Clean up Ubuntu!
As you all may know, I love tweaking and clean up my computers. I have already told you about a tool for Ubuntu, Bleachbit, which removes old files. Now its time to remove unnecessary packages from Ubuntu.
First, install two packages; localepurge and deborphan, both can be found in the Ubuntu repos.
Now we are ready to begin!
Getting rid of Residual Config packages
In Synaptic, on the far left hand side, you may see a category called "Residual config". Click on it, remove all the packages in that section. These are all the old packages which you had installed, which have left parts of the old package behind, this will now clean it up.
Getting rid of partial packages
In the terminal type:
sudo apt-get autoclean
This will remove partially completed packages, which I not needed.
Getting rid of unnecessary locale data
You have justed installed localepurge, this will run everytime you install or remove packages from Ubuntu. It will make sure there are no unused locale files or man pages left on your computer after the package was removed. You dont need to worry about this tool, it will work all by itself.
Getting rid of orphaned packages
In the terminal run this command:
sudo deborphan | xargs sudo apt-get -y remove --purge
When you remove an application from your computer, it may leave behind alot of unnecessary libs and other tools for that application to run. These are not needed now, this command will make sure there are no unused packages.
Thats it! Your computer should have more space free now! A more cleaner and slim-lined computer. Make sure you run these commands every so often, so your computer is always clean!
My Thoughts on Synergy
Synergy is a great tool if you have/use more than one computer. It allows you to use your keyboard and mouse on one computer, on many other computers.
One set of keyboard and mouse across a unlimited amount of computers!
It is especially good, if you don't have dual monitors, but you can create that sort of setup with two computers. However, in away it is better to use Synergy than dual monitor, because you can be sharing the computing power across two computers. You can even copy and paste text between computers. Its cross platform, so you can use the tool between Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
Its a great tool if you need to use of different computers at the same time,I found it very useful for IRC client on my eee pc and my general work on my desktop. You can download it here for FREE!
Finally got myself a router…
...well, its one I am borrowing from a friend. Its a Netgear WNR2000 (WiFi N). Need it for accessing my PSP & laptop with wireless, and for me to be able to use Synergy (review of it tomorrow!)
My "borrowed" N Router
Full Circle Mangazine Issue 33
FCM Issue 33 is now out, with a ton of great Ubuntu articles and news. My section, Ubuntu Games, is in again this month. This issue, I have reviewed the Linux version of Bejeweled called Gweled! Download it now for Free!
My Thoughts on Apple Jan 2010 Event
It was a big day for the tech industry, Apple Event! As expected, the Apple tablet was confirmed!
Called the iPad, it is just an oversized iPod/iPhone! 10 inch screen, WiFi N, iPhone OS, 3G (on some models). It is a nice thin looking design, with 10 hours of battery life. However, I am not that impressed with a larger iPod Touch, cause thats all it is. It does have nice exclusive apps, such as iBooks (Apple's eReader/Book Store), iWorks for iPad (which is very nice and slick, $9.99 per iWork app). All the apps work with the iPad, and can be up-scaled to the screen size. It has some accessories as well, one which stood out for me, was the keyboard dock. It could be a cheap desktop???
Its a nice new product, but I do not see the point of it. Its too big to carry around, and if you want a excellent Internet device on-the-go, you buy a iPod Touch/iPhone. Jobs seemed to sell it as a home device, but why would you spend at least $499 on a iPad to use at home, when you could just use your computer. I see no point to it, I wont be buying one, I believe it will be a flop!
The pricing, it not as expensive as I thought but still pricey!
- 16GB - $499
- 32GB - $599
- 64GB - $699
- 16GB 3G - $629
- 32GB 3G - $729
- 64GB 3G - $829
You can also buy a prepay plan (not a contract), its with AT&T. $14.99 for 250mb per month OR $29.99 for unlimited. What is surprising is that it is unlocked!
That was it, 90mins about the iPad! No new iPod/iPhone, no iPhone OS 4, no new Mac Updates, Not even iLife/iWorks 2010 (I was expecting that!)
The new iPad (click to enlarge)
Install all your apps at once with Ninite!
Got a new computer? Installed Windows 7 for the first time? Reinstalled Windows? Need all your apps downloaded and installed easily and quickly? All you need is Ninite!
Select the applications you want to install from the list (such as Firefox, iTunes, Pidgin, AntiVir, OpenOffice, Flash, etc), download the Ninite tool and Ninite will download and install the latest version of the software you want!
Get Your Apps Fast!
Speed up OpenOffice!
OpenOffice is brilliant, a fully featured office suite, which is like Microsoft Office, but free!
My only issue with Open Office is that it is slow to start up. Here are a few quick tips to speed up Open Office.
In OpenOffice, click Tools > Options > Memory. Change the following:
- Number of Steps - 20
- Use for OpenOffice.org - 128
- Memory per object - 20
- Number of Objects - 2
- Check OpenOffice.org Quickstarter
Then under Java:
- uncheck Use a Java runtime environment
Click OK, and your done! OpenOffice should startup alot quicker!
Enable Windows 7 features for Firefox 3.6
Yesterday, Firefox 3.6 came out, and I posted my review. I have been using 3.6 for a few days now, on my Windows 7 PC. One thing which struck me as strange with Firefox 3.6, was the lack of Windows 7 specific features such as 'Jump Lists'.
After a bit of searching the Internet I came across an article from CNET. It explained how you can enable Windows 7 specific features via about:config. Its strange their not enabled by default. Enable the following commands:
browser.ctrlTab.previews
browser.allTab.previews (These two commands show you preview windows of your tabs)
browser.taskbar.previews.enable (Windows 7 taskbar preview of tabs)
Tabs shown in Taskbar (click to enlarge)
ctrl + tab OR ctrl + shift + tab (click to enlarge)
My Thoughts on Firefox 3.6
Today has finally arrived, the release of Firefox 3.6. This new release, builds upon a great web browser, by adding a few great additions. Mozilla has this time around focused three key new features; Personas, Web Technologies, Speed and Plugin Support.
Personas in Firefox 3.6 (click to enlarge)
Personas is a new way to theme or “skin” Firefox. This feature has been out since the development of Firefox 3.5, but was just an optional plugin. It works like the themes we have been able to use in Firefox for years, but instead of themes be able to customise the buttons, look and feel of the browser. Personas just change the 'background' look of Firefox. There are thousands of Personas available at (www.getpersonas.com), just find the one you like and install it instantly. This new feature is a brilliant way to fully customise the browser. My only complaint is the amount of poor quality Persona skins, some of the best ones are designed by Mozilla. However, it is support by the community, so anyone can make a skin.
Like with Firefox 3.5, tons of new web technologies were added to the browser. This release is no exception. Improvements have been made to HTML5, which now can support full screen video. Improvements to CSS3 and Web Open Font Format (WOFF), still the only browser to support it. These advancements, does push the Acid3 score to 94, but still not beating Google Chrome or Safari which have scores of a perfect 100. It is all well and good that Firefox supports all these different technologies, but it is unlikely the end user will see these in action. With most websites which design themselves around the Internet Explorer user, HTML5 and WOFF is unlikely to be used much, since IE8 does not support them. At least, Firefox will be ready for the future, lets hope for next release, Mozilla hit that magically 100! Further advancements have been on the JavaScript engine. According to Mozilla, users should expect to see a 20% increase in performance over Firefox 3.5. Can not complain here, we all love performance increases! Sadly, Firefox is still not as quick as Safari or Google Chrome.
Plugin Updates (click to enlarge)
Firefox add-on support is second to none. There are tons of add-ons to choose from, and since Firefox 3, support for add-ons has been improved with the ability to easily manage and update them. Finally, Plugins have received the Mozilla love. Firefox will now check for updates on all plugins installed, such as Adobe Flash, Silverlight, Shockwaves and many more. I love updates! So having the ability to check for the latest plugins, is a huge bonus for me.
Firefox 3.6 builds upon, in my opinion, the best web browser. With improvements in looks, technologies and speed; it is a great update over Firefox 3.5. Its a shame that more features were not added, or that more improvements could have been made to speed up JavaScript or get closer to 100 on Acid3. Both Safari and Chrome beat Firefox in this area still. It is a excellent update over Firefox 3.5, however I am not going to suggest that you upgrade immediately if you prefer the stability of Firefox 3.5. It is a nice improvement, just in time as Internet Explorer users look for a new web browser! 
