Category: Geek Software of the Week

Now you can map your Amazon S3 Cloud Service as though it were a “local” Windows drive. You can download the 32-bit or 64-bit version. Pretty cool if you are using the S3 service from Amazon!

TNTDrive – Bringing the Cloud Closer

“TntDrive is a new Amazon S3 Client for Windows. With TntDrive you can easily mount Amazon S3 Bucket as a Windows Drive.

Unlike many other Amazon S3 Clients, TntDrive offers incredible simplicity of accessing your Amazon S3 Buckets and files.

You can work with your Amazon S3 files as easily as if they were on your local drive!”

This week we have a VERY unusual Geek Software of the Week, I am publishing my “crib notes” om how to build the perfect (for me anyway, your mileage may vary) Fedora Client using Fedora 16! I spent a good part of Christmas vacation searching for, and finding, methods to build my perfect client, and, now, all the info is gathered in one place… enjoy! (BTW… this is for the 32 bit version of the build.)

Download Fedora from:

https://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora

Burn the .iso file to a CD, boot from it, and choose the local hard drive install.

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Install Remmina RDP Client, and plugins, from Add/Remove Applications within Fedora itself.

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Install LibreOffice from Add/Remove Applications

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Download and install the Adobe Flash Plugin via Firefox from Adobe:

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/

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Install Citrix Receiver from the downloaded file located at:

https://www.drbillbailey.net/files/fedora/openmotif-2.3.3-1.fc14.i686.rpm

Or, use these commands in a terminal session:

sudo yum install openmotif-2.3.3-1.fc14.i686
sudo yum remove cjkuni*

If you get a blank window named “PnaAuthDialog_popup” when running Citrix Receiver, the following solved this problem for me:

Adding an extra line in /etc/sysctl.conf at the end of the file, using your favorite editor with root privs:

net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling=0

…and reboot.

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Then, install the Chromium Web Browser by making Chromium available (add a new repository)

Place this file in your /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory (files content between the lines below)

——————————
# fedora-chromium.repo
# Place this file in your /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory

[fedora-chromium-stable]
name=Builds of the “stable” tag of the Chromium Web Browser
baseurl=https://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/spot/chromium-stable/fedora-$releasever/$basearch/
enabled=1
skip_if_unavailable=1
gpgcheck=0

[fedora-chromium-stable-source]
name=Builds of the “stable” tag of the Chromium Web Browser – Source
baseurl=https://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/spot/chromium-stable/fedora-$releasever/SRPMS
enabled=0
skip_if_unavailable=1
gpgcheck=0
—————————–
(The next command is all one line, be sure to enter it as such)

sudo rpm -Uvh https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

Then install Chromium from Add/Remove Applications

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Install Adobe Flash in the Chromium Browser (download from the Adobe web Site)

flash-plugin-11.1.102.55-release.i386.rpm

sudo rpm -ivh flash-plugin-11.1.102.55-release.i386.rpm

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Download and Install the VMware View Open Client:

https://code.google.com/p/vmware-view-open-client/downloads/list?q=RPM

Download and install:

sudo rpm -ivh VMware-view-open-client-4.5.0-297975.i386.rpm

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Download and install Dropbox from the Dropbox web site:

https://www.dropbox.com

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Set up vpnc (a Cisco compatible VPN client)

This info will help you convert your .pcf file to a .conf file for vpnc:
https://www.debuntu.org/how-to-connect-to-a-cisco-vpn-using-vpnc
https://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:vpn

cp the vpnc.conf file that you create to /etc/vpnc/

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Install vlc player from Add/Remove Applications

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Set up Java:

Enter this command:

sudo yum -y install java-1.6.0-openjdk-plugin

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Install Codeweavers (Purchased) Standard Edition
https://www.codeweavers.com/account/downloads/
crossover-standard-10.2.0-1.i386.rpm
Install after downloading

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e-Sword Install:

Download e-Sword
Download the e-Sword Crosstie from Codeweavers:
https://www.codeweavers.com/via/e-sword
Install using Crosstie

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Install audacity-freeworld from Add/Remove Applications

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Install EasyTAG from Add/Remove Applications

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Install GIMP from Add/Remove Applications

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Install Inkscape from Add/Remove Applications

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Install Filezilla from Add/Remove Applications

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Install KompoZer from Add/Remove Applications

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Install clamz from Add/Remove Applications
(Allows downloading MP3s from Amazon Cloud Reader as .amz files)

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Install Bluefish HTML Editor from Add/Remove Applications

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Then install ClamAV (Yes, an Anti-Virus for Linux!)

sudo yum install clamav clamav-update

Edit the configuration file with your favorite editor

vi /etc/freshclam.conf

and perform the following change:

1-add a # in front of “Example” (to comment/disable it)
# Comment or remove the line below.
#Example
2-uncomment (remove the # in front of) the line “DNSDatabaseInfo current.cvd.clamav.net”
# Use DNS to verify virus database version. Freshclam uses DNS TXT records
# to verify database and software versions. With this directive you can change
# the database verification domain.
# WARNING: Do not touch it unless you’re configuring freshclam to use your
# own database verification domain.
# Default: current.cvd.clamav.net
DNSDatabaseInfo current.cvd.clamav.net
3-Localized the virus database source to the nearest one by adding a new line “DatabaseMirror db.XY.clamav.net”, and changing XY by your 2 characters country code, here for Vietnam it will be:
# Uncomment the following line and replace XY with your country
# code. See https://www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm for the full list.
# You can use db.XY.ipv6.clamav.net for IPv6 connections.
#DatabaseMirror db.XY.clamav.net
DatabaseMirror db.vn.clamav.net
4-be sure that the following line is uncomment
DatabaseMirror database.clamav.net

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Install clamtk (a graphical interface for ClamAV) from Add/Remove Applications

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Webmin is a great web-based tool for system administration.

Install webmin from webmin-1.570-1.rpm (Download from https://webmin.com site)

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To display desktop icons, run this command as a normal user, in your account:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true

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To allow Brasero to work to allow CD Burning of Audio (MP3) Files:

yum install gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-ffmpeg

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Speed up Firefox under Fedora with these steps:

Open Firefox
In the location bar enter the following:
about:config
In the filter bar enter the following:
network.http.p
Select the line that reads “network.http.pipelining”.
Double-click “false” so it changes to “true” for this value.
Next select “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests”.
Double click on the line and a text box will appear, enter “8”. The default is 4.
Next select the value”network.http.proxy.pipelining”.
Double-click “false” so it changes to “true” for this value.
Close and restart Firefox.

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Install Skype
https://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/linux/downloading.fedora

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Install beesu (allows you to run nautilus (file manager)) quickly and easily, however, you have to install it from yum, not Add/Remove Applications; use this command:

yum install beesu

Then, you can use it by typing:

beesu nautilus

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Install gedit-beesu-plugin from Add/Remove Applications

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Install nautilus-beesu-manager from Add/Remove Applications

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A Note on File Associations in Fedora:

You may associate file extensions (like .mp3 or .m3u) with specific applications graphically. Go into nautilus (file manager) and right-click on a file with the extension you want to set. Click on “Properties” and then click on the tab marked “Open With” and select the application you want to use to open it, and set it as Default in the interface.

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Also, an EXCELLENT resource to find answers to Fedora problems and issues is:

https://fedorasolved.org/

So, a media server. It serves out media on your computer to your local area network (LAN) and makes it available to other PCs, and devices internal to your network. Well, Plex is that… but MUCH more! There is also a Plex client for Roku! In your Roku account just enter code word “Plex” and you can add the Plex app to the Roku, and get stuff streamed from your Plex Media Server software on your local network PC! But wait, there’s more!

Plex Media Server

“The solution for your local and online media. Plex/Nine is a flexible Media Center made up by two major components – the Plex Media Server and numerous Plex Clients. This lets you create a true server-based Media Center where information about all your media is stored in one single location. Plex/Nine also gathers information or metadata about your media and displays it in the Client making choosing which show to watch a rich and pleasant experience.

Plex on Your Desktop

Experience your media on a visually stunning, easy to use interface on your TV. Your media has never looked this good!

Plex for Mobile Devices

Effortlessly connect to all of your favorite local and online content, all presented seamlessly on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices.

LG Connected Devices

LG Electronics has integrated the Plex platform technology into its 2011 Netcast™ enabled HDTVs and LG Smart TV Upgrader, making the Plex experience available through a range of products from a global leader in consumer electronics.”

Help others! Access your home computer from work! Transfer files! Free for personal use! Awesome!

TeamViewer – Remote Access Software

“TeamViewer – the All-In-One Solution for Remote Access and Support over the Internet! TeamViewer connects to any PC or server around the world within a few seconds. You can remote control your partner’s PC as if you were sitting right in front of it. Find out why more than 100 million users trust TeamViewer!”

Firefogg is a web site, and a software plug-in for Firefox, that allows you to convert videos to Ogg Theora and WebM from their web page. Very neat, and very tight, compact WebM videos!

Firefogg Web Site

This is what I use to do my transcoding of an M4V video to WebM for the Dr. Bill.TV show!

This is awesome FREE software! Very, very useful. I needed to pull one file out of an ISO image that I had. I was able to install Virtual CloneDrive, mount the ISO as a drive letter, and get the file! “Awesome!,” I say!

SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive

“Virtual CloneDrive works and behaves just like a physical CD/DVD drive, however it exists only virtually. Image files generated with CloneDVD or CloneCD can be mounted onto a virtual drive from your hard-disk or from a network drive and used in the same manner as inserting them into a normal CD/DVD drive.

Probably the best virtual drive software, Virtual CloneDrive allows you to enjoy the freedom of a virtual drive and is completely free.”

Features:

• Supports all common image formats such as ISO, BIN, CCD
• Supports up to 8 virtual drives at the same time
• Easy to use – just double-click an image file to mount as a drive
• Virtual CloneDrive is freeware, you may use it at no cost.

Have you ever wondered how your DNS system (usually provided by your ISP) is doing, speed-wise? When your PC queries the DNS for a domain name, if your DNS responds slowly, your perception is that “the Internet is slow” when, in fact, it may just be your DNS. You can always switch to another DNS provider by setting that option in your router (for instance)… I use OpenDNS myself. Anyway, this weeks GSotW is a way to test your DNS speed, for free! And, it is by Steve Gibson… so it is very compact, and tightly coded!

GRC Domain Name Speed Benchmark

“GRC’s DNS Benchmark performs a detailed analysis and comparison of the operational performance and reliability of any set of up to 200 DNS nameservers (sometimes also called resolvers) at once. When the Benchmark is started in its default configuration, it identifies all DNS nameservers the user’s system is currently configured to use and adds them to its built-in list of publicly available ‘alternative’ nameservers. Each DNS nameserver in the benchmark list is carefully ‘characterized’ to determine its suitability — to you — for your use as a DNS resolver. This characterization includes testing each nameserver for its ‘redirection’ behavior: whether it returns an error for a bad domain request, or redirects a user’s web browser to a commercial marketing-oriented page. While such behavior may be acceptable to some users, others may find this objectionable.

When the benchmark is run, the performance and apparent reliability of the DNS nameservers the system is currently using, plus all of the working nameservers on the Benchmark’s built-in list of alternative nameservers are compared with each other….

Results are continuously displayed and updated while the benchmark is underway, with a dynamically sorted and scaled bar chart, and a tabular chart display showing the cached, uncached and ‘dotcom’ DNS lookup performance of each nameserver. These values are determined by carefully querying each nameserver for the IP addresses of the top 50 most popular domain names on the Internet and also by querying for nonexistent domains.

Once the benchmark finishes, the results are heuristically and statistically analyzed to present a comprehensive yet simplified and understandable English-language summary of all important findings and conclusions. Based upon these results, users may choose to change the usage order of their system’s own resolvers, or, if alternative public nameservers offer superior performance or features compared with the nameservers currently being used, to switch to one or more alternative nameservers.”

As a web site admin I am always looking for cool things to improve my web sites, especially my web sites search engine availability, and other technologies that will help folks find, and use, my sites. I had seen this tool in action on other web sites, and looked at those site’s source code to see what they were using to do what I was seeing. What was I seeing? Well, if I copy some text from a web site, boom! I see the site URL pasted with the text (at the bottom) into my document, notepad, etc. Very cool! Here’s what you need to do it! And it is FREE!

Tynt – Web Site Publisher Tools

“Drive Traffic to Your Site

Every time someone pastes content from your website into an email, blog or website, Tynt automatically adds a URL link back to your site’s original content. When someone clicks that URL, they are directed back to the original web page to see the content in its entirety. This action drives incremental traffic back to your site every time your content is shared – without disrupting the user experience.

Improve Your Search Ranking

The most important signal used to determine your ranking in natural search is the quantity of relevant links associated with your site. Tynt SEO leverages the copy and paste functionality to significantly improve your search rank. Each time readers copy and paste content, our attribution link goes with it, thereby generating hundreds of quality organic backlinks that enhance your search ranking. A higher ranking increases your Web presence and the likelihood that your content will be discovered by new users.

Keep Users on Your Site Longer

As users read your content, they often find topics that they’d like to learn more about. Once they copy a phrase into a search engine and click the search button, they bounce from your site – and you’ve lost them.

Tynt Keywords identifies the words and phrases that compel users to leave your site. Publishers can now get real-time feedback on these information gaps, to see what content users value most. Once you understand how people respond to the content on your site, you can adjust your strategy to publish information on the topics your users engage with the most.

Tynt Keywords tracks both inbound and outbound search terms, so publishers can identify what users were searching for when they arrived at their site and compare those to the keywords that caused them to leave. If the incoming keywords are similar to the outgoing keywords then your content may be difficult for users to navigate. If the incoming keywords are different from the outgoing keywords then you may have gaps in your content or your SEO/SEM strategy isn’t bringing in the right type of users to the right content.”

Also, you can “roll up” all your web sites into one Tynt account, get email reports of keywords used in search engines, etc. Very neat stuff!

So… this week, it is a Video Converter. Fast, effective, and with lot’s of formats, it is cool!

iWisoft Free Video Converter

“iWisoft Free Video Converter can fast convert videos between all popular formats like AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, XviD, MP4, H.264/AVC, AVCHD, FLV, MKV, RM, MOV, 3GP, and audio MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, OGG. Directly convert video for playback on your PSP, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PS3, Xbox, Zune, Creative Zen, Archos and other digital multimedia devices.

The video converter also has powerful video editing functions including crop, trim, merge, adding watermark and special effects. And it’s totally free!”

This is cool software that allows you to put a web toolbar on your web site! I have added it here on Dr. Bill – The Computer Curmudgeon, check it out!

Wibiya Web Site Toolbar

Adding the Wibiya toolbar to your website allows you to easily increase page views and user engagement, and promote your content. Wibiya offers a variety of free apps, enabling you to extend your content’s exposure and provide users with a more interactive experience of your website.Personalize your Wibiya toolbar and enhance your website’s design.

We provide dozens of free themes and customization options as well as a rich icon bank.

Add or remove elements from your website with no technical barriers or spending a lot of time and money. The Wibiya bar can be installed and customized without any coding; simply log in to your account at any time, and edit the bar.

Transform your website into a social hub by adding chat options that will allow users to chat with you and each other, as well as share your content via the leading social networks.

Access Wibiya Analytics from your account dashboard to see how many users visit your site, where they come from, and which apps they like best.

Communicate directly with your users by creating a messaging campaign using a variety of messages, or choose specific messages for specific users, based on their tastes and interests.

Check out the Apps Marketplace for interactive social apps that use the Facebook and Twitter platforms to boost your website’s social connectivity.”