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)
 
So what is it? Do I drink it?

Nah, you won’t like to drink anything with such a name! Formally stated “WINE is an open source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix. Think of Wine as a compatibility layer for running Windows programs.”

In English this means that you can run Windows applications i.e. exe’s on Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and yes Mac OS X too!
In fact the most popular use of WINE is to run Windows games on Linux!
Sweeeet! But do I require Windows as well?

Not at all, WINE is a completely free alternative of the Windows API and has “no Microsoft code” whatsoever.
 
How do I run my Windows programs?

This is the fun part! First and foremost you need to have WINE on your system. Get it here. Or else if you are using Ubuntu (or apt based distro) like me then fire up the terminal and type the following:

    sudo apt-get install wine

This will set up WINE on your system. That’s pretty much it, as from now on, you just have to follow the steps you will take to install the application/game in Windows. Yes that’s it, Its that simple. No hassles, nothing. I had an old version (8) of Photoshop so let me show you some screens, so you believe me:
Step1: Install

Step 2: Run

Step 3: Work on  pic!!

Can I run all Windows applications?

Well not really, there are thousand of applications (10,349 to be precise) whose status and compatibility to run with WINE can be viewed at the WINE AppDB. It categorizes applications into Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Garbage ratings, with the applications rated as Platinum being the most compatible and problem-free and applications rated Garbage being.. um.. well.. Garbage! (in regards to WINE compatibility of course).

However, there is no reason to be disheartened because many popular applications are featured in the Platinum, Gold and Silver lists. You may not want to go below this rating. If on the other hand an application you are looking for is not in the database then you can of course try it on your own, and let the world know how it went!

Here are some of the more popular applications that run smoothly with WINE:

    Photoshop CS2, other versions too but not CS3 – Platinum and Gold
    Half Life 2 – Platinum Counter Strike
    ACDSee – Platinum
    Command and Conquer – Gold
    Microsoft Office 2003 – Silver
    Call of Duty – Gold
    ….. many many more

What about performance?

WINE doesn’t slow down your computer, the application performance will be same as with Windows (no more, no less). In fact it’s actually better than using virtualization which has two operating systems running side by side and thus more resource hungry. Refer to “Debunking WINE myths” for more on these and similar questions.

All in all if you cannot give up running a Windows app or you want to play Windows games inside Linux then definately give WINE a try. It’s worth

Read More

Invention Of Calculators

For more than 300 years Blaise Pascal was credited with inventing the mechanical calculator. But in 1957 a German historian proved that Wilhelm Schickard had beaten Pascal to it by 18 years, with his invention of a so-called "calculator clock" in 1624.

In the 17th century John Napier (Scotland) had paved the way for the invention of mechanical calculating machines with his proposal that multiplication and division could be calculated as a series of additions and subtractions. Then, for more that three centuries, historians believed that Blaise Pascal (France) had invented the calculator in 1642, but this was disproved in the mid-20th century when historian Franz Hammer (Germany) discovered papers proving that in 1624, fully 18 years before Pascal, Wilhelm Schickard (Germany) had inventer something called a "calculator clock".
Schickard's machine not only predated Pascal's, it was also far more sophisticated and was capable of performing all four arithmetic operation of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Having discovered Schickard's papers in 1935, Hammer published them in 1957 and Schickard was finally acknowledged as the inventor of the mechanical calculator.

The first commercially successful calculator was invented in 1820 by Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar (France), but the evolution of calculators as we know them came when Jack Kilby (USA), inventor of the microchip, began developing miniature electronic calculators as a means of exploiting the microchip. In 1967 Kilby, together with Jerry Merryman and James van Tassel (both USA) of Texas Instruments (TI), produced the first hand-held electronic calculator and three years later TI and Canon Inc. (Japan) launched the first commercial electronic pocket calculator, the Pocketronic.

Some historians cite the Sinclair Executive, invented in 1972 by Clive Sinclair (England), as the first pocket calculator, but that depends on the size of one's pocket. The Sinclair Executive was 9.5.. thick and 140mm long and used LED's (light-emitting diodes) to display its results, while the Pocketronic, which had a terminal paper print-out for results, was large enough to stretch the definition as well as the fabric of a pocket.

Source - The Book Of Inventions by Ian Harrison

Read More

200 Million Android Devices Activated Worldwide

Recently a Tech News giant updated Android as Fastest developing and
spreading Operating System. It is no wonder that this Open source
software led by search engine giant Google Inc. had made a prominent
place in the tablet an mobiles industry with it's portability and
Unique features.
Google's Android operating system is pretty much everywhere you go in
the smartphone and tablet world with a large number of devices from
many different manufacturers. During Google's press event (where it
revealed its Google Music service), the company announced that the
number of Android-based device has jumped up considerably in just a
few months. In May Google said that "just" 100 million Android devices
had been activated worldwide. Today that number has doubled with over
200 million Android devices now officially activated.
These numbers compare very well with Apple's iOS devices. In October,
Apple said it sold a total of 250 million iOS products since the
launch of the first iPhone in 2007. Anyway you look at it the iOS and
Android mobile operating systems are the two dominant forces in the
smartphone industry. It also means that app developers have two huge
audiences for their creations.

Since Android activation has doubled in just six months, one wonders

how many will be activated in the next six month time period,
especially since Samsung is about to release the first Android 4.0
smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus. Meantime Apple is still having issues
with keeping iPhone 4S units in stock. Barring a massive economic
disaster (which isn't out of the question) we could see the iOS and
Android audience expand even faster in the next year. And however,

Microsoft is going to launch Microsoft Windows 8 Beta PC and Mobile
Versions. In late monsoon or beginning of winter. Just got to see Who
takes over whom!

Read More

Why Android Will Always Be Laggier Than Ios?

Google’s Android platform is frequently singled out for having a significantly laggier and less responsive interface than other platforms. As TiPb points out, recent Google Inc. intern Andrew Munn has shed some light on the reason why.



As it turns out, iOS and Windows Phone both treat graphics and interface as a higher processing priority than Android, which treats graphics and interface as a normal priority. The end result is a laggier, bogged-down experience, especially when running other background tasks.

Android UI will never be completely smooth because of the design constraints Which I discussed at the beginning:

UI rendering occurs on the main thread of an app
UI rendering has normal priority
Another significant factor is that Android doesn’t do nearly as efficient a job of cleaning up unused memory as iOS and Windows Phone, with previously run apps and content hogging up much of a device’s available memory.

Performance of Java and other runtimes also contributes, as Apple’s built-in engine does a much better job of reducing workload on the processor, and has far more refined interfaces for these runtimes.

Munn’s comments also point to hardware choices (such as low-bandwidth NVidia Tegra 2 chips) and other factors as sources for the lag.

While some of these issues can be easily fixed, that’s not true of all of the concerns. Thus, Android is likely doomed to be laggier and less responsive than iOS and other platforms for some time into the future.
 Maybe Android Developers make some efforts to fix this laggier response.

Read More

How to Choose a Good Domain?

For 99% of the projects we take on, a domain is already part of the equation. However, in some circumstances, we’ve been called on to provice advice for naming a domain, either for a new blog, a company launch or even just a friend’s website. Below, I’ve listed 12 tips I find indispensable when helping people select a great domain name.

1. Brainstorm 5 Top Keywords
   When you first begin your domain name search, it helps to have 5 terms or phrases in mind that best describe the domain you’re seeking. Once you have this list, you can start to pair them or add prefixes & suffixes to create good domain ideas. For example, if you’re launching a mortgage related domain, you might start with words like “mortage, finance, home equity, interest rate, house payment” then play around until you can find a good match.
2. Make the Domain Unique
   Having your website confused with a popular site already owned by someone else is a recipe for disaster. Thus, I never choose domains that are simply the plural, hyphenated or misspelled version of an already established domain. I still believe that Flickr desperately needs to buy Flicker.com – I hear kids in their 20′s tell parents in their 40′s and 50′s to see photos on Flickr and always envision that traffic going straight to the wrong domain.
3. Only Choose Dot-Com Available Domains
   If you’re not concerned with type-in traffic, branding or name recognition, you don’t need to worry about this one. However, if you’re at all serious about building a successful website over the long-term, you should be worried about all of these elements, and while directing traffic to a .net or .org (as SEOmoz does) is fine, owning and 301′ing the .com is critical. With the exception of the very tech-savvy, most people who use the web still make the automatic assumption that .com is all that’s out there – don’t make the mistake of locking out or losing traffic to these folks.
4. Make it Easy to Type
   If a domain name requires considerable attention to type correctly, due to spelling, length or the use of un-memorable words or sounds, you’ve lost a good portion of your branding and marketing value. I’ve even heard usability folks toute the value of having the letters include easy-to-type letters (which I interpret as avoiding “q,” “z,” “x,” “c,” and “p”).
5. Make it Easy to Remember
   Remember that word-of-mouth and SERPs dominance marketing (where your domain consistently comes up for industry-related searches) both rely on the ease with which the domain can be called to mind. You don’t want to be the company with the terrific website that no one can ever remember to tell their friends about because they can’t remember the domain name.
6. Keep the Name as Short as Possible
   Short names are easy to type and easy to remember (the previous two rules). They also allow for more characters in the URL in the SERPs and a better fit on business cards and other offline media.
7. Create and Fulfill Expectations
   When someone hears about your domain name for the first time, they should be able to instantly and accurately guess at the type of content that might be found there. That’s why I love domain names like Hotmail.com, CareerBuilder.com, AutoTrader.com and WebMD.com. Domains like Monster.com, Amazon.com and Zillow.com (whom I usually praise) required far more branding because of their un-intuitive names.
8. Avoid Copyright Infringement
   This is a mistake that isn’t made too often, but can kill a great domain and a great company when it does. To be sure you’re not infringing on anyone’s copyright with your site’s name, visit copyright.gov and search before you buy.
9. Set Yourself Apart with a Brand
   Using a unique moniker is a great way to build additional value with your domain name. A “brand” is more than just a combination of words, which is why names like mortgageforyourhome.com or shoesandboots.com aren’t as compelling as branded names like bankrate.com or lendingtree.com. SEOmoz itself is a good example – “SEO” does a good job of explaining the industry we’re in and creating expectations, while “moz” gives a web association, and an association with being free, open, and community-driven.
10. Reject Hyphens and Numbers
    Both hyphens and numbers make it hard to give your domain name verbally and falls down on being easy to remember or type. I’d suggest not using spelled-out or roman numerals in domains, as both can be confusing and mistaken for the other.
11. Don’t Follow the Latest Trends
    Website names that rely on odd mis-spellings (like many Web 2.0 style sites), multiple hyphens (like the SEO-optimized domains of the early 2000′s), or uninspiring short adjectives (like “top…x,” “best…x,” “hot…x”) aren’t always the best choice. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but in the world of naming conventions in general, if everyone else is doing it, that doesn’t mean it’s a surefire strategy. Just look at all the people who named their businesses “AAA… x” over the last 50 years to be first in the phone book; how many Fortune 2000′s are named “AAA company?”
12. Use an Ajax Domain Selection Tool
    Websites like AJAXWhois and Domjax make it exceptionally easy to determine availability of a domain name – just remember that you don’t have to buy through these services. You can find a name you like that’s available, then go to your registrar of choice.

Read More

Windows Timeline!

1985  Windows 1.0

 

The First Version of Microsoft Windows, Windows 1.0, with simple applications and the concept of multitasking on PC 

1987  Windows 2.0 



The Second Version of Windows, Windows 2.0 with some fixes and the Control Panel. 

1988  Windows 2.1 



The Second Version of Windows with some additions, and some fixes, Windows 2.1, the Paint software is seen in this one! 

1990  Windows 3.0 



The Third Version of Windows, Windows 3.0, featuring the File Manager and Program Manager, replacing the old MS DOS based File and Program Managers. 

1992  Windows 3.1 




The later released upgraded version of Windows 3.0, which had support for 32-bit Disk Access, Personalization options and had the Minesweeper game for the first time. 

1995  Windows 95 



Windows 95, the changed look, the new interface and the beginning of the form of Windows which we see now. Enhanced Graphics and better Communication Programs. 

1998  Windows 98 



Windows 98, one of the most successful versions of Windows till now, this version of Windows can still be seen in some PCs even today. With Extended Softwares, better Performance, this Version was the first milestone in the path of the development of Windows. 

2000  Windows ME 



Windows ME or Windows Millenium Edition, though not a very popular version of Windows, but still it had some better tools and performance than the previous ones in some cases. 

2001  Windows XP 



Windows XP, the Daddy of all versions of Windows, the most popular version of windows even today. Windows XP is still used today because of its unmatched performance, tools and interface. This has been the best version of Windows till the arrival of Windows 7. 

2006  Windows Vista 



Windows Vista, though it didnt go so well in the public, but still its a good version of Windows specially for the interface the Windows Aeroâ Effect, making the Window Transparency work like magic. 

2009  Windows 7 



Windows 7, the best version of Windows till date. With the new and advanced features such as the Superbar, this version of Windows created another milestone for Microsoft after Windows 98 and Windows XP. Windows 7 features an unbeatable user interface, and powerful tools that makes it the best among the rest. 

2012  Windows 8 




Windows 8, to be released in the late 2012. The interface of Windows 8 as seen at the D9 Conference. A better version of Windows as proposed by Microsoft, with the changed User Interface.

Read More

Awesome Google Tricks!!!

Enjoy it, it take me almost half hour to write this in English, btw I apologize for spelling mistakes I tried to write this the best I can ...

1. DO A BARREL ROLL

Two days ago internet news said: "Put on google: DO A BARREL ROLL". What happens when you try to search to find such a sentence? Something very unusual ...

This so-called easter egg (literally stands for the Easter egg). According to Wikipedia, "different types of references to the reality (including virtual), published by authors in their productions. They are usually humorous accent. They can refer to films, literature, celebrities."

Google has more of them, not only in the search ...

After typing in Google DO A BARREL ROLL searchengine, as requested, perform a barrel - air maneuver.

This is a reference to the opinion of the game "Star Fox 64" for the Nintendo 64, spoken by our pilot's companion:

You Tube

2. Ninja in your Google RSS

It seems that someone at Google likes to play games, because another easter egg also refers to them. Simply tap in the open window in an RSS reader famous "Konami Code" (or "Contra Code"), which is used in the game "Contra" allowed to acquire 30 additional live's.

You will see the defender of our RSS feeds. You can remove it using the same code.


3. Monster from Loch Google

Interesting - if you set yourself a theme from Google, this is a chance that will change with the times of the day. This allows to see the Loch Ness monster!

Just setup on your iGoogle page theme "Beach" and look at it o. .. 3:14 at night.

It's not all. At night you can also observe an interesting phenomenon in the "City Scape" theme.

Which one? I Don't betray that, check it by yourself or google it. ;p


4. Search by Klingon

Google is democratic - your language,no need to be true (?), you even dosent need to use any language know on Earth

So when you go to - http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-klingon you can search web using Klingon language and if you want something more you can also check http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=xx-piglatin and search using Piggy Latin (wtf is this) ...


5. Google Army - become a pilot of F-16

Google programmers probably have too much free time. Because How else we can explain the hidden flight simulator in a model of the earth? A start-up is easy. Just start Google Earth and press Ctrl + Alt + A (Command + Option + A on Mac)

And then select the plane:

How does it look and how to start it ? You can see this in the video below - btw look at graphics pretty cool ...

You Tube

6. The great Question about Life, the Universe and all the rest

Does Google know everything? Almost, in fact knows the answer to the Great Question about Life, the Universe and all the rest !

about that qestion (wiki):

Quote:

In the first novel and radio series, a group of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings demand to learn the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything from the supercomputer, Deep Thought, specially built for this purpose. It takes Deep Thought 7½ million years to compute and check the answer, which turns out to be 42. The Ultimate Question itself is unknown.

7. Animal magnetism of Picasa

This is one of the strangest easter egg's - I actually don't know to what you can use this . Although a theory can be drawn.

In Picasa we often have pictures of loved ones. And when we look at them, and we begin to miss them we felt sad. There is a solution!

Press Ctrl + Shift + Y and you will see teddy bear. One is not enough? Click again and again until the whole screen overshadow the plush sweetness.


8. Many incarnations of Google Streets puppet

Only few people know that yellow guy, which is set on the map to see a preview of the street, is called Pegman. To celebrate various holidays Google changes its appearance - on Valentine's Day has become the heart, instead of the green tag, sometimes becomes a snowman and sometimes a witch. And when we put him on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California, turns into a rainbow hippie shirt.


9. Turn on gravity on Google awesome !

Even as powerful tool as Google has to become the laws of physics. Type in search engine "google gravity" and press "I'm Feeling Lucky" (you need to disable the search to date in the options or click on this link to the right of search results). You can also use this link to open this page directly - http://mrdoob.com/projects/chromeexp...oogle_gravity/


10. Google Ascii

Programmers at Google must like not only games, but also the ascii graphics. If you type in se "ascii art" Google logo also adopts such a form.


11. Crooked Google

Type in google - "tilt" or "askew" ....

Read More