Want to run Google Chrome on Ubuntu? Get Chromium!
Have an experience with Google Chrome on Windows but frustrated by absence of Linux ports? UbuntuGeek describes how to install Chromium browser on Ubuntu machine using apt-get. What’s the difference between the two? Google Chrome’s proprietary codebase is derived from Chromium’s open source project.
Create PDF file from MS Word document, preserve document map
Sometimes there is a need to export a Word document in PDF format. Obviously, there are hundreds of possibilities to get this task done. But here I want to consider only those which correspond to following criteria.
- First, it must be a tool both capable to edit Word documents and have PDF export function built-in.
- Second, the tool has to be proven and widely used one.
- Third, it should create PDF ‘bookmarks’ e.g. preserve navigational structure of the document.
I got to know only two such tools: MS Word 2007 suite and Open Office’s Writer.
Export a doc file to PDF using Open Office Writer
From ‘File’ menu choose ‘Export as PDF’ item. When in ‘PDF Options’ dialog window, ensure that the ‘Export bookmarks’ option is checked. Press ‘Export’ button. Choose a directory. That’s all ;).
Save a Word document as Adobe PDF using MS Office 2007 Word
Press ‘orb’ button of the Word. Choose ‘Save as…’à ‘PDF or XPS’. Dialog window should be opened. Before saving by pressing button ‘Publish’ press ‘Options’. Check ‘Create bookmarks using’ checkbox and ‘Headings’ radio button.
In both cases headings present in a document interpreted as (possibly nested) sections, after PDF export displayed as ‘bookmarks’ – table of content shown at left navigational panel of Adobe (or other) PDF reader.
Other ways to do this task
PotPieGirl wrote in her blog about how to create pdf ebooks. Read in comments if you interested to familiar yourself with other tools, tips and tricks about the matter.
PS
Jennifer is the real name of wonderful woman behind PotPieGirl nickname. She applies PDF creating techniques to very specific need - creating ebooks. She is an internet marketer (in THE best meaning of the word) and very passionate about helping others. Read her Six Steps Niche Sites series absolutely for free – not even opt in required.
How to cope with information overload
Feeling overwhelmed by daily whirlpool mental commuting back and forth through your virtual space? E-mail, googling, RSS reader and other web things. TV, phone, books, magazines, list goes on… Today’s information torrent falls on an average person is not only a stressful experience, but very counter-productive fenomenon. Sort of unavoidable evil addiction. Basex reports it costs yearly $900 bln to US alone.
In this short and inspiring article, ‘nutrision and health expert’, Dr Jonny Bowden suggests to take a day offline. Unplug yourself from all those internet, IM, blackberry wires, feel real life, be restful and energized. There are some quotes from the article:
“…No matter how hard we try we can never catch up…”
“…So here’s a suggestion: Don’t even try to catch up…”
Then when you’ve feeled the taste of freedom, go on and ban one channel at a time on daily basis. What you would expect to happen then? One thing for sure - sky will not fall just because you’ve missed another Engadget post 
Freescale’s chip drives netbooks cheap
PCWorld, cNet, Yahoo!Tech, Engadget are all rumoring about a fresh Intel’s Atom rival product Freescale’s i.MX515 chip. It is expected to be announced soon, as well as exposed at CES.
The chip promises to be cheaper and less battery consuming. There are hopes it would allow Freescale powered netbooks priced below “magical” $199 and batteries to run wooping 8 hours until depleted.
There is a catch, however. ARM archtechture, doesn’t support Windows at all. So the netbooks run by such processors are “doomed” to run Linux.
RESTful Messaging
POST /queues/123/push –> tx begin –> INSERT –> tx commit
POST /queues/123/pop –> tx begin –> SELECT –> DELETE –> tx_commit
Be prepared to Rails 2.2 - how to install mysql gem on Ubuntu
Rails 2.2 is already out, and this release should be an exciting leap torwards multithreading, i18n etc. I definitely will give it a try. Today I’m using 2.1.2, and each time I run ‘rake test:units’ I get distracted a bit by a message that tells me that internal Rails’ MySQL adapter already deprecated. So I decided to get rid of it.
>sudo aptitude install mysql
How to install Sun JDK on Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-bin sun-java6-jre sun-java6-jdk
sudo update-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun
You also need to edit a file called /etc/jvm. This file defines the default system JVM search order. Each JVM should list their JAVA_HOME compatible directory in this file. The default system JVM is the first one available from top to bottom. Open /etc/jvm
$ sudo vi /etc/jvm
Make sure /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun is added to the top of JVM list
/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun
At the end your file should read as follows:
/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun /usr/lib/jvm/java-gcj /usr/lib/jvm/ia32-java-1.5.0-sun /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun /usr
Save and close the file.
Setup the environment variable
You also need to setup JAVA_HOME and PATH variable. Open your $HOME/.bash_profile or /etc/profile (system wide) configuration. Open your .bash_profile file:
$ vi $HOME/.bash_profile
Append following line:
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin
Save and close the file.
Test your new JDK
Type the following command to display version:
$ java -version
Output:
java version "1.6.0_03" Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_03-b05) Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 1.6.0_03-b05, mixed mode)
Try HelloWorld.java - first java program
$ vi HelloWorld.java
Append code:
public class HelloWorld { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello, World!"); } }
Save and close the file. Compile HelloWorld.java and execute program by typing following two instructions:
$ javac HelloWorld.java $ java HelloWorld
Output:
Hello, World!
Manning: some books about search technologies
Disclaimer!
None of the following links is an affiliate, and I have never personally linked to the Manning publishing.
Algorithms of the Intelligent Web
Topics of the book - search, data mining, classification, clasterisation, personal recommendations, etc.
The emphasis is on general principles and algorithms to organize the process.
The book has not yet been published (publication scheduled for March 2009), but is available for purchase through MEAP (Manning Early Access Program). Thus, what I took an advantage on. I bought it for chapters, starting with the 3rd, but decided to read from the beginning.
Collective Intelligence in Action
Very close on the first, but more attention paid to tools - Lucene, Nutch, WEKA
The press must be 17 October. Available as the most Manning-books are, in PDF format. Could not get to decide which of the two to choose, but now I tend to think that I’ll buy this one, too.
Taming Text
Again, very close to the first two, but is more specific specialization. The theme of the book - “how to cope with the unstructured text.” So far, says only half of the book is available through the MEAP.
Hibernate Search in Action
All the same search, but now in the annex to the specific technologies - Hibernate Core + Apache Lucene
Lucene in Action, Second Edition
Reissue of the famous book on the famous search framework - Lucene. Lucene - in the original Java-framework, has been ported to other languages and platforms. Lucene is the basis for other powerful and interesting projects - Hadoop, Solr and others.
Conclusion (rather passing observation):
It seems, Java finally ceased to be perceived as a “brake” even in such sensitive to the performance areas as search and processing large amounts of data. Or, in recent years has grown a generation of programmers / authors of books that are completely forgotten the C / C + +?
Manning: книги посвященные поисковым технологиям
Disclaimer!
Ни один из нижеследующих линков не является аффилиетским, а сам я лично никак не связан с издательством Manning*.
Algorithms of the Intelligent Web
Тематика книги - search, data mining, classification, clasterisation, personal recommendations и т.п.
Упор делается на общие принципы и алгоритмы, на организацию процесса.
Книга еще не издана (издание запланировано на март 2009), но доступна для покупки через MEAP (Manning Early Access Program). Чем я и воспользовался. Купил я ее ради глав начиная с 3-й, но решил прочитать с самого начала.
Collective Intelligence in Action
Очень близкая по тематике с первой, но здесь больше внимания уделено инструментарию - Lucene, Nutch, WEKA
В печати должна быть 17 октября (на момент написания - послезавтра). Доступна, как и большинство Manning-книг, в PDF. Никак не мог решить, какую из этих двух выбрать, но сейчас я склоняюсь к мысли, что прикуплю и эту тоже.
Taming Text
Опять же, очень близка к первым двум, но имеет более конкретную специализацию. Тема книги - “как совладать с неструктурированным текстом”. На сегодня написано только половина книги, доступна через MEAP.
Hibernate Search in Action
Все тот же поиск, но теперь в приложении к конкретным технологиям - Hibernate Core + Apache Lucene
Lucene in Action, Second Edition
Переиздание знаменитой книги, посвященной знаменитому поисковому фреймворку - Lucene. Lucene - в оригинале Java-фреймворк, была портирована** на другие языки и платформы. Lucene является базой для других мощных и интересных проектов - Hadoop, Solr и другие.
Заключение (скорее, попутное наблюдение):
Похоже, Java окончательно перестала восприниматься как “тормоз” даже в таких, чувствительных для производительности, областях как поиск и обработка больших объемов данных. Или за последние годы выросло целое поколение программистов/авторов книг, которые окончательно забыли C/С++?
——————————————————————
* - а жаль 
** - не знаю точно почему, но мне лично кажется, что по-русски Lucene должна называться в женском роде
Английские слова, которые я выучил сегодня
Читаю сейчас свежеизданную книжку Энди Ханта (Andy Hunt) Pragmatic Thinking and Learning.
Написанная Программистом-Прагматиком (Pragmatic Programmer �) и ориентированная на читателя-”компьютерщика”, книга рассматривает вопрос мышления и обучения через призму соотвеисвующих понятий и представлений. Подзаголовок звучит как “рефакторинг мозга”. В книге подаются интересные модели различных аспектов мышления, процесса обучения, поведения в целом.
Но кроме полезного содержания, книжка эта порадовала меня тем, что дала мне повод выучить еще несколько (десятков?) английских слов. Вот некоторые из них:
contagious - заразный; инфекционный; передающийся непосредственно и через третьих лиц; заразительный (смех и т. п.)
pernicious - пагубный; вредный; губительный;
skewed - перекошенный; косой; искажённый;
hallmark - пробирное клеймо; проба; признак; критерий; отличительный признак; отличительная черта
indictment - обвинительный акт; обвинение; предъявление обвинения
Странно, но все слова получились с какой-то негативной окраской Что это - манера автора выражать свои мысли через негативную лексику? Или, может быть, следствие избирательности памяти, которая выражается в вытеснении негативного опыта?
look good