Author: Admin

Buying a new HDTV? If you like good video, make sure it has this setting!

If you have ever tried to connect a computer to a HDTV set via a HDMI port, you may have found that portions of the top and bottom of the screen were cut off, possibly including an entire top or bottom menu bar (this issue seems especially acute on systems that use a “skinny” top menu bar, such as Ubuntu Linux).  This is because many, if not all HDTV manufacturers apply “Overscan”.

This is a holdover from the old analog TV days, when certain information (such as closed captions and timing information) was transmitted in the first few lines of the video, so sets were deliberately set up to not display those lines.  Digital TV, for the most part, does not transmit data of any kind as part of the picture area (at least not in the U.S.A.), although occasionally you might still see it on an up-converted standard definition video.  Usually, the only time we have every really noticed it since the digital conversion is when older commercials are played by a local TV station.

Nevertheless, most TV manufacturers enable overscan by default, even if it means that you lose a portion of the picture area most of the time.  That also implies that the picture is degraded – think about it, if the station is sending a full 1920×1080 picture, but the TV discards some of that information, then it has to try to stretch the remaining picture to fill the 1920×1080 screen.  So, you are losing resolution on those sets that don’t give you a way to disable overscan.

Some TVs do give you an easy way to turn overscan off, but the setting is called something different by different manufacturers.  Terms we have seen used are “Dot by Dot”, “Exact Fit”, “Just Scan”, or simply “Overscan” (if you know of others feel free to add them in the comments), but there are many TV’s that don’t appear to have this setting at all.  The problem is that if you are thinking about ordering a TV from an online retailer, it is often difficult to determine if the TV has a way to disable overscan or not.

Sometimes you can download a manual from a manufacturer’s site, but even it it mentions such a setting, you need to read carefully to determine if it can be used regardless of the signal source, and in particular, whether it can be used with the HDMI inputs. It seems a some TV manufacturers are still stuck in 2005, and think that there is no other way to connect a computer to a TV other than via an old school VGA or DVI input, so they only offer the ability to disable overscan on that one port.  Perhaps they think those HDMI output ports on modern laptops are just for decoration?

If you were buying a TV in a store, and IF they happen to actually have the remote next to the TV, you could try looking through the various options before making a purchase, but if buying online you can’t.

We just wish that the TV manufacturers would disable overscan by default – for the most part it’s not needed anymore, and degrades the picture.  Also, we wish they’d all provide an easily accessible and clearly labeled control to enable or disable it that applies to ALL the inputs, not just the VGA or DVI input.  We suppose it might be too much to ask that they agree on a common name for the setting, though that would certainly make things easier on consumers.  So far, only some of the Sharp TV’s actually have a control labelled “Overscan”, which is described in the manual this way:

  • Overscan—Extends text and images past the screen edges to hide edge artifacts. You can select On or Off.

If only all HDTV manufacturers would do that!  Even Sharp isn’t consistent – on some of their TV’s the setting is called “Dot by Dot”, and on some of their older models it can’t be enabled for anything other than the VGA input (unless maybe you use a hack to make the option appear, but you can only do that if the source is a Linux-based computer that utilizes an xorg.conf file, or you have some other way to set “CVT reduced blank” on the sending computer or device).

If you are lucky enough to have such a setting, you might want to make sure it’s turned off for display of the full picture area, and less distortion of the picture.  And if you are considering the purchase of a TV, make sure it has this setting!  Unless, of course, you like the idea of deliberately introducing distortion into your video, and you don’t mind not seeing top and/or bottom menus when you connect a computer.

Link: Run Automated Scripts Over SSH

We’ve shown you how to use SSH to transfer files securely. But there’s a major issue with SSH’s default behaviour. You are only connected with the remote machine after you’ve manually entered the password which rules it out for any tasks you want to run unattended. Or does it?

Here’s a quick lowdown on how the OpenSSH CLI tools (scp and sftp) work so that you can better appreciate the issue. When you want to copy over files to or from the remote host, you can use scp which automatically initiates a SSH connection to the remote host. Every time you run a scp command it establishes a new connection to the remote. So if you have multiple scp commands you’d be entering the same password several times.

This is why you wouldn’t want to use scp in any scripts you want to run unattended. There’s also the fact that if you have multiple accounts on several machines on the network, you’d have trouble memorizing unique, strong passwords for each.

To overcome this problem, you need to switch OpenSSH’s default authentication mechanism to a key-based system.

Full article here:
Run Automated Scripts Over SSH (Make Tech Easier)

Link: The Ultimate Guide to Speed Up Your Linux Computer

Everyone loves a speedy computer. No matter how fast your computer is already running, I am sure you are keen to make it run even faster, and smoother. Here is a compliation of the tricks we use to speed up our Linux computer.

The tips in this tutorial are suitable for speeding up both modern multi-core setups as well as older single core hardware that are low of resources. Also note that some of the tricks can be carried out with ease, while others require some familiarity with the Linux command-line.

Full article here:
The Ultimate Guide to Speed Up Your Linux Computer (Make Tech Easier)

Link: FM Stream: broadcasting local radio to the internet

The Raspberry Pi is being used increasingly in professional products and industrial applications, and this one from Artica and partners is one of most impressive yet. I can’t better their own description of FM Stream as “a beautiful, low cost, carrier grade rack of FM tuners, IP/Internet encoders and broadcasters, using nothing but RaspberryPis, Arduinos, clever electronics, neat mechanics, a shiny aluminium case and lots of passion.”

FM Stream — shiny AND useful

Full article here:
FM Stream: broadcasting local radio to the internet (Raspberry Pi)

Link: Debian and Ubuntu Linux: Set openssh SeverKeyBits to 1024

The upstream openssh project sets the value ServerKeyBits to 1024, but Debian and Ubuntu currently unfortunately have a lower security setting of 768 bits. I’ve filed a bug to fix this. In the meantime, here is how to make that change now!

Full article here:
Debian and Ubuntu Linux: Set openssh SeverKeyBits to 1024 (scottlinux.com)

Link: What is Cryptolocker and How Do You Prevent It?

Recently, a new piece of malware has been wreaking havoc online, locking innocent users out of their files and demanding money. Cryptolocker is a form of virus known as “ransomware” – a variety that attempts to extort money in exchange for providing users with what they already own, but can no longer access.

So what is it about Cryptolocker that changes the game, and how do you prevent yourself from falling victim to this vile threat. That is precisely what we want to look at today.

Full article here:
What is Cryptolocker and How Do You Prevent It? (Make Tech Easier)

We would also add that frequent backups to media that is not connected 24/7 is probably a good idea. If you backup to something that requires a user name and password to access, and it’s not already connected at the time the attack occurs, then that data is probably safe. If you happen to have a recent backup made using something like Redo Backup and Recovery, then should an attack like this occur, you can simply wipe the drive clean and reformat it, then restore from your backup and get most of your files back. But that only works if you make the backup before your system is infected, and only if the attacker can’t access your backup file and corrupt that. So if you choose to backup to a network share, make sure it’s a share that you must log into using a strong password before you can access it, and that it’s NOT a share that you normally stay connected to during day-to-day use!

Link: DSVR (Domain-Specific VPN Router)

[notice]This software may not be legal to use in some countries or localities, or for certain uses.  We are not lawyers, so we cannot advise you on this.[/notice]

From the README.md file:

PURPOSE

If you’re using a VPN service today, you may have found the following limitations:

1) All or nothing. Either ALL traffic goes down the VPN or none – unable to be selective.
2) Only one VPN at a time. Cannot selectively route certain sites down one VPN, and others down another VPN.
3) Unless you’ve configured your VPN at the router level, it’s likely that only a single device can use your VPN at one time.

This project serves to address each of the above – see the FEATURES section.

Please review my blog post here http://darranboyd.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/selective-vpn-routing-solution-dsvr/

Note that this software runs on a Raspberry Pi. Full text and download links:
DSVR (Domain-Specific VPN Router) (GitHub)

If for some reason you don’t want to run this on a Raspberry Pi, but would instead prefer to do something similar using a DD-WRT based router, the same author covered that topic a couple of years ago:
StrongVPN PPTP on DD-WRT – Source based routing (improved) (Darran Boyd)

Link: How To: Enable Hibernation in Ubuntu Systems

Hibernate option saves all the currently running applications and turns off the system without any further power consumption. When the system wakes up on the next restart, all the previously running applications are restored. By default, Hibernation is disabled in Ubuntu and it is removed from the Ubuntu’s shutdown menu (for versions 12.04 and onwards). This article will guide you to re-enable the Hibernate feature in Ubuntu systems.

Full article here:
How To: Enable Hibernation in Ubuntu Systems (Your Own Linux..!)

Really want to switch to Linux but hate losing that Mac OS X look? There could be a solution…

Look, we’re not suggesting that anyone copy the look and feel of another operating system – that might be frowned upon in some circles. But that said, there are some people who are finding that true Macs are priced just a little out of their reach, so they either try to build a “Hackintosh” or they put Linux on a computer and then try to make it look and work as much like a Mac as possible. For the latter crowd, we offer this article, but suggest you consider carefully which tweaks you actually make, particularly if you ever plan on using your system in any kind of public setting.  Could you get sued for displaying an Apple logo on a non-Apple product?  We don’t know, and we don’t want to find out!

Mac OS X (MBuntu 13.10) Pack is ready, Install in Ubuntu 13.10/Linux Mint 16/other related Ubuntu derivatives (NoobsLab)

Mac OS X transformation pack is ready for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy/Linux Mint 16. This transformation pack has been completed with collaboration of haniahmed (One Gnome Shell theme) and mbossg (One Gtk theme + two icon sets) both guys did really fine job. Mac themes for Linux are almost stopped but we kept this project on our list from 12.04, and now we release Mac transformation for every new Ubuntu release. Many people look over the internet for pre-configured Mac look like Macbuntu 13.10/Mac4lin, Mac Ubuntu theme and so on, but it is good idea to transform it by yourself because if you want to change to old/other look you can do that easily. This method of transformation doesn’t use any excessive memory/CPU/and other resources.

This time NoobsLab is offering four Mac GTK themes, two Gnome Shell and one Cinnamon theme. Cinnamon theme isn’t very close to Mac but it can give Mac feel to panel. This time we included three icon packs which are somewhat different from each other.

We don’t think we’d go through all this trouble just to change the look and feel, even though we do hate Unity in Ubuntu.  It might be easier to just start with a Linux distribution that already has a great interface, such as Linux Mint.

Link: 7 Apps To Help You Run Windows Programs On Another OS

So you have switched to another operating system, but still miss some of your favourite programs on Windows? Here are 7 app to help your run Windows program on your current platform!

Full article here:
7 Apps To Help You Run Windows Programs On Another OS (EFYTimes)

Two additional ways that we know of that are not mentioned in the article: Parallels, which is basically a virtual machine that integrates into the OS X or iOS platforms, so that you can run just about any Windows program, although you will need to have an actual copy of Windows to install, and the Parallels software itself is not free. But there is a free alternative: VirtualBox, which runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD (and, we’ve even heard reports of people running Android in VirtualBox). Here again you would need to have an actual copy of Windows (or your other preferred operating system) to install, but the VirtualBox software itself is freely available as Open Source Software (see their web site for details).