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).

Cloudo - Your virtual desktop OS.

Cloudo is a free internet application, which allows you to take everything from your computer with your, wherever you go, without carrying physically anything with you. It's practically a virtual PC. You access it via a username and a password, and you can upload, download and view different files on it.

It has basically a few applications and games available, but its secret consists into a XML editor. If you known XML, you can make anything using this markup language. Additionally, Cloudo offers an word editor, text editor, mail client, calendar, and even a contact manger. So, you can use it even you don't know XML at all. You can upload any file from your PC, and view them or download them anywhere on the earth. It's really simple. And free.

Try it: http://cloudo.com/

Controlling Synaptics touchpads on Ubuntu.

Even if Ubuntu is a great OS, it might have some problems on laptops with their touchpads. My laptop's touchpad is made by Synamptics, which runs, natively, on Linux, but for changing the way it responds and behaves, it needs a driver. The best way you can get it is via Ubuntu Software Center (located on Applications). Within the software center, search for "Touchpad". Click on the right button from the first result, and click install. Now, it will ask for your password (which you entered when you have installed Ubuntu). Wait for the installation to finish, then close software center, and go to System -> Preferences -> Touchpad. Now you can modify the way your touchpad moves, behaves, and others.

Tested on Dell D610 and works without problems.

PockeTwit, a good Twitter client for Windows Mobile devices.

The mobile version of the Twitter website offers limited options, and as we know, Internet Explorer welcomes you to the hell when you try to view desktop versions of websites. So, it is not a satisfying solution when we are talking about Twitter on Windows Mobile devices. There are a little few clients for Twitter available for Windows Mobile, but most of them completely suck.

But I found, after trying different applications, PockeTwit, which will give you many options for Twitter, exactly like those applications which are found on the iPhone. The program runs good, I can't say anything bad about it, except that the interface could be made a little more clear (its quality is not the best on HP iPAQ 111). The official website says you need .NET Framework Compact 2.0 or higher for the application, but it runs fine for me without it. If you need options, just slide right or left on the screen (into the application) to get them.

Official website http://code.google.com/p/pocketwit/

Download link (.CAB): http://www.4shared.com/file/193097291/d8bfb09c/PockeTwitv76.html