Mike's Ubuntu Blog

New Computer, New Ubuntu, New Topics

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:22:00 +0000

Just finished a fresh install of 10.04 on my Lenovo ThinkPad W510 (4319-2PU). I am blown away. Linux has come so far in the past year. This new release looks better than ever, and it is the fastest operating system I have ever used. There are, however a few things I'm going to be looking into in the coming days:

- Discuss the speed of Google Chrome. Wow.
- How to change the window control buttons to be on the right side
- How to get my fingerprint reader working
- How well does my live keyboard setup work in WINE? (Fl Studio + Various VST plugins)
- A short rant about the included 'Tetris' game (Quadrapassel)

I am back!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Some of you have commented on my posts slowing down. For the past year, most of my time has been devoted to producing the album for my band, Power Pirate. Now that that project is wrapping up, I can spend some more time with Ubuntu! What have I missed? Comment and share your favorite new thing about Ubuntu from the past year.

Ubuntu and Windows Fight Over Special Characters

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Ubuntu is awesome. You can rename files to include tons of special characters, like $!*? and so on. Unfortunately, Windows is not quite as awesome. If you have a linux-formatted file system that has files with these great characters, and you want to mount it in Windows, be aware: you will not be able to access, move, delete, or rename these files. This can be quite annoying. I found a solution on a blog called Are You Secure. I slightly modified the code there to allow the "&" character, which is available in Windows.

Open a terminal, and cd to the root of the drive where you want to rename files.

copy and paste the following, and press enter:

find . -iname "*" -exec rename -v 's/\:|\*|\%|\?|\\|\^|\=|\"//g' "{}" \;

Gnome Do: Also a Dock

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:23:00 +0000

If you have not yet installed and tried Gnome-Do, a program similar to quicksilver for mac which can run applications and do other various tasks using only the keyboard, I highly recommend doing so. If you already have it, however, I have a suggestion. Go into the settings

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

For my exact setup, use the Dust Theme (Included in Jaunty) and this wallpaper.

Daily Chromium Builds

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:29:00 +0000

Here is the repository for the latest chromium builds. (Google Chrome for Linux).

#Chrome
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

Add these to your sources.list with

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

and then paste all that text at the bottom. Open a terminal, and run:

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0xfbef0d696de1c72ba5a835fe5a9bf3bb4e5e17b5
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install chromium chromium-browser

Enjoy!

Test Firefox 3.5 Beta 4

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:49:00 +0000

As noted at tuxradar.com, the new firefox 3.5 beta for has significant speed improvements for running native on linux. Bloggers have complained that the current version is unnecessarily slow, and even that they prefer running the windows version in wine. To compare the speed changes for yourself, or just to take a look at how it is progressing, install it like this:

wget http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/3.5b4-candidates/build1/linux-i686/en-US/firefox-3.5b4.tar.bz2
tar xvfj firefox-3.5b4.tar.bz2
chmod +x firefox/firefox
ln firefox/firefox Firefox
mv Firefox Desktop/

This also creates an icon on the desktop. To run, simply double click this icon.

Hugin Panorama App

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Install with:

sudo apt-get install hugin

This app is an excellent tool for stitching photos together to make panoramas. It works extremely well with my Nikon d60 and just as well with my regular hand-held digital camera. To create a basic panorama, try this:

Pick A Scene - It doesn't have to be amazing, since it's just your first time fiddling with the program. You are going to want to take at least 2 shots, I recommend 3. Your subject should Ideally contain some 'points' that are easily identifiable. For example, a shot of the sunset on a plain ocean may be hard to turn into a panorama, because it has very few static, or non-moving, parts. You want to include a few points that are easy for you to recognize in the separate shots. An ideal scene may include a few trees, on which you can identify points in common between your photos. An example of such a point could be where the lowest branch sticks out from the trunk of the tree.
Shoot the scene - Take 2+ pictures (I recommend 3). You want to have a significant amount of overlap between the images, so you can find common points in the application. If they are clear enough, hugin will identify them for you.
Use Hugin - Open Hugin, assuming you've already installed it with the above code. Select load images, and load your images from your computer or memory card. Next, click align. It will take some time to load, depending on how many images you have, how large they are, and how many points in common hugin is able to identify. After this step, hugin will show you a preview of your panorama. If you are content with the result, render it. It will most likely have weird dimensions in the hugin window. To remove these, edit the file in gimp later.

Enjoy your panorama! Soon I'll post one I'm making now. It is made of over 100 shots!

Jaunty Beta

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:04:00 +0000

Some readers may have noticed I post much more infrequently than previously. This is because I'm simply having fewer problems. Ubuntu is becoming more and more user friendly, and can now do essentially everything I want (except a few music-related functions I use for my band, Power Pirate, and tools I use for creating HDR photography)

Today I am going to install the new Jaunty Beta, and hope that all is still well. Happy 'bunting.

Finally Some New Themes!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Check out the sample of the themes for the new Ubuntu release, 9.04!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-9-04-039-s-New-Themes-106961.shtml

Run Google Chrome on Mac and Linux with Crossover Chromium

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 19:49:00 +0000

The folks at crossover office, the makers of the commercialized version of wine, have developed a package which allows google chrome to be run on macs and linux. Just go to their site and download an install the respective package for your system, and you should be good to go.

Download

Disable tap to click while typing

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:03:00 +0000

run this at startup (system > preferences > sessions)

syndaemon -t -d

Compiz Fusion Vacuum Effect

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:26:00 +0000

Due to legal issues with Apple, Compiz Fusion is not allowed to have the vacuum effect for minimizing windows. If you are determined to re-enable it, here's how:

If compiz is running right now, you should close it by pressing alt+f2 and then typing metacity --replace

Then open a terminal and run the following, or install the ghex package with the synaptic package manager.

sudo apt-get install ghex

Then modify the following 3 files:

1. sudo ghex2 /usr/lib/compiz/libanimation.so

Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find, and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.

2.) sudo ghex2 /usr/lib/compiz/libanimation.a

Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find, and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.

3.) sudo gedit /usr/share/compiz/animation.xml
Press control + f, and in the righthand box type "magic_lamp_max"
Click find. Scroll down a bit past the languages and change the three in 3 to 0
Save the file, and close.

Then open comiz again by running compiz --replace in an alt+f2 window
Good luck!
For more help see this forum thread

How to: FIX the flash crash in hardy!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:18:00 +0000

After all this time, there is finally a fix for the flash crash that works. Do the following:

first run the following just to refresh:

sudo apt-get update

add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/thielmann/ubuntu hardy main

you can use the following command to do so easily

sudo echo "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/thielmann/ubuntu hardy main" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

then run

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfreebeta && sudo apt-get remove libflashsupport

then, edit your /etc/asound.conf file

sudo gedit /etc/asound.conf

to contain the following contents:

pcm.pulse {
type pulse
}
ctl.pulse {
type pulse
}
pcm.!default {
type pulse
}
ctl.!default {
type pulse
}

save this file, then finally install one last package

sudo apt-get install libasound2-plugins

Multmedia Tools

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:59:00 +0000

This thread helped me a lot with tweaking and installing media capabilities in ubuntu 8.04. Its main topics include flash player, java, and dvd playback.

VLC

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:47:00 +0000

VLC is just awesome! It plays almost anything. Looking for the easiest way to install dvd support in ubuntu? its as simple as

sudo apt-get install vlc

BLACK OUT BAND!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:11:00 +0000

blackoutband.com

nuff said.

Music Tracker

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:28:00 +0000

sudo apt-get install pidgin-musictracker

This is the easiest way to fill your status with your music.

Ubuntu Tweak

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:47:00 +0000

Ubuntu Tweak is amazing. Check it out.

getdeb.net page

ubuntu-tweak.com

Nightly Builds of Amarok

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:29:00 +0000

I just picked up on Project Neon, a project by the wonderful amarok people promising to deliver regular bleeding edge amarok 2.0 builds. As it says on the site, simply add the following line to /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/project-neon/ubuntu hardy main

Or just paste this into the terminal:

echo ‘deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/project-neon/ubuntu hardy main’ >> /etc/apt/sources.list

Then install the packages amarok and amrok-nightly for the stable and unstable versions of amarok, respectively.

sudo apt-get install amarok amarok-nightly

Shoot Bill Gates!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 22:45:00 +0000

I bumped into a little package today called xpenguins. It generates a bunch of cartoons that could be anything from penguins to Bill Gates. Install it with

sudo apt-get install xpenguins

Then run this to generate 256 Bill Gates that will crawl across your screen with little computers.

xpenguins -t Bill -n 256 -s

Click on them or drag a window over them to kill them, and notice the blood. To make it go away, close the terminal window. To make less Bill Gates, change 256 to another number.

Flickr Wallpaper

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:18:00 +0000

Follow these instructions to install webilder, an app that downloads photos from flickr (no account necessary) and can set them as your wallpaper and rotate them at set intervals. Just download the .deb file from getdeb:

install: http://www.getdeb.net/app.php?name=webilder
right click on panel, select add to panel. add 'webuilder desktop applet'

How to: now playing away message

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:55:00 +0000

Its possible to have your now playing in rhythmbox be part of your away message or buddy profile in linux. These instructions were written and tested in ubuntu linux, but probably work in other distros as well.

1) Install 'pidgin-dev' package via your package manager of choice. Run the following in a termina:

sudo apt-get install pidgin-dev

2) download and extract the latest release of the pidgin-rhythmbox plugin from here
3) open a terminal and use the cd command to browse the extracted folder. Then, in the terminal, run:

./configure
make
sudo make install

4) Restart pidgin and enable the plugin via tools > plugins (in pidgin). While your in there, mess with the settings as you want them.
5) add %rb to your away message, profile, or available status
6) pause and start again the song youre listening to in rhythmbox. This refreshes the %rb code

How to: Install Songbird 0.3 Release Candidate

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Here are some commands to get and run the latest songbird release candidate:

wget http://download.songbirdnest.com/installer/linux/i686/Songbird_0.3_linux-i686.tar.gz
tar xvfz Songbird_0.3_linux-i686.tar.gz
cd Songbird
./songbird

From there, create a launcher for the panel with these settings:

name: Songbird
command: /home/mike/Songbird/songbird (REPLACE mike with your username)
Icon: Download your favorite from here

Gutsy Time!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:09:00 +0000

Gutsy has been officially released! Check it out for yourself!
http://www.ubuntu.com/

iTunes great with wine. Yep! Its True!

noreply@blogger.com (mike) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:23:00 +0000

I just took another stab at itunes with wine.. with much success!

1 - download the latest itunes

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

2 - install wine

sudo apt-get install wine

3 - configure wine

winecfg

-change the windows version to XP
-set up your sound card with the audio tab

4 - run (in the directory of the downloaded installer)

wine ./iTunes743Setup.exe

By no means does it run perfectly, but the functionality is there and I expect will continue to be improved.