Custom Your Own Personal Virtual Private Network with Hamachi

Hamachi isn’t a brand new utility or idea.

Hamachi is a service that runs in the background and connects your computer to any other computer you wish in a particular network. This creates an encrypted VPN (Virtual Private Network) between you and other PCs in your own network.

This becomes ultra convenient when you have a number of PCs that you want to connect to, for example if you have a work PC, home PC, school PC and/or servers. Once Hamachi is installed, the computers are available via IP address for their file shares, or any other service. Lots of people also use to play video games in a multi-player mode regardless of their location.

I like a few things about Hamachi that set it apart from the other VPN software available:

• Ease of use – Installing the program is a snap!
• Network Compatibility – Works with many types of networks, uses a variety of methods to get around firewalls (NAT, etc.)
• Cross-Platform Availability – Clients include the typical Windows and Mac, but also Linux, Mobile Devices, Windows Mobile and more.
• Security Built In – Communication between Hamachi clients is encrypted.

Windows Hamachi Install

Setting up the client is easy on Windows.

After installing the client, run it for the first time and “power” it on. It will have you create a network, and include a password so that anyone joining it (if it is a personal network, this would just be you) will need a password.

You will then join the network. For now, you will be the only one in this network. On subsequent installations, you can cancel out of the “create” network part. You will just join the network – so supply the password you used while creating the network.

Setting Hamachi up on Linux is a bit more difficult because it is via command line, however it is still easy as long as you are comfortable typing in a few commands.

Linux Install

From the readme for the Linux client:

• Run ‘make install’ and then ‘tuncfg’ from under the root account
• Run ‘hamachi-init’ to generate crypto identity (any account).
• Run ‘hamachi start’ to launch Hamachi daemon.
• Run ‘hamachi login’ to put the daemon online and to create an account.
• Run ‘hamachi join ‘ to join the network.
• Run ‘hamachi go-online ‘ to go online in the network.
• Run ‘hamachi list’ to list network members and their status.

More or less, this is all you will need to do. Depending on which flavor of linux you are installing this on, there may be some tricks you’ll need to use to get it working properly. Also, don’t forget to add it to your init scripts (or rc.local) to load on startup.

There is also a GTK GUI for the Linux client – see this forum post if you are interested in downloading or knowing more about it.

So now what?

So now that you have your machines set up, what can you do with them?

Here is just a random selection of some useful programs or services that you can use between your Hamachi clients:

VNC, Remote Desktop, NoMachine, etc. – Remotely access any PC on the VPN. The connection is encrypted, so you feel secure using even unencrypted protocols (like default VNC).File Shares – Whether you use Windows file sharing, Samba or other protocols, you can access files on any other Hamachi PC. For Windows shares, just use the IP: \\5.x.x.x\. You can also map these shares to a drive, giving you access to your files like a local drive.

Music or Video Streaming – Use a streaming media server, such as Jinzora, to stream music from one PC to another.

Gaming – Play multi-player games with friends even if you’re on different networks.

Really anything you can think of that would be handy via a VPN, P2P network would work really well with Hamachi. Most connections are direct, so bandwidth is limited by your direct internet connection. In some cases a ‘relay’ is used to maintain connectivity, but this is only used in rare cases (Hamachi claims that 95% of connections are direct).

Finally, there are two versions of Hamachi. The free version has a few limitations – namely it will not run as a system service, is limited to the number of networked clients and uses ‘low speed’ relays (when necessary). The paid version takes away these limitations – for a full description see the comparison page.

The only two downsides that I can see to Hamachi is that it is closed-source, and that it depends on mediation servers. Being closed source, it is impossible to audit the code to ensure it is 100% secure and encrypted. The mediation servers have always worked well for me, but this adds in a 3rd party which some people may not like.

Hopefully you will find Hamachi as useful as I have! This program was purchased by LogMeIn a few years back but has retained its free and useful nature. If you have any particular issues with it, their forum is a great resource with lots of knowledgeable users.

Alternatives: OpenVPN is a similar service, but since there is no mediation server – configuration is a good bit more complex.

source :www.makeuseof.com

Started something new, Google AJAX API!

Well its been long i have tried something new or learn something new …. Today i started with Google’s AJAX Search API . I started with simple local search using simple search and i learned how to embed samething in my blog see this example : http://madhucm.blogspot.com.

I would have included in this blog but i dont know how to edit <body> tag. And also it doesn’t allow you to do … well it doesn’t matter however.

The first thing i did was getting the JAX Search API key so that it is valid within a single directory on your web server. And after getting the key, i tweaked  my blog template , and finally included the script. Well if you know javascript it damn easy to create you own search.

ex: var localSearch = new google.search.LocalSearch();
searchControl.addSearcher(localSearch); // This is local search
searchControl.addSearcher(new google.search.WebSearch()); // search on web
searchControl.addSearcher(new google.search.VideoSearch()); // video search
searchControl.addSearcher(new google.search.BlogSearch()); // blog search….

You can also customize your view , like :- TABBED, LINEAR .

// create a drawOptions object
var drawOptions = new GdrawOptions();

// tell the searcher to draw itself in linear mode
drawOptions.setDrawMode(GSearchControl.DRAW_MODE_LINEAR);
or
drawOptions.setDrawMode(GSearchControl.DRAW_MODE_TABBED);
searchControl.draw(element, drawOptions);

more info:http://code.google.com/apis/ajaxsearch/

Cool Virtual Desktop Managers for Windows

If you constantly find your desktop cluttered and overloaded with programs and browser windows then a virtual desktop manager might be for you. Virtual desktops are handy if you want to keep different tasks and programs separated. They are quite common on Mac and Linux computers.  It may take some time but once you get used to using them, they become an essential part of a productive workflow. So if you’re up for it, below are some of the better Windows desktop managers out there:

(1) Dexpot

Dexpot is an easy to use and fast desktop manager that makes managing multiple desktops very easy. It’s my favorite desktop manager and comes with plenty of useful features.

When it comes to virtual desktops, the most important feature is the ease of switching between desktops. The easier and faster the switching, the better it is. Dexpot offers a number of ways to switch between desktops, including keyboard shortcuts Alt+1/2/3/4 or using the ‘Desktop Manager’ located on top of the Windows taskbar (picture above).

Another cool feature is the ability to quickly move or copy a particular window to one of the other desktops. To access these options, simply right-click on any of the program tabs in the menubar. There is also an option to copy certain windows to all desktops at the same time. Very useful.

You can also customize each of your multiple desktops further with its own wallpaper, desktop entry/exit sounds, screensaver, manager icon and so on.

source:http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-cool-virtual-desktop-managers-for-windows

eyeOS: Free Web Desktop For Everyone

eyeOS is a web based desktop which offers some nice features. Web desktops will never be an alternative to real desktops but they come in handy in a few situations. When you are not in front of your system or you don’t have a USB drive to work remotely these can be useful.

eyeOS is a open source we desktop software, you can download it and host it for yourself if you find it useful for you. It offers many features from file hosting, music, videos to RSS feed reader. You can use the free public server by registering at eyeOS or try the demo to see what it has to offer.

Some of the interesting features include a POP3 email client where you can setup email and read. It also supports Gmail. It has most of the features you will expect in a OS including Calendar, spreadsheets, contacts, files, RSS reader, calculator, chess, docs, presentations, ftp, notes etc. All these may not be useful but some like Gmail, ftp, RSS reader are quite useful.

Check out the demo to see it in action. ZImDesk is a related application

More info : http://www.teknobites.com/?s=eyeos

5 Packs to Transform Windows to other OS

It’s a new year, why not give your years old XP operating system a new look? If you’re bored of having to look at the same kind of icons and eyecandy everytime, you can download and install these free transformation packs, and transform XP to look like any other OS.

Vista Transformation Pack [Download]

Vista Transformation Pack does all kinds of appearance tweaks, and makes Windows XP look like Vista. From icons, transparency to new sounds, this pack does it all to make your XP look like Windows Vista.

Mac OS Transformation Pack [Download]

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Transforms XP to look like Mac OS X 10.5. Some important components like Windows Explorer and other shell files are patched to mimic Mac OS X appearance. Work only with Windows XP SP2 (English version).

FlyakiteOSX [Download]

Again, make your windows look like Mac OS X. However, it’s much more comprehensive than the above one. This enhancement utility does everything from registry tweaks, visual styles, sounds, icons to imitate the appearance of Mac OS X. See other screenshots here. If you’re using iTunes then make sure to deselect ‘iTunes Multi-Pugin’ option (under ‘Software’) in the installation wizard.

Fedora Transformation Pack [Download]

This tool is intended for making XP resemble the Fedora Linux Distro. Though the utility just packs a simple visual style, it does include icons, screensavers and wallpapers, and other Fedora-like skins for programs.

Ubuntu Transformation Pack [Download]

This pack contains visual styles, icons and other patches that can give the brownish Ubuntu look to Windows XP. If you just can’t get Ubuntu working on your PC, but still love its looks, you can download this pack. [via]

Ubuntu 7.10 rocks !!!

Recently i have installed Ubuntu 7.10(gusty gibbon) its really amazing thing to be there in your system. Well it has numerous features from desktop to taskbar…One thing i can highlight is , it has some cool 3D desktop options , where you can view your desktop in 3D view . And also you can Drag your app’s to next desktop which will give 3D effect kinda thing… wo its really amazing. watch this demo