4 Strange And Disturbing Linux Distros You Probably Won’t Be Installing

Linux is the operating system of choice for those who decide to go their own way. The open source model means the building blocks are there for you if you decide that you need your very own operating system.

This has resulted in more Linux distros than you could ever imagine. There are tiny distros like Puppy, chunky distros like Debian and some altogether more sinister efforts, which is what we’ve got here.

I’ll be saving the very worst for last, so prepare yourselves…

Ubuntu Satanic Edition

The distro of choice for satanists the world over, Ubuntu Satanic Edition is proof that there’s an Ubuntu distro for everyone. Based on Ubuntu 10.10, the team behind Ubuntu SE really don’t seem to like Unity. In fact, they consider Ubuntu 10.10’s rustic GNOME 2 desktop environment to be “the pinnacle of Ubuntu development” though the developers appear to be closer to dark theme fetishists than true devil worshipers.

If you’d like to try out Satan’s own OS then you’ll have to download a live CD, which the team have predictably dubbed the “undead CD”, though I can’t really see why you’d be doing that. Aside from a tasty dose of eye-strain from the red-on-black-on-blood skinning choices, Ubuntu SE is more a novelty choice than a serious OS. Sure, there is more heavy metal and pentagram wallpapers than your average open source project, but the software (Firefox, Gedit and so on) remains largely the same.

Ubuntu Satanic Edition has received numerous complaints and messages of discouragement. A quick glance at the news section reveals that Ubuntu SE 666.10 “Necrophiliac Neuromancer” doesn’t go down too well in the web’s Christian circles.

Hannah Montana Linux

While most people won’t find Hannah Montana Linux anywhere near as “offensive” as the previous distro, it’s still probably not going to be your OS of choice unless you watch way too much Disney channel. To cut the project some slack, the author has admitted: “I thought – what would attract young users to Linux? So I created this idea after a lot of reading and work.”

So it’s designed to attract young children to Linux, a task many of us would dread I’m sure. The distro itself is little more than a re-skinned Kubuntu, and boy what a skin! The standard KDE menu has become the Hannah Montana Menu, the background is a sickly pink and according to one reviewer the lack of GIMP, LibreOffice or KOffice is a bit of an oversight for an educational distro.

Ok, so it’s not particularly disturbing or offensive but there’s no denying it’s a strange project to pour all that time into.

Red Star OS

The first of the politically charged distributions on this list, Red Star OS is the Linux distribution of choice in North Korea. The project began in 2002 in a bid to replace the country’s dependence on Microsoft Windows, which was the primary OS of choice in the country up until then.

The OS only comes in Korean and features a modified version of Mozilla Firefox called Naenara. This web browser connects to the country’s intranet known as Kwangmyong, a walled-garden approach which has no bridge to the standard Internet we know and love.

Red Star OS uses KDE 3 and is currently in its second version. It can be found in universities, libraries and other institutions across the country, though private computer ownership is not common in North Korea.

Apartheid Linux

And the award for the worst Linux distribution ever to grace the Internet goes to Apartheid Linux, a distribution that’s as offensive and disgusting as it is pointless. As you can see from the slightly modified banner above, this is a racially-charged Linux distro for ignorant white people.

I really am struggling to see why a group of self-professed “white nationalist” require their own operating system, but a look at the release notes reveals the distro is based on PCLinuxOS, comes with Tor installed (I wonder why) and mostly comprises of swastika wallpapers and other such offensive material.

I’m not going to be linking to the website responsible as I’d loathe to provide them with traffic or downloads. Of all the flavors of Linux on the web, this has to be the strangest and most disturbing I’ve ever seen.

Conclusion

I’ve used Linux extensively in the past, and I must say those days are behind me. However, if I was going to use it again I’d probably not choose any of the above. While Hannah Montana Linux, Ubuntu Satanic Edition and Red Star OS are more obscure than they are disturbing, there’s no denying that Apartheid Linux is just plain wrong.

Do you know of any similar obscure distros? Have you heard of any of the above? Maybe you’ve used one? Add your thoughts, shock and disgust to the comments below.

5 Ways To Give An Old Laptop A New Life

Computers seem to become slower as they age. Anyone who has kept a PC for more than three years has run into this issue. What once seemed quick begins to feel sluggish and ancient.

There are reasons for this. Operating systems tend to become more resource-hungry over time, hardware ages, and the exuberance felt during the first months of laptop ownership fades. This is why some people buy new laptops frequently, but there are ways to make an older model feel new again.

Clean It

All computers acquire dust and dirt as they age. In a worst-case scenario your laptop can be slowly choked by invading particles. Internal temperatures rise, reducing the efficiency of your hardware. As the problem worsens some components may have to throttle their performance, slowing your laptop down.

Cleaning a laptop isn’t difficult. All laptops, even Apple’s unibody MacBooks, can have their internals accessed by removing the bottom panel. This usually requires that you take out a number of screws and then use a small, sharp object to pry the panel off.

Once inside, use a compressed air can to blow away dust, swab away dust in corners and fans with cotton Q-tips, and seal the unit back up. You may have to do this many times over the course of your laptop ownership, but it will keep your laptop running like new.

Re-Install Or Change The Operating System

Operating systems can go wonky over time. Ideally, you should be able to fix any problems by uninstalling software, deleting bad registry entries and the like. In reality, it seems like there is a point where this becomes futile or the effort required is less than reinstalling the operating system.

While you’re thinking about reinstalling the operating system you should also think about changing it. If you’re running an older version of Windows, particularly Vista, going to Windows 7 is worthwhile (though also expensive, and again, you may feel spending so much on an old laptop is unwise).

Or you can go the other direction and install an alternative operating system. Windows users are sometimes tempted to try OS X, but I don’t recommend it. Getting a Hackintosh to work is a real pain, OS X isn’t more forgiving to old hardware, and it’s not free.

Something Linux based is your best bet.  Ubuntu is an old standby that is now quite mature. Lightweight versions of Linux are worth consideration if your laptop is over five years old. And don’t forget about Google Chrome OS, which can be installed on a broad range of hardware using the Lime build.

Install More RAM

RAM is the default hardware upgrade recommendation for old laptops, and for good reason. New operating systems often feel slow not because there’s insufficient processing power but instead because there’s insufficient memory.

This upgrade is also easy to recommend because it’s (usually) easy to install. Most PC laptops have a small panel, usually secured with one or two screws, that covers the RAM. Remove that panel and you can upgrade without disassembling the entire laptop. There may even be instructions in your laptop’s manual.

I recommend moving to 4GB of RAM (no more, no less). You should be able to buy this for between $60 and $80 dollars. Before making a purchase do some research in to the RAM your laptop needs or just look at the RAM currently installed. It’s usually labeled.

Buy A New Wireless Adapter

This is a frequently overlooked upgrade. If you have an older laptop it probably uses the 802.11g standard, and if it is really old, it may use 802.11a/b. These standards are inferior to the new 802.11n standard and upgrading will improve your web browsing experience.

You can buy an 802.11n USB 2.0 adapter for just $20 bucks. This is for a 150 Mbps version, which isn’t top-of-the-line, but is as fast as most users will need. Faster dual-band adapters cost a bit more on average, but are still reasonable.

A wireless router that can handle 802.11n will be required. Factor in the cost of a new router (about $50) if you don’t already have one that can support the standard.

Install A Solid State Drive

Hard drive speed is a common issue. Most laptops ship with 5400 RPM drives, which have a slow spindle speed and low data transfer rates. Worse, the cheap drives found in many laptops typically have lethargic access times. This can make it appear as if your computer is hanging or processing something when you open a new file. It’s often not the processor’s fault – it’s the hard drive, which is slowly swinging its mechanical read/write head and the disc into a position where the correct data can be read.

Solid state drives have no mechanical parts. Even those made a few years back had access times under ten milliseconds. Today, most SSDs have access times of just a couple milliseconds. Data transfer speeds are far better, as well, so large applications will load more quickly.

There’s only one problem, and that’s the price. A decent mid-range 128GB model, like the Crucial M4, is going to set you back $150 dollars. A 256GB model can be $300. This makes it the most expensive recommendation by far and some users may feel that they’re better off purchasing a new laptop instead of dropping so much money on one that’s out of date. Personally, I don’t recommend this upgrade for laptops that are over 3 years old.

Conclusion

The tips here can help put your laptop back on its feet. I suggest trying them in order. If you aren’t happy with cleaning the laptop, reinstall the operating system. And if that still feels sluggish, upgrade the RAM.

Do you have any tips that aren’t listed here? We’d love to know about them, so leave a comment.

Apple Unveils the "New iPad"

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook showed off the new iPad at an media event in San Francisco. Apple unveiled the “New iPad”, yes it’s called the New iPad or the third generation iPad and not the iPad HD as the rumors suggested. However, leaving the name almost everything else matches the specs of the new iPad.

The iPad has an improved high definition display screen with double the resolution of that of theiPad 2 (from 1024x768 to 2048x1536) and almost 4x (quadruples) the ppi (pixels) of the iPad 2. Moreover the tablet is equipped with a Retina display(seen on the iPhone 4 and 4S) which means more crispier and sharper images than the previous generation of the iPad. Along with the new iPad, iOS 5.1 and Apple TV was also announced at the event.

Specifications of the New iPad

• Retina display (Resolution of 2048x1536 and 264 ppi).
• A5X Dual Core Processor.
• 5 Megapixel iSight camera with 1080p video recording.
• Improved battery Life (10hours on 3G and 9 Hours on 4G LTE)

The exterior and the looks of the new iPad do not differ much but has many significant changes under the hood. It sports an iSight 5MP camera which is capable of recording 1080p videos. It is integrated with a improved A5X quad core processor.

Siri with voice recognition can be found in the new iPad but initially it will only support U.S., British and Australian English as well as French, German and Japanese languages.

While these features of the new iPad look battery hungry but it has an improved battery which has the capable of running 10 hours on 3G and 9 hours on 4G LTE which is really impressive.

The new iPad will be the first Apple device to support the 4G LTE technology, it has a whopping speed upto 73MBps which is much faster than that of 3G HSPA. 4G iPads will be available on both AT&T and Verizon networks. The device will support Wi-Fi tethering, so now it can act as a hotspot.

The iPad will be available in colors Black and White and will first roll out in 10 countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia) by 16th March.

Price of the New iPad Wi-Fi Model:

• 16 GB – 499 USD
• 32 GB – 599 USD
• 64 GB – 699 USD

Price of the New iPad Wi-Fi + 4G Model:

• 16GB – 629 USD
• 32GB – 729 USD
• 64 GB – 829 USD

You can preorder and find more details on the new iPad 3 at the Apple’s website.

What do you think about the new iPad? Do drop in your comments below.

IObit Advanced System Care 5 For Windows

The latest all-in-one, most comprehensive PC maintenance and optimization suite - Advanced SystemCare 5 is out now with some great features. Maintenance and cleanup is very essential for smooth running of any PC and as we install and uninstall applications into our system many unwanted and junk files, folders and registry entries are leftover which can cause your system to slow down or even malfunction.

IObit SystemCare is the perfect tool which will eradicate all such problems and ensure smooth running of your system. The addition of the new cloud technology ensures that the database is updated with the latest definitions and algorithms.

Advanced SystemCare 5 has a new improved elegant GUI which on startup displays four distinct categories the first Quick Care performs a quick scan of your system, the second Deep Care scans your system thoroughly and performs a series of tasks which include security and vulnerability fixes, tweaks, improvements, defrags the registry and cleans up junk files.

The third Toolbox contains more than 20 useful utilities which offer useful tools like IObit Uninstaller which provide more PC maintenance, the fourth  Turbo boost turns off non-essential resources in a click delivering best performance when needed.

Features of the Advanced SystemCare 5:

• Brand-new architecture and source code allowing compatibility with both 32 and 64-bit systems.
• Enhanced User Interface design to improve the user experience.
• New cloud technology ensures the database is kept updated at all times.
• Improved UI technology to ensure a faster opening time and less resource usage.
• Quick and Deep Care modules are enhanced with more powerful clean-up and optimization functions.
• Increased functionality in Turbo Boost mode, with Work and Game options added.
• New Active Boost function for real-time optimization.

Advanced SystemCare 5 is now available in 15 languages - English, French, Czech, Turkish, Russian, Italian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Greek, Polish, and Dutch.

Download

Do you currently use any PC maintenance and optimization suite on your computer? Do drop in your views about Advanced SystemCare 5 below.

IObit Advanced SystemCare 5

New Way2Sms Desktop Client and Moblie java Application

A new Way2SMS desktop client is finally here with advanced functions which will ease the process of sending SMS from your desktop. Way2SMS provides free SMS to India with 140 characters support which gives you the best service and quick delivery of messages. The application is developed by my friend Ayush Pateria, it works perfectly and is bug free.

Things you'll need:

1. Way2SMS account. [Click Here to register for an account if you don't have one.]
2. .NET Framework. [Click Here to Download]
3. Way2SMS desktop Client developed by Ayush Pateria. [Click Here to Download v1.0]

OR

 

Way2SMS Mobile Java Application by Dinesh. [Click Here to Download]

Below is a screenshot of the Way2SMS desktop client developed by Ayush Pateria.

You can send multiple SMS's at a time using this application, manage, add and delete contacts from the contacts tab. The application also has an option which will import all your contacts from your Way2SMS account, you can also import contacts from an excel file or MS outlook. SMS's sent from the application can be easily viewed from the File > Sent Messages menu. The application can also schedule messages for you, click on File > Schedule SMS menu to schedule a SMS. [Note: SMS's can be scheduled up-to the next 30 days]

Note: You must have .NET framework installed on your system for the application to run on your system, the application won't run if you don't have .NET framework installed on your system.Click Here to download Microsoft .NET framework for Windows.

After installing the .NET framework on your system, Click Here to download Way2SMS desktop client on your system and install it. Note: To open the zip archive you need to have WinZip, WinRAR or 7ZIP installed on your system.

Note: If you are using Windows 7 and experiencing problem while logging in with a dialogue message - "Please make sure you are connected to the internet" then right-click on the Way2SMS desktop client icon/shortcut on your desktop and hit "Troubleshoot Compatibility", now select Windows XP SP2 Mode. Now restart the application after applying the changes, you should be able to login and use the application. 

Way2SMS Mobile Java Application

The Way2SMS mobile Java Application is very simple and light weight software which works on most Java/J2ME enabled phones and is developed by dinesh1 from sourceforge. Click Here to download the Way2SMS Java application and install it on your mobile device to start sending free SMS. 

Sony Xperia S Review

We all have been waiting for the first true ‘Sony’ smartphone ever since Sony took over Ericsson. The wait is finally over. The first outcome of the ‘Sony’ brand is the Xperia S. The Xperia S is the first smartphone from Sony. Let’s see what the Xperia S has in store for us.

 

Introduction:

The Xperia S has very high specifications to support it and some of those are a super-fast 1.5GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and an impressive 1GB of RAM. But mere specifications don’t make the phone the best in the world. It is the real life performance which does. What we are interested in is how a device performs every task in real life and that’s pretty much all that matters. So without further ado, let’s see whether the Xperia S offers some brilliant real life performance or not.Check Xperia S Specifications

 

Design:

The Xperia S is unlike any phone we have ever seen before from Sony a.k.a. Sony Ericsson. With a clean slab like design and rounded edges, this phone looks great and feels great in hands thanks to the human curvature design on the back. This design allows your palm and fingers to fit perfectly to the phone back so that you can hold the phone with a firm gripping. Below the big 4.3 inch screen, you can see the transparent strip which goes 360 degree around the phone and believe us, it’s really transparent. The capacitive home, back and menu buttons are places just above the transparent strip and are marked by 3 illuminating white dots.

All in all, we loved the Xperia S design and build quality and are pleased to say it easily stand apart from the rest of the crowd due to its transparent strip and bold looks. The only minor problem we had with the Xperia S are the capacitive keys which took a little time getting used to because the position of the icons and the actual position where the keys are located are different! OH, and the back cover of the Xperia S has an anti-stain coating due to which any dust, dirt, liquids that fall on it can be removed easily with a single swipe of your hand! Permanent markers can also be erased by using an eraser.

 

Display:

The Xperia S has a LED-backlit LCD display powered by Sony's mobile Bravia Engine. The display has an amazingly high resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This makes the display unlike anything we have ever seen before. The display is absolutely gorgeous. As soon you turn on the phone, the screen is all that you will love! The Xperia S has the highest pixel density ever found on a mobile phone. The PPI (pixel per inch) ratio of Xperia S is 342 which is even higher than the iPhone 4S. Higher PPI generally means a display of better quality. The viewing angles and the sunlight legibility of the Xperia S are very good.

The display of the Xperia S has a very high contrast, amazing level of sharpness and natural color reproduction. Watching movies and viewing pictures on the Xperia S is an unmatched experience. We absolutely love the display and so will you. Just watch this video comparing the Xperia S display with the one on the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and see for yourself why the Xperia S has the best display in the world as of now.

Xperia S vs. iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy Nexus Display Comparison

User Interface & Performance:

Sony has developed its own custom user interface over Android 2.3 Gingerbread. And we have to admit, the User Interface (UI) on the Xperia S is one of the best available in the market. The new interface is sleek, sexy and a joy to use. It’s also as smooth as silk thanks to the blazing fast 1.5GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM. There are plenty of functional and good looking widgets included by Sony. The phone comes with 32GB of inbuilt memory which should be enough for any user. Sony’s User Interface adds some cool and very useful functionality while spicing it up with some cool looking animations and sexy live wallpaper. Games on the Xperia S run super smooth and there is absolutely no problem running anything on the Xperia S. While some might argue that the new quad-core armies of phones are faster than the Xperia S, it is important to note the real life performance of the phone. And real life performance says that the Xperia S will never make you unhappy. The battery life of the Xperia S is good for a phone with such high specs. Also, when compared to its competitors, the battery lasts longer.

 

Apps, Browser and Connectivity:

The Xperia S comes with a whole bunch of pre-installed apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Google apps like Gmail, Google maps, etc. Sony has also included Timescape, a social feed aggregator which collects feeds from your favorite social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. The phonebook in the Xperia S has a very deep social networking integration and excels at integrating Facebook contacts information in the contact view. All other basics apps are also present of course and have good amount of features. The virtual keyboard on the Xperia S is a joy to use. Sony also gives 50GB of free online Box storage to all Xperia S users. The Office Suite app is also included for viewing document files. Call quality on the Xperia S was good with the secondary microphone working very well in cancelling out external noises. The loudspeaker is equally sound.

Browsing on the Xperia S was as fast as you can imagine and the browser UI was minimal and functional at best. All sites opened swiftly and navigating around was fun. Flash websites were also handled with ease and the Xperia S never depressed us. Xperia S comes with almost all types of connectivity options like 3G, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DLNA wireless media streaming to HD TVs. NFC support is also included in the Xperia S. Due to this, two NFC enabled phones can share images, videos, links, etc. with each other by just a touch and data is shared at speeds more than 10 times faster than Bluetooth. Sony has included 2 NFS tags in the box which enhance the functionality of the Xperia S by allowing users to customize it. See how NFC tags work.

All in all, the Xperia S offers one the best experiences to users. The few problems with the Xperia S are as follow: It runs on an older version on Android i.e.Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update is on its way so that shouldn’t really be a problem. The battery is non-removable which might not satisfy some users. The battery life of the Xperia S is good but it isn’t better than the iPhone 4S.

Check Xperia S UI Screenshots

Check out a video of the User Interface (UI) on the Xperia S and don’t forget to turn on 720p mode for better viewing.

Sony Xperia S User Interface

 

Camera:

The Xperia S has a whopping 12MP with LED flash and has various functions like auto-focus, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection. The camera has an Exmor R sensor from Sony due to which the Xperia S can shoot and capture very well even in low light where practically almost all the camera phones in the world fail. The Xperia S also has panorama, 3D panorama, sweep multi angle mode for capturing different types of images. The Xperia S also has a Quick Launch mode in which lets you start your camera and capture an image even when the device is locked! And all this in just 1.5 seconds! Fast! The Xperia S has fast capture technology which enables it to capture shots with practically no lag in the shutter press and the shot pic! Videos can be captured at Full HD resolution  i.e. at 1080p at 30 frames per second (fps). The UI of the camera is excellent.

The quality of images captured by the Xperia S was amazing. Very high level of detail, good contrast and rich looking natural colors, low noise levels. Everything looks perfect on the Xperia S. Videos also share the same cool qualities of high detail and are very smooth and the frame rate never drops below 30fps thus leading to better videos. Videos shot in low light also come out very good. The only minor problem we has with the camera was that the panorama mode didn’t work properly sometimes and kept o showing error messages. Hopefully, Sony fixes this with an update. Overall, we are convinced that the Xperia S camera is one of the best camera’s in the world. If you’re not convinced have a look at the links below where Xperia S camera and video samples are given. Also, the Xperia S has been compared with other potential camera phones on the market like the HTC One X and the iPhone 4S.

• Sony Xperia S vs. Htc One X Camera Shootout
• Sony Xperia S vs. Nokia N8 vs. Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. Htc Sensation XL vs. Fujifilm Finepix T200 in Camera shootout
• Sony Xperia S vs. iPhone 4S in Video shooting under low lighting conditions
• Sony Xperia S vs. Nokia N8 Video Shooting
• Sony Xperia S vs. iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S2 vs. Nokia N8 Fast Capture Test
• Sony Xperia S Camera samples and 1080p Video Sample
• Sony Xperia S 1080p (Full HD) video sample

So we guess, it’s easy to conclude that the Xperia S can easily be crowned as the best camera phone on the earth.

 

Multimedia:

The music player on the Xperia S looks very cool and has decent amount of eye-candy included with features like 3D Cover-Flow. The UI of the Music Player is very good with tabbed interface and plenty of sorting options, SensMe channels, Qriocity music unlimited service etc. There are plenty of sound enhancement options like Preset EQs, Custom EQ, Clear Bass technology from Sony Walkman, Headset Surround, etc. the Xperia S also has Sony’s xLOUD technology which enhances speaker volume without losing quality.

The Xperia S also has a good FM Radio app. TrackID is also included. Track ID is a ‘Shazam’ like service from Sony which listens to the song being played or sung by anyone and within seconds gives you the artist name and info and also gives an option to download the songs from an official online store. Neat! The default gallery app has cool 3D animations and also has Facebook and Picasa photo albums integration. The app is capable of playing 1080p i.e. Full HD videos flawlessly. A video editor is also present. There is a cool looking 3D photo and video widget with sexy looking animation available to place it on your home screen for fast access.

The audio quality of the Xperia S is very good and loud. Clean crisp voice, deep and punchy bass, good amount of treble and excellent noise suppression make the Xperia S one of the best music phones in the market with excellent audio quality on both the speaker and through the headset as well.

The only 2 problems we found with the Xperia S was that the video player does not support subtitles. You can download a good video player from the market though. The gallery app on the Xperia S is not as functional as the one in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). This isn’t a big problem as Android 4.0 ICS update is coming to the Xperia S.

Conclusion:

The Xperia S is an absolutely awesome smartphone to have. It is a phone representing a high level of personality with power and performance. There are a very few alternatives in the market to the Xperia S like the HTC One X and the iPhone 4S. The Xperia S is one of the best smartphone available right now. The screen is drop dead gorgeous and so is the camera and pretty much everything. Only suffering by the lack of Android 4.0 ICS, the Xperia S has everything it takes to become the king of the hill. Also, a price tag lower that the rest of the competition simply leaves no doubt that the Xperia is the smartphone to buy. Go ahead and grab a Xperia S now. It won’t underestimate you.