The Big Switch!

Recently, because of curiosity and maybe also because of boredom in Windows 7, I decided to move to Linux Ubuntu. And so far, I'm not regretting it.

Above:  My new desktop

The setup was easy. I just had to download the disk image file which is more than 600 MB in size. Make a bootable USB stick through Universal USB creator. Plugged it in my notebook, rebooted and then that's it-- the installation began with no hassle at all.

I completely wiped out my hard disk and install Ubuntu Natty using the entire disk-- besides I guess I won't be needing the use of my Windows 7 Starter.

The challenge is this-- after the fresh install I had to install additional software to suit my needs. I listed some of the applications which I previously used in my Windows 7 notebook below:

• Office Applications - from Microsoft Office 2003 to Libre Office 3
• Music Player - from iTunes to Banshee Media Player (that's because iTunes is not available in Linux OS variants.
• Video Player - no change since I use VLC media player previously
• Email Client - from Thunderbird to Evolution Mail
• Offline Blog-writing Tool - from Windows Live Essential to Blogilo
• Web Browser - from IE9 and Firefox to Chromium and Firefox
• Bittorrent Client - from Bittorrent to Transmission
• PDF Reader - from Adobe Reader to eVince PDF Reader

Basically, that's all the application I use frequently. And because other programs have no Linux counterpart (or they may have but I'm not yet aware), I also installed Windows Emulator (WINE)

so that I can still install Window-based software like Treepad Lite and other games like Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds.

I also encountered some minor problems after installing Ubuntu like the problem in which my notebook automatically hibernates whenever I unplugged it even when the battery is fully charged. But after some research in the internet, I found the right solutions.

For every problem that you will encounter in using Ubuntu, there are surely solutions to them-- thanks to Google and the Ubuntu community. Also thanks to Ubuntu and Linux dedicated websites like OMG! Ubuntu, Unix Men, and some others.

By using Ubuntu, I can tell that my notebook reflects my personality since it is fully customizable unlike Windows.

Please share your Linux experience.

Linux rocks!

Time To Get Organized With Treepad Lite

Are you the type of person that keep lots of files like school notes, term papers, your favorite song lyric collections etc.?  Well most kind of these people certainly want to get their files organized so that whenever they want to retrieve the files, they will not have a hard time looking in their “jungle” archive.

Good thing there’s Treepad Lite.  Treepad Lite is a free-- how should I call it… Personal Information Manager, Organizer, Database etc. tool that lets you store, view and edit your text files in one window. 

You will be able to store all your files in one “mother” file and be able to retrieve them by using mother and child folders.  You will instantly retrieve your files by just clicking at its location shown on the left side of the interface (See picture below)

“TreePad Lite can be used to store, edit, search, organize and browse any type of textual information: notes, emails, articles, links, phone numbers, addresses, scraps pasted from the Web, etc.”

As for me, I use it for storing my passwords, blog articles, favorite song lyrics, minutes of meetings, school notes and everything you can imagine.

It is also best for ebook authors as it is compatible with e-book creator which we will tackle on the next article.  You just have to edit and store your e-book draft easily.

Treepad Lite Demo at Youtube

It also has a built-in internal data search engine which I find very useful.

TreePad Lite is created by Freebyte.com
TreePad has been steadily updated and improved since 1995. Since its initial introduction in 1995, TreePad has become one of the most imitated programs on the Web.
If you want more features, then you should definitely try out the other TreePad editions which are listed here.

“TreePad Lite is fully portable, you can run it directly from USB drive. Just copy the TreePad Lite program files from the version which is installed on your harddisk (usually c:\program files\treepadlite4 ) to a directory on the USB disk, then plug the USB disk into another computer and start TreePad Lite by double clicking on the file 'treepad.exe'. That's all!!
Instead - if you do not have TreePad Lite installed on your internal harddisk - you can also download the TreePad Lite zip file and extract the contents of the zip file to a directory on your USB disk. “

Download here:

Treepad Lite

Treepad Asia (with support for Asian language)

User’s manual

Or better yet, visit their official website.

Make Your Notebook Desktop Wider

Are you a notebook user?  Like me I’m sure at one time in your notebook experience, you wished that you have a bigger desktop especially if you are the type of users that do multitasking wherein you keep more than 2 windows open.

Also to avoid clutter in your desktop—a much wider desktop is required.

This problem is true for MS Windows notebook users, since Ubuntu have already addressed this problem through their multi-workspace switching manager.

I am glad 360DESKTOP came in the scene.

360DESKTOP lets you transform your notebook desktops into a panoramic desktop making it 50% wider.  You can place your desktop icons anywhere.  You can also open multiple windows at the same time without your desktop being cluttered.  You can navigate the entire panoramic desktop by placing your pointer to the left or right side of your desktop.

To better understand what I am trying to say, just watch this video:

You can download it free by visiting the official website.

More 360desktop backgrounds are available to download!

Please do leave your comments and share your 360desktop experience!

Bug Number 36466

If you are one of Libre Office users, you may also encounter the lacking functionality like that of MS Office.  That functionality is the “Go To” function wherein you can select and copy the visible cells only especially when you use the subtotal function and you just want to copy the totals and not the data immediately above them.

And so I filed a bug, and it is assigned a number—Bug Number 36466.  Kohei Yoshida admitted that Libre Office entirely lacks this functionality and told the team that this is one functionality that they should be working at.

Well, hopefully the Document Foundation team will look at this concern immediately and too soon enough to include this enhancement in the release of Libre Office 3.4.

You may find the bug and the related TDF response to this bug by clicking here.

Credits go out to clker.com for the bug image above.

(Sigh…) I want to quit my job…

I am considering to quit my current job.  Lots of factor to consider though.  But still… 

“Bahala na…”  :-(

Write your blog even off-line

Write your blog even if not online like what I’m doing right now.

If you are using genuine Windows operating system, you can download Windows Live Writer from it’s official website by clicking here.

You will have to setup your account by entering your blog address and the password.  Writer will then download your theme so that whenever you feel like writing you can easily access it and preview it without going online.

After writing your blog, you also have the option of attaching pictures, links and videos.  Writer also have the word count, spelling check and all other features.

After editing your blog, just click “Publish” and that’s it!  And it will be automatically posted.  But please note that before clicking “Publish” be sure that you are online.  Why? Common sense man!

Enjoy writing!