Ubuntu Raring 13.04 Beta Review: It Is Surprisingly Good

Ubuntu Raring 13.04 Beta Review: It Is Surprisingly Good

If you are not aware, the next version of Ubuntu, aka Ubuntu Raring Ringtail 13.04, will be released on the 25th April 2013. For those who are interested, the first beta is already available for testing and the final beta will be made available on 4th Apr.

Before this, there have been discussions of turning Ubuntu into a rolling release (where updates and upgrades are added incrementally) and abandon the needs for the half yearly release. This also include the culling of the Ubuntu Raring. Apparently, this has not been passed (yet) as we are seeing the beta (and possibly the final version) released on schedule. However, if the rolling release is implemented, this will be the last Ubuntu release that you will be able to download and test (and get excited/disappointed). Meanwhile, let’s see what features this new ringtail bring to you.

Installation

Nothing much has changed for the installation process. You can opt to install update and third party software during the installation. If everything goes well, the installation can be completed in less than 15 minutes.

Login screen

After the installation and the restart, you will be greeted by the LightDM login screen. Other than the background, everything is pretty much the same.

Unity Desktop

The first thing that you will notice is the new icon theme. Some of the icons were updated. See if you can notice the differences between the Quantal and Raring icon set.

The wallpaper has also changed, even though it looks just like a rotation of the default wallpaper in Ubuntu Quantal.

Other visual changes include:

1. A new Ubuntu One appindicator.

2. A new shutdown/restart window

3. A more visual way to test the mouse settings.

4. The software updater now lists the software/application that are going to be upgraded rather than a bunch of files that you have no idea of.

5. Workspace is no longer showing up in the Unity launcher. You can activate it in the “System Settings -> Appearance -> Behavior”. Yes, there is a new option to enable the “Show Desktop” icon in the launcher. I love it.

Nautilus File Manager is now Files

The Nautilus File Manager went through a major makeover in Ubuntu Raring. It is now known as “Files” and comes with a modified UI. Shade of grey was added to the interface, with matching emblem for each location. The Forward/Backward icons were moved from the right to the left and the “View Layout” icons and the “Search” icon now occupied the right side of the toolbar.

The status bar was removed for good and most of the settings in the menu bar were moved to under the Gear icon in the toolbar.

Overall, it looks cleaner and slicker, but it took me some time to get used to it though (I still prefer the status bar).

Performance

Ubuntu Quantal is the first version where it is shipped without Unity 2D. The default 3D engine was memory intensive and there were always a momentary lag when opening or switching applications. For Raring, I am surprise to see an improvement in the memory usage (less resource intensive). Everything, including the animation, just become faster and more responsive.

I am now using the beta on my working computer. While there are several crashes here and there (which is expected for a beta software), the overall performance h as been very stable. In the past, the first thing I will do is to install Gnome Shell and get rid of the Unity desktop altogether. I have also installed Cinnamon and Mate desktop and find them much better to use than Unity. However, for this release, I have been using Unity for the past weeks and I am actually liking it. In actual fact, I am starting to love the Unity Launcher which is friendlier to use than its previous version.

Conclusion

It is obvious that the focus for Ubuntu Raring is to improve its stability and performance rather than adding new features, and I think the Canonical team has done a great job. If you were frustrated with previous version of Ubuntu, I think you will like this one. Let’s hope that it will get even better for the final release.

12 Awesome Tips to Improve Your Google Search Skills

12 Awesome Tips to Improve Your Google Search Skills

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If you use Google a lot, you may wonder why sometimes you get great results, and other times why you get terrible results. Is it Google’s fault? Mostly it is Google’s fault, but until they come up with a perfect search engine, you are going to have to help yourself. There are lots of search operators that you can try, but the most important ones are on the advanced section. You can find its link in the Google options, found under a cog like symbol on the top right of the page. If you would like some practical advice on getting better results, then here are a few tips to help you.

1. Don’t Stop at the First Page

So many people look at just one page and then try another search term. Many people think that if their top few links are not right, that the rest of the results are terrible. This is not the case. As you get further and further down the pages, you are going to see less and less relevant results, but you are occasionally going to find the perfect page for you. It just takes a little bit of tenacity.

2. Use CTRL+F to Highlight Words

Hold CTRL and press F. It will bring up your browser search bar on an IE browser. Now type in your most important keyword(S) and click the “next” button. It will highlight your most important keyword(s) within the mini descriptions. It will help you pick between the results, especially if you take note of the bits highlighted in bold too.

3. Learn to Recognize the Sites that Aren’t Useful

There are some websites that are notorious for being thinly written and poor quality. For obvious reasons we cannot write which ones they are here (one of the reasons being that there are so many). Try to keep in mind all of the poor quality websites. When you see your Google link, you will see the websites name underneath.

4. Mini Description is not Always Trustworthy

Sometimes the mini description is misleading and it may be covering what is actually a very good website. It may have your keywords highlighted, and they may seem irrelevant thanks to the way that it is phrase, but those keywords could be a few of a great many. If you are getting stuff for research ideas and cannot find the page for you, then try a few pages that do not seem suitable (you may be surprised).

5. Use the Page Preview Feature

This is where you click the arrow on the right and it shows you a website preview. It may not be the clearest picture of a website, but if the site is all adverts and little content, then you know to give it a miss.

6. Search As if You Wrote The Article/blog/piece/web page

This may seem like an odd thing to do, but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the website designer. For example if a website sells shoes then his/her keywords may be “Sell shoes”, “Shoes for sale”, but as a searcher you may type “buy shoes” and “Shoe sale”. You should try yours first, but then as a last resort, you should try a few keywords that the web designer may have used.

7. Use The Exclusive Quotes

This can be done by using the Google advanced search. Just type a keyword or phrase into the correct section, and it will bring you results that have that word(s) in the page somewhere. If you want to do it in the search bar then type in your query such as:
carrots for sale
and then add the word you really want at the end in quotes like this:
carrots for sale, “carrots”

10. Use the Subtractive Symbol

Using the quotes above will make sure that a keyword or phrase is included. If you use a subtract symbol then it will exclude the word(s). So again, type in your query such as
Carrots for sale
And add in any words that you don’t want to appear with commas between them:
Carrots for sale, -TV, -show, -comedian, -top

11 Try Quite a Few Search Terms Before Giving Up

Lots of people will try the most popular and obvious keywords, try a few web pages, and then give up and try Bing. Try a variety of search terms, and do not be afraid of making them a little more vague than you may normally.

12 Use Web Pages for Search Term Inspiration

When you search for the first time, use a few of the web page results to inspire you for your next search. For example, you could search for “muscle building pills”, and see results that say things such as “muscle building powder” or “bulk up pills”. Use these phrases in your next search and see if you have more luck.

If you are looking for some useful and easy tool for search in Google or Bing â€" you can try Advangle.

This free tool will let you quickly build any complex query and save it for future use without the use of search operators.

Guest Post by: Korah Morrison, writer on essay writing service that helps students achieve their academic goals.

Photo Credit: woodleywonderworks

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Ubuntu Raring 13.04 Beta Review: It Is Surprisingly Good

Ubuntu Raring 13.04 Beta Review: It Is Surprisingly Good

If you are not aware, the next version of Ubuntu, aka Ubuntu Raring Ringtail 13.04, will be released on the 25th April 2013. For those who are interested, the first beta is already available for testing and the final beta will be made available on 4th Apr.

Before this, there have been discussions of turning Ubuntu into a rolling release (where updates and upgrades are added incrementally) and abandon the needs for the half yearly release. This also include the culling of the Ubuntu Raring. Apparently, this has not been passed (yet) as we are seeing the beta (and possibly the final version) released on schedule. However, if the rolling release is implemented, this will be the last Ubuntu release that you will be able to download and test (and get excited/disappointed). Meanwhile, let’s see what features this new ringtail bring to you.

Installation

Nothing much has changed for the installation process. You can opt to install update and third party software during the installation. If everything goes well, the installation can be completed in less than 15 minutes.

Login screen

After the installation and the restart, you will be greeted by the LightDM login screen. Other than the background, everything is pretty much the same.

Unity Desktop

The first thing that you will notice is the new icon theme. Some of the icons were updated. See if you can notice the differences between the Quantal and Raring icon set.

The wallpaper has also changed, even though it looks just like a rotation of the default wallpaper in Ubuntu Quantal.

Other visual changes include:

1. A new Ubuntu One appindicator.

2. A new shutdown/restart window

3. A more visual way to test the mouse settings.

4. The software updater now lists the software/application that are going to be upgraded rather than a bunch of files that you have no idea of.

5. Workspace is no longer showing up in the Unity launcher. You can activate it in the “System Settings -> Appearance -> Behavior”. Yes, there is a new option to enable the “Show Desktop” icon in the launcher. I love it.

Nautilus File Manager is now Files

The Nautilus File Manager went through a major makeover in Ubuntu Raring. It is now known as “Files” and comes with a modified UI. Shade of grey was added to the interface, with matching emblem for each location. The Forward/Backward icons were moved from the right to the left and the “View Layout” icons and the “Search” icon now occupied the right side of the toolbar.

The status bar was removed for good and most of the settings in the menu bar were moved to under the Gear icon in the toolbar.

Overall, it looks cleaner and slicker, but it took me some time to get used to it though (I still prefer the status bar).

Performance

Ubuntu Quantal is the first version where it is shipped without Unity 2D. The default 3D engine was memory intensive and there were always a momentary lag when opening or switching applications. For Raring, I am surprise to see an improvement in the memory usage (less resource intensive). Everything, including the animation, just become faster and more responsive.

I am now using the beta on my working computer. While there are several crashes here and there (which is expected for a beta software), the overall performance h as been very stable. In the past, the first thing I will do is to install Gnome Shell and get rid of the Unity desktop altogether. I have also installed Cinnamon and Mate desktop and find them much better to use than Unity. However, for this release, I have been using Unity for the past weeks and I am actually liking it. In actual fact, I am starting to love the Unity Launcher which is friendlier to use than its previous version.

Conclusion

It is obvious that the focus for Ubuntu Raring is to improve its stability and performance rather than adding new features, and I think the Canonical team has done a great job. If you were frustrated with previous version of Ubuntu, I think you will like this one. Let’s hope that it will get even better for the final release.

Where Are The Best Gas Prices In Your Area? Find Out With GasBuddy [iPhone]

Where Are The Best Gas Prices In Your Area? Find Out With GasBuddy [iPhone]

I just filled up my car today, and thanks to the beautiful miracle known as Honda, I was actually able to keep it around thirty dollars. Even still, I’m confident that I could have done better. If I was serious about it, I could have made use of GasBuddy, a great app for finding local gas prices on the cheap. I won’t try to talk it up too much, for the GasBuddy app is extremely simple. It will help you save on gas, and that’s what matters most.

Never again will you have to ask your friends where the best gas prices currently are. You won’t even have to gamble on your tank, driving around with the hope of finding something cheaper. It also offers easy-to-view graphics along with highly readable text. In short, GasBuddy will provide all the information you need right in the palm of your hand.

How It Works

GasBuddy is an efficient app that doesn’t cut any corners while still providing you quality information about local gas prices. Its main purpose is to give you the whereabouts of the best gas prices in town, and it does this by collecting user-submitted information. At its core, this means GasBuddy is a crowd-sourcing app.

Instead of keeping a staff of researchers to find gas prices across the country, the service relies on you. Of course, there are benefits that come with participation. Much like our recent Remee Lucid Dreaming Mask giveaway, GasBuddy holds a weekly drawing for a chance to win $ 250 in fuel from the provider of your choice â€" not bad. Then again, there’s the possibility of conflicting information being reported, but as far as I can tell, everything seems rather reliable.

The app is a spin-off from the feature-heavy GasBuddy website, and although it doesn’t provide nearly the same amount of options, it’s quite useful. You can search for gas by either price or distance relative to your location, and it even incorporates a map for a more visual representation.

How It Looks

Like many other highly functional apps, GasBuddy does not rely on its looks to shock and awe. It’s not the prettiest thing to look at, but it’s not ugly either. The app typically incorporates a white background with loud, colorful highlights and icons. Furthermore, gas station logos are used as needed to help you quickly identify which stations are currently providing the best prices.

Also incorporated are basic list formats to display the magic numbers, but beyond that, there’s not very much else to talk about.

As you can tell by the images, the app has not been updated for those of you using the iPhone 5. Black bars line the top and bottom of the screen, but in all honest, it’s not that big of a deal. Trust me, friends. Your hearts will go on. Don’t let black bars get in the way of you using this app.

How It Feels

Using GasBuddy is relatively easy, and although it works best if you create a profile, it’s very much an app that you can just pick up and use. On the home screen is a gas pump icon that you can simply tap, and all at once your fuel-fueled dreams will come true. Relatively close gas stations will be displayed in the form of a list, and you can easily rerank them according to their prices or their distance. Another simple tap will bring you to the map.

Generally speaking, your experience with GasBuddy will be very seamless and fluid. It doesn’t stall or crash, and it does exactly what it says it will do. It’s highly reliable, and as long as you have a good wireless connection, it will work for you.

Conclusion

So there’s our GasBuddy app review for you â€" the simple app with the local gas prices that you need. It’s a pinch to use, and it’s useful enough to keep it on standby. Whether you’re just in town or out on the road traveling with your family, GasBuddy will help you find prices within your budget. Personally speaking, I use it whenever I’m planning for a big trip.

Now it’s your turn to talk. What do you think of GasBuddy? Would you find it useful in your day-to-day life?

Bored on Hold? Apple Patent Could Fix That

Bored on Hold? Apple Patent Could Fix That

It seems like in the last few months that Apple has been applying for a lot of patents. Technology news seems to feature a new one every week. They’re all interesting and very innovative, but the latest seems to be the most useful. The latest Apple patent shows the technology for an iPhone displaying useful and adaptive information while the user is on hold.

We’ve all been in that position before. You’re in the middle of a call, and you’re put on hold. You only expect it to take a few seconds, but before you know it, you’ve been on hold forever, or at least it seems like it. You want to hang up, but are sure the pers on you are calling will be back any minute. With a smartphone in your hand, though, especially an iPhone, you shouldn’t ever be bored.

Apple has been granted a patent that they refer to as a “Communications system that provides user-selectable data when user is on hold.” Because it’s selected by the user and adaptable, it can be either information to kill time or information that directly relates to the call you’re on.

The suggestions for this information include weather reports, local news, upcoming calendar events, and unchecked messages. Music is even a suggested option. How many times have you wished you could listen to your own music instead of the canned music playing while you’re on hold? It can even make it adaptive to give you information directly related to the caller you are connected with, such as your last correspondence with that person, your upcoming meetings with that person, etc. It goes even further than that, though, as the system will pick up contextual clues from your conversation to know what type of data to offer to you.

This would work along with the call waiting system. You would create a profile that includes the information you would like displayed when you’re on hold. When the system determines you’re on hold, or when you alert your phone that you’re on hold, the Apple patent shows that the data you have chosen would pop up on the screen.

It all sounds really great, but where this Apple patent might come into problems is in offering you information about the caller. Some private individuals are already upset about information that is shared about them on the Info Highway, and this would certainly have some upset. People are often worried that details such as their financial information could be culled and used, and any time a device has smart knowledge about them it causes them to balk.

However, it’s hard to hold back technology once it’s out there. If this ends up being a patent that Apple acts on and uses, it could be something that spreads beyond just iPhones and could be used on other smartphones, as it’s that innovative. It could even be used by businesses such as doctors’ offices. They seem to put you on hold automatically anyway, and now when they do, they would know w ho you are, when you’re next appointment is, when you were in last, any recent tests you had done, etc.

There doesn’t seem to be an end to the possibilities of this adaptive on-hold system. What do you think of this latest Apple patent? Would you be upset with your information displaying on someone’s phone when you put them on hold or would you welcome this intrusion? Let us know below in the comment section.

a business man using a mobile phone by BigStockPhoto

Bored on Hold? Apple Patent Could Fix That

Bored on Hold? Apple Patent Could Fix That

It seems like in the last few months that Apple has been applying for a lot of patents. Technology news seems to feature a new one every week. They’re all interesting and very innovative, but the latest seems to be the most useful. The latest Apple patent shows the technology for an iPhone displaying useful and adaptive information while the user is on hold.

We’ve all been in that position before. You’re in the middle of a call, and you’re put on hold. You only expect it to take a few seconds, but before you know it, you’ve been on hold forever, or at least it seems like it. You want to hang up, but are sure the pers on you are calling will be back any minute. With a smartphone in your hand, though, especially an iPhone, you shouldn’t ever be bored.

Apple has been granted a patent that they refer to as a “Communications system that provides user-selectable data when user is on hold.” Because it’s selected by the user and adaptable, it can be either information to kill time or information that directly relates to the call you’re on.

The suggestions for this information include weather reports, local news, upcoming calendar events, and unchecked messages. Music is even a suggested option. How many times have you wished you could listen to your own music instead of the canned music playing while you’re on hold? It can even make it adaptive to give you information directly related to the caller you are connected with, such as your last correspondence with that person, your upcoming meetings with that person, etc. It goes even further than that, though, as the system will pick up contextual clues from your conversation to know what type of data to offer to you.

This would work along with the call waiting system. You would create a profile that includes the information you would like displayed when you’re on hold. When the system determines you’re on hold, or when you alert your phone that you’re on hold, the Apple patent shows that the data you have chosen would pop up on the screen.

It all sounds really great, but where this Apple patent might come into problems is in offering you information about the caller. Some private individuals are already upset about information that is shared about them on the Info Highway, and this would certainly have some upset. People are often worried that details such as their financial information could be culled and used, and any time a device has smart knowledge about them it causes them to balk.

However, it’s hard to hold back technology once it’s out there. If this ends up being a patent that Apple acts on and uses, it could be something that spreads beyond just iPhones and could be used on other smartphones, as it’s that innovative. It could even be used by businesses such as doctors’ offices. They seem to put you on hold automatically anyway, and now when they do, they would know w ho you are, when you’re next appointment is, when you were in last, any recent tests you had done, etc.

There doesn’t seem to be an end to the possibilities of this adaptive on-hold system. What do you think of this latest Apple patent? Would you be upset with your information displaying on someone’s phone when you put them on hold or would you welcome this intrusion? Let us know below in the comment section.

a business man using a mobile phone by BigStockPhoto

Desktop Panorama – A Unique Virtual Desktop For Windows

Desktop Panorama â€" A Unique Virtual Desktop For Windows

Linux and Mac both come with workspaces that allow you to organize your applications and workflow in different desktop. For Windows, if you have your hands full with tons of different applications to open and work with and you need a better way to expand the screen without having to get a bigger monitor, Desktop Panorama may be the solution for you.

How Desktop Panorama Works

Similar in concept to the virtual desktop, but implemented in a differe nt way, Desktop Panorama creates a virtual panorama stripe that appears just above your taskbar and it shows you a miniature representation of all the open windows in your desktop.

With Desktop Panorama, you can move your application windows outside the desktop into different areas (in the stripe) and zoom into that view later on. Essentially, you have a desktop that extends much further than your screen reaches. As you drag a placeholder across the bar, you can switch over to another view.

The Testing Systems

The system I used for this is your run-of-the-mill modern desktop PC, running on an Intel Core i5-650 CPU and 8 GB DDR3 RAM. We’ll also be testing it on another desktop PC with an i3 CPU and 4 GB of DDR3 RAM. Both computers run Windows 7 x64 Ultimate. Added to this, we’ll throw a laptop into the mix, running Windows 7 x86 (32-bit) with an old Intel Core2Duo CPU and 2 GB DDR RAM.

If any issues show up on any of the aforementioned computers, I’ll point it out. Let’s get our hands dirty!

Download & Installation

The installation was a breeze. There are two versions you can download: The free version and a $ 5 full version that lets you switch desktop views. With the free version, you can only move windows out of the desktop’s current view, but you can’t switch over to a new one. The video below shows you how desktop views work:

There was no third-party software involved in the installation. It was clean and simple. You can really click “Next” on this without giving it a second thought. It was fast and simple.

Let’s move on.

Running Desktop Panorama

I was greeted by a number of dif ferent screens that showed me how to use the software. It quickly explained what all the buttons do and how I can actually switch views.

It’s a decent interface quite different from what I saw in the video I showed you above.

That’s how the left side of the bar looks like. I’m surprised that it supports a 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio, considering that the demonstration video was done in a 4:3 (traditional) ratio. Its preservation of screen real-estate is achieved by appearing only when the lower right-hand side of the screen is approached by the cursor. On the negative side, this could be annoying if you use the little “show desktop” button on the same corner, although the effect is mos tly negligible.

Moving a window from one part of the display to another was simple and smooth on all systems. Below you can see my Skype window out of the current view.

By dragging it back in from the bar, you can make it re-enter the current view again. Alternatively, you can drag the rectangle that encompasses the current view onto the Skype window, bringing it into focus. Interestingly enough, the taskbar icon for the Skype window appears and disappears as I drag it in and out of the view. This also happens as I drag the view onto and away from it. The effect is very important if you want a full-fledged virtual desktop.

So, there you have it. It’s a very simple piece of software, but i t works!

Conclusion

Perhaps my biggest pet peeve is the fact that the software doesn’t let you change the view in the free version. This takes away its essence as a virtual desktop and severely limits its usability. Added to this, it also shows you a pop-up window asking you to activate it every now and then.

But $ 5 isn’t much to purchase a license, and it’s well-worth the money considering the added functionality it gives you.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this an 8.5. Despite the understandable motivation for not giving the software its full functionality in the free version, it’s still rather disappointing. Other than that, you get a great value for the money you’d pay to get the full working copy.

Opinions?

If you ever try the software, be sure to let other readers know what you’ve experienced. Leave a comment below to let us know what you think!

Desktop Panorama