Monthly Archives: May 2012

Open Source

Open Source Robotics

Speaker/Performer: Steve Cousins, President and CEO, Willow Garage Sponsor: CITRIS (Ctr for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society), UC Berkeley (Headquarters), Research Exchange seminar Abstract: Over the next 10 years, personal robots (as opposed to industrial robots) have the potential to improve people’s lives by taking automation to a new level. Like personal computers of 30 years ago, the personal robotics industry will take off and become an economic engine. But robotics is a complex, multidisciplinary field, and fielding successful applications requires expertise ranging from hardware (mechanical and electrical) to social science. By working together on an open source software platform, we can accelerate progress in the field and more quickly field successful applications. Willow Garage has partnered with Stanford University and many other top robotics laboratories around the world to create such an open source code base. The robot operating system, ROS, is quickly becoming the de facto platform for robotics research. I will argue that most if not all robotics companies should join the ROS bandwagon, as a way to move the entire industry forward quickly.

Linux

Linux Mint 13 Review – Linux Distro Reviews

A review of the release candidate of Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon Edition that sports Cinnamon 1.4 on top of all the Mint goodies you’ve come to expect from the Mint team, plus this is a Long Term Support release as it is based off Ubuntu 12.04. This is a great release for the new user, as it provides a traditional user experience and customisation abilities that easily outmatch Gnome 3. Highly recommended. Links: www.linuxmint.com http My Google+: plus.google.com

Plugins

Google Analytics WordPress Plugin

www.profitblog.com Google analytics wordpress plugin for your wp blog The Google Analytics for WordPress plugin allows you to track your blog easily and with lots of metadata. Full list of features Simple installation through integration with Google Analytics API: authenticate, select the site you want to track and you’re done. This plugin uses the asynchronous Google Analytics tracking code, the fastest and most reliable tracking code Google Analytics offers. Option to manually place the tracking code in another location. Automatic Google Analytics site speed tracking. Outbound link & downloads tracking. Configurable options to track outbound links either as pageviews. Option to track just downloads as pageviews in Google Analytics. Allows usage of custom variables in Google Analytics to track meta data on pages. Support for the following custom variables: Author Single category and / or multiple categories Post type (especially useful if you use custom post types) Logged in users Publication Year Tags Possibility to ignore any user level and up, so all editors and higher for instance. Easily connect your Google AdSense and Google Analytics accounts. Option to tag links with Google Analytics campaign tracking, with the option to use hashes (#). Option anonymize IP’s, for use in countries like Germany. Full debug mode, including Firebug lite and ga_debug.js for debugging Google Analytics issues. Allow local hosting of ga.js file. Tracking of search engines not included in …

Themes

TimThumbCraft – WordPress Theme Vulnerability

This video is a demonstration of the TimThumbCraft tool, which in short creates an image with appended PHP code, directly usable with the TimThumb Vulnerability, that exists in many WordPress themes. This video, tool AND blog entry were made for Ethical and Educational Purposes Only!

Themes

Top 3 WordPress Themes | Now 3 More WP Themes

For more in-depth tutorials visit: pressmastery.com The role that WordPress themes play is an important one. The general theme tends to be the first thing that people notice when arriving on your WordPress website. It is completely true that if they should find the theme displeasing, they may quickly exit your website and move on to another. With this being the complete opposite of what you would like for them to do, consider your theme choice very carefully. WordPress will provide you with both free themes, as well as those that are offered at a cost. While the free versions may seem the obvious choice, these are limited in number, and will subject you to having a website resembles thousands of others. Additionally, these may not provide all of the tools that the paid versions have, which will reduce the number of options you have for site design and more. This is something that must be considered, particularly if you wish to use your website for business purposes. When browsing WordPress themes, consider your main topic so that a cohesive look is attained. Do note that many themes come with a standard header photo, but this photo can be replaced with a photo of your own. Never pass up a theme that offers the functionality you desire just because the header photo is not aligned with your main topics. This, as well as many other page elements, can be changed within minutes. Even novice users will find this easy to accomplish. http