Linux on Laptops

I found a very nice laptop dealing with the specifics of installing Linux on laptops. It's mainly targeted for new Linux users.

I goes from which distro to install to what to do if certain problems appear.

It's really worth checking it out.

Linux on Laptops

Linux Native Games

I'm not really a gamer but it's nice to play something from time to time. Since I switched to Linux I discovered is a little difficult to find good games that run natively in Linux. Searching, I found some good ones. Here's the list:

1. Title: Planeshift
   Genre: MMORPG
   Website: www.planeshift.it
   
   
2. Title: Savage
   Genre: RTS
   Website: www.s2games.com
   Installation Instructions: www.linux-gamers.net
   
   
3. Title: Sauerbraten
   Genre: FPS
   Website: www.sauerbraten.org
   
   

How to bypass a Web Filter

When using a computer in a restricted environment like for example school, it's becoming increasingly usual to be behind a web filter. Of course they are necessary to restrict what types of contents are viewed but sometimes the web filter blocks something that's far from "bad content".

Now, this is going to be a series of posts to show you how to bypass this web filters. Each post in the series will have a different method. Of course this is only for educational purposes and I don't encourage nor discourage the use of this information.

The first method in this series if very simple. A lot of web filters have a database based on the URL of the websites. If the URL is on the database the web filter denies the access. Now, what would happen if we changed the URL of the website? That's where web proxies come in hand.

A web proxy let's you surf the web by using an online form. Just type the URL and start surfing. The difference is that the content is going to be retrieved by the web proxy and then displayed to you. This let's you surf any website if the proxy's website is not blocked of course.

To find a free web proxy just google for it and you will find one immediately. If your web filter blocks the access to all of them (which I think is unlikely), you could set up one in your home computer and access it from anywhere. This is going to be in another post of the series.

One web proxy that I use and have never seen it blocked is http://www.the-cloak.com. It's very easy to use and you will get to the websites you want without restrictions.

Thank you for reading and keep visiting to learn other methods in this series and a lot of other interesting stuff.

Why I would and wouldn't go back to Windows

I made the change some months ago and have been using Ubuntu since then. I really enjoy it because it has no possibilities in what you can customize. It's very easy to make it your own.

There are some things that I do miss from Windows. I'll mention some things why I would go back to Windows and also why I wouldn't which is what I'm doing.

Why I wouldn't

1. Customization
   I can make Linux whatever I want it to look like very easily. And also, it's not only the way it looks, but the way it feels. My Ubuntu box is mine and it shows. I have things just how I want to have them which is not very easy in Windows.
   
   
2. No GUI if not necessary
   Why would a server want a GUI (Graphical User Interface)? I don't know, but I'm sure I don't want it running on my home web server. It is really not needed and just wastes resources. This is something you can't do with Windows, the GUI is part of the OS.
   
   
3. Say bye to Spyware, Adware, Viruses (Virii?), Trojans, etc.
   Yes, I'm serious, you don't have to worry about all these anymore. Of course there are viruses and stuff for Linux but they're very uncommon. And besides, if you got infected with one, just your files would be affected, not the whole system. This is because of the solid permission system Linux is based on. Something Windows has to implement, and something I think is going to be included in Vista.
   
   
4. Fast updates
   Because Linux is open source, everyone has access to the code. This might not sound very good but it is. Once someone finds a flaw in Linux's source code, someone around the world will take a look at it and fix it immediately. This is why updates are more frequent in Linux, you don't have to wait for the updates once a month.

Why I would

1. Games
   I don't play games very often but it's nice to be able to play them once in a while. Don't get me wrong but I don't like the idea of having to use wine, cedega, etc. I just want to buy a game at a store and be able to play it which is something I think will happen in the future and is happening right now with games like Unreal Tournament.
   
   
2. Friends' latest programs
   Let's be honest, more than 90% of the people use Windows. It's what my friends use and it sucks when they have a new cool program and I can't use it because it's for Windows. The good side is that there is a huge library of open source programs that are equally as good or even better.
   
   
3. Compatibility
   I don't like to use Windows at school but I have to. I hate when I have assignments with Windows only programs. That's what you have to deal with. If everyone else uses Windows, they're not going to give you an assignment with a program for Linux.
   

Thanks for reading and keep visiting.

Downgraded to 1.5, now what?

Well if you successfull downgraded your PSP to 1.5 just like I did, you might be wondering what to do next. Here's a list of some things you may want to try out.

1. Homebrew
   The main reason why you would want to downgrade is because you want to run homebrew applications, games, emulators, etc. This may not be very easy to a beginner but I found a link that will certainly answer you questions. You can find it here.
2. Devhook
   When you downgraded to 1.5 you lost some funcionality like the web browser, the ability to play some new games, and other stuff. Fortunately, there is a solution for this. It's called devhook. What it does is it emulates a firmware you want from the memory stick, giving you all the functionality of that firmware. Right now, the highest firmware you can emulate is 2.71 which is enough for almost every game out there. You can find more information about devhook and its installation right here.
3. Custom firmware
   With 1.5 you can also use custom firmwares. These custom firmwares add some very nice features to your psp. I'm currently using harleyg's custom firmware which you can find here. The zip has instructions to install it.

You can do a lot of things with your psp once it's 1.5, it's just a matter of looking for something you would like to have.

Thanks and keep visiting.

PSP downgrader to be released today

Yes, finally someone has created a downgrader for 2.71 psp's and it will be released today at 7:00 pm EST which I'm not even sure what time it is here in my country :P

This new downgrader will turn your 2.71 psp into a 1.5 opening the doors to a lot more people to the world of homebrew. For those of you who don't know what a 1.5 psp can do, well it can execute all sort of home created programs including games, emulators, utilities, etc.

If you're interested in learning more about this new release go here. It's a link to pspupdates which has the latest news about the psp including this so go there and check it out.

Thanks for reading.

Tutorial: Moving from Blogger to Wordpress

I have been thinking and I have decided I'm moving out from blogger and set up a blog at a payed web host. I registered the domain already which is www.gylog.net and I'm checking out several hosting companies to see where I'm going to host the blog.

One of the things I was wondering is how to move the current posts and general information from blogger to my new web host. I searched a little on the Internet and found a post that showed you how to migrate from blogger to wordpress which is exactly what I will do.

Anyways, I thought it would be useful to some of you just like it was for me. You can visit the link by clicking here.

Thanks for reading. Remember, feel free to leave any comments you want.

Exercise your Brain

Everyone says we should exercise everyday, but most of the times they mean to exercise our body. It's very important to exercise your brain also. This will help you think clearer and faster. The more you use your brain, the more exercise it gets.

I recently found a website that I found very interesting. It is called MyBrainTrainer. It has a lot of exercises you can perform while on your computer. It even has some special programs to develop certain parts of your brain.

It costs $9.99 for four months (and I'm not getting any money from this, I just wanted to share it) and I think it's worth it.

They have a 21-days program to develop many parts of your brain. I have been using it and I certainly have seen results.

There are also some other sets of exercises for different purposes like decision making, test taking, athletic performance, etc.

I'm really enjoying the service and really have seen results. If you want more information visit their website. That's www.mybraintrainer.com

Webmaster Tutorials

To anyone who want to enter to the world of webmasters or simply learn a little more I would like to share with them a link that helped me a lot.

It actually is from the people who decide how html and xhtml will be. It is called W3Schools. I found it of great help because one would think it is just about html, but this is far from the truth.

It has tutorials about html, xhtml, css, php, asp, etc. It also has online tests so you can know if you really learned something.

With the html tutorial there's even an online editor so you can immediately try your code.

I think this link will be of great help to some. You can find the website at www.w3schools.com.

Thanks and keep visiting.

6 Things That Would Make the PSP Better

I've had my PSP for months now, and I really like it. I use it to take music and videos with me. I also check my e-mail from it once in a while. I really enjoy it but I think the PSP has much more potential and Sony could make it much better.

This is my list of things that I would like on the PSP and that I think would make it better:

1. Camera

   Yes, I know Sony is going to release one later but I wonder when. I would like to have it soon because it would be great to use the PSP as a digital camera and maybe the game developers could add a feature on their games that would let you personalize the game with pictures. Also maybe another feature on games for facial recognition would be good.

2. Video Chat

   With the release of the Camera comes the video chat. A free service that let's you chat with your friends and have a video conference on the PSP. It would be fun to be on another city and talk to your friends while actually seeing them all with the PSP.

3. Keyboard

   This is one thing I've been praying for since I got the PSP. If you have surfed the web with your PSP you know how frustrating is to enter a long URL using the virtual keyboard, or enter your username and password. Actually, I think Logitech was going to release a keyboard but Sony didn't give them some information they needed. Maybe this means a keyboard from Sony. :)

4. Instant Messaging

   It would also be nice to have IM clients for the PSP. Once a keyboard is out this could be very nice. This would also save the hassle of taking out your laptop, wait for it to boot, open the IM client, etc. Just turn on your PSP, fire the IM client, and start chatting.

5. Skype

   I don't know if this would go on the Instant Messaging category but I gave it its own. If there was a skype client for the PSP you could use a microphone and use it as a phone to talk with your friends wirelessly.

6. Games

   Yes, the PSP is mainly a gaming console, so it's logic for it to have good games... Now, there are some good games out right now but I still haven't found one that is a really good one. One that everyone wants to play and never gets boring.

So that's it with this list a made. If you have any opinions, comments, or items you want to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks and keep visiting.

New exploit found for the PSP

Well, it happened once again! To all of us who upgraded our PSP's a group of people found a new bug and successfully exploited it.

This exploit will work on any version of the PSP that is able to see tiff images. For now, the exploit shows a screen with a message known by the majority of users as “hello world” as in every programming language.

This program shows that we can actually run code on the PSP without the GTA game. Announces have been made and it seems all there is left to do is code an eLoader to be able to load homebrew on our PSP's without the need of a GTA game.

Kernel mode is available in versions 2.0 – 2.71, in which 2.71 will take a little extra work and by consequence some more time. This will bring the possibility to a downgrader, but as fanjita says on his web page, why downgrade if you have kernel mode?

You can download the files here. Inside the zip there are instructions to use the program, although it is very straightforward. Also inside the zip you'll find a file with more information about the discovery and all the acknowledgements.

If you would like to learn more about this visit fanjita's site. That's http://www.noobz.eu

That's it for now, but keep coming because I will have more news, tutorials, and many more things!

How to execute programs automatically in Linux

Have you found yourself doing something over and over? Wouldn't it be nice to do it all automatically? I mean, if you can have it done at exactly the time you want and without your intervention, it is great right?

Well this is possible and very easy. In this article you will learn how to do it and you will find out how easy it can be. To accomplish this we will be using cron and crontab.

Cron is a program that let's you execute a program, script, or command at any given time. To do this there is a file called crontab. Each user has his own crontab which he can edit and add any job he wants.

Now, how do I use cron? Well, there are a several ways you can do this. I'm going to show you the easiest one for me.

Commands

These are some commands you are going to need to use cron:

• crontab -e
  This command is used to edit the crontab file which has all the information of the programs you want to run and when you want to run it. By typing this command the editor will appear and you will modify crontab however you want using some special syntax that I will show you after this section.
  
  
• crontab -l
  This command displays the content of the crontab file. You can also make a copy of the crontab file if you use a redirect by doing 'cron -l > copy'.
  
  
• crontab -r
  This command removes the content of the crontab file. You must be careful with this command for obvious reasons.

Syntax

Now that you know which commands to use with cron you will learn the syntax of the crontab file. If you execute 'cron -e' the editor will appear and you will have an empty file. Now, to add a job you have to follow some certain rules:

Minute Hour Day Month Day Command

• Minute: This is the minute you want the command to be executed. For example to execute a command at 06:23 a.m. the Minute would be 23.
  
  
• Hour: The hour you want the command to be executed. Following the example the hour would be 06.
  
  
• Day: Now, this is the day of the month. If you wanted your command to be executed only the 15th, you would use 15.
  
  
• Month: Used to specify what month you want the command to be executed.
  
  
• Day: This is the day of the week. You can use: sun, mon, tue, etc.
  
  
• Command: This is the command you want to execute. Remember you have to use the complete path of your program, script, etc. For example if you have a program on your home directory the command would be /home/user/program instead of just program.

Examples

Let's say you wanted to execute a command every sunday at 3:00 a.m. The syntax would be:

00 03 * * sun /home/user/program

To run it every night it would be:

00 03 * * * /home/user/program

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and learned something. It's very easy as you can see. Also, keep visiting my blog because I will be writing a lot of tutorials.

Thanks for reading.