FettesPS

With the blazing speeds offered by Google’s open DNS servers there is absolutely no reason to not use them. Setting up your Ubuntu or any other Debian based Linux distribution to use these DNS servers is incredibly easy. I will be showing you the command line method as it will work on both your desktop and server based installs.

Let’s start off by recapping on how to set up your network connection. You will need to ensure you are not using DHCP, if you are then you would simply set the DNS in your router or modem and your box will use those settings. Your network config file can be edited by typing the following command:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Your text editor will open up and you will see something like:

iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.5
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1

You may have other settings in there such as broadcast or network, we’re not too worried about these settings were are just making sure that you are not configured to use DHCP. Despite what you may expect, you will not be setting your DNS servers here.

If your config looks more like the following then you are using DHCP:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

So now that we’ve established that you are manually configuring your static connection, we are going to edit the resolv.conf file and set your DNS servers.

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

The modify the file to match the following:

nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

You can, of course, leave the search directive at the top of the file intact if it has been set.

After saving and closing the file, restart your network interface to ensure that the changes have been put into affect.

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Now you will no longer be hindered by your DNS.

Aero Peek, which is also known as Desktop Preview, is a new feature in Windows 7 that allows you to quickly hide all the windows open and view your desktop. It can be activated by clicking the Show Desktop icon at the far right of the superbar or by holding the windows key and hitting space.

Desktop Preview is a new feature in Windows 7 which is otherwise also known as AeroPeak (Desktop Preview is a feature enabled by Aero Peek desktop enhancement function). Desktop Preview allows user to temporarily minimize all open windows and make open windows transparent in order to preview what is on desktop when user place the mouse pointer to mouse over the “Show Desktop” bar on the far right end of the taskbar.

Illustration above shows the effect of Desktop Preview, where user mouse over the Show Desktop (without actually clicking on it) on the far end of the Windows Taskbar.

• Right click on the Start button and click on Properties
• Select the Taskbar tab
• Uncheck the Use Desktop Preview checkbox
• Click OK

Desktop Preview is now disabled. If you would like to re-enable it, simply follow the same steps again making sure to check the Desktop Preview option this time.

Much like in previous versions of Windows you can enable an extra level of security by requiring the user to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL before they can enter their username and password. Whether or not this actually makes your system any more secure is up to debate, but if you are looking to enable this feature in Windows 7 by following these steps:

• Press the Windows Key and R at the same time to open the Run dialog
• Enter “control userpasswords2″ and hit OK
• In the dialog box select the Advanced tab
• Look to the bottom under Secure Logon and check the box beside “Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete”
• Click OK

Now when you boot your system users will be required to activate the logon screen by using the three finger solute.