Run Windows Applications on Linux (or Mac) with WINE

There are thousands and thousands of applications available for Linux, and even more being developed as you read this. As much as I love Linux and Open Source, sometimes you happen to love a Windows application so much that you wonder if only this was available on Linux I would completely switch. It has happened to me in the past when I would switch over into Windows to play Counter Strike and Half Life and some people also wanted Photoshop on Linux because the GIMP requires some adjusting to on the interface.
Games are an important mention here because although the Linux games are catching up and going 3D and stuff, one would have to admit that there are a larger number of games for Windows that keep us going back to the Windows World.
Well if you wish for the same, your wish has been granted. There is a solution for all these situations and it has been around for sometime now. Its – WINE. Chances are that if you are into Linux you might have heard of it. WINE is another of those recursive acronyms which stands for WINE Is Not an Emulator (Amazing how they come up with recursive names, GNU and PHP are other examples)

Gwibber – Twitter, Facebook, Pownce, Flickr etc. Client [Linux]

Micro-blogging is all the rage nowadays, though if you don't know what it is you might want to check out Twitter Explained for a little tutorial. The default way to handle micro-blogging and updates is to keep refreshing a page in your browser over and over, but since that can be a bit of a pain, having a desktop client to poll for updates is very handy.
But then let's face it, Twitter's not the only micro-blogging platform out there, and it's definitely not the only program that lets you have status updates. That's why having a Twitter-only client doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. I was using Twitux before, but since then I joined a fully open-source micro-blogging platform called Identi.ca. Probably by virtue of being open-source software, it has a large Linux-user population, so I had to join. And Twitux doesn't work with it. Enter Gwibber.
Gwibber is a status-update client for a lot of services. I'm just using it for Twitter and Identi.ca, but it also works for Digg, Jaiku, Facebook, Pownce, and Flickr. It's actively developed, and the developer (Ryan Paul of ArsTechnica) seems to be listening to user input, so that's definitely a plus.

How To Recover Deleted Files From Your Linux System

Recovering deleted/lost files on a Windows system is easy to do as there are plenty of software (both paid and free file recovery apps) that allows you to do so like a CSI expert.  But what about Linux?
Recently my Linux hard disk crashed on me and it was then that I discovered that there was a limited choice of data recovery tools that I could use on my Linux system. In my desperate attempt to revive my hard disk (and the data on it), I came across these two great pieces of software TestDisk and PhotoRec that single-handedly saved my hard disk.

How To Install Microsoft Text Fonts In Ubuntu Linux

Arial, Times New Roman, Impact and Verdana are some of the most commonly used fonts. They are so widely used in fact that whenever you open a Word document from any computer, you immediately expect to find their presence. However, on your newly installed Ubuntu (and many other Linux distros), you will find that there is absolutely no trace of any of these fonts.
Ubuntu, by default, does not include the commonly used Microsoft core fonts in its installation. The set of fonts that it uses is not supported in Windows or Mac. This means that if you create a document and send to your partner for editing, he/she will not be able to view it in the way that it was originally formatted. Vice versa, you won't be able to view the document that your friend sends you in the way that it was formatted, unless he/she is using the same fonts as you.

How To Password Protect GRUB Entries (Linux)

GRUB or the GRand Unified Bootloader is the bootloader commonly installed by Linux distributions on your hard disk. GRUB is responsible for showing you the menu that allows you to choose the operating system you want to boot into and also lets you tweak and control the booting options.
Awesome powers in good hands but as you probably know "with great powers come great responsibilities", so GRUB allows you to lock down some features and boot entries to allow only the intended users to go through.
When talking of security in computer systems one often needs to analyse the situation one is in and choose the appropriate options. If you have hackers getting physical access to your computer system the GRUB security measures won't last a second (pretty much nothing would do). Your best bet in such a situation is to keep the hard drive encrypted, or if your hard drive can be password protected, use that option.

How To Reset Any Linux Password

To reset your root password (or any other account's password for that matter), there are essentially two different situations which require varying approaches.
When you can use GRUB If you have GRUB installed and you have accesses to edit boot parameters of selected entries then the job is as easy as it can get. Follow along and you shall have root access in no time. Once you have root access you can pretty much do anything you want to do!

Play Games Inside Your Linux Terminal

So you spend most of your time on the terminal? Just entered a few commands? Feeling bored? How about some command line games? Yep, there are some oldies but goldies you can delve into for a little recreation on the terminal. So, how do your play games in terminal?
All you need to do is to install the required package and you get a ton of ways to "make use of" your time! Ubuntu users can get it via "sudo apt-get install " or via the Synaptic package manager. Other users might want to check out their distribution's package manager.

Linux System Administration Made Easy with Webmin

Linux System administration is no walk in the park. With all the commands and configuration files you need to know about, managing a Linux system is everything but an easy task. Making things a little easier is "Webmin". While you would still need some knowledge about a Linux system and what you want to achieve, Webmin provides an easier interface and a centralised place from where you can configure and monitor your system.

Installation

Use your distribution's package manager to install Webmin. Or else you can visit the Webmin downloads page and get the binaries or source-code according to your requirements.

How to Put Home, Computer, Trash icons on Ubuntu Desktop

The other day, I was explaining some of the benefits of Linux to one of my friends. I managed to do so pretty well, so much so that he decided to give it a shot. Then came the choice of distribution, I had an Ubuntu CD so passed it along and he was able to install it just fine. The first thing he tells me is that there no icons on the desktop? How am I supposed to browse my files?
Some distros provide you with these icons on the desktop and some don't. Having the icons on the desktop might be an overkill for the geeks. After all, the Places Menu works just fine. However, I guess new users still want those icons on the desktop (Ubuntu forums would attest to the fact). So, if you are looking to get the Home, Trash or the Computer icons on the desktop, it is very easy. Follow along (works for all Gnome-based distros)

6 Different Ways To Kill Unresponsive Programs in Linux

Most Windows users know about the utility of the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys when dealing with an unresponsive application. A program is said to be unresponsive when it doesn't respond to any user interaction and neither does it perform its intended actions. There are plenty of jokes surrounding the whole Ctrl + Alt + Del combination that brings up the task manager in Windows and allows you to end unresponsive applications. Things seldom go this far in the Linux world, however claiming that such Linux unresponsiveness doesn't occur would be a plain lie.
The good thing about Linux is that you almost never have to hit the reset button due to unresponsive or hung applications. There are so many ways you can gain back control that you never have to resort to such extreme measures. In this article, we take a look at some of the ways you can deal with unresponsive applications on your Linux box.

DHCP Explained: Installing & Configuring A Free DHCP Server [Linux]

DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. On a network configured with DHCP, the computers ask for an IP address and the DHCP server responds with a unique IP address and other required information like domain name servers and router addresses. DHCP thus saves the administrator a lot of work and is specially useful in larger networks.
However there is nothing stopping you using such a free DHCP server setup on your home network as well. Another advantage is that all the settings are stored in one place so any changes can be done easily without having to reconfigure all of your computers.

Installing free DHCP server is easy, it is the configuration that takes some time and thought. That said, once you have installed and configured a DHCP server you are saved from all the chores like rotating IP addresses, keeping track of what IPs have been assigned and configuring each computer/device separately etc.

Grsync – A Simple GUI to Help You Use ‘rsync’ Easily [Linux]

One of the many reasons syncing solutions like Dropbox are so popular is due to the fact that they are intelligent enough to know which files are already present on the server and other computer; and only transfer new and changed files. For example, you can copy and paste your Dropbox folder to a totally separate location or a new computer and then link up your Dropbox account to that folder. Dropbox will recognize that the files are all the same and won't waste bandwidth transferring all the files back and forth.

There were options like setting up the archive bit and then use a script to automate the process but that would have required fair bit of testing before I could really use it with confidence. Luckily, I could SSH into the server and use the rsync command.

How To Disable Internet Explorer

All great things (and not-so-great) must come to an end. You may find yourself, for various reasons, wanting to ditch Internet Explorer for a better browser. Some site security concerns while others prefer an alternative browser, Firefox or Opera, for example, that holds to open standards. Some simply think that Micro$oft iz t3h 5U><0R5, and don't want to deal with any MS product.

How To Kill Unresponsive Programs without The Task Manager

Windows is generally not known for its stability. Among other things there are frequent "Not Responding" applications. The reasons may vary from less RAM to Viruses to poorly designed applications. So what do you do when an application hangs up?
I bet you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del or fire up the task manager in some other way, reach for the application and choose "End Task". Now there is nothing wrong with this approach, in fact as long as it gets the job done it doesn't matter how you do it. However, ever had the situation where the task manager itself takes ages to load up? Of course it can happen because task manager does a lot of other things besides just ending tasks so it requires that much more resources.

How To Make A Calendar Template In Excel

Today I'm going to share a few additional cool features in Excel that you can use specifically to make a calendar template in Excel.

Make a Calendar Template in Excel � A Step-By-Step Tutorial

The following calendar sheet is an Excel calendar template that you can open up and print each month. You have the option to keep it blank and it'll automatically update to the correct month � all you have to do is print and fill in the days. Or, you can use the last few techniques described at the end of this article to fill in the sheet with the days before printing. It requires a little extra work, but it looks very cool.