Auto Shutdown the System

A simple command can be entered in the Terminal to schedule a time for the system to shut down.

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter sudo shutdown -h +m (replace m with the number of minutes, e.g. +60).
   OR: enter sudo shutdown -h hh:mm (replace hh:mm with the time on the 24hr clock, e.g. 23:15).
3. Enter password and minimize the Terminal window.

The system will then shut down within the minutes or at the time specified. To cancel a scheduled time, entersudo shutdown -c in the Terminal.

   Alternatively, you might want to download and install GShutdown, which is a GUI program for scheduling a time to shutdown the system.

Move Window Control Buttons to the Right

If your Ubuntu system sets the Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons to the left in a window and you prefer to change them to the right, then follow these simple steps:

1. Press Alt+F2 to bring up "Run Application" window.
2. Type gconf-editor into the box, click "Run" to bring up Configuration Editor.
3. Browse to apps > metacity > general, look for "button_layout" on the right panel.
4. Change the value in the "button_layout" from close,minimize,maximize: tomenu:minimize,maximize,close and press the Enter key.

Set Fully Transparent Panel

Set Fully Transparent Panel

When you set the panel to be transparent in the default Ambiance theme in Ubuntu, you will find that some panel items' backgrounds are not transparent, but you can make them transparent and consistent with others, following these steps:

1. Go to Applications (or Main Menu) > Accessories > Terminal.
2. Enter cp -R /usr/share/themes/Ambiance ~/.themes/
3. Enter gedit ~/.themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/apps/gnome-panel.rc (for Ubuntu 11.04 or 10.10) OR gedit ~/.themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc(for Ubuntu 10.04), to open the file with gedit.
4. Search for this line bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "img/panel.png" (for Ubuntu 11.04 or 10.10) ORbg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "panel_bg.png" (for Ubuntu 10.04)
5. Comment out the line by placing a # at the beginning of the line, like this: #   bg_pixmap[NORMAL] = ...
6. Save the file.
7. Go to System > Preferences > Appearance, switch to the other theme and then back to the Ambiance theme.

   If you'd to change to the New Wave theme, then enter cp -R /usr/share/themes/"New Wave" ~/.themes/in step 2, enter gedit ~/.themes/"New Wave"/gtk-2.0/gtkrc in step 3, search for and comment out this linebg_pixmap[NORMAL] = "Images/Panel/PanelBarLong.png" in steps 4 and 5 respectively.

Slow Grey Monster

8 august,one of finest day of ideal monsoons.it's been raining for last 3 hours and i was drenched in it.while coming back to home i was caught by a SLOW GREY MONSTER.*before i proceed i would like to tell that why i called it the slow grey monster.Slow:because it was griping me very-very slowly Grey:because atmosphere was grey and more appropriate it was driving me to the grey old memories. Monster:bcoz what it was doing to me was nothing less than a monster could do me,it was making me sad..

i dictate the scene:i am driving and suddenly i realise that i have slowed to speed of 15 and no-more want to rush home.I look at the passing by trees and i slip to my past with some similar day.I see a young boy(approx14-15yrs old), immediately i realize that i see me.I look so happy and funny there,full of joy, WORRY-LESS.I am looking at sky as if i will hold the next lightening.It looks like i own the world and i need nothing else.so happy that if i could have smiled a little more all 28 would pop out off my mouth.Looking at this one seriously makes me ENVY of me.But suddenly a i rode into a pit and i was jerked out of the ghost's grip.

I don't wish to live this day again.Because to wish is to waste.I will live this day again ASAP

-Gaurav Vasishth
(tired,lonely,confused AND going to a short sleep after a proteinX milk drink)

GIMP v/s Photoshop

13 Rock-Hard reasons to select gimp than photoshop.

Photoshop is one of the most popular image editing proprietary software, with extensive capabilities and a rather un-affordable price! It will be interesting for you to note that most of the Photoshop copies running on thousands of computers are illegal, that seems to be obvious as even professionals cannot afford to buy such an expensive piece of software. On the other hand, GIMP, photo manipulation software is a free counterpart that is fairly popular in the Linux circle. GIMP is preinstalled on some Linux

distributions or it can be installed with great ease. In this post we will draw a comparison between the two softwares! The debate is old yet it interests many. In this post we will compare the two softwares, according to current standards.

Both GIMP and PS are aimed at raster image editing and are also capable to use vector drawn paths and shapes.

1- Basic editing is the same for both the softwares: Photoshop and GIMP, both provide basic set of tools for image editing. Equivalent quality image editing can be accomplished in both the softwares. Also, if you are to create images for the web than both softwares will do a similar job.

2- Advanced Features, do you need them? Photoshop is loaded with excessive features as compared to GIMP. But here it must be noted that an average user does not require sophisticated editing capabilities and only handful of people use these advanced features. Trivial jobs do not need such cumbersome and expensive software. On this other hand, Gimp comes with essential ones and capabilities can be extended as required. Additional features can be added via plugins and extensions and hence you can tailor the software according to your requirements of image manipulation. If you are inclined to explore with GIMP, then it will let you accomplish any job that you can do with PS. You can experiment with advanced filters and the Python-scripted filter stacks that are surely great.

Additionally, you may have to pay for extra set of filters and plugins when working with PS while they are completely freely available on GIMP. GIMP is far more freinldy to plugins. On the contrary, Ps is likely to crash if you load many fonts, burshes or plugins.

The bit-depth issue:

Photoshop supports 16 and 32 bit images while GIMP only supports 8 bit. However the functionality of GIMP can be extended via GEGL (The Generic Graphics Library or GEGL is a programming library under development for image processing applications). With GEGL, GIMP can be supports 16-bit image depth at most. However, most users have reported that they rarely feel the absence of this feature.

Most of digital camera images use a maximum of 16.7 million colors. According to an estimate there are only 3% of advanced users that use high bit-depth images of 16 or more bits per channel. Hence, we can say that only 3% of the crowd actually needs Photoshop.

The CMYK?

CMYK is a subtractive color (four color) model used in color printing. You particularly need this color model to be supported in image editing software if you require your graphics to be printed, when color is critical for the images you produce. Photoshop has an advance support for CMYK. Earlier, many literatures have said that GIMP lacks this feature. However this is not the case. GIMP has some CMYK support that can be downloaded separately.  But, yes we can say that the support is not as advance as in Photoshop, yet GIMP seems to accomplish the job. GIMP also does just with graphics produced for printing on your inkjet at home or at a kiosk (or any printers that use RGB drivers)

3- PS is Large in size to download, as compared to GIMP: GIMP set-up is just about 20 MB, while Photoshop is large, extra large disk-space. As recommended, you must have 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices) for Photoshop!

4- System Requirements, GIMP wins again: Photoshop is heavy software that might make it slow on your system. GIMP, in contrast is very fast and does not require much of system resources.

5- Size on disk, minimal with GIMP: You will require just some free space (usually as low as 20 MB) on your disk to download and install GIMP. While to download and install Photoshop you need space in Gbs.

6-System Resources, GIMP is lighter: Photoshop is very heavy on system resources.  The minimum recommended RAM to run GIMP is only 128 Mb. While Photoshop CS 5 requires 1 GB of RAM!!

7- Platform support, GIMP wins again: GIMP is integrated in most Linux distros. It can be downloaded on Windows or Mac while Photoshop is available only for Mac and Windows. However you download and run the application on Linux as well.

8- Portability: GIMP being perfectly compact software and small in size and therefore it is portable. You can run it from USB stick or devices such as MS Xbox with ease. This is not possible with giant software like Photoshop.

9- With GIMP you can read and edit the PSD files of Photoshop. But Photoshop does not support GIMP’s native file format i.e. XCF files.

10- Customization: As stated earlier, the software can be tailored according to the requirements of user. The GUI is completely customizable and can be minimal. If you like the Photoshop UI then you can make your GIMp look like that too!

11- Support: Like all open source softwares, GIMP has a tremendous support. That you won’t find with Photoshop. General techniques for image editing, applies to both the softwares. And therefore most Ps tutorials can be used as reference for GIMP.

12- Continually evolving: Like another OS, GIMP is continuously evolving i.e. even if you find a feature that is not in GIMP and present in Photoshop it is very much possible that it will be there in the upcoming releases as the software is continuously developing and adding features to it.

13- Finally the Price! Price plays a decisive role in evaluating the capabilities of the two softwares. GIMP is completely free while Ps is as expensive as 700 USD. The point being, why pay so much for excessive features that you don’t actually need! And when the functionalities can be downloaded freely when ever required! Specially for the people who are amateur and are embarking their journey on image editing Ps is highly priced. Moreover, if you are starting a small advertising business you might not want to invest as much only for the software in the business.

To conclude, instead of pirating Photoshop, its better to use open-source software i.e. GIMP, for image editing yielding comparable results. Photoshop has some tremendous capabilities, this fact cannot be denied however these capabilities are hardly needed for average to advance users. Photoshop, is only aimed at a very specific bunch of people who really are experts. Nevertheless, GIMP too can be used by experts the difference being that Photoshop might be able to accomplish some tasks easily while with GIMP you will have to take a long route!

Prey- An awesome application to track your stolen Laptop and android phone | Linux

Prey- An awesome application to track your 

stolen Laptop and android phone | Linux

Prey Features:

- Prey uses either the device's GPS or the nearest WiFi hotspots to triangulate and grab a fix on its location. It's shockinglyaccurate.

- Know your enemy : Take a picture of the thief with your laptop's webcam so you know what he looks like and where he's hiding. Powerful evidence.

- Wifi autoconnect If enabled, Prey will attempt to hook onto to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no Internet connection is found.

- Watch their movements : Grab a screenshot of the active session -- if you're lucky you may catch the guy logged into his email or Facebook account!

- Scan your hardware : Get a complete list of your PC's CPU, motherboard, RAM, and BIOS information. Works great when used with Active Mode.

- No unauthorized access : Fully lock down your PC, making it unusable unless a specific password is entered. The guy won't be able to do a thing!

- Light as a feather : Prey has very few dependencies and doesn't even leave a memory footprint until activated. We care as much as you do.

- Keep your data safe: Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally remove your stored passwords, so no one will be able to look into your stuff.

- Full auto updater: Prey can check its current version and automagically fetch and update itself, so you don't need to manually reinstall each time.

How to install Prey in Ubuntu and Other Linux distributions:

- For Ubuntu: Download the .deb package and install it.

After installation, open prey and go to Main settings, select Enable guest account and Wifi autoconnect to improve the possibilities to trace your laptop.

- Reporting mode: choose the recommended one Prey+Control panel

If you are not registred, create a new account and you are done.

- For other Linux distributions: Download the zip package for Linux and install it using the following :

First , unzip the package (Prey-xxx-Linux.zip)  and move all the contents to a folder of your choice e.g: /usr/share/prey. Then you need to open up the config file and change your settings according to your configuration. If you're using the Control Panel, then you only need to insert your API (You can find it under account information) and Device keys; otherwise you need to set up your SMTP server settings.

Finally, you need to add a crontab entry for root. You can do this by typing  the following in a terminal:

$ (sudo crontab -l | grep -v prey; echo "*/20 * * * * /usr/share/prey/prey.sh > /var/log/prey.log") | sudo crontab -

How to use Prey:
Now, Once you are registered and get your device (laptop) listed on the website, you can tell Prey, via the website anytime, that your laptop is missing by going to http://control.preyproject.com  clicking on the appropriate device listing , changing the “Missing” slide switch to “on” and hitting the update button at the bottom of the page. There are other options in there you can change as well to suit your needs. The next time your laptop can find an internet connection and check in, Prey will have it sending reports out so you can find it.

Some screenshots from Prey control Panel:

- Configuration for phones (Android) and Laptops:


- Additional configuration for Laptop

**Useful Links: http://preyproject.com/

SWIRL

They say,"ONLY CHANGE IS PERMANENT"
I say,"EVERYTHING IS SWIRLING."

Universe is swirling,Earth is swirls around sun,Romeos' swirl around Juliets',We all swirl around Money($$$!)..And Deep inside our mind swirls the most,it,s finding something.Somethings like BMW 7 SERIES,Audi A4,Miami Beach Restaurant.But when reality hits a little we see it's finding a good girlfriend,good marks,good physique and so on.

But as i said it is swirling,it won,t stop at one thing.This is how swirling continues:Monkey jumps from one thing to next.Every "something" is a check point.Ever thought what's the end of this mad race??

well,the end point of this mad race is PEACE.
So where do peace resides?Peace doesn't resides in BMW 7,Nor at Miami Beach,Not even in the block where your Girlfriend resides.

Apartment of peace is b/w your shoulders>>in your chest>>slightly towards left:But deep inside.YESS!! it do resides deep inside your mind.Every now and then it marks it's presence.Ever felt a feeling"x" that you got when you shared your tiffin at school,what about sharing your ice-cream with your sibling,that "x" came in when you gave a glass of water to your tired thirsty dad..And that Mr.X is none else than PEACE

Atleast there should be one thing in universe that isn't swirling.So, stop your swirling mind and ENJOY PEACE,BE HAPPY.. :-)

Written by-
Gaurav Vasishth
Do leave a comment or mail me at gauravvasishth34@gmail.com

Enjoy Your Freedom

In this World of internet without fences and walls,Who needs GATES and WINDOWS?? 

 Freedom:Who doesn't wants it??Who dosen't ask for it?Decades have past,planet earth has said good bye to colonial rule even.But still we need it.We need freedom from pollution,global warming,unwanted people,extra pounds that we carry on ourselves,poor grades and our operating system(OS) too!!Why to be slave of WINDOWS?that allow only specific paths.Why do we work the way windows want?Ain't that equal to colonial rule?Feel obsessed,Don't you??

Alright enough of question marks.Try LINUX(ubuntu).Work the way you want.Linux is based on principle of open source,which means you can access the source code;Add or delete the code you want.apart from geeky stuff,i explain with a simple example.

Suppose you want to start a business ,you buy a building.But,you are not sure for what kind of business you want to start.Owner agrees on deal with any kind of business and puts a condition.Condition that you can't change any of it's infrastructure.No matter what are your needs.Rooms will remain the same i.e design will remain the same.Sounds harsh feels even more harder.You can't manipulate the thing you own.This is windows,your lovely OS(operating system).Starting any kind of business is your multi-tasking.No doubt we can do multi tasking but thew way it want.

On the other hand.You get the same building,with same freedom of starting any business and this time you can even change it infrastructure.If you want big room,break the walls make it BIG.Generous Owner,Right?In LINUX if you want something,get codes,write it in;you get it.Else if you don't want it,trash it.ADRENALINE LINE:This owner even gives you building for free.Yess!Linux is free of cost(discussed in 1st post)

So,INTALL LINUX,FEEL FREE!!

NOW THAT'S WHAT  "REAL OS FREEDOM" MEANS

-Written By

Gaurav Vaishth

*For any queries mail me at gauravvasishth34@gmail.com or leave a comment

GOOD LUCK

LUG class 2

No of ways Linux(ububtu) can be installed:
1.INSIDE WINDOWS-just like a regular software.in this linux runs on windows OS.if you loose windows,you also loose linux.Linux Can be removed from Control Panel just by uninstalling it.
2.OUTSIDE WINDOWS-Dual OS on one system.
3.ENTIRE DISC-Installs only linux

*preffered one is outside windows
*.ext4-file format for linux

REMASTERSYS-Software for getting image of  running linux OS

*Swap Area=virutal memory for RAM optimization(at max can be only twice the existing RAM)


GET YOUR UBUNTU CD,INSTALL IT.BE A LINUX USER

*Gaurav Vasishth
for any queries mail me at gauravvasishth34@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Sunray slap

Lying on bed till 11 o' clock,

there was a fuzzy knock on my curtain lock.

 I was tired of being tired after such a long nap,

 on drawing the curtain i got a hard SunRay Slap. 

I can,t even imagine a night in my life from last 4 years that i didn't promise my  alarm that i'll not disgrace you in morning.Every night there's a oath taking ceremony in my bed,I stretch my arm,raise my voice and say"SUNRISE WILL FOLLOW MY RISE".But next morning i find that last night oath was snored away couple of hours ago.

THEN WHAT TO DO? if every oth of yours and mine is discarded.Many of us sleep much more than biologically required sleep.THEN WHAT TO DO? If "CHALTA HAI"(it will work) or "DEKHA JAYE GA"(we'll see it later)is your soul motto,then you are wasting your time reading this.But  if you want to change this habit of yours and mine,then please continue.

SOLUTION-:

 So the real solution lies in YOU!

{It's YOU who don't get up,It will be definitely YOU who will get up at time.So it's YOU who is at fault}:sounds like worst solution but remember great problems have simple solutions.

Okay i explain the solution now.Why do you and me sleep so much?? It is because we don't have anything else to do.Bored from monotonous life i.e life full of repetitions and cycles;It's really hard to get up for these things.But everyone of us gets fascinated by something.It might be cooking,singing,dressing up,reading,writing,photography or anything.Take 10 minutes from your"not so busy but seems to be busy"life and see what really fascinates you.Before setting the alarm,think of that fascinating thing that you'll do the next morning.While lying down with closed eyes imagine yourself doing that thing.And next morning do that thing.It shall surely help in getting up.

Also remember the MAGIC RULE 21:a practice continued for 21 regular days turns to HABIT.if you and me really do it,i am pretty sure that we won't need alarm on day 22!

I'll be starting it tonight.

Gaurav Vasishth

*for any queries mail me at gauravvasishth34@gmail.com or leave a comment.

Opening

well this is my first blog post,so i'll try to make it brief and simple.I am Gaurav Vasishth 1st year Electrical engineering student.Creating a blog was in my mind from last 1 year but due to no reasons i was reluctant to it.Creating a blog was part of my LUG(Linux Users' Group) Class,basic aim of it was to share the things that i learn in class but apart from that i shall also be sharing my day to day activities.All i wondering for this blog of mine was a grand opening!!,but what i really expect is at least 7 members to follow in next 3 days.Now focusing on main aim of my blog>>

LUG CLASS 1

LINUX is based on phenomenon of open source.basically what it means is FREE!! FREE!! FREE!!,you get every thing free,while most of softwares from operating systems like windows to text-editing softwares like MS Office is paid.But here in Linux everything is free of cost from anything to anything.Even it provides you the original CD of operating system(Ubuntu) with NO SHIPPING CHARGES even.Just order it on https://shipit.ubuntu.com/ and you'll get it at your home.Lnux is less prone to viruses.The basic reason that people don't use linux is that they are reluctant to changes and too lazy to learn new things.So,if you are adventurous enough to try new things,that too better one then welcome to the world of LINUX.

*For any queries mail me at gauravvasishth34@gmail.com

-Regards

Gaurav Vasishth