Step 1 : Add the official Mozilla Firefox Ubuntu PPA by
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/firefox-stable
Step 2 : Update the repository.
sudo apt-get update
Step 3 : Then, install Firefox 4 package.
sudo apt-get install firefox ubufox

Note : ubufox adds Ubuntu-specific modifications to Firefox.
That’s it !

The mozillateam is the group who maintains Firefox packages for Ubuntu. The stable release is in firefox-stable. Note, that this will upgrade your current Firefox version to 4.0. The packages in this PPA will not be parallel installable with the packages in the official Ubuntu archive. Installing Firefox from this PPA will provide Firefox 4 in English. For other languages you’ll have to install an extension.

Enjoy

Here is a list of Free Public DNS servers that are a lot better,faster and safer than DNS servers of your ISP.

OpenDNS
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
or
208.67.222.220
208.67.220.222

Google Public DNS
8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

DNS Advantage
156.154.70.1
156.154.71.1

Norton DNS
198.153.192.1
198.153.194.1

ScrubIT
67.138.54.100
207.225.209.66

Help :
How to change your DNS
Changing DNS server settings

1. Using Add2Run utility
Let’s start with the most simple way to launch applications from Run. Add2Run developed by Jitendra Bangani is a tiny standalone portable utility designed just to do this.

1. Download Add2Run (250 KB) and run the application.
2. Select the target application or program that you want to launch.
3. Select an alias name. You can launch the selected application from Run by typing this name. For example, in the following screenshot, whenever I type hex in Run and hit Enter, a Hex Editor application launches.


Add2Run

2. Creating an alias in Registry
This method involves creating a new alias by creating a new key in Windows Registry. This is the usual or the ‘official’ way.
1. Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)
2. Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\App Paths
3. From the Edit menu select New – Key
4. Enter the name of the alias, e.g. hex.exe (.exe part is necessary)
5. Move to the new key and double click on the (Default) value (it is blank by default)
6. Set its value as the full file path of the program you want to launch, e.g. E:\PF\Hex Editor\XVI32.exe (path). Click OK
7. Close the registry editor

Note : To launch a programs from Command Prompt, just use the following syntax :
start aliasname
For example, start hex

3. Using Environment Variables
This method involves creating an environment variable. You can use this method to launch any file or directory. But, unlike the above two methods, from run, you need to enclose the alias name between % symbols. For example %AppData% is an environment variable used to access Application Data directory of the current user profile.

1. Right click on My Computer >> Properties
   ( or use the shortcut [Windows button] + [Pause/Break] ) to open System Properties.
   
2. Under the Advanced tab, click on Environment Variables.
3. Now you will see a list of variables that are already assigned. Click on New.
   
4. Type in an alias name in the Variable name field.
5. Type the full path of the file/directory you want to launch Variable value field.
   
6. Click OK.

For example, if you type hex as Variable name, then you can launch the target application by typing %hex% in the Run dialog box.

Here are some of it’s features :

• Drag and Drop GIF Images
• Set Frame Delay Time
• Automatic Interlacing
• Automatic Transparency Detection

Convert images to GIF
If you have source images saved in JPEG/PNG/BMP etc, you can convert it to GIF using any photo editing tool or image converter. You can also use the “Save As” in Paint to convert images into GIF. These individual files serve as GIF frames. It is recommended that the images have same dimensions.

UnFREEz

3 simple steps to create your GIF animation

1. Drag and drop GIF files to UnFREEz window. Please remember that your frames must already be saved in GIF format (UnFREEz does no converting). The images must have same dimensions to get good result. The order of input files will determine the order of frames in the final animated GIF.
2. Specify a ‘Frame Delay time’ which sets the time between frames. This time is in centiseconds i.e one hundredth of a second. Also you have the option to loop the animation or just play once and then stop.
3. Now, you can hit the ‘Make Animated GIF‘ and save the animation. If you think the animation that you created is too fast or too slow, just change the frame delay time accordingly.

Here is a sample GIF created from 5 individual frames using UnFREEz :



Download UnFREEz (27.5 KB)

]]> http://www.prashanthpai.com/blog/make-simple-gif-animation-using-unfreez/feed/ 4 http://www.prashanthpai.com/blog/cannot-uninstall-softwares/ http://www.prashanthpai.com/blog/cannot-uninstall-softwares/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:30:17 +0000 admin http://www.prashanthpai.com/blog/?p=202 Why can’t I uninstall certain softwares ?

I’ve seen in many forums that users ask for a solution on how to uninstall certain softwares. Many of my friends too call me and ask what should I do if I cannot uninstall a software ? First, we must know why it cannot be uninstalled using the bundled Uninstaller or from Control Panel using Add/Remove Programs. The reason might be that, the software files might have been corrupt OR the PC could be infected with virus OR the software installed is a rogue software OR even the OS files could have been corrupt OR the registry keys belonging to the software might be corrupt.

What should I do ?

The first thing, you must do is try uninstalling the software using the ‘usual way’. By usual way, I mean using the Add/Remove Programs option or using the Uninstaller that came with the software. One thing that you require is patience. It might take long time or your system might be non-responding for a few seconds. The uninstaller might ask you to restart your PC too. Do it as it says.

If you have tried uninstalling the usual way patiently without any results, then the first thing for you to do is search for specific special uninstallers. Many popular softwares offer specific uninstall utilities. Some specific third-party tools are also available. All you have to do is just fucking google it. Do remember that these tools are made for a specific software and sometimes work on a specific version only. Some examples :

• Norton Removal Tool – Remove Norton Products
• Adobe CS3 Clean Scripts – Remove Adobe CS3 Products
• Adobe CS4 Clean Scripts – Remove Adobe CS3 Products
• Remove MS Office 2007 – Remove Microsoft Office 2007
• Uninstall MSN or Windows Live Messenger – Forcefully remove Windows Live Messenger
• NET Framework Setup Cleanup Utility – Remove all versions of .NET Framework
• Uninstall DirectX – Remove or Repair DirectX
• Windows Installer CleanUp Utility – Clean MSI Configuration Data
• F-Secure Uninstaller – Uninstaller for F-Secure Products
• Toolbar Uninstaller – Uninstall various unwanted toolbars
• Nero Clean Tool – Uninstalls Nero Suite
• Avast Uninstall Utility – Uninstalls avast Antivirus
• XPS Removal Tool – Uninstalls Microsoft XPS Utility
• AV Uninstaller – Uninstall many Antiviruses
• PC De-Crapifier – Uninstall unwanted trial softwares.

Important :
You can also try uninstalling the softwares using the famous Revo Uninstaller which can completely remove softwares, clean the left-over files and registry entries etc. I highly recommend you to have Revo Uninstaller. Along with that, CCleaner is a must-have utility to cleanup registry entries. It can also remove any software entry from Add/Remove Program List. However it does not uninstall softwares.

For many softwares like Adobe ones, the software manufacturer provides a way to manually uninstall softwares by manually deleting the files and registry entries made by the software. If everything fails, here is the General Way To Manually Uninstall Software. This must be your last resort. Modifying registry without knowing what you are doing can cause serious consequences. Windows may end up not booting. Be careful while playing around with the registry.

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