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Nine myths about Linux

Tux Linux IconAbout a year ago we did some Linux mythbusting concerning two of the much debated Linux features vs. Windows: Stability and speed. Now a rather well know editor Bruce Byfield goes much farther than us and comes up with a list nine Linux myths and some busting.

With GNU/Linux, however, the story is different. For over a decade, columnists and bloggers have been explaining how GNU/Linux isn’t ready for the desktop — and, despite all the progress in the operating system over the last ten years, the arguments haven’t changed much. Moreover, increasingly, they’re outdated when they’re not based on complete ignorance. In fact, I often get the impression that those who pontificate on GNU/Linux’s inadequacies have never tried it.

The article is nice reading, but Bruce however makes some pretty strange suggestions while busting these myths, like suggesting GIMP as a replacement for PhotoShop, while the former doesn’t even support CMYK color pallette which is a real blocker for most imaging professionals. Bruce also writes that no Windows “migration tools exists”, while the popular Ubuntu distribution actually has one integrated to the installation process.

Anyway read and judge for yourself – this is always a fertile topic to debate about:

The GNU/Linux Desktop: Nine Myths

Convert .MKV to USB AVCHD for PlayStation 3 using mkv2vob

Matroska LogoIn our previous AVCHD guides for PlayStation 3 we have use DVD recordables as the medium for transferring the content to the console. This however has some downsides, the worst one being that file size increases in the MKV to AVCHD conversion process as the AVCHD adds all kinds of meta-data to the content. In practice this means that if you have a Matroska (.MKV) file that is matched to the size of a DVD-R(W) at 4.4GB and you convert it to AVCHD then it will not fit a regular DVD-R(W) and you’ll need a dual-layer disc. This is where a USB pen drive comes very handy – the prices have gone way down and one can get a 8GB or 16GB USB memory for peanuts. A USB pen drive is an excellent medium for transferring and watching you HD video content on PS3 – it’s reusable, portable, fast, and convenient. And now with the latest mkv2vob version you have an excellent tool for the MKV to USB AVCHD conversion. You’ll be watching your video on PS3 in 5 minutes – read on! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Convert .MKV files to PlayStation 3 AVCHD with subtitles using mkv2vob

The conversion of high definition .MKV (Matroska) video just got easier with the release of the latest mkv2vob versions. From the version 2.4.3 and up the mkv2vob tool supports creation of AVCHD (aka Blu-ray on DVD) discs with support for subtitles. If you have AVCHD compliant video material then it will not even need to be re-encoded and the whole process only takes a couple of minutes to do. On the other hand, if the video material is not standard compliant, the mkv2vob will notice this and do the whole encoding work for you automatically – it only takes substantially longer time, usually couple of hours.

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Linux Mint makes Ubuntu suck less

mint_logoThe most of the best and the market dominant Linux distributions have one in thing in common – they have strong commercial support behind them. This applies to Ubuntu (Canonical), Fedora (RedHat), openSUSE (Novell). Debian is an exception as it is driven by a major non-profit organization. On the other hand, every now and then an interesting smaller distribution comes up and is able to attract major audiences and gain an active user group. Such distributions include SimplyMEPIS, PCLinuxOS and the LinuxMint. However the recent history has proved that these small distros, that often are too dependent on a single contributor, tend to fall into problems on the long run. Mepis used to be a very good and competitive distribution, but as the founder failed to develop a business model around it the distro is now rapidly fading away. Same fate is is now threating the PCLinuxOS as well, as it seems to have stalled in development and maintenance. For this reason these distributions are somewhat of a risky investment for anyone considering them for anything more serious than just surfing at home. Linux Mint however is trying hard to be different – they have a couple of years of solid track record of releasing new versions, they are showing constant improvement and they seem to be pushing hard in order to become serious player on the free Linux market.

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Cahoona Games releases Marble Maze Ultra for iPhone and establishes partnership with Mojos Mobile

Cahoona Games releases Marble Maze Ultra for iPhone

Marble Maze Ultra startupscreen

Cahoona Games has released a game title Marble Maze Ultra for Apple iPhone. The idea of the game is to control a ball inside a labyrinth using the accelerometer sensor as control. The new idea in the game is to have moving “wooden” boxes inside the labyrinth to give more challenge, and to make the game more puzzle like. This is the first game from Cahoona Games company to be released for the iPhone platform.

The game can be purchased through iTunes Store for iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPod Touch devices.

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Windows Seven(th) heaven

Lately the buzz has been on Microsoft and their upcoming new operating system Windows Seven (or is it Windows 7?), which is now available for a free beta test version download on their website. Yes, you can click yourself to www.microsoft.com/windows7 and download yourself a legit copy of the upcoming dominant operating system, and they even give you an activation key that will work until August 2009. Is it just me, or does Microsoft have a more humble attitude towards customers? Well they definitely should have, as Vista showed them that not even Microsoft can push what ever crap they want to the market. But what really makes Seven interesting is that the preliminary comments of the beta versions have been mostly positive.

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SlySoft defeats Blu-ray’s BD+ DRM scheme again

Despite some sites reporting that “Slysoft has been beaten”, the Antiguan company renowned for promoting Fair Use Rights has effectively defeated BD+ once again and much earlier than expected; the cat and mouse game of DRM has entered the next round.

Although newer BD+ decryption wasn’t expected until February 2009, today’s AnyDVD HD 6.5.0.2 release decrypts copy protection on all current Blu-ray movies and, in turn, ensures that consumers may continue to backup and enjoy their Blu-ray movie purchases even when using computer monitors that are not HDCP compliant. In fact, Anydvd HD remains the only program that can decrypt all commercial Blu-ray releases, and this incredible magic is, as per usual with Anydvd HD, performed on the fly without requiring users to rip first to their hard drives.

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VSO products on -20% sale for Christmas

The award winning ConvertXtoDVD, PhotoDVD, CopyToDVD and all other VSO Software products are discounted at -20% for the holiday season! Here is your chance to get legit copies of high quality software at a reduced price. We especially recommend the ConvertXtoDVD which is absolutely the best video to DVD-R conversion solution on the market. It produces awesome DVD compatible copies of your .AVIs, .WMVs, .MOVs, .MP4s and just about any type of video file you throw at it. The conversion process is fast, image quality great and the software is extremely easy to use while it also offers advanced settings for the experienced users. You’ll have your very own DVDs with menus and subtitles recording virtually in just a few minutes and mouse clicks! All you have to do is use the coupon code XMAS2008 during your purchase.

Download the free fully functional trial versions of the software from HERE or proceed directly to the purchasing page HERE.

Archlinux – More Trouble than It’s Worth?

This is a review-like story about my experiences with the Archlinux Linux distribution. I’ve been using Arch for half an year now and I’ve been quite impressed with it. Before I start, I should mention something about my previous experiments with different Linux distributions.

Nine months ago I installed PCLinuxOS as my Linux first distribution. Back then I didn’t have any idea about the Linux’s filesystems, package management or any other features either. I had been using Windows all my life, so I was a complete newbie. To put the long story short: the installation went well, I got to install most of the applications I wanted, but there were few drawbacks. I couldn’t get my soundcard working and I couldn’t write to my NTFS partitions at all. When googling information to solve my problems I constantly ran into Archlinux’s wiki pages. Of course, it didn’t help me much since I wasn’t using the Archlinux at the time. After weeks of googling, I gave up and decided to install Archlinux.

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The best Linux distributions of fall 2008

For the last year we have had the habit of summarizing the latest release cycle of Linux distributions, and let the fall of 2008 be no different. This time around the decision was easier than ever and I must say that there isn’t even serious competition to which distro shall the award go to.

As before our focus is on typical desktop and Internet usage, seeking an open-source alternative to Windows. We value a good out-of-the-box experience, polished desktop design and usability over other features.
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