gOS, the Ubuntu-derived Linux desktop that's focused squarely on Google products and other webapps, has updated with newer versions of its core products, including the Windows-app-running WINE, Firefox 3, and support for newer Google Gadgets.If gOS is new to you, check out Adam's tour of its monstrous webapp powers. Along with some pretty refined theming and taskbar implementation of the standard Ubuntu look, gOS can run as a fully-fledged Linux system in itself. gOS 3.1 is a free download, requires an x86-based computer with 256MB of RAM to run or install.

If you like drinking fortified wines, you're going to be in for a rude shock at the bottleshop soon. Under a newly-signed export deal with Europe, Australian producers will no longer be able to sell drinks described as "port" or "sherry", since those descriptions are now reserved for the originals from the relevant European regions. A similar change has been taking place with champagne for some years, but that's relatively easily recognised when described as "sparkling wine". There are also bans on the use of the descriptors "burgundy", "moselle" and "chablis", though these have been enforced for some years and I can't recall seeing moselle anywhere except on tap at the local leagues club. The two fortified drinks on the hit list pose the biggest challenge; as the Australian points out, port might be described as "vintage" (though I'd be asking "vintage what?"), while sherry has no really obvious alternate label, which might explain why a consultant has been hired to develop a new branding within the next year. (There's a 10-year period to change the labelling for tokay, which would concern me more if I'd ever drunk the stuff.)

Noisy wine expert Gary Vaynerchuck offers a quick but smart tip for removing the foil sleeve from a bottle of wine without the tedious cover trimmers. His simple secret: Just pull it off. This may not be mind-blowing if you already knew this seemingly obvious trick, but if you didn't, it's a real time-saver.

The New York Times points out that nearly every benefit attributed to drinking a glass of wine each day can be had by drinking grape juice. Skip the sugar-added stuff, though, and aim for dark red or purple varieties, and you might just see lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. [photo]

Read More »

Woe to the dinner guest who drips red wine upon their host's white tablecloth for lack of a napkin and a quickly executed fold or two. In the following photo tutorial, see how to wrap a wine bottle to catch drips, make the bottle easier to grasp, and increase your points in the presentation category.

Read More »

The Windows-to-Linux translator WINE has updated to 1.1.4, with a lot of fixes aimed at making running Google Chrome in Linux more work-able. For a deeper look at setting up Linux systems with WINE, check out our complete walkthrough. [via]

Read More »

One helpful Ubuntu hacker blogger posts a guide to getting Google Chrome working as a stand-alone app in Ubuntu, using the latest version of the Windows translator WINE and a stand-alone copy of Chrome's installer. You'll definitely need your terminal open for this one, and the result isn't exactly flawless—no https support, problems with pop-ups, and a bit slower than you'd get in Windows—but it is a neat way for dedicated Linux users to check out what all the fuss is about. If you're not about to mess with WINE, try putting an emulated Chrome in its own window with our guide to running Windows apps seamlessly in Linux, or wait until the open-source browser eventually makes its way onto the open-source OS.

Wired's How-To Wiki offers a wine-opening tip for moments when you're facing a bottle of the good stuff with no corkscrew in sight—pull out the toolbox. By gently putting a screw about three-fourths of the way into the cork, and using the nail-removal lever of a clawed hammer, you should be able to make short work of that cork. It's definitely a trick that requires some finesse, lest you crack the cork or knock the bottle over, so practicing on cheaper stuff is not a bad idea. Hit the link for tips and details on this clever DIY drink-prepping trick.

Read More »

No matter how easy Linux distributions make it for newcomers to install and use a free, open-source operating system, nearly everyone has at least one program that only works in Windows. Wine, a free Windows compatibility tool for Linux (and other Intel-based systems), aims to make those programs run without too much cross-system trickery. If you can't get around needing to open true Microsoft Office files, Adobe Photoshop, or your addictive game of choice on your Linux desktop, Wine is for you. With Wine's stable 1.0 version just released, it's a good time to check out this quietly awesome app. Let's get a few Windows applications running in Linux.

Read More »

Linux only: Wine 1.0, the first stable release of the Windows API recreation tool, is available for most major Linux distributions. Wine has been focused solely on bug fixes for some time now, but as of their 1.0 release, there are hundreds of Windows apps, games, and utilities that run as "Platinum" (or flawless) in the Wine environment, many more considered "Gold" (only a few non-show-stopping problems), and myriad others in various states of improvement. Check to see how your must-keep-Windows-installed app runs at the Wine application database, then grab a package for your distro. Wine is a free download for Linux systems only.