ITechLog http://itechlog.com Your source to IT solutions, interesting technology news and code snipets. Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:12:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc HTML5:Up and Running book out now http://itechlog.com/books/2010/08/24/html5up-and-running-book-on-pre-order/ http://itechlog.com/books/2010/08/24/html5up-and-running-book-on-pre-order/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:51:10 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/books/2010/05/25/html5up-and-running-book-on-pre-order/
HTML5: Up and Running
By Mark Pilgrim
Publisher: O’Reilly Media
Now Available at Amazon: U.S.A or UK

Even though work on HTML5 is ongoing, browsers such as Safari, Mozilla, Opera, and Chrome already support many of its features — and browsers for smart phones are even farther ahead, especially iPhone’s MobileSafari browser. With HTML5: Up & Running, you’ll learn how this new version enables browsers to interact with JavaScript much more easily than before. You’ll also learn how HTML5 can help you develop applications that:

  • Display video directly in the browser, without having to rely on plugins
  • Work even when a user is offline, by taking advantage of HTML5′s persistent storage
  • Offer a drawing canvas for dynamically generated 2-D graphics

This concise guide is the most complete and authoritative book you’ll find on the subject. Author Mark Pilgrim writes the weekly digest for the HTML5 Working Group, and represents Google at conferences on HTML5′s capabilities. Stay ahead of the curve. Order a copy of this book today. (extracted)



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]]> http://itechlog.com/books/2010/08/24/html5up-and-running-book-on-pre-order/feed/ 0 LinuxCon 2010 Just for Fun Poll Results explained http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/08/12/linuxcon-2010-just-for-fun-poll-results-explained/ http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/08/12/linuxcon-2010-just-for-fun-poll-results-explained/#comments Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:25:30 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/08/12/linuxcon-2010-just-for-fun-poll-results-explained/ The results of the “Just for Fun” Poll  linux.com community have just been released.  You may be wondering what some of those weird names actually mean, so here goes a short guide for those, like myself, who are not up to date with it all.


Best new Kernel Feature

  1. Btrfs: is a new copy on write filesystem for Linux aimed at implementing advanced features while focusing on fault tolerance, repair and easy administration. Initially developed by Oracle, Btrfs is licensed under the GPL and open for contribution from anyone.

    Linux has a wealth of filesystems to choose from, but we are facing a number of challenges with scaling to the large storage subsystems that are becoming common in today’s data centers. Filesystems need to scale in their ability to address and manage large storage, and also in their ability to detect, repair and tolerate errors in the data stored on disk. [extracted from https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page ]

  2. Dynamic Tracing: Dynamic event tracing is one of the newest feature on perf/ftrace. This allows users to dynamically add/remove additional trace-events with various arguments in the kernel. This feature consists of kprobe-based event tracer and ‘perf-probe’ user-space command which helps users to find probe points easily from source code by analyzing kernel debuginfo.  Extracted from http://events.linuxfoundation.org/lfcs2010/tracing
  3. LogFS: is a Linux log-structured and scalable flash filesystem, intended for use on large devices of flash memory. It is written by Jörn Engel and in part sponsored by the CE Linux Forum. [extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LogFS ]
  4. Ceph Filesystem: Ceph is a distributed network file system designed to provide excellent performance, reliability, and scalability. [ extracted from http://ceph.newdream.net/about/ ]


Favourite IT Operation Tools

  1. Nagios: a powerful monitoring system that enables organizations to identify and resolve IT infrastructure problems before they affect critical business processes. http://www.nagios.org/about/overview
  2. Snort: A free lightweight network intrusion detection system. http://www.snort.org
  3. Bacula: an Open Source network backup and restore solution. http://www.bacula.org
  4. OpenNMS: a network management application platform. http://www.opennms.org/about/
  5. Zenoss: an open-source network monitoring and server monitoring product. http://www.zenoss.com/product/network-monitoring
  6. Munin: a networked resource monitoring tool that can help analyze resource trends and “what just happened to kill our performance?” problems. It is designed to be very plug and play. A default installation provides a lot of graphs with almost no work. http://munin-monitoring.org/


Favourite Browser

  1. Firefox (75%)
  2. Chrome
  3. Opera
  4. Konqueror
  5. Epiphany

Favourite Open Source Project

  1. Apache: The world’s most popular Web Server. Most of the web runs on it. http://httpd.apache.org/ABOUT_APACHE.html
  2. OpenOffice: A multi-platform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites. http://www.openoffice.org/
  3. MySQL: MySQL is the world’s most popular open source database software, with
    over 100 million copies of its software downloaded or distributed
    throughout it’s history. With its superior speed, reliability, and ease
    of use, MySQL has become the preferred choice for Web, Web 2.0. http://www.mysql.com/about/
  4. MeeGo: an open source, Linux project which brings together the Moblin
    project,     headed up by Intel, and Maemo, by Nokia, into a single open
    source activity. http://meego.com/about
  5. XBMC: an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. http://xbmc.org/about/
  6. WordPress: WordPress started as just a blogging systems, but has evolved to be used as full content management system. http://wordpress.org/about/
  7. StatusNet: StatusNet is the open source microblogging platform that helps you share and connect in real-time within your own domain. http://status.net/
  8. Hadoop: The Apache Hadoop project develops open-source software for reliable, scalable, distributed computing. http://hadoop.apache.org/
  9. Drizzle: Drizzle is a community-driven project based on the popular MySQL DBMS
    that is focused on MySQL’s original goals of ease-of-use, reliability
    and performance. http://drizzle.org/

Best Linux Success Story

  1. Overall enterprise Linux adoption
  2. Android market presence
  3. Red Hat Earnings
  4. MeeGo Merger

Hall of shame: Biggest industry Disappointment

  1. Playstation ditches Linux
  2. Adobe v Apple Stand-off
  3. Bilski Decision

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]]> http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/08/12/linuxcon-2010-just-for-fun-poll-results-explained/feed/ 0 Opencart simple and great e-commerce system http://itechlog.com/open-source/2010/08/05/opencart-simple-and-great-e-commerce-system/ http://itechlog.com/open-source/2010/08/05/opencart-simple-and-great-e-commerce-system/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:54:30 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/open-source/2010/08/05/opencart-simple-and-great-e-commerce-system/ For a long time I have been very frustrated with e-commerce systems, from my self built one all the way to Magento. That was until I came across OpenCart. It’s a great system, easy to use and to develop for. Installation takes 5 minutes, it has all the modules you need to run a successful e-commerce site straight out of the .zip.  I nicknamed it the “WordPress of e-commerce”!  Have a look for yourself at the Opencart demonstration page.

OpenCart features:

  • Open Source
  • Documentation
  • Unlimited Categories
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Manufacturers
  • Templatable
  • Multi-Language
  • Multi-Currency
  • Product Reviews
  • Product Ratings
  • Downloadable Products
  • Automatic Image Resizing
  • Multiple Tax Rates
  • Related Products
  • Unlimited Information Pages
  • Shipping Weight Calculation
  • Discount Coupon System
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Module System
  • Backup & Restore Tools
  • Printable Invoices
  • Sales Reports

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]]> http://itechlog.com/open-source/2010/08/05/opencart-simple-and-great-e-commerce-system/feed/ 0 Microsoft’s Street Slide View is so unMicrosoft http://itechlog.com/microsoft/2010/07/30/microsofts-steet-slide-view-is-so-unmicrosoft/ http://itechlog.com/microsoft/2010/07/30/microsofts-steet-slide-view-is-so-unmicrosoft/#comments Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:30:29 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/microsoft/2010/07/30/microsofts-steet-slide-view-is-so-unmicrosoft/ Microsoft Research Street slide View managed to do what Google’s Street View failed to do.. oops “is missing”. After watching the video my only comment was, wow this is so unMicrosoft, this is cool.  Microsoft Research has not yet announced if and when it will be making it to the Bing Maps, or any Microsoft products. But for now you can see a quick demo of how it works.


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]]> http://itechlog.com/microsoft/2010/07/30/microsofts-steet-slide-view-is-so-unmicrosoft/feed/ 1 Virginmedia has bad customer service http://itechlog.com/connectivity/2010/07/12/virginmedia-has-bad-customer-service/ http://itechlog.com/connectivity/2010/07/12/virginmedia-has-bad-customer-service/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:36:00 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/connectivity/2010/07/12/virginmedia-has-bad-customer-service/ Having had services from Virgin Media before I decide to go back with them for my broadband at my new place. I did that against all the bad comments from others about their bad customer services and slowness in getting your connection setup. Well here is how it went.

  • Called Virgin Media to setup connection..
  • VM: “oh sir we need first month payment up front and we can get you connected”
  • ok Payment made
  • VM: “Now let’s arrange your connection date … I am afraid the earliest available slot is on the 12th of July (in 3 weeks time)”
  • ME: “How come? Can’t you do it sooner….”
  • VM: “I am afraid not”
  • Installation day ( 3 weeks later)
  • VM Engineer: “Sorry mate we cannot connect your cable, it would have to go over someone else’s business sign,we cannot do that”
  • ME (calling VM): “Can I get the account cancelled and upfront payment reimbursed to my card?”
  • VM: “Just hold the line a second.”
  • 15 min later
  • VM: “Sorry about the wait, yes that can be done, your reimbursement will take 3 weeks”
  • ME: “How come? I had to pay it on the spot. Why do I have to wait 3 weeks for my money back?”
  • VM: “Sorry sir, but that’s how it is. Have a good day!”

So I had to log this here. It’s appalling that as a customer I can get treated this bad. Now I am wondering if I should go with Sky, I heard that they are just as bad. Can anyone share any light on their experiences with Sky and other broadband providers in the UK?

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]]> http://itechlog.com/connectivity/2010/07/12/virginmedia-has-bad-customer-service/feed/ 0 Facebook privacy http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/26/facebook-privacy/ http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/26/facebook-privacy/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 21:22:59 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/26/facebook-privacy/ Facebook makes a wise and intelligent u-turn in their privacy tools.

extract from a letter from FB.

Starting today, Facebook will:

* Provide an easy-to-use “master” control that enables users to set who can see the content they share through Facebook. This enables users to choose, with just one click, the overall privacy level they’re comfortable with for the content they sh
re on Facebook. Of course, users can still use all of the granular controls we’ve always offered, if they wish.

* Significantly reduce the amount of information that must be visible to everyone on Facebook. Facebook will no longer require that users’ friends and connections are visible to everyone. Only Name, Profile Picture, Networks and Gender must be pub
icly available. Users can opt to make all other connections private.

* Make it simple to control whether other applications and websites access any user information. While a majority of our users love Facebook apps and Facebook-enhanced websites, some may prefer not to share their information outside of Facebook. Users can now opt out with just one click.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/26/facebook-privacy/feed/ 0 New Pandigital Novel eReader with android OS http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/25/new-pandigital-novel-ereader-with-android-os/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/25/new-pandigital-novel-ereader-with-android-os/#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 11:25:58 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/?p=881 Coming soon.. the new Pandigital Novel eReader has a 7in Colour Touch screen and runs Google’s Android OS. It comes with some very nice features:

  • ebooks (integration with Barnes and Noble’s eBook store)
  • Built-in WiFi
  • SD/MMC card slot
  • up to 6 hours battery (reading)
  • Email access
  • Browser
  • Music and Video Player
  • Calendar
  • Games
  • and everything else you can find in the Android OS

Pandigital Novel. More than a Good book.
 With a full color, touch screen display, the Pandigital Novel brings dynamic multimedia to the eReader world. (extracted)




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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/25/new-pandigital-novel-ereader-with-android-os/feed/ 0 Mobile Apps overload? http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/05/24/mobile-apps-overload/ http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/05/24/mobile-apps-overload/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 14:22:22 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/05/24/mobile-apps-overload/ The “There’s an App for that” claim for the iPhone makes me cringe. How many of the Apps we have in our mobile devices do we actually use?

I am not  a good exmaple to start with as I am not an early adopter of anything technical and I tend to stay away from what the crowd goes for, so any Apple device is a no go area for me. I have though not too long ago acquired an Android powered device which I really like. I have browsed the Android App store up and down and tested a number of Apps, some cool stuff but I only keep the ones I actually use.

Here is my humble short list of favourites

  • Gmail App (native to Android)
  • Peep (for Twitter)
  • Facebook (on the mobile browser)
  • Orkut (on the mobile browser)
  • Google Maps (use it a lot in conjunction with GPS)
  • Google Calendar sync (native to Android)
  • Music player (native to Android)
  • File Browser
  • gStrings (Guitar tuner)
  • Youtube (native to Android)
  • Droid Locator
  • A couple of games
  • Daily Sudoku (Embarrassing I know, but great for calming my ADHD)

How overloaded is your mobile? What are your must have Apps?


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]]> http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/05/24/mobile-apps-overload/feed/ 0 The Facebook privacy fuss http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/22/the-facebook-privacy-fuss/ http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/22/the-facebook-privacy-fuss/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 18:09:13 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/?p=870 Facebook is facing massive exodus over the latest change on its privacy settings. Why are you worried? Do you have a Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, Flickr, a Blog or have you applied for a job online, bought anything on any website, filled in any online survey, downloaded white papers? Your information is all over the web already anyway, and most sites do not delete your information, they mark it as disabled or unsubscribed but hardly delete all the data.

Facebook has made it a little more complicated for users to set their privacy but with a little bit of work you can tighten your privacy on FB. Start by reading the privacy recommendations on Facebook.   Then use the tool provided on that page to check how your profile looks to everyone on Facebook (non-friends), and adjust your privacy settings accordingly.

Avoid giving access to unnecessary applications and only use Facebook connect to sign up to an external site when you are sure you want to share your information with that website.

According to SOPHOS security, around 60% of users are considering leaving Facebook.  Really?


Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/social-networking/2010/05/22/the-facebook-privacy-fuss/feed/ 0 Create your own Linux distro with Suse Studio http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/05/22/create-your-own-linux-distro-with-suse-studio/ http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/05/22/create-your-own-linux-distro-with-suse-studio/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 18:05:14 +0000 itechlog.admin http://itechlog.com/?p=855 With Suse Studio you can build a custom Linux distro, with your own software and branding and package it to run as a live CD\DVD, Bootable USB,  VMWare, VirtualBox, Zen or a bootable intall CD\DVD.







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]]> http://itechlog.com/linux/2010/05/22/create-your-own-linux-distro-with-suse-studio/feed/ 0 How software patent broke the system http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/18/how-software-patent-broke-the-system/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/18/how-software-patent-broke-the-system/#comments Tue, 18 May 2010 10:13:07 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/?p=856 The issue of Software Patent has been around for a while, but unless you really  have the time and drive to try to understand all that is involved you will be left like most of us, just wondering. The guys at Patent Absurdity have made a great documentary about this issue.

Patent Absurdity explores the case of software patents and the history of judicial activism that led to their rise, and the harm being done to software developers and the wider economy. The film is based on a series of interviews conducted during the Supreme Court’s review of in re Bilski — a case that could have profound implications for the patenting of software. (extracted)

The whole documentary was made with free software.

  • Cinelerra for video editing
  • Audacity for audio editing
  • Inkscape, Python and Blender for animation
  • Ogg Theora and Ogg Vorbis codecs
  • Edited on GNU/Linux machines

Watch the Patent Absurdity documentary here.


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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/05/18/how-software-patent-broke-the-system/feed/ 0 Tweetdeck for Android http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/04/14/tweetdeck-for-android/ http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/04/14/tweetdeck-for-android/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:38:15 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/04/14/tweetdeck-for-android/ AndroidTweetDeck is yet to deliver an App for Android phones, it’s another company entangled with the Apple cult and leaving users of other mobile devices lagging behind.  I would be more interested in boycotting the the whole application, but this may not be the best route, so contrary to what TweetDeck is doing I once again I call upon the support of all Android users and sympathisers to request a TweetDeck App for Android.  Like we have done for the Audible.com App for Android (please continue to request this one also).

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]]> http://itechlog.com/mobile-phones/2010/04/14/tweetdeck-for-android/feed/ 0 Digg on The Go App for Android and the iPhone http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/04/02/digg-on-the-go-app-for-android-and-the-iphone/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/04/02/digg-on-the-go-app-for-android-and-the-iphone/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:09:22 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/04/02/digg-on-the-go-app-for-android-and-the-iphone/ AndroidDigg.com has announced the availability of the Digg on the go App  for Android phones and iPhones. To download the app just visit http://m.digg.com and install the the application.

Check out the the official announcement.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/04/02/digg-on-the-go-app-for-android-and-the-iphone/feed/ 0 Apple announces Flash add-on for the iPad http://itechlog.com/apple/2010/04/01/apple-announces-flash-add-on-for-the-ipad/ http://itechlog.com/apple/2010/04/01/apple-announces-flash-add-on-for-the-ipad/#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:40:01 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/?p=845 On the 28th of  March  Apple has announced via its website that even though the iPad will still be shipped without flash support, users will be able to download a Flash add-on  from their  website.   To Download the add-on (  I would call it a patch) you can go here.  http://apple.com/ipadfd

Finally Mr Jobs has done something sensible.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/apple/2010/04/01/apple-announces-flash-add-on-for-the-ipad/feed/ 1 Books for sale – Linux Shell, Qmail Handbook and SSL/TLS http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/26/books-for-sale-linux-shell-qmail-handbook-and-ssltls/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/26/books-for-sale-linux-shell-qmail-handbook-and-ssltls/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:01:29 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/26/books-for-sale-linux-shell-qmail-handbook-and-ssltls/ I have selling on Amazon.co.uk a copy of each of the following books:

Linux Shell Scripting with Bash (Paperback) (SOLD)
by Ken O. Burtch (Author)
Linux Shell Scripting with Bash will help you learn to not only get your system up and running quickly by employing the Bash shell, but it will also show you professional scripting solutions through the use of structured programming and standard Linux development tools. The book focuses on the Linux environment, which the shell relies on to function, and the robust Linux tool set, making this book ideal for learning shell scripting. Real-world scripts are included that are readable, extendable and easy to debug. This book is an asset to any Linux user.

The Qmail Handbook (Paperback)
by David Sill (Author)
qmail is used by hundreds of ISPs and thousands of other sites, including Hotmail since 1997, which has over 30 million users. qmail is popular because of its security, reliability, speed, low memory use, user-controlled mailing lists, straightforward administration, and much more! An Introduction to qmail is designed to guide system and mail administrators of all levels of experience through the installation, configuration, and maintenance of a qmail server.

SSl and TLS: Building and Designing Secure Systems (Paperback)
by Eric Rescorla (Author)
SSL and TLS: Designing and Building Secure Systems offers clear and comprehensive descriptions of these security protocols and their implementation, and also provides “designs”–tried and true templates that suit various scenarios. Armed with this book, you can become well versed in the importance of SSL and TLS, be able to work with them to provide solutions, and furthermore identify an appropriate tested “design” that will solve the security problems of a proposed new network installation.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/26/books-for-sale-linux-shell-qmail-handbook-and-ssltls/feed/ 0 reCAPTCHA error http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/25/recaptcha-error/ http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/25/recaptcha-error/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:49:38 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/25/recaptcha-error/ Today I had a few complaints from users not being able to download PDFs from one of the sites I manage. Users were not able to get beyond the registration page which kept hanging due to an error on reCAPTCHA.  The error caused the $rep->is_valid to return null. I am not sure if the problem was in validating the reCaptcha words or if it was in sending a response back. The fix was pointed out by reCAPTCHA support in a Google group. I just want to make it more public here.

Update your current recaptchalib.php with the one from http://code.google.com/p/recaptcha/downloads/detail?name=recaptcha-php-1.10.zip

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]]> http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/25/recaptcha-error/feed/ 0 Changing your YouTube video thumbnail http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/23/changing-your-youtube-video-thumbnail/ http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/23/changing-your-youtube-video-thumbnail/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:56:56 +0000 itechlog.admin http://itechlog.com/?p=840 Is it possible to change a YouTube  video thumbnail? The thumbnail is a still frame that represents your video. When you upload a video to YouTube, it generates 3 still images from the video to be used as thumbnails, interesting enough the default image appears to be the second still.

You can use this tool to check the available thumbnails to any video.

Changing the thumbnail

You can only edit your own videos and only use the thumbnails generated by Youtube. To change a video thumbnail follow these steps.

1 – go to http://www.youtube.com/my_videos and login to your account
2 – Select “edit” on the desired video
3 – On the following page, under, “Video Thumbnail”, click on the thumbnail you wish to use. Once you’ve chosen your preferred still, the border around it will become highlighted.
4 – Then click on “Update Video”

It may take a few minutes for the change to show,  you may want to refresh your browser cache if the thumbnail does not appear.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2010/03/23/changing-your-youtube-video-thumbnail/feed/ 1 The future of gaming is OpenGL http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/the-future-of-gaming-is-opengl/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/the-future-of-gaming-is-opengl/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:18:48 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/the-future-of-gaming-is-opengl/ As a Linux user and Open Source enthusiast I always want to see people moving away from the proprietary stuff and into the Open Source world, but sometimes it’s easier to keep them where they are (stuck to Windows), specially when it comes to gaming. I am not a gamer, and would rather spend my time on other more fulfilling tasks like testing a ClearOS installation, but when it comes to helping people migrate from Windows to Linux, there’s always that dreaded question  “Will my games work?”  The answer could easily be “yes very well, better than before!”  but in reality a majority of the games won’t. Why? The proprietary monster that is Microsoft has allured programmers, graphic card manufacturers and the common citizen into the idea that DirectX is the best, and it could not e further from the truth. While DirectX only runs on Windows, OpenGL offers equal or better results and runs on every platform. 

But don’t let me talk to you about this, as I said I am not a gamer, let those who know what they are talking about tell you. This great article will help you understand Why should you use OpenGL and not DirectX (Wolfire Blog), and you may also enjoy reading this article Commercial Gaming coming to Linux?  from the Linux Magazine.

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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/the-future-of-gaming-is-opengl/feed/ 0 Request the Audible.com books application for Android http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/request-the-audible-com-books-application-for-android/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/request-the-audible-com-books-application-for-android/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:04:33 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/request-the-audible-com-books-application-for-android/ I am deeply shocked at audible.com for not having an app for Android. They claim that “the Android media player does not allow playback of our titles“… right.  Anyway they are now attempting to get the ball rolling for an App for Android in 2010. There’s a signup for upcoming  beta testing on their website and I urge every Android user (or user to be) to sign up and put a little bit more pressure on them.

Android is a great mobile platform and companies like Audible.com (an Amazon associate) are stalling its growth with short sightedness.

UPDATE from comment by JP White: “A Beta Audible app is now available for Android devices.  Read more at
http://wp.me/pCOs1-aw“

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]]> http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/03/11/request-the-audible-com-books-application-for-android/feed/ 6 Campaign for the right to create, forward and follow links http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/01/20/campaign-for-the-right-to-create-forward-and-follow-links/ http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/01/20/campaign-for-the-right-to-create-forward-and-follow-links/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:17:48 +0000 Alex Costa http://itechlog.com/itechlog-news/2010/01/20/campaign-for-the-right-to-create-forward-and-follow-links/ There has been a talk for while about news agencies blocking bloggers, aggregators and search engines from indexing their content. This has started to become a reality when the Times Online decided to block the news aggregator site newsnow.co.uk. In response Struan Bartlett the founder of  NewsNow started the right2click campaign.  Watch his campaign video.

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