GOOGLE LAUNCHES CLI (GOOSH- Google Shell)

It's an ever-continuing debate: what is better, a graphical user interface, or a command-line interface? Graphical user interfaces may be easier to learn, but complicated operations may require a lot more user input than with a command line interface, which can perform several complicated operations by using a short sequence of words and characters. However, a CLI has a much steeper learning curve than a GUI. Google has always had a certain CLI-quality to it, and Stefan Grothkopp decided to take this a few steps further: say hello to Goosh.

Goosh, the Google Shell, is a command-line interface of the many functions Google provides, allowing you to do all sorts of cool things. For instance, translate nl en "lang leve de CLI!" will translate said sentence from Dutch (Netherlandic, "nl") to English. See the image below to get an idea.

Type 'help' to get a list of some commands you could use

GOOGLE EARTH NOW IN YOUR BROWSER

Google Earth can now be used from a browser, without having to install the full application. Instead of the application, you need to install a plug-in that only works in Firefox and Internet Explorer 6/7 on Windows.

Google also launched an JavaScript API that lets you interact with the globe, draw markers, add layers or integrate with Google Maps. "The Google Earth Plug-in and its APIs let you embed the full power of Google Earth and its 3D rendering capabilities into your web pages." Google LatLong blog announced that each Google Maps mashup can take advantage of the new 3D view by adding a single line of code. "Our goal is to open up the entire core of Google Earth to developers in the hopes that you'll build the next great geo-based 3D application, and change how we view the world."

The samples look pretty promising, but I find it hard to understand why Google didn't use the API to create a better experience and bring more features from Google Earth (the search box, the list of overlays, the navigation controls) in a single interface.


Before downloading the plugin, please note that Google installs it in Firefox and Internet Explorer, along with a system service called "Google Update Service". The plug-in uses a lot of memory (around 100 MB just for loading the initial view and 300 MB for the Monster Milktruck demo) and, for each embedded object, you're running an instance of the Google Earth application.

Google Earth

Google Android application challenge winners

The Google Android team recently launched a challenge to encourage development for their new cellphone based platform. Part of the first phase was to narrow down the 1,788 submissions to the best 50 application ideas. They've posted the complete list of winners on their website and put together a little slide show(PDF) as well. As part of the challenge some $10,000,000 is up for grabs from Google.

I browsed through the list and found a lot of social this and family that; nothing overly exciting honestly. There were a few interesting application ideas in there though:

1. BioWallet - Biometric authentication system that uses iris identification.
2. Talkplay - Video and voice message system, see and talk to your friends while on the go.
3. Writing Pad - A unique way to enter text into your phone where common words are replaced by simple strokes.
   

The Android platform will probably cause the largest adoption of Linux based cellphones yet. C't wait to see what the homebrew community does with the platform and so much development for an unlaunched phone is amazing. Apple seems to go out of their way to lock us out, where this platform couldn't be more open. With 3G support, WiFi, SQlite, Virtual Machines, GPS and much more what's not to like.

Have any of you experimented with the Android SDK?

AU Optronics to Demo World's First Curved LCD

AU Optronics said Monday that it had developed the world's first LCD display.

The display, to be shown this week at the SID (Society for Information Display) Display Week 2008, uses a conventional TFT-LCD process. According to the company, the glass curves 100 mm.

AUO said the new technology could be used for artistic representations of LCD screens, such as clocks or watches, or automobile dashboards. Technically, however, it provides a uniform representation, losing neither color fidelity or brightness, at least according to AUO.

AUO also said it would be demonstrating an ultra thin 1.9-inch TFT-LCD with a thickness of merely 0.63mm, as well as a 1.8-inch LCD multitouch touchscreen with the touch capability integrated into the glass, instead of via an additional layer.

Ubuntu Cheat Sheet

You can trust the wealth of commands listed here. I found them very useful when I installed Ubuntu and used it for the first time. One of the very important commands every Linux user has to know is the man command. It's the short form of manual and it gives you all you need to know about other commands on your box. All you have to do is type the man command and the name of the command you want to read about. And Voila!

For Example:

ewurah# man gedit
will give you the manual of gedit.


Click here to download.

Overglossed GTK2 Theme with hot icons and Obsidian Cursors in Ubuntu Gutsy or Heron!

Ok I found an other awesome theme for Ubuntu, you gotta check this out, here is how I got my box setup....

Ok lets install this baby!

First lets grab Overglossed theme and install it!

wget http://ubuntu-debs.googlecode.com/files/Overglossed.tar.gz
tar zxvf Overglossed.tar.gz
sudo mv $HOME/Desktop/Overglossed /usr/share/themes
sudo chmod 777 /usr/share/themes/Overglossed/overglossed.jpg

Now... Lets install the black/white 2 style icon pack!

wget http://ubuntu-debs.googlecode.com/files/black-white_2-Style.tar.gz
tar zxvf black-white_2-Style.tar.gz
sudo mv black-white_2-Style/ /usr/share/icons

Now lets set up the Obsidian Cursor theme:

wget http://ubuntu-debs.googlecode.com/files/Obsidian.tar.gz
tar zxvf Obsidian.tar.gz
sudo mv Obsidian/ /usr/share/icons



Ok now the fun part, simply go to System->Preferences->Appearance and select Overglossed as the theme and select the black white 2 style icon pack and go into cursor settings and select Obsidian, enjoy!
defcon

Know your Free Sofware Logos

It's all about "FREEDOM".

My School

Click here.

Python Scripts vs Bash Scripts in Linux

Almost all Linux users who are at least familiar with bash shell commands will be at home in writing simple bash scripts to automate tasks. For those who do not know how to write a bash script, here is how you do it.

Open a new file in your favorite text editor and save it in any name of your choice but with the extension .sh. For example, let us name it 'myfirstscript.sh' . The 'sh' file extension is not mandatory but is a nice way for us to later remember that this file is a script.

Now in this file (myfirstscript.sh), enter the following line.

#!/usr/bin/bash

This line should always be entered the first thing in any bash script you create. It lets the shell know where to find the bash program. In some Linux distributions the bash command is located at /bin/bash. When in doubt, use the 'which' command to find the location as follows :

$ which bash
/usr/bin/bash

# Continuation of the above script ...
# Now lets enter a few commands in this script ...
ls -l
sleep 2
who
sleep 2
w

Nothing spectacular here. Note that 'sleep' is used to pause the execution process for certain time in seconds. Next fire up a console (xterm, gnome-terminal ...) and set the executable bit for the script myfirstscript.sh as follows :

$ chmod u+x myfirstscript.sh

This lets you execute the script by its name as follows :

$ ./myfirstscript.sh

All this may seem easy. But you can get added benefits if you substitute 'bash' with Python language to write your scripts. Noah Gift provides compelling reasons to pick up Python programming language skills and start writing your scripts in this language. If you do not know Python language and is looking for some direction then you should look at the two books Core Python programming and Python phrasebook which will give you a head start in mastering this powerful but easy to learn language.

Cool AWN Applets to beautify your Ubuntu Linux Desktop

In the previous article, I explained how to install Avant Window Navigator in Ubuntu Linux (Gutsy Gibbon). By default, it doesn't install any applets. But a dock without any applets is as boring as a desktop without a dock right ?

So here are a couple of AWN applets which I found really interesting. But first the installation ...

Installation of Awn applets

To install these applets you have to enable an additional repository from reacocard. For that open the /etc/apt/sources.list file in your favorite editor and append the following line to it.

#FILE: /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/reacocard-awn/ubuntu gutsy main

Now update the repository and install the following package. NOTE: It is assumed that you have already installed the Avant Window Navigator.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install awn-core-applets-bzr

That is it. Now you can find all the applets in the awn manager which is accessed from GNOME Menu System>Preferences>Awn manager .

Fig 1: Awn manager GNOME menu

To run an applet, open the "Awn manager" dialog box and in its left pane, click the "Applets" icon. In the right pane, you will find all the applets installed on your system. Select an applet and click the "Activate button". The applet starts running on your Awn dock.

Fig 2: Awn manager GUI

A few cool AWN applets
Here are a couple of very nice applets which caught my fancy.

Dilbert Cartoon Applet - This applet displays comic strips of popular cartoon characters. At present you have a choice of 5 different strips namely - Dilbert, Peanuts, The born loser, Wizard of ID and Xkcd.com.

Fig 3: Dilbert applet displaying a comic strip

Main menu applet - This applet provides an alternate menu containing all the applications you will find in the menus on the GNOME panel.

Fig 4: Main menu applet - I find it more functional

Stack applet - I like this applet very much. It has three layouts namely "Default dialog", "Curved GUI" and "Trasher GUI". The "Trasher GUI" is the same as the "Default dialog" with the exception that in the former, there is a delete button embedded. The "Curved GUI" is what has picked my fancy and makes me think of the dock found in Mac OSX Leopard.

Fig 5: Click on the stack applet to open a stack of objects.

Terminal applet - What better way to use the dock than embedding a terminal into an applet ? The terminal supports transparency which makes it ultra cool. And you can even choose the terminal you want to embed such as gnome-terminal, konsole, xfce terminal, xterm and so on.

Fig 6: gnome-terminal embedded in the terminal applet

Fig 7: I am always interested in the weather :-)


Fig 8: The weather map of India

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