I just signed up to ride in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure. I’d like to invite you to support me in my efforts to Stop Diabetes!

Tour de Cure is so much more than an event to me. It’s my opportunity to change the future and make a positive impact in the lives of all those affected by diabetes. And it’s a great ride!

Chances are, you also know someone who has been affected by diabetes and you already know how important it is to stop this disease. My goal is to raise $1,000 USD. Will you join me by visiting my personal page and making a donation?

By supporting me, you will help the American Diabetes Association provide community-based education programs, protect the rights of people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure.

The power we have together far outweighs what I can do alone. Please join me by donating to this great cause – it would mean so much to me!

Thank you!

The post 2013 Tour de Cure first appeared on Rich Johnson.

My friends over at Bluecherry have released version 2.0 of their video surveillance software as well as version 2.0 of their server software. If you are in the market for a video surveillance solution, I wouldn’t look any further than Bluecherry. Their dedication to utilizing as well as contributing to the open source world make them my favorite solution.

From my personal experience, the system is pretty damn slick. The server uses MySQL and Apache to store configuration settings as well as to give a web interface to your surveillance system. On top of that, they also offer a nice GUI client built with Qt4. The system supports all type of cameras and they even have their own video capture cards with an open source driver. Oh, did I mention that they have ready-made packages for Ubuntu and/or Debian? I have it running on my Kubuntu 12.04 system flawlessly, though I don’t have any cameras yet, so I just check it out with their Test configuration. Maybe one of these days my house will be under video surveillance.

Head on over to their website, links above, and check out their products, services, and their growing community! Kudos to my friends at Bluecherry!

The post Bluecherry Releases Version 2.0 first appeared on Rich Johnson.

Hey everyone, I am riding 100 miles (161 km) for Chicago’s 2012 Tour de Cure. My goal this year is to raise $1,500, because last year I was blown out of the water by the generosity of the people at my mom’s work, the KDE community, the cycling community, and a few friends. So, if 300 of you donated the minimum $5, I would make my goal Last year I had a blast doing this ride and completed it in 6.5 hours. My other goal this year is to finish it in under 6 hours.

To donate, you can click on the Support image above, or go to my Tour de Cure page. Scroll down, and on the right hand side you will see “CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR ME”, click it. I appreciate any and all help!

The post Donate To My Tour de Cure 2012 Ride first appeared on Rich Johnson.

A question I have been coming across a lot lately has been, “How do I get Dropbox to work with KDE?” Most have probably noticed that when you go to the Dropbox website and go to download it, it is for GNOME and the Nautilus file manager. Unfortunately for us KDE users, we don’t use Nautilus. Or I could say fortunately for us KDE users, but I am sure that will start all kinds of flame wars in the comments. Instead, KDE utilizes Dolphin as its file manager. I will use this post to show you how to quickly get Dropbox installed and up-and-running in KDE, without the use of the terminal or command line.

NOTE: In this tutorial I am using the Rekonq web browser for KDE. At the time of this tutorial, it is the default web browser for Kubuntu.

NOTE: After completing the Download Dropbox selection below, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post to see how to do all of this via the command line. It is actually really simple and much faster. If you are uncomfortable with the command line, then follow this post completely, minus the end where I show you the command line way of course.

Download Dropbox

Here are the links to the latest Dropbox downloads. NOTE: these links will always be the latest version of Dropbox, so if you come here next year, this simple howto will still be valid. If anything changes, I will make sure to update this page:

• 32-bit Dropbox Linux Client
• 64-bit Dropbox Linux Client

Clicking on one of the links above will pop up the Save As dialog. Click the Save As button.

In the Save As dialog, click the Home button and select the Downloads folder to save the file in.

Extract the Dropbox archive

The file that is downloaded for Dropbox is known as a tarball. It is similar to a Zip file if you are coming from the Windows world. To extract this file we will use Ark, KDE’s archiving tool. To open Ark, click on the menu button, select the Applications tab, scroll down to the Utilities section and click it, then once that is open you should see Archiving Tool or Ark depending on how your distribution has it in the menu. Once Ark is open, click on the Open button. Here you will be presented with an Open Dialog where you can select the file that you downloaded. Navigate to your Home/Downloads directory and select the Dropbox file.

Once the file has opened in Ark, the next thing to do is extract it. To do this click the Extract button towards the top. The only option you should have is Extract To…

Select it and you will be presented with the Extract dialog where you can select the location you want to extract it to. Select your username in the folder list, as this is where you want to extract it to.

Configure Dropbox to run at start-up

You will definitely want Dropbox to start every time you log into your computer. To do this is really easy. Open System Settings by going to the KDE menu once again. Most distributions stick the System Settings icon in your Favorites tab, so when you click the menu button, you should see it right away. Click it if you do. If you do not see it, don’t worry. You will need to go to the Applications tab, scroll down to the Settings section, and in there you should see System Settings. Click it to open it. Once it is open at the bottom, in the System Administration section, there should be an icon labeled, Startup and Shutdown. Click it. Once that is open, in the right pane you should see 5 buttons. You want to select the button labeled Add Script…. This will pop up a small dialog for you to select the Dropbox script we want to run at startup.

Click the small folder to the right of the text input box. You should be presented with a System Settings open dialog. In order to see the folder and script that was extracted from the Dropbox download, we need to make sure that Show Hidden Files is selected.

Once all files are showing, click the .dropbox-dist folder and scroll until you see the file named dropboxd.

NOTE: Select dropboxd, not dropbox, as shown in the above image.

Once you have selected it click OK if needed, now you should be back at the small popup dialog. Go ahead and click the OK button. You should be back to the main System Settings window now.

You can close out of System Settings now.

Running Dropbox for the first time

Open Dolphin, the file manager, by going to the KDE menu button and under Applications, System, there should be a menu item labeled either File Manager or Dolphin. Click it. Once Dolphin is open and in your Home folder, we will need to view all hidden files again. To do this, click the View menu item and about half way down is the Show Hidden Files item. Click it. Now you should see all hidden files and folders. You will want to find the folder named .dropbox-dist and click it.

Scroll down until you see the file named dropboxd. Note once again that it is dropboxd that you want.

You will now be presented with the Dropbox application setup dialog. Go through and answer the questions.

That’s it, Dropbox is up and running and will start every time you log into your desktop. If all went well you should see the Dropbox icon in your System Tray.

Install the quick way with the command line

Now that you have the Dropbox file downloaded to your computer, open up your terminal (Konsole is the default in KDE) and type the following commands, or copy & paste the following (you should see 4 lines total):

cd
tar -xf Downloads/dropbox*.gz
ln -s .dropbox-dist/dropboxd .kde/Autostart/dropboxd
.dropbox-dist/dropboxd &

That’s all folks, enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

The post Dropbox for KDE first appeared on Rich Johnson.

Cycling 100 miles for a cause and sending diabetes Off The Back!

On Sunday, June 12, 2011, I will ride for over 100 miles to help raise awareness and collect donations for the American Diabetes Association. As it currently stands I have $825 out of $1,000 in donations. A special thanks goes out to my fellow KDE hackers, Athletes By Design cycling team members, family, and friends. All I need to complete my donation campaign is raise another $175, and I am hoping any of you can help. The minimal donation allowed through the Tour de Cure is $5, however if you would like to donate just a $1 or less than $5, you can use the donate button to the right and I will move that money over. To donate directly to my Tour de Cure collection, please go to http://main.diabetes.org/goto/nixternal. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated!

A few years ago my mother was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and I have other family and friends who are also battling either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. I see the pain they go through day in and day out living with this disease. Now before some of you say it is their fault, often with my family and friends it isn’t. Among friends is a professional cyclist riding for Team Type 1 who has had it since he was a kid. I am just trying to do my part in helping an organization that is all about teaching and finding a cure. I am riding for my mother as well as my family and friends.

I know that with your help I can reach my goal. Also check your local areas for the Tour de Cure ride and sign up, then let me know so I can donate to your goal. It is a very well-organized and fun ride. I will be riding with about 10 of my other cycling teammates as well as friends and colleagues. Thanks everyone!

The post Tour de Cure – Sending Diabetes OTB first appeared on Rich Johnson.