Move Over Higgs Boson, I got this

Credit: Constantine Shulyupin. http://www.makelinux.net/kernel_map/

A snapshot look at just how complex the Linux kernel is.

Fix This! – Xbox Contoller Driver In Userspace, An End To “Blinky Lights”

How bout a quick fix to  a sometimes very annoying issue I come across in gaming on Linux?  Sure!?  That’s the spirit.  It is no secret that the Xbox 360 controller works dandy in Linux, it really does.  The crux of the matter is in how it sometimes “malfunctions” when connecting to the system via USB.  The driver you likely are using is the kernel-space “xpad-kernel” module, which at times, is not very nice to you.  If I don’t have my controller plugged in before starting my system, often I will get the “4 blinky-lights-I-can’t-connect-to-the-system-derrrrrpppp” LED status on the controller.  How do I fix that without rebooting?  Read on…

Linux Fun Fact #2

The recent offerings of Dell in the Linux workstation category was not the first foray in GNU/Linux.  On February 4th, 1999, Dell announced approved configurations compatible with Red Hat Linux, finally joining the announcement bananzas of 1998 and 1999.

Linux Fun Fact #1

Did you know it was proposed internally, in the spring of 1998, that Netscape should buy Red Hat?

AMD, Nvidia, ramp up Linux driver support after Valve’s SteamOS announcement

Drive support is ramping up for Nvidia and AMD video cards, largely in response to recent Steam announcements.  Largely hit or miss in the past, this should bring some good improvements to existing and even past cards.  Head on over to the source link for more. 

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2049369/amd-nvidia-ramp-up-linux-driver-support-after-valves-steamos-announcement.html

Quick Tip: Keep An Eye On Your Phone with Android Device Manager

To be honest I had no idea this feature was even on my phone, and this is coming from a guy who roots, unlocks, and updates his ROM and toolbox on a weekly basis. I have been in the security settings many times, but never did I think the access to this program had to be turned on in this particular spot. To enabled Android Device Manager, perform the following steps:

Video Reel: Arch Linux and KDE on NVIDIA SHIELD

Video Reel: Peachy Printer – Indiegogo Campaign Video

From Around The Web: Red Hat Collaboration with Docker

Redhat recently announced its new collaboration with the developers of the popular Docker software, which enables applications to be packaged with their dependencies into “containers,” rather than requiring a host OS for each application (monolithic approach).  This developement is quite interesting, as development of Docker, and bug fixes should increase, as well as this method for sandboxed applications.  This should also trickle down to Fedora and like distros that use similar structure (RPM based).  The move will primarily focus, at first, at removed the need for AuFS with a provisioning method based on the device-mapper technology in Fedora, RHEL, and others.  This will ensure compatibility with upstream kernel versions.

OneNote Alternatives: Cherrytree Notes

http://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/

The other day I showcased Zim Desktop Wiki, and briefly mentioned BasKetNotes (from the Qt world) as possible alternatives to Microsoft’s OneNote application.  I was still at a crossroads, due to the obvious fact that BasKet Notes was more full-featured, but has not been updated since 2010, and was not likely to be picked up again anytime soon.   Luckily a fine user on Reddit from the Linux Action Show userbase suggested Cherrytree Notes, which goes above Zim Notes, and appears to be designed with the much more appealing Qt graphical framework over GTK.