Linux 101:
- Part 1 – (this article) Why you should switch to Linux.
- Part 2 – [Guide] Switching from Windows to Linux.
Okay! So you want to make the switch to Linux, but not sure how? You’ve come to the right place. This guide will get you started quick & easy.
For this guide, we will be focusing on Ubuntu or Arch-based distros.
Hey everyone! I have VLC media player and had a hard time with a minimalist skin that could read Japanese and English characters. If you don’t have VLC or don’t know what it is, it’s an amazing free media player that can play any file-type you throw at it, be it audio, video, streaming, etc… You can download it here >>>VLC Media Player<<< for any/all platforms.
Well, I edited a VLC skin called “Slick iPhone Skin” but the issue with it (like most skins) is that it uses a default English font that cannot encode characters from other languages. So I tweaked it and made the font larger with the MS-PGothic font and as you see below, it flawlessly displays both Japanese and English characters:
You can download my VLC skin here >>>Slick Skin (Jap-Eng Char 18pt)<<<
Here’s how to install:
<Original work by BenBRockN. Do NOT reblog>
Watch this video about Sony (also Google & Samsung) creating special contact lenses that can record video and take pictures while you wear them:
This looks really cool, but I can tell there will be a few issues…
(1) There cannot be any (large, desirable amount of) storage on the contact itself, so it has to use bluetooth/wifi/RFID/some other tech like that to beam the data to a storage device, probably located on your person. The eyes are the most sensitive body part when it comes to the amount of radiation it can take (which is very little compared to larger, less sensitive body parts such as thighs/arms). These contacts would have to constantly beam information to a storage device 24/7, which would expose your eyes to a lot of radiation — possibly causing defects, reduced vision, and cancer.
(2) Not only that, but… hackers stealing your “eye video stream” while it beams to your storage device.
The More You Know…
I wrote this guide over on Reddit, it’s pretty in-depth in terms of technical ability, but I was able to get Pokemon Go working on my Samsung Galaxy Light. If you have questions/comments, reply over on reddit and not in the comments below. Here are the instructions, also I’m not responsible if you mess up and/or you brick your phone:
Engineers have successfully merged fiber optic technology with that of CPUs to create the world’s first Photonic Microchip (it was tested and can actually run programs!)
See more here: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-12/uoc–edf121815.php
“My CPU is a neural net processor, a learning computer” – Terminator from T2.
Well, Qualcomm started creating such a thing back in 2013, and Tom’s Hardware just posted an article that Qualcomm will start putting these NPU circuits (which mimic human neurons) into their first chips – The Snapdragon 820 utilizing their Zeroth Platform.
Will more advanced A.I. come about because of these chips? I guess we’ll see.
Check out the rest of that article here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/snapdragon-820-kryo-zeroth-2016,28670.html
So I saw this video for Jibo, a family/home robot assistant, and thought I’d offer up some things that need to become industry standards when it comes to the “robot-in-the-home” devices:
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
So I noticed how you were going to rant on your blog about how you love the concept of Linux but could never switch from Windows because of these points:
I also noticed that you were going to list these concepts you love about Linux, but just can’t make the switch due to the three above:
And then before finishing this post, I looked around the web once again. I didn’t have a fun time with Ubuntu (10, 11, or 12), and Zorin just didn’t feel right (7, or 8). Then I read up about Linux Mint, then I read up more about it, then I downloaded it, then I ran it in Virtualbox and began the wonderful journey of customization.
I created two partitions: / (root), and /home (data).
This is a screenshot after I customized everything the way I wanted, including programs and updating everything.
That’s it, a total of 8.67 GB for EVERYTHING in a baseline custom OS install. No, actually that’s not truthful, I left the install files and scripts, and wallpapers and stuff on my personal home folder so technically it’s only 2.21 GB home + 6.19 GB root = 8.40 GB. I can fit Linux Mint on a 16 GB flash drive and still have almost 8 GB for music, pictures, movies, whatever.
Do you know how much my baseline custom install (as in, Full updated OS + all updated programs) for my Windows 7 64-bit Home Edition was? Check this out, this is a screenshot from June 2013 after I made another clean slate on my HDD after Windows was running slow:
36.95 GB… seriously???? If I install Linux Mint on my laptop instead of Win7, I will save 28.55 GB of drive space and be able to re-partition my HDD in order to have a bigger data partition, AND it will run faster since there are less bloated system processes.
Here is a list of programs I installed for Linux Mint 17 (MATE edition):
There are alternatives (and in most cases, better ones) to the software you use on Windows. Of course, this is only what I wanted and not all of the programs Linux has to offer (use Google).
“But wait!!!” You say! “I need Microsoft products in order to do business like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc..!”. Cool story bro, try LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice (basically the same thing). they easily convert between Microsoft formats and their open-source formats.
“But wait again! Didn’t you say that STEAM games on Linux won’t have the same functionality?” Yeah I did, it comes from the fact that Windows and Linux have completely different file systems and file extensions. The cool thing is that I have a few options:
So… there ya go. There are options to this, obviously it’s not the one I originally wanted (copy/paste game files and it work exactly the same), but that thinking was doomed to fail since both platforms are completely different from each other. For now, I can use Virtualbox, graduate up to a USB, maybe dual-boot (I could never get Grub and MBR to work together in the past), and then who knows? Full install without Windows.
In conclusion, I am saying goodbye to the Windows Fanboy, and I’m looking forward to working with Linux.
(Now that is a sexy desktop!)
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
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