Open Skies

January 2008 - Posts

• PortableApps

  Have you ever found yourself using someone elses PC, maybe at a cyber cafe, and found it just does not have the apps you want?  Do you use OpenOffice at home and find it frustrating that you can't get that opensource goodness at work?  Then PortableApps might just be for you... First some background - a year or so ago I was messing about with Linux on a pendrive, and Firefox-on-a-stick.  OpenOffice-on-a-stick was also under development at that time (not by me, I hasten to add). At the time I could install what I liked at work, and none of my home machines will boot from USB, so it was all a bit of a fun curiosity, so things went a bit quiet.. Then the other day I was recommended this site, PortableApps.com by a friend, and very impressed I am too.   You can think of PortableApps as a wrapper that allows you to install a range of apps to, and run from, a USB drive.  It comes in three variants.  Base, which lets you install your own choice of apps, Lite, which comes with a range of apps including Amiword, and Standard, which replaces Amiword with OpenOffice suite.  Once installed on pretty much any USB mass storage device you run the PortableApps application from the pendrive and open the menu (left) from the icon that appears in your system tray.  Choose your app, or add new ones from here. Obviously, running from USB things are a bit slower than from HD, but even using my combination of a dirt-cheap SD card reader and generic SD card its perfectly usable.  Installation of PortableApps was very slow however, so I suspect it really would justify the purchase of a decent device. At time of writing 43 apps are available, including an AV package (useful!)and various backup solutions.  So far it seems to be Windows only. All-in-all its an extremely elegant solution to the problem of locked down machines. I pair it on my stick with Damn Small Linux, for its ability to run its desktop within a Windows  window, and the fact that it once managed to let me browse the web under Windows when no natively-running Windows browser could get at the web :) Posted Jan 26 2008, 11:42 AM by david_r_bates with no comments

• Media Centre - No Need for Windows?

  I must admit that I've kind of looked at Media Centres from afar up till now.  The thought of building a PC suitable for keeping in the lounge and then nailing a copy of Windows Media Edition onto it has never really floated my boat (especially not I have my DVR up and running).  I'm assuming Apple has a Media Centre solution as well, but again, its not something I can pontificate on... However, I came across a Linux Media Centre demo the other day and I must admit it's very, very impressive.  As I say, I'm not in a position to compare and contrast it to the Windows or Apple alternatives, but if you have the desire for a Media Centre I can only recommend at least having a look at a video of it in action here. LinuxMCE runs on Kubuntu, and it free.  It also does home automation...maybe I really do need a new PC after all... Posted Jan 19 2008, 07:39 PM by david_r_bates with 1 comment(s)

• Tweak your Ubuntu desktop with Ubuntu Tweak

  A handy util for your Ubuntu desktop....have a play. Filed under: Utilities, Unix Look, we know you can figure out how to do things like show the Home, Desktop, and Trash icons on your Ubuntu desktop, customize Compiz settings, or show advanced file permissions in the Nautilus file manager. But how hard do you really want to dig to find those settings? Ubuntu Tweak makes it easy to customize your desktop environment and a handful of other settings like your startup session and power management settings. The utility runs on Ubuntu 7.04 and 7.10 and could make life a lot easier on Linux/Ubuntu newbies. [via Lifehacker] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tweak your Ubuntu desktop with Ubuntu Tweak Brad Linder Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:00:00 GMT Posted Jan 15 2008, 10:25 AM by darren-mc with no comments Filed under: Utilities