GeekyBits³

OpenOffice for Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 06:03:00 +0000

All of my Linux and BSD boxes are undergoing maintenance and upgrades at the moment, therefore I'm using my little Windows system for my day to day activities. Yesterday I found myself in need of a word processor, with a little more punch than Wordpad. I immediately thought of trying OpenOffice for Windows. I've using OpenOffice countless times in Ubuntu, and on my FreeBSD desktops, but never before on Windows.

After a quick web search I found the download link at Download OpenOffice.org. The Download was a 127MB .exe file. After virus scanning the file I began the install. First it verified the download, which was nice to see. Then it said it needed to unpack and copy the installation files to my hard drive. I allowed it to copy the files to the default location, which was my desktop (You can delete these files after installation is complete). I followed the instructions through the install process, choosing a complete install, it was very simple.

I'm really impressed with the polished work which has been put into the Windows build of OpenOffice. It's lovely to use, it has all of the basic functionality of Microsoft Office, and it didn't cost me $600+ AU. I'm enjoying using it, it feels really nice.

The complete installation gave me the following components:

OpenOffice Base :: BASE is a fully featured desktop database management system

OpenOffice Calc :: CALC is a complete spreadsheet program.

OpenOffice Draw :: DRAW is an imaging program, which gives you the ability to create graphics and diagrams.

OpenOffice Impress :: IMPRESS is a tool to create multimedia presentations, similar to PowerPoint presentations.

OpenOffice Math :: MATH is OpenOffice.org's component for mathematical equations. It is most commonly used as an equation editor for text documents, but it can also be used with other types of documents or stand-alone.

OpenOffice Writer :: WRITER is a fully equipped word processor or desktop publisher.

Each part integrates very nicely, allowing you to move your data from one component to another. OpenOffice is really easy to use, especially if you have used similar products in the past.

You can integrate all of your old files into it, allowing you to save or edit files in many formats. E.g. PowerPoint presentations, or Word documents can be edited or saved, allowing you to share and communicate with others easily.

OpenOffice is a very professional and complete suite. I'm impressed with the work which has been put into it. It's awesome to see a free product out there giving so much to it's users.

For more information please see:
OpenOffice.org
OpenOffice Wiki
OpenOffice.org Support

Lost in Space

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:03:00 +0000

Hi everyone, thank you to those who have sent me emails over the past six months inquiring of my whereabouts and my well being, it's been awhile.
I'd rather not say where I've been, or whats been happening, none of it is relative to this blog anyway.

A couple of hours ago I logged into all of my email accounts, for the first time in around 6 months. My private accounts contained nothing but spam, no real mail.
Then I logged into my Geekybits email address to discover emails from people all over the world. People asking questions, making comments, wondering were I was, urging me to help them, or to continue writing.
I was amazed, stunned...

Then I started thinking, wow there are more people here who care about me then in real life. So if any of these people knew me in real life how would they treat me?
Would they be like everyone else that I know?
Would they treat me like a badly dressed, unemployed, geek, that sits on her computer all day?
Chances are yes...
In reality I can't get a job, I struggle pay the bills, and I'm not exactly the most social person you'll ever meet. The only good thing in my life, is my wonderful loving husband.

However here, lost in the anonymity of the internet, I'm treated as an authority, as someone who knows their subject and writes clearly about it. Someone worth listening to and asking advice from. It amazes me to think that a few words online can change people perspective.
I'd like to think that I'm learning everyday, that the information that I proved is accurate and correct to the best of my knowledge, yet I had no idea that people actually listened and want to read more. That people respected my opinion and my knowledge. Thank you!

If I'd continued not to write, Geekybits would have faded, another forgotten blog, which no one writes or reads anymore. Irrelevant and unimportant in this fast moving, constantly changing world.
If a blog author was to die would anyone even notice?
Would those post just be suspended in time, lost in the data floating around the net?

This made me think of Donald Crowdis, María Amelia and Olive Riley, three of the worldest oldest bloggers, and if anyone would notice their passing. Perhapes we would notice the passing of Olive as her friend Mike posts for her, yet what of the others? I've read Dons blog many many times, and yet he hasn't written since the 8th of March 2007, I hope sincerely that he is OK, but how would I ever know?

I would like to try to start writing again, no promises on heaps of articles. I think that I have more to share, and more help to give, so stay tuned, Geekybits lives again...

DMA and Ubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:33:00 +0000

One of my readers is having a bit of a hard time with DVD playback, after reading my article:
Playing Encrypted DVD's in Ubuntu 7.10, he has been unable to get dvd's to playback smoothly.

One really common solution to slow, jerky, and unreliable playback is turning on DMA.
DMA stands for: Direct Memory Access. DMA allows a piece of hardware to talk directly with the RAM, reading and/or writing independent of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). In other words the hardware can use the system memory, bypassing the CPU, allowing the device to read and write much faster.

By default Ubuntu has DMA turned off (set to 0), this can be changed in the /etc/hdparm.conf file, like so:

First make a backup of your hdpram file:# sudo cp /etc/hdparm.conf /etc/hdparm.conf.bak
Now edit the file using your favourite text editor, I'm using gedit, however you can use the editor of you choice just change the following command to suit your needs: # sudo gedit /etc/hdparm.conf
Once the file is open you will need to add the following at the end of the file:/dev/cdrom { dma = on }
Once you restart your computer you should have DMA turned on.

Troubleshooting
I have been reading about a number of problems with turning DMA on. Here are a couple of solutions if DMA still doesn't work after trying the instructions above:
First try re-editing the hdpram.conf file to read /dev/dvd instead of /dev/cdrom, then restart the computer.
If you are getting the error:
`HDIO set dma failed: operation not permitted'
You may need to edit your /etc/modules.conf file, for more information please see this forum thread: #post93238.
Personally none of my systems have these issues so I can't test this solution.

I hope this proves useful to someone, have fun.

No More Beeping

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:02:00 +0000

*NIX Quick Tip

Beep, beep, beep,
If your like me and don't like auditory reminders, you can turning off the beeping quickly and easily:

X Windows
If you want to disable beeps in X11 (X Windows), you can turn them off with the command:
# xset b off
*Note: you will need to login as root or use sudo.

csh and tcsh
You can disable csh and tcsh shell terminal beep if you put `set nobeep' (no quotes) in your ~/.cshrc file.

This options will work on most *nix systems (using csh/tcsh or X windows), including Ubuntu, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD, however I tested this solution using FreeBSD.

Welcome to 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:16:00 +0000

Hello everyone, and welcome to the new year, gee last year seemed to fly by, it's 2008 already.
I really hope that you all have a wonderful year, and learn heaps, and achieve everything you set out too.

I want to go out and really make this year a good one. I want to put it all on the line and not be afraid to lose what I have to achieve my dreams. My fiancé and I, are going to be married this year, which is really exciting, I can't wait. I'm not going to sit around and let this year pass me by, I want to make this year a fun and amazing ride, and I hope it is for all of you as well.

Geekybits³ reached over 100 new readers yesterday, for the first ever time. It feels so wonderful! After all there wouldn't be any point to me writing if no one was reading, yet it still feels very unreal having people interested in what I say.

Thank you to you all, I hope you find my content informative, and useful. Welcome to Geekbits³, and I hope you enjoy the ride.
If anyone has a comment or an idea, or just wants to say G'day, send me and email or drop a comment in the space below.

Thank you all very much, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! From Geekybits³

Suggestions Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:02:00 +0000

G'day everyone, I've been really busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had a chance to write a post. I've been busy doing an online course, and setting up a lab environment.

I'm really enjoying doing the course, I only have the write up left to finish. I already knew the practical side to the work, it was mostly the theory I needed to learn. I'll finish the write-up over the holidays.

I've set-up an awesome lab environment, in which I'm going to test numerous networking, server and workstation environments. I'm really excited about having a better lab. It should make testing quick and simple.

If anyone has a suggestion for an environment, or you would like to know how to set-up a certain type of server and or operating system, let me know.
It can be hard to know what information people are after, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. You can either leave a comment here or email me.
Thank You, Have a Wonderful Holidays!!!
Cheers Kris

Changing Environmental Variables

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:41:00 +0000

It's really handy to be able to change the way your shell works for you. Being able to add aliases, and other options makes the shell a much more powerful tool. Changing or setting environmental variables is done differently for each shell.

To change an environment variable in csh or tcsh use:$ setenv NAME "value"where NAME is the name of the variable and "value" its new value.

To change an environment variable in /bin/sh use:

$ VARIABLE="value"
$ export VARIABLE

You can permanently set environment variables for your shell by putting them in a startup file for the shell. The name of the startup file varies depending on the shell;
csh and tcsh uses .login,
bash, sh, ksh and zsh use .profile.
When using bash, sh, ksh or zsh, don't forget to export the variable.

*Note:
.login and .profile are to set conditions which apply to the whole session and to perform actions that are relevant only at login.
.cshrc and .shrc are used to set conditions and perform actions specific to the shell and to each invocation of it.
The guidelines are to set ENVIRONMENT variables in the .login, .profile file and SHELL variables in the .cshrc, .shrc files.

7 Tips For Answering Your Tech Questions

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:02:00 +0000

We all come across problems in our computer ventures at some time or another. I have a number of tips that may help you find answers to your problems:

Search: Searching google, or any other search engine, will often yield results, and it's always a good place to start.
Search using your Error: If your problem is in relation to an error, and you have an error displayed on your screen try a search for that exact error. If someone has asked about it in a forum, or talked about it on there blog, then you will likely find your answer much more quickly.
Documentation: Search the Handbook/Documentation relating to your operating system.
Read the Manual: Read the manual pages relating to your problem.
Mailing Lists: Search through the mailing list archives relating to your topic. You can also sign up for a number of list, and often you find solutions to problems that you haven't had yet ;-)
Forums: Search the forums, relating to your distribution to see if someone else has answered your question.
Ask: After exhausting all other options ask your question on a forum. Make sure that no one has asked your question before, and that you have searched every where else first. Also make sure that you place your question in an appropriate forum, in an appropriate place.

Have Fun!!!

7 Must Read OpenBSD man pages

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:15:00 +0000

In OpenBSD the manual pages are very important, well written documents. They comprise most of the written documentation for OpenBSD. Countless hours of work has gone into making them easy to read, and follow.

If you are new OpenBSD there a number of man pages which are a must read. These man pages can can explain much of the way that OpenBSD works, and many things that you can achieve using the system. Giving you a clearer perspective on your system.

man(1): To view the manual pages you will need to use: man(1). The man(1) program displays a manual page in your terminal for you to read. For more information see: man(1).
apropos(1): When your new to a system it can be difficult to know what manual page you need to read to achieve a task, enter: apropos(1). The apropos(1) program will locate and display all the commands containing a user specified keyword.
hier(7): If your new to OpenBSD, or *nix systems make sure to check out the hier(7) manual page. This page details how the filesystem works, and gives you a good understanding of how the system is laid out.
afterboot(8): When you first install an OpenBSD system you should check out the afterboot(8) man page. This well written man page, will tell you all the things that you should check/do after installing your system.
packages(7): Once you have your system installed and configured you may want to add some software. If you would like to install binary packages check out the packages(7) man page.
ports(7): If you would prefer to install software from source here is an overview of the ports(7) system.
intro: If you would like to know what the numbers after the commands are, there is an explanation in the man(1) manual page, also you can read an introduction to each section here: intro(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9).

Have fun Using OpenBSD :-)

Protecting Your Terminal

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:30:00 +0000

BSD Quick Tip
When ssh across my systems I often need to step away from the keyboard for a few minutes. This can pose a massive security threat to the system, therefore I think it's important to lock the terminal, this way I don't need to log in/out, nor leave the system insecure.

In all of the BSD's you can use a built-in utility called lock(8). When you use:$ lockwithout any options you will be asked to enter a key twice. Then your terminal will be locked for 15 mins, after that time it will become available again.

Options:
To keep your terminal locked until you return, (no 15 minute timeout), use:$ lock -n
To use your normal user password instead of a key you enter use:$ lock -p
Personally I like to use these options all of the time, therefore I add an alias so I only have to type lock.
To Alias `lock -np` to `lock` in csh or tcsh:$ edit ~/.cshrcadd:alias lock lock -np
To Alias lock -np to lock in sh:$ edit ~/.shrcadd:alias lock='lock -np'

Changing the Color Scheme in Gedit

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:04:00 +0000

Ubuntu Quick Tip
I find looking at a white background and black text a little daunting in Gedit, however in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), you can easily change colour schemes and save your eyes. To change schemes:
In Gedit Go to Edit --> Preferences.
In the Preferences dialogue click on the Font & Colours Tab.
Then choose a scheme to suit you.

Humanise the output of OpenBSD's root mail

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:49:00 +0000

OpenBSD Quick Tip
I've discussed how to humanise the output of FreeBSD's root mail, and the same can be achieved in OpenBSD by running the following commands:# vi /etc/daily
change:df -klto:df -hikl

Humanise the output of FreeBSD's root mail

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:14:00 +0000

FreeBSD Quick Tip
The output of the root mail, daily run: disk status is in bytes, which is not quick and easy to read. To humanise this output and to show you the inodes being used do the following:
# vi /etc/periodic/daily/400.status-disks
change:df $daily_status_disks_df_flags && rc=1 || rc=3todf -hi $daily_status_disks_df_flags && rc=1 || rc=3

Passwordless Login For SSH

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:09:00 +0000

I've recently set-up a new backup server, I wanted to be able to automate backups from my workstations to the server. I will be using OpenSSH (scp) as the transfer agent between the workstations and the server. By default the OpenSSH server asks for a password every time you login, therefore automation is impossible, without a bit of tweaking.

Creating an environment where passwords are unnecessary can be achieved using public-key cryptography. In this process we create unique identification between workstation (or other system) and server. The server can then recognise the user using a private/public key pair.

There are a number of steps that need to be completed, on both workstation and server, to achieve password-less logins. I have written the required server commands within the `ssh' command, to simplify the process. You will need to have a working OpenSSH server, and user login before beginning.

1. On the Workstation
On the workstation I login as the user who needs the ssh access to the server (this is really important as we are creating a key for this user.) If more than one user needs access, you will need to create keys for each user and system.

If no .ssh directory exists in users home you'll need to create one:

# mkdir ~/.ssh
# chmod 700 ~/.ssh

Now change directory into .ssh and create your ssh key (If you would like to use dsa encryption instead of rsa please use `ssh-keygen -t dsa' in the ssh-keygen command).
This text, is used to represent your user input:

# cd ~/.ssh
# ssh-keygen -t rsa
Generating public/private rsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/home/username/.ssh/id_rsa): Press [Enter]
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase): Press [Enter]
Enter same passphrase again: Press [Enter]
Your identification has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.
Your public key has been saved in /home/username/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
f3:12:g5:23:1f:b2:f7:a0:65:b1:89:72:82:f2:23:g0 username@ssh.server.tld

*Note: If you decide to use a passphrase when creating your ssh key then you will be prompted to enter your passphrase every time you login, unless you use ssh-agent. For more information please see: ssh-agent(1), http://upc.lbl.gov/docs/user/sshagent.html

2. On the server
Now we need to go to the server and prepare the environment for ssh-keys. You will need to login to the server as the user who needs the ssh access. E.g. If I login as the user kris on my workstation I need to be user kris on the server, as well (If you have a different user names on the server and workstation please see note A at the bottom of the post.)
We are going to use one command string to complete all of the jobs on the server, before being prompted for a password:

# ssh username@ssh.server.tld \
'mkdir ~/.ssh; \
chmod 0700 ~/.ssh'
Password: * * * * * *

3. On the Workstation
Now we need to copy the .pub key from our workstation to the server.

# scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub username@ssh.server.tld:.ssh/MY_keys
Password: * * * * * *
id_rsa.pub                                    100%  397     0.4KB/s   00:00
# ssh-add
Identity added: /home/kris/.ssh/id_rsa (/home/kris/.ssh/id_rsa)

4. On the server
Now we just need to verify the file copied over, and then put it's contents in the .ssh/authorized_keys file:

# ssh username@ssh.server.tld \
'cat ~/.ssh/MY_keys >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys; \
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys; \
ls ~/.ssh/'
Password: * * * * * *
My_keys     authorized_keys

5. On the Workstation
Now if you go back to your workstation you should be able to login to the server without typing your password:
# ssh username@ssh.server.tldor# ssh ssh.server.tld
Notes:
Note A. If you have differing user names on the server and workstation there is an easy solution:
After creating your ssh-key (# ssh-keygen -t rsa), edit the resulting id_rsa.pub (or id_dsa.pub) file and change the user name to the user name on the server.
E.g. If I have a user kris on my workstation and a user sirk on my server I would edit the id_rsa.pub file on the workstation from this:
ssh-rsa Asdasdasdc9asdaDp5Lq8+SMdZRPzgjr65i4684xbmtrZKMQ== kris@workstation.domain.tldto this:ssh-rsa Asdasdasdc9asdaDp5Lq8+SMdZRPzgjr65i4684xbmtrZKMQ== sirk@workstation.domain.tld
Note B. If you do not have a fully qualified domain name or an /etc/hosts file detailing your workstations, and servers IP addresses, you may also need to change the domain name used in your id_rsa.pub file to a IP address.
E.g. from this:
ssh-rsa Asdasdasdc9asdaDp5Lq8+SMdZRPzgjr65i4684xbmtrZKMQ== kris@workstation.domain.tldto this:ssh-rsa Asdasdasdc9asdaDp5Lq8+SMdZRPzgjr65i4684xbmtrZKMQ== kris@192.168.0.3
Note C. If you had another server running the OpenSSH server and you wanted to login from the same workstation using the new key, just copy your id_rsa.pub (or id_dsa.pub) to each server, like in the example above, making sure to copy the contents of MY_keys to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

Hacker Puzzle

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:58:00 +0000

A quick weekend distraction, this puzzle is called the: Hacker Puzzle! To solve this puzzle you have to find secret files on the server, by following a trail of numbers ;-).
It only takes a couple of minutes and it's a bit of fun. Check it out at: Hacker Puzzle!
Have an awesome weekend!

OpenOffice EasterEggs

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:48:00 +0000

I thought I'd share a minor distraction with you, did you know that there are a number of Easter Eggs inside of OpenOffice?

"An Easter Egg is the name given to hidden exploits, media, or features available in console and PC video games, DVDs, or any other interactive media."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Egg

The following is from the OpenOffice Wiki.

ALL
There are a number of different parts of OpenOffice, Word processor, Spreadsheet, Database, this first Easter Eggs works in all parts of OpenOffice:
In the About box (Help -> About OpenOffice.org) press Ctrl + S, D, T one after another (SDT stands for Star Division Team).
The list of contributors scrolls in the dialog.

OpenOffice Word Processor
The next one is in OpenOffices Word Processor:
Open a New text Document and Enter the word "StarWriterTeam", then press F3.
The names and picture of the StarWriter developer team appears.

OpenOffice SpreadSheet
These Easter Eggs can be found in the Spreadsheet part of OpenOffice.

Games()
Putting '=GAME()' (without the ' ') into any cell results the text "say what?" in that cell.

Frogger
Putting '=GAME("Froggie")' into any cell results the text "Froggie" in that cell.

Tic-Tac-Toe
Put the '=GAME(A2:C4;"TicTacToe")' formula into A1 and press ENTER.
A version of the Tic-Tac-Toe game is playable.

Space Invaders
Put =GAME("StarWars") into any cell and press ENTER. A version of Space Invaders is playable.
Although if you try to play it again, the message "oh no, not again" appears. To play again, you must fully close OpenOffice.org.

Life, Universe and Everything
Put =ANTWORT("Das Leben, das Universum und der ganze Rest") into any cell and press ENTER.
The result is the famous number 42 from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

StarCalc team
Put =STARCALCTEAM() into any cell and press ENTER.
The names and picture of the StarCalc developer team appears.

Random smileys
Put =TTT() into any cell and press ENTER.
A random smiley appears. E.g. :-] ;-] B-) 8-}

Have Fun!!!

Blogger Tag Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:20:00 +0000

On both my blogs: Geekybits³ and Tea and Turtles I've added a Tag Cloud.
A Tag Cloud is a visual depiction of tags/labels used on a website or blog. The Tags are listed alphabetically, and the frequency is shown using font size and/or colour.

I think that they look very nice, and they also add functionality to your blog. Giving people even more options when navigating around blogs.

Setting up a Tag cloud is really easy, I followed the instructions found here: Setup and configuration for New Blogger Tag Cloud.
The instructions are easy to follow, so if you would like to enhance your Blogger blog with a tag cloud take a look.

Installing New Usplash Themes in Ubuntu 7.10

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:10:00 +0000

There are many different looks you can give to your boot screen by adding more themes to usplash, the program which displays the splash image at boot time. You can install a number of them using Synaptic by doing a search for usplash. You can also download different themes online (see below).

Installing StartUp-Manager
Before playing with Usplash themes we need a way to easily switch between themes, enter StartUp-Manager, this program lets us control many aspects of Ubuntu's start-up including Usplash. You can install startupmanager via Synaptic or apt using the following line:
# sudo apt-get install startupmanager

Download Uspash theme
When I searched Gnome-look for Usplash I found a number of very nice themes: Usplash Themes at Gnome-Look. I quite like the Black Chrome theme. Once you have chosen one or two that you like, download them, and extract them from there archive: Right click on the archive .tar.gz and select Extract Here:

Installing Usplash Themes

Now we will run the StartUp-Manager to install and change usplash: System --> Administration --> StartUp-Manager
Go to the Appearance Tab at the top of the page, and click the Manage Usplash Themes button at the very bottom of the dialogue.
Now click the Add button and navigate to where you extracted your files, and select them, (They should be .so files).
Your new theme/s should now appear in the Themes list:
Close the Manage themes dialogue box.

Selecting your Usplash Theme

Once you have installed your themes they should appear in the scroll box under Usplash Themes in the Appearance Tab.
Select the theme you would like from the scroll box, just click on it and select.
Before you close the StartUp-Manager, check that the settings in the Boot Options Tab under Display are correct for your monitor. I had to change mine to Resolution: 1024x768, and Color Depth: 24 bits.
Once you have closed the StartUp-Manager wait until the post configuration has finished:When you shutdown and restart your computer you will be about to see the result, play around with a few different themes and see what you like, Have fun :-)

Installing Fonts in Ubuntu 7.10

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:21:00 +0000

Installing fonts in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) can be done in a number of ways. Personally I like the following method, it's quick,simple and it works.

Installing some common fonts.
There are a number of very common fonts, which you can install through APT/Synaptic, including the Microsoft TrueType core fonts (e.g. Arial Black, Times New Roman).
Before installing, make sure you enable the extra repositories, (If your not sure how to do this please see: Repositories/Ubuntu).
Install the fonts:
# sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts texlive-fonts-extra
Installing Other fonts
You can also use many other fonts, like those downloaded from dafont.com. There are two options when installing: one to install them for a Single User, this means that only this user can use them, or installing them for System Wide use, so that every user on the system can use the fonts.

Single User:
Once you have downloaded and unpacked your font files (.ttf, .TTF), you will need to create a ~/.fonts if it doesn't exist.
$ mkdir ~/.fonts
Copy the font files to the .font directory:

$ cp *.ttf ~/.fonts
$ cp *.TTF ~/.fonts

Now we need tell the system about the new fonts:
$ fc-cache -f -v ~/.fonts
System Wide:
Once you have downloaded and unpacked your font files (.ttf, .TTF), we just need to move them to the font directory:

# sudo cp *.ttf /usr/local/share/fonts/
# sudo cp *.TTF /usr/local/share/fonts/

Run the following command to rebuild the font cache:
# sudo fc-cache -f -v

Playing With Themes in Ubuntu 7.10

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:14:00 +0000

In July I wrote a post which has been quite popular called: Turning Ubuntu's Brown Eyes Blue. This post was about changing themes in Ubuntu, getting away from the orange and brown colours and using mostly blue. Things have changed quite a bit since July and changing themes in the new Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) is a little bit different, therefore I thought I would offer some fresh advice.
Doing a search in Synaptic for themes, icons, gdm, or wallpapers reveals that there are many options we could choose from. I thought I would talk about a couple of different ones and let you decide.

Adding Gnome Extras
There are a number of extras we can add to Ubuntu, which will change the look, quickly and simply, each of these themes are quite different from the original Human theme.

Extra Themes
The gnome-themes-extras package will give you:

The Darklooks theme, which is a dark Clearlooks theme,
The Foxtrot theme, which is a tangonized theme with Bluecurve colors,
The Dropline Neu! icon theme, and
The Gion icon theme.

I really like the Darklooks theme, it's easy on the eyes. You can install these extra themes by marking gnome-themes-extras for install in Synaptic, or run the following command:
# sudo apt-get install gnome-themes-extras
Once the themes are installed you can use them by opening the Appearance dialog; System --> Preferences --> Appearance and selecting them from the dialogue that opens. To select the icons you need to click 'Customize' and in the 'Icons' tab select them.
Experiment and see which ones you like. You can always select the Human theme, giving you back your original theme, if your unhappy with the choices.

Extra Icons
Installing the extra icons will install heaps of new icons and place them in the /usr/share/pixmaps folder, for use with any program. You can install them by running the following command:
# sudo apt-get install gnome-extra-icons

Extras GDM
If you would like to give your login window a new look you can install gdm-themes, which will give you a variety of different gdm themes (Gnome Display Manager: login Window). To install them run the following command:
# sudo apt-get install gdm-themes

To select a new gdm theme open the Login Window dialogue; System --> Administration --> Login Window
In the Local tab at the top of the page, select which ever gdm theme you like (Make sure that the radio button is on.)
Now close the dialogue.

Once you logout, you should see your new login window.

Giving Ubuntu the Blubuntu look
If you like a blue look you can install the blubuntu-theme by running the following command:
# sudo apt-get install blubuntu-theme blubuntu-gdm-theme blubuntu-wallpapers blubuntu-session-splashes

Selecting the new gnome Blubuntu theme

Once it's installed you will need to open the Appearance dialogue; System --> Preferences --> Appearance
Then click the 'Customize' button.
From the Controls tab select Blubuntu
From the Window Border tab select Blubuntu
Select an icon set that you like, I chose Mist.
Then close the customize dialogue
In the Appearance Preferences dialogue you will see a new theme called: Custom (written in italics)
Click the 'Save As' button at the bottom and Name your new theme Blubuntu.

Now you have the Blubuntu gnome theme.

Blubuntu GDM theme

To select the Blubuntu gdm theme open the Login Window dialogue; System --> Administration --> Login Window
In the Local tab at the top of the page, select the Blubuntu gdm theme (Make sure that the radio button is on.)
Now close the dialogue.

Once you logout you will see the new gdm theme.

Blubuntu Wallpaper

To change the Background image, right click on the desktop and select 'Change Desktop Background'
Select the Blubuntu Background (the name appears when you hover over the images with your mouse)
Now click close.

The Wallpaper will change straight away.

Blubuntu Splash image
Note: I do not have a splash image on my new Gutsy Desktop, if you have the same situation then the following wont work for you.
To change the splash screen you first need to open a terminal and backup old splash image (if you have one, as I didn't):

# sudo cp /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-splash.png /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-splash.png.bak
# sudo cp /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-slick.png /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-slick.png.bak

Now copy the Blubuntu image into the place of ubuntu-slick.png:

# sudo cp /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-blubuntu.png /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-slick.png
# sudo ln -s /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-slick.png  /usr/share/pixmaps/splash/ubuntu-splash.png

Now your entire system should have the Blubuntu look.

Ubuntu Studio Look
If you would like something a little darker the UbuntuStudio theme looks really nice, you can install the theme, and a number of extra components with the following command:

# sudo apt-get install ubuntustudio-theme ubuntustudio-icon-theme ubuntustudio-gdm-theme ubuntustudio-wallpapers usplash-theme-ubuntustudio

Selecting the Ubuntu Studio gnome and icon themes:

- Once it's installed you will need to open the Appearance dialogue; System --> Preferences --> Appearance
- Select the Ubuntu Studio Theme from the Themes Tab.

The system will now change over to the new theme (this could take a minute), using the new icons and all the details found in the install.

Ubuntu Studio GDM theme

To select the Ubuntu Studio gdm theme open the Login Window dialogue; System --> Administration --> Login Window
In the Local tab at the top of the page, select the Ubuntu Studio gdm theme (Make sure that the radio button is on.)
Now close the dialogue.

Once you logout you will see the new gdm theme.

Ubuntu Studio Wallpaper

To change the Background image, right click on the desktop and select 'Change Desktop Background'
Select the anyone of the newly install Backgrounds (the name appears when you hover over the images with your mouse)
Now click close.

The Wallpaper will change straight away.

Ubuntu Studio Usplash
There is no effort involved in getting "Ubuntu studio usplash" working. Once it is installed it should work next time you startup and shutdown. However if you are unhappy with this splash and would like your old Ubuntu one back you need to do the following:
# sudo apt-get remove usplash-theme-ubuntustudio
Once you restart your system you will see the old Ubuntu usplash back in it's place.

Conclusion
Each of these options will give you a totally different look for your Ubuntu Desktop. Many themes have adjustable colour schemes, to give you even more choice. If you're still after something a little different: http://art.gnome.org/ has many more options to choose from, so go check it out, and have some fun with a fresh look.

Fix for No Splash in Ubuntu 7.10

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:32:00 +0000

After installing Ubuntu 7.10 there is no splash screen displayed at startup nor at shutdown. I just get a 'Signal Out of Range' message from my monitor.
A program called usplash controls this process, so I looked into it's configuration, the values were totally off for my monitor, which uses a resolution of: 1024x768.
By default the file looks like:
# Usplash configuration file xres=1280 yres=1024
I edited the file:
# sudo gedit /etc/usplash.conf
I changed the xres to: xres=1024 and the yres to: yres=768.
Then I reconfigured the usplash program with the new settings:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure usplash
Problem fixed, now the splash image displays both at startup and shutdown.

Extending Firefox

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:13:00 +0000

The extensions or add-ons available in Firefox, are amazing. They extend Firefox beyond it's design parameters, making it highly customizable, and allowing you to make it your own. The only problem is, every time I install Firefox, I forget the name of at least one of my extensions, so I thought I would write them all down here.
There is an extension called: FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension), which allows you to backup all of your extensions, and settings, but I prefer to install them myself and do the backup by hand, that way I know exactly what I have and where I have it.

My Top 15

1. Adblock Plus : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865
Adblock Plus blocks adds, and banners from downloading to your computer, saving you from, waiting for adds to load on each web page, and unnecessary downloads. I'm never going to buy anything advertised in this way, (In fact, if I see a product advertised I go out of my way to not purchase it). Therefore I prefer not to be spammed by advertisements while I'm surfing.
This extension can be used by right clicking on an add and blocking it. Or by selecting a filter subscription when Adblock Plus starts for the first time. A filter subscription will block most advertisements automatically.

2. Bookmark Duplicate Detector : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1553
The Bookmark Duplicate Detector will detect bookmarks duplicates (by URL), when trying to add a new bookmark, as well as finding duplicates in your existing bookmarks. I like this little extension, if you have a lot of bookmarks this is very helpful.

3. Context Search :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/240
Expands the context menu's 'Search for' item into a list of all your installed search engines, allowing you to choose a specific search engine every time. This is really handy, I use it everyday, I can search for any word, in any of my installed search engines: from Google and Wikipedia to the Free Dictionary.

4. Copy Plain Text :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/134
If you've ever needed to copy the text out of a webpage, without the formatting (font colour, links, text size, bold, italic etc.) Then this extension is for you. It adds an option to your context menu which allows you to copy the text on a page without formatting at all. It is so very handy, especially when copying text to blogs, or word processors.

5. Customize Google :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743
Customize Google enhances Google's search results by adding extra information (like links to Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN etc) and removing unwanted information (like ads and spam). All features are optional and easily configured. You can watch a short introduction movie at:
http://www.customizegoogle.com, for more information.

6. Downloadhelper :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006
DownloadHelper is a tool for web content extraction, it can capture video and image files from many sites around the web. When DownloadHelper detects a downloadable file, the DownloadHelper icon becomes animated and a menu allows you to download files by simply selecting the item you would like.

7. Download Status Bar :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/26
I don't like the Download window in Firefox, Download Status Bar, removes the need to use the download window. This extension allows you to view and manage all of your downloads from the status bar, either as tiny progress bars, or in mini mode, where just the number of downloads occurring, and completed are shown, I love mini mode. This is an awesome extension that I wouldn't be without.

8. Dictionaries :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:3
By default Firefox checks spelling in US English, however there are a variety of other language dictionaries available here.

9. Fasterfox :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1269
Fasterfox allows you to tweak many network and rendering settings such as simultaneous connections, pipelining, cache, DNS cache, and initial paint delay. This is a very powerful extension, and can make Firefox perform even faster.

10. Flag Fox :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5791
Flagfox shows a little flag icon in the status bar indicating the current website's server location. Clicking on the icon brings up further information from Wikipedia or Geotool, about the location. This is a cool little extension, which I never thought I would use, however, it is very intriguing, and I use it much more often than I thought I would.

11. Flashblock :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433
Flashblock blocks all Flash content from loading on web pages. It leaves a placeholder on the webpage that allow you to click to download and view the Flash content. I wouldn't use Flash if it wasn't for this add-on, I like being able to choose what I download and when.

12. Gmail Manager :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1320
Gmail Manager allows you to manage multiple Gmail accounts and receive new mail notifications. Displays your account details including unread messages, saved drafts, spam messages, labels with new mail, space used, and new mail snippets. All from your status bar, or toolbar. If you have more than one Gmail account this is very handy, I love being able to check my mail just by opening Firefox.

13. Menu Editor :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/710
Menu Editor allows you to rearrange or remove menu items from the context menu (right-click menu) and main menubar (File Edit View etc.) This is really handy if you have menu items that either you don't use or which are in bad places. I used it to remove the "Switch Page Direction" context menu, which I found particularly annoying.

14. Save as image :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3408
This extension allows you to save a web page, or a frame, as an image. This can be really handy for showing people web sites, for debugging, or demonstration purposes.

15. Tabs open relative :
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1956
I love this extension, Tabs Open Relative makes all new tabs open to the right of the current tab, rather than at the far right of the tab bar. This way you can keep your work all in one place, and keep research in a relevant order.

Turning off the Network Applet in Ubuntu

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:20:00 +0000

I'm not a fan of the networking applet (nm-applet) in the panel of Ubuntu. When I had a laptop and was moving networks all the time it was handy, but I'm using a desktop at the moment, and there is no easy way to turn it off. If you would like to remove it, then there are a couple of steps that you will need to follow.

Open the Sessions dialog; System --> Preferences --> Sessions
In the Startup Programs tab find the Network Manager option and untick the box.
Then go into the Current Sessions tab, and select the program which says 'nm-applet --sm-disable' (without quotes).
Click 'Remove', and then 'Apply'.
Now close the dialog (save if it asks you too).
Restart gdm (Gnome Display Manager); Close all open Applications, Then press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

Once you have restarted gdm the network applet will be gone.

Running Nautilus as Super User

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:53:00 +0000

Many times in Ubuntu I've needed to move a file, or add new data to a file only to find out that I don't have high enough permissions to do so. Normally this means hitting Alt+F2 to run a command and then typing # gksu nautilus, or in a terminal typing # sudo nautilus. However there is a trick I use, which makes things much easier.

I add a menu item which runs the gksu nautilus command, and it's really easy to do.

Open System --> Preferences --> Main Menu.
Select "System Tools" from the list of Menus
Click the "New Item" button on the right hand side.
The Create Launcher box will open, fill in the boxes like this:
Now click OK, and close the Menu Editor.
You should now be able to select: Applications --> System Tools --> Root Nautilus, fill in your password and have a full permissions with nautilus running as Super User.

No Window Borders in Ubuntu 7.10

noreply@blogger.com (Kris) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:59:00 +0000

When running compiz on Ubuntu 7.10 using an nVidia graphics card, with the restricted nVidia drivers installed, I loose my window borders (titlebars). There is however a temporary fix, which works just fine for me:

First make a back-up of your xorg.conf file, even though the nvidia-xconfig program makes it's own backup, it's never a bad practice to backup your files before editing them:
# sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.BAK
Now enable the nvida glx graphics using the following command:

# sudo nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals -d 24

Using X configuration file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf".
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True" added to Screen "Default Screen".
Backed up file '/etc/X11/xorg.conf' as '/etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup'
New X configuration file written to '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'

Now shutdown your computer then start again, fully restarting the system you should be able to switch compiz to normal or extras with window borders.