TechieSouls » Linux

How to Check if your Computer Supports ‘Hardware Virtualization’ in Linux

MOin — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:02:06 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about how to check if you computer supports Windows 7 XP mode. Today I am going to tell you how to check if your processor supports Hardware Virtualization under Linux. I already mentioned in this post that XP mode requires that your processor supports Hardware Virtualization. If you are switching to Windows 7 from Linux and you are sure that you’ll need to use XP mode then this post will guide you through.

If you are running your Linux under “Intel” based processor then open your terminal and paste the following command and then press enter.

if [ 'grep -c vmx /proc/cpuinfo' -ge 1 ]; then echo Supports Intel VT; else echo No Support for Intel VT; fi

If you are running your Linux under “AMD” based processor then open your terminal and paste the following command and then press enter.

if [ 'egrep -c '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo' -ge 1 ]; then echo Supports VT; else echo No Support for VT; fi

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Wifi Radar For Linux to Manage and Detect Wireless connections

MOin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:08:49 +0000

Wifi Radar is a free small utility for Linux which help you find wifi connections near you and give you option to automatically connect to network and overview signal strength. You can create new profiles and set connection priority if a network is inaccessible you’ll automatically be connected to other network you specified.

Wifi Radar’s interface is pretty simple and its very usable utility because nothing like this comes by default in Linux so for people using laptops and wifi this free piece of software is a must have.

How to Install:

Installing from source:

Download and untar the latest “Official Tarball” or do an anonymous checkout from SVN (See the “Download” box on the left).

Move into the wifi-radar source directory.

Type “sudo make install“.
(or “sudo make install sysconfdir=/etc/wifi-radar“)

2. Usage Instructions

To do a quick scan and connect to any available profile:

sudo wifi-radar -d

To show the UI and manage profiles:

sudo wifi-radar

Wifi Radar Official Page

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USB 3.0 vs FireWire 3200

MOin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:44:03 +0000

This is a guest post by Daniel Shain from LaptopLogic.com – visit them to read notebook reviews, find a laptop or get the latest laptop news.

After long way of 8 years finally news came out that “USB got its first update” and with the promised transfer speed that is ten times faster than before, race for speed has begun. Many reporters have written that this will lead to the death of the competition, but they forgot to mention that FireWire has an update of its own. FireWire 3200 recently had its specifications ratified just as USB 3.0 did, and the two will certainly be competitive. But which one is better?

USB 3.0 is capable of transferring files at an impressive 4.8Gbps (gigabits per second), which is considerably faster than FireWire’s capabilities. The USB folks have made sure that the new USB is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, and although you can’t get USB 3.0 speeds without new hardware, you will still be able to run everything just the same. The power efficiency has also been revamped so that it should be less of a draw on your laptops or other computers, and the power output has been increased from 100 milliamps to 900 milliamps to make it faster to charge devices and easier to power them through USB too.

FireWire 3200 has a maximum capability of a 3.2Gbps transfer rate, which is 1.6Gbps slower than USB 3.0. However, it should also be noted that the P2P (peer to peer) architecture can usually deliver a higher percentage of the maximum rate than the master/slave architecture of USB can. FireWire 3200 is also backwards compatible with FireWire 800, and you can even plug your new FireWire 3200 hardware into the old FireWire 800 ports and instantly get the new 3.2Gbps speed. FireWire still has an edge in power output over USB too, even after all the improvements, making it even more capable of charging items or powering them through the cables.

There’s a lot to love about both specifications. USB 3.0 certainly constitutes a huge improvement over USB 2.0, and FireWire 3200 is also a useful (if less spectacular) update over FireWire 800. Despite the extra ground made up by USB 3.0, FireWire still maintains an edge in technical categories like the power management, the compatibility with previous versions, and quite possibly even the actual transfer rate. USB has two key things going for it though – it’s cheaper and more popular – which means it’s easier to buy (for your wallet) and easier to use (for your mainstream devices). FireWire has long been supported by Apple, whereas USB has been found in most Microsoft machines, and the difference reminds me a lot of the difference between the two companies. It’s important to remember that while USB 3.0 is great, and really does work well, FireWire is pretty great and works well too. Despite Apple seeming to back off of FireWire a little bit by not including it in the new MacBook, we should expect this specification to be around for a long time still. For the right jobs and the right people, it is still the best one out there.

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Collection of 50 Best Looking Linux Gnome/Ubuntu Themes

MOin — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:18:06 +0000

I recently installed new version of linux (Ubuntu Intrepid ibex) on my secondary computer and i wanted to customize it like i am used to customize windows. I tried a lot of gnome themes and found many beautiful and elegant looking themes which enhance your desktop with different colors, corners, buttons and scroll bar styles. I filtered some of the best looking gnome themes to share on TechieSouls. After downloading themes you have to install them, the following screenshot will guide you how to install theme in ubuntu and gnome interface. Install apply and enjoy

(you have to click on thumbnails to view larger image of screenshot)

Download Theme

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21 Best Of The Best Greasemonkey Scripts For Better Web Experience

MOin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:26:30 +0000

First few words for those who want to know what greasemonkey is and what wonders it can do, Greasemonkey is Firefox add-on which let you edit the way web looks and works with the help of wide variety of already available scripts and you can also write your own. Greasemonkey works simply scripts available are assigned for specific urls where it will only work and javascript change the functionality or visually the way webpage looks (it depends for what script was made)

To use Greasemonkey first you need Firefox then Greasemonkey (install) simply click on install script and Greasemonkey will do rest of the job simply enjoy changing the web your own way.

According to BlogsDNA

Whenever you will download any Greasemonkey script, your Greasemonkey Firefox add-on will automatically detects site for which that script is applicable and applys that script to the site as soon as you open it.

As promised the following are 21 most useful and best of the best Greasemonkey scripts which can change the whole user experience of any specific web application. (i chosen them from best lists out there worth 2 hours i found some new and better ones)

1. Youtube Googler (Install Script)

This script is so useful when you always want to see videos in bigger size still not full screen but moderately large so pixel don’t explode in the video. This greasemonkey script makes youtube more look like Google Videos making the video area covering most of the screen (which is obviously a user concern on that page) striping comment area and video suggestion all together on the left just like a sidebar image reference available below.

2. Youtube Alternative Video Player (Install Script)

Do you hate auto playing of youtube videos like i do? when I am searching for some videos i open 3 or maybe 4 videos at once then i have to manually pause them to see any one of them which is totally un acceptable. we have another option with this script, it replaces the stock Youtube Video Player with one that keep the video paused until ‘Play’ button is pressed but it keep buffering the video without playing them so when you press play you get already loaded video.

3. Download Youtube Video III (Install Script)

If you are everyday youtube user you must came across videos that you badly want to save on your hard disk for future usage. If yes give this script a try it will fulfill all your video downloading needs very nicely when you click on download video icon (that appears with icons under video after installing script) the download pop up will come up from where you can take video to your download manager if you want faster downloads. Linux users need to Right Click and choose ‘Save as’.

4. Youtube “Lights Out” (Install Script)

This script is eye saver I say sometimes video is too dark or too light that you literally want youtube page’s base colour to be black so you can concentrate on video and watch it properly without hurting your eyes. well now you can do something about it this script gives you a little button to switch the lights off and watch the video easily when you click on ‘Lights Out’ button everything on the page (except video) turns dark gray when you click again everything turns Black. When it’s too dark and you can find ‘Lights Out’ button don’t panic clicking anywhere on the page will turn lights on.

5. Flickr “Lights Out” (Install Script)

Flickr Lights Out works same as ‘Youtube Lights Out’ so you can watch pictures easily when lighting condition is not all good matching with picture the only difference is ‘Light Out’ button is on top of picture.

6. Text Areabackup (Install Script)

Remembering everything you write on the web is not as easy as it sounds this script gona ease your mind. Text Areabackup work as a remembering machine while you browse the web and putting your emails, website addresses in short everything you write will be save in a virtual memory of this script. (Note: this script don’t work with Gmail)

7. Google Image Relinker with Mouseover (Install Script)

This is one of my favourite script because of its function and how much ease it gives when you searching for images in Google Image Search. Normally you when you search for images you have to do a lot of mouse clicks to get to the actual image but now things are a little bit interesting when this script is installed you just ‘Mouse Over’ or we say ‘Hover’ over any image thumbnail and see the image preview first then click on it and you get to the image directly instead of clicking again for ‘full size image’ its mean only one click and you get the image. How sweet!

8. Google Account Multi-Login (Install Script)

I am using more than two gmail accounts one for work purpose and one my personal so i had to find this script for multiple account usage at once because signing out and signing in again isn’t as easy as it sounds and waste bit of time too. After installing script your ‘Sign Out’ will turn into drop down box with a couple of options there you can add as many accounts as much you want and switch them with a single click of mouse.

9. GoogleTagCloudMaker (Install Script)

GTCM is really very useful script when you can’t decide proper keyword of your desired search result. It makes a tag cloud at your right pane with suggestion of many relevant keywords to choose from this also help you finding related search results of what you are looking for.

10. Google Ads Remover+ (Install Script)

Sometimes ads are really annoying specially when your connection is slow and web page stuck when it’s loading ads. Now you can remove Google ads from any website you want for faster browsing as a side note I won’t recommend disabling ads because sometimes you really find good resources and considerable product offers out of them so if you have no problem with them then leave as they are. Other usage of this script is to configure it to disable ads from a specific url not the whole web just like i did it with my website so I don’t accidentally click them and penalize for click fraud.

11. Google Image Auto Pager (Install Script)

This is another script for google image search to make searching images easier. Google image auto pager makes ‘image search page’ advance by giving you option to load next set of images on the second page loads on the very same page where you start. When you search for some image you get a lots of results when you are done with first page simply ‘Double Click’ any where on the page to load next set of images doing this again will stop the loading process.

12. Disable Text Ads (Install Script)

I know I know sometimes text ads (Contextual ads) are so much annoying that you badly want them not to disturb and make hurdles during browsing. This script work simply you install it and get rid of text ads forever. Currently this script is removing ads from following Advertisement networks “Vibrant Media (IntelliTXT), AdBrite, Infolicious (lingoSpot), Kontera, Linkworth, EchoTopic, Targetpoint and MediaText.”

13. Pre-fill Comments (Install Script)

Pre-fill Comment is really a life saver script because the one’s who comment on blogs, products or webpages will love this script for life. I know no body likes to write his name, e-mail and url everytime he want to visit a new blog then how about just pressing ‘Alt+C’ and the fields will be filled automatically sounds very easy, yeah obviously it is.

14. LookItUp2 (Intsall Script)

This script is more than just a greasemonkey script because when i first saw this i never believed just a script can do this much. You can add whichever website in it to look up what ever you want to just like add wikipedia and search for ‘Al Pacino’ now you get information without exploring all over the website. Many search sources comes when you install the script and you can add many more according to your choice i prefer you to visit this script’s homepage so you know all information about it because features are vast and I can’t review it all here.

15. Digg Friend Easier (Install Script)

Making your digg profile healthy is all about friends, and users becomes friends when you regularly digg their submissions. This script make things a lot easier than you can ever think now you can digg your friend’s submissions in bulk you do it everyday and they’ll consider making you mutual friend someday. When you install this script submission pages ‘/friends/submissions’ and ‘/friends/shoutsin’ will be having ‘digg it’ shortcut under every submission so you just click on it and ajaxly it will be dugg instantly. Keep on digging ‘easily’

16. Always Open New Windows in Digg (Install Script)

If you are a regular digger spend hour or two just digging then your your left hand always picking up CTRL key (there are also other ways to open new window except holding CTRL key while clicking link) to open external links in new window well now you don’t really need to worry about this problem just install this simple little script and click the links in digg they’ll open in new window always.

17. Advanced Search Options on Digg’s Search Forms (Install Script)

Sometimes while searching on digg you get a lot of irrelevant results but now that wont be a problem any more with this tiny script search forms are advance more than ever and have a lot of options that a search form needs. you can also customized the way search results show look the following screenshot for reference.

18. SU Visual Editor Plus (Install Script)

This script enhance the way your text editor of your stumble upon page looks and works. Installing ‘SU Visual Editor Plus’ won’t do such any wonders but it can increase functionality such as increased width, increased height, background colours matched of the editor etc

19. Stumbleupon Avatar Bubbles (Install Script)

This script works so simple yet interesting and i thought every stumbler would loving using it. After installing SU Avatar Bubbles you get option to see Avatar images bigger when you hover your mouse over them so you dont need to open profile then click profile image to see actual size of the avatar.

20. AJAX Twitter Refresh (Install Script)

If you use twitter from web then you won’t be able to see new tweets unless you refresh the page. After installing this script your twitter page will be automatically refresh every after a minute (70 times per hour) this twitter page refresh scripts is better from others because you won’t notice when page refreshes actually its ajaxly refreshed.

21. Endless Tweets (Install Script)

If you are a die hard twitter and use to tweet everyday and explore people twitter timeline then this script is surely for you. The script automatically loads next set of tweets when you scroll the bottom of the timeline page unlike you click ‘Older’ button and read the tweets on second page. Endless Tweets saves a lot of time and preloading of tweets is also very fast.

Some other resources for the betterment of human kind

If you are interested in making your orkut profile more interesting you should visit this post at BlogsDNA where he tells you how to theme your orkut profile and some good orkut themes too.

If you don’t like using Firefox (i doubt though) you should visit this post at Techie-Buzz where you know how to use Greasemonkey Scripts with IE, Opera and Safari.

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Damn Small Linux only 50mb

MOin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:48:07 +0000

I’ve been using linux from 3 years and most of the time Ubuntu or Kubuntu 2 months with suse because of its killer GUI. Today i found an incredible distro of linux which is only 50mb small and its free plus its open source its called ‘Damn Small Linux‘ There are a couple of benefits in using linux the key ones are its secure, most of them are free, they attracts geeks because of more vast developing features This distro is too small that you can take it any where with you on any media possible boots.

DSL (Damn Small Linux) is really having a lot of kool options more than it sounds and compared to its small size, you run it directly from usb drive, cd or dvd or you can install it on hard disk and it will then turn into a Debian base OS and the developer if DSL says you can run DSL on Intel 486DX with 16 mb Ram thats amazing i mean that was a slooooooooooooooooooow machine (my father had it so i know well) compared to current era.

DSL can be really helpful for a couple of reasons, it can be good for a business man having presentations and need his own personalized interface where he can show things well, a lot helpful as a backup OS when you lost your primary OS and want to backup files now what should you do grab an old usb even 128mb would do the job and make a backup OS as DSL and keep it for bad times or just a CD or we say mini CD’s will be good for this purpose. you can also install further packages to make things according to you basic packages are already install with the download package including firefox and basic media files audio and video, e-mail client, pdf reader, word processor, file anager image software and many more head over to this page for more packages information.

According to DSL website:

Boot from a business card CD as a live linux distribution (LiveCD)

Boot from a USB pen drive

Boot from within a host operating system (that’s right, it can run *inside* Windows)

Run very nicely from an IDE Compact Flash drive via a method we call “frugal install”

Transform into a Debian OS with a traditional hard drive install

Run light enough to power a 486DX with 16MB of Ram

Run fully in RAM with as little as 128MB (you will be amazed at how fast your computer can be!)

Modularly grow — DSL is highly extendable without the need to customize

Download Damn Small Linux

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26 Fantastic Looking Alienware Wallpapers

MOin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:43:26 +0000

Today i am going to share some amazing looking Alienware wallpapers, i was supposed to be minimalistic choice guy who thought things looks beautiful when simple but now i am changing the way of thinking now its like a thing looks beautiful with some colors and appealing overlay and i think i am good now you must’ve noticed my previous post about 30 best icon packs for iconpackager in which i shared a lot of icon packages to serve your desktop needs and today they are wallpapers.

Some of them are taken from Alienware website but from there you can download each wallpaper in zip this is long way they and you also have to provide your e-mail to download from them many of them are my search from all over wallpaper websites and i am sharing here direct .JPG files the easy way obviously =)

Click on images for High Resolution view

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7zip: The Future Of File Compression

MOin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:12:24 +0000

Any PC user use file compression tools everyday to compress files or uncompress files, file compression in pc’s are really famous these days where ever in the world anyone is sharing a file he’ll compress it make it zip (most popular compression format) so you always have to use a software to uncompress theme. there are many compression softwares available in the market which help you compressing files and uncompressing files some are free and some are paid one’s but in my humble opinion ‘7zip‘ is the best from all of them and i think this is the real future of file compression this is what i am going to talk about in this post

7zip is nice and light weight app which is totally free of cost and i think even better than many paid softwares and by size it is under 1 mb. The technology with 7zip compress and uncompress files is the best from all and the compression rate of 7zip is best from all too.

7zip do whatever other compression utility do but 7zip is having very simple interface it uses .7z extension for compressing files and compressing and uncompressing speed is very fast compared to winrar (this is what i was using before 7zip) but winrar is a paid software and there is nothing in winrar that 7zip misses without even a penny, 7zip supports many formats such as RAR, ARJ, Z, gzip, bzip2, LHA, tar, tar.gz, cpio, smzip, JAR, rpm, zip, cab, deb and sometimes i was able to extract MSI files too.

7zip uses LZMA technology which’s compression ratio’s are relatively best of all others i was able to make 7z file of 6gb junk of different files without any issues and i am pretty sure it can handle even more, you can also password protect files with 7z and encryption method is really tough it is 256-bit AES which also encrypt file names which zip format lacks. if the file names are corrupted in some archive like other than windows language then other utilities fail to extract them but 7zip has ability to extract those files too but you have to rename files while extracting you can also make self extracting archives with 7zip and can password protect them as well.

Final thoughts i was using winzip 5 years ago after 2 years i adapted winrar and from 1 year i am on free 7zip and i am pretty sure i am not turning back or looking elsewhere now i am so happy to have this better than paid software for free. the only flaw with 7zip i found so far was there is no GUI version for linux, mac & unix based systems however command line versions are available for free obviously.

Options in right click context menu:

This is how it looks when compressing:

Download 7zip now:

Download .exe

Download .msi

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