Thursday, July 22, 2010

How to Install Wine 1.2 stable in Ubuntu

Wine HQ Logo
On July 16, 2010 WineHQ officially launched the Stable version of Wine 2.1.
For those who do not know what Wine is, this application makes the OS such as Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, etc), Machintosh, Solaris, or FreeBSD can run the program - a program designed in Microsoft Windows without the need to install Windows itself. (The concept is similar to Virtual PC, but with different technology)

In this new version, many of the features offered include:
- Support 64-bit application and can run 64-bit applications on 32-bit Linux
- Built-in icon on the application file
- Copy and paste between applications on Linux and Windows
- Ability to run the MSI installation file
- Implementation of d3dx9 depth etc. and OpenGL for the graphics better

For a detailed changelog can be seen in http://www.wine-reviews.net/wine-reviews/wine-release/wine-12-released.html

When I try to install it, it turns out the main repository of kambing.ui.ac.id file does not contains the latest version, but still contain stable version from two years ago.
So to install Wine 1.2 in Ubuntu we have to go to Software Sources (System-> Administration-> Software Sources) Other Select software and click Add.
In the box enter the text ppa APT Line: ubuntu-wine/ppa

Wine Ubuntu ppa

After that press the Add Source, Close, and then Reload.

Update Manager in Ubuntu 10.04

If you already have an old version of Wine, System Manager will notify you to update  to the latest version of Wine and you can upgrade it.
But if you have not installed Wine in Ubuntu, go to Applications-> Add / Remove and search for and install Wine.
Installing Wine in Ubuntu

I managed to install Winamp 5:58 and successfully play my favorite songs.
While for the games, I managed to play the game The Sims 3 and the old StarWars KOTOR with a little tweak in the settings Wine.
Winamp in Ubuntu
Article Source : Installing Wine 1.2 Stable Release Di Ubuntu

Sunday, April 18, 2010

7 Google Chrome Extension that will make surfing easier

Google Chrome is a secure and fast browser, even though it is still losing in popularity of Firefox or Internet Explorer users but slowly began to climb up.
For me I still often switch between Firefox and Chrome because there are some plugins or features that do not exist (yet) in Chrome (Firebug, Pagespeed, etc.)
Here are some extensions / plugins that will make your surfing experience better when using Chrome:

AdBlock : Blocking ads in websites automatically filter based on a database that already provided, you can also manually block ads easily.


Flash Block : features to block flash on the website, very useful for flash-based ad blocking, and also speed up access when opening a site.


Chrome SEO : Good to use when you want to investigate the popularity of a website, and is suitable for the SEO and PR bloggers who want to check the rating, backlinks, Alexa Ranks, etc..


Chrome Bird : The best Twitter extension in Chrome. If you are a Twitter user, all offered at the original site is here.


Facebook Photo Zoom : Displaying photos on facebook without clicking on it, all we need to do is move the cursor to an image and it will display original version


WOT (Web of Trust) : Checking the security of a website, if its a phisher site or contains a virus or malware.


IE Tab : Internet Explorer Simulate tab in Chrome, so we can open a website which usually can only be opened by Internet Explorer. (example: Active X Web Content)


In addition to the above Extension, I still have a few more whose function is quite good, but when I tried it there was some bug that causes can not function properly, so I did not enter it into the list.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Guide to choose a new Laptop

Actually there are a lot of tips and guidelines scattered buying a new laptop or notebook on the internet, but in the end I still write this article because most of the articles that I meet whether it's outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate.

So this are the following tips that I wrote based on my experiences.
1. Determine the budget you have and also will be used for anything your laptop or notebook (for office supplies, lectures, games, or design.)
2. Size, if you are mobile and only use a basic computer can buy a 10-11 inch netbook, whereas if you replace your computer menngunakannya better to choose a minimum of 14 inches.
And some manufacturers now sell laptops CULV (Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage) is very thin. If you want this laptop-style suits you, but for the performance was still below the standard laptop.
So consider your needs first whether to style, mobile, or desktop replacement computer.

3. Plan ahead. Processor your laptop will not be upgraded, so select is fast enough to support your activity at least 1 year ahead.
Choosing a laptop with DDR3 slots should also be prioritized, although currently more expensive.

4. Balance your laptop's performance, quite often I see my friends or relatives who are obsessed to buy the latest processor, but they forgot to select a balanced memory. You have at least 2 gigabytes of RAM - 4 gigabytes.

If you plan to use more than 4 GB of RAM, make sure you use a 64bit operating system, otherwise your RAM will only be detected 4GB.

5. VGA card / chip, many people who buy a laptop only pay attention to the processor but then regret later when his laptop while watching movies, playing games, or editing pictures. VGA is also very vital election due to outstanding laptop currently embedded in the motherboard and can not be upgraded.
To use the Intel GMA4500 is enough for basic gaming, watching movies, and dvd, usually this card will share memory with your laptop memory.
Whereas with NVIDIA or ATI chipsets intended for better gaming, and video editing and graphics, it uses a dedicated VGA memory chips so it will not reduce the memory your laptop.
Note: do not ever buy a laptop with a cheap VGA chip, SIS example M2/M3 or S3. Some local laptop using this chip to suppress the price, and use of this card is very disappointing and even just to watch a DVD performance is very bad.

6. Priority on branded brands. I am not anti-local brands, but in reality after sales service brands better branded and responsible. So if you are offered 2 laptops with the same specs but the price will not differ greatly ($50 to $100 ) should be choosing branded to avoid vertigo in the future.
7. Windows shopping. Lastly, if you have defined the brand, type, and specifications of your choice; you should looking for stores with good offers, do not directly buy, but do research first to another store
 
Via: Info Technology

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Dual core and Quad core processor comparison

My friend recently assemble a system with Quad core Q8400 processor, and coincidentally also my office NComputing server using Quad core Q8200. When trying to compare it with Core 2 Duo processor with nearly the same speed, no significant differences in some aspects even faster than the Core 2 Duo processor Quad core.

Today more and more people wrong perception about the true performance difference between Dual core processors and Quad Cores.

Honestly, there are many people out there who think that the computer system with Quad Core processor is "better" than Dual Core processors simply because it has 2 times more core.
I do not blame them, probably because they remember the quote "Two heads are better than one" especially if there are 4 heads definitely faster:)

Facts about multi-core processors

Let us just compare the two Intel processors that is widely used today.
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93 GHz per core with 3MB L2 Cache sold $ 120 in Bhinneka.com.
As a comparison, Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 is 2.66 GHz per core with 4MB L2 Cache sold $ 174 in Unity. Because the same L2 cache is divided into the core of each, the second processor basically have almost the same amount of cache (E7500 slightly larger), making them almost the same except the processor core number of them. Because each processor speed is around 2.6 GHz for both processors, does this mean that the quad cores are two times faster than dual core processors?
The answer is no! This is the main misconceptions about people with multi-core processors. You do not double the speed of one core with core number of GS to get the "number of" speed multi-core processors.
Two processors in this example actually appear in almost the same speed.

Actually, less than 1% of the software in the market can take advantage of multiple cores (dual Core ismore, while the 4 core is very rare), which means that most of your programs (even if not all) can only be executed in one processor core only. This means that the speed of your program depends entirely on the speed of one core. You might say "what if I run many programs simultaneously (multitasking term)"
The fact is, most programs can perform tasks faster than you can switch to another program. The most notable exceptions to what I said earlier, is on video and photo editing software (and some games), which usually take advantage of all your processor cores.
In Realistically, you will not feel the speed difference between the systems with dual core processors and quad-core processor systems, unless you run software video / photo editing.

Manufacturer processor (Intel, AMD) is actually realized this, but what they care about, as long as they conduct and acceptable processor market them no problem.
So what is the purpose of my writing ? Do not spend your money on quad-core processor unless you create and edit video professionally, or run special software that can utilize all the processor cores.
You better spend your money for a processor with dual cores or systems with GHz and higher L2 cache.