Create A Bootable Windows 7 USB Drive From Linux (Ubuntu)

http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/create-bootable-windows-7-usb-drive.html

(I followed this and everything OK, HL 20101105)

I recently had to create a Windows 7 bootable USB flash drive for my girlfriend because she doesn't have a DVD-ROM, and I had to do it from Ubuntu as I don't have Windows (neither at work or at home).

What I ended up on using is the good old (just a figure of speech) UNetbootin which is available for both Windows and Linux. It's in the Ubuntu repositories so to install it, search for it in the Ubuntu Software Center. For Windows and other Linux distributions, get it from HERE.

At first I didn't think it'll work since you can't choose Windows from the UNetbooting options, but it actually works and I've successfully installed Windows 7 on my girlfriend's computer using UNetbootin. Here's what I did:

Firstly, make sure you have a Windows 7 .ISO file (you can create it from the DVD) and a 4GB USB flash drive (or larger).


1. Install Gparted and format the USB drive to NTFS. In Ubuntu, use the following command to install Gparted:

 sudo apt-get install gparted

To format the USB drive as NTFS, open Gparted via the System > Administration > GParted Partition Editor. Then select your USB drive from the top right drop-down. If you only have one hard disk, your USB drive should be "sdb". Now right click your USB drive in GParted and select "Unmount" and you'll then be able to select Partition > Format > ntfs. The drive will be formatted to NTFS in a few seconds.

I'm not sure if UNetbootin will mark the drive as bootable as my USB drive already had the "boot" flag enabled from Gparted, so you may want to enable it too: right click the USB drive and select "Manage flags", then check the "boot" flag.

Then you'll have to mount the USB drive back. You can do it from the command line or Disk Utility (System > Administration > Disk Utility) but to keep things simple, you can just unplug the USB flash drive and plug it back in to the computer.

2. Open UNetbootin, select "Diskimage" and then browse for your Windows 7 ISO file.

Now at the bottom, check the "Show all Drives" box and then select your USB drive. For me, that's "/dev/sdb1" but it might be different for you (you should know this from Gparted which you've used to format the USB drive under step 1. Important: if your USB drive is "dev/sdb", then you'll have to select "/dev/sdb1" in UNetbootin!). Do not select / check anything else!

Now simply click the "OK" button and wait for the files to be copied to the USB drive.

New Linux Software Targets Schools

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/209767/new_linux_software_targets_schools.html
Nov 4, 2010 9:32 am
By Maxwell Cooter, techworld.com

A Canadian company called Userful claims that it has open source alternative for education establishments faced by the high cost of Windows Multipoint servers: Userful MultiSeat Linux 2011.

Userful claims that the Userful MultiSeat Linux 2011 has been specifically designed for schools enabling them to deploy large number of computer stations at low cost.

Based on Ubuntu, Userful MultiSeat offers the ability to turn one Linux computer into 11 independent computer stations, while providing users with the same set of features as Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server 2010.

According to a Userful spokesman, the Multiseat can scale to more than 11 machines but to do so an organisation needs to use "fancy computer hardware which negates much of the cost benefit".

The company claimed that the Multiseat software reduced energy costs by up to 90 percent, enabling schools to recover the cost of their computers through electricity cost savings alone. On average, Userful said, its customers report saving 60 percent in up-front costs, and 80 percent in annual power savings as compared to their previous PC-per-station solutions. The software also comes with a variety of tools, including specialist education software.

The Userful spokesman said the product could be downloaded from the company website and was easy to install but any school that required additional hand-holding would be advised to use the Userful MultiSeat Linux 2011 bundle install DVD. "Users can simply put it in their DVD drive, and it will automatically install Userful MultiSeat, Edubuntu 10.04 operating system, and classroom management software all in a single seamless install," he said.

Google Soups Up Apache With New Speed Module

http://www.linuxinsider.com/alert/71177.html?wlc=1288976235

By Richard Adhikari
LinuxInsider
11/05/10 5:00 AM PT

Apache HTTP Server users can make use of Google's latest tool, mod_pagespeed, to automatically optimize their websites' speed. The module automates optimizations that are usually somewhat troublesome to do manually, like making changes to pages built by CMS, recompressing images when its HTML context changes, and extending cache lifetime.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) on Wednesday released mod_pagespeed, a module for the Apache HTTP Server that will automatically perform various website speed optimization tasks.

This includes 15 or so on-the-fly optimizations.

Google claims mod_pagespeed reduces average page load times by up to 50 percent.

However, mod_pagespeed works only on Apache servers and is complex to deploy, according to Omri Iluz, strategic partnerships manager at Cotendo, which provides site acceleration services to website owners.

The Mod Squad

Google has released the mod_pagespeed module as open source for Apache for many Linux distributions. The module automates optimizations that are troublesome to do manually.

These optimizations include making changes to the pages built by content management systems (CMS); recompressing an image when its HTML context changes so only the bytes required are served; and extending the cache lifetime of the logos and images of users' websites to a year.

The mod-pagespeed module changes CMS pages without having to make changes to the CMS itself. While it extends the cache lifetime of a website's logos and images, users can update these at any time. The module is an addition to Google's Page Speed tool, which gives website developers suggestions on how to speed up Web pages.

"In recent years, as the browser market has evolved and new browsers have emerged, website creators and developers haven't kept up to speed in modifying their sites to work well with the new browsers," Cotendo's Iluz told LinuxInsider.

"YSlow and Page Speed check your website and come up with a list of actions you need to apply to your website to improve its performance," Iluz added. "The technology Google released Wednesday is a layer on top of your code that, in addition to telling you what's wrong with your website, fixes the problem."

YSlow is a tool from Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) that checks websites to see where they can be optimized.

Google did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Nothing's Easy

The mod-pagespeed module will make life easier for website owners because they won't need to perform advanced configuration tasks on their Web servers, Ronni Zehavi, CEO of Cotendo, told LinuxInsider.

However, it's complex and works only on Apache servers, Cotendo's Iluz pointed out.

Cotendo worked with Google to enhance the module to handle massively scaled content delivery environments and deployment to multiple customers and in various configurations as a service.

"Your traffic goes through our global network, our service applies optimization in the cloud and we send the traffic back to you," Iluz said. "You as the website owner don't have to do anything."

Cotendo on Wednesday announced the deployment of Page Speed Automatic, a new website code optimization service that uses the mod_pagespeed optimization engine.

This service automatically optimizes the code of HTML pages as they enter a content delivery network. It will optimize caching, reduce the number of data requests, and reduce the payload size of pages, among other features. These code modifications, when rendered within Cotendo's network, can reduce image size by 20 percent to 30 percent and page load time by as much as 50 percent on top of the acceleration already achieved by Cotendo's existing site acceleration services, including its Dynamic Site Acceleration Service, the company claims.

Go Daddy, Go, Jack up the Speed

Website host Go Daddy plans to implement mod_pagespeed for its 8.5 million customers.

"We know through interaction with our customers that high performance is a top priority," Brian Krouse, senior director for platform R&D at Go Daddy, told LinuxInsider.

"A faster, snappier website is better for a customer's online presence," Krouse added. "That's why Go Daddy is keenly interested in doing whatever we can to make it as easy as possible for customers to build high-performance websites."

Go Daddy will offer mod_pagespeed through its Linux Shared Hosting platform to its customers worldwide.

However, the website hosting company has not yet fixed a date when the service will be rolled out, Krouse said.

在温哥华申办中国签证须知

http://vancouver.china-consulate.org/chn/visa/instruction/visa/t389750.htm

2010/10/01

　　 本馆受理本领区（BC省和YUKON地区）的各类赴华签证申请。申请人必须如实、认真、仔细填写《中华人民共和国签证申请表》。如表格填写不实、漏填、字迹不清楚，可能导致签证申请遭到拒绝，或延误旅行，由此产生的一切后果由申请人自行承担。领事官员根据中国有关法律、规定和个案情况审发签证，有权依法拒绝申请人的签证申请，依法改变、取消已发签证并无需说明理由。

一、基本要求

1、护照：护照有效期至少6个月以上，有不少于两页的空白签证页。

2、申请表：填写签证申请表1份，本人签名。申请表可从我馆网页上下载。

我馆网址：http: www. vancouver.china-consulate.org

3、照片：交本人近期正面免冠2X2英寸彩色护照照片1张。

4、在中国出生的申请人加入加拿大国籍后，第一次持加拿大护照申请中国签证时，须一并出示原中国护照。如非第一次申请，持新换发的加拿大护照，请出示原加拿大护照。如原加拿大护照有中国签证记录，请提供签证记录复印件。

5、在加拿大出生具有中国血统的婴幼儿首次申请签证，若其父母一方已取得加拿大永久居留权（枫叶卡），须提供父母任何一方的外国护照或枫叶卡以及小孩出生纸原件和复印件。

6、外国人如持新换发的外国护照申请签证，原护照有中国签证记录，请一并出示原护照及以往签证记录复印件。

7、非加拿大籍公民申请签证，须出示外国永久居民身份证--"枫叶卡"或工作、学习签证原件及复印件。

二、签证种类及注意事项

（一）L字旅游、探亲签证，发给赴华旅游、探亲人员。

　　 注意：前往西藏自治区旅游者，请事先与自治区旅游局（电话：86-891-6834313，传真：86-891-6834632）或加拿大中国旅行社（电话：604-872-8787，传真：604-873-2823）联系，获得入藏许可后方能申办签证。

（二）F字访问、商务签证，发给应邀赴华访问、经商、考察、讲学、进行科技文化交流的人员及短期进修、实习等活动不超过6个月的人员。应提交下列文件之一：

　　1、中国政府有关部门或有关省（直辖市、自治区）人民政府（或其外事办公室、经贸委等）的签证通知表（原件或传真）；

　　2、被中国政府主管部门授权的中国企事业单位的签证通知表（原件或传真）；载有申请人姓名的在华投资、经商企业的营业执照或企业批准书的原件或复印件；

　　3、申请人所在公司在华分公司邀请其访华的函（电）；

　　4、中国政府有关部门，或乡（镇）以上地方政府，中国公司、企事业单位出具的邀请函（原件或传真）或请柬。

　　（三）Z字任职、就业签证，发给赴华任职或就业的人员及其随行家属。申请人需提供：

　　1、"被授权单位签证通知函或邀请信"原件和复印件。

　　2、由中国人力资源和社会保障部颁发的"外国人就业许可证书"或由中国国家外国专家局颁发的"外国专家来华工作许可证"的原件和复印件。

　　3、赴华工作人员的随任配偶、子女须提供国内被授权单位的签证通知函和其他足以证明亲属关系的文件（如结婚证、出生证）的原件和复印件。

　　4、外国人体格检查记录原件和复印件。

　　5、工作签证的入境有效期均为3个月、一次入境有效，不标明停留期。持此签证人员在入境中国后1个月内必须前往当地公安机关申办居留手续。

　　（四）X字学习签证，发给赴华留学、进修、学习六个月以上的人员。申请材料及注意事项：

　　1、由中华人民共和国教育部签发的"外国留学生签证申请表"（JW-202或JW-201）的原件和复印件。

　　2、接受学校的入学通知书原件和复印件。

　　3、外国人体格检查记录原件和复印件。

　　4、学习签证的入境有效期均为3个月、一次入境有效，不标明停留期。持此签证人员在入境中国后1个月内必须前往当地公安机关申办居留手续。

　　5、在华学习期不足半年者，一般发给F签证。

　　（五）G字过境签证，发给途径中国前往其他国家（或地区）的外国公民。申请材料及注意事项：

　　1、申请人需提供前往国家（或地区）的有效签证和联程机票。

　　2、过境签证一般为一次或两次过境有效的签证。

　　3、乘飞机过境中国、不出机场且停留期不超过24小时的机组人员和乘客，可免办签证。过境中国出机场，或在机场停留超过24小时的外国公民须事先办妥过境签证。

　　4、下列国家人员持该国护照，如过境上海，可免办签证停留48小时：美国、加拿大、韩国、澳大利亚、新西兰，以及德国、法国、荷兰、比利时、卢森堡、葡萄牙、西班牙、意大利、奥地利、希腊等申根签证协议国家。

　　（六）J字记者签证，发给赴华从事新闻采访等与职业有关活动的新闻从业人员。申请材料及注意事项：

　　1、J-1字签证发给去中国常驻的外国记者。J-2[签证发给临时去中国采访的外国记者。申请J-1、J-2字签证，须提供中国政府主管部门的正式签证通知函（电）。

　　2、J-1签证的有效期为3个月、一次入境有效，不标明停留期。持证人进入中国后1个月内必须前往当地公安机关申办居留手续。J-2签证持有人可在签证允许的停留期内在华停留。

　　3、赴华旅游的记者，发给旅游签证，但不得从事新闻采访等与职业有关的活动，否则属违法行为。

　　（七）D字定居签证，发给经批准前往中国定居的外国公民。申请材料及注意事项：

　　1、申请人需提供"定居确认表"。此表可由申请人或申请人委托的亲属向拟定居地的县（市）公安机关出入境管理部门申请。

　　2、定居签证的有效期为3个月、一次入境有效，不标明停留期。持此签证人员在入境中国后1个月内必须前往当地公安机关申办居留手续。

　　（八）C字乘务签证，发给执行乘务、航空、航运任务的国际列车乘员，国际航空器机组人员及国际航行船舶的海员及其随行家属。申请材料及注意事项：

　　1、 有政府间协议的按相关协议办理。无协议或不属于协议范围的，需提交中国政府有关部门的正式签证通知函（电）

　　2、 定期专机、包机机组人员，须提供专机、包机所属公司的申请信函。在飞行许可获准后，飞机才能启程。

　　3、司乘人员赴华旅游、探亲，无论其C签证（如有）是否有效，均应另外申请L签证。

　

四、申请签证所需护照的有效期
　　1、申请一次入境签证，护照有效期不少于6个月；
　　2、申请两次入境或半年多次入境签证，护照有效期不少于12个月；
　 3、申请一年以上多次入境签证，护照有效期不少于24个月。

五、签证的有效期和停留期：

1、一次签证的有效期一般为三个月，停留时间最长不超过180天；
　　2、二次签证的有效期一般为六个月，每次在华停留时间最长不超过90天；
　 3、半年多次签证的有效期为六个月，每次在华停留时间不超过60天；

4、一年多次签证的有效期为12个月，每次在华停留时间不超过120天。
　　提请注意：

1、一次签证的申请时间以赴华前一星期至一个月为宜，最长请勿早于三个月，以免签证过期失效；

2、申请人入境后，如实际停留期将超过签证允许的停留期，必须在签证停留期满前，向当地县级以上公安机关或其他主管机关申请延期。逾期滞留将被处以罚款等处罚。

六、办理签证时间和取件时间

正常为4个工作日，取件时间为第四个工作日上午。如有特殊原因，可申请以特急或加急方式办理。

特急，另收特急费50加元（须于当天上午11:00以前将申请文件递交至受理窗口，取件时间为当日下午14：00）。

加急，另收加急费为35加元，次工作日或第三个工作日上午取件。

七、缴费方式

缴费方式为取件时收费，我馆只接受银行卡、汇票或公司支票，不接受现金、信用卡和个人支票。

八、收费标准：
　　 一次入境/过境签证50加元

两次入境/过境签证75加元

半年多次入境签证100加元

一年多次入境签证150加元

注：美国公民来华签证不论次数统一收费140加元/每人。

提请注意：

本馆不受理邮寄或快递签证申请（如需邮寄或快递办理此类业务，请与旅行社等代办机构联系。

中华人民共和国驻温哥华总领馆证件组

办公时间：9：00-13：00（节假日除外）

咨询电话：604-734-0704

咨询时间：人工咨询时间下午2：30至4：00，其余时间为电话录音

传真: (604) 734 - 0311

电子邮箱：visa@chinaconsulatevan.org

办公地址：288-1388 West Broadway, Vancouver BC

网址：http: www. vancouver.china-consulate.org

　　 　

以上信息如有变动，以本馆解释为准。

中华人民共和国驻温哥华总领馆 2010版权所有

E.gg Timer – 很酷的倒计时网站

http://www.appinn.com/e-gg-timer/

倒计时用处大了去了，虽然用日历来管理日程会更加科学，但几分钟几秒钟的提醒，对于每天习惯坐在电脑前的同学们来说，忘记是家常便饭。。。

E.gg Timer 脱离了软件，只需在浏览器中打开 E.gg Timer，输入需要提醒的时间，就会自动开始倒计时。

四周的黑色边框会随着时间而慢慢填满。当到达时间后，会自动切换到当前页面并有声音提醒（浏览器最小化也会弹出）。当然如果你关了浏览器，那还是去找手表吧…

使用 E.gg Timer 很简单，你可以在首页输入时间，或者直接通过链接来打开倒计时页面：

http://e.ggtimer.com/15minutes 15分钟，比较常用，改数字即时间。
http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour30minutes15seconds 1个小时30分钟15秒。
http://e.ggtimer.com/2years10months 2年10个月，这个…
http://e.ggtimer.com/30 不加单位默认为秒。

将上面的链接添加至收藏夹，需要的时候点击开起。

当然有更艺术的玩法，比如设置自动开机，并且随机启动打开 http://e.ggtimer.com/morning 这个页面，就可以享受到 E.gg Timer 提供的叫醒服务了。

[imgd] http://e.ggtimer.com/

Posted by scavin on 2010/11/02.

Tags: 倒计时, 提醒

Categories: 在线应用

Android手机的优缺点

http://www.williamlong.info/blog/archives/590.html-月光微博客

　　对于普通大众来讲，Android手机的易用性和稳定性和苹果iPhone的确有较大差距，某些Android手机还不具备多点触控，使用体验就更差，有人说刷机就可以改善这些功能，但是不能指望所有的普通大众都会刷机，如果一个厂商将本来应该自己做的事情转嫁给用户，那就显得不负责任了。

　　对于Android手机来讲，易用性和稳定性的改善并不是一件简单的事情，无法在短时间内完成，电子产品的易用性和人性化操作，是一个从整体到局部的连贯的过程，注重的是细节的贴心和整体的流畅，需要长期的研究积累，Google还需要在Android上多花一些功夫，才能改善Android手机面对iPhone手机的劣势。

　　当然，低端Android手机的价格优势还是相当明显的，华为和中兴的低端Android手机只有不到千元，三星的i5700也只有1500元，但其CPU实际上和iPhone 3GS差不多，而高端Android手机，如三星i9000等比起iPhone 4来说也无劣势，但价格便宜了1、2千元，价格优势还是很明显的，有点技术的同学选择Android手机也很不错，不喜欢折腾的同学最好用iPhone手机。

　　另外，对于中文用户来说，Android手机的输入法要远远多余iPhone手机，Android手机还可以安装非电子市场的应用程序，而iPhone则必须越狱才行，从这点看，Android手机的开放度比iPhone手机要好很多。

nautilus-gksu allows you to open files with administration privileges

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/nautilus-gksu-gksu-extension-for-nautilus-allows-you-to-open-files-with-administration-privileges.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nautilus-gksu-gksu-extension-for-nautilus-allows-you-to-open-files-with-administration-privileges

(I installed this on pig7u, HL 20101101)

The gksu extension for nautilus allows you to open files with administration privileges using the context menu when browsing your files with nautilus.

Install nautilus gksu extension in ubuntu

Open the terminal and run the following command

sudo apt-get install nautilus-gksu

Screenshot