Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on January 11, 2008 by CyberNet.

I can’t believe it’s finally here, but KDE 4 has been pushed out the door! After about 8-months of rigorous testing of pre-release versions they have managed to get a stable edition of KDE 4 assembled and made available to the public.

I read a lot of information this morning in regards to KDE 4, and from what I can tell the general consensus is that anyone wanting to be on the bleeding edge of software will be running it. However, some people have been noticing that it’s a little slower than KDE 3.5, and for that reason a majority of the audience will hold off until KDE 4.1 is released. It’s kind of like waiting for Service Pack 1 to be released for Windows before you make the upgrade. Even Kubuntu 8.04, scheduled for release in April, is expected to have KDE 3.5 enabled by default, but it will include the KDE 4 packages so that users can make the switch.

Below you’ll find all kinds of information in regards to the new KDE 4. First off we take you through a rundown of the features. Then we give you step-by-step instructions on how to get KDE 4 setup in your existing Kubuntu installation, and finally we wrap things up with what the plans are for several different Linux distrubutions in regards to KDE 4. To get the ball rolling let’s flip through some of the cool new features offered in KDE 4:

–Features–

• Dolphin has replaced Konqueror as the default file manager, and initially I would have to say that it looks pretty nice. It almost reminds me of a Mac at first glance.

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• Plasma breathes new life into the KDE widgets.

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• Application launcher fans rejoice! KRunner will let you run applications, open websites, and even do simple calculations.

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• KWin brings some more advanced window previews, which is useful for things like tiling all of your open windows. It can also be useful for managing your virtual desktops:

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• The Kickoff Start Menu is a drastic redesign from what you’re probably used to in KDE. It has a tabbed interface for quick access to your favorite applications, files on your computer, and more. Generally I think people will like it.

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–Kubuntu & KDE 4–

The Kubuntu team wanted to make it easy for anyone to try out the new KDE 4, and to do so they released a Live CD of Kubuntu 7.10 that is packaged with it. For those of you wanting to do this on your existing installation here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Remove previous KDE 4 packages, they are not compatible (apt-get remove kdelibs5 kde4base-data kde4libs-data)
2. Add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu gutsy main to your /etc/apt/sources.list
3. Install kde4-core, note that PPAs aren’t authenticated so you will likely get a warning when installing
4. KDE 4 apps should appear in your KDE 3 K-menu or you can run a full session by selecting “KDE 4″ from your login manager.
5. To avoid having to start a second X server for a full session install xserver-xephyr and run Xephyr :1 then and run /usr/lib/kde4/bin/startkde in the Xerphyr xterm.

–Distribution Status–

• An alpha version of KDE4-based Arklinux 2008.1 is expected shortly after this release, with an expected final release within 3 or 4 weeks.
• Debian KDE 4.0 packages are available in the experimental branch. The KDE Development Platform will even make it into Lenny. Watch for announcements by the Debian KDE Team. Rumours are that a Live CD is planned as well.
• Fedora will feature KDE 4.0 in Fedora 9, to be released in April, with Alpha releases being available from 24th of January. KDE 4.0 packages are in the pre-alpha Rawhide repository.
• Gentoo Linux provides KDE 4.0 builds on http://kde.gentoo.org.
• Kubuntu packages are included in the upcoming “Hardy Heron” (8.04) and also made available as updates for the stable “Gutsy Gibbon” (7.10). A Live CD is available for trying out KDE 4.0. More details can be found in the announcement on Kubuntu.org.
• Mandriva will provide packages for 2008.0 and aims at producing a Live CD with the latest snapshot of 2008.1.
• openSUSE packages are available for openSUSE 10.3 (one-click install), openSUSE Factory (one-click install) and openSUSE 10.2. A KDE Four Live CD with these packages is also available. KDE 4.0 will be part of the upcoming openSUSE 11.0 release.

KDE 4 Announcement
Thanks for the tip Mohan!

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on July 25, 2012 by CyberNet.

As many of you know I am always on the lookout for a good Notepad replacement, and generally I tend to always fall back to using Notepad++. It’s a solid application with a lot of great tools, but in some aspects Notepad++ is a big departure from the simplicity that the built-in Windows Notepad offers. If you feel the same way the free and portable TED Notepad may be more along the lines of what you’re looking for.

What really makes TED Notepad awesome is that it continues to stay as far away as possible from using sidebars, toolbars, and other graphical non-sense that would otherwise make the app start to feel like WordPad more so than Notepad. It doesn’t lack in features though. There are dozens of different text manipulation actions that can be performed, advanced find and replace with regular expression support, advanced auto-completion based on the content of the document, and it’s littered with more keyboard shortcuts than you could possibly remember.

I’ve had TED Notepad on my machine for a few weeks now, and while I do still switch over to Notepad++ occasionally TED Notepad has been standing strong as my primary Notepad replacement.

TED Notepad Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on August 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

Last week there were some updates leaked for Windows Vista. These updates promised to cure the problems that have plagued many Vista users, including the slow file transfer times and slow resuming from standby.

Microsoft must have decided that it would just be best if they released the updates to the public instead of holding them back any longer. So here are the links you’ll need to download these packages:

Windows Vista Performance Pack (KB938979):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 9.9MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 14.1MB

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack (KB938194):

• x86 Homepage (Direct Download) – 2.1MB
• x64 Homepage (Direct Download) – 3.6MB

Note: You’ll notice that the direct download links still retrieve the files from Microsoft, but bypass the WGA check.

These updates are the same as the ones that were leaked, so if you had already installed those there is no need to download these. Microsoft also said that they will be distributing the patches via Windows Update, but did not give a date as to when. Many people are speculating that it will be happening next Tuesday, August 14th which is when Microsoft will unleash their Windows patches for the month.

I’ve been using these updates for almost a week now and I have to say that they make a tremendous difference in Vista’s performance. File transfer times are lightning fast, it doesn’t take forever for the "time remaining" to be calculated, resuming from standby is much more prompt, and a number of other things have been fixed. Microsoft is extremely smart for releasing these patches now and satisfying their current customers, rather than bundling the fixes with SP1 just so that they can boast a more powerful service pack.

Here’s a detailed list of what issues the individual packs address:

Windows Vista Performance Pack:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
• When you copy or move a large file, the "estimated time remaining" takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
• When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

Windows Vista Compatibility Pack:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver.
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a "Stop 0x0000009F" error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active.

Thanks for the tip CoryC!
Sources: All About Microsoft, Windows Now, and Ars Technica

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on May 21, 2010 by CyberNet.

Ashley and myself have always been on the lookout for the perfect iPhone-to-iPhone messenger app that would let us drop down the number of text messages that we send each month. After all, about 75% of the text messages that we send every month are between each other, and thanks to push notifications on the iPhone I figured a dedicated messenger could potentially save us a lot of money.

We have tried all kinds of messenger applications. For awhile we used apps like BeejiveIM (iTunes) and IM+ (iTunes) because they would just integrate in with our existing Google Talk accounts. This worked out pretty well, but we found that both apps would get “disconnected” from the accounts regardless of whether we had the maximum disconnect time of 7 days. That’s why we moved on to other messenger apps that used their own account systems, and are therefore able to keep you connected at all times.

We had tried a lot of apps, and forced ourselves to use them for at least a week so that we could get a feel for both the user interface and the reliability of the service. Here are the ones we didn’t like:

• Textie (iTunes – free and in-app purchase to remove ads): This is one of the better ones because the interface is decent, and it was the most reliable out of the bunch. The problem was that we had already set our hearts on the winner that we mention later on, and this just wasn’t good enough to pull us away from it. This does do group conversations.
• PMessenger (iTunes – paid and free versions): This was one of the most reliable messenger apps, and we could always feel confident that the other person received the message. To aid in the reliability it also offers indicators that tell you whether your message has been read by the recipient already. The interface, however, is not that great. This does do group conversations.
• TextPlus (iTunes – paid and free versions): This app is largely targeted towards people who want to send text messages to other users’ cellphones, but I wanted to try it as an iPhone-to-iPhone messenger as well. The interface was okay, but it just didn’t have a good enough reliability factor to make it useable. Messages that we would send one another weren’t always delivered, or at least we’d never get the corresponding notification. This does do group conversations though.
• Ping! (iTunes – paid and free versions): The interface for Ping! was actually pretty good, but this too suffered from random messages not showing up. This does not do group conversations.
• WhatsApp Messenger (iTunes – paid only): I liked this app because it would show you when the recipient had read the message, and the reliability was really good. At times the interface seemed cluttered though, and not offering a free version meant that I couldn’t have some of my friends download it without convincing them to drop a little money. Sure, it’s not expensive, but I want my friends to have the option of whether they want to buy the app or not. This does not do group conversations.

So what app has won our heart? It’s Hello! Messenger (iTunes – paid and free versions). The interface is gorgeous, and while the reliability was flakey initially I can say that it has been nearly perfect since the last release. Here are some of the features I’d like to highlight:

• The box where you type your message expands as your message gets longer, just like in the native SMS app.
• There is an indicator for whether your messages have been read of not.
• Your account information is retained on their server. That means you could easily pick up a new device, login, and see all of your contacts without needing to add them all over again.
• You can have group conversations.
• The available sounds that can be played when you receive a message actually sound good, which is not something a lot of the other apps can boast.
• There is an indicator to let you know when the other user is typing.

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After using this app for a few weeks both Ashley and I feel that it’s actually nicer than the built-in SMS app in most areas. I’ve also contacted the developer, and he has said that both Blackberry and Android versions should be out by the end of the month… which is rather incredible. That means nearly all of my friends would be able to use this app, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them jump on board. Plus he said a native iPad app will be started once some of their other developments wrap up.

If there was one negative thing I could say about the app it’s that the primary user identification consists of 7 random numbers/letters. That doesn’t bother me too much since you can find friends by name or phone number, but the app also makes it easy to send your ID to your friends via SMS or email. This is a petty complaint, and overall I’d say this is leaps and bounds beyond the other apps.

By using Hello! messenger we’ve been able to drop down from our unlimited text plan ($30 per month on the family plan) to just 200 text messages per month ($5 per phone = $10 per month). That means we save $20 every month thanks to this app! Needless to say we use this app so much that we decided to spend the $1.99 and grab the ad-free version.

Hello! Messenger (iTunes – paid and free versions)

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on June 07, 2007 by CyberNet.

Click to Enlarge

If you’re a fan of DivX then you’ll probably want to take advantage of this limited time offer. the DivX team is currently offering a free version of DivX Pro for Windows and for Mac which would normally cost you $20. Basically you download the 21MB file, install DivX Pro, and after the installation is done it will prompt for your email address (as seen in the screenshot above). You’ll receive the serial number needed to register the software at the email address you provide.

The big difference the free DivX and DivX Pro is that you get the DivX Converter (which didn’t work with Vista when I tried it) and the DivX Pro Codec. Here are the benefits each provide:

• DivX Converter
  • Drag-and-drop nearly any video format to create a high-quality, highly compressed DivX video
  • Merge and convert multiple videos into a single DivX file with an automatically generated menu
• DivX Pro Codec
  • Higher performance, including multi-threaded support for better performance on all HyperThreaded, dual core and dual CPU (SMP) systems
  • More encoding options, including six carefully optimized encoding modes that balance visual quality and performance for virtually any application

Even if you don’t need it right now, I recommend that you download DivX Pro for Windows or for Mac so that you can get a serial number. Unfortunately it requires that you immediately install it to get the serial number, but you can pick and choose which components you want installed.

Source: Ghacks

Copyright © 2013 CyberNetNews.com