How to set default printer in Linux or Unix

If you are using terminal setup in Unix systems like Linux, you can configure your default printer by:

1. csh shell version (by editing ~/.cshrc or ~/.tcshrc configuration files%2y

setenv PRINTER your-printer-name

2. bash shell version (by editing ~/.bashrc configuration file)

export PRINTER=your-printer-name

How to generate PS file in Windows environment

In order to create a Postscript (PS) file from Windows applications: simply print from the application, selecting a postscript printer and using the printing option "print to file".

A dialog box will open, allowing you to choose the folder in which you wish to create the PostScript file. Choose a name for the file (a .prn extension will be appended to the filename). When you select Save, the printer driver will save the Postscript file in the location you select instead of actually sending the postscript file to the printer. You may need to change the file extension to .ps after file is generated.

However, very likely, using the printer driver for your own printer will result in files that are targeted at that printer, and hence not completely portable. To achieve portability, you will need to install and use another printer driver. Also you may not have any postscript printer with you at the moment. The solution to this is to install a virtual postscript printer, i.e. install printer drivers without actually having the corresponding printer.

Ctrl-Shift-Eject lock Mac screen

The Ctrl-Shift-Eject shortcut key is useful for Mac users to put the Mac to sleep mode and password protected. This is something like the Ctrl-Alt-Delete feature in Windows which locks the Mac screen. Users will need to key in password in order to access the Mac again.

How to restart CUPS in Linux

Simply execute the following command will restart CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) service in Linux like Ubuntu:

#/etc/init.d/cupsys restart

By the way, CUPS is the standards-based, open source printing system developed by Apple Inc. for Mac OS X and other UNIX-like operating systems.

How to solve "Another blog is already hosted at this address"

Sometime when you try to publish a custom domain like ipcnetworking.com on Blogger, you may get the message "Another blog is already hosted at this address."

Most of the time, this is due to your DNS setting. Anyway make sure that you stop the web service of Google Apps if you happen to use this service.

One way to overcome this problem which I did with my sites was to configure my DNS as:

mydomain.com.          3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

With this configuration, you have a "CNAME" referral which points directly to a Google server. When the Blogger script verifies that the domain URLs both point to Google, it can proceed with confidence.

How to uncompress pp_ file (compress form of PPD file)

The pp_ which is coming with printer driver is the compressed form of PPD (Postscript Printer Description) file. PPD files are created by vendors to describe the entire set of features and capabilities available for their Postscript printers.

To uncompress it you, execute the following command:

Example: file.pp_

C:\expand file.pp_ file.ppd

Picasa 3 for photo editing

Few photos start out perfectly. One of the software I use frequently in editing photos is Picasa. Picasa is Google’s freeware for photo management.