The Barrel

WFTL Bytes!

Okay it is not a new swear word, it happens to be a podcast that as the author says is a “occasiodaily” item. Have you wanted a good podcast to keep up with a honest approach to the world of Linux? Well the author of this podcast is Marcel Gagné, a writer with a number of books under his belt, and still finds the time to do a light but informative podcast. What he prodces is a fun easy to understand view of the often confusing world of Linux, intended for both the new user and the old jaded ones. Stop over and download a copy or watch him online he has been kind enough to offer multiple options for the vistors.

Here is the Podcast Site

And here is his main site

Take a look you might enjoy it, Baldy

Posted in Linux

MEPIS jumps on 2.6.27

Only ten days after the release of Linux 2.6.27, the SimplyMEPIS project has decided to work the new kernel into its next release. The project today used the kernel in both 32- and 64-bit versions of the third beta release of SimplyMEPIS 8.

And this after all the "experts" said that Mepis was dead. Like I said then just wait the release is going to blow your socks off, Baldy

MEPIS jumps on 2.6.27

Posted in Mepis

Review of final OpenOffice 3: Why buy Microsoft Office?

The final version of OpenOffice 3 is out today, and if you’re looking to save yourself plenty of money, download it instead of buying Microsoft Office — you could save yourself hundreds of dollars, and not lose out on many features. I put the Windows version through its paces, and am about to download the Linux version as well. The suite has six full-blown applications: the Writer word processor, Calc spreadsheet, Impress presentations program, Base database program, Math equation editor, and Draw graphics program.

Yeah I know 2 in a row about Open Office but hey this version is a huge improvement and it works and looks great, Baldy

Review of final OpenOffice 3: Why buy Microsoft Office?

Posted in Software

OpenOffice 3 Debuts to Server-Crashing Demand

The third full OpenOffice suite is out in the wild and attracting plenty of attention. OpenOffice.org 3.0 was released Monday — and already, demand has been high enough to overwhelm the download servers and cause them to crash. The software suite, designed as an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, offers everything from word processing and spreadsheet creation to presentation and databasing tools. Added in the 3.0 release is a host of extensions to allow a more customized user experience.

I’ve never heard of this over a Windoze Office update but hey it might happen LOL Baldy

OpenOffice 3 Debuts to Server-Crashing Demand

Posted in Software

Happy Thanksgiving

No I am not bombed it is Thanksgiving for our northern neighbors. Columbus Day for us but hey They are trying to get the Holidays correct. LOL Have a good day and don’t eat to darn much folks.

Posted in Personal

The extremely simple guide to installing Ubuntu using Wubi

The extremely simple guide to installing Ubuntu using Wubi. Many people are put off using Ubuntu because of installation issues. Not that installation is difficult, of course, but for the true non-technical user, it’s equivalent to scaling Mount Everest. This guide is for them. It’s a step-by-step guide to installing Ubuntu for complete and utter beginners. If you have a relative, or friend, who would like to try Ubuntu, but who is frankly scared of the prospect, then send them a link to this posting! It assumes zero prior knowledge.

Okay here is a great idea that allows even the most nervous new user to install Ubuntu as a dual boot with XP, great for those that want to sit down and start to learn Linux as opposed to running a live cd, Baldy

The extremely simple guide to installing Ubuntu using Wubi

Posted in Linux

Canadian discovers Chinese snoop on Skype

A Canadian researcher has discovered that a Chinese version of eBay Inc.’s Skype communications software snoops on text chats that contain certain keywords, including “democracy.”

The revelation is not only of interest to rights groups that monitor Internet censorship. The discovery also likely intrigues law enforcement and intelligence agencies in other countries, because they have been bothered by the growing use of Skype, which claims 338 million users across the world.

Read the Rest of the Article

Posted in Security

Simply Mepis 8 is Looking Good

As some of you know, Linux is what my computers run on, and Simply Mepis is the particular distribution. I have been using Simply Mepis for a number of years, and would not go backwards into a Windows environment for anything. There is no need to, really, as all my computing needs are met in Linux: safe, secure, virus free, and easy to use. For more on Linux, you can read my post Linux - Is It For You?

Yikes and yet another person with Mepis on the mind. Could it be that Mepis is the best kept secret in the Linux World? Naw just a lot of folks that run linux want a good system that just Simply Works, Simply Mepis.

Read the Entire Article here

Posted in Mepis

Bash Script To Get Weather Forecasts For Your Zip Code

Today’s Linux/Unix bash shell script is probably not the last follow up to the growing stable of scripts we’ve written to mine the knowledge on tap online. Today’s info is grabbed from WeatherBug.com. If you missed any of the others scripts we’ve jammed out, you can still find them in our older bash script posts to spew out famous quotations on pretty much any subject, do encylopedia lookups, access the online Thesaurus, translate between different languages and, of course, the use the online dictionary. This time we’re going to take a crack at getting online weather updates, using zip codes. If you check out the GET variables, you’ll notice that the scope is the WORLD, but it doesn’t seem to work well with foreign identifiers. Of course, I haven’t tried all that hard to get it to work - setting me up for a post on the upgrade
Read the rest of the article here.

Posted in How-To

MEPIS Linux 8.0 nears release

A new version of MEPIS Linux, one of my favorite KDE-based distributions, is nearing final release. Roughly a year after the arrival of version 7.0, distribution founder and maintainer Warren Woodford has released MEPIS 8.0 beta 2, based on a Debian Lenny core.

All I can say is I agree with this review. I also am not a fan of the default scheme but it is really nice to see as a step forward in the graphics area. Take a look and check out this fine review, Baldy

 

MEPIS Linux 8.0 nears release

Posted in Mepis