SSH connection timeout & freezing

For a while I was having problems when connecting to VPNs with ssh. If I forgot to make any action on the terminal, it would freeze the connection after a minute or so.

The solution I implemented is making the terminal send a signal every x seconds.

To send the signal every four minutes to remotehost, put the following in your ~/.ssh/config.

Host remotehost
  HostName remotehost.com
  ServerAliveInterval 240

To enable it for all hosts use:

Host *
  ServerAliveInterval 240

Make sure to run chmod 600 ~/.ssh/config, because the config file must not be world-readable.

(Took this solution from a superuser post)

Must have: Android Apps

I recently got a Nexus 7 tablet with Android 4.2 and together with my android phone i compiled this list, of what i think are the best apps for android.

News:

This is the most important section for my tablet. The first thing i do when i awake is read the news with this apps. I use all this apps but i have different uses for each. For example 'Flipboard' does everything the others do (exept 'Reddit is fun').

• Currents - This is the official news app from google. I normally use it to read the last hour news from my country and the world. Witch means i don't use it for my personal feeds.
• Reader - The official google app for goole reader. If you use google reader (if you don't you shoud) this is a must have. Great interface for keeping up to date to your feeds. Also, it has a greate widget.
• Reddit is fun - I was not sure if i should put this app on the 'News' category, but anyway, this is the best app for reddit users.
• Flipboard - This is the BEST app for news. With this app you can keep up with google reader, facebook, google+, twitter and more social networks. My favorite feature is 'Cover stories', witch puts together the most relevant posts from your social networks, and present it to you like a journal.

Music: 

• Google Play Music - In my country i don't have access to the amazing cloud features of Play. However even without those features this is a great player. 
• TuneIn Radio - This is probably my favorite android app. Every time i want to listen music i just go to a random music station and bam! I'm jumping around. It's great, and after you find a great station just add to your favorites. I'm collecting stations all around the world of different types of music, every time i want to ear a type of music i just need to go pick from my favorites. Also they have great widgets, even for the lock screen.

Productivity:

• AirDroid - I don't use this a lot but when i'm on Ubuntu and i want to transfer files from my computer to the tabler, or vice-versa, this is the best way. This app, together with a web app on your computer, creates interface on you PC of your tablet/smartphone. There are may things you can do with this: tablet memory, watching videos, manage contacts etc. I won't say much about it, as i don't use it much.
• Any.DO - after using so many to-do apps, i found this one to be the best fit for me. It lets you organize your to-do lists in groups and/or time. For example you can create a task to be done tomorrow, when tomorrow comes, the app automatically changes it to the 'today' group. The way to mark a task as done with a swipe of your finger is great to.
• Google Calendar - Not much to say about this app... it's the official app of google calendar, the best calendar there is.
• Chrome - I don't know if there is better internet browsers but the sync options is an awesome feature. All my bookmarks are already there, and i can just pull the pages i was reading on the computer instantly to my tablet. 
• ConnectBot - If you need a SSH client this is the one (i don't know any others).
• Droidedit - If you like notepad++ or you want to program on your tablet/smartphone, this app has great syntax highlighting for a lot of languages. The pro version (this is the only app i actually got the pro version) lets you use your dropbox and lets you run external commands through SSH. 
• Evernote - With this app is great to register stuff that comes to your head, like project ideas, grocery lists, etc. However not only with text, but with audio and pictures. Together with some web apps from this company, you can save parts of web pages, quick notes etc. Great to organize your ideas.
• Astro - The best file manager i found (but there are a bunch of them). The best features are dropbox, google drive, SkyDrive and facebook photos suport.
• GMail - the official app for the best email client (i'm a google fan boy :P) 
• Mightytext tablet (smartphone)- This app is AWESOME! With the web app on the pc and smartphone/tablet app, you can send and receive text messages on your tablet or PC! I almost don't use my phone now. Every time i am on the computer i use mightytext to send and receive messages.
• Pocket - Pocket is such a great app. When you are browsing the web on your tablet, smartphone or PC (there is a web app) and you find an article that you want to read but don't have time, just add it to pocket. Later when you have time, open pocket and select you article, it will open the article but only with the text, formatted in a beautiful way for reading. And most importantly, what you add to pocket will be available offline.

Cloud:

This section has a lot of different cloud services, and this is because i use all this services. If you use other cloud service, there is probably a app on google play, and that is what you should use. (There are some apps that try to centralize all your cloud services, but i don't want to use those)

• Google Drive - The google Drive client for android, where you can save all your files on the cloud. Google Docs is also now part of google drive, so you can open a lot of different documents and edit text and spreadsheets on your tablet.
• Dropbox - The most known cloud service in the planet. If you have an account, the app is a must, if you don't you should.
• Ubuntu One Files - Another cloud service, this time for Ubuntu users.

Security:

• Google Authenticator - If security is important for you, this is a must have. This app adds another layer to your google login, making you enter a code after you login. (if you play online games like Starcraft2, DiabloIII or Rift there are similar apps)
• Prey Anti-Theft - This app will work silently in the background and if you get robed or you lost your tablet/phone, just go to the prey website or send a message to activate the app. After some minutes you'll get a report of your device. Where it is, based on gps, or a photo of the person using the phone. Also check the computer version

Entertainement:

• Ingress - I was not going to post games.... but this one is from google (did i tell you I am a google fan-boy?) and original. This game makes you, literally, get out of the house and explore you city. A super original and social game. The down side is it's still in close beta... but maybe you can get one invite (make a google search ;) )
• My boy! Free - I don't much about the best emulators, but if you want to play Pokemon or Super Mario on your tablet/smartphone, this will do the trick.
• Steam - If you use Steam on your computer everyday this is a great app to keep up with your friends when you are AFK, or when you don't want to miss any promotions. 
• SeriesGuides Show Manager - If you're watching more than 5 different TV shows per week like me this app is great to remember when an episode comes out, what episodes you haven't watch and to alert you that a new season of a TV show you used to watch is coming.
• TwitchTV - You like watching video game pro players around the world playing in tournaments or just practicing? This is the TV of the e-sports.

Video:

There are two apps that I'm not adding here because they are in beta: XMBC and VLC.

• MX Player - This is a video player so you can watch movies and TV-shows on your tablet/smartphone. If your tablet has a HDMI port you can use it to watch movies on your TV with this app. There are alternatives but i found this one to work better. 
• YouTube - This must be in your android. Is a great app to watch YouTube videos, nothing much to say about it.

EBooks: 

• Moon+ Reader - My favorite app for reading epub and any type of eBooks  It adds a nice style to the pages to make it look like a real book. 
• Kindle - Another great app for eBooks. Kindle gives you access to the amazon store witch has a lot of free eBooks.

Social:

• Blogger - If you have a blog like this one and want to manage it or start writing you posts wherever you are this is a great app, simple and functional.
• Google+ - This is the best social app I've seen.... and by the way... the best social network :P
• Skype - Now that Windows Messenger is going to be incorporated on Skype, this turns out to be a very important social app for talking with text, voice or video, with your friends from Skype, Messenger and Facebook.
• TweetCaster - And for last but not least, an app for your twitter account. Reply, retweet, etc, everything works with a good theme and a great interface. The official twitter app is also great, if you don't like this one.

If you have more suggestions add a comment with your favorite app ;)

Acute Laziness

Today I woke up with an epic attack of laziness, so my "designer doctor" told me to draw.

My mixed feelings about Windows 8

Before trying Windows 8 i was going with the flow, which means hating the new Metro UI, even after trying a preview version on a Virtual Box, i hated Windows 8. I wasn't even thinking on touching Windows 8 anymore, and keep using ElmentaryOS Luna (more on Luna on a future post).

However, unintentionally, i won a Microsoft contest that granted me a participation on a World Hackathon called WOWZAPPorto, which had the purpose developing a Windows Store App in 48 hours. Even if i didn't liked windows 8 ... THIS WAS AWESOME!! A weekend where all is paid by Microsoft :D. The downside is that i had to install Windows 8 for real this time.

So, i went to MSDN and downloaded Windows8 Pro and Visual Studio 2012 for free (the best part of being a student) and this is my review...

Part 1 - The week before WOWZAP

For a new windows8 user, doesn't matter what you used before, the interface is SUPER confusing. Even after i used it for some days i wasn't sure what some corners were doing. Yap, every corner has a function, the right corners open a panel with options related with the app or/and the system, the top left brings you to the previous app (desktop is considered an app...) and the lower left goes to the Metro UI if you're on a App or brings you to the last App if you're already on Metro. This is so much confusing on the first days... i can't imagine for people that only use computers for facebook.

After trying some apps i finally understood what was the big confusion about Windows 8 and WindowsRT (the version only for ARM devices). When you install Skype App for example, it has nothing to do with the Skype we are used to, in Windows 7. This App only works on the metro side, which means you can still install the normal version on the desktop. So... basically.. you have a OS for tablets on top of your normal desktop. The metro "side" is useless on the desktop.

The good: take out the Metro UI and you have the good old Windows 7.

The bad:

• I got locked multiple times on Metro UI. 
• Metro Apps randomly crash without giving a reason, taking you back to the Metro UI.
• My normal laptop keys for volume don't work.
• The Windows app for social interaction, is mixing my friend's profile picture with other contacts.
• The User Account Control crashed some times.
• First 5 times i tried do install Visual Studio 2012 the computer went crazy. When the setup stopped responding i tried the best windows tool a guy can use - Task Manager - and guess what... it stopped responding....  -.-
• Everyone i know can't find the shutdown button on their first or second run.
• The boot manager is sooo stupid!!! I need to boot Windows 8 just to choose the OS i want to run! And if go for windows 7 i need to restart the system!! WTF!! 
• Note: everyone complains about the missing start button. This is the easiest part to get used to, no problem to me at all.

So the first days i was crazy mad when using Windows 8. 

Part 2 - WOWZAPPorto

I don't know if it was the free gums ... good free food ... free drinks or just being surround by Microsoft Student Partners and Microsoft Professionals.... but i kinda like Windows 8 now... i even wiped the windows 7 partition!

Here is the thing... when i got to the weekend i already knew my way around Windows 8 and started to do what i did in windows7 easily. Now i use some apps on the background, basically Skype and music apps. 

In WOWZAP i saw what windows 8 is really about. It's about WindowsRT and Windows Phone 8. Yep, really. The way i look to Windows8 now is different, but in a way that lets me enjoy Windows8 way more. Windows8 for me is a tool to develop apps for tablets (windowsRT) and phones (WP8). You see.. it´s very easy for a developer to write an app that works across a desktop PC, a tablet and a phone. For a developer, Windows8 is awesome!! It's very rewarding to develop apps and publish to all this users. And the best part, the development is attractive for every type of developer. You can develop apps using JavaScript or C#, you choice!! And there is also XAML to help you design your app (but i didn't explore this yet so..).

Right now i had to reinstall Windows 8 because i couldn't boot any Windows (7 or 8). Weird. I'm going to use it maybe to work (depending of the technologies I'm going to use) and Luna (Linux) for normal PC use and other type of work. 

BTW, if you get an oportunity to go to a Hackathon.. GO it's super fun!!

PS: Wouldn't be ironic if i started using Win8 just for work and Luna for games? (now with the release of steam for Linux)
xD

I made a Comic!

Motivated by a friend i didn't stop with the Stewie Vader and decided to make a little comic :)

This is my sweet home every time we have to go somewhere:

I have a wacom bamboo!!

My sister gave me her wacom bamboo, because she isn't using it anymore. So... i've been playing around with it in GIMP.... and this is the result xD:

New YouTube look (youtube with G+)

Looks like Google is going to launch a new look for youtube.

This time, YouTube focuses on merging his look with Google+. Personally i love the new clean look. Another thing that i fully support, is the change of the standard mode from "small player" to "large player". Also, the interface for playlists is much more clean and elegant.

Some people may not like one visual change that comes from G+... everything is align to the left, leaving some space at the right side of the page.

If you want to use it right now it's easy with Google Chrome (probably on FireFox too, but i didn't try it yet). Just open the console (Ctrl+Shift+J - Alt+Cmd+J in OS X) and write this command:

write: document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=jZNC3DCddAk;"

And hit Enter. After you refresh the page (F5) you should see the new look.