In honor of my return I’ve redesigned the website with a completely new theme which I designed myself, I’ve recently been working on web design and such so this was a fun opportunity. You can see more of my work at my personal blog http://ben.kulbertis.org/. So yes, a new line of tutorials is being released starting this weekend, you can view it and the ones to come either at http://www.quesomanrulz.com/latest-video/ or http://youtube.com/quesomanrulz.

Let me know what you think of the redesign and if you are happy that I am returning in the comments below! Also give me ideas on the things I can expand on and if you have tutorial ideas please submit them at http://www.quesomanrulz.com/contact/. Thank you everyone and its great to be back!

A source I read periodically some of you may have heard of called The How to Geek. One of the things that they feature in several different posts is how to make several different shortcuts to accomplish some nice simple tasks that Windows doesn’t have built in. They also outline how to create hotkeys out of these shortcuts. In this video tutorial I show how to create the best of the shortcuts from How to Geek’s collection and how to make hotkeys out of them.

The shortcuts we create include:

• Eject a Certain USB drive
• Put the Monitor in Sleep Mode
• Run CCleaner Silently in the Background

You will also need to download the NirCmd and USB Disk Ejector program as outlined in the video for some of the shortcuts to work.

Related Articles:

• SmartTab: A Better Alt+Tab Alternative/Replacement (techie-buzz.com)
• Minimize All Background Windows Using Aero Shake in Windows 7 (techie-buzz.com)
• Don’t Panic! Hides Windows From Onlookers [Downloads] (lifehacker.com)
• Five Best Virtual-Desktop Managers [Hive Five] (lifehacker.com)
• Windows 7 Tools – EnhanceMySe7en (techblissonline.com)

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)  is the latest and certainly greatest from the Ubuntu flavor of Linux. Shipping with Ubuntu 9.10 is a heavily modified version of the classic bootloader “GRUB“. This is honestly the only thing I find negative about Karmic, I feel that GRUB 2 is certainly a downgrade, at least from an end-user standpoint. Not only do I feel that it does not look as good, what with its solid and primitive appearance, it is incredibly more complicated to configure than the previous bootloader. Previously to edit entries as well as make configuration changes one only had to enter in a simple command in the terminal, enter your password and edit the file. It was honestly one of my favorite and most used commands:

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Now however we are looking at a completely different design and layout. The file that actually controls the content of the bootloader as you see it upon boot is by a config file but this file is a generated script which you are heavily advised (as in it won’t work apparently, I haven’t tried it for fear of blowing up my install) not to edit in any way. However there is a file and several other edits available that can allow you to customize it to the extent of the old version of GRUB. One file known as “40_custom” which allows you to edit/add entries to the bootloader. In the tutorial I go over how to access these files and the steps that must be taken to change and edit entries. Removing entries such as the memtest86+ entry must be done a different way entirely. Which I did not cover in the interest of time, a great text tutorial is available here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275. Be sure to follow the steps carefully and remember for any changes you have make to any files concerning grub, you have to enter the command:

sudo update-grub

That will regenerate the config file and apply all your changes.

Related Articles

• My Upgrade to Karmic Koala (slumpedoverkeyboarddead.com)
• Mastering Grub 2 The Easy Way (maketecheasier.com)
• Customizing GRUB2 (slumpedoverkeyboarddead.com)

For those of you that don’t already know: Mozilla Thunderbird is an E-mail client, just like Outlook, except its free. That’s pretty much it. The only real difference is the UI, it just looks different but functions the same way. Especially the new 3.0 beta, which has more added features and an improved UI. So check it out: Mozilla Thunderbird 3.0 beta Release Page.

Hardware

Hardware this year has made several nice advancements which will continue to serve us until they are replaced, as usual. Some lasting advancements have been made however.

• The Intel Core i7 was actually released late last year but it has since then become a common processor for system builders and is soon coming more frequently to commercially built machines. Quad-core processors are being used more frequently and are beginning to become more commonplace. With the Core i7, newer quad-core CPUs have higher speeds, some soaring as high as the highest dual cores.

• After the release of the Core i7 in late 2009 Intel began releasing their Core i5 processors, which are lower clocked quad cores, their appeal being i7 technology at an affordable price. Intel’s “i” series is expected to bring on the next generation of CPUs.

Software

There have been several interesting steps in the line of software this year. New companies are trying their luck in the business and old companies are continuing to produce the incredible.

• Google announced on July 7, 2009 that would begin to develop their own Operating System for PCs. The project is expected to be an Open Source project with help for community developers by the end of 2009. During it’s announcement it was stated that the OS was geared toward use on netbooks and would be based on the Linux kernel. For more information on the exciting ChromeOS you might visit Google’s official announcement.

• The world’s most popular version of Linux remains Ubuntu, Ubuntu 9.04 nicknamed “Jaunty Jackalope” was released April 23rd and the next version 9.10, called “Karmic Koala” to be released October 29th. Karmic Koala is a huge advancement for Ubuntu as it now includes a smoother GUI, added usability features, more wireless drivers, and and integrated WINE system for running Windows applications, just to name a few. Ubuntu’s usability and consumer reach continues to grow with every new release.

Web

The internet and design of web pages is continuing to morph to a more Web 2.0 design. Usability is a more common theme on popular websites. Web apps are becoming more and more important to users and the idea of working from “the cloud” is becoming a more realistic and exciting concept.

• Social networks and other web 2.0 sites are continuing to update using new theories, ideas and concepts using new technologies such as AJAX. Several common themes are becoming more popular across the social internet, such as tagging. The war between Facebook and Twitter continues while the former titan MySpace is continuing to drop in popularity.

• Web Applications are allowing users to create and save their work from anywhere with data completely stored online, app users can do anything from word process to screen record using the amazing variety of web apps available. The above mentioned ChromeOS is expected to further increase the popularity of web applications as most of the applications for the ChromeOS will be internet based.

Mobile

Mobile technology is fast becoming a more and more popular way to compute. With more mobile OS’s coming out such as Android, mobile technology is becoming the way of the future.

• The Google Android OS was released in late 2008 but during this year it’s use on phones has gotten much larger and according to Google:

By year’s end, there will be at least 18 phones on the market worldwide based on the Android operating system.

And according to Wikipedia:

Analysts suggest that by 2012, Android could be the second largest mobile phone OS with 14% of the market, behind Symbian (with 36%) and in front of iPhone OS (with 13%).

• The iPhone 3GS was released June 19 this year and remains the latest in the iPhone line. It was released with version 3.0 of the iPhone OS. This iPhone also supports moving picture recording capabilities as well as other advancements.

Overall the above is a list of some of the most notable technology advancements of 2009. Unfortunately not all of the advancements can be noted in a single post, so post you’re favorite developments of this year in the comments! You can also talk about what you thought of the advancements listed above or the advancements listed by others. In my opinion this year has gone swimmingly for the technology world as we continue to progress through this new frontier!

Opera is quite the cockroach of web browsers. First created in 1994 as a free alternative to the IE and Netscape giants, it is still around and kicking, it’s most recent release is Opera 10. Opera has progressed by leaps and bounds over the years, and is still coming out with new ideas and innovations. Opera 10 has introduced new features such as “Turbo Mode” which will use advanced compressions techniques to speed up page rendering on slower internet connections. Also new is an integrated Ad-Block utility that will block most ads present on web pages. It of course, also has the speed you would expect. Best of all, it has an excellent and fully functional portable version, that sacrifices no speed for portability. If you like to take you’re web browser with you, Quesomanrulz Tutorials most definitely recommends Opera 10 Portable, especially over the laggy and bloated portable Firefox.

Related Articles

• Review: Opera 10 Web browser (macworld.com)
• Opera 10 Portable – Keep Your Browsing to Yourself (jkontherun.com)
• Opera 10 Portable Brings Speedy Browsing to Your Thumb Drive [Downloads] (lifehacker.com)

The two major contributors will be: Nick Budi and Nick Houle. Both are close friends of mine, they will be making the tutorials and their respective posts. Another contributor will be Brody Ledbetter, who will be posting the occasional informational post on here but will not likely be doing any tutorials.

So look for new faces on my YouTube channel, from Nick and Nick. I’ll still be on answering questions if you send me messages and assisting with posts on the site. There’s just no real way for me to make a video since all of this work is being done in a public place.

So again, please welcome them with open arms and thank them for stepping in in my absence. Thanks again guys!

One of the greatest features of OS X that is missing an alternative in Windows is the Exposé feature. For those that don’t know what the Exposé feature in OS X is, it “…allows a user to quickly locate an open window, or to hide all windows and show the desktop without the need to click through many windows to find a specific target.” [Wikipedia - Exposé (Mac OS X)]. In windows 7 there are features included (Aero Peek and the Show Desktop Button) that ultimately provides the same service as Exposé but it is not done in the same way. For those that want a nice clone of Exposé for Windows that is lag free and customizable there is no better program than Switcher. Switcher is incredibly similar to Exposé, it has a lot of customization however allowing you to get it the way you like it. I prefer to turn on the “dock” organization, disable all the overlays, change the brightness to 100%, and change the hotkey to win + tab to replace the built in flip-3D system. I like it very much more than the regular flip-3D and it is quick, responsive, and lag-free.

iTunes is no doubt the most popular program for playing music files on both Windows and Mac, the Windows version however, while it did just upgrade to 9.0 still has issues with start up and response time. Unfortunately, nothing has ever before been able to come close to all the features available in iTunes, making the bloat worth it. Now there is, and it can even do what made iTunes so popular, sync with that little iPod of yours. What might be able to accomplish this you might ask? Well none other than a little freeware called Foobar2000. The name might be funny but you won’t laugh at what this light little software can do. Its interface is light and simplistic but it packs a punch. It can sync your iPod with a simple add-on, as well as integrate with your OS just as easily. Even without add-ons it has features that just make it useful for the end-user. Its like using iTunes but without the junk and with the freedom.