Running Android 1.6 on your PC (+video).

Android is the operating system for mobile devices which is getting more and more popularity everyday (about 60-100 000 devices with Android OS are activated every day, and it's coming fast behind iPhone OS). By knowing this fact, users of iPhone and Windows Mobile devices are trying to port Android to their devices. But what I am going to show is how you can get Android running on your PC. OK, not natively, but with the help of a virtual machine.

Note: this works on any platform (Windows, Linux, and Mac). None of your data from your computer is going to be affected.

What you have to is to download VirtualBox from here, and the Android 1.6 that will run on VirtualBox from here (scroll down to "StableRelease" and click "view" on the first file, named "android -x86-1.6-r2.iso" to start downloading). These two downloads are not large so the download should finish fast. Do not burn on CD Android OS after downloading, just let the image somewhere where you know about it. Then install VirtualBox like a normal application.

When you finish installing VirtualBox, do the following (if your know what VirtualBox is and how to configure it, all you must know is that Operating System and Version must be selected as "Other", and respectively as "Other/Unknown"; otherwise follow these steps):

• Select "New", give it a name, and at Operating System select "Other" and "Other/Unknown" at Version.
• Give it a quantity of RAM (doesn't matter how much, but make sure to have free on your system that amount you're giving to it).
• Let the settings like they are (Boot Hard Disk and Create new hard disk)
• Then, on the window that appears, click Next, then Next, and because 2.0 GBs are just enough, click again Next, then Finish and again Finish.
• Now, your new Guest OS appeared on the left column of VirtualBox, with the name you gave it. Click Start.
• On the window that appears, click Next.
• Now, where it says "Media Source", click on that folder sign on the right part of the window.
• Click Add, and browse to where the image it located and click Open. Make sure it is highlighted and then click Select.
• Click Next and then Finish

Congratulations. You have now successfully configured your Virtual Machine and Android 1.6 is being booted automatically. I haven't installed it, I only ran it like a "Live CD". If you want to install it, you can try, but I don't know if it is difficult or not. I recommend you selecting "Live CD" just to see how it's look like.

You can now try and explore the functionalities of Android 1.6 on your PC (except calling and SMS because there isn't any carrier available). Below is a video which demonstrates you that this really works (even if I tried it on Mac, it runs also on Windows or Linux hosts).

Installing Windows XP under Ubuntu, via VirtualBox.

I wrote some time ago an article on which I described how to install Ubuntu on a Mac OS X via VirtualBox, and now I've installed a Windows XP on Ubuntu. So, it works pretty well, and the steps described in that article are 99% identical (with the exception of the first steps, where you select the Guest OS). The article can be found here: http://it-nthusiast.blogspot.com/2010/02/installing-ubuntu-on-macbook-via.html.

Some notes: You may have problems with the resolution, since the Guest OS doesn't see the Graphic Adapter. It will use a driver provided via Guest Additions. At times, Windows XP becomes quite unstable, but since now everything worked well (most of hardware worked out-of-the-box).

Below is screenshot which shows you my desktop, including my problem with my resolution.

Best Yahoo! Messenger client for Ubuntu.

Some of the most requested features for Ubuntu are probably video and calling functionality for Yahoo! Messenger. The chatting functions for Y!M network are assured by Pidgin Internet Messenger and, from 9.10, by Empathy Internet Messenger (as default multi-chatting service).You can't use or view webcams, or call or receive calls, like as in the official Y!M for Windows.

There is a very complex (maybe too complex), Yahoo! Messenger dedicated chatting client, which can bring voice and webcam functionalities to you. It's called GYachE (or GYachI). It has many functionalities... such as webcam and voice calling (if the drivers from Ubuntu can permit this), mail checker, very customizable chatting options and many, many others (trust me, the're so many).

Program is perfect for experts (they should get how it works fast), but the others, it might take a little to learn how to use it and what it can. The interface is complicated, and I think that they could make it a little more... organized, but for me, it's fine. You can hide offline contacts by clicking where it says "Friends: xxx Online: xx", and selecting "Don't Show Offline Buddies".

The current version is 1.2.2, designed for Karmic, and it's pretty buggy. For installation, you must have an internet connection available because it needs some dependencies from the internet.

If the program becomes unstable, let it like that until it starts responding again, otherwise it has bigger chances to crash.

Download link (Karmic Koala):

http://www.4shared.com/file/192403865/ea495118/gyachi_122-2karmic_i386.html