Showing posts with label techiesmarts on youtube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label techiesmarts on youtube. Show all posts

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Launching New Weekly Video Series!

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Later today we will be launching a new weekly video series entitled: "TechieSmarts Tech ToolBox"!  And it is exactly as it sounds!  I receive emails all the time asking for recommendations for tools, software, etc.  Some people ask what I prefer to use for certain circumstances or computer issues.  So what better way to answer that question, than to just discuss it?



So with the following goals in mind:
#1- Offer reliable and valid information pertaining to various pieces of software (most open source) that I use.
#2- Help other people discover the "magic behind the curtain" per say.
#3- Let my readers and viewers help me learn their favorite tools!

As you can see this will be a two way street.  As I hope to provide you (my loyal watchers/readers) with meaningful information on how to get things done; I also hope to better understand some of the things you guys like to use too.  So please, do me a favor and leave some comments suggesting tools you use or questions on things I use and I will incorporate those into the weekly episodes.  If you don't want to leave a public comment, feel free to email me at: help_me@techie.com

As a perk to our followers on the YouTube Channel each new episode will be posted there first for viewing.  After a day or two the video will become available here on our website as well.  So if you want to stay up to speed be sure to subscribe to the YouTube Channel or our website's RSS Feed!  When new videos go live we will send out a Tweet about it!

Look for the first episode to arrive today around 3:00p! @ TechieSmarts on YouTube

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Manually Setup a Dual Boot with Ubuntu & Windows 7

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This video is a response to some questions I have recently received concerning setting up a dual boot system.  I have covered this topic in two other videos/blog posts.  However, both of those videos approached this goal by two different methods as does this video.  Previously we setup our dual boot with 'Wubi' and by using the 'Side-by-Side Install' method.  But what happens if you are using an older Ubuntu Live CD or a different Linux Distro entirely?  Those options may not necessarily work for you.  In this case you'll need to manually setup the partitions and let Ubuntu install to a new, empty partition.  So how do we do this?

There are a few things you need to do first.  And these are good things to do even when setting up your dual boot via the ways we have already covered.
#1- Defrag your computer.
Why? Easy! When you use your computer on a daily basis files and data become fragmented.  This simply means that the data is becoming somewhat scattered across the free space of your hard drive.  This adversly effects your hard drive in that it may slow down read/write times of your drive in relation to your computing tasks and it can take up excess hard drive space.

By running a defrag on your hard drive, a lot of this fragmentation will be cleaned up.  So in short, even if you have no plans to dual boot; running a defrag every once in a while is still a good idea.

#2- You'll more than likely want to have Windows installed first. The installation of GRUB tends to play along better if it can see Windows first.

#3- If your Windows install isn't a freshly installed version, you will want to backup any important data on your Windows machine.  Just in case things go south or you accidentally format the wrong partition, etc.  Believe me, things like this can happen if you're not cautious during these installs.

If you're good to go with the precautions mentioned above, then follow along with the video:





Manually Setup an Ubuntu-Windows 7 Dual Boot



As always thank you for watching and be sure to swing by our YouTube Channel and Subscribe.  That way you can stay up to date whenever we add new content!
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If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop us a comment below or on any of the social networks we use.  You can also email me at:
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Saturday, February 4, 2012

How to Burn A Live Linux CD

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I have recently received a batch of emails asking the same question: "I've downloaded the Linux .ISO file, now what do I do?".  So in response to this question, I have made a video stepping through the process of using ImgBurn to make a ready-to-go Live Linux CD with your Operating System of choice.  And then testing it to make sure it boots up.

There are numerous burning programs out there that can accomplish what we are trying to do in this video.  However, I have personally been using ImgBurn since I first started playing around with Linux.  For me, it gets the job done quickly and without other excess crap or bloat.


Just make sure you're speakers are turned down when the 'Job Complete' sound plays.  It'll scare the crap out of you. lol

To follow along with this video you will need 2 things: ImgBurn and a Linux .ISO file.
For ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com
For an ISO File: http://www.distrowatch.com

If you visit Distrowatch for your ISO file, be sure to pick the distribution you like best, and on that distribution's page find the links to the ISO file.  In most cases there will be two files, one is a 32bit version and the other will be a 64bit version.  Be sure to pick the appropriate version for your computer.

Once you have ImgBurn installed and have downloaded an ISO file to work with, have fun!



How to Burn a Linux Live CD



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Friday, February 3, 2012

Android App Review: AirDroid

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After what feels like a really long time, we are back in the saddle again with a app review for an awesome little Android app that just happens to also be free!  It's named: AirDroid.  Basically, the concept behind AirDroid is simple.  It allows you to access the contents of your Android phone via a Wifi internet conncection just as if the phone was directly connected to the computer via a USB Cable.






This is accomplished by using a pretty slick looking web interface.  Essentially here are the steps to using AirDroid.
1- Turn on your phone's Wifi Connection and connect to your router.
2- Launch the AirDroid app on your phone or tablet.
3- Press the blue 'Start' button.
4- Enter the IP Address in your computer's web browser address bar.
5- At the Web Login Screen type in the password given to you from the app.
6- Your in!

Once inside the AirDroid web interface, you can launch various file manager type dialog boxes to move files to your computer from the phone or vice-versa.  If you need to backup anything like your music, pictures, and even apps; all this can be done quickly and easily.  In my example, I was able to backup all of my pictures to my Desktop computer in the form of a .ZIP file for extraction later.  And it took a couple of seconds to get it done.

The price of AirDroid is great considering it is free.  But even if the devs decided to start charging for it, I'd happily pay a couple of dollars for this type of app.

Be sure to watch the video for the full review:




As always, be sure to swing by our YouTube Channel and subscribe to stay updated when new videos go live!
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You can also follow me on Twitter as well!
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Monday, December 19, 2011

How To Remove Our Ubuntu Wubi Install!

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So if you followed along with our last video on how to use Wubi you'll know how easy it was to install our dual boot setup using Wubi.  But what would happen if down the road a few weeks or a couple of months you decide you need to reclaim the used hard drive space for other needs and wish to remove Ubuntu.  How hard is that to do?

If you have ever removed a traditional dual boot partition you'll remember that on occasion things don't always go as planned during the removal and you may end of with a bad MBR or no bootloader, etc.  The fix for this can be rather simple or you could end up with a non-booting system.  This is where Wubi shines, because this isn't the case with a Wubi install.

Should you decide to wipe your Ubuntu install (installed with Wubi) all you need to do is boot into Windows. Once in Windows, jump into the Control Panel and hit up the 'Add/Remove Programs' applet.  Find Ubuntu in the list of installed software and select to remove it.  After a short removal process, it will be gone.  Simple as that.

So be sure to watch the video below:





Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to stay up to date when we add new videos!
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Saturday, December 17, 2011

How to Install Ubuntu using Wubi!

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In this video we will cover a quick and easy way to setup a dual boot system using the Wubi Installer. If you have never heard of the Wubi Installer, you may be wondering what it is.  Wubi is essentially a small application that grants the user the ability to start the Ubuntu install from with the Windows operating system. The magic doesn't stop there though.  At any point later, if you decide you want to wipe Ubuntu to reclaim the used hard drive space, or in attempt to wipe the drive and move solely into Linux from Windows, you can simply boot into Windows and remove the Ubuntu installation just as if it were a native Windows application from within the 'Add/Remove Programs' option in the Control Panel.

The Ubuntu installer has certainly gotten a lot better about keeping the 'confusion-factor' down for new user's when it comes to setting up a multi-operating system setup.  But Wubi takes just about all of the mystery out of it from the get go.  So be sure to checkout our video:






Be sure to visit our YouTube Channel and subscribe so you can stay up to date whenever we add new videos!
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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Techie's Update

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Hey everybody, I just wanted to drop a quick update and let you all know that I am sorry for the recent lack/delay of posts and videos on both my blog and my YouTube Channel.  I came down with a pretty rough cold that claimed my voice and overall motivation for a large part of this past week.  Leaving in it's wake a voice that sounded like a sick Darth Vader (hence the lack of new videos).

I am feeling a lot better now and hopefully will have some new videos up on the YouTube Channel soon (my voice is almost back to normal so production should resume in a few days).  As far as the blog is concerned, we're not dead or stuck in some weird form of stasis, and new posts will be rolling out over the next few days so stay tuned!

Thanks everybody, have a great weekend!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Let's Dual Boot!

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Our latest video has gone live and it covers the topic of setting up a Dual-Boot system.  We will cover what dual booting is and why it is handy for those who like to play around with other operating systems without wanting or having the ability to sacrifice your existing partitions, data, etc.

At one point in time, dual booting tended to be a rather daunting process and could easily overwhelm those new to the concept.  However, it has become so common place (especially among Linux user's) that the process has been somewhat streamlined and is not all that different from performing a clean install on a fresh hard drive.  In this video we will be using Ubuntu 11.10 to setup a dual-boot system with Windows 7.

So, with that said; checkout our latest video:



Dual-Booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.10



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Monday, November 21, 2011

Video: Navigating Gnome Shell 3 in Ubuntu

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Our latest video covers the basics of getting around in Gnome Shell 3.  In our previous video we discussed how to install Gnome Shell 3 in Ubuntu 11.10.  If you haven't watched that video yet, you may want to consider watching this video in it's entirety to make sure you'd like to check out Gnome Shell 3 in more detail.

Gnome Shell 3 brings to the table some large changes to the Gnome Desktop Environment.  It reminds me of a mix up of both Gnome and Unity.  I have my own complaints about Gnome Shell 3 (which will be touched on in another video).  But in the meantime, checkout how to navigate the new version of Gnome.



Navigating Gnome Shell 3






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Thursday, November 17, 2011

Video: Installing Media Codecs in Linux Mint 11

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In our latest video we will step through the process of installing multimedia codecs in Linux Mint 11 'Katya'.  By default the version of Linux Mint 11 I used to install in our previous video does not include the Multimedia Codecs.  Simply put, no mutlimedia codecs = very limited support and playback of things like videos, music, and flash based content.  So, why use such a limited release?

There are several versions of the Linux Mint 11 'Katya' Live CD.  The reason a 'No Codecs' version was made available is for distributors such as magazine companies or disk suppliers who may not have the legal rights to the licenses for some of the 3rd party multimedia codecs.  So, Mint has a 'No Codecs' version which squeezes the operating system on a single CD-ROM without the multimedia codecs.  If you so desire, there is a full version which does include the multimedia codecs and some extra software packages preinstalled.  This version however is quite a bit larger in file size and is designed to fit a DVD.

So without further delay, feel free to checkout our video on installing Linux Mint's multimedia codec packages.







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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Video: Installing Linux Mint 11 'Katya'

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In our latest video we will step through the basics of installing Linux Mint 11 'Katya'.  'Katya' is the latest distribution release of Linux Mint with version 12's Release Candidate just being announced.  Mint is based on Ubuntu and in some circles is considered to be one of the best Linux distributions out there (next to Ubuntu).  There is also a version of Mint that is Debian based and features rolling distribution updates; meaning, you get the major updates as they roll out instead of doing a "mass-upgrade" on the entire OS.  That's nice.

The version of Linux Mint 11 being used in this video is the GNOME, 32bit version without Multimedia Codecs.  In our next video, we will step through quickly and easily installing these codecs.






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New Videos!

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Due to technical issues with my Ubuntu install, I will be a few days later on the Gnome 3 introduction video.  In in the meantime, I'll have a couple of Linux Mint 11 videos going live in a few hours.  Thanks!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Ubuntu 11.10: Installing IceWM

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If you love using Ubuntu and want the latest the greatest without the bloat of Unity maybe because your computer is holder and refuses to play nice with Unity than checkout IceWM.  IceWM is an alternate desktop environment for Linux.  If you are looking for a sleek and elegant looking desktop with lots of eye candy than IceWM probably isn't for you.

Installing IceWM is pretty easy to do via the Terminal or you can use the Ubuntu Software Center to install it as well.  I will also install the 'icewm-themes' package as well during the course of this video.  Be sure to visit our YouTube Channel and subscribe so you can stay updated as to when new videos go live!







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Friday, November 4, 2011

Kind of Slow...

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Not much of interest going on today in the tech world.  I guess it's been kind of slow on that front.  Aside from recent flooding in Thailand possibly having an impact on hard drive manufacturing/availability for the first few months of 2012.  And the Siri outage for iPhone 4S users this week.

On the gaming front, be sure to checkout DC Universe Online which went free to play this week.  And early numbers report this was a success and already showing a rather large increase in the game's population/sign-ups.  So go check it out: http://www.dcuniverseonline.com/

This means I will hopefully be able to get caught up on my emails and make some videos this weekend for the YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/techiesmarts

Check back soon!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Ubuntu 11.10: Switching Login Managers

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I received several emails after our posting our video about installing KDE in Ubuntu 11.10 concerning the login screen being changed.  If you followed along with our video we actually set the login screen to use KDM instead of the default for Ubuntu 11.10 which is LightDM.  Both login screens work the same way, but they look very different.

If you decide you like the original Ubuntu 11.10 login better than KDM's login screen, then watch the video below.  It's under 3 minutes long and a simple Terminal command will have you back up with LightDM in no time.






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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Video: Let's Install Xfce in Ubuntu 11.10

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In this video we will cover how to install yet another alternate Window Manager using Ubuntu 11.10.  We will be installing Xfce.  Xfce can also be installed directly from a fresh install by using the Xubuntu release of Ubuntu 11.10.  But for those who maybe upgraded directly from a previous version of Ubuntu only to find out we were being force fed the Unity Desktop than you may not want to take the time to wipe and do a clean install of your operating system.

Why choose the Xfce desktop?  What'ts so great about it?  Well for one, it's pretty fast.  Xfce manages to cut a lot of the excess stuff out of it that you would normally find in a fresh desktop.  The menu effects and extra stuff that tends to use a little more resources is gone.  This is especially nice when you want to use the latest and greatest Ubuntu release, but have an older computer that maybe doesn't play as well with Unity.  The big downside for a lot of people would probably be the appearance of Xfce.  It definitely lacks the elegance and eye candy of other desktop environments.  However, what it lacks in cosmetic appearance it makes up for in speed and low resource usage.

*Note: I do recommend to make sure you have all of your files and data backed up before performing any major install or change to your system just to be on the safe side.  With that being said, we will use the Ubuntu Software Center instead of the Terminal to accomplish this install.


Installing Xfce in Ubuntu 11.10


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Friday, October 28, 2011

Video: Let's Install KDE using Ubuntu 11.10

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Ubuntu
If you have used or upgraded to the latest release of Ubuntu (being 11.10); then you are aware that aside from installing GNOME Shell 3 you are limited to only using the Unity desktop environment.  They did included Unity 2D for older machines.  But what if you aren't a big fan of Unity?  What can you do to make it less painful?

Easy!  Install a different Window Manager/Desktop Environment!  It's easy to do.  It does require a little bit of time but isn't very intrusive.  So this video will kick off a new video set where we will step through installing alternative desktop environments for Ubuntu 11.10.  After all, part of the joy of using Linux is being able to have choices right?

In our first video of this set we will install KDE.  Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on when all of our new videos get posted!






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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Review: Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot'

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This past week Canonical rolled out the latest version of Ubuntu with version 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot'.  Right off the bat, you'll notice some really nice changes to the system.  I absolutely love the new login screen.  It looks really sharp.  For fans of Unity, you'll love this release because by default (and short of using the GNOME 3 Shell) Unity is all we get as far as a desktop environment is concerned.  This time around they have stripped out the 'Ubuntu Classic' desktop completely.

Otherwise, you'll immediately notice that the Unity bar looks a little better.  We have lenses built into the Dash that allows you to download more lenses to extend the Dash's functionality (I really like this idea).  And finally, the Ubuntu Software Center has had a huge makeover and looks and functions a lot smoother than previous versions.  In my opinion, this release would probably have to be one of the most user friendly versions ever released if being approached from the standpoint of someone new to Ubuntu.  But for those of us who have used Ubuntu for years and are set in our ways, (at least for me) it isn't the easiest to get used to.  But it does look nice.

So checkout my review:



Review: Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot'


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

How To: Upgrade Ubuntu 11.04 to Ubuntu 11.10

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In our latest video we will discuss one of the easiest ways to upgrade an existing Ubuntu installation to the latest Ubuntu release.  Whenever Canonical rolls out a new Ubuntu release many people flock over to the Ubuntu site or other sites (like DistroWatch) to download the latest ISO and rip a Live CD to use for installation.  Unless you are absolutely sold on reinstalling from scratch everytime a new release hits the web, you may be wasting some time.

You can actually use the Ubuntu Update Manager (the same program that checks for software updates/patches) to help you update your Operating System's Release version.  For example, in this video we will start off running Ubuntu 11.04 'Natty Narwhal' in VirtualBox.  By using the Update Manager we will upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot'.  This process is pretty much the same for most versions of Ubuntu.

It will take a little time (depending on your internet connection's speed) and I highly recommend backing up all of your files/data before upgrading just in case something goes wrong.  Although, I have never bumped into trouble doing an 'In-Place Upgrade' using Ubuntu.  It's just better to be safe than sorry.  If you're ready to upgrade, go ahead and follow along with our video:

How To: Upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Ubuntu 11.10 Video Review Coming Soon!

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Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for my Ubuntu 11.10 video review!  Hopefully incoming soon!  I'm downloading the ISO now and should have a decent review in a couple of days once I've used it for a little bit.  So look for it coming soon!