OOo 2.0.4 RC3

OpenOffice.org has released their third beta version this week and hopefully, they will release the final version next week (well, it will be a week delay though, but i think it's worthed rather than delivering a buggy application which will be used by many people around the world).

As you know, there will be a new format introduced in the next release of OpenOffice.org, OXT which will be the new format for the new extension for OOo. I'm looking forward to see many new extensions build to improve OOo's main functionality, just like Firefox's success by making an extension for the products

Gaim 2.0 Features

We all know that Gaim is the most well known IM client on GNU/Linux platform. It's simple and working on most platform (Windows and GNU/Linux). It can be used as an alternative for YM for Linux which is not developped again. The current version is 1.5.0 and the latest development version is 2.0.0beta1. The road to 2.0.0 final is a long way and therefore, Sean Egan made a Planet Gaim to aggregate all of Gaim's developer to talk about Gaim's status right now.

He notted that he will release another beta version in short time and here are some of the new features that will be included in this release:
* Global Buddy Icon Selector
* Buddy List Group Indenting
* libgaim and gaim-text

Everybody that had used Gaim will be glad to see the webcam support included in the final version. I also heard that it will support audibles for YM also. It will be nice features as well if it will be included :D

Extended to End of 2006

I totally forgot that i have 2 Mandriva Club account and the one that will expire in the next 33 days is the original account. I got that account at the beginning, but i wanted to have another one which uses my primary email address, so they create another one for me and since i helped the translation project for Mandriva Linux 2006 release, my account was extended until the end of 2006, so i can still provide the Power Pack Edition link :D

When Mandriva Linux 2007 is released, i think my account will be extended again (i hope).

Mandriva Linux 2007

Mandriva Linux 2007 is out today (or should i say yesterday) with lots of updates to the distribution itselfs. By default, it came with kernel 2.6.17, GCC 4.1, GNOME 2.16, KDE 3.5.4, glibc 2.4, Xen 3.0, Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.7, and OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 (it's too much to list all of them). Here is the review taken from LinuxLookup:

The key innovation of Mandriva Linux 2007 is the spectacular AIGLX and Xgl 3D-accelerated desktop. Mandriva is the only distribution to provide both technologies, making it compatible with the widest range of hardware; a special tool features auto-detection of the best 3D solution for your hardware. Mandriva is particularly happy to have achieved this major breakthrough in desktop appearance.

Enjoy Mandriva Linux 2007 :D

Update #2: When i browsed Mandriva Linux 2007 Page, it says that it will be released in a couple of days, so i think it's not downloadable right now. So, i'm removing my username/password information for now and i'll post it again when it has been officially announced.

Extensions on OOo 2.0.4

OpenOffice.org will have an Firefox's extension-like on their next release, 2.0.4 which is in RC2 version now. The current OpenOffice software can accept some extensions (using UNO and ZIP format), but the upcoming 2.0.4 version will have new extension format, OXT. That format can accommodate extensions written in a variety of programming languages, so you can also build your own extensions if you like and send it to OOo to be included or being put on the repository. Open-source extensions will be housed at a central site, extensions.openoffice.org. People will be able to download the software there. However, because OpenOffice is governed by the Lesser General Public License (LGPL), it's permissible to link proprietary extensions as well.

You might want to read Charles Schultz's blog post also to know more about this.

By the way, there's a feature being requested by Indonesian people in OOo which asked for backup/restore autocorrect in OOo (Bug ID #69491). I think it will be helpfull if this feature will be implemented in 2.0.4, but i kindda doubt it, since it is in RC2 and new features are freezed and perhaps it will deployed in 2.0.5.

Final Fantasy XII

The next sequel of the popular RPG game from Square Enix, Final Fantasy XII has been developed and scheduled to be released on 31 of October 2006 (in North America of course, since it has been released in Japan. Thanks to Oskar for the correction). You can look at the trailer on their official site. It's an amazing movie trailer and i'm very impressed by this trailer. You will have a smoother video and supported by stunning visual effects.

Too bad i don't have PS2 console. I have been enjoying playing Final Fantasy Series since Final Fantasy VII on PS console and continued to Final Fantasi VII, IX, X, dan X2 version. I also travelled back to the ZSnes console to play the old version of Final Fantasy Series and it's still fun to be played :D

This will be the front cover of the Final Fantasy XII (Credit by Square Enix)

Opera 9.02

The fastest browser in the world (that's what they claimed for) has arrived with new version, 9.02. It's only a minor update, but it contains a security update. Here are the changelogs:

User interface
* Fixed quick find field in Windows panel.

Mail, messaging, and newsfeeds
* Fixed high CPU usage while downloading big emails.
* Properties can now be accessed within the contacts and bookmarks panel after deleting items.
* Image attachments can now be saved using the context menu.
* Accessing a news link when no news server is configured will now prompt to configure a server.

Display and scripting
* Fixed a DOMParser bug affecting some menu scripts.
* Click events are now correctly received in designMode.
* Implemented support for Node.selectNodes, Node.selectSingleNode, and Attr.text.
* Improved rendering efficiency for repositioned elements, as in Flickr's updated "organizr".
* Allow large integers to be used in object declaration property names, as on the comments form on Slashdot beta.

Plug-ins and Java
* Fix for playing sound clips on Amazon.

Security
* Fixed an OpenSSL RSA signature verification flaw. See the advisory.

Miscellaneous
* Multiple stability improvements, including a stability issue on my.yahoo.com.
* Improved handling of downloads when the disk is full.
* Improved handling of Web site logins on slow connections.
* Improved handling of WAP text inputs.

Windows-specific changes
* Fix to allow opera to be set as default browser using the prompt at startup.
* Fix for attaching read-only files in mail.
* Support for the Windows XP Media Center Edition remote control.
* Added new settings in the Java section of opera:config to allow you to override the system defined JRE.

Online Riddle

Today i got an email from my almamater mailing list about an online riddle game called Notpron. It's quite easy at te beggining, but after few levels, you will see that it's getting harder and harder. It has more than 100 levels, so if you have a dedicated Internet connection and also a lot of spare time, just try this puzzle. They claimed that it's the hardest online riddle puzzle available on the Internet, but only you can prove that. There are several other online riddle listed on Wikipedia, so choose one of them and play them :D

SlackWiki

Today i browsed LinuxQuestions forum and i found a link to a slackware community based wiki site which provide tutorials and also other information about Slackware. Nice site. If you do need information about Slackware, please consider this site as one of your primary reference beside SlackBook and LinuxQuestions.

Last night, i also upgraded my kernel into 2.6.18. It has lots of new features and also drivers, so i had to fill some questions first before i made the compilation.

Kernel 2.6.18 is Ready

Finally, after 7 RC version had been released by Linus, final version of 2.6.18 kernel is ready to be consumed by many Linux users. The long changelog describes all changes has been made to the latest version (beware, it's quite long so it will take some time to be finished completely). Also, you can see in more human view by looking at KernelNewbies. Can't wait to try this new kernel at home :D

Dissappear Again

Again, i had my friend list dissappear on my Yahoo Messenger application. I didn't realize when was the exact time, but this morning i noticed that had 0/0 in my friends list. When i tried to use my own laptop, it's fine, so i guess the problem lies on the Yahoo Messenger on my office laptop. Maybe an upgrade will fix this. This is not the first time Yahoo Messenger doesn't display all of my friends list.

Well, at least my friend can still see me online and we can share and discuss things online via Yahoo Messenger.

Power Failure

Today, most of area near my office has power failure and it lasted for about 8 hours (it's reported to be available around 8 PM at the evening). It's an unplanned power failure and it effect most of Jakarta area (but some of them were turned on again in few hours, mostly because they are business buildings which is important. I hope the PLN won't do that again in the future, as it will make most of work plan are screwed up.

SpellCheckers Problems

Yesterday, i was asked by one of my new friend about problem that he had on his company that has relation with OpenOffice.org. He said that the spellchecker features were not working on his XP and Ubuntu computers. I test the document that he sent to me and he was right. It didn't notice the errors (features was typed fetures and the spellcheckers ignored it), but when i tried to make a new document and activate the spellcheckers at the beginning, it would recognize the errors. I was thinking that it might have problems when we didn't start the auto spellcheckers features from the start, so i send a bug report to the OOo and today i have got the answers.

The problem lies on the language settings for the document itself. It uses English (Australia) for the language and by default, only English (USA) and English (UK) dictionary that was given by the OOo team, so it wouldn't recognize the errors. When i changed the language into English (USA), it will work perfectly.

The conclusion is if you have such kind of problems, please look at your language settings first. If you don't have the language dictionary, you can download them from OpenOffice.org's website.

Template/Clipart Creation Contest

Documentation project of OpenOffice.org has held a new template/clipart contest. The purpose of this contest is to enhance the cliparts/templates collections within OpenOffice.org package. Winners will get a total of US$5000 (divided per category) provided by the sponsor, worldlabel.com. When your templates are accepted, they will publicly available from OpenOffice.org's template repository.

The competition will run from September 13, 2006 to October 13, 2006 at 23h59EDT (GMT-4). Submissions received later than 23h59EDT (GMT-4) on October 13, 2006 will not be eligible. Awards and prizes will be announced on November 1, 2006.

For more information about the project, please visit Contest Page

Last Day of Training

Today will be the last day of five days training as it will be the execution phase, where in the last four days, we have been educated for project awareness, project tracking, project estimation, and also making the project plan. We do have the project plan and all of the schedule of the mini project that has been developed for this purpose.

The target was 30 solutions of Brick by Brick, 30 solutions of Square by Square, 12 solutions of Cubes to Holder, 12 solutions of Cubes to Cubes, 10 solutions of 50 pieces puzzle, 1 solution of 100 pieces puzzle, 1 solution of 200 pieces puzzle and 1 solution of 300 pieces puzzle. The time was set for two hours and it will begin in 10 AM this morning.

Let's hope it will be finished as it's a tight schedule and let's finish this training with joy and glory :)