Peter Vatistas

Although its nice not having to rely on anything Microsoft anymore there are some things I need to properly do my job, one of which is testing our websites on all web browsers through dev. I recently came across this neat application that allows me to run Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (IE4, IE5, & IE6) on Ubuntu (as well as most distro’s of Linux).

IEs4Linux also is working hard on their next release which allows “us” Linux users to run Microsoft IE7!! I’ve been playing with the beta release of Internet Explorer 7 on Ubuntu and you can download the beta here.

IEs4Linux is probably the easiest app I have installed and works wonderfully in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). It’s there when I need it and it’s fast, all three versions.

To install IEs4Linux you have to enable universe packages first. It is also recommended that you use the official winehq ubuntu package:

1) Open a terminal

2) Open /etc/apt/sources.list

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

3) Uncomment (or add) following lines:

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu edgy universe

4) Add this line:

deb http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt edgy main

5) Close gedit. Update and install wine and cabextract:

wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine cabextract

6) Download IEs 4 Linux and install

wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux

Note for Dapper users: if you use ubuntu dapper, replace edgy with dapper on lines above. Note for Feisty users (7.04): if you use ubuntu Feisty, replace edgy with feisty in the lines above. Also replace gedit with kedit if running Kubuntu instead of Ubuntu.

For more information or steps to install on other distro’s please visit IEs4Linux.

If you find this application useful please donate here - this open source app was developed by Sérgio Luís Lopes Júnior, a 21 year old college student in Brazil. I always donate - it is really important to keep these guys (and kids) going.

I get a lot of emails from people whom want to know which applications I prefer in Windows. Although this is both a loaded question and a very broad one, I will try to answer this the best I can and will definitely update it from time to time.

Favorite FTP Application: WinSCP

Favorite Telnet & SSH Application: PuTTY

Favorite Internet Browser: Firefox 2 & Safari

Favorite Imaging Software: Adobe Photoshop CS3 - Open Source: Gimp

Favorite Instant Messanger: Application: Trillian - Web Based: Meebo

Favorite Text Editor (HTML, CSS, etc): Edit Plus 2

Favorite CD/DVD & ISO Software: MagicISO

Favorite Office Suite: Microsoft Office 2007 - Open Source: Open Office & Star Office

Favorite Compression & Encryption Software: WinRAR

Favorite Blogging Software: Windows Live Writer

Favorite AntiVirus/Malware Software: Eset NOD32

Favorite Email Client: Microsoft Outlook 2007 (for exchange) - Open Source: Mozilla Thunderbird 2

Favorite BitTorrent Application: Azureus

This list is way from a complete one and to be honest I have been moving away from Windows all together and replacing them with Mac’s. Sorry Microsoft guys - I have been bit by the Apple bug. I also have a laptop running Fedora 8 and I’ll make sure I write a favorite’s list for both Apple and Linux soon.

I’ve been playing around with Mozilla’s Firefox 3 Beta 1 and so far I like what I see (keyword “see”). The GUI is much more smooth and fluid but after several seconds it crashes - even in safe mode (with everything disabled). I am testing Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 on a Windows Vista machine so not much of a surprise that it crashed so I will download and install it on Leopard OS X and I’ll let you guys know how it goes.

So whats new in Firefox 3 you ask? Firefox 3 Beta 1 is based on the new Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 27 months and includes nearly 2 million lines of code changes, fixing more than 11,000 issues. Gecko 1.9 includes some major re-architecting for performance, stability, correctness, and code simplification and sustainability. Firefox 3 has been built on top of this new platform resulting in a more secure, easier to use, more personal product with a lot under the hood to offer website and Firefox add-on developers.

More Security

* One click site info: Click the site favicon in the location bar to see who owns the site. Identity verification is prominently displayed and easier to understand. In later versions, Extended Validation SSL certificate information will be displayed.
* Malware Protection: malware protection warns users when they arrive at sites which are known to install viruses, spyware, trojans or other malware. You can test it here (note: our blacklist of malware sites is not yet activated).
* New Web Forgery Protection page: the content of pages suspected as web forgeries is no longer shown. You can test it here.
* New SSL error pages: clearer and stricter error pages are used when Firefox encounters an invalid SSL certificate.
* Add-ons and Plugin version check: Firefox now automatically checks add-on and plugin versions and will disable older, insecure versions.
* Secure add-on updates: to improve add-on update security, add-ons that provide updates in an insecure manner will be disabled.
* Anti-virus integration: Firefox will inform anti-virus software when downloading executables.
* Vista Parental Controls: Firefox now respects the Vista system-wide parental control setting for disabling file downloads.

Easier to Use

* Easier password management: an information bar replaces the old password dialog so you can now save passwords after a successful login.
* Simplified add-on installation: the add-ons whitelist has been removed making it possible to install extensions from third-party sites in fewer clicks.
* New Download Manager: the revised download manager makes it much easier to locate downloaded files.
* Resumable downloading: users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting your network connection.
* Full page zoom: from the View menu and via keyboard shortcuts, the new zooming feature lets you zoom in and out of entire pages, scaling the layout, text and images.
* Tab scrolling and quickmenu: tabs are easier to locate with the new tab scrolling and tab quickmenu.
* Save what you were doing: Firefox will prompt users to save tabs on exit.
* Optimized Open in Tabs behavior: opening a folder of bookmarks in tabs now appends the new tabs rather than overwriting.
* Location and Search bar size can now be customized with a simple resizer item.
* Text selection improvements: Multiple text selections can be made with Ctrl/Cmd; Double-click drag selects in “word-by-word” mode; Triple-clicking selects a paragraph.
* Find toolbar: the Find toolbar now opens with the current selection.
* Plugin management: users can disable individual plugins in the Add-on Manager.
* Integration with Vista: Firefox’s menus now display using Vista’s native theme.
* Integration with the Mac: Firefox now uses the OS X spellchecker and supports Growl for notifications of completed downloads and available updates.

More Personal

* Star button: quickly add bookmarks from the location bar with a single click; a second click lets you file and tag them.
* Tags: associate keywords with your bookmarks to sort them by topic.
* Location bar & auto-complete: type the title or tag of a page in the location bar to quickly find the site you were looking for in your history; favicons, bookmark, and tag indicators help you see where results are coming from.
* Smart Places Folder: quickly access your recently bookmarked and tagged pages, as well as you more frequently visited pages with the new smart places folder on your bookmark toolbar.
* Bookmarks and History Organizer: advanced search of your history and bookmarks with multiple views and smart folders to store your frequent searches.
* Web-based protocol handlers: web applications, such as your favorite webmail provider, can now be used instead of desktop applications for handling mailto: links from other sites. Similar support is available for other protocols (Web applications will have to first enable this by registering as handlers with Firefox).
* Easy to use Download Actions: a new Applications preferences pane provides a better UI for configuring handlers for various file types and protocol schemes.

Improved Platform for Developers

* New graphics and font handling: new graphics and text rendering architectures in Gecko 1.9 provides rendering improvements in CSS, SVG as well as improved display of fonts with ligatures and complex scripts.
* Native Web page forms: HTML forms on Web pages now have a native look and feel on Mac OS X and Linux (Gnome) desktops.
* Color management: (set gfx.color_management.enabled on in about:config and restart the browser to enable.) Firefox can now adjust images with embedded color profiles.
* Offline support: enables web applications to provide offline functionality (website authors must add support for offline browsing to their site for this feature to be available to users).
* A more complete overview of Firefox 3 for developers is available for website and add-on developers.

Improved Performance

* Reliability: A user’s bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are now stored in a transactionally secure database format which will prevent data loss even if their system crashes.
* Speed: Major architectural changes (such as the move to Cairo and a rewrite to how reflowing a page layout works) put foundations in place for major performance tuning which have resulted in speed increases in Beta 1, and will show further gains in future Beta releases.
* Memory usage: Over 300 individual memory leaks have been plugged, and a new XPCOM cycle collector completely eliminates many more. Developers are continuing to work on optimizing memory use (by releasing cached objects more quickly) and reducing fragmentation.

A more complete, yet “unofficial” list of Firefox 3 changes with their bug numbers is available at the Burning Edge website.

Click here to download the latest beta of Firefox 3.0 now!

I just got turned on to this neat little application and I am hooked!

Music Rescue is an application that allows you to copy your (or anyone else’s) tracks to any computer you choose. If you’re not allowed to install iTunes (like at school or work), simply install Music Rescue onto your iPod at home and it’ll be available wherever you go - Mac or PC.

I installed Music Rescue on my Mac and all I had to do was plug in my iPhone and it transfered everything over, in MP3 format!! I grabbed my buddies video iPod and downloaded his entire library - all 22,000 MP3’s (which I quickly deleted because that is considered illegal… LOL). I now have a little over 44,000 MP3’s and growing! I totally recommend this application for any of you who have been burned by iTunes (I have lost hundreds of songs in the past and I can’t re-download them) or for the guys who just want to build their library like mad!!

KennettNet’s Music Rescue

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac v12.0.0 Beta Expiration CRACK: Forced to remove from this post…

In the USA we have freedom of speech, you have the right to speak freely… that is until lawyers don’t want you to. Sorry guys.

“04 February 2008

Dear Sir or Madam,

Microsoft has received information that the domain listed above, which appears to be on servers under your control, is offering unlicensed copies of, or is engaged in other unauthorized activities relating to copyrighted works published by Microsoft.

1. Identification of copyrighted works:

Copyrighted work(s):
Office 2008 for Mac Beta

Copyright owner:
Microsoft Corporation

2. Copyright infringing material or activity found at the following location(s): http://www.peter-v.com/50/microsoft-office-2008-for-mac-v1200-beta-expiration-crack/

The above location is offering ‘Cracks’ or ‘Product Keys’, intended to circumvent technical measures that control access to Microsoft’s copyrighted works and that protect Microsoft’s copyrights in those works.

3. Statement of authority:

The information in this notice is accurate, and I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that I am authorized to act on behalf of Microsoft, the owner of the copyright(s) in the work(s) identified above. I have a good faith belief that none of the materials or activities listed above have been authorized by Microsoft, its agents, or the law.

We hereby give notice of these activities to you and request that you take expeditious action to remove or disable access to the material described above, and thereby prevent the unauthorized distribution of these cracks or product keys via your company’s network.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Please advise us regarding what actions you take.”

I love this tool and I am not sure why I haven’t written about it before. Instead of making changes to your site then refreshing to see the results, Firebug for Firefox allows you to make changes on the fly, in real time with the ability to see the results immediately - no more refresh button!!

I use this tool on my sites to edit, debug, and monitor changes to my HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I definitely thing you should give it a try and make sure to check out the sweet tutorials on YouTube.

Click here for the Firebug information & download page.

This morning I listed to Dane Cook’s new live album called “Rough Around the Edges” and right off the bat I thought it was a hit! The one thing I really like about Dane Cook is he always manages to bring jokes together, wether it be shitting on the coat’s or calling someone “Gaylord” and “Chief”, he always makes it work and when you least expect it.

I am not sure if this album is better than his last but at the very least it rocks and I spent the entire morning laughing my ass off! It is definitely worth the $$ to download it from iTunes or even picking it up at the record store.  

Do you guys think this one rocked?

I received a copy of Microsoft’s Office 2008:Mac Beta which I quickly installed on my fresh new Leopard OS X Mac a few weeks back. I really wish I would have known to look for Microsoft’s expiration date on this beta release, now I am stuck having to downgrade and re-sync my exchange email accounts with the crap-ass Outlook 2004!!

The worst part about it is Microsoft hasn’t mentioned anything about releasing an updated beta license or download! Does anyone know what is going on? Any news on the next 2008 release? Got a work around?? 

I really wish there was a good alternative to Microsoft’s Outlook for Mac using exchange and not using IMAP or POP either!! I think it would be sick if Apple Mail had true exchange support with tie in to their calendar and etc… If you are aware of a solution out there that would allow me to cut the cord from Microsoft all together than let me know, I would love to see what I am missing!! 

Here is a great tool I use a lot to find passwords on my computer and passwords across the network on all computers. SpotAuditor can scan your network’s IP Range using any credentials you give it (Admin rights preferably) and it will spit out passwords typed in or stored from every computer it see’s. Spot Auditor can also reveal visited URL’s, installed programs, and passwords under asteriks (i.e. ******).

Download it for free with the link I provide below and see how helpful SpotAuditor really is! If you’re a network Administrator I would make sure these aren’t sitting on employee computers, big problem!

SpotAuditor Password Recovery Software - Compatible with Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista

I think it sucks that Frosty Heidi and Frank are gone for good here in Arizona and 101.5FM is now mostly music. Although I wasn’t a big fan of Adam Carolla’s morning show I did like afternoons with Frosty Heidi & Frank as well as evenings with Tom Leykis (sometimes). I am not really sure what actually happened but when it did everything went to “Free Paris” and since then it’s been hip hop and the morning show Kid & Reuben (which IMO blows). I totally thought by now one of those shows from 101.5 Free FM would have come back to Arizona but unfortunately they haven’t.

I am sure there are a lot of you out there that also liked these shows and feel the same way I do so I will provide you guys with a link at the end of this post to the 101.5 Free FM website where you can get the latest podcasts from your favorite shows. Tonight I downloaded all the shows I have missed from Frosty Heidi & Frank, about 80 of them (LOL) and I also will place their podcast RSS feeds on my sidebar for you to download anytime.

The best morning show currently is JohnJay and Rich, these guys are awesome! They always keep it fresh with tons of stories, lots of stars, and always manage to make me launch my morning soda out of my nose at least once a week - they are that funny! You can listen to them every morning on 104.7 Kiss FM and see them here:

I would love to hear what you think about this and who knows, if enough people piss and moan maybe we can get their show back!

101.5 Free FM