What's up folks? I know Ubuntu is bullet fast but what if I say we can make it faaaaaster? Today, I discovered this little app knows as preload. It caches the binaries of the app you run the most so they start up faster. The sad part about this little adaptive readahead daemon is that its not available for Ubuntu 14.04.

When a user runs a program, the OS first loads its data into the ‘RAM’. And when that program gets terminated, the OS, rather than completely getting rid of it, moves the program and its data into another location on RAM, called the ‘page cache’. So if the user runs the app again the OS doesn't load the complete app instead it first checks the page cache if the app is available there. The ‘page cache’ is managed by the OS’s Kernel, and most operating systems (including GNU/Linux), don’t use ‘aggressive’ data prefectching techniques when managing the ‘page cache’. But if you’re a GNU/Linux user, then you can use tools like ‘preload’ for enabling aggressive data ‘prefetching’.




This app will be most useful if you're running on a larger RAM. After analysing the results, I noticed that Ubuntu took a couple of seconds more to boot up but it took really less time to open apps.


Do drop in your comments if this app helped you. 
Lots of love! :)

Ubuntu is fast. Faster than Windows or any other OS. It creates negligible amount of temporary/junk files. Still, we might sometimes show some extra love to our Ubuntu and clean those junk files. Its actually a very difficult task to clean junk from your Linux System because of the complex locations and names of the files. If you're on Windows, all you need to do is install a software like CCleaner and click clean but Ubuntu is a class apart. 

But, the exception has arrived, guys! A very easy to use, user-friendly, automatic GUI junk cleaner is now available for Ubuntu. BleachBit, like its name suggests, bleaches your system and cleans the junk files. There are a lot of options available in BleachBit.


Here's how to install:
 
Open a terminal and run:

sudo apt-get install bleachbit

 

After it is successfully installed, search for bleachbit in your dash:



There are two versions of this app available: Normal User and Root User.


I have run the root version of the app. You can see the number of options available in the app.

Please take care before cleaning everything out. Not everything that can be cleaned must be cleaned. You can also preview your system before cleaning it out. 

Preview will show what files will be deleted, here's a screenshot:


Love your Ubuntu back. Cleanliness is next to godliness.





Here's a list of options and their descriptions available: 

APT
autoclean: Delete obsolete files

autoremove: Delete obsolete files

clean: Delete the cache

Bash
History: Delete the command history

Deep scan
Backup files: Delete the backup files

.DS_Store: Delete the files

Thumbs.db: Delete the files

Temporary files: Delete the temporary files

Filezilla
File transfer client


Most recently used: Delete the list of recently used documents

Firefox
Web browser
Cache: Delete the web cache, which reduces time to display revisited pages

Cookies: Delete cookies, which contain information such as web site preferences, authentication, and tracking identification

Crash reports: Delete the files

DOM Storage: Delete HTML5 cookies

Download history: List of files downloaded

Form history: A history of forms entered in web sites and in the Search bar

Passwords: A database of usernames and passwords as well as a list of sites that should not store passwords

Session restore: Loads the initial session after the browser closes or crashes

Site preferences: Settings for individual sites

URL history: List of visited web pages

Vacuum: Clean database fragmentation to reduce space and improve speed without removing any data

Flash
Multimedia viewer


Cache: Delete the cache

Cookies: Delete cookies, which contain information such as web site preferences, authentication, and tracking identification

LibreOffice
Office suite
Cache: Delete the cache

History: Delete the usage history



Skype
Chat logs: Delete the chat logs





System
The system in general
Cache: Delete the cache

Clipboard: The desktop environment's clipboard used for copy and paste operations

Custom: Delete user-specified files and folders

Broken desktop files: Delete broken application menu entries and file associations

Free disk space: Overwrite free disk space to hide deleted files

Localizations: Delete files for unwanted languages

Memory: Wipe the swap and free memory

Recent documents list: Delete the list of recently used documents

Rotated logs: Delete old system logs

Temporary files: Delete the temporary files

Trash: Empty the trash

Thumbnails
 Cache: Delete the cache


Thunderbird
Cache: Delete the web cache, which reduces time to display revisited pages

Cookies: Delete cookies, which contain information such as web site preferences, authentication, and tracking identification

Index: Delete the files

Passwords: A database of usernames and passwords as well as a list of sites that should not store passwords

Vacuum: Clean database fragmentation to reduce space and improve speed without removing any data

VLC media player
Most recently used: Delete the most recently used list


X11

Debug logs: Delete the debug logs



System (Root options)
The system in general


Cache: Delete the cache

Clipboard: The desktop environment's clipboard used for copy and paste operations

Custom: Delete user-specified files and folders

Broken desktop files: Delete broken application menu entries and file associations

Free disk space: Overwrite free disk space to hide deleted files

Localizations: Delete files for unwanted languages

Memory: Wipe the swap and free memory

Recent documents list: Delete the list of recently used documents

Rotated logs: Delete old system logs

Temporary files: Delete the temporary files

Trash: Empty the trash




Keep following me on twitter and G+. Lots of love. :)

Privacy is a very important concern in today's internet life. Linux is known for security and privacy but sometimes we sign privacy agreements without knowing what they mean. 


Privacy Indicator will help you: 

• Toggle Online Search Results, Zeitgeist, HUD Logging & GeoIP
• Quick access to clean Zeitgeist, F2, Recent Files, etc.
• Options to show/hide desktop icons and name in the panel

It is a small applet which will be added in the desktop panel for quick and instant access. 


Download the app here: http://www.florian-diesch.de/software/indicator-privacy/dist/indicator-privacy_0.04-1_all.deb


To install:

sudo dpkg -i /path/to/deb



After the installation is complete, you can search for "privacy indicator" in your dash to run the app. This small lightweight app will really help you to keep your privacy in place.


If you like the new Ubuntu look I'm using, its the numix-circular icon theme and the wallpaper is: http://hdwallsource.com/free-simple-wallpaper-27249.html.

Here's a screenshot of my menu.


Lots of love! :)

What's up Ubuntu Folks? Today I'm here with a beautiful drawer like thing for our Unity. iOS, Android, Chromebook, Mac and GNOME have this kind of functionality already. Ubuntu was missing on such a feature but now its here. Say thanks to Anton Sukhovatkin.

This how a drawer looks like on Ubuntu. Here's how to install the cool thing in your Ubuntu.

First, Download the .deb file from http://unity-folders.exceptionfound.com/unity-launcher-folders_1.0.2_all.deb

After downloading, open a terminal and run this command

sudo dpkg -i /file/to/path


After installing, open "unity launcher folders" by searching in dash.


Now, create a new drawer.


Click OK and start dragging links, files, apps etc to the new drawer.






Click on the button that says "Save drawer and add to launcher".

You'll see the launcher has been added to your unity dash.






Keep rocking! Lots of love! :D

I'm a Linux user since years and completely love the power, flexibility and security Linux has to offer. I migrated to Ubuntu 4 years back and no looking back since then. I don't like Windows on Desktop but Windows Phone is one heck of a thing. Totally love the UI and UX Windows phone flaunts. Windows Phone is actually how customizable a phone should be. But Ubuntu and Windows Phone are not good friends. Its really difficult to share files between them.

So, this is one software which I really love. BitTorrent Sync. It has a very light-weight user client which sits silently in the background and very user friendly mobile apps too. Now you'll say "I already have dropbox, blah blah!" so here's the answer, in your face. Dropbox creates an account on their website and everything you share goes to their server before it reaches your phone where as, Once a folder is added to Sync, it immediately tries to discover other devices that have a folder with the same key. Sync easily finds other devices by using multiple methods. It also allows Sync to work on a private network that is not connected to the Internet. These methods include contacting user-defined IP addresses, looking on the local network, using the distributed hash table (DHT), automatically registering with a Sync-specific BitTorrent tracker, and using a relay server. While devices becoming peers is an automated activity, all of these methods can be enabled/disabled by the user. Each file contained in a Sync folder has an associated torrent and is broken up into small pieces before it is transferred. Using the BitTorrent protocol, this protocol allows devices to receive file pieces from any peer simultaneously. The more devices a folder is shared with, the faster files are transferred. While the speed is not visible to the user, the accelerated speeds will be noticeable. File pieces are AES-128 encrypted when in transit. They are then decrypted and reassembled when they arrive at the destination. File pieces take the shortest and fastest path to get from one device to another. Transferring files on a local network is most often fastest, while using the relay server to reach a device halfway around the world is often the slowest. This is different than cloud services, which have to send files through centralized data centers and that's why its not like DropBox. I have never used DropBox in my life because if you're in India, you understand how painful is file sharing over the internet. (BSNL @ 60KBPS -_-)



You can get Sync at http://getsync.com/  The site is super cool and the software is very easy to install so I will not waste blogspot's database by writing about it. :p

After installing Sync, you can add a new folder.


Right click on the added folder and generate QR code. Scan this QR code in your mobile app.

A similar folder will appear in your windows phone.



You can now easily share files between your Ubuntu System and Windows phone. This app is also available for other devices.

Lots of love. :)

Today I found a very interesting widget for Ubuntu. Its a weather widget and its really beautiful. With a lot of customisations available, GIS Weather is undoubtedly the best and weather widget available for us.

Features (most are for the widget only):

• Supports the following weather services: Gismeteo.com, Weather.com, AccuWeather.com;
• View weather for several days;
• Detailed weather forecast for today and tomorrow;
• Fast switching between cities;
• Select the background and theme weather icons;
• "Compass" with the wind direction, with adjustable angle of rotation
• High wind highlighting;
• Supports SVG and widget scale;
• Ubuntu AppIndicator and tray icon;
• 4 different widget presets;
• Configurable units for temperature, wind, pressure, etc.;
• Supports multiple instances.

Here's the world's fastest and easiest tutorial on how to install Apache, MySQL and PHP on your Ubuntu system.

Step 1: Install Tasksel. [ sudo apt-get install tasksel]

Step 2: Run [ sudo tasksel ] on your Ubuntu terminal.

Step 3: Select LAMP. Press tab. Press OK.

Step 4: Follow on-screen instructions.
 



Congratulations! You're done!