The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Categories
Operating System

Open Source Game Developement: Interview with a Developer

Today we delve into the exciting world of independent game development.How do do people start developing? What do they use to develop? How do they market their games? We got the answers to these untapped mysteries from none other than Phr00t developer of the games 3079 and 3089.

Categories
Linux Mac OSX Operating System Software Windows

Virtual Machines: Running Another Operating System On Your Computer the Easy Way

Virtual machines are programs that allow you to run programs (or an entire operating system) on your computer that weren’t originally designed for it. Most commonly this is done by Mac users who want to run Windows programs which don’t have versions for Mac OSX, but can be done with almost any operating system (like Linux). If you want to run Mac OSX you have to be on a Mac computer (unless you have some tech skill), but otherwise you’re free to experiment. All you have to do is download the operating system .iso or .dmg file or buy an installation DVD and you can use that to start up your virtual copy of that Operating System (OS).

Categories
Operating System Windows

Whats New in Windows 8.1

Did you get a PC for the holidays, or recently upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1? Well then you’re in luck because today we will be summarizing of all the significant differences between Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

Before we begin, if you are a UMass Amherst community member and that would like to upgrade and haven’t already switched to Windows 8.1 – you can obtain the software for FREE via the Microsoft Dreamspark web store.

Categories
Mac OSX Operating System Security Software Windows

Keychain Access and Keepass

Have you ever had that awkward moment when you forgot the password to your bank account and missed your rent payment? Maybe not, but I’m sure you’ve forgotten a password at least once in your life, which is easy to do considering the average person uses about 10 passwords a day. So how can one avoid the inconvenience of forgetting important passwords in today’s fast-paced world? Simple, Keychain Access and Keepass.

Categories
Android Apps iOS Mac OSX Operating System Windows

Note Taking on a Touch Screen Device

It seems more and more that paper is on its last legs of usefulness. Most readings are posted online and books can be read on anything from your computer to your phone. One of the few things remaining is taking notes in class. Most touch screen devices don’t have the sensitivity or the speed to take down notes as fast as you can put ink to paper, at least until now. Touch screen devices now have the capability to nearly match paper, with the obvious benefits of having a digital copy of your notes and even helping the environment. Many professors post lecture slides online before class and having a touch device makes it easy to write on them without wasting tons of money on prints (and if you’re taking Organic Chemistry it is incredibly helpful). With that said, there are a couple options to choose from.

Categories
Linux Operating System

Understanding SteamOS

steamcroppedOn September 20th, users of the popular videogame distribution platform Steam were greeted with the news that Valve Corporation would be releasing a new operating system; SteamOS. This had been foreshadowed by Valve’s Gabe Newell at LinuxCon the week before, but the news still came as a pleasant surprise for both PC and console gamers alike.

Categories
Mac OSX Microsoft Software Web Windows

Office 365: Office for University Students

EDIT: The pricing information in this article is out of date. Please see the article here for up to date information on how UMass students can obtain Office 365 for free.

What is Office 365?

Everyone knows about Microsoft Office 2013, Microsoft’s latest version of their popular productivity suite, yet few people have heard of Office 2013’s cousin in the cloud: Office 365.

Office 365 is the latest addition to Microsoft’s Office product line. It offers the same Office software packages as Office 2013 Professional, but with two primary differences. The first being that Office 365 includes complementary cloud storage space as well as a number of additional features, and the second difference is that Office 365 is sold as a yearly subscription rather than as a flat rate, one-time purchase.

Categories
Mac OSX Operating System

OSX Recovery Partition

What is the recovery partition?

The OS X recovery partition is a tool that is built into all Macs running OS X 10.7 (Lion) or higher. The recovery partition is a collection of system recovery tools that enable users to diagnose and fix their Mac if it is unable to boot.

Categories
Operating System

Building Your Rig 101: Motherboards

Welcome back! This week I will be covering motherboards, and what you should be looking for when you are deciding on which one to buy for your build.

Categories
Mac OSX Security Windows

Password Security

Daylight Savings Time has just occurred and as we change our clocks we should also change our passwords. Having a strong password is important and it is good practice to change your passwords regularly. By changing your password you can make sure that your accounts are safe and secure.

Categories
Linux Operating System Software

Turkeybytes: Vim Text Editor

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for Vim. Vim, which stands for “Vi Improved,” is a text editor that is based on Vi, an older editor that was used with the original Unix operating system. Vim is free, open source software that comes with most modern Linux distributions. It is mostly for writing programs and scripts, but can be used to edit any sort of basic text file. It is designed so that the user never has to take their hands off of the keyboard or touch a mouse. If you use Vim properly, your palms can stay in the same position while only your fingers move. For this reason, Vim users are occasionally referred to as keyboard cowboys.

Categories
Linux Mac OSX Operating System Software Windows

Turkeybytes: UNetbootin

With the release of Windows 8.1 I finally decided that it was worth replacing the trusted Windows 7 with Microsoft’s latest and greatest. Windows 8 is awesome; it provides many behind the scenes system improvements that will make your PC run more fluidly, and with Windows 8.1 Microsoft has fixed many of the user interface flaws that users and critics have been complaining about. I highly recommend upgrading to Windows 8.1 if you are a UMass student, faculty or staff because it is FREE through Microsoft Dreamspark!

Categories
Operating System Windows

Turkeybytes: Classic Shell

The program that I am most thankful for is Classic Shell. Classic shell replaces the start button on Windows 8 so that instead of taking the user to the metro (blocks) interface of Windows 8, it brings up the traditional start menu of Windows Vista or 7. You may ask why not just use Windows 7 instead of 8? Well, Windows 8 is a much lighter operating system than 7 meaning that it uses less storage space on the hard drive and uses less RAM, or memory. Overall Windows 8 is much faster than Windows 7, but some people have found the metro interface unpleasant to use. Classic shell helps to bridge the gap between the two by giving the faster, lighter Windows 8 with the familiar interface of Windows 7 that many people have become accustomed to.

Categories
Linux Operating System

Turkeybytes: Elementary OS

This week I’m thankful for Elementary OS!

Elementary OS is an open source Linux distribution that’s sure to hit home with anyone who loves minimalism and simplicity. With all the functionality of Ubuntu 13.04 and some design ideas similar to OSX, Elementary OS is lightweight and compatible with most Apple computers and PCs.

Elementary OS

The newest release, called Luna, is easy to use and free to download. Just like any other Linux distribution, Luna is highly customizable. Want to swap out your dock for something more OS 10.9-esque? No problem. You also already have all the functionality you need – there’s a software store, system settings, and some preloaded programs. If you’re comfortable with Ubuntu, you’ll have no problems navigating this interface.

Check out this site for more information, and to download Elementary OS for free. If you want a physical DVD sent to you instead, you can buy one at the store for $10.00.

Categories
Hardware Operating System

New Technologies Releasing The Potential of Ultrabooks

Ultrabooks are the future of the PC industry because they offer an affordable, lightweight, and quality computing experience. New technologies are enabling companies like ASUS, Acer, Apple, Samsung, Dell, and HP to produce relatively inexpensive ultrabooks with exceptional battery life and performance. This article will examine some of these new innovations that unlock the potential of ultrabooks.

Categories
Mac OSX Operating System Security

Time Machine: Automatic Backups for your Mac

What is Time Machine?

Time Machine is automatic backup software that comes with Mac OS X. It allows you to backup your entire Mac, including system files, applications, accounts, preferences, email messages, music, photos, movies, and documents to an external drive. After the initial backup is complete, Time Machine will continue to perform hourly backups on any files that have been changed since the last time it ran. When your external drive is filled, Time Machine will start to delete the oldest existing backups in order to free up space.

Categories
Adobe Apps Operating System Software

Top 5 Open Source Applications

Software Giants vs. the Open Source Initiative:

Open Source Logo

In the last decade and a half, an unknown number of tech companies have sprung up and established themselves as booming enterprises overnight. Its pretty safe to say that there has never been growth like that in such little time, ever. Unfortunately, buying that software is the only option when you want a high quality product. Even though the latest Adobe Software Creative Suite might be some of the best editing software out there, it’s priced at $2,600, or about the cost of a Umass Unlimited Meal Plan. Do you want to pay for high end software; or eat? For software that your job depends on it, maybe, but not for the average user. In the end, software has hit a dilemma: either have expensive, professional software, or don’t have any at all.

Categories
Linux Mac OSX Operating System

Terminal Basics

In OS X or Linux, you can do a lot with Terminal. This is where you can enter in commands, and your computer will execute them. You can do anything from basic file management, to running programs, to even playing games. But in order to do all that, you have to start with the basics. Here are a few commands you’ll need to get a grip on first.

Categories
Android Apps Operating System Security Software Virus/Malware

Mobile Malware: In the Wild

Introduction:

According to a recent study conducted by the networking company Juniper, mobile malware is on the rise, and malware found in the wild is targeted almost exclusively toward Android devices.

“Theoretical exploits for [Apple] iOS have been demonstrated, as well as methods for sneaking malicious applications onto the [Apple] iOS App Store,” the report says, but criminals have tended to favor Android as their target, because there is less oversight on the process of releasing applications into the wild” [1].

Running older versions of Android with a lack of consistent update support can significantly increase the risk of a device becoming infected. Users are encouraged to update to a newer version of Android if possible (through each device’s update utility).

Categories
Linux Software

Who knew Linux had games?

If you’ve recently switched to Linux or are just looking for some new native Linux games to play, you may find yourself at a loss. Luckily, there are some excellent sources for native Linux game reviews. Websites such as linuxgamecast.com or thelinuxgamer’s Tumblr are excellent sources of great reviews for Linux games which you might not know exist and some that you do, but didn’t know you could play on Linux.

Categories
Adobe Microsoft Operating System Security Software Virus/Malware Web Windows

The 5 Most Important Things to Take Away From OIT’s NSO Presentation

Categories
Hardware Operating System Security

Laptop Buying Guide

Purchasing a new laptop is a scary process. When you first walk into a big retailer, the sheer volume of technical information can feel overwhelming. Figuring out how to get the most for your money from this? Nearly impossible.

This article will serve as a beginner’s guide to give you enough hardware knowledge to make an informed decision.

Categories
Mac OSX Operating System

Folder Shortcuts in OSX

On a Mac, how do you make folder and file “shortcuts”? Say you have a folder somewhere, and you want a quick and easy way to access it from your desktop or another area. You probably want to make a “shortcut” on your desktop that, when clicking on it, will bring you to that folder. There are basically two ways you can make a “shortcut” on a Mac: symbolic links and aliases. But what are these, how do you use them, and what’s the difference?

Categories
Operating System Windows

IPConfig

If you want to check the network connections associated with a Windows based computer, IPConfig is the tool to use. All you have to do is:

1. Open a command prompt window
2. Hit enter
3. Type “ipconfig” in the first line

Categories
Mac OSX Operating System

Remote Control Your Mac

You can control your computer remotely by using ssh, a nifty command that allows you to connect to other computers and servers over a network. One great use is to set up your Mac for it, then you can control your computer from anywhere! As long as your computer is open and on, of course.