Review on Blogarious

A brief comparison of GTK+ and Qt

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I used to like C language, because it is a basic of programming, and it is portable, and it is low-level. When writing program with C language, it is just like showing off your advanced programming skill, how you manage the memory, how you manage the pointers and creating the linked list. However, in terms of efficiency, C++ is much more powerful, because of object-oriented and the syntax.

Because I like C language, so I chose GTK+ over Qt for long time ago. Not only that, I am also fond of GTK+ desktop environments like GNOME, Xfce4, LXDE, Cinnamon, but not Mate. I feel that KDE is heavy weight.

Multilingual programming

Thu, 21 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I involve in various projects. And they are using different technologies. I am fervent in programming because it conforms to my theological and philosophical perspective.

The languages and technology I am currently using: AngularJS and NodeJS, .NET MVC with C# Mono, and Ruby on Rails. Other related technologies: Nginx, AWS, migrations, Bootstrap CSS, etc. Besides that, my background is strong fundamental C, C++, and PHP skills; have good experience on Python; some experiences on Java, Android, Perl, and VB Script.

Dell Vostro 5459 review and setup

Mon, 15 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Due to the changes of the career, I invested on Dell Vostro 5459, after a long survey. I chose it because it is compatible to Linux. The compatibility to Linux meaning that, all the hardware devices are accessible by Linux. Besides that, it has the NVIDIA graphic card, which allows me to use GPGPU to do my research and study. Moreover, I can play high quality 3D graphics games.

Ubuntu

So, the laptop I bought was pre-installed with Ubuntu. And, I was impressed by the Ubuntu first boot video, which can be found here.

Review of movie Project Almanac (2015)

Fri, 19 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I like science fiction movie, especially related to time travelling. Watched Project Almanac (2015), and there are quite a lot of interesting points.

[WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Firstly, unlike Back to the Future (1985), time travellers going back will not meet the time travellers selves, this can be seen when the protagonist and the friends solve Quinn’s chemistry problem. Secondly, unlike Time Traveler’s Wife (2009), travelling to the past can change the future; yet in Time Traveler’s Wife the timeline is fixed, there is only one, single, timeline.

Desktop Environment and Window Manager

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

As using Arch Linux, the advantage is I can choose any Desktop Environment or any Window Manager. Recently, I have tried several Desktop Environments and Window Managers which are officially supported in Arch Linux. After trying, I learnt the differences and similarities among these Desktop Environments and Window Managers.

Desktop Environment

My primary Desktop Environment is Xfce4. Previously was GNOME 2. Since the release of GNOME 3, I chose Xfce4 as it is more conventional and there a lot of useful goodies (plugins). It is also lighter than GNOME.

Linux VS Windows

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Recently my friend mentioned to me that, Windows is good enough for him, as long as he can complete his works. Then I argued with him, saying Linux is better. Then he asked me, in what sense. I suddenly don’t have any concrete answer.

As Linux user for several years, I already forgot why am I using Linux instead of Windows. I only remember that Linux is more developer oriented than Windows. There should have some other reasons that convince me to remain Linux user and some reasons make me keen of it. Thus, I have to compare two OSes so that I can give concrete answers next time.

Choosing Linux distros

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Linux is something wonderful, which until today I am still learning. Not only the command-line, but also filesystem, distributions, philosophies, open source, packaging, Linux kernel, desktop environment, etc…

It is very interesting to know why there are so many Linux distros. As I was a newbie in Linux, I was thinking on how to choose the distros and what are the differences of these distros. Some users state that Linux is the kernel, not a Linux distribution. And even some users say that whatever Linux distribution, it can be customised until identical to the other distribution (interface only).

Reasons to install and not to install Arch Linux

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Preface

I am Arch Linux fan. Recently, I discovered a distro, Fuduntu, which stated that it is optimised for laptop and netbook use. This increases my interest due to battery draining problem for my old netbook. Though my old netbook was installed with Arch Linux using LXDE, the battery can only last for only 1 hour. That is why, I think I am going to switch to Fuduntu. However, after installation of Fuduntu, then I found some problems like missing the packages FreeFileSync and VisualBoyAdvance, and also failed to install Wine because of dependencies error. This made me regret to uninstall Arch Linux from my netbook, because installing Arch Linux is really exhaustive.

Firefox or Chromium (Google Chrome)

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, again web browser. I am using Firefox. Only sometimes Chromium (Google Chrome). Mainly Firefox. If someone ask me, which one I choose, I definitely answer Firefox. But, if someone ask me, which one I prefer, then it will be difficult to answer.

Firstly, I would like to go through why I choose Firefox as my primary web browser.

Because of DownThemAll. There is no alternative extension in Google Chrome like DownThemAll. Why I like DownThemAll so much? I use DownThemAll with GreaseMonkey to download my favourite mangas (comics). This is something Google Chrome still cannot do it, based on my current knowledge. GreaseMonkey generates the links, right-click, then I DownThemAll.

A review on several Linux major distribution with LiveCD

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Use Arch Linux quite a while, I like the “pacman” command-line, simple and easy installing packages. Then I think about the other package managers such as deb with aptitude, rpm with yum or zypper or urpmi, how will they look like? Because of this, I tried several LiveCDs/LiveDVDs with VirtualBox: LinuxMint 13, Ubuntu 12.04, Fedora 17, OpenSUSE 12.1, Debian 6.0, CentOS 6.2, PCLinuxOS 2012.02, and Mageia 2.

I didn’t go through all the distribution thoroughly, just tried the installation, a web-browser, and the package manager.

GNOME3 still not satisfying

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I am still currently using Xfce4. I tried GNOME3 sometimes after some updates released. However, GNOME3 is still not satisfying. There are a lot problems. The new interface can be learnt, but the problems are not the interface problem.

The following list is the problems I faced:

ibus can be added to the notification area with ibus-gjs, but after installing ibus-gjs and restart GNOME3, ibus doesn’t start as expected.
Toolbar problem. In evince (I haven’t tried others), if add a button to the toolbar, I cannot remove that button anymore.
If the network connection is disabled, eg, Wired network is disabled, I cannot change the options. I can only change the options for those which is connected.
When changing the options of Wired network for all users, there is no authentication prompt, thus, I cannot change any options.
Keyboard shortcut problem with Windows key (Mod4). Cannot work properly.

The only feature I like in GNOME3 is the aero snap feature. But there is nothing more.

GNOME Commander for Ubuntu

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

When I was using Windows to manage my files, I always open a lot of windows to move my files. Even the window is already open, I will open a new window. Because it is difficult for me to find the opened windows. And my taskbar will full of tasks.

So, I tried to find a Windows Explorer replacement. Tried all the best free file managers by Gizmo’s Freeware. Then, only FreeCommander fulfils my needs. There is no need to open a lot of windows.

Review of Wubi input method and Cangjie input method

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I learnt Cangjie input method before. Difficult to learn, difficult to memorize. Give up finally. Cangjie input is target on Traditional Chinese characters.

Recently, I tried Wubi input method, which is target on Simplified Chinese characters. Compare to Cangjie, it is easier to learn, easier to memorize. Not because the poem, but the rule of stroke layout on the keyboard is systematic. And I am learning Wubi 86 version.

So, using these input method, I can type the Chinese character without knowing how to pronounce the word. It is an alternative input method I think I need to learn.

My favourite Thunderbird add-ons

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Since I tried on Evolution of Ubuntu, an email client just like Microsoft Outlook, with PIM (Personal Information Manager) features, allows using IMAP, and allows synchronization. I really like it. So I tried to install Evolution for Windows. However, Evolution for Windows cannot work properly on Windows 7. Then, I need to switch back to Thunderbird. Since I like the feature of PIM and the synchronization with GMail and Google Calendar, I have installed following add-ons:

Try out Ubuntu, Wubi, and Portable Ubuntu Remix

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Ubuntu, in my opinion, is a great Linux distribution. There are several ways to let you try out Ubuntu. After download the CD, I can burn it to the CD and boot from the CD. I can try Ubuntu as a LiveCD. I can also boot it from a USB pendrive like a CD.

When installation, I can create a new partition on my harddisk. I can install it on the logical partition and boot from there. Unlike FreeBSD, which needs to be installed on a primary partition. Not only that, I can also install Ubuntu side by side with the same partition with other OS (such as Windows). This is special.

JPrayer not works in Linux

Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I just found that, the JPrayer Clock I built cannot run properly in Linux. The prayers didn’t show up, including the tray icon. Might be the file path problem.

Now I think ChromePlus is better

Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Previously, I compared ChromePlus and SRWare Iron. Today, I think ChromePlus is better. Google Chrome 6.x beta already released. But SRWare Iron still using Chromium 4.x. That is why, I tried out ChromePlus, which uses Chromium 5.x. And there is no problem to play the WMA files. So, I choose ChromePlus now.

Besides that, there is also Linux version for ChromePlus.

From MS Office to OpenOffice

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I already switched from MS Office to OpenOffice for some time. But most of my friends and colleagues still use MS Office. At my workplace, most of the people are using MS Office. Some of them use MS Office 2007. I introduced OpenOffice to friends, but switching from one environment to another needs some time for adaption. So, normally they reject.

Why I want to use OpenOffice? Firstly, it is free. You can get it without paying any money, and do not have any license issue Secondly, it is open source. If you are developer, you can study and contribute. Thirdly, it is cross-platform. If you are not working with Windows, but Linux or FreeBSD, then how do you use MS Office? May be you will say that, “Why Linux? Why FreeBSD? We have Windows already.” Very good, you are very loyal, then go ahead. For me, learning more than one skill is always better. Fourthly, OpenOffice can satisfy my works: documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Success booting PC-BSD through USB flash drive

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Hahaha. When I wrote my previous post, I found that I possibly made a mistake when copying the IMG image to USB pendrive. Yes, I used “dd” incorrectly because I didn’t know how to use it exactly.

This was how I used “dd” in Linux:

dd if=PC-BSD-7.1.1-x86.img of=/dev/sdb1 bs=1024

Now, the problem was the “/dev/sdb1”. We should use “/dev/sdb” instead of “/dev/sdb1”. This is because “sdb1” indicates the partition, yet “sdb” indicates the drive. And I should copy (dd) the whole file system and data of IMG to the drive, not to the partition. That was why, after I used the statement above, I still found that my pendrive was in FAT32 format.

Difficulties for installing PC-BSD

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I like Unix philosophy. I like open source. I want to install PC-BSD to my netbook, but finally I realised that I failed to do so. I have tried several ways, then I give up now.

Actually, I preferred to install FreeBSD. But FreeBSD is targeted for server, so I choose PC-BSD. And PC-BSD has GUI installation, which makes everything easier (I tried it on VMware). So, I downloaded DVD ISO image. Then, I tried to use UNetbootin, since the site mentioned that it supports to create LiveUSB for FreeBSD 6.3 and 7.0. I assumed that it can also support for PC-BSD which is based on FreeBSD. However, I failed.