English Blog – Page 5

Can’t we get an easier & handy software installation process in Ubuntu?

After eying the title of this post, you must be astonished – why on earth I am saying that Ubuntu needs an ‘easier‘ and ‘handy‘ software installation process! Software Installation in Ubuntu is already a breeze. All one have to do is just heading to the Ubuntu Software Center, find/choose what software one needs and then hit the install button. Or one can download the .deb package and double click it to install the program. The installed program is ready for one in no time. Anyone have to admit that it is really pretty easy, even easier than Windows (where you have to click lots of ‘Next’ buttons during the installation process).

This whole procedure is easy if the computer is connected to the internet. What if the computer is in offline? You’re probably wondering who doesn’t have internet now a days! Actually there are a lots of them. Such as in my country Bangladesh, internet is not available to the majority of the computer users. Even though the minority gets the benefit of internet, they don’t have blazing fast speed. An average home user gets 10 kbps to 15 kbps download speed. Which is quite a low speed for downloading. And obviously majority users are using Windows. As there is a scarcity of internet and proper download speed, people download necessary software installer from some online computers and then use that downloaded installer to several other offline computers to install the program.

Now compare the scenario with an Ubuntu installed offline PC. Probably the easiest way to install a software in an offline Ubuntu computer is using the Keryx. It can keep track of the source ppa and dependencies, which is quite awesome. But still not easy enough to handle for a newbie. How? Well… firstly, using a third party software to install programs is a bit ‘scary‘. Secondly, if any one wants to share the downloaded file with others then it will be a problem. Suppose I have an offline Ubuntu computer and I want to install some program. So I take my flash drive (which have Keryx inside it) and connect it to a computer which has the internet connection. Then I download the desired program with the Keryx, and install it in my offline computer. It is easy. But what if I want to install that same downloaded program to another offline Ubuntu PC? There are sure chances that the dependencies in the second PC will be conflicted. Because it downloads the dependencies according to the first PC, so the second PC will suffer from dependency issues. And that is a nightmare for an average computer user. So as a result, previously mentioned “download with one computer and install in several different computers” theory does not work here smoothly.

To be frankly, the average users don’t give a damn about the dependencies. They don’t want to search the web to find out which libraries (and which versions) are required to install a specific program. They need the system to be ‘just worked’. I’ve seen many users who are very much afraid to use Ubuntu as they don’t have internet connection in there home. And they don’t want to jumble themselves with the dependency hell.

My point is to find out that whether it is possible to implement a more easier and handy software installation process for the offline computers (like MacOSX may be). All the dependencies will be packed in a single package for a certain program. (Please don’t be confused with the projects like portable linux apps. I am talking about a complete software installation.) The user just need to download that file and drag-n-drop that file (like MacOSX) to some places (may be in the Application lens) or double click the file (like the .deb files) for installation. Or may be we can figure out a smarter way to accomplish this. Thus it would be much more handy for the newbie users as well as the offline users.

I am not sure if I made my point clear. In recent days, Ubuntu emphasis on the looks-n-feels for the users. I think it is also important to simplify the software installation process for the newcomers as well as for all the offline users. To my view it is one of the important bottle neck. May be it is a dumb idea. Some of you may point your finger to the security issues. But I didn’t find any simpler idea than this for helping the offline users. Any thought on this? Any other idea?

It’s time for FireFoxFour!

Just installed the long awaited Firefox 4. Right now I am writing this post from FF4. I am a huge fan of FF for the last few years (from FF2 more precisely). With new look-n-feel and cool features, FF4 will sure rock your browsing experience.

To download Firefox go here. Ubuntu users can install FF4 via PPA. It has not been added to the Ubuntu official repository (yet), but why keep your Ubuntu awaiting! You can install FF4 in Lucid and Maverick following the process below:

Go to Applications > Ubuntu Software Center from the top panel.
Head to Edit > Software Sources and click the ‘Other Software’ tab.
Press ‘Add’ button and then paste the following line into the relevant field to add the PPA. [code]ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable[/code]
After adding the PPA you will be prompted to update your sources.
Once the update is done you can head to System > Administration > Update Manager to perform an upgrade.
Thus FF4 will be installed in the system.

You can do the above processes via the Terminal easily and quickly. For this:

From the top panel go to Applications > Terminal.
In the terminal just enter the following command and give your password when asked. This will add the PPA to your Ubuntu repository. [code]sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable[/code]
Now run the following command in the terminal
[code]sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade[/code]

So your Ubuntu is all set with FireFoxFour! To see what’s new in Firefox 4, check out the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv_sq5zpN0M

And there is a Firefox4 Twitter party going on HERE. You can join there and celebrate the party with other Firefox users! Happy FFFing!!

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable

Reaching Out to Japan

It’s been nearly a week that Japan was almost annihilated in a catastrophic tsunami. While Japan is trying to overcome damages and casualties after the heart-breaking catastrophe, the Ubuntu Community has set up a website for users to send a message of support to the Japanese Ubuntu LoCo team as well as the people of Japan. You can add your name and show your support for the Japanese at that website.

Though the sentiment and well wishes are great comforts after such a calamity, in times such as these, it will be very palpable if you can help and reach those affected people financially by bringing the most immediate benefit for them. Google has more details on how you can help financially.

Highlights of the Opening Ceremony of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

Here is the highlights of the opening ceremony of ICC cricket World Cup 2011, that was held yesterday at Bongobondhu Stadium, Dhaka. I myself missed the live broadcast, so I’d to depend on the online videos of the ceremony.

Overall the whole ceremony was a tremendous success. I really could not remember when was the last time World Cup Cricket got such an warm welcome! The fascinating performances of the various artists from the different countries, the spectacular entrance of 14 captains riding rickshaws, the laser-cricket-play – all are marvelous. Well… to be frankly… the speeches from the political leaders seemed bit irritating to me, but that is the most negligible part… actually nothing comparing to the main events of the ceremony!

The crowd reserved its biggest cheer for Shakib Al Hasan's arrival © AFP — The crowd reserved its biggest cheer for Sakib Al Hasan's arrival © AFP

Beautiful Bangladesh – the School of Life

It is the most spectacular and fascinating short-video on Bangladesh I’ve ever seen. Within almost 3 minutes it covers almost the whole Bangladesh! It’s amazing. After watching the video (over and over) I realized (again) how beautiful my country is! Thanks to Gazi Shuvro for creating such a stunning video on Bangladesh. This video is actually created for Tourism Board of Bangladesh to promote tourism in Bangladesh. Enjoy the video.

To watch the HQ version of this video please CLICK HERE.

School of Spirit…
School of Bravery…
School of Talent…
School of Playfulness…
School of Celebration…
School of Happiness…
School of Hope…
School of Mysticism…
School of Freedom…
School of Adventure…
School of Togetherness…
School of Art…
Welcome to the School of Life… Admission going on!

Database for I02

Following is a form to create a database to store all the informations about the students of IUT-02 batch. If you are an IUTian02, then please fill up this form. For the privacy issue, the database is not shared. But if you are an IUTian02 and if you need all the data of your friends from I02, then please contact me with your Gmail ID and I’ll share the info with you. If you want to share this form with other I02s, then simply refer them the following link:

https://adnan.quaium.com/blog/1773

If you face any problem filling this form, or if you have any inquiry or suggestion, then feel free to leave me a comments below. You can also use the Facebook Share button, Twitter button, Buzz Button from the right side of this page or any social bookmarks from the bottom of this page to share or spread this form.

Help us to build a complete database of our batch. Cheers Guys!!

😎

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1)

Just watched the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) couple of hours ago in the theater! I have been waiting for this movie since I’ve heard that the last book of Harry Potter is going to be split in to two parts for the movie. To be frankly, the fast story rolling of the Goblet of Fire, the Order of Phoenix and the Half Blood Prince slightly disappointed me. Those movies did not portrait the full story of the respective books, merely they were the highlights of the story books. So when I came to know that, they are going to split the last movie to keep the flavor of the story intact, I was really thrilled. I could not wait to watch the movie!

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Story:

For not to spoil the viewers experience, I am not going to reveal the actual story, rather I am giving an overall idea of the story. This is the First part of the Seventh book of Harry Potter series. As the continuation of the last movie (Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince), Dumbledore is dead and Harry Potter is still the Chosen One, upon whom the followers of Dumbledore still keep the faith. He leaves the Privet Drive. He decided to search the remaining Horcruxes and destroyed them. Along with Harry, his two best friends Ron and Hermione have decided not to go back to Hogwarts this year. Instead they involved in a secret mission of destroying the Horcruxes. But that secret mission became the journey of a lifetime, where they found their goal of life, re-discovered themselves as well as their friendship, lost some of their dearest friends, overcome their innermost fears, and unrevealed mysteries of pasts.

The Review:

As I mentioned earlier, to keep the original flavor of the book this movie is split into two parts. And they did not disappoint me. David Yates really did an amazing job. Not only him but also Daniel, Rupert and Emma delivered quite a good acting. The first thing about this is, it’s not a children movie anymore. Harry, Ron and Hermione were no more that kid wizard. They have grown up. They are more matured now. The maturity is clear. Almost the whole movie is about these three bosom friends, other characters do not have that much significant appearance. But that really does not matter, because one can hardly feel the absence of other characters. Moreover, this time, the director tried really hard not to speed up the story, rather he took it slowly and steadily. Which in fact, was a good move. Also there are some minor changes from the main story. The action sequence was really good, especially the ambush scene when Hagrid flew Harry away to the Burrow from the Private Drive. Also the part of depicting the Tale of the Deathly Hallows with a nice animation is really a superb touch.

But still there are some shortages (or flaws perhaps). Such as Hogwarts’ takeover or Harry missing and thinking about Ginny have been totally ignored, though there is a small scene of Hogwarts Express and a glimpse on Neville was there. Also the part of Ollivander and Gregorovitch are hard to understand for someone who hasn’t read the book. There is one intense sensual moment, which I do not think as a necessary elements. And while the Tale of the Deathly Hallows have been told, the fact that Harry owns the invisible cloak was ignored somehow! The whole movie is gloomy and dark, has scene of more blood comparing to the previous parts and little bit horror too. (It is rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense action violence, frightening images and brief sensuality.)

Apart from that, the director portrayed love, friendship, jealousy, loyalty, loneliness wonderfully. The first part of the Finale of Harry Potter is an stunning adventurous story with lots of clues to solve. To be precisely, it is the introduction of the Finale. And it can be easily assumed that a lot of things are coming in the next part. But the main feature of this movie is, one can not be bored while watching the film. At the end, this movie makes the viewers to wait eagerly for the next part, whether he/she knows the story or not.

In Conclusion, the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has put away the childish things of the previous movies and become a not-a-kid-movie-anymore. But that does not disappoint me. This movie is for them, who passed their childhood reading the Harry Potter books and grew old with Harry, Ron and Hermione. It’s really wonderful to find out that the kid wizards are no longer kids, they have grown up just like the readers. This movie leaves me excitedly to anticipate the final installment. And to be frankly, this is a great movie for not only Potter fans, but all movie addicts as well. Overall, it is a worth watching movie (of course!).

Munir Hasan, Sayem and The Dustbins

Sayem is my friend. I know him from my IUT life, that’s quite a long time. We studied in the same department and in the same year. Even our rooms in the dorm were in the same floor. He is a Lecturer & Assistant Proctor of Stamford University Bangladesh. He is a soft spoken nice guy. He is so gentle that he tolerates trouble for others and never complains anything unless it is unbearable (I’ve seen that earlier). Now, ‘that’ Sayem, my friend Sayem is facing troubles for almost 6 months and which is now seemed to be tremendously unbearable for him and his family.

In Sayem’s neighborhood, there are some uncovered dustbins which his neighbor-apartment-folks use in a daily basis (to dump their wastes). And those fetidly dustbins can alone ruins anyone’s life, in this case they are ruining Sayem and his family. Moreover those dustbins are put by his neighbor-apartment-folks just beside his bedroom. Just imagine how tough life beside fetidly dustbins can be!

Well … after living beside a hell (almost), Sayem and his wife complained several times to the apartment folks as well as the ‘Secretary’ of that apartment building. When Sayem and his family found out that the secretary of that building is Mr. Munir Hasan, they hoped for the betterments. Why did they hope so? Because Mr. Munir Hasan is a renowned personality of Bangladesh, as he is involved with BDOSN and General Secretary of Math Olympiad in Bangladesh (if I am not wrong he is affiliated with the most popular Bangladeshi daily newspaper Prothom Alo too). That’s why when Sayem and his wife complained to him, they thought their nightmare was going to be ended. It was six months ago. But nothing happened after that. Sayem and his wife kept complaining for the past six months but Mr. Munir Hasan did not take any steps. It seems that, he does not take their complains seriously.

Sayem's House View — Uncovered dustbins just beside Sayem's bedroom

So as an alternative steps Sayem is trying to let other people know about his miserable condition because of Mr. Munir Hasan. He wrote a note (with the picture) and shared it via Facebook. So that other people can also request Mr. Munir Hasan to take Sayem’s complains seriously into his account. I am quoting Sayem’s complete note as it is:

Dear friends,

Assalamualaikum. Hope u all are passing a very good time on the occasion of holy Eid-ul-Azha. But may be I will not. Let me explain the matter that will help you to understand. I need some suggestion from all of you regarding the issue.

The pictures attached with this message is taken from my bedroom. It shows a dustbin and this is just beside my bedroom. And this dustbin belongs to the Sheltech Apartments that is just beside my home. It consists of 66 flats. So, you can imagine how much waste material is produced there every day. Every moment we have to suffer a lot due to this. It is very difficult for us to stay in our bedroom even in our home.

The most astonishing part is that, the Secretary of this big building is Mr. Munir Hasan, General Secretary of Math Olympiad. He is a very renowned person and I think many of you know him. He was a teacher of BUET and also an ex-buetian. We often see him in newspapers for his good activities and contribution to the nation. He is very much close to Dr. Zafar Iqbal Sir. My wife and I knocked him several times from last 6 months for this problem. But, yet he hasn’t solved the issue. After knocking several times, he just managed a polythene temporarily to cover the wastage and promised us to solve the issue permanently. But where is that solution? We gave him an example of Prince Tower (just opposite to Sheltech Tower) about their waste management. We tried several times to contact him but he refused.

Now, my question is how can we get relief from it? Is it a sign of civilization from a renowned person like Mr. Munir Hasan? Holy Eid-ul-Azha is knocking at the door. We are very anxious about the wastage in this occasion. It is tough enough for us to bear the smell every day. Can you imagine what will be during Eid-ul-Azha?

We tried a lot to solve the problem but failed due to lack of cooperation from Mr. Munir Hasan. For that reason we need some help from you. Please suggest us what we can do in a peaceful way.

Thanks to all.
Sayem

It is really sad to find out that the remarkable persons (at least whom we thought as remarkable) are not that much remarkable in their day to day life. I hope that, Mr. Munir Hasan will be sympathetic enough to take care Sayem’s complain and treat his neighbor as a ‘true neighbor’ as well.

If you read this post and if you want to help Sayem, then please share this post with others. And if you have a personal relationship or friendship with Mr. Munir Hasan, then please request him to take care Sayem’s complain seriously. Also you can email Mr. Munir Hasan requesting him to consider Sayem’s complain as soon as possible.