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Showing posts from May, 2008

FOSS Workshop in Libya Summary

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The Workshop was organized by COMESA, and it was for COMESA member countries. There were around 15 different countries/delegates attending the workshop I will list some of the output that I see that this workshop achieved 0) FOSS awareness 1) Clearing the image of FOSS and that it can be used for high grade application 2) Some concerns about accusation of several open source projects and if that my affect the FOSS world 3) Hands on training, it is enough for me to state that every delegate installed Ubuntu Hardy Haron 8.04 on their home language and we ended up with one table that has 10 computers and three different Ubuntu languages installations (English, French and Arabic) 4) A show case of CMS and how it could be used to generate content easily and effectively. 5) we (as participants) are discussing now, what else could be done after this workshop 6) Ubuntu Straps have been distributed to the delegates and some of them already sticked it on their laptops. a Link on FOSSFA website

FOSS Workshop in Libya and Me

Again, I'm a guest speaker in FOSS event, I'm flying tomorrow night to Libya as per invitation from COMESA and UNDP Libya to : 1) Give a presentation on Security Using FOSS Projects. 2) Act as a supporter for three other subjects in the same workshop 3) Giving hands on Experience for the Security Project that I will address in point number (1) All at a sudden I found myself a "High Profile Speaker" - Although I think I'm just a normal but passionate speaker about Open Source/FOSS and Security In General. That was After the Success the Security Presentation I gave in Idlelo 3 - Annual FOSS event that usualy sponsored by big Names Like Google,IBM,AUF ..... I will update you from there how things are going in Libya.

Chinese Laptop for 219$

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Linux-based sub-notebook for $219 (£111/€139), anyone? That's what Hong Kong-based Bestlink is currently offering - if you're prepared to buy in bulk. Dubbed the Alpha 400, the Eee PC-like machine sports a 7in, 800 x 480 display but is based not on an x86 processor but a 400MHz, 32-bit XBurst chip. It's got 128MB of memory and 1GB of Flash storage. It has a 10/100Mb/s Ethernet port, an SDHC card reader and a pair of USB 2.0 ports - one of which can take the bundled optional Wi-Fi dongle. Depending on which version of the manufacturer's spec you read, there may be a third USB port. The feature list also mentions optional CDMA and GPRS connectivity, and we suspect that, like Wi-Fi comes from add-on devices. The machine weighs just 700g and measures 21.2 x 14.2 x 3.3cm. It's apparently available in a choice of colours: red, blue, green, salmon and black. There's no indication what the laptop's battery life is, but it comes with office and comms software a-p

OLPC version 2.0

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OLPC is not everywhere, and another version is coming along. OLPC version 2 OLPC XO-2, that is the name of the new version. The new version goes more into the direction of books and has two touch screens, I have researched and found that more than site talking about this new version, so i think it is real. Pictures are below :

Dual Display on Ubuntu Hardy Haron

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If you want to setup two VGA Cards on your Ubuntu and Want to run to Different Monitors to enjoy wider display this is sometimes called Dual Head,Dual Display, Twin Display. to achieve this you will do the below steps: 0) download and install Envy link is h3r3 (Envy is a Gtk program that downloads and installs your ATI or Nvidia VGA Drivers and most of all Modifies you X-Windows Configuration files) 1) Run Envy and let it download the required Driver for your VGA Cards (my setup are two Nvidia Video Cards 2) Enable the new downloaded and installed Driver 3) You will find a New Icon in System --> Administration --> Nvidia Settings 4) restart your computer to use the New VGA Driver 5) now "sudo su -" 6) we need step number (5) to be able to write to Xconfig files 7) Please change your working directory to "cd /usr/bin" 8) Launch the Nvidia Setting Program by typing "nvidia-setting" 9) Enable the Second Monitor 10) please do not forget to tick "En

How BBC " British Broadcasting Corporation" Sees Open Source ?

1) Virus protection 2) Browser innovations 3) Business applications 4) Windows look this is how BBC one of the biggest and trusted sources sees Open Source Link is h3r3

Ubuntu Hardy Haron and Mac Theme

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If you want to give your Ubuntu Hardy Haron Mac Theme which called sometime OSX theme. Please follow the below instructions : 1) Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/mac4lin link is h3r3 2) Download all the packages there 3) Download the PDF file with the instruction on how to install it - the PDF document is very good and very easy - 4) you are done Screen shots:

Open Source Hardware Toy

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Tux Droid is a 2.4 GHz wireless robot specially built for Linux. Tux Droid Connects to your PC and make him flap his wings, dance around, talk, blink his eyes, and all the other stuff you can imagine Let Tux Droid dance when you receive an e-mail Program Tux Droid as a guard dog to scare away intruders Program Tux Droid as a wake-up clock Take Tux Droid to your bathroom to listen to the news broadcast Program Tux to be a remote control for your PC, activating multimedia applications. Program Tux Droid to function as a wireless VOIP phone Product Features Tux Droid Robot wirelessly connects to your Linux based PC and alerts you of events with sound and motion Tux Droid can take inputs via sound and touch Open source software allows for easy programming of Tux widgets in Python Built in rechargable battery Included wireless 2.4 GHz link Software Requirements A Linux compatible PC or laptop Supports Linux kermel 2.4 or later A 800Mhz CPU or faster 128MB RAM or higher An available

Virtualbox and Hardy Haron

VirtualBox is an Open Source Virutalization Software just like Vmware. If you installed it on Ubuntu Hardy Haron and you get an error message when you try to start a virtual machine like " WARNING: The character device /dev/vboxdrv does not exist." You will need to do two things 1) Install virtualbox-ose-modules-generic. sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-modules-generic 2) run VirtualBox as sudo user sudo virtualbxo

Asus ebmeds Linux on All Motherboards

Asus is mainstreaming on the Success of EEE PC and Linux on it and decides to Embed Linux on All Motherboards. I see this piece of news is quite important, as it creates new dimension of Thin clients and facilitates Web OS boom . On Wednesday, DeviceVM, the company behind the distribution, said the hardware manufacturer would be putting Splashtop — which Asus calls "Express Gate" — into a million motherboards a month. Splashtop includes a Firefox-derived browser and the Skype internet-telephony application. Splashtop is described by DeviceVM as a "secure web-surfing environment", and is embedded on motherboards so that it can be booted within seconds, as an alternative to booting up a full operating system. It first appeared on high-end Asus motherboards in October 2007 and has since been put onto the more mainstream M3 series, but, according to Joe Hsieh, general manager of Asus' motherboard business unit, it will now be extended to the entire range.

eLiberatica Conference in Romania

I should have been a speaker in this event "eLiberatoca" , but it conflicted with my workshop with COMESA. All eLiberatica is all about Open Source . Some of the main topics that is covered in this even it below. " Dear Partners and Colleagues, The latest eLiberatica news on short: 1 - The conference schedule was published; 2 - Take the last chance to book a ticket; 3 - People who helped eLiberatica – the winners of the 2 free conference tickets; 4 - The complete list of speeches and workshops. The eLiberatica 2008 Conference Catalogue - light version - (pdf, 1,8 MB) can be downloaded from here: http://eliberatica.ro/2008 /keynotes/eLiberatica-2008 -Conference-Catalogue.pdf The full printed version will be provided together with the conference bag, and other promotional materials for all eLiberatica attendees. -- Details -- 1. To check the complete conference agenda, please follow the link below: http://eliberatica.ro/2008 /eliberatica-speakers-and -schedule#Schedule Not

Microsoft and the OLPC agree to have Windows XP on 100$ Laptop?!!

That what I call a conspiracy , when Microsoft bought MIT Media Lab, I never though that something like this may happen with MIT. NYTimes report which states that Microsoft and the OLPC project have officially agreed to put Windows XP on the XO laptop. While Microsoft has been working toward this for some time, analysts began to think a deal was more likely after Walter Bender resigned from the project and was replaced by Charles Kane. Former OLPC security developer Ivan Krstic had a lot to say about Windows on the XO as well. From the Times: "Windows will add a bit to the price of the machines, about $3, the licensing fee Microsoft charges to some developing nations under a program called Unlimited Potential. For those nations that want dual-boot models, running both Windows and Linux, the extra hardware required will add another $7 or so to the cost of the machines, Mr. Negroponte said. The project's agreement with Microsoft involves no payment by the software giant, and Mic

How bad is Microsoft and Proprietary Software

If you want to know , how bad Windows VISTA is ? If you want to know how bad is MicroSoft Support ? If you want to know how bad is MicroSoft Drivers ? Check the below google link h3r3 or may be on MicroSfot site itself link is h3r3 Frankly, I'm frustrated. The issue is Windows Vista Wireless and Wired network always give Local only for no good reason, Microsfot claims it is a bad implementation in the Wireless Access Point in assigning DHCP, but the reason does not matter, what matters is where MicroSoft Support ? Why Microsoft make ppl pay money for the support that they never take ? SCAM I have been through this problem ,since I was trying to fix a laptop of a friend of mine

OpenOffice 3.0 Beta Available

OpenOffice 3.0 Beta Download available for public Link for the announcement and Download is h3r3

Ubuntu 7.04 ported to Sharp Zaurus

Ubuntu Linux 7.04 is now available for Sharp's Zaurus PDAs. The 0.1 release comes with a minimalist filesystem that can be launched in an emulator, enhanced with software from the vast Ubuntu archives, and then flashed onto a real Zaurus. The Zaurus Ubuntu project was created by "Omegamoon," a hacker who has previously worked on ports of Fedora Linux and Google's Android phone stack to the Sharp Zaurus. He suggests first trying the distro out in the free QEMU emulator, where configuration and tweaking is easier than on real hardware. Once customizations have been completed, it can be installed on Zaurus PDAs such as the SL-C3100, he says. The project was inspired by Nokia's Handheld Mojo project , which is porting Ubuntu to the ARM architecture. In a presentation delivered at CELF's recent Embedded Linux Conference, Mojo project leader Andrew Christian noted that while Nokia's Maemo project has packaged 500-600 Linux binaries, Ubuntu packages upwards of 1

R1Soft CDP Server and Agent Installation on Debian

If you are installing "buagent" on Linux specially Debian and you had a problem with the installation specially in adding the backup driver to kernel modules Please do the following to have R1Soft CDP Server agent "buagent" working 1) I removed the Kernel Source Folder 2) re-extracted the Kernel Source 3) I ran make config 4) I ran make 5) Now, I know that I have the needed files for the agent to be inserted as a kernel Module 6) I ran the Agent installation files, and PINGO it works Although, it is not a security best practice to have even a c compiler on a production server that is internet facing, and it is even worse to have kernel header and source on that machine , but ...

Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Harn and my Girl Friend

My Girlf Friend better say my soul mate, better say everything in my world, is a non technical pretty charming young lady BUT she managed to install/convert her HP laptop to Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Hardy Haron on her own without any help from me. WOW , it is a super surprise, I'm so proud of her and of Ubuntu as well. She never managed to install Windows , but made it on her own easily for Ubuntu

Camera Goes Open Source

Through CHDK , Your Canon Camera will go Open Source. to unleash the power in those Canon that the manufacture did not want you to know about. CHDK is a firmware enhancement that operates on a number of Canon Cameras. CHDK gets loaded into your camera's memory upon bootup (either manually or automatically). It provides additional functionality beyond that currently provided by the native camera firmware. CHDK is not a permanent firmware upgrade: you decide how it is loaded (manually or automatically) and you can always easily remove it. Brief about CHDK is h3r3 CHDK site is h3r3

Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron MD5

if you downloaded Ubuntu CD and want to make sure that it is correct/ok before burning it or you a security paranoid person. you can find the MD5 sum of the latest Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron on Ubuntu site h3r3 and a little details of you forgot about md5 checksum is h3r3 Although that you must get it from Ubuntu site, but I just wanted to list them h3r3 c83b84dc02b9e5480d64d2accdd9f3bb *xubuntu-8.04-alternate-amd64.iso 4f398cd35eaf297347f18634a5be5d77 *xubuntu-8.04-alternate-i386.iso 0fb2297b036d9d1bf4cc0a13a4d82f76 *xubuntu-8.04-desktop-amd64.iso 665bcc283e131be4cb71ecb2bf0e3794 *xubuntu-8.04-desktop-i386.iso

FaceBook Security Flaw

An interesting Video demonstrates how a malicious FaceBook application can do real harm upto identity theft Video is h3r3

Adobe Open FLV and SWF Formats

Adobe in what is called Open Screen Project, opens FLV and SWF as: Specifically, this work will include: Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player Publishing the Adobe Flash® Cast™ protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free Official Announcement on Adobe Site is h3r3

Where to find Camera Accessories in Egypt ?

If you live in Egypt, you will face problems to purchase Camera Accessories like Camera Lens, Camera Filters, Camera Batteries and Chargers. I made some research to find good suppliers in Egypt for Camera and Digital Camera Accessories, I have found two major stores (major here does not mean big as much as have the stuff that we seek for our Cameras) First Store 1) Lucky Sotres Mr. Adel - I think he is the owner is very honest man, and he loves what he does, so no worries about getting ripped off) Contacts : 11 Cherif St., Tel : 4929136 , 3923697 Second Store 2) El Shennawi for Photo They are honest as well, Contacts : 31 Degla St. from Shehab el mohandeseen. Tel : 3369136, 7627136 I made this post to help whoever may have the same interest and lost in Egypt to start from where I have finished

Earth , My Camera and me

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Can we rescue OLPC from Windows?

below is by Richard Stallman , on how to save OLPC from Windows, Ref link is h3r3 We spoke before about Richard, as I'm one of his fans 1) Video 2) FOSS Song 3) Richard Photo Album The complete article by Richard to stop releasing OLPC pre-loaded with Windows XP by Richard Stallman I read Negroponte's statement presenting the OLPC XO as a platform for Windows in the most ironic circumstances possible: during a week of preparing, under a deadline, to migrate personally to an XO. I made this decision for one specific reason: freedom. The IBM T23s that I have used for many years are adequate in practice, and the system and applications running on them are entirely free software, but the BIOS is not. I want to use a laptop with a free software BIOS, and the XO is the only one. The XO's usual software load is not 100% free; it has a non-free firmware program to run the wireless chip. That means I cannot fully promote the XO as it stands, but it was easy for me solve tha