2011-07-31 20:00 Cool software you didn't know about

Today I was reading an article and found out about Google Chrome Flame, which is basically using the power of the Google Chrome browser within your existing Internet Explorer browser. That's pretty cool, and it is free.

Another very cool bit of software I doubt most people have heard of is SUSE Studio. SUSE Studio enables you to make your own custom distribution of Linux. For me, the most useful part of it is that you can easily make a Live CD that has just what you want, customized to your needs. I've got two projects there, one to make a remote desktop capable Live CD with OpenVPN connectivity built into it and a second one that creates a network SAN for personal use, complete with SSH key enabled logins.

For those unfamiliar with the terminology, the Live CD with remote desktop and OpenVPN is a way to start up any computer from a CD instead of a hard drive and be able to use the system to connect into my work computer and use it like I was sitting in my office. The CD doesn't care what I've got on my local computer, and can't get a permanent virus no matter what I do, so it is safe and because it doesn't rely on my computer setup, it is easy to use.

The second one allows me to use hard drives as if they were installed on my own computer while they actually reside in another computer on my network. By using SSH key logins, I don't even have to worry about the tedium of username and password processes.