A $35 Computer anyone?

I just discovered Raspberry Pi, a tiny one board computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. The computer cost a startling $35!

According to the the Rasberry Pi:

"The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming."


This product is so hot that the first batch of availability was sold out in just one day. Back order will take as much as 2-3 months. I just ordered mine and I won't get it till July. 


Oh and of course it runs Linux! I can just imagine how the Open Source Community will take this little Gizmo to the max. For me am thinking one RaspBerry Pi per kids.

Configure Linux Bind to Answer Active Directory Services

Ever wonder how to mix and match Linux and Windows in the same network environment? Here's a quick DNS entry using BIND (DNS Server) on Linux to interact with Microsoft's Active Directory. Works like a charm. Following needs to be added on your zone file:

_ldap._tcp.DOMAIN.COM. SRV 0 0 389 DCHOSTNAME.DOMAIN.COM.
_kerberos._tcp.DOMAIN.COM. SRV 0 0 88 DCHOSTNAME.DOMAIN.COM.
_ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs.DOMAIN.COM. SRV 0 0 389 DCHOSTNAME.DOMAIN.COM.
_kerberos._tcp.dc._msdcs.DOMAIN.COM. SRV 0 0 88 DCHOSTNAME.DOMAIN.COM.

226: Ubuntu

South Africa is in the eye of the world cup storm. The Spirit of Ubuntu (Humanity towards others) in full swing. Incidentally my favorite (so is Dr. Sheldon Cooper of Big Bang Theory) Ubuntu Linux use the Ubuntu philosphy in developing software for the world to use. Back to soccer,  I always like Argentina. More so with the legendary Diego Maradona ( now in his 50's) who instead of firing those booming goals is now calling the shots from the sideline.

#125: Ubuntu on the move again, Clooney's quote

There's a new version of my favorite distro, Ubuntu Linux. Version 9.10 code name Karmic koala offers great new features for the Desktop and Server environment.

Notable enhancement in the server edition is a built-in cloud computing feature that enable you to create your own private cloud.

There's also the Ubunty Remix specifically designed for netbooks users. This distro is awesome as an alternative OS. Best of all it's free and you can also have thousands of free applications software.

Can't wait to upgrade my computers.

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Oh before i forget here's a quote from George Clooney (I read this on a magazine while doing a VOIP phone system install for a client) about Facebook: "I would rather have a prostate exam on live television by a guy with very cold hands than have a facebook page."

#109: Time to migrate to Linux

Windows Vista was definitely a disaster. Now Microsoft is about to release Windows 7 this month. Although I read great reviews on Windows 7, I'm personally not looking forward to upgrading. So does a lot of businesses I'm sure who would still prefer Windows XP since most of their applications could have some compatibility issues with Windows 7.

Another problem with Windows 7 is Microsoft wants to squeeze out every penny from the users thus they have 6 different version. Of course different version different pricing and features and capabilities.

Well it's time to migrate to Linux. Linux is free. No complicated pricing or crippled versions. You install Linux, you got the whole nine yards. Does your computer seems too sluggish even though you got all the computing power? Most average user would think that they need a new computer. But the problem is actually windows itself.

So here's a good way to ease migration to Linux and get the life back in your computer.

#56: Hannah Montana Linux

The hit TV show Hannah Montana products are everywhere. It's printed on shirts, bags, even shoes. But what about a computer that has the look and feel of Hannah Montana?

Well there's Hannah Montana Linux powered computer!

I am a little bit familiar with Hannah Montana. I've seen a glimpse of the TV show when Nadire's watching it. For the benefit to those who's not familiar with the show:

Hannah Montana is an Emmy Award-nominated[1] American television series, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus) by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real identity from the public, other than her close friends and family.

The Linux Distro is based in Kubuntu, a variant of Ubuntu. Interestingly, you can grab a live CD to try it on your (or your kid's) computer at the project's official website. Creating such a distribution is easy due to fact that Linux codes are available to anyone and can be freely modified.

So next time your kid's acting up and you know Hanna Montana is their favorite show, pop in that live CD and turn your computer to a Hannah Montana nanny. And Don't worry because the program won't modify anything in your computer

#51: Host multiple websites in one machine

Running multiple websites in one machine using a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP) stack requires some heavy and dirty hacking on the different configuration files of each of the programs mentioned.

To simplify installation and maintenance, the best way to do it is to use a Web Hosting Manager/Panel. Popular products such as Plesk or cPanel are good programs only if you are willing to shell out some monies. Or you can opt for ISPConfig.

ISPConfig is a free and open source hosting control panel for Linux. Major features includes creating virtual hosts, FTP servers, email servers and MySql-based Content Management Systems (CMS) such as Joomla. Since it's a hosting manager, you can set disk quotas, traffic control, antivirus, billing and even a trouble ticket system. The full features are listed here.

I'm currently using ISPConfig on Ubuntu with multiple Joomla installs to host websites in the office and some other personal sites. A real perfect low-cost hosting solution.

#47: Dead Zone

I'm in San Francisco attending the Open Source World Conference.

I am typing this on my phone via text to blog.

I can't believe I am on a dead zone considering I am probably in the most high tech place on earth.

Anyway, I hope this will reach my blog. I will tell you more about my trip on tomorrow's post.

#38: Free Enterprise Email Server

For every business, email is very important. And if you want to be taken seriously, you should have an email address that reflects your company's name. Imagine trying to make a million dollar deal and you are still using those public email services such as yahoo, gmail or hotmail?

Well why not try Zimbra, a a free Enterprise-Grade email server that rivals the features of say Microsoft Exchange Server.

I have been using zimbra as our company's email server and it's been very reliable. It's features are just awesome. You can have multiple domains in just one install, it relies heavily on ajax. Thus makes it look like a desktop application.

There's so many features of zimbra but personally I like the way you can share email addresses with a group (say your technical support department) and able share documents and calendars.

Installation is quite easy. I've installed zimbra on CentOS (community version of RedHat Linux) using this howto, and I was up an running in 20 minutes.

Zimbra was since bought by yahoo, fortunately they still maintain a free version of the program.

#33: Recovering your data from a windows crash

Yesterday, I blogged about how to recover your windows login password.

Now, what if you have a failed windows installation. Meaning your computer won't start up properly. You get confronted with the dreaded BSD (Blue Screen of Death) or windows won't just load. Chances are, your ultimate solution is to reformat your hard drive and reinstall windows.

But wait, what about your files? your photo and video collections from your fabulous vacations. If you have been backing up your data, you're in luck. But what if you don't?

Enter Knoppix or systemrescuecd. These nifty tools are both linux based systems designed to boot from your CD and be able to access any hard drive in your system. Make sure you have a usb flashdrive handy to transfer data from your hard drive. I've used these system countless times and it never fail.

Bottom line though, I suggest you always have a backup of your data. USB flash drives or external hard drives is so cheap nowadays. It won't hurt to have one handy just in case.

Never mind the software, then can be re-installed, but your data can never be recreated.

#24: Hello am a Linux

Ever watch the "Hello am a PC and a Mac" commercial? You think it's funny? Watch these videos



Here's another one


and another one


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#9: Try Ubuntu Linux the easy way

Linux is an OS (operating system) much like windows. Both are used to control the operations of a computer. A big difference is that Linux is free. Free means you can modify the codes to your liking.

There are hundreds of variants (more popularly called distos) of Linux you can choose from. Redhat, Debian and Ubuntu are some of the more popular distos out there. The way to choose the right one for you is to try some and with your experience you can decide which one to use.

I have been using Linux for quite a while. For server I like installing Ubuntu or CentOS. For the desktop or laptop, I like Ubuntu.

The safest way to try Linux in your existing windows-based computer is to do dual-booting. In this way, you will not mess up your windows installation while test driving Linux.

A cool program to do just that is using wubi - an Ubuntu Installer for windows, you can install and uninstall Linux much like you do when installing a windows application.

Once you completed the installation, you will notice when you restart your computer, you will now be prompted to choose which OS you want to load. To uninstall Ubuntu, just go to your add/remove program in your control panel and remove the software. That's it!

I've tried wubi on different desktops and laptops and it's quite great detecting every devices. It even detects my PCMCIA aircard for my anywhere internet connection.

note: the initial file installer is very small but when you start the installation, it has to download the complete OS which is about 650MB. So make sure you have a broadband connection to speed up the process.