February 23, 2012

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Wintertime Fashions Trump Summer’s Selection

Tan suit

Image via Wikipedia

When it comes to wintertime fashions, there is often a larger sense of practicality built in than summer oriented creations. That’s simple; fending off the bite of winter is important to maintain health. Summer allows for much more extravagance with no side effects such as flu or otherwise as the result. All of which is not to say that winter fashions aren’t colorful, creative, and reflective of the person who wears them.

 

In fact, some would argue that winter affords them more opportunities to show their fashion side. That’s because they can add layer upon layer to their ensemble. Also, accessories such as scarves, hats, and gloves can afford more fashion display opportunities than do summer outfits, which almost require more bare skin than accessorizing. There’s simply no worry about loading down too much with winter accessories, as the heat – and resultant perspiration – won’t get in the way of your ensemble.

 

If this seems like an ode to winter fashion, it is. Places like Finland and Russia have provided the impetus for fashionable winter wear, as their climates are so chilly on the average, yet their populace so fashion forward. Drawing from these places for cutting edge looks brings in the suit coat paired with a pair of jeans, with a scarf tied jauntily and tucked into the coat. Pointy shoes, a dapper hat, big belt, and a pair of lambskin gloves round out a completely contemporary look. And it’s a look that, coupled with the colors and bold patterns that catch your eye, will keep you from developing any unwanted sniffles!

Filed Under: Linux Community, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

How the Internet Has Changed How We Stay Connected

If you traveled to 1980, most of us stayed connected through letters and phone calls. But the Internet, and connected devices such as smartphones, tablets, and more, has changed all that. Now instead of calling someone, you just send a text, and instead of writing a letter, you just send an email.

Instant Responses

Back in the 19th century, to receive a response to a letter typically took weeks. Forty years ago, it took a few days. Now with emails and texting, you can receive a response to your letter within seconds. This makes us even more connected than we’ve ever been. Not only can we send and receive letters instantly, we can send letters out to multiple recipients and we can post things online, such as on Facebook, allowing any of our “friends” to know what’s going on in our lives if they so choose to check. Instead of having to call someone and chat to catch up, all we need to do is go to that person’s profile page and we’ll be able to find out such information as what their kid spilled on the kitchen floor and what plans they’re making with friends for the weekend. We can even use the chat feature, if that person is currently online, to ask a quick question.

Smartphones

Not only can we connect easily with people using the Internet on our computers, but there are mobile versions of web pages that allow us to connect on our phone. This includes taking a picture and posting it on Facebook or responding to someone’s Twitter update without needing a computer.

It’s amazing what we can do online.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: , ,

Social Media and the New Type of Gamer

FrontierVille 

Image via Wikipedia

When you think of a gamer, you probably think of a male teenager or young adult with acne, glasses and bad clothes. He’s probably socially awkward and only knows how to talk to someone if he’s talking through his Xbox head set. But there’s a new gamer on the block; she’s a mom in her 30s to 50s who’s ready to kick your butt at Frontierville.

Social Media Games

Companies like Zynga took advantage of the creation of social media, most prominently Facebook, to create a new form of games. These games are highly mission-based and come in many varieties including mobs, farms, fish, zoos, and more. Some of the games are of higher quality than others making them more popular including Mafia Wars, FrontierVille and FarmVille (are they different?), CityVille, and Treasure Madness.

The creators of these games take advantage of social media in a way that could not happen with games previously. With these games, you can only succeed by having a lot of your friends playing as well. So basically you recruit your friends who get addicted and then they recruit their friends and so on. Pretty soon, the games have 5 million players.

The New Gamers

So who plays these games? Most of the players are female (though there are plenty of male players as well) who are stay-at-home moms. Because these games are clock-based (e.g., if you plant something, it will finish growing in 8 hours and then you have 8 hours to harvest before it withers), they are perfect for anyone who can get on a computer throughout the day to play.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: , ,

Final Configuration for Remote Access for Linux

Many Linux users would like to remotely access the computer from another part of the city or country. To do this you must set up your computer in a way that allows you to remotely access the Linux operating system and use the computer system. Once you have set up the configuration for remote access and discovered what IP address your computer has you’re able to do the final stop in remote accessing your Linux operating system. Here’s a walk-through of the final stop that is required to remote access your Linux operating system computer.

Step one. You’ll need to login to the router of your computer. To do this you need to type in the following address http://192.168.1.1 this is the default setting for your router.

Step two. A login screen will pop up on your computer. You’ll need to put in your admin name and password in order to change the settings.

Step three. Looking at the top of screen title advanced or expert. You’ll need to enter the screen in order to create a new network for your Linux operating system. When John located in you’ll be prompted to enter in a number for the port entering the number 5900 as well as the IP address of the computer you wish to access.

Step four. Make sure you save the settings that you have just put in. If you do not save the settings you will be required to input this every single time you wish to remote access computer.

Step five. Do a test run of the remote access desktop and make sure that you’re able to access the computer.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: , ,

Determining How Much Memory You Have on Linux

Just like any other operating system the Linux operating system requires the use of memory to store programs and software. The problem is that if you are a regular user to PC computers or Mac computer you may be unfamiliar with how to check out how much memory you are exactly using, using the Linux operating system. That is because the Linux operating system requires you to put in a set of commands in order to bring up with how much memory you are using. Windows PC and Mac operating systems have this option set up in a graphical user interface window which allows users to click and see how much memory they are using. If you are using a Linux operating system and wish to see how much memory you are using here is a look at how to perform the command in order to bring up that type of information.

Step one. Choose the system button  on your Linux system. This will usually open up a terminal window which is used to type in all the commands and bring up the information that you want.

Step two. You’ll need to switch over to a room user on the Linux operating system. To do this type in the command su and press the enter key.

Step three. You will generally be prompted to type in the password for the system. It is asked for password place in the password. However, some users have their Linux operating system set up so there is no password that needs to be typed in.

Step four. You’ll need to write out the command grep memtotal/proc/meminfo and choose the enter key. This will bring up a window which will display how much the Linux memory size is being used and allow you to determine how much you have.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: ,

Removing Icons from the Gnome Desktop in Linux

A very popular desktop that is used for Linux operating systems is known as the GNOME desktop. This type desktop is the default type desktop that is used in all Linux operating systems. Just as with any desktop that is used for Windows PC or Mac users might want to remove icons from the desktop. Depending upon the type of icon that you are using in the Gnome desktop through a process will be different. Here’s a look at how to remove normal icons and special icons using this style of Linux desktop system.

The Removal Of Normal Icons

Step one. You must first choose to show your desktop which can be done by selecting the show desktop icon which is located in the lower left corner of your screen.

Step two. Choose the icon which you wish to remove by right clicking on it.

Step three. A list of available options will be given to you. Choose move to trash. If the image on the desktop is a file it will automatically be deleted. If it is an icon and you wish to keep it on your computer but not have icon you must first select places than home folder and drag the icon from the desktop to the window titled file browser.

Removal of Special Icon

Step one. You must open the dialog box titled run application. To do this you must select ALT and F2.

Step two. In the run application box type it in gconf-editor and select run.

Step three. Choose the + which is next to the app window in configuration editor.

Step four. Look through the configuration editor and find the selection titled Nautilus and make sure the + is checked.

Step five. Choose desktop on the left pane of the configuration editor window.

Step six. You will then choose the icons which you wish to delete by clicking the check boxes on the right of the configuration editor window. The icons are pretty self-explanatory.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: ,

Changing Desktop Images and Themes When Using Gnome in Linux

Xfce graphical user interface

Image via Wikipedia

One of the most common type of Linux operating system is known as Gnome. This type of Linux operating system last few users to choose the environment and software collection that they want. Many people assume that just because they are going with this type of operating system they are stuck with a certain background, theme and other various effects that come preloaded with this Linux operating system. That is not the case at all. Computer users are able to choose the background, theme and fonts they want. Here’s a look at how to change the themes of the desktop when using Gnome Linux operating system.

Changing the Background. To change the background image or theme US had to the system menu which is located on the top of your desktop. You will then select preferences and then choose appearance. A new window will pop up. In a new window select the tab titled background. You will then be shown a number of images and you can choose the image which you would like as your background. You must then add this picture to the default settings by clicking the button titled ADD, then selecting open and this will add the available image to background.

Changing the Theme. You must head to a website that lists the available themes for the Linux operating system. There are hundreds of available themes. Just make sure that the in that you download is compatible with the version of Gnome that you are using. Went to have downloaded the theme and save it to your desktop you will be able to utilize it by following a few simple steps. First select the system menu, then select preferences and choose appearance. You’ll need to select the install button which is in the lower bottom right corner. You will then need to locate the file you just downloaded and select open. You must choose if you want to apply the theme now or at a later date.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: ,

Linux: Why a Penguin?

If you’ve ever heard of Linux and seen their mascot, you might wonder “Why a penguin?” A penguin may not seem like a likely mascot for a computer operating system, but it catches a lot of people’s attention and leads many people to ask that very question. “Why a penguin?”

Linus Torvalds selected the image of the penguin, which they named Tux, as the image that he relates to the operating system. Larry Ewing, who has allowed this image to be used to promote Linux, was the designer of Tux.

Linus is known to be an expert on penguins. The image that he is attempting to portray with Tux is a slightly overweight penguin that is stuffed with herring, he says. (He also says that if you can’t bear imagining an animal eating too much herring just imagine chocolate instead) Tux is meant to look somewhat like a beanbag. Contrary to the purpose of the image, many people believe Tux is just too fat to hold himself up. The idea, though, is that he ate too much. The entire image is supposed to be humorous and imaginative.

Linus says that some people don’t think that a fat penguin really shows the grace of Linux. He goes on to say that obviously no one has ever had a penguin charging at them at 100 miles per hour. Then he says, “They’d be more careful if they had”.

The picture in everyone’s mind is sure to be different, but with the picture of a violent penguin in mind, the new picture painted is somewhat of a fat penguin charging at you, ready to barf up herring before he gets to you. We’re not quite sure what this is supposed to mean in regards to Linux, but the penguin caught your attention and leads us all to wonder, “Why a penguin?”

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Linux: It’s Free!

When deciding on an operating system for your computer many people go with Windows or another popular one everyone has heard of. Windows is obviously one of the most common operating systems. People usually pick Windows or other popular operating systems because they have heard of them and everyone uses them. Just because these operating systems are popular, it does not necessarily make them the best.

These popular operating systems can be expensive. If you have several computers you may be required to buy a license for each separate computer.

Believe it or not there are operating systems out there completely free and Linux is one of them. Linux systems can be installed on any computer without it costing anything. Whereas, Microsoft licenses are expensive and you often have to renew your license.

Don’t let the price fool you though. Linux comes with great features aside from the cost. There is great security that comes with Linux, which is said to be stronger than Windows. This could be because Linux isn’t as popular, so it is not targeted as much.

Linux gives you freedom to choose things such as many varieties of desktop look and feel. You also get freedom of software choices when doing certain things. The software on Linux is full of features not found on Windows.

Linux is also great for old computers you hardly use. You can install Linux and use it as a backup. Plus the old computers have no problem installing Linux, where you might find it difficult to install Windows into these old computers.

Linux is great if you’re limited on money, which the majority of us are. You don’t have to hassle with keeping up licenses and paying for them. Don’t think that because it’s free it isn’t good. The price isn’t the only good thing about Linux.

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: , ,

Great points about Linux

When looking for an operating system for your computer you might first think of Windows because it’s the most popular. You may not have even heard of the other operating systems out there. Windows has good points, but there are so many more with great points about them too. Just because Windows is popular doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best.

If you are searching for an operating system, you might consider Linux. Aside from the fact that Linux is completely free, there are more great points about the operating system. The system provides freedom, security, along with great features.

For one, there is more freedom to be found in Linux than Windows. You have a better variety of desktop themes than you do for windows. It can get annoying to only have a few choices, but with Linux you have more variety than other operating systems you will find.

One of the greatest features about Linux is the security. Perhaps Linux has great security because it is less targeted than other operating systems. The system has been around since the early 90′s and has managed to stay free of large viruses. Plus you don’t have to spend the extra money for virus protection.

There are also pluses in the software and hardware areas of using the system. Linux tends to have better features than Windows and are easier to use. Linux is also easier to use on old computers. If you have an old computer you may want to install Linux on that computer so that you have a backup computer.

Linux may not be the most popular operating system, but it has many good points about it. It has great security, great features, easy to use, and very cheep. Why wouldn’t you go with Linux when you can get it 100% for free?

Filed Under: Linux Community Tagged With: ,
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