install aptoncd

you can also install it via the Synaptic Package Manager.

Go to System->Adminstration->APTonCD

Backing up package

Click the Create button.

APTonCD will then scan your system for all the package that you have downloaded/installed previously.

When it is done scanning, you can then select the package that you want to backup. Click Burn to start the backup process.

Enter the destination to store the image. Depending on the size of the file, you might need to choose DVD instead of CD.

When it is done, it will prompt you to burn into a CD/DVD. Click Cancel if you only want to store it as an ISO file.

This is all you need to do for the backing up process.

Restoring the package

To restore the package (assuming you have created the CD media), simply pop in the CD/DVD. Your computer will scan the disc and prompt up a window asking if you want to restore the package. Click Yes. Once that’s done, you will be able to install applications from the Synaptic Package Manager (or apt-get) without Internet connection.

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Like many of you, I use a LOT of different computers. Some at home, some at work, some in between. Many of these computers have more than one operating system installed, and those operating systems may have more than one browser. All this leaves a LOT of places you may have saved your bookmarks. What’s saved on one might not be saved on another, or perhaps you reformatted your OS and forgot to backup your favorite websites. Fortunately, there are a multitude of ways to solve this problem, and today we’ll be covering some of them. Each of the programs/toolbars/extensions we’ll try out today can store your bookmarks outside your browser so that they can be accessed from anywhere.

1. Foxmarks/Xmarks

Type: Browser Extension (Firefox, IE, Safari)

Saves: Bookmarks, Passwords

Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks) is a browser extension that allows you to synchronize bookmarks from several locations so that they can follow you anywhere. It used to be a Firefox-only extension, but now has extend its reach to Internet Explorer and Safari. The website has a type of content search where you can see reviews and ratings for many web sites based on the users of the Xmarks extension. With the Xmarks extension installed, you’ll also notice some new icons next to your Google search results indicating ratings and reviews for some of the sites in your search results.

Xmarks also includes an option to sync your saved passwords, so that you can keep the passwords saved in one browser and share them to all the others where you installed Xmarks.

To install the Xmarks extension, go to http://download.xmarks.com/download and choose the appropriate plugin for your browser.

2. delicious

Type: Browser Extension (Firefox, Internet Explorer 8, Safari, Chrome)

Saves: Bookmarks

Any topic on web bookmark services will always eventually lead to http://delicious.com/ (previously known as del.icio.us). This site has been around for a while and has always been a great place to store and share your bookmarks. Delicious also allows you to tag your bookmarks with keywords, so that you can search your (or other people’s) bookmarks based on tags. From the website you can search with those tags to see what bookmarks others have submitted on that topic.

The browser extension for Firefox can be found here.

The browser extension for IE8 can be found here

The browser extension for Safari can be found here

For Google Chrome, go to the delicious site and drag the bookmarklet to the bookmark bar.

3. Mozilla Weave

Type: Browser Extension (Firefox)

Saves: Bookmarks, browsing history, saved passwords and tabs

Finally, there’s Mozilla Weave. This is a much more ambitious project than just saving your bookmarks online. Weave is intended to let you keep a complete browser “experience” from one computer to the next. It saves much more info online so that you can access things like your browsing history and tabs along with bookmarks and passwords when roaming to a different Firefox installation. Keeping things like your browser history saved online would make it a lot easier to access that page-you-were-on-yesterday-but-can’t-quite-remember-the-name, or pull up that news article you just saw but isn’t on the site’s front page anymore.

Weave appears to be a very useful tool, but unfortunately it seems to require Firefox 3.5, which is still in development. If you’re really excited to try out Weave but don’t want to wait until 3.5 is officially released as stable, you can get information on download and installation at the Mozilla Labs website.

There are some other options out there that I chose not to include in this article for various reasons such as platform portability or concerns about data privacy. If you’re using a bookmark sync program/extension to manage your bookmarks, I’d like to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

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