Ubuntu Karmic Koala has been released on Thursday. The latest version of the open source operating system developed by Canonical—Ubuntu 9.10—comes soon after Microsoft launched Windows 7.

The latest version of Ubuntu focuses a lot on cloud computing or Internet-based computing. It also provides users free 2GB online storage. It should also attract those who play a lot of games on computers. Ubuntu has made installing free games easier. It also promises to make sharing of files between two computers easy.

Canonical has also launched a netbook version of Ubuntu 9.10.

Apart from these, it comes with OpenOffice 3.0, Firefox Web browser 3.5, Evolution email client, Empathy for chatting, etc.

How to get/upgrade/install Ubuntu 9.10?
One can get Ubuntu Karmic Koala free of cost by downloading an .iso image (CD image) of the open source operating system and then burning it on a CD.
One can also buy Ubuntu DVDs from Amazon.If you are willing to wait for 6-10 weeks, you can also request free CDs of Ubuntu 9.10 from its ShipIt website.
All existing Ubuntu users can upgrade to the new version by running Update Manager (System-> Administration-> Update Manager). Before upgrading to the latest version, make sure to update your current Ubuntu version.

Learn about Ubuntu installation, applications and other things in these previous posts aggregated on one page to help you switch to Ubuntu.

Do you find yourself checking Facebook very often, may be every hour or even frequently? Yes. You are suffering from Facebook Compulsive Syndrome. Just kidding, but, yes, you are surely addicted to Facebook.

Are you addicted to Facebook?
Here's a list of some basic symptoms of Facebook addiction. If your answer is in affirmative for most of the questions, it's a clear case of addiction.

• Do you log in to your Facebook account soon after waking up in the morning?
• Is Facebook open in one of the tabs while you surf the Internet?
• Have you activated SMS alerts for your Facebook account? 
• Do you check Facebook at regular intervals?
  
• Do you spend lot of time playing Facebook games?
• Do you regularly take various quizzes that you come across?
• Do you check your fortune on Facebook apps?
• Do you post updates too often, may be several times a day?
• Do you communicate to your friends more using Facebook?
• Do you check your Facebook account before going to bed?
  

How to get rid of Facebook addiction?
You know you are a compulsive Facebook user. How about getting free from this compulsive social networking?

1. If you wake up with Facebook, go for morning walks. Get some fresh air, make new friends. It will also keep you fit and recharge for the day.
Turn off SMS updates, now. Also consider removing your mobile phone from Facebook account.

2. Don't write to a message on friend's wall. Call her up when you are free, meet up somewhere. Have fun.

3. Don't check your horoscope on Facebook. Why do they always speak goodie-goodie? Because they want to entertain you and make money. That's their job.

4. If you are tired of work and want to refresh yourself in office, don't strain your eyes further by checking Facebook. Get up and walk up to the water cooler. Grab a cup of tea or coffee. Catch up with your colleagues.

5. If you spend lot of time on Facebook before going to bed, consider going to the terrace and have some walk. Better still, go for a stroll with a friend, hubby or your dog.

6. Turn on a timer before logging into Facebook. Use a physical watch or online timer. If you are using Firefox, there are some add-ons (TimeTracker, Timer, Simple Timer) that will help you keep account of the time spent on Facebook. Set targets for reducing the time spent on Facebook.

7. Use Facebook Lite (http://lite.facebook.com)

8. Don't keep Facebook open in your browser tab.

9. Check Facebook just once in a day, at the max twice.

10. Just check the newsfeed. No Farmville, Scrabble or other games.

If all of these fail to help you, go to the settings page and deactivate your Facebook account. It will not delete your account but just make it dormant. Activate the account after a month and follow the above advices.

If your Airtel cellphone's message tone beeped, it could be a tweet.

A few minutes ago my cellphone beeped once, alerting me that I had a message. Who could it be, after 12 at night? I didn't expect it to be a tweet from one of the persons I was following on Twitter.

For the past few months, I had not been able to use Twitter's India number () to send tweets, so getting a tweet on my phone was even more surprising. For the last few occasions, I had used Twitter's international number to send tweets through cellphone text messages. I immediately checked my Twitter updates, and there was a tweet sent by @twitter at around midnight (local time), congratulating  @twittermobile for partnering with the largest mobile operator in India.

Indian users with an Airtel mobile connection can receive tweets as text messages on their cellphones. It's no longer required for you to have an Internet-enabled phone for always staying updated with your Twitter account. In case you haven't activated your cellphone on Twitter, go to devices page or text START to 53000 from your Airtel mobile.Also, send your tweets to the same number.

For non-Airtel mobile networks, the service will be available after the exclusivity period of four weeks. So if you are not an Airtel subscriber, you can expect to get tweets as text messages from 5 November.

According to Airtel's website:

There is exclusivity for the same for 4 weeks, in which only Airtel consumers will be able to use the service on SMS across the nation. This period of exclusivity is something that we want to take advantage of and make sure that Brand Airtel can own the property Twitter in consumer mind space.

I am really excited that Twitter will be again available on text messages in India. But on the flip side, my phone has been beeping every few minutes for the last one hour. I believe the service started from 00.00 hours of 15 October. I need to turn off updates from midnight to 10am so that I can have a peaceful sleep.

PS: Twitter is not only restricting tweet SMSes only to Airtel users but also sending updates only of the users who have an Airtel mobile. In case you want to receive updates of a friend who is not using an Airtel phone, you will have to manually turn on mobile notifications on the settings page.

According to Downforeveryoneorjustme BlogSpot's image servers are down. BlogSpot blogs are, however, down only for me. That means I was correct when I earlier said Blogger's image servers were facing problems. That's the reason why several images are not available on this site. (Updated at 14.00 GMT)

Update (10.13 GMT): Downforeveryoneorjustme says BlogSpot blogs are down only for me. That means I need to check with my Internet service provider. Deleting the content of this post. Sorry for the trouble.

When everyone in Brazil is excited about Rio de Janeiro getting to host 2016 Olympics, how could have Google Brasil missed the celebration? It was quick to have the statue of Jesus Christ looking over Rio on its Brasil homepage.

Getting featured on Google homepage has become a yardstick for importance of events and personalities. On 2 October, Google had Mahatma Gandhi on some of its sites.


I have always been fascinated by the magnificent Jesus with his open arms eager to hug the city of Rio. Will you sponsor my trip to Rio, please?

Digital Inspiration

On 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Google decided to put Mahatma Gandhi on its Google logo doodle to mark the special day.  So where all did Google use the Mahatma Gandhi doodle?

On 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti, Google used a doodle using on Mahatma's caricature on the homepage of some of its regional sites including India, South Africa and the UK. But Gandhi wasn't there on search results pages.



In case of Google.com, it was just the opposite. Mahatma wasn't there on the homepage but was on the search results pages.


In Google China, Mahatma was neither on the homepage nor on results pages. China had a very different doodle with a violet fairy.


In the Google site of other Indian sub-continent countries, Mahtma Gandhi was only on the homepage of Bangladesh. Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka Google did not have Mahatma anywhere. Mahatma didn't make it to Afghanistan either.

What about other Google sites? Who knows.

Flickr/OrinZebest

Do you have an old PC or laptop in your home that's no one wants to use? It's so slow. OK. So what are you planning to do with it? Dump it in the garbage? Why not make some good use of it and save out planet from the increasing burden of toxic ewastes.

Overhaul and rejuvenate your computer 

Dusting the box: If your laptop or PC has become very old and shabby, give it a scrub. Dust and dirt affect the performance of the system adversely. Open the box and use a vaccum cleaner to remove all the dirt and dust. Also, clean the disc drive using any good CD lens cleaner available in shops.


Refreshing the operating system: Now that all the cobwebs in the box have been cleaned, it's time to reinstall the operating system. Before installing an operating system on the computer remember to backup all the data that you have saved on the system. I would suggest you go for some light-weight Linux operating system such as Slax, Damn Small Linux, SliTaz or even Ubuntu for optimal performance. You can install Windows XP, if you must.

Installing Windows: If you are a real Windows fan, install Windows XP on to the machine if it has at least 512MB RAM. After you are done installing the operating system, use light-weight applications on the system. Instead of heavy Adobe Reader, install Foxit Reader. Avoid Apple iTunes. Use VLC Media Player. Do not install any unnecessary application on the system. Remember to uninstall any application that is no longer required. Do not clutter your desktop with loads of files and folders. Remember to dhttp://www.slitaz.org/en/doc/handbook/install.htmlefragment your system at regular intervals. Also, install CCleaner and use it to clean the system. Use the new Windows system for all the job that are frugal on memory. Browse the Web, listen to music or type a novel.

Installing Ubuntu: If you are a Linux fan or just want to give it a try, there's one of the most popular distribution--Ubuntu. You can download the iso file and burn it un a CD or request a free CD from Canonical ShipIt website. Once you have installed Ubuntu, you will need to install the applications and other necessary media support, etc. Once done, enjoy the system for your day to day computing.
Here're basic tutorials for getting started wit Ubuntu:
Easy guide to getting started with Ubuntu
Make Ubuntu mount partitions and drives automatically at start up
Activating restricted music formats, Java and Flash on Ubuntu
Installing some basic applications on your Ubuntu system
Easily tweak Ubuntu with Ubuntu Tweak


Now that you have given a fresh life to your ageing box, you put it to several good use:

1. Use it as a personal server: If you have a home network, install Apache Web server on it and use it as your home server that store and serves various common stuff such as music.

2. Convert it as Cloud operating system: If you want to have an operating system that's always connected with you over the net, use the box for installing eyeOS, an open source cloud operating system.

For setting up eyeOS, you will have to install a Web server, say Apache, first. You can choose between XAMPP and AppServ for installing web server packages on Windows. For Linux or other operating systems, depend on XAMPP. Linux users can also install it manually by downloading appropriate packages. (Easy guide to installing a Web server on Ubuntu)

Start your web server.

Now, download the latest eyeOS version in it's .zip format and exract the content to get an eyeOS folder. Move this folder to the home directory or www directory of your server. If you have installed XAMPP server, it should be in the Apache folder (Apache/www/). In case of AppServ, it will be present in AppServe folder in the drive where the serve has been installed.

After moving eyeOS folder in the www directory of your server, open your Web browser and go to http://localhost/eyeos. Fill the required information to set up your cloud operating system. Now, eyeOS can be accessed from your local network by visiting http://localhost/eyeos. In case you have configured your router to allow access to your home server from the Internet, type http://your-ip-adress/eyeos and use the cloud operating system from anywhere, any time. Enjoy true cloud computing.

3. Donate it to some school or needy student: This idea might work best for those who do not need the old computer at all. if you are living in a developing country, it won't be hard to find some school or student too eager to lap your old computer. Even if you are in some developed country, you can still give it in charity.