Off Topic: Manchester United wins Champions League versus Chelsea

The British team Manchester United beat Chelsea in penalty kicks in the Champions League final. This is the third League win for the Red Devils. It was an emotional game with one red card and many other yellow’s. Drogba “hit” Vidic in the face during a scuffle between the teams, which ended up with Drogba’s ejection and Vidic’s yellow card. Manchester United scored first in the 26th minute, with Cristiano Ronaldo taking the glory. Then a freak goal by Lampard just before the half. The game ended up as a draw 1-1 even after overtime. It went to penalty kicks in which Ronaldo’s shot was saved. Shortly after, though, John Terry struck the post and the game was kept alive. Anelka fired a shot at United’s keeper, Van Der Sar, who saved the shot and won the title for Manchester United. John Terry had to be consoled by Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who will most likely loose his job as manager of Chelsea FC. It was a thrilling game and both teams played to their highest standards, but in the end Manchester United came out on top. Report from BBC UK.

Napster launches $0.99 MP3 online store, there is a crapload of news

Well, today has been a busy day in news, first the new iriver launches from Creative Labs. Then the Megan Meier incident, then the text-messaging lawsuit, and now Napster is launching their own online ninety-nine cent store. It is equivalent to Apple’s iTunes, only there’s nothing to download, and …*drumroll*…no DRM! Yes, finally, all songs $0.99, without Apple’s DRM crap. Everything is in MP3 format and you are free to do with it as you please. I’m making the switch, are you?

Myspace ’suicide’ incident shocks the nation

Earlier this week a bizarre and sick incident occured in a small town west of St. Louis has erupted in dispute. What happened was that a young girl named Megan Meier had befriended the daughter of Lori Drew, which eventually broke up. In spite of the event of the broken friendship, Lori Drew along with a hired employee, created a fake Myspace account, taking the identity of, “A handsome 16-year-old boy”, who developed a relationship with Megan. Later, the fake boyfriend broke-up with Megan Meier, threatened, and harassed her. Megan, of 13, had already had emotional problems in the past, and in light of the events, committed suicide. She hung herself in her bedroom. Lori Drew is now being prosecuted on not Megan’s death, but violating Myspace’s terms, and may face up to ten years in prision. She may be charged for involuntary manslaughter, and deliberately and severely tampering with the emotions of another human. Reports from the LA Times and The Cuban Revolution.

Nearly all major wireless carriers slammed by text-messaging lawsuit

A new lawsuit has emerged against AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Alltel, US Cellular, Cellular South, and Virgin Mobile (No T-Mobile), against text-messaging for being charged with recieveing text messages and not being able to turn the service off, reports Engadget. This has been a problem for many years now, and it is finally being brought out in the open. I will report more as information becomes available, but for now this is the only real information I can give you.

Wii Fit launches in New York, all the rave is in Central Park

Nintendo launched it’s Wii Fit, and they’re proud of it. There is a celebration and trial in Central Park, NYC, NY today, thrown by Nintendo, reports Engadget. It has been long overdue and long waited, but the Wii Fit is finally here for all to see and enjoy. Let’s just hope it will bring many smiles and joy to young kids around the world (Yes, even you China).

3G iPhone leaked due to a carrying case render?

Well, I’m sitting at school, checking Engadget, and come across this, a potential leak of the 3G iPhone. I believe that it is true, there is just too much evidence of the new iPhone, first Apple takes it off their website, then Apple stores and AT&T report dwindling stock of the iPhone, then the picture, and now this. The case is significantly different from the current iPhone, it is rounder and some of the jacks are out of place, I believe that this is the one that will prove the 3G iPhone, it’s about time!

RIM announces Blackberry Bold release date, prices leaked

UPDATE ON SEP 8: There is a pretty strong rumor going around at Engadget and The Boy Genius Report that the Bold will be coming out on October 2 for AT&T, no word on any other carriers. Don’t get your hopes up just yet, remember the summer release date? Yeah, it got thrown in the garbage can, but it is an ounce of light on a still lingering hope that the Bold will at least come out this year. Story from Engadget, link to the Boy Genius Report is in the post.

UPDATE ON AUG 23: It’s also official that Rogers, the major Canadian carrier, will be offering the Blackberry Bold for CA $399 as well as a voice plus data plan for CA $49 a month. Story from Engadget.

UPDATE ON AUG 14: It’s official, the Blackberry Bold release date has been delayed. It’s already August and no Bold. Research in Motion (RIM) has stated that due to bad battery life, software issues, and overheating, the Bold has been delayed. There is no word from anyone when the new dates are going to be. Report from Engadget & The Boy Genius Report.

NOTICE: All updates for the Blackberry Bold will be posted through AddictedBlogging.com as of July 5, 2008. To get to the post, click on the AddictedBlogging.com link above, then either click on “Blog” on the banner at the top of the page or scroll down to the bottom and click on the banner that says “AddictedBlogging”, then either find the post there or click on “Archive” at the bottom and find the post there, thank you.

UPDATE ON JUN 12: Engadget has reported that the Blackberry Bold now has it’s own promotional page on AT&T, the AT&T page is here and the Engadget page is here.

ORIGINAL ON MAY 16: As you can tell I am very fond of Engadget. That is why I found this article. RIM has announced the release dates for their new, hot, Blackberry Bold as well as a leak for the prices. Keep in mind that prices are just estimates (Thanks Forrest). Here they are:

AT&T – July ($300)

Verizon Wireless – September ($300)

Sprint – September ($300)

T-Mobile – September ($350)

I know that we’re all waiting on the exact release dates and pricing, but for now you can just drool over some more Blackberry Bold pictures at the gallery below.

Microsoft announcing “TouchWall”, just another piece of hardware for Google Maps

Microsoft has announced Touch Wall, Engadget reports, a touchable electronic device mounted on a wall. It will be a great piece of hardware for web applications like Google Maps. It looks like it’s going to be used for the public and not private. It looks pretty neat, but is it worth the money? I say no, it’s a big piece of flash that costs too much for too little. Microsoft isn’t making the right choices so far. Vista is a failure, they’re trying to copy Apple with their ’simplicity’ with the new Office Suite, the Zune, and this new TouchWall that they just announced, and quite frankly, it’s not doing too well. Well that’s my take on it, for now goodbye.

Signed,

The Addicted

Apple reaches $154 billion, Ubuntu to become the most popular Linux distribution?

Well, well, it’s Apple’s time of year, because they just reached $154 billion! That’s one monster sized company, they are worth more than Google Corp. and Yahoo! Inc (Well we all knew the latter). Their enormous size comes from the stunning success of their iPods, iTunes, and the growing popularity of Mac’s and OSX. As for Ubuntu. Ubuntu has been one of the fastest growing Linux distributions out there, why? Because it is easy to use, and a WIndows user can adapt quite easily to it. It also has the capabilities of Linux with the simplicity and functionality of a Windows machine. This combination of abilities has easily driven Ubuntu to one of the top Linux distributions in terms of use. All I can say is, “Go Ubuntu!”. That is all.

Your blogger,

The Addicted

How To: Change the appearance of Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a very versatile operating system. You can change nearly everything in it, if you know how. All you have to do is install the Emerald Theme Manager. I will explain the steps below, pictures (As always) will follow.

1. Install the Emerald Theme Manager using

sudo apt-get install emerald

2. Go to the Beryl website using this link.

3. At the top of the site there will be a banner that has all the links, click on the one that says “Themes”.

4. Go through the themes and download the one you like, put it into your home folder.

5. Enter the Emerald Theme Manager by going to System -> Preferances -> Emerald Theme Manager.

6. Click on “Import” and select the file you downloaded (It should be a .emerald file).

7. Double click on it and it should be enabled and viola!

NOTE: Sometimes Emerald will not work, to fix this just right click on your desktop, click “New Launcher” and enter in the name field “Emerald Alternate”, and for the command field “emerald –replace”. It will put an icon on your desktop. After that create a new launcher and title it “GTK Standard” and in the command field enter “gtk-window-decorator –replace”. It will also put an icon on your desktop. If you double-click on the “Emerald Alternate”, it will go to your specified Emerald theme, if you click on “GTK Standard” it will revert back to the default theme.

Random: Rant about teacher

OK, I know that my blog is supposed to be about technology and Linux, but I just have to get this out, so here goes my first rant on my blog.

*Start rant*
OK, here’s the deal. I go to a “Christian” high school, or at least that’s what the call themselves, and I’ve got this Bible “teacher”, or at least that’s what he calls himself, that knows nothing about anything and says the most random bullsh*t that doesn’t even make sense. First off, he doesn’t know his facts and tries to force it upon my fellow classmates and I, second, he looks and sounds like a complete idiot, and third, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. In class today (May 13, 2008), we were talking about the end times and the book of Revelation in the Bible. Well, my teacher thinks that the EU (European Union) is where the anti-Christ is going to come from. First he states basic facts about it, that aren’t even right. He says that the EU was established in 1950, but it was actually established in 1993. He states that it doesn’t allow it’s members to hold a formal military, which it clearly states that all of it’s members must be able to defend themselves, with their own established military force. He goes on to say that it’s leader (The High Commissioner) is not elected, but he is in fact elected by each commissioner (Or ambassador) from each of the member nations or states. Then after feeding us all of these incorrect facts, he states that since the headquarters of the EU looks like the Colosseum in Rome, that the EU is in fact where the anti-Christ is going to come from, and I have one thing to say, what? Has he noticed that the EU contains Rome, Italy, so therefore it is only honoring it’s past? Yes, maybe Christians were persecuted there, but c’mon! That is just plain ridiculous. He also says that all of it’s members must use the same currency to join, so that’s also part of the end times, but FYI, Britain is part of the EU, but it still uses the Great British Pound (GBP) not the Euro. He also says that they are imposing one religion, and he goes on to say that it is the embodiment of the word “Tolerance”, that just drove me mad. Of course we have to have tolerance, what do you think starts wars? He also states that the United States has nuclear weapons that are 100 times as powerful as the Little Boy that was used in Hiroshima…uh…that’s wrong. We have 100 times the arsenal or stockpile, but they do not have the capability to wipe out a good size state of the US. OK, I think I am done, I know this was totally random, but my mom doesn’t want to hear it because she already hates my teacher enough, and my dad is out of town…so…I’m just going to pour it out on you guys.

Thank you for listening,

The Addicted

*End rant*

Off Topic: GTA IV, completely addicted

OK, I got GTA IV a few days after it came out, and I have to say that I am completely, utterly, and totally addicted to this amazing game. So addicted, in fact, that I am writing a blog post about it. You have all of Liberty City (New York City) to do whatever the hell you want. Jack a car, blow up a bus, murder a man, fly a helicopter, whatever you want. The story is also amazing. It is very deep and fluid, and it is extremely long. I have been playing until about midnight every night ever since I got it and I’m only about 30% done with the game. There are so many twists and turns, but still manages to keep the story solid, to-the-point, and cuts the crap. The multiplayer is also as amazing. You can play as a cop or a criminal, with all of NYC to yourself. If you have Xbox Live then hit my gamertag up at ‘Androlic 4000′. I know, corny, but that’s all I could think of. I give this game a solid 10/10 for gameplay, graphics, music (Over 200 songs), multiplayer, storyline, and creativity, you’re Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 collection is far from complete if you do not have this game.

Off Topic: Apple online store out of iPhone’s in US and UK?

I just found this article on MacRumors.com. The iPhone has stopped selling in the Apple online store in the US and UK. Don’t believe me? Just check out the picture below or this link. There has also been a sort of a leak on the AT&T online store, which gave users the option to purchase an iPhone in the standard color or black. The picture also follows.

How To: Backup Ubuntu using Grsync

OK, this is the scoop on how to backup Ubuntu. It’s very easy to do. Here are the steps (Pictures will follow):

NOTE: You may have to log in as ‘root’ if you don’t have permissions to external drives.

1. Download and install ‘Grsync’ from your package manager.

2. Put all the files you want to back-up into your home folder.

3. Plug in and mount your external drive you want to put your backup on.

4. Open Grsync and click the “Add” button under the “Sessions” section.

5. Type in the name of your backup into the prompt window.

6. Click “Browse” under the  first section of the “Source and Destination” section.

7. Find your home folder and select it.

8. Click “Browse” under the second section of the “Source and Destination” section.

9. Find your external drive and create a folder named “Backup”.

10. Select the new “Backup” folder.

11. Select “Simulation” at the bottom of the window, wait for it to work and make sure the backup will work.

12. If it works then click “Execute”, if it dose not work then review the steps and redo the simulation.

13, It may take a while to sync, but when it’s done then you have created a successful Ubuntu backup!

How To: Install Ubuntu on an external HDD (For those who are curious)

OK, I know that this isn’t working for me, but you can go ahead and try for yourself if you want to put Ubuntu on an external HDD. There has been many searches on getting Ubuntu on an external HDD, so I’m posting this. I do warn you though, if you try this with your internal HDD in, you might damage it. Also, you will probably fail at this, just as a heads up. OK, now down to the instructions.

1. Format your external HDD to  ext3 or FAT32 or whatever you want it to be, it doesn’t matter as long as you wipe the hard drive clean.

2. Check your BIOS and make sure you are enabled to boot from an external USB device. (If you dont know what BIOS is then I highly recommend you don’t try this)

3. Put your copy of Ubuntu into the CD tray, turn off the computer, and remove your internal HDD. (If you leave it in very bad things will happen and you will lose everything).

4. Boot the computer from the CD and run a live session, make sure the external HDD is unplugged. (If you’re external HDD is plugged in at startup then the system will not boot)

5. Once it has booted, plug in the external HDD and wait for it to mount.

6. Click on the “Install” icon on the desktop, go through the language and time-zone steps, until the partitioner starts up.

7. Click on the second option that says “Guided – Use entire disk”. There should only be one drive that is found (sda), use it. If there is more than one drive in then exit the partitioner immediately, turn off the computer, and take out that other drive.

8. Partition the disk, it will unmount, but that is normal, go get a coffee or something because it will take longer than usual.

NOTE: If you get an error installing GRUB or anything else then you have to restart the installation. This may happen sometimes due to the fact that you are using USB.

9. After the installation the CD will prompt you to reboot, restart the system, let it load, and voila!

Off Topic: Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 coming out, iPhone 2 anyone?

OK, with all this talk about cell phones nowadays, I’d like to present two of the biggest contenders for me. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and the Apple iPhone. I’ll start with the Sony. The X1 is a hybrid of a touchscreen with a full QWERTY keyboard. It slides up and looks pretty nice. I don’t know the specs, but judging from the photos, it’s pretty nice. Now for the iPhone. The iPhone has been getting a lot of hype lately ever since the leak of an iPhone 2 came out earlier this year. Engadget even hosted a picture of it a few weeks ago. They say it has 3G, a GPS, and many more new goodies. It looks different, but they say it’s just a case (Which I agree with). You can find a full list of new specs at Engadget.com. Pictures of both the X1 and the rumoured iPhone 2 are below.

How To: Install .bin files

OK, I know a lot of Ubuntu users are baffled by .bin files, so I’m gonna show you how to install them. It’s actually very easy, I will be using Print Screen to show you step by step instructions on how to install them. I will use Google Earth as an example.

1. First, download the file (I choose Google Earth)

2. Then open up a command line and “cd” into the directory in which the downloaded file is in.

3. Afterwards type the following command:

chmod +x *filename*.bin && ./*filename*.bin

4. It will run a script and open up a GUI interface setup, just follow it and you’re done! It will put an icon on your desktop.

Loving BackTrack, live OS takes a bit of time though

I downloaded the BackTrack Beta 3 ISO and tested it yesterday, and I have to say I’m quite pleased with it. It has many networking tools that are useful and intuitive. It runs KDE, so that’s a plus. The live OS does take a bit of time to load up though, more than the Ubuntu or SUSE live sessions. It’s interface is excellent and it comes with everything I need. I have to say that BackTrack Beta 3 is a keeper. I now add it to my stack, which now includes: Ubuntu 7.04, 7.10, and 8.04, SUSE, OpenSUSE, Fedora, KDE, and of course, Windows XP (blah). I regret the last one, but it is a necessity.

Your WordPress blogger,

The Addicted

Downloading the BackTrack ISO, don’t get any ideas…

OK, so I’ve been hearing about the BackTrack system for quite a while now, and I’m getting interested. Don’t get any ideas, I’m not going to WEP-key crack (Except for maybe my own network) and I’m not going to do anything illegal, I just want to explore. Right now my download is at 13% and it is 706 MiB big…that’s bigger than the Ubuntu 8.04 ISO, which is just 699 MiB’s big. I’m getting curious, and I will post once I am done.

Giving up on putting Ubuntu on my external HDD

Well, today is indeed a sad day. After many hours of tweaking and trying to fix this, I am officially giving up on putting Ubuntu on my external hard disk. I have tried three times with many fixes and tweaks, but just can’t get it to work. I have no idea what is wrong with it and do not intend to find out. I go though the installation, everything is fine, I reboot, it boots, I login, restart, and then it dies. It just keeps giving me the loading scree, I wait a few minutes, and then a error message comes up. Oh well, at least I gave it a try. One tip, if you want both Ubuntu and WIndows, just dual boot, it’s much easier.

Signed,

The Addicted

Finally got Ubuntu onto my external HDD, bombed it…again

OK, this is a sad story. I figured out how to put Ubuntu onto my external HDD, what I did is leave my internal HDD in while booting from the CD, connecting my external, mounting it, and begin the installation process. When it gets to the part where it will create the partition, I removed my internal HDD, and told it to partition my external HDD. It finishes, and I use it, it worked. I test my internal HDD, it still works. I mount my external HDD, it finds it, I unmount. I try booting from my external HDD…doesn’t work. I think what happened was that when I mounted my external HDD it “forgot” that it was a HDD and started “thinking” it was a flash drive, don’t ask me how that happened, I still don’t completely understand it. While booting from the external HDD it started wanting to “mount itself”, I know to those of you with dirty minds that sounds kinda wrong, so it got stuck, the boot failed, and I had to boot from my internal HDD. I will try…again…tonight. If it doesn’t work I’ll just format it to ext3 and just use it for extra storage. I really want this to work, though. If it would then I could just have an internal HDD with Windows on it, and then just plug in the Ubuntu drive when I wanted to use it, and that would be really helpful. Oh well, trial and error is how everything we use today was made, but sometimes I just don’t have the patience for it…and now I am sad.

Your fellow web surfer,

The Addicted

Completely Trashed Ubuntu (8.04)

OK, I have been trying to put Ubuntu 8.04 onto my external hard disk (USB). So I plug it in, put in the CD, and go through the installation. After the installation I reboot and tell it to boot from my USB device, it works. I shut down and remove the hard disk, and boot up normally…only to discover GRUB error 21. It appears as though Ubuntu rewrote my MBR (Master Boot Record) onto the USB device, so I can only boot from the USB. What I had to do is reinstall Ubuntu, but before that, I had to pop in a Windows CD, go to the “Repair” sector, and enter the command:

fixmbr

It successfully rewrites the MBR, and I do a reboot, then reinstall Ubuntu. Everything works and my problem is solved.

Special thanks to my friend Logan for all the help, I appreciate it.

First post!

OK, I am sitting here at my desk, in school, and was thinking, “What if I created a blog about Linux?” So I made this, I call it “The Addicted” because I am totally and utterly addicted to my computer, and especially Linux (Ubuntu). I guess I’ll write about my experiences, troubles, and triumphs.

Later,

The Addicted