Email to SMS Gateways

If you’ve ever tried to make your own text messaging application, you know how tough it can be to handle each and every one of the various carrier’s sms gateway’s. So, why not go the easy way and just e-mail the cell phone you are trying to message?

Wait. What?

You heard me. Most cell providers have what is known as an email to SMS gateway, which allows text messages to be sent to cell phones via an email address.

So, now you can use your favorite mail function and text away!

Be Excited For Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

It’s been a long time since Ubuntu to drop another amazing bomb of Linux goodness on us, and that’s what they’ll be doing with the next installment of the Ubuntu operating system, version 9.10, also known as Karmic Koala.

First of all, Karmic Koala will provide a new theme, bringing some aesthetic flair to an all too familiar desktop setup, as well as showcasing one of the fastest boot times for a fully packaged Linux distribution.

Firefox 3.5 is now included, which has support for HTML 5’s Open Web Video, Ogg Theora/Vorbis, and much more!

Instead of ext3, ext4 is now the default file system. What’s different between ext3 and ext4?

Karmic Koala includes support for the newest Linux kernel, Kernel 2.6.31, as well as for a multitude of newer NVIDIA (VDPAU/CUDA) and Intel drivers.

Karmic Koala features all of the above, and so much more. Stay tuned for more updates until the release!

Gecko Laptop Runs On AA Batteries

Don’t underestimate the Gecko just because it runs on AA batteries, because not only does it boast some of the most amazing energy efficient technologies we’ve seen in laptops, the Gecko EduBook is a decent computer at that. It features a 1Ghz Xcore86 CPU, up to 1GB DDR2 RAM, SD or IDE Flash for storage, and then WiFi and your other standard netbook features.

Gecko will run for 4 hours on NiMH or Li+ 3S AA’s, and 6 hours on LI+ 3S2P batteries.

Portable Ubuntu for Windows

Portable Ubuntu for Windows is a compact and completely integrated Ubuntu platform that you can interact with from your Windows XP shell.

Now you can run those Linux only applications (well, most of them) directly from your Windows XP environment!

Sudo Make Me A Sandwich

Windows 7: Windows XP Mode

In a recent announcement by Microsoft, a new feature called “Windows XP Mode” for Windows 7 was detailed. Windows XP Mode allows users to run Windows XP applications in Windows 7 that are otherwise not compatible, by use of their own Virtual PC software. However, there is no “windowed desktop” in this version, the Windows XP applications are fully integrated into your Windows 7 desktop, and appear as normal applications, the only difference being the familiar blue Windows XP application bar.

Aren’t you excited? I sure am.

OSX86 Hardware Compatibility List

If you’re interested in making your own hackint0sh computer, or just curious about what sort of setup is required for a flawless install, you’ve come to the right place.

CPU (SSE3)
AMD 64 (Venice)
Intel Prescot P4
Intel Celeron D

Note: SSE2 Processors are not listed due to incompatibility with certain applications.

Chipsets
Intel 845
Intel 865
Intel 875
Intel 915
Intel 925
Nvidia Nforce 4 Ultra
VIA P4M266A
VIA K8M800

Video
Intel 900

Audio
ADI AD1985
C-Media USB Audio
Intel ICH4
Intel ICH5
Intel ICH5R
Intel ICH6
Intel ICH6R (ATA ONLY, NO RAID)
Realtek ALC860
Realtek ALC655
Realtek ALC850 (nForce Audio) (Requires kext plist file edit)
Realtek ALC855
Sigmatel C-Major Audio (Dell 700m, copy over AppleAC97 kext from Darwin)
Sonica Theater (USB)
VIA VT8235

LAN
3Com 3c905
3Com 3c900 (10mbit only)
Broadcom BCM5705M (NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet)
Broadcom 440x 10/100
Intel 82547EI
Intel 82562EZ
Realtek 8100C
Realtek 8139
Realtek 8100C
SMC-1211TX (Recognized as RTL8139 [Realtek]
Surecom EP-320X-R 100/10/M

Setting Up X11VNC On Ubuntu

I recently set up a Ubuntu box as a media server in my house, and I needed a way to start and stop movies remotely. VNC was the easiest and quickest solution available to me.

First off, we have to install the packages required for X11VNC.

sudo apt-get install x11vnc vnc-java

Now, we store a password that clients will use to connect to our VNC server.

x11vnc -storepasswd

If you want to enable access from outside your network, you will need to open ports 5800 and 5900 on your firewall. (5800 for the web administration interface for this VNC server)

Run the following terminal command to start the VNC server, don’t forget to add it to your start up commands!

x11vnc -forever -usepw -httpdir /usr/share/vnc-java/ -httpport 5800

Note: You can change 5800 to anything else, if you prefer to use an alternative port.

Google Voice Services

Google Voice will initially be available only to the original members of Grand Central, a voicemail and call rerouting service that Google recently acquired.

With their new service, you will be able to view voicemail transcripts, text search SMS messages you have sent and received, and more! Google will hook you up with a new phone number to give out, and you can alter your settings so that calls are rerouted based on who’s calling, time of day, where they’re calling from, and more!

Be sure to keep checking back for updates on this groundbreaking Google Service! If you’re interested in getting your hands on some more information on Google Voice, the Google Blog is a great place to start.

Setting Up A LAMP Server On Ubuntu

Is extremely easy to do, to say the very least. We’ll be using apt-get to install our packages, since that is the default package manager for the most current versions of Ubuntu, the examples you see here are from Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex.

We’re aiming to install four things here: Apache 2, MySQL 5, PHP 5, and phpMyAdmin.

Step 1.) Installing Apache 2 and PHP 5 (Command Line)
apt-get install apache2 php5 libapache2-mod-php5

Step 2.) Installing MySQL 5 Server (Command Line)
apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client php5-mysql

Step 3.) Installing phpMyAdmin (Command Line)
I love that you can install phpMyAdmin from the package manager, installing phpMyAdmin manually is a pain in the ass because you have to recompile php with mcrypt support and loads of other BS, so here’s how to do it in less than 30 keystrokes:
apt-get install phpmyadmin

Step 4.) Finalizing Installation (Command Line)
You will need to append the following line, Include /etc/phpmyadmin/apache.conf, to your Apache 2 configuration file, /etc/apache2/apache2.conf, and restart apache2 when you have done so, by using this command, /etc/init.d/apache2 restart.

Remember to change your root MySQL password, and certainly don’t forget where your configuration files are ( /etc/apache2/apache2.conf and /etc/mysql/my.cnf ) and you’re all set and good to go!