Making RenWeb Work with Ubuntu and Mint

RenWeb is a popular school information management system commonly used in private schools in the United States. Although it is not the only one out there, it is one I have personally used. My day job is teaching music and acting as resident technical support at a private school in central Ohio. What may or may not be well-known to many is that the company is quite Windows-centric. Macs and Linux machines have been in many ways left out in the cold, that is, until recently.

Sliding into Linux: Easing the Transition

One of the first articles written for Day-to-Day Linux was about how hard it is to change operating systems. For example, my own first experiences with Ubuntu years ago were quite frustrating. Sometimes the best kind of support is a friend, neighbor, or coworker. Effectively striking out on my own, all I had was me. As much as the community is helpful and there are many, many tutorials and HOWTOs online, it didn't make day-to-day use any easier. Even after I decided to take the plunge and make it the main operating system in my household, I still had plenty to learn. For a beginner, Ubuntu would have been a non-starter, even before the desktop overhaul that is Unity.

Even though there will be challenges and obstacles for someone making the transition from Windows, there are plenty of ways to make the learning curve much more gentle.

What's Open Source? Should I Care? Why?

If you've been reading or watching the news at all in the last six months, you have undoubtedly come across news stories about Edward Snowden and how he leaked classified documents to which he had access while working for the National Security Agency (NSA). Since that time, there people have taken a great interest in what the NSA does and how it does it. If the thought of complete strangers snooping into your business disturbs you, you are not alone, especially when espionage and shades of truth are the meat and potatoes of the particular branch of the U.S. government. It also means that open source software has become much more necessary for computer security.

Setting Up a SMART board in Linux Mint 13

Having installed SMART Notebook and the drivers for SMART Tech's interactive whiteboards on dozens of Linux machines, I can safely say that the main issue is documentation which targets system administrators. Here are the simple steps to set up a SMARTboard in Linux Mint 13. These steps will also work in Ubuntu and Debian. Note that while I have done this procedure many, many times and you should not run into any trouble, I do not take responsibility for problems you may encounter in your own efforts. You have been warned.

Linux in Education: SMARTboards

One current trend in education in the United States is the push for technology in the classroom. Many schools are purchasing iPads, implementing one-to-one laptop programs, and increasing awareness in the STEM subjects, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been thought to be a worthwhile addition to the classroom, as well. Businesses are also deploying them in conference rooms to be a compelling visual aid. One question remains: how well does Linux work in this kind of environment. The short answer? Far from perfect, but generally pretty well.

Into the Fast Lane with Synapse

One of the differences between average users and “power” users is efficiency. Power users are concerned not just with getting a task done but also with getting it done with as little effort as possible in the shortest amount of time. One way that advanced users often speed up their work is with automation. Synapse puts the pedal to the metal a different way: reducing the need to switch between the keyboard and the mouse.

Unless you are using KDE or some type of minimalist desktop, you have a wonderful piece of search technology called Zeitgeist working behind the scenes. Zeitgeist is a framework which works a bit like a butler, observing which files you open and which programs you run most. It does not, however, spy on you or what is in your documents. Instead, Synapse gives you a way to search this information to open a document, run a program, and much more.

Another Contender in the Editor Wars: ne

Talk to most geeks and they will have some sort of answer for the question "What is the best editor for the command line?" For many, it will be either emacs or vi. Those two choices, in my opinion, are a Coke vs. Pepsi sort of debate that will never be resolved. Others will respond with nano. What about those of us who just want to get stuff done with a minimum of fuss? For myself and others, I humbly submit ne, the nice editor.