Microsoft is all set to show off Windows 10 tonight.....

        At an event at its Redmond headquarters, the company will finally unveil the Consumer Preview of Windows 10, the next version of Windows, to the world. To be fair, some of us have already been playing with the Technical Preview, an early, unpolished version of Windows 10 that Microsoft released in September last year. But the Consumer Preview marks a special milestone: for the first time, Microsoft will show off brand new features that it hopes will set right everything that Windows 8 did wrong. Here are some of them listed...

1. Continuum
Sure, Windows 10 runs great on traditional laptops and desktops. But what if you have one of those newer, hybrid devices that combine a tablet with a detachable keyboard? Microsoft's solution to fix this problem was something called 'Continuum,' a feature that dynamically changes the user interface as soon as you snap a keyboard on or off. Check out the video below to get an idea of what it will look like.

2. Cortana
 Microsoft's intellligent voice-controlled assistants on its phones will finally be seen in Windows on your laptop and desktop. Talking to your computer isn't as natural as talking to your phone, so we'll have to wait and see if Cortana in Windows is really useful or just a gimmick. But at any rate, it will give Microsoft a one-up over Apple, which doesn't have Siri integrated into its own OS X operating system yet.

3. Support for more media formats
Are you an audiophile that prefers uncompressed FLAC audio over crummy little MP3 files? A serial downloader that gets their movies in open-source MKV? Windows 10 will support these file formats out of the box. Bye bye VLC.

4. Better XBOX integration
While it's unclear how exactly will Microsoft will bring Windows, the world's dominant desktop operating sytstem, and XBOX, one of the two biggest gaming platforms in the world together, rest assured that this will happen. Last year, CEO Satya Nadella made clear that XBOX was an integral part of Microsoft's Windows 10 strategy. Will we be able to stream XBOX One games right down to your Windows PC as some gamers are claiming? We'll find out tomorrow.


5. Windows Phone


Microsoft's mobile platform is just about hanging in there with a 3 percent market share around the world but the company isn't going to give up just yet. Expect Microsoft to unify the underlying code behind Windows and Windows Phone so make it easy for developers to write apps that will run on both desktop and mobile devices seamlessly.
 
 

Most Useful Ubuntu Utilities

8 Most Useful Ubuntu Utilities To Make Your Experience Better

          If you are a beginner in Ubuntu or an expert, it doesn’t matter, what we want is just to enrich your Ubuntu experience by every possible means. Ubuntu has much more to offer than initially it seems. You can refine the look of your Unity desktop, tweak the desktop to perform system maintenance and whatever else you wish to do. There are a huge array of utilities which can customise Ubuntu in a way that it meets all your needs. Here are eight best utilities or apps to make your Ubuntu experience much and much better.

1. Unity Tweak Tool:
       Unity Tweak Tool is the best example of customisation options on Ubuntu as it offers a set of system tweaks for both Ubuntu and Unity desktop. It’s packed with full of switches and control and you can configure Unity as however you wish. You can change the GTK theme and icon set without much hassle, adjust launcher size, add or remove workspaces and more. Unity Tweak Tool is available for free at the Software Center.

2. Disk Utility:
       This is an awesome utility application which allows easy management of any disk drive in the computer. Users can format, partition and erase hard drives easily and also clone, copy and backup from one disk to another one. It’s very helpful for a Ubuntu novice who is not very aware of the formatting and partition requirements in the operating system.

3. Proprietary Drivers:
       You must install proprietary drivers which allow hardware to function in a better way than open source drivers, which come with Ubuntu. It depends on your system’s hardware, if the drivers can be installed or not. The most common types of hardware which have these drivers available are AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards and Broadcom wireless chipsets. The drivers can be found at Software & Updates utility.

4. Graphical Firewall Config Utility:
          Install graphical firewall configuration utility to enable and configure a firewall for your Ubuntu system. Linux is usually immune to viruses but hackers can gain remote access to the systems if there is no firewall which protects network ports. Run the command: sudo apt-get install gufw and configure firewall.

5. WinFF: GUI for FFMPEG:
      It provides graphical user interface or GUI for FFmpeg. It also helps convert a video file to any format and WinFF can convert multiple files in multiple formats at one time. There are also a variety of preset conversion settings for common formats and devices in this package.

6. Unity Privacy Indicator:
           Privacy is a big issue and Privacy Indicator is a useful tool to help you stay informed about which files, folders and services are getting accessed and logged in your Ubuntu desktop. If you click on the ‘eye’ icon, you can enable the privacy settings on your system.

7. System Load Indicator:
       If you want to keep a tab on apps and your hardware status, then it’s an easy job on Linux. There is  no dearth of mediums through which you can monitor CPU usage, network traffic or GPU temperature. System Load Indicator is available from the Ubuntu Software Center which has a host of configuration options.

8. Disk Space Visualiser:
         In this era of hard drives which have huge storage options, we don’t worry much about disk space and all. But if there is smaller SSD and multiple partitions are run and a virtual machine is worked upon with a fixed size virtual disk, then freeing up disk space might become a huge requirement. GNOME Disk Space Visualiser, which comes as default in Ubuntu, is very useful for locating hidden logs, cache files and media files.

Top 10 Things To Do After Installing Fedora 21

     Several advance changes have been made to the latest version of Fedora.Following steps will help you in configuring a basic working system based on Fedora 21. This OS supports lots of applications and users can also start working as soon as Fedora is booted. 

Here are ten things which you need to do after installing Fedora 21:

1. Run command and configure GNOME Shell interface:

First make sure that you are using the latest updates from Fedora 21 repositories through this command:

$ sudo yum update.

Then configure default GNOME Shell. Use the Gnome Tweak Tool and to install run this command: 

$ sudo yum install gnome-tweak-tool. 

Open “Gnome Tweak Tool” from the applications menu, and configure the GUI options easily. You can also browse available tabs to see the available options.

2. Configure keyboard shortcuts:

There are several pre-configured shortcuts which are available with GNOME 3.14. There are some additional shortcuts too which might prove helpful for you. Search ‘keyboard’ in overview, open keyboard app and click on shortcuts tab. You can configure the existing shortcuts and you can also make additional shortcuts too by selecting custom shortcut from the bottom of the list.

 Click on + button and add the shortcut name as well as the command.

3. Install extra repositories:

The official repository of Fedora has not much software as there are patent and licensing issues. That’s why third party repositories are used just like other Linux based operating systems. Add RPMFusion repository to install applications and there are two repositories within RPMFusion. Enable the free repository and then that one which is not free. Install both the repositories.

4. Install Gnome Shell extensions:

After setting up Fedora 21 you have to include extensions. They are useful for users as these extensions will modify the GNOME Shell interface as per user requirements. Install the extensions via ‘Gnome Shell Extensions’ website. This is an official website of the Gnome project. Enter the website and choose the extensions you want. Install them with a single click only.

5. Install multimedia codecs:

Fedora doesn’t offer proprietary multimedia codecs which are important for playing media files. RPMFusion repositories have these codecs. After installing these repositories, you can install the necessary multimedia codecs through this command: 

$ sudo yum -y install gstreamer1-libav gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free-extras gstreamer1-plugins-bad-freeworld gstreamer1-plugsins-base-tools gstreamer1-plugins-good-extras gstreamer1-plugins-ugly gstreamer1-plugins-bad-free gstreamer1-plugins-good gstreamer1-plugins-base

6. Install VLC:

VLC is popular as it can play any video format. It also converts media formats and you can also extract audio from video files. It can also play online videos from YouTube. Install VLC by this command: 

$ sudo yum install vlc

 It can also be found in the RPMFusion repositories.

7. Install Yum fastest mirror plugin:

If you have a slow Internet connection then this plug-in can be really helpful. It automatically selects nearest mirror server available and it speeds up downloading packages process. Run this command to install it:

 $ sudo yum install yum-plugin-fastestmirror.

8. Install Flash Player:

Adobe flash player is the most popular one to view flash content. It’s a closed-source content and that’s why it’s not packed by Fedora officially. You can use the following command to add Adobe Flash Player repository to Fedora.

## Adobe Repository 32-bit x86 ##
 

$ sudo rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/adobe-release-i386-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
 

$ sudo rpm –import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux

## Adobe Repository 64-bit x86_64 ## 

$ sudo rpm -ivh http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/adobe-release/
adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm  

$ sudo rpm –import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-adobe-linux

Then install the flash player by running: 

$ sudo yum install flash-plugin nspluginwrapper alsa-plugins-pulseaudio libcurl

9. Install Chrome browser:

Gnome’s Epiphany has been replaced by Firefox in Fedora 21. If you want Google Chrome you can install it by downloading the binaries from the respective websites. From the Chrome download page, get the .rpm binaries as per your system’s requirement. Double click on the binaries or right click and choose ‘Open with Software Install”. Follow the given instructions there.

10. Install other desktop environments:

Some famous desktop environments such as Mate, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, etc.. are available for download from the official repositories for Fedora 21. To install Mate desktop run: $ sudo yum install @mate-desktop. To install KDE desktop run: 

$ sudo yum install @kde-desktop. 

To install XFCE desktop: 

$ sudo yum install @xfce-desktop. 

To install LXDE desktop run: 

$ sudo yum install @lxde-desktop. 

To install Cinnamon desktop run: 

$ sudo yum install @cinnamon-desktop.

The entire Internet may crash on June 30.......

 Internet may crash on June 30.......

         So here’s something interesting, 2015 is going to be a little longer than other years, quite literally, and we do mean little. In order to account for the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation, scientists have added one measly second to the calendar. Doesn’t make a difference right? Google thinks it does. Apparently, the addition of a second can break the Internet. So, Google is reportedly taking preemptive action for the same.

          

 The extra second will be added to the calendar on June 30, precisely at 11.59.60. How ? Well, clocks will stand still for an entire second in order to add the time. Even though hardly anyone will realise it, the day will have 86,401 seconds instead of 86,400 seconds. This will have consequences for the Internet and computers at large. This had happened back in 2012, when websites like LinkedIn, Reddit and Yelp had gone down. The reason for the same is that the extra second cause computers to malfunction as more and more computers sync with atomic clocks today, because of which, even the difference of one second could cause them to malfunction.

       Further, Google has reportedly figured out how to prevent websites from crashing during this time. The search giant will be adding a millisecond to its system clocks gradually, instead of pausing for a second on the day. As a result, the computers will be corrected over time and won’t have to count the same second twice. Let's hope it works

So here’s something interesting, 2015 is going to be a little longer than other years, quite literally, and we do mean little. In order to account for the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation, scientists have added one measly second to the calendar. Doesn’t make a difference right? Google thinks it does. Apparently, the addition of a second can break the Internet. So, Google is reportedly taking preemptive action for the same. - See more at: http://www.digit.in/internet/google-wants-to-stop-the-internet-from-crashing-on-june-30-24939.html#sthash.EC2y5Ccd.dpuf

So here’s something interesting, 2015 is going to be a little longer than other years, quite literally, and we do mean little. In order to account for the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation, scientists have added one measly second to the calendar. Doesn’t make a difference right? Google thinks it does. Apparently, the addition of a second can break the Internet. So, Google is reportedly taking preemptive action for the same. - See more at: http://www.digit.in/internet/google-wants-to-stop-the-internet-from-crashing-on-june-30-24939.html#sthash.EC2y5Ccd.dpuf

The entire Internet may crash on June 30 & Google wants to stop it

- See more at: http://www.digit.in/internet/google-wants-to-stop-the-internet-from-crashing-on-june-30-24939.html#sthash.EC2y5Ccd.dpuf

The entire Internet may crash on June 30 & Google wants to stop it

- See more at: http://www.digit.in/internet/google-wants-to-stop-the-internet-from-crashing-on-june-30-24939.html#sthash.EC2y5Ccd.dpuf

Big Tech Stories of 2015

        2015 will be an amazing year, and the amount of turmoil we will see likely will make 2014 look tame by comparison. Scandals, robots, elections, and the emergence of a variety of new technologies should define this space. As crazy as 2015 will be, 2016 is likely to be even crazier.

We'll have robots, self-driving cars, armed autonomous drones, the professional proliferation of head mounted cameras, some scandals, and some interesting political implications.

Wireless Everything:

          In 2015, we will begin to talk about the implementation of a number of technologies we saw previewed in 2014 and that will be introduced at CES next week. One of the biggest is resonance charging, which allows you to put a device in the vicinity of a charger and have it charge wirelessly. This will show up first for cellphones and tablets, and then later for laptops.

Mu-MIMO, which was announced this year, provides networking performance in line with gigabit switches. We'll move to 10 gigabit products in 2015, showcasing how incredibly fast this technology is advancing.

        We'll also move to shared WiFi hotspots more aggressively, so you can automatically connect to a WiFi network in a house or business that is part of the same network you already subscribe to. Oh, and while 4G has been talked up a lot this year, next year we'll start hearing more and more about 5G. Just as 4G made 3G look like crap, 5G will do the same to 4G. 5G is going to make a mess of WiFi and Bluetooth as well, because we are the tech market, and we like to mess with your heads.

Another Nail in Passwords' Coffin

We'll see biometrics move much more broadly. Already in a number of phones (mostly Apple), it will move aggressively into tablets and PCs. We should see a shift from fingerprint scanners to facial recognition as the way to get into our accounts.

We'll likely still need at least one more element -- a cellphone, tablet or PC -- to make sure we are who we say we are. The Blackberry solution of using the cellphone as a token also will become more widespread, since it provides an even more secure way to ensure we are who we say we are.

Sony RIP?

      Sony just showcased the extreme and powerful benefits to doing this and now this behavior will likely spread like wildfire. I expect the escalation will result in the release of emails and other internal documents that highlight just how badly some folks in power behave.

I also expect a lot of executives will be virtually unemployable when all the dust settles. There is even a possibility that the damage to the Sony brand will be unrecoverable, because its behavior likely will be showcased as the cause for the resulting mess. This is another reason Sony likely should have separated the content business from the rest of the company some time ago.

Glass vs. Sapphire

       A lot of the coverage of the scandal surrounding the failure of the Apple supplier to create the screens for the iPhone 6 seemed to revolve around implications the company was incompetent. In 2015, we'll likely better understand why sapphire just doesn't work as well as hardened glass.

Phones flex, but crystal doesn't, making it totally unacceptable for phones. However, we will see this battle recur over and over again in the coming year. 

Robots :

       Robots are advancing at an amazing/alarming rate. From robots used to drive cars to robots for manufacturing lines to robots flying armed aircraft, we will see a lot of amazing stories in 2015. Amazon replaced a large number of full time workers with robots in 2014, and it and other firms likely will accelerate this in 2015. I think we'll be surprised at how capable these machines will become and just what jobs are at risk.

On the other hand, we'll likely see far safer workplaces, safer roads, and safer skies as a result of this -- at least initially -- until Skynet goes live and they take over the world.

Head-Mounted Cameras and Displays

While Google has effectively killed Google Glass, due to really bad husbanding, it did effectively launch this class of hardware. There is now a massive amount of pressure to put cameras on police officers, and because head-mounted devices see what the officer sees, they likely will emerge as far better for both the officer and the citizen than those mounted on a shirt or car.

There have been huge successes in trials for doctors, technicians, assembly workers, and other professions in which it's beneficial to share what is being done with remote folks who can help, as well as see manuals while keeping hands free. 

Bad Analytics Stories:

         We've been rolling analytics platforms into the market and into companies and government agencies aggressively in 2014. Most of this stuff hasn't properly vetted the data going in. Nor have the efforts ensured that the executives who need the answers know how to use these systems.

I think that is going to result in stories about the massive amount of waste and bad decisions that resulted from these systems being implemented improperly and incompletely.

Windows 10

        This product has been far better than anything I've seen from Microsoft in years in terms of addressing the problems that kept people from buying or appreciating Windows 8. It works far more like Windows 7 and Windows XP did, but better. Though it still works better than those products did with touch, it doesn't require it.

        I think we'll be surprised how popular this platform will be, especially in business, which seems to have a love affair with it. This could be the closest thing Microsoft has to a Windows 95 moment since, well, Windows 95.

Google in the Headlines:

         Google, for good or bad, increasingly will be a news magnet. It is the company most of us are afraid of when it comes to someone developing a hostile AI. It is being forced out of some European countries, and the EU is talking about breaking it up.

This year, it brought out products (Google Glass) that got users beat up, and it doesn't seem to be learning from any of this. So I expect Google will be in the news a lot in 2015. 

Applied Social Media:

         I think we'll see a lot more focus on applied social media.

From consumer services like Nextdoor (which currently is doing a good job of protecting people from package theft) to business services like Ombud (which connects purchasing agents to make sure vendors aren't taking advantage of them), this idea of creating a specific social network designed to focus on a clearly defined need is proving to be very valuable.

Ashton Kutcher as Lenovo's Steve Jobs:

          I've been suggesting that the magic Steve Jobs created at Apple could be recreated with a charismatic executive who has a love for products. Lenovo is the only company giving this theory a shot, and the only firm that has been able to get the idea of a celebrity executive partnership to work.

Kutcher is personally husbanding Lenovo's next generation of tablets to market, and they are stunning. Lenovo's Yoga offerings already represent some of the best in their product class -- but to break out, you need magic and Kutcher apparently plans to bring it.

This should all come together next week, and we'll then know whether you really can recreate some of the old Steve Jobs Apple magic at another company.

I should point out that the only reason this seems to be working is that Kutcher studied to be an engineer (so he talks the language), does have a passion for hardware (isn't just a paid shill), and has a chip on his shoulder because he was criticized for playing Steve Jobs in the movie so he has something to prove.

All of this will work into the stories of 2015. By the way, this is the Yoga version he had the biggest impact on.   

Apple Watch:

       Speaking of Apple, the wearable space still doesn't have a defined reason for being, and products are all over the map. The only vendor that has demonstrated it can pull the market together on an idea in recent years is Apple, and the Apple Watch should at least drive some focus into the market.

In addition, this will be the true test of Tim Cook, because this will be the first high-profile new segment product that will be launched under his leadership. Regardless, it undoubtedly will pull a lot of interest.

Nextbook Windows 2-in-1 Tablet

        Typically, products in this class that run full Windows 8, not Windows RT, hit price points above $750 -- and often are nearly twice that. This is at a price point below where netbooks played and Chromebooks play, and both of those products are crippled -- at least when compared to a fully featured product. The Nextbook even has an impressive seven hours of battery life and four processor cores.

I think this is going to break open products in this price range and both fuel a stronger response by Microsoft against the Google Chromebook and put a massive amount of pressure on the PC segment to reduce prices to never-seen-before lows.