Speed Testing OS X 10.5.5 and Ubuntu 8.10 [Operating Systems]
Hardware web site Phoronix pits Mac OS X 10.5.5 against Ubuntu 8.10 in performance benchmark throw-down on a Mac Mini. Leopard was faster in some tests, but it looks like a close match all around. It may not be scientific, but if you've used both, which feels snappier to you? [via]
AT&T Buys Up 3,000 More Wi-Fi Hotspots [Wi-Fi]
Just over a week ago AT&T announced free Wi-Fi for iPhone and BlackBerry users, and now the wireless company has added 3,000 more Wi-Fi hotspots from hotpspot operater, Wayport. If you're an AT&T customer, your Wi-Fi outlook is getting better by the day.
How Do I Preserve Newsprint for Archive or Display? [Ask Lifehacker]
Dear Lifehacker,
Let's say, just a hypothetical, that you have a newspaper that you want to save for posterity. Anyone have any tips on doing so, cheaply?
Signed,
Give 'Em Hell Harry
Dear Harry,
"Just a hypothetical?" Be honest — it's not every day that you get to vote to bond a high-speed rail project, and the victory of California's Proposition 1A is a historic event. How to preserve the once-in-a-lifetime headlines? There are a number of tips, many of which apply to any form of paper document preservation.
First off, you don't want to leave the paper folded in the middle— you'll want to lay it out flat, as creases and folds where paper meets paper will break down over time. Secondly, you'll want to keep it away from direct light and moisture. In the former case, the paper will discolor and the inks fade. In the later, the paper can mildew or, if it contacts water directly, turn into pulp. More basic tips can be found at eHow.
Newsprint and other papers have acid in them, and when those acids interact with the environment the paper will break down. You can either try to de-acidify the paper or protect it. You can soak the paper in a bath of milk of magnesia, or use an acid-neutralizing spray like Archival Mist.
Another option is to wrap it in acid-free tissue paper and lay it out in a long, flat box, as recommend by HistoryBuff. You'll want the paper fully-wrapped in acid-free tissue if the box itself isn't acid free. For acid-free paper and boxes, order from ArchivalUSA and other purveyors of stationary, art and scrapbooking supplies.
If you're just interested in keeping a clipping, you can also preserve it in plastic. Most copy-shops will laminate the front page for you inexpensively, though it may destroy any potential value for collectors. The aptly-named BagsUnlimited sells full-size archival mylar sleeves for a full sheet of newspaper, though it won't protect from light and can trap moisture.
Things don't get really expensive until you want to actually put a newspaper on your wall (preferrably one that doesn't get direct sunlight). You can can buy stock frames or have one custom-made inexpensively by ThePaperFramer. But imagine how you'll feel when your grandchildren point to the headline on the wall and marvel, "Wow, you were there when they passed that bond measure?"
May your future news be bright and crisply printed,
Lifehacker
Songbird 1.0 Release Candidate Improves Stability, Album Art Handling [Featured Early Adopter Download]
Windows/Mac/Linux: Songbird, the open-source media player built on Mozilla code, has reached a feature-complete release candidate stage, meaning you can take a look at how the 1.0 release will look and feel before any remaining bugs are knocked down. New since the 0.7 beta is the use of the GStreamer backend on every platform, to improve reliability and extendability, support for WMA, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis media files, drag-and-drop album artwork management, and the ability to use existing smart playlists as the default rules for new smart playlists. There's a bunch of other improvements and efficiencies, so feel free to grab a copy and see what's new before the player's official release. Songbird is a free download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems.
How to Use Your Free CrossOver Product [Emulation]
If you were one of the legions of Linux users that dashed to get a free CrossOver product license last week, guest writer Syed Abbas explains for newcomers how to install Windows apps with CrossOver Professional at the How-To Geek blog, which should also apply to CrossOver Mac users. What Windows apps are you running successfully with CrossOver, on OS X or Linux?
RivaTuner Scales Your Graphics Card for 2D/3D Efficiency [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Free 3D graphics card tuner RivaTuner gives you all kinds of nuts-and-bolts access to your NVIDIA or ATI graphics card, including the ability to manually set fan speeds and overclock your processor for better performance. What makes it useful to the non-hardcore-gaming set, however, is the ability to set up hardware profiles and have them activate whenever certain applications are launched. So if you understand that your 256MB GeForce chip doesn't need to be running full-steam for Word 2007, but you'd like it to really kick in for Fallout 3, RivaTuner is right up your alley. It's not exactly friendly to newcomers, and you'll definitely want to save a working profile for safety, but hit the via link below for gHacks' step-by-step walkthrough on setting up two example profiles. RivaTuner is a free download for Windows systems only.
DeepMemo Clips and Annotates Web Pages [Web Clipping]
Browser extension DeepMemo saves web page clips you want to refer to later or share with friends. After signing up for a DeepMemo account, download a toolbar for Internet Explorer or Firefox. Then, save highlighted text via the toolbar and create new notes independent of your clippings. Your text items can either be saved as is or with tags and comments. The social component of DeepMemo allows you to share your saved text with friends or even have DeepMemo automatically update your Twitter feed with your most current clipping. The web site is translated from Russian and, aside from a few grammatical quirks here and there, is user friendly. DeepMemo is a free web based service. Thanks DorianTelemachus!
Turn Cruddy Cell Phone Pics into Mosaic Wallpaper [How To]
Angus Kidman, editor of our Aussie-focused cousin site, can admit both that he was near the front row of a Bananarama concert, and that the pictures he took from his cell phone camera were nothing great. But he kept snapping, taking nearly 150 pictures in all, and managed to patch them into a pretty eye-catching wallpaper that compresses the pixelated shots for a better look. Kidman details how he picked and assembled the pictures using the free IrfanView image viewer/editor. We've offered some tips on punching up cell-quality pics, but let's hear how your reuse or rescue your own camera phone pics in the comments.
Duplicate Files Searcher Finds File Matches Across Systems or Discs [Featured Download]
Windows/Mac/Linux (All platforms with Java): Duplicate Files Searcher has a pretty modest name, but it's a powerful program for finding exact matches of files on one hard drive, across multiple systems, or on a CD or DVD compared to other storage systems. The Java-based, no-install-needed app simply has you add directories (and their sub-directories) to its list of places to search, including shared network files and removable discs. By default, the app will compare the hashed indexes of each file, and also do a byte-to-byte comparison of any potential matches found. You can also have it look for exact matches of name and date, and create pre-loaded databases of files to save time on future dupe-hunting sessions. It's also easy to switch the app's look and feel to match Linux, Mac, or Windows environments. Duplicate Files Searcher is a free download, requires a Java runtime environment to run. Thanks, jsong78!
Open Office 2007 .DOCX Files in Gmail, Google [Google]
The Google Operating System blog points out that both Google web search and Gmail can now read and convert Office 2007 documents, i.e. .DOCX files. That makes for easy mail-yourself conversion if you need it, or bulk-converting files to HTML, just like with PDF files. There are, of course, online tools like Zamzar for those without Gmail.
Five Tweaks for Your New Ubuntu Desktop [Linux]
With the recent release of the popular Linux distro Ubuntu's 8.10 version, code-named Intrepid Ibex, we've recently detailed some productive-minded Ubuntu Kung Fu, as well as a user-minded tour through 8.10. This morning, though, we're taking a more nuts-and-bolts look at changes you can make to your newly-installed system to make it faster, reliable, and more enjoyable from the inside out. Read on for five tweaks that any Ubuntu user (or Linux user in general) should consider making to get started on the right foot.
Disable or throttle back Tracker indexing
Installed and running by default on Ubuntu desktops, Tracker is an actually handy search tool that's placed, Spotlight-style, in the upper-right taskbar, giving you quick access to files and folders. The only catch is that Tracker eats up a good bit of processor power to keep itself current, and, depending on how you use your system, might not be necessary at all. The How-To Geek walks through the process of scaling back or disabling Tracker entirely. Looking for a low-power, high-functioning alternative? Try learning the magic of find.
Disable atime to speed up your hard drive
Some older Ubuntu distributions, and other Linux systems, mount hard drives using an atime option. The problem, as noted by Linus Torvalds himself, is that atime writes to the hard disk every time a file is accessed to keep up its indexing records. We've detailed how to turn off atime for faster hard drive access, and newer Ubuntu users can go a bit further in disabling the replacement relatime as well—but be sure to back up your original /etc/fstab file, as some applications and services might get cranky without it.
Switch to mirror servers for updates
Every six months or so, a new version of Ubuntu drops. And every six months, without fail, users looking to download a new CD or upgrade their systems slam the Ubuntu.com servers, leaving many with huge download waits, and users just trying to grab the latest updates in the lurch. Save yourself the cyclical grief, and save Ubuntu's developers some hosting costs, by switching to mirror servers for updates. Universities and Linux groups around the world are happy to dish out the latest system updates, which are mirrored hastily from Ubuntu's servers, and you'll probably get better speeds finding a nearby host.
Upgrade to OpenOffice.org 3
Ubuntu sticks to a rigid release schedules, so the latest version, 8.10, had to wrap up its software picks before the OpenOffice project could finalize its 3.0 version. Luckily, it's not too hard to put the latest open-source office suite on your desktop, either as a replacement for the 2.x default or next to it. The Tombuntu blog details the steps, which require only a minimal bit of command line work.
Back up your home folder
The "home" folder in Linux, found at /home/yourusername, is more than just a stash for MP3s and cat pictures. In hidden files (named with a . at the start) and specific folders, it's where most applications keep your preferences, data files, and other customizations. Having a backup of your home folder is pretty crucial to reinstalling a system that went bad, making painless upgrades, and generally feeling better about your stability. You can kick it old-school with rsync or hook up an external hard drive, but the recently-opened Dropbox makes it seriously easy and automatic to back up the home folder with a native client application.
BONUS: Install Windows fonts and multimedia codecs
Because of its open-source ideals and licensing, Ubuntu can't include non-open codecs like MP3s, WMA/WMV, or DVD playback by default. Getting it all working, though, isn't too hard. Head over to the Medibuntu site, and follow the instructions for "Playing Encrypted DVDs" and "Playing Non-Native Media Formats."
So those are a few things this writer always does when installing a new Ubuntu system, or helping friends install theirs. Let's hear our Linux-savvy readers' hit lists—what are the first steps you always take when setting up your new system? Share your items, and commands, in the comments.
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