How to install full Chrome OS in Ubuntu.

Yes you read it right.

Chrome OS is built mainly for Chromebooks and is supposed to be a cloud based OS. It revolves around chrome and almost everything is done via chrome apps.

It may not seem to be a great concept in the first encounter, but considering the time people spent on their browser and the power of cloud now, Chrome OS can be sufficient for the general public.

The best part is that Chromebooks are very very cheap. Starting from $100 (approx 6000 INR), they are the bear minimum machines. They are extremely light weight and have quite long battery life.

Coming back to installing it in Ubuntu, just run these commands :

wget https://dl.dropbox.com/u/302704/chromiumos/lightdm-login-chromiumos_1.1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i lightdm-login-chromiumos_1.1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get -f install

And that's it. You can run the ChromeOS either in a window using "chromeos" command or as a seperate Desktop Environment by choosing it at login. Do ask if you get any error. I had to work around one too.

All the credits go to Janez Troha. Have fun with ChromeOS!

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Use your PC via smartphone : Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client for Android

Ever wished you could use a computer from your smartphone ?

We know there's a remote connection from computer to computer, but using the same on your phone is just awesome.
Good thing is, its quite straight forward.

• Step 1 : Allow remote access from Windows.
  Just search for "Allow remote connection" in settings. You'll get the system properties window.
  
  
  
  Choose the "Allow remote connection to this computer" radio on the bottom and uncheck the "Allow connections only from computers running...." check box.
• Step 2 : Get the Microsoft Remote Desktop App from the playstore.
  
  
• Step 3 : Find the IP address of your computer. I'm assuming the two devices are on the same network.
  Go to Network and Sharing Center Click on the name of your network in blue, choose details.
  
  
  
  Your IP is marked as the "IPv4 Address".
• Step 4 : Go to the app and enjoy. Here's a demo :
  
  

Do try the app and tell us what you think!

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Must have free Android Apps

Nowadays, choosing an app for your smartphone is like choosing an ice cream - You can't have all and you want the best one. So to make it simple, I am going to share some of the android apps which I find quite interesting and useful. Some apps which you should have in your smartphone or at least try once.

1. fqrouter2

The name of this app might not look familiar to you but believe me it is really a great app. The best feature of this app is WiFi Repeater. In android, by default you can only share your mobile data with other devices through hotspot. But this app lets you share your connected WiFi connection over a new WiFi network of your choice with your set password (Mobile should be rooted for this). This is the perfect alternative of Connectify for Windows. Besides this, you can also make your own proxy server for other devices. It also includes lots of other features like remote access and custom proxy. Isn't that great ?

2. SoundHound

Ever heard about Shazam ? That's really old school. Like Shazam, SoundHound lets you recognize songs. Whether someone is humming or only a music is being played, SoundHound recognizes and shows information about it along with option to play the video through youtube. Just tap and let it listen to the part of the song being played and that's it. Besides this, it also fetches lyrics through internet and syncs it with the song so that you can also sing along. From my experience, it is much more accurate than Shazam.

3. Asphalt 8: Airborne

If you have been a fan of Need For Speed: Most Wanted then this game is made for you. From cars, graphics, levels to nitro, drift, barrel rolls and flat spins, it is a complete entertainment package. You can also race against your friends through a local WiFi connection in multiplayer mode or with other players online. Think that no one is better than you? Then you can try beating your own ghost and improve your best time. Nothing more you can expect from a game like this. A racing game you must try!

4. PicsArt - PhotoStudio

Everyone wants to be an artist whether he has a good camera or not. Everyone wants to edit their images to make it look better and more appealing to others. PicsArt is a combination of both Photoshop and Instagram. It is not always handy to shift your photos to your laptop and photoshop it, that's when PicsArt comes into existence. It lets you edit your photos using the built in frames, effects, brushes etc and share them with the world. It is very easy to understand and use. Besides this, you can also combine pics and make various collages. A perfect Photo Studio.

5. Google Keep

It is a simple cloud based application by Google. It is an application where you can make a checklist, note down some details, set reminders, store voice information or add pics to your notes and many more things. It is constantly synced with your google account whenever it gets access to internet. You can access all your notes through http://keep.google.com having a similar interface which helps you share information between mobile and laptop. It has a very simple user interface with an option to select different colors for different notes to differentiate or to group them. Simple yet powerful.

6. HoverChat

If you like facebook messenger's notification style also called chat heads then this app is made for you. It will replace the default messaging app in your android phone. Whenever you receive some message, a popup will open no matter which application you are using which will let you reply to the message without actually closing your current application. Isn't that awesome? And the best thing is unlike facebook messenger, it has it's own store which lets you customize the shape of popup, themes etc. You can even choose a list of contacts for which the popup will be shown along with the tone used. Besides this, you can also send encrypted messages to increase privacy (But for this feature the other person should also be using HoverChat).

Tell us what you think about these apps. Share the apps which you think are the best through comments below and we might add them to our list. Your feedback really matters to us.

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Windows 8 can't find specific WiFi hotspot

My Windows 8 had a very interesting problem. It could find all the WiFi hot-spots near me, but not mine. The irony! Even more surprisingly, sometimes it was able to search and connect to it only until the router was restarted. Next fortunate connection was unpredictable.

It was the most frustrating, yet mysterious things ever. Until I found the solution.

Basics first. WiFi routers can broadcast signals in a range of frequencies measured in GHz. The whole range of frequencies is divided into a number of channels, each having its own frequency. The actual signals can be of frequencies from the nearby channels too. Thus a router using channel 6 sends signals ranging from, say 4 to 8.

Different countries/regions have their own range of channels and your device may just ask you for your region. This is how android handles this setting.

Both the router and the device have their own channel settings. If there is a mismatch, connection is not possible.

So, I looked up my router and laptop for the channels they were using. I found out that my router was set to use "Auto" as the channel, which means it was chosen randomly at each restart, while my Windows 8 was using channels (1-11). Here's the problem. If fortunately the router chose a channel in this range, my laptop would find it, else no chance.

To fix this I selected channel number 1 instead of  "Auto", and voila! I'm online :D

Here's how to choose a channel in your router settings :

• Connect to your router using a LAN cable or from a device that detects the WiFi.
• Go to the admin page, mostly by writing 192.168.1.1 in your browser's address bar.
• Find the setting for channel. For my Binatone router, its in Interface Setup >> Wireless.
  
  
  
  
  
• Change the setting from "Auto" to preferably 01.
  
  
• You can also try to choose your country or other channels.

Wifi router settings have always been a subject of my curiosity. I'm glad its one down! Do ask if you're still lost. 

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FireChat : "off-the-grid" way to Chat

Today when messaging is main-stream because of mobile applications like WhatsApp, Viber, Facebook Messenger, LINE and many more, offering free messaging over internet (from 2G to 4G, or your wifi). Before this to sent a SMS you was limited to 160 character per message, and it's cost is almost equal to cost of normal calling charges. But with internet messaging apps you can chat for free (you just have to pay for data connection, again which cost is too too less compared to standard message rates), which are not even limited to 160 character.
But even to use these messaging apps you must have an active internet connection either cellular network or wi-fi network to transfer messages. Here comes the "off-the-grid" way to chat - FireChat; chat without internet connection. Yes even no cellular connection is required, not even mobile phone coverage.

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Ubuntu 14.04 Beta released. Better Unity

I upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04 Beta yesterday and this post will cover its installation and new features.

Getting Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr Beta

Make sure you're on Ubuntu 13.10 a.k.a. Saucy Salamander.

Fire up a terminal (alt+ctrl+T) and write :

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

This will make your system up-to-date. Once its done, run

sudo update-manager -d

Follow the onscreen instructions. It'll take time in downloading and installing the new packages.

New Features 

• Border less windows
  This is the feature I love the most, specially for the terminal window. You can tweak the related settings from the CompizConfig Settings Manager. The default window has a shadow, which I removed from ccsm.
  
  
  
  
  Transparent Windows are so much fun now !
  
  
  
  
• Even smaller Dash Icons
  Go to System Settings >> Appearance and you can make the icons very tiny - upto 16 pixels.
  
  
  
  
  
• Search for window 
  Have multiple windows open on the same workspace ? Just press Windows+W to get an overview, and start typing a window name and Unity will pick it up for you. Its cool. You can do the same for windows of the same app by clicking on its icon on the dash.
  
  

  

  
  
  

  

  
  
• The lock screen and greeter integration.
  This one is also nice. The lock screen now looks exactly like the login screen which is of course beautiful.
• A new pop-up
  This must be specific to those having a combo audio jack for headphone and mic, but was absent in 13.10
  
  
  
  
  Apart from these, you get the usual upgrade benefits like latest versions of software, new wallpapers and a better working dash search.
  
  Also remember this is an LTS release and with Ubuntu for mobile development side by side, you can't expect fireworks.
  
  I liked Trusty and its worth trusting. The upgrade went smoothly and everything works ! Will you upgrade yet ? Do comment.

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GNOME 3.12 released. More beautiful, more features.

The latest version of the most popular Linux Desktop Environment is out !

This nice video from the official announcement sums it all :

This version brings a lot of changes to the UI along with completely redesigned totem (now called GNOME videos) and Gedit. 

GNOME has surely come a long way from GNOME 2 and gives an entirely new experience. 

It will soon be landing on your distro. Enjoy !

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