Have you tried flock lately?

I ran into my ex-favourite browser today - Flock. It was my favourite for some time about a year ago, until I saw Firefox 2, which is when I switched back.

But today Flock has moved on, become better look (albeit its still a bit slow). Since its based on Firefox, it does offer all the features I am used to. In addition, it allows me to

• blog at the click of a button
• Look at new photos from my Flickr/ Youtube friends
• Automatically add my favourites to my del.icio.us account
• Automatically prompts me when I am installing websites which it has search widgets for.
• and so on..

And all this, without installing a single addon! The only feature I dearly miss is Firefox's built-in spell checker, something I am pretty used to now :(

In any case, Flock has always and still continues to look pretty good! So, if you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot!

Visit  Flock.com to find out more.

Blogged with Flock

Automatix dangerous to systems running Ubuntu

Matthew Garret, an Ubuntu developer, recently took some time to look through the Automatix utility. For those of you who haven't heard of Automatix, according to the its website

Automatix is a graphical interface for automating the installation of the most commonly requested applications in Debian based Linux operating systems.

source: Automatix wiki

In short, it tries to make simple the job of finding and installing commonly required softwares on Debian-based Linux systems (e.g. Ubuntu). For sometime now there has been a debate on whether this software does more harm that good.

Matthew finally took a look. And he concludes that in its current state, the Automatix package is unsupportable. He also goes on to list the problems he found. For those interested in more details, see this blog post here.

Links:

• Automatix
• Matthew Garret
• Ubuntu

Healthy Body Healthy mind

Like many techies, I spend a lot of time hunched on my laptop. I am aware that having a sitting job is not exactly working wonders on my health. I often try to compensate by some exercise, whenever I can. Of late, I have taken to doing some light Yoga to improve my fitness and reduce any chances of problems like RSI, Back-ache, etc.

Here are a few links I would like to share with my readers. I hope they are as useful to you, as they were to me:

• Yoga @ your desk - Easy to understand videos to help counter the stress of sitting in one position for a long time.
• Surya Namaskar - this is one of the easiest way to exercise your entire body with a simple routine. It is also an excellent example of how even simple yogic exercises can provide good benefits. The particular important bit is the breathing pattern.
• Pramayama - the power of breathing is the fundamental element of this particular branch of Yoga. Some simple breathing exercises can work wonders. This is good news for those who cant perform physical exercises due to other health issues. Dont forget to take a careful look at the safety guidelines. Some of the exercises are not to be performed by people with certain conditions.
• Rediff: 5 Yoga postures to strenghten your lower back - This has been particularly useful for me since I used to have back pain sitting hunched over my laptop. Give it a try!
  

I have come with my own combination of these exercises in an effort to improve my health. Today, there are several e-groups that can offer on-line. So don't hesitate to ask. Here's my routine:

• 20 minutes of Pranayama
• 10-15 cyclic repeats of Surya namaskar
• 15 minutes of yoga postures to strengthen my lower back.
  

Live healthy .. live long!

Image credits: centre4activeliving.ca