Has your Ubuntu system stopped booting after initiating a hard disk error checking? It isn't uncommon to see a disk error message after a forced shut down or crash or power loss.

When you try to boot Ubuntu, it will begin a disk check which will then give you an error message saying "mount of filesystem failed". The message will also say that a maintenance shell will be started. It will also inform you that Control+D will restart the maintenance shell. The system will then stop giving any message, leaving you with a blinking cursor. What to do next?

Run filesystem check manually

1. Type fsck and press enter to begin a checking of the filesystem. 
2. It will then seek permission from you to fix the errors. 
3. Press "Y" or whatever it prompts to fix the errors. 
4. Once all errors have been fixed and the consistency of the filesystem restored, it will give a message saying filesystem was modified.
5. Exit the maintenance shell by pressing Control+D or using exit command.
6. Ubuntu will now start booting.
   

Installing Wordpress μ—the multi-user version of Wordpress—is quite different from the single-user version. Most people have trouble preparing their localhost server to meet the requirements of having mod_rewrite enabled for the Apache or other Web server. Even if they manage to enable rewrite module for the server, they still get an error message saying:

Warning!

Installing to http://localhost/ is not supported. Please use http://localhost.localdomain/ instead.

Here's simple step-by-step instruction to successfully install Wordpress Mu on your localhost server. For my convenience, I am assuming that you have Apache and know how to install Wordpress locally. 


Download Wordpress Mu and unzip it. Rename the folder to say, wpmu. Now, transfer the folder to the WWW directory of the local server. (You can also leave the folder at any desired location and create an alias pointing to the folder.)

Read the READ ME file in Wordpress Mu folder. It will help you in completing the installation successfully.

Enable mod_rewrite by editing the httpd.conf. It can be done by accessing file in the Apache folder. Httpd.conf file will be in different locations depending on your server installation. For example, in a XAMPP server installation, it will be in C:\xampplite\apache\conf, or something similar. If you have Webmin installed, go to Webmin panel-> Webserver-> Global Configuration -> Configure Apache modules, and check the rewrite option and save.


If you don't have Webmin installed, look for this in httpd.config file.

#LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so 

Remove the # at the beginning of the line to activate the rewrite module. It should look like:

LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so 

Set AllowOverride directive for directory in httpd.config to All. If the AllowOverride directive is set to None in your Apache httpd.config file, then .htaccess files are ignored. Look for the following in the config file and make the change.

Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride None

You might have to change AllowOverride option to All for your DocumentRoot directory. Look for it and change to All. Restart the server.

Now, if you try to load the Wordpress Mu folder by visiting http://localhost/wpmu (or http://localhost/YourWordpressMufolder), it will give the error: Installing to http://localhost/ is not supported. Please use http://localhost.localdomain/ instead. What's this? It actually means that it needs a domain in the address, like the address of  websites on the Web. Wordpress Mu is asking for an address such as name.domain or wp.mu. For instance, Google.com has a name (google) and a domain (com). How to fix this?

We need to  edit our hosts file so that a name.domain address redirects to http://localhost. If you are using Windows, it should be found in c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc. In case you are using Ubuntu, it will be found in the etc folder in Ubuntu File System. To edit this file in Ubuntu, open Terminal, and run the following command:

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

Insert the following line in the hosts file:

127.0.0.1 wp.mu

Save and close. You can replace wp.mu with anything.anything. Now http://wp.mu is just another address for http://localhost. [http://wp.mu is a domain in the real world. If you choose to use wp.mu for your Wordpress Mu installation, you won't be able to access this site from your computer.]

All set. Now you can load http://wp.mu/wpmu and install Wordpress Mu following on-screen instructions. However, it will not work with subdomain option for users' blogs. That hasn't been activated yet. Read about it at Ma.tt, the Wordpress developer's blog.

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GreyDove is a simple and elegant Wordpress theme with lots of features. It has been designed to provide Wordpress users with a theme that's free but as good as a custom-made theme.The theme is being released under GNU General Public License. (Download GreyDove 1.1.3)


GreyDove makes use of search engine optimization. The problem of duplicate content has been taken care of by instructing search engines not to index pages other than homepage and single pages.

Homepage of GreyDove prefers to show post excerpts along with a thumbnail created automatically from the image mentioned while creating the post. In case the post does not have an excerpt or thumbnail image, the full post is displayed. If "MORE" tag is used in the post, a custom "Read More" link appears with the post.

The theme has an option for showing Featured Posts, which can be set while creating or editing a post.

The options page of the theme (Appearance -> GreyDove Options in Wordpress amin panel) allows various customizations, including control over showing or disabling About Me and Featured Posts boxes in the sidebar.


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The theme has provision for showing ads under the post title and at the end of the posts. The codes to be used for displaying the ads can be set using the options page of the theme (Appearances -> GreyDove Options in Wordpress admin panel). In case one wants to disable either or both the ads above and below the posts on single pages, it can be done by checking the boxes in the writing panel while creating or editing the posts.

If one wants to display ads in the sidebar, just go to Appearances -> Widgets in Wordpress admin panel and add text widget(s) to the appropriate sidebar. Now, paste the ad code in the text box and save.


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The Archives page in GreyDove is special. It will display all categories, archives by months as well as list all the posts. To create an archives page in GreyDove, create a blank page with title as Archives or something similar. Set the template for the page as "Archives" and save the blank page.

The footer of GreyDove is also customizable. Just add anything to the footer using GreyDove Options page under Appearances tab in Wordpress admin panel. Since the theme is being released under GNU General Public License, it's imperative that you retain the sentence that reads "GreyDove theme by Nyutech". You may reword the sentence in a way that's neither offensive nor distorts the meaning.

It does not support Internet Explorer 6 and may not function in optimum way. The theme displays a notice to all IE6 visitors that they are using an obsolete version of a Web browser and urges them to upgrade to a newer version of nay popular browser.

There is no demo for this Wordpress theme but you can see GreyDove in images (Homepage, Posts and Archives).

Enjoy the theme. Do give me your feedback.

Preview GreyDove 1.1.3
Download GreyDove 1.1.3


Update (9 November 2009): GreyDove has been added to Wordpress.org's Themes directory. Just check the GreyDove page on Wordpress.org for demo of the theme.

Update (19 November 2009): Thanks, Laura and Yaramazadam for pointing out the issue with thumbnails. It was an error with TimThumb. Perhaps I was using an old version which wasn't functioning on many servers. Today, when I upgraded my server for a thorough checking of the theme for solving the thumbnail issue, I faced the error too. Changing TimThumb file has solved the problem.

Do you have an extra USB flash drive that is lying idle? Why not convert into a multi-purpose rescue tool?

I have loaded my 2GB pen drive with a stand-alone Slax Linux operating system and several portable Windows applications. Installing Slax on USB is as easy as copying a folder, that's what you actually do. The Linux OS provides me the comfort and safety of my own desktop without having to lug around a heavy laptop. Portable Windows applications allow me to use my applications on PCs that lack the application.

Killer portable applications
Portable versions of most popular Windows applications are available on PortableApps and PenDriveApps. Most of these applications are also available for Mac on FreeSmug. Here is a list of some basic portable applications for your USB drive (list for Mac portable apps in a separate post).


Internet
Portable Firefox is a must for Firefox addicts. Its Mac version is also available. Some popular add-ons for Firefox are also available for the portable version. Portable version of Google Chrome should be fine for those who prefer Google's Web browser. Opera lovers should find the right alternative in OperaUSB.

Pidgin Portable, like its regular version, supports instant messaging for several service providers including Gtalk, Yahoo and Facebook.

Skype Portable should come handy for video chats and phone calls.

Though it's not likely that one will start a torrent download on any computer other than their own, µTorrent Portable bittorrent client is there for this purpose.

If you want to carry your inbox on your USB, Portable Thunderbird is the way to go. It is also available for Mac.

For Web developers and tech guys, FileZilla Portable allows downloading and uploading files to FTP servers. PuTTY Portable is a light-weight telnet and SSH client.

Graphics and Images
GIMP Portable allows users to edit images and photographs.

For techies and developers, IcoFX Portable is an application for working with icons or .ico files.

Inkscape Portable is an open source vector graphics editor, an efficient alternative to Illustrator and CorelDraw.

Riot allows you to save images for Web and emails with the best compression ratio and quality. It reduces the file size of images drastically without compromising with quality.

Office utility

Portable OpenOffice Suite is a must for having on your USB drive because some  computers may not have word processor installed. Open Office also comes handy when one wants to create a PDF version of some word file.

Portable AbiWord is a Microsoft Word look alike. If you are hooked to Word, it should be very comfortable to use. It is also very small in size compared with OpenOffice. It's also available for Mac.

Sumatra and Foxit PDF Reader are the two lightweight alternatives for carrying PDF readers of USB drive.

Multimedia
When it comes to playing multimedia files, VLC Media Player is unbeatable. If you like recording music and other stuff, Audacity should find space on your thumb drive.

Antivirus and firewall

ClamWin Portable is the portable version of open source antivirus Clamwin. It doesn't provide live protection but will scan and remove viruses effectively.

Utilities
Occasionally, you will come across computers which do not have an application installed for handling archive formats such as TAR and RAR. 7-Zip will unzip almost all kinds of archive files and folders. It will also compress files and folders and create archives for you.

KeePass Password Safe Portable lets you carry your login information and passwords on your USB drive. You can save all you passwords on it and use a master password to keep them safe.

If you need to synchronize, backup and encrypt files and folders, Toucan comes to your rescue.

Notepad++ is a killer replacement for Windows Notepad. It's a must tool for those who work on codes such as HTML, PHP and C.

Recover Files, as the name suggests, can undelete / recover deleted files. Recuva also enables the user to recover deleted files, including those deleted from flash card and mp3 player.

TrueCrypt is a must portable app for those who carry sensitive data on their USB drives. TrueCrypt can encrypt files and folders as well as create hidden folders, securing your data.

CCleaner is the portable app for cleaning the garbage from your PC. It will delete all the trash left behind by various applications and by users. It also cleans up the registry by deleting obsolete entries left behind by previous applications.

Portable App Suites 
PortableApps Suite includes the basic programs for essential computing needs (Open Office, Fiefox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, etc.) and has an elegant menu system to access the portable apps. You can pick from the various versions of suites available and then add other portable applications according to your needs.

LiberKey Ultimate (186MB) is another power-packed portable app suite that includes 165 applications to meet your requirements. The huge list of portable apps includes almost all kinds of apps from multimedia players to system maintenance tools. LiberKey Standard has 94 apps. LiberKey Basic (56MB) has 26 applications. Once you have downloaded and installed any one of the compilations of LiberKey, you can check the complete list of apps available for LiberKey and add your favourite apps such as VLC Media Player that are missing from the compilations.