Making the switch to Open Source Vitualization

I know my last post talked about how to install VMWare server on Ubuntu 8.04, which is great, but I decided to do away with it anyway. I installed VMWare server on my test box at work, but on Friday night when I went to do the same thing on my laptop, conveniently VMWare was doing maintenance on the download page of their website so I couldn't download it. Me being the impatient man I am decided to look elsewhere.

I had took a quick look at Innotek's VirtualBox (Now owned by Sun Microsystems) a little while back, and then promptly went back to VMWare's loving arms. I decided last weekend to give them another go, and you know what, I don't think I will be looking back. I can't say that I am doing away with VMWare 100%. We have an ESX server here at my real job, but for my workstation, and Ubuntu use, you better believe I have switched over.

Since the switch I have setup a couple of virtual boxes (Windows XP, and a Gentoo box). Both installed fairly easily (As easily as one can with Gentoo). The interface is very intuitive, and it offers all of the same features of VMWare including a VMWare Tools like program for the guest OS called "Guest Additions."

The thing I like the best though is the low overhead. When running VMWare server on either my Windows XP host, or my Ubuntu Host, it seemed to really drain resources. VirtualBox seems to run much lighter, which is good because I can still work on other things while my guest OS is running.

Lets talk about installation now. Of course installation is straight forward in Windows for both VMWare and VirtualBox. The same thing can't really be said about VMWare on Ubuntu. VirtualBox on the otherhand is really easy to install. You can either get it through Synaptic:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox

However, the repository version isn't really ready for prime time in my opinion. I downloaded the "Gutsy" version direct from the VirtualBox website, and ran the deb installer. Very easy to install. I had it up and running in just a minute or two. Also, the VirtualBox installer for Windows is an MSI file which makes it easy for silent deployments.

If you are still having problems with VMWare in Ubuntu, you should give VirtualBox a try. I think it is safe to say you won't be disappointed.

Read more »

AVG Free 8.0.1 Now Available!

This weekend I was setting up a new virtual Windows XP workstation on my Ubuntu laptop, and decided I should get some virus protection. Out of my many options for free anti virus, I thought I would go with old faithful, AVG. AVG and Avast! have always been my top two favorite free anti viruses. AVG beats out Avast with easy of use in my opinion. Even if you disagree, the fact that you have to re-register Avast is a turning off point, because how many ignorant losers...errr...users do you think are out there who don't know their anti virus has expired? With AVG, the average person can install it and forget it.

Anyway, so I go to download the free anti virus, and low and behold they have finally released version 8.0.1 free! Version 8.0 of their premium product has been out for a while, but now they have finally upgraded their free version too. Let me tell you, this new version is pretty bad ass in my opinion. Here are some things I noticed right off the bat:

1. Anti-spyware protection: That's right, this puppy now protects your from Spyware and Adware along with virus protection.
2. Link Scanner: Direct quote from AVG, "LinkScanner blocks dangerous websites and checks links on the most popular search engines for threats."

Not to mention the same effective resident shield on-access scanner and virus scanner you have all grown to love!

If you have an older version of AVG, or you have an expired anti virus product, check out the latest version of AVG.

Read more »

Installing VMWare Server on Ubuntu 8.04

A few days ago I was having problems installing VMWare Server on Ubuntu 8.04, so I asked for some community help with it. Well, sorry to say that you guys were no help. I did however figure out what needed to be done.

Basically what you need to do is follow my "hard way" instructions for installing VMWare server on Ubuntu 7.04 with a few minor changes:

1. Download and use VMWare-Any-Any-Update116 instead
2. When finished, before running VMWare do the following in a terminal:

sudo cp /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/

sudo cp /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware/lib/libpng12.so.0/

From what I can tell, this is because the VMWare package was compiled with a different version of gcc.

Have you gotten VMWare server up and running in the new version of Ubuntu? Did you do it differently? Is their an easier way that you have found? Hit me up in the comments.

[EDIT] - Have you tried Ubuntu 9.04 yet? Installing VMWare on Ubuntu 9.04 is a piece of cake! Check out my post about installing VMWare Server 2 on Ubuntu 9.04 here: (VMWare on Jaunty)

Read more »

Time To Get Your Geek On All Over Again: Ubuntu 8.04 is Here!

So Happy Its Thursday boys and girls! Even happier because today is the release date for Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)! I always get that warm sensation inside when a new release of Ubuntu comes out. It is much like the feeling of a warm blanket your momma wraps around you to make you a little more comfortable. Okay, maybe not, but its still pretty cool.


I think a lot of you must feel the same way, or at least in a very similar fashion. I have had a poll going for a while on which Linux distribution was your favorite, and what did you guys say? You know it! Ubuntu won by a landslide! Here is a screen shot of the results:


So whats new in tis version of Ubuntu? Why should you download it, or upgrade to it? Here are some of the new changes:

• OpenOffice.org database, Java, equation editor support removed from install CD to save disk space. Can be re-installed later through synaptic.
  
• iSCSI partitions is now maintained
  
• Route metrics - ifupdown now sets the default route metric to 100 for interfaces with no metric option
• Network Manager only manages interfaces that are marked for roaming.
• NFS mount support not installed by default. To use it, you must install the nfs-common package
  
• /bin/sh is now dash
• PowerPC and SPARC moved to ports.ubuntu.com, and no longer supported by Canonical.
  
• Commercial/partner repository is called:
  deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu hardy partner

A full more detailed list of changes can be found here in the release notes: (Ubuntu Release Notes)

So what are you waiting for? Get your Hardy Heron on now! (Download Ubuntu 8.04)

If you already use a previous version of Ubuntu, you can upgrade over the interweb. Click here for instructions on upgrading: (Ubuntu 8.04 Upgrade Instructions).

Read more »

Windows XP SP3 Build 5512 Final Now Available

Hey guys, just thought I would give you the heads up that Windows XP SP3 Build 5512 final is now available. It still isn't available through Windows Updates yet, but you wouldn't let a little thing like that stop you right? I didn't think so.


I found out about the final release from the good ol' boys at 9Down.com. Here is what they had to say about the release:

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) provides new proactive security technologies for Windows XP to better defend against viruses, worms, and hackers along with increased manageability and an improved experience for users.

If you want to install it on your system a little early to test it out, you can download it here: (Windows XP SP3 Final FTP) (Windows XP SP3 Final Bit Torrent)

Read more »

Problems Installing VMWare Server on Ubuntu 8.04b

Hey guys! I am finding myself with some down time today, and thought I would check in with this puzzler. I have written before about how to install the free VMWare Server on Ubuntu. Before I outlined two basic ways of doing this. First, the hard way, and then finally I figured out the easy way though apt-get.

Well, with the beta version of Ubuntu I can't get it installed using the hard way, or the easy way. I take that back, I got it to install using the latest vmware-any-any patch (update16) but it just won't run!

I have read some forums on the subject and it appears a lot of people are having the same problem, or VMWare will break after they upgrade from 7.10. Perhaps, I should just wait 3 more days until the final release comes out to fiddle with it again, but I wanted to know if anyone out there in interweb land had figured out a fix for it.

If you have fixed it, please let me know what you did in the comments!

Read more »

The World Of Warcraft Keyboard, If Your Serious About Your Game Play

If you ask people if they know any online game, chances are the first name they come up with is World of Warcraft. Even if these people never play online games most of the time they ll come up with that name. That s not so strange if you consider the number of people playing World of Warcraft, how many servers and clients and other components (we are talking millions) are involved and then there is the news coverage. All this makes that even non players know about the game. A question I often hear from non players who have seen people playing the game is How does a person navigate through World of Warcraft? The answer is simple, by using a World of Warcraft keyboard. A World of Warcraft keyboard can be two things. When someone says they play on a World of Warcraft keyboard it can be either a normal keyboard that s configured to function within the game, or it can be a special keyboard that was made to be used with World of Warcraft.

The normal keyboard

The standard keyboard that is connected to your PC or MAC is good enough for World of Warcraft game playing. The game, World of Warcraft, knows about standard keyboard strokes, when you use the directional keys the avatar will move on the screen. You can also use some keystrokes to give direct commands. You can communicate in the game, things like yelling, screaming or any other emotion can be accomplished by using different words. And naturally you can use the keyboard in game communication to let your characters say what you want them to.

You can go a step further and configure your keyboard with shortcuts for, so called, controller functions. These special World of Warcraft shortcuts can be used so you, the player, don t need to go through all the menus just to do one action. This way you can do all kinds of actions like searching your inventory or even exit, save and restart the game with just a simple keystroke. This, when you get the hang of it, will save you a lot of time. Time you need to spend on the game play itself. And you can configure the keyboard to your own liking, change the keystrokes or the actions. This way you can get a good level of compatibility in the game. Maybe you need to rely on your fighting techniques in battle or you rely more on healing, either way you can configure the keyboard to your style of game play.

The special World of Warcraft keyboard

There is a special keyboard available from the creators of World of Warcraft. This keyboard makes it much easier for World of Warcraft players. The game recognizes the keyboard configuration and you don t have to configure your own keyboard just so you can use all the different shortcuts and keystrokes. It s plug and play. The World of Warcraft keyboard has a normal setup but also has an extra set of keys with which you control certain aspects of the game. Because the World of Warcraft keyboard also has a normal setup you can use it in your day to day routine outside of the game for word processing or other tasks.

If you want to play World of Warcraft faster without the need of scrolling through the menus you should start configuring your keyboard for the game and learn to use those shortcuts. And if you are serious about your World of Warcraft game play you should set your mind towards the special World of Warcraft keyboard designed by the creators of the game.

By: Jenny Cumbersome

Author Resource:- Jenny Cumbersome plays online games as if here live depends on it. http://www.onlinegamesurvival.com. Article From Hot Site Content.

Read more »

When it comes to virus protection, don't screw the pooch!

Hey people! I had a few minutes to spare today so I thought I'd write about a cool program I recently discovered. You long time readers all know that I am always down with free Anti virus software. I have written about some of my favorites like Comodo, AVG, Avast! etc.

There is another one that I may have only mentioned in passing. You probably have heard of it, as it is pretty well known. It is called ClamWin, and is based off of the original ClamAV that was originally a port for 'Nix systems. It has a really strong detection rate, and cleans up most anything that is out there. The one draw back to it is its lack of real-time on-access protection.

Now if you read their forums, and FAQ's they say that they are working on getting on-access scanning in on the next version which is due out later this year. In the meantime the best thing you can do is to schedule frequent scans of your files. Well, at least, that was the old school way of protecting with ClamWin.

I am here to tell you about the new hotness. It is another open source goody that works with ClamWin to provide real time protection. It is called Winpooch. Yes, I agree, the name is funny as hell, but the protection it gives is far from funny. Here is a brief description of Winpooch from their website:

Winpooch is a Windows watchdog, free and open source. Anti spyware and anti trojan, it gives a full protection against local or external attacks by scanning the activity of programs in real time. Associated with ClamWin antivirus, Winpooch keeps safe your computer against virus.

I have replaced my anti virus at home with this and ClamWin and I have been as happy as a...well...clam ever since. You should definitely check it out!

What anti virus protection do you use now (Commercial, free, whatever)? Do you like it? Dislike it? Let me know in the comments.

Read more »

Support Bauer-Power W/ GoDaddy Deals!

Hey guys! Want to get your piece of the internet at really good rates as well as supporting Bauer-Power? Check out these deals from GoDaddy!

Don't know GoDaddy? Go Daddy is an Internet domain registrar and web hosting company that also sells e-business related software and services. In 2009, it reached more than 36 million domain names under management. Go Daddy is currently the largest ICANN-accredited registrar in the world.

$12.99 SSL Certificates -

$7.49 Domain Registration -

$19.99 Lifetime Merchant Membership -

I will keep this page updated with the latest GoDaddy deals! Please tell all of your friends! http://godaddy.bauer-power.net!

Technorati Tags: godaddy,deals,coupon codes,discount

Read more »

Tastefully Sinister

A little while ago, my Man Karl over at the highly successful Ask The Admin, wrote a post on a good way to annoy the living hell out of someone. His method involved buying a cheap device from Think Geek that emits a high pitch annoying beep randomly.

Continuing on with this evil idea, I thought I would share five of my favorite computer-based pranks. The best part about these is that they don't actually harm anything:



1) Mouse Move v1.0: This funny prank randomly moves the users mouse to different parts on the screen at random intervals. Drop it in their startup folder, and watch them slowly go mad!

2) Rude CD Tray: This naughty little bundle of joy causes the CD tray to pop out randomly and give you raspberries. The only problem with this one is that it happens so much, that it really draws suspicion, but it is hilarious! Once again, drop this in their startup folder!

3) Flasher: This one is friggin' hilarious if you ask me. This one will quickly flash a picture of your choosing on the users desktop at the interval of your choosing. It flashes so quickly they might think they are seeing things at first. Read the instructions, they makes sense. I recommend writing a batch script and placing it in their startup folder to kick it off.

4) Crazy Num-Caps-Scroll v1.04: Truly a sinister prank! This bad boy randomly turns on and off your numlock, capslock and scroll lock at various intervals. I can feel the evil swelling in you now!

5) Locker: I like this one the best because I wrote it myself. I mentioned it once before talking about a really cool scripting software called Autoit. This sucker only works on Windows XP and later. It locks the users workstation, and is set in a never ending loop. The user will unlock their workstation, then it will immediately lock again. If you put it in their startup, they will never be able to log into their computer again (Unless they kill the task remotely).

Pranks like these scream at the importance of locking your computer when you step away from your desk. Good news for you though, is that people often forget!

Read more »