Archive for March, 2009

Installing native 64bit Flash Player on Linux

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Find below bash script for openSuSE 11.0 and 11.1 that will install 64bit Flash Player :

#!/bin/bash

echo “Stopping Firefox”
sudo killall -9 firefox

echo “Removing previous installations of flash plugin :”

sudo rm -f /usr/lib64/browser-plugins/npwrapper.libflashplayer.so
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/browser-plugins/libflashplayer.so
sudo rm -f /usr/lib/flash-plugin/libflashplayer.so
sudo rm -rfd /usr/lib/nspluginwrapper

echo “Installing Flash Player 10”
wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/libflashplayer-10.0.42.34.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
tar zxvf libflashplayer-10.0.42.34.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz

sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib64/browser-plugins/libflashplayer.so
sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/browser-plugins/libflashplayer.so

# some cleaning up

sudo rm -rf libflashplayer-10.0.42.34.linux-x86_64.so.tar.gz
sudo rm -rf libflashplayer.so

You need to chmod +x then execute it. Remember to enable flash pluging in Firefox then restarting.

Printronix Wins Bid for Acquisition of U.S.-Based Assets of TallyGenicom

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

Printronix Plans to Market TallyGenicom Brand and Product Lineup in Parallel to Its Flagship Offerings, Creating a Stronger Worldwide Market Presence With Segmented Industry Offerings, Expanded Solutions, and Even Higher Levels of Service and Support

Printronix Inc., a leading integrated supply-chain printing solutions manufacturer, announced today that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has named Printronix as the winning bidder in the court-supervised auction of certain assets of TallyGenicom LP, the U.S.-based entity of TallyGenicom. The acquired assets include the intellectual property, inventory and equipment necessary to offer TallyGenicom’s line-matrix and portions of its serial-matrix and laser printer series along with the Printronix-branded product and solutions portfolio.

“We are excited at the opportunity to serve TallyGenicom’s long-standing, valued customer base,” said Robert A. Kleist, chief executive officer, Printronix. “One of the reasons we pursued this acquisition is that we respect TallyGenicom’s strong name recognition and technology platform worldwide. We plan to market the TallyGenicom brand and product lineup in parallel to our Printronix offerings. We believe the combination of Printronix’s and TallyGenicom’s strong market presence will herald an era of broader geographic reach, segmented industry offerings, expanded solutions and higher levels of customer satisfaction.”

By adding the TallyGenicom products to its lineup, Printronix will be able to broaden the geographic scope of its business as well as serve more industry sectors. Printronix expects the dual brand strategy to generate efficiencies that will benefit its global community. Most notably, the TallyGenicom acquisition permits Printronix to serve banking, government and health care customers better. Printronix also can work with more customers through the organic, geographic and acquisition growth that this transaction permits.

Today’s announcement sets in motion another milestone in a series of strategic decisions made since Vector Capital completed its acquisition of Printronix in January 2008.

“Against the backdrop of a challenging global economic landscape, this acquisition represents a big and bold step toward Printronix’s future success,” said Amish Mehta, partner, Vector Capital. “In fact, the TallyGenicom acquisition is another marker in a succession of global competitive initiatives, all designed to position Printronix as the most trusted manufacturer of industrial and back-office printing as well as printing compliance solutions in the world.”

During the integration of acquired assets, a Printronix transition team will work with TallyGenicom to facilitate the transition. Printronix has offered select TallyGenicom employees employment, and others will be retained through the transition period. Printronix will continue to evaluate staffing needs — as well as other aspects of engineering, branding, marketing and logistics — during the upcoming months of integration.

About Printronix Inc.

Since 1974, Printronix Inc. has created innovative printing solutions for the industrial marketplace and supply chain. The company is a worldwide leader in enterprise solutions for line-matrix printing and has earned an outstanding reputation for its high-performance thermal bar code and fanfold laser printing solutions. Printronix also has become an established leader in pioneering technologies, including radio frequency identification (RFID) printing, bar code compliance and networked printer management. Printronix is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For company information, see www.printronix.com.

Internet Explorer 8 Released

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Microsoft has announced that Internet Explorer 8 has been released and can be downloaded now for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.

The final build of Internet Explorer 8 has been released in 25 languages. You can download it directly from these links:

MS Windows XP 32-bit (16.1 MB)

– MS Windows XP 64-bit (32.3 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2003 32-bit (16.0 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2003 64-bit (32.3 MB)

– MS Windows Vista 32-bit (13.2 MB)

– MS Windows Vista 64-bit (24.3 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2008 32-bit (13.2 MB)

– MS Windows Server 2008 64-bit (24.3 MB)

The final build number is 8.0.6001.18702.

An overview of the features and benefits of Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer 8 can be found here. I will try to put the new Internet Explorer 8 in comparison to Mozilla’s Firefox 3 and get back to you with the results.

Hotmail Outage

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Hotmail experienced a service outage this week, as countless Hotmail.com customers were unable to access their email due to a server going down.  Users said they were receiving a “Server is too busy” message when they tried to log into Hotmail, which has more than 375 million active users worldwide, according to Microsoft.

The Twitter reports were so widespread that Microsoft even sent out a message on its own WindowsLive Twitter feed letting people know it was aware of the outage, and then again when the outage was repaired.

This was the second outage for a major online e-mail service this week. On Monday, Google’s Gmail service went down for as many as 24 to 36 hours for some users.

For Microsoft and Google, which are competing to bring more Web-based services to consumers and businesses, e-mail has been a proving ground for how many users their online services can support. Outages raise questions about the ability of those companies and other online service providers to maintain a consistent quality of service for end users.

Mozilla Firefox 3 Release v3.0.7, released on March 4, 2009

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Firefox 3 is the best and most secure web browser available today. It really is the one to use to avoid all those pop-ups, spywares and malwares.

On March 4, version 3.0.7 was introduced. It several issues found in Firefox 3.0.6:

  • Fixed several security issues.
  • Fixed several stability issues.
  • Official releases for the Estonian, Kannada, and Telugu languages are now available.
  • Items in the “File” menu show as inactive after using the “Print” item from that menu – switching to a new tab restores them (bug 425844). This issue has been fixed.
  • For some users, cookies would appear to go “missing” after a few days (bug 444600).
  • Mac users of the Flashblock add-on, experienced an issue where sound from the Flash plug-in would continue to play for a short time after closing a tab or window (bug 474022).
  • Fixed several issues related to accessibility features.
  • See the Firefox 3.0.6 release notes for changes in previous releases.

See the complete list of bugs fixed.

ADAOX Launches ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 4 In The Middle East

Friday, March 6th, 2009

ADAOX Middle East, the regional business development centre of ESET NOD32 Antivirus, today announced the launch of the latest versions of ESET’s award-winning security solutions – ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 in the Middle East region. ESET’s new generation security solutions deliver its most effective protection against emerging threats. Built on the unique and time-tested ThreatSense technology that has made ESET into a leader in proactive protection – ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 – were optimized for even greater protection and enhanced usability, while retaining their signature small system footprint.

“We are delighted to launch ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 to our customers in the Middle East, who have come to trust ESET’s proactive protection immensely. Version 4 of these security solutions surpasses all previous versions and is the most effective software to combat malware and emerging threats.We are confident these new security solutions will be well received by our customers and partners in this region,” said Neo Neophytou, Managing Director of ADAOX Middle East.

Key benefits:

o Protection from the Unknown – Award-winning ThreatSense technology delivers the most effective protection against new attacks on the market.
o Built for Speed – ESET’s solutions are lightning fast, delivering superior scanning performance.
o Easy on System Resources – ESET typically uses only 35-40MB of system memory, a fraction of what other products consume. Laptop users will welcome the new automatic energy-conserving battery mode.
o Easy on You – more user friendly than ever before – from the compact and intuitive interface, the minimal use of alerts, to self-training firewall – you will be up and running in a snap, hardly noticing the solution quietly working in the background.

Users at home, but especially in SMB and large enterprises will come to appreciate dozens of useful new features and improvements in usability. On top of being faster and lighter, in ESET Smart Security 4 and ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 include the following:

Self-Defense – a built-in technology to prevent malicious software from corrupting or disabling the system’s security.
SysRescue – allows user to create computer recovery medium on a CD and USB key for system boot-up.
Portable media access control, including USB, CD, flash disc, closing this vector of potential malware infiltration.
Encrypted communication – developed for Windows XP and Windows Vista to scan HTTPs and POP3s protocols for malware. Included is also the so-called “learning mode,” for the state-of-the-art firewall, affording even greater level of protection.
Support of More E-mail clients, including Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird
Non-Graphical User Interface with the option to switch automatically to high contrast mode when in Windows.
Smart Optimalization – function permitting increase in the scanning speed
Integrated ESET SysInspector – a powerful diagnostic tool for in-depth analysis of the operating system, including running processes, registry content, startup items and network connections.
Integrated Anti-Stealth – advanced technology to protect against rootkits
Support for CISCO Network Admission Control

“ESET Smart Security 4 is the result of ESET´s continuous quest for perfection in PC security. We´ve in essence created artificial intelligence that is incredibly efficient and fast in recognizing malware,” Miroslav Trnka, CEO of ESET.
ESET Smart Security 4 was developed as a highly streamlined solution integrating 4 functionalities: antivirus, antispyware, antispam, and a personal firewall.

ESET Smart Security 4 Business Edition includes a Remote Administrator and a LAN update “mirror” function to easily monitor and update workstations across large networks.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 is the company’s flagship solution incorporating antivirus and antispyware functionalities.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 Business Edition includes a Remote Administrator and a LAN update “mirror” to easily monitor and update workstations.

The Latest, 4th generation of ESET Smart Security and ESET NOD32 will be available starting March 2nd, 2009. License holders of previous versions can take advantage of a free update.

Please refer to the following URL for your free trial product download :
http://www.am4computers.com/main/viewProducts.php?Category=106

Dell Keyboards and MS Windows XP Issues

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Certain keys don’t work as they should on certain models of Dell notebooks preloaded with MS Windows XP. Find the following instructions that will help you fix the keyboard layout issues with Dell laptops and Windows XP :

For Arabic :

Control Panel
Regional and Language Options
Languages Tab
Details
Add
Input Language – Arabic(Egypt)
Keyboard Layout – Arabic (102)

For English :

Control Panel
Regional and Language Options
Languages Tab
Details
Add
Input Language – English (United States)
Keyboard Layout – US English Table for IBM Arabic 238_L

Essential Open Source Software for MS Windows

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

If you want to save a few bucks, and in the mean time run a powerful MS Windows environment, you can find in this post some open source, free to download, software that will give you the same high performance and services offered by high cost software packages.

I personally always use the following open source software on my MS Windows XP and Vista desktops :

  • Mozilla Firefox Web Browser.
  • Mozilla Thunderbird Email Client.
  • GIMP – the GNU Image Manipulation Program.
  • Clamwin – an open source Antivirus for MS Windows.
  • OpenOffice – open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more.
  • MPlayer – multi-platform movie player.
  • KeePass – Password manager.
  • Notepad++ – a powerful free text and source code editor and MS Windows Notepad replacement.
  • PuTTY – an SSH and telnet client.
  • FileZilla – free FTP solution, both client and server.
  • 7-Zip – a file archiver.
  • Pidgin – easy to use and free chat client used to connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once.
  • TurboCASH -Simple, easy to use application for managing personal finances.
  • Electric Sheep – free, open source screen saver.

Do you have a preferred open source package to share with others ?