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This year's posts with the most views were the following:

• Sharepoint 2010: BCS Login failed for user "NT AUTHORITY\ANONYMOUS LOGON"
• Sharepoint 2010: create new list items using pure javascript
• Test open network ports using Powershell
• Google Drive on Ubuntu Linux
• Windows 8 activation error: DNS name does not exist
• Weblogic Server Unexpectedly Shuts Down

The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware. UEFI is meant as a replacement for the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware interface, present in all IBM PC-compatible personal computers.[1][2] In practice, most UEFI images have legacy support for BIOS services. It can be used to allow remote diagnostics and repair of computers, even without another operating system. (quote from Wikipedia).
This month’s issue of Full Circle magazine has a great article on what is UEFI that is really concise but also enlightening of what is the purpose of this new kind of firmware. In a nutshell, it explains these topics:

• UEFI is not Microsoft but Windows 8 logo machines must have secure boot enabled
• Users can, if they wish, disable secure boot
• Disabling secure boot leaves Windows 8 vulnerable
• Secure boot keys must be kept secure
• UEFI does not replace the BIOS, but works with it

If unbreakable, this firmware could add some really nice security and reliability features on top of the hardware, but as it’s apparently as vulnerable as the former BIOS, I guess it’s work in progress.
I really recommend, if you’re interested, to download the magazine and read the full article.

OpenShot Video Editor is a free, open-source video editor for Linux licensed under the GPL version 3.0.
OpenShot can take your videos, photos, and music files and help you create the film you have always dreamed of. Easily add sub-titles, transitions, and effects, and then export your film to DVD, YouTube, Vimeo, Xbox 360, and many other common formats. What really sets OpenShot apart from other video editors is the easy-to-use user interface.

The author states that this release has more bug fixes, enhancements, and new features than any other release of OpenShot to date.

OpenShot 1.4.3 Released! from Jonathan Thomas on Vimeo.

My personal opinion is that if you’re used to Windows Movie Maker, this software has the same approach but with a lot more features and enhancements. You can really get professional quality work done with this editor. But you have to be running a linux OS.

You can check out all the main features here and download the editor here.

Google is a major user and sponsor of open source projects. However on their Google Drive product they surprisingly lack a linux client to synchronize to and from the cloud.

Last year, two of the most popular and widely adopted distros of linux (according to Distrowatch) are Ubuntu/Debian based. From these users, all that have Google accounts and are active users of the former Google Docs suite, found themselves left behind in favor of commercial OS users: Windows and Mac. Google’s product manager Teresa W. stated that “Hi everyone - Google Drive for Linux is still in the works. Thanks for following up with us!”. Personally, and having passed 5 months since the lauch, I really begin to doubt this. Well, having gone over this brief rant, let’s get down to business.

You have a really cool Linux client for Google Drive called InSync. It’s installation is pretty straightforward and it’ easy enough to use. Bu it bring two catches with it:

• It’s still in beta stage;
• It’s only free while in beta stage:

Personally I don’t intend to use free software, maybe paying for extra storage space on Google Drive and then some day go spend money on a third-party client software.

The solution I found was SMEStorage. I don’t know how this guys have been staying so low profile because they have a really cool service. On the free account mode, you get 5GB free space and access to another 3 cloud storage providers, mapped to the same account. The only catch is that you get a 2GB upload/download monthly limit, which is fine if you’re like me and use your Google Drive for documents, leaving the “heavy stuff” for Dropbox.

The first step is to register for SMEStorage. You can go to the register page here.

Afterwards, on your dashboard, you add a new cloud provider:

From the list, choose the Google Drive Cloud Provider:

Authorize SMEStorage to access your Google Drive information and files:

When your done, you can choose to synchronize the Google Drive information with SMEStorage:

What this does is not to import the files but to read and catalog the metadata from the files, so you can view them on the file explorer. By doing  so, it prevents this synchronization process and file browsing to be charged on your monthly free limit.

Passing on to the Ubuntu specific installation, you can get the Linux free Cloud Tools from here. Download the file and save it to your home folder:

Open the package with the Ubuntu software center tool and choose “Install”.

When it successfully completes, you should have three new tools on your machine. Open the dash and type “smes”:

For the remaining steps, I chose to go through the Sync Center setup, which is the one I’ll use, since it performs a local copy of the synced files.When opening the program for the first time it open the properties window, to configure the connection:

After putting in the credentials and choosing your desired sync schedule, you map between your cloud providers and your chosen local folders:

After mapping the folders and pressing “OK”, you can choose to perform a sync down operation which will download all your files from the cloud to the chosen folder, recursively creating subfolders.All goes well, you’ll be presented with a dialog like this:

Hope this helps some of the Google Drive and Ubuntu users who are still looking for a solution.

Full Circle is a free, independent, monthly magazine dedicated to the Ubuntu family of Linux operating systems. Each month, it contains helpful how-to articles and reader submitted stories.

On this month’s issue, there a great compilation of free e-book resources for Ubuntu beginners and enthusiasts.

Starting off, there’s the Muktware Ubuntu Manual. According to the magazine, it’s intended for users new to Ubuntu coming from other operating systems, and also users who are upgrading from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

It is a manual produced by the community for the community. Therefore, it is available free of charge, and is distributed under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. The author also notes that one should be be aware that this is the very first edition and hence is a work in progress. You can download from here.

Next, there’s the Absolute Beginner’s Guide from MakeuseOf. This guide covers what Ubuntu is, what makes it free and how Ubuntu and Linux are related.

It also shows you how to install Ubuntu for absolute beginners, where to find free support for Ubuntu questions, how to use the Unity interface how to find software in Ubuntu and which software to use.

You can find out about the author and get the dowload link from here.

In third place on this list comes the Ubuntu Manual Project: Getting Started with Ubuntu 12.04. It’s  a comprehensive beginners guide for the Ubuntu operating system. It is written under an open source license, and is free for you to download, read, modify and share.

The manual will help you become familiar with everyday tasks such as surfing the web, listening to music and scanning documents. With an emphasis on easy-to-follow instructions, it is suitable for all levels of experience.

There are numerous cloud services offering file synchronization between gadgets and personal computers, but Ubuntu One is the only service that comes on a near second place regarding multiplatform requirements.
Dropbox works on Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as Android and iOS. Well Ubuntu One also works on Windows and Linux, it just misses OSX. the mobile version is also available for Android and iOS so it’s a tie regarding the mobile.
However, Ubuntu One has integrated services like a music library and contact backup which add value to the overall solution.
Feel free to check Ubuntu One out.

In spite of working mainly with a commercial ECM plataform, sometimes a new corporate site for a small division or department would be better suited with one of the many open source CMS systems available.
For this purpose I chose Joomla and took the time to leave here a pretty straightforward version to set it up on a Ubuntu machine. Having said that, the following technologies will be installed:

• Apache Web server: to serve the web pages to the client browsers;
• PHP: to generate the dynamic content pages and functionalities;
• MySQL: to store all the Joomla related data, such as content and user accounts;
• PHPMyAdmin: A tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web.
• Joomla: a free and open source content management framework (CMF) for publishing content on the Web.

 First step was to open a command shell on the target machine. On the prompt, type the following command:
You will be prompted for your password. After a successful execution this takes care of installing the Web server, PHP. database server and PHPMYAdmin management console. On the installation process you will be asked to provide a password for the MySQL administrator account, as well as PHPMyAdmin.
The second step, still on the command shell, is to map the PHPMyAdmin alias on Apache mapping it to the corresponding installation folder. To do this, issue the following commands:

1. sudo chmod 777 /etc/apache2/apache2.conf 
2. sudo gedit /etc/apache2/apache2.conf &

At the end of the apache2.conf file, add the following line:

Save the file and exit the editor. For Apache to read the new configuration, you must restart the service with the following command:


The third step is, of course, to install Joomla. To do so:

1. Donwload the files from the Joomla official site;
2. Unzip them and copy them to the Apache documents root (/var/www)
3. Browse the folder on your web browser (ex: http://localhost/joomla/)

A warning similar to this should appear. This is because the file configuration.php doesn't exist:

To solve this issue, type in the following commands:

1. touch configuration.php  
2. sudo chmod 777 ./configuration.php

Return to the browser, run the check again and it should be all clear. Run the installation wizard to the end. The final step will be to remove all the installation files:


You're all done!